ANOTHER NIGHT ON PATROL




Buffy Summers let the doors of the library clunk shut, the sound reverberating in the deserted street.
She had stopped by to help Giles and Willow lock Oz in the library's book cage for his monthly transformation into a werewolf, and made the possibly dangerous choice of going on patrol.
Tonight, however, the world seemed stained silver by the full moon, and the silence could almost deceive Buffy into thinking it was safe to be lurking Sunnydale's streets at night. Almost. Buffy, instead of lapsing into a dreamy state, drew her leather jacket tighter around her shoulders. The monotonous clicking of her boot's heels marred the almost tangible silence.
Buffy let her hand drift into her pocket, allowing her fingers to curl around the reassuringly rough surface of a wooden stake.
So she wasn't surprised when six figures stepped out from behind a shady corner like a group of alley cats.
Six instruments of death were staring Buffy in the face.
Six instruments of death who evidently had never met a Slayer before.

One of the vampires snarled, showing a set of pointy canines. "Looky, looky…..A nice little beverage for us to enjoy!!" Buffy smiled sarcastically as she dodged the left hook that particular vampire aimed at her, and sent him flying backward with a kick to the chin.
Ignoring the sickening crack on the concrete, the Slayer spun to meet a female bloodsucker's attack. She avoided the business end of Buffy's stake and raked at her with long cracked nails.
The vampire let loose a warbling shriek as Buffy's stake, with all her enhanced strength behind it, thudded into cold undead flesh. Turning from the explosion of dust, a broken growl caught her attention and Buffy buried the wooden heel of her boot into the vampire's clinically stopped heart.
The vampire's feral yellow eyes focused momentarily on his chest, and he muttered "You'll keep, lady," before promptly dissolving.
Rolling her eyes, Buffy faced the remaining four bloodsuckers with a smirk on her face. "You should really take a day off. Being a vamp must be tiring, huh?" Without bothering to wait for a reply, she launched herself at the pack, feeling the familiar vamp-stench invade her nostrils.
Buffy impaled a vampire with her stake, then deflected another's swipe through a cloud of dust, and was suddenly sprawled on the ground as the vampire that she'd previously kicked and another straddled her, drawing their pale lips over bluish gums. She heaved them off, thudding two stakes into their chests simultaneously.
Sighing, the Slayer stood up, inspecting a rip in her jacket even as the slain vampires exploded at her feet. "Damn. This cost a lot." The sound of erratic running brought Buffy's head up, and she caught sight of the last female making a run for it.
Quickly Buffy snatched a stake up off the ground and pursued the vamp, reaching her in a few moments, and floored the parasite with a well-placed kick on the back. The undead girl was back on her feet in a flash and fighting like a wildcat. "Slayer!" she howled, a frenzied scream.
Buffy punctuated that fact with a punch to the solar plexus, whose owner doubled over, gasping.
"Yep," Buffy replied conversationally, "that's my name." The vampire lunged at her recklessly, and ran into the end of the Slayer's stake. With a start, Buffy realized she was back at the library. "Well, that was fun," she whispered to the whirling flurry of dust where her foe had been standing. Buffy pushed open the library's door, putting an end to another night on patrol.