Shaking her head, she said, "Sorry."
Buffy, Xander, and Willow started to walk past him.
"Not so fast." He said, taking Buffy by the arm. When they turned, he was holding a badge.
"Detective Martin, NYPD."
"What can we do for you, officer?" Buffy asked, smiling.
"Why were you in the alley?" He asked. "You don't look like you're from around here."
"Just taking a walk." She said. "We're from California, we're meeting a friend."
"And what are you doing in the alley?"
"Looking for our friend." Buffy said.
"In the alley." He said, looking behind him.
"Right." Xander said.
"How about we come down to the station." He said.
Buffy sighed.
"Look, it's late and I have things to do. So instead of giving me a hard time about it, why don't we just go down to the station and then you can explain to me why exactly you're in the alley in the middle of the night." He waved a hand at his car.
Willow, Xander, and Buffy exchanged looks.
'I can't believe this." Buffy said as she climbed into the car after Willow.
***
"Can you really do this?" Buffy said. "I mean, I've done nothing wrong. Did you see me murder anyone? No. Why are we being arrested?"
Chad laughed. "If you were being arrested, you'd have cuffs on. Look, there've been some problems lately with parties and murders and you know the deal. We're just trying to keep it safer."
"Well, the world thanks you." Willow said. "Can we go now?"
"Sorry." Chad said.
"How old are you?" Buffy asked, squinting. He couldn't be older than they were.
Chad laughed. "I'm 26."
"Wow. And to think, they say that young people have no direction in life." Buffy said. "You've obviously done well, Detective."
"Okay, we're here." He said as he pulled up to a brightly lit police headquarters.
"Wonderful. Do I get a mint on my pillow?" Buffy grumbled.
"I never learned your names." He said as he walked behind them.
Buffy raised her hand. "Buffy Summers."
Xander raised his. "Xander Harris."
Willow sighed and raised hers last. "Willow Rosenberg." She turned around. "Who are you again?"
"Detective Chad Martin." He said.
"Well, Detective, we just got here and we're suffering from jetlag, can we go?" Buffy said.
"But you haven't even seen my office yet." He said, smiling. He opened the door to let them in.
Buffy's smile tightened and she walked in.
***
Inside the office, Alex and Cindy were sitting, twiddling their thumbs. Chad wasn't home, but according to Quinn, his friend, he'd had called from his cell phone to say that he'd be coming in with a few stragglers.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked Cindy.
"not really. Considering my best friend almost got killed tonight."
"I did not almost get killed." Alex said, laughing.
Cindy shot her a mean look. "How can you laugh?"
"Because I can handle myself."
"You sure? He could've had a gun, or a knife."
"Look, I can take care of myself. Which reminds me, you haven't been to any of those self defense classes I wanted you to take, have you?" Alex sighed, shaking her head.
"I'm not like you. I can't fight."
Alex shook her head. "Anyone can fight. It's New York. You need to learn how to defend yourself."
"Okay, fine. But nevertheless you were attacked tonight." She said.
"Okay, so we tell Chad. He'll put out a post it to the other guys about a guy with weird eyes wandering around, trying to mug people. They see those every day." Alex smiled. She glanced to her right at the pool of rookie cops and mail boys staring through the glass.
She smiled and waved. The crowd seemingly turned pale at the same time.
Cindy cast a look over at them and laughed.
A familiar blonde spiked head appeared and Quinn talked to him for a minute.
"You know, I think you should consider installing permanent blinds in your office." He said, looking at the guys.
"Why?" He said, then looked into the office. And he saw the two figures waving. "Oh."
He laughed and turned back to Quinn.
"You tell these guys that these girls are like my sisters. If any of them even look at them in a way they don't like they're going to have to deal with me."
As he walked toward his office, Quinn said, "I don't think they'll need to deal with you, man. Alex can kick their asses all she wants."
"You tell them that too." Chad said, pointing at Quinn.
Alex and Cindy watched Chad enter the office, trailed by three people about their age.
"Are we having a party?" Alex asked.
Buffy looked at the girl and frowned. She wore black jeans and a black tank top. Her boots were propped up on the detective's desk. The other girl…forgot her name, she was African American, and she had a small town look coupled with a pacifistic innocence. She could tell that the tank top girl was a fighter. She reminded her of Faith actually. The other one probably whipped up a great pie.
"Hey, it's-" Chad checked his watch. "4:55 am. What's going on?"
"There was a mugger in the street." Cindy said, swallowing.
"Are you okay?" Chad asked Cindy.
"I wasn't there." She said, reassuring him. "But Alex was."
"That's good." Chad said. He sat down at his desk and sprayed a plant with a mist of water.
"Aren't you even going to ask if she's okay?" Buffy asked, more out of curiosity than respect.
"She can handle herself." Chad said, nodding.
Alex shrugged.
"Alex Morgan, Cindy Rider, this is Buffy, Xander, Willow."
"Hey." They said to each other, strangely. Neither knew what the other was there for.
"So anyways, I went by your place and you weren't there. I called you on your cell phone."
Chad held up his phone.
"Low battery. I figured that. So we came here." Alex said.
"Okay, and what about?" Chad said.
"Your files." She said, handing them to him.
"Oh yeah, I left those, didn't I?" He said, taking them.
"Okay, no offense, but it's really really early. I'm about to pass out. Can we get this over with, and why are we even here? Again, we haven't done anything wrong." Buffy said.
Cindy looked at them. "Why are they here?"
"I picked them outside the alley next to the old bakery." He said.
Quinn knocked on the door.
"Forensics came by, dropped off the new information on that double we found last night." Quinn said, handing him papers and photos. Before they made it to Chad, Alex grabbed them.
"That's interesting." She said, reading.
"Alex, we have guests." He said. While she looked up, he snatched the papers away.
"All right. So you're not from New York." He said to Buffy, Xander, and Willow. "Where are you from?"
"California." Xander replied.
"Okay, and California, where?" He asked.
"Sunnydale." Willow said.
"Why are you here?"
"Visiting a friend." Buffy said. It wasn't a lie if she actually believed the old "any friend of Giles is a friend of mine."
"What's this friend's name?"
"Marcus Leland." Buffy replied, squinting. She had the name in her pocket, if only she could-
"Isn't that the professor at the university?" He asked Alex.
"That's him. He's a professor of the occult and mythology." She said.
"Okay, and why are you visiting him?"
"He's my uncle." Willow said.
"I thought you said he was your friend."
He looked at Alex and Cindy. They shrugged.
"He's my uncle." Willow said.
"Okay, in any case, why don't you call up this uncle and tell him that you're here. He'd probably be better off knowing where you were."
"Don't have to." Alex cut in, pointing out the window.
A harried looking Englishman made his way to the office.
"Hello." He said.
"Uncle Marcus!" Willow said, jumping up. He patted her on the back nervously. The poor man was probably wondering what delusions this girl was on.
"Mr. Leland?" Chad asked.
"Yes."
"All right, well we're done here, I guess." He said. "You're free to go."
They smiled tightly at him and as Buffy stood up, she noticed the photo laying on top of his desk.
Two puncture marks.
"Hey you guys should come to the bar sometime, if you've got time." Alex said, winking at Chad, who was shaking his head and mouthing a 'no'
"Uh, we're not really..." Leland started.
"Here's a card." Cindy said, giving one to Buffy.
"Thanks." She said.
As they left the station, Leland started a long string of apologies.
"I am terribly sorry." He said. "This way." He led them to a dusty blue Honda. "there was a big traffic mix-up and I couldn't get a connection to Giles if my life depended on it."
"It's all right." Willow said. "We were okay."
"Right. Of course. Well, I suppose you'll want to get some rest." He said, though it seemed more of a statement for himself than for them. The man's clothes were rumpled and he had the weary look of someone who hadn't seen sleep in a long time.
"I guess we should." Buffy said, noticing this.
***
"Seriously, are you all right?"
"Fine." Alex said, smiling. "Okay, about these new reports."
"Nothing new." He said, throwing them to her. "Mostly some chemical readings and a whole lot of nothing. Basically reiterating that she had all the blood taken out of her and that the intruder, whoever he was, they used some kind of siphon. The blood was gone and basically, we're stumped."
"Stumped, huh?" Cindy said. "Well you should get some sleep."
"Yeah, you look worse than Scraggy." Alex said, getting up.
"We'll get out of your way." She said.
"Be safe." He waved as they left.
"Maybe you should ride in the car tonight." Cindy said.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay." Alex said, getting on her motorcycle. Putting her helmet on, she revved up the Ninja and followed Cindy's car out into the street.
***
Cindy slept soundly and pulled her blanket closer as Alex walked by the closed room, eating a candy bar. Sitting down with her laptop, she sat in the darkness, illuminated by the bright screen of the machine. She typed in a few words.
Sunnydale, California
When the screen morphed into a long list of links, her eyes widened.
And she started to read.
***
Chad threw his jacket on the couch and looked at his couch. His eyes went to the closed door of his bedroom. Back to the couch. He trudged to the couch and grabbed the cushion to sleep.
20 minutes later
The phone was ringing. And no one on Earth wanted to pick it up.
Chad let out a muffled protest and his hand knocked over his jacket as he dug the phone up from the recesses of his couch cushion.
"What?"
"You're never going to believe this." A voice said excitedly.
"Alex?"
"I found out something very, very, very fun." She said.
Chad sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"Sunnydale, California." Alex said.
The doorbell rang. Rolling his eyes, Chad wondered whether anything else that night was going to be ringing.
He opened the door.
Alex hung up and walked inside, laptop case in her hand.
"What's going on?" He asked. He felt groggy, despite the sun being up.
"I couldn't sleep." She said.
"You're the only one." He said. He put the phone back on it's charger. "Why is that? You never sleep. Everytime I see you, you've been up for the entire night and you never seem to sleep."
"Don't be silly, I sleep. Just not tonight." She said, grinning. She walked in, thought about taking her shoes off, saw the crumpled pieces of paper strewn all over the floor, and thought otherwise. She strolled through the mess, kicking stray pieces of debris away.
"What's going on?" He asked.
She sat down. "Well, I was digging around and Sunnydale seemed familiar, so I ran a search." She opened her laptop and showed him the screen.
He stared at it. "What?"
"The Hellmouth, Chad." She said. "Okay, imagine a convergence. A meeting point for all things bad. It's like a roach motel. It attracts evil like a roach motel attracts roaches."
"But Roach Motels don't really work."
"You get my point." She said. "Okay, according to the stuff I found, the Hellmouth is a mystical opening where all the evil and bad stuff comes along and sets up shop. And I also found-" She typed in something else and another site came up. "This was a little harder to find. But check this out."
Chad squinted. "What the heck is a Slayer?"
"Grunge-Metal band, but otherwise in the paranormal reference, it's one person that kills these bad and evil things that pass by."
"You're kidding right?" He said.
"Not at all, big brother. Check this out. According to legend, this Slayer has existed since the beginning of time, and it only happens once in every generation. Which means that there is one Slayer in this world right now."
"And this applies…how?"
"Okay, well as long as we're on the premise that legends aren't quite myth, there's also the modern vampire."
Chad sat up. "What, like Dracula?"
"Dracula wasn't a vampire. I'm talking about the modern day bloodsucking demon. According to recent legends and research, there have been numerous stories passed down. I mean, demons who suck the blood from other beings. Doesn't that sound like vampires? And doesn't it sound like your double murder?"
"I thought you told me that was done by a serial killer."
"I thought so, but think about it. Lots of people, lots of blood. Lots of sewers to run around in, and a lot of missing persons reports on your desk that corroborate with the murders."
"I don't get it." He said. "Is it a serial killer or not? Are you telling me that vampires did this? You said that they didn't exist."
"I never said that. I said that vampire cults existed, but I never said that vampires didn't."
"So what you're saying is-"
"Is that Buffy Summers, from Sunnydale, California, might be this generation's Slayer."
"What?"
"The Slayer, the one that kills-"
"I heard you the first time. How exactly are you connecting this information?"
"One. Sunnydale has a population less than this city has clean rats. Two, the mortality rate is skyrocketed. I mean, I've seen some bad figures, but this is bad. Considering their population, it's worse than New York. Third, only girls can be Slayers. Narrow down the agility and the life expectancy of the average-or should I say, above average-Slayer, and you have a list that's severely narrowed down. Then you add in the age requirements--"
"What do you mean, age requirements?" Chad asked, shaking his head.
"Think about it. You're born to fight evil. You can't be a 40-year-old housewife. And you can't be a toddler either. That makes the teenage years the best time to prepare, to train."
"And all of this is just available on the internet?" He asked.
Alex sputtered. "Well, I did call in some favors." She said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this." Chad said. "Buffy is the Slayer…"
"Yeah."
"And she's here to-"
"Kill vampires. Or demons. Or anything else bad."
"Can she kill the rat population?"
"Don't think it's evil enough." She said. "I looked some stuff up, it's pretty nasty."
"So what now?"
"I don't know. I went around town, did some looking. A few months ago, the warehouse down by the harbor was cleared out, bought by some unknown businessman that so far, no one's seen."
"So…"
"So I think that's where the vampires are hiding out."
"You believe this?" Chad asked. "Vampires?"
"it makes sense." She said.
"What about the forensics lab reports?" He said. "How do they fit in?"
"They mention a siphon." She said. "It's theorized that vampire teeth are equipped with an empty cavity that allows for liquid to be filtered up through the jugular."
"You mean like holes in the fangs?"
"Exactly. It's sort of like snake fangs, there's a cavity going to the open where venom can come out into the wound. Instead of that, why can't vampire fangs have hollow spaces to take blood up?"
"That's disgusting." He said.
"it could work." She said. "Do you have any leads right now?"
"Not any involving vampires." He said.
"True."
***
"You know, I had this checked last week." He said, as the car sputtered to an end.
"No problem, I'll take a look." Xander said. At the girls' amused faces, he threw his hands up. "what? Xander Harris has done a few mechanical workings in his day."
He got out of the car and popped the hood. Buffy and Willow got out also and sat on the trunk while Xander and Leland discussed.
"As if I wasn't tired already." Willow said, laughing a little.
"Right. And to think, we're in the Big Apple and the first thing we see is Cujo, the fanged wonder." Buffy said.
"That detective was kinda cute though." She said.
"Willow?" Buffy asked.
"For you, I mean." She said, smiling.
"I don't know. I don't prefer to meet my men in the middle of the street."
"Not at all. You prefer to meet them while they're delivering cryptic messages or working for a top secret government underground agency."
"Right." Buffy said, and they laughed.
She pulled out the card that the girl gave her and looked at it. The nearby fluorescent signs advertising tattoo parlors and piercing pagodas lit her view enough.
"The Underground." She said. "how original."
"You thinking of partying?" Willow asked.
"No time. We have a vampire colony to find." She said.
"No worries." A voice said behind them.
They spun around and a pack of vampires had surrounded the car. She spotted Xander and Leland in the mix, guarded by some of the minions.
Buffy quickly did the math. Two in front of her, one of which was the leader. Four on the left and four on the right. Ten vampires. Against four people. And by the panicked look on Leland's face, she doubted that he knew much about fighting. Xander's eyes were sparked with a glimmer that she knew could only mean that he was thinking military again.
Buffy looked at Willow.
What were they going to do?
***
"I don't know." He said. "I really cant say that I believe any of this."
"I'm sending out a theory." She said. "I cant say its true or not, but I have a theory. And there's a whole lotta legend to back it up."
"But its all legend." He said.
"That too."
"Warehouse by the harbor, huh?"
"Yep."
Buffy, Xander, and Willow started to walk past him.
"Not so fast." He said, taking Buffy by the arm. When they turned, he was holding a badge.
"Detective Martin, NYPD."
"What can we do for you, officer?" Buffy asked, smiling.
"Why were you in the alley?" He asked. "You don't look like you're from around here."
"Just taking a walk." She said. "We're from California, we're meeting a friend."
"And what are you doing in the alley?"
"Looking for our friend." Buffy said.
"In the alley." He said, looking behind him.
"Right." Xander said.
"How about we come down to the station." He said.
Buffy sighed.
"Look, it's late and I have things to do. So instead of giving me a hard time about it, why don't we just go down to the station and then you can explain to me why exactly you're in the alley in the middle of the night." He waved a hand at his car.
Willow, Xander, and Buffy exchanged looks.
'I can't believe this." Buffy said as she climbed into the car after Willow.
***
"Can you really do this?" Buffy said. "I mean, I've done nothing wrong. Did you see me murder anyone? No. Why are we being arrested?"
Chad laughed. "If you were being arrested, you'd have cuffs on. Look, there've been some problems lately with parties and murders and you know the deal. We're just trying to keep it safer."
"Well, the world thanks you." Willow said. "Can we go now?"
"Sorry." Chad said.
"How old are you?" Buffy asked, squinting. He couldn't be older than they were.
Chad laughed. "I'm 26."
"Wow. And to think, they say that young people have no direction in life." Buffy said. "You've obviously done well, Detective."
"Okay, we're here." He said as he pulled up to a brightly lit police headquarters.
"Wonderful. Do I get a mint on my pillow?" Buffy grumbled.
"I never learned your names." He said as he walked behind them.
Buffy raised her hand. "Buffy Summers."
Xander raised his. "Xander Harris."
Willow sighed and raised hers last. "Willow Rosenberg." She turned around. "Who are you again?"
"Detective Chad Martin." He said.
"Well, Detective, we just got here and we're suffering from jetlag, can we go?" Buffy said.
"But you haven't even seen my office yet." He said, smiling. He opened the door to let them in.
Buffy's smile tightened and she walked in.
***
Inside the office, Alex and Cindy were sitting, twiddling their thumbs. Chad wasn't home, but according to Quinn, his friend, he'd had called from his cell phone to say that he'd be coming in with a few stragglers.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked Cindy.
"not really. Considering my best friend almost got killed tonight."
"I did not almost get killed." Alex said, laughing.
Cindy shot her a mean look. "How can you laugh?"
"Because I can handle myself."
"You sure? He could've had a gun, or a knife."
"Look, I can take care of myself. Which reminds me, you haven't been to any of those self defense classes I wanted you to take, have you?" Alex sighed, shaking her head.
"I'm not like you. I can't fight."
Alex shook her head. "Anyone can fight. It's New York. You need to learn how to defend yourself."
"Okay, fine. But nevertheless you were attacked tonight." She said.
"Okay, so we tell Chad. He'll put out a post it to the other guys about a guy with weird eyes wandering around, trying to mug people. They see those every day." Alex smiled. She glanced to her right at the pool of rookie cops and mail boys staring through the glass.
She smiled and waved. The crowd seemingly turned pale at the same time.
Cindy cast a look over at them and laughed.
A familiar blonde spiked head appeared and Quinn talked to him for a minute.
"You know, I think you should consider installing permanent blinds in your office." He said, looking at the guys.
"Why?" He said, then looked into the office. And he saw the two figures waving. "Oh."
He laughed and turned back to Quinn.
"You tell these guys that these girls are like my sisters. If any of them even look at them in a way they don't like they're going to have to deal with me."
As he walked toward his office, Quinn said, "I don't think they'll need to deal with you, man. Alex can kick their asses all she wants."
"You tell them that too." Chad said, pointing at Quinn.
Alex and Cindy watched Chad enter the office, trailed by three people about their age.
"Are we having a party?" Alex asked.
Buffy looked at the girl and frowned. She wore black jeans and a black tank top. Her boots were propped up on the detective's desk. The other girl…forgot her name, she was African American, and she had a small town look coupled with a pacifistic innocence. She could tell that the tank top girl was a fighter. She reminded her of Faith actually. The other one probably whipped up a great pie.
"Hey, it's-" Chad checked his watch. "4:55 am. What's going on?"
"There was a mugger in the street." Cindy said, swallowing.
"Are you okay?" Chad asked Cindy.
"I wasn't there." She said, reassuring him. "But Alex was."
"That's good." Chad said. He sat down at his desk and sprayed a plant with a mist of water.
"Aren't you even going to ask if she's okay?" Buffy asked, more out of curiosity than respect.
"She can handle herself." Chad said, nodding.
Alex shrugged.
"Alex Morgan, Cindy Rider, this is Buffy, Xander, Willow."
"Hey." They said to each other, strangely. Neither knew what the other was there for.
"So anyways, I went by your place and you weren't there. I called you on your cell phone."
Chad held up his phone.
"Low battery. I figured that. So we came here." Alex said.
"Okay, and what about?" Chad said.
"Your files." She said, handing them to him.
"Oh yeah, I left those, didn't I?" He said, taking them.
"Okay, no offense, but it's really really early. I'm about to pass out. Can we get this over with, and why are we even here? Again, we haven't done anything wrong." Buffy said.
Cindy looked at them. "Why are they here?"
"I picked them outside the alley next to the old bakery." He said.
Quinn knocked on the door.
"Forensics came by, dropped off the new information on that double we found last night." Quinn said, handing him papers and photos. Before they made it to Chad, Alex grabbed them.
"That's interesting." She said, reading.
"Alex, we have guests." He said. While she looked up, he snatched the papers away.
"All right. So you're not from New York." He said to Buffy, Xander, and Willow. "Where are you from?"
"California." Xander replied.
"Okay, and California, where?" He asked.
"Sunnydale." Willow said.
"Why are you here?"
"Visiting a friend." Buffy said. It wasn't a lie if she actually believed the old "any friend of Giles is a friend of mine."
"What's this friend's name?"
"Marcus Leland." Buffy replied, squinting. She had the name in her pocket, if only she could-
"Isn't that the professor at the university?" He asked Alex.
"That's him. He's a professor of the occult and mythology." She said.
"Okay, and why are you visiting him?"
"He's my uncle." Willow said.
"I thought you said he was your friend."
He looked at Alex and Cindy. They shrugged.
"He's my uncle." Willow said.
"Okay, in any case, why don't you call up this uncle and tell him that you're here. He'd probably be better off knowing where you were."
"Don't have to." Alex cut in, pointing out the window.
A harried looking Englishman made his way to the office.
"Hello." He said.
"Uncle Marcus!" Willow said, jumping up. He patted her on the back nervously. The poor man was probably wondering what delusions this girl was on.
"Mr. Leland?" Chad asked.
"Yes."
"All right, well we're done here, I guess." He said. "You're free to go."
They smiled tightly at him and as Buffy stood up, she noticed the photo laying on top of his desk.
Two puncture marks.
"Hey you guys should come to the bar sometime, if you've got time." Alex said, winking at Chad, who was shaking his head and mouthing a 'no'
"Uh, we're not really..." Leland started.
"Here's a card." Cindy said, giving one to Buffy.
"Thanks." She said.
As they left the station, Leland started a long string of apologies.
"I am terribly sorry." He said. "This way." He led them to a dusty blue Honda. "there was a big traffic mix-up and I couldn't get a connection to Giles if my life depended on it."
"It's all right." Willow said. "We were okay."
"Right. Of course. Well, I suppose you'll want to get some rest." He said, though it seemed more of a statement for himself than for them. The man's clothes were rumpled and he had the weary look of someone who hadn't seen sleep in a long time.
"I guess we should." Buffy said, noticing this.
***
"Seriously, are you all right?"
"Fine." Alex said, smiling. "Okay, about these new reports."
"Nothing new." He said, throwing them to her. "Mostly some chemical readings and a whole lot of nothing. Basically reiterating that she had all the blood taken out of her and that the intruder, whoever he was, they used some kind of siphon. The blood was gone and basically, we're stumped."
"Stumped, huh?" Cindy said. "Well you should get some sleep."
"Yeah, you look worse than Scraggy." Alex said, getting up.
"We'll get out of your way." She said.
"Be safe." He waved as they left.
"Maybe you should ride in the car tonight." Cindy said.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay." Alex said, getting on her motorcycle. Putting her helmet on, she revved up the Ninja and followed Cindy's car out into the street.
***
Cindy slept soundly and pulled her blanket closer as Alex walked by the closed room, eating a candy bar. Sitting down with her laptop, she sat in the darkness, illuminated by the bright screen of the machine. She typed in a few words.
Sunnydale, California
When the screen morphed into a long list of links, her eyes widened.
And she started to read.
***
Chad threw his jacket on the couch and looked at his couch. His eyes went to the closed door of his bedroom. Back to the couch. He trudged to the couch and grabbed the cushion to sleep.
20 minutes later
The phone was ringing. And no one on Earth wanted to pick it up.
Chad let out a muffled protest and his hand knocked over his jacket as he dug the phone up from the recesses of his couch cushion.
"What?"
"You're never going to believe this." A voice said excitedly.
"Alex?"
"I found out something very, very, very fun." She said.
Chad sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"Sunnydale, California." Alex said.
The doorbell rang. Rolling his eyes, Chad wondered whether anything else that night was going to be ringing.
He opened the door.
Alex hung up and walked inside, laptop case in her hand.
"What's going on?" He asked. He felt groggy, despite the sun being up.
"I couldn't sleep." She said.
"You're the only one." He said. He put the phone back on it's charger. "Why is that? You never sleep. Everytime I see you, you've been up for the entire night and you never seem to sleep."
"Don't be silly, I sleep. Just not tonight." She said, grinning. She walked in, thought about taking her shoes off, saw the crumpled pieces of paper strewn all over the floor, and thought otherwise. She strolled through the mess, kicking stray pieces of debris away.
"What's going on?" He asked.
She sat down. "Well, I was digging around and Sunnydale seemed familiar, so I ran a search." She opened her laptop and showed him the screen.
He stared at it. "What?"
"The Hellmouth, Chad." She said. "Okay, imagine a convergence. A meeting point for all things bad. It's like a roach motel. It attracts evil like a roach motel attracts roaches."
"But Roach Motels don't really work."
"You get my point." She said. "Okay, according to the stuff I found, the Hellmouth is a mystical opening where all the evil and bad stuff comes along and sets up shop. And I also found-" She typed in something else and another site came up. "This was a little harder to find. But check this out."
Chad squinted. "What the heck is a Slayer?"
"Grunge-Metal band, but otherwise in the paranormal reference, it's one person that kills these bad and evil things that pass by."
"You're kidding right?" He said.
"Not at all, big brother. Check this out. According to legend, this Slayer has existed since the beginning of time, and it only happens once in every generation. Which means that there is one Slayer in this world right now."
"And this applies…how?"
"Okay, well as long as we're on the premise that legends aren't quite myth, there's also the modern vampire."
Chad sat up. "What, like Dracula?"
"Dracula wasn't a vampire. I'm talking about the modern day bloodsucking demon. According to recent legends and research, there have been numerous stories passed down. I mean, demons who suck the blood from other beings. Doesn't that sound like vampires? And doesn't it sound like your double murder?"
"I thought you told me that was done by a serial killer."
"I thought so, but think about it. Lots of people, lots of blood. Lots of sewers to run around in, and a lot of missing persons reports on your desk that corroborate with the murders."
"I don't get it." He said. "Is it a serial killer or not? Are you telling me that vampires did this? You said that they didn't exist."
"I never said that. I said that vampire cults existed, but I never said that vampires didn't."
"So what you're saying is-"
"Is that Buffy Summers, from Sunnydale, California, might be this generation's Slayer."
"What?"
"The Slayer, the one that kills-"
"I heard you the first time. How exactly are you connecting this information?"
"One. Sunnydale has a population less than this city has clean rats. Two, the mortality rate is skyrocketed. I mean, I've seen some bad figures, but this is bad. Considering their population, it's worse than New York. Third, only girls can be Slayers. Narrow down the agility and the life expectancy of the average-or should I say, above average-Slayer, and you have a list that's severely narrowed down. Then you add in the age requirements--"
"What do you mean, age requirements?" Chad asked, shaking his head.
"Think about it. You're born to fight evil. You can't be a 40-year-old housewife. And you can't be a toddler either. That makes the teenage years the best time to prepare, to train."
"And all of this is just available on the internet?" He asked.
Alex sputtered. "Well, I did call in some favors." She said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this." Chad said. "Buffy is the Slayer…"
"Yeah."
"And she's here to-"
"Kill vampires. Or demons. Or anything else bad."
"Can she kill the rat population?"
"Don't think it's evil enough." She said. "I looked some stuff up, it's pretty nasty."
"So what now?"
"I don't know. I went around town, did some looking. A few months ago, the warehouse down by the harbor was cleared out, bought by some unknown businessman that so far, no one's seen."
"So…"
"So I think that's where the vampires are hiding out."
"You believe this?" Chad asked. "Vampires?"
"it makes sense." She said.
"What about the forensics lab reports?" He said. "How do they fit in?"
"They mention a siphon." She said. "It's theorized that vampire teeth are equipped with an empty cavity that allows for liquid to be filtered up through the jugular."
"You mean like holes in the fangs?"
"Exactly. It's sort of like snake fangs, there's a cavity going to the open where venom can come out into the wound. Instead of that, why can't vampire fangs have hollow spaces to take blood up?"
"That's disgusting." He said.
"it could work." She said. "Do you have any leads right now?"
"Not any involving vampires." He said.
"True."
***
"You know, I had this checked last week." He said, as the car sputtered to an end.
"No problem, I'll take a look." Xander said. At the girls' amused faces, he threw his hands up. "what? Xander Harris has done a few mechanical workings in his day."
He got out of the car and popped the hood. Buffy and Willow got out also and sat on the trunk while Xander and Leland discussed.
"As if I wasn't tired already." Willow said, laughing a little.
"Right. And to think, we're in the Big Apple and the first thing we see is Cujo, the fanged wonder." Buffy said.
"That detective was kinda cute though." She said.
"Willow?" Buffy asked.
"For you, I mean." She said, smiling.
"I don't know. I don't prefer to meet my men in the middle of the street."
"Not at all. You prefer to meet them while they're delivering cryptic messages or working for a top secret government underground agency."
"Right." Buffy said, and they laughed.
She pulled out the card that the girl gave her and looked at it. The nearby fluorescent signs advertising tattoo parlors and piercing pagodas lit her view enough.
"The Underground." She said. "how original."
"You thinking of partying?" Willow asked.
"No time. We have a vampire colony to find." She said.
"No worries." A voice said behind them.
They spun around and a pack of vampires had surrounded the car. She spotted Xander and Leland in the mix, guarded by some of the minions.
Buffy quickly did the math. Two in front of her, one of which was the leader. Four on the left and four on the right. Ten vampires. Against four people. And by the panicked look on Leland's face, she doubted that he knew much about fighting. Xander's eyes were sparked with a glimmer that she knew could only mean that he was thinking military again.
Buffy looked at Willow.
What were they going to do?
***
"I don't know." He said. "I really cant say that I believe any of this."
"I'm sending out a theory." She said. "I cant say its true or not, but I have a theory. And there's a whole lotta legend to back it up."
"But its all legend." He said.
"That too."
"Warehouse by the harbor, huh?"
"Yep."