Impending Death

by Ryo-Ohki

Set at the beginning of the fourth series. I lost the rest of it thanks to my disk breaking, I'd appreciate a review, so maybe I can start to write it again

Impending Death-Draft

Prologue

It was a night in early autumn, and Buffy Summers could smell the salt in the air. The 18 year old and her friends were walking along the beachfront waiting for something exciting to happen, Xander broke the silence " Penny for your thoughts Buff? " he searched the pocket of his trousers and brought up a coin "OK, a nickel for your thoughts" he gave her one of his 'well I tried didn't I?' looks.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking what a quiet night it's been.." Oz interrupted before she carried on "Famous last words" he did that cute little half smile that Willow loved, Willow was her usual perky self, holding onto Oz's hand. Buffy took a moment to take them both in, Over the years Willow had changed slightly becoming more assertive and she now had more confidence in herself, then she thought about Oz, the only thing that had changed about him in the two years that she'd known him was the colour of his hair, tonight it was a reddy orangey sort of colour which suited him quite well, and the other thing that she could think of was the full moon, Oz being a werewolf and all, she sort of felt sorry for him.

As if on cue Oz looked up at the moon, it was only half full but he all of a sudden seemed to become more quiet and distant than his usual unaffected self. "Oz " Willow asked, "What's wrong?" as if by magic Oz snapped out of it "Don't worry Will, I'm fine" he smiled once more then paused for a second stopping all of them in their tracks. He looked up at Buffy. "What is it Oz?" she asked him as his face looked as if it had an expression coming, which for Oz was very unusual "I'm not sure, something big and definitely not human, in that direction" He pointed east. Right then Xander perked up " Right, Slayerettes...." he looked at Buffy "...and Slayers, let's move out!" Buffy just smiled at him and took the lead, she was sure that, that Halloween had affected Xander a lot more than he led on.

As she watched the group of four move off, Taylor Parsons, or as her friends called her..., actually she had no friends, she was new around and didn't want to disturb the slayer and her friends..yet."So the famous Buffy" she said a smile appearing on her face "I have the oddest feeling that you're going to see me very soon". She got up from her little perch and followed the direction of the Scooby Gang, she moved silently almost blending into the black background, she added as she faded into the shadows "You're going to see me even if you don't realise it", a second later she was gone.

Weatherly Park wasn't exactly the safest place to be at night, but he didn't care, he was a vampire what could possibly hurt him? He was tuned in to everything, couples making out, other vampires, even the earthworms had a place in his mind, but that thing didn't, as he stared on a creature of literally huge proportions who had just killed a young boy, about eleven, and threw his empty shell of a body to the ground, but the vamp wasn't scared, infact he was curious what this thing was. At that precise moment the thing turned it's huge head around, literally 360-degree style, and stared at the vampire with endless grey eyes. It showed what could pass as a smile with the many teeth it had and made it's furry disgusting way over to the vampire. "Hi" the vampire said, "I think we could make a bad team if you get my drift" he nodded at the creature, in return to this the creature put one of it's huge claws straight through the vampire's torso. Right then the vampire had never been more afraid, alive or dead, he could barely see, and the last thing he saw for the second time since he had been walking the earth was a smiling set of teeth coming down on top of him.

Chapter 1

The gang got to the Sunnydale cemetery just in time to hear what they all recognised as the last fatal scream before the victim died. They moved in unison extremely quietly, Oz and Xander to the left and Willow and Buffy to the right, as they rounded a four legged hell beast. "Was anyone else not expecting this?", the thing on all fours replied to that "I know I wasn't". Buffy stared at it "Ooh a beast that can do more than growl. It's so shiny and new" her voice had obvious sarcasm the next comment however wasn't so obvious "Well new, yes, shiny? I'll have to disagree, Buff" Oz quipped as he lunged at the thing with a knife, he managed to scrape it before getting hit hard enough to send him reeling into a gravestone, head first, the hair at the back of his head became more red than it should've been too quickly as he laid there in a lack of consciousness. "Oz!" Willow shouted as she moved quickly to where he laid, lifeless. Now that worried Buffy, not only for Oz but for Willow as well, and that made her get really pissed . She turned quickly and shouted at Will "Get Oz out of here, take him to a hospital, and hurry he looks like he's lost a lot of blood" Willow nodded and lifted up Oz's head, and she started crying "Oz, don't die, not yet I'm going to get you some help". Buffy was too busy worrying about her best friend and had got sloppy, her first two punches missed but third time lucky she connected nicely with the thing's jaw. It hit back and hard she could see why Oz was on the floor. As she was getting up the thing went to attack her "Buffy, No!" a familiar voice screamed, Xander lunged at the thing and cut it pretty deep, then he was knocked practically out of the park, he hit the floor with a tremendous thud, he was stunned but still moving, so he would be ok.

Buffy stood staring at the beast, this time her voice had a more personal tone "Hey I'm the slayer why don't you come pick on me? afraid I might hurt you? Well guess what?" she looked at her friends "I will". The comment made the creature take his attention off the still moving, but only slightly Xander, he came toward her, but it was she that made the first move, a quick roundhouse kick to the face and a nicely placed kick to the body, the third kick was coming in but he grabbed her leg and pulled her to the ground, then pinned her to the ground, she tried to fight but he was too strong, she silently said sorry to her friends and just looked at the beast "It's not dinner time yet, mate" A voice said but this time she didn't recognise the voice, whoever it was seemed to rip the beast from on top of the Buffster and rammed a big blade into it's chest. It just fell to ground silently and the figure moved into the darkness turned around and said "So this is the Slayer, the werewolf, the witch, sorry wicca and Xander, glad to meet you all, you should really take him to a hospital" she pointed at Oz and started to move off "So are you some kind of vampire?" Buffy asked the mysterious stranger "Oh please, don't make me laugh, and no I'm not a demon before you even ask, now get your friend some help he's in a pretty bad way". Buffy turned to see Oz curled up in Willow's arms, when she turned back the figure had disappeared.

"Right so tell me exactly what happened, again" Rupert Giles ex-watcher of Buffy's was sitting next to Willow waiting for any news about Oz. The doctors had said they might not of caught it in time, and they also weren't too sure whether he'd wake up any time soon, or whether he would actually remember anything at all, they couldn't even visit him. Willow started to panic "Why do they need to look at him so long? Why can't I see him? What if he's dead? Even worse what if he's alive but never wakes up?" she was practically jumping up and down with anxiety. "Will, you know very well as long as you're here waiting for him, he'll never stop fighting, he loves you way too much" Buffy said honestly "You really think so?" Willow looked up at her "I know so." Buffy was speaking the truth, Oz would give anything for Willow and when she said anything she meant it, he would gladly give his life for hers and deep inside, Willow knew he would. "Buffy?" Giles said as a pencil moved across his face "Willow" he looked at the innocent girl and the pencil dropped "Sorry I'm just so nervous" Willow explained.

"I really do understand."

"It's just he's so young and there are so many more things I want to tell... if he goes I won't be able to bear it"

"Will I've already told you, he would fight hell back on his own if it was for you " Buff said. "Yeah but this isn't for me it's for himself, I'm not sure whether he can do it on his own" "Buffy I need to know what happened" Giles said once more "Sorry Giles, basically we were fighting this thing, and I was practically done for when this voice of a woman, kicked some ass, then left. But she knew us, that's what's worrying me. She called me slayer, Willow wicca, Oz werewolf and Xander, well Xander." Buffy explained "Are you sure this person was female?" Giles asked "Definitely"

"Did you see what she looked like?"

"No, sorry"

"So we're not totally sure what side she is on?"

"No, sorry"

"Who wants coffee?" Xander asked as he came into the room, he gave Willow a coffee, eventhough he knew how hyped she'd get. Giles took a tea, Buffy a chocolate, which left him with the other coffee. "Any news?" he asked, from the worried look on Will's face he guessed the answer was no.

Chapter 2

Taylor knew she should've stepped into help the slayer earlier, but she wanted to see the slayers amazing skills, and amazing they definitely were. She was on her way to the hospital, to see if she could help the slayer or one of her friends heal. She had thought of a spell to help the werewolf's condition as long as she had the little wiccan's help maybe she could even pull it off, back in Wales she was a wicca herself and when she had noticed that she had got into U.C.Sunnydale, she thought just maybe she'd be able to team up with the slayer and her friends and maybe even brush up on her hunting skills. Four years as a wicca and three as a vampire/demon hunter gave at least some experience to help the Scooby Gang with. Taylor had, had a great knowledge of the slayer and her buddies, she knew practically everything about them, you wouldn't believe what you can find on the Internet or beat out of the local vamps, so she was up to date on the Sunnydale gossip.

As she entered the room where the slayer and her friends were sitting she knew all she had to do was say a few words and the slayer would recognise her, she didn't fancy trying to convince the legendary Buffy that she had saved her life. She decided to take the chance. "I think I can help him" she said, Taylor was right the slayer did recognise her "It's you, what are you doing here?" Taylor stood in silence and studied the group, The slayer herself was athletic and healthy, the middle aged guy, her ex-watcher Taylor guessed, Mr Rupert Giles if she wasn't mistaken. Willow Rosenburg seemed to be the most distraught out of them, and who could blame her after all the werewolf was her boyfriend. Finally, the normal guy they call Xander he had come in handy many a time , but he got himself nearly killed alot more often. "I think I can help the wolf, I mean Oz" before Buffy got to ask the extremely young looking girl anymore questions Willow stepped in "How?" she asked desperately. "First answer me this, how is he?"

" They don't know "

"So he's still unconscious?"

"Yep"

"Not to sound evil or anything, but that's good, it should make the spell work a hell of a lot easier" all of a sudden Willow became even more interested, if that was possible, as this might be the only way to save her boyfriend. "Spell?" she asked "Yes a simple incantation, basically we make a triangle and you should really relax because I've never done this precise spell before. I will be the thing connecting your two minds. All he needs is you Willow to get him out, you are his only concern no matter what. Only problem is that if the bond is disturbed in any way all three of us could be lost forever." Giles stepped in right there "Wait a minute who are you? and why should we trust you?" Taylor only replied "You'll just have to trust me ok? and my name is Taylor Par..." Xander interrupted "Taylor? Isn't that a boys name?" Taylor just looked at him with his puppy dog eyes, then said bluntly "My parents were disappointed, sons is the rest of my name". Buffy stood up "You're not from around here are you Taylor?" Taylor just said "No I'm from Wales but I know a lot about the Hellmouth, it fascinates me, I've been accepted at the local U.C." Buffy was still stuck on the word Wales, the last person she can remember from there was Ian, a Druid, true he had two brothers, but Ian was the one that stuck in Buffy's mind They had met last year. Also she remembered they had an evil uncle, and they did tell Oz that they might be able to cure him, and that they went back to Wales. "I'm sure it'll work anyway, if I was going to trick you , I would use a spell that isn't so dangerous for myself." Buffy realised that Taylor was most likely telling the truth and she wasn't about to risk Oz's life over some minor trust issues. "Fine then I'll go to the dorm and that little shop, got an ingredients list?" Buffy asked Taylor "Sure here" she reached into the little bag she was carrying and pulled out the blade she had used earlier as well as a stake before she found a piece of paper. "Here it isn't very long but it's all I need, every ingredient is important. Also I think either you or Xander or Mr. Giles should go on patrol it's very dangerous out there lately, we'll wait until we can go in to help Oz." Buffy nodded and left the room.

He had just arrived a few hours before dawn, but he couldn't find the slayer or her friends anywhere. He had heard through his own sources that the slayer was in trouble, as he moved towards her house for the second time, he noticed Joyce Summers pulling up the drive way and went to greet her. "Hi Joyce" she looked over at him "Angel? is that you?" he smiled as he came into the house after Joyce. "You haven't seen Buffy have you, it's a matter of life and death" he then realised how that referred to him and fell silent "I haven't seen her tonight but I'm sure she'll be ok" she glanced at the phone, "oh, messages!" she pressed the little button and the voice said "You have one new message" followed by Buffy's voice "Mom, I just want you to know that Oz is in hospital, pretty bad, it's not looking very good. Anyway I was wondering if you go to the hospital and keep Willow company, she's really upset and I have to go to work.Ok? Bye....oh wait! New girl, Taylor, keep an eye on her, she and Willow will fill you in. Thanks, love you loads bye!" A look of shock had settled in on Joyce's face and even though he and Oz weren't exactly close Angel did feel extremely sad. Oz had been the only one keeping the cool in the group, he was untouchable, but now this had thrown the entire balance out of whack. "Oh my god!" Joyce was still in shock, Angel looked at her "Let's get to the hospital" he said as he guided Joyce through the front door.

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Buffy had seen many a disgusting thing, but this was new. Slimy is definitely another word she would use to describe it, yes, slimy. "Well looky here, had a bad cold?" The gooey thing totally ignored her. "Oh come on you can at least react to my little slayer quips!" she said while trying to get a firm grip on the thing, she couldn't. "eeewwww!" Buffy gave up on that approach and kicked the thing where it's stomach seemed to be, her leg definitely had contact, she guessed, as it was stuck, she couldn't move it. "Hey, let go! This is mine you can't have it, seeing as it's attached to my body" with that the thing roared and attacked, totally engulfing her. Buffy's sight became slightly blurred and blue, this is when she thought I'm in the thing....gross! There was something out there, something in the dark, but she couldn't make it out until a hand grabbed her and forcefully pulled her out of the creature. "Buffy, you ok?" Now this was a voice she knew and missed, "Angel?" she whispered "I'm here don't worry, come on let's get out of here, your mom's on her way to the hospital for Willow." she picked her self up and said "But what about him?" she pointed to the creature, "He's what I came to warn you about, and many others, I came prepared" Angel reached inside his duster and pulled out a box, which he emptied on top of the thing and then watched it dissolve. "Salt, a lot of it, these things sort of forget how much absorbing power it has" He smiled down at her, "I was about to do that". They walked off into the blackness.

**********************************

Willow jumped up as a male doctor walked into the room where she and Taylor were waiting. Buffy had come back to give the ingredients to Taylor about an hour ago, and then left taking Giles and Xander with her. "Is he alright?" Willow asked anxiously "We're not sure yet, but he is stable" the doctor replied frankly "Can I see him?" Willow stared the doctor straight in the eyes "Yeah sure, just try to keep it quiet ok?" he pointed out the way to Oz's room "Thanks a lot" she said smiling, just then she noticed that Taylor wasn't getting up to follow her, she looked distant, as if in her own little world, as if this one didn't exist, but it did. "Taylor?" Taylor broke out of that little train of thought and looked up "huh?" then she realised what was happening and picked up her bag "Yeah, sure, right there, yep, uh-huh". They went to leave when Joyce ran into the room "Oh my God WillowIs he alright?" she was honestly concerned, and that made her fell a little better. "We're about to go to visit him..coming?" Joyce smiled "As long as I'm not intruding" she nodded over to Taylor who returned the friendly gesture. They were escorted into a room where Oz was laying still on the bed, Willow walked over and held his lifeless hand "Hey Oz, it's me although I know you already know this, or maybe you don't, maybe you don't remember me, maybe you don't even remember yourself." Taylor just looked up and smiled "That's why we're here" Joyce was slightly, just slightly, confused "You're here to do what exactly?" as Willow explained, Taylor set up the spell "..so we sort of need you to keep watch to make sure that no one disturbs the spell." Joyce added "Or you might die" Willow smiled "Precisely". A figure came into the doorway "Buffy filled me in, I'm here to help." Willow looked up to see a very familiar face "Angel? Ok, Mrs Summers will fill you in." Angel just stepped into the room when Taylor popped up "You're Angel? I was expecting you to be slightly darker, or look more mischievous, or something. Why aren't you in L.A.?" Angel stepped back slightly "Taylor, I presume. I'm here because I was informed that Buffy might be in danger." He looked over at Oz "How is he?" Willow looked at the people in the room with confidence "He'll be alright, can you just make sure that no one comes in the room, it's very important." She smiled at him "Yeah sure" Taylor looked up "Willow, the spell is ready" As Willow got into position Angel and Joyce left to stand guard, Angel took one last look at the three of them within the Wiccan symbol.

Chapter 3

Xander moved between the trees as if he was the slayer herself, stake in hand and knife in pocket, he rounded a park bench before he saw the thing. He had never seen anything like it, and he had seen many a thing. It was gigantic, it had two huge claws, no, blades where it's hands should've been, and it was covered in hair. It turned it's head around and just stared at Xander, Xander was petrified, he wanted to sprint as far away from this thing as possible but the things gaze wouldn't let him. The thing's deep grey eyes had Xander pinned like a rabbit in car headlights. It made its way slowly towards him teeth showing and still Xander could not move "Look" he pleaded "Just let me go, you kill me and the slayer is going to be immensely pissed." The creature just came right up to Xander, as he said his last goodbyes to the world, and lifted its blade-like claws to about three inches from his neck, Xander had gave up when from nowhere a crossbow bolt hit the thing in the chest. "Xander run, you only have a few seconds before it regains its concentration." It was Giles shouting from some bushes behind him, Xander guessed as he was sprinting away at full speed. A thought came into his mind; not even wolfy-Oz could catch him at this speed. He ran through the woods as if they didn't even exist as he reached a road he glanced around looking for the van, Willow had given him the keys just in case of emergencies such as this one. As he got into the driver's side of the van he heard a bang as Giles ran from the woods and got into the van "Drive for God's sake man!" Xander quickly turned on the ignition and pulled away just as the creature cleared the woods. Xander put his foot on the gas and sped out of there leaving the creature in a cloud of smoke.

Buffy had just got out of the shower and walked into her bedroom. She was already changed from the clothes that she was wearing when she fought that slimy thing "Ok no matter how much I wash, I will never be clean" She told herself. While she grabbed some salt from the kitchen, she heard a car pull up outside, she automatically assumed that it was her mom. She went outside to greet her when she saw the van and Giles and Xander coming toward her "What's up?". "What's not up, is more of an appropriate question." Xander said as he reached her. "Buffy, there is a huge creature the likes we have never faced before out there, he had Xander pinned down, totally helpless" Buffy looked at Giles confused "That's meant to surprise me how? No offence Xand." He just smiled at her, Giles finished his sentence "By just looking at him." Buffy just laughed it off "Oh come on..Pat, mom's friend, she could do that and I got rid of her didn't I?" Giles looked at her, his serious face appeared. "Buffy this is bigger than Ovu Mobani, much bigger and more agile, Ovu.. Pat paralysed you for a very short time, this creature can keep you like it for as long as it likes." Buffy then realised that this was slightly more serious than she had first thought, but she couldn't let them know that could she? "Don't worry Giles we'll deal, we always do. Now I've had enough of Slaying tonight, we'll research big beastie in the morning. I'm going to tell my mom she can go home and that I'll take over. You guys need your rest, you're my research people." Giles pushed his glasses up from the bottom of his nose. "Fair enough, we shall see you tomorrow, come on Xander I'll take you home." he led Xander off as he said two last words "Be careful." They drove off and Buffy started walking in the opposite direction.

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Taylor looked around the hospital room she checked to see whether everything was in it's right place, the candles, the people, the symbol and the ingredients, she couldn't concentrate on what she was doing, she could sense something was wrong. "Taylor?" Willow said "Are you ready?" Taylor just looked at her "Yeah, sure just close your eyes and try to focus on Oz." Willow gave a little laugh "No trouble doing that." Then total silence descended upon the room, the electricity had turned off and there was only the light from the candles. As Taylor tried her best to start the spell, the ingredients started to float and took all three of the people with them, Taylor spoke in Latin as each ingredient disappeared.

Buffy had just arrived at the hospital to see her mom and her one and only true love standing outside a room she guessed was Oz's. "Mom you can go home now, I know you're tired." Joyce looked up at her daughter "Yes, thank you. Give my best to Willow and Oz." She called as she slowly left the corridor. "Bye mom." Buffy whispered "How's it going?" she asked Angel, he just looked blankly "I've no idea." Buffy made her way to the window and peaked through to see the three of them supported by magickal energy in the air, she noticed that they were spinning slowly and Taylor was speaking, It was as if 4th of July had come early, the amount of colours that were in the room. "I can't make out what she's saying, can you?". He took a look through the window and turned to her. "I know it's Latin but without getting closer I can't make out specific words." They decided it would look a little less suspicious if they sat down, and that's what they did.

"I call upon thee Godesses, to help these mortals see the light, help me connect them together as one mind, as one voice" Taylor finished the last words off as the last ingredient disappeared into thin air. All of their eyes widened as the power infront of them inhabited their bodies. Next thing she knew Taylor was waking up in a room, plain white, with Willow and Oz still in the circle, as she got up Oz and Willow woke. Willow spoke first "Did it work?" Taylor answered "I think so, but I'm, not supposed to be here, I just connected your two mind..s, Oh god!" That made Willow get up "What?" Taylor looked at her "I said the incantation wrong, I left out the word 'two' while I asked to be able to connect you. I said mortals which includes me, this gives me something else to deal with." Oz spoke for the first time "Right first, who are you? second, what's going on? Third, what do you mean by something else? Lastly what happened to me?" He was actually confused. Taylor did her best to explain "One, I'm Taylor Parsons, Welsh Wicca. Two, we're trying to perform a spell to bring you out of a coma, the doctors say you don't look too good. Three, I mean I have to try to hold the spell together while trying to get you out of here, so forgive me if I collapse in immense pain. Four? I think I should let girlfriend explain this one." Yet again the confused look "Girlfriend?" At that Willow stepped back "I knew it! I knew you wouldn't be able to remember..." She started to cry, and he ran up and hugged her "Joking Will, how could I possibly not remember you?" he kissed her forehead. "Oz? You remember?" He looked her in the eyes "I don't know, would you care to remind me?" he asked her "With pleasure" She replied as they embraced in a passionate kiss. Taylor looked away and coughed, "Sorry guys, but can we get a move on, there's plenty of time for that in the real world." Willow explained to Oz what had happened while Taylor took the lead and opened the door. As she reached for the doorknob, she was momentarily transported back to the real world, where she saw that they were starting to come down, when she came back again Oz and Willow were standing above her "You ok Taylor?" Willow asked her, she gave Willow a reassuring smile. "Yeah just give me a minute, will ya?" Oz just nodded and pulled Willow from above her. Taylor sat up and concentrated all of her energy into trying to keep them in the air, it worked. "Right then, I'm ready" Willow helped her to her feet and all three of them left the room.

Chapter 4

Buffy couldn't take it for much longer "What's taking them so long", by now she was pacing the corridor, "It sounded like a pretty delicate operation, might take some time" Angel reassured her as two doctors came around the corner. "I'm going to check on room 1452, ok?" Buffy realised that that was Oz's room and started to panic, what was she going to do, punch the doctor. At that moment Angel just collapsed to the floor. "Oh my god!" the doctor said as he checked Angel's pulse. He then looked up at Buffy "He's dead." but she didn't mind after all he had been dead for about 250 years it was just a very good distraction, she also knew what was coming up. Angel opened his eyes, got up and started to walk away, the doctor ran to catch up with him "You're dead, how are you?" Angel just smiled "I'm not dead, I think you've had too many hours on the job, take some rest." The doctor was extremely confused "Yeah maybe you're right, I'm gonna go sit down" and with that the doctor left. "Angel" Buffy said "You should get home, the mansion, anywhere, it's nearly dawn." he just smiled at her and left.

"I've had enough of this" Taylor said exhausted as they walked down the same road for the sixth time. "So this is my mind, kinda freaky." Oz said as he stared through The Espresso Pump into nothing "Yep I stand by my first statement". They walked around searching for something that could be like a key. "Right Oz is there somewhere or thing, but not person we already have that, that you have like a connection with?" Taylor asked but Willow answered. "The Bronze, his guitar and his van." Oz nodded over to Willow and took her hand "You know me so well... I can't decide whether that's a good or a really disturbing thing. The band would be another but they're people so they don't count." he smiled at her. "Right so I recommend we find those things." Taylor said as they moved off, Taylor stopped and looked around "But how do we do that." Oz sniffed the air and took the lead willow directly behind him "Like this" she said as Oz explained "Everything has it's own smell living or not" But Taylor wasn't listening, she was too busy actually looking at them, a couple in love and this wasn't just like a two month thing this was it, the way they looked at each other, they may not of realised it yet but they must've been the two luckiest people alive. In a way she envied them. Taylor herself had always found it difficult to show her real feelings to anyone, she could never tell whether this was the real thing, she was too influenced by other people, there was one, for two years they went out until he broke her heart, they had talked it over and they were going to make another try at it when a vampire attacked and broke his neck. What the vamp didn't realise was that was the biggest mistake the thing had ever made, that's when it vamped out and came after her. She knew what it was and ran but it caught her, a couple of its friends came along and they circled her, she had never been so afraid her entire life, when someone came along and dusted the whole lot of them, that was when she decided to become a vampire hunter, the main change in her entire life, now she was here, and she was still living, she had saved many people but she still couldn't rescue herself. All of a sudden an enormous pain came over her and she fell to the floor. Willow turned just in time to see Taylor's body crumple to the ground, "Oh God, Oz" she said as she ran to help Taylor up. Oz came a split second later and helped Taylor to her feet, "You Ok?" he asked her "No not really" she replied "We have to hurry, not much time left.". With that Oz ran off only stopping to let Will and Taylor catch up. They sped around the corner to where the Bronze was meant to be but instead they ran into Oz's street, and came up to Oz's house. "Oh great, another dead end." Taylor sighed "No I don't think so" Oz looked over at her, he walked up to the house and went through the door, Taylor and Willow quickly followed. As they walked through the door they were at the bronze, the stage, the coffee bar, the tables, everything was there. "Cool, Oz your attention to detail is disturbing, it looks exactly like the actual Bronze." Willow said as she looked around "I really agree" Oz said smiling over to her. They looked around the inside of the Bronze and they were about to check outside when a few vamps came along. "Oz!" Taylor screamed "What are they doing here?" Oz looked up "When you live in Sunnydale vamps are always part of your mind" he said to her "You up to it?" Willow asked Taylor, as she scanned the room "Sure" Taylor replied as she got up and walked towards the pool table. A vamp attacked her she went to dodge it but it took her down as she reached for the pool cue. Oz stepped out of the way the first time one attacked him, ducked a punch from another and quickly punched it in the face with a follow through head butt, "That actually hurt" he said as he got sweeped at the legs by a vamp behind him. Willow was being cornered by two vamps, "Um..guys?" she looked over to see that Taylor and Oz weren't exactly in the best situations themselves. She stared at the vampires as they put on their feeding faces. "Willow!" Taylor shouted as she pushed the vamp off herself and grabbed the pool cue and rammed it straight through the vamp on the floor, by the time it turned to dust she was already next to one of the vamps that were attacking Will, it attacked first, Taylor used the cue as a defensive weapon, blocking punches with it, then the vamp grabbed the cue with both hands and Taylor sweeped it with her leg. Oz had managed to stand up and he looked over the room to Willow and Taylor, who were both managing quite well, but he had three vamps against him not one. He did what any sane person would've done, and ran. He saw a stool and broke it, he picked up two of the stakes he had just created "Willow!" he yelled as he threw one her way, it landed on the ground and Will dived for it. With the other stake he looked at the vamps "Sort of evens up the odds, doesn't it" he said to them before he attacked, he staked the first one with ease, then he just danced out of the way of the other two. Willow had grabbed the stake but was then pinned by a vampire to the ground she couldn't move, she looked over to see Taylor getting hit to the floor by what looked like an agonisingly painful blow to the stomach, she got up amazingly quickly and returned the punishment, two roundhouse kicks to the stomach followed by one to the face, the vamp went down as Taylor grabbed her makeshift stake and ploughed it into the vamps chest. Willow took the new girls lead and just rolled over quickly to catch the vamp off balance she got up and staked it. Then she turned to see Oz being pushed back towards a wall "Oz" she whispered as she ran over to him. Taylor took over Willow before she got there and started to hit the first vamp, Willow and Oz pushed the other one against a wall. Taylor went for the defensive again with the cue, this time though when the vamp grabbed the cue it pushed it back so it was caught underneath Taylor's chin. It caught her out and hit her against a wall, then picked her up, she was choking. Taylor tried kicking the vamp but to no avail. "H...he...help!" she tried to say as her oxygen supply was cut off and her world became black. Oz held the vamp down as Willow staked it. Then he turned to see Taylor close her eyes, her body had stopped moving. "No" he said as he staked the vamp that was holding Taylor with the cue she was using as her weapon. As the vamp turned to dust Taylor fell, she had been about two feet off the floor, not for long, but for enough to render her helpless. Willow had came over and was beside Taylor before she had totally waken up. "Are they gone?" Taylor asked faintly. "Yeah all done" Oz said as he and Willow guided her to the back exit of the Bronze. They opened the door to see the van. "This is it!" Willow said as they went through the door, then a pure white light blinded Taylor before she felt the bang as she hit the floor. She slowly opened her eyes to reveal, the hospital room they had started the spell in. She sighed as she got up aided by a hand, she followed the arm until she saw a face "Buffy?" she said. "Yes, how did it go?" she asked "Unexpectantly well" Taylor replied. Willow coughed as she woke. Taylor waved Buffy on before she went to help Willow "I'm fine, best friend over there". As Buffy saw to Willow Taylor grabbed her bag and went to leave. Willow's voice stopped her. "Where are you going?" she asked "To my dorm I'm totally nackered." a look of confusion came upon Will's face "Sorry tired." she smiled then Buffy spoke "We're having a study group at Giles' house, if you want to come, meet us..me at the library about midday ok?" Taylor looked at the two of them, "No problem." she called as she left.

Xander hadn't been able to sleep all night, that thing had disturbed him a lot more than even he knew. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was its deep grey eyes, and that really had him freaked, he knew he was breaking up into a sweat, but he didn't care he was really petrified. He stared out the tiny window of his basement/bedroom, by now it was mid morning, about ten and he didn't have to be at Giles' until at least twelve-thirty. With that he got up and dressed and went to leave his room as he thought, maybe a trip to Anya's will take my mind off 'Big Beastie'.

Chapter 5

Buffy was waiting outside Oz's room, to be more precise she was waiting for Willow so maybe she could get some rest. It had been a hard, long night but she had..they had got through it. This was when she heard some 'giddy' laughter from the room, and she guessed Oz was awake. She decided to leave them alone to talk very quietly about what had happened, but no such luck doctors had poured into Oz's room, most likely wondering how he had woke up so early, she didn't have the heart to tell Will but only a couple of hours earlier, she had heard some doctors talking about Oz as if he was a total no-hope. They proved them wrong and she was glad. After a few of the doctors had cleared the room in pure astonishment, Buffy decided to visit the by now overjoyed couple, or at least the overjoyed Willow and the slightly out of it Oz. "Hey" she said as walked in and Willow gave her a smile and Oz a weak wave. "How are you feeling?" she asked Oz "Huge headache, focusing on that at the moment." Buffy smiled "Rough night huh?". Willow got up "Are we going to Giles'?" she asked Buffy "Not yet, have to pick up Taylor, and don't you want to stay here?" Willow looked back at Oz "He needs his rest, and I really want to know what that thing was anyway." Oz spoke "You need your rest as well Will, and you Buff." to that Buffy just laughed "No rest for the slayer!" Willow added "Or her wiccan buddy, at least for today anyway." She turned to face Oz "Get better!" She instructed him before kissing him and leaving with Buffy.

Taylor was waiting in front of the giant, on-campus library, she had picked up a few books, the 'Book of Shadows' was every wicca's must read book. It was extremely common in the libraries she had researched in Wales. She also picked up a few books with basic spells in and brought along her own books with some of the more complicated stuff in. Altogether she was carrying six books and it was getting slightly awkward she turned around to take in the library one more time, before she was banged into. She hit the floor, hard. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to" she was picked up by an extremely strong hand, "What the hell do you?.." she started then she saw his face, strong face yet gentle blue piercing eyes. With really dark hair. They stayed staring at each other for about a minute, he was of medium build and height and she liked it. As they both realised what they were doing they got up and said in unison "I'm sorry" They looked at each other one more time and laughed "Jay" he said as he reached for her hand, she took it. "Taylor" when they realised that they were staring at each other again another five minutes had past. "Oh I'm sorry let me get those for you." He reached down and picked up her books only stopping to look at the last one "The Book of Shadows?" he asked "So you're interested in witchcraft then?" she looked up surprised. "The supernatural in general actually. It's really interesting." She was caught up in his eyes again. "Look I'm sorry.." she began "Don't be." he told her as Buffy came up "Hey Taylor, how is going?" Taylor very briefly glanced over to her "Oh hey Buffy, Jay, Buffy, Buffy, Jay. I'm really sorry but I have to go." she said to Jay after she had quickly introduced them to each other. "No problem, Hey! how about I see you at the Bronze tonight around eight?" Taylor looked at him then at Buffy, who was nodding "Yeah sure why not?" she smiled at him "Great, I'll see you there then" he smiled back, and Taylor almost melted. Buffy had to drag her back into reality. "Come on Taylor" Taylor looked at her and then followed her down the steps nodding slightly to Jay as she did so. As soon as they were clear of the steps Taylor spoke "Oh my god, he was cute!" Buffy recognised the signs and enjoyed them "Why didn't you stop me? now I have to go on a date with someone I literally just bumped into." Buffy just smiled at her "He was cute, and I didn't stop you because I knew it was what you wanted." Taylor slyly smiled "Ok, true." They laughed some more as they exited the building.

Rupert 'Ripper' Giles had just finished making cups of tea, he placed them on a tray and carried them into his darkened living room where Angel, Xander and Anya were sitting. Angel had arrived slightly before dawn for somewhere to hide from the sun. Anya and Xander had turned up about ten minutes ago, they each took tea except for Angel, who of course didn't need it. "When is the study session beginning?" Xander asked "As soon as Buffy and maybe Willow get here." Giles said straightly as he prepared the coffee table with biscuits and doughnuts that Xander had brought along, with that there was a knock at the door and they could hear laughter. As Giles opened the door Taylor, Willow and Buffy stumbled in laughing. Xander was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind "What's the big funny?" With that the girls stopped, "Oh just our lives and how they really suck at the moment." Buffy answered. "Oh, good to know that your lives suck that much more than mine." Anya said sarcastically, after all she used to be a demon, with the power of the Wish, but they had taken it away from her, making her a normal teenager, and she didn't like it, she was eleven hundred and twenty years old not eighteen. Taylor became serious and just stood at the doorway. "Come on in, make yourself at home." Giles told her even though he still didn't really trust her. He knew nothing about her, why should he? "So Taylor, before we start, why don't you tell us more about yourself and why you're here?" she looked at the floor for a second, then looked him straight in the eyes "Fine. My name is Taylor Parsons I'm 18 years old, even though many people have told me that I don't look it. I have been a wicca for around four years now and a vampire stroke demon hunter for about three. For a whole year I worked alone, but I couldn't keep it to myself so I told my best mate Darren about it and he decided to help me with the killing. Anyway we've been working well for the past two years, then I was accepted into U.C. Sunnydale. I left Darren there to take care of the hunting, I think he's got himself a sidekick by now, he was going to ask Jen, when you're a normal human taking on the undead it's better to work as a team. I've only been here a few weeks, and so far I'm enjoying it. That's about it. Satisfied?" Giles was slightly speechless "Yes thank you" Taylor sat down on the floor "Can we please get on with the book reading." Giles had the sneaking suspicion that Taylor wasn't telling them everything and motioned for Buffy to come to the kitchen for a private talk. She followed him. "What's up?" Buffy asked him "Do you trust Taylor?" He asked her "Yeah she doesn't seem evil, and I've had no spidersense type thing about her, why?" Buffy just stared at him waiting for an answer "Well I just get the feeling she isn't telling us everything." He explained to her "I know what you mean, but maybe it's a real personal thing. Anyway I'm not going to bug her about it she's got a very important date tonight. I'll try to talk to her tomorrow ok?" he nodded at her as they walked back into the living room "Buffy can I just have a quick word?" Taylor said "Sure" Buffy gestured to the door and they left. As soon as Buffy had pulled the door so it was lightly closed she turned to Taylor "What's wrong?" Taylor looked up quickly "Oh nothing like that. I just wanted to thank you for helping me get my first date in the three years that I have been a hunter." Buffy looked at her shocked, "You're kidding me?" Taylor shook her head "No, I guess I just haven't let anyone get too close to me since the start of it." This raised Buffy's suspicion of the young looking girls past, but she didn't bring it up, it was obviously hurting Taylor deep inside, she didn't need Buffy to make it worse. As they walked back in they heard the middle of a conversation between Angel and Xander "So you think that these slimy things are....Mutant Turtles?" "Mutah Taryl" the vampire replied. Buffy spoke "So that is what attacked me last night?" She pointed to more than accurate picture of the thing in a book that Willow was holding. "Yep, Anya and Giles are working on that thing that attacked us last night and Xander's trying to find the thing that had him hanging on a thread." Willow explained the entire of the study plan. Taylor spoke next "I'll help Xander find..whatever he's looking for." Xander looked up "Help much appreciated" he smiled at her. "And I'll...Do weapons detail." Buffy said moving towards the famous trunk. She felt slightly out of place. The hours past like minutes as Willow went to help Anya and Giles and Angel helped Taylor and Xander. They came up with nothing. At seven 'o' clock Taylor looked up at the time "Oh god," she said "I've got to go to get ready for my date" She went to leave "I mean if that's alright with you guys" Buffy looked at her and smiled "Sure I know how important this is for you" Taylor nodded and smiled with obvious appreciation and gratitude, she mouthed the words, "Thank You" and left.

Jay was waiting for Taylor to show up, it was only five past eight, but he couldn't help feeling anxious. It was the first time he'd ever acted on pure instinct and just asked a girl out, and it had worked! At least he thought it had, but there was still no sign of her, so he decided that he had just been stood up and sat down by the bar. "Hey" a voice said behind him. He turned to see Taylor dressed in black jeans and a short sleeved black top. "I know what you're thinking, but it's comfortable and that's what I want to be right now." She explained her outfit, but he was really thinking of how good she looked in them. He was wearing a 'Rip Curl' shirt and some black trousers. They talked over their cappuccino's for over an hour. It was as if they had knew each other for years they shared some views and disagreed on..other, things "No way Gambit is so the best male X-man" Taylor said to him "Oh come on Wolverine is much more superior." to that Taylor just grinned "That may be true, but everything is about him and his past, at least Gambit has some kind of sense of humour." It was his turn to smile "Now that, I will have to agree with." With that the lights went out and the conversation had to come to an end "Good evening ladies and gentleman, we are now in total control of the building and you are all free to leave except you!" a spotlight pinned out Taylor blinding her for a short time. The voice she knew and was very sorry to hear. It was Darren, "I recommend the rest of you leave quietly through the exit to the left of the main room." Taylor turned to Jay "Do me a favour call this number and ask for Buffy, tell her I need help, and old friend has come to visit." Jay just stared at her "But I can't leave you alone" She told him directly "If you want me to have any chance of surviving this you will." she smiled "Fine I will." He went to leave but not before kissing her lightly on the cheek. As soon as he went through the door it slammed shut and the light turned back on. She was surrounded by twelve maybe even fifteen vamps. "I'm so sorry Dar. I shouldn't of left you there." he jumped off the stage "I'm not sorry and no you shouldn't have left." she looked up at him "You sure don't waste any time making new friends do you? What happened to Jen?" She asked him "It just seemed like so many others supported my ideas of killing you, and Jen? on our first mission together I was killed and she was my first meal." she looked around confused "You mean all these vamps are Welsh?" he smiled "Every single one of them" she stared at him "I'm not going to fight you." she told him "Good" he said his game face now upon him "It'll make killing you a lot easier."

Jay ran down the street to the closest phone booth and started frantically dialling numbers. When the phone on the other end rang it only did so once before it was picked up. "Hello, Rupert Giles speaking." Jay just splurted out words "Buffy please" was all he could manage "Why?" asked the man on the other end "It's a emergency" Jay said "Alright hang on." The voice disappeared and a girls voice carried on the conversation. "Hello?" Jay felt relieved though he had no idea why "Buffy, it's Jay. We met earlier, briefly. Anyway Taylor said to tell you that she needs help, and old friend has come to visit." Buffy's tone became more alert "Where is she?" Jay said as quickly as he could "Locked in the Bronze, alone.." he went to carry on but Buffy had already hung up.

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"Tay, I studied you fight for two whole years, so do you really think you can beat me?" Darren said as Taylor went into fighting stance. "No, but that won't stop me trying" she said as she swiftly pulled a stake from the little bag she carried everywhere. Two vamps attacked her, she ducked the first one, and quickly staked the second. "Stand back" Darren commanded them "Create a ring if she tries to escape then you can have at her, but until then, She's mine." He moved towards her, she rolled and stood up directly in front of him, she punched him to the jaw and to the stomach, dodging whatever he threw at her, until he kicked her square in the chest. she went flying onto the pool table, and moaned, Darren moved up over her and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. She was still trying to focus from hitting the table as he threw her onto a glass cabinet, after she smashed through it she tried getting up, but was kicked in the head by her old best friend. She was unconscious. He stood over holding chains. "Tie her to the table, I plan on making it a very long night." he said as two vamps lifted Taylor up and glass fell from her body. Another vamp took the chains from Darren's hand and followed the two carrying the hunter's body toward the pool table.

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Buffy stood in Giles' house waiting for the rest of the gang to collect weapons as she picked up the crossbow, with three bolts and a stake for good measure. They were one man down tonight so Buffy had asked Anya to help, and she had agreed, which had pleasantly surprised her. "Ok, Angel and I will go on ahead to assess the situation, We'll meet you in the van at the back of the club ok?" she looked at the gang, only Xander spoke "It sounds like a plan to me." Anya looked slightly confused "Why are we going to help her? It's not as if we know her or anything, come on it's not as if it's Xander or anyone like that." Willow gave her a quick glance "She helped me and Oz out and Buffy, so I think it's time we repaid the favour." Buffy nodded to her as she led them out the door with Angel bringing up the rear.

When the gang got there, Angel Buffy headed for the roof while the rest stayed in the safety of the van. Peering through a window at the top of the Bronze, Buffy and Angel could see Taylor, unconscious and pretty beaten up, chained to the pool table standing above was a main vamp. They were both surrounded by fourteen vamps as Buffy had counted.

When Taylor opened her eyes she had to squint as a huge surge of pain washed over her, her face and back were hurting her the most but she would cope as long as she got out of this situation. The glare from the light just to the left of her hurt. She tried to turn her head away but a hand was holding her still. "About time you woke up" Darren's voice sounded from somewhere above her, "I'm going to give you one more chance to fight me, you feel up to it?" he asked as if he cared "Anytime" she replied "You will fight some of the others first, as a sort of warm up" "No problem" Taylor said as the chains were released from her body, she tried to stand but she became extremely dizzy and almost fell to the floor, but she wasn't about to give up, not yet. She picked up her stake and looked straight into Darren's soulless eyes "Bring them on" she taunted him as he signalled for one vamp to attack her. Even in her weakened state she moved quickly, she was too fuelled by anger over the brutal killing of her best friend, to let pain worry her. She blocked the first two punches and counteracted with two roundhouse kicks to the face, she cringed in pain as the second one made contact, she had stretched herself a little too far, but a little she could cope with. She turned quickly and plunged the stake deep into the male vampire's heart. He only had enough time to look down before he turned to dust. She looked up at Darren "Next" she was purposely trying to anger him, so she could fight him and get it over with, either live or die. Darren motioned for two vamps to attack her this time, one male and one female. The woman attacked first, that was her first and last mistake, even though Taylor was facing the male, she drove the stake backwards, dusting the woman. "That was way too easy" she said to the male one infront of her "You just killed my wife" She smiled, she had hit a nerve "No offence, actually, yes, offence definitely intended, she was a little on the fat side." With that the vamp roared and lunged for her, she swiftly side stepped and tripped the creature up. She rammed the stake into it's heart before it even had a clue what was going on. "Enough!" Darren shouted "It's time" Taylor was out of breath and becoming tired, but that didn't stop her accepting the challenge "I'm ready" With that they stood staring at each other, it was like a showdown, a major freeze frame moment.

Buffy and Angel had been watching, from above and were amazed at Taylor's determination to finish the fight, even though she looked as if she could've just collapsed and died right there and then, but she didn't. It was Buffy's turn to watch the girl fight, and she could certainly take care of herself, but it was totally obvious that she had run herself down and she was totally out numbered. After watching Taylor dust one more vamp it seemed that she turned her attention to the leader of the gang, and it was also totally obvious that she wouldn't be able to survive the fight. "Buffy I think it's about time we make our move." Angel said from beside her. "Let's go" she said as she got up to join him, they moved quickly and climbed down the side of the Bronze to the van, as she opened the side door she said "Come on guys, it's time." They all got up as Angel went back to the roof to open the door from the inside. Buffy, Willow and Xander stayed at the back entrance while, Anya and Giles went round the front to wait for Angel.

Taylor looked at him "Well what are you waiting for? Bring it on!" To that Darren smirked "I'm savouring the moment, you know I'll want to live this over and over again so I could see you beg for your life before I kill you, and if you're lucky I'll bring you over to our side." Taylor just laughed "Oh please! Let's just get it over with!". He walked slowly toward her "Ok" he jumped for her and grabbed her around the waist as Angel and the rest of the gang burst in from both entrances. "Take care of them" Darren instructed the rest of the vampires as Taylor brought his face to her knee. The fights were all surrounding the main event. Taylor and Darren, No one could help her.

Angel had side-stepped out of the way of an attacking vamp. Next to him Anya was standing, for a very brief moment before she hit the floor. "I knew this was a bad idea." Giles ran over to help her by pouring holy water on the back of the vamp, it screamed in pain, in the second before Angel dusted him. Giles turned just in time to see another assailant heading their way, he stepped backward and waited for the thing to come to him. The vamp was female, blond hair, dark eyes, innocent looking, but evil none the less. She jumped on top of him, pushing him into an isolated part of the Bronze. Angel could see that Giles was in trouble, but he and Anya sort of had their hands full with two clever vamps fighting them. It was as if the creatures could predict their moves, they were ready for anything that was threw at them, so Angel and Anya were getting nowhere fast. He glanced over to where Buffy Xander and Willow were unsuccessfully trying to defend themselves, they were out numbered, three against seven seemed a very unfair fight. As two pinned Buffy against the wall, a third went in for the kill, "Buffy no!" he shouted. Xander had it covered, he pulled the vamp that was holding Buffy's right arm, quickly staking the thing. Buffy's arm was now free to hit the vamp on her left arm, she then used her left to push the third vamp away, followed by a quick kick to the face. Turning to the second vamp, she used her foot to flip the crossbow to her hand, pulling the trigger before the vampire had a chance to properly recover from the first hit that Buffy had laid on him only a few seconds earlier. The other four vampires were taunting with Willow pushing her from one to the other. Willow had had enough and pulled out her stake and waited as she was pushed into one of the vamps, it soon burst into dust. The rest of them stopped and stared at her "What I'm not allowed to have some of the violence." She looked at them desperately. The first one to attack her shook his head as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She winced in pain as her body hit his with surprising force, she looked up just in time to see Xander get tackled to the ground by a female vamp. Will once again picked up her stake, and quickly dropped it again as a hand came around her throat, she knew it was a long shot but it was worth a try. As the vamp came down upon her neck she noticed the other one staring in amassment as Willow's stake floated behind her attacker. Before the other one had a chance to warn him, the stake moved in for the kill and he disappeared. There Willow stood, her stake floating by her side. She quickly glanced up to see Taylor fighting Darren before she was punched to the face, making her fall to the ground.

Taylor was very badly injured, as she tried to stand, before getting punched to the ground. She was kneeling at his feet. "I didn't think you would give up this easily, actually I was hoping you would last a bit longer." To this Taylor just painfully smiled and looked at him. "Darren, in those two years that you've, studied me, as you so lightly put it. Did I ever lose?" He was caught slightly off-guard by the question. "No" he said quietly. Taylor grabbed his leg and pulled him to the ground, "Well that's another thing you should've learned about me because I'm not planning on starting now." She said as she moved above him stake at the ready. She resisted killing her old best friend, this is when he chose to make his move, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her to floor. He pinned her shoulder to the floor and sat so he trapped her legs. He squeezed her shoulders tightly, causing her even more pain. "Time to die." Darren told her as he descended upon her. She gulped and moved her arm slightly, a shocked expression came across his face before he exploded revealing a stake in Taylor's right hand. She sat up, dropped the stake and started to cry.

Angel and Anya had attacked the two vampires at the same, dusting them both just before Giles came back dusting his clothes off. Xander had a couple of girls on top of him in his time, even a slayer, but this vampire was just not his taste. He was about to politely tell her so, but he decided a punch would be slightly more effective, it hit the vamp's cheek nicely, she was about to bite back literally, but she was pulled off him by another vampire who pointed to the dance floor, where Taylor was sitting alone. Their leader had been defeated, it was time to make a run for it, and they did, followed closely by one of the vampires that had been attacking Buffy earlier. Before Buffy or any of the others had a chance to interfere, they were gone. The Bronze was silent except for the quiet weeping of Taylor. Willow went up to talk to her "Taylor" she asked "Are you ok?" Taylor just turned slightly to face her, her tears had mixed with the blood on her face, leaving streaks down her face, "No, I guess not." Taylor was choking on her tears, "I shouldn't of left him, it's my fault, it's all my fault" she told Willow, "It's all my fault." she repeated before, falling unconscious from the beating she had just had.

Chapter 6

Second night, second time in hospital for Buffy and her friends. Buffy did feel self-conscious because of her fear of hospitals. This time they were here to see if the new girl, Taylor, was alright. Willow had disappeared to go see Oz. This time the doctors had said that, it wasn't too bad, a few cuts and bruises, a cracked rib and a slight concussion, which might mean that she would have trouble walking as she would have a lot of dizzy spells, but for that they would give her a crutch. Of course this was only good because it was better than what Oz had for his first analysis. Buffy and Xander walked into the room where Taylor was still crying as well as flinching from the pain as a doctor cleaned her wounds. The doctor turned "Her back and ribs will be her most sensitive areas, I tried to convince her to stay here the night, but she insisted on going home." Buffy walked up to the edge of the bed, and for the first time in that night actually looked at Taylor. She was beaten pretty bad and it looked painful. "Are you sure you don't want to stay overnight?" she asked "Look, no offence, but I'd rather be somewhere where I could think on my own, in my own private place. So if you could just take me to my dorm, I will be very grateful." she replied then tried standing up using the crutch the hospital had supplied. She was shaky but she could walk, Buffy felt like going to help her, but she didn't, Taylor was obviously determined to do this on her own. As the doctor gave her the good news, that she would be able to make a semi-full recovery, as in she should be alright except for her rib and a few of the major cuts on her back, in a couple of days. She left, Xander and Buffy almost directly behind her, when they were just outside Taylor's room Willow came up to them, smile on her face. "They say Oz should be let out tomorrow afternoon!..Taylor? what's happening?" Buffy just looked at her "Taylor wants to make an early departure." Taylor then looked up at them as she headed for the door "I really appreciate all your help, but I really want to alone right now to think, so can you take me to my room?" Buffy smiled at her "Sure I understand, though I don't think your roommate will be very grateful, with you coming in at this time at night." Taylor carried on walking "I don't have a roommate, I registered too late. I'm on my own.". They all left.

As Taylor opened the door to her room, she said goodnight to Buffy and the gang, and laid down on her bed. She looked around the room, all of her comics on the floor, some of her books and a few folders joined them. A TV, a freezer / refrigerator, and a CD player. So her room was pretty bare, she planned on doing some shopping tomorrow, but she guessed that was out of the window. She opened the freezer to see Ice cream and chocolate. She took one bar of chocolate, some strawberry ice cream and a chilled spoon and sat back on her bed as she turned on her CD player. Jimi Hendrix, was the CD, Castles Made Of Sand, the song. She put it on repeat and started to eat her ice cream. Next thing she knew it was morning, the CD still playing and the ice cream and chocolate were gone. There was a knock at the door, she guessed it was her next door neighbour, as her music was actually quite loud. She opened her door to see Willow and Buffy standing there she invited them in, and in they came. "Slightly plainer than I thought it would be" Buffy said as she looked around. "I haven't had enough time to go shopping yet." Willow spoke next "Nice music, a bit loud though." Taylor smiled "The music is part of my three step program to feeling better, one, chocolate, two, ice cream, three, depressing music, listen to the lyrics and it's actually quite depressing, it makes you think, and then after a while it makes you realise that your problems aren't as bad as you think. It's a good little program." Buffy looked at her "Has it worked?" she asked "Not at all" Taylor replied as she sat on her bed. "Ok, our turn to come up with a solution, how about a shopping spree." Buffy said "And you can borrow my Dingoes music." Willow added. Taylor laughed slightly "You're on, I can't spend that much money though I have about three thousand, to pay for all my home improvement, type stuff until I get a job. So I can spend, just not that much." Taylor used the crutch to get to the bathroom, to change and generally get ready. Ten minutes later she walked slowly from the bathroom. She was wearing black trousers, a blue fitted shirt, and just to give it the casual look, she wore sneakers on her feet. She was wearing her hair up, which showed a slight amount of swelling and bruising on her face. "Right, let's go!" she said happily as she lead Buffy and Willow to the door, crutch in hand.

The mall was very busy, Taylor, Buffy and Willow were sitting at a little coffee bar, watching the masses go by. Buffy was here for more than just a shopping trip, she had heard that there had been a murder here last night, and she was planning on checking out the crime scene for any signs that it might have been a vampire attack. With that Taylor sat up slightly and stared at what seemed to be a quiet corner of the mall. She got up and started to leave "I'll be back in a minute." she called to Buffy and Willow as she headed for the corner. As soon as she turned it she saw a young woman being pestered by three men each with a knife. "Stop it." Taylor said "Leave her go and we'll say nothing more about it. Of course if you don't let her go I'll have to..." One of men interrupted "You'll have to what?...cripple." he and his friends laughed as they pointed at the piece of wood that was supporting her. "Look I know I have many injuries, but think about this, the fight I was in to get these..I won." The one looked at her. "Yeah right, come on guys let's see how good she is with a broken arm." they started to walk up to her. Taylor looked at the girl on the floor crying. "Run and hide, tell no one about this." she shouted to her and the girl did so. She had trained for this moment before, so she knew precisely what to do. She grabbed up her crutch and swung, hitting the leader flat on his ass. One of the others went to attack her, she swept him with the end of her crutch, hitting him unconscious as he fell to the ground. The third attacked and she dodged his arm. She quickly grabbed and twisted it with one hand, and elbowed the guy in the face with the other arm.

Willow was starting to get worried about Taylor, she had been gone for almost ten minutes now and there was still no sign of her. Normally she wouldn't be bothered, Taylor could pretty much take care of herself, but now in her weakened state she wasn't so sure. Buffy put what she was feeling into words, "Taylor's been gone a while, why don't we go check on her." she looked over to Willow who was already moving towards the corner where she had disappeared to. As they rounded the corner they saw Taylor holding a man, ready to break his arm. "Taylor!" Buffy called out to her, "Buffy, Willow, do me a favour and stay out of this." Taylor looked back at them. It was obvious that she wasn't as happy as what she had led on about last nights events, this was her way of dealing. Buffy looked at the floor to see one guy and two knives, she guessed one of the knives belonged to the guy in Taylor's arms. "What do you think of the cripple now?" Taylor said as she pulled her attackers arm tighter, he shouted in pain. From out of nowhere a third guy grabbed Taylor around the neck, holding his knife very close to her throat. Instead of finishing her off, he waited until his friend stood up and punched her where she was obviously hurting, her bandaged ribs. She went to scream in pain, but stopped, looked up and laughed, "You've pushed me slightly off the edge, of course a slight is enough for me to kill you." The guy holding her pulled her tighter "I don't think you're in the position to make threats." He said to her "Who's making threats?.." she replied "..I'm taking action." She finished then backward head butted the guy behind her, while grabbing his arm and twisting it tightly so he let go of the knife. Her world started to spin, suddenly Taylor thought head butting a guy wasn't the best of ideas, especially with slight concussion. Buffy watched as Taylor started to sway, she decided that now was the right time to step in, Willow followed her and held Taylor as she fell to the ground, Will wasn't completely ready for it and went down with her. Buffy went up to one of the thugs as he swung for her, she moved out of the way of the arm and did one thing that Taylor could not in her condition, and kicked. The guy went flying into the wall and dropped into unconsciousness, she turned to see Willow in complete control of the guy on the floor behind her and Taylor, mostly because the man was still holding his throbbing head, from where Taylor had hit him earlier. Buffy picked up Taylor's crutch and held it out as Willow helped Taylor to her feet. "I think you should go home and get some rest." she told Taylor who just nodded in return, as she was guided by Willow and Buffy out of the mall.

Oz was patiently waiting for the time to come, waiting for Willow to come and pick him up. It was half an hour until he and Will had organised for her to come and get him, but if he knows Willow, and he does, she would show up approximately....now! Willow walked through the door and smiled at him, god he loved that smile, he smiled back "Sorry I'm late, we had to drop Taylor at her dorm." Oz looked up and smiled "You're half an hour early, Will." she looked at her watch, "Oh, o..k, are you ready?" she asked him "Sure let's go." he got up and came to her side, holding onto her hand, they both walked out of the room together.

Giles was waiting outside the hospital with Buffy and Oz's van. According to Buffy, Taylor had got into another fight even after she was hospitalised, yet Buffy still didn't feel anything bad towards her, she seemed clean. the doors to the hospital swung open and Giles looked up to see Willow, and right next to her Oz. Giles nodded in Oz's direction, who went to return the gesture, but decided a wave was more appropriate. Buffy ran up to them and led them to the van, Oz and Giles got in the front while the girls got into the back. The engine roared as he turned the key and worked the peddle. The van pulled up outside Oz's. Willow and Oz both got out of the van and started walking up the path, as Buffy got out and walked to the passenger side she called "Will, I'll see you at home ok?" all she got in reply was a wave as her best friend disappeared through the door.

Angel could feel something was wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on it. He paced the main room of his mansion knowing he was here to fight some huge evil with Buffy by his side, but why hadn't it shown up yet? and more importantly, what was it going to be? He didn't want Buffy getting hurt, correction, he wouldn't let Buffy get hurt. He needed her, no. The world needed her, and no matter what his sacrifice was, she had to survive whatever was coming up. He desperately wanted to go out, to keep an eye on her, to make sure she was alright, but he couldn't mostly because it was the middle of the day and the sun would most definitely kill him, he would just have to wait. He decided he should get some rest before sunset when he could help the slayer and her friends again, and went to the bedroom.

Chapter 7

Taylor opened her eyes to see her blackened out room, she wasn't precisely sure what had woken her, but she had the feeling that someone, or thing, was watching her. She felt way too uncomfortable for her own liking and slowly got up. As she stood she heard a very light thud from below her, she looked down to see a unmarked envelope, she picked the envelope up and reached for her crutch as she moved towards the light switch. After her room was illuminated she quickly glanced around but no one was there, she slowly opened the letter and read it;

They don't know who you are,

What you are,

But I do.

I am waiting,

And I WILL be watching.

Feeling really disturbed, Taylor quickly looked around her room once more before using her crutch to leave the room. She walked as quickly as she could through campus, making her way towards Stevenson, room 214, Buffy and Willow. Every two seconds she would scan the immediate area around her for any signs of trouble, she found none, which worried her even more. As she walked through the door she was feeling more than anxious, this person or thing has been watching her, from when? where? and most importantly, how? she walked up the stairs until she was on Buffy's floor, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being stared at. She shivered as she knocked the door.

Willow had been sleeping when the door had knocked, Buffy was on patrol as it was around two in the morning, Willow herself was going to see Oz at about eight, so she wanted to get as much sleep as possible, Xander and Angel were with Buffy, so she didn't need to worry. The knocking had demolished all hopes of a good nights sleep, as she got up to open the door she silently cursed. "Who is it?" she asked, after all this is Sunnydale, and you can never be too careful, especially at night. "It's Taylor." Taylor? what was she doing here? Willow thought as she opened the door, to see Taylor totally freaked out of her mind. "What happened?" Willow asked the girl standing at her door. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight? Only I found this when I woke up tonight, it seriously worried me" Taylor explained as she gave Willow the anonymous letter. After Willow had read it she passed it back to Taylor. "Sure, you will have to sleep on the floor sorry, Buffy will be back soon, and don't worry about the letter, we'll get Giles to look at it tomorrow." Taylor smiled at her, gratitude obviously the order for the day. "Thanks Will, and don't worry about the floor, I've had worse." She went into the corner and just sat there staring. "Goodnight Will." she said form the darkest place in the entire room. "Night Taylor." Willow said as she climbed back into her own bed, and slowly drifted back to sleep. Maybe she was being slightly paranoid, but Taylor would not go to sleep tonight.

Buffy was walking through Weatherly Park, Angel to her right and Xander to her left. All fully equipped for vampire killage, as well as maybe the odd demon. They had patrolled for two hours already and there had been no sign of any vamps, which usually meant big trouble was on it's way. Angel looked up and moved to his right, signalling for Buffy and Xander to follow him. As they looked over to a tennis court, what they saw was really disturbing. It was some kind of demon ritual. They were speaking in some, language. Buffy had guessed, But what had grabbed Angel's attention was the human sacrifice they were performing. Angel had obviously sniffed out the blood, the main demon had a robe made of what looked to be black feathers. As the head demon circled the others, another four of them, chanting. Angel, Buffy and Xander moved silently, slowly moving in on the things, before they decided to take action, Buffy took one good look at the main one, for later research purposes. He had four horns, two at the top of his head and two at the bottom. His skin was definitely scaly and grey. The winds had quickly grown stronger, a sign that a spell was in the process of working, they decided to spring their attack at that precise moment, but the demons were protected by some kind of magickal shield which totally paralysed Buffy and Xander. Angel moved on quickly not even realising that the rest of his team had been stopped, when he turned his head to see where Buffy and Xander were, he saw them standing totally still, the fear in Buffy's eyes told him that they weren't standing there by their own accord. As Xander stood there unable to move, unable to speak, he realised that this shield was designed for the living, that's how Angel could move through it. He guessed that it was specially made for the Slayer and her friends, which included him. They obviously weren't counting on the vampire with a soul to return so quickly. Angel didn't care about the portal opening to his left as long as he killed the main demon, Buffy and Xander should be free to help him, he charged in full vamp face toward the head demon tackling him to the ground, but now what? he didn't know what these things were or how to kill them. He glanced around the immediate area to see if there were any obvious things that would break the demons hold, then he saw it. A crystal emanating a green, life-giving glow was embedded in the head demon's chest. Angel quickly glanced to the other demons who had their own little red gems, and then quickly to the portal that the demon had made, something of huge proportions was coming through, something the likes Angel had never even imagined, never mind seen. Angel had to act fast, before the thing came through the portal, he grabbed one of the stakes he was carrying and pointed it blunt side down. He hit the gem with a great force smashing it into little pieces and killing the demon instantly, as it fizzled away beneath him, Angel rolled to make sure he didn't land on the stake. The next thing he checked was the portal, all he saw was a claw like foot where the portal had closed on the rest of the thing. Buffy could move again, and boy did it feel good. She moved quickly to join Xander to catch the fleeing demons, she knew Angel would be at their aid soon enough. It had been a while since Xander and Buffy had fought a demon side by side, the last major deal one, of course being the Mayor, who had his ascension on the day of the gangs graduation. After he had become full demon, he was planning of using the Sunnydale High Class of '99 as snack food. But with the help of Xander's, if not brief military training, and the entire of the graduating class, they had beaten him by blowing the entire school up. In Xander's mind that was one heck of a fight, and Oz pointed out the most important fact of all; That they had survived high school. Which come on, in Sunnydale was a pretty whoa! worthy event. He took out a knife from his belt and slammed it into a demon, who just before he fell dead, hit Xander across the head, hard. He stumbled against a tree and watched as Buffy and Angel fought. Angel was now beside Buffy they were both in fighting stance and every so often you could hear the demonic growl from deep within him. He moved with extreme agility making sure none of the three demons that remained would get past him. Buffy had already stormed one of them with three punches to the chest and then as it doubled over a kick to the face. Angel saw this and devised his own plan for quickly killing these demons, he grabbed the top two horns of one of them and twisted with all his might. There was a satisfying crack as the demon fell to the floor. He looked up to she the love of his life finish the demon she was fighting off before she looked around, a look of disappointment creeped on to her face. Xander slowly got up to join the both of them. He glanced at Angel, then to Buffy wondering why they were both still standing as if they were ready to break some one in two. He made his way over to Buffy's side and tapped her on the shoulder, "What's wrong Buff?" he asked her with great concern. "One of them got away, looks as if the night is not yet over." She said before starting to walk off, "Buffy, it's nearly dawn, I can't..." Angel began. Buffy turned and smiled before waving goodbye and walked away in the direction of her campus, Xander on the other hand stayed where he was and just said, "Can you walk me home first? I'm feeling kinda out of it." Angel half smiled and then gestured for the boy to join him as he headed for the parks main gates.

As Buffy walked into her dorm room, she was surprised to see Taylor lying asleep on her floor while Will slept on in her bed, "Hey Buff." the voice came from in the corner, so Taylor wasn't asleep after all, Taylor drew in air like she was about to speak but Buffy stopped her by holding up her hand. Something was in the room somewhere, she stepped inside slightly only to be pushed aside by a black shadow, before it bolted out the door. Taylor quickly got to her feet and ran after it, well as much as she could run down the corridor, after she had looked both ways she slowly made her way back to the dorm and slid into the corner once more. Buffy closed and locked the door before taking one last look at Taylor before going to bed herself.

It was early morning when Willow woke to see Buffy and Taylor up. "Hey." she said to them but only Buffy responded, Taylor was demonstrating how much sleep she had by not being able to fully open her eyes, she looked exhausted. Right then Taylor left the room, Buffy just nodded as if she understood what was going on. Then Willow saw it, the letter Taylor had brought to her the night before.

Taylor walked out onto the campus and just stared at the people around her, and how they were all blissfully unaware of what was happening right under their noses. He saw her before she had the chance to dig herself a hole to crawl into, "Taylor!" Jay called to her before coming up to her side. "Hi" he smiled at her then actually saw her, "God, what happened?" he asked, while they walked Taylor explained how much damage her 'old friend' had given her and how she hadn't really had much sleep over the past couple of days. They found a bench to sit at, and they sat and watched the world go by, then after a while they walked to his room where they talked. "So I was kinda wondering if you wanted to go out with me, I mean as if I be your boyfriend...I mean if you want to, you don't need to I mean I would be ok if we were just friends." Jay babbled as he tried to ask her the question, "Jay, I would love to. Go out with you I mean..if that was what you were asking..." Taylor had become nervous over being alone with the first guy other than Darren she'd really talked to in a few years, she bashfully smiled. "That's what I was asking." he smiled as he gently kissed her on the lips. Taylor decided that now would be a good time to be blissfully unaware of the things happening around her.

Yet again the gang had assembled in Rupert Giles' home. Oz, Willow, Buffy and Xander all sat around the coffee table staring at a letter that Taylor had given Willow. At that moment Taylor walked in "Sorry, I checked your dorm and you weren't there so I guessed you would be here, anyway you wouldn't guessed what happened!" Right then her eyes settled on the letter and she became quiet. "Buffy has told me of last nights events, in the park and the dorm, and with this letter it all becomes very disturbing" Giles picked up the letter and read it out loud to the group, he repeated one line, "They don't know who you are. So what do you think?" he asked the group, Buffy was the first to reply "They are us, at least that's what I think." Giles nodded in agreement and then turned to Taylor herself, "Is there anything you're not telling us?" He asked her as she just shook her head, "No..I don't think so. The only secret I keep form everyone is that I'm a hunter, and you guys know this anyway. So I have no idea what it's on about. You know practically everything about me, so the part about they, as in you guys, not knowing what I am is ridiculous." Giles looked at her then carried on "But I do, anyone?" Willow jumped up slightly with excitement, "Whoever it is obviously had something to do with the thing in our dorm last night." She finished and looked satisfied at what she had said. Giles nodded in approvement to Willow and said the next line, "I am waiting." Oz and Xander looked at each other, then at Giles but only Oz asked the question, "Waiting for what?" at that they all stopped, it must be something big and obviously connected to Taylor, it was also obvious that Buffy and the rest of them were in great danger otherwise Angel wouldn't have come back to Sunnydale