Chapter Seven: Interlude
Or Dreams Make Confusing Hangovers
_ _ _ _ _
"FUCK!"
Faith screamed in a combination of pain and frustration as she went flying through the air. The
dark-haired Slayer had seen a large male vampire pull a young girl into this alley, and she had naturally
gone in after it. Faith wasn't so concerned with saving the girl as with fighting the vamp. She hadn't been
in a decent fight in days, and her frustrations with the extremely vague quest the mysterious Raven had sent
her on had made her itchy for some physical confrontation. Unfortunately, she had severely underestimated
this particular vampire.
Faith slammed into the brick wall of the alley, and felt a massive jolt of pain shoot up her spine.
She fell to her knees with a painful groan. The vampire stalked toward her, a low growl in his throat. Faith
looked up at him, one hand on the small of her back. This vampire was different than the ones she was used
to fighting; his face wasn't the demonic visage she was used to. The only thing different between his face
and an ordinary humans were the three-inch fangs extruding from his mouth.
The vampire was massive, standing almost seven feet in height. He was dressed in typical biker
clothing, jeans, boots, and leather jacket. He raised one leather-clad, and clenched his fist, then sent a punch
meant to shatter bone aimed at Faith's head. Faith rolled out of the way as the vampire's fist connected
with the brick wall. Shards of brick rained down on the back of her neck before she managed to get back to
her feet. She moved into a fighting stance as he whirled to face her.
"Not bad bitch," the vampire snarled. "I don't know what you think you are, but I'm going to rip
your throat out."
"Not likely fang boy," Faith mumbled, before moving forward quickly. She aimed a series of
punches at the vampire's head. The punches connected solidly, cracking bone loudly. Faith stepped back,
and prepared to launch another attack, when she saw the vampire was laughing. Blood was oozing down
his face and he was laughing.
"Shit," Faith said quietly as the vampire turned his gaze toward her. He smiled, and spat some
blood and what looked like a tooth onto the ground.
"You are going to have to do better than that to kill a Brujah," the vampire said with a laugh. Faith
reached under her own leather jacket and withdrew a long knife, the blade almost a foot long. She was
cursing herself for not bringing one of the guns Raven had given her. The vampire looked at the knife, and
laughed again.
"That little pig-sticker isn't going to do you much good girl," the vampire said. He took a slow
step forward, a grin on his rapidly healing face.
"Maybe it won't, but the knife is the least of your problems right now," a voice said from behind
the vampire. Faith looked in the direction of the voice as the vampire spun on its heels. Raven was
standing there, dressed in black as he always was, leather trench coat flowing ever so slightly in the breeze,
cane held casually in his left hand. Faith knew that he hadn't been there a second ago.
The vampire reacted quickly, moving forward, throwing a punch at Raven's sunglass covered
eyes. Raven casually raised his empty right hand and knocked the punch to the side. The vampire spun
slightly off balance, and Raven brought his hand around again, catching the vampires jaw in an iron grip.
The vampire let out a muffled shout of surprise and brought both hands up to Raven's wrist, trying
to remove the hand from his face. For all his strength, and the fact he stood nearly a foot taller than Raven,
he could not even get the hand to twitch. Raven turned his gaze to Faith and raised an eyebrow. She looked
back at him, and felt her self blush in embarrassment. Raven turned his gaze back to the struggling
vampire.
.
"You annoy me," Raven said quietly, then said something under his breath too quiet to be heard.
The vampire's eyes widened in pain, and his thrashing increased. His face suddenly became as red as a
lobster. His thrashing became even wilder as he tried to kick Raven to get away. Raven didn't move, just
watched as steam began to escape the vampire's ears and nose, followed by blood that looked as if it was
boiling. Raven smiled, and released his hold on the vampire's face. The vamp fell to the ground, and lay
there, twitching. Faith looked at this in amazement.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Faith asked. Raven shrugged.
"I caused all of the blood in his body to boil. It didn't kill him, but he will not be able to move
before the sun rises," Raven said, before turning and walking toward the entrance of the alley. Faith
glanced at the girl the vampire had intended to feed off of. She was out cold but otherwise unharmed. Faith
shook her head, and then turned to follow Raven, stopping to cave in the prone vampire's face in with her
boot.
Faith then turned and walked over to where Raven was standing, near the entrance to the alley. He
watched her approach over the rims of his sunglasses. She caught a glimpse of his dark blue eyes before he
reached up and pushed the sunglasses back up with a finger.
"That was a pretty neat trick. Why don't you show me how to do it?" Faith asked, a wicked smile
on her face. Raven shook his head.
"Got fifty years?" Raven replied quietly. Faith frowned.
"Fifty years? Why that long?" she asked.
"That's how long it took me to master that little 'trick'," he said, then turned and walked out onto
the sidewalk. Faith growled under her breath in frustration and followed him, tucking her knife back under
her jacket.
"You didn't have to interfere you know," she said. "I could have taken him."
"I know," Raven said. Faith stopped under a streetlight, and looked at him. Raven took two more
steps, then stopped and turned around slowly, facing her.
"If you knew I could take him, why did you interfere?" Faith asked, slightly annoyed. She crossed
her arms across her chest and looked at him. Raven looked back at her silently for a few moments before
he spoke.
"I have violent impulses sometimes. I am sure you can relate," he said quietly. Faith laughed.
"I can relate," she said, then leaned back against the light pole. "What did you want to talk
about?"
"The Bard," Raven said. Faith let out an exasperated sigh.
"Enough with that! I haven't a clue who I am supposed to look for, and your vague clues are damn
useless!" she shouted at him. Raven said nothing for a moment.
"I understand your frustration, Faith. I have been feeling it for much longer than you can grasp.
However, this is vitally important. I know the person I need to find is here in this city, and I know that
somehow you'll lead me to him or her," Raven said quietly. Faith just looked at him silently.
"What are you?" she finally asked.
"You tell me," Raven said quietly. Faith laughed briefly, then tilted her head to the side, exposing
her throat slightly. She reached up and ran a finger across her throat slowly.
"Well, I have never seen you during the day," Faith began. "You are strong, fast, seem to appear
out of nowhere, have amazing powers, and used your own blood to wake me out of a coma. I am guessing
you are some sort of vamp."
Raven watched her while she spoke, and reached up and removed his sunglasses, exposing his
dark blue eyes. He looked her up and down slowly, as she looked back him with a playful look in her eyes.
She licked her lips and winked at him, then tilted her head to the side, exposing the soft skin of her throat.
He shook his head.
"Don't tempt me," he said, then turned and started walking again. Faith smiled a wicked, knowing
smile and started following him again.
"I'm right aren't I? What is this Bard person, some way to end the world or something?" Faith
said teasingly, moving up beside Raven. She reached out and pinched his side. She wasn't prepared when
he suddenly whirled, took a hold of her by her jacket, and slammed her into a nearby wall, pinning her
there with one hand. His actions were so fast that he looked like a blur. She blinked, then looked up at him.
"Ohh, you're sexy and you like to play rough. I like you," Faith said sultrily. She ignored the
annoyed look on Raven's face as he looked down at her, anger in his eyes.
"I do not have time for games!" Raven said quietly, his voice filled with menace. "Very soon, bad
things will start happening that could rip this world in half, and I am one of the few people with a chance in
hell of stopping it. Either you help me, or I rip your head off right now!"
"Easy chief. I'll help you," Faith said soothingly. She reached up and placed a hand on the arm
that was holding her pinned against the wall. Raven looked at her hand, then her eyes, before he took a long
breath and let her go. He stepped back, and brushed some dust off his coat sleeve. Faith looked up at him.
"I apologize, Faith," Raven said, as he placed his sunglasses on his face again. "You did not
deserve that. My temper gets the best of me at times. Keep looking for the Bard. And keep yourself better
armed. I like you, and would be upset if you ended up dead."
With that, Raven turned as if to walk away, then stopped. He turned, and leaned close to Faith,
who was still leaning against the wall. He tilted his head down and placed a kiss on her forehead. He stood
up straight and walked away. Faith watched him go, reaching up to rub the spot he had kissed. His lips had
been as cold as ice.
_ _ _ _ _
Buffy stood in complete darkness. There was nothing around her except black, but for some
reason she could see perfectly. The Slayer had no idea how she had ended up here. Her memories were
confused and foggy. She looked down and saw that she was still dressed in the clothes Jason had lent her.
"What is going on?" she said as she looked around. As she did, a cone of light shone down a
hundred yards or so away, illuminating a figure standing there. It was a woman, with long dark hair that
reached her waist. She was about the same height as Buffy herself, and was dressed in a white, flowing
robe. Her skin was pale, and her bright blue eyes shone brightly on her face. Buffy looked at her in
surprise, and slowly walked over to her.
"Who are you?" Buffy asked. The woman smiled peacefully, and raised a hand, pointing off in the
distance.
"Call me Rebecca. I have to show you something," the woman said quietly. Buffy turned to follow
where Rebecca was pointing and suddenly she was somewhere else. The dark place was gone, replaced by
a moonlit field. Buffy whirled on her feet looking for the vanished Rebecca, then slipped and fell to the wet
ground. She grumbled and placed a hand on the ground to help herself up, then winced and lifted her hand
as it was soaked in something wet and sticky. She looked at her hand and saw that it was covered in blood.
Buffy looked around and saw the ground all around her was soaked in blood. At that moment she
heard the sounds of a raging battle. She got to her feet and saw nearly a hundred men and woman, dressed
in medieval clothing and armor, engaged in a heated battle less than fifty feet from her. Buffy watched as
they hacked at each other with swords and axes, screaming in rage. She saw many of the combatants were
snarling and screaming with fang-filled mouths. They were Kindred.
"What is this?" Buffy asked herself. She moved forward into the battle for no real reason she
could think of. The fighters ignored her as she moved through the center of the battle. She watched as the
vampires hacked and slashed at each other, blood hitting the ground so often it sounded like rain. Buffy
looked around in horror. She wondered why she was seeing this.
A loud roar of rage caught her attention. Buffy turned and caught sight of a massive vampire that
was nearly seven and a half feet tall. His hair and beard were thick, and colored dark red. He was dressed in
a leather jerkin and a black kilt, and held a massive war hammer in each hand. The large vampire swung
the hammers constantly, cracking bone with each swing. Buffy stepped back, her eyes on the massive
vampire. He looked as if he was crying as he fought.
Buffy felt someone tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Rebecca was standing there, a sad
look on her face. She said nothing, simply pointed off in the distance. Buffy turned to look in the direction
Rebecca was pointing, and he jaw dropped in shock. Standing at the top of the hill, fighting off several
vampires, was Rebecca. She was dressed in some sort of leather armor that covered her completely from
the neck down. She was fighting with a silver sword, the blade almost four feet in length. Buffy watched as
the fighting Rebecca calmly lopped the head off of a vampire that charged her with a single one-handed
swing.
Several other vampires moved to circle around Rebecca, but she stood, sword raised defensively,
and kept them all from charging her with a few well-placed swings. Buffy started walking toward Rebecca,
when she noticed another vampire moving toward her. For some reason, Buffy turned and looked at this
new vampire.
The vampire was male, almost six feet tall. He didn't seem to fit in with the other vampires in the
battle. He was dressed in bright colors, a red tunic and blue, loose leggings, both silk. His boots were soft
brown leather. His dark hair, the same shade as Rebecca's, hung loosely around his face and reached his
shoulders. His dark blue eyes were pinpoints on his pale face. He was carrying no weapon, and had a
worried look on his face as he tried to move closer to Rebecca.
"Rebecca!" the man shouted as he pushed another vampire out of his way. Rebecca turned, and
looked at the man, and smiled. At that moment, another the vampires moved behind Rebecca and swung a
battle-axe at her neck. She turned, raising the sword, to block but it was too late. The axe bit into her neck,
but amazing didn't sever her head. It only dug in halfway, before the vampire pulled it back for another
sing. Rebecca sank to her knees, dark blood running down the front of her armor. The vampire raised the
axe.
Before the vampire could bring the axe down again, a large ball of fire flew through the air and
exploded against the axe-wielding vampire, sending him flying. The man in the red and blue lowered his
smoking hand and ran to Rebecca, kneeling beside her. There were tears of blood running down his face.
Buffy started to take a step forward and suddenly found herself falling backwards. She let out a
yelp of pain and opened her eyes. She found she was lying on the floor of Jason's warehouse next to an
overturned desk chair. Filtered sunlight was on her face. She groaned and sat up, one hand rubbing her
head.
"About time you woke up," a familiar voice said. She turned her head to the side and saw Xander
standing there, arms crossed over his chest. "It's almost 2pm."
"That late huh?" Buffy said as she got to her feet. She looked around. Willow was lying on
Jason's bed by herself, fast asleep. She was dressed in one of Chelle's flannel nightgowns. Oz was sitting in
a kitchen chair about ten feet away from the television, watching some cheesy afternoon horror movie. He
was wearing an old t-shirt and some jeans he had borrowed from Jason.
"You looked so peaceful, figured I shouldn't wake you," Xander said as Buffy continued to look
around the room. She spotted Jason sitting on the hood of his car, legs folded. He was dressed in a pair of
jeans and a white shirt, and was without shoes. He was smoking a cigarette with a dark look on his face.
There was a half-empty vodka bottle between his legs. Chelle was sitting on the car next to him, dressed
rather plainly in a black t-shirt and leather pants. She was leaning close to Jason, speaking quietly to him, a
concerned look on her face. Buffy shook her head and turned to look at Willow. She moved over to the bed
and sat down on it, looking down at the sleeping witch.
"She woken up yet?" Buffy asked.
"Not yet," Oz said as he turned to look at Buffy. "Chelle says she's not hurt, just exhausted." He
stood up and walked over to the bed. He reached down and brushed some of the hair away from Willow's
eyes gently. At that moment Willow opened her eyes, a smile crossing her face as she saw Oz.
"Oh what a nice thing to see when I wake up," Willow said softly. Oz gave a wry smile and leaned
down, kissing Willow lightly. They stayed like that for about twenty seconds before Xander gave a nervous
cough. Oz straightened back up as Willow sat up on the bed, looking around. She looked over to Buffy.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked. Buffy smiled at her.
"Yeah, no one got hurt. Giles went home a little while ago. I called my mom, told her what
happened. Xander called your mom, told her we were all staying over at my house, so we're cool," Buffy
said. "Now, here's the big question: What happened to you last night? How did you get so powerful in
magic?" Willow frowned and ran a hand through her hair.
"I'm a mage, like Chelle. My powers activated last night," Willow said quietly. "It's giving me the
wiggins. I have all these memories from past lives running around in my head, along with magical theories
and metaphysical philosophies I have never heard of before. It's making it hard to think."
"Wow, just when you think things can't get more complicated," Xander said. Willow looked up
and smiled at him briefly, before she turned back to Buffy.
"So what do we do now?" Buffy asked. Everyone looked at her.
"Go home maybe?" Oz said in his usual sardonic way.
"Oh like it's ever that easy," Xander said, rolling his eyes.
_ _ _ _ _
Halfway across the room, Jason and Chelle sat on the hood of Jason's Mustang. Jason took a drag
off his cigarette, then lifted the vodka bottle he was holding and took a long drink from it. He had a dark
look on his face. Chelle watched him, her concern obvious. They both sat in silence for a while, before
Jason spoke up.
"I'm going to get these kids killed," Jason said quietly. Chelle sighed.
"They know the score Jason. You can't make their decisions for them," Chelle said, reaching out
to snag Jason's cigarette from him and taking a drag off it. "You tried that for me remember? It didn't work
so well."
Jason just shook his head and took another drink from the vodka bottle. Chelle took one more drag
from the cigarette and handed it back to him. He took it, and stared at it, watching it burn silently for a few
moments.
"You knew she was close to Awakening didn't you Chelle?" Jason asked. Chelle looked away,
watching Buffy, Willow, Oz, and Xander across the room for a moment.
"I had an idea," Chelle said. "She's an old soul. Her Avatar has been around the block a few times.
She is going to be unbelievably powerful."
"The Technocracy is going to be all over her. Or the Nephandi. The demon-worshipers love to
search out Orphans like her," Jason said, taking another drink. Chelle stared at Willow quietly for a few
moments, before she turned around and looked at Jason.
"I know. If you hadn't been there when I Awakened…" Chelle said, shuddering. Jason looked at
her, then slipped an arm around her shoulders. Chelle leaned against him, turning slightly to rest her chin
on his shoulder and wrap her arms around her waist.
"Are you still mad at me for leaving you with the Circle?" Jason asked quietly. Chelle looked up
at him and shook her head.
"No. You aren't a mage, and I needed to be taught what to do with my powers before I started
attracting the wrong kind of attention. I'm just glad you came back to visit every once in a while," she
murmured. Jason nodded, and took one last drag off his cigarette before tossing it away.
"I think you should stay here and start teaching Willow how to control her magic. She was damn
lucky she didn't call down a Paradox storm last night. If there had been any normal Sleepers around she
would have," Jason said. Chelle looked up at his face again.
"Stay here? Where are you going?" Chelle asked. Jason looked down at her, a half-smile on his
face.
"I'm going to Los Angeles. Callista escaped last night, and she told me there was going to be a
siege there soon. I am guessing that's where she'll be heading. So, I am going to look for her," Jason said.
"Not alone you aren't," Buffy said. Jason and Chelle looked up to see Buffy standing off to the
side of the car. Chelle let go of Jason and slid back from him. Jason looked at Buffy and raised an eyebrow.
"You think you're going with me?" Jason asked, amused. Buffy crossed her arms over her chest
and looked at him, a resolute look on her face.
"Callista kidnapped two of my friends and almost killed them. I want a piece of her," Buffy said, a
slight tinge of menace in her voice. Jason shook his head.
"You are good Buffy, and have been getting better, but you still aren't ready. If a siege breaks out
in the city, you'd be in over your head. You aren't going," Jason said.
"Deal with me going," Buffy said. "You can't stop me. If you leave without me, I'll just go by
myself and look for her." Jason sighed, and Chelle turned to look at him, a wry smile on her face.
"She's got you Jason, give it up," Chelle said.
"Okay, okay, you can come Buffy. But just you. Everyone else stays here. Got it?" Jason said.
Buffy nodded.
"That was the idea," Buffy said. Jason sighed once more.
"Well, go home and pack whatever you need. We'll leave here tomorrow morning, around eight,"
Jason said. Buffy smiled.
_ _ _ _ _
Faith walked down the sidewalk, a dark look on her pretty face. She had her hands stuffed in the
pockets of her leather jacket, and was staring down at the sidewalk. It was rather warm out, but she had to
wear the jacket to hide the pistol she had stuck in the waistband of her pants, at the small of her back. She
didn't seem to notice the heat as she walked.
She reached the street corner and stopped, looking around. She stood there for a few moments, and
watched as the last traces of the sun vanished from the sky. She leaned against a near-by light post, a
grumpy look on her face.
"Find the Bard he says. That nutcase is going to drive me insane. What kind of a name is 'Raven'
anyway," Faith mumbled to herself. As she complained, she reached up and touched the spot on her
forehead where Raven had kissed her the night before, without seeming to notice she was doing it.
"You know, talking to yourself is a sure sign of madness," a male voice said. Faith spun quickly,
one hand reaching behind her for the gun when she stopped.
The origin of the voice was about six feet from her, on the steps of a closed office building. It was
a young man, not any older than 27 or so. His hair was short and wavy brown, and his eyes were a bright,
forest green. There was a three-day growth of hair on his chin. He was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a
denim jacket. His boots didn't match the rest of his outfit, they were dark blue suede with fringe trim. The
man sat the, relaxed, holding a silver flute in his hands. On the ground in front of him was an open flute
case, and a small cardboard sign that read "Please Support the Arts". There were several coins and bills in
the flute case.
"You shouldn't startle people like that," Faith said, relaxing slightly. This guy was breathing, so
she was pretty sure he wasn't a vamp. He looked like a harmless street musician. The man laughed.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare ya. I just don't like to see pretty young things like yourself
look so upset about something," he said. "My name's Scott. I play tunes for people. Throw in a little
change and I'll cheer you up some, promise." Scott smiled a bright smile up at Faith. She just shook her
head.
"I haven't got time for some crappy flute music," Faith grumbled, then turned to walk away.
"Oh, I think you do, Faith," Scott said. Faith stopped, and turned around, a confused and slightly
angry look on her face.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, one hand moving to her back, wrapping around the
gun. Scott smiled and pulled a small bottle of whiskey out of his jacket pocket.
"Oh, I just guessed. You've been looking for me," Scott said, taking a drink from the bottle. Faith
blinked.
"What?" she asked. Scott took another drink from the bottle, and looked up at Faith again.
"You've been looking for me. You, and that dark guy I can't see too well. That's what the flute tells
me anyways," Scott said, smiling. Faith looked at him, the confusion and anger warring on her face. Scott
spoke up again.
"Why does that guy want to find me anyways?" he asked. Faith just stared at him, then shook her
head.
"I don't know. You're the Bard I'm looking for," Faith said. Scott smiled widely, and lifted his
flute.
"Yeah, the flute told me. Showed me in a vision. It's a magic flute," Scott said brightly. Faith
reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew the cel phone Raven had given her. She dialed the number he
had told her and placed the phone to her ear. She listened to the ringing, and it was picked after two rings.
"Hello Faith," a familiar voice said from the other end of the line. Faith shook her head.
"Found your Bard," Faith said, looking at the smiling Scott. "And I think he's out of his mind."
End of Chapter Seven
Or Dreams Make Confusing Hangovers
_ _ _ _ _
"FUCK!"
Faith screamed in a combination of pain and frustration as she went flying through the air. The
dark-haired Slayer had seen a large male vampire pull a young girl into this alley, and she had naturally
gone in after it. Faith wasn't so concerned with saving the girl as with fighting the vamp. She hadn't been
in a decent fight in days, and her frustrations with the extremely vague quest the mysterious Raven had sent
her on had made her itchy for some physical confrontation. Unfortunately, she had severely underestimated
this particular vampire.
Faith slammed into the brick wall of the alley, and felt a massive jolt of pain shoot up her spine.
She fell to her knees with a painful groan. The vampire stalked toward her, a low growl in his throat. Faith
looked up at him, one hand on the small of her back. This vampire was different than the ones she was used
to fighting; his face wasn't the demonic visage she was used to. The only thing different between his face
and an ordinary humans were the three-inch fangs extruding from his mouth.
The vampire was massive, standing almost seven feet in height. He was dressed in typical biker
clothing, jeans, boots, and leather jacket. He raised one leather-clad, and clenched his fist, then sent a punch
meant to shatter bone aimed at Faith's head. Faith rolled out of the way as the vampire's fist connected
with the brick wall. Shards of brick rained down on the back of her neck before she managed to get back to
her feet. She moved into a fighting stance as he whirled to face her.
"Not bad bitch," the vampire snarled. "I don't know what you think you are, but I'm going to rip
your throat out."
"Not likely fang boy," Faith mumbled, before moving forward quickly. She aimed a series of
punches at the vampire's head. The punches connected solidly, cracking bone loudly. Faith stepped back,
and prepared to launch another attack, when she saw the vampire was laughing. Blood was oozing down
his face and he was laughing.
"Shit," Faith said quietly as the vampire turned his gaze toward her. He smiled, and spat some
blood and what looked like a tooth onto the ground.
"You are going to have to do better than that to kill a Brujah," the vampire said with a laugh. Faith
reached under her own leather jacket and withdrew a long knife, the blade almost a foot long. She was
cursing herself for not bringing one of the guns Raven had given her. The vampire looked at the knife, and
laughed again.
"That little pig-sticker isn't going to do you much good girl," the vampire said. He took a slow
step forward, a grin on his rapidly healing face.
"Maybe it won't, but the knife is the least of your problems right now," a voice said from behind
the vampire. Faith looked in the direction of the voice as the vampire spun on its heels. Raven was
standing there, dressed in black as he always was, leather trench coat flowing ever so slightly in the breeze,
cane held casually in his left hand. Faith knew that he hadn't been there a second ago.
The vampire reacted quickly, moving forward, throwing a punch at Raven's sunglass covered
eyes. Raven casually raised his empty right hand and knocked the punch to the side. The vampire spun
slightly off balance, and Raven brought his hand around again, catching the vampires jaw in an iron grip.
The vampire let out a muffled shout of surprise and brought both hands up to Raven's wrist, trying
to remove the hand from his face. For all his strength, and the fact he stood nearly a foot taller than Raven,
he could not even get the hand to twitch. Raven turned his gaze to Faith and raised an eyebrow. She looked
back at him, and felt her self blush in embarrassment. Raven turned his gaze back to the struggling
vampire.
.
"You annoy me," Raven said quietly, then said something under his breath too quiet to be heard.
The vampire's eyes widened in pain, and his thrashing increased. His face suddenly became as red as a
lobster. His thrashing became even wilder as he tried to kick Raven to get away. Raven didn't move, just
watched as steam began to escape the vampire's ears and nose, followed by blood that looked as if it was
boiling. Raven smiled, and released his hold on the vampire's face. The vamp fell to the ground, and lay
there, twitching. Faith looked at this in amazement.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Faith asked. Raven shrugged.
"I caused all of the blood in his body to boil. It didn't kill him, but he will not be able to move
before the sun rises," Raven said, before turning and walking toward the entrance of the alley. Faith
glanced at the girl the vampire had intended to feed off of. She was out cold but otherwise unharmed. Faith
shook her head, and then turned to follow Raven, stopping to cave in the prone vampire's face in with her
boot.
Faith then turned and walked over to where Raven was standing, near the entrance to the alley. He
watched her approach over the rims of his sunglasses. She caught a glimpse of his dark blue eyes before he
reached up and pushed the sunglasses back up with a finger.
"That was a pretty neat trick. Why don't you show me how to do it?" Faith asked, a wicked smile
on her face. Raven shook his head.
"Got fifty years?" Raven replied quietly. Faith frowned.
"Fifty years? Why that long?" she asked.
"That's how long it took me to master that little 'trick'," he said, then turned and walked out onto
the sidewalk. Faith growled under her breath in frustration and followed him, tucking her knife back under
her jacket.
"You didn't have to interfere you know," she said. "I could have taken him."
"I know," Raven said. Faith stopped under a streetlight, and looked at him. Raven took two more
steps, then stopped and turned around slowly, facing her.
"If you knew I could take him, why did you interfere?" Faith asked, slightly annoyed. She crossed
her arms across her chest and looked at him. Raven looked back at her silently for a few moments before
he spoke.
"I have violent impulses sometimes. I am sure you can relate," he said quietly. Faith laughed.
"I can relate," she said, then leaned back against the light pole. "What did you want to talk
about?"
"The Bard," Raven said. Faith let out an exasperated sigh.
"Enough with that! I haven't a clue who I am supposed to look for, and your vague clues are damn
useless!" she shouted at him. Raven said nothing for a moment.
"I understand your frustration, Faith. I have been feeling it for much longer than you can grasp.
However, this is vitally important. I know the person I need to find is here in this city, and I know that
somehow you'll lead me to him or her," Raven said quietly. Faith just looked at him silently.
"What are you?" she finally asked.
"You tell me," Raven said quietly. Faith laughed briefly, then tilted her head to the side, exposing
her throat slightly. She reached up and ran a finger across her throat slowly.
"Well, I have never seen you during the day," Faith began. "You are strong, fast, seem to appear
out of nowhere, have amazing powers, and used your own blood to wake me out of a coma. I am guessing
you are some sort of vamp."
Raven watched her while she spoke, and reached up and removed his sunglasses, exposing his
dark blue eyes. He looked her up and down slowly, as she looked back him with a playful look in her eyes.
She licked her lips and winked at him, then tilted her head to the side, exposing the soft skin of her throat.
He shook his head.
"Don't tempt me," he said, then turned and started walking again. Faith smiled a wicked, knowing
smile and started following him again.
"I'm right aren't I? What is this Bard person, some way to end the world or something?" Faith
said teasingly, moving up beside Raven. She reached out and pinched his side. She wasn't prepared when
he suddenly whirled, took a hold of her by her jacket, and slammed her into a nearby wall, pinning her
there with one hand. His actions were so fast that he looked like a blur. She blinked, then looked up at him.
"Ohh, you're sexy and you like to play rough. I like you," Faith said sultrily. She ignored the
annoyed look on Raven's face as he looked down at her, anger in his eyes.
"I do not have time for games!" Raven said quietly, his voice filled with menace. "Very soon, bad
things will start happening that could rip this world in half, and I am one of the few people with a chance in
hell of stopping it. Either you help me, or I rip your head off right now!"
"Easy chief. I'll help you," Faith said soothingly. She reached up and placed a hand on the arm
that was holding her pinned against the wall. Raven looked at her hand, then her eyes, before he took a long
breath and let her go. He stepped back, and brushed some dust off his coat sleeve. Faith looked up at him.
"I apologize, Faith," Raven said, as he placed his sunglasses on his face again. "You did not
deserve that. My temper gets the best of me at times. Keep looking for the Bard. And keep yourself better
armed. I like you, and would be upset if you ended up dead."
With that, Raven turned as if to walk away, then stopped. He turned, and leaned close to Faith,
who was still leaning against the wall. He tilted his head down and placed a kiss on her forehead. He stood
up straight and walked away. Faith watched him go, reaching up to rub the spot he had kissed. His lips had
been as cold as ice.
_ _ _ _ _
Buffy stood in complete darkness. There was nothing around her except black, but for some
reason she could see perfectly. The Slayer had no idea how she had ended up here. Her memories were
confused and foggy. She looked down and saw that she was still dressed in the clothes Jason had lent her.
"What is going on?" she said as she looked around. As she did, a cone of light shone down a
hundred yards or so away, illuminating a figure standing there. It was a woman, with long dark hair that
reached her waist. She was about the same height as Buffy herself, and was dressed in a white, flowing
robe. Her skin was pale, and her bright blue eyes shone brightly on her face. Buffy looked at her in
surprise, and slowly walked over to her.
"Who are you?" Buffy asked. The woman smiled peacefully, and raised a hand, pointing off in the
distance.
"Call me Rebecca. I have to show you something," the woman said quietly. Buffy turned to follow
where Rebecca was pointing and suddenly she was somewhere else. The dark place was gone, replaced by
a moonlit field. Buffy whirled on her feet looking for the vanished Rebecca, then slipped and fell to the wet
ground. She grumbled and placed a hand on the ground to help herself up, then winced and lifted her hand
as it was soaked in something wet and sticky. She looked at her hand and saw that it was covered in blood.
Buffy looked around and saw the ground all around her was soaked in blood. At that moment she
heard the sounds of a raging battle. She got to her feet and saw nearly a hundred men and woman, dressed
in medieval clothing and armor, engaged in a heated battle less than fifty feet from her. Buffy watched as
they hacked at each other with swords and axes, screaming in rage. She saw many of the combatants were
snarling and screaming with fang-filled mouths. They were Kindred.
"What is this?" Buffy asked herself. She moved forward into the battle for no real reason she
could think of. The fighters ignored her as she moved through the center of the battle. She watched as the
vampires hacked and slashed at each other, blood hitting the ground so often it sounded like rain. Buffy
looked around in horror. She wondered why she was seeing this.
A loud roar of rage caught her attention. Buffy turned and caught sight of a massive vampire that
was nearly seven and a half feet tall. His hair and beard were thick, and colored dark red. He was dressed in
a leather jerkin and a black kilt, and held a massive war hammer in each hand. The large vampire swung
the hammers constantly, cracking bone with each swing. Buffy stepped back, her eyes on the massive
vampire. He looked as if he was crying as he fought.
Buffy felt someone tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Rebecca was standing there, a sad
look on her face. She said nothing, simply pointed off in the distance. Buffy turned to look in the direction
Rebecca was pointing, and he jaw dropped in shock. Standing at the top of the hill, fighting off several
vampires, was Rebecca. She was dressed in some sort of leather armor that covered her completely from
the neck down. She was fighting with a silver sword, the blade almost four feet in length. Buffy watched as
the fighting Rebecca calmly lopped the head off of a vampire that charged her with a single one-handed
swing.
Several other vampires moved to circle around Rebecca, but she stood, sword raised defensively,
and kept them all from charging her with a few well-placed swings. Buffy started walking toward Rebecca,
when she noticed another vampire moving toward her. For some reason, Buffy turned and looked at this
new vampire.
The vampire was male, almost six feet tall. He didn't seem to fit in with the other vampires in the
battle. He was dressed in bright colors, a red tunic and blue, loose leggings, both silk. His boots were soft
brown leather. His dark hair, the same shade as Rebecca's, hung loosely around his face and reached his
shoulders. His dark blue eyes were pinpoints on his pale face. He was carrying no weapon, and had a
worried look on his face as he tried to move closer to Rebecca.
"Rebecca!" the man shouted as he pushed another vampire out of his way. Rebecca turned, and
looked at the man, and smiled. At that moment, another the vampires moved behind Rebecca and swung a
battle-axe at her neck. She turned, raising the sword, to block but it was too late. The axe bit into her neck,
but amazing didn't sever her head. It only dug in halfway, before the vampire pulled it back for another
sing. Rebecca sank to her knees, dark blood running down the front of her armor. The vampire raised the
axe.
Before the vampire could bring the axe down again, a large ball of fire flew through the air and
exploded against the axe-wielding vampire, sending him flying. The man in the red and blue lowered his
smoking hand and ran to Rebecca, kneeling beside her. There were tears of blood running down his face.
Buffy started to take a step forward and suddenly found herself falling backwards. She let out a
yelp of pain and opened her eyes. She found she was lying on the floor of Jason's warehouse next to an
overturned desk chair. Filtered sunlight was on her face. She groaned and sat up, one hand rubbing her
head.
"About time you woke up," a familiar voice said. She turned her head to the side and saw Xander
standing there, arms crossed over his chest. "It's almost 2pm."
"That late huh?" Buffy said as she got to her feet. She looked around. Willow was lying on
Jason's bed by herself, fast asleep. She was dressed in one of Chelle's flannel nightgowns. Oz was sitting in
a kitchen chair about ten feet away from the television, watching some cheesy afternoon horror movie. He
was wearing an old t-shirt and some jeans he had borrowed from Jason.
"You looked so peaceful, figured I shouldn't wake you," Xander said as Buffy continued to look
around the room. She spotted Jason sitting on the hood of his car, legs folded. He was dressed in a pair of
jeans and a white shirt, and was without shoes. He was smoking a cigarette with a dark look on his face.
There was a half-empty vodka bottle between his legs. Chelle was sitting on the car next to him, dressed
rather plainly in a black t-shirt and leather pants. She was leaning close to Jason, speaking quietly to him, a
concerned look on her face. Buffy shook her head and turned to look at Willow. She moved over to the bed
and sat down on it, looking down at the sleeping witch.
"She woken up yet?" Buffy asked.
"Not yet," Oz said as he turned to look at Buffy. "Chelle says she's not hurt, just exhausted." He
stood up and walked over to the bed. He reached down and brushed some of the hair away from Willow's
eyes gently. At that moment Willow opened her eyes, a smile crossing her face as she saw Oz.
"Oh what a nice thing to see when I wake up," Willow said softly. Oz gave a wry smile and leaned
down, kissing Willow lightly. They stayed like that for about twenty seconds before Xander gave a nervous
cough. Oz straightened back up as Willow sat up on the bed, looking around. She looked over to Buffy.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked. Buffy smiled at her.
"Yeah, no one got hurt. Giles went home a little while ago. I called my mom, told her what
happened. Xander called your mom, told her we were all staying over at my house, so we're cool," Buffy
said. "Now, here's the big question: What happened to you last night? How did you get so powerful in
magic?" Willow frowned and ran a hand through her hair.
"I'm a mage, like Chelle. My powers activated last night," Willow said quietly. "It's giving me the
wiggins. I have all these memories from past lives running around in my head, along with magical theories
and metaphysical philosophies I have never heard of before. It's making it hard to think."
"Wow, just when you think things can't get more complicated," Xander said. Willow looked up
and smiled at him briefly, before she turned back to Buffy.
"So what do we do now?" Buffy asked. Everyone looked at her.
"Go home maybe?" Oz said in his usual sardonic way.
"Oh like it's ever that easy," Xander said, rolling his eyes.
_ _ _ _ _
Halfway across the room, Jason and Chelle sat on the hood of Jason's Mustang. Jason took a drag
off his cigarette, then lifted the vodka bottle he was holding and took a long drink from it. He had a dark
look on his face. Chelle watched him, her concern obvious. They both sat in silence for a while, before
Jason spoke up.
"I'm going to get these kids killed," Jason said quietly. Chelle sighed.
"They know the score Jason. You can't make their decisions for them," Chelle said, reaching out
to snag Jason's cigarette from him and taking a drag off it. "You tried that for me remember? It didn't work
so well."
Jason just shook his head and took another drink from the vodka bottle. Chelle took one more drag
from the cigarette and handed it back to him. He took it, and stared at it, watching it burn silently for a few
moments.
"You knew she was close to Awakening didn't you Chelle?" Jason asked. Chelle looked away,
watching Buffy, Willow, Oz, and Xander across the room for a moment.
"I had an idea," Chelle said. "She's an old soul. Her Avatar has been around the block a few times.
She is going to be unbelievably powerful."
"The Technocracy is going to be all over her. Or the Nephandi. The demon-worshipers love to
search out Orphans like her," Jason said, taking another drink. Chelle stared at Willow quietly for a few
moments, before she turned around and looked at Jason.
"I know. If you hadn't been there when I Awakened…" Chelle said, shuddering. Jason looked at
her, then slipped an arm around her shoulders. Chelle leaned against him, turning slightly to rest her chin
on his shoulder and wrap her arms around her waist.
"Are you still mad at me for leaving you with the Circle?" Jason asked quietly. Chelle looked up
at him and shook her head.
"No. You aren't a mage, and I needed to be taught what to do with my powers before I started
attracting the wrong kind of attention. I'm just glad you came back to visit every once in a while," she
murmured. Jason nodded, and took one last drag off his cigarette before tossing it away.
"I think you should stay here and start teaching Willow how to control her magic. She was damn
lucky she didn't call down a Paradox storm last night. If there had been any normal Sleepers around she
would have," Jason said. Chelle looked up at his face again.
"Stay here? Where are you going?" Chelle asked. Jason looked down at her, a half-smile on his
face.
"I'm going to Los Angeles. Callista escaped last night, and she told me there was going to be a
siege there soon. I am guessing that's where she'll be heading. So, I am going to look for her," Jason said.
"Not alone you aren't," Buffy said. Jason and Chelle looked up to see Buffy standing off to the
side of the car. Chelle let go of Jason and slid back from him. Jason looked at Buffy and raised an eyebrow.
"You think you're going with me?" Jason asked, amused. Buffy crossed her arms over her chest
and looked at him, a resolute look on her face.
"Callista kidnapped two of my friends and almost killed them. I want a piece of her," Buffy said, a
slight tinge of menace in her voice. Jason shook his head.
"You are good Buffy, and have been getting better, but you still aren't ready. If a siege breaks out
in the city, you'd be in over your head. You aren't going," Jason said.
"Deal with me going," Buffy said. "You can't stop me. If you leave without me, I'll just go by
myself and look for her." Jason sighed, and Chelle turned to look at him, a wry smile on her face.
"She's got you Jason, give it up," Chelle said.
"Okay, okay, you can come Buffy. But just you. Everyone else stays here. Got it?" Jason said.
Buffy nodded.
"That was the idea," Buffy said. Jason sighed once more.
"Well, go home and pack whatever you need. We'll leave here tomorrow morning, around eight,"
Jason said. Buffy smiled.
_ _ _ _ _
Faith walked down the sidewalk, a dark look on her pretty face. She had her hands stuffed in the
pockets of her leather jacket, and was staring down at the sidewalk. It was rather warm out, but she had to
wear the jacket to hide the pistol she had stuck in the waistband of her pants, at the small of her back. She
didn't seem to notice the heat as she walked.
She reached the street corner and stopped, looking around. She stood there for a few moments, and
watched as the last traces of the sun vanished from the sky. She leaned against a near-by light post, a
grumpy look on her face.
"Find the Bard he says. That nutcase is going to drive me insane. What kind of a name is 'Raven'
anyway," Faith mumbled to herself. As she complained, she reached up and touched the spot on her
forehead where Raven had kissed her the night before, without seeming to notice she was doing it.
"You know, talking to yourself is a sure sign of madness," a male voice said. Faith spun quickly,
one hand reaching behind her for the gun when she stopped.
The origin of the voice was about six feet from her, on the steps of a closed office building. It was
a young man, not any older than 27 or so. His hair was short and wavy brown, and his eyes were a bright,
forest green. There was a three-day growth of hair on his chin. He was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a
denim jacket. His boots didn't match the rest of his outfit, they were dark blue suede with fringe trim. The
man sat the, relaxed, holding a silver flute in his hands. On the ground in front of him was an open flute
case, and a small cardboard sign that read "Please Support the Arts". There were several coins and bills in
the flute case.
"You shouldn't startle people like that," Faith said, relaxing slightly. This guy was breathing, so
she was pretty sure he wasn't a vamp. He looked like a harmless street musician. The man laughed.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare ya. I just don't like to see pretty young things like yourself
look so upset about something," he said. "My name's Scott. I play tunes for people. Throw in a little
change and I'll cheer you up some, promise." Scott smiled a bright smile up at Faith. She just shook her
head.
"I haven't got time for some crappy flute music," Faith grumbled, then turned to walk away.
"Oh, I think you do, Faith," Scott said. Faith stopped, and turned around, a confused and slightly
angry look on her face.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, one hand moving to her back, wrapping around the
gun. Scott smiled and pulled a small bottle of whiskey out of his jacket pocket.
"Oh, I just guessed. You've been looking for me," Scott said, taking a drink from the bottle. Faith
blinked.
"What?" she asked. Scott took another drink from the bottle, and looked up at Faith again.
"You've been looking for me. You, and that dark guy I can't see too well. That's what the flute tells
me anyways," Scott said, smiling. Faith looked at him, the confusion and anger warring on her face. Scott
spoke up again.
"Why does that guy want to find me anyways?" he asked. Faith just stared at him, then shook her
head.
"I don't know. You're the Bard I'm looking for," Faith said. Scott smiled widely, and lifted his
flute.
"Yeah, the flute told me. Showed me in a vision. It's a magic flute," Scott said brightly. Faith
reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew the cel phone Raven had given her. She dialed the number he
had told her and placed the phone to her ear. She listened to the ringing, and it was picked after two rings.
"Hello Faith," a familiar voice said from the other end of the line. Faith shook her head.
"Found your Bard," Faith said, looking at the smiling Scott. "And I think he's out of his mind."
End of Chapter Seven
