Chapter Thirty-Four
The sun was rising in Sunnydale by the time Dracovuimago woke up. However, the demon refused to tell Buffy anything at all, except for the fact that it wouldn't tell them anything.
"I will never betray my master, foolish Slayer." Dracovuimago hissed.
Darry studied the demon. "What, exactly, is it? The question has been bothering me since you brought it here." Darry asked.
Buffy kicked the creature in the ribs. "What are you?" She asked.
The demon didn't answer, Buffy drew back her leg as though she was going to kick it again and the dragon inched away. "I am called Dracovuimago, by my master and brethren." It answered hastily.
"There are more of you?" Kellie asked, taking a bite of a piece of toast she had made a few minutes ago.
Dracovuimago refused to look at her. "I will not betray my master." He repeated.
Buffy gave an exasperated sigh. "I give up." She muttered. She and the other two girls headed upstairs, leaving Dracovuimago to rattle his chains downstairs.
When they got back upstairs, Willow and Tara were busy preparing breakfast. "Did you get anywhere with baby Godzilla?" Willow asked.
"Well, he has a name and it's Dracovuimago." Buffy answered and dropped into a chair at the kitchen counter.
"Also, it won't betray its master." Kellie said, doing her best to mimic the creature's thick drawl.
Darry smiled at her cousin's imitation. "Well, I think Buffy's guess was right on the money when she assumed the creature was sent by Sunnydale's new big-n-nasty evil." Darry said.
Buffy nodded. "I think that keeping this creature alive until will know exactly what it is we're dealing with will serve well." Buffy muttered. "It just might be able to show us where its master is." Buffy added.
Once the sun had fully risen in Sunnydale, the Summers house was a bustle of activity. Oz dropped by shortly after sunrise and immediately heard the creature banging around downstairs. Dawn was also awakened by the animal's banging and began to complain that she never got any sleep in her own house.
Darry went downstairs to check on the creature; when she had gone, Dawn brought up a very important piece of information.
"Darry's birthday is the day after tomorrow." Dawn said, as though the information had just dawned on her, as she spoke.
"That's right." Kellie muttered. Oz looked over at them. "We should do something for her." He suggested.
Kellie nodded. "I think that was pretty much a given." Kellie said and looked over at Oz.
Oz smiled over at Kellie, more of an 'I was just saying' smile, and nodded.
"She's never had a birthday party before." Dawn pointed out, turning to face her sister.
"So, we have to throw her a party, for sure now." Buffy said, taking Dawn's hint.
"You should throw her a party here." Tara suggested.
At that moment Darry re-entered the kitchen. "Throw who a party?" She asked and sat down at the table beside Oz.
"No one." Willow answered, not sure why but apparently it was going to be a surprise party.
Buffy looked over at her redheaded friend and looked confused; Willow shrugged.
"So, has the demon ripped up the basement yet?" Kellie asked, changing the subject and looking at Darry.
Darry shook her head. "Not yet but he's not exactly the happiest thing." Darry answered.
Buffy stood up. "Excuse me friends but I'm going to try and get some sleep, I have to be on my ball if I'm going to fight some new evil." Buffy said. She headed upstairs and shut the door to her room. She was even tired then she had let on to her friends; without even bothering to change cloths, Buffy lay down in bed and immediately fell asleep.
Once she was asleep, Buffy's head swarmed with strange visions; another Slayer dream no doubt. There around where she stood was dark with few candles lighting the area; 'ever heard of going electric?' Buffy thought as she looked around.
She was in what looked like a cave or a tunnel but she couldn't be sure because she couldn't really see anything. However, Buffy was aware that there was a distance sparkle in front of her. She couldn't help but walk toward it, she felt like something was forcing her to go.
When Buffy neared the sparkle, she saw that it was a gem or stone of some kind; it was red and the candlelight caused it to glint. Buffy reached forward to touch it and felt a strong surge of power and jerked her hand away.
The stone disappeared and left Buffy in the dark; the Slayer looked around, feeling someone standing behind her but seeing no one. Buffy reached around, blindly, looking for something to protect herself with. However, she could find nothing; Buffy looked up and saw the outline of her attacker.
"Slayer." The person hissed. There was the sound of a sword coming out of its sheath and Buffy winced as she heard the blade whisper against the air. The sword impaled her, right as she woke up.
Buffy awoke with a start, sweating with her heart beating a million miles an hour. Buffy let out a sigh and dropped her head against the pillow; there would be no sleep for the Slayer.
Downstairs, Darry and Oz had left, giving Kellie and Dawn plenty of time to plan Darry's (surprise) party. Tara also wanted to help, so she was pitching in anywhere she could.
"You said she's never had a party before, right? So our party doesn't need to be, like, a Hollywood premiere party." Kellie said.
Tara looked at Kellie. "I think it should be special anyway." Tara said.
Kellie nodded. "Of course it will, I wasn't saying we should just buy some balloons and call it a party but we don't need crystal swans." Kellie said.
"I don't think she would want crystal swans anyway." Dawn muttered. Buffy came into the kitchen, looking like she had just run a marathon. Willow looked over at her friend. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" Willow asked.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, just another fun-filled Slayer dream." Buffy answered.
"Was the dream about impending evil?" Willow asked, attempting to make light of the situation.
Buffy shrugged. "Make with it what you will but I think that it was something classified as 'not good'." Buffy answered.
Buffy looked over at Tara, Kellie and Dawn at the kitchen table. "What are you guys doing?" She asked.
"Planning Darry's surprise party." Tara answered with a smile. Buffy looked over at Kellie, who seemed to be doing all the planning.
"Are you going to be like a wedding planner, or something, when you decide you want a career, Kellie?" Buffy asked.
Kellie looked up. "Huh? Oh, I don't know it's just fun to plan things." Kellie answered with a smile.
Buffy shrugged; she knew she would need a lot of planning for the latest battle was unambiguous.
Oz and Darry were sitting in Weatherly Park, simply talking and looking up at the clouds. Oz turned to Darry.
"What was it like, for you, growing up? Dawn said you never had a birthday party or Christmas, what was it like?" Oz asked, surprising Darry with his question.
Darry looked over at him and then thought a second. "Hard. And not fun." Darry finally answered.
Oz looked over at her again. "How old were you when you became a werewolf?" He asked.
"Five. Werewolves killed my parents, I don't know how I got away with just a bite." Darry answered and looked away from him.
"My little cousin bit me." Oz said, trying to lighten up the mood. However, it didn't work when Darry returned her gaze up to the sky and became silent.
Oz looked over at Darry and put his hand over hers. "I'm sorry, Darry, if I said something to upset you." Oz said.
Darry turned to face Oz. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking." Darry said.
Oz moved closer to Darry and kissed her. Darry smiled and kissed him back.
The whole Summers household was a little sleep deprived, except maybe Dawn even though she complained differently, including Kellie who fell asleep while making Darry's birthday plans.
Buffy was trying to stay awake by drinking a whole bunch of coffee and talking to Willow, who was also hopping on the caffeine train.
Willow took a sip of her coffee. "This remains me a studying in the library to find some new demon terrorizing Sunnydale." Willow remarked.
Buffy looked over at her. "Do you have most of Giles's books?" Buffy asked.
"In the Magic Box, why?" Willow answered.
"I'm thinking that we need to go into research mode for this new evil." Buffy answered.
Willow nodded. "It might take awhile, since we haven't seen this new evil, yet." Willow muttered.
The kitchen door opened and closed and Kellie awoke with a start. "I'm awake." She said as she sat up.
Darry looked at her cousin. "Okay, good to know Kels." Darry said. She looked at the paper that Kellie had fallen asleep on. "What's that?" She asked.
Kellie looked down at the paper and grabbed it, taking it off the table. "Nothing." She said quickly.
Willow and Buffy looked over at Darry, it was only then when Buffy realized how late it was getting.
Darry joined Kellie at the kitchen table and sat down. Buffy looked out the window as the sun started to disappear below the Deodara Pines in the distance.
Without warning, the kitchen door opened and Spike walked in. Spike looked over at Buffy and then walked over to her. "Look what I can do." He said and grabbed Willow by the neck and shoved her onto the kitchen counter.
It didn't take Buffy long to get over the shock of Spike's attack before she shoved him off her friend. Willow was more surprised then hurt but stared at Spike.
"See, not headache." Spike said proudly.
Buffy gave the vampire a once-over. "What happened? Has your chip stopped working?" Buffy asked.
"My chip is no more." Spike said.
Buffy frowned, not sure she liked that fact. "Oh, no worries Slayer I'm still a vampire on the good side." Spike said. "No humans for me." Spike added.
Buffy stared at him again. "How did you do it Spike?" Buffy asked.
"Just a little trip to vet; I'm definitely playing with the other puppies again." Spike answered.
"You forced a doctor to remove that chip?" Willow asked.
Spike looked over at her. "Pretty much." He answered. "Sorry about that whole thing, Red, I just needed the element of surprise." He said.
Willow rubbed her neck. "You could have surprised someone else." She muttered.
Spike shrugged. "Well, this has been fun kitties but ol' Spikey has to leave." He said and turned to Kellie. "Are you coming, little bird?" He asked.
Kellie nodded and stood up, sticking the piece of paper in her pocket. Spike and Kellie left the kitchen and Buffy frowned. "Well, we have one more vampire in Sunnydale." She muttered.
The night, while out on patrol, Buffy ran into another Dracovuimago like demon.
"You have taken one of the brethren, Slayer, now you will die." It hissed and leapt at Buffy.
Buffy kicked it and knocked it to the ground, away from her; it lay on the ground, playing dead like the first one had. Buffy walked over to it and grabbed its neck, making the demon look at her.
"You tell your master that I'm sick of playing with his role-playing rejects and that if he wants to face me then he should do it himself." Buffy said and glared at the demon. "You tell him that, got it. Or I will hunt you down and kill you and all your damn brethren." Buffy promised.
Buffy let the go and kicked it away. Dracovuimago 2 ran away, cursing the Slayer.
Buffy entered her house via the kitchen door and sat beside Willow at the kitchen table, who was having a midnight snack. "We need to go to the Magic Box tomorrow and research everything on Dracovuimago there is." Buffy said.
"Why?" Willow asked.
"Because I just met another one who had another happy message from its master and no, it wasn't about hugs and puppies." Buffy answered.
"So, you think this new thing is serous? Not your run of the mill Lagos demon?" Willow asked.
Buffy shook her head. "I think this could be serous." Buffy answered.
The next day, everyone headed to the Magic Box, but Darry who decided to stay home and watch Dracovuimago number one. Kellie was still working on Darry's birthday plans and was taking Tara's suggestion about having the party at Buffy's house.
Buffy and Willow were still discussing the possible forces that could be running amuck in Sunnydale with plans of terror and destruction. When the group entered the Magic Box, Anya looked up from her spot behind the counter with the hopeful look of trying to sell something. "Oh, I thought you were customers." Anya muttered.
"Great to see you too Anya." Dawn muttered.
"Anya, we need to use the books." Buffy said.
"Ooh, some big new demon coming to kill us all? Can I help?" Anya asked.
Buffy shrugged, they might need all the help they could get. The group headed upstairs, to all the books that had to be kept from the public's eye. Willow began pulling down all the books on demons and putting them on the tables. Buffy sat down and began to open them, flipping through the cracked and brittle pages looking for pictures.
Dawn sat down beside her sister and picked up a book; Buffy looked over at her. "Do you even know what we're looking for?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, the thing that lives in our basement." Dawn answered.
"Hmm, you're a regular Harriet the Spy." Buffy muttered.
Everyone started working, flipping through duster pages and pouring over sometimes-unreadable words. Willow was reading through a book with all Latin words when she stopped.
"Buffy, this is our guy." Willow said and held to the book up so Buffy could see the picture.
"What does it say?" Buffy asked. She stood up and walked over to where Willow was.
"'Dracovuimago is a breed of demon that is conjured up a potent spell caster and can only been killed by a long metal object. Dracovuimago is extremely powerful spell created demon; though it resembles a dragon, it is must like a lion and cannot fly.'" Willow read, stumbling over some of the Latin words.
"So, this thing was created by someone?" Dawn asked.
"Apparently." Willow said.
"Wonderful, so we are dealing with a very powerful spell caster." Buffy muttered. She took the book away from Willow and began flipping through the pages. On one page there was a picture of the demon Acathla. Buffy grimaced.
"That's one demon I don't care to remember." Buffy shuddered. She scanned the page and nearly jumped back when she saw a picture of the gem that she had seen in her dream the other day.
"What's that?" Buffy asked and put her finger on the picture.
Willow pulled the book closer to her and began to read the pages. "'The Acathla Stone, taking its name after the demon. Like the demon, the Acathla Stone can bring about Hell on Earth. However, unlike the demon the Stone can grant its finder and forager unlimited power.'" Willow read.
"Power to end the world and open the Hellmouth." Buffy guessed, nearly whispering the words.
"I'm guessing that the same person who is sending these freak show creatures is also trying to find the Acathla Stone." Dawn said.
Buffy looked over at her sister. Instead of snapping at her sister, Buffy nodded. "I'm thinking." She said.
"How do you find the stone?" Kellie asked.
Willow scanned the text. "Oh here it is. 'The Acathla Stone can only be forged by spilling the blood of someone untainted.'" Willow read.
"So, all you do is make 'someone untainted' bleed and the stone appears, just like that?" Kellie asked.
"That's what it says; most of the time, untainted blood must be spilled on a Holy Alter or something like that but it doesn't say that." Willow answered.
"What exactly is untainted blood?" Kellie asked.
"Someone pure and unblemished." Willow answered.
The rest of the day passed uneventful; Kellie perfected her plans for Darry's party and Tara and Willow offered to get decorations. Kellie was excited about the whole idea but Darry didn't seem too excited about the fact that her birthday was the next day.
In the morning, when Darry woke up Kellie was already awake.
"Happy birthday." Kellie said with a grin.
Darry smiled. "Thanks." She said and quickly changed into her clothes. Darry looked over at the picture of her and Oz, as she did everyday, and smiled, happy that Kellie had taken the picture.
"Okay, Dar, here's the deal. We were going to throw you a surprise party but it turned out to be kinda of bad thing because you live here and Oz said he had something to do today so he couldn't keep you out for the day so we could get ready. But, we're going to have a party here later and Oz said he could come so, that's the deal for today." Kellie told her cousin.
Darry couldn't help but smile. "You didn't have to throw me a party at all." She said.
Kellie shrugged. "You know me, I couldn't help it." Kellie said.
The two went downstairs and Darry was greeted with more 'happy birthday's. Dawn was playing with a bunch of balloons as Xander blew them up; Anya watched Xander and didn't offer to help.
Darry smiled. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." She said with a smile.
"Okay, let's not get all emotional now." Buffy said with a smile.
Everyone sat at the kitchen table and had a breakfast of none brunt pancakes.
As the day progressed, Darry had what she thought had to be the nicest day in her life, except for Christmas Eve night. When it began to get darker, Spike came by to join the birthday celebration for the newly twenty-one year old Darry.
"Oz should be here any minute." Kellie told Darry. "Buffy and I picked out something for you to wear, it's upstairs so go put it on." Kellie commanded.
Darry went upstairs and was surprised to see a lavender dress lying on her bed. Darry knew that Kellie and Buffy had wanted her to wear it for Oz so she couldn't refuse. However, Darry had never wore a dress before so it was a little difficult to get use to; Darry had a hard time zipping up the back but eventually figured out how to do it without asking anyone. Darry looked at herself in the mirror; she couldn't help but feel that she was going to a formal dinner or some grand ball from the 1800's.
Darry came back downstairs, slightly embarrassed by the way everyone looked at her for a second.
Darry walked over to Kellie and Buffy, who gave her an approving smile.
"It feels weird." Darry said with a slight smile. "I feel like I'm a princess or something, and that's weird."
Buffy frowned. "Believe me, being a princess is not all its cracked up to be." She muttered.
"Don't you think I'm a little over dress?" Darry asked. Everyone, except Xander who wore a tie (for some reason), had dressed the way the always did. Well, except Tara who also had one a pretty dress but she always wore dresses like the one she had on.
Kellie shook her head. "Not really, I think Oz will love it." She said.
Darry smiled. "Wherever he is." She muttered. "Thank you." She said to both Kellie and Buffy.
"Remember, no emotional stuff." Buffy reminded her with a smile.
Dawn peeked out the window and then turned around. "Oz is here." She said.
Darry became slightly nervous. "I think I am overdressed." Darry whispered to Kellie.
"You're not." She whispered back.
Spike looked over at Darry. "You look good-enough to eat, but I don't mean that literally." Spike said.
"Why does that not make me feel better?" Darry muttered.
Oz opened the front door and entered the house; his eyes immediately fell on Darry.
Darry looked around, embarrassed again. "I told I was over dressed." She whispered to Kellie, who still stood beside her. She turned to look at Oz. "Don't laugh, Kellie made me wear it." She told him.
Oz shook his head. "I'm not laughing, you look beautiful." Oz whispered and walked over to her.
Darry smiled; everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing before so Darry and Oz slipped out of the house and sat on the porch steps.
"Where were you today?" She asked.
"I was getting your birthday present." Oz answered. He took a jewelry box out of his pocket and handed it to her.
Darry looked over at him, surprised. "You didn't have to get me anything." Darry whispered.
"I wanted to, open it." He told her. Darry opened the box and set inside was a golden necklace (like Dawn's) that said 'Darry'. "It took me all day to find a jewelry store that would custom make a necklace." Oz said.
Darry took the necklace out of the box and looked over at Oz with tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful." She whispered.
"So are you." He told her and put the necklace around her neck.
Darry turned to him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Oz kissed her back; both were content and the only things that mattered were each other.
The sun was rising in Sunnydale by the time Dracovuimago woke up. However, the demon refused to tell Buffy anything at all, except for the fact that it wouldn't tell them anything.
"I will never betray my master, foolish Slayer." Dracovuimago hissed.
Darry studied the demon. "What, exactly, is it? The question has been bothering me since you brought it here." Darry asked.
Buffy kicked the creature in the ribs. "What are you?" She asked.
The demon didn't answer, Buffy drew back her leg as though she was going to kick it again and the dragon inched away. "I am called Dracovuimago, by my master and brethren." It answered hastily.
"There are more of you?" Kellie asked, taking a bite of a piece of toast she had made a few minutes ago.
Dracovuimago refused to look at her. "I will not betray my master." He repeated.
Buffy gave an exasperated sigh. "I give up." She muttered. She and the other two girls headed upstairs, leaving Dracovuimago to rattle his chains downstairs.
When they got back upstairs, Willow and Tara were busy preparing breakfast. "Did you get anywhere with baby Godzilla?" Willow asked.
"Well, he has a name and it's Dracovuimago." Buffy answered and dropped into a chair at the kitchen counter.
"Also, it won't betray its master." Kellie said, doing her best to mimic the creature's thick drawl.
Darry smiled at her cousin's imitation. "Well, I think Buffy's guess was right on the money when she assumed the creature was sent by Sunnydale's new big-n-nasty evil." Darry said.
Buffy nodded. "I think that keeping this creature alive until will know exactly what it is we're dealing with will serve well." Buffy muttered. "It just might be able to show us where its master is." Buffy added.
Once the sun had fully risen in Sunnydale, the Summers house was a bustle of activity. Oz dropped by shortly after sunrise and immediately heard the creature banging around downstairs. Dawn was also awakened by the animal's banging and began to complain that she never got any sleep in her own house.
Darry went downstairs to check on the creature; when she had gone, Dawn brought up a very important piece of information.
"Darry's birthday is the day after tomorrow." Dawn said, as though the information had just dawned on her, as she spoke.
"That's right." Kellie muttered. Oz looked over at them. "We should do something for her." He suggested.
Kellie nodded. "I think that was pretty much a given." Kellie said and looked over at Oz.
Oz smiled over at Kellie, more of an 'I was just saying' smile, and nodded.
"She's never had a birthday party before." Dawn pointed out, turning to face her sister.
"So, we have to throw her a party, for sure now." Buffy said, taking Dawn's hint.
"You should throw her a party here." Tara suggested.
At that moment Darry re-entered the kitchen. "Throw who a party?" She asked and sat down at the table beside Oz.
"No one." Willow answered, not sure why but apparently it was going to be a surprise party.
Buffy looked over at her redheaded friend and looked confused; Willow shrugged.
"So, has the demon ripped up the basement yet?" Kellie asked, changing the subject and looking at Darry.
Darry shook her head. "Not yet but he's not exactly the happiest thing." Darry answered.
Buffy stood up. "Excuse me friends but I'm going to try and get some sleep, I have to be on my ball if I'm going to fight some new evil." Buffy said. She headed upstairs and shut the door to her room. She was even tired then she had let on to her friends; without even bothering to change cloths, Buffy lay down in bed and immediately fell asleep.
Once she was asleep, Buffy's head swarmed with strange visions; another Slayer dream no doubt. There around where she stood was dark with few candles lighting the area; 'ever heard of going electric?' Buffy thought as she looked around.
She was in what looked like a cave or a tunnel but she couldn't be sure because she couldn't really see anything. However, Buffy was aware that there was a distance sparkle in front of her. She couldn't help but walk toward it, she felt like something was forcing her to go.
When Buffy neared the sparkle, she saw that it was a gem or stone of some kind; it was red and the candlelight caused it to glint. Buffy reached forward to touch it and felt a strong surge of power and jerked her hand away.
The stone disappeared and left Buffy in the dark; the Slayer looked around, feeling someone standing behind her but seeing no one. Buffy reached around, blindly, looking for something to protect herself with. However, she could find nothing; Buffy looked up and saw the outline of her attacker.
"Slayer." The person hissed. There was the sound of a sword coming out of its sheath and Buffy winced as she heard the blade whisper against the air. The sword impaled her, right as she woke up.
Buffy awoke with a start, sweating with her heart beating a million miles an hour. Buffy let out a sigh and dropped her head against the pillow; there would be no sleep for the Slayer.
Downstairs, Darry and Oz had left, giving Kellie and Dawn plenty of time to plan Darry's (surprise) party. Tara also wanted to help, so she was pitching in anywhere she could.
"You said she's never had a party before, right? So our party doesn't need to be, like, a Hollywood premiere party." Kellie said.
Tara looked at Kellie. "I think it should be special anyway." Tara said.
Kellie nodded. "Of course it will, I wasn't saying we should just buy some balloons and call it a party but we don't need crystal swans." Kellie said.
"I don't think she would want crystal swans anyway." Dawn muttered. Buffy came into the kitchen, looking like she had just run a marathon. Willow looked over at her friend. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" Willow asked.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, just another fun-filled Slayer dream." Buffy answered.
"Was the dream about impending evil?" Willow asked, attempting to make light of the situation.
Buffy shrugged. "Make with it what you will but I think that it was something classified as 'not good'." Buffy answered.
Buffy looked over at Tara, Kellie and Dawn at the kitchen table. "What are you guys doing?" She asked.
"Planning Darry's surprise party." Tara answered with a smile. Buffy looked over at Kellie, who seemed to be doing all the planning.
"Are you going to be like a wedding planner, or something, when you decide you want a career, Kellie?" Buffy asked.
Kellie looked up. "Huh? Oh, I don't know it's just fun to plan things." Kellie answered with a smile.
Buffy shrugged; she knew she would need a lot of planning for the latest battle was unambiguous.
Oz and Darry were sitting in Weatherly Park, simply talking and looking up at the clouds. Oz turned to Darry.
"What was it like, for you, growing up? Dawn said you never had a birthday party or Christmas, what was it like?" Oz asked, surprising Darry with his question.
Darry looked over at him and then thought a second. "Hard. And not fun." Darry finally answered.
Oz looked over at her again. "How old were you when you became a werewolf?" He asked.
"Five. Werewolves killed my parents, I don't know how I got away with just a bite." Darry answered and looked away from him.
"My little cousin bit me." Oz said, trying to lighten up the mood. However, it didn't work when Darry returned her gaze up to the sky and became silent.
Oz looked over at Darry and put his hand over hers. "I'm sorry, Darry, if I said something to upset you." Oz said.
Darry turned to face Oz. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking." Darry said.
Oz moved closer to Darry and kissed her. Darry smiled and kissed him back.
The whole Summers household was a little sleep deprived, except maybe Dawn even though she complained differently, including Kellie who fell asleep while making Darry's birthday plans.
Buffy was trying to stay awake by drinking a whole bunch of coffee and talking to Willow, who was also hopping on the caffeine train.
Willow took a sip of her coffee. "This remains me a studying in the library to find some new demon terrorizing Sunnydale." Willow remarked.
Buffy looked over at her. "Do you have most of Giles's books?" Buffy asked.
"In the Magic Box, why?" Willow answered.
"I'm thinking that we need to go into research mode for this new evil." Buffy answered.
Willow nodded. "It might take awhile, since we haven't seen this new evil, yet." Willow muttered.
The kitchen door opened and closed and Kellie awoke with a start. "I'm awake." She said as she sat up.
Darry looked at her cousin. "Okay, good to know Kels." Darry said. She looked at the paper that Kellie had fallen asleep on. "What's that?" She asked.
Kellie looked down at the paper and grabbed it, taking it off the table. "Nothing." She said quickly.
Willow and Buffy looked over at Darry, it was only then when Buffy realized how late it was getting.
Darry joined Kellie at the kitchen table and sat down. Buffy looked out the window as the sun started to disappear below the Deodara Pines in the distance.
Without warning, the kitchen door opened and Spike walked in. Spike looked over at Buffy and then walked over to her. "Look what I can do." He said and grabbed Willow by the neck and shoved her onto the kitchen counter.
It didn't take Buffy long to get over the shock of Spike's attack before she shoved him off her friend. Willow was more surprised then hurt but stared at Spike.
"See, not headache." Spike said proudly.
Buffy gave the vampire a once-over. "What happened? Has your chip stopped working?" Buffy asked.
"My chip is no more." Spike said.
Buffy frowned, not sure she liked that fact. "Oh, no worries Slayer I'm still a vampire on the good side." Spike said. "No humans for me." Spike added.
Buffy stared at him again. "How did you do it Spike?" Buffy asked.
"Just a little trip to vet; I'm definitely playing with the other puppies again." Spike answered.
"You forced a doctor to remove that chip?" Willow asked.
Spike looked over at her. "Pretty much." He answered. "Sorry about that whole thing, Red, I just needed the element of surprise." He said.
Willow rubbed her neck. "You could have surprised someone else." She muttered.
Spike shrugged. "Well, this has been fun kitties but ol' Spikey has to leave." He said and turned to Kellie. "Are you coming, little bird?" He asked.
Kellie nodded and stood up, sticking the piece of paper in her pocket. Spike and Kellie left the kitchen and Buffy frowned. "Well, we have one more vampire in Sunnydale." She muttered.
The night, while out on patrol, Buffy ran into another Dracovuimago like demon.
"You have taken one of the brethren, Slayer, now you will die." It hissed and leapt at Buffy.
Buffy kicked it and knocked it to the ground, away from her; it lay on the ground, playing dead like the first one had. Buffy walked over to it and grabbed its neck, making the demon look at her.
"You tell your master that I'm sick of playing with his role-playing rejects and that if he wants to face me then he should do it himself." Buffy said and glared at the demon. "You tell him that, got it. Or I will hunt you down and kill you and all your damn brethren." Buffy promised.
Buffy let the go and kicked it away. Dracovuimago 2 ran away, cursing the Slayer.
Buffy entered her house via the kitchen door and sat beside Willow at the kitchen table, who was having a midnight snack. "We need to go to the Magic Box tomorrow and research everything on Dracovuimago there is." Buffy said.
"Why?" Willow asked.
"Because I just met another one who had another happy message from its master and no, it wasn't about hugs and puppies." Buffy answered.
"So, you think this new thing is serous? Not your run of the mill Lagos demon?" Willow asked.
Buffy shook her head. "I think this could be serous." Buffy answered.
The next day, everyone headed to the Magic Box, but Darry who decided to stay home and watch Dracovuimago number one. Kellie was still working on Darry's birthday plans and was taking Tara's suggestion about having the party at Buffy's house.
Buffy and Willow were still discussing the possible forces that could be running amuck in Sunnydale with plans of terror and destruction. When the group entered the Magic Box, Anya looked up from her spot behind the counter with the hopeful look of trying to sell something. "Oh, I thought you were customers." Anya muttered.
"Great to see you too Anya." Dawn muttered.
"Anya, we need to use the books." Buffy said.
"Ooh, some big new demon coming to kill us all? Can I help?" Anya asked.
Buffy shrugged, they might need all the help they could get. The group headed upstairs, to all the books that had to be kept from the public's eye. Willow began pulling down all the books on demons and putting them on the tables. Buffy sat down and began to open them, flipping through the cracked and brittle pages looking for pictures.
Dawn sat down beside her sister and picked up a book; Buffy looked over at her. "Do you even know what we're looking for?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, the thing that lives in our basement." Dawn answered.
"Hmm, you're a regular Harriet the Spy." Buffy muttered.
Everyone started working, flipping through duster pages and pouring over sometimes-unreadable words. Willow was reading through a book with all Latin words when she stopped.
"Buffy, this is our guy." Willow said and held to the book up so Buffy could see the picture.
"What does it say?" Buffy asked. She stood up and walked over to where Willow was.
"'Dracovuimago is a breed of demon that is conjured up a potent spell caster and can only been killed by a long metal object. Dracovuimago is extremely powerful spell created demon; though it resembles a dragon, it is must like a lion and cannot fly.'" Willow read, stumbling over some of the Latin words.
"So, this thing was created by someone?" Dawn asked.
"Apparently." Willow said.
"Wonderful, so we are dealing with a very powerful spell caster." Buffy muttered. She took the book away from Willow and began flipping through the pages. On one page there was a picture of the demon Acathla. Buffy grimaced.
"That's one demon I don't care to remember." Buffy shuddered. She scanned the page and nearly jumped back when she saw a picture of the gem that she had seen in her dream the other day.
"What's that?" Buffy asked and put her finger on the picture.
Willow pulled the book closer to her and began to read the pages. "'The Acathla Stone, taking its name after the demon. Like the demon, the Acathla Stone can bring about Hell on Earth. However, unlike the demon the Stone can grant its finder and forager unlimited power.'" Willow read.
"Power to end the world and open the Hellmouth." Buffy guessed, nearly whispering the words.
"I'm guessing that the same person who is sending these freak show creatures is also trying to find the Acathla Stone." Dawn said.
Buffy looked over at her sister. Instead of snapping at her sister, Buffy nodded. "I'm thinking." She said.
"How do you find the stone?" Kellie asked.
Willow scanned the text. "Oh here it is. 'The Acathla Stone can only be forged by spilling the blood of someone untainted.'" Willow read.
"So, all you do is make 'someone untainted' bleed and the stone appears, just like that?" Kellie asked.
"That's what it says; most of the time, untainted blood must be spilled on a Holy Alter or something like that but it doesn't say that." Willow answered.
"What exactly is untainted blood?" Kellie asked.
"Someone pure and unblemished." Willow answered.
The rest of the day passed uneventful; Kellie perfected her plans for Darry's party and Tara and Willow offered to get decorations. Kellie was excited about the whole idea but Darry didn't seem too excited about the fact that her birthday was the next day.
In the morning, when Darry woke up Kellie was already awake.
"Happy birthday." Kellie said with a grin.
Darry smiled. "Thanks." She said and quickly changed into her clothes. Darry looked over at the picture of her and Oz, as she did everyday, and smiled, happy that Kellie had taken the picture.
"Okay, Dar, here's the deal. We were going to throw you a surprise party but it turned out to be kinda of bad thing because you live here and Oz said he had something to do today so he couldn't keep you out for the day so we could get ready. But, we're going to have a party here later and Oz said he could come so, that's the deal for today." Kellie told her cousin.
Darry couldn't help but smile. "You didn't have to throw me a party at all." She said.
Kellie shrugged. "You know me, I couldn't help it." Kellie said.
The two went downstairs and Darry was greeted with more 'happy birthday's. Dawn was playing with a bunch of balloons as Xander blew them up; Anya watched Xander and didn't offer to help.
Darry smiled. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." She said with a smile.
"Okay, let's not get all emotional now." Buffy said with a smile.
Everyone sat at the kitchen table and had a breakfast of none brunt pancakes.
As the day progressed, Darry had what she thought had to be the nicest day in her life, except for Christmas Eve night. When it began to get darker, Spike came by to join the birthday celebration for the newly twenty-one year old Darry.
"Oz should be here any minute." Kellie told Darry. "Buffy and I picked out something for you to wear, it's upstairs so go put it on." Kellie commanded.
Darry went upstairs and was surprised to see a lavender dress lying on her bed. Darry knew that Kellie and Buffy had wanted her to wear it for Oz so she couldn't refuse. However, Darry had never wore a dress before so it was a little difficult to get use to; Darry had a hard time zipping up the back but eventually figured out how to do it without asking anyone. Darry looked at herself in the mirror; she couldn't help but feel that she was going to a formal dinner or some grand ball from the 1800's.
Darry came back downstairs, slightly embarrassed by the way everyone looked at her for a second.
Darry walked over to Kellie and Buffy, who gave her an approving smile.
"It feels weird." Darry said with a slight smile. "I feel like I'm a princess or something, and that's weird."
Buffy frowned. "Believe me, being a princess is not all its cracked up to be." She muttered.
"Don't you think I'm a little over dress?" Darry asked. Everyone, except Xander who wore a tie (for some reason), had dressed the way the always did. Well, except Tara who also had one a pretty dress but she always wore dresses like the one she had on.
Kellie shook her head. "Not really, I think Oz will love it." She said.
Darry smiled. "Wherever he is." She muttered. "Thank you." She said to both Kellie and Buffy.
"Remember, no emotional stuff." Buffy reminded her with a smile.
Dawn peeked out the window and then turned around. "Oz is here." She said.
Darry became slightly nervous. "I think I am overdressed." Darry whispered to Kellie.
"You're not." She whispered back.
Spike looked over at Darry. "You look good-enough to eat, but I don't mean that literally." Spike said.
"Why does that not make me feel better?" Darry muttered.
Oz opened the front door and entered the house; his eyes immediately fell on Darry.
Darry looked around, embarrassed again. "I told I was over dressed." She whispered to Kellie, who still stood beside her. She turned to look at Oz. "Don't laugh, Kellie made me wear it." She told him.
Oz shook his head. "I'm not laughing, you look beautiful." Oz whispered and walked over to her.
Darry smiled; everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing before so Darry and Oz slipped out of the house and sat on the porch steps.
"Where were you today?" She asked.
"I was getting your birthday present." Oz answered. He took a jewelry box out of his pocket and handed it to her.
Darry looked over at him, surprised. "You didn't have to get me anything." Darry whispered.
"I wanted to, open it." He told her. Darry opened the box and set inside was a golden necklace (like Dawn's) that said 'Darry'. "It took me all day to find a jewelry store that would custom make a necklace." Oz said.
Darry took the necklace out of the box and looked over at Oz with tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful." She whispered.
"So are you." He told her and put the necklace around her neck.
Darry turned to him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Oz kissed her back; both were content and the only things that mattered were each other.
