Duty of the Slayer - III
Chapter 6
When we last left our Hero...
Faith's only option was to run. Soon the pack of Vampires would surround her and then her last chance to escape alive would be taken away. She scrambled to her feet but her poor body was screaming in protest. The damage dealt by Andelvon's hand was severe and the Slayer felt herself becoming faint. Faith didn't see a headstone nearby in her hasty withdrawal and tripped, finding herself on the ground again with the mocking laughter of her enemies in her ears.
"Oh how the mighty have fallen," said one of the Vampires. He was confidently walking, almost strolling, up to Faith. "Haven't been in this town long and already you got yourself an enemy girl."
Faith watched the other four blurs that resembled Vampires closed the circle around her. She swore under her breath and tried desperately to focus on seeing straight.
"Aww... Poor Slayer, but it's the least we can do for you... putting you outta your misery." He leaned down and grabbed Faith's face in his hand, forcing the brunette to look up at him, "I owe you for interrupting my dinner a couple nights ago."
Even if she could think straight, Faith had no idea what this Vampire was talking about. What mattered was survival. She craned her neck around and bit hard into the side of his hand, grinding her teeth into his flesh.
"AAAHHH!!!" He tore his hand away, literally, from the Slayer's mouth. A demonic growl echoed in the night as the Vampire clutched at his hand and glared at Faith with rage, "GET HER!"
Another Vampire behind her smashed a boot into her back and Faith crashed into the ground. She spat out her souvenir and rolled to her back, trying to fend off the herd as long as she could with her feet. It was hopeless, Faith knew it, but she wasn't going to die as a coward.
Hands grabbed at her shoulders and the young Slayer cried out in pain as she was forced to her feet. Tears of pain swelled in her eyes because it furthered how badly her arms were dislocated. They were also tears of defiance as Faith growled, swore and threatened them all with a brutal beating once she freed herself. She could feel her arms going numb and the rest of her body was joining in that sensation. Faith wanted so desperately to fight back. Her soul screamed for payback but she was beaten. The kicks she could get in bounced off them like an annoyance. Eventually her struggling was abated as the last two Vampires got a firm hold of her flailing legs.
Odd thoughts started to cross her mind as the blurry image of the Vampire she pissed off came at her. She wondered what it was like for Buffy to die at the hands of the Master. How alone did she feel? How powerless was she as she was beaten? How did it feel to be dead and then alive as Xander saved her?
As the teeth of the Vampire slid into neck, she gasped and realized that there was no one like that for her. She would die and be food for these abominations... But maybe it was for the best. Faith knew she was a screw up. Everything she touched died or got messed up along the way. Hell, just by trying to prove she wasn't like that, ended up badly by walking into the lion's den at the crypt this night.
It would be her final mistake. Faith could feel unconsciousness drawing near as her life was being taken from her. Still she struggled but why... Her body wanted to rest and she was tired... So very tired...
The two Vampires holding Faith's arms bit and licked at their lips, wanting their turn to be now. Just watching their brother feeding off the Slayer made their mouths salivate and their stomachs to rumble. Such power was to be had in drinking the blood of a Slayer and each one of them wanted to find out. She had stopped struggling not too long after Samuel sunk his teeth into her flesh and now they weren't necessary in keeping her at bay. They needed their turn to be now and let go of the Slayer, growling their protests...
Samuel snapped his head up, fresh blood still dripping off his fangs, as he glared daggers at his companions, "Impatient jackals! You're interfering with me?!"
They were about to argue further when Samuel eyes rolled up into the back his head and then he completely disappeared in cloud of dust. Faith crumpled to the ground since there was no one keeping her up and the other two Vampires holding her legs shot up and looked around like scared rabbits, "The other Slayer is here!"
The four of them searched the nearby area, looking intently through the shadows, but no one was to be seen or smelled. It was extremely quiet as well and that frightened them. One of them found some source of courage and stepped forward, "Coward! Come out of hiding Slayer!"
One of his companions tugged on his shirt to get his attention, "Are you really sure that is a good idea? Calling out the Slayer?"
He tore his arm away, "There are four of us and one of... Urgh...." The Vampire he was talking to fell backwards into the other two Vampires as he saw a blade run through his friend's eye. There was no way to explain it but he turned to dust and the knife fell to ground, unscathed. They knew it should have turned to dust along with his friend.
"Well, I should say there are now three of you and one of me."
All three pairs of eyes turned and saw Aliya sitting on top of a headstone, casually smoking a cigarette. She just put away her lighter, "Want the odds to decrease further?"
They exchanged glances with each other. Two of them had died without a fight and now that this stranger was visible, how fast would it take for her to be rid of them. One of them eyed the Slayer who was passed out on the ground. The question of was it really worth it came to mind and looked to one of his comrades.
The third didn't care. He was eyeing that knife. It took out one of their kind not by the usual manner of being staked through the heart or decapitated. Was it blessed or was it dipped in holy water? The stranger was too far away to claim it and the temptation was too great to wield such power. It had to be his...
Curiosity drew the Vampire to this accursed weapon and reached for it... He found himself grabbing at nothing. He swallowed hard knowing what had happened and stood up, looking over at the woman.
Aliya jumped off the gravestone and grinned, taunting at the Vampires with the knife in her hand, "Mine... but I can share again if you want." She flipped the knife so the blade was between her fingers and reached back, ready to throw it.
The one Vampire that wanted that blade stared at Aliya, awestruck, "Magick..." That did it for the rest of them. Somehow she called the blade to her and that blade could kill them easily. They all took one last look at each other before running off.
She brought her arm down and pouted, "Aw come on! You don't like sharing?"
Aliya put the knife she found in crypt away inside the folds of her trench coat and quickly made her way over to Faith. Pressing her index finger against the Slayer's pulse point, Aliya was relieved to feel a steady heartbeat. "Thank the gods I got here before he really made a meal out of you." She pulled off her trench enough so she could rip off the left sleeve of her shirt. With a toss of the shoulder, her coat was on right again and Aliya quickly bandaged Faith's neck wound to stop the bleeding.
She then reached for one of the Slayer's arm and paused. Aliya wanted to relocate those shoulders now but one of two things would happen. The pain would cause Faith to wake up and then Aliya's cover, which had been partially blown already, would be totally blasted out of the water. Or, the pain would be so intensive that it would keep Faith unconscious.
There was no way Aliya could leave Faith like this and prayed that the later would happen. She took the Slayer's right arm and positioned it how it would normally be. Then to steady her body and Faith's, placed a boot underneath and on top of the dislocated shoulder. With a push of the useless arm and a quick jerk of her feet, the ball was forced back into the socket. Aliya's eyes darted quickly to watch for a reaction and she found none. She moved around to the other side and relocated that arm with the same results. Aliya looked up into the night sky and gave a smile of relief, "Thanks."
She looked down at Faith and brushed some hair that had gotten in the girl's face. Considering that she hadn't lost that much blood and the wounds she received would heal in time, Aliya deciding on not bringing her to the hospital. Waking up alone in intensive care would piss Aliya off. Faith would be more so... unless, she somehow told the others where Faith was... but that made no sense and Donovon somehow mysteriously knowing that Faith was in the hospital was too suspicious as well.
"Looks like just you and me kiddo." Aliya carefully lifted Faith's unconscious form into her arms and started the long walk to the motel, "As long as you don't wake up that is."
Sunnydale High School was all but deserted at this time of night. The hallways remained dark and unwelcoming. Even the janitors had already left for the night. Considering the strange occurrences that seemed to plague the school, all personnel made it a priority to do their duties quickly and leave the grounds as soon as possible. Rival gangs breaking in, people being eaten and students disappearing on a fairly regular basis were enough for anyone with a brain not wishing to be in the school after dark.
What baffled most of the staff is why the Librarian would stay well into the night doing research... That made no sense and they chalked it up to be one of those mysteries of Sunnydale...
Another such person of odd hours straightened his tie as he walked towards the library. Donovon's nerves were still on edge being the creator of this deceit. It was a necessary veil that had to be pulled over the Slayer's eyes, along with her friends and Watcher. The more time spent away in searching for Aliya, the better chance of finding the sword and then both she and Donovon could slip out of Sunnydale quietly. It was a good plan in theory and it was working. So far Giles and the others were diligently working on anything related to the sword. Granted, he was holding back some information but it wasn't necessary to secure it. The Legend of the sword and knife was forbidden to speak of with serious consequences if broken...
Now only if Buffy could find Faith. She was still a variable since it is unclear what Faith saw or knew. Aliya had no idea how long the Dark Slayer was spying on her that night when Faith had stumbled upon her.
Hopefully there was some news as Donovon pushed the doors open to the library. Xander had fallen asleep in the book he was reading and it seemed his girlfriend wasn't too far behind. Willow looked exhausted from researching on the computer. Her eyes were weighted with tiredness as the poor girl was slumped before the monitor. Giles was no where to be seen.
"I think you all have done enough for one night." All but Xander looked up at Donovon, rather surprised that he was there. Their sluggishness was even more dreadful this up close, "Go on home and get some sleep. You do need your rest. School tomorrow."
Cordelia slammed her book shut, "Thank you. Someone has some courtesy around here." She shoved Xander's arm to wake him up.
"Courtesy? I'm not sure what you mean."
"Oh well, Giles has been busy in his office," said Willow as she was turning off her laptop. "He kinda got all weirded out because some of his books were missing."
Donovon glanced over at the opened book cage, "Which ones were missing?"
"Theriaus or something," yawned a grumpy Xander.
"No you idiot." She rolled her eyes, "Theriane. The book of Theriane."
"Not an idiot. I'm a sleepy idiot. I sleepy idiot you love."
She fought the smile that wanted to come but couldn't help it. Cordelia did love the big dork.
The Watcher had his suspicions to who had snatched the book and if he was right, the girl was finally getting her act together. Why is it in all her years of survival, Aliya chose now to slip up on a mission? Everything was going perfect until the unfortunate incident at the crypt. He placed his briefcase on the counter, "I'll talk to Giles and see what we can do. We'll work it out. Goodnight to you all."
Sleepy nods responded and half-uttered goodnights were heard as the gang head out for the night. Donovon had to give them credit... They got caught up with forces that weren't meant to be faced. Still, they contributed in their own rights to help their friend, no matter what. It was to be commended, not abhorred as the Watcher Council felt.
He approached Giles' office and noticed that door was opened partially. Donovon peered inside carefully, not wanting to startle his fellow Watcher and knocked quietly on the door, "Giles?" When he looked up, Donovon couldn't help noticing lines of worry that were chiseled into his face. He decided to step inside and take a seat across from Giles, "They told me what had happened."
Giles leaned back in his chair, tossing his glasses away in frustration. Tiredness was set deeply in his eyes and he closed them, trying to fight he weariness, "I don't understand how anyone got inside there. It's always locked when the materials in there are not needed. On top of that, how could anyone possibly know I even held such a book."
"I don't know, my friend, but I assure you... We'll get to the bottom of this. Any idea who could have been clever enough to break in there?"
"Worst case scenario is our new Vampire." Giles saw a flicker of awareness in Donovon's eyes for a brief moment. "Willow thinks it is odd that you came here not too long after this Vampire presence was known." Giles sat up and questioned with a raised brow, "Are you holding back anything?"
Of course he was. Every good Watcher withheld information from each other and their charges, if one was lucky to be assigned to a Slayer or a potential Slayer. Donovon hated to subscribe to that philosophy but when the stakes were this high, he had to comply. He knew that one day everyone would know the truth, hopefully the Watcher would be out of sight from an unhappy Slayer... "No. Far as I knew, I was the only one in Sunnydale that had this knowledge until I informed you and the others."
Giles shrugged, "Buffy hardly knows what I keep in the cage that isn't a weapon. Willow told me she touched nothing and I believe her. Xander..." He chuckled lightly, "... wouldn't know what to do with the book."
"Well, that rules out everyone but Faith." Giles gave him an odd look, "What?"
"You're actually suggesting that Faith might have taken my book. Research and Faith don't normally go hand in hand."
"I'm trying to help, Giles." He paused for a moment and then asked, "Was Buffy able to talk to her?"
"No, unfortunately not. Seems that Faith does not wish to be found. Knowing that girl, she's probably off getting into trouble..." He sighed, "I do hope that is not the case."
"You said it so yourself, she does not wish to be found. Eventually she will turn up." Donovon relaxed in his chair, "It's only a matter of time."
Chapter 7
"My god..." Aliya was shocked by the sight that greeted her inside Faith's motel room. "You haven't cleaned this place in days, girl." As her foot went up the stack of pizza boxes on the floor, she changed her mind, "Make that weeks. Something's been keeping you occupied."
She carried the still form of Faith over to the unkempt bed and laid her down gently. Aliya left the main lights off to deter anyone from wanting to pay a visit. Last thing she needed was anyone in the Buffy Conclave to think Faith was home. In the dark, Aliya removed the Slayer's boots and tossed them aside. She debated for a second on how to remove the top, but Faith could always get a new one, and ripped it off instead. Aliya just relocated those shoulders and didn't want to cause further damage by trying to take a top, a size too small, off of her.
Quickly Aliya made her way into the bathroom and flipped the switch, closing the door behind her so no light would shine out. It was a world of difference in here. Freshly washed clothes were hanging about but the room was clean. She rummaged through the medicine cabinet and the sink drawers finding what every good Slayer should own... first aid kit and plenty of bandages. She collected her findings and turned off the light, heading back into the main room.
Enough moonlight filtered into the room to provide sufficient light for Aliya. She didn't need a lot to mend Faith, and fortunately her wounds weren't that major... for a Slayer. Cleaning up the Vampire wound was her first priority. Vampire wounds didn't do much but cause unnecessary pain and infection if not treated properly. Next came a full body check incase Aliya had missed anything. She frowned when she felt two broken ribs. Nothing much could be done for those anyway but tape and a lot of not moving. The second part was probably not going to happen once she woke up.
As she worked on Faith, Aliya was pleased that the girl's color was returning to her skin. She reached over and picked up a damp cloth that rested on the nightstand. With gentle hands, she began to wash away the dirt and dust that came with a night of patrolling. It wasn't hard to notice the peaceful state that Faith seemed to be in. No lines of worry or fear disturbed her rest. As Aliya casually looked around the room, she felt that such restless nights came quite often to the Slayer... as they did for her...
There was a knock at the door.
"Shit..." Aliya quietly padded over to the door and listened. She sighed when she recognized Buffy's voice.
"Faith... If you're in there let me in. We need to talk. Enough of this hide and seek nonsense."
This shouldn't be a problem. Aliya was staying perfectly still and Faith wasn't going to do anything. She stole a quick glance at the Slayer and hoped she wasn't going to do anything. Besides, Aliya had the key to the motel and Buffy would have to break the door down to get in here.
"Once again the hard way with you. Fine."
That was when the door handle started to jiggle and Aliya's eyes went wide like a deer caught in headlights. Buffy was trying to get inside. Panic was trying to overtake her but she was a pro. She grabbed onto the doorknob with one hand to keep it from turning. It did stop it but Buffy was still trying to force her way inside. Aliya bared down and locked her arm in place. Muscles tightened and she could feel her veins popping up from the strain. This was brute strength against brute strength and Aliya had to win...
Buffy was seriously perplexed as to why the jiggle trick wasn't working. She got so frustrated that she rammed her shoulder into the door, hoping that would help and cringed. The hinges gave a little and she thought she heard something that sounded like wood splinter. "Oops... Faith, or the motel manager for that fact, really wouldn't want me breaking down the door."
She stepped back, "Maybe the doorknob finally got fixed... And here I am wanting to break it again... Gah..."
Since Faith was a no show once again, Buffy decided to muse over other possible haunts her little sister could be at. First choice that popped in her head was the Bronze. She hadn't patrolled that area yet and it was the most likely place to find a stressed out and partying Faith. Still, Buffy was getting that broody feeling as she headed that way. It was getting to her that Faith was avoiding her this much. Who knows what had happened to her, what she could be thinking or who she was doing...
Buffy stopped and looked around confused, "EW! Where the hell did that come from?" She tried to force those weird thoughts out of her mind, "I so need time away from Xander and his perverted mind..."
Aliya pressed her back against the door and breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close." Faith was still quiet and recovering from her wounds. The girl probably wouldn't wake up for quite some time and as Aliya looked around, an evil thought ran through her head. She already had to deal with her lack of preparation with this Slayer to begin with, nothing wrong with snooping around to get a better feel for Faith. Course looking around the room, it was quite a mess. Where to begin?
She picked through the clothing on the floor first, trying to see if Faith had a wallet of some kind. The girl wasn't the type to carry identification on her but she had to have something like that. Her diligence paid off in going through each pair of pants and found it. It was a black leather wallet and Aliya flipped it opened. There wasn't much too it. No pictures, a few credit cards which had to be stolen, a little cash and an old school ID. Faith was at least a freshman in High School before she dropped out. She hailed from Boston, but that much she knew from Donovon. What she didn't know was her last name and now that answer was staring right at her. Aliya would have to do some other special snooping later...
Lastly, Aliya studied the photograph on the I.D. A lot of subtle answers were found there. It was mostly in the eyes... She had to grow up much faster then a normal girl, well before she was called as a Slayer. There was so much pain and sadness captured in those dark orbs...
It wasn't out of pity but out of concern. Faith was living in this motel not by choice and if Aliya could help more, she would have. She pulled a fifty out and placed it inside the wallet hoping that would appease the guilt for tearing up Faith's shirt. If anyone ever ruined her trench, a new level of anger would be reached and that person who did the deed better run... and run fast.
Now Aliya returned to carefully looking through drawers, which were mostly empty, and pushing aside empty food containers. When she removed a black shirt off the dresser, her mouth parted in complete surprise. An issue of the Book of Theriane was staring at her and she turned to look at Faith in shock. "Where on earth did you get this?"
She grabbed the book and started flipping through it. If memory served, the knife that Aliya held and the sword she was looking for were in this volume. The book slammed shut when the correct chapter was found. There was no way of knowing if Faith had already looked through the book or had recently acquired it. Either way, it was coming home with Aliya and anything else that Faith happened to have that might lead her to knowledge she wasn't ready for.
Aliya was impressed. Faith was a crafty one. Messy but crafty...
Buffy was utterly exhausted from patrolling and searching for Faith. What she needed was a good night's rest and a fresh mind to start the day tomorrow. She threw her jacket over the mantel and started make her way up the stairs. Hopefully Giles, and perhaps Donovon, heard something from the elusive Slayer. Faith was an expert in doing the disappearing act but now when there was serious stuff going down in Sunnydale, she really could have picked a better time to be invisible Slayer girl.
"How was patrol tonight, Buffy?"
That caused her to stop and lean back, catching a glimpse of her mother in the living room, "Mom? What're you doing up?"
Joyce appeared fully at the bottom of the stairs and looked at Buffy with concerned filled eyes like any mother would, "Can't I be curious to how your nights go?"
"Well, yeah. But it's been awhile since you asked."
"Well, I'm asking," she said, resting an elbow on the banister, looking at her daughter expectantly.
Slowly Buffy stepped down each stepped as she recounted her uneventful night, "Dusted a few Vamps." Joyce was starting to get that concern look again. "Which were no biggies, Mom. See?" She held out her arms and jumped down a few stairs, "Not even a bruise."
Her mother had to laugh, "Glad everything went alright then."
At the bottom of the staircase, Buffy sat down and scowled, "Well, not everything."
Joyce took a place at her daughter's side, "What's wrong?"
"Faith."
"Faith? I don't understand. Did something happen."
"Yeah a few things... Mostly me." She felt Joyce wrap an arm around her and Buffy started to feel better. Being in her mother's arms always comforted her. Buffy snuggly rested her head on her mom's shoulder, "We had a fight. Then another one... Now I have to find her and I can't because she's avoiding me." Now, it is true that she left the part out about finding a sword, new Watcher in town and a new big bad Vampire that could probably kill her... It wasn't like her mother needed to know everything...
Joyce hugged her daughter closer, "I guess we're back to you were an only child scenario again."
That caused Buffy to wince. "Mom...." She said in her best whiney why are you bringing this up voice.
"Don't start that now." Joyce pulled Buffy away so she could look at her daughter's face, "You and Faith are both Slayers. Because of that, you're going to be competing like sisters. Well, not normal sisters of course. I don't think how many Vampires you can stake in one night is a favorite pastime for most."
"True enough. I guess it's just getting to me so much. I'm usually so good with what to say but when I'm around her I always manage to say the wrong thing."
"I'm sure when you two finally talk, it'll all work out. Both of you are quite unique young girls and deal with problems differently. Give it time, sweetie..."
Time was an issue but her mother's words made sense. Faith and her needed time to work things out. Buffy would have to try and be patient, as well as make it up to Faith somehow for being so rude in the cemetery. She reached over and pulled her mom into a warm embrace, "Thanks, Mom."
The blackness she was seeing started to become illuminated as the insides of her lids became laden in red light. Faith felt like she had been partying all night. Her body was sore, her head pounded and she was needing something to drink in a bad way. She tried opening her eyes but even the smallest warning of dawn caused a shooting pain to race up her forehead and down the rest of her scalp. It felt like someone was trying to jump-start her brain by using a car battery.
Soreness immediately gave way to pain as she tried sitting up. Her shoulders throbbed but that wasn't as bad as the invisible knife that was cutting into her side. Blurry eyed, Faith brought her head up to figure out where she was. There were colors and shapes that resembled her motel room but she couldn't make out any details. At least her warm bed was a comforting feeling that didn't need to be seen. Yet... Something else was here. Her body was battered but her mind was trying to tell her that she wasn't alone.
She shifted her head to the left and saw nothing but shadows. Turning the right, her eyes shut quickly in defense. Light was filtering through the window and it caused that blasted headache again.
"Ya gonna be makin' yuir injuries worse, lass."
Faith cracked her eyes opened and saw a tall dark blur that sort of looked like a person. There was no malice in the spoken words, just a general concern. "Who..." she coughed out the rest of what she was going to say. It was one of those deep hacking coughs that constricted your lungs, forcing you to wheeze and making your head spin. A shaky hand, that was cold and damp from weakness, held her head as it fell back onto the pillow.
Her senses told her that her guest was looming over her and straightening out the covers. Survival instincts wanted to override the incoming unconsciousness and figure out who this person was. It was a battle that Faith was loosing.
"Dun be fightin' it. Yuir body needs its rest."
The person... Woman... It was a woman's voice... Was hovering directly over her. She tried desperately to focus through narrow slits, but sleep won over.
Aliya heard the click of the door locking into place... Well, more or less locking into place, and lit up a cigarette. The night sky was still trying to fend of the advancing sun as she started to make her own way home. It was another one of those nights where Aliya was teetering on her mission priorities. Number one rule was that she would have no contact with either of the Slayers. That was seemingly her favorite rule to break. At least with Faith it was...
She stole a quick glance behind her and smiled, "Who would've thought I dig out that Irish accent of mine again."
"You don't seem to understand the severity of the this, Wilkins."
The Mayor turned around at Andelvon and had a displeased look upon his face, "Sure I do but it pains me that my golf game is terrible now. I mean, I figured it would start to go downhill with my ascension plans, but not until later." He rested the golf club on his shoulder and returned to the chair behind his desk.
Andelvon was seething with anger and kicked the garbage can away that was rested along the right of the desk. It bounced off the back of the wall and narrowly missed Wilkins as he sat down, "That almost hit me."
"I was not trying to hit you. Heaven forbid that I ruin your golf game any further with injury." He spat back.
Wilkins pursed his lips and gently placed the club on his desk while he fished for a polishing rag in one of his drawers, "Now, now. No need to take out your unhappiness out on me."
"YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT SHE WAS HERE!!!" His deep voice reverberated throughout the entire room and the last word was accentuated with his fist slamming into the Mayor's desk. A small cracked formed under the strain. It did not go unnoticed.
The Mayor stopped what he was doing and threw the rag aside. His easy going nature was washed away with the outburst, "Listen and listen good, Andelvon. My part in all this was to give you a safe haven. To be out of reach of anyone that wanted to do you harm." Wilkins leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers together, "I've done my part and more, with some favors you asked of me. All you wanted was the means to get those weapons... Not get at her. Besides, far as I knew she was dead." He paused for a moment as he laughed to himself, "So why would I be looking for a supposedly dead person. Obviously someone hasn't been completely honest with me."
Andelvon wanted to retort and was already going to but he held himself in check. The words of the Mayor were sinking in and he realized that his anger had gotten the better of him. It was an all too familiar pattern with him getting into trouble with that temper of his.
Wilkins was right... Mostly. "I have been honest. It seems the lines of communication between us were misunderstood. I will clarify. From the beginning, putting much emphasis on the more... Unique... Parts of the story."
"Hey. I'm all ears my friend." His mood lightened, the Mayor returned to polishing as Andelvon reiterated the entire story once more. Half way through Wilkins looked up at Andelvon, stunned clueless ... how on earth could he have misinterpreted his friend's hatred of the Slayer so poorly...
The bell signaled that everyone had five minutes to get to class on time. Students either went straight to class or stopped by their lockers quickly in order to switch books or get some lunch if they were lucky to have free time now.
Buffy and Willow were not so lucky. They had Government this period and this was probably the first time that Buffy was being punctual with this class. She usually ended up forgetting about it during her training session with Giles since she had a free period before it. Today was a little different since Donovon was eating up a lot of Buffy's Watcher time.
She was able to do a quick recap to both of them about the no Faith still night and was now telling it to Willow. "So, my little Sister is still hiding from me."
"Well, at least your mom was cool. Nice to have that support and all." Willow's smile faded into a sigh, "My mom didn't even notice when I got my hair cut."
"Aw, Will." Buffy playfully nudged into her friend as they came up to their classroom, "I noticed. And so did Xander."
A stupid grin spread across her face, "Yeah he did didn't he." Willow decided to go someplace in her own mind and then realized Buffy was giving her a very odd look when she came back.
"You okay?"
"Me okay? Course I'm okay." The red head blew out a breath of nervous air. "I'm totally okay."
Buffy couldn't disagree, "Alright you're okay."
Two big arms wrapped around both Willow and Buffy as they were attacked in a big Xander hug, "And now since I'm here, the triad is complete."
Someone cleared their breath behind him and Xander turned around slowly seeing his girlfriend standing... Waiting...
"Hi hun."
"Don't hi hun me. As soon as you saw Buffy and Willow you ran up to them like a lost puppy and left me behind."
Xander let go and was trying to be cute and talk his way out of being in trouble. He took Cordelia's books and offered an arm, "I was just happy to see my bestest buds." Xander looked nervously over his shoulder and then smiled at Cordelia.
Buffy found this really funny but thought it best to make a speedy departure. "Come on, Will. As much as it would be amusing to watch Xander grovel, we have class."
Willow was thankful that Buffy was dragging her away because she was about to say something very stern to Cordelia if she was mean to Xander. Well, Cordelia was always mean but we are talking about the extra Cordelia mile of true pettiness.
Okay back it up, Willow thought to herself. Why was she mad at Cordelia? She was the one having the lusty thoughts about Xander. She was the bad person in all of this. Her and Xander. As she took her seat, Willow cursed whatever fate decided to have the sense of humor. If only Xander had noticed her before Oz or if they never kissed on Homecoming day, all these complications would be non-existent.
Pulling out her notebook, she opened it to yesterday's notes and focused on class, not on Cordelia and Xander walking in at the last minute. At least that was one thing that she was good at. Using mindless boring lectures as a means to forget that everything in your life is a complete and total mess...
... but it wasn't the best comfort ...
For the second time today, Faith woke up stiff and sore. At least this time, there wasn't a pounding headache that wanted to tag along. Much to the Slayer's liking, the light from outside was actually refreshing and revitalizing, which was odd for Faith since morning's and her weren't friends.
But it wasn't morning.
When her eyes adjusted, she saw that it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. "Damn..." and then the rest of the room came into focus. "Damn!"
Her motel room was devoid of beer bottles and food containers. It also didn't have any clothes on the floor. Now granted, the place wasn't spotless but the lack of mess made a world of difference. Faith hadn't seen the floor since Buffy was here last. She stopped caring about the place but obviously someone cared enough to break in here.
She tossed the covers off and was made painfully aware that her ribs were broken. It was the second time today that Faith was shocked and it hadn't been five minutes yet. Her wounds were taped or bandaged and she was cleaned up. She also noticed the lack of clothes on her and stopped to think.
In the cemetery, Faith was jumped by the fang gang after suffering a humiliating beating by some... Guy. She never really did find out why he was there except that it had to do with her mysterious Vampire that appeared a few nights ago. Other then that, Faith was completely clueless but hopefully with her "borrowing" a book from the book cage, she might be able to put two and two together... When she wasn't feeling like she had been in a car wreck. After some food and more rest, her Slayer healing would kick in and by tonight, Faith should be able to at least walk without wincing.
Faith was still uncertain how she got from being Vamp food to being in her now clean apartment, as she finally got the strength to get out of bed. Last night was very fuzzy but she could have sworn that someone else was here last night. She highly doubted that some miracle happened and she somehow broke herself free from the food frenzy. It couldn't have been Buffy... Girl would have stuck around waiting until she woke up and then shove it in her face that the big bad Slayer Faith had to be rescued.
So that left a third party.
As Faith rummaged around the dresser trying to find some clothes, she accidentally knocked into the piece of crap television that was in her room, and watched something fall out of the corner of her eye.
It was a letter and written on the front was her name. She didn't recognize the writing and carefully leaned down to pick it up, trying to fend off the pain. Faith unfolded the paper and began to read.
Hopefully... And that is a big hopefully... You'll learn to keep out of other people's affairs. The life of a Slayer is already short. Don't try cutting that in half.
P.S. I'll save you the trouble about wondering where the book is when you can't find it... I took it. Don't need you getting into anymore trouble.
A Friend~
She growled and crumpled the paper, throwing it across the room, "FUCK!!!"
"Willy, Willy, Willy." The Vampire leaned down and wiped some of the blood off the bartender's face, "You do know this will stop once you stop lying to me."
Willy the Snitch was just trying to do something simple like throwing out the garbage, when three Vamps jumped him from behind. They roughed him up pretty good and had a black eye, bruised ribs, and a split lip to show for it.
He gave up struggling quite awhile ago. Trying to force himself out of the grip of two Vampires in his condition wasn't too smart. "I toldz you. I know nuthin about no girl Vampire running around." Neither was withholding the information they wanted too. Normally he would rat someone out when there was bodily harm being threatened or done, but Aliya was different. And it wasn't because she paid well... But that did help.
"Alright, be that way." He slowly licked his finger dry of any blood and growled hungrily at Willy, sizing him up. "You picked a bad time growing a backbone."
The kick to the stomach came without warning. Willy doubled over and felt his entire body spasm from the hit. Coughing violently, he wished that he could retort with a good comeback. The Vamps on either side pulled him up back to a kneeling position so their boss could get some more licks in. Eventually the bartender would break... One way or the other...
Willy then found himself kissing the pavement as one of the Vampires let go of him. He was too stunned to realize that he didn't let go actually because Willy was being peppered with dust.
The two Vampires still standing turned around and saw the object of their inquiries running right at them.
"You know..." Aliya went low to avoid being punched as she tripped up the Vampire, "...I had no idea ..." she got to her feet in the next beat and connected with a roundhouse kick to rid herself of the second Vampire, "...I was this popular."
She looked around the general area and found something of use. Punching through an empty wooden crate, Aliya broke off a piece. She backed around the Dumpster and kicked up with her right leg to knock away the advancing Vampire. Now she wasn't so confined being behind there that she took aim and launched the broken panel at the other Vampire and scored with a dusting.
Under normal circumstances, she would just finish off the Vampire but she had a little interrogation of her own to do. "Alright, get up," Aliya said, as she kicked him right in the face. He tried shaking off the hit but found himself lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall with a knife at his throat.
He laughed, "That's suppose to scare me?"
"Well, think about it this way..." she smiled sweetly, "Hard to move if you can't see right?"
His growling, placated with that, "What do you want?"
"Who sent you?" A deep growl of her own came forth when he didn't answer, "Who... Sent... You?"
He was dead either way so he might as well lead the girl on a wild goose chase, "Trick."
That actually caught her off guard, "Kakistos' old lackey?" The gears started to spin since Aliya was trying to remember if she ever pissed off that Vampire. She looked at him squarely in the eyes and knew he wasn't being completely honest. As she narrowed her eyes, Aliya could also see that he wasn't going to tell her anything else. Just her luck to run into a Vampire that was smart.
She released her hold and waved him away, "Thank you kindly for your help."
The Vampire blinked and looked towards freedom, and then back to Aliya, "You're letting me go?"
"Yep. Either way Trick's gonna know something is up with you all being dead and not reporting in, or by you telling him what happened." She crossed her arms and waited.
He couldn't believe his luck and dashed off quickly. He didn't need to be told twice... But Aliya was waiting for him to do that. Guess he wasn't that smart after all or that quick on his feet. She wrapped an arm around his neck and placed the dagger over his heart. Quietly she whispered into his ear, "But come to think of it, you're confirming my existence if you go to him so...." The Vampire turned to dust as the dagger of Vahlshalynn plunged into his heart.
She sheathed the weapon and ran back to Willy who found a way to pull himself to a sitting position by his backdoor. Her heart felt heavy seeing the price that he paid in keeping her secret, "I'm sorry."
Willy's laugh turned into a cough, "Ah was nuthin. Uh..."
Aliya smiled and helped him to his feet, "Thank you for doing so much nothing for me. Since the nothing is all over your face."
He opened the door and gingerly stepped inside, "Well... you and me had a deal."
"A deal you kept." She pulled out a few bills from her inside pocket and handed it to Willy, "This is for the hospital to which you are going to go." She eyed him, "Right?"
Even in this horribly bruised state, the infamous Willy grin came through shining, "Of course."
She had to grin back at him as he closed the door. His nature was contagious. Aliya stuck around for a few moments until the light was turned off and decided to head for home... Taking a few detours along the way incase she was followed.
"I knew Willy was lying to me."
Or if someone had found her even before she got lost. Sticking around wasn't a great idea after all.
It was a voice from the past that now found a way to catch up to her in this crazy town. She avoided it for so long like she had the Slayers. Perhaps it was only a matter of time as well before he found her.
Aliya stood there motionless to let reality sink in for a moment because it felt too surreal to actually be happening. Yet when she turned around, all the blood drained from her face when she laid eyes on him. He was quite real.
Angel stood motionless there as he watched every movement, every breath that was made by her. His gaze was penetrating as if trying to find something that was well hidden inside her but just as his mouth began to part, they softened, "Hello, Aliandra."
Chapter 6
When we last left our Hero...
Faith's only option was to run. Soon the pack of Vampires would surround her and then her last chance to escape alive would be taken away. She scrambled to her feet but her poor body was screaming in protest. The damage dealt by Andelvon's hand was severe and the Slayer felt herself becoming faint. Faith didn't see a headstone nearby in her hasty withdrawal and tripped, finding herself on the ground again with the mocking laughter of her enemies in her ears.
"Oh how the mighty have fallen," said one of the Vampires. He was confidently walking, almost strolling, up to Faith. "Haven't been in this town long and already you got yourself an enemy girl."
Faith watched the other four blurs that resembled Vampires closed the circle around her. She swore under her breath and tried desperately to focus on seeing straight.
"Aww... Poor Slayer, but it's the least we can do for you... putting you outta your misery." He leaned down and grabbed Faith's face in his hand, forcing the brunette to look up at him, "I owe you for interrupting my dinner a couple nights ago."
Even if she could think straight, Faith had no idea what this Vampire was talking about. What mattered was survival. She craned her neck around and bit hard into the side of his hand, grinding her teeth into his flesh.
"AAAHHH!!!" He tore his hand away, literally, from the Slayer's mouth. A demonic growl echoed in the night as the Vampire clutched at his hand and glared at Faith with rage, "GET HER!"
Another Vampire behind her smashed a boot into her back and Faith crashed into the ground. She spat out her souvenir and rolled to her back, trying to fend off the herd as long as she could with her feet. It was hopeless, Faith knew it, but she wasn't going to die as a coward.
Hands grabbed at her shoulders and the young Slayer cried out in pain as she was forced to her feet. Tears of pain swelled in her eyes because it furthered how badly her arms were dislocated. They were also tears of defiance as Faith growled, swore and threatened them all with a brutal beating once she freed herself. She could feel her arms going numb and the rest of her body was joining in that sensation. Faith wanted so desperately to fight back. Her soul screamed for payback but she was beaten. The kicks she could get in bounced off them like an annoyance. Eventually her struggling was abated as the last two Vampires got a firm hold of her flailing legs.
Odd thoughts started to cross her mind as the blurry image of the Vampire she pissed off came at her. She wondered what it was like for Buffy to die at the hands of the Master. How alone did she feel? How powerless was she as she was beaten? How did it feel to be dead and then alive as Xander saved her?
As the teeth of the Vampire slid into neck, she gasped and realized that there was no one like that for her. She would die and be food for these abominations... But maybe it was for the best. Faith knew she was a screw up. Everything she touched died or got messed up along the way. Hell, just by trying to prove she wasn't like that, ended up badly by walking into the lion's den at the crypt this night.
It would be her final mistake. Faith could feel unconsciousness drawing near as her life was being taken from her. Still she struggled but why... Her body wanted to rest and she was tired... So very tired...
The two Vampires holding Faith's arms bit and licked at their lips, wanting their turn to be now. Just watching their brother feeding off the Slayer made their mouths salivate and their stomachs to rumble. Such power was to be had in drinking the blood of a Slayer and each one of them wanted to find out. She had stopped struggling not too long after Samuel sunk his teeth into her flesh and now they weren't necessary in keeping her at bay. They needed their turn to be now and let go of the Slayer, growling their protests...
Samuel snapped his head up, fresh blood still dripping off his fangs, as he glared daggers at his companions, "Impatient jackals! You're interfering with me?!"
They were about to argue further when Samuel eyes rolled up into the back his head and then he completely disappeared in cloud of dust. Faith crumpled to the ground since there was no one keeping her up and the other two Vampires holding her legs shot up and looked around like scared rabbits, "The other Slayer is here!"
The four of them searched the nearby area, looking intently through the shadows, but no one was to be seen or smelled. It was extremely quiet as well and that frightened them. One of them found some source of courage and stepped forward, "Coward! Come out of hiding Slayer!"
One of his companions tugged on his shirt to get his attention, "Are you really sure that is a good idea? Calling out the Slayer?"
He tore his arm away, "There are four of us and one of... Urgh...." The Vampire he was talking to fell backwards into the other two Vampires as he saw a blade run through his friend's eye. There was no way to explain it but he turned to dust and the knife fell to ground, unscathed. They knew it should have turned to dust along with his friend.
"Well, I should say there are now three of you and one of me."
All three pairs of eyes turned and saw Aliya sitting on top of a headstone, casually smoking a cigarette. She just put away her lighter, "Want the odds to decrease further?"
They exchanged glances with each other. Two of them had died without a fight and now that this stranger was visible, how fast would it take for her to be rid of them. One of them eyed the Slayer who was passed out on the ground. The question of was it really worth it came to mind and looked to one of his comrades.
The third didn't care. He was eyeing that knife. It took out one of their kind not by the usual manner of being staked through the heart or decapitated. Was it blessed or was it dipped in holy water? The stranger was too far away to claim it and the temptation was too great to wield such power. It had to be his...
Curiosity drew the Vampire to this accursed weapon and reached for it... He found himself grabbing at nothing. He swallowed hard knowing what had happened and stood up, looking over at the woman.
Aliya jumped off the gravestone and grinned, taunting at the Vampires with the knife in her hand, "Mine... but I can share again if you want." She flipped the knife so the blade was between her fingers and reached back, ready to throw it.
The one Vampire that wanted that blade stared at Aliya, awestruck, "Magick..." That did it for the rest of them. Somehow she called the blade to her and that blade could kill them easily. They all took one last look at each other before running off.
She brought her arm down and pouted, "Aw come on! You don't like sharing?"
Aliya put the knife she found in crypt away inside the folds of her trench coat and quickly made her way over to Faith. Pressing her index finger against the Slayer's pulse point, Aliya was relieved to feel a steady heartbeat. "Thank the gods I got here before he really made a meal out of you." She pulled off her trench enough so she could rip off the left sleeve of her shirt. With a toss of the shoulder, her coat was on right again and Aliya quickly bandaged Faith's neck wound to stop the bleeding.
She then reached for one of the Slayer's arm and paused. Aliya wanted to relocate those shoulders now but one of two things would happen. The pain would cause Faith to wake up and then Aliya's cover, which had been partially blown already, would be totally blasted out of the water. Or, the pain would be so intensive that it would keep Faith unconscious.
There was no way Aliya could leave Faith like this and prayed that the later would happen. She took the Slayer's right arm and positioned it how it would normally be. Then to steady her body and Faith's, placed a boot underneath and on top of the dislocated shoulder. With a push of the useless arm and a quick jerk of her feet, the ball was forced back into the socket. Aliya's eyes darted quickly to watch for a reaction and she found none. She moved around to the other side and relocated that arm with the same results. Aliya looked up into the night sky and gave a smile of relief, "Thanks."
She looked down at Faith and brushed some hair that had gotten in the girl's face. Considering that she hadn't lost that much blood and the wounds she received would heal in time, Aliya deciding on not bringing her to the hospital. Waking up alone in intensive care would piss Aliya off. Faith would be more so... unless, she somehow told the others where Faith was... but that made no sense and Donovon somehow mysteriously knowing that Faith was in the hospital was too suspicious as well.
"Looks like just you and me kiddo." Aliya carefully lifted Faith's unconscious form into her arms and started the long walk to the motel, "As long as you don't wake up that is."
Sunnydale High School was all but deserted at this time of night. The hallways remained dark and unwelcoming. Even the janitors had already left for the night. Considering the strange occurrences that seemed to plague the school, all personnel made it a priority to do their duties quickly and leave the grounds as soon as possible. Rival gangs breaking in, people being eaten and students disappearing on a fairly regular basis were enough for anyone with a brain not wishing to be in the school after dark.
What baffled most of the staff is why the Librarian would stay well into the night doing research... That made no sense and they chalked it up to be one of those mysteries of Sunnydale...
Another such person of odd hours straightened his tie as he walked towards the library. Donovon's nerves were still on edge being the creator of this deceit. It was a necessary veil that had to be pulled over the Slayer's eyes, along with her friends and Watcher. The more time spent away in searching for Aliya, the better chance of finding the sword and then both she and Donovon could slip out of Sunnydale quietly. It was a good plan in theory and it was working. So far Giles and the others were diligently working on anything related to the sword. Granted, he was holding back some information but it wasn't necessary to secure it. The Legend of the sword and knife was forbidden to speak of with serious consequences if broken...
Now only if Buffy could find Faith. She was still a variable since it is unclear what Faith saw or knew. Aliya had no idea how long the Dark Slayer was spying on her that night when Faith had stumbled upon her.
Hopefully there was some news as Donovon pushed the doors open to the library. Xander had fallen asleep in the book he was reading and it seemed his girlfriend wasn't too far behind. Willow looked exhausted from researching on the computer. Her eyes were weighted with tiredness as the poor girl was slumped before the monitor. Giles was no where to be seen.
"I think you all have done enough for one night." All but Xander looked up at Donovon, rather surprised that he was there. Their sluggishness was even more dreadful this up close, "Go on home and get some sleep. You do need your rest. School tomorrow."
Cordelia slammed her book shut, "Thank you. Someone has some courtesy around here." She shoved Xander's arm to wake him up.
"Courtesy? I'm not sure what you mean."
"Oh well, Giles has been busy in his office," said Willow as she was turning off her laptop. "He kinda got all weirded out because some of his books were missing."
Donovon glanced over at the opened book cage, "Which ones were missing?"
"Theriaus or something," yawned a grumpy Xander.
"No you idiot." She rolled her eyes, "Theriane. The book of Theriane."
"Not an idiot. I'm a sleepy idiot. I sleepy idiot you love."
She fought the smile that wanted to come but couldn't help it. Cordelia did love the big dork.
The Watcher had his suspicions to who had snatched the book and if he was right, the girl was finally getting her act together. Why is it in all her years of survival, Aliya chose now to slip up on a mission? Everything was going perfect until the unfortunate incident at the crypt. He placed his briefcase on the counter, "I'll talk to Giles and see what we can do. We'll work it out. Goodnight to you all."
Sleepy nods responded and half-uttered goodnights were heard as the gang head out for the night. Donovon had to give them credit... They got caught up with forces that weren't meant to be faced. Still, they contributed in their own rights to help their friend, no matter what. It was to be commended, not abhorred as the Watcher Council felt.
He approached Giles' office and noticed that door was opened partially. Donovon peered inside carefully, not wanting to startle his fellow Watcher and knocked quietly on the door, "Giles?" When he looked up, Donovon couldn't help noticing lines of worry that were chiseled into his face. He decided to step inside and take a seat across from Giles, "They told me what had happened."
Giles leaned back in his chair, tossing his glasses away in frustration. Tiredness was set deeply in his eyes and he closed them, trying to fight he weariness, "I don't understand how anyone got inside there. It's always locked when the materials in there are not needed. On top of that, how could anyone possibly know I even held such a book."
"I don't know, my friend, but I assure you... We'll get to the bottom of this. Any idea who could have been clever enough to break in there?"
"Worst case scenario is our new Vampire." Giles saw a flicker of awareness in Donovon's eyes for a brief moment. "Willow thinks it is odd that you came here not too long after this Vampire presence was known." Giles sat up and questioned with a raised brow, "Are you holding back anything?"
Of course he was. Every good Watcher withheld information from each other and their charges, if one was lucky to be assigned to a Slayer or a potential Slayer. Donovon hated to subscribe to that philosophy but when the stakes were this high, he had to comply. He knew that one day everyone would know the truth, hopefully the Watcher would be out of sight from an unhappy Slayer... "No. Far as I knew, I was the only one in Sunnydale that had this knowledge until I informed you and the others."
Giles shrugged, "Buffy hardly knows what I keep in the cage that isn't a weapon. Willow told me she touched nothing and I believe her. Xander..." He chuckled lightly, "... wouldn't know what to do with the book."
"Well, that rules out everyone but Faith." Giles gave him an odd look, "What?"
"You're actually suggesting that Faith might have taken my book. Research and Faith don't normally go hand in hand."
"I'm trying to help, Giles." He paused for a moment and then asked, "Was Buffy able to talk to her?"
"No, unfortunately not. Seems that Faith does not wish to be found. Knowing that girl, she's probably off getting into trouble..." He sighed, "I do hope that is not the case."
"You said it so yourself, she does not wish to be found. Eventually she will turn up." Donovon relaxed in his chair, "It's only a matter of time."
Chapter 7
"My god..." Aliya was shocked by the sight that greeted her inside Faith's motel room. "You haven't cleaned this place in days, girl." As her foot went up the stack of pizza boxes on the floor, she changed her mind, "Make that weeks. Something's been keeping you occupied."
She carried the still form of Faith over to the unkempt bed and laid her down gently. Aliya left the main lights off to deter anyone from wanting to pay a visit. Last thing she needed was anyone in the Buffy Conclave to think Faith was home. In the dark, Aliya removed the Slayer's boots and tossed them aside. She debated for a second on how to remove the top, but Faith could always get a new one, and ripped it off instead. Aliya just relocated those shoulders and didn't want to cause further damage by trying to take a top, a size too small, off of her.
Quickly Aliya made her way into the bathroom and flipped the switch, closing the door behind her so no light would shine out. It was a world of difference in here. Freshly washed clothes were hanging about but the room was clean. She rummaged through the medicine cabinet and the sink drawers finding what every good Slayer should own... first aid kit and plenty of bandages. She collected her findings and turned off the light, heading back into the main room.
Enough moonlight filtered into the room to provide sufficient light for Aliya. She didn't need a lot to mend Faith, and fortunately her wounds weren't that major... for a Slayer. Cleaning up the Vampire wound was her first priority. Vampire wounds didn't do much but cause unnecessary pain and infection if not treated properly. Next came a full body check incase Aliya had missed anything. She frowned when she felt two broken ribs. Nothing much could be done for those anyway but tape and a lot of not moving. The second part was probably not going to happen once she woke up.
As she worked on Faith, Aliya was pleased that the girl's color was returning to her skin. She reached over and picked up a damp cloth that rested on the nightstand. With gentle hands, she began to wash away the dirt and dust that came with a night of patrolling. It wasn't hard to notice the peaceful state that Faith seemed to be in. No lines of worry or fear disturbed her rest. As Aliya casually looked around the room, she felt that such restless nights came quite often to the Slayer... as they did for her...
There was a knock at the door.
"Shit..." Aliya quietly padded over to the door and listened. She sighed when she recognized Buffy's voice.
"Faith... If you're in there let me in. We need to talk. Enough of this hide and seek nonsense."
This shouldn't be a problem. Aliya was staying perfectly still and Faith wasn't going to do anything. She stole a quick glance at the Slayer and hoped she wasn't going to do anything. Besides, Aliya had the key to the motel and Buffy would have to break the door down to get in here.
"Once again the hard way with you. Fine."
That was when the door handle started to jiggle and Aliya's eyes went wide like a deer caught in headlights. Buffy was trying to get inside. Panic was trying to overtake her but she was a pro. She grabbed onto the doorknob with one hand to keep it from turning. It did stop it but Buffy was still trying to force her way inside. Aliya bared down and locked her arm in place. Muscles tightened and she could feel her veins popping up from the strain. This was brute strength against brute strength and Aliya had to win...
Buffy was seriously perplexed as to why the jiggle trick wasn't working. She got so frustrated that she rammed her shoulder into the door, hoping that would help and cringed. The hinges gave a little and she thought she heard something that sounded like wood splinter. "Oops... Faith, or the motel manager for that fact, really wouldn't want me breaking down the door."
She stepped back, "Maybe the doorknob finally got fixed... And here I am wanting to break it again... Gah..."
Since Faith was a no show once again, Buffy decided to muse over other possible haunts her little sister could be at. First choice that popped in her head was the Bronze. She hadn't patrolled that area yet and it was the most likely place to find a stressed out and partying Faith. Still, Buffy was getting that broody feeling as she headed that way. It was getting to her that Faith was avoiding her this much. Who knows what had happened to her, what she could be thinking or who she was doing...
Buffy stopped and looked around confused, "EW! Where the hell did that come from?" She tried to force those weird thoughts out of her mind, "I so need time away from Xander and his perverted mind..."
Aliya pressed her back against the door and breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close." Faith was still quiet and recovering from her wounds. The girl probably wouldn't wake up for quite some time and as Aliya looked around, an evil thought ran through her head. She already had to deal with her lack of preparation with this Slayer to begin with, nothing wrong with snooping around to get a better feel for Faith. Course looking around the room, it was quite a mess. Where to begin?
She picked through the clothing on the floor first, trying to see if Faith had a wallet of some kind. The girl wasn't the type to carry identification on her but she had to have something like that. Her diligence paid off in going through each pair of pants and found it. It was a black leather wallet and Aliya flipped it opened. There wasn't much too it. No pictures, a few credit cards which had to be stolen, a little cash and an old school ID. Faith was at least a freshman in High School before she dropped out. She hailed from Boston, but that much she knew from Donovon. What she didn't know was her last name and now that answer was staring right at her. Aliya would have to do some other special snooping later...
Lastly, Aliya studied the photograph on the I.D. A lot of subtle answers were found there. It was mostly in the eyes... She had to grow up much faster then a normal girl, well before she was called as a Slayer. There was so much pain and sadness captured in those dark orbs...
It wasn't out of pity but out of concern. Faith was living in this motel not by choice and if Aliya could help more, she would have. She pulled a fifty out and placed it inside the wallet hoping that would appease the guilt for tearing up Faith's shirt. If anyone ever ruined her trench, a new level of anger would be reached and that person who did the deed better run... and run fast.
Now Aliya returned to carefully looking through drawers, which were mostly empty, and pushing aside empty food containers. When she removed a black shirt off the dresser, her mouth parted in complete surprise. An issue of the Book of Theriane was staring at her and she turned to look at Faith in shock. "Where on earth did you get this?"
She grabbed the book and started flipping through it. If memory served, the knife that Aliya held and the sword she was looking for were in this volume. The book slammed shut when the correct chapter was found. There was no way of knowing if Faith had already looked through the book or had recently acquired it. Either way, it was coming home with Aliya and anything else that Faith happened to have that might lead her to knowledge she wasn't ready for.
Aliya was impressed. Faith was a crafty one. Messy but crafty...
Buffy was utterly exhausted from patrolling and searching for Faith. What she needed was a good night's rest and a fresh mind to start the day tomorrow. She threw her jacket over the mantel and started make her way up the stairs. Hopefully Giles, and perhaps Donovon, heard something from the elusive Slayer. Faith was an expert in doing the disappearing act but now when there was serious stuff going down in Sunnydale, she really could have picked a better time to be invisible Slayer girl.
"How was patrol tonight, Buffy?"
That caused her to stop and lean back, catching a glimpse of her mother in the living room, "Mom? What're you doing up?"
Joyce appeared fully at the bottom of the stairs and looked at Buffy with concerned filled eyes like any mother would, "Can't I be curious to how your nights go?"
"Well, yeah. But it's been awhile since you asked."
"Well, I'm asking," she said, resting an elbow on the banister, looking at her daughter expectantly.
Slowly Buffy stepped down each stepped as she recounted her uneventful night, "Dusted a few Vamps." Joyce was starting to get that concern look again. "Which were no biggies, Mom. See?" She held out her arms and jumped down a few stairs, "Not even a bruise."
Her mother had to laugh, "Glad everything went alright then."
At the bottom of the staircase, Buffy sat down and scowled, "Well, not everything."
Joyce took a place at her daughter's side, "What's wrong?"
"Faith."
"Faith? I don't understand. Did something happen."
"Yeah a few things... Mostly me." She felt Joyce wrap an arm around her and Buffy started to feel better. Being in her mother's arms always comforted her. Buffy snuggly rested her head on her mom's shoulder, "We had a fight. Then another one... Now I have to find her and I can't because she's avoiding me." Now, it is true that she left the part out about finding a sword, new Watcher in town and a new big bad Vampire that could probably kill her... It wasn't like her mother needed to know everything...
Joyce hugged her daughter closer, "I guess we're back to you were an only child scenario again."
That caused Buffy to wince. "Mom...." She said in her best whiney why are you bringing this up voice.
"Don't start that now." Joyce pulled Buffy away so she could look at her daughter's face, "You and Faith are both Slayers. Because of that, you're going to be competing like sisters. Well, not normal sisters of course. I don't think how many Vampires you can stake in one night is a favorite pastime for most."
"True enough. I guess it's just getting to me so much. I'm usually so good with what to say but when I'm around her I always manage to say the wrong thing."
"I'm sure when you two finally talk, it'll all work out. Both of you are quite unique young girls and deal with problems differently. Give it time, sweetie..."
Time was an issue but her mother's words made sense. Faith and her needed time to work things out. Buffy would have to try and be patient, as well as make it up to Faith somehow for being so rude in the cemetery. She reached over and pulled her mom into a warm embrace, "Thanks, Mom."
The blackness she was seeing started to become illuminated as the insides of her lids became laden in red light. Faith felt like she had been partying all night. Her body was sore, her head pounded and she was needing something to drink in a bad way. She tried opening her eyes but even the smallest warning of dawn caused a shooting pain to race up her forehead and down the rest of her scalp. It felt like someone was trying to jump-start her brain by using a car battery.
Soreness immediately gave way to pain as she tried sitting up. Her shoulders throbbed but that wasn't as bad as the invisible knife that was cutting into her side. Blurry eyed, Faith brought her head up to figure out where she was. There were colors and shapes that resembled her motel room but she couldn't make out any details. At least her warm bed was a comforting feeling that didn't need to be seen. Yet... Something else was here. Her body was battered but her mind was trying to tell her that she wasn't alone.
She shifted her head to the left and saw nothing but shadows. Turning the right, her eyes shut quickly in defense. Light was filtering through the window and it caused that blasted headache again.
"Ya gonna be makin' yuir injuries worse, lass."
Faith cracked her eyes opened and saw a tall dark blur that sort of looked like a person. There was no malice in the spoken words, just a general concern. "Who..." she coughed out the rest of what she was going to say. It was one of those deep hacking coughs that constricted your lungs, forcing you to wheeze and making your head spin. A shaky hand, that was cold and damp from weakness, held her head as it fell back onto the pillow.
Her senses told her that her guest was looming over her and straightening out the covers. Survival instincts wanted to override the incoming unconsciousness and figure out who this person was. It was a battle that Faith was loosing.
"Dun be fightin' it. Yuir body needs its rest."
The person... Woman... It was a woman's voice... Was hovering directly over her. She tried desperately to focus through narrow slits, but sleep won over.
Aliya heard the click of the door locking into place... Well, more or less locking into place, and lit up a cigarette. The night sky was still trying to fend of the advancing sun as she started to make her own way home. It was another one of those nights where Aliya was teetering on her mission priorities. Number one rule was that she would have no contact with either of the Slayers. That was seemingly her favorite rule to break. At least with Faith it was...
She stole a quick glance behind her and smiled, "Who would've thought I dig out that Irish accent of mine again."
"You don't seem to understand the severity of the this, Wilkins."
The Mayor turned around at Andelvon and had a displeased look upon his face, "Sure I do but it pains me that my golf game is terrible now. I mean, I figured it would start to go downhill with my ascension plans, but not until later." He rested the golf club on his shoulder and returned to the chair behind his desk.
Andelvon was seething with anger and kicked the garbage can away that was rested along the right of the desk. It bounced off the back of the wall and narrowly missed Wilkins as he sat down, "That almost hit me."
"I was not trying to hit you. Heaven forbid that I ruin your golf game any further with injury." He spat back.
Wilkins pursed his lips and gently placed the club on his desk while he fished for a polishing rag in one of his drawers, "Now, now. No need to take out your unhappiness out on me."
"YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT SHE WAS HERE!!!" His deep voice reverberated throughout the entire room and the last word was accentuated with his fist slamming into the Mayor's desk. A small cracked formed under the strain. It did not go unnoticed.
The Mayor stopped what he was doing and threw the rag aside. His easy going nature was washed away with the outburst, "Listen and listen good, Andelvon. My part in all this was to give you a safe haven. To be out of reach of anyone that wanted to do you harm." Wilkins leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers together, "I've done my part and more, with some favors you asked of me. All you wanted was the means to get those weapons... Not get at her. Besides, far as I knew she was dead." He paused for a moment as he laughed to himself, "So why would I be looking for a supposedly dead person. Obviously someone hasn't been completely honest with me."
Andelvon wanted to retort and was already going to but he held himself in check. The words of the Mayor were sinking in and he realized that his anger had gotten the better of him. It was an all too familiar pattern with him getting into trouble with that temper of his.
Wilkins was right... Mostly. "I have been honest. It seems the lines of communication between us were misunderstood. I will clarify. From the beginning, putting much emphasis on the more... Unique... Parts of the story."
"Hey. I'm all ears my friend." His mood lightened, the Mayor returned to polishing as Andelvon reiterated the entire story once more. Half way through Wilkins looked up at Andelvon, stunned clueless ... how on earth could he have misinterpreted his friend's hatred of the Slayer so poorly...
The bell signaled that everyone had five minutes to get to class on time. Students either went straight to class or stopped by their lockers quickly in order to switch books or get some lunch if they were lucky to have free time now.
Buffy and Willow were not so lucky. They had Government this period and this was probably the first time that Buffy was being punctual with this class. She usually ended up forgetting about it during her training session with Giles since she had a free period before it. Today was a little different since Donovon was eating up a lot of Buffy's Watcher time.
She was able to do a quick recap to both of them about the no Faith still night and was now telling it to Willow. "So, my little Sister is still hiding from me."
"Well, at least your mom was cool. Nice to have that support and all." Willow's smile faded into a sigh, "My mom didn't even notice when I got my hair cut."
"Aw, Will." Buffy playfully nudged into her friend as they came up to their classroom, "I noticed. And so did Xander."
A stupid grin spread across her face, "Yeah he did didn't he." Willow decided to go someplace in her own mind and then realized Buffy was giving her a very odd look when she came back.
"You okay?"
"Me okay? Course I'm okay." The red head blew out a breath of nervous air. "I'm totally okay."
Buffy couldn't disagree, "Alright you're okay."
Two big arms wrapped around both Willow and Buffy as they were attacked in a big Xander hug, "And now since I'm here, the triad is complete."
Someone cleared their breath behind him and Xander turned around slowly seeing his girlfriend standing... Waiting...
"Hi hun."
"Don't hi hun me. As soon as you saw Buffy and Willow you ran up to them like a lost puppy and left me behind."
Xander let go and was trying to be cute and talk his way out of being in trouble. He took Cordelia's books and offered an arm, "I was just happy to see my bestest buds." Xander looked nervously over his shoulder and then smiled at Cordelia.
Buffy found this really funny but thought it best to make a speedy departure. "Come on, Will. As much as it would be amusing to watch Xander grovel, we have class."
Willow was thankful that Buffy was dragging her away because she was about to say something very stern to Cordelia if she was mean to Xander. Well, Cordelia was always mean but we are talking about the extra Cordelia mile of true pettiness.
Okay back it up, Willow thought to herself. Why was she mad at Cordelia? She was the one having the lusty thoughts about Xander. She was the bad person in all of this. Her and Xander. As she took her seat, Willow cursed whatever fate decided to have the sense of humor. If only Xander had noticed her before Oz or if they never kissed on Homecoming day, all these complications would be non-existent.
Pulling out her notebook, she opened it to yesterday's notes and focused on class, not on Cordelia and Xander walking in at the last minute. At least that was one thing that she was good at. Using mindless boring lectures as a means to forget that everything in your life is a complete and total mess...
... but it wasn't the best comfort ...
For the second time today, Faith woke up stiff and sore. At least this time, there wasn't a pounding headache that wanted to tag along. Much to the Slayer's liking, the light from outside was actually refreshing and revitalizing, which was odd for Faith since morning's and her weren't friends.
But it wasn't morning.
When her eyes adjusted, she saw that it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. "Damn..." and then the rest of the room came into focus. "Damn!"
Her motel room was devoid of beer bottles and food containers. It also didn't have any clothes on the floor. Now granted, the place wasn't spotless but the lack of mess made a world of difference. Faith hadn't seen the floor since Buffy was here last. She stopped caring about the place but obviously someone cared enough to break in here.
She tossed the covers off and was made painfully aware that her ribs were broken. It was the second time today that Faith was shocked and it hadn't been five minutes yet. Her wounds were taped or bandaged and she was cleaned up. She also noticed the lack of clothes on her and stopped to think.
In the cemetery, Faith was jumped by the fang gang after suffering a humiliating beating by some... Guy. She never really did find out why he was there except that it had to do with her mysterious Vampire that appeared a few nights ago. Other then that, Faith was completely clueless but hopefully with her "borrowing" a book from the book cage, she might be able to put two and two together... When she wasn't feeling like she had been in a car wreck. After some food and more rest, her Slayer healing would kick in and by tonight, Faith should be able to at least walk without wincing.
Faith was still uncertain how she got from being Vamp food to being in her now clean apartment, as she finally got the strength to get out of bed. Last night was very fuzzy but she could have sworn that someone else was here last night. She highly doubted that some miracle happened and she somehow broke herself free from the food frenzy. It couldn't have been Buffy... Girl would have stuck around waiting until she woke up and then shove it in her face that the big bad Slayer Faith had to be rescued.
So that left a third party.
As Faith rummaged around the dresser trying to find some clothes, she accidentally knocked into the piece of crap television that was in her room, and watched something fall out of the corner of her eye.
It was a letter and written on the front was her name. She didn't recognize the writing and carefully leaned down to pick it up, trying to fend off the pain. Faith unfolded the paper and began to read.
Hopefully... And that is a big hopefully... You'll learn to keep out of other people's affairs. The life of a Slayer is already short. Don't try cutting that in half.
P.S. I'll save you the trouble about wondering where the book is when you can't find it... I took it. Don't need you getting into anymore trouble.
A Friend~
She growled and crumpled the paper, throwing it across the room, "FUCK!!!"
"Willy, Willy, Willy." The Vampire leaned down and wiped some of the blood off the bartender's face, "You do know this will stop once you stop lying to me."
Willy the Snitch was just trying to do something simple like throwing out the garbage, when three Vamps jumped him from behind. They roughed him up pretty good and had a black eye, bruised ribs, and a split lip to show for it.
He gave up struggling quite awhile ago. Trying to force himself out of the grip of two Vampires in his condition wasn't too smart. "I toldz you. I know nuthin about no girl Vampire running around." Neither was withholding the information they wanted too. Normally he would rat someone out when there was bodily harm being threatened or done, but Aliya was different. And it wasn't because she paid well... But that did help.
"Alright, be that way." He slowly licked his finger dry of any blood and growled hungrily at Willy, sizing him up. "You picked a bad time growing a backbone."
The kick to the stomach came without warning. Willy doubled over and felt his entire body spasm from the hit. Coughing violently, he wished that he could retort with a good comeback. The Vamps on either side pulled him up back to a kneeling position so their boss could get some more licks in. Eventually the bartender would break... One way or the other...
Willy then found himself kissing the pavement as one of the Vampires let go of him. He was too stunned to realize that he didn't let go actually because Willy was being peppered with dust.
The two Vampires still standing turned around and saw the object of their inquiries running right at them.
"You know..." Aliya went low to avoid being punched as she tripped up the Vampire, "...I had no idea ..." she got to her feet in the next beat and connected with a roundhouse kick to rid herself of the second Vampire, "...I was this popular."
She looked around the general area and found something of use. Punching through an empty wooden crate, Aliya broke off a piece. She backed around the Dumpster and kicked up with her right leg to knock away the advancing Vampire. Now she wasn't so confined being behind there that she took aim and launched the broken panel at the other Vampire and scored with a dusting.
Under normal circumstances, she would just finish off the Vampire but she had a little interrogation of her own to do. "Alright, get up," Aliya said, as she kicked him right in the face. He tried shaking off the hit but found himself lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall with a knife at his throat.
He laughed, "That's suppose to scare me?"
"Well, think about it this way..." she smiled sweetly, "Hard to move if you can't see right?"
His growling, placated with that, "What do you want?"
"Who sent you?" A deep growl of her own came forth when he didn't answer, "Who... Sent... You?"
He was dead either way so he might as well lead the girl on a wild goose chase, "Trick."
That actually caught her off guard, "Kakistos' old lackey?" The gears started to spin since Aliya was trying to remember if she ever pissed off that Vampire. She looked at him squarely in the eyes and knew he wasn't being completely honest. As she narrowed her eyes, Aliya could also see that he wasn't going to tell her anything else. Just her luck to run into a Vampire that was smart.
She released her hold and waved him away, "Thank you kindly for your help."
The Vampire blinked and looked towards freedom, and then back to Aliya, "You're letting me go?"
"Yep. Either way Trick's gonna know something is up with you all being dead and not reporting in, or by you telling him what happened." She crossed her arms and waited.
He couldn't believe his luck and dashed off quickly. He didn't need to be told twice... But Aliya was waiting for him to do that. Guess he wasn't that smart after all or that quick on his feet. She wrapped an arm around his neck and placed the dagger over his heart. Quietly she whispered into his ear, "But come to think of it, you're confirming my existence if you go to him so...." The Vampire turned to dust as the dagger of Vahlshalynn plunged into his heart.
She sheathed the weapon and ran back to Willy who found a way to pull himself to a sitting position by his backdoor. Her heart felt heavy seeing the price that he paid in keeping her secret, "I'm sorry."
Willy's laugh turned into a cough, "Ah was nuthin. Uh..."
Aliya smiled and helped him to his feet, "Thank you for doing so much nothing for me. Since the nothing is all over your face."
He opened the door and gingerly stepped inside, "Well... you and me had a deal."
"A deal you kept." She pulled out a few bills from her inside pocket and handed it to Willy, "This is for the hospital to which you are going to go." She eyed him, "Right?"
Even in this horribly bruised state, the infamous Willy grin came through shining, "Of course."
She had to grin back at him as he closed the door. His nature was contagious. Aliya stuck around for a few moments until the light was turned off and decided to head for home... Taking a few detours along the way incase she was followed.
"I knew Willy was lying to me."
Or if someone had found her even before she got lost. Sticking around wasn't a great idea after all.
It was a voice from the past that now found a way to catch up to her in this crazy town. She avoided it for so long like she had the Slayers. Perhaps it was only a matter of time as well before he found her.
Aliya stood there motionless to let reality sink in for a moment because it felt too surreal to actually be happening. Yet when she turned around, all the blood drained from her face when she laid eyes on him. He was quite real.
Angel stood motionless there as he watched every movement, every breath that was made by her. His gaze was penetrating as if trying to find something that was well hidden inside her but just as his mouth began to part, they softened, "Hello, Aliandra."