"Profanity will not avail you, follow me," the vampire turned and started
to stride away.
"Listen, mate, we don't want any trouble, you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone," Spike started off the other way.
Dru however kept her hold on the young singer and started to follow the stranger. Spike realized she was not behind him and spun around to see what was the matter. Dru and the other were just disappearing into the shadows. Spike ran to catch up with them.
"Drusilla, what are you doing, following this strange Vamp. We don't have to listen to him," Spike put a hand on her arm.
"He's talking to me, he can hear the night. We do need to go with him, my love. He can teach us things," Dru slipped out of his grasp. Spike slipped past her and tried to grab the strange vampire, but somehow he couldn't. He then stood in front of Dru to keep her from following. She had that same dreamy look in her eyes as when she had first seen the girl she still held onto.
"What have you done to Dru?" Spike demanded.
***I have done nothing to your lover, boy, she is simply much more sensitive then you. You will come with me now*** the vampire's voice was in his head.
"Get out of my mind, Gramps, I'm not so easily led as Drusilla."
***Perhaps not, but you will follow her and she will follow me.***
Spike had to admit that he had a point. There was not stopping Dru when she got something in her head and she had it in her head to follow this elder where ever he might be leading. Spike heard in the distance the wailing of sirens and realized that there was no use standing around the alley waiting to be arrested. He sighed as he followed Dru with her little pet into the darkness.
The stranger led them down the alley and onto a side street. To his surprise there was an entrance to the Underground not far from where the alley emerged. They followed their strange guide down into the Underground, over the tracks, and into a long tunnel.
Spike couldn't stay silent any longer, "Where are you taking us, mate, if I'm allowed to ask."
"You may ask, but we are almost there so you shall see," with that they came to an iron door and the stranger pulled out a key which opened it with a squeak.
He stood to one side of the door and bowed dramatically to Dru, "My lady, please feel free to enter my home."
"Thank you sir," Dru gave a curtsy and then dragged her prize through the door.
"You are also invited, although it is on sufferance of you lady love, so do not think to abuse my hospitality."
"Wouldn't dream of it, mate," Spike strode through the door and was quite surprised by what was on the other side.
Ceramic tile lined the floor and walls. A wooden coat tree stood on one side with a bench built into it. Strong Oak doors lined the hall way on either side. The tiles on the wall had Roman themes of animals and plants. The stranger swung his cloak off and hung it up. He then led the way to the first door on the right. It was a living area, but instead of chairs or a couch, it was lined with cushions, and a couple of reclining couches.
"Please make yourselves comfortable, my lady, shall we have your snack put somewhere for later," he gestured at the girl. "She's not a snack, she's a pet. I want her to say with me," Dru pouted prettily and sunk onto some cushions taking the singer with her.
"Of course, but perhaps we would be more comfortable talking if she were out of the way, as it were, may I?"
Dru looked confused and then shrugged. The stranger pulled the girl's chin up so he could look into her eyes. The blank shock in her face faded to something even less aware and her eyes closed, in a moment she was laid out on the cushions fast asleep. "That's a neat trick, mate," Spike was leaning against the wall closest to Dru. "Can you teach me how?"
"Please sit," the other vampire took his own advice and made himself comfortable.
"I prefer to stand, if you don't mind. Now what is it that you want from us?"
"Do not be so hasty, my young friend. First let us introduce ourselves. I am Antonius Silvius, son of the Goddess and ruler of those who still survive here in Londonium, or London as it is now called. I am the eldest and therefore the most powerful."
"I'm Spike and the lady is Drusilla, originally from London, but most recently we were in California," Spike tried not to sound impressed by the other's titles.
"And who is your creator?"
"Well I was created by Drusilla here, and she was created by Angelus."
"Interesting, you seem to think that I should have heard of this Angelus, but I am not familiar with the name and I thought I knew all of the vampires in London for the past 2000 years."
"2000 years, are you crazy? There aren't any vampires that old, except maybe The Master."
Dru took this opportunity to interject, "I see a forest full of blue people, they are fighting men in skirts. The lady commands them. She is their dark Goddess, their maker, their lover, but they are not strong enough. She wants one of the new blood, the strangers..."
"You have the sight, yes that was me. I came to Britain as part of the Roman army. An ancient vampire who was as a Goddess to the Celts brought me across. She stepped into the sun when the Normans came, and left me alone in the Kingdom of Britain. When the trice-cursed Sorcerer Supreme cast his little spell, the Montesi Formula it sent me into a deep sleep for a few decades, but it could not destroy one so old."
"What spell, I haven't a bloody clue what you're talking about. I haven't heard of any 2000 year old vampire in London and there's no way you wouldn't have heard of Angelus, if you're telling the truth."
Antonius chuckled, "And how old are you, boy?"
"A little over 200, what's it to you?"
"I say that that is impossible, all the younger vampires were destroyed. Unless you are of that other kind, those who call themselves pure blood and their weakling kin. ARE YOU PRAY OF THE DAYWALKER?" with the last word Antonius' voice rose until the walls rung.
"Listen mate, there's no need to get mad. I have no clue what you're jabbering on about. They only pray I've ever been is to the slayer, and she obviously wasn't' successful. I've even hunted slayers. I don't know anything about Daywalkers or pure bloods."
Dru stood up and put a hand on Antonius' shoulder, "We come from afar, from another place. The stars are different here, but I like it. See what I see, know what I know and you will feel the dancing of another sphere."
Antonius looked into Dru's eyes as if he was falling into a pool. She was smiling as if having a pleasant dream. Spike wanted to stop whatever was going on, but he didn't dare. After a few minutes, Antonius blinked and started to chuckle again.
"Indeed, you are not of this world. Another Universe, I had heard something of the sort, but I wouldn't have believed it. A universe with no Sorcerer Supreme, no Daywalker, and no mutants. Very tempting. Perhaps I shall help you find the way home," Antonius smiled.
"I still want to know what you're blathering on about," Spike growled.
"Somehow, young William, you've stepped right out of your own world into another."
"Call me Spike, and what do you mean?"
"Let me show you something, can vampires where your from do this," with those words Antonius was no longer standing in front of him, instead there was a wolf. Then he was back and said, "Or this," his outline faded until all that was left was what appeared to be a dense mist. He came back into focus, "From the look on your face, I take it they can't. You are no longer in your world of slayers, demons, and watchers, you are in my world and I am the only one who can help you go back, if I so choose."
"You're saying we're in another Universe?" Spike shook his head as if to clear it.
"Yes, that is what I am saying."
"So what's a mutant?"
"That girl, for one. Mutants are humans with extraordinary powers. It seems Drusilla here can sense them. This child is a projective empath. She can make others feel whatever she wants to. There are a few things you should know about mutants, firstly they taste quite a bit sweeter then normal humans, second if you turn them they have their power in addition to those of a vampire, and third some of them can resist becoming a vampire entirely."
"Another universe, trust Dru to find a way to another universe. You say you can get us back?"
"Not, me personally, but I think I can find someone who can."
*********************
I decided not to do any investigating on my own that night. I might have vampire powers at night, but I didn't want to face two unknown vampires on my own. It didn't seem like good odds at all. Better to go in knowing more about them. We'd have to have a briefing in the morning and get everyone up to date.
At six the next morning someone pounded on my door. I slipped on my robe and went over the throw the door open. It was Van Helsing. I let him in and led the way to the table.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Katherine, I think you need to tell Buffy and Giles all about yourself," he got right down to brass tacks.
"Are you crazy, Van Helsing? Buffy is a vampire slayer, I am a vampire. I may a mutant vampire, but I don't know if she's going to understand the difference."
"Don't be foolish Katherine. You are not the undead. You were born the way you are. You can go out in the daylight, you eat food, breath, sleep, all those things."
"Yeah, but I also drink blood. I really don't see a need to tell every single person we meet from another universe my whole life story."
"Katherine, there's something I haven't told, you, but now is as good a time as any. There is some evidence that not all the vampires were destroyed by Doctor Strange's reading of the Montesi Formula ."
"What?" I shouted. "You're just telling me this now. Shit, shit, shit. How am I supposed to handle that?"
"Don't get excited, it's just a possibility, but if there are vampires here in London, and somehow Spike and Drusilla join forces with them, they will know all about Buffy. Don't you think that Buffy and Giles and Beatrice, for that matter, deserve to know all the facts?"
"God, I suppose you're right, but if she slays me I'll never forgive you."
"If she slays, you, I would never forgive myself."
"When are you going to learn you're not responsible for me, Johann?"
Van Helsing stood up and patted my hand for a moment, "Friends are always responsible for each other. I made a reservation for breakfast for all of us at the Inn's restaurant. I will go call Beatrice on her cell phone. You get ready."
I watched him go and sighed. Get ready, yeah get ready to spill my guts to
practical strangers. It's bad enough telling Buffy and Giles, but what was Beatrice going to think of all this. Ah well, there was no use in prolonging the agony. I took a quick shower and got dressed. I headed down the hall and knocked on Buffy's door. She opened it with a towel on her had.
"I take it Van Helsing let you know about our breakfast date?" I asked.
"Yeah, he said you two have some things to tell us. I'll be down in a couple of minutes. I think Giles is already down there," she walked back into her room, continuing to towel her hair dry.
"Right see you down there."
When I got to the dining room Giles and Van Helsing were both there already. They had their head's together over Van Helsing's lap top. I ordered an orange juice from the waitress and sat across from them. They didn't look up until Buffy walked up.
"Hey Giles, looks like you found a way to stick your head into research even a universe away from the library. What's go you two so interested?" she sat down next to me.
"I was just curious as to why when they've been here at least a month, only three bodies have been found. Johann was showing me some maps of the London Underground. There are so many access tunnels that they could have hidden an army of bodies. Now I'm wondering why you even found three," Giles commented.
"Perhaps they were wanting to let their presence be known to the local vampires," Van Helsing suggested.
"But I thought you said there are no local vampires," said Buffy.
"Yes, but they don't know that. I doubt they have even realized they are in another universe."
"How could they not know that?"
"Would you and Rupert have known right away if you hadn't run into us?"
"I guess not, but when I tried to call my mom, I would have figured something out."
"Yes, but Spike and Drusilla don't have any parents to call, do they? This world seems to be enough like yours that it would take quite some time for vampires trying to hide out to realize that something is wrong."
"This sounds like a conversation I want to get in on, but is this restaurant really the best place to have it?" Beatrice walked up and squashed in beside Buffy.
"At six thirty in the morning, Detective White, I doubt there is anyone to overhear. I'm glad you could join us a bit earlier," Van Helsing said.
"No problem, I'm pretty much a morning person. I was just about to go for a quick run around the block when you called."
"I am definitely not a morning person, so let's get some fuel before we get down to talking," Buffy waved the waitress over.
After we had all placed our orders for eggs, bacon, fruit, and in Giles case kippers we got down to business. Van Helsing offered to tell them all about vampires in our world for a start. I was interested to hear his version.
"First of all, as I told Rupert last night, there is some indication that not all of the vampires were destroyed as we thought," Van Helsing began.
"What? Well that's just peachy, we could be dealing with local vamps as well as Spike and Dru?" Buffy asked.
"It is highly unlikely that any vampires here in London would want to join forces with strangers. They have enough problems of their own. Last night Giles told me a bit about your version of vampires, now I will describe ours. First of all, I have to say that they seem to be quite a bit more powerful. Traditional vampires can change their form, most to mist, some to wolves, and many to bats. They also have to be invited in to dwellings as in a person's home, but not into public places such as this Inn. They do not turn to dust if you stake them through the heart. In order to truly destroy a vampire in this world you must stake them through the heart and then decapitate them. Holy objects do burn them if they touch them. The sun will destroy them, and younger vampires have to sleep throughout the day. Older vampires can be active as long as they are out of the sun, as I understand Spike and Drusilla can. Vampires also have limited mental powers. If they look into your eyes and you do not have the power to resist, they can hypnotize you and control your actions."
"In other words, we could be in big trouble, if we run into more then one of these things," Buffy looked a bit pale at Van Helsing's recitation.
"Any vampires here would be likely to want to avoid trouble. Losing most of your population to a powerful spell would tend to make you more timid. As I said, younger vampires must sleep through the day. Unfortunately, any vampires who could have survived the reading of the Montesi Formula would be likely to be ancient. We also have a weapon that they don't know about," Van Helsing turned to me.
"There's something else that I have to tell all of you. As Van Helsing said earlier, my mother was a vampire hunter, or a slayer in your parlance. That's not all she was, she must have also been a mutant, a human with extraordinary powers. She was also part of a family that was cursed in a way. The story goes that centuries ago in Babylon there was a vampire queen who called herself Lillith. She fell in love with a mortal and her husband, the king of the vampires had him destroyed in a fit of jealousy. She killed the ones who killed her lover and went into the sun. She had had a mortal husband and children before she was turned, and since her sacrifice of herself, her female decedents have been believed to be a possible reincarnation of their vampire ancestress. The vampires believe that if they turn one of her blood line that woman will gain all the powers Lillith had when she died and bring the vampires into a new golden age."
"What does all this have to do with you?" asked Beatrice.
"Sorry to go through all of this, but it's important. My mother was seduced by a powerful vampire who wanted to turn her an fulfill the prophecy, what he didn't know is that she was pregnant with me," I could see Giles and Buffy had some idea of what was coming. "Normally vampire blood would kill any fetus, but I turned out to be a mutant as well. I survived and my mother had herself cremated because she knew she would survive after my birth. During the day I am perfectly human, but at night I have the same powers as vampires. Before you go all slayer on me Buffy, I'm not undead. I never died, and I've never killed anyone. If anyone here has a soul, so do I. At any rate what this all means, is that we do have the advantage of surprise. No vampires from this world know about me and Spike and Drusilla certainly won't be prepared."
"Listen, mate, we don't want any trouble, you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone," Spike started off the other way.
Dru however kept her hold on the young singer and started to follow the stranger. Spike realized she was not behind him and spun around to see what was the matter. Dru and the other were just disappearing into the shadows. Spike ran to catch up with them.
"Drusilla, what are you doing, following this strange Vamp. We don't have to listen to him," Spike put a hand on her arm.
"He's talking to me, he can hear the night. We do need to go with him, my love. He can teach us things," Dru slipped out of his grasp. Spike slipped past her and tried to grab the strange vampire, but somehow he couldn't. He then stood in front of Dru to keep her from following. She had that same dreamy look in her eyes as when she had first seen the girl she still held onto.
"What have you done to Dru?" Spike demanded.
***I have done nothing to your lover, boy, she is simply much more sensitive then you. You will come with me now*** the vampire's voice was in his head.
"Get out of my mind, Gramps, I'm not so easily led as Drusilla."
***Perhaps not, but you will follow her and she will follow me.***
Spike had to admit that he had a point. There was not stopping Dru when she got something in her head and she had it in her head to follow this elder where ever he might be leading. Spike heard in the distance the wailing of sirens and realized that there was no use standing around the alley waiting to be arrested. He sighed as he followed Dru with her little pet into the darkness.
The stranger led them down the alley and onto a side street. To his surprise there was an entrance to the Underground not far from where the alley emerged. They followed their strange guide down into the Underground, over the tracks, and into a long tunnel.
Spike couldn't stay silent any longer, "Where are you taking us, mate, if I'm allowed to ask."
"You may ask, but we are almost there so you shall see," with that they came to an iron door and the stranger pulled out a key which opened it with a squeak.
He stood to one side of the door and bowed dramatically to Dru, "My lady, please feel free to enter my home."
"Thank you sir," Dru gave a curtsy and then dragged her prize through the door.
"You are also invited, although it is on sufferance of you lady love, so do not think to abuse my hospitality."
"Wouldn't dream of it, mate," Spike strode through the door and was quite surprised by what was on the other side.
Ceramic tile lined the floor and walls. A wooden coat tree stood on one side with a bench built into it. Strong Oak doors lined the hall way on either side. The tiles on the wall had Roman themes of animals and plants. The stranger swung his cloak off and hung it up. He then led the way to the first door on the right. It was a living area, but instead of chairs or a couch, it was lined with cushions, and a couple of reclining couches.
"Please make yourselves comfortable, my lady, shall we have your snack put somewhere for later," he gestured at the girl. "She's not a snack, she's a pet. I want her to say with me," Dru pouted prettily and sunk onto some cushions taking the singer with her.
"Of course, but perhaps we would be more comfortable talking if she were out of the way, as it were, may I?"
Dru looked confused and then shrugged. The stranger pulled the girl's chin up so he could look into her eyes. The blank shock in her face faded to something even less aware and her eyes closed, in a moment she was laid out on the cushions fast asleep. "That's a neat trick, mate," Spike was leaning against the wall closest to Dru. "Can you teach me how?"
"Please sit," the other vampire took his own advice and made himself comfortable.
"I prefer to stand, if you don't mind. Now what is it that you want from us?"
"Do not be so hasty, my young friend. First let us introduce ourselves. I am Antonius Silvius, son of the Goddess and ruler of those who still survive here in Londonium, or London as it is now called. I am the eldest and therefore the most powerful."
"I'm Spike and the lady is Drusilla, originally from London, but most recently we were in California," Spike tried not to sound impressed by the other's titles.
"And who is your creator?"
"Well I was created by Drusilla here, and she was created by Angelus."
"Interesting, you seem to think that I should have heard of this Angelus, but I am not familiar with the name and I thought I knew all of the vampires in London for the past 2000 years."
"2000 years, are you crazy? There aren't any vampires that old, except maybe The Master."
Dru took this opportunity to interject, "I see a forest full of blue people, they are fighting men in skirts. The lady commands them. She is their dark Goddess, their maker, their lover, but they are not strong enough. She wants one of the new blood, the strangers..."
"You have the sight, yes that was me. I came to Britain as part of the Roman army. An ancient vampire who was as a Goddess to the Celts brought me across. She stepped into the sun when the Normans came, and left me alone in the Kingdom of Britain. When the trice-cursed Sorcerer Supreme cast his little spell, the Montesi Formula it sent me into a deep sleep for a few decades, but it could not destroy one so old."
"What spell, I haven't a bloody clue what you're talking about. I haven't heard of any 2000 year old vampire in London and there's no way you wouldn't have heard of Angelus, if you're telling the truth."
Antonius chuckled, "And how old are you, boy?"
"A little over 200, what's it to you?"
"I say that that is impossible, all the younger vampires were destroyed. Unless you are of that other kind, those who call themselves pure blood and their weakling kin. ARE YOU PRAY OF THE DAYWALKER?" with the last word Antonius' voice rose until the walls rung.
"Listen mate, there's no need to get mad. I have no clue what you're jabbering on about. They only pray I've ever been is to the slayer, and she obviously wasn't' successful. I've even hunted slayers. I don't know anything about Daywalkers or pure bloods."
Dru stood up and put a hand on Antonius' shoulder, "We come from afar, from another place. The stars are different here, but I like it. See what I see, know what I know and you will feel the dancing of another sphere."
Antonius looked into Dru's eyes as if he was falling into a pool. She was smiling as if having a pleasant dream. Spike wanted to stop whatever was going on, but he didn't dare. After a few minutes, Antonius blinked and started to chuckle again.
"Indeed, you are not of this world. Another Universe, I had heard something of the sort, but I wouldn't have believed it. A universe with no Sorcerer Supreme, no Daywalker, and no mutants. Very tempting. Perhaps I shall help you find the way home," Antonius smiled.
"I still want to know what you're blathering on about," Spike growled.
"Somehow, young William, you've stepped right out of your own world into another."
"Call me Spike, and what do you mean?"
"Let me show you something, can vampires where your from do this," with those words Antonius was no longer standing in front of him, instead there was a wolf. Then he was back and said, "Or this," his outline faded until all that was left was what appeared to be a dense mist. He came back into focus, "From the look on your face, I take it they can't. You are no longer in your world of slayers, demons, and watchers, you are in my world and I am the only one who can help you go back, if I so choose."
"You're saying we're in another Universe?" Spike shook his head as if to clear it.
"Yes, that is what I am saying."
"So what's a mutant?"
"That girl, for one. Mutants are humans with extraordinary powers. It seems Drusilla here can sense them. This child is a projective empath. She can make others feel whatever she wants to. There are a few things you should know about mutants, firstly they taste quite a bit sweeter then normal humans, second if you turn them they have their power in addition to those of a vampire, and third some of them can resist becoming a vampire entirely."
"Another universe, trust Dru to find a way to another universe. You say you can get us back?"
"Not, me personally, but I think I can find someone who can."
*********************
I decided not to do any investigating on my own that night. I might have vampire powers at night, but I didn't want to face two unknown vampires on my own. It didn't seem like good odds at all. Better to go in knowing more about them. We'd have to have a briefing in the morning and get everyone up to date.
At six the next morning someone pounded on my door. I slipped on my robe and went over the throw the door open. It was Van Helsing. I let him in and led the way to the table.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Katherine, I think you need to tell Buffy and Giles all about yourself," he got right down to brass tacks.
"Are you crazy, Van Helsing? Buffy is a vampire slayer, I am a vampire. I may a mutant vampire, but I don't know if she's going to understand the difference."
"Don't be foolish Katherine. You are not the undead. You were born the way you are. You can go out in the daylight, you eat food, breath, sleep, all those things."
"Yeah, but I also drink blood. I really don't see a need to tell every single person we meet from another universe my whole life story."
"Katherine, there's something I haven't told, you, but now is as good a time as any. There is some evidence that not all the vampires were destroyed by Doctor Strange's reading of the Montesi Formula ."
"What?" I shouted. "You're just telling me this now. Shit, shit, shit. How am I supposed to handle that?"
"Don't get excited, it's just a possibility, but if there are vampires here in London, and somehow Spike and Drusilla join forces with them, they will know all about Buffy. Don't you think that Buffy and Giles and Beatrice, for that matter, deserve to know all the facts?"
"God, I suppose you're right, but if she slays me I'll never forgive you."
"If she slays, you, I would never forgive myself."
"When are you going to learn you're not responsible for me, Johann?"
Van Helsing stood up and patted my hand for a moment, "Friends are always responsible for each other. I made a reservation for breakfast for all of us at the Inn's restaurant. I will go call Beatrice on her cell phone. You get ready."
I watched him go and sighed. Get ready, yeah get ready to spill my guts to
practical strangers. It's bad enough telling Buffy and Giles, but what was Beatrice going to think of all this. Ah well, there was no use in prolonging the agony. I took a quick shower and got dressed. I headed down the hall and knocked on Buffy's door. She opened it with a towel on her had.
"I take it Van Helsing let you know about our breakfast date?" I asked.
"Yeah, he said you two have some things to tell us. I'll be down in a couple of minutes. I think Giles is already down there," she walked back into her room, continuing to towel her hair dry.
"Right see you down there."
When I got to the dining room Giles and Van Helsing were both there already. They had their head's together over Van Helsing's lap top. I ordered an orange juice from the waitress and sat across from them. They didn't look up until Buffy walked up.
"Hey Giles, looks like you found a way to stick your head into research even a universe away from the library. What's go you two so interested?" she sat down next to me.
"I was just curious as to why when they've been here at least a month, only three bodies have been found. Johann was showing me some maps of the London Underground. There are so many access tunnels that they could have hidden an army of bodies. Now I'm wondering why you even found three," Giles commented.
"Perhaps they were wanting to let their presence be known to the local vampires," Van Helsing suggested.
"But I thought you said there are no local vampires," said Buffy.
"Yes, but they don't know that. I doubt they have even realized they are in another universe."
"How could they not know that?"
"Would you and Rupert have known right away if you hadn't run into us?"
"I guess not, but when I tried to call my mom, I would have figured something out."
"Yes, but Spike and Drusilla don't have any parents to call, do they? This world seems to be enough like yours that it would take quite some time for vampires trying to hide out to realize that something is wrong."
"This sounds like a conversation I want to get in on, but is this restaurant really the best place to have it?" Beatrice walked up and squashed in beside Buffy.
"At six thirty in the morning, Detective White, I doubt there is anyone to overhear. I'm glad you could join us a bit earlier," Van Helsing said.
"No problem, I'm pretty much a morning person. I was just about to go for a quick run around the block when you called."
"I am definitely not a morning person, so let's get some fuel before we get down to talking," Buffy waved the waitress over.
After we had all placed our orders for eggs, bacon, fruit, and in Giles case kippers we got down to business. Van Helsing offered to tell them all about vampires in our world for a start. I was interested to hear his version.
"First of all, as I told Rupert last night, there is some indication that not all of the vampires were destroyed as we thought," Van Helsing began.
"What? Well that's just peachy, we could be dealing with local vamps as well as Spike and Dru?" Buffy asked.
"It is highly unlikely that any vampires here in London would want to join forces with strangers. They have enough problems of their own. Last night Giles told me a bit about your version of vampires, now I will describe ours. First of all, I have to say that they seem to be quite a bit more powerful. Traditional vampires can change their form, most to mist, some to wolves, and many to bats. They also have to be invited in to dwellings as in a person's home, but not into public places such as this Inn. They do not turn to dust if you stake them through the heart. In order to truly destroy a vampire in this world you must stake them through the heart and then decapitate them. Holy objects do burn them if they touch them. The sun will destroy them, and younger vampires have to sleep throughout the day. Older vampires can be active as long as they are out of the sun, as I understand Spike and Drusilla can. Vampires also have limited mental powers. If they look into your eyes and you do not have the power to resist, they can hypnotize you and control your actions."
"In other words, we could be in big trouble, if we run into more then one of these things," Buffy looked a bit pale at Van Helsing's recitation.
"Any vampires here would be likely to want to avoid trouble. Losing most of your population to a powerful spell would tend to make you more timid. As I said, younger vampires must sleep through the day. Unfortunately, any vampires who could have survived the reading of the Montesi Formula would be likely to be ancient. We also have a weapon that they don't know about," Van Helsing turned to me.
"There's something else that I have to tell all of you. As Van Helsing said earlier, my mother was a vampire hunter, or a slayer in your parlance. That's not all she was, she must have also been a mutant, a human with extraordinary powers. She was also part of a family that was cursed in a way. The story goes that centuries ago in Babylon there was a vampire queen who called herself Lillith. She fell in love with a mortal and her husband, the king of the vampires had him destroyed in a fit of jealousy. She killed the ones who killed her lover and went into the sun. She had had a mortal husband and children before she was turned, and since her sacrifice of herself, her female decedents have been believed to be a possible reincarnation of their vampire ancestress. The vampires believe that if they turn one of her blood line that woman will gain all the powers Lillith had when she died and bring the vampires into a new golden age."
"What does all this have to do with you?" asked Beatrice.
"Sorry to go through all of this, but it's important. My mother was seduced by a powerful vampire who wanted to turn her an fulfill the prophecy, what he didn't know is that she was pregnant with me," I could see Giles and Buffy had some idea of what was coming. "Normally vampire blood would kill any fetus, but I turned out to be a mutant as well. I survived and my mother had herself cremated because she knew she would survive after my birth. During the day I am perfectly human, but at night I have the same powers as vampires. Before you go all slayer on me Buffy, I'm not undead. I never died, and I've never killed anyone. If anyone here has a soul, so do I. At any rate what this all means, is that we do have the advantage of surprise. No vampires from this world know about me and Spike and Drusilla certainly won't be prepared."