Inside, the two girls were still full of energy, but had stuck close to the boy that Spike had attacked earlier. Finally, the blonde turned and held out her hand toward her friend to get her attention. "Ready to go?" she asked softly.
The brunette tilted her head slightly, smiling. "Of course." She glanced around for a second, and grabbed the boy's arm. The blonde moved beside him and took his other arm. Those remaining looked a little frustrated as the threesome made their way out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike watched silently from the alley as the two girls stepped outside with their catch. The kid obviously thought he had cashed in big as they led him into the alley, and Spike backed farther into the darkness so as not to interrupt. The brunette stood in front of the boy, and rested her hands on his chest. She worked her mouth over his ear, and he looked slightly surprised, but lifted one hand to her shoulder. The blonde stood close behind him and ran her hands up his arms. She smiled to herself, and wrapped one arm around his waist, while she rubbed her foot against the back of his leg.
Without warning, the brunette latched on to the boy's neck with her suddenly-sharp teeth. Instantly the blonde's face shifted also and she bit roughly into the other side of the boy's neck as he gasped in pain and surprise.
Now in shock, the boy didn't attempt to fight back, and just stood there, pathetically wheezing, as they fed. After a moment his legs gave way and he slumped a little. The blonde still had her arm around his waist, and she held him up until they had drained every last drop. Then she let him fall, and the girls stood still for a moment, eyes closed. After a moment, their faces faded back so they looked normal.
The blonde turned looked hard into the blackness where Spike had watched all this take place. She found him easily, and made her way towards him as the brunette walked back out of the alley, looking around her carefully.
Spike gazed at her, not sure of how to begin. Luckily, she spoke first. "Hi. Sorry we didn't save you any" she gestured towards the dead boy's slumped body. She turned back around and smiled at him. "I'm Tabitha, everyone calls me Tabby."
They stood still, about a foot apart. He looked at her for a moment, before speaking. "Tabitha," he repeated. "It's cute." Then he gestured toward himself, "the name's Spike." She opened her mouth to speak, but they were interrupted.
"Tabby!" her friend shouted from the end of the alley "are you ready to go?"
Tabitha smiled apologetically at Spike. "That's Annabel." She didn't turn away from Spike. "Yeah, we're coming!" she yelled in response. Spike stepped past her and turned, offering his arm. Her eyes lit up and she grinned as she accepted. They walked out of the alleyway, past the lifeless body they had tossed aside, and join Annabel, who was now with the light-haired man she had been dancing with before. The two girls shared a smile and the four walked down the street from the Bronze.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giles was reading in the back room of the store when the gang rushed in, all talking at once. He stood up and tried to understand their confusing story.
"I noticed something was weird the whole time," Buffy was saying as they walked in.
"There were a lot of people that none of us had seen before," Riley reminded them.
"And Spike showed, too," Xander added. Giles gazed at them blankly as they jabbered on.
"So Buffy got an idea, and she looked in the mirror…" Willow nodded towards her.
"And she didn't see anything," Anya finished.
Buffy noticed the strange look Giles gave Anya, and tried to clarify. "But there were lots of people dancing, including poor Xander here," she patted his shoulder.
Xander shook his head, "I was dancing with death." He laughed at his own joke.
Buffy gave him a look, then continued. "And only a few people showed up when I looked in the mirror." Giles began to understand. Buffy continued. "The point is that there's a whole lot of vampires at the Bronze tonight. We can't just let them take over like this! So what do we do?"
Giles took off his glasses and sat against the edge of the table. "W- obviously there is nothing we can do tonight." They all stared at him. "From- from what you tell me, there are too many …for us to take on …right now. We are clearly not prepared… for s- something of this …large of proportions."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…so in the morning, all the jewels are gone, and now the guard is on our team; I can just see the moron trying to tell the police about the robbers," Annabel told the men, as Tabitha giggled hysterically. "And the guard is like 'What girls? There were no girls here last night!' It was too easy!"
Spike and his new friends had walked through Sunnydale for quite a while, trading stories, joking and laughing. Annabel had done most of the talking, and a lot of giggling. So far Spike had gained that Tabitha and Annabel were, in fact, new to Sunnydale, and it was obvious they had been hanging out together for quite a while. They had been very impressed to find out that he had faced the Slayer and was still there to tell them about it.
The group was now outside one of the cemeteries, and Annabel turned to Tabitha and raised her eyebrows. "Well bud… see ya tomorrow?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Sure. Later!" They smiled, and Annabel turned and walked away with the light-haired man.
Spike smiled almost greedily at Tabitha. He put his hands on her waist, and she rested her hands on his upper arms, both with half-closed eyes. He moved to kiss her, but she turned her face, and ran her lips lightly across his cheek. Spike to wrapped his arms around her back tightly and buried his face in her hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the Bronze, the party was still going strong. The music blared and the lights flashed wildly over the dancers. Suddenly, there was a commotion from the middle of the crowd, and everyone turned to see what was going on. A girl was gasping for air as the boy she had been dancing with bit hard on her neck. Instead of helping her, everyone watched in fascination. Then two more joined in the meal. When she finally collapsed, they dragged her to a table, then went back to their dancing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tabitha stood in front of a large mausoleum and gave Spike an evil grin. Spike looked pleasantly surprised at her decision. They pulled open the heavy door and stepped into the black room. Tabitha slowly pushed the heavy door close as Spike walked around the room. He found his cigarette lighter and lit the lamps around the walls, then turned around to survey the room. There were plaques in the walls with old, worn writing, and small stained-glass windows near the ceiling. In the center of the floor were three large, stone vaults. Tabitha gazed around the room in awe.
Spike noticed her expression. "Not too shabby" he remarked. He sat on the vault in the middle of the room. She walked up to him slowly, still with an ornery grin on her face. When she got close, he grabbed her playfully and pulled her towards him. She laughed as they fell backwards onto the cold concrete of the vault's lid.
He started to sit up, but Tabitha pushed him down flat on his back and straddled his stomach. He put one arm around her back and leaned up to kiss her neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The few remaining humans at the Bronze had panicked when they saw what happened to the girl. Instead of escaping, they had succeeded in making themselves very obvious targets. One had been tied to the stair rail, and the rest lay motionless around the edges of the dance floor. Everyone was still dancing in the sporadically flashing lights, and still more were steaming in through the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the quiet mausoleum, Spike lay on his back on the vault, his clothes somewhat disheveled, his eyes closed. A soft scraping sound caught his attention. His eyes flew open. He quickly sat up and his eyes searched the room, until he noticed Tabitha quietly pulling open the heavy door. He relaxed a little as he watched her.
"Something the matter, pet?" His voice startled her and she whirled around.
Instantly she abandoned the door and smiled at him innocently. "What do you mean?"
He walked over to her and shook his head, not answering. He put his arm around her back and started to lead her away from the door, but noticed something and looked down at her feet. "You didn't take your shoes off" he chuckled.
"So, you didn't take your coat off," she replied. He blinked, and they stared at each other, expressionless, for a moment.
Suddenly he picked her up and spun around, causing her to shriek, then laugh. When he set her down they were both smiling. She hit him gently in the arm. He walked forward, forcing her to back up until she stopped at the vault. He lifted her up to sit on top of the vault. Tabitha wrapped her legs around his waist, under his long coat, and he stepped closer still. He ran his hands up her legs until he could see the pale skin of her thighs above her stockings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander carried a stack of books to the table where the rest of the gang was researching.
Willow slammed shut the book in front of her, frustrated. "Nothing!" she looked to the others. "How are we supposed to be able to stop this if we don't know what's causing it, and- and how do we figure out what's causing it if we don't even know what "it" is?"
Giles stood up, very tired looking. "We can't- not this way." They looked up at him. "You all should …should go home and get some rest. I'll contact you if -if I should come upon anything of- of significance." The gang looked disappointed, but gathered up their stuff to leave.
"Okay," Buffy told everyone, "we'll meet back here tomorrow morning, and we'll… figure out how to stop whoever's causing this." Everyone looked skeptical.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the balcony of the Bronze, you could survey everything going on below. Someone stood in the darkness by the handrail, most of their face hidden by the dark cloak they wore, unnoticed by everyone.
With no one left to eat, the party was beginning to wind down, and small groups of people walked out. The person on the balcony smiled, gazing down at the mayhem. "Perfect."
The brunette tilted her head slightly, smiling. "Of course." She glanced around for a second, and grabbed the boy's arm. The blonde moved beside him and took his other arm. Those remaining looked a little frustrated as the threesome made their way out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike watched silently from the alley as the two girls stepped outside with their catch. The kid obviously thought he had cashed in big as they led him into the alley, and Spike backed farther into the darkness so as not to interrupt. The brunette stood in front of the boy, and rested her hands on his chest. She worked her mouth over his ear, and he looked slightly surprised, but lifted one hand to her shoulder. The blonde stood close behind him and ran her hands up his arms. She smiled to herself, and wrapped one arm around his waist, while she rubbed her foot against the back of his leg.
Without warning, the brunette latched on to the boy's neck with her suddenly-sharp teeth. Instantly the blonde's face shifted also and she bit roughly into the other side of the boy's neck as he gasped in pain and surprise.
Now in shock, the boy didn't attempt to fight back, and just stood there, pathetically wheezing, as they fed. After a moment his legs gave way and he slumped a little. The blonde still had her arm around his waist, and she held him up until they had drained every last drop. Then she let him fall, and the girls stood still for a moment, eyes closed. After a moment, their faces faded back so they looked normal.
The blonde turned looked hard into the blackness where Spike had watched all this take place. She found him easily, and made her way towards him as the brunette walked back out of the alley, looking around her carefully.
Spike gazed at her, not sure of how to begin. Luckily, she spoke first. "Hi. Sorry we didn't save you any" she gestured towards the dead boy's slumped body. She turned back around and smiled at him. "I'm Tabitha, everyone calls me Tabby."
They stood still, about a foot apart. He looked at her for a moment, before speaking. "Tabitha," he repeated. "It's cute." Then he gestured toward himself, "the name's Spike." She opened her mouth to speak, but they were interrupted.
"Tabby!" her friend shouted from the end of the alley "are you ready to go?"
Tabitha smiled apologetically at Spike. "That's Annabel." She didn't turn away from Spike. "Yeah, we're coming!" she yelled in response. Spike stepped past her and turned, offering his arm. Her eyes lit up and she grinned as she accepted. They walked out of the alleyway, past the lifeless body they had tossed aside, and join Annabel, who was now with the light-haired man she had been dancing with before. The two girls shared a smile and the four walked down the street from the Bronze.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giles was reading in the back room of the store when the gang rushed in, all talking at once. He stood up and tried to understand their confusing story.
"I noticed something was weird the whole time," Buffy was saying as they walked in.
"There were a lot of people that none of us had seen before," Riley reminded them.
"And Spike showed, too," Xander added. Giles gazed at them blankly as they jabbered on.
"So Buffy got an idea, and she looked in the mirror…" Willow nodded towards her.
"And she didn't see anything," Anya finished.
Buffy noticed the strange look Giles gave Anya, and tried to clarify. "But there were lots of people dancing, including poor Xander here," she patted his shoulder.
Xander shook his head, "I was dancing with death." He laughed at his own joke.
Buffy gave him a look, then continued. "And only a few people showed up when I looked in the mirror." Giles began to understand. Buffy continued. "The point is that there's a whole lot of vampires at the Bronze tonight. We can't just let them take over like this! So what do we do?"
Giles took off his glasses and sat against the edge of the table. "W- obviously there is nothing we can do tonight." They all stared at him. "From- from what you tell me, there are too many …for us to take on …right now. We are clearly not prepared… for s- something of this …large of proportions."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…so in the morning, all the jewels are gone, and now the guard is on our team; I can just see the moron trying to tell the police about the robbers," Annabel told the men, as Tabitha giggled hysterically. "And the guard is like 'What girls? There were no girls here last night!' It was too easy!"
Spike and his new friends had walked through Sunnydale for quite a while, trading stories, joking and laughing. Annabel had done most of the talking, and a lot of giggling. So far Spike had gained that Tabitha and Annabel were, in fact, new to Sunnydale, and it was obvious they had been hanging out together for quite a while. They had been very impressed to find out that he had faced the Slayer and was still there to tell them about it.
The group was now outside one of the cemeteries, and Annabel turned to Tabitha and raised her eyebrows. "Well bud… see ya tomorrow?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Sure. Later!" They smiled, and Annabel turned and walked away with the light-haired man.
Spike smiled almost greedily at Tabitha. He put his hands on her waist, and she rested her hands on his upper arms, both with half-closed eyes. He moved to kiss her, but she turned her face, and ran her lips lightly across his cheek. Spike to wrapped his arms around her back tightly and buried his face in her hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the Bronze, the party was still going strong. The music blared and the lights flashed wildly over the dancers. Suddenly, there was a commotion from the middle of the crowd, and everyone turned to see what was going on. A girl was gasping for air as the boy she had been dancing with bit hard on her neck. Instead of helping her, everyone watched in fascination. Then two more joined in the meal. When she finally collapsed, they dragged her to a table, then went back to their dancing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tabitha stood in front of a large mausoleum and gave Spike an evil grin. Spike looked pleasantly surprised at her decision. They pulled open the heavy door and stepped into the black room. Tabitha slowly pushed the heavy door close as Spike walked around the room. He found his cigarette lighter and lit the lamps around the walls, then turned around to survey the room. There were plaques in the walls with old, worn writing, and small stained-glass windows near the ceiling. In the center of the floor were three large, stone vaults. Tabitha gazed around the room in awe.
Spike noticed her expression. "Not too shabby" he remarked. He sat on the vault in the middle of the room. She walked up to him slowly, still with an ornery grin on her face. When she got close, he grabbed her playfully and pulled her towards him. She laughed as they fell backwards onto the cold concrete of the vault's lid.
He started to sit up, but Tabitha pushed him down flat on his back and straddled his stomach. He put one arm around her back and leaned up to kiss her neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The few remaining humans at the Bronze had panicked when they saw what happened to the girl. Instead of escaping, they had succeeded in making themselves very obvious targets. One had been tied to the stair rail, and the rest lay motionless around the edges of the dance floor. Everyone was still dancing in the sporadically flashing lights, and still more were steaming in through the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the quiet mausoleum, Spike lay on his back on the vault, his clothes somewhat disheveled, his eyes closed. A soft scraping sound caught his attention. His eyes flew open. He quickly sat up and his eyes searched the room, until he noticed Tabitha quietly pulling open the heavy door. He relaxed a little as he watched her.
"Something the matter, pet?" His voice startled her and she whirled around.
Instantly she abandoned the door and smiled at him innocently. "What do you mean?"
He walked over to her and shook his head, not answering. He put his arm around her back and started to lead her away from the door, but noticed something and looked down at her feet. "You didn't take your shoes off" he chuckled.
"So, you didn't take your coat off," she replied. He blinked, and they stared at each other, expressionless, for a moment.
Suddenly he picked her up and spun around, causing her to shriek, then laugh. When he set her down they were both smiling. She hit him gently in the arm. He walked forward, forcing her to back up until she stopped at the vault. He lifted her up to sit on top of the vault. Tabitha wrapped her legs around his waist, under his long coat, and he stepped closer still. He ran his hands up her legs until he could see the pale skin of her thighs above her stockings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander carried a stack of books to the table where the rest of the gang was researching.
Willow slammed shut the book in front of her, frustrated. "Nothing!" she looked to the others. "How are we supposed to be able to stop this if we don't know what's causing it, and- and how do we figure out what's causing it if we don't even know what "it" is?"
Giles stood up, very tired looking. "We can't- not this way." They looked up at him. "You all should …should go home and get some rest. I'll contact you if -if I should come upon anything of- of significance." The gang looked disappointed, but gathered up their stuff to leave.
"Okay," Buffy told everyone, "we'll meet back here tomorrow morning, and we'll… figure out how to stop whoever's causing this." Everyone looked skeptical.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the balcony of the Bronze, you could survey everything going on below. Someone stood in the darkness by the handrail, most of their face hidden by the dark cloak they wore, unnoticed by everyone.
With no one left to eat, the party was beginning to wind down, and small groups of people walked out. The person on the balcony smiled, gazing down at the mayhem. "Perfect."