Title: Hurricane, Chapter 1: Lightning Strikes
Author: Sandy S.
E-mail: ssoennin@juno.com
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to Joss and UPN.
Spoilers: Set a few years after season 6
Dedication: For Thia...who is a new and dear friend and whose creativity
inspires me! :o)
Summary: Dawn, a lot of blood, a disappearance, a search. Buffy's worst
nightmare comes true. Buffy's POV.
Lightning Strikes
"It is vain to look for a defense against lightning."
-Publius Syrus, Maxim 835 (42 B.C.)
Whoever said that teaching the basics of tumbling to a class of three- and four-year-old children would be my ideal job? With my patience? I gave myself some credit for improving at keeping my cool.
"Mrs. Buffy!" A tiny girl with naturally curly hair wrapped into thick twin braids was glaring and pointing at the only boy in the class.
Ignoring the cry for the moment, I turned back to the slender dark- haired girl who was squatting on the mat and watching me expectantly. "Good job on the cartwheel, Amalia. Next time, I'll help you keep your legs straight." With her front teeth missing, her gap-toothed smile melted my heart.
Turning back to the conflict, I stated as firmly as I could, "Ian, what did I tell you about pulling Megan's hair?"
Ian jutted his chin out. "She started it."
A small tug on my black dance skirt interrupted me. "Can I go now?"
My hand found another girl's soft head near my thigh. "Not yet, sweetie. Just a sec." I paused. "How did she start it, Ian?"
"He bit me, too!" and "Nuh uh!" were uttered simultaneously.
"Megan, I asked Ian."
"She pushed me first," Ian maintained. "So, there!"
"Did not!" "Miss Buffy! Me and Sarah have to pee!" Another small voice whined over the shuffles of the other students.
Smoothing the hair sticking out of my bun, I sighed. Sometimes working with children was harder than slaying vampires. At least, the vamps disappeared after the battle was over. The children stuck around for a whole hour. And, vamps usually attacked me one at a time. Not so with the kids. In either case, children or vamps, I had to take charge when things appeared they might get out of control.
"Okay. Michelle and Sarah can go to the bathroom together. And, Ian and Megan will sit in the corner until their moms come to pick them up." The two vagrants moaned and shuffled to the timeout corner. My watch read three twenty-five in the afternoon. Five more minutes! Where had the time gone? "Okay! Time for cool down! Let's line up."
"But, you said I could go next!" The girl hovering around me protested.
"One more cartwheel." I followed Anita's bouncy skip to the tumbling mat, spotting her carefully as she fell into a clumsy cartwheel and almost veered onto the hardwood floor. She jumped up expectantly. "Good, Anita! That was your best one!" She beamed.
Facing the rest of the squirming class, I announced, "Cool down!"
As the children formed semi-straight lines in front of the wall of mirrors, I saw Xander, one of my closest friends, enter the dance studio wearing a broad smile.
"Hey, Katerina Gordeeva! How goes the dancing?"
The corner of my mouth lifted. "Xander, Katerina is an ice skater, and I teach tumbling, not dancing."
"Oh. Yea. Well, it's all a similar genre," he concluded, leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed.
The corner my mouth ascended into a full-fledged smile. Facing the class, I called, "Class, can you say 'Hi' to Xander?"
The class stared and cried in unison, "Hi, Xander!"
He waved at them. "Hey, class!"
"Tina, would you hit play on the tape deck?" I asked.
"K!" Tina teetered to the stereo resting on the floor and clumsily pushed play on the stereo so that soft, slow music filled the room.
"Ian and Megan, you can join us for the cool down."
Going to the front of the class, I led my small students in a series of stretching exercises, so they wouldn't tear their developing muscles later. Xander watched the children clumsily attempt to imitate my movements with a bemused expression. Some of the girls were lost in their own little world and engaged in their own form of stretching. Others wouldn't remove their eyes from me as they attempted to emulate me exactly.
As soon as the song ended, the entire class inhaled deep breaths and raised their arms slowly. Exhaling, they lowered their arms. I was proud of that part of the weekly routine. All my munchkins had the deep breathing down pat. Giles, my watcher and trainer who now resided in England, would have been proud. "Okay, now give yourself a hug!" The class mimicked me as I crossed my arms and hugged my rib cage. "And have a great day!"
Susan, the dance studio secretary, appeared in the doorway to watch over the children as they scampered out the door all at once to catch their rides. Maggie, the ballet dance instructor, squeezed past the children and began to warm up on the bar to prepare for her afternoon class of older students getting out of school. Some of my pupils turned to extend a last minute wave. I waved back and called, "Bye!"
Xander approached as I gathered up my sweat towel, bottled water, and music tapes. "So, we're researching all evening?" I asked him, taking a swallow of liquid from my bottle.
"Uh huh. Hours of our favorite gig complete with musty old texts, computers, high calorie snack-type foods, and caffeine...*lots* of caffeine." He grinned.
"Great. Remind me to hire a new agent."
* * *
As soon as the Magic Box bell jingled, I heard Anya call, "Buffy, tell *your* boyfriend not to put those herbs so high on the shelves. Mostly women buy those herbs, and *I* and *most* other women *cannot* reach that high even on tippy toes."
"I don't tell Spike what to do....most of the time. And hello to you, too, Anya," I replied with amusement in my tone. Anya co-owned the Magic Box with Giles and was in charge of the store in Giles's absence. Needless to say, she took her job very seriously, sometimes almost obsessively so. As a vengeance demon who granted wishes for those who had been wronged, Anya was also fanatic about exacting her own form of justice.
"Bloody hell, demon girl, I was just stocking the shelves as I was told! You didn't say where to put the stuff," Spike grumbled, slouching and moving some of the brim-filled jars of herbs to a lower level on the wall display. "And just what goes on the top shelf?"
Anya's response was immediate as she squatted behind the cash register to push items around in the glass case which housed jewelry, more expensive crystals, and charms that more advanced witches used in their spells. "Things that get broken easily, that are expensive, and/or that are pretty to look at from far away. The pretty things attract the customers through the shop window."
Spike surveyed the higher shelves speculatively. "Hmm. That so? What will you do if I keep some of the herbs up there?"
Anya rose quickly and crossed her arms. "What do you think?"
Xander bent over to kiss the back of Anya's neck lightly and then, spoke up eagerly, "Oooo, can I wish that he be dust? Can I?"
"But, Harris, who would you be able to commiserate with about our little women?" Spike reminded Xander.
Xander frowned as if deep in thought. "You got a point."
"Hey!" I complained, hugging him tightly from behind. "Who're you calling little? And since when do you own me?"
"Yea," Anya echoed in the background, punching Xander in the arm. I didn't hear his reply because I was listening to Spike.
"You've always been little. And I've always owned you even when you didn't know it." Spike pulled me to his left side and held me against his hip. I wrapped my legs around his waist and lightly brushed my lips across his cheek, inhaling the faint woodsy scent that was uniquely Spike.
"You better watch yourself, Summers. You're playing with fire here," he warned, his voice growing husky when he used my surname.
"Little sister has entered the room!" Dawn announced when she came in the Magic Box front door and saw Spike and I together. "So, it's time to stop all inappropriate behavior." She plopped down at the research table in the back of the shop, letting her backpack slip from her shoulder to the floor.
"Hey, Dawn! How was your day at school? You can help Spike with the shelves," Anya spoke in one breath. Dawn groaned before joining Spike and I by the display where I was now standing on my feet.
"How were your kids?" Dawn asked, tracing her finger along the herb labels.
"Cute and devilish as usual."
Willow entered the shop a minute or two after Dawn. "Hey, all," Willow said, slightly muffled by the stack of books and laptop computer in her arms.
Greetings were exchanged all around. Xander and Spike lifted Willow's burden, and she leaned against the glass case. Panting, she wiped the back of her hand against the sheen of sweat on her forehead and thanked them. As the men made their way to the research table, the women trailed behind.
A lull of dread about the research and what we might find settled heavily over me. I didn't enjoy uncovering the facts. Sometimes, I just liked to go into battle with a nameless demon to fight, maim, and kill. That made things much simpler, much more black and white. Grey and fuzzy were not my cup of tea. And the more I knew about a demon, the more likely I would find some human trait that might make my slaying job more difficult. Take Spike, for example. Even after the many years I'd known him as a vampire with and without a soul, he was still an enigma to me. He was complicated and unpredictable and annoying and sweet bundled into one package...demon and human at the same time. Definitely not killable. He laced his cool fingers with mine as I sat down next to him, making me feel reassured and safe and letting me know that we could handle whatever obstacle was laid in our path. His eyes lit up with inner intensity when I smiled at him. *Definitely* delectable.
Once everyone was settled around the table, Willow positioned her laptop open before her and rose to her feet. "Okay. Here's the deal. Angel called me last night in need of some help."
"He needs some help all right," Spike made the expected comment.
Xander jabbed his index finger toward Spike without looking at him. "Right there with you."
I knew better than to respond to their dislike of Angel, my ex- boyfriend with whom they had personal confrontations. If I said anything, the conversation would veer off topic. Besides, they made comments about Angel out of habit more than anything else now.
Willow stood her ground, breezing over their words. "He and his gang in L.A. are investigating..."
"A rash of unexplained murders committed by demons and the exchange of large sums of money?" Dawn interjected. Willow's expression changed to one of annoyance. Dawn grimaced and explained, "Anya told me."
"Hey, the money part was interesting," Anya asserted, shrugging her shoulders.
"Why is that part interesting?" I wondered aloud.
"Because demons don't usually deal in money, pet." Spike squeezed my hand.
"I haven't forgotten the kittens, Spike." Everyone but Anya stared at me with confusion. I dismissed their questions with a tiny wave of my left hand. "Don't ask."
"Although those wacky demons probably should learn to handle money more efficiently if they're going to get with the modern times. Maybe they could set up a savings account at the bank and play the stock market," Xander added. Anya beamed at him.
Willow cleared her throat, sounding oddly like Giles. I tried to hold back my laugh at the thought of Willow wearing tweed and polishing a pair of glasses. "Anyway. Angel's not sure how organized these demons are and how far reaching their influence is. His group believes that a branch may be settling into Sunnydale."
"Which is why she sent Spike and I to Willy's bar this afternoon," Anya stated with pride.
"Oooo. Hanging with the demon riffraff," Dawn commented on Willy's clientele. "How much did you have to pay him this time for information on the demon underworld?"
"Or, did you just beat it out of the slimy little excuse for a human being?" Xander asked, winking a brown eye at Anya.
"Vampires," Spike said evenly. "They're a group of vampires. But, they've done little in Sunnydale, yet. Rumor is that a couple of bigwigs are here now, studying the possibilities of setting up shop."
"Bigwigs?" Willow queried.
Anya nodded. "Yea, they're pretty organized. Besides the money, their motive is uncertain though."
"So who are they murdering in L.A.?" I asked Willow.
"Angel said some bodies actually haven't been found but that a handful of very wealthy individuals have mysteriously disappeared and strange new replacements have been made in their businesses. And some unlikely financial moves have been made as a result. Also, the bodies that have been found have been some of the less wealthy rivals of the missing individuals. And honestly, none of the bodies that have been found seem to indicate death at the hands of vampires."
"What have they died from?" Dawn ran her fingers through her long, brown hair, studying the tips for possible split ends as she asked her question.
"Bullets, knife stabbings, hanging," Willow said, placing the tips of her fingers on the table.
"Oh. Like regular human ways of killing people," Dawn realized. "Pretty much. But they've been set up to look like suicides."
"Willy gave us an address." Anya held out a slip of paper.
I took the note. "What for?"
"The place where the big boys are staying," Xander guessed, trying to peer at what was written on the paper.
"Got it in one," Spike validated.
Staring at the address, I blinked to make sure I was seeing the words correctly. "This is in the very rich, not-at-all impoverished part of town."
"They paid for the home in full. Must mean they have a lot of money and that they're planning to stay for a while," Willow noted, "I better inform Angel." She headed toward the phone near the cash register.
"I'd like to talk with him, too."
Spike's muscles stiffened when I spoke of contacting Angel while he was in the room. I rubbed his forearm in reassurance, but he jerked away. I didn't have time for this jealousy crap...not when the situation was so serious. If I was going to figure out how to handle the current situation, I really needed to know more...straight from Angel and not secondhand through Willow. I ignored the anger that flickered across Spike's face when I left his side and stood next to Willow as she dialed the phone number.
Spike sprang up. "C'mon, Dawn. Let's go. Gotta practice the driving. Willow, we're taking your car like we talked about earlier. Get a ride home with Harris."
Dawn bounced up and down with excitement. She virtually skipped to the door. "Cool."
Willow nodded at him with the phone to her ear.
"*Driving?* " Flickers of rage and shock stabbed through my abdomen.
"Woulda told you, pet, but since you're so busy at the moment and since it doesn't seem like we'll be doing anything productive for a while...." He gestured at the telephone. "Let me know what you find o...." The door banging shut behind him cut off the end of his words.
Sympathy written in her eyes, Willow patted my arm. I shook my head at her. I loved Spike, but sometimes he could be so *impossible*.
* * *
"Whoa." I stood frozen in place at the sight of the huge mansion that rose up before Xander, Anya, and me. We finally found the neighborhood a few hours after consulting with Angel and exchanging information. I hadn't heard from Spike and Dawn, but I wasn't really worried. I would deal with Spike's temper tantrum later.
"I think 'whoa' is a bit of an understatement, Buf," Xander said from over my shoulder in the shadows.
Anya shrugged as she came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of me, clutching a stake in her hand. "They have money. We knew that."
"Yea, but this requires large gobs of money," I noted. I shoved my hands in my coat pockets, shivering and feeling the comforting wood grain of my stake against my fingers. The fall air was beginning to get nippy at night.
"But, not enough to get a gate and brick fence." Anya said brightly.
"Oh, well. They're not good enough for us to stake. They don't have a fence. Let's go." Xander mocked, turning on his heel to walk away.
"Ha, ha. Follow me, you two. Let's go interrogate some vamps," I marched past Anya onto the lush lawn that was green even in the dark.
"Buffy," Xander hissed. "Wait! There could be alarms."
I halted, glancing down at the ground. "Oh."
"Let me take care of that." Xander led the way toward the large house. Being in construction, carpentry, and a little bit of everything else that went along with those occupations, Xander knew his way around buildings, blueprints, and contraptions like alarm systems.
Bringing up the rear of the group, Anya sighed. "Too bad I can't just teleport inside." As a vengeance demon, she had the ability to teleport in and out of different places.
"Nope. We're sticking together. Don't want you to end up in a dangerous situation all by yourself when we don't even know what we're getting into," I stated.
Then, I stumbled into Xander. Anya narrowly missed hitting me. We were nearing the long front windows of the mansion.
"Xander!" Anya fussed.
"Shhh. I'm trying to concentrate," Xander whispered as he studied the hedges, probably trying to find alarm triggers.
"Hey, look," Anya said at a normal volume. "The front door's open!"
"Ahn! Shhh!" Anya glared at Xander's remark.
"How convenient," I said sardonically. Watching the door for a moment and noticing no movement, I approached the stream of light pouring from inside. "Guess we should take the bait."
Xander and Anya were silent behind me. Removing my stake from my pocket and noiselessly treading across the porch, I eased the front door open with my left foot. The foyer was empty and luminous. The walls were bare, and the rich mauve-colored carpet was clean. The smell of cleaning fluids filled the air.
"Clean vampires. Very interesting."
"Well, if they have the money for a house like this, Xander, they probably would want to keep it clean," Anya said in a hushed tone.
"Let's split up, guys. Xander and Anya, you go that way. I'll take this way. We'll sweep the house and see if anyone's here. Meet back here in about fifteen or twenty minutes?"
Xander nodded.
Twenty minutes later, we reunited empty-handed in the foyer.
"What'd you find?" Anya asked eagerly.
Inhaling deeply, I let out a large sigh. "A whole lotta nothing. Nothing seems unusual. No vamps, no dead bodies in the attic. No clueage found by me."
Xander's eyes were shining. "Well, we found something in the study."
He practically flew down the dark corridor, turning left at the fourth door. The study was dimly lit by the fire roaring in the fireplace and two lamps in the corners of the large room. Hundreds of hardcover books of every shape and size lined the bookshelves built into the walls. The floor was covered in a deep scarlet rug, and a large oak desk was positioned proudly in the middle of the room surrounded by three plush chairs covered in fabric the same color as the rug. Nothing lay atop the desk.
After the awe passed and I closed my open mouth, I said, "Wish Willow was here, so she could tell us if the books were important."
Xander smiled at his girlfriend. "Well, if you close your eyes and think real vengeful thoughts, maybe Anya could grant your wish."
Anya and I gave him a funny look.
Not to be thrown off, Xander commented, "Really though. Anya already looked the books over. Nothing unusual there. What's really fascinating is..."
Grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the desk, Anya cut him off, "The dust covering the two chairs over here."
I instantly saw what she was talking about. The chair behind the desk and one of the chairs across from the desk were covered in a thin layer of dust.
"Somebody dusted the vamps," Anya explained. "And not too long ago cause the fire's still burning."
"Wonder why." I was quiet for a moment. "We should regroup at my house. Xander, do you mind calling Willow at the Magic Box and tell her to meet us there?"
"Right. She has my car keys," Xander agreed.
* * *
Willow arrived at the house at the same time as Xander, Anya, and I pulled into the driveway in Anya's car. Lights were on in almost all the rooms in the house, and Willow's car was parked in front of the house. Apparently Dawn had not mastered driving up the driveway just yet. On the porch, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. I walked to the base of the stairs as the rest of the group filed into the living room.
"Dawn! Spike! We're back. Gang's all here to talk about what's going on."
A deafening quiet followed my voice. Annoyed at both of them, I jogged up the stairs and peered into Dawn's room from the hall. The scene that flooded my senses drove me to my knees. A voice that sounded like my own but seemed much farther away screamed. Footsteps thumped quickly up the stairs as my friends gathered to view what I was seeing. One pair of footsteps ran the other direction, but my mind barely noticed.
The room was coated in crayon red blood...fresh blood. The metallic smell overwhelmed me, and I felt faint. Vaguely, I heard a voice that said, "Spike's car and clothes are gone."
End chapter 1
Lightning Strikes
"It is vain to look for a defense against lightning."
-Publius Syrus, Maxim 835 (42 B.C.)
Whoever said that teaching the basics of tumbling to a class of three- and four-year-old children would be my ideal job? With my patience? I gave myself some credit for improving at keeping my cool.
"Mrs. Buffy!" A tiny girl with naturally curly hair wrapped into thick twin braids was glaring and pointing at the only boy in the class.
Ignoring the cry for the moment, I turned back to the slender dark- haired girl who was squatting on the mat and watching me expectantly. "Good job on the cartwheel, Amalia. Next time, I'll help you keep your legs straight." With her front teeth missing, her gap-toothed smile melted my heart.
Turning back to the conflict, I stated as firmly as I could, "Ian, what did I tell you about pulling Megan's hair?"
Ian jutted his chin out. "She started it."
A small tug on my black dance skirt interrupted me. "Can I go now?"
My hand found another girl's soft head near my thigh. "Not yet, sweetie. Just a sec." I paused. "How did she start it, Ian?"
"He bit me, too!" and "Nuh uh!" were uttered simultaneously.
"Megan, I asked Ian."
"She pushed me first," Ian maintained. "So, there!"
"Did not!" "Miss Buffy! Me and Sarah have to pee!" Another small voice whined over the shuffles of the other students.
Smoothing the hair sticking out of my bun, I sighed. Sometimes working with children was harder than slaying vampires. At least, the vamps disappeared after the battle was over. The children stuck around for a whole hour. And, vamps usually attacked me one at a time. Not so with the kids. In either case, children or vamps, I had to take charge when things appeared they might get out of control.
"Okay. Michelle and Sarah can go to the bathroom together. And, Ian and Megan will sit in the corner until their moms come to pick them up." The two vagrants moaned and shuffled to the timeout corner. My watch read three twenty-five in the afternoon. Five more minutes! Where had the time gone? "Okay! Time for cool down! Let's line up."
"But, you said I could go next!" The girl hovering around me protested.
"One more cartwheel." I followed Anita's bouncy skip to the tumbling mat, spotting her carefully as she fell into a clumsy cartwheel and almost veered onto the hardwood floor. She jumped up expectantly. "Good, Anita! That was your best one!" She beamed.
Facing the rest of the squirming class, I announced, "Cool down!"
As the children formed semi-straight lines in front of the wall of mirrors, I saw Xander, one of my closest friends, enter the dance studio wearing a broad smile.
"Hey, Katerina Gordeeva! How goes the dancing?"
The corner of my mouth lifted. "Xander, Katerina is an ice skater, and I teach tumbling, not dancing."
"Oh. Yea. Well, it's all a similar genre," he concluded, leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed.
The corner my mouth ascended into a full-fledged smile. Facing the class, I called, "Class, can you say 'Hi' to Xander?"
The class stared and cried in unison, "Hi, Xander!"
He waved at them. "Hey, class!"
"Tina, would you hit play on the tape deck?" I asked.
"K!" Tina teetered to the stereo resting on the floor and clumsily pushed play on the stereo so that soft, slow music filled the room.
"Ian and Megan, you can join us for the cool down."
Going to the front of the class, I led my small students in a series of stretching exercises, so they wouldn't tear their developing muscles later. Xander watched the children clumsily attempt to imitate my movements with a bemused expression. Some of the girls were lost in their own little world and engaged in their own form of stretching. Others wouldn't remove their eyes from me as they attempted to emulate me exactly.
As soon as the song ended, the entire class inhaled deep breaths and raised their arms slowly. Exhaling, they lowered their arms. I was proud of that part of the weekly routine. All my munchkins had the deep breathing down pat. Giles, my watcher and trainer who now resided in England, would have been proud. "Okay, now give yourself a hug!" The class mimicked me as I crossed my arms and hugged my rib cage. "And have a great day!"
Susan, the dance studio secretary, appeared in the doorway to watch over the children as they scampered out the door all at once to catch their rides. Maggie, the ballet dance instructor, squeezed past the children and began to warm up on the bar to prepare for her afternoon class of older students getting out of school. Some of my pupils turned to extend a last minute wave. I waved back and called, "Bye!"
Xander approached as I gathered up my sweat towel, bottled water, and music tapes. "So, we're researching all evening?" I asked him, taking a swallow of liquid from my bottle.
"Uh huh. Hours of our favorite gig complete with musty old texts, computers, high calorie snack-type foods, and caffeine...*lots* of caffeine." He grinned.
"Great. Remind me to hire a new agent."
* * *
As soon as the Magic Box bell jingled, I heard Anya call, "Buffy, tell *your* boyfriend not to put those herbs so high on the shelves. Mostly women buy those herbs, and *I* and *most* other women *cannot* reach that high even on tippy toes."
"I don't tell Spike what to do....most of the time. And hello to you, too, Anya," I replied with amusement in my tone. Anya co-owned the Magic Box with Giles and was in charge of the store in Giles's absence. Needless to say, she took her job very seriously, sometimes almost obsessively so. As a vengeance demon who granted wishes for those who had been wronged, Anya was also fanatic about exacting her own form of justice.
"Bloody hell, demon girl, I was just stocking the shelves as I was told! You didn't say where to put the stuff," Spike grumbled, slouching and moving some of the brim-filled jars of herbs to a lower level on the wall display. "And just what goes on the top shelf?"
Anya's response was immediate as she squatted behind the cash register to push items around in the glass case which housed jewelry, more expensive crystals, and charms that more advanced witches used in their spells. "Things that get broken easily, that are expensive, and/or that are pretty to look at from far away. The pretty things attract the customers through the shop window."
Spike surveyed the higher shelves speculatively. "Hmm. That so? What will you do if I keep some of the herbs up there?"
Anya rose quickly and crossed her arms. "What do you think?"
Xander bent over to kiss the back of Anya's neck lightly and then, spoke up eagerly, "Oooo, can I wish that he be dust? Can I?"
"But, Harris, who would you be able to commiserate with about our little women?" Spike reminded Xander.
Xander frowned as if deep in thought. "You got a point."
"Hey!" I complained, hugging him tightly from behind. "Who're you calling little? And since when do you own me?"
"Yea," Anya echoed in the background, punching Xander in the arm. I didn't hear his reply because I was listening to Spike.
"You've always been little. And I've always owned you even when you didn't know it." Spike pulled me to his left side and held me against his hip. I wrapped my legs around his waist and lightly brushed my lips across his cheek, inhaling the faint woodsy scent that was uniquely Spike.
"You better watch yourself, Summers. You're playing with fire here," he warned, his voice growing husky when he used my surname.
"Little sister has entered the room!" Dawn announced when she came in the Magic Box front door and saw Spike and I together. "So, it's time to stop all inappropriate behavior." She plopped down at the research table in the back of the shop, letting her backpack slip from her shoulder to the floor.
"Hey, Dawn! How was your day at school? You can help Spike with the shelves," Anya spoke in one breath. Dawn groaned before joining Spike and I by the display where I was now standing on my feet.
"How were your kids?" Dawn asked, tracing her finger along the herb labels.
"Cute and devilish as usual."
Willow entered the shop a minute or two after Dawn. "Hey, all," Willow said, slightly muffled by the stack of books and laptop computer in her arms.
Greetings were exchanged all around. Xander and Spike lifted Willow's burden, and she leaned against the glass case. Panting, she wiped the back of her hand against the sheen of sweat on her forehead and thanked them. As the men made their way to the research table, the women trailed behind.
A lull of dread about the research and what we might find settled heavily over me. I didn't enjoy uncovering the facts. Sometimes, I just liked to go into battle with a nameless demon to fight, maim, and kill. That made things much simpler, much more black and white. Grey and fuzzy were not my cup of tea. And the more I knew about a demon, the more likely I would find some human trait that might make my slaying job more difficult. Take Spike, for example. Even after the many years I'd known him as a vampire with and without a soul, he was still an enigma to me. He was complicated and unpredictable and annoying and sweet bundled into one package...demon and human at the same time. Definitely not killable. He laced his cool fingers with mine as I sat down next to him, making me feel reassured and safe and letting me know that we could handle whatever obstacle was laid in our path. His eyes lit up with inner intensity when I smiled at him. *Definitely* delectable.
Once everyone was settled around the table, Willow positioned her laptop open before her and rose to her feet. "Okay. Here's the deal. Angel called me last night in need of some help."
"He needs some help all right," Spike made the expected comment.
Xander jabbed his index finger toward Spike without looking at him. "Right there with you."
I knew better than to respond to their dislike of Angel, my ex- boyfriend with whom they had personal confrontations. If I said anything, the conversation would veer off topic. Besides, they made comments about Angel out of habit more than anything else now.
Willow stood her ground, breezing over their words. "He and his gang in L.A. are investigating..."
"A rash of unexplained murders committed by demons and the exchange of large sums of money?" Dawn interjected. Willow's expression changed to one of annoyance. Dawn grimaced and explained, "Anya told me."
"Hey, the money part was interesting," Anya asserted, shrugging her shoulders.
"Why is that part interesting?" I wondered aloud.
"Because demons don't usually deal in money, pet." Spike squeezed my hand.
"I haven't forgotten the kittens, Spike." Everyone but Anya stared at me with confusion. I dismissed their questions with a tiny wave of my left hand. "Don't ask."
"Although those wacky demons probably should learn to handle money more efficiently if they're going to get with the modern times. Maybe they could set up a savings account at the bank and play the stock market," Xander added. Anya beamed at him.
Willow cleared her throat, sounding oddly like Giles. I tried to hold back my laugh at the thought of Willow wearing tweed and polishing a pair of glasses. "Anyway. Angel's not sure how organized these demons are and how far reaching their influence is. His group believes that a branch may be settling into Sunnydale."
"Which is why she sent Spike and I to Willy's bar this afternoon," Anya stated with pride.
"Oooo. Hanging with the demon riffraff," Dawn commented on Willy's clientele. "How much did you have to pay him this time for information on the demon underworld?"
"Or, did you just beat it out of the slimy little excuse for a human being?" Xander asked, winking a brown eye at Anya.
"Vampires," Spike said evenly. "They're a group of vampires. But, they've done little in Sunnydale, yet. Rumor is that a couple of bigwigs are here now, studying the possibilities of setting up shop."
"Bigwigs?" Willow queried.
Anya nodded. "Yea, they're pretty organized. Besides the money, their motive is uncertain though."
"So who are they murdering in L.A.?" I asked Willow.
"Angel said some bodies actually haven't been found but that a handful of very wealthy individuals have mysteriously disappeared and strange new replacements have been made in their businesses. And some unlikely financial moves have been made as a result. Also, the bodies that have been found have been some of the less wealthy rivals of the missing individuals. And honestly, none of the bodies that have been found seem to indicate death at the hands of vampires."
"What have they died from?" Dawn ran her fingers through her long, brown hair, studying the tips for possible split ends as she asked her question.
"Bullets, knife stabbings, hanging," Willow said, placing the tips of her fingers on the table.
"Oh. Like regular human ways of killing people," Dawn realized. "Pretty much. But they've been set up to look like suicides."
"Willy gave us an address." Anya held out a slip of paper.
I took the note. "What for?"
"The place where the big boys are staying," Xander guessed, trying to peer at what was written on the paper.
"Got it in one," Spike validated.
Staring at the address, I blinked to make sure I was seeing the words correctly. "This is in the very rich, not-at-all impoverished part of town."
"They paid for the home in full. Must mean they have a lot of money and that they're planning to stay for a while," Willow noted, "I better inform Angel." She headed toward the phone near the cash register.
"I'd like to talk with him, too."
Spike's muscles stiffened when I spoke of contacting Angel while he was in the room. I rubbed his forearm in reassurance, but he jerked away. I didn't have time for this jealousy crap...not when the situation was so serious. If I was going to figure out how to handle the current situation, I really needed to know more...straight from Angel and not secondhand through Willow. I ignored the anger that flickered across Spike's face when I left his side and stood next to Willow as she dialed the phone number.
Spike sprang up. "C'mon, Dawn. Let's go. Gotta practice the driving. Willow, we're taking your car like we talked about earlier. Get a ride home with Harris."
Dawn bounced up and down with excitement. She virtually skipped to the door. "Cool."
Willow nodded at him with the phone to her ear.
"*Driving?* " Flickers of rage and shock stabbed through my abdomen.
"Woulda told you, pet, but since you're so busy at the moment and since it doesn't seem like we'll be doing anything productive for a while...." He gestured at the telephone. "Let me know what you find o...." The door banging shut behind him cut off the end of his words.
Sympathy written in her eyes, Willow patted my arm. I shook my head at her. I loved Spike, but sometimes he could be so *impossible*.
* * *
"Whoa." I stood frozen in place at the sight of the huge mansion that rose up before Xander, Anya, and me. We finally found the neighborhood a few hours after consulting with Angel and exchanging information. I hadn't heard from Spike and Dawn, but I wasn't really worried. I would deal with Spike's temper tantrum later.
"I think 'whoa' is a bit of an understatement, Buf," Xander said from over my shoulder in the shadows.
Anya shrugged as she came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of me, clutching a stake in her hand. "They have money. We knew that."
"Yea, but this requires large gobs of money," I noted. I shoved my hands in my coat pockets, shivering and feeling the comforting wood grain of my stake against my fingers. The fall air was beginning to get nippy at night.
"But, not enough to get a gate and brick fence." Anya said brightly.
"Oh, well. They're not good enough for us to stake. They don't have a fence. Let's go." Xander mocked, turning on his heel to walk away.
"Ha, ha. Follow me, you two. Let's go interrogate some vamps," I marched past Anya onto the lush lawn that was green even in the dark.
"Buffy," Xander hissed. "Wait! There could be alarms."
I halted, glancing down at the ground. "Oh."
"Let me take care of that." Xander led the way toward the large house. Being in construction, carpentry, and a little bit of everything else that went along with those occupations, Xander knew his way around buildings, blueprints, and contraptions like alarm systems.
Bringing up the rear of the group, Anya sighed. "Too bad I can't just teleport inside." As a vengeance demon, she had the ability to teleport in and out of different places.
"Nope. We're sticking together. Don't want you to end up in a dangerous situation all by yourself when we don't even know what we're getting into," I stated.
Then, I stumbled into Xander. Anya narrowly missed hitting me. We were nearing the long front windows of the mansion.
"Xander!" Anya fussed.
"Shhh. I'm trying to concentrate," Xander whispered as he studied the hedges, probably trying to find alarm triggers.
"Hey, look," Anya said at a normal volume. "The front door's open!"
"Ahn! Shhh!" Anya glared at Xander's remark.
"How convenient," I said sardonically. Watching the door for a moment and noticing no movement, I approached the stream of light pouring from inside. "Guess we should take the bait."
Xander and Anya were silent behind me. Removing my stake from my pocket and noiselessly treading across the porch, I eased the front door open with my left foot. The foyer was empty and luminous. The walls were bare, and the rich mauve-colored carpet was clean. The smell of cleaning fluids filled the air.
"Clean vampires. Very interesting."
"Well, if they have the money for a house like this, Xander, they probably would want to keep it clean," Anya said in a hushed tone.
"Let's split up, guys. Xander and Anya, you go that way. I'll take this way. We'll sweep the house and see if anyone's here. Meet back here in about fifteen or twenty minutes?"
Xander nodded.
Twenty minutes later, we reunited empty-handed in the foyer.
"What'd you find?" Anya asked eagerly.
Inhaling deeply, I let out a large sigh. "A whole lotta nothing. Nothing seems unusual. No vamps, no dead bodies in the attic. No clueage found by me."
Xander's eyes were shining. "Well, we found something in the study."
He practically flew down the dark corridor, turning left at the fourth door. The study was dimly lit by the fire roaring in the fireplace and two lamps in the corners of the large room. Hundreds of hardcover books of every shape and size lined the bookshelves built into the walls. The floor was covered in a deep scarlet rug, and a large oak desk was positioned proudly in the middle of the room surrounded by three plush chairs covered in fabric the same color as the rug. Nothing lay atop the desk.
After the awe passed and I closed my open mouth, I said, "Wish Willow was here, so she could tell us if the books were important."
Xander smiled at his girlfriend. "Well, if you close your eyes and think real vengeful thoughts, maybe Anya could grant your wish."
Anya and I gave him a funny look.
Not to be thrown off, Xander commented, "Really though. Anya already looked the books over. Nothing unusual there. What's really fascinating is..."
Grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the desk, Anya cut him off, "The dust covering the two chairs over here."
I instantly saw what she was talking about. The chair behind the desk and one of the chairs across from the desk were covered in a thin layer of dust.
"Somebody dusted the vamps," Anya explained. "And not too long ago cause the fire's still burning."
"Wonder why." I was quiet for a moment. "We should regroup at my house. Xander, do you mind calling Willow at the Magic Box and tell her to meet us there?"
"Right. She has my car keys," Xander agreed.
* * *
Willow arrived at the house at the same time as Xander, Anya, and I pulled into the driveway in Anya's car. Lights were on in almost all the rooms in the house, and Willow's car was parked in front of the house. Apparently Dawn had not mastered driving up the driveway just yet. On the porch, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. I walked to the base of the stairs as the rest of the group filed into the living room.
"Dawn! Spike! We're back. Gang's all here to talk about what's going on."
A deafening quiet followed my voice. Annoyed at both of them, I jogged up the stairs and peered into Dawn's room from the hall. The scene that flooded my senses drove me to my knees. A voice that sounded like my own but seemed much farther away screamed. Footsteps thumped quickly up the stairs as my friends gathered to view what I was seeing. One pair of footsteps ran the other direction, but my mind barely noticed.
The room was coated in crayon red blood...fresh blood. The metallic smell overwhelmed me, and I felt faint. Vaguely, I heard a voice that said, "Spike's car and clothes are gone."
End chapter 1