"La Petite Morte"

Or "a little death"

By ranlynn

Chapter 2 (Buffy)

"Hold up there, I think she's coming to"

whzzat?? A voice…hmm...nice voice.

"Miss, miss can you hear me""

huh, yeah I hear you.

"Miss can you open your eyes"

you mean they aren't.

"Miss I need for you to open your eyes"

yeah, sure, just give me a minute nice voice guy.

"Miss??"

alright, any second now, there goes the left one now for the right, yup there it goes, Hi nice voice guy…blurry nice voice guy.

"Hello there, I'm detective Clive Perry. How are you feeling"

feeling??

"hur..", oh, throats dry "h..hurt"

"Hurt?? Who hurt you, can you tell me?"

who?? no.. "head…hurts"

"Head… hurts, Oh! Your head hurts"

yeah, think I'll go to sleep now, g'night blurry nice voice guy.

"No, miss, please stay with us, stay awa…. What the…!!!"

Whoa!! OK OK I'm awake. Now, who's screaming?!?!

"You two, get going," says the guy with the nice voice. Looks nice to, now that he's not all blurry, kinda like Denzil Washington. Then he moves out of my line of sight, presumably to check out that screaming. Good idea, think I'll join him. I try to move and discover something is holding me still. Looking down I see that I'm strapped to a stretcher or gurney of some kind. And two guys in paramedic uniforms grab hold of either end and start to wheel me somewhere.

"Hold your horses guys. What's going on?" I say.

"You'll be ok miss, but you were unconscious for quite awhile so we're taking you to the hospital to get checked out" says one of them, short guy, kinda looks like Mickey Rooney used to. Ya know, in those old black and white movies.

"Oh no you're not. Let me up," like now guys.

"Please miss…" the other guy, tall and skinny, reminds me of Ichabod Crane. The one in the Disney cartoon not Johnny Depp.

"Look, I'm awake right," might as well try logic.

"Well yes.." from Mickey.

"And since I'm awake I have a right to refuse medical attention, right," go Buffy go.

"That's the law miss, but..", Ichabod gives it a try. Sorry bud.

"Right, we're agreed. Now, Let_Me_Up!!" and I give them my best *resolve face*. Must be a pretty good one if the speed they go about undoing buckles and straps is any indication. I think Willow would be proud of me.

Soon as I'm free I sit up and slide off the gurney. And I almost end up on the floor when my knees threaten to give way.  But then I hear more screams mixed in with gunfire. There's nothing like an old-fashioned adrenalin rush to stiffen the spine and clear your head.

As the last of the fuzzies leave my head I become aware of that feeling I get, what Xander likes to call my *spidey sense*, that tells me that some evil nastie is near by and this particular frequency is unique to just one thing…. Vampires.

Taking a look around to get my bearing I receive a shock. What the hell happened to the cemetery, I'm in some kind of building, where am I? Ok Buffy, worry about that later, time to get to work.

Seeing injured and panicked people rushing through a doorway I run over, dodging and pushing my way past them. I try not to send any of them flying but one or two are going to have some bruises. Then I'm breaking past them and into what seems to be the main floor of a club or something and I see my playmates from the cemetery tearing into a group of cops and some other people. It's clear none of them have ever faced a Vamp before or they wouldn't be trying to shoot them. I mean it hurts like hell but generally it just pisses them off big time.

Then I see Stryker up on a stage reach down and grab some guy that's about the size of the Incredible Hulk and lifts him up like he weighs no more than a pillow. I'm already moving as I hear the pop, snap of the big guy's arm as it's either broken or dislocated. Then as Stryker gets ready to knosh on the guy a lady in a black formal screams a name and starts to rush forward just as I vault onto the stage. I kick out as I slide into Stryker like I'm stealing home plate, and the impact causes him to drop the big guy as he falls on his ass.

I'm on my feet in a flash and placing myself between the vamp and man and woman. I chance a quick glance at them and the woman is at Big Guy's side, half pointing a gun in my direction. She has a look of confusion and, strangely enough, recognition on her face as she looks at me.

"Run" I tell them then I turn back to face Stryker.

"Sooo….is this a private dance or is everybody invited", that's right Buffy, smile, don't let him know how worried you are. There's over a dozen of dozen of them and the only wood I see is on the floors. Even with Slayer strength trying to tear up a hardwood floor without a crowbar would be damn hard.

Ohhh!! Stryker doesn't have the look of a happy vamp as he gets back on his feet. And his minions have let their victims go and gathered around him. Just to be annoying I smile again and waggle my fingers at them.

"Kill her," he growls at them. Oh boy! Mr. Pointy where are you when I need you.

I stand and wait for the charge when two eager beavers rush a head of the others. I kick the first one, sending him spinning head over heals. Turning I catch the fist of the second, poor guy's so surprised he doesn't even try to move before I start to use his face as a punching bag. I finish up with a sidekick to the gut, and he goes flying across the stage.

The rest of them are on me and I fall into a rhythm of punch, kick, block, punch, punch, using every trick that Giles has ever taught me. God, I need a stake, a chopstick, a pencil, hell even a toothpick, anything!! Then I hear Stryker tell them to surround me.

I don't think so fella, I'm not that easy.

Evading their maneuverings I end up on the edge of the stage and do a back flip off the side. I want to get in amongst the tables and chairs so they have to come at me one at a time. On landing my left foot hits something and I almost go to my knees, but I recover in time to catch a vamp in mid-air and pivoting, I send her crashing into a support column. Turning back I take a glance down to see what tripped me up.

My eyes grow wide as I get a look at it. Is that what it looks like…a broom???

Picking it up I can feel the smile growing and I can barely contain a laugh of glee as my fingers feel the wood grain beneath the black paint. Quickly breaking of the brush I then snap the handle into two pieces. As I take a couple to practice swings with my makeshift stakes I feel the vamp I tossed coming at me from behind. Dodging her charge I thrust one of my stakes into her heart and with a screech she explodes into dust.

Then, still smiling, I face the others. They've stopped, some even backing away and there is fear in their eyes. That's right you schmucks, be afraid, be very afraid. The Slayer's armed and dangerous again. I hop back up onto the stage and even more of them start to back away.

"What's your hurry, the dance isn't over yet." Then I attack, dusting two more before they know what's going on. Wading into the rest I use my sticks as a combination of cudgels then as stakes whenever I have an opening. And soon there are only six of Stryker's minions left with their boss standing behind them. Stepping forward while the others fall back on either side of him he glares at me.

Go ahead blood breath, glare all you want, but you're going down.

"oooo!! Is the Big Bad gonna join the dance now," and I give him a smirk.

"Not yet Slayer, not tonight. But soon I'll kill you." He grits out between clenched teeth.

Man, do all the big bad wannabe's get together to practice these lines. I mean they're all starting to sound the same.

"Oh puh_leeese!! If I had a buck for every time one of you guys threatened to kill me I wouldn't have to work at the Double Meat Palace."

We've been moving circling each other while trading retorts and I've been catching glimpses of the people in the room. Some in police uniforms and other in plain clothes or coveralls. And bodies, God so many bodies, still and quiet on the floor. I can't tell if any of them are still alive or just unconscious. I need to end this quick.

We end up with me facing outward and I can see Big Guy and Gun Lady standing with some other people staring at us. Most of them look hurt in some way and I see my detective guy lower another woman into a chair. They all have expressions on their faces that are a mix of terror and fascination at what they are seeing. Hope I survive long enough to answer their questions.

Ooops!! Buffy, pay attention girl, the vamps are getting ready for another charge. It's time for the next round of doo-see-doo.

They attack and I have no more time to worry about our audience. One ends up dust right away and then I get a second but he twists away, tearing the stake caught in his ribs from my hand in the seconds before he turns to dust. More come at me and I manage to kick the larger one away from me. Blocking a punch I slip the stake into the forth one and she's gone to join her other dusty playmates.

I'm turning to face the big one when a boot hits my wrist and I lose my last stake as pain lances up my arm to my shoulder. I manage to evade a second kick aimed at my head, my own foot lashing out and I'm rewarded with a grunt of pain as it connects with his ribs. We end up staring at each other in one of those moments that seem to last forever but is really only a few seconds.

Then we're trading kicks and punches, neither one of us able to get the drop on the other. And I'm starting to get tired when I notice something. He's big, not as big as Big Guy, but big. And he's not used to fighting someone as short as I am. He's correcting the trajectory of his kicks or punches in mid swing. They start out aimed to high.

So instead on blocking his next kick I drop under it, and while he's still balanced on one foot I kick it out from under him. Luck is with me as he falls flat on his face, fangs making an audible crack as his chin hits the floor. See there are advantages to being small.

There's no time to be subtle, so leaping onto his back I dig a knee into his spine, grab his head in both hands and with a cry I rip it off. My knees hit the floor with a dull thunk as there's suddenly nothing in my hands or under me but dust. Then I look quickly around for the next attack.

Damn! Stryker and his last two buddies are gone; I'll have to try tracking them later. Right now it's time to see who is still alive.

I stand, pulling the rubber band from my hair, and I take a few moments to shake out the vamp dust, trying to come down off the fight high. For some reason, my spidey sense is still going off and I'm feeling edgy. Straightening back up I see Gun lady and her friends, staring at me wide eyed.

"What!?!?"

Ah Buffy, cut them some slack, they've probably never even seen a vampire before, let alone a dozen, and battling it out with a slayer no less. Boy the Q & A is going to be fun, but first things first.

Moving to the nearest body I check it for a pulse and find nothing but a rapidly cooling corpse. Despite the disappointment on my face this seems to break the paralysis of some of my audience and others start to help. Hopping off the stage I move to the still form of a lady cop and feel a small thrill when I find a weak heartbeat. Looking up I see my paramedic buddies standing just inside the entryway.

"Yo, Mickey..Ichabod. Get your butt's over here." Come on guys don't flake on me here.

They've got these twins expressions shock and disbelief on their faces. Like they're trying to tell themselves that none of this is real. Normally I wouldn't mind if they did, most people just aren't able to handle the fact that demons are real and not just stories in books. But to many people saw them and to many are hurt for me to worry about their delicate sensibilities. Right now their medical skills are needed so they're just going to have to deal.

"Come on, you guys are paramedics right?" they nod in unison.

"Then get your butts in gear and get to work." I say and they begin to move.

Moving out of their way I watch for a few moments as they get to work. Then I take a look around the room and see that most everybody who can is helping, even some to the walking wounded. But I also see more expressions of grief than joy as they go from body to body. I glance at the first body I checked and wonder if he had a girlfriend, boyfriend, parents, did he have any kids. I close my eyes and take several deep, calming breaths.

Opening them I look over at Big Guy and Gun Lady. Time to answer some questions and to ask some of my own. And something tells me they're the guys to talk to. I start to walk over to them when my toe hits something. It's the stake I lost in that last fight. Picking it up I continue around the stage.

Big Guy spots me right away and watches my progress for a moment then he says something to Gun Lady who's bent over him. Checking on his arm I think. She straightens up and turns to look at me. She's about my height but a bit curvier than I am with dark curly hair and creamy white skin. And she's still got that gun, which makes me a bit nervous.

As I get closer I see that she's also got some serious scars along her collarbone and on her left arm. Looks like something tried to use her for a chew toy. And her eyes, I've seen eyes like that before. Sometimes in a mirror my eyes will look like that, the eyes of someone that has seen too much, knows too much about things that hunt in the shadows. Brrrr, enough already.

They just watch, not saying anything as I get closer to them. Waiting to see what I've got to say first probably. Ok, I'm game.

"How are you guys doing," See Buffy no hurt you, Buffy friend.

Neither Big Guy nor Gun lady says a word so I look behind them to the lady Det. Perry had been helping. From the way he had been holding her I expect her to be hurt a lot worse than she is but she just has some shallow cuts and some bruising. I think she's in some kind of mental shock. There's nothing I can do about that, I mean what do you tell a person when they find out that the monster under the bed is real.

Looking back to Big Guy I ask him about his arm.

"Dislocated," just one word, and no expression on his face.

"You want me to pop it back into place." I offer and this earns me a raised eyebrow.

"No. Thank you." Okay, so much for playing nice. Let's cut to the chase.

"So, Big Guy…" I start.

"Storr," he interrupts.

"Ok, Mr. Storr.."

"Sergeant Storr," Gun Lady decides to get into the act.

"Right, Sergeant Sto…" I try again.

"And your name Miss…", alright already, enough with the tag team.

"Buffy"

"Buffy??" Gun Lady echoes me and I swear her lips are twitching.

"Yeah, Buffy Summers" and I send a narrow eyed stare her way, which she just returns. Then her eyes shift right and to a point behind me. Turning I see Detective Perry and another guy approaching. Perry looks pretty good not hurt to badly. The other man looks a lot worse and it's not just his puffy eye, I mean that has got to be the worst suit of clothes I have ever seen. Even the rips and blood can't disguise that fact.

"Anything?" Big Gu..uh Sgt. Storr asks them.

"Gone, witnesses said they went down a manhole," returns Sloppy Guy while giving me a strange look. And I decide to rattle their cages, so stepping forward I hold out my hand and smile.

"Hi! I'm Buffy Summers", and I stand there waiting for him to take my hand.

With a dubious and amused look on his face he slowly reaches out and grasps my hand.

"Buffy??"

"Yeah, Buffy," what is it about my name with these people?!?!

"Look folks, I know you've got some questions but could one of you tell me where I am? I mean this looks like it was a nice place and all but it sure isn't the cemetery and I think I would have heard of a new club in town." I need answers guys, pleeease.

"Cemetery??" says Det. Perry with a baffled look on his face.

"uh huh, the Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery," I say.

"Sunnydale," Sgt. Storr now, great, tag team again.

"California," come on guys work with me here.

They all trade looks with each other and I start getting a real bad feeling about this. Then Gun Lady takes a step forward.

"You're in St. Louis," she says carefully.

"Missouri," and I feel my eyes getting big.

Gun Lady starts to say something else but I make a gesture to hold her off. I need to think this through. Stepping back I place my stake on the edge of the stage and then lean against it, closing my eyes.

Think Buffy think, what do you remember about the fight in the cemetery. Ok, I was surrounded by and fighting Stryker and some of his minions while the gang took on the rest of the group when I heard Xander yell at me to look out. I turned and….

"A Spell" I exclaim.

"Huh, what??" Sloppy Guy asks.

"Yeah, a teleportation spell gotta be. See we had tracked Stryker and his minions to this cemetery and we where in the middle of a fight when my friend Xander yelled for me to look out. I remember turning and seeing…something…in a robe throw a glowy thing at me. Next thing I know I'm waking up strapped to a gurney with Det. Perry over there asking me to open my eyes." Then I frown.

"But why send me to St. Louis," I say softly, more to myself than to the others "I mean if they wanted me out of the way the spell could have just been set to kill me. I can just get on a plane or a bus and be back in a few hours." It doesn't make sense.

"Miss??"

"uh, what," and I realize Sgt. Storr had been trying to get my attention.

"How you got here aside, can you tell us about those creature," and it's not a question when he says that. Oh, this is going to be fun.

"Ok, this might be hard to believe but go with it ok." I take a deep breath. "Those were vampires." And I wait to see what they do.

They've all got these shocked looks and their faces and I can just tell that they all think I'm nuts. Then Gun Lady steps forward.

"No they aren't," she says with certainty.

"Look ummm…"

"Anita Blake," she says.

"Look Anita, I know this might be hard to believe but vampires exist." I say

"Oh I know that vampires exist," she says, which for some reason prompts a snort of laughter from Sloppy Guy and earns himself a glare from Anita, "and those things are not vampires"

"Yes, they are," I say.

"No cherie, they are not." Says an accented male voice behind me. Great, someone else has decided to join the party

"Look fella, I've been dusting these things since I was fifteen years old. I think I oughta know a vampire when I see…"

Turning towards whoever is behind me I break off the second my lay eyes on him and his friend. And everything else in the room is forgotten as all my senses become focused on them and I finally know why my spidey sense is still buzzing.

Vampires.