Note: Ok folks, this took me a little while to get out. First some writers block then it turned into to the energizer bunny and just kept going and going. I hope you enjoy it.
"La Petite Morte"
Or "a little death"
By ranlynn
Part 3 (Anita)
My feet sill hurt.
This idle thought runs through my head as I watch Buffy roll her eyes and turn to face Jean-Claude, he'd interrupted us right when our little…debate… on vampires had starred to devolve to that most persuasive of arguments; *is too* *is not*. She's clearly intending to give him a piece her mind which, while it might be entertaining, could get a bit messy and time consuming. But the anticipated tirade never happens because the moment she sets eyes on the boys her voice breaks off and she becomes very still. And I go tense with apprehension, all concern about my feet disappearing. Watching her, with all her attention so focused on my vampires she reminds me of a leopard, the natural kind, I saw on a documentary recently…right before he pounced on a careless gazelle.
Shit! This is about to get messy, real messy.
Then she's rushing them, moving with that deadly speed and grace we saw earlier, snatching up that stick of hers as she goes.
"Whoa!!!" "Stop!!" "Miss Summers!?!?!"
Everyone's scrambling, Dolph's lunging to his feet, a grimace of pain racing across his face. Zerbrowski and Perry dart forward trying to intercept her and some of the other officers that are near us reach for their guns, startled by the sudden commotion. All of us are surprised by her attack, with only Renolds remaining oblivious, and for the second time tonight I find myself desperately trying to get between people I care about and death on two legs. I hurry to bring the Firestar up and around, not wanting to shoot this person that saved so many lives tonight but knowing, with the cold, still part of myself that kills, I'll put her down.
Then she stops; like she has a rope tied around her waist and someone just jerked it up short.
"Back off!!" Come on kid don't make me shoot you.
I'm standing to the side of them now and facing Buffy with my weapon up and aimed, pointed at her but she's just staring at the boys, her mouth opening slightly like she wants to say something but can't quite figure out what. There's a frown of confusion on her face as she takes a half step forward, hesitates then steps back. Her stick still clutched in her upraised hand. This repeats a couple of times. Meanwhile Jason, who had been trailing behind, has backed up and way from them to circle around behind me. ~Good boy, he knows better than to get in my line of fire.~
Suddenly she exhales, a small explosive breath of air and her arms fall down to her sides. Then the confusion fades away to be replaced with a narrow eyed determination as she plants her fists on her narrow hips then stomps over to Jean-Claude and Asher. With that damned stick is still clutched in her right hand.
"Miss Summers??" Dolph tries to get her attention while waving the other officers to back off, but she shows no sign of having heard him.
I keep my gun raised, tracking her movements but something tells me she isn't in attack mode anymore. And I wait, praying that I'm right. ~God! I hope I'm right about this; I really don't want to shoot her.~
Stopping just out of arms reach she cranes her head forward slightly, staring Jean-Claude in the eyes. ~Someone really ought to tell her she shouldn't do that.~ Once a vampire catches your eyes they can roll your mind, it's almost automatic with them like breathing is for humans. And she stands there for so long unmoving that I'm beginning to think he went ahead and did it, despite that fact that using his abilities on a human without their consent could earn him a death sentence under the law. Even if you could argue that it was in self-defense. But then again, considering what we all witnessed here tonight I'm not sure what Buffy is. She seems human but ordinary humans can't do what she's been doing tonight.
She moves startling us but just leans over to her left a bit to stare at Asher. ~God, don't do that! Do you want to get shot? Everyone's jumpy enough as it is.~ Catching Jean-Claude's eyes for a second I see a flash of dismay. Something about her has surprised him, but then the look is gone, and he's back to being the cool, calm and in control Master of the City.
Buffy meanwhile, is still studying Asher and I do have to give her credit, she's not flinching.
A couple of centuries back Asher and his human servant, a woman named Julianna had been taken by some over zealous church officials. A real fun bunch of guys. She'd ended up being burned at the stake as a witch and they'd decided to try and *burn the devil* out of Asher with holy water. Holy water is like acid to a vampire; with the end result being that now half his face, chest and the upper part of one thigh resemble melted wax. This is all Asher has allowed Jean-Claude or me see. We know that his scars extend somewhat below the waistline but he has assured us all that he is still…intact.
In his way Asher had once been as beautiful as Jean-Claude and there is still a terrible beauty there for those willing to see, but with half his face left unmarked to stand in stark contrast to the scars…well the sight can be a bit… unsettling…to the un-initiated. ~Hell even the initiated can find it hard.~ But this Buffy seems to be having no trouble with it at all. Makes me wonder about the types of things she must have seen or experienced for the sight of Asher to seem ordinary.
Makes me wonder…and scares me to. But that's OK, being scared has kept me alive on more than one occasion.
She shifts her weight again and goes back to staring at Jean-Claude, ignoring Dolph's attempts to get her attention. Actually I'm sort of impressed, not many people can manage to ignore Dolph so successfully, hard to miss he isn't. And Jean-Claude, bless his slowly beating heart, decides to be cute, tilts his head slightly smiles and then, deliberately flashes some fang. ~Now why did he do that?~ Usually his survival instincts are much better than that but sometimes he surprises me and at least it does finally gets a response out of her as she *humffs* and takes a step back.
"Alright!! Who are you two, how come you aren't all bumpy," she barks out.
Bumpy!?!
"And how did you get a soul…"
Soul??
"you didn't piss off a tribe of Gypsies by any chance did ya?" she finishes with a suspicious frown.
Gypsies….souls….teleportation spells, Oh My! What the hell is going on, I feel like I've been dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone, without Rod Serling to explain things.
Jean-Claude glances my way, a question in his eyes but all I can do is shrug my shoulders. ~Sorry babe, you're on your own with that one.~
"My name is Jean-Claude, proprietor of this establishment and the Master of St. Louis" turning slightly and with a wave of his hand "this is my second Asher. I do not think we have ever been, as you say *bumpy*, and as to whether or not we have a soul…. that is a matter of great debate amongst philosophers and theologians. And no, we have not pissed off a tribe of Gypsies".
"Trust me, you've got one" she says, then she turns abruptly towards me " and why are you pointing a gun at me" in an exasperated tone.
"Because you were going to attack them," I say with a twist of my lips that some might call a smile, I wouldn't but some would "and we've seen what you can do with that in your hands" a nod of my head indicating what's still held tightly in her hand, while finally lowering the Firestar and relaxing now that she doesn't seem intent on impaling the boys on a broken broom handle. It's hard to hold a gun extended that long without your arms and hands starting to shake or cramp.
She looks quizzically at the stick still in her hand before setting it down on a near by table, "Well yeah, they're vampires, you're supposed to stake vampires…at least the ones that don't have souls you do".
Huh!?! We all end up trading stares at her pronouncement, the Boys, Dolph, Zerbowski, me…everybody. I'd been going on the assumption that she was either grossly misinformed or just plain crazy. ~But if she recognizes what Jean-Claude and Asher are?!?~
"You realize that they're vampires," Dolph says slowly, and she turns to him.
"Well… yeah, and so do you." Amazed, like she's not used to people admitting to that fact.
"And you also think those creatures you were fighting are vampires too?" from Zerbowski.
"Weelll," she says with a smirk, "if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and feels duck, it's generally a sure bet that it's a duck".
It's Asher and Jean-Claude's turn to glance at each other, perplexed.
"We…feel…like those ravening things to you?" Asher asks her carefully, motioning towards the stage where the creatures rampage had started.
"Sure! Well…. kind of.. sorta," she stumbles on the words, biting her lip. "You do and you don't." she finishes in a rush.
"Oh, now that's helpful." I snap.
"You know… it's like the difference between *New Coke* and *Classic Coke*," she says earnestly.
Oh_My_God.
Jean-Claude's eyes open wide in astonished disbelief. And I can't resist a muffled chuckle; the Master of the City reduced to the level of a soda pop. ~I kinda doubt that's ever happened before.~ I'm getting quite the show this evening; I've seen more spontaneous public displays of emotion on his and Asher's faces in the last few hours than I have for the last couple of months. After a few centuries of service to the Vampire Council you learn to show only what you want others to see. But this Buffy seems to be throwing everyone for a loop tonight. The last time I saw Jean-Claude looking this pole-axed was a couple of years back when he slipped and fell into the bathtub fully clothed. Don't ask.
There's a choking noise to my right and turning I see Jason, hands gripping the back of a chair, head bowed, shoulders shaking as he tries to keep from laughing in the vampires faces. Hmm, maybe he's finally learning some prudence. ~Yeah, yeah I chuckled at him, being the lover of the city's Master has some privileges.~ Zerbrowski' doesn't even try, laughing and shaking his head. Even Dolph and Perry smile in amusement. We do manage to draw some disapproving frowns from the personnel working around our little group, but after the events of this night it's good to have a release valve. And frankly laughter is one of the more healthy ones.
Buffy, meanwhile, is standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot and not looking the least bit amused by our mirth.
"If you're all quite finished."
Definitely not amused.
"I still don't know why Anita was pointing a gun at me," she says, clearly wanting to get back to business.
"Because Buffy," begins Zerbrowski, wiping tears from his good eye.
"Bu..Buffy!!" chortles Jason, finally breaking, so much for prudence "Buffy the monster killer??? Who names their kid Buf..ack!!"
He cuts off with a surprised squawk as she emits what I swear is a growl, and is suddenly standing in front of him. Before he can react she grabs him by his suit coat and lifts him up so he's dangling about six inches off the ground. ~Good going fur face, you just might get that *thumping* I'm always saying you're going to get.~ Though I'm not that concerned. If I thought she meant to do any real damage I'd be getting in her face right about now. Wouldn't want to have to explain to Richard how I let one of his wolves get squashed.
"One! It's Slayer not Monster Killer"
There's that Slayer thing again. Need to ask about that.
"Two! My mother named me Buffy."
Oh yeah, now that was a growl. Don't ever insult this girl's mother, even by accident. Makes her a bit testy.
She gives him a shake before setting him down hard enough to make him stumble. ~But no *thumps*, somebody up there must have a soft spot for incorrigible were-wolves.~ Turning away she stalks over to her former position grumbling about "Buffy being a perfectly good name" and "wwwhyy… did everybody here find it so amusing."
Stopping she turns, takes a deep breath, exhales and gives a little shake. Then with a wave of her hand motions for Zerbrowski to continue.
"Because Buffy…" then he pauses and we all look at Jason, who just raises his hands and backs away, shaking his head "it's a murder charge to kill a vampire without a court ordered writ of execution or in a case of self-defense."
"Huh?! Murder charge!?! They're already dead!" she exclaims, then looks at Asher "no offense"
"None taken," a small nod of his head.
"Miss Summers, they are legally alive." says Perry, joining the conversation "and since they are legally considered alive they enjoy all the protection and rights every other United States citizen is allowed under the law."
"Legally alive???….U.S. citizen??….since when" she squeaks, eyes wide and disbelieving.
"Ever since congress passed that bill, about ten years now" I tell her, trading bewildered looks with the others. This is old news. Where's she been living, in a cave? How can she not know any of this? God, maybe she is deluded.
Glancing back at her I'm startled to see that she's gone very still.
"Ten..Years….what's the date?" she asks me, voice carefully neutral.
"Date??" asks Zerbrowski confused.
"The date, you know…month_day_year, that date" she says clearly and slowly and Zerbrowski tells her. Looking down she stands there with a hand pressed tight to her stomach, breathing deeply through her nose.
Jason shifts restlessly beside me and I look at him. His gaze is focused on Buffy, ready grin absent for once.
"What's wrong?" I say softly.
He leans towards me slightly, "Her heart-rate just jumped up a few notches, and I'm smelling fear" he returns, barely audible.
~Fear?? Why would today's date generate fear?~
"Buffy.." I snap, trying to drag her out of her funk "Buffy!!" And she looks up at me "Is there something special about today's date?"
"No, no nothing special. It's the right date an' all" she says, "uh would any of you have a phone…a cell phone I could use??"
Jean-Claude reaches into his jacket to retrieve his cell and extends it to her. She studies the hand holding the phone before taking it, a funny little expression crossing her face. ~Guess I'm not the only one that thinks cell phones and Jean-Claude are a strange mix.~ Softly saying thanks she turns and takes a few steps away from us, to give herself the illusion of privacy I imagine.
As she starts dialing Asher comes over to stand beside me.
"Anita?" he asks me, as confused as the rest of us.
I shake my head and shrug my shoulders, "Got no idea. But she's spooked big time."
We wait and watch, Dolph sitting down with a small sigh. ~The man really needs to get that arm looked at soon.~ I take the opportunity to put away the Firestar, turning aside so I'm at least not flashing the entire room. And for once Jason and Zerbrowski resist making some cute remark about any matching lingerie. Perry meanwhile, goes to check on Renolds, this fugue she's in is beginning to worry him, and me if I'm honest. I mean she's not my favorite person in the world but I don't want to see anything happen to her. Zerbrowski just stands with the boys and me as we watch Buffy begin to pace. Her voice is too low for me to hear her as she dials what appears to be number after number.
"Are you getting any of that," I ask Jason softly, nodding at the girl.
"Names…Willow…Xander…please pick up…now she's asking information if they can find the listings." He tells me, his voice pitched as low as mine. "A place called the Magick Box…and the Double Meat Palace, no results. By the by, Micah said to say he's staying at his apartment tonight and he'd see you tomorrow. Oh yeah, and Richard Called."
Oh great, I should've figured he pick up something through the Marks. Well I'll talk to him later.
Buffy stops pacing for a moment, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before beginning to dial again. ~I hope Jean-Claude has a good calling plan.~ And Jason continues to relay highlights of what she's saying but something's wrong with the picture we're getting. One, maybe two people might not be reachable but with all the numbers she's trying she should have had a hit by now. The businesses, especially the one that sounds like a fast food joint should have had a listing.
"She's talking to information in Los Angelus now, asking for a Cordelia Chase….Wesley Wyndom-Price….now an Angel Investigations, sounds like a detective agency." Asher takes over the eavesdropping commentary. We really should give her some privacy but frankly I want to know what the hell is going on. "Wolfram and Hart-Attorneys at Law….no listing."
She's been in almost constant motion while making her calls, pacing back and forth between the stage and us. With this last attempt she stops in front of us. Looking up she dials again, only now she's close enough for me to hear what's being said, on her end anyway.
"Hi information…can you connect me to the international operator…Thanks, I'll hold. Hi operator…Bath, England please….no I don't remember the number, don't they have information people over there…thanks. Hello…yes Bath….Giles, Rupert Giles….yes I'll wait…..yes, yes I'm still here….no listing, are you sure….thank you operator"
With this she turns the phone off and closes it, the actions having a… deliberateness about them, like she's being extra careful. Handing it back to Jean-Claude with a quiet thanks she steps back and just stands there, jaw tight and her eyes closed. Looking at her clenched fist I'm thinking Jean-Claude is damn lucky he got his phone back in one piece. If she still had it in her hand it would have been reduced to so much scrap by now.
"Miss Summers?" Perry back from checking on Renolds, polite and considerate as always "Miss Summers, are you alright?"
Her eyes snap open at Perry's question, reminding me of a deer caught in headlights. She looks at him for a few moments before giving out a short laugh that just might have a thread of hysteria running through it.
"Nooo…no *alright* isn't exactly how I'd describe things right now," her head snaps up and she glares at the ceiling. "Can't you guys ever give me a bloody BREAK!?! Is it the *throw everything you can at Buffy* year or what?!?! Did you think things were getting too easy for me?" By now she's not just glaring but also shaking a fist at the ceiling. Then she looks back at us, and our varied expressions of stunned amazement at this mini-tirade of hers. Leaning against a table she drops her head into her hands, the picture of dejection.
"Life_Sucks!"
"What_was that was all about?" I ask her, resisting the urge to laugh at her exasperated, slightly whiney tone.
"Well….it's going to sound crazy."
"Yeah right, like any of this was sane to begin with." I snap. Come on kid, it's not going to get any easier. And I've got a feeling we need to hear what you have to say, crazy or not.
Eyes narrowing at my tone of voice she straightens up away from the table. Opening her mouth to reply her eyelids suddenly droop and she goes pale. ~God she looks like she's going to faint.~ In fact she starts to collapse when, in an instant Asher is at her side. He helps her into a chair keeping a hand on her shoulder. Perry seems to be just a fraction slower as he crouches down on the other side of her. There's nothing quite like being small, blonde and delicate to bring out a man's protective instincts. Even after having seen her toss a dozen… whatevers… around like dolls. Living or un-dead, doesn't seem to matter, men are easy.
"Whoa…boy. I think the adrenaline just wore off. I feel exhausted." Then she yawns hugely.
Eyes wide in embarrassment she claps a hand over her mouth and gives us a muffled "s'cuse meh". Chuckling softly Asher steps back but stays close and Perry stands as well.
"Miss Summers, are you going to be alright?" Dolph's on his feet again. Looking at the set of his jaw I can tell his arm is giving him hell. Damn it! I feel like telling him to go get the thing taken care of already, before it gets any worse. But he's not going to leave before Buffy gets down to the nitty gritty. I can't even blame it on testosterone poisoning like I could any other man; it's simply Dolph. Get the job done.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just that I worked a double shift today and I can't even begin to tell you what I had for breakfast this morning," she frowns, thinking, "at least I think I had breakfast? Plus traveling through a dimensional portal can be draining too."
Dimensional Portal?!? Oh yeah, definitely The Twilight Zone. I can feel the headache starting to form behind my eyes already. On the good side, maybe it'll take my mind off of my sore feet.
Pinching the bridge of my nose I slant a look at her. "Would you mind explaining that for us?"
"Like I said it's going to sound a bit crazy." A wave of her hand encompasses our surroundings, "That teleportation spell? Wasn't a teleportation spell. Thought for a second that it might have been a temporal fold but the dates match up so that's not it. And I can't reach any of my friends; Sunnydale, CA isn't even in the database according to the operator. So I'm pretty sure this is some kind of parallel dimension. Or it could be an alternate reality, not really sure what the difference is, Willow'd know, but yeah I'm thinkin' one of those two."
"An alternate… reality??"
"Uh huh. Well…from my perspective this is an alternate reality, of course for you it'd the real reality but for me it isn't. Thing is I've experienced alternate realities before and my friends were always there, different but there so I leaning towards this being a parallel dimension of some kind. Which also explains why they" and she points at Jean-Claude "don't feel exactly the same they're a… different type… of…vamp… oh, Oh!"
Buffy's stares at my vampires voice trailing off, before making a small exclamation of discovery. I can practically see a little light bulb above her head. It's obvious that something has just clicked in that brain of hers.
"Different type…?" Dolph prompts her.
"Yeah" almost absentmindedly, still staring at the boys "my guys are demons."
Zerbrowski gives a snort "you can say that again."
"Huh..what??" she turns to him.
"You can say that again" he repeats.
Buffy looks at him, then she looks at me and something inside me comes to attention. ~Oh I don't like that look in her eyes.~ Turning back to Zerbrowski she purses her lips and cups her palm to her cheek, drumming her fingers lightly.
"That..uh… wasn't a metaphor, they're Demons. In a human body." Then she stifles a yawn. "Your guys aren't though," another yawn and a shake of the head "not sure what they are, they set off my *spidey sense* but they're not demons. Which is kinda wiggy actually, I mean vampires that aren't demons. Giles would be in research heaven if he were here. Which he isn't."
"Demons? Real demons??"
I think back to when I met Blondie's eyes earlier, as he and his buddies attacked us. Those yellow inhuman eyes. I also remember that…itchy feeling I had assumed came from some leftover magical residue. ~Is she telling the truth?~ That coke reference of hers might actually make sense, in a weird sort of way. I know vampires and I've been close, real close to true a demon before. ~Did I just fail to recognize the *flavor* of these things?~
"Yup!" then she takes note of the stunned disbelieving looks aimed at her and sighs.
"O_K! Guess it's time for *Buffyverse Demonology 101*."
Jason looks at me and silently mouths *buffyverse*?? I just shake my head at him.
Rubbing her hands together she leans back into the chair. "Giles is better at explaining this stuff but I'll give it a shot…..untold millennia ago," she briefly adopts a really bad English accent "demons walked and ruled the earth. And humans? Humans were just the featured entrée for an *all you can eat* buffet. Yeah sure, maybe some became pets but basically, we were kibble. Anyway this went on for tens of thousands of years then one day the PTB's.."
"the PTB's??" Perry asks.
"The Powers That Be…??" she sighs at his confusion, "Look, you can call it what you like, forces of light, God, Buddha, the Shwartz, whatever! The_Powers_That_Be..." a yawn. "Anyway they decided they were going to give humanity a chance and set about driving the demons back into their home dimensions. Only one of these Big Bads attacked a human right before it was thrown out. It drained this human to the point of death and right before he or she died forced that human to drink some it's blood in return. The human died, its soul going off to wherever souls go, and what set up shop in the empty body was the essence of a newborn demon. Now, and this is my friend Willow's theory, since memories" another yawn, hope she stays awake to finish this, crazy as it all sounds "are physically stored by chemicals in the brain this newborn demon had all the knowledge stored in that brain. With the human personality becoming a sort of a template for the infant demon's own personality."
She yawns, closing her eyes and giving a little shake of her head, "But it'd be like looking at that personality reflected in a funhouse mirror, all bent and twisted and turned back upon it self. And the part that really bites"
~Oh she did not just say *bites* did she?~
"Because the vampire's hybrid nature, a demon in a human body, gave it an anchor to this dimension it couldn't be driven out with the other pure demons. In fact all the demons that walk the earth are tainted in someway, not pure demon, giving them all an anchor."
"All the demoms??? And I suppose there are a lot of demons walking around where you come from?" a skeptical Zerbrowski.
"Well they just don't normally go walking around in public, especially during the day. But yeah, there are dozens of demon species around."
"You realize of course that this sounds crazy." I tell her.
She wrinkles her nose "yeah, I know," tone almost apologetic.
"Why should we believe you?" I give her a hard look. I may be starting to buy into all this but I'm not going to tell her that. Besides you can never be too paranoid.
"Because it's the truth?" she says hopefully.
"Anita" Dolph says to me, rising from the chair to take a few steps away "may I speak to you for a moment."
And he motions for Zerbrowski and Perry to follow.
Being pretty sure on what he wants to discuss I snag Jean-Claude's sleeve and drag him along with me. Dolph gives me a look that asks me, what to you think you're doing? I return it with one of my own asking him to trust me, even if he doesn't trust Jean-Claude. Buffy meanwhile just sits, waiting and taking a good look around at the once pristine restaurant.
Dolph opens his mouth and I hold up my hand, forestalling the inevitable lecture. Turning to Jean-Claude I ask him "Is she telling the truth?"
He is quiet for a moment then "She believes what she is saying petite, believes it all to be true. She may be insane of course but I sense no madness in her."
"And we are supposed to take your word for this?" Dolph, distrust of Jean-Claude and to a lesser extent me, very clear. It didn't use to be this way, the lack of trust. But when I started to share my bed with the monsters things changed, I became….suspect. It hurts, believe me it hurts, but I live life on my own terms, no one else's.
"You may believe whatever you like detective. But consider how they arrived here, by a type of magic unfamiliar to one who has lived centuries. And creatures the like of which I have never heard of let alone seen before. Yes I believe her." Jean-Claude finishes serenely.
"Anita?" Dolph turns to me.
Reluctantly, grudgingly I answer, "I believe her too. And yeah, I know it sounds crazy."
"Maybe those PTB's are sending you a message" Zerbrowski smirks. Cute, I just glare at him.
"Uh guys," turning we see Buffy standing a few feet away, stifling another yawn "don't mean to interrupt but you've got three demon vampires loose in your city. And I don't know about your vamps but mine do not play well with others. And I hate to say this.." double yawn "I'm in no shape to go track them down right now."
Turning to Dolph, Perry suggests, "It'll be dawn in a little over an hour. If we get some dogs down into the sewers we may be able to find them while they sleep. They can't be familiar enough with the city to hide well."
Buffy blinks then turns to Jean-Claude. "So what kind of coffin do you have, Cherry, Oak, Mahogany? Mahogany's pretty" she says.
"Ebony, lined with cream satin." Jean-Claude is as confused as the rest of us by this seeming non sequitur.
"Sounds nice" Buffy nods approvingly before facing Perry and Dolph "but… uhm…see… despite popular myth in my world and apparently reality in yours, my guys are perfectly capable of moving around in the daytime. They just need to avoid direct sunlight. So anywhere that can be accessed from underground by a sewer, subway or maintenance tunnel is fair game. And Caves, does St. Louis have any natural cave systems under the city? Cause caves are a big thing with them to."
~They can move around in the daytime?!? Well…Damn.~
You know, my life has actually been pretty good lately. Works going easy, Bert isn't after me for once to take some weird, potentially fatal job. The hunger of the ardeur has decreased to a point where I don't need one of the boys near me every day. It hasn't raised its head for the last month in fact ~though I won't let myself believe that it's gone for good~ giving Micah and me a chance to see if we even actually like each other without it's influence. And our two pards are meshing well. Things might still be a bit…tense with Richard but even that's been getting better. And until tonight I haven't even had to shoot anything since right after becoming the packs Bolverk when I took out some troublemakers. Yeah life's been good. I really should have been ready for the Fates to throw me a curve.
~If those three bitches ever manifest themselves physically they better hope I don't have the Browning Hi-Power on me, or the mini-uzi.~
Asher and Jason walk over to join us. "When then, do they rest mademoiselle?"
She shrugs, "Whenever they're tired."
Oh hell. Snagging a chair I sit down and toe off my shoes. I hadn't been planning on doing that yet, any woman will tell you that's a very bad idea if there's any chance you might have to put them back on. But I figure I can live with a pair of ruined stockings. Or maybe I'll just get Jean-Claude to carry me to the Limo. I want to be as comfortable as I can right now.
"Ok, they can move around during the day right?" she nods her head. "So what else is different about them?"
OK, it's not an entirely fair question. Frankly I don't feel like being fair right now.
"I don't know," she shrugs a shoulder "I don't know what your guys can or can't do"
"Start with the basics. How do you kill them"
"The usual way, wooden stake through the heart, fire, beheading, direct sunlight. Oh!!" she raises her hand, index finger pointed up "and Holy Water if you can trick one into drinking it." she frowns "But I really wouldn't count on that one working too often."
Asher looks horrified; I can't imagine what memories are going through his head. "You…. tricked one into drinking Holy Water?!?"
"Uh huh, he needed something to swallow his pills with. So I just switched the tap water in his glass with the Holy Water. Then when he drank it he went poof."
"Pills??" since when do vampires need to take pills or drink water for that matter? Wait a second! "Can your guys eat food, regular food?"
"Yeah… though most don't bother, it won't sustain then or anything. And becoming a vamp changes the taste buds or something; regular food doesn't taste the same, like it isn't real. Though one vamp I know likes spicy buffalo wings and hot chocolate." Then she gives a little shudder "Not together though, cause that's just… wrong, eeuch."
"Hot…chocolate?"
"With those mini marsh-mellows," holding her fingers about ¼ inch apart.
Zerbrowski steps forward. "I have a question."
"OK shoot" Buffy stands straight, hands clasped behind her back. Looking like, of all things, a kid conducting her first *show and tell*.
"If they're vampires how come silver bullets didn't even slow them down?"
She blinks, she seems to do that a lot. "Hello…Vampire?? Silver's for were-wolves or Fyral demons, I mean shooting them hurts but usually it just makes them even more anti-social then they already are."
The mention of were-wolves grabs Jason's attention. "So you have were-wolves where you come from?"
She nods, "My best friend used to date one. Look guys we're getting off track here. Demon vampires remember, loose in your city. Hopefully they feel as wasted as I do but they did have a chance to feed," she drops her eyes before somberly looking at the bodies and people around the room "so there's no way to tell. And even if they are sleeping and you do find them they can wake like that!" She snaps her fingers "Anyone you send will end up dead or turned. Stryker's lost a lot of minions so he's going to be looking for people to turn anyway. We might catch a break there, though I'm not counting on it."
"A break?? How?" Dolph asks.
"Well did you happen to notice how all his people were blue/gray eyed blondes, sorta medium to tall?"
I frown. "Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"
"See Stryker, and don't ask me why or when he started calling himself that cause I don't know, is just a little over 60 years dead and when he was human used to be this guy named Wilhelm Carl Shultz. And he was, amongst other things, a young promising, junior officer on the fast track in the SS."
~Did I just hear that right?~
"The SS?? He's a Nazi?!?"
She bobs her head and wrinkles her nose "Used to be, course he'd probably eat Hitler now instead doing the whole Zig-Hiel thing. Now most of the time the folks he turns usually meet some kind of ideal of *Aryan* physical perfection. It's one of those leftover personality thingies I guess."
A Demon Vampire Nazi….I need to sit down. Nope already sitting down, maybe I should stand up. Would anyone notice it I just went off into a corner and quietly had hysterics? Or maybe I'll just go home and crawl into bed with Sigmund.
"Are you alright?" Looking up at the concern in Buffy's voice I realize I had dropped my head into my palms and had been silently laughing. Nice, I can just imagine what public hysteria would do for the Executioner's rep.
"Oh I'm ducky, just wanting to go home and hug Sigmund." Now why did I say that?
"Sigmund?"
"He's her stuffed penguin" Jason tells her with entirely too much laughter in his voice. ~I wonder how long it would take before Richard or the pack noticed he was missing.~ While I'm teasing myself with images of dropping Jason down a deep well Buffy says something that catches my attention.
"I have a stuffed piggy named Mr. Gordo"
Turning I see her watching me. Then she gives me this smile, just a twitch of her lips and we share a moment of understanding that only two people who know and appreciates the comfort that can be found in a plush toy will have.
"So he only turns blondes?" Zerbrowski asks.
"Nooo….I said most of the time the people he turns fit that profile. He will turn others; it all depends on how eager he is to rebuild his ranks. If I was at home I'd bet on a few days but here….he's not stupid, he'll figure out this isn't our world soon and then…." She shakes her head.
"So we have at least three days before the first people he turns rise. If we don't find him before he starts that is." I say.
Buffy blinks and stares at me. Ah shit! That's the same look she gave Zerbrowski when she told us these things were demons.
"Just tell us." I say, resigned to this new twist.
She takes a deep breath and bites her lip before answering. "It…can take three days, it can take three minutes, but it usually takes just a few hours, sorry " she finishes softly.
Perry steps forward, "If these things are vampires the three the got away have earned an automatic death sentence according to our laws for the murders they committed tonight, but anyone they turn hasn't yet."
Buffy closes her eyes briefly "Look you can't treat my vamps like your vamps, or anyone they turn like your vamps OK. They_Are_Demons." She says forcibly "They wear a human face until they feed but they are demons. Their idea of fun is to finger paint with body fluids. Other peoples body fluids. They don't care if they have legal status or that they can own businesses. Not unless it'd make the hunting easier. To them we're just walking blood bags, especially to Stryker. He has nothing but absolute contempt for humans. If you start thinking of them as anything other than a demon you're going to get people killed." She sighs, "Of all the vampires I've met I've only known two that are different. And one of those is under a Gypsy curse."
"And the other?" asks Asher
"Spike??" her eyes loose focus for a moment. "Spikes just….weird."
Spike?? Glancing over at Jason I notice he's raised his chin slightly, like he's scenting something. Reaching out I tug on his jacket and he looks down at me and sees the question in my eyes. Leaning down he whispers in my ear.
"Her scent changed for a second."
I whisper back "Changed, how?"
"Like yours does when you're thinking about Jean-Claude."
Whoa! I can feel my eyebrows rise when I hear that. I know the things that come to mind when I think about Jean-Claude and the feelings they invoke, at least when he hasn't pissed me off. ~Buffy's feeling the same type of things for one of these *demons*??~ Somehow I don't think *weird* quite covers this… Spike… if she's having feelings like that.
Looking a bit apprehensive she says "And there might be another problem."
Dolph, "Another problem?"
"ya huh" she turns to Jean-Claude. "You said you were the master of the city?"
"Oui"
"So all the city's vamps answer to you, right?"
Jean-Claude inclines his head "Ouí, all the other masters and their people must swear allegiance to me."
"So what do you think your people are going to do when a group of foreign vampires move in and start trying to take over?" Buffy asks him.
Jean-Claude doesn't answer her; instead he looks over at Dolph. Everyone knows that the preternatural community has a tendency to...police…itself and there usually isn't a big effort made to investigate when something goes down unless *civilians* get involved. But seeing as vampires are supposed to be honest law abiding citizens now it just isn't done to admit to things like that.
"What point are you trying to make Miss Summers?" Perry asks curiously.
"Well one of Stryker's favorite things to do in a new town is to take out the local masters and take over their territories. He doesn't ever stay around very long but he does like to be the top dog while he's there."
"I assure you mademoiselle" says Jean-Claude "my people can protect themselves."
"Uh huh" she rubs her temples "Ok, let's try this. You've got a closed eco-system with a top predator in place" waves a hand at Asher and him "and everthing is in balance and works just fine. Then someone comes along and drops another top predator into this system only this one has some biological advantages over the native species."
Oh Fuck! The sunlight thing, they can move around in the day.
"They don't have to sleep during the day." Says Asher, catching on.
"Uh huh, they can even dash across a street under a blanket if they need to and apparently they can reproduce faster than you guys can too. And they look human until they feed, great camouflage."
Oh god, if these guys go after out vampires…there'd be no way to hide this. The resulting bloodbath could undo everything that our vampires have accomplished here in America, revoke their status as legally alive citizens. Every half-baked monster hunter in the country would be free to hunt them again. A few years ago that might not have bothered me but now I've met to many *people* amongst them now, people I care about. People I love.
"It would be a war." Zerbrowski says flatly. Buffy just nods her head.
"What would you suggest we do Miss Summers?" Dolph asks her.
"Do?? Well first you,' she says, pointing a finger at him "get that arm taken care. I mean really, don't you know being macho is a leading cause of death. Then city plan maps, sewer tunnels, maintenance tunnels, subways, does St. Louis have subways? And you'd better find a geologist or someone that can tell you if you have any caves under the city. Oh yeah, and empty or abandoned warehouses, those make good lairs too. And make a list of everybody that gets reported as missing starting tonight. They may or may not be a candidate for turning." Facing Jean-Claude. "You make sure that wherever you sleep is secure, all underground entrances are sealed tight. They need an invitation to enter a human's home and with you guys not being demons and having souls that might work for you too. But I can't tell you if that will be true or not until they try. You do set off my *spidey sense* so I have a feeling they probably won't need an invite."
"And then?" prompts Perry.
"Then after I get some sleep and some food I go to work and take care of these things."
"Miss Summers I can't let you go off like some vigilante." Dolph tells her.
"I'm not a vigilante." She says, annoyed, "I'm the Slayer, this is what I do, OK. You try to take care of this on your own you'll just get killed."
Seeing Dolph start to bristle I decide to jump in. "Slayer?? That's what Blondie called you. What is that?"
"Well, remember I said that the PTB's couldn't drive out the vampires and other tainted demons, because they had and anchor to our dimension?" I nod. "Well what they could do was create or choose mortal warriors to fight them. The first of these was the Slayer." She tells us, stifling another yawn. God she's almost asleep on her feet.
"And that's what you are? Some kind of mystical warrior guardian of humanity?" Jason asks dubiously.
"Yeah, one girl in all the world, a chosen one. Born with the strength and skill to hunt vampires, demons and other assorted nasties, blah, blah, blah. Trust me, it's not a glamorous as it sounds." And she starts ticking off on her fingers. "No dental, no medical, the hours suck, your social life takes a nose dive and most end up be dead by their 18th birthday. And you have to lie to everybody cause if you told them the truth you'd end up in a padded room wearing a really ugly white jacket that has sleeves that connect in the back."
"Huh? Why?" Jason asks her, confused.
She sighs, "Because back home most folks don't know and don't want to know about the monsters, They're willing to accept any explanation, any at all just so long as it sounds half way sane. It was too dark. It was punks in Halloween masks or on drugs. Or they just imagined it. Anything but the truth, that's something they just can't handle."
Dolph stand there thinking for a moment, then seems to come to a decision. "I'll to talk to the police commissioner and the mayor. Apprise then of the situation, then get someone at City Planning to find those maps." He gives Zerbrowski a look who, takes out his phone and starts dialing, already working on it.
"Don't tell them these things are vampires." I tell him. "Perry had a point, if you call them vampires someone is going to start yelling about their rites. I'd say vampire *like* creatures. Hell with them being awake during the day they'd qualify as a different species of critter anyway. Everyone knows that *real* vampires can't stay awake during daylight hours."
"And I wouldn't say anything about alternate realities either," Buffy pipes in "you'll just confuse them."
Yeah, lets not strain the City Fathers with to much information. They might hurt themselves.
"Do you think they'll stay in the city or try to leave?" I ask her.
"Oh no, Stryker will hang around alright."
"How can you be so sure, he might think it's safer to cut and run?" Jason asks.
She smiles grimly "Because he came to Sunnydale to bag himself a Slayer and hey, still alive here. No he'll hang around."
Asher eyes her speculatively "You do not seem very upset about someone wanting to kill you."
"Same song, different verse" she shrugs. "Something's always trying to kill me, it's part of the whole *chosen one* gig."
"You and Anita should swap stories," says Jason, smiling.
"huh?"
He bows, sweeping a hand in my direction. "Slayer, meet the Executioner." She shrugs her shoulders and looks at me.
I sigh, "I'm a licensed vampire executioner."
She raises her brows, a question in her eyes.
"When a vampire breaks the laws, kills someone or feeds or rolls the mind of an unwilling human it's a mandatory death sentence since with their powers it would be impossible to keep them in prison unless he or she cooperated. When that happens and the courts hand down a ruling it's my job to execute the vampire in question." I shrug a shoulder. "It's made me a few enemies along the way." Of course most of them are dead now but I'm not going share that since some of those kills would earn me a death sentence as well.
"oh, Ok" She yawns turning to Dolph "uh, while you're working on all that organizing stuff where can I get some sleep? If you have a cot in an empty cell even that would be fine."
"I have more comfortable beds at the Circus. If you would accept my hospitality." Jean-Claude offers, being the selfless guy that he is.
"the circus?"
He nods "The Circus of the Damned, my home and place of business."
Buffy stares at him in disbelief "Circus of the Damned!?! You've been reading too many Anne Rice novels." She shakes her head. "No offense, I'm sure you're a great guy and I know you've got a soul but there's no way I'm staying in the lair of a master vamp I just met, sorry. Besides if one of you guys come near me before I've had my first cup of coffee…well lets just say it wouldn't be pretty."
"Very well mademoiselle." Then he turns to look at me.
My eyes narrow and I stare back at him. I know what he wants me to do. I try to pick something up through the Marks but he's not letting anything show. Not that I can't guess, something about her surprised him earlier and he's going to want to figure it out. If she stays with me it just makes access to her easier. Of course I want to keep an eye on her myself if only to keep her from staking any of our people.
"You can stay at my place." I tell her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I've got the room." Of course I have to call home and have Nathaniel get the spare room ready. And make sure that any of the leopards that are there have some clothes on. Most lycanthropes don't bother with them in private but somehow I don't think Buffy is up to dealing with a bunch of naked cats.
"Ok, thanks" she sways slightly, all but asleep standing up.
Dolph turns to me "I'll give yo…"
"You tore his head off."
What the hell! Turning in the direction of the voice we stare at Renolds. She appears a bit dazed but aware and she's staring at Buffy.
"You tore his head off," she repeats herself. Asher looks at me at her statement and I nod in confirmation, he hadn't been there for that part. "Why did you tear his head off, why didn't you…"
"Stake him?" Buffy says gently and Renolds nods jerkily.
Buffy drops her eyes "hmm…lesson the first" she says almost too soft to hear.
"What?"
Stretching out her hand she picks the stick, "Lesson the first; a Slayer must always reach for her weapon" then she ghosts a hand across her face "they've already got theirs. He was over a foot taller and a hundred fifty pounds heavier. And I was getting tired; if I had taken the time to look for my stake he would have been on me again before I found it. It's not something I do very often, it's leaves me open to an attack but I didn't feel any others close to me. So I took a chance."
Renolds nods looking down and Perry goes to stand beside her. Dolph studies her for a moment trying to gage exactly what I'm not sure. Maybe if she will be able to work past this? Be able to still do her job. It's hard to say.
Glancing at me he says, "I'll call this afternoon."
Nodding I turn to Buffy and the boys. "Ok kids it's time for all good little vampires, wolves and Slayers to hit the sack."
When did I become den mother of the universe?
TBC