Should Have
Summary: When Buffy was at university, there was a strange girl, but she never thought twice about her, maybe she should have.
Author: Vengeful Raven (Vix and Liz)
Disclaimer: I own no part of Buffy or the character's. I only own my own characters.
Note: Takes place after Spike gets his soul back and everyone knows about it, but in this story, the seventh season never happened. Buffy still works at the school though.
Chapter 1
"Again, why can't I go?" Dawn asks Buffy as she prepares to go patrolling.
"Because, it's too dangerous, we've already been through this." Buffy answers. "We're dealing with something here and we don't know what." She looks around the living room before calling out to Xander. "Where's my axe?"
"Oh, c'mon, I can handle myself." Dawn whined.
Buffy turned to her. "No, and that's final, Dawn."
"You never let me have any fun." Dawn complains as she slumps down on the couch in defeat.
Buffy shakes her head as she goes to the door, before turning back. "And don't stay up too late."
***
A timid male vampire approaches a cave, he looks behind himself before entering, making sure no one was watching.
***
"Are you sure there hasn't been any vampiric activity at all?" Buffy asks Spike as they walk through the cemetery.
"None at all, pet." Spike answers. "Been more dead then usual around here."
"That's strange." Buffy says, mostly to herself, then to Spike. "Do you have any clue where they all could be?"
Spike shrugs. "Not a clue."
***
"My minions, my creatures, my family." A loud female voice is saying, as it echo's through the caves. "The day of reckoning is almost upon us, and those who oppose us will soon learn defeat, and tremble before me, your goddess." A large group of vampires are kneeling before a women, who is draped in a long black cloak, the hood is down to show her long black hair and piercing blue eyes. A ruby necklace is tied around her neck, sparkling in the light from the torches. Her neck bares no mark of the vampire, but when she opens her mouth, her teeth are those of the vampire.
The timid vampire enters, and is immediately spotted by the women. She gets down from where she was standing, on a landing above the other vampires and slowly walks over to him. "You dare to interrupt me? Even worse, you dare to be late and risk bringing those who do not belong here, the weak and the pathetic, and not to mention, the human?"
The vampire trembles before her and can barely speak his next words. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, my goddess, the empress of vampires, she who can walk in the light and walk with the mortal and immortal alike. The precious jewel of all those dead, the one christened Jade, a name befitting to one so precious and beautiful."
The women, Jade, watches with mock interest at the trembling vampire. She waves her arms over him as he kneels and he catches on fire. She turns around to face her 'family' who have all turned to watch her. She lifts into the air, floating over their heads and back to her perch. "Make that a lesson to all of you, you do not risk our being found out, or you will suffer a fate worse then you brother did, for now you are warned."
The group murmur their acknowledgement, before going silent again. One single vampire, a male with long blond hair in lots of braids, and deep brown eyes steps up to her. He is strong and muscled, he is obviously favoured by Jade, as she does not cast him aside like she does the others who approach her, but rather listen intently to him.
"My love," He starts. "My brothers and sisters are weak, they need blood, they have been here for far too long and are feeling the effects, those who are the most loyal."
She watches him as he bows deeply to her, before looking up at her. "And you, Raven," She says to the vampire. "The most loyal to me, are you also feeling the effects of hunger?"
"I feel only what you tell me to feel, my goddess, and nothing more." He motions to the vampires with his arms. "But they are but young things, they are not trained to withstand such things as I am, they feel hunger and am controlled by it, they need to feed or you will risk their disloyalty, whether their un-dead life is at stake or not."
Jade carefully considers his words, before standing up and talking to her 'family'. "Alright, I will let you feed, but not now, one hour before dawn, you will be able to go to feed, if you are late coming back, the sun shall burn you and I will not have to, if you seek shelter elsewhere, when you come back, you will wish you had let the sun kill you."
***
Buffy was sitting in her office at the high school, reading the paper and talking to Willow via cell phone about the mysterious findings of over a hundred bodies last night, all with their blood drained. "The paper is saying that it was because of gangs, that there's a new gang going around killing everyone in sight." Buffy tells her. "I don't like this. Can you do a spell to find out where all these vampires are coming from, or where all the vampires have gone to?"
Principal Wood enters the office and Buffy says goodbye to Willow and hangs up.
"Buffy," He says. "Although we appreciate your time here, and your service to this school, we think one counsellor may not be enough, so meet your new co-worker and partner."
A women steps out from behind him. A women with long black hair and blue eyes, who has a ruby tied around her neck. She smiles as she steps into the sunlight, her teeth impeccable. "Buffy," She says. "Remember me?"