Chapter I: Contemplation
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: early Season 7 spoilers
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything Buffy related nor am I affiliated with Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, or the WB/UPN networks.
A/N: Italics, when without *, indicate thoughts.
It was already sundown by the time the airplane landed. She sat, tensed, in her seat by the window, watching the colours and occasional buildings of Sunnydale fly by. This was her first time in an airplane without her family, far away from home. She had no idea how she was going to find the Slayer of Sunnydale, but she decided to cross that bridge when she got to it.
Fifteen-year-old Mira Andrews was a Potential Slayer. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pinned up in an improvised bun and her small, blue wire-rimmed glasses were perched high on her nose. She had blue eyes, one eye darker than the other, that were shaded a colour like the sky. She was toned and fit; with only a thin layer of fat visible and was probably stronger than most normal people could hope to accomplish.
The plane landed at Sunnydale Airport. The old lady beside Mira commented, "See there? That's the old airport. The new airport is being built at the moment. You'll love the new airport. They're planning to put an actual donut shop inside." Mira smiled at the old woman and snorted inside. What? They couldn't have a donut shop across the street from the old airport? Mira thought.
Mira followed the rest of the passengers off the plane and looked around the old airport. It was respectable enough, with high ceilings and cream-coloured walls. Multitudes of people milled around Mira as she walked further into the airport. She scanned the crowd for anybody coming to claim her, but found no signs or people waving at her.
"I guess the Seers in England haven't found me yet," Mira whispered to herself as she went to claim her baggage. This was a major problem. She didn't know who the Slayer was so she couldn't call her and she didn't have any American money. She didn't have enough time to change her Canadian dollars into American dollars before she left Canada. This meant that she was going to have to find a bank to change her money or go walk the streets until sun-up, hoping the guys with no eyes didn't attack her.
Sighing, she grabbed her bags and made for the airport exit, saying under her breath, "This is going to be a long night."
***
At the Summers' home, it also looked like it was going to be a long night. As soon as Buffy walked through the door, she found some of the Potentials fighting with Xander. Again. She stood in the doorway to the living room and watched the group in front of her yell.
"It was NOT my fault that I was using the bathroom for a long time!" Rona yelled. "The hot water seemed to have evaporated because you have been using the water for your showers lately!"
Molly scoffed and yelled back, "AS IF! I am not the only one in this house who SMELLS after training!"
"Guys…" Xander began, but was interrupted by another yell.
Kennedy retorted, "Well, at least we don't smell as much as you do, Molly!"
"People…" Xander started again, but once again, he was cut off.
"I SMELL?!" Molly threw back. "Calling the kettle black, are we?!"
"Potential Slayers?" Xander tried again, but failed in his third attempt to break the conversation. The war between the Potentials waged on and Vi and Amanda, who looked on in interest, joined Buffy in the doorway.
"What's going on?" Vi asked Buffy. "Something about a bathroom, hot water…and being smelly?" Buffy said. She shook her head and sighed. "The conversation lost me after the first use of the word 'water'."
She signalled to Xander and made for the kitchen with Vi and Amanda in tow and Xander coming in through the hallway. There they found Dawn sitting at the island in the centre of the kitchen, tapping a pencil on her homework with earphones on. The music on the CD player was so loud that they could hear it from the entrance. Xander grinned mischievously at the others, tiptoed to Dawn, and tapped her on the shoulder. Dawn shrieked and jumped, and pulled her earphones off, ready to throw a punch. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Xander.
"You are so getting a jar of spiders in your sleeping bag sometime, Xander," she threatened, pointing her finger at while Vi and Amanda giggled.
"Hey, I've always liked spiders," Xander said, grinning, as he went to the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
"No you haven't," Buffy scolded, but grinned too. "Oh, and pass me one while you're there, k?" Xander complied and threw her a bottle of water. Buffy leaned against the island, opening her bottle. "How long have they been at it?" she asked Xander, pointing towards the living room.
"Oh, an hour or so," Xander answered, taking a seat next to Dawn. "At first, I was hoping their fight would die down, but I think they're getting more heated and heated. They'll probably start throwing things anytime now."
As if on cue, the fighting in the living room suddenly stopped. The group in the kitchen perked up more, listening for any signs of breaking objects. Their ears were greeted with the sounds of louder fighting and things crashing into pieces.
Dawn suddenly sat up straighter. "Buffy, Mom's china!"
Buffy gasped and went back into the living room. Above the din of breaking vases and loud voices, one could discern Buffy's annoyed yell, "QUIET!" In the wake of her yell, the room dropped into a suddenly terrifying silence that did not fit the Summers household.
Buffy took a deep breath and said in a lower voice, "This fight is over. You have to learn to share the bathroom because it is the only one in the house we've got." She spotted a certain blue and white dish in Kennedy's hands and snatched it away. "Oh, and by the way, the next time you throw things, stay away from my mother's china." She pointed to the case of other blue and white dishes and quickly went over to put the china plate she was holding back before stomping back into the kitchen.
Slumping onto a stool, she found the others watching her apprehensively, except Dawn. Dawn was busy doing her homework with her earphones on. When she felt herself being watched, she looked up at Buffy, her eyes brightening.
Pulling off her earphones, Dawn asked, "Oh! Are they finished their fight?"
That was when the Potentials in the living room began to fight again. Dawn pouted and Buffy put her head on the table tiredly.
***
Mira took to the streets looking for a bank that could change her money currency. After not spotting a bank after an hour of walking, she relented and looked for any place that would allow her to stay for the whole night, like a 24-hour mall, or a 24-hour bookstore, or…a 24-hour library!
The sight of a tall building alive with lights greeted her delighted eyes. The sign posted above the door read 'Sunnydale Library'. It was ten o'clock already, so Mira figured it would probably stay open late. She ran up the stairs, two at a time, and excitedly opened the doors, nearly knocking over a bent old man. She threw an apology over her shoulder as she flew into a comfy chair by the window. She had never been this excited to see books, shelter, and a comfy chair in the same place and same time before. She looked around hopefully. Do they sell coffee too?
A couple of hours saw Mira scanning through the multitudes of books on the shelves in the library. She clung mostly to the books on the supernatural and science fiction. She finally found a book that sounded interesting and went back to her chair.
After a couple of minutes of reading, she looked up to see a young red-haired woman watching her intently. The woman looked away quickly and went back to writing. Mira looked around the library and found that there weren't many people there. Her eyes scanned the front desk and found a greying old lady scanning the room as well. Mira looked away quickly before the lady's eyes met hers and her gaze drifted back to the red-haired woman. After a few minutes wondering why that girl had been staring at her, she went back to reading her book.
Nearly a hundred and fifty pages of Interview With The Vampire and three hours later, Mira found she could not stop yawning. The red-haired woman had disappeared an hour ago and already the greying lady was looking at her apprehensively every ten minutes. Mira's eyes were also watering and soon she fell into a deep sleep…where she had a dream.
*
"Mommy!" A child's voice echoed somewhere in the darkness of the night. The little child cried out for her mother a couple more times before Mira could finally see her. She was blonde and quite chubby, but with the most adorable and innocent blue eyes. At the moment, the child's eyes were filled with tears and fright.
Mira knelt down to talk to the child, but the girl did not seem to see her. She stared right through Mira, lost and bewildered. Mira tried to calm the girl, but now words came out. Suddenly, the child's terrified scream pierced the night. Mira whipped around to see what the child had been looking at. A man was standing above a body, but he did not have a normal face. He snarled at the little child, showing his pointed teeth, and his yellow eyes looked out from underneath the bumpy ridges of his brow.
The body was of a young girl who couldn't have been more than twenty-one. She too had blonde hair and she would've been as pretty as her daughter was if she were still alive. But the young woman's skin was tinged a ghastly pale and there were two puncture marks on her neck, rimmed with blood.
The little girl ran to her dead mother, sobbing, "Mommy!" She clung to her mother's arm while the vampire above them morphed back into his human form. He was handsome, all right. His brown hair was cut short and pointed upwards a little, and he had well-defined cheekbones and intense eyes. But his mouth was drawn into a deadly smirk as he regarded the little girl and her mother.
Then, the mother's eyes opened.
*
Mira immediately awoke from the dream and looked around wildly. She had fallen asleep with her head on the arm of the chair and the book still lying in her hands.
"Dear…" someone said from above her, causing her to jump. Mira looked up to see the greying lady standing beside her chair, looking anxiously down at her. "It's already 3 in the morning. Don't you think you should be going home right about now?"
"Oh, sorry, but that's not really workable," Mira answered.
"Oh? How come?" the lady asked.
Mira regarded the lady suspiciously for a second before answering. "'Cause I'm new in town and I don't have any American money to get a room at a motel."
The lady pursed her lips together indecisively. "Alright then. You can stay here for now. But I want you gone by sunrise."
Mira nodded to the lady before the lady turned and went back to the front desk. She sighed and leaned back in her chair again, contemplating.