SLAYER EPISODE TWO: MICROEVIL

STARRING:

Eliza Dushku as Faith James Marsters as Spike

Iyari Limon as Kennedy

Shane West as Robert

And

Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn

GUEST STARRING:

D. B. Woodside as Principal Wood

Tom Lenk as Andrew

Nicholas Brendon as Xander

Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Tyler

Michelle Brookhurst as Alyssa

James King as Amber

Paige Moss as Brooke

WRITTEN BY:

Gary Boshears

This is the second part in a multi-episode, virtual spin-off to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with 22 total episodes planned.  Any other fan-fic authors interested in helping to write the series, please send an e-mail to: slayer@easdarkthunder.com as people are needed to both write some episodes and help designing and outlining the story as a whole.

Be sure to read Episode One: Adjustments also available on this site!

Reviews of both stories welcome and encouraged!

OVERTURE

            The music was loud, a fast paced rock song with a heavy, distorted guitar, drum beats, cymbal crashes, accents in all the right places and not too much bass.  The lights were bright, an almost dizzying array of dozens of colors, swirling around the room, accenting the dozens of people who had crowded the dance floor as well as those sitting at tables, playing pool or otherwise amusing themselves.  The Bronze was the place to be this evening.

            Everything was perfect for a Saturday night out of the house, the music, the lights, the crowd of high school kids and the fruit juice.  "Maybe not the fruit juice," was Dawn's thought after taking a drink of the sour beverage in front of her.  Kennedy, sitting next to her, took a long sip of hers, savoring the taste.  Dawn watched and wondered how her tongue could stand more than a microsecond exposure to the liquid.

            "Too sour?"  Kennedy interpreted the expression on Dawn's face.  Kennedy knew that this particular mixture was an acquired taste but, given some of the culinary choices Dawn had made in the past, she thought the younger Summers might enjoy it.

            "Just a tad," Dawn's voice was dry, not used to the concoction Kennedy had talked her into trying.  Between that and the climactic finale to one of the bands songs, Kennedy could barely understand what she had said.  She slid a glass of water Dawn's way.

            "Thanks," Dawn's voice cleared up after taking a healthy drink.  The band concluded their song, marked by applause from the dance floor and from the tables, Kennedy and Dawn joining in on the clapping.  The lead singer and guitar player talked to the other band members for a few brief seconds before returning to his microphone.

            "All right, this one you can slow dance to," the song opened with a slow but powerful guitar solo, joined shortly by the other guitarist, bass player and the drummer as they led into the main melody, singing about girls who wanted to just be friends and broken hearts that they could do without.  The couples on the dance floor pressed themselves close together, girls nuzzling about against the guys they were with.

            Kennedy was contempt to sitting, enjoying her drink and listening to the music but Dawn restlessly surveyed the crowd of people in the club.  They had expected Faith, Robert and Spike to show at some point but it was quite obvious they were not who she was spending her time looking for.

            "Tyler's over there," Kennedy casually pointed out as she ate a cherry of the small plastic sword that dangled in her drink.  Pretending not to care too much, Dawn looked in the direction she had pointed.  She saw Tyler sitting at the bar by himself, his red shirt perfectly accenting his light blonde hair and his creamy skin.  He was 'dreamy', as Dawn had once described him to Kennedy.

            Kennedy grinned; taking note of the obvious attention Dawn was paying to the young man.  "Go talk to him," she gave Dawn a gentle push out of her seat.  "What's the worst that could happen?"

            Dawn shot her a glare.  "Haven't we discussed that already," Dawn pointed out their conversation earlier this week in history class right before death crashed through the window.  "I try to talk to him but no words, only little sounds and half words get out of my mouth.  I make a fool of myself and I go the rest of my life without him noticing me.  Besides, he seems to be paying more attention to them," she pointed out Amber, Brooke and Alyssa, sitting at a table adjacent from Tyler, the young man diligently watching them.

            Kennedy had an idea.  One thing that she did know about guys, there was more than one way to get them to notice you.  "Well, we'll just have to get him to notice you," she energetically got out of her chair and took Dawn's hand, leading her reluctant friends towards the dance floor.  "Dance with me," she suggested, all but pulling Dawn behind her.

            Unlike Kennedy who the plan made perfect sense to, Dawn didn't understand what her friend was doing.  "Umm … didn't mean to give you the wrong impression but," Dawn fought to find words that weren't too offensive.  "I mean, you're cool and all but, I'm just not into that kind of thing."

            She laughed.  "Don't worry," she assured Dawn that she wasn't hitting on her.  "Just trying to help you out, trust me."

            Dawn began to allow herself to be pulled towards the dance floor.  "And how does me dancing with you get a boy to notice me?"

            "Have you ever met a guy that didn't flock to see two girls dancing with each other?"  Dawn came to a sudden understanding and followed Kennedy's lead.  The two girls positioned themselves, near but not too close to where Tyler was sitting, Kennedy wrapping her arms around Dawn's waste, Dawn putting her arms behind Kennedy's neck.  Swaying almost seductively to the slow rock song, the two girls instantly drew the attention of more than a few guys both on and off the dance floor.

            "See," Kennedy leaned closer to and whispered in Dawn's ear, feeling the pairs of eyes on the two of them.  Dawn however was less convinced of their success when she looked from the corner of her eye at Tyler who glanced at them but was still paying more attention to Brooke, Amber and Alyssa, seated at their table.

            "I don't think its working," it suddenly felt less urgent to Dawn however as she was relaxing and allowing herself to have a good time.

            "Just give it some time," Kennedy whispered, slightly guiding Dawn closer to her, closing the gap of space between them with no resistance from her friend, who rested her body against Kennedy's.

            Taking a sip of his soda and setting the glass down, Tyler again glanced at Dawn and her friend, whose name he hadn't managed to catch in school yet.  Dawn was beautiful, her friend wasn't bad either.  Then there was Amber, Brooke and Alyssa, considered by most, himself included to be the prettiest girls in school.  From his chair, he could hear most of their gossip.  Every time he looked at them, he caught various comments about him being a bookworm and a nerd.  That was what made Dawn different, she was nice.

            He glanced at the popular girl table one more time.  A tall man with a dark complexion had taken to talking to Amber and both she and her friends seemed to be hanging on his every word, in actuality hanging on his too perfect looks and eighties haircut.  He laughed at the shallowness of the girls before turning around to look at Dawn, disappointed the band had finished their song, knowing it would be the end of her and her friend dancing.

            Standing next to Dawn and her friend, he saw two tall men, both obviously too old for them, one with bleached blonde hair, dressed totally in black.  He hadn't thought Dawn would go for the older "bad boy" type but she seemed rather cozy with him as they talked.  The other wore a dark blue button-up shirt, not tucked into his pair of stonewashed blue jeans, a black trench coat, almost identical to the other man's on top of it all.  The group of four retired to a table, laughing and joking with each other.  Another girl joined them shortly later, older, dressed in a very suggestive manner, who also seemed rather friendly with the two men.

            Tyler sighed, ordering another soda and checking the time on his watch.  "Some guys have all the luck."

***

            The hot water pounding her skin, washing away the stress and cares of the day felt wonderful.  Sarah was not usually stressed out by school but the first week of her senior year was already killing her, proving to almost be more than she could handle.  Her teachers were piling on homework, springing pop quizzes from every direction and she was barely getting any sleep in between studying and keeping up with her extra curricular activities.

            All of this and it was just the end of the first week of school.  She had wanted to go with the gang to The Bronze tonight but didn't have the energy to do so.  Indeed, she barely had the energy for the shower she was taking.  It felt good though, here she didn't have anything to worry about.

            Nothing to worry about aside from a spider.  She jumped back, seeing the insect crawling down the showerhead.  Sarah wasn't one of those girls who jumped and screamed at the very sight of an insect but she also wasn't the kind who cared more about them than people.  Using her black washcloth, she swatted the spider off the showerhead, sending him to a watery grave as it fell into the drain, quickly washed through by the running water.

            Sarah relaxed again, breathing in the steam, clearing her mind and letting the hot water massage her tense muscles.  Then she heard a sound, something skittering across the tile floor in the bathroom.  She realized it was probably just her parent's Chihuahua but wanted to make sure.  She slowly and reluctantly opened the shower curtain, horrified by the sight in front of her.

            Dozens of spiders, but not normal spiders.  These were gray and silver, dull metallic colors and made squeaking noises as they walked towards here, their metal legs tapping against tile floor.  They moved with amazing speed, crawling into the shower, and beginning to crawl up her legs.

            Sarah screamed.  The spiders on her legs attacked, their bites sending her to the ground, hitting her head on the wall of the shower, a trail of blood following her down, blending with the water that flowed into the drain.  Suddenly, her senior year didn't seem so bad.