Chapter 4
The town stunk of death, even more than usual. Anyone who hadn't been there during the storm earlier would swear there must have been some fierce battle which had caused the smell of blood to soak into the very air that they breathed. But it hadn't been a battle. Buffy didn't know what it was, but she knew one thing, it called for research.
After the incident, Wood called the rest of the day off for the school. That wasn't surprising considering many of the parents had shown up and were planning on taking the children home whether he liked it or not. People in Sunnydale were notorious for ignoring the obvious bad things that preyed on them, but the sky bleeding was a little harder to look past, especially when your car that had once been a nice, ice-cream color white now looked like it had stared in a slasher movie as one of the victims. Well, the night crowd might have liked this little display, but Buffy herself was less than amused. She was going to find out what caused it and destroy it.
Dawn followed her into the house quietly, holding her coat tightly around her body. Even with all that she had seen in her short life, nothing had prepared the once magical Key for that. Hell, Buffy hadn't been prepared for that and she was the slayer; she couldn't imagine how her teenage sister was handling this.
Dawn sat down at the island in the kitchen and placed her head on the folded arms in front of her as Buffy walked over to the stove and put some tea on. The slayer might not be able to cook, but she could boil water. Giles had taught her that much at least, and she soon had a steaming cup of Dawn's favorite flavor ready for her.
"Here," Buffy said, sliding the coffee cup full of the brown, honey flavored liquid in front of the teen. Dawn lazily lifted her head to look up at the kind smile her sister was giving her. "You'll feel better once you drink that."
"Doubt it," she said, sounding more broken than defiant. Still, the brown-haired girl lifted the cup up to her lips and began to drink, just like her sister had ordered. Buffy slowly reached over and pushed one of the strains of brown hair out of Dawn's face as the teen placed the cup back on the counter. "Why did it rain like that today?" she asked, her eyes pleading with the slayer for answers.
"I don't know, Dawnie," Buffy answered truthfully. "But we're going to find out. I swear we will."
"It's just, every time I close my eyes, all I see…" Dawn's voice trailed off as the images of the courtyard came back to her.
Turning a shade of green, the teen jumped off the bar stool and ran up the stairs, covering her mouth. Buffy started to follow, but stopped at the bottom of the stairs as a hacking sound floated down to her. She made a face, wondering momentarily why she could face off against the grossest, most vile demon, but the sound of her little sister getting sick in the bathroom was enough to stop her in her tracks. Oh yeah, she knew why, because she was sympathetic thrower-upper. If she hears it, she was going to get sick. God, last summer when Dawn caught that nasty stomach virus from Xander, it about did the slayer in. Thank goodness for shock this afternoon, or else she would have had a real problem. When she heard the toilet flush, Buffy took in a deep breath, then headed up to try and help her sister.
**********
Wes looked down at the box before him, his face even as he tried to decide whether or not there was something inside of it he might actually be able to use or something waiting to kill him. It was from Lilah, so there was an equal chance for it to go either way.
Joshua, the gofer she used for them, stood off to the side, his hands locked in front of him as he waited for the message to return to his boss. Stupid guy probably didn't even really realize who he was working for. Or, worse yet, he did and didn't care, just so long as he got paid. Those were dangerous people to have around because they'd sell you out in a second for a higher price. Even Wes had known that back when he was Best Boy at the academy, thanks to Jefferson Thompson and a really embarrassing event that leads to the reason why he only wears boxers now.
Sighing slightly, he tore open the box and stared down at its contents. Even if his face did remain unmoving, Wes felt something inside of him smile as he lifted the dagger out of the box and looked it over.
As if on cue, the phone rang and he didn't even have to wonder who it was. Really, she must have his apartment bugged. Placing the receiver to his face, he said, "It's quite lovely."
"I thought you'd like it," Lilah answered.
He could see her there, in her office, a large, smug smile on her face. She'd probably have her chair turned towards the window, watching the afternoon sky while she leaned back to relax. She might even have a folder opened in front of her, reading over it while she talked to him. Wes shifted uncomfortably, not really knowing why the thought of her at work was getting him all hot and bothered. On the other end of the line, Lilah chuckled slightly, probably guessing why he was being so silent for so long, but choosing to ignore it for the time being.
"Do you know what it is?" she asked.
"The Dagger of Constantine," he said, swinging the blade in front of him, allowing his wrist to adjust to its weight. "Supposedly made from the sword that the Holy Roman Emperor Constantine used during the battle where he had his vision of Christ. Really, Lilah, you shouldn't have."
"Well, I just saw it in the store window and couldn't resist." She paused for a moment. "So…we still on for tonight?"
Wes took in a deep breath for a moment, considering his answer. He knew what this was all about, a peace offering for what she had done a few nights ago. So, the question was, was he really ready to forgive and forget?
Wait a minute. This sounds like a couple's argument. They weren't supposed to be a couple, just…bed fellows. So really, what was there to forgive? He had known that Lilah would use him, or he would use her, so there was really no reason for apologies. Was there?
"Yeah," he finally said, still looking at the dagger in his hand.
"Can you believe this?" Joshua asked.
Wesley turned around to find the man had found his television and was now watching some news show. Though he didn't hear most of it, he did catch the highlight about 'raining blood' and the all too familiar town's name of 'Sunnydale.'
"Lilah," he said into the phone while staring at that the rather gruesome pictures on the TV. "I'll have to call you back."
**********
Lilah hung up the phone with Wesley, a deep frown etched on her face. Something had spooked the one-time watcher, but she wasn't quite sure just what. Of course, if he was reading what she was, he would have every reason to be spooked.
Part of her couldn't believe what she was reading, thinking that it had to be wrong. After all their preparation, all their hard work, everything was going to be snatched away from them like that. And she knew the board would blame her, even if she didn't have anything to do with it, and would probably hand over the reigns of W & H Special Project division to that sniveling little weasel Gavin, or someone else just as unworthy. Well, she would just have to take care of that, now wouldn't she?
"Susan," she called over her intercom to the secretary outside.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Call up retrieval, would you? Tell them I have a very special assignment for them."
"Yes, Ma'am."
**********
The group sat quietly in Buffy's living room, books opened in front of them, looking for anything that might provide a clue as to what exactly had happened. So far, they had come up with a whole lot of nothing, with nada in the footnotes and 'you've got be kidding me' in the index. It's not like raining blood wouldn't at least get even an honorable mention in some book somewhere, but, from what they were seeing, apparently it had been the first time it ever happened. In Buffy's experience, that was definitely not a good thing.
They had all started to gather at her home not long after she and Dawn had arrived back from school. Willow and Spike, who was taking advantage of the cloudy afternoon, had brought with them a rather freaked out Xander. He had wandered back to his apartment, completely covered in blood, and it had nearly taken the two an hour to calm him down and clean him up. Like the others, Xander might be able to take a lot of things, but look what the whole being doused in blood did to Carrie, and she was a good, shy girl, but she snapped. The carpenter might be starting to act like his old self again, but Buffy was sure there were many people around town who weren't having as much luck with their relatives.
Anya had shown up not long after looking more annoyed than anything about the situation, demanding to know why the whole town stuck and looked so icky. As unbelievable as it seemed, the ex-demon had actually missed the whole festivities. Buffy really didn't want to know what she had been doing that would block out the sound of hail and people screaming in terror, especially considering that this was Anya, so she explained the best she could and asked the one time shop owner if she knew anything. That had come with a 'are you stupid' look, which was soon followed by Anya voicing the question and then the research party that was now going on in her living room.
"This is pointless," Anya whined, dropping her large text onto the coffee table in front of her while staring at the book with discontent. "There's nothing in these."
"We've only been at this for an hour, Anya," Willow pointed out, feeling rather aggravated at ex-demon's lack of patience. "Sometimes it takes a long time to find what we're looking for."
Anya turned her glare up from the book to the witch that was sitting across the living room from her. "In case you have forgotten, these are the same books we went through cover to cover for in search of information on Glory, on how to defeat Adam, and how to bring Buffy back. Not to mention I am sure that you used them to find out information on the Mayor, stopping Angelus and the Master, and all the little apocalypses that have come and gone over the years. We know these books as well as any Watcher, probably better even than they do, and not once have I ever seen anything about raining blood. And trust me, I think that's something that would stand out a little."
As Willow ducked her head away from the harsh truth Anya was spitting at her, Buffy turned her own glare towards the once again brunette. "Back off, Anya," she warned coldly. "Just because we don't remember it, doesn't mean it's not there."
"She's right, Buffy," Dawn spoke up quietly from her perch on the end of the couch that she was sharing with Willow and Xander. Holding up the book she had been reading through, she went on, "I can quote from just about anything in here because I've read it so many times. And I don't remember anything about raining blood."
The slayer held her face even, scanning over each of her friends for the response as she asked, "Is this how you all feel?"
Anya's continuous glare that yelled 'duh' was her answer, while the three on the couch shifted rather uncomfortably in their seats. Meekly, Willow offered, "Have you gotten ahold of Giles yet? He might have something new for us."
"He still not answering his phone," the slayer answered with a sigh, turning her line of sight away from her rather discouraging friends. Instead, she found the souled vampire that was sitting quietly, not having offered his opinion once during this whole thing. She had almost forgotten that he was there. Almost. "What about you?" she asked him. "You think this is a waste of time? Or does this remind you of something you've read?"
Spike sat there for a moment, as if considering his answer, then drew in a deep breath as he closed the book he had been reading.
"Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone," he said, repeating from memory. He lifted his head to a surprised Buffy's face, but quickly turned away from her eyes to look back down at the book in his lap. "That's what this reminds me of. Granted, it wasn't rain, but…"
"So, what? This happened in Egypt? When? I don't remember reading that," Xander babbled on, looking to Willow and then to Buffy for confirmation that this was something new.
"That's cause it's not in these books, Xander," Willow told him. "It's from the Torah…or I guess that's the Bible version, huh?"
Spike gave her a weary smile. "Right you are, Red. Exodus, I believe."
"Do you two mind telling those of us who aren't up on this lingo what's going on?" Xander cut in, sounding rather annoyed that they weren't explaining that little passage further.
With a look from Spike, Willow decided that perhaps it was best that she be the one to explain this so to keep a fight between the two from breaking out. Really, she didn't know how these two were able to live with each other.
"You know that movie The Ten Commandments that comes on every Passover-er, Easter?"
"With that NRA guy?" Dawn asked, looking just as confused about all this as Xander.
"Yeah, that's the one. Have you guys ever seen it?"
"Mom watched one time," Buffy offered. "I saw the part were he got really mad at them for building that gold cow and threw those stone tablet things at them."
Willow frowned a little, knowing that she was going to have to go through this whole story for them. "Well, before that, there were these other things that happened. See, the movie is about a guy named Moses."
"Hey! That's the guy from the Prince of Egypt!" Dawn said, a large smile on her face at actually knowing something. When the others looked at her, she slouched back into the chair and said, "Janice's sister was watching it one time when I was over at her house."
"Moses," Buffy repeated quietly to herself, the name ringing a bell in the back of her mind. "You mean the guy who brought those whole 10 plagues of Egypt thing with him?"
"Yeah! That's him!" Willow smiled. "See, one of the plagues was what Spike was talking about. The Nile River was turned to blood. Well, actually it wasn't only the Nile like the movie said, it was actually all the water in Egypt, which is really gross if you think about it because you know there had to be someone who was taking a drink when it happened or bathing or washing-"
"Willow," Buffy interrupted. "Topic."
"Oh, yeah, right. So, the whole blood thing was like the first or second plague. I don't remember which one."
Leaning forward in his seat, Xander asked, "So, what are you saying here, Wills? That we can expect nine more of these fun little trips into Charlton Heston land?"
"For your sake you better hope not, whelp," Spike spoke up, earning a glare from the brown-haired boy, which the vampire ignored. "Cause that last one will be a real bitch on you."
When Xander prepared to respond in a probably not very nice way, Willow cut him off by saying, "He's right. Cause death of the first born son, not so much with the fun."
That caused Xander to pale again as Anya mused to herself, "Death to first born son? Hum, now there's an idea."
"Anya!" her ex-fiancé exclaimed, horrified that she would even consider it.
"What?"
"Do you really think we're dealing with plagues here?" Buffy asked her best friend, ignoring both Xander and Anya for the moment.
Willow thought for a moment, then said, "It's really too soon to tell, but I don't think so. Like Spike said, this only reminded him of it, but it's not an exact match. Guess we'll know for sure if the town is taken over by locus or flies in the next couple of days."
"Or frogs," Spike added, which caused the witch to visibly shiver.
"Please, don't mention the frogs," she muttered to herself, praying extra hard now that they were indeed wrong and it wasn't the plagues coming around again. The last thing she needed right now was for her worst fear of frogs taking over Sunnydale to come true. Yeah, she could see it now, 'Hi, I'm Kermit D. Frog, and I'm here to take over the Hellmouth and destroy you all with the help of my muppet friends. Get 'em Gonzo!'
"So basically we have a choice of this either being a) another run of the mill apocalypse, or b) ancient plagues from the Bible that ends up with every first born guy in town dying?" Xander summarized. "Gotta say, speaking for all the first borns out there, I'm not loving either one of these."
"Me either," Buffy frowned, standing from her seat and heading for her weapons chest. Digging through it, she began to order, "Willow, you and Dawn stay here and see if you can come up with anything that we may just be over looking. Anya, try your demon connections and see if you can come up with anything."
"What?! In case you forgot, they won't exactly be welcoming me with open arms you know," Anya pointed out, annoyed that the slayer suggest that she risk her life over a probable dead end.
Buffy stood from the weapons chest, a few stakes tucked away in their usual hiding spaces, except for one that she shoved at the ex-demon with a frown. "Then use this if you have too, but go."
Groaning, the brunette rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. But if I get killed, I'm coming back haunt you. And I won't be like Casper either. I'll make all your lives hell until it finally drives you insane and you have to be committed."
"Just wait to start haunting us until after we avert whatever it is that's coming," Buffy told her dryly before turning to head for the door. "Spike, you're with me."
"What?!" Xander exclaimed.
"Buffy, I don't think-" Spike started, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw the look on the slayer's face.
"I don't have time for this," she told them coldly, causing anyone who might voice protest to shut up before it was said. "The vamps in town are going to be going nuts tonight after that little refreshing show this afternoon; I need someone who can fight them when they're on overdrive."
"But, Buffy," Spike started to say again, almost daring to point out that he himself might become affected by all the blood, but that look in her eyes told him that she wasn't going to listen to him. Of course, she never did listen to him anyway. Slumping his shoulders in defeat, he gave a quick nod, then headed to grab his new black coat off the rack with the others.
She started to follow when Xander called, "And what exactly am I supposed to be doing during all this?"
"Scrounge us up something to eat," Buffy told him as the two headed out the front door and into the dim and smelly late afternoon. "I have a feeling I'm going to be starving by the time we get back."
**********
Wood sat back in chair, staring at the glass half full of bourbon that sat on his desk. He had been waiting all day for news, but it had yet to arrive; thanks to the little blood bath earlier, he was beginning to think that it never would. He didn't know what they'd do if they failed again. No, he wouldn't let himself think like that. They would succeed, they had too.
Wrapping his fingers around the glass, he shot back the contents like it was tequila, hoping that this would dull his senses enough to where he wouldn't have worry about this for at least a few minutes. Of course, all he had to do was look outside or open the window and he was thrown right back into reality. Lord, what were they going to do?
The standard black, office telephone in front of him began to ring, and Wood felt his heart jump to his throat. Alright then, time to know what's what. Reaching over, he picked up the receiver and carefully placed it next to his ear.
"Principal Wood speaking," he said, sounding as official as he could.
"Two to go," was all the gruff voice said before hanging up on him.
Despite himself, Wood smiled as he placed the receiver back on the cradle and poured himself another drink. Even with all that had happened, today had been a very good day.
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