Disclaimer: Same as always. But, I own "Frantic" and Mortem.
Note: First of all, Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it, and to those who don't, hope you're enjoying your vacation time!! My mom's getting her cast off today (finally). She broke her thumb on Thanksgiving (long story), so it's a great Christmas present. I just want to take the time out here to thank all of my reviewers!! I'd have never made it this far without you guys!! Wow. Chapter Eleven. Thanks you guys!! Sorry this chapter's short . . . I was going to make it longer, but then, if I'd added what I wanted it would have been way too long. Anyways . . . Happy Holidays!
Chapter Eleven
Apparently, Mortem really was a lesser known hell god. They found very few sites, with
very little information. Willow read aloud to the group as she scrolled down.
"Mortem has a hypnotizing voice while singing, which is much like that of a siren's. She
lures anyone she can find to her with a hauntingly magnificent voice, mesmerizes them,
and kills them. Even vampires and demons have been known to fall victim to such fate.
The few who can escape her song, go insane from a sort of "addiction". Apparently, they
can't get enough. Many accidentally commit suicide or appear to spontaneous combust."
Willow glanced over at Buffy, sitting at the other end of the dining room table. "You
were right."
Buffy nodded to Willow. "Keep reading."
"Mortem also possesses very powerful mind control and great beauty. I'm guessing two
more deadly ways to kill people. It also mentions she has many different, and powerful,
forms of magicks, but very few have actually ever witnessed what they are. Or, in other
words, the guy who made this site has no idea what they are." Willow paused to scroll
down past a few large, and graphic, images of some of Mortem's victims.
Dawn swallowed hard, seemingly to keep the rising bile down. "I really didn't need to see
that."
Buffy glared at her, then back to Willow. A few moments passed before Willow found
anything worth mentioning. "Oh! There's a newspaper article. It's dated . . . from a couple
of weeks ago. It says that a rising band, "Frantic", was playing at a club just outside of
Sunnydale, when all of a sudden, some guy bursts in and starts saying "Mortem must
die", then bursts into flames with no visible cause. The woman who wrote this article
goes on to say that no one knows what it means, since the guy basically said death must
die, blah, blah, blah . . . Oh, and the guy who manages this site says that all those who go
insane from Mortem's singing say the same thing before they die."
Buffy got up to go to the computer screen. "So, "Frantic" is involved in one way or
another. I mean, they might know something."
Willow nodded. "Maybe. I'll go to The Bronze's site and see if they're playing again."
"Wait. Let me see the pictures."
Dawn quickly walked to sit at the seat left of Buffy's from her position of looking over
Willow's shoulder.
Willow scrolled up to the photos of the corpses. Buffy took a few minutes to examine
them over before letting Willow know she could go to The Bronze's site.
"It says here that "Frantic"'s playing again tonight and tomorrow again before going to
New York."
"When does it say they start?" Buffy asked.
Willow glanced at the site, then to a clock. "About an hour ago."
**************************************************************************** ****
Before they left, Buffy made a quick call to Xander and Anya's apartment, but no one
answered, so she left a message letting them know where the rest of the gang, save Giles,
were headed. Giles claimed he needed to unpack and make a few phone calls. 'He'll say
anything to get out of going to The Bronze,' Buffy thought.
Thankfully, when they arrived at The Bronze, "Frantic" was still playing. They were five
minutes over their scheduled time, so Buffy knew they'd have to act fast if they wanted
any information. As soon as their last song for that night ended, Buffy went up to them to
try to ask them a few questions. They each appeared a little younger than her, but a little
older than Dawn, so Buffy figured she had a clear shot at getting them to talk.
"Hi." She said. 'I couldn't even think of anything better to say?' Buffy thought. Mentally,
she kept kicking herself for not having said something a bit more well thought out.
"Hey." The response came from the tallest and visibly the oldest of the group. Her skin
was on the pale side. 'It's make-up. Buffy, you've spent way too much time on the
Hellmouth,' she thought.
The girl continued. "Look. If you're from another record label, I'm sorry, but we've
already signed with Arista."
Buffy shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing like that. I just wanted to talk to you about . .
." Buffy checked behind her, to make sure no one else was in ear shot. "About that
supposed 'spontaneous combustion' at a club you were playing at two weeks ago."
The same black haired girl's eyes went wide. "O-Oh. We don't have time to talk about
that now. Sorry."
Buffy decided not to pursue any further, as she didn't want to scare the group away.
Besides. There was still the next day. She went to the table Dawn, Willow, and Tara were
gathered at and took the only remaining seat between Tara and Dawn.
"So. What did they say?" Dawn asked.
Buffy sighed. "That they didn't have time to talk about it now. There's always tomorrow."
It was time for the group sigh. They sat in silence, listening to the noise of people talking
all around them. Buffy suddenly found a fascination with the top of the table. 'It's
amazing what bordem can do to you,' she thought. She looked up in time to see who she
thought to be the youngest of the band walking over to her. She quickly handed Buffy a
folded up note.
"I'm sorry for Liza. She's just been . . . on edge lately, you know? I have to get going. Out
hotel, room number, and room phone number are on there. Bye." She quickly walked
back to join the other members.
Buffy unfolded the note. It had everything the girl had said on it, plus times when she
could or couldn't call and times when she could come visit the hotel. Buffy handed the
note to Tara who then passed it to Willow, then to Dawn, then back to Buffy.
Tara stood up from the table. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."
Willow immediately stood up next to her. "Me too. Shouldn't have drank all those
mochas."
The two walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Buffy looked to Willow's seat,
where she expected to find at least five mocha mugs, but saw only one and it wasn't quite
empty. 'Poor Will. I can't blame her for being overprotective. At least she'll get to be with
Tara longer here. But I guess that'll just make it harder to let go in the other world,' Buffy
thought.
Note: First of all, Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it, and to those who don't, hope you're enjoying your vacation time!! My mom's getting her cast off today (finally). She broke her thumb on Thanksgiving (long story), so it's a great Christmas present. I just want to take the time out here to thank all of my reviewers!! I'd have never made it this far without you guys!! Wow. Chapter Eleven. Thanks you guys!! Sorry this chapter's short . . . I was going to make it longer, but then, if I'd added what I wanted it would have been way too long. Anyways . . . Happy Holidays!
Chapter Eleven
Apparently, Mortem really was a lesser known hell god. They found very few sites, with
very little information. Willow read aloud to the group as she scrolled down.
"Mortem has a hypnotizing voice while singing, which is much like that of a siren's. She
lures anyone she can find to her with a hauntingly magnificent voice, mesmerizes them,
and kills them. Even vampires and demons have been known to fall victim to such fate.
The few who can escape her song, go insane from a sort of "addiction". Apparently, they
can't get enough. Many accidentally commit suicide or appear to spontaneous combust."
Willow glanced over at Buffy, sitting at the other end of the dining room table. "You
were right."
Buffy nodded to Willow. "Keep reading."
"Mortem also possesses very powerful mind control and great beauty. I'm guessing two
more deadly ways to kill people. It also mentions she has many different, and powerful,
forms of magicks, but very few have actually ever witnessed what they are. Or, in other
words, the guy who made this site has no idea what they are." Willow paused to scroll
down past a few large, and graphic, images of some of Mortem's victims.
Dawn swallowed hard, seemingly to keep the rising bile down. "I really didn't need to see
that."
Buffy glared at her, then back to Willow. A few moments passed before Willow found
anything worth mentioning. "Oh! There's a newspaper article. It's dated . . . from a couple
of weeks ago. It says that a rising band, "Frantic", was playing at a club just outside of
Sunnydale, when all of a sudden, some guy bursts in and starts saying "Mortem must
die", then bursts into flames with no visible cause. The woman who wrote this article
goes on to say that no one knows what it means, since the guy basically said death must
die, blah, blah, blah . . . Oh, and the guy who manages this site says that all those who go
insane from Mortem's singing say the same thing before they die."
Buffy got up to go to the computer screen. "So, "Frantic" is involved in one way or
another. I mean, they might know something."
Willow nodded. "Maybe. I'll go to The Bronze's site and see if they're playing again."
"Wait. Let me see the pictures."
Dawn quickly walked to sit at the seat left of Buffy's from her position of looking over
Willow's shoulder.
Willow scrolled up to the photos of the corpses. Buffy took a few minutes to examine
them over before letting Willow know she could go to The Bronze's site.
"It says here that "Frantic"'s playing again tonight and tomorrow again before going to
New York."
"When does it say they start?" Buffy asked.
Willow glanced at the site, then to a clock. "About an hour ago."
**************************************************************************** ****
Before they left, Buffy made a quick call to Xander and Anya's apartment, but no one
answered, so she left a message letting them know where the rest of the gang, save Giles,
were headed. Giles claimed he needed to unpack and make a few phone calls. 'He'll say
anything to get out of going to The Bronze,' Buffy thought.
Thankfully, when they arrived at The Bronze, "Frantic" was still playing. They were five
minutes over their scheduled time, so Buffy knew they'd have to act fast if they wanted
any information. As soon as their last song for that night ended, Buffy went up to them to
try to ask them a few questions. They each appeared a little younger than her, but a little
older than Dawn, so Buffy figured she had a clear shot at getting them to talk.
"Hi." She said. 'I couldn't even think of anything better to say?' Buffy thought. Mentally,
she kept kicking herself for not having said something a bit more well thought out.
"Hey." The response came from the tallest and visibly the oldest of the group. Her skin
was on the pale side. 'It's make-up. Buffy, you've spent way too much time on the
Hellmouth,' she thought.
The girl continued. "Look. If you're from another record label, I'm sorry, but we've
already signed with Arista."
Buffy shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing like that. I just wanted to talk to you about . .
." Buffy checked behind her, to make sure no one else was in ear shot. "About that
supposed 'spontaneous combustion' at a club you were playing at two weeks ago."
The same black haired girl's eyes went wide. "O-Oh. We don't have time to talk about
that now. Sorry."
Buffy decided not to pursue any further, as she didn't want to scare the group away.
Besides. There was still the next day. She went to the table Dawn, Willow, and Tara were
gathered at and took the only remaining seat between Tara and Dawn.
"So. What did they say?" Dawn asked.
Buffy sighed. "That they didn't have time to talk about it now. There's always tomorrow."
It was time for the group sigh. They sat in silence, listening to the noise of people talking
all around them. Buffy suddenly found a fascination with the top of the table. 'It's
amazing what bordem can do to you,' she thought. She looked up in time to see who she
thought to be the youngest of the band walking over to her. She quickly handed Buffy a
folded up note.
"I'm sorry for Liza. She's just been . . . on edge lately, you know? I have to get going. Out
hotel, room number, and room phone number are on there. Bye." She quickly walked
back to join the other members.
Buffy unfolded the note. It had everything the girl had said on it, plus times when she
could or couldn't call and times when she could come visit the hotel. Buffy handed the
note to Tara who then passed it to Willow, then to Dawn, then back to Buffy.
Tara stood up from the table. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."
Willow immediately stood up next to her. "Me too. Shouldn't have drank all those
mochas."
The two walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Buffy looked to Willow's seat,
where she expected to find at least five mocha mugs, but saw only one and it wasn't quite
empty. 'Poor Will. I can't blame her for being overprotective. At least she'll get to be with
Tara longer here. But I guess that'll just make it harder to let go in the other world,' Buffy
thought.