Chapter 3

Spike hesitated before knocking on Buffy's door and Alex didn't know what was wrong. After a few seconds he managed to knock and the door swung open to reveal Buffy. "Spike, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked him.

"Found this bird in the cemetery." He said pointing to Alex. "Looks like some bloke is after her and she doesn't have anywhere else to go. Figured she could use some help and I couldn't think of anyone else to take her to." Buffy took what he said in and nodded when she looked next to him and finally noticed Alex.

"Hey, Alex right?" Buffy asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, it's good to see you again. Sorry, but I forgot your name." She stated.

"It's Buffy, don't worry you'll get used to it." Spike looked at both of them.

"So, I take it you two have met before." Buffy nodded.

"We met in the magic shop a little while ago. So, what is this about you not having anywhere to go? You told me that you had to go home because your mom would worry." Alex looked down then back up at Buffy.

"My mom is dead; it's not something I like to talk about." Buffy nodded in understanding, she knew what it was like to lose a mom.

"Yeah, I can relate." Alex was about to say something else when they heard a loud scream coming from the street. "Hold that thought." Buffy told her as she took off to where she heard the scream. Spike looked back at Alex.

"Stay here." He told her as he took off after Buffy. Alex was curious to know what was going on and she didn't want to be alone, so she went after Spike. When she caught up to them she saw what looked like a disfigured man biting a woman. Buffy grabbed the man and threw him off of the woman and told her to run and without hesitation she did. Then two other disfigured men showed up and Buffy along with Spike fought them with incredible speed and skill. Alex couldn't believe how well they were doing, she just watched in awe when she saw Buffy pull out a stake and plunge it into the guy's heart. He then turned into dust and Alex couldn't believe what was happening. She then saw Buffy do the same thing to the guy on her left and Spike got the other guy. They dusted themselves off and walked over to her.

"You didn't by any chance see that, did you?" Buffy asked and Alex just nodded not knowing what to say.

"I told her to stay at the house, but why would I expect a teenager to listen." Spike said.

"I'm sorry, I was just curious. What just happened?" Buffy sighed.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way back to the house. I guess you will be staying with me until we find some other place for you. Not that I wouldn't want you to stay with me, it's just that my house tends to not be the safest house on the block and I already have one teenaged sister to look out for." Buffy told her.

"You have a sister?" Alex asked as they headed back to the house and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, I know she'll like the idea of having someone closer to her age around." After that they were walking in silence until Alex spoke again.

"Um, I know I'm no expert or anything, but those guys back there, were they...vampires?" Buffy just nodded again.

"That they were." She said and Alex couldn't believe it.

"Wow, I mean I've heard of weird things going on in this town, but I never realized that there could be real vampires." Alex claimed.

"Yeah, welcome to Sunnydale. I take it you haven't been in town long." Alex shook her head.

"No, only for a few days. I lived in L.A." Buffy shook her head.

"You and me both, so what brings you here?" Alex looked at her and shrugged.

"Just needed to get away for a while I guess, change of scenery." Buffy nodded. They finally got back to the house and Buffy opened the door.

"Come in, both of you." She said looking at Spike. He was surprised that she would invite him in again after uninviting him. He stepped over the threshold and they all walked into the living room. "So, I guess you could have my room for right now and I'll take my mom's." Buffy said looking at Alex.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." They all sat on the couch. "So, now can we talk about what happened? I mean you guys really handled those vampires like you've been doing it for a long time. Are you like superheroes or something?" Buffy laughed.

"I don't know if I would say that." Spike smiled.

"She's being modest. She's the hero; I'm just here to help out whenever I can." Alex nodded.

"So, you fight vampires often?" Buffy nodded.

"For about six years now. I'm the Slayer, it's what I do." Buffy had a hint of sadness in her voice as she said that.

"You're the Slayer, now it makes sense." Buffy looked at her.

"You know what a Slayer is?" Alex nodded.

"I've heard of the Slayer, but I used to always think it was a myth. I never even knew vampires existed until now." Buffy nodded and Alex looked at Spike. "So, what's your deal?" Spike wasn't sure what to say until Buffy spoke up.

"He's a vampire." She said it like it was the easiest thing in the world. Alex's eyes lit up.

"Okay, now I'm officially confused." Buffy smiled.

"Yeah, it's confusing. To make a long story short, he can't hurt anyone. Some military guys put a chip in his head to prevent him from killing or hurting people. Having a neutered vampire does tend to come in handy." She said smiling at Spike, he just glared at her. Alex was trying to process it all.

"Oh, good to know." Alex looked at both of them. "So, are you guys...?"

"God, no!" Buffy exclaimed cutting Alex off. "I mean no, we really aren't." Spike couldn't help but smile at her embarrassment. He decided to take advantage of it.

"You're being modest again, pet." He said as he put his arm around her. "You know you love having me around." Buffy lifted his arm off of her.

"Spike, don't touch the merchandise." She told him and he smiled at her.

"I'll try to remember that." Buffy got off the couch.

"I guess I should go get Dawn so you can meet her. I know she's not in bed yet." As Buffy headed for the stairs she saw Dawn already coming down. "Hey, I was just gonna come get you." She saw the look on Dawn's face and knew that something was wrong.

"Buffy, there's a really weird guy outside. He's just standing out there and something doesn't seem right." Dawn told her. Buffy was about to say something when the front door crashed open. Spike and Alex rushed over to where Buffy and Dawn were and saw a man walk into the house looking right at Alex and then at the others that were with her.

"Well, this should be fun."