CHAPTER FOURTEEN: XANDER
Saturday: 2pm
27th December 1997
California: Sunnydale
Two weeks into their stay in Sunnydale, Beth found herself with nothing to do. The town was surprisingly quiet during the day, and Beth was going stir crazy when the sun was up. In the evenings though, she had more than enough to do. She could definitely see why she and Giles had been relocated to the small Californian town.
Two days after Christmas, when everyone was still visiting with their families, Beth found herself wandering around the small town. She couldn't believe how small it was in comparison to the last two places she had been to. Where they had stayed in Romania hadn't been that large, but Sunnydale seemed to be tiny in comparison.
There were twelve cemeteries that she had counted, and the death rate was huge. Apart from that though, it seemed to be a regular town.
She wandered down the main street, dropping her letters for Faith and Ethan into a mailbox as she went, giving them her new address. She couldn't believe that she had managed to keep it a secret from Giles for over a year.
Then again, she and Ethan had kept their visits a secret for four years, so she wasn't all that surprised.
She was lost in thought when she accidentally ran into a young man on the street, dropping her shoulder bag. She cursed silently and bent down to pick up the items that she had spilled. The young man bent down beside her as well.
"Can I have you?" he asked.
She looked up at him startled. He coughed to hide his nervousness and tried the sentence again.
"Uh…can I help you?"
She smiled her thanks and let him hand her the spilled items.
"I don't know you, do I?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I'm Beth. I'm kinda new to the area."
"Xander," he said. He winced. "Is me. Hi."
She smiled at his adorable goofiness. She stood up as Xander did the same. She reshouldered her bag.
"Thanks," she said politely.
"Well, maybe I'll see you around," he said. "Maybe at school, since we both…go there. You do go to school right?"
She shook her head. "Home schooling," she explained.
He nodded, looking a little disappointed.
"Can't say that I blame you. The American school system ain't the best, but…well, I've learnt how to sleep through almost anything," he joked.
She laughed a little. She'd never had a male friend her age before. The only guys she'd ever really come in contact with were Ethan and Giles who were more like father figures to her. This was an all-new experience.
"Hey, I gotta go, my…my uncle will start worrying soon," she said.
"Oh," he said, the disappointment showing on his face. "Well, I guess…I'll see you around town some time."
She nodded and gave him a small smile. "It was nice meeting you."
"Well, I'm nice to meet," he said with a grin. "Hey, if you want to meet some more people, you should come to the Bronze."
She looked at him in confusion. "The who?"
"The Bronze," he repeated. "It's the only club worth going to around here. Well, it's actually the only club around here. They pretty much let anybody in, but it's the place to be. Everyone goes there."
"Well…I'll keep it in mind I guess," she said. She mentally stored the information away. If it was a club that a lot of Sunnydale kids were regulars at, then there was a chance that there would be a lot of vampires scouting around the club as well. "I'll see you later."
Xander was left watching her walk away. He couldn't believe that he had made a complete idiot of himself in front of one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever met. He sighed and looked down at his shoes. He saw a small wooden stake beside his shoes and bent down to pick it up.
He looked after the girl, wondering whether she had dropped it or if it had been there the entire time. He pocketed it and wondered why anyone would have a stake. 'Maybe for a really little fence.'
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"I'm going out Giles," she called as she shrugged her jacket on.
He poked his head out of the kitchen and gave her a small smile. "Do be careful tonight," he said.
She grinned at him. "Always am. I'll see you in the morning."
"You've got your keys?" he asked.
"Yes dad," she teased.
He smiled at that. He really was fond of her.
"Night," she called, shutting the door behind her.
She made her way towards the Bronze, taking out three vamps on her way there. She couldn't believe that this town was so vampire infested. And none of the residents even seemed to notice that it was happening. She couldn't believe how blind people were towards things that they didn't want to believe in. Then again, she couldn't really blame them. Given the choice, she probably would have chosen blissful ignorance as well.
She entered the Bronze, surprised to see it filled with young people. She could feel her sixth sense going crazy the second she walked through the door. She looked around the club and spotted at least five vampires on the prowl. She frowned and made her way out to the dance floor, seeing two vampires dancing together.
She sauntered onto the dance floor, working her way towards the vamps. She tapped on the female vamps shoulder and smiled sweetly
"Mind if I cut in?" she asked.
The female vamp smiled and stepped back, letting Beth begin to dance with the boy-vamp. Beth could see that the two vamps exchanged looks over her shoulder. Within minutes, the boy-vamp had asked her to join him somewhere quieter. Beth gave him a smile and followed him out of the club, the female vamp following at a small distance.
Beth looked at the female in distaste, playing the part of a simple girl who had just picked up a hot guy.
"I shoulda mentioned that I don't do anything kinky, like threesomes," she said in her best air-head voice.
The two vamps advanced towards her, and Beth stepped backwards, leading them towards the alley behind the club. The vamps thought she was backing away in fear, but really it was a tactical retreat so that they weren't as out in the open. When Beth was certain that no one could see them, she pulled a stake from her jacket pocket, eliciting two identical surprised expressions. The female vamp was dust before either vamps could attack her.
The remaining vampire lunged towards her angrily, annoyed that he had just lost his sire. Beth fought him quickly, not liking the fight being so close to people. She staked him quickly and dusted herself off. She replaced the stake in her pocket for future dustings. With a devil-may-care smile, she went to walk back into the Bronze.
She stopped when she saw a familiar face coming out. Xander. Being led by a female vampire. She frowned and followed them at a safe distance.
"Are you sure your car's this way?" she heard Xander ask in a nervous voice. "I don't see it anywhere."
The vampire turned around to face him in full game-face. Xander jumped back in shock, but to his credit, he didn't scream.
"Oh, that'd be right. I finally meet a nice looking girl, and she just wants me for my body," he said.
Beth rolled her eyes, wondering whether he knew what he creature was, or if it was just false bravado. She quickly discovered that Xander had no idea of what to do in the face of a vampire attack. The vamp lowered her fangs towards Xander's neck, but was surprised to be pulled off her dinner.
"You know, I don't know how healthy his blood's gonna be," Beth quipped. "My guess is that his sugar intake is worse than mine."
The vampire growled and lunged towards her, shocked when Beth kicked her and sent her sprawling to the ground. Xander watched in amazement.
"Slayer," the vampire growled.
"Ahh, so good to be back in English speaking countries. You know, I've heard vamps call me that in four different languages now. It just sounds so much better in English," Beth said, fighting he vampire the entire time as she spoke. She truly had missed the bantering of the English-speaking vampires.
Giles always told her off for it, saying that she should just 'plunge and move on' but she enjoyed teasing them before she killed them. It threw them off and gave her an advantage.
"You ruined my dinner Slayer," the vampire growled.
"Yeah, well, you ruined my life, so I'd say we're about even," Beth replied easily.
With a quick flick of her wrist, the vampire turned to dust and Xander gave a small 'manly' yelp.
"You okay?" she asked.
He stared at her and then looked back at the pile of dust that lay on the ground at their feet.
"You killed her," he whispered.
Beth nodded. She hated when people said that to her. They were already technically dead, so it wasn't as though it was murder.
"How did…how did you do that?" he asked.
"It's what I do," she replied.
"But you're just a girl," he said with confusion.
She smiled wryly. "That's what I keep saying."
He stared at her, standing up on shaky legs. He saw for the first time how tiny the girl really was.
"You're so…"
"If you finish that sentence with small, you'll find out just how hard I can hit," she said, a smile playing on her lips.
He gave her a tiny grin back. She sighed, wishing that her life cold be normal.
"Are you gonna be alright?" she asked.
He sat down on an upturned garbage bin. She could see his hands shaking a little.
"I dunno. This is…this is a lot to take in," he admitted.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He looked at her, wondering why she as apologising.
"This wasn't your fault," he said.
"I'm just sorry that you had to be dragged into my world," she said softly.
He blinked hard and stood up again.
"Alright. I think I'm good to go," he said.
"You want me to walk you home?" she asked.
He looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head.
"Home? I came here to dance!" he exclaimed, flashing her a grin.
She couldn't help but smile at his ability to bounce back after his near death experience.
"What do you say?" he asked shyly, holding out a hand to her. "Will you dance one dance with me? It's the least I can do to say thank you."
She hesitated but put her hand in his, letting him lead her inside. It was so strange to be holding a boys hand that wasn't attached to someone who was cold or trying to lead her to her death.
He led her onto the dance floor and she let him hold her close to his chest. For the first time in eleven years, she finally felt like a normal girl. She felt tears well in her eyes as she realised she couldn't let herself do this. She couldn't let herself become attached to anyone for too long. Life as a Slayer was too precarious, and she couldn't let herself indulge in emotions that could lead to someone getting hurt because of her Slayer status.
She pulled away from him after one song and gently kissed his cheek.
"Thank you for the dance," she whispered.
He tugged her wrists to keep her from leaving but she just shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry. I can't do this."
He followed her outside, not certain why he was doing it. He felt drawn to this mysterious and beautiful blonde girl.
"Why can't you?" he called after her. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes.
"I just can't," she replied.
"Because of what I saw earlier?" he asked.
"That's part of it, yeah."
"I don't care about that Beth," he told her.
She shook her head sadly. "But I do. I'm sorry. I can't do that to you."
"Can't do what? Can't stay and dance with me for another song? Can't maybe let yourself maybe feel something for me as well?" he asked.
"Can't any of it," she replied. "I let myself feel for you, and you become a target. You become too attached and before you know it, I'm dead in six months time."
"So why do you do it then?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I can't tell you that."
She'd been sworn to secrecy when she had first begun training to be a Potential. It had been one of the first things she'd been taught. You had to keep your identity as the Slayer a secret. Bad things could happen to you and those around you if you let people know who you really were.
"That thing…it called you a Slayer," he said.
She kept her face passive, giving nothing away. She just sighed silently and forced herself to turn away from him.
"Good night Xander."
He could only watch as she walked away from him. He swore to himself that he would find out more about the girl who was tugging on his heartstrings. And he would find out more about this whole 'Slayer' business as well.