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by Marcus L. Rowland
XXIV
Warren ate another rat and wondered how long it would take for his kidneys to finish growing back. He wasn't quite sure what a vampire needed kidneys for, he just knew that he was feeling stronger as they regenerated.
He was building a comfortable lair in one of the cellars below Sunnydale Hospital; it seemed a safer bet than cemeteries that were patrolled by the Slayer every night. If he was careful he might even be able to snack on patients. For now he contented himself with rats and a stray cat he'd found on the streets while breaking into a computer store. Until he was up to full strength he didn't plan on eating any more people, then they'd better watch out. Starting with the Slayer and her friends.
After his meal he went back to work. The hospital's cable connection ran through the cellar, and he was pretty sure that he could hack into it. That ought to give him a reasonably fast internet connection, maybe even some cable porn if he could remember how the encryption worked. And with an internet connection the world was his oyster...
"It's been four days now," Willow told the Scooby meeting at the Magic Box, "are you sure that you haven't spotted anything to indicate what Warren is up to?"
"Nothing," said Buffy, "he's really dropped out of sight. Most vamps I'd think that was a good thing, with Warren it probably means he's planning something."
"Yeah," said Spike, "probably a massacre."
"I don't think so," said Willow. "Not yet anyway. You look at how Warren operated, he was always trying to build up a power base before he did anything major. Secret headquarters, booby traps, death rays, that sort of thing. I have a feeling that he'll be working the same way now, just with even less of a conscience."
"Just a feeling?" asked Buffy.
"That, plus I've been looking at the police web site, there's an interesting pattern of break-ins over the last three nights. Computer stores, electrical wholesalers, TV stores, the phone company. And they're not being cleaned out, the thief is taking specific things."
"Such as?"
"A broadband cable modem, three laptop computers, two LCD panel TVs, fibre optic networking tools, eight miniature video cameras, electronic components, the list goes on and on."
"What could he do with that stuff?"
"Steal cable service, for starters. That'd give him fast internet access and a lot of cable TV channels. I think he's also building more camera bugs."
"Well, we know he likes that sort of thing... any way we can use it?"
"If he goes on line I might be able to spot him. He'll be trying to access his bank accounts, the IRS has them all frozen but he won't know that until he tries. Maybe he'll try to use that bug again, or one of the other cameras he has planted around Sunnydale. I could certainly trace that."
"Other bugs? There are already some around?"
"There's one out back at home in a plaster gnome, two near my house, some on the campus and other places around the town. Ever since we found the one in the Magic Box I've been tracking them down and sabotaging all that I could reach, so that it looks like they're just accidentally blocked or damaged. That's why I left the watering can out back and told you all not to touch it, it's right in front of his camera. The one here has a price ticket in front of it, the one covering Xander's apartment has some fake bird mess on the lens, and so on. But it sounds like he's planting more cameras anyway, so that probably won't help."
"If he's stealing the service the cable company won't have an address for him," said April, "Will you be able to find his location?"
"I can probably find out roughly where he's getting into the network, narrow it down to a couple of blocks anyway. It might help. I'm already set up to trace him if he hits any of the obvious points."
"Have you asked Zap?" asked April. "He might know a few tricks you've missed."
"Maybe, his computers are a good few centuries more advanced than ours. Trouble is, what I can remember of the Baltian equivalent of the internet is nothing like ours, so maybe that won't help. I'll talk to him later. Where is he anyway?"
"Guarding the house and playing with Zip to keep him out of trouble," said Dawn.
"Any way we can set a trap for him?" asked Spike.
"For Warren?" asked Willow. "Sure, if we can find the right bait."
"I hate to say it," said Buffy, "but the most obvious target he could go for is the wedding. But we already have that pretty well covered, so hopefully no problem. Anyway, it's an afternoon ceremony, he might be able to crash the reception afterwards but that's about it."
"Hate to say it," said Willow, "but I'm pretty sure I remember it as lousy weather that day, non-stop rain. Might be enough cloud to let Warren come out to play."
"Wonderful," said Xander, "any other bad news you want to share with us?"
"There'd better not be," said Anya. "It's bad enough that it's not really a proper wedding..."
"Come on, honey," said Xander, "we agreed to forgive and forget."
"I agreed to talk to them again, despite my natural desire to move to another state and shut them out of my life completely. Forgiving and forgetting is going to take a little longer."
"Okay... Um, what about Andrew and Jonathan? Will he go after them?"
"Jonathan's out on bail," said Buffy, "Andrew couldn't find anyone to stand bond for him, I've talked to both of them. They haven't heard from him, and I've warned them what'll probably happen if he does show up. Jonathan believed me, I'm not so sure about Andrew, but he's not very vulnerable where he is."
"What about the rest of his family and friends? Don't want him pulling an Angelus."
"His parents had disowned him anyway, they know he's dead, and they know enough about the situation in Sunnydale to be careful. I don't see them letting him in. Spike and I talked to his old girlfriend, once I'd convinced her that I wasn't just trying to scare her off she agreed to take precautions. Mainly, she's spending the next couple of weeks with family in Santa Barbara."
"How did you... oh, Spike."
"I'm pretty convincing proof," said Spike, "if I do say so myself."
"That's good," said Willow, "In a couple of the time-lines I remember she's one of his incidental victims, more or less by accident. Any other friends?"
"Warren?" said Buffy, "Couldn't think of any."
"I'm not surprised."
"What's he using for money?" asked Spike. "He's obviously stealing stuff, but you can't nick everything, it leaves too much of a trail."
"Just a second," said Dawn, running out and coming back with a map of Sunnydale. "Willow, mark on the places that were robbed and the date and time it happened. I just realised something about the things he's stolen."
"What's that?" asked Willow, marking the map.
"They're all things that're easy to carry. Laptop computers, LCD monitors instead of the normal type, that sort of thing. He's carrying them somewhere and I don't think he's got a car. That might mean he's holed up somewhere close to the places that were robbed."
"Let's see... Well, they're all around the main commercial zone, no surprise there, that's where the shops are. Hmm...
"Why would a vampire worry about weight?" asked Buffy, "most are nearly as strong as I am."
"Most haven't just had their kidneys hacked out, pet," said Spike. "It makes sense if he's still recovering from his operation."
"Got it!" said Willow, "Every time the first robbery of the evening is about an hour to an hour and a half after sunset, each robbery after that is about an hour to two hours later. If I assume that he's waiting a half-hour or so after sunset, going back to his lair to dump the stuff he steals before the next robbery, and that the difference in time is mainly caused by a difference in distance... here, somewhere along this approximate line, about a mile to a mile and a half from city hall. Hey, the hospital is right on that line... nearer two miles though."
"It'd make sense if he's a little faster than you think," said Buffy. "The night he was turned he would have been weak, and he'd have had no clothes. He might be holed up somewhere pretty close to the hospital."
"We can rule out the houses in the area," said Willow, "they wouldn't have access to the optical fibre network."
"That leaves eight or ten shops, two office buildings, and the hospital."
"Willow," suggested April, "maybe there are new cameras watching that area. You said he stole some, maybe he's using them to guard his lair."
"Watching for us?" said Willow, "I guess it's possible... I'll set up a search algorithm to look for them, see if I can work out what he's interested in."
Warren was hungry, and it was raining outside. He decided to take a chance and look for something to eat in the hospital. He wore an orderly's uniform, stolen from the laundry, and tried to look inconspicuous as he studied the list of departments. There were too many people around the ER area - in Sunnydale you could pretty much guarantee that would never be quiet - and he didn't want to take a chance on anyone with diseases or heavy medication. Not pediatrics - not enough blood in a kid, and there was bound to be a major investigation if one of them turned up dead or missing - someone who wouldn't be missed. The psychiatric wards...
He went upstairs, avoiding the lifts with their annoying mirrors, waited until the nurse on the reception desk went to deal with a call, then slipped into one of the wards. He went along the beds, looking for someone who didn't seem to be too heavily sedated, then spotted a familiar face.
"Hello Rack," said Warren, smiling grimly as he remembered the kitten spell.
Rack was lying in one of the beds, tethered by his wrists to stop him hurting himself. There weren't any pills on the bedside. He seemed to be saying something; Warren leaned closer to hear "one one oh oh one oh one oh oh one oh one...."
"Binary? What the hell is that about? On the other hand, who the hell cares..."
Warren leaned over and bit deep into Rack's throat, luxuriating in his struggles and the taste of blood as he drained his victim. He didn't stop until Rack was dead. There was something about Rack's blood... a buzz, a feeling of power. Magic. He felt full and happy as he tucked the corpse back under the blanket he'd thrown off, and went back down to his lair.
"He's in the hospital," said Willow.
"Are you sure?" asked Buffy.
"I think it's pretty certain. Five new cameras watching the approaches, I'd guess the others are somewhere inside. He's probably tapped into the hospital network and their security cameras too."
"Can you locate him inside the hospital?"
"Let's see if my trapdoor into the morgue lets me get at the rest of the system... oh. Hey, that's a familiar name."
"What is?"
"Rack. His body's just been taken into the morgue. They found him dead in the psychiatric ward, in the last hour or so. Puncture trauma, they think one of the other patients must have got loose and stabbed him with something like an ice pick. Twice, in the neck."
"Warren, has to be."
"I'll work on tracking him down. We'll need a way of getting in without him spotting us. Maybe I can hack his cameras, if not we'll want disguises, some way of stopping him from recognising us and running."
"Leave that to me, I know just where to go. Who's in?"
Willow, Tara, Dawn, Xander, Spike and April all raised hands, Zap raised a paw. Anya said "Oh no you don't, Xander, not two nights before our wedding," and wrestled his hand down again.
"Okay," said Buffy, "not a problem, the disguises I have in mind you pretty much have to be a woman. Sorry Spike, that lets you out too. Dawn, nice try but you look too young, I don't think it'd work. That leaves me, Willow, Tara, and April. Okay, I think I know all the sizes, back in half an hour or so. Spike, get your car, I doubt Warren knows what it looks like."
"Okey-dokey," said April once they'd gone, "let's just make sure I've got this right. Warren really is a vampire now, and I really should stake him..."
"Come on," said Xander. "Just one verse, and let me get a photo."
"It would make up for the Las Vegas humiliation," said Anya. "Up to a point."
"Yeah," said Dawn, "We have so gotta have this moment recorded for posterity."
"For our rap sheet, you mean," said Tara, "I'm sure that there's some law against this."
"Not really," said April. "Not so far anyway."
"All right," said Buffy, adjusting her costume to hide as much as possible of her face. "Just one verse. Come on..."
Follow every by way, every path you know
Climb every mountain, tum tum tum tee...."
The song petered out as they realised that nobody actually knew the words properly. Dawn collapsed in a fit of giggles, Spike grinned and nearly joined her.
"Okay," said Willow, adjusting her habit and putting on a pair of steel-rimmed glasses with plain lenses. "Jewish Wicca nuns on the run are go. Everyone wearing flat-soled shoes? Got your crosses and stakes and holy water?"
"Yes sister," said Buffy, adjusting her own glasses. "Let's hope that nobody recognises us, I'm not sure I'll ever live this one down."
"Where did you get the costumes anyway?" Spike asked as they climbed into his car.
"I did the convent a favour last year, got rid of a vampire for them. They said that if I ever needed anything... That reminds me, try and keep them clean, I've gotta give them back."
"Don't ever let Angel see that photo," said Spike, "Angelus always did have a thing about nuns."
"Okay. Better drop us on the far side of the car park away from the hospital," said Willow, "I'll tell you where, any closer and he might recognise you if he sees you. Stay in the car until we call you, he's sure to spot you if you get out."
Warren sat in his lair, surfing the net and occasionally glancing at the screen that showed the view from a dozen different cameras, and flipping between the hospital's security system and his own bugs. He really needed a minion or two for that sort of thing, maybe he'd turn Jonathan or Andrew...
As usual there was nothing much to see. Rack was in the morgue, the police were leaving, just the usual visitors and patients around the ER ward. One of the patients must be dying, for there be that many nuns. Boring. He really wished he remembered how Andrew had hacked into the cable porn...
Three nuns stood praying in the waiting room, covering the fourth from a security camera. Willow sat behind them and plugged a tiny notebook computer into a convenient network socket, and hacked into the system.
"Okay. Sub-basement, East wing, can't pin it down beyond that."
"It's close enough," whispered Buffy, "Can you do something about the cameras covering that level?"
"Give me a couple of minutes.... Okay, they're all on a loop now, we won't be seen."
"Good. The chapel's in the basement, if we head in that direction then go down we'll be pretty close."
Warren was beginning to wish he'd stopped for another victim. Maybe psychiatric patients were like Chinese food, eat one and want another half an hour later. Okay, two hours. Maybe he'd wait for the rain to stop then go out, probably wasn't a good idea to eat too many people in the hospital.
"Meww."
Warren looked up from his computer and noticed that the door was somehow slightly open. There was a cat... no, a kitten.. peering in at him. Dessert!
He grabbed, the kitten scooted backward into the corridor. With a snarl Warren pulled the door open and grabbed again. Needle-sharp claws swiped his hand, and he snatched it back in pain.
"Hello," said a woman's voice, "Have you been saved?"
Warren looked up and saw two nuns, both holding rosaries and large wooden crucifixes. He snarled and retreated from them, and felt a searing pain as another crucifix was pushed into his face.
"F'kin bitch!" He turned and tried to push the crucifix aside, belatedly recognising Buffy as she blocked his hand and kicked him in the knee.
There was an agonising pain in his other leg, and he looked down to see the kitten, its claws hooked into his ankle. Tiny teeth vibrated like buzzsaws and dug in, and blood began to spray from the wound.
"Gross," said Buffy, and thrust a stake at his heart. He staggered back, taking a wound that missed his heart. From behind her Tara threw a bottle of holy water into his face. It sizzled and burned his flesh away.
Willow pulled a crossbow from under her robe and tried to get a clear shot, while April smashed her crucifix into his face on the other side. He was still staggering from that when Willow got a clear shot and Buffy finally connected with her stake. He started to say "bitch," but only got out the first syllable. The rest was dust.
"Okay," said Buffy, "I think that's about as slain as a vampire ever gets. Our work here is done."
"Let's just make sure," said Willow, pouring more holy water onto the dust. Zap scampered under the flow and washed the last of the blood from his fur, April poured more holy water onto the last traces then picked up Zap and concealed him in her sleeve.
"Wouldn't want him pulling a Dracula on us," said Buffy, emptying yet another bottle into the puddle.
"That's true. Okay, anything else?"
"I'll wipe his computers," said Willow, "make sure there's nothing there that can harm us."
"And I'll mop up this mess," said Tara, heading for a broom closet. "Don't want anyone slipping."
Fifteen minutes later they left the hospital. Spike's car was waiting at the entrance.
"Okay," said Buffy, "I don't think even Warren can come back from that, unless the curse has more plans for him."
"I don't think so," said Willow, "can't think of anything worse for him this side of hell, so I guess that's where he's headed."
"Shame in a way," said Spike, "You have to admit he did good work. Look how April turned out."
"Warren made me," said April, "but it's all of you that made me what I am. I wouldn't want to go back to the way I was."
"Fair point. Right, kiddies, buckle up. All we've got to worry about now is the whelp's wedding..."
To Be Concluded
