Things That Go Bump In The Night 4
Disclaimer : The story is mine, everything else isn't.
Feedback : Thanks for the feedback, everyone ! It truly helps !
Chapter 4 : How To Kill A Gramorkra
" So, " Anya asked, " What do you know about the Gramorkra ? "
Devon nodded to the open book on the table, " You'd be surprised how much is NOT written about Gramorkras. Not a lot of people live to tell the tale. "
" Anya said something like that, " Xander interjected.
" You told them that no one has ever seen one in its true form, " she asked Anya, not wanting to repeat facts they already knew.
" Something to that effect. "
" Have you ever seen one ? "
" A long time ago, during the Middle Ages, " she shrugged, " but I didn't stick around to see what the situation was. "
Devon just stared at Anya, not certain that she'd heard her correctly, eyebrows raised in curiousity. She threw a quizzical glance to her cousin. Tara ducked her head away, smiling a little.
" We have a LOT of catching up to do later. "
Devon nodded once, the continued on, " Well, like Anya said, no one's seen it's true form. It appears as an individual's worst fear. If you fear big, hairy monsters, that's what you'll see, and so on and so forth, " she took a deep breath, continuing, " It has hypnotic powers, so you can't look it in the eyes or you'll become paralyzed by fear. Your mind would stay active, but there'd be nothing you could do. It would just make you it's snack , and then it if were feeling whimsical, it would make you one of its lap dogs. Depending on how tasty a treat you were, that is. "
" That's what happened to me, " Willow agreed, nearly toppling out of her chair as she leaned forward, then shrunk back when everyone watched her blankly, " well, except for the eating and ' lap dog' part. "
Tara shuddered, breaking everyone's reverie, " I'm really glad you got to Willow in time, Devon. "
Willow squeezed Tara's hand, " So am I. "
Buffy stood, " He's still out there. We need to go kill him. "
" But , " Dawn asked, " how can you kill something you can't look at ? "
" You'd use your peripheral vision, " Xander answered, earning everyone's attention.
" ' Peripheral vision ? ' Is that left over from your brief stint as a soldier, honey ? "
Xander sat up a little straighter at Anya's hopeful sigh. He wanted to say it was, but he knew he couldn't, " Actually, no. The whole, ' not looking it in the eye ' thing reminds me of that old, " he raised a finger staving off any jokes, " but classic film ' Clash Of The Titans. ' "
" Huh ? "
" Listen and learn, Dawnster. The hero, Percius , has to battle the evil Medusa. See, if anyone looked at Medusa in the eye, they would turn to stone. "
" Why ? "
" Because she was so ugly. "
Anya nearly groaned, " That's not the real reason, actually. "
" It was in the movie, honey, " he said absently, " Wait a minute ! There's a real Medusa?! "
" Of course. And she didn't become a snake lady because of the Greek Gods. She did that all by herself. She always was playing with things she shouldn't have been. We all told her thousands of times to stay away from Pandora's box and not to read any of the spells in it, even if it was for glamour. And, did she listen ? Of course not. "
" As fascinating as this all is, " Giles rubbed his temples, " I believe Xander was getting to a point, " he looked at Xander, " You were ; weren't you ? "
" Uh, " he stammered, looking away from Anya, perplexed, " Yea. Anyway, Percius had to fight her using his shield as a mirror, or looking out of the corner of his eye. "
" So, we wont look at it directly, " Buffy shook away the side tracked conversation, focusing on Devon, " how do we kill it ? Can we stake him ? "
" You can, but it won't kill him. You can slice him, dice him, or make julianne fries with him, but he's not going to die unless you get him in the head. "
" Don't take this the wrong way, " Buffy assured, " but how do you know that exactly ? "
" We killed his pal in Cleveland. It was a huge battle, too. We tried just about everything. A friend of mine even stuck a stick a dynomite down it's drawers and let er' rip, but it still kept coming at us. One of the cops got it in the head, right between the eyes, and down he went. "
" How did this one get away, " Tara asked her cousin.
" We didn't realize there were two of them. So when dynomite boy went down, we all celebrated. Then this one decided to hitch out here. I think he's pissed at me. "
Buffy had the feeling Devon wasn't telling them everything, and still felt wary of her. It wasn't that she disliked her, she barely knew her, and she seemed likeable enough. But she was a good judge of character, and something was telling her that Devon was holding something back. She let it go for the moment in favor of getting the job done.
" We need to find him before he eats tonight. I don't want anyone to have to die like that. "
" I chased him for a while after I ran into Willow and he vanished. "
" So, you lost him, " Buffy asked, though it sounded more like a statement.
" No, he vanished, " she answered, then sighed after everyone studied her patiently, " Yea, I lost him. "
" Well, I'm on patrol tonight, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for him. "
" Alone, " Devon asked incredulously.
Buffy chuckled, " I'm the Slayer. I'm used to it. "
" Do you want a hand ? "
" No, you should be able to play ' catch up ' with Tara tonight. I'll just do recon on the Gramorkra until we can find out more about him. "
" An excellent idea, " Giles agreed, " it's late. Perhaps we should all turn in. Dawn, I'll take you home. "
Everyone stood and gathered their things. Buffy padded herself with weapons as everyone prepared to leave. She heard Willow and Tara offer Devon to stay with them. She chuckled as she strapped a stake to her ankle and hid it under her pant leg. It wasn't really an offer. Willow was refusing to let anyone close to Tara stay in a motel. The red head was hammering at Devon, as she tried to politely decline. ' Well, " Buffy thought amused, ' Willow's version of hammering. ' Willow's persuasion techniques ( which Buffy pictured as Willow with a giant and cushy feather, wacking away at someone ) seemded to baffle Devon, and Buffy chuckled as Devon found herself agreeing to stay with them. Tara just stood off to the side watching her girlfriend and her cousin's byplay with another large smile plasterd on her face.
She stood, ready to patrol, casting one last glance Devon's way as she strode of out the Magic Box into the night , alone. Yes, she mused, she did like Tara's cousin. She just hoped that she didn't turn out like the rest of the MaClays. Tara was one of theirs now, a Scooby, and she would stand for her friend if the need came up. Whistling a tune, she continued into the night, deciding to keep an eye on the violet eyed MaClay.
To be continued........
Disclaimer : The story is mine, everything else isn't.
Feedback : Thanks for the feedback, everyone ! It truly helps !
Chapter 4 : How To Kill A Gramorkra
" So, " Anya asked, " What do you know about the Gramorkra ? "
Devon nodded to the open book on the table, " You'd be surprised how much is NOT written about Gramorkras. Not a lot of people live to tell the tale. "
" Anya said something like that, " Xander interjected.
" You told them that no one has ever seen one in its true form, " she asked Anya, not wanting to repeat facts they already knew.
" Something to that effect. "
" Have you ever seen one ? "
" A long time ago, during the Middle Ages, " she shrugged, " but I didn't stick around to see what the situation was. "
Devon just stared at Anya, not certain that she'd heard her correctly, eyebrows raised in curiousity. She threw a quizzical glance to her cousin. Tara ducked her head away, smiling a little.
" We have a LOT of catching up to do later. "
Devon nodded once, the continued on, " Well, like Anya said, no one's seen it's true form. It appears as an individual's worst fear. If you fear big, hairy monsters, that's what you'll see, and so on and so forth, " she took a deep breath, continuing, " It has hypnotic powers, so you can't look it in the eyes or you'll become paralyzed by fear. Your mind would stay active, but there'd be nothing you could do. It would just make you it's snack , and then it if were feeling whimsical, it would make you one of its lap dogs. Depending on how tasty a treat you were, that is. "
" That's what happened to me, " Willow agreed, nearly toppling out of her chair as she leaned forward, then shrunk back when everyone watched her blankly, " well, except for the eating and ' lap dog' part. "
Tara shuddered, breaking everyone's reverie, " I'm really glad you got to Willow in time, Devon. "
Willow squeezed Tara's hand, " So am I. "
Buffy stood, " He's still out there. We need to go kill him. "
" But , " Dawn asked, " how can you kill something you can't look at ? "
" You'd use your peripheral vision, " Xander answered, earning everyone's attention.
" ' Peripheral vision ? ' Is that left over from your brief stint as a soldier, honey ? "
Xander sat up a little straighter at Anya's hopeful sigh. He wanted to say it was, but he knew he couldn't, " Actually, no. The whole, ' not looking it in the eye ' thing reminds me of that old, " he raised a finger staving off any jokes, " but classic film ' Clash Of The Titans. ' "
" Huh ? "
" Listen and learn, Dawnster. The hero, Percius , has to battle the evil Medusa. See, if anyone looked at Medusa in the eye, they would turn to stone. "
" Why ? "
" Because she was so ugly. "
Anya nearly groaned, " That's not the real reason, actually. "
" It was in the movie, honey, " he said absently, " Wait a minute ! There's a real Medusa?! "
" Of course. And she didn't become a snake lady because of the Greek Gods. She did that all by herself. She always was playing with things she shouldn't have been. We all told her thousands of times to stay away from Pandora's box and not to read any of the spells in it, even if it was for glamour. And, did she listen ? Of course not. "
" As fascinating as this all is, " Giles rubbed his temples, " I believe Xander was getting to a point, " he looked at Xander, " You were ; weren't you ? "
" Uh, " he stammered, looking away from Anya, perplexed, " Yea. Anyway, Percius had to fight her using his shield as a mirror, or looking out of the corner of his eye. "
" So, we wont look at it directly, " Buffy shook away the side tracked conversation, focusing on Devon, " how do we kill it ? Can we stake him ? "
" You can, but it won't kill him. You can slice him, dice him, or make julianne fries with him, but he's not going to die unless you get him in the head. "
" Don't take this the wrong way, " Buffy assured, " but how do you know that exactly ? "
" We killed his pal in Cleveland. It was a huge battle, too. We tried just about everything. A friend of mine even stuck a stick a dynomite down it's drawers and let er' rip, but it still kept coming at us. One of the cops got it in the head, right between the eyes, and down he went. "
" How did this one get away, " Tara asked her cousin.
" We didn't realize there were two of them. So when dynomite boy went down, we all celebrated. Then this one decided to hitch out here. I think he's pissed at me. "
Buffy had the feeling Devon wasn't telling them everything, and still felt wary of her. It wasn't that she disliked her, she barely knew her, and she seemed likeable enough. But she was a good judge of character, and something was telling her that Devon was holding something back. She let it go for the moment in favor of getting the job done.
" We need to find him before he eats tonight. I don't want anyone to have to die like that. "
" I chased him for a while after I ran into Willow and he vanished. "
" So, you lost him, " Buffy asked, though it sounded more like a statement.
" No, he vanished, " she answered, then sighed after everyone studied her patiently, " Yea, I lost him. "
" Well, I'm on patrol tonight, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for him. "
" Alone, " Devon asked incredulously.
Buffy chuckled, " I'm the Slayer. I'm used to it. "
" Do you want a hand ? "
" No, you should be able to play ' catch up ' with Tara tonight. I'll just do recon on the Gramorkra until we can find out more about him. "
" An excellent idea, " Giles agreed, " it's late. Perhaps we should all turn in. Dawn, I'll take you home. "
Everyone stood and gathered their things. Buffy padded herself with weapons as everyone prepared to leave. She heard Willow and Tara offer Devon to stay with them. She chuckled as she strapped a stake to her ankle and hid it under her pant leg. It wasn't really an offer. Willow was refusing to let anyone close to Tara stay in a motel. The red head was hammering at Devon, as she tried to politely decline. ' Well, " Buffy thought amused, ' Willow's version of hammering. ' Willow's persuasion techniques ( which Buffy pictured as Willow with a giant and cushy feather, wacking away at someone ) seemded to baffle Devon, and Buffy chuckled as Devon found herself agreeing to stay with them. Tara just stood off to the side watching her girlfriend and her cousin's byplay with another large smile plasterd on her face.
She stood, ready to patrol, casting one last glance Devon's way as she strode of out the Magic Box into the night , alone. Yes, she mused, she did like Tara's cousin. She just hoped that she didn't turn out like the rest of the MaClays. Tara was one of theirs now, a Scooby, and she would stand for her friend if the need came up. Whistling a tune, she continued into the night, deciding to keep an eye on the violet eyed MaClay.
To be continued........