"I was thinking something a bit colorful," Nadja said over lunch, chewing her tuna fish sandwich thoughtfully
"We could do a group sort of thing," Beth offered. "Never did one of those."
Nadja made a face. "What, like Power Puff Girls?"
She grinned. "I want to be Buttercup."
"There's always vampires."
"That's hardly what I'd call dressing up," she remarked. "Hello? Half-vampire here."
"Fine. Red Riding hood and the Big Bad Wolf?"
She made a face. "I've heard stories of my mother's Halloweens in Sunnydale and all I have to say is no. That's too creepy. It would be like becoming my parents."
"Well, um, do you want to go generic? Or maybe real people? If we do TV shows and movies, it might as well be a con."
"Well, we can't go witches."
"Oh, no way. That's so offensive to practitioners."
"And dressing up as a werewolf ignores their plight. It's just insensitive."
"Okay, this whole living in the supernatural world really diminishes costume options for Halloween," Nadja sighed.
"Aren't we getting too old to dress up anyway?" she asked. "What would we do anyway? Go door-to-door and get candy? Don't get me wrong, I live by candy, but we're fifteen."
"Speak for yourself, old lady. I will trick-or-treat my heart out."
"We could do a horror movie marathon, do all the classics," Beth offered as an alternative. "Forego costumes completely. Candy, junk food, the whole shebang. Even if slaying will be slow, my parents' will still go out. We'll have the place to ourselves."
"How is slaying slow on Halloween? I would think there'd be demons running amok," Nadja inquired thoughtfully.
She shrugged. "Most demons think it's overrated. Secretly, I think it's because no one takes them seriously because every potential victim just thinks they're in costumes. It makes them sad."
"I want to go out though," Nadja whined. "I want to wear costumes. Zack and his friends are going out."
"And you want to copy your cousin?" she retorted. "I'd think you'd want to do the exact opposite of him."
"My point is that he's older than us and he's going out."
"To do what?"
"I dunno, maybe throw some eggs? TP a house? Whatever little privileged boys do on Halloween? The point is that he will be out and you want to be in and that will not stand with me."
Beth rolled her eyes, trying not to get caught up in Nadja's little Halloween rant. She had mentioned it was her favorite holiday, somehow outshining even Christmas (what's better than free presents? Apparently, free candy). Nadja had for the last several years been forced to babysit her younger cousins on Halloween, taking them out before sundown and then watching them overnight as their parents went out and partied at Bellevue's Festival (21+ only due to presence of alcohol—how lame was that?). This year though, Esmerelda had offered to babysit and Nadja was free to do whatever the hell she wanted on Halloween. And apparently, she wanted to do it with Beth.
Beth herself had never truly celebrated Halloween. Instead, she had holed herself up in her room, ignoring the jabs and taunts from the other girls at the Academy. She normally watched classic monster films, until that year she found herself understanding the Frankenstein monster too muchand instead moved on to slasher flicks.
"Please. I want to go out and have fun. Some houses even do mini-haunted houses," Nadja pleaded. "We could just see all the decorations; we don't have to knock on doors."
Beth contemplated her friend's words for a while. She did feel like she was being a bit unfair. After all, she may not enjoy Halloween, but Nadja did and she wanted to share that joy with her friend. Her best friend, her mind added, layering on the guilt.
"Alright," she agreed, caving.
"Yes!" Nadja squealed, punching the air. "It'll be so much fun, I promise. No stupid cousin to come in and ruin things."
"You mean you don't want to TP houses with him?" she asked in mock surprise.
"Ugh, his friends are so obnoxious," Nadja complained. "All they do is make stupid jokes and laugh at them."
She rolled her eyes, wondering if she should mention to Nadja that was all the two of them did as well.
-.-
She pulled on the edge of her puffed sleeve, not quite sure how Nadja convinced her this was the perfect Halloween costume.
"It's because I'm blonde, isn't it?" she pouted, looking at herself in the mirror.
"I think you look absolutely cute," her mother remarked, finishing up with the blood spatter on her daughter's costume.
"Cute?" Spike snorted from the doorway. He jerked a thumb at the decapitated head sitting on Beth's bed. "Don' think that's cute."
"Where did you get that anyway?" Buffy inquired, genuinely curious.
"Some grandparent of some aunt of some cousin of Nadja's does crafts," Beth answered, eyeing the severed head. "I have to admit, the papier-mâché is quite fantastic."
"And there are the finishing touches," Buffy announced, standing up, surveying her work. "Now, I know how to spatter blood."
"Still think I could've done a better job," he muttered.
"You would have gone overboard," his wife shot back. Her head perked up when she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, that'll be Nadja. I want pictures, okay? Is your little friend Zack also going with you?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Beth could see her father scowling. "No," she told her mother. "He's got his own friends doing gods know what."
Beth followed her mother down the stairs, Spike trailing behind them with the severed head carried so carefully in one hand.
"Spike, I don't think that's how you carry a head," Buffy pointed out with a small frown. "Do you want me to show you?"
"I know how to carry a bloody head woman," he snapped. "I just don' want to ruin it."
"Anyway," Beth began, opening the door. Nadja stood in the other side, grinning, looking quite proud to be something akin to demented.
"You know, I don't remember Alice in Wonderland being quite so bloody," Beth told her with a crooked grin.
"Is that axe real?" Nadja asked, eyeing the weapon.
"It's not sharpened," Beth responded, holding up the faux-blood encrusted murder weapon. "Off with their heads," she hissed.
Nadja grinned ever wider and stepped inside. "I told you your hair was the perfect kind of messy for an evil Alice," she praised. "I also tried to convince Zack to be the Cheshire Cat, but he outright refused."
Beth absentmindedly patted her hair, careful not to move the hairband. She smoothed down her white apron, artfully covered with fake blood courtesy of her mother. Most of her costume was covered in it actually, and it looked very much like Beth did in fact chop the Red Queen up to pieces, mainly due to Buffy's experience with head-removal.
Nadja herself had a bit of blood on her as well, but she instead went with more of a ripped and dirtied costume. Her top hat sat atop her head askew, and her coat was partially ripped up one sleeve. Her makeup was greatly exaggerated, giving her features an almost sadistic look to them.
"Here's my camera," Buffy announced, rushing back into the hallway. "Now smile. I want a nice picture." Beth sighed, taking the severed head from her dad.
"Of a demented Mad Hatter and Alice?" Spike snarked.
"Shut up," Buffy snapped. "Now smile!"
Beth and Nadja posed, smiles plastered on their faces.
"Now," Buffy began, "I want you two to stay together. Don't go with anyone you don't know. Don't go hang out in abandoned or deserted places. And do not go to some Halloween party because you think it'll be fun. Because it won't be. I promise."
"But I thought demons don't really come out on Halloween," Nadja voiced.
"It's all these New Age Demons," Buffy explained. "They don't like following the rules."
"Bloody kids," Spike muttered. "Don't respect the tradition."
"Okay, old man," Beth snorted. "Bye now. We'll be back later tonight. Exact time depends on how much candy Nadja thinks is enough."
Beth waved goodbye to her parents before walking down the drive with Nadja beside her. Even though it was still light outside, children had already begun to trick-or-treat. A small group was already making it up to Beth's house.
"Aw, that kid's dressed as a little doggie," Nadja cooed.
"Hey, none of that," she reprimanded. "We're demented, remember? All bloody and stab-happy."
"Don't you mean chop-happy?" Nadja asked, motioning towards Beth's axe.
"Whatever. I had a point and it still stands."
"It's still a little while until it gets dark," Nadja began. "I know you didn't bring a bag, but we could still get some candy before night sets in and then we can go check out all the haunted houses people set up in their garages and stuff."
"I'm here for you," Beth reminded her. "I'll just follow you and smile vacantly as I hold up the severed head of the Red Queen. Maybe whisper 'we're painting the roses red' as an added effect."
Nadja blinked. "See, this is why I don't understand why you haven't celebrated Halloween before. You really get into it."
"Because I'm already the monster people dress up as on Halloween," she stated.
"Oh. Right." Nadja was quiet for a moment and Beth thought maybe her words had brought down Nadja's happy mood.
Way to go, genius. Friend's favorite day of the year and you have to go and be all self-pitying.
"I don't think you're a monster," Nadja finally said. "It's not what you look like, anyway. It's all about what's inside. You're always going to be the hero, Beth. At least, in my story you will be."
She smiled at her friend. "Thanks. That was really nice to hear."
Nadja beamed up at her.
She followed Nadja around as the sun set, watching as the amount of candy her friend collected piled up in her bag.
"That's going to last you a century," Beth commented, sneaking out a KitKat.
"Not if you keep eating it," Nadja rebutted, smacking away her friend's hand. She was too slow and the treasure was in the mitts of a bloody Alice.
"These taste so weird," she commented through her bite of candy.
"Then stop eating it," Nadja snapped. "Stop eating my candy. Mine. Get your own, Alice."
"Not weird in a bad way, just weird. Why do you use different chocolate?"
"I don't know, let me call up Nestle, who I just so happen to have on speed dial," Nadja replied sarcastically.
"Wow. What's got you?"
"You keep eating my chocolate," Nadja whined. "I want to eat my chocolate."
"Then can I have your skittles?" she asked hopefully. Nadja sighed in defeat, pulling out a small bag.
"Next time, you bring your own bag."
"Since the sun's down, can we go Haunted House Hopping?" Beth asked. "It's plenty dark now. Witching Hour. I think."
"It's nine. That's not witching hour. Not even close."
"What if I meant nine am?"
"The Burgess' are known for going all out on Halloween," Nadja said, ignoring Beth's question. "Also, they hand out large candy bars."
"Like King size?" she inquired.
"Do they get any larger?" Nadja replied.
"Yeah. Queen size." She held up her severed head for emphasis.
"They live down this way." She followed Nadja down the street as little kids ran around them, eager for more candy.
"You know, I have to admit, I kind of like that there's a holiday devoted to getting free candy," Beth commented aloud. "I mean, my aunt Willow would go on and on about what an important day it is for magic and blah blah blah, but I'm really happy with this candy part. Can I have another Skittles?"
Nadja sighed once more and dutifully handed her the candy. "Just keep it coming," she commanded, ripping open the little red bag.
"Rawr!"
Nadja shrieked as someone dressed in black with a Frankenstein mask jumped off the sidewalk and in front of her. She dropped her candy bag in her fright, and the masked person grabbed it, laughing.
"Tim!" someone grumbled from the sidewalk, wearing a Creature of the Black Lagoon mask, with two others beside him.
Beth looked up from her candy and merely rolled her eyes. "My mum is scarier than you." She snatched the candy bag back. "Now shoo."
"Beth? Nadja? Wow, I didn't recognize you two," werewolf mask announced.
"Zack?" Nadja shrieked again, this time in anger rather than fear.
Zack pulled off his mask, revealing his grinning face. "Evil Alice. I like it. Is that the Queen's head?"
Beth held up her arm holding the prop. "Off with her head, yeah?"
The three others pulled off their masks, revealing to be the same three boys Zack had stood in her yard with all those months ago. Between the four of them—werewolf, Frankenstein, Black Lagoon, and Dracula (really? It was any wonder why vampires didn't exact revenge on Halloween)—they made quite the monster medley.
"Is this what you're doing?" Nadja asked. "Stealing candy?"
"No, Tim's stealing candy," Black Lagoon corrected, glaring at the boy in question.
Tim shrugged. "What else are you supposed to do on Halloween?"
"Oh, I don't know, get your own?" Nadja snapped, taking her bag back from Beth and clutching it to her chest protectively. Couldn't be too safe around a known candy thief.
"Aren't you a little old to be trick-or-treating?" Zack inquired, scratching his head. "I guess your height kind of gives you a pass."
"I'm sorry, are you the candy police?" Nadja asked. "And also, go away. Tonight is a me and Beth night. No you included."
"Wow, somebody sounds a little possessive," he sing-songed.
"And somebody sounds a little jealous," Nadja shot back, causing Zack's friends to let out a loud "Oh!" at the comeback. Beth watched enraptured. It was just like TV.
"You know, I was told I'd be seeing haunted houses," Beth said. "And all I've seen is a couple of teenage boys who think they're actually terrifying."
"Because you're so terrifying with all your fake blood?" Tim snorted.
She glared and held up her axe. "This might not be sharpened, but I am a fully capable slayer. There are fifty-nine possible weapons in my nearest vicinity, one of which is your own arm. So shut your gob." Yet again, another loud "Oh!" minus the injured party. She rolled her eyes. Boys.
"Haunted houses?" Zack repeated. "You mean the little garages filled with fake spider webs and dry ice? There's no fun in that."
"It's better than being stuck with you," Nadja snapped.
"You know," Black Lagoon piped up, "there's a party up on Miranda's. Supposed to be real cool."
"Like a Halloween party?" Beth asked, curious. She had always wanted to go to a Halloween party, but the one the girls had back at the Academy held she had never been invited to. And here was an invite.
"Sam's right," Zack agreed. "We heard about it from someone's older brother. We were gonna go later, if you want to come."
"We don't care about some stupid party where dumb kinds make out and drink large quantities of alcohol in an attempt to seem cool to their peers," Nadja sneered.
"Wait, I'm interested," Beth piped up. And Nadja's incredulous look, she added, "Not with the snogging and copious amounts of beer, but a party. I've always wanted to go to a party."
"Really?" Zack asked, sounding enthused.
"Really?" Nadja squeaked. "But what about what your mom said?"
"My mother is beyond paranoid," she explained. "She went to a couple of bad Halloween parties and now she thinks they're all bad. Come on, you got your candy, now let's go party."
Nadja bit her lip, looking between Beth's exuberant face and Zack's hopeful look.
"Alright," Nadja conceded in defeat. "We'll go to some stupid Halloween party. When is it?"
"At eleven," Zack told them.
"I guess I should call my mom," Nadja muttered.
"I should too. Nadja, can I be sleeping over at your house?" Beth asked.
"Why? Just tell her we're going to some lame Halloween party."
"If I told her that, she'd freak and tell me I can't go because demons and monsters and blah."
"Fine. Oh, the things I do for you." Nadja turned and shot a glare at Zack. "And for you."
"What are you doing for me?" he asked.
"Oh, don't act like you don't know," she murmured, and Sam snickered.
"So, I'll see you there then?" he asked, his question directed at Beth.
"You'll see us both there," Nadja answered.
"Cool," he replied, still only looking at Beth. He slipped back on his mask and his friends followed suit. "See ya."
She watched with one eyebrow quirked as the weird band of monstrous men went rushing down the street, looking for their next victims.
"They know they look stupid, right?" Beth asked.
"They're teenage boys who know two girls are looking at them. So, to answer your question, no they really don't."
"You know, we still have two hours until that party; we can still go to some of those haunted garages you talked about. Besides, aren't you supposed to be late to parties? Fashionably late?"
Nadja shrugged. "I don't go to parties. I don't know these things. If it makes you feel better, we can get there at midnight. Be 'fashionably late'."
"Now, haunted garages?"
"Yeah, Beth, haunted garages."
-.-
They heard the party before they saw the house. Not like it was hard to find the house. The sheer size of it was overwhelming. It was a two-story Colonial home, made of white clapboard with navy shutters. It even had large balcony hoisted up on large pillars.
"It looks like the house from the Notebook," Nadja commented, eyes wide.
The entire property was gated in with wrought iron and brick. The electric gate was open though, allowing people to walk up the gravel driveway to the house. Of course, that didn't stop people from trampling over the grass. Nice, well-watered grass, Beth noted, as she ran her Maryjane shoe over it.
"I always knew the houses on Miranda were really nice, but this one even has a fountain," Nadja continued.
"Who lives here? Do we go to school with this person?" Beth asked.
"It might be a college party."
She made a face. "Like with frat boys? Ew. Aren't those people gross?"
"Usually, but I still think you base your life off of TV too much."
"Should we go in?" Beth asked her.
"Or stand here awkwardly in the drive and gawk at the house as the people up on the balcony look at us weirdly?" she retorted. "Not even a competition."
Beth and Nadja began their climb up to the house, still looking a bit wide-eyed. There were people milling around, holding red cups in their hand.
Beth's eyes widened. "There is alcohol here."
"As is expected at high school parties and beyond," Nadja responded. "At this point, it never really goes away. Didn't the girls at the Academy drink?"
"How would I know?" she snorted. "I didn't get asked to hang with them. And Watchers are about as stiff as their British upper lips. Parties were always supervised. Are we going to drink?"
Nadja made a face. "You can, since I'm guessing you probably have one heck of a constitution. But me? No. Besides, I don't trust any of these dilos enough to drink whatever concoction they've created."
She let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how well she would stand under peer pressure and she was pretty sure her dad would notice immediately. Maybe she wasn't going home that night, but he would know. He always knew.
The inside of the house was much better than the outside, despite the pounding beat of the music and the people talking, voices growing steadily louder as they worked to be heard over each other and the music. The walls were painted white—a terrible place to hold a party; stains would be noticed immediately—with dark wood floors. A long Persian rug stretched from the front door (two-door, with fancy glass panels) to a door farther back that looked like it led to a kitchen. Along the wall of the stairwell were abstract paintings Beth was pretty sure people bought not because they actually liked them, but because it made them look rich and fancy. She certainly thought they had that effect.
"That is one heck of a chandelier," Nadja noted, looking up.
"You think if it fell…?" she began.
"Yes, we would probably die," Nadja finished.
"We?" she snorted. "You, sure. Me? I'm pretty resilient."
Nadja shook her head and grabbed Beth's arm. "Here, let's go upstairs. That balcony looked like it had a great view." Nadja began pulling her up the stairs when Beth stopped short.
"Wait, shouldn't we find Zack? Let him know we're here?" she asked.
"It's a big party, Beth. He might not even be here yet. It's not like we're obligated to be near him anyway."
"You just don't want to see him, do you?" she asked ruefully.
"Oh, what gave me away?"
She chuckled and followed Nadja up the stairs without any further prompting.
"Look, it's Alice!" somebody shouted, followed by a stream of hysterical giggling.
"There must have been a pre-cocktail party," Nadja muttered.
Once they made it out on the balcony (after a small incident of opening a door on a half-naked couple—ew), Beth took in a breath of the cool, October night. The inside of the house had been warm and stifling. Not to mention the smell of beer which she was sure she would never wash out of her hair.
"This is nicer," she agreed.
"And less people." Anything else Nadja had to say was drowned out by the loud shriek as someone hurled a water balloon off the balcony down to a group below. The accompanying shrieks of complaints made her cringe.
"You know, I don't think I'm getting the appeal of parties," she said.
"They looked so nice on TV?" Nadja asked, amused.
"Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves," she replied.
"Usually drinking is involved," Nadja explained, pointing at a couple making out by the wall. "See? Alcohol and party make for a fun time!"
"It's just loud and it smells weird," she complained.
"We could always actually have a sleep over at my house," Nadja suggested.
"I think I'd enjoy that more. Though can we at least see if Zack is here so we can tell him we left? You know he's going to worry if you're not here."
Nadja groaned. "Fine. I hate you for being logical, but fine. Let's go find my incredibly hairy cousin."
"Ah-woo."
Nadja and Beth trekked back downstairs, avoiding bodies as best they could. Unfortunately, it was a narrow hallway and everyone seemed to be conducting an experiment to see how many bodies they could fit in such a small place. The answer: a lot.
"See, this is why I didn't want to come," Nadja said with a grunt. "I know you're all gung-ho about trying new things, but I know you and you don't do this."
"Is it just me or did things get louder?" she asked, ignoring Nadja's words. The walls seemed to vibrate from the sheer amount of bass. "Is this what the kids are listening to today? Does this even count as music?"
Nadja shot her an amused glance. "Now you sound like your dad."
She made a face. "But he's, like, really old. Like a century and a half."
Downstairs, Beth looked into the living room, seeing the mass of bodies dancing in the dim light, strobes making her head spin.
"You think he's in there?" she shouted.
"Come on, Alice, down the rabbit hole," Nadja sighed, pulling her along.
The bass was even more noticeable in the room. The walls shook and Beth was pretty sure she was too. The lights flashed green, pink, and purple, making her feel like she was taking a drug trip. Everything moved as one mass, bodies melding together. Or, in basically every which way she looked, grinding up against each other in a futile attempt to phase through one another.
"How are we even going to find him?" Nadja shouted over the music.
"Find a group of guys dressed in black," Beth responded. "Does Zack even dance?"
"Well, I've seen him dance. And it's not pretty."
"Let's just find the Wolf man," she decided, locking her hand around Nadja's wrist. It was going to be a bumpy ride.
She pushed through the crowd, resigning to the fact that her papier-mâché head was going to get crushed. She was sacrificing it for the greater good. It was this, or have it stolen by some drunk guy. At least it would die in combat. People jostled up against her and she stumbled a bit, regaining her footing by sheer slayer balance. Had she been a lesser human, she would have fallen. Much like Nadja did, but without the loud "oof!"
She turned around to help her friend up off the sticky ground.
"Oh, this is so gross," Nadja complained, her voice barely heard above the music. Beth pulled her back to her feet, as she held her hands open-palm and away from her body. "I touched it. I actually touched it."
"The floor?"
"Yes! The sticky, icky, disgusting, dirt-riddled floor," Nadja moaned. "I need a bathroom. Pronto."
Beth stood up on her toes, surveying the room for a bathroom or at least a quick exit. She didn't find one, but she did see a group of boys up against the wall, one who looked suspiciously like Zack. "I didn't find a bathroom, but I think I found your cousin," Beth told her.
"That away then," Nadja grumbled, still holding out her hands.
Beth directed Nadja in the direction of Zack, also avoiding any contact with her friend's hands. By the way the soles of her shoes stuck to the ground, she didn't want those appendages anywhere near her.
As they approached him, Zack caught sight of them and his face broke out into a large grin. "Hey! You guys made it. Would have thought you'd be the first ones here."
"Oh, Zack," one of his friends began, "we're gonna go get some more beer, you want any?"
Zack shook his head. "No, I'm good."
"See ya later then," he responded, nudging Zack with his shoulder. The other two snickered to themselves, throwing looks at Beth. Goddesses, they were as bad as his cousins.
"You having fun?" Zack asked her.
She bit her lip, not sure how to respond.
"Terrible," Nadja responded in her place. "It's crowded and loud here. We only came to find you to tell you we're leaving."
"Leaving?" he repeated. "Didn't you just get here?"
"It's not exactly our thing, Zack," Beth explained apologetically. "We appreciate the extended invitation, though. It's the thought that counts, right?"
"Hey, it gets fun," he tried. "You have to stick around a while. It grows on you."
"All I'm afraid of is some funky gunk growing on my hands," Nadja bit out. "I'm going to find a bathroom. You two stay here. If I don't come back in ten minutes, assume I've been roofied." And with that. Nadja turned on her heel to find a bathroom or at least a sink to clean her hands.
"What's 'roofied'?" Beth asked, a look of innocent curiosity on her face.
"Uh, a very bad thing?" Zack replied hesitantly. They were quiet for a moment, or at least as quiet as one can be in a party with thrumming music making the air shake.
"Look," he finally began, "I got this guy here. Met him a little bit ago. We started talking and he told me he and his friends got some fireworks he wants to set off later. He told me to get him when I wanted to see them and I told him I had some friends waiting."
"Fireworks?" she asked. "Isn't that a Fourth of July, New Year's thing?"
"You can set off fireworks whenever. He said he knows a guy who makes them."
"Well, I can't see that going wrong at all," she quipped, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
"Come on, tell me you'll at least stick around for those."
She huffed, considered telling him no, but found she couldn't. She wanted him to like her and telling him no sounded like a good way to make him not like her. She liked Zack and despite what Nadja felt, actually wanted to have him around. She wanted him as a friend and that meant not making him think she was lame. Even if this whole thing with the fireworks made her feel uneasy.
It's just some dumb college boy with explosives. Chances of injury are high, especially with alcohol involved. But Zack asked nicely and just how wrong can this go?
The smart part of her brain responded a lot, but she ignored it. She had to get involved.
"Alright," she agreed, sounding none too enthusiastic.
"Cool. When Nadja gets back, we can go find him. He said he'd be out back," he told her.
"What about your friends?"
"Nah, they didn't care and he didn't seem interested in them anyway."
"Interested?" she repeated, confused. He didn't seem to hear her and before she could ask again, Nadja reappeared, clean hands and all.
"The couple by the sink were very helpful," she told the two of them, holding out her newly cleaned hands for inspection. "They helped me locate the soap, which, for some reason, was across the floor. Can soap get dirty?"
"Nadja, we're gonna go out back to see some fireworks," Zack told her.
"Fireworks?" she repeated. "On Halloween? A little unconventional, but oh well. I like fireworks."
"Here, follow me." He grabbed Beth's hand, who in turn grabbed Nadja's hand.
"Zack," she asked again when they exited the living room and could hear one another better. "What do you mean he didn't care about your other friends?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? We got talking and I told him about you and Nadja coming over. He seemed interested in meeting a slayer."
"You told him I was a slayer?" she demanded, more than little agitated he'd told someone without asking for her permission first. After all, it wasn't as if she'd taken out a billboard when she'd gotten slayerized. Some things were best kept on the D.L.
He looked over his shoulder at her. "Why? Is that a problem? People think it's cool that you're the slayer. Doesn't your whole school know since it goes on your record?"
"I mean, I guess it's okay," she replied, although the uneasiness in her stomach grew. They were getting closer to the backdoor. "I just don't need you telling everyone you come in contact with because I am not up for party tricks."
"The guy's cool," he assured. "His mask was really awesome too. Said his friend was some VFX artist or something."
"A what?" she asked.
"You know, the people who do prosthetics for movies," he explained.
When they stepped outside, cool air invaded Beth's personal space and she felt immediately better. Of course, her uneasiness grew and she wondered if this was really just nerves.
Zack continued to lead them away from the house, down the hill towards what looked like a small gazebo. "How far away are these fireworks?" Nadja asked, letting go of Beth's hand. Zack did not do the same.
"They're just down here," he responded, pointing towards a group of people down by the gazebo. They looked bulky, dressed in jeans and Leatherman jackets.
"What, are they pretending to be football players or something?" Nadja asked with a snort.
Monster football players. Beth stopped short, making Zack stop as well. "What?" he asked, turning towards her.
"Zack, what kind of prosthetics?" she asked.
"Uh, good ones?" he responded, scratching the back of his head.
"No, like how do they look?" she reiterated.
"Monster-ish?" he said. "Ghoulish beasts of hell? I dunno, creepy."
Beth looked down at the group who had turned around and were now waving at them. Her stomach dropped. "Zack," she began quietly. "Those aren't prosthetics."
"What?" he asked, like she was absurd. "What else would they be?"
She gave him a hard look. "Why do you think they wanted so much to meet a slayer?"
She saw his jaw go slack with realization, but before anyone could move, something heavy impacted with the back of her head. Before she blacked out, she heard Nadja scream. Well, at least she now knew what her Slayer Sense felt like.
-.-
Well, didn't Beth feel like a bundle of kittens and a half with her sore head and sore wrists and just sore everything? Who knew one could be so sore? And when she finally became fully lucid, she was going to find the person(s) who made her sore and beat the snot out of them.
"Beth?" came a quite whisper.
She only groaned in response.
"Oh good, you're alive. I mean, not that I thought you were dead, but that thing hit you and then you were out and I was so scared—"
And what Beth wouldn't give to have that voice shut the hell up.
"Nadja," she began weakly, "you're babbling is making my head hurt more."
"Oh. Sorry."
Blissful quietness settled over her again and she felt just the barest hints of relief.
"Beth." Oh great, now Zack wanted in. "We need to get out of here."
Here? Where was here?
She lifted her head and cracked open her eyes. It looked like a cave. Underground then? But where? She tried moving her arm, only to have it stop short. She looked up and noticed she was shackled to a low-hanging ceiling. Her feet barely touched the ground. Nadja and Zack were chained up to a wall some few yards off. A couple of torches hung from the walls, giving the cave a dim look. Could someone say evil men's lair?
"Wow," she commented, "Can you say cliché any louder? Where's the robed men?"
"Demons, actually," Nadja piped up. "Green and scaly. Not prosthetics, you dunderhead."
"I said I was sorry, didn't I?" he hissed.
"Say it when I'm not facing the possibility of death, and then maybe I'll accept it," she snapped. "I knew this party was a bad idea. But no, you had to go all googly-eyed and convince poor, impressionable Beth here to come along!"
"I didn't force her to go!" he argued defensively.
"Will you two shut up?" Beth shouted, her voice echoing off the cave walls. "Now, what the hell do you know?"
"The demons want you for something, we're not sure," Nadja told her. "They were arguing over it when they dragged us back to their lair. Here, that is."
"Great," she grumbled. "I've been a slayer—for what?—a month and a half and already they kidnap me. This is just too soon. I did not adequately prepare witty comebacks for their monologues."
"How about we not stay here long enough for them to come back and monologue?" Zack suggested.
She snorted. "Don't be stupid. It's the best part." Despite her words, she gave a strong tug on the chains. She heard a crack, but no give. She paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and tried again. No give.
"Great, if the slayer can't get out, then what's the hope for us?" he moaned. "I'm pretty sure we're the snacks too. Jesus, I am an idiot."
"Glad you finally agree," Nadja grumbled at him, the panic rising in her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing heavily. She could do this. She knew she could. She had the strength. These chains were meant to hold a regular slayer, not Beth. Not her. Fuck.
"No," she breathed out, trying to keep her voice steady. "I can do this. They prepared for a slayer. They didn't prepare for me."
"Beth, you can't just break out by sheer will," he said softly. "You're stronger than us, but they made chains stronger than you."
"No, they didn't," she snapped. She could do this. Sure, Zack would probably never look at her again (at least not without disgust in his eyes, but hey, she was used to that). She'd probably never see Nadja again either, not after Zack told his family. Because he would. He felt like he had to. She couldn't blame him, though a small growing part of her did. Why couldn't people just accept her the way she was? What was it about her that made her so wrong?
"Beth," Nadja started warningly. "We can figure this out. Don't worry."
She looked up and caught Nadja's eyes. They were panicky. So, she was thinking the same thing Beth was. It made sense. Nadja knew Zack far better than Beth did. She knew how he would react.
"No, because what's the other way?" she asked, her voice growing steadily louder. "My mother thinks I'm staying the night at your house. No one is coming for us, not for a long while. By then, you'll be dead and I'll be gods know where. That's not getting you out of here. That's not what a slayer does."
"Beth, please—"
"I can do this. I was born to do this. So I'm gonna."
She felt the features of her face shift as her ridges showed and her fangs dropped. She was always stronger when she vamped out, the strength she inherited coming in full-force. It was the thing that made her an outcast, but it was also now the thing that was going to keep her friends alive.
Studiously avoiding making eye contact with Zack, she prepared to apply as much force as she could to get herself out of her restraints. She hoisted herself up, flipping over to push her feet against the stone ceiling. She pushed hard, hearing the rock crack and break. She felt the chains give, and the next thing she knew, her back hit the stone floor with a hard thump and pieces of rock rained down on her.
She coughed up dust, sitting up and ignoring the aching pain in her back. She got to her feet quickly, walking over to Nadja and Zack. She yanked their chains out of the wall, stupid easy after breaking out of her own slayer reinforced ones.
"I don't know when they'll be back, so you need to go," Beth commanded Nadja, her features reverting back. "I'll take care of them."
"Beth—"
"I said go, Nadja!" Her voice echoed off the cave walls, leaving an eerie silence after it faded. Whatever Nadja had meant to say, it died in her throat as she looked at Beth with sad eyes. She finally willed herself to look at Zack, who looked shell-shocked, eyes wide. She couldn't help it; she flinched.
"Get her home where she's safe," she told him.
He didn't respond. He only grabbed Nadja's arm before backing away towards the exit. She couldn't read the look in his eyes, but it made her feel so little again, like when she first realized why none of the girls wanted to play with her. She was a freak. A monster. A thing. And no one liked a thing.
As Nadja and Zack exited the cave through a hole in the roof, Nadja took one last look over her shoulder at Beth. She smiled weakly, no doubt unconvincingly. Once they were gone, she turned around to look at her breakout.
"Let them sit on that for a while," she mumbled, taking a seat on the hard floor, hands resting on her knees, as she awaited the return of her captors. They weren't going to catch her with her back turned this time.
-.-
Spike was startled out of his seat when he heard the front door open and slam shut. Buffy was the first one up though, rushing into the hallway.
Beth stood there, still dressed as Alice, with the ghoulish makeup and all. Though he could have sworn she had a lot more fake blood on her than before.
"I thought you were staying the night at Nadja's," Buffy remembered, inspecting her daughter. "Is that real blood?"
She shrugged off Buffy's concerned, motherly hold, stepping back. "Don't worry, I handled it. Just some demons, thinking they could put one over the slayer. Everything's fine. Problem solved."
"Everything does not sound fine," Buffy huffed. "What happened? You were out with Nadja. You were supposed to be having fun, not working." She gasped, a thought coming into her head. "Is Nadja alright?"
"Nadja is fine," Beth snapped. "She's fine. Everyone is fine. Gods, just listen to me, I said I handled it!"
Buffy fell silent after her daughter's outburst. Beth had gone through a lot of good changes since moving to Bellevue, so it had been a while since Buffy had heard her daughter sound like that. In fact, the last time she could recall was when she had nearly grilled Beth about what the other potentials were saying about her when she or Spike weren't around.
"Love, what's the matter?" Spike asked softly, reaching out to hug her. She pulled away from him, depriving herself of any comfort.
"I am fine," she ground out.
"No, you're really not," he laughed, though there was no humor to it.
"I'm going to bed. Don't bother me." She stomped up the stairs, slamming her door behind her, making the pictures on the wall rattle.
He turned to Buffy. "Think they got in a fight?"
"I don't know," she replied, sounding a bit hopeless. "You really think she'd get that mad over a fight? But something must have happened with Nadja. I can't think of any other reason why she would be so upset she wouldn't even talk to us about it. At the very least, she'd tell you! She tells you everything!"
He knew at some point Beth would stop telling him everything, once she got her own friends and started to think it was uncool to be so close to her own father. Didn't make it hurt any less. And he had a growing idea about another person who could possibly make his little Lizzie so upset. A certain gangly boy who made moon eyes at his daughter. If that little Kalderash runt was the reason behind Beth's current emotions, he would kill him, soul be damned.
"It's best we just leave her be, love," he told Buffy. "Wait until tomorrow to try and talk to her."
"Okay," she agreed, though she looked up the stairs like she wanted to do anything but.
-.-
Beth didn't move for the remainder of the weekend. Good thing Halloween was on a Friday this year. She couldn't imagine going to school now. Nadja was there. Or, at least, Nadja would be there, but unable to talk to Beth because Zack would no doubt hover over her, working to keep the vampire freak away from his cousin.
Beth's phone also rung incessantly, but she ignored it, before she put it on silent after the fifth call. Well, technically she threw it across the room hard enough to put a dent in the plaster and shatter the phone, but hey, it didn't ring anymore.
Occasionally, she moved to use the restroom, or to eat the food her mother left for her on her bedside table. Willow came up occasionally to try and talk to her, attempting the "girl talk" card to get Beth to fess up about what happened on Halloween, but she didn't say a word. Mr. Wells was turned away at the front door, Buffy telling him Beth had come down with something and was too ill to slayer train.
She cried a lot too, like she used to back when she was young. She hated crying. Not only did it make her feel gross, it also made her feel weak. Like she let those hurtful words get to her. And she did, but when she cried, everyone knew it too.
She hugged her pillow to her body. It was Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow was school. Tomorrow was Nadja. Tomorrow was Zack. How would he look at her? Would he even look at her? Would he tell everybody? He didn't seem that vindictive, but he also hated vampires with a passion. He would think she tricked him. Manipulated him. Played him like a fool like vampires did. She had been stupid to think she could keep him from finding out. Nadja had found out, hadn't she?
"Love, you have to get out of bed at some point."
"No, I don't," she mumbled into her pillow, not looking up to see her dad standing in the doorway. She hadn't even heard the door open. Maybe strength was not the only vampire trait he kept?
She felt the bed give underneath him as he sat down at the edge. She also felt him place a soothing hand on her shoulder. She didn't turn over.
"You've got school tomorrow," he reminded her.
"Do I have to go?" she mumbled into her pillow.
"Unfortunately, the bloody government decides that, not me," he told her.
"Can I go back to the other school? The one I went to when I was wrongly kicked out of St. Renevier's?" she asked.
He sighed. "Sweetheart, you've got to tell me what's goin' on. I can't help you if you don't."
She bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood. "Zack saw me," she finally whispered. For a second, she thought maybe he hadn't heard her, since he didn't respond immediately.
"An' by that you mean?" he asked confused.
She jerked up, turning to face him. "I mean he knows I'm not human, Dad!" she yelled. "He saw me transform and now he's going to hate me and he'll tell his whole family so Nadja won't be able to hang out with me anymore and I'll be alone again and it sucks because I had friends and now I've lost them. At least before I didn't know what it felt like to be accepted." Finishing her cry, she laid back down on the bed with a thump, turning back over to face the wall again.
"Lizzie," he began sadly, "you weren't accepted if he couldn't accept you for all you are."
"But it was better than nothing," she told him. "At least he would talk to me."
"If he can't accept you, he's not worth your time," he continued.
"No one accepts me," she bit out.
"Nadja did."
"And Nadja's some strange outlier," she snapped.
"Now, there's no need to say such things about her. She's a nice girl," he chided.
"Dad, could you just not today?" she asked. "I know you want to kiss and make it better, but you can't. You never could, actually."
"I know," he admitted despondently. "I always knew I couldn' talk away your pain, love. But that hasn't stopped me from tryin'." He stood up off the bed, leaning over to place a kiss on her temple. "You're going to have to face them."
"So, I am going to school tomorrow then," she sighed.
"You got to face all your demons, Beth, not just the ones inside you."