Part Two.
Back to Buffy
Once outside Buffy followed a couple vamps into the storage unit.
The building was much bigger than it appeared, as it seemed to go on forever below the surface. For the most part the place was rather unspectacular. With only one unique looking piece of equipment in the first room and that was a very futuristic looking elevator that the two vamps stepped into and soon were moving downward at a very fast pace.
Buffy hopped over a railing and looked around the laboratory unit in the far corner of the building. She searched through the files on the table and studied the pictures on the wall, but couldn't figure out what they meant.
In a large freezer to the left were thousands of vials of blood, each numbered but with no name attached.
There was a computer room beside the lab and Buffy walked in, turned on the first computer she came across and sat down in front of it.
As she explored the contents on the hard drive, she found a file marked, 'formula", and since there weren't a lot of other files on the system she opened it up.
Reading the file, she quickly discovered the formula had one purpose and that was to make vamps not only invincible to sunlight, but also impervious to being staked.
She wanted to send the file to Willow's computer, but the computer she was using wasn't hooked up to the internet. She did see the printer so she printed out the entire file instead.
Knowing the file was 75 pages long, she knew she had to expect at least a few unfriendly visitors as it printed, so she walked out to the main lab, locked the door and stood waiting for the impending fight.
After 15 minutes she was still alone and hadn't seen one vamp.
She walked back into the computer room, saw that there were only 10 pages left to print out and that brought a relieved smile to her face. But, as with most times she'd smiled lately, it didn't last for long.
When she turned around the room had filled up with vamps, but it was a human who moved forward.
A short, stocky man with a dark goatee stepped up and pointed a taser device at her, "Buffy isn't it? I'm surprised this little operation warranted the attention of a slayer." "You know my name but what's yours?" Buffy asked as she counted 8 vamps standing behind the portly man.
"I'm Dr. Eugene Pisnovski, not that a blonde bimbo such as yourself would know much about genetic engineering."
"What did you call me?" Buffy said, insulted by the doctors comment.
"Oh don't be so defensive, it's not your fault you're uneducated and lack the mental capacity to understand something so complex, let alone grasp the truly remarkable scientific breakthrough's I've made with my research." Pisnovski said with a smug look of self-appreciation.
Buffy smiled at his arrogance, "You do realize that once you help your new found vampire friends, they will eat up and spit you out, leaving your research for someone else to find and take credit for." "How typical, a small mind for such a tiny little girl." The doctor said as he walked past Buffy and sat down at the computer chair. "Do you really think I haven't thought of every single scenario? Did they only give you brawn and leave the brains to someone else?"
"Why you little piece of."
"Now, now, no foul language in front of the vamps." Pisnovski smiled and then pulled up a large complicated graphic, "Have a look at this."
Buffy took a couple steps forward and looked at the picture on the screen, but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it, "So, it's your brilliant genetic plan for vampire superiority. Do you think it's really gonna work?"
"Actually, yes I do." Pisnovski then reached down, pushed a button under the desk and pulled up a live picture of Buffy's house.
Dawn was walking upstairs as Xander sat and watched some TV.
"What is this? Why are you watching my house?" Buffy demanded as the camera followed Dawn into her bedroom.
"I call it slayer protection." Pisnovski said as she leered at Dawn in her tight blue jeans, adjusting the camera and zooming in on her shapely round ass. "Such a lovely young girl she is. It seems as though she's about to take a shower. So, let me ask you something Buffy, do you want everyone to watch or are you going to do as you're told?"
Buffy hated being in a position of weakness but as she watched Dawn slip out of her jeans and remove her t-shirt she had to put an end to it, "Stop it now. Shut it off."
"I didn't hear the magic word."
"Please shut it off." Buffy pleaded as Dawn removed her underwear and walked into her bathroom. "Enough. She has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone."
"Oh such passion, that's good, let's hope it keeps you in line. I assure you that seeing Dawn on a live web cam is the least of your concerns. If I don't get what I want, I don't think I need to explain all the ways I could make her death very unpleasant."
"Do not threaten my family. Pissing me off is not a wise move." Buffy said as she grabbed the computer monitor and smashed it against the wall.
"Now it's time for you to learn that pissing me off is an equally bad move." Pisnovski nodded towards the vamps, "Take her to the pit. Let her meet some of the others who have refused to cooperate."
It took all eight vamps to get control of Buffy, but as soon as they did, Dr. Pisnovski injected her with something and she went limp within seconds. When Buffy woke up, she was hanging in mid air above a large pit filled with numerous human skeletons and every poisonous snake known to man.
Buffy looked down at the hungry reptiles below and couldn't help but smile, "Well, this is new. This guy must be a huge sadist."
She looked around the large room and spotted two doors, one to the east and the other to the west. Each guarded by a single vampire. With her hands tied with extra strength rope and with each hand handcuffed to a large steel frame above her head, the chances of breaking free were slim to none.
There was no time to feel sorry for herself, so Buffy tried a different approach. She closed her eyes and focused every ounce of her energy into her mind and sent out a distress signal she hoped Willow would pick up on.
Willow was lounging on Buffy's couch, spending her time the way she liked best, kissing Kennedy. Xander was so used to it by now he didn't spend all his time staring at them anymore. Andrew was drawing pictures of Spike in his leather jacket as he sat in the corner of the room.
Willow abruptly sat up, focused her mind and soon was hearing Buffy's voice, "Willow, I know you can hear me. I've gotten myself into an embarrassing predicament here and I'm going to need some help getting out. I'm hovering above a pit of snakes, my hands are tied and bound and handcuffed to some steel beams above me. I'm hoping you can cast a spell or figure out where I am and help get me down. Oh, one other thing, there are camera's hidden throughout the house, find them and destroy them before you do anything. Thanks. I love you all."
Willow sent back a quick message to Buffy, "I heard ya and we'll find a way to help. Don't give up."
Buffy smiled as she heard Willow's comforting voice and knew that things were about to change.
Willow stood up, explained everything to Kennedy, Xander and Andrew Xander quickly began searching for the hidden camera's with the unwanted help of Andrew, while Kennedy got out the magic books for Willow.
Willow ran upstairs to find Dawn and when she didn't see her in the room she burst into the bathroom to see Dawn standing there naked wondering what was going on.
"Um, you're okay. That's good. I will be leaving now." Willow turned and walked out of the bathroom.
Dawn put on her bathrobe and followed Willow. "Stop right there Willow. Tell me what's going on, why on earth did you bust into my room like that?"
"I'm sorry, I should have knocked, but I wasn't thinking straight."
"I don't care about that, I mean what caused this?" Dawn asked as she began drying her long wavy hair.
"Oh that, well Buffy needs our help. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Willow said as she turned away again.
"I've got clothes on now so it's okay." Dawn said with a grin, "What happened to Buffy?"
"I'm not really sure, but she sent me a message saying she was in a bind and it's our job to get her out of it." Willow explained quickly.
"Okay, let me get dressed and I'll be down in a few minutes and don't think you're going to tell me to stay home for this either." Dawn said firmly, making sure Willow knew she was serious.
"We'll see Dawn, just get dressed for now." Willow left Dawn and ran back downstairs.
"I've found a half dozen camera's hidden in the walls and ceilings already and I'm pretty sure that's only a small portion of them." Xander said as he showed everyone the microscopic camera's in his hands. "Why didn't I ever think of this? Camera's in Buffy's house. Brilliant."
"Xander! Focus." Willow said as she gave her best serious face.
"Oh right, sorry." Xander said with a sheepish grin, "Anyway, I'll keep searching for these things, but whoever did this will know we know and I'm not sure that is going to help Buffy."
"For now I want to take away the edge they have on us. They can see us but we have no idea who they are." Willow said as she began flipping through the magic books at a super fast rate. "Besides, they had to know we'd find them sooner or later. I doubt they would believe Buffy called and told us, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Back in Bishop County.
With a quick step forward, Isabella pointed to the person and motioned for them to come down the hill. She then turned to Faith, "It's nobody really, just little Eddie from next door. He's only 12 and likes to pretend he's a secret agent, which means he does a lot of spying on people and it's caused quite a bit of controversy with some of the things he's seen in such a small town."
"I can only imagine." Faith said as Eddie made his way down the hill, walked over and stood beside Isabella.
"Hi Izzy, who's your friend, she's pretty." Eddie said, as he looked Faith up and down.
"Eddie, this is Faith. She is here to help us with Higathi." Isabella noticed Eddie staring at Faith and stepped in front of him, "Tell me what you saw?"
"Nothing much, I saw something disappear just as I got here, but that's it. What was that thing anyway?" Eddie said as he moved to the side and continued to look at Faith.
"You've got quite an eye on you little guy; maybe you could help me solve this case I'm working on." Faith stepped forward and put her arm on Eddie's shoulder, "If you know anything about this demon it would really help me out."
"I know he only seems to come around on Friday's. I've never seen him any other day. He usually appears around the big statue in the center of town." Eddie reached into his knapsack and pulled out a videotape. "Here, this is what I shot of Higathi last Friday when he was talking to another demon and there's also some weird stuff of him digging a hole over at the mill, but I didn't see what he took from it."
"I'm impressed, you sure are thorough." Faith patted Eddie on the back and took the tape. "You've already been a big help Eddie, but if there's anything else you can tell me about Higathi I'd love to hear about it."
Eddie pondered the question for a few moments, then his eyes lit up, "The only other thing I remember that was kinda weird, was a couple Friday's ago he was drinking some kind of gross looking drink just before he disappeared. It was bubbling and had a whole bunch of colors to it, but it wasn't anything I'd ever seen before."
"That's good, every little bit helps." Faith gave Eddie a hug then looked at the tape in her hand and quickly knelt down in front of Eddie, "Did you happen to tape Higathi drinking on here?"
"I can't remember, I might've."
"That's okay, we'll find out when we watch the tape. Thanks again Eddie, you'd done good work. I think you'll make a great secret agent when you grow up." Faith smiled at Eddie who had an even bigger smile on his face.
"We can watch this at my house, I should be getting back now anyway, it's almost dinner time." Isabella said as she looked at her watch.
"That sounds good to me, I'm starving." Faith followed Isabelle back up the hill and they both waved to Eddie and continued on their way.
Isabella opened her front door to find her mother standing there waiting, "Isabella, where have you been?" she said as she began focusing on Faith standing quietly behind her daughter.
"Mom, I'm not even late." Isabella said with a soft laugh then turned and pulled Faith forward, "This is Faith, she's a friend of mine who might be able to help with Higathi."
As her mother's face went white when she heard Higathi's name and Isabella quickly rushed over and helped her to the couch. "Why are you mentioning that name in front of strangers?"
"It's okay mom, Faith knows about demons and wants to help us. I'm going to get you some water, why don't you talk to Faith and listen to what she has to say." Isabella didn't wait for an answer, she just motioned for Faith to sit down and went into the kitchen to get her mom some water.
Faith sat down, smiled at Isabella's mother and tried to find the right thing to say. "Hi Mrs. Moyer, I know this must be hard for you, but your daughter told me about your situation here and I offered to help."
"Please call me Debra." She said as she turned to Faith. "I'm afraid I will have to be blunt as there is no time for pleasantries. I appreciate that you want to help, but quite frankly I don't see how you can. Forgive me for saying this, but you're just a little girl, not much older than my Isabella, how can you possibly stop a demon?"
"I understand your skepticism Debra, but I've had some experience dealing with demons and I will find a way to help Isabella." Faith said trying to reassure a woman she'd just met that everything would be okay. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you. I'm a slayer. That means I have some unique abilities that will help me rid this town of your annoying demon problem."
"A slayer? That sounds like a killer to me. If you slay things it means you kill them doesn't it? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you being around my daughter." Debra said as she got to her feet.
Faith stood up and put her hand on Debra's arm. "I know this is hard for you but I think if you give me a chance I can show you I'm not the bad guy here." Faith helped Debra back to the couch. "I only met your daughter a couple hours ago and I feel a strong desire to help her. She is such a sweet girl and I will not let some demon take her as a sacrifice. This is my promise to you."
Debra's face showed the anguish and confusion she felt talking to a stranger about her family's desperate situation. "You seem honest and I want to believe you, I do, but it's hard to trust people anymore, especially with all that's gone on in this town lately."
"I can relate to that, but I'm asking you to give me a chance and I hope to earn your trust and save your daughter in the process." Faith finished just as Isabella returned with a glass of water.
She handed it to her mother and noticed the silence that filled the room, "Okay, did I miss something? You two weren't fighting were you?"
"No sweetheart, it's nothing like that." Debra said as she took the glass from her daughter, "On the contrary, your new friend here has convinced me she not only wants to help, but can help and I want her to stay as long as it takes to get rid of that awful demon." "Thank you mom, you won't regret this." Isabella said as she gave her mom a big hug.
"I hope not." Debra said with a more relaxed sigh than before. "Now, why don't you take Faith upstairs and show her the spare bedroom. You have 30 minutes and then it's time to eat."
"Okay, follow me." Isabella took Faith's hand and led her upstairs.
Isabella lived in a modest three bedroom home. Upstairs were the bedrooms and the main bathroom and it was much more modern than Faith expected from such a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.
"Here you go. Your own little room for as long as you need it." Isabella opened the door, turned on the light and stepped inside the cozy room.
Faith followed Isabella inside, looking around at the hand drawn pictures hanging on each and every wall. She walked up to one picture that showed a family of four playing in the park and could tell it was Isabella and her parent's but wasn't sure who the fourth person was.
Isabella walked up and stood beside Faith, put her hand on the picture and smiled, "That was something I drew three years ago. It's my last memory of Lisa with us and it's nice to see this again and remember the fun we used to have."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know.what happened to her?" Faith asked softly.
"It's another strange thing, she just disappeared one night. We had just finished watching a movie and were getting into the car and Lisa forgot her jacket so she went back inside and she never returned. The police searched for weeks on end and there was never a trace of her found. She was 17 at the time and was looking forward to graduation and never made it." Isabella moved over to another picture, "This one is my favorite. It's Lisa exactly as I remember her from that night. She loved that jacket. I used to make fun of her because I never liked the jacket at the time, I thought it was ugly, but now I just want to see her in it again."
"Did this happen before Higathi appeared?" Faith studied the picture and even though it was a drawing, it was easy to see that Lisa was a splitting image of her mother, beautiful long blonde hair, and an ever-present smile and even in the drawing, there was something about her that stood out.
"Yes, it was about a year or so before we saw Higathi so I don't think it's related. I guess it could be though, but I have a feeling Higathi would have said something if he had taken her. He's really arrogant and loves to act all powerful around us." Isabella moved over to the right and pointed to yet another drawing, "This is a picture I did when I was watching her practice her valedictorian speech. She didn't know I was there and I'd never seen her so nervous. She was such a perfectionist."
Faith looked at the picture and pointed to something behind Lisa, "What's that?"
Isabella took a closer look and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I don't even remember drawing it. It looks like figure in the background, but it's really hard to make out."
"I know it's kind of blurry, but my gut tells me it's a vampire. It's just something I can spot a mile away and it makes me wonder what other things are going on around here that nobody knows about." Faith stepped back and sat on the bed, "Have anyone else gone missing since your sister did?"
Isabella touched the picture with her finger before joining Faith on the bed. "No, it's been quiet here until Higathi showed up. We are just a small town who like to live a quiet life, support our school teams and have town picnics and events all year round. We've never had a crime problem here. When Lisa was taken from us, it was like a part of the town was destroyed to, the trusting part. Everyone became more suspicious of their friends and neighbors and instead of coming together in a crisis, it made people afraid to live for the longest time."
"Things seem to be a bit better now, was it Higathi's threats that brought people closer?"
"I think so." Isabella said, shuffling her feet on the floor, "With Lisa's disappearance, it just seemed like something a human would do and since it was never solved, there were constant rumors and speculation that led to the distrust, but with a demon, it was obvious who the enemy was and everyone just banded together again. It was so great to see."
"That's good. You'll need your friends until this is over." Faith lay back on the pillow and let out a peaceful sigh.
"How do you like it?" Isabella said as she watched Faith close her relax and close her eyes.
"This feels so good. I can't remember the last time I slept in such a comfortable room." Faith was just drifting off when she heard Isabella's mom call them down for dinner. "Don't worry, you'll love my mom's cooking and I promise she won't bother you when you go to sleep tonight." Isabella helped Faith to her feet and the two girls went downstairs.
Debra was sitting at one end of the table, her husband was sitting at the other end and Isabella and Faith sat on the two side chairs as they sat down for a home cooked meal.
"Faith, this is my husband Harlan." Debra said as she motioned towards the tall, slender man at the opposite end of the table. "I've told him about your offer to help and well, he is happy even if he doesn't show it."
"I'm pleased to meet you sir." Faith said in a rather subdued voice.
"Yes, nice to meet you to Faith." Harlan said as he shook Faith's outstretched hand, "So, my wife tells me you're some kind of super woman?"
Faith let out a big laugh then quickly composed herself, "I'm sorry, but I am as far from super woman as you can get. I am here to help your daughter and I have certain skills that will help me do it."
"Well, that sounds pretty super to me." Harland grabbed some chicken from a plate in front of him then turned his attention back to Faith, "How does a pretty girl like you get to be one of those slayer things anyway?"
"It's just something I was born into I guess." Faith took a bite of the salad and a big smile came across her face, "Oh this is delicious Mrs. Moyer.I mean Debra, I'm not usually big on salads, but I love this."
Debra smiled at Faith's enthusiastic response, "I'm glad you like it Faith, it's an old family recipe. Well, the dressing is my mother's creation really. I just added some ingredients over the years."
"I sure wish my mom cooked like this." Faith said and wanted to take it back as soon as she had, because she knew what would come next.
"Oh, your mom didn't cook much?" Debra asked politely.
Faith tried to hold in her frustration as she politely answered the question. "Well, she worked at nights and didn't get a chance." She took another bite of the salad and quickly changed the topic. "Have either of you seen this Higathi demon personally?"
"Actually we all have." Harlan said while washing down his food with a glass of water, "We all meet in the town every Friday night and he shows up and tells us what he wants. At first, it was just for strange items he wanted, old pieces of wood, some specific shaped metals and some electronic parts. It was as if he was a junk collector or something."
"Yes, it was highly peculiar at first." Debra added as she thought back to her first meeting with Higathi. "He appeared from out of nowhere, a strange, ugly looking creature. He made a point of showing us his powers by blasting away some old buildings with nothing more than a flick of his fingers. He told us he was here to reclaim what was his from thousands of years ago. A couple months ago, he said he was dying and needed a sacrifice to keep him alive. Of course we said no but he threatened to kill all of us if we didn't cooperate."
"He needs to be stopped." Faith finished off her last bite and got up from the table, "This was an amazing meal Debra, it was nice meeting you Harlan, but I need to do have a look around and see if I can find this demon." She smiled and was out the door before anyone could say a thing.
End of Part Two.
Back to Buffy
Once outside Buffy followed a couple vamps into the storage unit.
The building was much bigger than it appeared, as it seemed to go on forever below the surface. For the most part the place was rather unspectacular. With only one unique looking piece of equipment in the first room and that was a very futuristic looking elevator that the two vamps stepped into and soon were moving downward at a very fast pace.
Buffy hopped over a railing and looked around the laboratory unit in the far corner of the building. She searched through the files on the table and studied the pictures on the wall, but couldn't figure out what they meant.
In a large freezer to the left were thousands of vials of blood, each numbered but with no name attached.
There was a computer room beside the lab and Buffy walked in, turned on the first computer she came across and sat down in front of it.
As she explored the contents on the hard drive, she found a file marked, 'formula", and since there weren't a lot of other files on the system she opened it up.
Reading the file, she quickly discovered the formula had one purpose and that was to make vamps not only invincible to sunlight, but also impervious to being staked.
She wanted to send the file to Willow's computer, but the computer she was using wasn't hooked up to the internet. She did see the printer so she printed out the entire file instead.
Knowing the file was 75 pages long, she knew she had to expect at least a few unfriendly visitors as it printed, so she walked out to the main lab, locked the door and stood waiting for the impending fight.
After 15 minutes she was still alone and hadn't seen one vamp.
She walked back into the computer room, saw that there were only 10 pages left to print out and that brought a relieved smile to her face. But, as with most times she'd smiled lately, it didn't last for long.
When she turned around the room had filled up with vamps, but it was a human who moved forward.
A short, stocky man with a dark goatee stepped up and pointed a taser device at her, "Buffy isn't it? I'm surprised this little operation warranted the attention of a slayer." "You know my name but what's yours?" Buffy asked as she counted 8 vamps standing behind the portly man.
"I'm Dr. Eugene Pisnovski, not that a blonde bimbo such as yourself would know much about genetic engineering."
"What did you call me?" Buffy said, insulted by the doctors comment.
"Oh don't be so defensive, it's not your fault you're uneducated and lack the mental capacity to understand something so complex, let alone grasp the truly remarkable scientific breakthrough's I've made with my research." Pisnovski said with a smug look of self-appreciation.
Buffy smiled at his arrogance, "You do realize that once you help your new found vampire friends, they will eat up and spit you out, leaving your research for someone else to find and take credit for." "How typical, a small mind for such a tiny little girl." The doctor said as he walked past Buffy and sat down at the computer chair. "Do you really think I haven't thought of every single scenario? Did they only give you brawn and leave the brains to someone else?"
"Why you little piece of."
"Now, now, no foul language in front of the vamps." Pisnovski smiled and then pulled up a large complicated graphic, "Have a look at this."
Buffy took a couple steps forward and looked at the picture on the screen, but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it, "So, it's your brilliant genetic plan for vampire superiority. Do you think it's really gonna work?"
"Actually, yes I do." Pisnovski then reached down, pushed a button under the desk and pulled up a live picture of Buffy's house.
Dawn was walking upstairs as Xander sat and watched some TV.
"What is this? Why are you watching my house?" Buffy demanded as the camera followed Dawn into her bedroom.
"I call it slayer protection." Pisnovski said as she leered at Dawn in her tight blue jeans, adjusting the camera and zooming in on her shapely round ass. "Such a lovely young girl she is. It seems as though she's about to take a shower. So, let me ask you something Buffy, do you want everyone to watch or are you going to do as you're told?"
Buffy hated being in a position of weakness but as she watched Dawn slip out of her jeans and remove her t-shirt she had to put an end to it, "Stop it now. Shut it off."
"I didn't hear the magic word."
"Please shut it off." Buffy pleaded as Dawn removed her underwear and walked into her bathroom. "Enough. She has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone."
"Oh such passion, that's good, let's hope it keeps you in line. I assure you that seeing Dawn on a live web cam is the least of your concerns. If I don't get what I want, I don't think I need to explain all the ways I could make her death very unpleasant."
"Do not threaten my family. Pissing me off is not a wise move." Buffy said as she grabbed the computer monitor and smashed it against the wall.
"Now it's time for you to learn that pissing me off is an equally bad move." Pisnovski nodded towards the vamps, "Take her to the pit. Let her meet some of the others who have refused to cooperate."
It took all eight vamps to get control of Buffy, but as soon as they did, Dr. Pisnovski injected her with something and she went limp within seconds. When Buffy woke up, she was hanging in mid air above a large pit filled with numerous human skeletons and every poisonous snake known to man.
Buffy looked down at the hungry reptiles below and couldn't help but smile, "Well, this is new. This guy must be a huge sadist."
She looked around the large room and spotted two doors, one to the east and the other to the west. Each guarded by a single vampire. With her hands tied with extra strength rope and with each hand handcuffed to a large steel frame above her head, the chances of breaking free were slim to none.
There was no time to feel sorry for herself, so Buffy tried a different approach. She closed her eyes and focused every ounce of her energy into her mind and sent out a distress signal she hoped Willow would pick up on.
Willow was lounging on Buffy's couch, spending her time the way she liked best, kissing Kennedy. Xander was so used to it by now he didn't spend all his time staring at them anymore. Andrew was drawing pictures of Spike in his leather jacket as he sat in the corner of the room.
Willow abruptly sat up, focused her mind and soon was hearing Buffy's voice, "Willow, I know you can hear me. I've gotten myself into an embarrassing predicament here and I'm going to need some help getting out. I'm hovering above a pit of snakes, my hands are tied and bound and handcuffed to some steel beams above me. I'm hoping you can cast a spell or figure out where I am and help get me down. Oh, one other thing, there are camera's hidden throughout the house, find them and destroy them before you do anything. Thanks. I love you all."
Willow sent back a quick message to Buffy, "I heard ya and we'll find a way to help. Don't give up."
Buffy smiled as she heard Willow's comforting voice and knew that things were about to change.
Willow stood up, explained everything to Kennedy, Xander and Andrew Xander quickly began searching for the hidden camera's with the unwanted help of Andrew, while Kennedy got out the magic books for Willow.
Willow ran upstairs to find Dawn and when she didn't see her in the room she burst into the bathroom to see Dawn standing there naked wondering what was going on.
"Um, you're okay. That's good. I will be leaving now." Willow turned and walked out of the bathroom.
Dawn put on her bathrobe and followed Willow. "Stop right there Willow. Tell me what's going on, why on earth did you bust into my room like that?"
"I'm sorry, I should have knocked, but I wasn't thinking straight."
"I don't care about that, I mean what caused this?" Dawn asked as she began drying her long wavy hair.
"Oh that, well Buffy needs our help. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Willow said as she turned away again.
"I've got clothes on now so it's okay." Dawn said with a grin, "What happened to Buffy?"
"I'm not really sure, but she sent me a message saying she was in a bind and it's our job to get her out of it." Willow explained quickly.
"Okay, let me get dressed and I'll be down in a few minutes and don't think you're going to tell me to stay home for this either." Dawn said firmly, making sure Willow knew she was serious.
"We'll see Dawn, just get dressed for now." Willow left Dawn and ran back downstairs.
"I've found a half dozen camera's hidden in the walls and ceilings already and I'm pretty sure that's only a small portion of them." Xander said as he showed everyone the microscopic camera's in his hands. "Why didn't I ever think of this? Camera's in Buffy's house. Brilliant."
"Xander! Focus." Willow said as she gave her best serious face.
"Oh right, sorry." Xander said with a sheepish grin, "Anyway, I'll keep searching for these things, but whoever did this will know we know and I'm not sure that is going to help Buffy."
"For now I want to take away the edge they have on us. They can see us but we have no idea who they are." Willow said as she began flipping through the magic books at a super fast rate. "Besides, they had to know we'd find them sooner or later. I doubt they would believe Buffy called and told us, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Back in Bishop County.
With a quick step forward, Isabella pointed to the person and motioned for them to come down the hill. She then turned to Faith, "It's nobody really, just little Eddie from next door. He's only 12 and likes to pretend he's a secret agent, which means he does a lot of spying on people and it's caused quite a bit of controversy with some of the things he's seen in such a small town."
"I can only imagine." Faith said as Eddie made his way down the hill, walked over and stood beside Isabella.
"Hi Izzy, who's your friend, she's pretty." Eddie said, as he looked Faith up and down.
"Eddie, this is Faith. She is here to help us with Higathi." Isabella noticed Eddie staring at Faith and stepped in front of him, "Tell me what you saw?"
"Nothing much, I saw something disappear just as I got here, but that's it. What was that thing anyway?" Eddie said as he moved to the side and continued to look at Faith.
"You've got quite an eye on you little guy; maybe you could help me solve this case I'm working on." Faith stepped forward and put her arm on Eddie's shoulder, "If you know anything about this demon it would really help me out."
"I know he only seems to come around on Friday's. I've never seen him any other day. He usually appears around the big statue in the center of town." Eddie reached into his knapsack and pulled out a videotape. "Here, this is what I shot of Higathi last Friday when he was talking to another demon and there's also some weird stuff of him digging a hole over at the mill, but I didn't see what he took from it."
"I'm impressed, you sure are thorough." Faith patted Eddie on the back and took the tape. "You've already been a big help Eddie, but if there's anything else you can tell me about Higathi I'd love to hear about it."
Eddie pondered the question for a few moments, then his eyes lit up, "The only other thing I remember that was kinda weird, was a couple Friday's ago he was drinking some kind of gross looking drink just before he disappeared. It was bubbling and had a whole bunch of colors to it, but it wasn't anything I'd ever seen before."
"That's good, every little bit helps." Faith gave Eddie a hug then looked at the tape in her hand and quickly knelt down in front of Eddie, "Did you happen to tape Higathi drinking on here?"
"I can't remember, I might've."
"That's okay, we'll find out when we watch the tape. Thanks again Eddie, you'd done good work. I think you'll make a great secret agent when you grow up." Faith smiled at Eddie who had an even bigger smile on his face.
"We can watch this at my house, I should be getting back now anyway, it's almost dinner time." Isabella said as she looked at her watch.
"That sounds good to me, I'm starving." Faith followed Isabelle back up the hill and they both waved to Eddie and continued on their way.
Isabella opened her front door to find her mother standing there waiting, "Isabella, where have you been?" she said as she began focusing on Faith standing quietly behind her daughter.
"Mom, I'm not even late." Isabella said with a soft laugh then turned and pulled Faith forward, "This is Faith, she's a friend of mine who might be able to help with Higathi."
As her mother's face went white when she heard Higathi's name and Isabella quickly rushed over and helped her to the couch. "Why are you mentioning that name in front of strangers?"
"It's okay mom, Faith knows about demons and wants to help us. I'm going to get you some water, why don't you talk to Faith and listen to what she has to say." Isabella didn't wait for an answer, she just motioned for Faith to sit down and went into the kitchen to get her mom some water.
Faith sat down, smiled at Isabella's mother and tried to find the right thing to say. "Hi Mrs. Moyer, I know this must be hard for you, but your daughter told me about your situation here and I offered to help."
"Please call me Debra." She said as she turned to Faith. "I'm afraid I will have to be blunt as there is no time for pleasantries. I appreciate that you want to help, but quite frankly I don't see how you can. Forgive me for saying this, but you're just a little girl, not much older than my Isabella, how can you possibly stop a demon?"
"I understand your skepticism Debra, but I've had some experience dealing with demons and I will find a way to help Isabella." Faith said trying to reassure a woman she'd just met that everything would be okay. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you. I'm a slayer. That means I have some unique abilities that will help me rid this town of your annoying demon problem."
"A slayer? That sounds like a killer to me. If you slay things it means you kill them doesn't it? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you being around my daughter." Debra said as she got to her feet.
Faith stood up and put her hand on Debra's arm. "I know this is hard for you but I think if you give me a chance I can show you I'm not the bad guy here." Faith helped Debra back to the couch. "I only met your daughter a couple hours ago and I feel a strong desire to help her. She is such a sweet girl and I will not let some demon take her as a sacrifice. This is my promise to you."
Debra's face showed the anguish and confusion she felt talking to a stranger about her family's desperate situation. "You seem honest and I want to believe you, I do, but it's hard to trust people anymore, especially with all that's gone on in this town lately."
"I can relate to that, but I'm asking you to give me a chance and I hope to earn your trust and save your daughter in the process." Faith finished just as Isabella returned with a glass of water.
She handed it to her mother and noticed the silence that filled the room, "Okay, did I miss something? You two weren't fighting were you?"
"No sweetheart, it's nothing like that." Debra said as she took the glass from her daughter, "On the contrary, your new friend here has convinced me she not only wants to help, but can help and I want her to stay as long as it takes to get rid of that awful demon." "Thank you mom, you won't regret this." Isabella said as she gave her mom a big hug.
"I hope not." Debra said with a more relaxed sigh than before. "Now, why don't you take Faith upstairs and show her the spare bedroom. You have 30 minutes and then it's time to eat."
"Okay, follow me." Isabella took Faith's hand and led her upstairs.
Isabella lived in a modest three bedroom home. Upstairs were the bedrooms and the main bathroom and it was much more modern than Faith expected from such a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.
"Here you go. Your own little room for as long as you need it." Isabella opened the door, turned on the light and stepped inside the cozy room.
Faith followed Isabella inside, looking around at the hand drawn pictures hanging on each and every wall. She walked up to one picture that showed a family of four playing in the park and could tell it was Isabella and her parent's but wasn't sure who the fourth person was.
Isabella walked up and stood beside Faith, put her hand on the picture and smiled, "That was something I drew three years ago. It's my last memory of Lisa with us and it's nice to see this again and remember the fun we used to have."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know.what happened to her?" Faith asked softly.
"It's another strange thing, she just disappeared one night. We had just finished watching a movie and were getting into the car and Lisa forgot her jacket so she went back inside and she never returned. The police searched for weeks on end and there was never a trace of her found. She was 17 at the time and was looking forward to graduation and never made it." Isabella moved over to another picture, "This one is my favorite. It's Lisa exactly as I remember her from that night. She loved that jacket. I used to make fun of her because I never liked the jacket at the time, I thought it was ugly, but now I just want to see her in it again."
"Did this happen before Higathi appeared?" Faith studied the picture and even though it was a drawing, it was easy to see that Lisa was a splitting image of her mother, beautiful long blonde hair, and an ever-present smile and even in the drawing, there was something about her that stood out.
"Yes, it was about a year or so before we saw Higathi so I don't think it's related. I guess it could be though, but I have a feeling Higathi would have said something if he had taken her. He's really arrogant and loves to act all powerful around us." Isabella moved over to the right and pointed to yet another drawing, "This is a picture I did when I was watching her practice her valedictorian speech. She didn't know I was there and I'd never seen her so nervous. She was such a perfectionist."
Faith looked at the picture and pointed to something behind Lisa, "What's that?"
Isabella took a closer look and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I don't even remember drawing it. It looks like figure in the background, but it's really hard to make out."
"I know it's kind of blurry, but my gut tells me it's a vampire. It's just something I can spot a mile away and it makes me wonder what other things are going on around here that nobody knows about." Faith stepped back and sat on the bed, "Have anyone else gone missing since your sister did?"
Isabella touched the picture with her finger before joining Faith on the bed. "No, it's been quiet here until Higathi showed up. We are just a small town who like to live a quiet life, support our school teams and have town picnics and events all year round. We've never had a crime problem here. When Lisa was taken from us, it was like a part of the town was destroyed to, the trusting part. Everyone became more suspicious of their friends and neighbors and instead of coming together in a crisis, it made people afraid to live for the longest time."
"Things seem to be a bit better now, was it Higathi's threats that brought people closer?"
"I think so." Isabella said, shuffling her feet on the floor, "With Lisa's disappearance, it just seemed like something a human would do and since it was never solved, there were constant rumors and speculation that led to the distrust, but with a demon, it was obvious who the enemy was and everyone just banded together again. It was so great to see."
"That's good. You'll need your friends until this is over." Faith lay back on the pillow and let out a peaceful sigh.
"How do you like it?" Isabella said as she watched Faith close her relax and close her eyes.
"This feels so good. I can't remember the last time I slept in such a comfortable room." Faith was just drifting off when she heard Isabella's mom call them down for dinner. "Don't worry, you'll love my mom's cooking and I promise she won't bother you when you go to sleep tonight." Isabella helped Faith to her feet and the two girls went downstairs.
Debra was sitting at one end of the table, her husband was sitting at the other end and Isabella and Faith sat on the two side chairs as they sat down for a home cooked meal.
"Faith, this is my husband Harlan." Debra said as she motioned towards the tall, slender man at the opposite end of the table. "I've told him about your offer to help and well, he is happy even if he doesn't show it."
"I'm pleased to meet you sir." Faith said in a rather subdued voice.
"Yes, nice to meet you to Faith." Harlan said as he shook Faith's outstretched hand, "So, my wife tells me you're some kind of super woman?"
Faith let out a big laugh then quickly composed herself, "I'm sorry, but I am as far from super woman as you can get. I am here to help your daughter and I have certain skills that will help me do it."
"Well, that sounds pretty super to me." Harland grabbed some chicken from a plate in front of him then turned his attention back to Faith, "How does a pretty girl like you get to be one of those slayer things anyway?"
"It's just something I was born into I guess." Faith took a bite of the salad and a big smile came across her face, "Oh this is delicious Mrs. Moyer.I mean Debra, I'm not usually big on salads, but I love this."
Debra smiled at Faith's enthusiastic response, "I'm glad you like it Faith, it's an old family recipe. Well, the dressing is my mother's creation really. I just added some ingredients over the years."
"I sure wish my mom cooked like this." Faith said and wanted to take it back as soon as she had, because she knew what would come next.
"Oh, your mom didn't cook much?" Debra asked politely.
Faith tried to hold in her frustration as she politely answered the question. "Well, she worked at nights and didn't get a chance." She took another bite of the salad and quickly changed the topic. "Have either of you seen this Higathi demon personally?"
"Actually we all have." Harlan said while washing down his food with a glass of water, "We all meet in the town every Friday night and he shows up and tells us what he wants. At first, it was just for strange items he wanted, old pieces of wood, some specific shaped metals and some electronic parts. It was as if he was a junk collector or something."
"Yes, it was highly peculiar at first." Debra added as she thought back to her first meeting with Higathi. "He appeared from out of nowhere, a strange, ugly looking creature. He made a point of showing us his powers by blasting away some old buildings with nothing more than a flick of his fingers. He told us he was here to reclaim what was his from thousands of years ago. A couple months ago, he said he was dying and needed a sacrifice to keep him alive. Of course we said no but he threatened to kill all of us if we didn't cooperate."
"He needs to be stopped." Faith finished off her last bite and got up from the table, "This was an amazing meal Debra, it was nice meeting you Harlan, but I need to do have a look around and see if I can find this demon." She smiled and was out the door before anyone could say a thing.
End of Part Two.