Hunting Grounds
Chapter 3
Kidnapping, Introductions and opening gambits!
Author's note
Of all the (section edited) luck. As I hastily added to the last chapter my computers hard disk had crashed spectacularly (the entire memory retrieval system AND Pentium broke, mechanically) Finally I got my computer back without its original hard disk! On top of that my provider won't let me use my connection because I WILL have broadband even if they have to force me to pay money I don't have to get it! Great week don't you think gets better, this 18 year old, third year in, college student has Chicken Pox what the (once again censored).
By now I gave gotten back to college and used their connection to finally see my E-mails and post this! God help me! Fortunately both this chapter and the next are ready for posting, this ones going in and tomorrow the next comes (dramatic tension OK) so read on and have fun!
Chapter 3 Kidnapping, Introductions and opening gambits
The Hunter stalked from room to room. For the first time he inspected a human dwelling, knowledge would be one of his most important weapons in the days to come. There was an impressive collection of various bladed weapons for cutting, hacking, and stabbing. Some were designed for throwing others just for crushing your opponent. Strangely the were non of the humans' standard chemically propelled ranged weapons. This meant that The Prey was at a disadvantage. Or did it? The Hunter saw several different mechanical items that stored energy. Quickly finding a thin wooden stick that would fit a groove he realised that her ranged ability relied on the thin wooden projectile being flung with extremely crude stored energy. Amazed at the audacity of this prey and even more impressed. The two weakest of the pride moved and opened the portal for The Prey to enter. Hiding from prying eyes he used the Audio Vibration Synthesizer and his already impressive knowledge of Earth sounds to eavesdrop on his opponent.
"Xander, What happened to the window? Was it Dawn? It was Dawn wasn't it?"
"Err, no Buffy It wasn't, Harmony came over with her minions" Buffy looked at him as if he had a extra head; this was unbelievable
"Did you say Harmony has minions?" she moved into the kitchen and sat on the workbench.
"Yes. A whole bunch of little vampire want-a-be-dust." Anya supplied.
Buffy couldn't take any more even if it was true this was too funny bursting out in laughter "Really?" she choked out between her laughs.
Xander and Anya looked at each other and at the same time "yep"
Another shattering burst of laughter.
Well The Pray was obviously very concerned about the Dust Feeders that had appeared earlier. They would not survive five Earth "minutes" against her. Moving up a set of stairs he hunted for what would be the true prize of this hunt and to study it.
Dawn thought she heard something. Believing it was Harmony looking for her, Dawn dived under her bed trying to stop her self from whimpering with one hand over her own mouth. Her door moved open slowly with absolutely no sound and what looked like a heat shimmer in the shape of a man was in the door frame. It was to big for the door. She could feel its eyes on her. It was something alive, almost invisible. What should be its head looked down. Now it crouched in front of the bed. Dawn could feel it gloating and for a second she closed her eyes hoping she was imaging it all. Suddenly Buffy's voice called out for her. Dawn's eyes shot open in a flash and it was gone, the door still wide open and the sense of gloating remained.
It was almost a minute before Dawn crawled out from under the bed. She heard Buffy in her own room arming up. Moving slowly she kept an eye open for the strange shimmering daemon. Just out side Buffy's room she could hear her complain bitterly to Xand' and Riley just how pathetic she was. Standing there listening to her own sister calling her names and having the nerve to call her spoiled! In Dawn's emotional turmoil the invisible monster was forgotten and cold disappointment in her self and her own anger drowned her other thoughts. She just had to get out of earshot, as far as possible from the painful words that echoed within her own soul.
The Hunter was at that moment right next to the bedroom window looking into The Prey's habitat from the top of the roof, now that his presence was known he would enjoy the true hunt when it begins in earnest.
Anya was never the most observant of other peoples feelings, or so it appeared. She knew that both Dawn and Buffy would be disappointed at what had happened and she knew it was just an accident. In her previous job she had to gage emotions just right and she was good at it. Dawn came storming down the stairs about to cry. Heading outside, trust an angry teenage girl to take a bad situation and make it worse. Barging out of the house Anya went after Dawn trying to drag her back inside. Last thing Anya noticed was a being punched back inside by a large vampire.
The Hunter smelt the Dust Feeder and human blood, moving as fast as he could he saw two Feeders making of with The Prize. Their stupidity just cost them everything.
Dawn couldn't believe how stupid she was now she was being kidnapped by minions. Suddenly the unwashed vamp that had been dragging her was flung sideways into a tree letting her go. Expecting to see Buffy pinning it Dawn saw a five foot long spear starting from one side of the vamp and ending the other side of a tree. Looking for the big vamp guy she found him hovering in mid-air looking closer she saw that the invisible monster was ripping his head off. Closing her eyes she still heard the dead man scream before a truly horrible sound end him. Dawn kept her eyes closed as the remaining vampire cried out only to be silenced the same way.
Slowly she opened her eyes the invisible monster was in front of her again but this time she could see it. A metal mask was in-between their faces but she could tell it was not human Tall, light green and yellow in colour his clothing was mostly nets and covering tan leather. Built like a bodybuilders greatest hope. Dawn knew that Buffy would have to fight it and that it would take everything to defeat it. A warm clawed hand had grabbed her face before she knew what was going on. Looking into each others eyes the monster daemon cut a long deep gash down left cheek Dawn fainted with a short scream.
With a sample of blood to analyse, the strange cellular energy of the young one will be understood better. Knowing that The Prey would not be far off after The Prize signalling their location The Hunter reactivated his light-bend system. He readjusted his retrieved telescopic staff and ran into the night.
Buffy ran out of the house towards Dawn's scream knowing it was her instantly. When she saw her lying in a ball next to a tree with a hole in it she realised that this stalker she felt all week was more than just imagining. Finding dust on Dawn's sleeping body and a bit of blood Buffy moved her sister's head and found a long deep razor sharp cut ran across her jawbone from ear to chin. Buffy picked up her wounded charge and walked home holding her tight not knowing if the stalker was a friend who stopped a kidnapping or someone who didn't like vampires playing with his future food?
Well we all know the answer and so will she when you read the next chapter This is your second warning character death will occur and it might be messy (evil laugh version 1.6) Good Night (or morning, afternoon, whatever)
Author's note
Of all the (section edited) luck. As I hastily added to the last chapter my computers hard disk had crashed spectacularly (the entire memory retrieval system AND Pentium broke, mechanically) Finally I got my computer back without its original hard disk! On top of that my provider won't let me use my connection because I WILL have broadband even if they have to force me to pay money I don't have to get it! Great week don't you think gets better, this 18 year old, third year in, college student has Chicken Pox what the (once again censored).
By now I gave gotten back to college and used their connection to finally see my E-mails and post this! God help me! Fortunately both this chapter and the next are ready for posting, this ones going in and tomorrow the next comes (dramatic tension OK) so read on and have fun!
Chapter 3 Kidnapping, Introductions and opening gambits
The Hunter stalked from room to room. For the first time he inspected a human dwelling, knowledge would be one of his most important weapons in the days to come. There was an impressive collection of various bladed weapons for cutting, hacking, and stabbing. Some were designed for throwing others just for crushing your opponent. Strangely the were non of the humans' standard chemically propelled ranged weapons. This meant that The Prey was at a disadvantage. Or did it? The Hunter saw several different mechanical items that stored energy. Quickly finding a thin wooden stick that would fit a groove he realised that her ranged ability relied on the thin wooden projectile being flung with extremely crude stored energy. Amazed at the audacity of this prey and even more impressed. The two weakest of the pride moved and opened the portal for The Prey to enter. Hiding from prying eyes he used the Audio Vibration Synthesizer and his already impressive knowledge of Earth sounds to eavesdrop on his opponent.
"Xander, What happened to the window? Was it Dawn? It was Dawn wasn't it?"
"Err, no Buffy It wasn't, Harmony came over with her minions" Buffy looked at him as if he had a extra head; this was unbelievable
"Did you say Harmony has minions?" she moved into the kitchen and sat on the workbench.
"Yes. A whole bunch of little vampire want-a-be-dust." Anya supplied.
Buffy couldn't take any more even if it was true this was too funny bursting out in laughter "Really?" she choked out between her laughs.
Xander and Anya looked at each other and at the same time "yep"
Another shattering burst of laughter.
Well The Pray was obviously very concerned about the Dust Feeders that had appeared earlier. They would not survive five Earth "minutes" against her. Moving up a set of stairs he hunted for what would be the true prize of this hunt and to study it.
Dawn thought she heard something. Believing it was Harmony looking for her, Dawn dived under her bed trying to stop her self from whimpering with one hand over her own mouth. Her door moved open slowly with absolutely no sound and what looked like a heat shimmer in the shape of a man was in the door frame. It was to big for the door. She could feel its eyes on her. It was something alive, almost invisible. What should be its head looked down. Now it crouched in front of the bed. Dawn could feel it gloating and for a second she closed her eyes hoping she was imaging it all. Suddenly Buffy's voice called out for her. Dawn's eyes shot open in a flash and it was gone, the door still wide open and the sense of gloating remained.
It was almost a minute before Dawn crawled out from under the bed. She heard Buffy in her own room arming up. Moving slowly she kept an eye open for the strange shimmering daemon. Just out side Buffy's room she could hear her complain bitterly to Xand' and Riley just how pathetic she was. Standing there listening to her own sister calling her names and having the nerve to call her spoiled! In Dawn's emotional turmoil the invisible monster was forgotten and cold disappointment in her self and her own anger drowned her other thoughts. She just had to get out of earshot, as far as possible from the painful words that echoed within her own soul.
The Hunter was at that moment right next to the bedroom window looking into The Prey's habitat from the top of the roof, now that his presence was known he would enjoy the true hunt when it begins in earnest.
Anya was never the most observant of other peoples feelings, or so it appeared. She knew that both Dawn and Buffy would be disappointed at what had happened and she knew it was just an accident. In her previous job she had to gage emotions just right and she was good at it. Dawn came storming down the stairs about to cry. Heading outside, trust an angry teenage girl to take a bad situation and make it worse. Barging out of the house Anya went after Dawn trying to drag her back inside. Last thing Anya noticed was a being punched back inside by a large vampire.
The Hunter smelt the Dust Feeder and human blood, moving as fast as he could he saw two Feeders making of with The Prize. Their stupidity just cost them everything.
Dawn couldn't believe how stupid she was now she was being kidnapped by minions. Suddenly the unwashed vamp that had been dragging her was flung sideways into a tree letting her go. Expecting to see Buffy pinning it Dawn saw a five foot long spear starting from one side of the vamp and ending the other side of a tree. Looking for the big vamp guy she found him hovering in mid-air looking closer she saw that the invisible monster was ripping his head off. Closing her eyes she still heard the dead man scream before a truly horrible sound end him. Dawn kept her eyes closed as the remaining vampire cried out only to be silenced the same way.
Slowly she opened her eyes the invisible monster was in front of her again but this time she could see it. A metal mask was in-between their faces but she could tell it was not human Tall, light green and yellow in colour his clothing was mostly nets and covering tan leather. Built like a bodybuilders greatest hope. Dawn knew that Buffy would have to fight it and that it would take everything to defeat it. A warm clawed hand had grabbed her face before she knew what was going on. Looking into each others eyes the monster daemon cut a long deep gash down left cheek Dawn fainted with a short scream.
With a sample of blood to analyse, the strange cellular energy of the young one will be understood better. Knowing that The Prey would not be far off after The Prize signalling their location The Hunter reactivated his light-bend system. He readjusted his retrieved telescopic staff and ran into the night.
Buffy ran out of the house towards Dawn's scream knowing it was her instantly. When she saw her lying in a ball next to a tree with a hole in it she realised that this stalker she felt all week was more than just imagining. Finding dust on Dawn's sleeping body and a bit of blood Buffy moved her sister's head and found a long deep razor sharp cut ran across her jawbone from ear to chin. Buffy picked up her wounded charge and walked home holding her tight not knowing if the stalker was a friend who stopped a kidnapping or someone who didn't like vampires playing with his future food?
Well we all know the answer and so will she when you read the next chapter This is your second warning character death will occur and it might be messy (evil laugh version 1.6) Good Night (or morning, afternoon, whatever)