"Welcome To Springdale"
by Draconious
Authors Notes: This whole of this series of stories takes place during the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7, and immediately afterwards. This is the story of one town that has just received a new slayer. Springdale is not Sunnydale… but something is very wrong.
Springdale is a small city in South Dakota (presumably one that I made up!) It centers on a large artificial lake that was made 75 years ago, shortly before the towns official founding. It has moderate summers and freezing cold winters. In size, it is slightly larger than Sunnydale (which itself grew from a "one Starbucks town" to having its own metropolitan hospital, airport, docks, zoo, and let's not forget all the abandoned warehouses and cemeteries!)
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Prologue – Six Months earlier…
The wind blew a handful of leaves across the blacktop surface of the highway. The wind picked up as a red sports car crested the hill, blowing the leaves off the highway as it sped past. Illuminated in the cars high-beams is a large sign:
WELCOME TO SPRINGDALE
Established in 1925
Population 4190
After the car roared past, its headlights faded away. From the side of the road came 5 figures, cloaked in dark robes. Deep hoods hid their faces from view. As the figures moved quickly up the deserted highway, a flash of light reflected off of the knife tied at the waist of one of the shadowy figures.
The cloaked men passed the sign, and then stopped as 4 men jumped from the shadows. Their hair was wild and shaggy, their faces deformed and wrinkly. Protruding teeth revealed sharp fangs. One of the vampires hissed at the cloaked figures.
As one, the vampires attacked the cloaked men. The first attacking vampire pulled the hood of his target down, lunging for his neck. He jerked back in surprise. Instead of eyes, the face of the cloaked figure had some form of glyph branded over his eyelids. For not having eyes, the men could apparently see fine, as witnessed by the fact that the cloaked figure pulled his knife and slashed the vampire's throat, then stabbed him in the chest.
The fight seemed to be going in favor of the men in the cloaks. They had incapacitated one of the vampires and were ganging up on the others. Unfortunately, they didn't think or have time to dust the vampire as he fell. As the other three vampires attacked, pulling a man from their ranks, one of the cloaked men turned to run from the fight, but ran directly into another.
"Don't you know it's not safe to be out at night?" asked the woman archly, with a slight European accent.
The figure recoiled from her. She was tall, with a very pale complexion; dressed in a very tight leather outfit. Boots with 4 inch heels finish her ensemble. With amazing speed, she reached out and grabbed the branded man by the neck, bringing him closer. As he was within range, the woman revealed a vampire's face and bit into the cloaked figures neck.
The other three men continued fighting off the vampires with their daggers. Working as a team, they succeeded in incapacitating the monsters attacking them. They rallied, trying to save their brethren. They carefully approached the leather-clad vampire dining on their man.
Behind them, the shadows crossing the black top road seemed to writhe. They seemed to deepen before taking shape to reveal a man swathed in a black suit. He reached forward and grabbed two of the cloaked figures around the necks.
The men in the black cloaks were totally surprised by his attack, and were dragged off their feet when he pulled. He looked at the woman in the leather, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Really, Victoria. Must you play with your food?" He twisted both hands, snapping the necks of both the scarred men. The other two backed away from the man who came from the shadows. His dark suit was impeccably tailored, his steel grey hair combed precisely. Most frightening was eyes. They were icy cold blue, and seemed to be glowing. He radiated power and age.
The woman in the leather quickly finished draining the now still figure before dropping him to the ground. Turning towards the man in the suit, she smiled.
"Well, I was wondering if you were going to show up tonight. Are you going to feed, or are they all for me?"
The black suited vampire scrunched up his nose in evident distaste.
"You can have them. They seem a bit… ripe for my tastes."
With a nod at her Master, she stalked towards the slowly retreating figures in the dark cloaks. They backed into the original 4 vampires, healed from their incapacitating injures. Even as they were killed, the men in the dark cloaks never screamed. Some would recognize the men as the Bringers of the First Evil. The man in the suit, a powerful vampire lord named Drakar, recognized them as food.
Across town, snuggled in her bed fast asleep, Samantha Jones would never know how close she came to being killed that night. All because she carried a recessive gene that could allow her to become a slayer. Six months later, it would activate and her world would never be the same.
TBC…
Authors Notes: This is the intro to a series I am making based loosely off a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" role-playing game I designed. The story was so promising I adapted it into story form and am presenting it to you. Now, with no more delays, here is the next chapter in the saga…
Draconious