Part 11
Cynthia felt like throttling something. Right now, she would have welcomed a vampire attack, demon attack, anything she could use to vent her frustration. She had yet to test her Slayer strength yet. After two hours of patrolling with Xander and Anya a vacation in hell sounded more appealing to her. His dumb jokes and her bitchiness were not helping.
"We've tried every place a soon-to-be-eighteen year old would be," Cynthia said as they sat on a bench outside a local coffee shop.
"Well it's not the first time Dawn's done this," Xander admitted, sounding serious for the first time since the search had started. "Since her sister died Dawn had been more and more rebellious, running into trouble. She hardly listens to us anymore."
"There's a surprise," Cynthia snorted, folding her arms. "Why did neither of you think to mention this, say, four hours earlier?"
"It was a good excuse to show you round and point out hotspots for demonic activity," Xander admitted.
Cynthia sighed. A rebellious girl running around the Hellmouth, well aware of what lurked. Dawn was a year older than she was. How did they expect her to talk sense into this girl?
"What's going on back at the house?" Cynthia asked, changing the subject.
"A demon showed up last night claiming she's escaped from another world and wants to protect her. She's blue and rather obnoxious," Anya said, taking the lid of a coffee she had just bought.
Cynthia's eyebrow rose. "Oh? You guys usually help demons?"
"Our rep with some is - annoying." If anything Xander sounded a little jealous.
Cynthia couldn't help wondering what all that was about.
"Our last Slayer was in love with one vampire - " Anya started to explain, but Xander cut her off.
"Who left town and never came back so let's not bore Cynthia with details."
Cynthia found it hard to try and not smile. She'd heard rumours of a vampire with a soul that fell in love with a Slayer. She had thought it was utterly ridiculous, and since it had no effect on any of the people she worked with, she had paid no attention. She had enough problems of her own to worry about.
Her Master would have to have realised she was gone by now. Why wasn't Phyre or Elias down here tracking her to drag her back? She turned back to Anya. "Anything else I need to be aware of in that department?"
"Well, there's Spike, who's still lurking around like a lovesick puppy," Anya snorted, shaking her head in disapproval.
"The plus side is he has this chip in his head which means he can't hurt humans and is useless," Xander added brightly.
The mention of Spike again. Who the hell was this guy? Cynthia frowned. "What about this blue demon who showed up the other night?" she asked.
"We don't really know anything. Giles and the others are doing the research," Xander said, standing and stretching. "I suppose we have two options. Continue the Dawn search or find out what's happening with this demon."
Neither option was appealing to Cynthia. She looked at her watch. Late afternoon, not quite dusk yet. "You guys go back to the house, I'll do another sweep and see you back there."
The nodded. She watched them walking off until they were well out of sighed. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked off in the opposite direction.
She had seen an old-looking spooky house on earlier sweeps in the distance, she had been told it was deserted. In a town on a Hellmouth, Cynthia decided it would be a safe bet not to take anything for granted. Besides, it was the type of place that Phyre and the other loved to haunt.
The house was dark, scary, everything you'd expect from the last house on a dead end road with skeleton like trees lining the sidewalks.
"Anyone home?" she called, after opening the squeaking door. There were no lights in the place, vampires, of course, could see in the dark.
"I'm more interested to know what the hell *you're* playing at." A door to her right opened, and Phyre came out. "A Slayer? Really?"
"What the hell is the Slayer doing here?" An alarmed, unfamiliar male voice. Pale skinned, amber eyed, long black hair framing the attractive face. No one Cynthia recognised.
"Relax, Gabriel. She's the Master's pet human," Phyre answered.
Cynthia grunted. She disliked the term human pet, but couldn't deny the truth of the words.
"And she's a Slayer?" the vamp called Gabriel asked doubtfully.
"Hey, believe me, this wasn't my idea," Cynthia snorted, folding her arms. "The good news is I know where the old Slayer's friends are. They're still working their hunt-the-bad-guys operation."
"You people weren't snooping around here earlier by any chance were you?" Gabriel asked, pushing Phyre out the way, still eyeing Cynthia with distrust.
"No." Cynthia frowned. "Why?"
"Then when the fuck did she go?" Gabriel shook his head angrily.
"Who?"
"Some girl Gabe picked up and ate earlier. We left the body in the hall. Donnie was it? Danni?" Phyre glanced over at Gabriel who shrugged.
Cynthia frowned. From the sound of her behaviour it was more than likely Dawn was the girl who had been picked up by Gabriel. Not surprising, for a vampire he wasn't bad-looking. And it was the ultimate stick-your-nose-up at the good guys to run off with the sexy bad guy. So where was Dawn now?
"The Master is going to be *so* pissed when he sees you next," Phyre said with a smirk. She clearly didn't care about the missing girl. Phyre didn't care about anything that wasn't Phyre.
Cynthia sighed. "I know. Just tell him - tell him I'm sorry." Cynthia turned and ran out the house, tears burning in her eyes.
She kicked out at a mail box on a wooden stand, snapping the pole in two and sending it flying. She wanted to scream.
* * *
Cynthia felt like throttling something. Right now, she would have welcomed a vampire attack, demon attack, anything she could use to vent her frustration. She had yet to test her Slayer strength yet. After two hours of patrolling with Xander and Anya a vacation in hell sounded more appealing to her. His dumb jokes and her bitchiness were not helping.
"We've tried every place a soon-to-be-eighteen year old would be," Cynthia said as they sat on a bench outside a local coffee shop.
"Well it's not the first time Dawn's done this," Xander admitted, sounding serious for the first time since the search had started. "Since her sister died Dawn had been more and more rebellious, running into trouble. She hardly listens to us anymore."
"There's a surprise," Cynthia snorted, folding her arms. "Why did neither of you think to mention this, say, four hours earlier?"
"It was a good excuse to show you round and point out hotspots for demonic activity," Xander admitted.
Cynthia sighed. A rebellious girl running around the Hellmouth, well aware of what lurked. Dawn was a year older than she was. How did they expect her to talk sense into this girl?
"What's going on back at the house?" Cynthia asked, changing the subject.
"A demon showed up last night claiming she's escaped from another world and wants to protect her. She's blue and rather obnoxious," Anya said, taking the lid of a coffee she had just bought.
Cynthia's eyebrow rose. "Oh? You guys usually help demons?"
"Our rep with some is - annoying." If anything Xander sounded a little jealous.
Cynthia couldn't help wondering what all that was about.
"Our last Slayer was in love with one vampire - " Anya started to explain, but Xander cut her off.
"Who left town and never came back so let's not bore Cynthia with details."
Cynthia found it hard to try and not smile. She'd heard rumours of a vampire with a soul that fell in love with a Slayer. She had thought it was utterly ridiculous, and since it had no effect on any of the people she worked with, she had paid no attention. She had enough problems of her own to worry about.
Her Master would have to have realised she was gone by now. Why wasn't Phyre or Elias down here tracking her to drag her back? She turned back to Anya. "Anything else I need to be aware of in that department?"
"Well, there's Spike, who's still lurking around like a lovesick puppy," Anya snorted, shaking her head in disapproval.
"The plus side is he has this chip in his head which means he can't hurt humans and is useless," Xander added brightly.
The mention of Spike again. Who the hell was this guy? Cynthia frowned. "What about this blue demon who showed up the other night?" she asked.
"We don't really know anything. Giles and the others are doing the research," Xander said, standing and stretching. "I suppose we have two options. Continue the Dawn search or find out what's happening with this demon."
Neither option was appealing to Cynthia. She looked at her watch. Late afternoon, not quite dusk yet. "You guys go back to the house, I'll do another sweep and see you back there."
The nodded. She watched them walking off until they were well out of sighed. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked off in the opposite direction.
She had seen an old-looking spooky house on earlier sweeps in the distance, she had been told it was deserted. In a town on a Hellmouth, Cynthia decided it would be a safe bet not to take anything for granted. Besides, it was the type of place that Phyre and the other loved to haunt.
The house was dark, scary, everything you'd expect from the last house on a dead end road with skeleton like trees lining the sidewalks.
"Anyone home?" she called, after opening the squeaking door. There were no lights in the place, vampires, of course, could see in the dark.
"I'm more interested to know what the hell *you're* playing at." A door to her right opened, and Phyre came out. "A Slayer? Really?"
"What the hell is the Slayer doing here?" An alarmed, unfamiliar male voice. Pale skinned, amber eyed, long black hair framing the attractive face. No one Cynthia recognised.
"Relax, Gabriel. She's the Master's pet human," Phyre answered.
Cynthia grunted. She disliked the term human pet, but couldn't deny the truth of the words.
"And she's a Slayer?" the vamp called Gabriel asked doubtfully.
"Hey, believe me, this wasn't my idea," Cynthia snorted, folding her arms. "The good news is I know where the old Slayer's friends are. They're still working their hunt-the-bad-guys operation."
"You people weren't snooping around here earlier by any chance were you?" Gabriel asked, pushing Phyre out the way, still eyeing Cynthia with distrust.
"No." Cynthia frowned. "Why?"
"Then when the fuck did she go?" Gabriel shook his head angrily.
"Who?"
"Some girl Gabe picked up and ate earlier. We left the body in the hall. Donnie was it? Danni?" Phyre glanced over at Gabriel who shrugged.
Cynthia frowned. From the sound of her behaviour it was more than likely Dawn was the girl who had been picked up by Gabriel. Not surprising, for a vampire he wasn't bad-looking. And it was the ultimate stick-your-nose-up at the good guys to run off with the sexy bad guy. So where was Dawn now?
"The Master is going to be *so* pissed when he sees you next," Phyre said with a smirk. She clearly didn't care about the missing girl. Phyre didn't care about anything that wasn't Phyre.
Cynthia sighed. "I know. Just tell him - tell him I'm sorry." Cynthia turned and ran out the house, tears burning in her eyes.
She kicked out at a mail box on a wooden stand, snapping the pole in two and sending it flying. She wanted to scream.
* * *