Chapter Six
Buffy murmured in her sleep and curled up against the body in bed with her. A small smile graced her lips and she whispered "Angel." Brandon ran his fingers along her cheekbone.
"Nope, you're definitely the angel in this room," he whispered.
Buffy's eyes snapped open for a moment she couldn't remember why the man next to her was blond instead of pale and dark then recollection came rushing back in. Tears gathered in the back of her throat as she remembered Willow and Xander. The vision of the beautiful pale man faded like a dream. She sat up and scrubbed her hands through her hair. Brandon lazily ran his hand along her bare back.
"I've gotta go. Giles wanted me to check in with him about some books," Buffy said. She had told Brandon that she worked for Giles in the library sometimes. It was a necessary lie to cover up all the time she spent there with him.
Brandon smiled lazily and captured her hand in his. He kissed the knuckles of her hand and looked up at her with impossibly blue eyes. "Will I see you tonight?"
Buffy bent over and drug her fingers across his lips. "Yeah, I need you. You-you keep me here," she whispered.
He looked at her a bit confused and then grinned. Buffy amazed him. He never understood her. The girl was a constant mystery. She slid naked out of his bed, a sight he appreciated and was still a bit in shock over, and slipped on the clothes she'd worn over here. She twisted her hair up a little tighter and gave him one last sorrowful look.
"You have the saddest eyes I've ever seen," he said.
She just smiled a little and said "You should see my Angel." She shook her head a little and then laughed at herself. "Never mind, it's- there's this statue in the cemetery. He looks so sad, mournful," she tried to explain and then shook her head. She didn't understand herself. "I'll be back later," she slipped out of the room and let herself out of the apartment.
Buffy ran to the library. She was afraid if she didn't get away fast she'd retreat back into that cool, dark world that Brandon waited in. She slipped silently through the doors. The air was thick with the kind of quiet only a library seemed to be able to maintain.
Buffy hugged herself and walked past the desk to the table. Giles was in his office on the phone. The door was half closed. She curled up in a chair and waited. She guess she sort of did intend on eavesdropping but she knew Giles and she knew it was likely whoever he was speaking too the subject had something to do with her or the new power rising in Sunnydale.
"Yes, I understand but I am curious if there are any instances of the Codex not ever coming true," Giles said.
There was a long pause and Giles nodded. "Of course, in this instance I was rather hoping that was not the case-"He stopped and listened to something the person on the other end of the phone was saying.
Giles sighed after a moment and said, "Of course, I'll make a full report. I was rather hoping I wouldn't have too but if the Codex is correct, and you assure me it is always correct, she will face the Master and she will die. Yes, thank you for your time." He hung up the phone and walked out of the office with his head bowed.
Buffy stood a few feet from the table her mouth agape. Tears glistened in her eyes. Her lower lip trembled. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
Giles took his glasses off and glanced up at her. "Tell you what?"
Buffy laughed bitterly. "I guess not. You were going to let me walk in his lair to my death and not tell me there was some kind of book that predicted it all along."
Giles sighed. "Buffy, I was rather hoping I wouldn't have too. I have hope that you will prove the prophecy wrong."
"Well you know what, I'm going too," Buffy said.
Giles smiled slightly. "That's the spirit. Books have been wrong before, not this particular prophecy but on occasion-"
"I'm going too, because I'm not going to fight him," Buffy clarified.
"Buffy, you must fight the Master. If you don't he will rise and slaughter the entire town of Sunnydale. He will then move on to the next town and the next," Giles said.
"So find someone else to fight him. I quit," Buffy said.
"This is your destiny. You can't just quit," Giles argued.
"Wanna bet? Just watch me," Buffy paused and took a deep breath. She tried to chase away the tears collecting in her throat and her eyes. She sniffed and shook her head. "I'm sixteen years old, Giles. I don't want to die," her voice sounded broken and very, very small.
Giles looked down. He had nothing to say for that. He finally spoke, "Buffy, you must fight the Master. If you don't all these people-"
"Need to find a new home. I quit, Giles. You speak like a thousand languages, surely you understand this one. I quit," Buffy whirled and ran out of the room, sobs ripping themselves from her throat before she got out the door.
She ran without thought or awareness and was somehow not surprised to find herself crawling on top of the angel crypt. She curled up at his feet and cried, talking to him in hitching sobs. "They want me to die. They're going to send me into the Master's lair knowing I'll die and no one cares. I'm sixteen years old, Angel. There's so much more I want to do in my life. I want to fall in love. I want to go to Prom. I want to graduate. I want to get married and wear the big white dress. I want to leave this horrid little town and never ever come back. I don't want to die, Angel," she sobbed.
Buffy wiped away tears and stood up among the shattered remains of the angel's wing. She reached out a hand and laid it on the cool marble of the statue's face. Her thumb glided over the angel's lips and she sighed. "I'll miss you but I'll never forget, I'll never forget." She took one last look at the frozen, sorrowful angel and leapt off the crypt. She snuck into her room. It was dusk and her mom was still at the gallery getting ready for an art show this weekend.
Buffy threw some things in a small bag and then wrote her mom a note. She left it on the bed. She climbed out her window and tossed her bag down to the ground. She jumped after it and landed in a crouch. She grabbed the bag and slung it over her shoulder. Buffy glanced up at her window and turned her back to it. She walked slowly back to Brandon and Derek's house. She had one more stop before she fought her way out of hell.
She knocked on the door and Brandon answered it. She smiled a weak smile at him as she stepped past him into the apartment.
"Hey," he said as he looked her over, taking in the bag and the red swollen eyes. She'd been crying far too much the last couple of days and had yet to give him any explanation.
Buffy glanced around the house. "Derek here?" She asked.
"Nah he went to pick up Sheila and grab some groceries. You gonna tell me why you've been crying so much the last couple of days?" He asked shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Later, I promise. I just-I need to get out of here now. There's a bus to LA leaving in a half hour," Buffy said.
"You're leaving me?" Brandon asked.
Buffy shook her head. "I'm leaving Sunnydale, for good. I'm not ever coming back, Brandon."
"Not to intrude but can I come with?" He asked. He looked at her hopefully from under a fringe of sleep mussed blond hair. Buffy reached out and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He looked like a little boy asking permission.
"You sure you want to follow me to LA?"
"I'd follow you anywhere, Buffy. I love you," he confessed.
Buffy glanced away. She bit her bottom lip and paused a moment. "Okay. Does Derek have any angel dust stashed anywhere?"
Brandon nodded. "I'll grab it and toss some clothes in a bag. Give me a second."
Buffy nodded. "Hurry," she said. She could feel the Master's power crawling over her skin. It got heavier and colder as the night got darker. They didn't have much time. Giles would come looking for her. Her mom would be home. She'd find the note and raise the red flag. Then Buffy would have police and a panicked mother to deal with.
Brandon emerged in a few moments with a gym bag over his shoulder. He held up a small baggie with a little bit of white powder in it. "You look like you could use a little of this right now," he said.
She wanted to kiss him. A little angel dust was exactly what she needed. It would chase away the Master's power and make her forget she was running from Death. It would make her forget that Death always caught its victims eventually. Brandon laid a line of the powder out for her on the dirty glass coffee table. Buffy bent over and sniffed it up quickly, urgency, want and need driving her. She wiped her nose and smiled at him. "Thanks,"
He nodded and stood up. He held out his hand and she took it. "Why Los Angeles?" He asked as they walked to the bus station.
She shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels like someone or something is waiting for me there."
Brandon smiled. "I've never been to Los Angeles," he said.
"I lived there once upon a time when I was a different girl," Buffy said. Her voice sounded far away and heavy with things remembered and things just on the edge of remembrance.
At the bus station Buffy paid for their tickets with money she'd taken out of her Mom's rainy day stash.
"You kids just made it. The bus will be pulling out of here in about five minutes," the clerk said as he handed them their tickets.
"Thank you," Buffy said as she turned toward Brandon. He put his arm around her protectively and led her to the bus. They sat in a seat in the back. Buffy curled up into him and gripped handfuls of his shirt with both hands. Brandon placed one of his hands over hers. He was always surprised by how tiny she was. He kissed the crown of her head. Buffy always seemed haunted but tonight there was something else. She was afraid, really and truly afraid of something. He'd never seen Buffy afraid. She shivered with cold. Sometimes the PCP made her cold even on the hottest days. Other times it would make her burn with a fever.
"I promise, I'll take care of you, Buffy," he whispered.
She just nodded. Slow tears dripped down her cheeks as the bus pulled out of Sunnydale. She was sixteen. She didn't want to die.
Buffy murmured in her sleep and curled up against the body in bed with her. A small smile graced her lips and she whispered "Angel." Brandon ran his fingers along her cheekbone.
"Nope, you're definitely the angel in this room," he whispered.
Buffy's eyes snapped open for a moment she couldn't remember why the man next to her was blond instead of pale and dark then recollection came rushing back in. Tears gathered in the back of her throat as she remembered Willow and Xander. The vision of the beautiful pale man faded like a dream. She sat up and scrubbed her hands through her hair. Brandon lazily ran his hand along her bare back.
"I've gotta go. Giles wanted me to check in with him about some books," Buffy said. She had told Brandon that she worked for Giles in the library sometimes. It was a necessary lie to cover up all the time she spent there with him.
Brandon smiled lazily and captured her hand in his. He kissed the knuckles of her hand and looked up at her with impossibly blue eyes. "Will I see you tonight?"
Buffy bent over and drug her fingers across his lips. "Yeah, I need you. You-you keep me here," she whispered.
He looked at her a bit confused and then grinned. Buffy amazed him. He never understood her. The girl was a constant mystery. She slid naked out of his bed, a sight he appreciated and was still a bit in shock over, and slipped on the clothes she'd worn over here. She twisted her hair up a little tighter and gave him one last sorrowful look.
"You have the saddest eyes I've ever seen," he said.
She just smiled a little and said "You should see my Angel." She shook her head a little and then laughed at herself. "Never mind, it's- there's this statue in the cemetery. He looks so sad, mournful," she tried to explain and then shook her head. She didn't understand herself. "I'll be back later," she slipped out of the room and let herself out of the apartment.
Buffy ran to the library. She was afraid if she didn't get away fast she'd retreat back into that cool, dark world that Brandon waited in. She slipped silently through the doors. The air was thick with the kind of quiet only a library seemed to be able to maintain.
Buffy hugged herself and walked past the desk to the table. Giles was in his office on the phone. The door was half closed. She curled up in a chair and waited. She guess she sort of did intend on eavesdropping but she knew Giles and she knew it was likely whoever he was speaking too the subject had something to do with her or the new power rising in Sunnydale.
"Yes, I understand but I am curious if there are any instances of the Codex not ever coming true," Giles said.
There was a long pause and Giles nodded. "Of course, in this instance I was rather hoping that was not the case-"He stopped and listened to something the person on the other end of the phone was saying.
Giles sighed after a moment and said, "Of course, I'll make a full report. I was rather hoping I wouldn't have too but if the Codex is correct, and you assure me it is always correct, she will face the Master and she will die. Yes, thank you for your time." He hung up the phone and walked out of the office with his head bowed.
Buffy stood a few feet from the table her mouth agape. Tears glistened in her eyes. Her lower lip trembled. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
Giles took his glasses off and glanced up at her. "Tell you what?"
Buffy laughed bitterly. "I guess not. You were going to let me walk in his lair to my death and not tell me there was some kind of book that predicted it all along."
Giles sighed. "Buffy, I was rather hoping I wouldn't have too. I have hope that you will prove the prophecy wrong."
"Well you know what, I'm going too," Buffy said.
Giles smiled slightly. "That's the spirit. Books have been wrong before, not this particular prophecy but on occasion-"
"I'm going too, because I'm not going to fight him," Buffy clarified.
"Buffy, you must fight the Master. If you don't he will rise and slaughter the entire town of Sunnydale. He will then move on to the next town and the next," Giles said.
"So find someone else to fight him. I quit," Buffy said.
"This is your destiny. You can't just quit," Giles argued.
"Wanna bet? Just watch me," Buffy paused and took a deep breath. She tried to chase away the tears collecting in her throat and her eyes. She sniffed and shook her head. "I'm sixteen years old, Giles. I don't want to die," her voice sounded broken and very, very small.
Giles looked down. He had nothing to say for that. He finally spoke, "Buffy, you must fight the Master. If you don't all these people-"
"Need to find a new home. I quit, Giles. You speak like a thousand languages, surely you understand this one. I quit," Buffy whirled and ran out of the room, sobs ripping themselves from her throat before she got out the door.
She ran without thought or awareness and was somehow not surprised to find herself crawling on top of the angel crypt. She curled up at his feet and cried, talking to him in hitching sobs. "They want me to die. They're going to send me into the Master's lair knowing I'll die and no one cares. I'm sixteen years old, Angel. There's so much more I want to do in my life. I want to fall in love. I want to go to Prom. I want to graduate. I want to get married and wear the big white dress. I want to leave this horrid little town and never ever come back. I don't want to die, Angel," she sobbed.
Buffy wiped away tears and stood up among the shattered remains of the angel's wing. She reached out a hand and laid it on the cool marble of the statue's face. Her thumb glided over the angel's lips and she sighed. "I'll miss you but I'll never forget, I'll never forget." She took one last look at the frozen, sorrowful angel and leapt off the crypt. She snuck into her room. It was dusk and her mom was still at the gallery getting ready for an art show this weekend.
Buffy threw some things in a small bag and then wrote her mom a note. She left it on the bed. She climbed out her window and tossed her bag down to the ground. She jumped after it and landed in a crouch. She grabbed the bag and slung it over her shoulder. Buffy glanced up at her window and turned her back to it. She walked slowly back to Brandon and Derek's house. She had one more stop before she fought her way out of hell.
She knocked on the door and Brandon answered it. She smiled a weak smile at him as she stepped past him into the apartment.
"Hey," he said as he looked her over, taking in the bag and the red swollen eyes. She'd been crying far too much the last couple of days and had yet to give him any explanation.
Buffy glanced around the house. "Derek here?" She asked.
"Nah he went to pick up Sheila and grab some groceries. You gonna tell me why you've been crying so much the last couple of days?" He asked shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Later, I promise. I just-I need to get out of here now. There's a bus to LA leaving in a half hour," Buffy said.
"You're leaving me?" Brandon asked.
Buffy shook her head. "I'm leaving Sunnydale, for good. I'm not ever coming back, Brandon."
"Not to intrude but can I come with?" He asked. He looked at her hopefully from under a fringe of sleep mussed blond hair. Buffy reached out and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He looked like a little boy asking permission.
"You sure you want to follow me to LA?"
"I'd follow you anywhere, Buffy. I love you," he confessed.
Buffy glanced away. She bit her bottom lip and paused a moment. "Okay. Does Derek have any angel dust stashed anywhere?"
Brandon nodded. "I'll grab it and toss some clothes in a bag. Give me a second."
Buffy nodded. "Hurry," she said. She could feel the Master's power crawling over her skin. It got heavier and colder as the night got darker. They didn't have much time. Giles would come looking for her. Her mom would be home. She'd find the note and raise the red flag. Then Buffy would have police and a panicked mother to deal with.
Brandon emerged in a few moments with a gym bag over his shoulder. He held up a small baggie with a little bit of white powder in it. "You look like you could use a little of this right now," he said.
She wanted to kiss him. A little angel dust was exactly what she needed. It would chase away the Master's power and make her forget she was running from Death. It would make her forget that Death always caught its victims eventually. Brandon laid a line of the powder out for her on the dirty glass coffee table. Buffy bent over and sniffed it up quickly, urgency, want and need driving her. She wiped her nose and smiled at him. "Thanks,"
He nodded and stood up. He held out his hand and she took it. "Why Los Angeles?" He asked as they walked to the bus station.
She shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels like someone or something is waiting for me there."
Brandon smiled. "I've never been to Los Angeles," he said.
"I lived there once upon a time when I was a different girl," Buffy said. Her voice sounded far away and heavy with things remembered and things just on the edge of remembrance.
At the bus station Buffy paid for their tickets with money she'd taken out of her Mom's rainy day stash.
"You kids just made it. The bus will be pulling out of here in about five minutes," the clerk said as he handed them their tickets.
"Thank you," Buffy said as she turned toward Brandon. He put his arm around her protectively and led her to the bus. They sat in a seat in the back. Buffy curled up into him and gripped handfuls of his shirt with both hands. Brandon placed one of his hands over hers. He was always surprised by how tiny she was. He kissed the crown of her head. Buffy always seemed haunted but tonight there was something else. She was afraid, really and truly afraid of something. He'd never seen Buffy afraid. She shivered with cold. Sometimes the PCP made her cold even on the hottest days. Other times it would make her burn with a fever.
"I promise, I'll take care of you, Buffy," he whispered.
She just nodded. Slow tears dripped down her cheeks as the bus pulled out of Sunnydale. She was sixteen. She didn't want to die.