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Chapter 20
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Buffy ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran with determination and a fierce desire to kill. The muscles in her thighs pumped with every step and sweat glistening on her skin. She leapt as high as she could and used a grave as a springboard. Tackling the vampire to the ground, she flipped onto her feet and kicked its head so that it rolled onto its back. Within a second the vampire exploded into dust, leaving Buffy to brush the dirt off her jeans.
"Did you see that move, Giles?" she said smugly over her shoulder.
"If you had been alert and prepared in the first place the vampire would not have had the element of surprise and you would have slain it minutes ago," her Watcher replied testily. "Sloppy work and unnecessary effort."
"You're just cranky because Dusty knocked you over and you squealed like a girl," Buffy retorted, to which laughter erupted from the darkness.
"Man," said Gunn. "She's my favorite."
"She has some colorful vocabulary on that mouth of hers, doesn't she?" Wesley added.
"Reminds me of Spike," said Angel, which caused Giles to frown.
"That is never a good thing," he replied.
"We are here to discuss Buffy's training boys, not her useless mouth." Miss Kirly walked over to Giles, scribbling furiously into her notebook. "Her speed is rather good quality, don't you think?"
He nodded, reading over his own notes. "I found her upper body movements not so impressive. She drops her shoulder when she punches, did you notice?"
Buffy sighed. "Hello? I'm right here!"
As Miss Kirly and Giles continued to compare notes, Angel, Gunn and Wesley left to resume their patrol. Buffy had been training when she had accidentally tried to stake Angel, which luckily he had been fast enough to avoid. Apparently, the three had been taking care of a nest of some demon or other. Buffy wished she had the freedom to go out on an impromptu patrol, and just slay wherever people needed saving. But she was stuck in this boring routine of training with the two ex-Council members watching her every move. She felt…smothered.
She rested against a headstone and waited for Giles and Miss Kirly to finish their discussion. It had been a week since she had been rescued, and the training sessions had begun the night after she woke in the hospital room. She didn't like the way they studied her, but it was better than being ignored. And her friends had stopped acting careful around her, mostly because she had shouted at them to stop treating her like a porcelain doll.
Her mother had visited the day before, and she had finally told her friends about her father's betrayal. They had been sympathetic and had listened attentively as she told them what he did and how angry it made her feel. She had been comforted by the fact that she was not the only one who suffered from a parent's actions. She discovered that Anya's mother never came and saw her, and she didn't even know who her father was. Xander revealed his father's drinking problem, and how he hated having to comfort his mother whenever she rushed into his room crying. Cordelia's father got into debt trouble a while back, and they lost everything. Willow's parents were okay as far as parents go, but even they ignored their daughter most of the time. It made Buffy feel a tiny bit better that her friends understood what she was going through.
The discovery of Faith's expulsion from the school stunned Buffy, and the group missed her brazen personality. Angel had finally reached the end of his tether with the troublesome girl and had sent her away. He wasn't completely cold-hearted though, and only sent her to live with Fred in her apartment. She was expected to find a job to pay for half the rent.
Buffy glanced up and noticed that the two were still talking. She was about to return to her thoughts when she felt a chill tumble down her spine. She closed her eyes just as Giles had taught her to, and concentrated her mind on pinpointing the vampire. She felt her senses fly across the cemetery and saw in her mind's eye the vampire sneaking up behind her Watcher and teacher. Her eyes snapped open and she saw that she was too late. They glanced up as Buffy hurtled across the grass and cried out when she threw her stake at them.
It hit the vampire in the chest and it exploded to dust only a foot from where Miss Kirly and Giles stood.
"Dear me," Miss Kirly breathed.
"Good Lord," Giles muttered. "Uh… very, um, perceptive of you, Buffy."
"Oh, come on," she exclaimed. "That was good and you know it."
He smiled knowingly.
****
Saturday came and Buffy watched the other students leave as she nibbled at her toast. Her mother was at an interview for a job at the gallery today and hadn't been able to take her out, as she normally did on the weekend. She was stuck within the walls of ASG. She thought she might train, and then maybe head up to the garden for some much-needed tanning. She was becoming pasty.
Anya was staying to, as she didn't have anywhere to go. Her mother was prone to disappearing for months on end and Anya had become accustomed to staying at the school on weekends. The blonde hadn't woken up yet, so it was just Buffy and a scattering of other students in the hall for breakfast.
A thick envelope suddenly dropped onto her plate and she glanced up. When she saw nothing there, she smiled.
"Thanks Dennis," she said.
She tore open the envelope and a small package fell out. She stared at the card before opening it.
Dear Buffy,
You thought I had forgotten, didn't you? I would never forget a day this important to you, honey. Happy Birthday. Because you're 17 I decided to splurge on our savings and buy you something I've had my eye on for a while. I'm sorry that I couldn't spend this day with you, but I'll be there to tomorrow to take you out for lunch.
Love you,
Mom.
Buffy grinned and placed the card on the table. She picked up the small package and carefully unwrapped it. Inside was a beautiful silver chain with a small cross on the end. Her mother always knew what she would and would not wear, and she had not been wrong with the necklace. It was beautiful, and Buffy put it on straightaway. She was still looking at it when a cheerful voice interrupted her.
"Hey Buffy, what're you doing?" Anya slid into the seat across from her and reached over to snatch the card. "What's th- Oh! Happy Birthday!" She bounded over and wrapped her arms around Buffy's neck. "Why didn't you tell me, silly?"
Buffy shrugged as the girl released her. "I didn't think it was important."
"Important?" Anya repeated. "Girl, you're seventeen! That's it, we are going out tonight."
"Going out? Where?" Buffy asked.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Anya replied. "I'm going to start organizing it right now! Just get dressed up and be in here at seven."
She rushed from the hall, leaving Buffy confused and excited. Maybe a night out would be what she needed.
As her excitement increased, time slowed. It seemed to be deliberately teasing her, and she constantly checked the time. She got leave from Angel to use the training room and slipped through the tunnel into the underground room. She used the punching bag for twenty minutes and then went onto the crossbow. Her concentration levels were terrible and she quickly removed the arrows from the wall before Giles could see them. She practiced various moves of the kata before becoming bored and returning to the bag. When she glanced at the clock again, only two hours had passed.
Frustrated, she grabbed her towel and water bottle and packed away the weapons. She climbed the stairs and locked the thick metal door. As she walked down the passage, she lifted her torch to study the designs of the walls. There were carvings in different languages, and drawings of monsters and demons. There were stories which she followed from the roof to the floor. Some were fights between good and evil, while some were just ordinary things, such as someone going riding on a horse. They were skilled hands which carved these things.
Buffy shone the light over a small image, but quickly returned to it when she felt a moment of familiarity. She reached up to touch it and gasped as a vision of the sun and a black crow filled her mind. She had seen it before, but she could not remember when. Slightly frightened, she hurried back into the library. She took a moment to lean against the shelves and calm her breathing. Her chain slipped from beneath her top and she grasped it in her hand. Today was her seventeenth birthday and nothing Slayerish was going to ruin it.
She left the library and wearily climbed the stairs to her room. She felt her neck go cold and she stiffened. Finally recognizing the sensation, she continued up the stairs as if nothing had happened. When she reached the top of the staircase, she slid around the corner and flattened herself against the wall.
Sure enough the sensations became stronger. When she knew the moment was right, she reached around the wall, grasped onto cloth and pulled. She pushed her follower to the ground and sat astride him, stake hovering over his heart.
"Nice to see that Watcher is actually doing something," Spike said.
"Nah… that was just me." Buffy grinned back at him. "Nice way of getting yourself staked, you idiot."
"Hmph. I could have easily stopped you, you stupid bint."
"Resorted to name calling have we? And there was no chance you could have stopped me."
"'Wanna make a bet, luv?" Spike said, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't bet, Spike." She smirked. "I hate taking other people's money."
The challenge had been issued, and would have been resolved if Lorne hadn't skipped around the corner, humming out loud.
"Whoa, sweet cheeks," he said when he saw them. "Let's not poke people with sharp objects now."
She jumped off Spike, suddenly aware of their position and what it probably looked like.
"Oh," he said. "It's just Spike. Continue if you'd like." Then he walked past and resumed his humming.
Spike stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Don't 'ya just love the respect around this place?" he said sarcastically. He turned to face her, his smirk back in place, his eyes twinkling. "Don't you forget about that bet, now pet. I'm just waiting for pay day."
She snorted as he turned to go. He stopped suddenly and glanced over his shoulder.
"Before I forget," he said. "Happy birthday." He tossed a tiny package over his shoulder and she snatched it from the air. "Thought it might go with that necklace you got." She glanced at the present and when she looked up again, he was gone.
"Bloody, sneaky vampire," she muttered. "'Gonna make him wear bells one day."
She opened her room and tossed her bottle and towel onto her bed. She shook the package but it gave no indication of what it held. Shrugging, she carefully opened it, and lifted out a pair of earrings. They were tiny crosses and matched her necklace identically.
"Bloody, sneaky vampire."