addendum to the disclaimer: Yep, we're onto "the bunnyman" now. For info on the Bunnyman, check out www.weirdus.com. That's a MAJOR source for this story, so who knows, you might hit upon a myth I'm already planning on using.
Addendum to the author's note: oh, hell, it's been awhile. I've been swamped with moving and looking for a job and just generally settling into being back in the DC area. Also, being so close to the location for this story, I felt sort of obligated to go see the Bunnyman Bridge in person. But since I was completely unable to figure out where that is, I'm going based off of a DIFFERENT haunted type railroad bridge in Northern Virginia. If you're really curious, I'll tell you a bit about that one later. Usually I'd try to at least finish one of the stories in this series before posting, but since it HAS been such a long time, I figured I'd post as I go on this one.
Also of news, I've semi-figured out where the overall arc of this series is going. I've worked out a big-bad and everything. I'm pretty excited, but well, we've got awhile yet before I even really start bringing that little plot to bear, so hang on tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Roads Less Traveled
by Casix Thistlebane
Story 6: The Sad Tale of Bunnyman
Part One
Xander let out a rather embarrassingly high pitched squeak as he flew through the front door of the house he and Dawn had just entered about an hour before. The latest slayer followed behind him in a much more dignified and controlled manner, shouting obscenities. Dawn hovered somewhere behind her, also shouting, but her words were calm and reassuring, and Carmella the Vampire Slayer was having none of it.
Xander tumbled down the front steps of the wooden porch and finally sprawled out over the damp, dead grass, struggling to get his breath back, and halt the spinning of his brain in his head. He levered himself to his knees and found himself staring at the thick, baggy cloth of a cashmere sweater that was at least three sizes too large for the wiry frame of the slayer it covered. The slayer who, at that moment, was cursing fluently in Spanish and grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket to drag him up level to her dark, bitterly angry eyes.
"This is your fault!" She shook him, which, combined with her earlier blow to his solar plexus, efficiently stopped him from denying her accusation. "You ruined my life!"
"Well, technically, his childhood best friend did," Dawn screeched to a halt as Carmella spun to face her, dagging Xander into a head lock as she moved. "Okay, so not what you want to hear, but it's NOT Xander's fault."
"Thank, Dawn." Xander tried to pry Carmella's arm from his neck, but she was having none of it.
When they first arrived at the house and discovered Carmella was home alone while her parents went shopping, Xander and Dawn had thought it was a good sign, and set about explaining to the confused young woman about her slayer-hood.
Obviously she wasn't taking the news well.
"Look," Dawn lifted both hands out in front of her, palms down. "It's going to be okay. We can help you, teach you to use your strength, teach you to fight–"
Xander gurgled as Carmella's arm tightened.
"–Which you don't need, but we'll help you understand who you are now–"
"Who I am?" Carmella shoved Xander to one side, where he decided to lay low and let Dawn continue to handle it. "Where were you nine months ago when my metabolism tripled? Where were you when my mom watched me eat four servings and still drop a pound a day? Or how about my 'intervention' when my dad handed me pamphlets on binging and purging?" She stalked forward, causing an appalled Dawn to back up. "Or when they sent me to the clinic to be 'cured' of an eating disorder that I. Don't. Have?"
"Oh, god," Xander took in the way Carmella's jeans hung off her bony hips, and her sweater draped over her frame. "We didn't think of that."
Carmella turned toward him again, and he flinched back.
"No, I guess you didn't." She threw the Helsing Institute pamphlet to the ground at Dawn's feet. "Please leave."
"Carmella–" Dawn stepped forward, but Xander grabbed her arm.
"Come on, Dawn."
"But–"
Xander tugged her to the car, then turned back to the still-seething slayer. "I'm sorry."
Carmella flicked him off.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"We shouldn't have left." Dawn stood, her arms crossed, staring over the car at her companion. "She needs to know what she'll be up against."
Xander shrugged, then rubbed his sore shoulder. "She wouldn't have listened." He shoved the keys into his pocket and started toward the hotel. "We'll have to wait for her to calm down. But, hey, at least we know she's accepted that she's the slayer."
"Yeah, but I don't think she realizes what that means."
"And she's not going to until she calms down." Xander held the door open for Dawn. "She's got our number. We'll stay in town for awhile, talk to her later, and eventually she'll realize that her powers mean more than bulemia. Until then, I vote we relax."
Dawn sniffed as she picked up a copy of the local paper from the stand in the hotel lobby. "You just want a chance to finish that book."
"And as the one who got me to READ said book, you should not be complaining."
Dawn stuck her tongue out at him, and they continued to their room in silence. Sure enough, as soon as they got there, Xander grabbed _The Alchemist_ and flopped down onto the bed. Dawn smirked and opened the paper.
Neither of them got very far when Dawn gave a small shout and stood. Xander peered up from the edge of the book, torn between wanting to finish and needing to know what had prompted Dawn's reaction. He found out soon enough when she plopped the paper down on top of the novel.
"BUNNYMAN STRIKES AGAIN" the headline read, which made Xander snort slightly in amusement until he kept reading.
"Three bodies were found this morning hanging from a local railroad bridge, says police. The deceased, all teenagers whose identities have yet to be released, were strung up by crude leather ropes around their necks, their bodies cut open."
Xander skimmed through descriptions of the investigation and the state of the corpses, looking for what had caused Dawn to believe that they, personally, should be concerned. He had to flip to the continuation of the article toward the back of the paper to find it.
"The bridge, known to locals as the 'Bunnyman Bridge', has been home to these sorts of brutal displays twice before. Police believe the most recent murders to be work of a copy-cat killer, as the original perpetrator died three weeks ago in the state facility to which he'd been committed. Dubbed the 'Bunnyman' for his habit of killing rabbits for food in the woods, he has become somewhat of a local legend. Anyone with any information concerning the bridge or the killer should contact police at . . . ."
An image of the bridge accompanied the article, but to Xander it looked rather ordinary. He closed the paper.
"Well?" Dawn stared down at him, expectantly."
"There's no reason to think that this is anything supernatural, Dawn."
"Of COURSE there is!"
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that it happened while we're here, looking for a slayer."
Xander raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine, so THAT doesn't mean anything." Dawn sat down on her bed. "I just get a feeling, that's all."
"A feeling."
"Yes. And Buffy used to get feelings all the time and I think that maybe I do too. Like, sister-of-the-Slayer intuition."
Xander couldn't help but smile. "Okay, watcher-girl, look into it. Maybe you're right. Just, you know, do your homework while you're at it."
"I don't have any homework."
"Wood didn't give you any homework?"
Dawn glanced over at her laptop, which lay, still packed, on the table by the bathroom. "No,"
Xander grinned. "Emma was right, you're a terrible liar. Now get to work. I'm gonna want to discuss this book when I'm done."
"This is SO unfair."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Xander stepped carefully through the close-set trees and low lying bushes, searching for the path. The sun streamed through the bare branches, casting an over-bright , almost grainy light on the woods around him. He could hear the animals darting in and out of the foliage to either side of him, and the sound of water splashing over rocks up ahead. He pushed aside a couple of branches and stepped forward. A stick cracked under his boots and the sound and light fell away, leaving him in darkness.
"Don't go over there."
Xander turned to see Anya hovering at his side. She was staring, terrified, into the darkness. He followed her gaze. He was standing on the bank of a broad, shallow creek, next to the metal support of a towering bridge. The water poured silently over the rocks.
"Anya, what are you doing here?"
"Don't go over there, Xander. I'm scared."
"There's nothing to be scared of, Honey."
Her expression faded to anger, then sorrow.
"You won't listen to just me."
"Listen about what?"
"Or her. It has to be both of us."
Anya, I don't understand."
"It's the bunnies, Xander." Anya pointed upward toward the bridge. Xander turned and saw a lone, slim figure hanging by the neck, its feet at Xander's eye level. He stepped forward, past Anya, who reached for his arm, but vanished as her hand passed through him. He stepped up to the hanged figure, who swayed slowly in a circle until they faced each other. The figure's tongue was swollen and hanging blackly from its mouth. Its bulging eyes lay shut and bruised as Xander reached up a hand to stop its swinging.
As soon as Xander's hand touched one of the feet, the figure's eyes flew open, glaring bright and black into his.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Xander sat up gasping in his bed, clutching at the sheets and blankets. He searched the dark hotel room wildly before his eyes caught Dawn's, where she, too, sat, wide-eyed, her chest heaving for breath.
"Did–did you–?"
Dawn nodded slowly. "Anya?"
Xander squinched his eyes shut. "Yeah."
They stayed that way for a moment longer until their hearts stopped pounding and their breathing evened.
"So," Xander pushed the covers off slowly, "the Bunnyman, huh?"
end part one
Addendum to the author's note: oh, hell, it's been awhile. I've been swamped with moving and looking for a job and just generally settling into being back in the DC area. Also, being so close to the location for this story, I felt sort of obligated to go see the Bunnyman Bridge in person. But since I was completely unable to figure out where that is, I'm going based off of a DIFFERENT haunted type railroad bridge in Northern Virginia. If you're really curious, I'll tell you a bit about that one later. Usually I'd try to at least finish one of the stories in this series before posting, but since it HAS been such a long time, I figured I'd post as I go on this one.
Also of news, I've semi-figured out where the overall arc of this series is going. I've worked out a big-bad and everything. I'm pretty excited, but well, we've got awhile yet before I even really start bringing that little plot to bear, so hang on tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Roads Less Traveled
by Casix Thistlebane
Story 6: The Sad Tale of Bunnyman
Part One
Xander let out a rather embarrassingly high pitched squeak as he flew through the front door of the house he and Dawn had just entered about an hour before. The latest slayer followed behind him in a much more dignified and controlled manner, shouting obscenities. Dawn hovered somewhere behind her, also shouting, but her words were calm and reassuring, and Carmella the Vampire Slayer was having none of it.
Xander tumbled down the front steps of the wooden porch and finally sprawled out over the damp, dead grass, struggling to get his breath back, and halt the spinning of his brain in his head. He levered himself to his knees and found himself staring at the thick, baggy cloth of a cashmere sweater that was at least three sizes too large for the wiry frame of the slayer it covered. The slayer who, at that moment, was cursing fluently in Spanish and grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket to drag him up level to her dark, bitterly angry eyes.
"This is your fault!" She shook him, which, combined with her earlier blow to his solar plexus, efficiently stopped him from denying her accusation. "You ruined my life!"
"Well, technically, his childhood best friend did," Dawn screeched to a halt as Carmella spun to face her, dagging Xander into a head lock as she moved. "Okay, so not what you want to hear, but it's NOT Xander's fault."
"Thank, Dawn." Xander tried to pry Carmella's arm from his neck, but she was having none of it.
When they first arrived at the house and discovered Carmella was home alone while her parents went shopping, Xander and Dawn had thought it was a good sign, and set about explaining to the confused young woman about her slayer-hood.
Obviously she wasn't taking the news well.
"Look," Dawn lifted both hands out in front of her, palms down. "It's going to be okay. We can help you, teach you to use your strength, teach you to fight–"
Xander gurgled as Carmella's arm tightened.
"–Which you don't need, but we'll help you understand who you are now–"
"Who I am?" Carmella shoved Xander to one side, where he decided to lay low and let Dawn continue to handle it. "Where were you nine months ago when my metabolism tripled? Where were you when my mom watched me eat four servings and still drop a pound a day? Or how about my 'intervention' when my dad handed me pamphlets on binging and purging?" She stalked forward, causing an appalled Dawn to back up. "Or when they sent me to the clinic to be 'cured' of an eating disorder that I. Don't. Have?"
"Oh, god," Xander took in the way Carmella's jeans hung off her bony hips, and her sweater draped over her frame. "We didn't think of that."
Carmella turned toward him again, and he flinched back.
"No, I guess you didn't." She threw the Helsing Institute pamphlet to the ground at Dawn's feet. "Please leave."
"Carmella–" Dawn stepped forward, but Xander grabbed her arm.
"Come on, Dawn."
"But–"
Xander tugged her to the car, then turned back to the still-seething slayer. "I'm sorry."
Carmella flicked him off.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"We shouldn't have left." Dawn stood, her arms crossed, staring over the car at her companion. "She needs to know what she'll be up against."
Xander shrugged, then rubbed his sore shoulder. "She wouldn't have listened." He shoved the keys into his pocket and started toward the hotel. "We'll have to wait for her to calm down. But, hey, at least we know she's accepted that she's the slayer."
"Yeah, but I don't think she realizes what that means."
"And she's not going to until she calms down." Xander held the door open for Dawn. "She's got our number. We'll stay in town for awhile, talk to her later, and eventually she'll realize that her powers mean more than bulemia. Until then, I vote we relax."
Dawn sniffed as she picked up a copy of the local paper from the stand in the hotel lobby. "You just want a chance to finish that book."
"And as the one who got me to READ said book, you should not be complaining."
Dawn stuck her tongue out at him, and they continued to their room in silence. Sure enough, as soon as they got there, Xander grabbed _The Alchemist_ and flopped down onto the bed. Dawn smirked and opened the paper.
Neither of them got very far when Dawn gave a small shout and stood. Xander peered up from the edge of the book, torn between wanting to finish and needing to know what had prompted Dawn's reaction. He found out soon enough when she plopped the paper down on top of the novel.
"BUNNYMAN STRIKES AGAIN" the headline read, which made Xander snort slightly in amusement until he kept reading.
"Three bodies were found this morning hanging from a local railroad bridge, says police. The deceased, all teenagers whose identities have yet to be released, were strung up by crude leather ropes around their necks, their bodies cut open."
Xander skimmed through descriptions of the investigation and the state of the corpses, looking for what had caused Dawn to believe that they, personally, should be concerned. He had to flip to the continuation of the article toward the back of the paper to find it.
"The bridge, known to locals as the 'Bunnyman Bridge', has been home to these sorts of brutal displays twice before. Police believe the most recent murders to be work of a copy-cat killer, as the original perpetrator died three weeks ago in the state facility to which he'd been committed. Dubbed the 'Bunnyman' for his habit of killing rabbits for food in the woods, he has become somewhat of a local legend. Anyone with any information concerning the bridge or the killer should contact police at . . . ."
An image of the bridge accompanied the article, but to Xander it looked rather ordinary. He closed the paper.
"Well?" Dawn stared down at him, expectantly."
"There's no reason to think that this is anything supernatural, Dawn."
"Of COURSE there is!"
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that it happened while we're here, looking for a slayer."
Xander raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine, so THAT doesn't mean anything." Dawn sat down on her bed. "I just get a feeling, that's all."
"A feeling."
"Yes. And Buffy used to get feelings all the time and I think that maybe I do too. Like, sister-of-the-Slayer intuition."
Xander couldn't help but smile. "Okay, watcher-girl, look into it. Maybe you're right. Just, you know, do your homework while you're at it."
"I don't have any homework."
"Wood didn't give you any homework?"
Dawn glanced over at her laptop, which lay, still packed, on the table by the bathroom. "No,"
Xander grinned. "Emma was right, you're a terrible liar. Now get to work. I'm gonna want to discuss this book when I'm done."
"This is SO unfair."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Xander stepped carefully through the close-set trees and low lying bushes, searching for the path. The sun streamed through the bare branches, casting an over-bright , almost grainy light on the woods around him. He could hear the animals darting in and out of the foliage to either side of him, and the sound of water splashing over rocks up ahead. He pushed aside a couple of branches and stepped forward. A stick cracked under his boots and the sound and light fell away, leaving him in darkness.
"Don't go over there."
Xander turned to see Anya hovering at his side. She was staring, terrified, into the darkness. He followed her gaze. He was standing on the bank of a broad, shallow creek, next to the metal support of a towering bridge. The water poured silently over the rocks.
"Anya, what are you doing here?"
"Don't go over there, Xander. I'm scared."
"There's nothing to be scared of, Honey."
Her expression faded to anger, then sorrow.
"You won't listen to just me."
"Listen about what?"
"Or her. It has to be both of us."
Anya, I don't understand."
"It's the bunnies, Xander." Anya pointed upward toward the bridge. Xander turned and saw a lone, slim figure hanging by the neck, its feet at Xander's eye level. He stepped forward, past Anya, who reached for his arm, but vanished as her hand passed through him. He stepped up to the hanged figure, who swayed slowly in a circle until they faced each other. The figure's tongue was swollen and hanging blackly from its mouth. Its bulging eyes lay shut and bruised as Xander reached up a hand to stop its swinging.
As soon as Xander's hand touched one of the feet, the figure's eyes flew open, glaring bright and black into his.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Xander sat up gasping in his bed, clutching at the sheets and blankets. He searched the dark hotel room wildly before his eyes caught Dawn's, where she, too, sat, wide-eyed, her chest heaving for breath.
"Did–did you–?"
Dawn nodded slowly. "Anya?"
Xander squinched his eyes shut. "Yeah."
They stayed that way for a moment longer until their hearts stopped pounding and their breathing evened.
"So," Xander pushed the covers off slowly, "the Bunnyman, huh?"
end part one