Chapter 13
"So, what do we have so far?" I asked Chris, who was sitting across the table from me.
He opened the book, showing me the first page as he began to explain. "We don't have a lot of information on the Lerian language, it's virtually unheard of. I managed to dig up some really old documents, but they don't say much.
"What we do know is that it's very complex. When writing it if you rearrange the words it can change the meaning entirely. One misplaced word is all it takes and just like that you can go from asking for an apple to declaring war on Greece."
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you have the translations?"
He nodded. "It was the only example given," he stated, pulling out a parchment to show me. I shook my head, I believed him.
"So it's complex, is that going to make it hard to read?" I asked.
He kind of nodded, like he wasn't sure. "I'm not so certain that the complexity will make it hard, it's more our lack of understanding any of the words. I mean, I've been able to relate it to several demon languages, but I don't think it really came from Earth." I just stared at him, my gaze telling him to go on. "I think the Lerian's are from a different world. There have been some references that support the theory."
Slowly I nodded as I considered that. Chris had been examining the book almost non stop since he saw it. It was like someone just gave him the best toy he could every get, one big giant puzzle that he was determined to solve. At the moment he didn't know much, but he was piecing things together, and he was really good at that.
"What I think we need is the history behind this," Chris stated with a sigh, nodding to the book. "If we could only find out why it was written, or how they knew about what would happen, then I think I could figure it out. That or a list of definitions complete with the arraignments for sentences. At the moment I'm not sure which one is more likely to show up."
I nodded, understanding. "So what do we do?"
"I'm try to figure it out. I see a pattern to the words, if I can find the pattern I think I can use it as a key. There are a few translations in some of what I found, I can use that to start," he sounded tired but determined. Lloyd had said he'd been up late working on this, I was beginning to wonder how late.
I didn't ask, instead I just nodded. "if you need help with anything, ask." Chris only nodded.
I got up to leave, letting him go back to studying scrolls, parchments and books. He might be a book worm, but he was good at what he did.
Spike was walking into the dinning room just as I walked out. "There you are," he said, sounding somewhat annoyed, but not with me. "I've got a job for you."
"Uh-huh, that's nice," I tried to push past him, he blocked me.
"Find a new spot for your vampire before I stake him."
I looked up at him. "I thought you didn't mind sharing your room."
Spike stared down at me. "I didn't, now I do. You try living with him for awhile, tell me if you still like him."
I smirked. "You liked him?"
He glared. "You know what I mean."
Nodding I walked past him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll take care of it. Most of the girls are at Xander's so I might be able to find a room to put him in, but Buffy won't be happy."
"We could just stake him and end the problem," Spike shouted after me. I didn't bother to answer.
I looked over the rooms upstairs. Dawn's, Willow's and Buffy's. They wouldn't be happy to give one up. I'd suggest sticking him in a closest but I doubt anyone would agree to that. Couldn't keep him in the bathroom, we needed that. If only they had another room. Every inch of free space was taken over.
With a sigh I wandered into Dawn's room. Lucky for me she was there. Willow and Buffy wouldn't move for Alucard, but I might convince Dawn to let me borrow her room for a couple of days.
"Hey, Dawn. What's up?" I asked from the doorway.
Dawn glanced at me, smiling for a second. "Nothing much. How's the watcher doing with that book?" she asked cheerfully.
I shrugged. "He doesn't understand much at all, but he's having a great time with it." I grinned at her before growing serious. "Actually I'm here for a favor."
Dawn nodded, putting down what looked like a diary. "Shoot."
"I was wondering if I could borrow your room for a few days," I asked, sounding as unsure as I felt.
Dawn was staring at me, considering things. She didn't seem so happy about the idea, but at least she was thinking it through. "Why?"
"Spike doesn't want Alucard in the basement, I have to find a spot for him," I said bluntly.
Dawn nodded. "He's not, like, going to be in my bed or anything, is he? I don't know how much I like that guy."
I grinned. She had as much as said it was okay. Now I just had to wait for the catch. "He won't be on your bed, scouts honor." Okay, so I wasn't a girl scout, I don't think she cared.
Dawn nodded. "Fine, but you have to stay with him. I don't want him left alone," she paused to think for a moment. "We might have to put Faith up here, too, I don't think any of the girls will want to sleep with her or the vampire."
I nodded. That would be convenient for Dawn, so it worked. From what I heard of Faith she should be interesting enough to talk to, if she felt like talking. Buffy and Dawn didn't think too highly of her, none of the scoobies did. She had been declared a rouge slayer.
"Whatever works," I told Dawn. "Would it be okay if I brought him up now?"
Dawn hesitated moment. "Give me fifteen minutes or so, then go ahead."
I smiled at her, letting her know I was happy. "Thanks Dawn, I'll be up in a few."
That was easy. When it came to Alucard easy was good, hard got you almost dead. Though I don't know how Dawn would get around to almost killing me. Maybe she could have Buffy do it.
I considered the thought of Buffy and me in an actual fight as I walked downstairs. The basement was cool and quiet, very nice this time of day when potentials normally stood about yelling their heads off, or at least it sounded like that. They were actually just talking a lot. It reminded me of high school, non stop chatter.
Alucard sat on what use to be Spike's caught. He was chained to the wall with his eyes closed, not looking up, but he was smirking. Spike was on the other side of the room glaring at Alucard while at the same time managing to look smug.
"What's up with you two?" I asked as I walked down the stairs.
Spike glanced at me, a smile spreading across his face. "Find a room?"
I nodded. "Yeah, Dawn's letting me use hers for a few days."
"Dawn's room?" Spike asked, unsure for a moment. He glanced at Alucard.
"Don't worry, she won't be there. Just me and Faith," I stated.
Spike went from looking worried, to happy, then to a little of both. "You're going to be in the same room as him?" he asked, not happy about it.
"Come now Spike, your sister can take care of herself, can't you Liz?" Alucard asked, suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up. He asked it as if he knew perfectly well that I couldn't. I just looked at him, my face blank. He was trying to bug Spike, I was going to stay out of their bickering until someone bothered to tell me why they were bickering.
So instead I turned my attention to Spike. "Faith will be there too. Two Slayers guarding him, I think we'll be okay."
Spike didn't look sure, but he nodded. "Fine, get him upstairs then." He left it at that, having nothing else to say.
I just shrugged at him, walking over to Alucard who was sitting patiently. He held his arms out to me when I got there. "Are you using these chains, or do you have another set?"
I shrugged. "Dunno, don't care," I stated, pulling out the key. I'd kept an extra with me in case anything came up. "I'll ask Dawn about it on the way up."
"What, you're taking him around unchained?" Spike asked, turning back to us.
"Yep," I said with a nod, finishing unlocking the chains. Alucard stood up with a smirk, rubbing his wrists. "Don't worry, he won't do anything stupid," I stated, walking for the stairs. Spike didn't do anything to stop us, but he was glaring at Alucard. I rolled my eyes at the both of them and Alucard followed me out.
We reached Dawn's room without any other interruptions. Alucard glanced around, taking in everything. Dawn had left, taking some of her stuff with her. Alucard seemed to accept the room and sat down on Dawn's bed for a moment.
"Not bad, better than chains," he stated.
I shrugged. "Glad you like it, I guess, but you don't get the bed. Sorry, Dawn said you had to stay off."
"Shucks," he said with a frown. Slowly he got to his feet, stretching as he did so. "So what, I get the chair?"
"Yeah, you do."
He walked to it and sat down. "You going to find the chains?" He asked, not sounding particularly happy about it.
"Promise not to leave the room or kill anyone?" I asked.
Alucard glanced up at me, his face strait, except for his eyes which seemed to be grinning at me. "Sure, I promise not to kill anyone or leave the room. I won't even hurt anyone if it'll make you happy."
I flashed him a brief smile. "Good, no chains for now. You do anything out of line I'll change my mind."
He smirked again, leaning back in the chair. "That works. Don't worry, I'll be good."
"Yeah, just like with Spike, right?" I asked as I took his spot on the bed.
Grinning he shrugged. "Sorry, can't help myself. He's so easy to bug. He reminds me so much of. . ." Alucard paused for a moment, staring strait at me but not looking at me. It was as if he was seeing a completely different scene. He shook himself out of it. "Sorry, sorry," he murmured, still half in thought.
Frowning at him I had to ask, "He reminds you of who?"
Alucard shook his head. "It's not important."
"Come on, the moment you say that my curious grows," I stated persistently.
He stared at me a moment, then finally answered. "His name was Lurio. Mean anything to you?" He asked, his voice blank.
I wasn't sure what the question was for, but I didn't recognize the name. "No, not a thing. Don't think I've heard it before."
"See, it was nothing," he stated, relaxing again. I frowned at him. Why did it seem like he thought I might know the name? He almost seemed glad I didn't know it.
"Who was Lurio?" I asked. Curiosity was working against me, I didn't want to push, but I really wanted answers.
Alucard shook his head. "Someone I killed a long time ago." Could that be why he didn't want to talk about it? Probably.
I beat my curiosity down this time. It wasn't my place to ask him to explain, especially when I really wasn't happy with the thought of him killing people. So instead of more questions I stood up. "I'm going to look for Giles, I'll be back later." I walked for the door.
"What do you need Giles for?" Alucard asked.
Normally I would have blown the question off, but he'd answered mine. "I need some help with a dream."
"A prophecy?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No, don't remember it." Then I left. Let him figure it out, or try to. I still didn't know what was going on. If what I heard was true about a stone Giles brought back with him, though, then I might figure something out.
Giles was in the kitchen finishing up a conversation with Chris who had a box of all of his stuff in front of him.
"You leaving?" I asked.
Chris glanced over at me. "Yeah, I have some more stuff back at the hotel, so I'm taking it all back there." I nodded understanding. He picked up the box and smiled a good bye. "I'll see you later, Beth, Giles," he nodded to each of us as he said our names, then left the room.
Giles stared after him a moment before turning back to me. "Beth, can I help you with something?"
I nodded and took a deep breath. "I know this'll sound weird, but I've been having these dreams, and I don't remember them, but I think they're important and they're giving me awful headaches, and I was wondering if maybe I could use that stone, what'd you call it? The Prokaryote stone? Yeah, that was it. Anyway, I wanted to know if you could help me use it to remember the dreams." I said it quickly, all in one breath.
Spike had used the prokaryote stone a few days ago to work on this trigger thing the first was using on him. Spike had only muttered about a song our mom used to sing, and how the trigger didn't work anymore. I wasn't quite sure what a trigger even was, but from what Xander had said I think it had something to do with controlling Spike. Every time he heard that song he'd gone all evil. That was taken care of now, and I was looking for help.
Giles stared at me as if he hadn't quite heard what I had said. For a moment I thought I might have to repeat myself, then he spoke. "I don't think that would be wise It can be very dangerous and unpredictable. The only reason I suggested it with Spike is because he's already dead, it won't kill him."
Okay, that wasn't good. I didn't want to die pulling out the memories, but I didn't want to be stuck not knowing what was going on. "So it could hurt, but it might not, right?"
Giles was frowning, but he nodded.
"So things could go fine."
"How important are the memories?" Giles asked. Good question. Just another million dollar question. I really should start answering those.
"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "But I need to know, even if it's nothing, then at least I need to know it's nothing."
Giles nodded. "Have you talked to Buffy?"
"Why would I talk to her about this? It's not her problem. Besides, you're the smart one who's supposed to know a lot," I said without thinking.
Giles frowned for a moment. "I'm glad someone thinks so." He said at last. "But still, you should think about this."
"I have."
"I don't know you that well, I don't know how to talk to you," he started, "but I do know you don't seem to be a complete idiot. If you feel this is something you must do then I'll help you, but I hope that you aren't just rushing into it." Wow, he had the whole father thing down good. It was as if he could make anyone feel responsible, or as if we should be responsible. I wonder if it worked on spike.
Mentally I shook my head to get back to the point. Giles was being serious, I had to be, too. "I'm sure, don't worry. I just want this done."
Giles nodded and told me to meet him in the backyard. The potentials wouldn't be out there, and the neighbors wouldn't think twice about something strange happening at this house. He came back with the stone, explaining to me that it would crawl into my eye and enter my brain. That just sounded sick.
"Ready?" he asked at the end of his speech. I took a shaky breath and nodded. "Just sit still." I nodded again.
"Kun'ati belek sup'sion. bok'vata im kele'beshus. Ta'li ta'li ek'vota. Mor'osh boota'ke."
The stone Giles had out began to unfurl into a black leech like creature. Giles brought the box it was in closer to me and it slid onto my face.
I sat frozen, scared to move. There was a leech on my face that was about to crawl into my eye. Maybe I hadn't thought this through. There was no going back, though, it was already there, I could see it in front of my left eye. Shuddering slightly I felt it draw closer, and then plunge into me.
I'm not sure it hurt, or at least not at first. It was more of a shock. My hands went to my eye, as if to protect it, but I could feel the thing sliding into me already. It hurt then, worse than any headache I've ever had. It was like a giant pulse in my head, beating against me as it squeezed itself into my mind. My body started to shake, I couldn't stop it. I clenched my muscles, trying to stop myself from moving, then things just stopped. For a moment everything was black, and I started to remember.
~
This wasn't my house, but we sat at the head table, anyway. I looked around the room, I recognized everyone. They were my clan, my kin, all of which were talking happily to each other, full of smiles.
I wasn't smiling, nor was I happy. My father, Lunaris, wanted me here. I had to be with the family, help represent the clan. We were in charge of it, the leaders. I didn't want to be, I was tied to the human world more than the rest, in several ways. This gatherings didn't interest me. I could care less whether we celebrated anniversaries or new steps of knowledge.
We, the Lerians, were the book keepers of worlds. We knew more about the humans then they did. Are purpose here was to gather our information, then we would leave. Granted, my clan would be here after I returned home, but that wasn't important.
They might be recorders, content to sit and eat the find foods and enjoy dinner, I wasn't. I was one of the few guardians, I protected my race. I suspect that's why I had the soul of the human guardian, the Slayer. Or one of them.
I glanced around the room. Everyone sat at family tables, eating the bite size food, dressed in their best. Most had their clothes dyed colors, I kept mine white. The girls had their hair up, as I did, but only on my father's request. At least he had let me choose my own clothes, a simple tunic held up by gold clasps on my shoulders. That had been my father's choice, not mine.
He was the leader, he could afford gold clasps and marble. We were surrounded by Lerians, and I just wanted to leave. My eyes wondered the room again, but found no one to get me out of here. I was stuck.
~
The scene had changed. I was no longer surrounded by marble, but instead I was in an arena. I knew it was just a practice one, the games weren't until later. Lurio stood across from me, his friends scattered around. They didn't fight in the games, they weren't strong enough, and besides, Arius was supplying the opponents. I knew he used demons to fight his battles.
Today, however, I was practicing with my brother. He grinned at me, saluting me with his sword. I didn't return the salute. He grinned for a moment, then attacked.
We weren't actually trying to hurt each other, it was just drills, but Lurio thought it would be funny to slash me. His sword drove into my shoulder, going clear though my body. He easily pulled it back as I dropped to the ground, cursing in every language I knew.
Everyone was laughing at me, but I could only glare back, trying not to grimace in pain as my shoulder patched itself up. I healed quickly, and would continue to do so until I absorbed all the memories I could. Normally that meant until we were about twenty. I was fifteen now, just beginning to enter the vault. I was also a slayer, I healed fast.
In minutes I was back on my feet. I dropped the sword I had been using and ran after Lurio. His friends scattered as he started to run, no one wanted me to catch them, and they were all faster than me. I chased after them anyway.
~
I was in a house, in the living room I think. Beside me was the man I recognized as my father. He was mad at me, we were fighting. I got the feeling that this had happened several times before. He wasn't happy with what I was doing. He didn't think I should choose so many human friends. They weren't like us. They were beneath us.
I didn't agree. After all, if it weren't for them we wouldn't be here. We weren't stronger or faster than them, and our healing abilities had nothing to do with us not being human, or at least not for the most part.
This fight was different then the others, though. He wasn't saying he didn't want me to be friends with humans in general, he was saying he didn't want me being with a specific one. He knew we were getting close, too close for his comfort, and he didn't want it.
What was I supposed to tell him? It was too late, I was in love with Dexion. He wouldn't believe it, he would think I was a confused little girl with the thought of romance stuck in my head. I probably wouldn't get to see him anymore. No, I wouldn't tell my father what was going on, he wouldn't understand.
~
A knife flew at my face, I knocked it aside. It was followed by a third and a fourth, all of which I blocked. The crowds were cheering, it was a good fight, the only thing that would make it better would be if one of us got bloody. The demon was thinking the same thing. I had blocked everything he threw at me and he wasn't happy about it. Arius was sending his best after me and they weren't making dents. Normally it bothered me that he had enough rage to spend so much time and effort trying to kill me. Tonight I was happy about it. This was the first of five fights, and I had enough pent up energy to finish them all without a problem. They would steadily get harder, but I was mad enough to deal with it. Anger could do that for you. The demon and I quickly went to hand to hand combat. He was good, but not good enough. I didn't feel like wasting time to please the crowd. I pulled out a short sword and finished the demon off, letting him fall to the ground while catching my breath.
How could this happen? Luraris wasn't supposed to have been there, then again my father always had a knack of showing up at the wrong time. It was my fault, I had said no one would be there, no one would find us, but he had.
We had just been kissing, what was so wrong with that? Apparently everything. He was human. That was the problem. I couldn't fall in love with one of the clan, that was the problem.
Now I wasn't allowed to see him. They couldn't stop me, we were both in the games. What were they going to do, forbid me from those, too? They couldn't. I was a Slayer, it was my job to kill demons. They wouldn't let me go out to search for them, so I would fight them here, were at least they could watch and step in if necessary.
Growling softly I watched the next demon walk in. He was tall, at least three heads taller than me. We all wore masks in the arena, his was of a snake. I wondered if he was a reptile demon or just liked the look. I couldn't tell, every inch of his skin was covered.
He banged his sword and shield to gather, tilting his head back and howling to the crowd. They went wild. He had made the challenge. He stared at me, his weight shifting from one leg to the other. His eyes were covered by a veil but I still could tell he had issued a challenge. "Fight me," he was saying, but he didn't have to say it out loud. Everyone could hear the words.
I stood still, watching him carefully, but never moving. The first demon was still lying at my feet. This one grew impatient. He didn't want to wait. I watched with silent anger as he began walking towards me.
The fight was completely different from the last. I was allowed any weapons I wanted, but my sword wasn't penetrating his skin. Several times he simply picked me up and threw me. Finally I got fed up. He had to have a weak spot, all bad guys did. I abandoned my sword, it was just getting in the way. He held onto his until I tore it out of his hands. I wasn't allowed to remove the mask. That had been put it the rules. My guess was his face was his weak spot.
The monster went to grab me again, preparing to throw me. I pulled out one of my daggers and shoved it into his eyes, or where the eyes in the mask were. The creature screamed, letting go. I stumble to the ground as it fell to its knees. One hard kick shoved his mask in, crushing his face.
"Next," I whispered softly, staring at the door.
~
After the fight. It had taken hours. The first four had been easy but the last wouldn't die. It kept reforming whenever I hurt it. Slowly it had disarmed me of weapons until I had only my stake left. There had been no vampires tonight, no need to use it. I would never have guessed that a stake to the heart would have killed it, but it did. Once again I was the victor, sitting underground below the seating.
I was tired and sore. The anger had faded and left me with a feeling of numbness. Things were wrong and I couldn't stop it. Slowly I rubbed my eyes, I needed a nap. A long nap. Tomorrow I'd go to the vault, in a few weeks I'd be finished with it. Then I could leave if I wanted to. There'd be no obligations to hold me back.
Steps sounded behind me. One of the trainers coming to check on me perhaps. I listened to them stop not far behind me.
Slowly I turned and stared into green eyes. What the. . .
Alucard? ~
Gasping for air I leaned forward, falling to the ground. Where was I this time? Carefully I looked around.
The back yard, Buffy's back yard. I was back in reality. On the ground in front of me was that stupid stone that had crawled into my eye.
When I realized I was shaking I tried to stop, it took too much effort so I gave up. About that time I noticed Giles was holding my shoulders, helping to steady me while he continued to ask if I was all right. Nodding a little too fast I forced myself to sit back.
Then I remembered what had just happened.
Alucard had been there. Way back in the time of ancient Romans. Why I was there was still confusing. Some sort of past life? I didn't believe in those, but I was feeling less sure by the moment. Why was Alucard there? He couldn't be that old. I wasn't sure of exact times, but I think that would make him close to two thousand.
"Fuck," I muttered, causing Giles to look confused.
"Beth, what's wrong?" he asked.
I shook my head again. "Nothing, well. . . I'm not sure."
"Can I help?"
I began to shake my head, but then shrugged. "Maybe. I-I need to talk to- Shit, I don't know. I need time to think about this." Sighing I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight as I tried to piece things together. When I opened them again Giles was still looking down at me, and I noticed it was dark out.
"How long did this take?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but several hours."
"Oh."
Giles smiled reassuringly at me. "Perhaps we should go inside."
I nodded and he helped me to my feet.
I sat down at the dinning room table where Dawn was working on research. I offered to help, but wasn't getting very far. I had to read things three times before they found their way into my brain. Dawn didn't mention it, neither did Giles when he came in to join us.
About half an hour later Buffy came home. She walked in, followed by Spike and some girl with brown hair that I didn't recognize.
"Whoa! Memory lane. Same old house," The girl said as she looked around.
"Every piece of it's been destroyed and replaced since you left," Buffy pointed out, "so, actually, new house."
Dawn glanced up. "Buffy-" she started.
"We've got another new house guest," Buffy stated.
The girl stepped so we got a better view of her. She looked to be about Buffy's age, young twenties, wearing a lot of leather. Ten bucks said it was Faith.
"Hey. Got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?" Faith asked.
Giles and Dawn got to their feet, I sat back and watched what was happening. Coolly, but not happily, Giles said, "Hello, Faith."
"Huh. Guess 'wanted' wasn't so accurate," Faith said.
Dawn walked away from the table, towards Buffy. "Does she have to stay here? 'Cause there's some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your- sister types."
"Check it out," faith said, slightly amused, "brat's all woman-sized."
Buffy ignored both comments. "Guys, we need to go to the hospital. A girl was attacked on her way into town. She maybe a-"
"We know. Willow's been calling," Dawn stated.
"She's still there, she'll call if the girl wakes up," Giles stated. Buffy looked at him coldly. It might have been my imagination but I think there was tension between the two of them.
"Fine," Buffy said, leading way to an uncomfortable silence.
Giles hastily broke it. "Well, Faith. I guess we should try to find a place to squeeze you in tonight." He quickly left, Dawn took the opportunity to leave herself, not pointing out that she'd already made arraignments.
Spike looked at Faith before explaining, "Not all that tension was about you. Giles was part of a plan to kill me for Buffy's own good."
Faith gave him a thoughtful glance before shrugging. "Well, that makes me feel better about me. Worse about Giles," she paused a moment. "Kinda shaky about you."
Buffy was leaving silently, also not particularly wanting to be around Faith. I took it as my opportunity to get aquatinted.
Quietly getting to my feet I walked over to Faith, she noticed me coming. For a moment it was one of those times when you just size up the other person, as if we were about to fight. She examined me for a moment, then deemed me safe, or at least someone who wouldn't be able to hurt her. I decided she was a bad girl Slayer who had the potential to kick the crap out of me. Then again I had the potential to do the same to her. So we were about even.
"Who's this chick?" Faith asked Spike.
Spike grinned for a second, before getting serious. "One of the girls living here, Beth." I noticed he didn't call me a potential, or a Slayer, let Faith think what she will for now.
"So you're Faith," I started, smiling myself. "You're everything I expected you to be."
Faith frowned for a second before returning my meaningless smile. "So how much did Buffy tell you about me? Warn you to be careful and all that crap."
I shook my head. "She actually didn't say much. No one around here did. I just like to keep tabs on current Slayers. One of my old hobbies."
Faith rolled her eyes. "What are you getting at?"
I shrugged. "Nothing really. Just checking out the other Slayer."
She smirked. "Go follow B, she'd love a fan club."
"Actually Andrew tried that, didn't work too well," Spike pointed out.
I examined Faith one last time. She'd figure out who I was sooner or later. It didn't matter. Besides right now I had more important things to deal with.
"Nice chatting and all that, but I've got to see Alucard," I stated. Faith didn't know who Alucard was, but she just shrugged. I turned to Spike. "If you run into Giles tell him I say thanks.
"For what?" Spike asked.
I had already started up the stairs. "Don't worry, he'll know." If Spike had said anything else I hadn't heard.
Entering Dawn's room I made sure Alucard was still there. He hadn't left his chair, but was staring at the window even though the curtains were covering it. He turned to see me as I walked in.
"Hey, Liz. How's life?" He asked somewhat cheerfully.
I didn't answer but sat on the bed. He noticed I was being serious and his manner changed.
"Did something happen?" He asked.
"Kind of," I murmured.
I didn't want to tell him that I had picked up a few new memories. I did want to ask him exactly how old he was and how I knew him from ancient Rome.
"How old are you?" I asked.
Alucard didn't look surprised, but he was curious as to why I was asking. "Why does it matter?"
"Just answer the question," I said, almost pleading. I didn't want to have to fight for the answers, I just wanted to know what was going on.
Alucard wasn't going to cooperate. "I'm over a thousand, you already know that."
I sighed. "Can we be a bit more specific?"
"Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Look, I don't really feel like having a long talk about this, I just need to know," I said.
Alucard shrugged, leaning back. "Sorry, won't help."
I just stared at him for a moment. He meant it. That really sucked. I was too tired to argue about this, and it probably wouldn't matter, anyway.
"Screw it," I muttered angrily.
I grabbed the sleeping bag that was on the bed and threw it on the floor with a pillow. Tonight I was taking the bed, but I didn't want Faith to wake me up for any reason. I went to find the duffle bag that all my clothes were in and quickly went into the bathroom to change into a pair of shorts and a baggy T-shirt. It was late and I was going to bed. I'd deal with Alucard later.
He didn't say anything as I fell asleep.
~
*You weren't supposed to know.*
Know what?
*Everything*
I don't know everything. I just remember pieces.
*You'll learn more.*
So, you're the one who gave me the damn headaches. You're me. You should know I'd look into it.
*It doesn't matter. It's too late.*
Too late for what?
*To stop you*
From what? Quite being decisive and give me an answer!
*You've changed the variables. My memories of you may be affected. You know too much.*
That doesn't tell me anything!
*Ask the vampire.*
~
I was back in the dining room. Chris had come over again, thinking he made a break threw in the book. I was hoping he did. Right now I wanted to know everything I could about the Lerians, and if this book could help then I wanted it translated.
I had spent the last hour listening to Chris explain the writing styles and the patterns he found. He had more or less translated a few passages. From what he could tell it was a book about the future, or as the case might be, about me. He had seen several references to the third Slayer, and it was supposedly in our time.
He was showing me the pages, and how he translated it. This was normal, he always showed me that kind of thing. The odd part was that I understood all of it. He'd show me the words, and I'd be reading them. It was like he was reminding me of a skill I already knew, but had previously forgot. Before long I was reading and discussing at the same level as he was.
Todd sat in a corner watching us as we worked on the book we wrote out translations and then comparing them with each other. More often then naught our ideas would be wrong, and when we discussed why Chris would end up agreeing with mine. Neither of us paid much attention to the fact, but Todd did.
"Have you found the passage about 'she who kills all vampires'?" Todd asked at one point.
I looked up at him to glare, but Chris was flipping through pages. "Yes, it's around here somewhere," he paused at one page, opening the book wide so that we could see it.
I stared at the writing. It looked similar tot he rest of the book, but seemed a little off. Chris went on to point out the particular phrase used and why someone would translate it to me killing all vampires. Technically, as far as I could tell, that's what it said. Yet still something seemed off, and after a moment I got it.
"This is old style writing," I stated. Both Chris and Todd stared at me. "Look," I said, pointing to some of the parts of writing. "They changed the particles and some of the wording. The rules are slightly different, it's old style."
Chris was examining the book closely. "I think you might be right," he started, "but I've never heard of 'old style.'"
Funny, neither have I. "Well. . ." I searched for a way to explain, but I couldn't think of any. "I just sort of. . . remember it."
"From where?" Todd asked.
"I don't know," I stated, being completely honest.
Chris looked at the two of us. He didn't care how I knew it, he was just interested in using the information. "Look, you two argue this out, I'll be trying to see if this changes anything," he said.
"It doesn't," I told him, breaking eye contact with Todd. "I mean, it'll change most of the page, but this line," I pointed to the prophecy, "It doesn't change that."
Chris nodded. "Fine, then maybe it's true." He had agreed with me that it wasn't possible for me to kill all vampires. Which meant I would die.
I stared at the paper for a moment. "It's not. I think the text has been changed by someone. All it would take is to replace one of the words."
Todd was staring very hard at me now, wondering exactly how I knew all this. I didn't know what to tell him so I decided to get out of here. "Hey, I'll be right back. I'm going to get some water." quickly I got up and walked to the kitchen.
"He studied volcanoes. He was a professor," Amanda was saying as I walked into the room. Several potentials were watching her and Andrew closely as Faith worked out in the back yard. I glanced out the window at her while grabbing a cup.
"Ah. Well, regardless," Andrew was saying.
Molly, another potential, stepped in. "Thought you weren't supposed to be doing this any more. Making up these stories."
"I'm not. This is true, except for that. . . possible word misunderstanding. And there are some things you need to know," Andrew insisted as he turns to look out the window. "Faith has a history not to be taken lightly." he turned back to the group. "She's a killer. Never forget that. You must stay on guard around Faith at all times. Your very lives may depend on it."
I finished filling my cup up as I turned to him. "Yeah, that's Faith, evil killer," I said sarcastically.
Andrew turned to me, surprised. "She is!"
"Was," I corrected. "She was. Now she's a good guy. Thank Angel, the other good guy vampire." I told the girls. "You know Andrew, you might want to get all the facts before telling the stories."
"Did you hear that form Buffy?" Amanda wanted to know.
I shook my head and top a gulp of water. "Nah. Heard it from a few vamps at a pub. They were nice fellows." I left that as my parting comment as I walked out of the room. Let them wonder what I meant.
I continued helping the watchers for the rest of the afternoon. Every time Todd asked a question I answered honestly, which meant a lot of I-don't- knows. He kept wondering what I was hiding, which made sense. I hadn't told him about the trip down memory lane.
I heard from Dawn that the new potential at the hospital woke up. Buffy had gone to see what was up. When she came back she called a group meeting. Todd came in with me while Chris was left to pack up.
Buffy started the meeting quickly. "We've got a new player in town. Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for The First," she stated.
"So he's like. . . The Second?" Dawn asked, Todd and I smirked.
Buffy ignored her comment. She seemed a little angrier than usual, so I didn't say anything. "He's taunting us. Calling us out. Says he has something of mine. Could be another girl. Could be something else. Don't know. Don't care." she paused a moment, dramatically. "I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of training. He's got something of mine? Fine. I'm getting it back." She leveled her gaze, staring at all of us. "And you guys are coming with me."
No one said anything. The girls were as surprised as I was. Most of them left to tell the others, but Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, Giles Faith and me all stayed behind to talk.
"Start arming the girls. I want to be ready to move when we find him." Buffy stated.
Willow looked kind of nervous when she pointed out, "We don't even know where we're going."
"That's why I figured a little recon first, see what we can find out," she stated, then asked Faith, "You up for it?"
Faith shrugged. "Point me where you want me."
"But are you certain this is the best course of action?" Giles asked. "You don't even know what this man has of yours, if he in fact has anything."
"It could be a girl. A potential trying to get to us," Buffy stated.
"It could be a stapler," Giles replied.
"I'm going in anyway," Buffy said firmly.
Giles continued to try to make her reconsider. "With the girls? Most of them have yet to be in the field at all, let alone in a life-or-death situation."
"Then it's time we test 'em. We'll just take the ones who've been with us the longest. The rest can stay here."
"Could be that's what he wants you to do. Ol' bait and switch," Spike pointed out.
Willow nodded. "He lures us away, then kills all the girls we leave behind."
"I know," she said, and then to Willow, "That's why I want you to stay with them." Willow didn't look like she quite understood. "You're my most powerful weapon, Will. You can keep these girls safe if something happens."
"Look, maybe we could turn this around," I stated. "If we find out where he is we might be able to draw him out so that we could have a better advantage. We can't meet him at his level. It won't go well."
"We're going in," Buffy insisted. She had a plan and she was sticking with it.
"Unknown man breezes into town, says he has something of yours. . . Buffy, this thing's got "trap" written all over it."
"He won't be expecting a full attack. Not this soon. That's why we have to move."
"We know nothing about this man. We cannot go into battle without preparation. We need time," Giles insisted.
"Giles. We don't have time. And you're not going into battle. I need you to stay behind with the others." She stared at him intently for a second. "Help the girls who still need a teacher."
Ouch. That hurt. Giles didn't say anything as he tried to keep his hurt from showing. It didn't work very well.
"Faith come on," Buffy said, her eyes still on Giles. "Let's go find Caleb."
I watched them leave, worried about what was happening. It was a trap, I was almost positive. One glance at Todd told me he agreed.
"Hey, do me a favor and I'll answer every question you've got," I told him suddenly.
Surprise flashed on his face for a moment before he answered. "What's the favor?"
"Stay here with Willow."
His eyes narrowed for a moment. "Why?"
Because he was my friend and I didn't want to see him get hurt in some trap. What I said was, "Because you can fight and help protect the girls here. Chris can stay if he wants, too."
He stared at me for a long moment, thinking, before finally nodding. "Sure, whatever," then he walked away to help Xander hand out weapons. He didn't seem happy with his decision but that was okay. At least I didn't have to worry about him getting killed.
"Now remember, we're looking for killing blows only, people. So chest and throat if it's a vampire. Stomach, chest and face if it's a bringer," Xander stated as he passed out weapons, Todd was making sure the girls new how to grip them. They had all been training, but it never hurt to make sure.
"What if it's something else?" Rona wanted to know.
Xander nodded. "Could happen. Something otherworldly. And here's a handy rule: don't go for the flashy tentacles just because they're waving them about trying to get attention. Go for the center. Brain, heart, eyes. Everything's got eyes."
"Except the Bringers," Dawn added.
Xander nodded, a little more serious then before. "Except the Bringers."
"I don't want there to be any tentacles," Molly chimed in. "I'm not good with squishy."
Kennedy lifted up a huge sword. "I don't care if it's Godzilla. I want to get in this thing."
Andrew was sitting quietly, but at the mention of Godzilla he had to say something. "Godzilla is mostly Tokyo-based so he's probably a no show."
"Besides, Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla. How tough is he?" Amanda asked.
Andrew and I both flinched at the same moment. Our gazes met for a moment. I knew he was a geek and very passionate about these things, but I was a bit of a geek too. That comment had to be answered. We both looked to Xander.
"Please yell at her," I pleaded at the same time Andrew said "Xander!"
Xander was calmer, but still annoyed. "Matthew Broderick did not kill Godzilla. He killed a big dumb lizard that was not the real Godzilla."
"You people are even crazier then her," Rona muttered.
"Than who?" Xander asked.
"Buffy, man!" she stated. "I mean, taking us right into the bad guys' lair?"
"Well, that's where, generally speaking, you go to find the bad guy. And I don't think you came here to fight plaque," Xander pointed out.
"No," Rona said evenly, "I came here for protection."
"Well, you signed on to fight with-"
"Look, I know but. . . this plan is trouble. Buffy doesn't care how many of us she puts in danger," Rona said.
Xander almost instantly looked angry. It wasn't that scary, just unexpected. "Let me tell you something about Buffy. In fact you should all listen to this."
"We kinda were," Kennedy murmured.
"I've been through more battles with Buffy then you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her.
"She's laid down her life, literally, to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times and she's still standing. You're scared, that's smart. You've got questions, you should.
"But if you doubt her motives--you think Buffy's all about the kill-- and you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart-- and this time not literally-- and I'm telling you right now she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."
Wow. That was a long speech. We all just stared at him for a beat. He said it with such passion that it would be hard for anyone to doubt Buffy at this moment.
Or maybe not, I still doubted her. That wasn't a problem, but I thought better of her. She might be taking us all into a trap but at least she had good motives. As stupid as that sounds it wasn't that bad.
"Damn. I never knew you were that cool," I heard Faith say in the background. I turned around to see them both standing in the hallway by the door.
"Well, you've always been a little slow," Buffy said. She looked like she was close to crying. My guess was that they were happy tears.
Faith smiled. "I get that now."
Buffy took a second to compose herself then walked further into the room so that we could see her better. "All right. Let's saddle up."
I didn't take any weapons. Chances were someone would die sooner or latter and I could grab there's. Morbid thought, I know, but honestly I meant the bringers would die. Their daggers weren't half bad.
Buffy and Faith had found the place. It was in a vineyard. She separated us into two groups. She wanted a Slayer in each group so Faith got put in group two. I wondered if Faith knew I was a Slayer yet. It wasn't the time to ask.
They led us through a forest until we stood outside the building.
"Okay, set up a perimeter. Guard the door. I don't want anything getting in behind us. My team goes in first to check the place out. You guys are our safety net. This place is a trap we give the signal, you guys come in guns- ablazing."
"So what's the signal?" Xander asked.
"I'm thinking lots and lots of yelling," Buffy said.
"Got it," Xander said.
Buffy looked at her group, I wasn't in it. "Shall we?" she led them into the vineyard, we all watched them go inside, just waiting in the darkness.
The silence was thick. None of us wanted to say anything, and I was getting bored. "Damn, now I wish I was in the first group," I muttered.
Faith smirked at me. "I'd think a potential would be happy to stay out of danger." She said somewhat sarcastically.
I didn't disagree with her. "Yeah, a potential might," I said.
She frowned for a second. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I glanced at Xander. "No one's told her yet? God, she spent over a day with Willow."
Faith looked at Xander, too. "Told me what?"
He was about to answer when the signal came. Lots and lots of screaming. Xander cut off our discussion and led us to the door.
We ran into a room of chaos. Buffy was on the ground, dazed, Spike was also on the ground, looking like he had just been thrown into one of the giant jugs of wine. The preacher guy, Caleb, was holding a knife, about to stab Rona. Xander shot him in the arm with an arrow.
Caleb looked up at us, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh, good! There's more of you."
Faith ran strait for Caleb. I tried to follow suit, but the bringer got in the way. There were so many of them swarming us. I was worried that I might hit one of the girls on accident while trying to fight them off. Slowly but surely I made my way to Caleb, the whole time listening to him talk.
Faith hammer-kicked Caleb in the chest, knocking him back a little, but not much. "Why you're the other one, aren't you? The Cain to her Abel. No offense meant to Cain, of course."
Faith slashed again but Caleb moved too fast for her. He grabbed one of her arms, then the other, wrenching them around and causing her to drop the daggers she was holding. She struggled to get loose, but he held tight. Finally with a cry of rage she broke his hold and slammed Caleb in the head with an open-hand blow.
"Never was much for the good book," Faith muttered, throwing another punch at Caleb. He grabbed her arm again and twisted it around, driving her to her knees as he did so. Slowly he circled her, holding her twisted areas he moved.
"Oh, it has its moments. Paul has some good stuff, for instance, but overall I find it a tad complicated," Caleb said. Then he backhanded Faith to the floor, releasing her arm. "I like to keep things simple." He kicked Faith in the chest, sending her across the room. She hit a stack of wine kegs, which shattered, then fell to the ground, dripping with red wine.
I was almost to Caleb, just one or two more Bringers. They kept coming, kept getting in the way. He continued to talk as I kept fighting.
"Good folk, bad folk," He said for all to hear. One of the potentials hit him from behind with her sword, but Caleb reached out and stopped the blade with his hand. Then grabbed the girl's throat. Quickly I killed the bringer, pushing forwards. I was almost there.
"Clean folk, dirty folk." He snapped the girl's neck.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
I heard Molly cry out from somewhere else in the room. "No!"
Caleb grinned. "Yes."
He started across the room towards Molly, also towards me. Quickly I grabbed the Bringer's arm and killed him with his own knife, keeping hold of the knife as he fell to the ground.
I took two steps towards Caleb, then kicked him in the head. "I'm leaning towards no."
Caleb moved back a couple of steps, reorienting himself as he grinned at me. "And who might you be, little lady?" He said as he grabbed my arm. I chose to ignore the 'little lady' comment. Sure it was annoying, but I was more interested in staying alive.
I backhanded him with my free hand, his grip loosened and I pulled my arm free. "Ah, that's not fair. You knew about Faith, I feel insulted." I took a step back and kicked him. He grabbed my leg, twisting me off my feet. I yelped and fell, but caught myself with my hands, turning myself around a little so that I could kick him with my free leg.
"You know, the preacher thing isn't working for you," I stated, pulling my foot free, he let it go more than anything. I had the feeling that if he tried I wouldn't stand a chance. "Maybe if you had a braid and were a lot younger, but hey, bad guys aren't especially known for their fashion taste."
Slowly I got to my feet, he was watching me carefully, but still talked as if there wasn't a problem. "Now what would a braid have to do with being a preacher, miss?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Not a damn thing, but that's not the point. Anime joke," I always hated it when people didn't get my jokes 'cause I made references to something they wouldn't know about. That got annoying
Caleb shrugged, then grabbed my shoulder. He practically swung me around by my shoulder, letting me go as he threw me into the air. I was kind of flying for a bit, then I hit something hard and crumbled.
For the first few seconds I couldn't breath, I could just lie there, and even that hurt. Faintly I heard someone call the retreat by my head was spinning. What had I hit? A wall? How on Earth was he strong enough to do that? He was probably a demon. That would explain it.
Suddenly Spike was there helping me to stand. He quickly led me to the door before going back to help someone else. I glanced at the room before walking out. Caleb was just watching us, grinning. I really wanted to hit him, it wouldn't help.
Molly was lying on the ground. It took me a moment to realize she was dead. I hadn't done anything to help her. He had beaten me up and still killed Molly.
I suddenly felt sick. This was a disaster, a complete disaster. I saw Spike coming back helping Buffy to carry Xander and I left, helping the others back to the house.
~
Xander was at the hospital, his left eye gouged out. Kennedy was there, too, having too many scraps and cuts to come home right away. She'd be back in a couple hours, they were just checking for infection. The girls were scattered around the house scared. Who knew where Buffy was.
As for me, I was sitting on Dawn's bed staring into nothing. I had a few bruises, and I was lucky that was it. Caleb could have killed me. Could have killed all of us, probably. Yet we were alive. Was he letting us go or were we just lucky? I don't know. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"You okay?" Alucard asked quietly. I looked up at him, he was still in his chair, looking a little concerned.
I shrugged. "Dunno yet, ask me in the morning."
He nodded, to himself, not to me. "You're not okay." It was a statement. "What happened?"
I shrugged again. "We fought, we lost, it's happened before," I sounded indifferent, detached. I managed that only because I wasn't sure what was wrong. I felt empty, and very scared.
"Who died?" He asked.
I glanced up. "Didn't tell you someone died," I stated.
He shrugged this time. "Yeah, but I know you well enough to know what's going on."
My gaze didn't leave him. "How would you know me that well?" I asked, not entirely caring if he answered.
Alucard was just staring back at me. He was thinking, I wasn't. I was letting my thoughts float away for now. If they came I might have to think about what had happened. "1974." he said at last.
I blinked. "What?"
"You asked how old I was. 1974."
~
Beyond the silence: 'ello, no problem with the last chapter. I'm happy when you review when ever ^.^ As for grammar. yeah, that sucks. I'm working on it, honest. There will be a fight between those two! Don't know when, but there will be one. Thanks for reviewing!
Maude: Hey! You read more! *does a happy dance* glad you're liking it and your computers all better.
Sorry I'm writing long chapters, it just kind of happens. So I've decided just to go with it. Next chapter. . . we take off where I left off. ^.^
~Rave Luki
"So, what do we have so far?" I asked Chris, who was sitting across the table from me.
He opened the book, showing me the first page as he began to explain. "We don't have a lot of information on the Lerian language, it's virtually unheard of. I managed to dig up some really old documents, but they don't say much.
"What we do know is that it's very complex. When writing it if you rearrange the words it can change the meaning entirely. One misplaced word is all it takes and just like that you can go from asking for an apple to declaring war on Greece."
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you have the translations?"
He nodded. "It was the only example given," he stated, pulling out a parchment to show me. I shook my head, I believed him.
"So it's complex, is that going to make it hard to read?" I asked.
He kind of nodded, like he wasn't sure. "I'm not so certain that the complexity will make it hard, it's more our lack of understanding any of the words. I mean, I've been able to relate it to several demon languages, but I don't think it really came from Earth." I just stared at him, my gaze telling him to go on. "I think the Lerian's are from a different world. There have been some references that support the theory."
Slowly I nodded as I considered that. Chris had been examining the book almost non stop since he saw it. It was like someone just gave him the best toy he could every get, one big giant puzzle that he was determined to solve. At the moment he didn't know much, but he was piecing things together, and he was really good at that.
"What I think we need is the history behind this," Chris stated with a sigh, nodding to the book. "If we could only find out why it was written, or how they knew about what would happen, then I think I could figure it out. That or a list of definitions complete with the arraignments for sentences. At the moment I'm not sure which one is more likely to show up."
I nodded, understanding. "So what do we do?"
"I'm try to figure it out. I see a pattern to the words, if I can find the pattern I think I can use it as a key. There are a few translations in some of what I found, I can use that to start," he sounded tired but determined. Lloyd had said he'd been up late working on this, I was beginning to wonder how late.
I didn't ask, instead I just nodded. "if you need help with anything, ask." Chris only nodded.
I got up to leave, letting him go back to studying scrolls, parchments and books. He might be a book worm, but he was good at what he did.
Spike was walking into the dinning room just as I walked out. "There you are," he said, sounding somewhat annoyed, but not with me. "I've got a job for you."
"Uh-huh, that's nice," I tried to push past him, he blocked me.
"Find a new spot for your vampire before I stake him."
I looked up at him. "I thought you didn't mind sharing your room."
Spike stared down at me. "I didn't, now I do. You try living with him for awhile, tell me if you still like him."
I smirked. "You liked him?"
He glared. "You know what I mean."
Nodding I walked past him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll take care of it. Most of the girls are at Xander's so I might be able to find a room to put him in, but Buffy won't be happy."
"We could just stake him and end the problem," Spike shouted after me. I didn't bother to answer.
I looked over the rooms upstairs. Dawn's, Willow's and Buffy's. They wouldn't be happy to give one up. I'd suggest sticking him in a closest but I doubt anyone would agree to that. Couldn't keep him in the bathroom, we needed that. If only they had another room. Every inch of free space was taken over.
With a sigh I wandered into Dawn's room. Lucky for me she was there. Willow and Buffy wouldn't move for Alucard, but I might convince Dawn to let me borrow her room for a couple of days.
"Hey, Dawn. What's up?" I asked from the doorway.
Dawn glanced at me, smiling for a second. "Nothing much. How's the watcher doing with that book?" she asked cheerfully.
I shrugged. "He doesn't understand much at all, but he's having a great time with it." I grinned at her before growing serious. "Actually I'm here for a favor."
Dawn nodded, putting down what looked like a diary. "Shoot."
"I was wondering if I could borrow your room for a few days," I asked, sounding as unsure as I felt.
Dawn was staring at me, considering things. She didn't seem so happy about the idea, but at least she was thinking it through. "Why?"
"Spike doesn't want Alucard in the basement, I have to find a spot for him," I said bluntly.
Dawn nodded. "He's not, like, going to be in my bed or anything, is he? I don't know how much I like that guy."
I grinned. She had as much as said it was okay. Now I just had to wait for the catch. "He won't be on your bed, scouts honor." Okay, so I wasn't a girl scout, I don't think she cared.
Dawn nodded. "Fine, but you have to stay with him. I don't want him left alone," she paused to think for a moment. "We might have to put Faith up here, too, I don't think any of the girls will want to sleep with her or the vampire."
I nodded. That would be convenient for Dawn, so it worked. From what I heard of Faith she should be interesting enough to talk to, if she felt like talking. Buffy and Dawn didn't think too highly of her, none of the scoobies did. She had been declared a rouge slayer.
"Whatever works," I told Dawn. "Would it be okay if I brought him up now?"
Dawn hesitated moment. "Give me fifteen minutes or so, then go ahead."
I smiled at her, letting her know I was happy. "Thanks Dawn, I'll be up in a few."
That was easy. When it came to Alucard easy was good, hard got you almost dead. Though I don't know how Dawn would get around to almost killing me. Maybe she could have Buffy do it.
I considered the thought of Buffy and me in an actual fight as I walked downstairs. The basement was cool and quiet, very nice this time of day when potentials normally stood about yelling their heads off, or at least it sounded like that. They were actually just talking a lot. It reminded me of high school, non stop chatter.
Alucard sat on what use to be Spike's caught. He was chained to the wall with his eyes closed, not looking up, but he was smirking. Spike was on the other side of the room glaring at Alucard while at the same time managing to look smug.
"What's up with you two?" I asked as I walked down the stairs.
Spike glanced at me, a smile spreading across his face. "Find a room?"
I nodded. "Yeah, Dawn's letting me use hers for a few days."
"Dawn's room?" Spike asked, unsure for a moment. He glanced at Alucard.
"Don't worry, she won't be there. Just me and Faith," I stated.
Spike went from looking worried, to happy, then to a little of both. "You're going to be in the same room as him?" he asked, not happy about it.
"Come now Spike, your sister can take care of herself, can't you Liz?" Alucard asked, suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up. He asked it as if he knew perfectly well that I couldn't. I just looked at him, my face blank. He was trying to bug Spike, I was going to stay out of their bickering until someone bothered to tell me why they were bickering.
So instead I turned my attention to Spike. "Faith will be there too. Two Slayers guarding him, I think we'll be okay."
Spike didn't look sure, but he nodded. "Fine, get him upstairs then." He left it at that, having nothing else to say.
I just shrugged at him, walking over to Alucard who was sitting patiently. He held his arms out to me when I got there. "Are you using these chains, or do you have another set?"
I shrugged. "Dunno, don't care," I stated, pulling out the key. I'd kept an extra with me in case anything came up. "I'll ask Dawn about it on the way up."
"What, you're taking him around unchained?" Spike asked, turning back to us.
"Yep," I said with a nod, finishing unlocking the chains. Alucard stood up with a smirk, rubbing his wrists. "Don't worry, he won't do anything stupid," I stated, walking for the stairs. Spike didn't do anything to stop us, but he was glaring at Alucard. I rolled my eyes at the both of them and Alucard followed me out.
We reached Dawn's room without any other interruptions. Alucard glanced around, taking in everything. Dawn had left, taking some of her stuff with her. Alucard seemed to accept the room and sat down on Dawn's bed for a moment.
"Not bad, better than chains," he stated.
I shrugged. "Glad you like it, I guess, but you don't get the bed. Sorry, Dawn said you had to stay off."
"Shucks," he said with a frown. Slowly he got to his feet, stretching as he did so. "So what, I get the chair?"
"Yeah, you do."
He walked to it and sat down. "You going to find the chains?" He asked, not sounding particularly happy about it.
"Promise not to leave the room or kill anyone?" I asked.
Alucard glanced up at me, his face strait, except for his eyes which seemed to be grinning at me. "Sure, I promise not to kill anyone or leave the room. I won't even hurt anyone if it'll make you happy."
I flashed him a brief smile. "Good, no chains for now. You do anything out of line I'll change my mind."
He smirked again, leaning back in the chair. "That works. Don't worry, I'll be good."
"Yeah, just like with Spike, right?" I asked as I took his spot on the bed.
Grinning he shrugged. "Sorry, can't help myself. He's so easy to bug. He reminds me so much of. . ." Alucard paused for a moment, staring strait at me but not looking at me. It was as if he was seeing a completely different scene. He shook himself out of it. "Sorry, sorry," he murmured, still half in thought.
Frowning at him I had to ask, "He reminds you of who?"
Alucard shook his head. "It's not important."
"Come on, the moment you say that my curious grows," I stated persistently.
He stared at me a moment, then finally answered. "His name was Lurio. Mean anything to you?" He asked, his voice blank.
I wasn't sure what the question was for, but I didn't recognize the name. "No, not a thing. Don't think I've heard it before."
"See, it was nothing," he stated, relaxing again. I frowned at him. Why did it seem like he thought I might know the name? He almost seemed glad I didn't know it.
"Who was Lurio?" I asked. Curiosity was working against me, I didn't want to push, but I really wanted answers.
Alucard shook his head. "Someone I killed a long time ago." Could that be why he didn't want to talk about it? Probably.
I beat my curiosity down this time. It wasn't my place to ask him to explain, especially when I really wasn't happy with the thought of him killing people. So instead of more questions I stood up. "I'm going to look for Giles, I'll be back later." I walked for the door.
"What do you need Giles for?" Alucard asked.
Normally I would have blown the question off, but he'd answered mine. "I need some help with a dream."
"A prophecy?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No, don't remember it." Then I left. Let him figure it out, or try to. I still didn't know what was going on. If what I heard was true about a stone Giles brought back with him, though, then I might figure something out.
Giles was in the kitchen finishing up a conversation with Chris who had a box of all of his stuff in front of him.
"You leaving?" I asked.
Chris glanced over at me. "Yeah, I have some more stuff back at the hotel, so I'm taking it all back there." I nodded understanding. He picked up the box and smiled a good bye. "I'll see you later, Beth, Giles," he nodded to each of us as he said our names, then left the room.
Giles stared after him a moment before turning back to me. "Beth, can I help you with something?"
I nodded and took a deep breath. "I know this'll sound weird, but I've been having these dreams, and I don't remember them, but I think they're important and they're giving me awful headaches, and I was wondering if maybe I could use that stone, what'd you call it? The Prokaryote stone? Yeah, that was it. Anyway, I wanted to know if you could help me use it to remember the dreams." I said it quickly, all in one breath.
Spike had used the prokaryote stone a few days ago to work on this trigger thing the first was using on him. Spike had only muttered about a song our mom used to sing, and how the trigger didn't work anymore. I wasn't quite sure what a trigger even was, but from what Xander had said I think it had something to do with controlling Spike. Every time he heard that song he'd gone all evil. That was taken care of now, and I was looking for help.
Giles stared at me as if he hadn't quite heard what I had said. For a moment I thought I might have to repeat myself, then he spoke. "I don't think that would be wise It can be very dangerous and unpredictable. The only reason I suggested it with Spike is because he's already dead, it won't kill him."
Okay, that wasn't good. I didn't want to die pulling out the memories, but I didn't want to be stuck not knowing what was going on. "So it could hurt, but it might not, right?"
Giles was frowning, but he nodded.
"So things could go fine."
"How important are the memories?" Giles asked. Good question. Just another million dollar question. I really should start answering those.
"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "But I need to know, even if it's nothing, then at least I need to know it's nothing."
Giles nodded. "Have you talked to Buffy?"
"Why would I talk to her about this? It's not her problem. Besides, you're the smart one who's supposed to know a lot," I said without thinking.
Giles frowned for a moment. "I'm glad someone thinks so." He said at last. "But still, you should think about this."
"I have."
"I don't know you that well, I don't know how to talk to you," he started, "but I do know you don't seem to be a complete idiot. If you feel this is something you must do then I'll help you, but I hope that you aren't just rushing into it." Wow, he had the whole father thing down good. It was as if he could make anyone feel responsible, or as if we should be responsible. I wonder if it worked on spike.
Mentally I shook my head to get back to the point. Giles was being serious, I had to be, too. "I'm sure, don't worry. I just want this done."
Giles nodded and told me to meet him in the backyard. The potentials wouldn't be out there, and the neighbors wouldn't think twice about something strange happening at this house. He came back with the stone, explaining to me that it would crawl into my eye and enter my brain. That just sounded sick.
"Ready?" he asked at the end of his speech. I took a shaky breath and nodded. "Just sit still." I nodded again.
"Kun'ati belek sup'sion. bok'vata im kele'beshus. Ta'li ta'li ek'vota. Mor'osh boota'ke."
The stone Giles had out began to unfurl into a black leech like creature. Giles brought the box it was in closer to me and it slid onto my face.
I sat frozen, scared to move. There was a leech on my face that was about to crawl into my eye. Maybe I hadn't thought this through. There was no going back, though, it was already there, I could see it in front of my left eye. Shuddering slightly I felt it draw closer, and then plunge into me.
I'm not sure it hurt, or at least not at first. It was more of a shock. My hands went to my eye, as if to protect it, but I could feel the thing sliding into me already. It hurt then, worse than any headache I've ever had. It was like a giant pulse in my head, beating against me as it squeezed itself into my mind. My body started to shake, I couldn't stop it. I clenched my muscles, trying to stop myself from moving, then things just stopped. For a moment everything was black, and I started to remember.
~
This wasn't my house, but we sat at the head table, anyway. I looked around the room, I recognized everyone. They were my clan, my kin, all of which were talking happily to each other, full of smiles.
I wasn't smiling, nor was I happy. My father, Lunaris, wanted me here. I had to be with the family, help represent the clan. We were in charge of it, the leaders. I didn't want to be, I was tied to the human world more than the rest, in several ways. This gatherings didn't interest me. I could care less whether we celebrated anniversaries or new steps of knowledge.
We, the Lerians, were the book keepers of worlds. We knew more about the humans then they did. Are purpose here was to gather our information, then we would leave. Granted, my clan would be here after I returned home, but that wasn't important.
They might be recorders, content to sit and eat the find foods and enjoy dinner, I wasn't. I was one of the few guardians, I protected my race. I suspect that's why I had the soul of the human guardian, the Slayer. Or one of them.
I glanced around the room. Everyone sat at family tables, eating the bite size food, dressed in their best. Most had their clothes dyed colors, I kept mine white. The girls had their hair up, as I did, but only on my father's request. At least he had let me choose my own clothes, a simple tunic held up by gold clasps on my shoulders. That had been my father's choice, not mine.
He was the leader, he could afford gold clasps and marble. We were surrounded by Lerians, and I just wanted to leave. My eyes wondered the room again, but found no one to get me out of here. I was stuck.
~
The scene had changed. I was no longer surrounded by marble, but instead I was in an arena. I knew it was just a practice one, the games weren't until later. Lurio stood across from me, his friends scattered around. They didn't fight in the games, they weren't strong enough, and besides, Arius was supplying the opponents. I knew he used demons to fight his battles.
Today, however, I was practicing with my brother. He grinned at me, saluting me with his sword. I didn't return the salute. He grinned for a moment, then attacked.
We weren't actually trying to hurt each other, it was just drills, but Lurio thought it would be funny to slash me. His sword drove into my shoulder, going clear though my body. He easily pulled it back as I dropped to the ground, cursing in every language I knew.
Everyone was laughing at me, but I could only glare back, trying not to grimace in pain as my shoulder patched itself up. I healed quickly, and would continue to do so until I absorbed all the memories I could. Normally that meant until we were about twenty. I was fifteen now, just beginning to enter the vault. I was also a slayer, I healed fast.
In minutes I was back on my feet. I dropped the sword I had been using and ran after Lurio. His friends scattered as he started to run, no one wanted me to catch them, and they were all faster than me. I chased after them anyway.
~
I was in a house, in the living room I think. Beside me was the man I recognized as my father. He was mad at me, we were fighting. I got the feeling that this had happened several times before. He wasn't happy with what I was doing. He didn't think I should choose so many human friends. They weren't like us. They were beneath us.
I didn't agree. After all, if it weren't for them we wouldn't be here. We weren't stronger or faster than them, and our healing abilities had nothing to do with us not being human, or at least not for the most part.
This fight was different then the others, though. He wasn't saying he didn't want me to be friends with humans in general, he was saying he didn't want me being with a specific one. He knew we were getting close, too close for his comfort, and he didn't want it.
What was I supposed to tell him? It was too late, I was in love with Dexion. He wouldn't believe it, he would think I was a confused little girl with the thought of romance stuck in my head. I probably wouldn't get to see him anymore. No, I wouldn't tell my father what was going on, he wouldn't understand.
~
A knife flew at my face, I knocked it aside. It was followed by a third and a fourth, all of which I blocked. The crowds were cheering, it was a good fight, the only thing that would make it better would be if one of us got bloody. The demon was thinking the same thing. I had blocked everything he threw at me and he wasn't happy about it. Arius was sending his best after me and they weren't making dents. Normally it bothered me that he had enough rage to spend so much time and effort trying to kill me. Tonight I was happy about it. This was the first of five fights, and I had enough pent up energy to finish them all without a problem. They would steadily get harder, but I was mad enough to deal with it. Anger could do that for you. The demon and I quickly went to hand to hand combat. He was good, but not good enough. I didn't feel like wasting time to please the crowd. I pulled out a short sword and finished the demon off, letting him fall to the ground while catching my breath.
How could this happen? Luraris wasn't supposed to have been there, then again my father always had a knack of showing up at the wrong time. It was my fault, I had said no one would be there, no one would find us, but he had.
We had just been kissing, what was so wrong with that? Apparently everything. He was human. That was the problem. I couldn't fall in love with one of the clan, that was the problem.
Now I wasn't allowed to see him. They couldn't stop me, we were both in the games. What were they going to do, forbid me from those, too? They couldn't. I was a Slayer, it was my job to kill demons. They wouldn't let me go out to search for them, so I would fight them here, were at least they could watch and step in if necessary.
Growling softly I watched the next demon walk in. He was tall, at least three heads taller than me. We all wore masks in the arena, his was of a snake. I wondered if he was a reptile demon or just liked the look. I couldn't tell, every inch of his skin was covered.
He banged his sword and shield to gather, tilting his head back and howling to the crowd. They went wild. He had made the challenge. He stared at me, his weight shifting from one leg to the other. His eyes were covered by a veil but I still could tell he had issued a challenge. "Fight me," he was saying, but he didn't have to say it out loud. Everyone could hear the words.
I stood still, watching him carefully, but never moving. The first demon was still lying at my feet. This one grew impatient. He didn't want to wait. I watched with silent anger as he began walking towards me.
The fight was completely different from the last. I was allowed any weapons I wanted, but my sword wasn't penetrating his skin. Several times he simply picked me up and threw me. Finally I got fed up. He had to have a weak spot, all bad guys did. I abandoned my sword, it was just getting in the way. He held onto his until I tore it out of his hands. I wasn't allowed to remove the mask. That had been put it the rules. My guess was his face was his weak spot.
The monster went to grab me again, preparing to throw me. I pulled out one of my daggers and shoved it into his eyes, or where the eyes in the mask were. The creature screamed, letting go. I stumble to the ground as it fell to its knees. One hard kick shoved his mask in, crushing his face.
"Next," I whispered softly, staring at the door.
~
After the fight. It had taken hours. The first four had been easy but the last wouldn't die. It kept reforming whenever I hurt it. Slowly it had disarmed me of weapons until I had only my stake left. There had been no vampires tonight, no need to use it. I would never have guessed that a stake to the heart would have killed it, but it did. Once again I was the victor, sitting underground below the seating.
I was tired and sore. The anger had faded and left me with a feeling of numbness. Things were wrong and I couldn't stop it. Slowly I rubbed my eyes, I needed a nap. A long nap. Tomorrow I'd go to the vault, in a few weeks I'd be finished with it. Then I could leave if I wanted to. There'd be no obligations to hold me back.
Steps sounded behind me. One of the trainers coming to check on me perhaps. I listened to them stop not far behind me.
Slowly I turned and stared into green eyes. What the. . .
Alucard? ~
Gasping for air I leaned forward, falling to the ground. Where was I this time? Carefully I looked around.
The back yard, Buffy's back yard. I was back in reality. On the ground in front of me was that stupid stone that had crawled into my eye.
When I realized I was shaking I tried to stop, it took too much effort so I gave up. About that time I noticed Giles was holding my shoulders, helping to steady me while he continued to ask if I was all right. Nodding a little too fast I forced myself to sit back.
Then I remembered what had just happened.
Alucard had been there. Way back in the time of ancient Romans. Why I was there was still confusing. Some sort of past life? I didn't believe in those, but I was feeling less sure by the moment. Why was Alucard there? He couldn't be that old. I wasn't sure of exact times, but I think that would make him close to two thousand.
"Fuck," I muttered, causing Giles to look confused.
"Beth, what's wrong?" he asked.
I shook my head again. "Nothing, well. . . I'm not sure."
"Can I help?"
I began to shake my head, but then shrugged. "Maybe. I-I need to talk to- Shit, I don't know. I need time to think about this." Sighing I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight as I tried to piece things together. When I opened them again Giles was still looking down at me, and I noticed it was dark out.
"How long did this take?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but several hours."
"Oh."
Giles smiled reassuringly at me. "Perhaps we should go inside."
I nodded and he helped me to my feet.
I sat down at the dinning room table where Dawn was working on research. I offered to help, but wasn't getting very far. I had to read things three times before they found their way into my brain. Dawn didn't mention it, neither did Giles when he came in to join us.
About half an hour later Buffy came home. She walked in, followed by Spike and some girl with brown hair that I didn't recognize.
"Whoa! Memory lane. Same old house," The girl said as she looked around.
"Every piece of it's been destroyed and replaced since you left," Buffy pointed out, "so, actually, new house."
Dawn glanced up. "Buffy-" she started.
"We've got another new house guest," Buffy stated.
The girl stepped so we got a better view of her. She looked to be about Buffy's age, young twenties, wearing a lot of leather. Ten bucks said it was Faith.
"Hey. Got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?" Faith asked.
Giles and Dawn got to their feet, I sat back and watched what was happening. Coolly, but not happily, Giles said, "Hello, Faith."
"Huh. Guess 'wanted' wasn't so accurate," Faith said.
Dawn walked away from the table, towards Buffy. "Does she have to stay here? 'Cause there's some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your- sister types."
"Check it out," faith said, slightly amused, "brat's all woman-sized."
Buffy ignored both comments. "Guys, we need to go to the hospital. A girl was attacked on her way into town. She maybe a-"
"We know. Willow's been calling," Dawn stated.
"She's still there, she'll call if the girl wakes up," Giles stated. Buffy looked at him coldly. It might have been my imagination but I think there was tension between the two of them.
"Fine," Buffy said, leading way to an uncomfortable silence.
Giles hastily broke it. "Well, Faith. I guess we should try to find a place to squeeze you in tonight." He quickly left, Dawn took the opportunity to leave herself, not pointing out that she'd already made arraignments.
Spike looked at Faith before explaining, "Not all that tension was about you. Giles was part of a plan to kill me for Buffy's own good."
Faith gave him a thoughtful glance before shrugging. "Well, that makes me feel better about me. Worse about Giles," she paused a moment. "Kinda shaky about you."
Buffy was leaving silently, also not particularly wanting to be around Faith. I took it as my opportunity to get aquatinted.
Quietly getting to my feet I walked over to Faith, she noticed me coming. For a moment it was one of those times when you just size up the other person, as if we were about to fight. She examined me for a moment, then deemed me safe, or at least someone who wouldn't be able to hurt her. I decided she was a bad girl Slayer who had the potential to kick the crap out of me. Then again I had the potential to do the same to her. So we were about even.
"Who's this chick?" Faith asked Spike.
Spike grinned for a second, before getting serious. "One of the girls living here, Beth." I noticed he didn't call me a potential, or a Slayer, let Faith think what she will for now.
"So you're Faith," I started, smiling myself. "You're everything I expected you to be."
Faith frowned for a second before returning my meaningless smile. "So how much did Buffy tell you about me? Warn you to be careful and all that crap."
I shook my head. "She actually didn't say much. No one around here did. I just like to keep tabs on current Slayers. One of my old hobbies."
Faith rolled her eyes. "What are you getting at?"
I shrugged. "Nothing really. Just checking out the other Slayer."
She smirked. "Go follow B, she'd love a fan club."
"Actually Andrew tried that, didn't work too well," Spike pointed out.
I examined Faith one last time. She'd figure out who I was sooner or later. It didn't matter. Besides right now I had more important things to deal with.
"Nice chatting and all that, but I've got to see Alucard," I stated. Faith didn't know who Alucard was, but she just shrugged. I turned to Spike. "If you run into Giles tell him I say thanks.
"For what?" Spike asked.
I had already started up the stairs. "Don't worry, he'll know." If Spike had said anything else I hadn't heard.
Entering Dawn's room I made sure Alucard was still there. He hadn't left his chair, but was staring at the window even though the curtains were covering it. He turned to see me as I walked in.
"Hey, Liz. How's life?" He asked somewhat cheerfully.
I didn't answer but sat on the bed. He noticed I was being serious and his manner changed.
"Did something happen?" He asked.
"Kind of," I murmured.
I didn't want to tell him that I had picked up a few new memories. I did want to ask him exactly how old he was and how I knew him from ancient Rome.
"How old are you?" I asked.
Alucard didn't look surprised, but he was curious as to why I was asking. "Why does it matter?"
"Just answer the question," I said, almost pleading. I didn't want to have to fight for the answers, I just wanted to know what was going on.
Alucard wasn't going to cooperate. "I'm over a thousand, you already know that."
I sighed. "Can we be a bit more specific?"
"Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Look, I don't really feel like having a long talk about this, I just need to know," I said.
Alucard shrugged, leaning back. "Sorry, won't help."
I just stared at him for a moment. He meant it. That really sucked. I was too tired to argue about this, and it probably wouldn't matter, anyway.
"Screw it," I muttered angrily.
I grabbed the sleeping bag that was on the bed and threw it on the floor with a pillow. Tonight I was taking the bed, but I didn't want Faith to wake me up for any reason. I went to find the duffle bag that all my clothes were in and quickly went into the bathroom to change into a pair of shorts and a baggy T-shirt. It was late and I was going to bed. I'd deal with Alucard later.
He didn't say anything as I fell asleep.
~
*You weren't supposed to know.*
Know what?
*Everything*
I don't know everything. I just remember pieces.
*You'll learn more.*
So, you're the one who gave me the damn headaches. You're me. You should know I'd look into it.
*It doesn't matter. It's too late.*
Too late for what?
*To stop you*
From what? Quite being decisive and give me an answer!
*You've changed the variables. My memories of you may be affected. You know too much.*
That doesn't tell me anything!
*Ask the vampire.*
~
I was back in the dining room. Chris had come over again, thinking he made a break threw in the book. I was hoping he did. Right now I wanted to know everything I could about the Lerians, and if this book could help then I wanted it translated.
I had spent the last hour listening to Chris explain the writing styles and the patterns he found. He had more or less translated a few passages. From what he could tell it was a book about the future, or as the case might be, about me. He had seen several references to the third Slayer, and it was supposedly in our time.
He was showing me the pages, and how he translated it. This was normal, he always showed me that kind of thing. The odd part was that I understood all of it. He'd show me the words, and I'd be reading them. It was like he was reminding me of a skill I already knew, but had previously forgot. Before long I was reading and discussing at the same level as he was.
Todd sat in a corner watching us as we worked on the book we wrote out translations and then comparing them with each other. More often then naught our ideas would be wrong, and when we discussed why Chris would end up agreeing with mine. Neither of us paid much attention to the fact, but Todd did.
"Have you found the passage about 'she who kills all vampires'?" Todd asked at one point.
I looked up at him to glare, but Chris was flipping through pages. "Yes, it's around here somewhere," he paused at one page, opening the book wide so that we could see it.
I stared at the writing. It looked similar tot he rest of the book, but seemed a little off. Chris went on to point out the particular phrase used and why someone would translate it to me killing all vampires. Technically, as far as I could tell, that's what it said. Yet still something seemed off, and after a moment I got it.
"This is old style writing," I stated. Both Chris and Todd stared at me. "Look," I said, pointing to some of the parts of writing. "They changed the particles and some of the wording. The rules are slightly different, it's old style."
Chris was examining the book closely. "I think you might be right," he started, "but I've never heard of 'old style.'"
Funny, neither have I. "Well. . ." I searched for a way to explain, but I couldn't think of any. "I just sort of. . . remember it."
"From where?" Todd asked.
"I don't know," I stated, being completely honest.
Chris looked at the two of us. He didn't care how I knew it, he was just interested in using the information. "Look, you two argue this out, I'll be trying to see if this changes anything," he said.
"It doesn't," I told him, breaking eye contact with Todd. "I mean, it'll change most of the page, but this line," I pointed to the prophecy, "It doesn't change that."
Chris nodded. "Fine, then maybe it's true." He had agreed with me that it wasn't possible for me to kill all vampires. Which meant I would die.
I stared at the paper for a moment. "It's not. I think the text has been changed by someone. All it would take is to replace one of the words."
Todd was staring very hard at me now, wondering exactly how I knew all this. I didn't know what to tell him so I decided to get out of here. "Hey, I'll be right back. I'm going to get some water." quickly I got up and walked to the kitchen.
"He studied volcanoes. He was a professor," Amanda was saying as I walked into the room. Several potentials were watching her and Andrew closely as Faith worked out in the back yard. I glanced out the window at her while grabbing a cup.
"Ah. Well, regardless," Andrew was saying.
Molly, another potential, stepped in. "Thought you weren't supposed to be doing this any more. Making up these stories."
"I'm not. This is true, except for that. . . possible word misunderstanding. And there are some things you need to know," Andrew insisted as he turns to look out the window. "Faith has a history not to be taken lightly." he turned back to the group. "She's a killer. Never forget that. You must stay on guard around Faith at all times. Your very lives may depend on it."
I finished filling my cup up as I turned to him. "Yeah, that's Faith, evil killer," I said sarcastically.
Andrew turned to me, surprised. "She is!"
"Was," I corrected. "She was. Now she's a good guy. Thank Angel, the other good guy vampire." I told the girls. "You know Andrew, you might want to get all the facts before telling the stories."
"Did you hear that form Buffy?" Amanda wanted to know.
I shook my head and top a gulp of water. "Nah. Heard it from a few vamps at a pub. They were nice fellows." I left that as my parting comment as I walked out of the room. Let them wonder what I meant.
I continued helping the watchers for the rest of the afternoon. Every time Todd asked a question I answered honestly, which meant a lot of I-don't- knows. He kept wondering what I was hiding, which made sense. I hadn't told him about the trip down memory lane.
I heard from Dawn that the new potential at the hospital woke up. Buffy had gone to see what was up. When she came back she called a group meeting. Todd came in with me while Chris was left to pack up.
Buffy started the meeting quickly. "We've got a new player in town. Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for The First," she stated.
"So he's like. . . The Second?" Dawn asked, Todd and I smirked.
Buffy ignored her comment. She seemed a little angrier than usual, so I didn't say anything. "He's taunting us. Calling us out. Says he has something of mine. Could be another girl. Could be something else. Don't know. Don't care." she paused a moment, dramatically. "I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of training. He's got something of mine? Fine. I'm getting it back." She leveled her gaze, staring at all of us. "And you guys are coming with me."
No one said anything. The girls were as surprised as I was. Most of them left to tell the others, but Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, Giles Faith and me all stayed behind to talk.
"Start arming the girls. I want to be ready to move when we find him." Buffy stated.
Willow looked kind of nervous when she pointed out, "We don't even know where we're going."
"That's why I figured a little recon first, see what we can find out," she stated, then asked Faith, "You up for it?"
Faith shrugged. "Point me where you want me."
"But are you certain this is the best course of action?" Giles asked. "You don't even know what this man has of yours, if he in fact has anything."
"It could be a girl. A potential trying to get to us," Buffy stated.
"It could be a stapler," Giles replied.
"I'm going in anyway," Buffy said firmly.
Giles continued to try to make her reconsider. "With the girls? Most of them have yet to be in the field at all, let alone in a life-or-death situation."
"Then it's time we test 'em. We'll just take the ones who've been with us the longest. The rest can stay here."
"Could be that's what he wants you to do. Ol' bait and switch," Spike pointed out.
Willow nodded. "He lures us away, then kills all the girls we leave behind."
"I know," she said, and then to Willow, "That's why I want you to stay with them." Willow didn't look like she quite understood. "You're my most powerful weapon, Will. You can keep these girls safe if something happens."
"Look, maybe we could turn this around," I stated. "If we find out where he is we might be able to draw him out so that we could have a better advantage. We can't meet him at his level. It won't go well."
"We're going in," Buffy insisted. She had a plan and she was sticking with it.
"Unknown man breezes into town, says he has something of yours. . . Buffy, this thing's got "trap" written all over it."
"He won't be expecting a full attack. Not this soon. That's why we have to move."
"We know nothing about this man. We cannot go into battle without preparation. We need time," Giles insisted.
"Giles. We don't have time. And you're not going into battle. I need you to stay behind with the others." She stared at him intently for a second. "Help the girls who still need a teacher."
Ouch. That hurt. Giles didn't say anything as he tried to keep his hurt from showing. It didn't work very well.
"Faith come on," Buffy said, her eyes still on Giles. "Let's go find Caleb."
I watched them leave, worried about what was happening. It was a trap, I was almost positive. One glance at Todd told me he agreed.
"Hey, do me a favor and I'll answer every question you've got," I told him suddenly.
Surprise flashed on his face for a moment before he answered. "What's the favor?"
"Stay here with Willow."
His eyes narrowed for a moment. "Why?"
Because he was my friend and I didn't want to see him get hurt in some trap. What I said was, "Because you can fight and help protect the girls here. Chris can stay if he wants, too."
He stared at me for a long moment, thinking, before finally nodding. "Sure, whatever," then he walked away to help Xander hand out weapons. He didn't seem happy with his decision but that was okay. At least I didn't have to worry about him getting killed.
"Now remember, we're looking for killing blows only, people. So chest and throat if it's a vampire. Stomach, chest and face if it's a bringer," Xander stated as he passed out weapons, Todd was making sure the girls new how to grip them. They had all been training, but it never hurt to make sure.
"What if it's something else?" Rona wanted to know.
Xander nodded. "Could happen. Something otherworldly. And here's a handy rule: don't go for the flashy tentacles just because they're waving them about trying to get attention. Go for the center. Brain, heart, eyes. Everything's got eyes."
"Except the Bringers," Dawn added.
Xander nodded, a little more serious then before. "Except the Bringers."
"I don't want there to be any tentacles," Molly chimed in. "I'm not good with squishy."
Kennedy lifted up a huge sword. "I don't care if it's Godzilla. I want to get in this thing."
Andrew was sitting quietly, but at the mention of Godzilla he had to say something. "Godzilla is mostly Tokyo-based so he's probably a no show."
"Besides, Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla. How tough is he?" Amanda asked.
Andrew and I both flinched at the same moment. Our gazes met for a moment. I knew he was a geek and very passionate about these things, but I was a bit of a geek too. That comment had to be answered. We both looked to Xander.
"Please yell at her," I pleaded at the same time Andrew said "Xander!"
Xander was calmer, but still annoyed. "Matthew Broderick did not kill Godzilla. He killed a big dumb lizard that was not the real Godzilla."
"You people are even crazier then her," Rona muttered.
"Than who?" Xander asked.
"Buffy, man!" she stated. "I mean, taking us right into the bad guys' lair?"
"Well, that's where, generally speaking, you go to find the bad guy. And I don't think you came here to fight plaque," Xander pointed out.
"No," Rona said evenly, "I came here for protection."
"Well, you signed on to fight with-"
"Look, I know but. . . this plan is trouble. Buffy doesn't care how many of us she puts in danger," Rona said.
Xander almost instantly looked angry. It wasn't that scary, just unexpected. "Let me tell you something about Buffy. In fact you should all listen to this."
"We kinda were," Kennedy murmured.
"I've been through more battles with Buffy then you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her.
"She's laid down her life, literally, to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times and she's still standing. You're scared, that's smart. You've got questions, you should.
"But if you doubt her motives--you think Buffy's all about the kill-- and you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart-- and this time not literally-- and I'm telling you right now she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."
Wow. That was a long speech. We all just stared at him for a beat. He said it with such passion that it would be hard for anyone to doubt Buffy at this moment.
Or maybe not, I still doubted her. That wasn't a problem, but I thought better of her. She might be taking us all into a trap but at least she had good motives. As stupid as that sounds it wasn't that bad.
"Damn. I never knew you were that cool," I heard Faith say in the background. I turned around to see them both standing in the hallway by the door.
"Well, you've always been a little slow," Buffy said. She looked like she was close to crying. My guess was that they were happy tears.
Faith smiled. "I get that now."
Buffy took a second to compose herself then walked further into the room so that we could see her better. "All right. Let's saddle up."
I didn't take any weapons. Chances were someone would die sooner or latter and I could grab there's. Morbid thought, I know, but honestly I meant the bringers would die. Their daggers weren't half bad.
Buffy and Faith had found the place. It was in a vineyard. She separated us into two groups. She wanted a Slayer in each group so Faith got put in group two. I wondered if Faith knew I was a Slayer yet. It wasn't the time to ask.
They led us through a forest until we stood outside the building.
"Okay, set up a perimeter. Guard the door. I don't want anything getting in behind us. My team goes in first to check the place out. You guys are our safety net. This place is a trap we give the signal, you guys come in guns- ablazing."
"So what's the signal?" Xander asked.
"I'm thinking lots and lots of yelling," Buffy said.
"Got it," Xander said.
Buffy looked at her group, I wasn't in it. "Shall we?" she led them into the vineyard, we all watched them go inside, just waiting in the darkness.
The silence was thick. None of us wanted to say anything, and I was getting bored. "Damn, now I wish I was in the first group," I muttered.
Faith smirked at me. "I'd think a potential would be happy to stay out of danger." She said somewhat sarcastically.
I didn't disagree with her. "Yeah, a potential might," I said.
She frowned for a second. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I glanced at Xander. "No one's told her yet? God, she spent over a day with Willow."
Faith looked at Xander, too. "Told me what?"
He was about to answer when the signal came. Lots and lots of screaming. Xander cut off our discussion and led us to the door.
We ran into a room of chaos. Buffy was on the ground, dazed, Spike was also on the ground, looking like he had just been thrown into one of the giant jugs of wine. The preacher guy, Caleb, was holding a knife, about to stab Rona. Xander shot him in the arm with an arrow.
Caleb looked up at us, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh, good! There's more of you."
Faith ran strait for Caleb. I tried to follow suit, but the bringer got in the way. There were so many of them swarming us. I was worried that I might hit one of the girls on accident while trying to fight them off. Slowly but surely I made my way to Caleb, the whole time listening to him talk.
Faith hammer-kicked Caleb in the chest, knocking him back a little, but not much. "Why you're the other one, aren't you? The Cain to her Abel. No offense meant to Cain, of course."
Faith slashed again but Caleb moved too fast for her. He grabbed one of her arms, then the other, wrenching them around and causing her to drop the daggers she was holding. She struggled to get loose, but he held tight. Finally with a cry of rage she broke his hold and slammed Caleb in the head with an open-hand blow.
"Never was much for the good book," Faith muttered, throwing another punch at Caleb. He grabbed her arm again and twisted it around, driving her to her knees as he did so. Slowly he circled her, holding her twisted areas he moved.
"Oh, it has its moments. Paul has some good stuff, for instance, but overall I find it a tad complicated," Caleb said. Then he backhanded Faith to the floor, releasing her arm. "I like to keep things simple." He kicked Faith in the chest, sending her across the room. She hit a stack of wine kegs, which shattered, then fell to the ground, dripping with red wine.
I was almost to Caleb, just one or two more Bringers. They kept coming, kept getting in the way. He continued to talk as I kept fighting.
"Good folk, bad folk," He said for all to hear. One of the potentials hit him from behind with her sword, but Caleb reached out and stopped the blade with his hand. Then grabbed the girl's throat. Quickly I killed the bringer, pushing forwards. I was almost there.
"Clean folk, dirty folk." He snapped the girl's neck.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
I heard Molly cry out from somewhere else in the room. "No!"
Caleb grinned. "Yes."
He started across the room towards Molly, also towards me. Quickly I grabbed the Bringer's arm and killed him with his own knife, keeping hold of the knife as he fell to the ground.
I took two steps towards Caleb, then kicked him in the head. "I'm leaning towards no."
Caleb moved back a couple of steps, reorienting himself as he grinned at me. "And who might you be, little lady?" He said as he grabbed my arm. I chose to ignore the 'little lady' comment. Sure it was annoying, but I was more interested in staying alive.
I backhanded him with my free hand, his grip loosened and I pulled my arm free. "Ah, that's not fair. You knew about Faith, I feel insulted." I took a step back and kicked him. He grabbed my leg, twisting me off my feet. I yelped and fell, but caught myself with my hands, turning myself around a little so that I could kick him with my free leg.
"You know, the preacher thing isn't working for you," I stated, pulling my foot free, he let it go more than anything. I had the feeling that if he tried I wouldn't stand a chance. "Maybe if you had a braid and were a lot younger, but hey, bad guys aren't especially known for their fashion taste."
Slowly I got to my feet, he was watching me carefully, but still talked as if there wasn't a problem. "Now what would a braid have to do with being a preacher, miss?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Not a damn thing, but that's not the point. Anime joke," I always hated it when people didn't get my jokes 'cause I made references to something they wouldn't know about. That got annoying
Caleb shrugged, then grabbed my shoulder. He practically swung me around by my shoulder, letting me go as he threw me into the air. I was kind of flying for a bit, then I hit something hard and crumbled.
For the first few seconds I couldn't breath, I could just lie there, and even that hurt. Faintly I heard someone call the retreat by my head was spinning. What had I hit? A wall? How on Earth was he strong enough to do that? He was probably a demon. That would explain it.
Suddenly Spike was there helping me to stand. He quickly led me to the door before going back to help someone else. I glanced at the room before walking out. Caleb was just watching us, grinning. I really wanted to hit him, it wouldn't help.
Molly was lying on the ground. It took me a moment to realize she was dead. I hadn't done anything to help her. He had beaten me up and still killed Molly.
I suddenly felt sick. This was a disaster, a complete disaster. I saw Spike coming back helping Buffy to carry Xander and I left, helping the others back to the house.
~
Xander was at the hospital, his left eye gouged out. Kennedy was there, too, having too many scraps and cuts to come home right away. She'd be back in a couple hours, they were just checking for infection. The girls were scattered around the house scared. Who knew where Buffy was.
As for me, I was sitting on Dawn's bed staring into nothing. I had a few bruises, and I was lucky that was it. Caleb could have killed me. Could have killed all of us, probably. Yet we were alive. Was he letting us go or were we just lucky? I don't know. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"You okay?" Alucard asked quietly. I looked up at him, he was still in his chair, looking a little concerned.
I shrugged. "Dunno yet, ask me in the morning."
He nodded, to himself, not to me. "You're not okay." It was a statement. "What happened?"
I shrugged again. "We fought, we lost, it's happened before," I sounded indifferent, detached. I managed that only because I wasn't sure what was wrong. I felt empty, and very scared.
"Who died?" He asked.
I glanced up. "Didn't tell you someone died," I stated.
He shrugged this time. "Yeah, but I know you well enough to know what's going on."
My gaze didn't leave him. "How would you know me that well?" I asked, not entirely caring if he answered.
Alucard was just staring back at me. He was thinking, I wasn't. I was letting my thoughts float away for now. If they came I might have to think about what had happened. "1974." he said at last.
I blinked. "What?"
"You asked how old I was. 1974."
~
Beyond the silence: 'ello, no problem with the last chapter. I'm happy when you review when ever ^.^ As for grammar. yeah, that sucks. I'm working on it, honest. There will be a fight between those two! Don't know when, but there will be one. Thanks for reviewing!
Maude: Hey! You read more! *does a happy dance* glad you're liking it and your computers all better.
Sorry I'm writing long chapters, it just kind of happens. So I've decided just to go with it. Next chapter. . . we take off where I left off. ^.^
~Rave Luki