Chapter 15
I stretched my neck as the water pelted down on me. The only place you could ever be alone in this house was in the bathroom, and then you had to wait half a day to get through the line. After awhile you stop standing in line and just jump in whenever there was an opening.
Today the line was almost non existent. All the girls were huddled around, scared and depressed. It was depressing just to watch them. A few people die and everyone goes all quiet and shy, even Kennedy hadn't been talkative.
For the most part I was over the whole us getting our asses kicked thing. Yes it was a problem, and yes we had to deal with it, but I couldn't sit around letting myself focus on the crap that was getting in our way. There were too many problems to look into just one, and if you keep a wider view things got easier, sort of.
I hadn't really talked to anyone about anything important. Spike and I talked about music and TV for awhile to kill time, but that was about it. Faith had gone around, just chatting with the girls, trying to raise their spirits in her own way.
The water started to turn cold so I turned it off. Quickly drying off I stepped out of the tub and got dressed. Today in blue jeans and a green T- shirt with a blue sweat shirt. Looking for socks I frowned. I had left them in the room. To avoid going back for them I threw on a pair of flip flops.
I wasn't avoiding Alucard, I just didn't want to talk to him. I went into Dawn's room as little as possible, and he never left it. It made it easy to stay away. I ran a brush through my hair on the way out of the bathroom. I jogged down stairs to see Faith and Giles talking over a picture.
"What's up guys?" I asked, walking to where I could stare over their shoulders. It looked like a picture of a church.
Giles stepped back, giving me a clearer look. "We think Caleb has something to do with this, see that knot hole?" I looked closely and nodded. "If you look carefully you can see it's a mark, Caleb's mark." Frowning I stared at it again.
"You're right, it is." I stepped back to think. "So is someone going to check it out?" I asked.
"Spike's already on it. He took Andrew with him," Giles stated.
I raised an eyebrow. "Spike and Andrew? How's that going to work?"
Faith grinned. "It should be interesting, no doubt." I nodded my agreement. If Spike didn't kill Andrew then I'm sure it would make a funny story. "Hey, you coming?" Faith asked.
"Coming where?" I didn't know people were going anywhere.
"To the Bronze, I'm taking the girls out," Faith stated.
Oh, the bronze. "Huh, well, as long as you promise that no vamps will kidnap me," I stated with a smile.
Faith looked confused for a second. "Okay, I don't get it."
"When I took the girls to the Bronze I ran into an old vampire I knew. Things didn't go well," I stated.
"You went to the Bronze?" Giles asked.
I turned to him. "Yeah, awhile ago. Kennedy got Buffy to say it was okay. . ." They still looked clueless. "okay, I think someone forgot to tell you."
Giles set the picture down. "I don't think Buffy would have let you all go to the Bronze," Giles stated.
"She had been in a hurry and. . . Kennedy never said exactly where we were going. . ." I murmured. "I have the feeling that Buffy doesn't know we were at the Bronze either."
Faith shrugged. "Well, whatever happened, we're going out again. Do me a favor and make sure all the girls know, will ya?"
I shrugged. "Why not."
I went back to the stairs. Chances were everyone downstairs would know. I took three steps up the stairs and stopped. Alucard was standing at the top.
"What're you doing out here?" I asked, surprised.
Alucard grinned at me and started walking downstairs. "Well, a certain Slayer said she'd get me something to drink, around an hour ago," He stated with a look to Faith. "She never came back so I figured I'd grab something myself."
"I planned on getting you something," Faith stated, "then I got hungry." She shrugged.
Alucard shrugged too. "That's fine, gave me an excuse to get up." He walked past me. "don't mind me, I'll be in the kitchen."
He hadn't ignored me, but he hadn't really paid attention to me. That was annoying. Though I had been doing the same thing to him. Poetic justice for you, never did like that.
Shaking my head I continued up the stairs. It didn't take long to check on all the girls. I told them they had five minutes to get downstairs or we were leaving without them. I went back downstairs in time to hear the door ring. When I opened the door Todd walked in before saying hello. He glanced around the house then grinned at me.
"Hey, good news," Todd said, grinning.
"Good news for me or for you?" I asked cautiously.
His grin grew. "For me."
Now I frowned. "Okay, what's up?"
"You owe me some answers."
I frowned, not sure what he was talking about, then I remembered. I had promised him I'd tell him anything he wanted to know. Stupid me, very stupid me. But hey, the bringers hadn't gotten the chance to kill him, so maybe not that stupid of me.
"Well, I'm going to the Bronze now, so can I get a rain check?" I asked.
He smirked. "No such luck, I'll just tag along."
I glared at him and girls started to show up. Faith and Alucard walked out of the kitchen together, talking. Faith caught my eye, grabbing my attention.
"Hey, Beth, how'd you feel if you pet here tagged along?" she asked. Alucard twitched and my frown deepened.
"He's not my pet, and I don't care what he does," I stated. "Todd's coming, too."
Faith shrugged. "Whatever, let's head out."
Thirty girls took up a lot of space, and trailed back pretty far on a sidewalk, but the town was mostly deserted so it wasn't bothering anyone. Alucard was lost somewhere in the crowd, I was in the front with Todd. We talked about the weather, what TV shows we watched... you know, all the stuff that didn't matter.
The bronze actually had a band playing, and people partying. While most were leaving the city there were also the few who stayed back watching the action. I gave it another few days and they'd be gone. The girls fanned out, dancing and drinking. Todd and I grabbed a table off to the side.
"So?" I started, wanting to know were the conversation would be going.
Todd shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good question. Why don't we start with how you could read that book."
"That day I had gotten Giles to cast a spell to help me remember these dreams I've been having, I didn't remember the dreams, but I got glimpses back to what's kind of a past life of mine. Kind of," I stated.
At some point Todd most have stopped being surprised at me, because he just nodded, as if I wasn't saying something weird. "So, a past life? Explain that."
I sighed, not sure how to. "Well you see. . . I was kind of a Lerian and. . ."
"A Lerian?" he asked, sounding interested.
I shrugged. "It's really a long story."
"Is this seat taken?" I looked up to see Alucard watching us.
Glancing at Todd I shook my head. "Go ahead and take it." Alucard did. Thinking for a moment I came up with an idea. "Hey Alucard, do me a favor. Todd wants to know about the past life thing, I'm not sure how to explain it."
Alucard glanced at Todd, looking almost amused. "Well, I told you already that it wasn't a past life," he murmured. Todd just stared at him, waiting for the explanation. "What do you know about Lerians, Todd?"
Todd was frowning, I don't think he liked Alucard much. I'm sure he didn't like Alucard when he was being difficult. Unfortunately Alucard normally was difficult, so you just had to put up with it. After awhile if you stopped being annoyed he stopped trying to annoy you. Most people didn't get that.
"Just about nothing," Todd answered. "You should ask Chris, he'd have an answer for you."
Alucard smirked, shaking his head. "Chris knows books, he doesn't know anything about the actual race."
Todd shrugged. "Well, I guess that's what you're here for, right?"
Alucard shrugged. "Something like that."
"So why don't you just explain things and then you can just shut up," Todd said.
Alucard rolled his eyes, but he got to the point. "Think about it this way. When this world was made, so were we, every person. We all exist somewhere, even those who are dead or not born. We're wherever that place is, we live, then we die and go back there. The Lerians can reach into that place and pull out a soul of someone from the future, than use that soul to support themselves in this world. Making sense so far?" Todd nodded. "While it takes place in the past, it's not really the same concept as a past life, since Liz was here first. It's more of an added life, an addition to what she is."
Todd nodded. "So, in this additional life, you were a Lerian?" He asked me.
I bit my lip, trying to form an answer. "Basically, a human Lerian. I actually wasn't really there, my essence was, but I hadn't really been created yet. I had no identity. Airaei was there, that's the other me, what I was called then. It was her thoughts and feeling that controlled things."
He nodded again. "Wow, that made since. How weird is that?" He said with a small smile. "And you got her memories?" he added.
"Some, a small amount," I said, "but at the same time I picked up on a few different things, like I think I can read the language. If someone were to start talking in it I'd understand."
"Read the book yet?" Alucard asked.
I shook my head. "No, not yet. I got it back from Chris, but I still need to look it over."
"Maybe that would help with understanding things," Alucard stated. I shrugged. Maybe it would, maybe it would make things more confusing. Who knew?
"So, you're Lerian? Okay, that kind of makes sense. Leaves a lot of gaps, but makes sense. It at least explains how you could read better than Chris," Todd stated. "How does Alucard know all of this though?"
Big sigh, literally. This would be why I try not to make "I'll answer any questions you've got" promises. "Um. he was around back then," I stated.
Todd nodded slowly. "Right, that's nice. When was 'back then'?" he asked.
"Somewhere around the year 40," Alucard said bluntly, not seeming to mind the question at all.
Todd seemed a little confused. "40? What 40? I mean, which century?"
Alucard shrugged. "That's it. The year 40. As in about the time Jesus was 40."
"two thousand years ago?" he didn't sound like he believed it.
"Yep. That's the year," Alucard stated.
Confusion was gone, now Todd just looked surprised. I understood the feeling. You didn't meet a two thousand year old vampire every day. He looked at me for confirmation, I just nodded. It was true, and now he knew. Next question?
"Okay," Todd said slowly, thinking about it. "And he knew you? Or I guess I should ask if he knew Airaei? That was her name, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's her name, and he knew her."
"From where?" Todd asked. I looked to Alucard for this one, not knowing the answer.
"We fought a few times. It was nothing big," he stated, as if it were nothing.
Todd didn't seem to think it was nothing. "Fought? Define fought."
"She was basically the equivalent to a gladiator, just more of a noble. She was a Slayer, she fought in what was called 'the games' and she was basically the best fighter there. I was human, sometimes I was paired against her. Obviously not to the death cause here I am," he explained. It would make sense, seeing how I remembered seeing him at the arena, but I still thought he was leaving something out. I wasn't going to say that in front of Todd though. I didn't think Alucard would explain with my watcher listening to our every word.
Biting my lip I held back the questions as Todd asked Alucard the technicalities. With a sigh I decided to get something to drink. "Guys, I'm going to grab a soda, I'll be right back," I said as I got to my feet.
"Oh no you don't," Alucard said just as quickly, standing up at the same time. "You're not leaving me here so that he can pick my brain. These questions are for you, you answer them. I'll get you something." And he left before I could debate the issue. I glared after him, but sat back down.
Then came more questions, Todd not letting me distract him. Mostly about what had happened, what exactly I remembered, what I thought the dreams were, the stuff that I'd spent plenty of time thinking about already. Soon Alucard was back with the drinks, he had brought one for Todd, too. I took a sip and realized it wasn't a soda, or at least not just a soda. I didn't ask about it, but I knew I was drinking something alcoholic. Maybe he figured I could use something to help with the endless questions.
And then it ended! Todd leaned back to contemplate everything he had just learned. We all sat back in our chairs and listened to the music, I got up to get another drink and watched the girls dancing and playing pool. They were laughing and having fun, not a frown in the place. You'd hardly recognize them as the depressed people who had been at the house.
I brought my drink back to the table and decided to start a new conversation.
"So. Who thinks the world will end?" I asked spontaneously. It was the first thing that came to mind.
Both the guys turned to me, somewhat surprised. Alucard spoke first. "I think that Buffy has a good chance of getting her ass handed to her on a platter," he said bluntly.
Todd glared at him, shaking his head. "No, we're going to win this. The first can't even take shape, and an army of vampires aren't going to stop us."
"How about an army of Umber vampires?" Alucard taunted.
"We'll find away around them."
"Uh-huh," Alucard murmured, not believing.
"Personally I think Buffy and the Slayeretts will stop the first and its army, but we might not save the world," I said, mixing both of their ideas.
"How will that work?" Todd asked.
I shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe there's some other evil no one's paying attention to who plans on destroying all life on Earth, or all life all together. Who can say?"
Nodding Alucard answered, "could happen. Maybe someone's waitin' nearby to turn us all into turtles."
I grinned. "Or ladybugs. That would really suck, being a ladybug."
"I don't really like ladybugs," Todd murmured. "How 'bout they turn us into. penguins?"
"But penguins are cool. Why would the big bad turn us into something cool?" I asked.
Todd shrugged. "Because he didn't want to go around seeing ladybugs?"
"Okay, how'd the topic switch from the end of the world to ladybugs?" Alucard wondered.
I couldn't help but giggle. Then I stopped myself. Was I giggling? Yep. Weird, didn't really do that much. I took another sip of whatever I was drinking and leaned back.
"You okay Beth?" Todd asked, examining me.
I shrugged and Alucard answered, "I think she's getting drunk."
"I'm not drunk," I stated, glaring at him.
Grinning he answered, "You've had two cups of that, not much for some people, but you always did get drunk easily."
My eyes narrowed. "I'm not drunk."
"Can you walk in a strait line?" Todd asked.
My glare shifted to him. "Is that one of the tests?"
"I don't know, I just thought that a drunk person might have a hard time doing it," he replied.
Shaking my head I continued with my point. "I'm not drunk."
"Fine, you're not drunk," Alucard gave in, "but I think some of the other girls are."
I looked around the club again. The girls were enjoying themselves, most looked sober, but there were a few holding plastic cups that seemed maybe a little out of it. "We'll just blame it on Faith," I stated.
"I'm surprised Buffy let them all go out," Todd stated.
"They went with me," I pointed out.
Alucard chuckled. "She never found out, though. She thought you were just taking them to a movie or a park or something for an hour or so."
"Kennedy said she asked Buffy. . . crap." He kept laughing. I glared. He laughed harder. "Fine, but it turned out okay."
"For them. You got kid napped by Zeke," Todd pointed out. He knew that part of the story. I glared at both of them. "And this time you're getting drunk," he added with a smile of his own.
Grumbling I looked away. I wasn't drunk. I didn't feel drunk. I felt fine, happy even. Things were going fine. Too fine almost. I half expected a swarm of vampires to invade just to stop things from going well. Next best thing happened, the police showed up.
They walked strait over to Faith, who was dancing with several guys, and started talking to her. I couldn't hear what they were saying, being on the other side of the club, but I figured Faith could probably take care of herself. Then again the cops were carrying major artillery, she might have a problem. I didn't get up though.
Next thing I knew Faith was being dragged to the door. Some of the potentials, and Dawn, follow them, but a police man blocked their way out. They talked, Dawn glaring at them defiantly, then Dawn turned towards the counter. She started to walk away and the police guy fired his shotgun at the ceiling. A light fixture crashed down and everyone in the club dropped to the floor. Except of course for the potentials and Dawn near the police guy, and Alucard, Todd and me.
I stood up, ready to walk over and help them, but Todd grabbed my arm. "Don't worry, they're be okay. They need a fight they can win, Beth, just sit down and watch what happens."
"You sure?" I asked, not being sure myself. Todd nodded and I took my seat.
The three of us watched what was going on. The moment the police man was distracted Kennedy grabbed his gun then slammed the butt of it into the cop's head. He reeled backwards, grabbing for her but he came up short as she flipped the gun around and cocked it, the barrel inches from his face. He hesitated for a moment, then knocked the gun away. His victory was short- lived, though, as Amanda came up beside him and knocks him over the head with a broom handle. He falls, stunned for a second, then tries to crawl away. The potentials were on him, though, and then running out the door to help Faith.
"I guess that went well," I murmured.
"It'll make them feel better," Todd said.
"Maybe we should join them outside?" Alucard suggested. I nodded and we stood up, walking to the door.
We got outside about the time the cops were finished. We watched for a second, taking in the scene. The potentials looked happy. They had partied, they had fought, and most importantly they had won. Never hurts to have an ego boost when you're feeling low.
Then something happens to screw it up. In this case it would be Buffy. "Faith! What are you doing?" Buffy asked, her voice calm but angry as she walked up to us.
Faith glanced at her and the potentials began to back off a little. "Just blowing off steam. Well, it started that way. Turned when the cops went evil on us." Any girl that remained in the club came outside, gathering around Faith and Buffy.
Buffy carefully controlled her anger. "Girls, go home. I need to talk to Faith for a minute."
"Buffy, we weren't-" Dawn started.
Buffy cut her off. "Dawn, you too. Go."
I nudged the guys and we were off, along with the rest of the girls who's spirits had suddenly dropped again.
"Don't suppose she noticed me up and about?" Alucard murmured as he glanced back at the two Slayers who stayed behind.
"Let's hope not, she'd have a cow," I muttered.
Todd nodded. "True. Let's just pretend he was never here, how does that sound?"
"Peachy."
The rest of the trip home was in silence as we followed the girls.
Inside the house everyone went to work. Giles had told us that Xander was coming home and everyone wanted it to be a good occasion. The girls made a big sign and Alucard actually helped them hang it up. No one cared anymore that he wasn't really a part of the group. If he noticed you couldn't tell.
As for myself, I was feeling a little nauseous. I climbed the stairs and went into Dawn's room to lay down for a bit, Todd came up after me. He knocked on the half open door then came in without waiting for my comment.
"You okay? You're looking a little green," he said, checking up on me.
I glared at him. "I'm not green."
"But are you okay?"
The glare was continuing. He had to ask that. I growled softly and rolled over. "No," I admitted sourly. I didn't want to feel sick, but it was happening.
"Maybe you are a little drunk?"
"I'm fine now," I stated.
He walked around the bed and shrugged. "Maybe. I'm going with Alucard on this one though. If he says you can't hold your alcohol. . . well, he's known you longer than me."
And still I glared. "Look, I'm not drunk. I kept my head and everything. I haven't gotten violent, or done anything really stupid."
"And yet you had a conversation about ladybugs and penguins."
Okay, that wasn't fair. I had been really bored. "Doesn't count," I muttered.
He smirked. "Why's that?"
"Alucard started it."
Chuckling, Todd helped me sit up. "Fine, but Xander's going to be home soon and it'll be awkward if you're not one of the many people welcoming him home. I'm sure someone will notice that Slayer number three isn't there."
Nodding I got to my feet and we went back downstairs to join the gathering crowd of girls in the living room. All seats were taken so I stood in the back with Todd. Alucard joined us a few minutes later.
A few moments later Buffy and Willow escort Xander in, with Anya not far behind. A big bandage rested over Xander's left eye. Faith and Wood come in after them, closing the door behind them. Xander was led into the living room, and then he just froze for a second.
"Oh, god. . ." he murmured, touched. If he was a girl he would have cried.
"We didn't have time to do more," Kennedy stated, "you have to pretend there's a big party here."
Dawn walked up and wrapped her arms around Xander in a tight hug.
"That's fine," Xander said, trying to soften the mood. "Parties in this house, I usually end up having to rebuild something."
Buffy walked in behind him with a tight smile. "Welcome home, Xander. I wanted you to be here for this. I think you'll be interested in what I found out."
Willow turned to her. "What did you find out?"
Buffy went strait to the point. "It's about the cellar. Look, I know that night wasn't fun for any of us. . . but I figured some things out about that place and I realize now what we have to do. We're going back in."
Stunned silence greeted that remark. No one knew what to say. I was left gapping with the rest. Why would she want to go back in? Hadn't Caleb just beat us up? Sure, we could go back in and a few more people would die, but what for?
"Look, I know what you're thinking but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb," Buffy said.
Dawn instantly looked concerned. "Buffy, why didn't you-"
"I'm fine. I mean, it wasn't fun but I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school," Buffy continued.
"Is it the seal again?" Wood asked.
Willow added, "Do we need to try shutting it again?"
"No, that's just it," Buffy insisted. "We've spent all this time worrying about the seal and the Hellmouth. Why isn't Caleb guarding them? Why doesn't he have someone there protecting it? Why is he camped out at the vineyard? The bad guys always go where the power is. So if the seal was so important to Caleb and The First, they would be there right now. They're protecting the vineyard. Or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them."
"Or, in the alternative, how about we don't?" Faith suggested. "I mean, it's a neat theory, B, but I'm not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they."
"I'm not saying it's going to be easy," Buffy said.
Wood jumped in before she could say anything else. "I think Faith had the floor.
"Maybe it ends okay the way you want to play it but maybe it doesn't and right now, I don't think I want you playing the odds," Faith stated, sure of herself.
"Did you come here to fight?" Buffy asked pointedly.
Faith went on, "Listen, we're fighters, all of us, but you gotta give me something to fight. Something real, not-"
"Windmills?" Giles filled in for her.
"There is something there," Buffy insisted.
"Maybe. . . but we can't be sure of that. This is a hell of a lot to ask," Giles stated.
"Too much," Wood agreed.
Buffy wasn't use to people questioning her decisions. She looked around, confused and seeking support. I wasn't sure who to side with. I half agreed with Buffy, but I also thought she was rushing into this. We need to plan it out, research it, or do something before jumping in blindly. It wouldn't work doing it her way. At least it wouldn't work well.
"I don't understand this. For seven years I've kept us safe by doing this-exactly this-making the hard decisions. And now what? Suddenly you're all acting like you can't trust me?" Buffy asked.
"Didn't you say to me today you can't trust us?" Giles pointed out. "Maybe there's something there that should be addressed."
"Is that why you sent Spike away? To ambush me?" Buffy snapped.
"Oh, come on," Giles said.
"You know what? I am sick of your deal with this Spike guy. This isn't about him. This is about you. You're being reckless," Rona said, pulling away from the other potentials and taking a stand.
Buffy frowned at her, looking surprised again. "What?"
"You are. I don't even know you and I can tell. You are so obsessed with beating Caleb, you are willing to jump into any plan without thinking.
Buffy almost glared at her, but kept her cool enough not to. "That's not what I'm doing."
Kennedy stood up to face Buffy. "Well, that's how it feels to us. People are dying."
"Kennedy. . ." Willow murmured softly.
"Why are you always standing up for her?" Kennedy snapped, annoyed.
"I'm not," Willow says, then looked away, not wanting to look at Buffy. She said it like it was hurting her, like her emotions were jumbled on the fact.
"What do you mean, you're not?" Buffy asked, just as confused, and almost scared.
"With everything that's happened. . .I'm worried about your judgment," Willow stated, growing slightly more sure of herself.
"Look, I wish this could be a democracy. I really do. Democracies don't win battles. It's a hard truth but there has to be a single voice. You need someone to issue orders and be reckless sometimes and not take your feelings into account. You need someone to lead you," Buffy stated, insisting on the point.
"And it's automatically you." Anya stated, drawing everyone's attention. "you really do think you're better than we are."
Buffy was taken aback, again. "No, I-"
"But we don't know. We don't know if you're actually better. I mean, you came into the world with certain advantages, sure. I mean, that's the legacy. But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. You've never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us."
"I've gotten us this far," Buffy stated, trying to sound in control.
"But not without a price," Xander pointed out, tearing down Buffy's resolve.
"Xander-"
"I'm trying to see your point here, Buff. . . but I guess it must be a little bit to my left because I just don't."
"Look, I'm willing to talk strategy, okay, I'll hear suggestions on how to break this down but this is the plan. We have to be together on this or we will fail again," Buffy didn't turn from her decision.
"We are clearly demonstrating that we are not together on this!" Giles said angrily.
"Which is why you have to fall in line! I'm still in charge here," Buffy pointed out, just as angry.
"Why is that, exactly?" Rona asked.
Buffy glared at her. "Because I'm the Slayer."
"And isn't Faith a Slayer, too? And Beth? They're both Slayers. Just like you," Rona continued.
Faith's head snapped up, about the same time mine did, we were both caught off guard.
"What? Whoa. . . so not what I meant," Faith stated. "I'm not "in charge" chick. I think B here just needs to chill out for a little bit, take a siesta or something. But I'm not the one you want."
Some eyes turned to me. "Hey, I'm worse than she is! Worse than both of them. Besides, while Buffy's been giving orders Faith's been keeping us together, not me." That got me a glare from Buffy and a confused look from Faith.
"Maybe we need a vote. . ." Kennedy said, stepping back up, "to see who wants Faith to have a turn in charge."
"No," Buffy said.
"No what?" Kennedy asked.
"No. you don't get to vote until I've had my chance to pal around. You know, get everybody drunk. See, I didn't get that this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair-"
"Learn their names?" Faith suggested.
Sneering Buffy turned to her. "You're just loving this, aren't you?
"You have no idea what I'm feeling," Faith said, holding her own.
"Come in here, take everything that I have. You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun? Hey, you guys think that's nifty?"
"Buffy, that's enough!" Giles demanded, and she stopped.
Faith took her turn to talk. "I didn't come here to take anything away from you but I'm not going to be your little lapdog, either. I came here to beat the other guy, to do right, however it works. I don't know if I can lead but the real question is. . . can you follow?"
"So we vote," Wood said, making it final.
"Wait. Guys. . ." Buffy looked around, losing her confidence and letting the fact that she was desperate show. No one was giving her support. I didn't know if I should. I agreed that she was probably right about the vineyard, but I also agreed that she was being reckless. I might be able to talk Faith into checking out the vineyard later, who knew?
"I can't watch you just throw away everything. I know I'm right about this. I just need a little. . . I can't stay here and watch her lead you into some disaster," Buffy stated, trying to get someone to see things her way.
Dawn stood up and walked over to her. "Then you can't stay here. Buffy, I love you but you were right. We have to be together on this. You can't be a part of it. . . so I need you to leave. I'm sorry but this is my house too."
Anyone in the room who wasn't speechless before was now. I could understand Kennedy and Rona, even Xander and Giles, but I never expected even Dawn to stand against her. Buffy was too shocked to say anything. She stared at us all for a long moment, holding her chin high and holding back tears. Then she turned and walked out the door.
We all watched silently for a moment, then Rona said almost happily "Ding dong, the witch is dead."
Down turned on her with a murderous glare. "Shut your mouth!"
We all just stared for a moment, most people not even noticing Faith follow Buffy out. After a few minutes things started to break up, the potentials went their own way. Dawn, Xander, Willow and Giles just sat quietly, all of them still in shock with what just happened. Todd bid me good night and left soon after, probably to tell the other watchers what had happened. Alucard waited for me to go upstairs, then he followed.
At the top of the stairs the nausea came back and I ran for the bathroom. Luckily no one was in it for a change and I was able to go right in. I threw up in the toilet then sat back, grabbing some toilet paper to wipe my mouth as I stared at nothing. Damn it, I wasn't suppose to get sick. At least Todd had left before he had a chance to tease me about it.
Sighing tried to stand up, then stumbled. Growling to myself I got back on my feet, and someone grabbed my arm to help support me. I wasn't surprised to look up and see Alucard. He silently watched me as I rinsed out my mouth. When I finished I turned to him.
"What? No sarcastic remark?" I asked, looking for something to lighten the mood.
Alucard shrugged. "Told you so?" he said helpfully.
I shook my head and walked out of the bathroom. He followed me into Dawn's room. "We're going to have to give Dawn her room back soon," I murmured as we walked in. Alucard nodded, but didn't say anything.
I sat on the bed, rubbing my eyes. "Tired?" he asked softly. I shrugged.
Easily I kicked off my flip flops and flopped back onto the bed. "My head hurts," I muttered.
He chuckled. "Yeah, that can happen."
"I thought hangovers came in the morning," I muttered.
"Would you believe it if I said I thought you were actually sick?" he asked.
Huh, good question. "Why would you say that? I thought Slayers didn't get sick."
He chuckled. "Viruses attack everyone. You heal fast, normally it makes up for it, but you can still get sick," he explained.
"So you think I just have a cold?"
He nodded. "And the drinking didn't help much, but yeah, you have a cold."
"Damn, that sucks," I muttered. He laughed again. "I think vampires should get sick, then I could laugh at you."
"No such luck there," he said. "I'm dead, it's a bit harder to get sick."
I shrugged. "Fine then. I'll just have to find some spell that would make it happen."
Still grinning to himself Alucard shook his head. "That energy could go to a much better use, ya know."
I nodded. "But not a much funner use."
He smirked. "Maybe."
"That's your answer to everything," I stated.
He grinned. "Maybe."
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. He caught it with a laugh, throwing it back. "Go to bed. You'll feel better in the morning."
Catching the pillow I put it back on the bed. Normally right now I'd go somewhere to change, but I was too tired. Tonight I'd just sleep in my clothes. Slowly I pulled the sweat shirt off and threw it in a pile of dirty laundry that had been accumulating over the last few days.
"I'll leave if you want to change," Alucard offered.
I shook my head. "Nah, that's okay, I'm just going to go to sleep."
He shrugged. "Good night then."
I nodded good night to him and climbed into bed. The light turned off and I heard Alucard go back to his chair. After that things were quiet, he didn't make a sound. As tired as I was I didn't really want to sleep. I wanted to talk, or at least to do something, but I didn't know what to talk about or what I could do. If I was sick I shouldn't be doing anything. I never did like getting sick.
Awhile later, I'm not sure how long, Alucard spoke up. "Don't make this a habit, Liz. When you go to bed you're suppose to fall asleep."
I grinned into the darkness. "Not tired."
"The moment I turn the lights on you'll change your mind," he pointed out. I nodded, though I didn't know if he'd be able to see me. "What do you want me to do? Make chicken noodle soup?" he asked sarcastically.
"If I said yes would you get mad?" I murmured.
"If you said yes I think I'd throw a pillow at you."
I giggled a little. Second time in one day, maybe I was sick. I decided to blame it on the fact that I was tired. It sounded better to me.
I heard Alucard stand up, then nothing. He could be really quiet at times. Next thing I knew his voice was coming from right in front of me. "If you don't go to sleep I'm going to have Faith come in here and yell at you."
"I don't think she'll listen to you."
"You never know."
"What, are you waiting for me to nod off so you can go do something?"
He chuckled. "No, it's just bugging me."
"Why?"
"Don't know. Go to sleep."
"You don't know?"
"Nope."
"Oh, okay."
I felt more than saw him move again. I had the feeling that he was back in his chair, watching me. With a sigh I rolled over, snuggling with the pillow.
"G'night Alucard," I murmured, then forced myself to sleep. It welcomed me happily.
~
I was staring at myself. No, she wasn't me, or at least not who I was now. Airaei smiled at me. She looked confident, sure of herself, important. She held herself as if she was. . . as if she were better than me. I had to shake my head. She wasn't better than me, but heaven forbid I told her that.
*Do you want to know what should happen?* Airaei asked, though her lips didn't move.
I was confused, not sure of what to do, but I nodded.
*There were two options.* she said. *The first:*
I was fighting, we were winning. My enemy, or enemies, were falling back, their numbers were decreasing. The fight was almost over, and I was so tired, but I had to keep going. So many of us had died. They had fought until the end, but potentials could only do so much. We never should have won, it was by miracle alone that we lasted this long. But we lasted, we were winning. Another girl feel, but before she did she threw her weapon away, to me. I held it tight, it's power filling me. I grinned at the oncoming enemy. The last one. I swung the scythe, and it was over.
What was that?
*A choice.*
Right. And the second?
I was in a chamber. No, it was more than a chamber, it was a throne room, The ceiling went so high that the light didn't reach the top. I stared up into the darkness and it was like an ill omen. My eyes lowered to the monster in front of me. To think he was once human, once a vampire. I stared into his eyes, monster's eyes. Then I glanced back at Zeke, standing to the right of a throne. Things were blurry, I couldn't see it all, but the monster in front of me was all too clear. He was dressed in black and crimson, death and blood. He was still shaped like a human, but horns jutted out of his head, his shoulders, his elbows and his hands. His skin was a yellowish color, with black tattoos winding their way along. I can't turn away from his gaze, he held me in his thrall. The Boss took a step towards me. My body screamed for me to move, but I couldn't. My gaze was caught in his, and his held it. He came closer until he could touch me. A hand slid up my arm and I shuddered, but didn't pull away. He tilted my head to the side and I didn't see his fangs slid into my neck, tearing my throat out.
*What choice would you make? If you could forget everything would you do it? Would you make the choice? Would it be the right one? It's too late though. You've changed things.*
It can't be all black and white. There have to be other options. You can't know what would have happened.
*It would have been one of those. I died before I knew which. If I hadn't interfered then I would have known it would have been one of them. But no, I thought to save you. I fear I've destroyed everything.*
You haven't. I won't let things end that way.
Airaei smirked. *You have no choice.*
Give me the choice. When do I make it?
*You seek to do the right thing? But I can't tell you just that. I can't limit your knowledge.*
I know.
*It's all or nothing.*
I know.
*It would change things. Change you.*
Don't make me repeat myself.
She nodded. *Then you'll know.*
~
I woke up, it was morning out. The light shined through the window brightening the room, all except the small corner where Alucard slept.
My head was pounding. Something was wrong. Something had happened.
I couldn't remember what.
~
bit of a long author's note tonight.
Okay, before I express much joy and happiness I apologize for all typos, unfortunately I have a nasty head ache and the thought of reading through this chapter is not good. And so, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. and you know the rest.
Oh, and did you watch Buffy!? The final episode. (I admit it, I cried) it was. great, horrible, sad, hilarious, and above all else, inspiring. I shall miss it, I'm already missing it. Buffy why do you leave us! *cries* ah well, life goes on..
Five reviews! *does a happy dance, complete with disco moves that she doesn't know and the splits, which she can't do. Notices people watching and stops.* anywho. we have some newbie reviewers. special thanks, and of course, first thank you is to a regular:
Beyond the silence: More about Alucard? You wish is my command! Just not yet. Soon! I promise soon! I'm glad the spelling was better, sometimes I'm good at it, I just think I didn't use any big words. Glad you like the character though. Hope you keep reading, and thanks again for the review!
Srbarnett: ::cough cough:: um. ::bites her lip, twiddles her thumbs, zips her mouth shut:: mmm, mmm hmm, mmm ::unzips lips:: Sorry, I can't say anything, nada, not a thing, but thanks for the review ^.^
Maude: Thank you thank you, I know, I have a dead line *sighs* It will be finished! It will I say! I plan on having the epilogue up on June 13th to celebrate the birthday of the main char. In my other stories. Ja ne, ttyl.
Annje: Lol, yeah, I wanted to tell everyone 'bout that, but it would ruin the twist. Glad you're liking it, and thanks for reading! Hope you review again!
Ninii the Lucil33t: my new longest review! I think. Okay, you're tied. Yeah, I've kept her not better than Buffy, or Faith, something pops up later though. . . Can't tell you much more than that. Which isn't really anything. *shrugs* Alucard is the sarcastic one who turns out to be serious, kind of like Xander just very different. Thanks for saying it's assume! I try, I really do. Yeah, it follows Buffy, sometimes (aka group meetings) word for word mostly. Scoobies: you know scooby doo the show? Well, the scoobies there solved mysteries, much like Buffy and her friends. So Xander started calling them the scoobies and it stuck. Have a day, very cool. I like those sayings ^.^ You're stories good, too, haven't gotten around to finishing it yet, been busy, but I will! Hope you have the sequel up soon! Well, that's about it.
Till next time,
Rave
I stretched my neck as the water pelted down on me. The only place you could ever be alone in this house was in the bathroom, and then you had to wait half a day to get through the line. After awhile you stop standing in line and just jump in whenever there was an opening.
Today the line was almost non existent. All the girls were huddled around, scared and depressed. It was depressing just to watch them. A few people die and everyone goes all quiet and shy, even Kennedy hadn't been talkative.
For the most part I was over the whole us getting our asses kicked thing. Yes it was a problem, and yes we had to deal with it, but I couldn't sit around letting myself focus on the crap that was getting in our way. There were too many problems to look into just one, and if you keep a wider view things got easier, sort of.
I hadn't really talked to anyone about anything important. Spike and I talked about music and TV for awhile to kill time, but that was about it. Faith had gone around, just chatting with the girls, trying to raise their spirits in her own way.
The water started to turn cold so I turned it off. Quickly drying off I stepped out of the tub and got dressed. Today in blue jeans and a green T- shirt with a blue sweat shirt. Looking for socks I frowned. I had left them in the room. To avoid going back for them I threw on a pair of flip flops.
I wasn't avoiding Alucard, I just didn't want to talk to him. I went into Dawn's room as little as possible, and he never left it. It made it easy to stay away. I ran a brush through my hair on the way out of the bathroom. I jogged down stairs to see Faith and Giles talking over a picture.
"What's up guys?" I asked, walking to where I could stare over their shoulders. It looked like a picture of a church.
Giles stepped back, giving me a clearer look. "We think Caleb has something to do with this, see that knot hole?" I looked closely and nodded. "If you look carefully you can see it's a mark, Caleb's mark." Frowning I stared at it again.
"You're right, it is." I stepped back to think. "So is someone going to check it out?" I asked.
"Spike's already on it. He took Andrew with him," Giles stated.
I raised an eyebrow. "Spike and Andrew? How's that going to work?"
Faith grinned. "It should be interesting, no doubt." I nodded my agreement. If Spike didn't kill Andrew then I'm sure it would make a funny story. "Hey, you coming?" Faith asked.
"Coming where?" I didn't know people were going anywhere.
"To the Bronze, I'm taking the girls out," Faith stated.
Oh, the bronze. "Huh, well, as long as you promise that no vamps will kidnap me," I stated with a smile.
Faith looked confused for a second. "Okay, I don't get it."
"When I took the girls to the Bronze I ran into an old vampire I knew. Things didn't go well," I stated.
"You went to the Bronze?" Giles asked.
I turned to him. "Yeah, awhile ago. Kennedy got Buffy to say it was okay. . ." They still looked clueless. "okay, I think someone forgot to tell you."
Giles set the picture down. "I don't think Buffy would have let you all go to the Bronze," Giles stated.
"She had been in a hurry and. . . Kennedy never said exactly where we were going. . ." I murmured. "I have the feeling that Buffy doesn't know we were at the Bronze either."
Faith shrugged. "Well, whatever happened, we're going out again. Do me a favor and make sure all the girls know, will ya?"
I shrugged. "Why not."
I went back to the stairs. Chances were everyone downstairs would know. I took three steps up the stairs and stopped. Alucard was standing at the top.
"What're you doing out here?" I asked, surprised.
Alucard grinned at me and started walking downstairs. "Well, a certain Slayer said she'd get me something to drink, around an hour ago," He stated with a look to Faith. "She never came back so I figured I'd grab something myself."
"I planned on getting you something," Faith stated, "then I got hungry." She shrugged.
Alucard shrugged too. "That's fine, gave me an excuse to get up." He walked past me. "don't mind me, I'll be in the kitchen."
He hadn't ignored me, but he hadn't really paid attention to me. That was annoying. Though I had been doing the same thing to him. Poetic justice for you, never did like that.
Shaking my head I continued up the stairs. It didn't take long to check on all the girls. I told them they had five minutes to get downstairs or we were leaving without them. I went back downstairs in time to hear the door ring. When I opened the door Todd walked in before saying hello. He glanced around the house then grinned at me.
"Hey, good news," Todd said, grinning.
"Good news for me or for you?" I asked cautiously.
His grin grew. "For me."
Now I frowned. "Okay, what's up?"
"You owe me some answers."
I frowned, not sure what he was talking about, then I remembered. I had promised him I'd tell him anything he wanted to know. Stupid me, very stupid me. But hey, the bringers hadn't gotten the chance to kill him, so maybe not that stupid of me.
"Well, I'm going to the Bronze now, so can I get a rain check?" I asked.
He smirked. "No such luck, I'll just tag along."
I glared at him and girls started to show up. Faith and Alucard walked out of the kitchen together, talking. Faith caught my eye, grabbing my attention.
"Hey, Beth, how'd you feel if you pet here tagged along?" she asked. Alucard twitched and my frown deepened.
"He's not my pet, and I don't care what he does," I stated. "Todd's coming, too."
Faith shrugged. "Whatever, let's head out."
Thirty girls took up a lot of space, and trailed back pretty far on a sidewalk, but the town was mostly deserted so it wasn't bothering anyone. Alucard was lost somewhere in the crowd, I was in the front with Todd. We talked about the weather, what TV shows we watched... you know, all the stuff that didn't matter.
The bronze actually had a band playing, and people partying. While most were leaving the city there were also the few who stayed back watching the action. I gave it another few days and they'd be gone. The girls fanned out, dancing and drinking. Todd and I grabbed a table off to the side.
"So?" I started, wanting to know were the conversation would be going.
Todd shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good question. Why don't we start with how you could read that book."
"That day I had gotten Giles to cast a spell to help me remember these dreams I've been having, I didn't remember the dreams, but I got glimpses back to what's kind of a past life of mine. Kind of," I stated.
At some point Todd most have stopped being surprised at me, because he just nodded, as if I wasn't saying something weird. "So, a past life? Explain that."
I sighed, not sure how to. "Well you see. . . I was kind of a Lerian and. . ."
"A Lerian?" he asked, sounding interested.
I shrugged. "It's really a long story."
"Is this seat taken?" I looked up to see Alucard watching us.
Glancing at Todd I shook my head. "Go ahead and take it." Alucard did. Thinking for a moment I came up with an idea. "Hey Alucard, do me a favor. Todd wants to know about the past life thing, I'm not sure how to explain it."
Alucard glanced at Todd, looking almost amused. "Well, I told you already that it wasn't a past life," he murmured. Todd just stared at him, waiting for the explanation. "What do you know about Lerians, Todd?"
Todd was frowning, I don't think he liked Alucard much. I'm sure he didn't like Alucard when he was being difficult. Unfortunately Alucard normally was difficult, so you just had to put up with it. After awhile if you stopped being annoyed he stopped trying to annoy you. Most people didn't get that.
"Just about nothing," Todd answered. "You should ask Chris, he'd have an answer for you."
Alucard smirked, shaking his head. "Chris knows books, he doesn't know anything about the actual race."
Todd shrugged. "Well, I guess that's what you're here for, right?"
Alucard shrugged. "Something like that."
"So why don't you just explain things and then you can just shut up," Todd said.
Alucard rolled his eyes, but he got to the point. "Think about it this way. When this world was made, so were we, every person. We all exist somewhere, even those who are dead or not born. We're wherever that place is, we live, then we die and go back there. The Lerians can reach into that place and pull out a soul of someone from the future, than use that soul to support themselves in this world. Making sense so far?" Todd nodded. "While it takes place in the past, it's not really the same concept as a past life, since Liz was here first. It's more of an added life, an addition to what she is."
Todd nodded. "So, in this additional life, you were a Lerian?" He asked me.
I bit my lip, trying to form an answer. "Basically, a human Lerian. I actually wasn't really there, my essence was, but I hadn't really been created yet. I had no identity. Airaei was there, that's the other me, what I was called then. It was her thoughts and feeling that controlled things."
He nodded again. "Wow, that made since. How weird is that?" He said with a small smile. "And you got her memories?" he added.
"Some, a small amount," I said, "but at the same time I picked up on a few different things, like I think I can read the language. If someone were to start talking in it I'd understand."
"Read the book yet?" Alucard asked.
I shook my head. "No, not yet. I got it back from Chris, but I still need to look it over."
"Maybe that would help with understanding things," Alucard stated. I shrugged. Maybe it would, maybe it would make things more confusing. Who knew?
"So, you're Lerian? Okay, that kind of makes sense. Leaves a lot of gaps, but makes sense. It at least explains how you could read better than Chris," Todd stated. "How does Alucard know all of this though?"
Big sigh, literally. This would be why I try not to make "I'll answer any questions you've got" promises. "Um. he was around back then," I stated.
Todd nodded slowly. "Right, that's nice. When was 'back then'?" he asked.
"Somewhere around the year 40," Alucard said bluntly, not seeming to mind the question at all.
Todd seemed a little confused. "40? What 40? I mean, which century?"
Alucard shrugged. "That's it. The year 40. As in about the time Jesus was 40."
"two thousand years ago?" he didn't sound like he believed it.
"Yep. That's the year," Alucard stated.
Confusion was gone, now Todd just looked surprised. I understood the feeling. You didn't meet a two thousand year old vampire every day. He looked at me for confirmation, I just nodded. It was true, and now he knew. Next question?
"Okay," Todd said slowly, thinking about it. "And he knew you? Or I guess I should ask if he knew Airaei? That was her name, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's her name, and he knew her."
"From where?" Todd asked. I looked to Alucard for this one, not knowing the answer.
"We fought a few times. It was nothing big," he stated, as if it were nothing.
Todd didn't seem to think it was nothing. "Fought? Define fought."
"She was basically the equivalent to a gladiator, just more of a noble. She was a Slayer, she fought in what was called 'the games' and she was basically the best fighter there. I was human, sometimes I was paired against her. Obviously not to the death cause here I am," he explained. It would make sense, seeing how I remembered seeing him at the arena, but I still thought he was leaving something out. I wasn't going to say that in front of Todd though. I didn't think Alucard would explain with my watcher listening to our every word.
Biting my lip I held back the questions as Todd asked Alucard the technicalities. With a sigh I decided to get something to drink. "Guys, I'm going to grab a soda, I'll be right back," I said as I got to my feet.
"Oh no you don't," Alucard said just as quickly, standing up at the same time. "You're not leaving me here so that he can pick my brain. These questions are for you, you answer them. I'll get you something." And he left before I could debate the issue. I glared after him, but sat back down.
Then came more questions, Todd not letting me distract him. Mostly about what had happened, what exactly I remembered, what I thought the dreams were, the stuff that I'd spent plenty of time thinking about already. Soon Alucard was back with the drinks, he had brought one for Todd, too. I took a sip and realized it wasn't a soda, or at least not just a soda. I didn't ask about it, but I knew I was drinking something alcoholic. Maybe he figured I could use something to help with the endless questions.
And then it ended! Todd leaned back to contemplate everything he had just learned. We all sat back in our chairs and listened to the music, I got up to get another drink and watched the girls dancing and playing pool. They were laughing and having fun, not a frown in the place. You'd hardly recognize them as the depressed people who had been at the house.
I brought my drink back to the table and decided to start a new conversation.
"So. Who thinks the world will end?" I asked spontaneously. It was the first thing that came to mind.
Both the guys turned to me, somewhat surprised. Alucard spoke first. "I think that Buffy has a good chance of getting her ass handed to her on a platter," he said bluntly.
Todd glared at him, shaking his head. "No, we're going to win this. The first can't even take shape, and an army of vampires aren't going to stop us."
"How about an army of Umber vampires?" Alucard taunted.
"We'll find away around them."
"Uh-huh," Alucard murmured, not believing.
"Personally I think Buffy and the Slayeretts will stop the first and its army, but we might not save the world," I said, mixing both of their ideas.
"How will that work?" Todd asked.
I shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe there's some other evil no one's paying attention to who plans on destroying all life on Earth, or all life all together. Who can say?"
Nodding Alucard answered, "could happen. Maybe someone's waitin' nearby to turn us all into turtles."
I grinned. "Or ladybugs. That would really suck, being a ladybug."
"I don't really like ladybugs," Todd murmured. "How 'bout they turn us into. penguins?"
"But penguins are cool. Why would the big bad turn us into something cool?" I asked.
Todd shrugged. "Because he didn't want to go around seeing ladybugs?"
"Okay, how'd the topic switch from the end of the world to ladybugs?" Alucard wondered.
I couldn't help but giggle. Then I stopped myself. Was I giggling? Yep. Weird, didn't really do that much. I took another sip of whatever I was drinking and leaned back.
"You okay Beth?" Todd asked, examining me.
I shrugged and Alucard answered, "I think she's getting drunk."
"I'm not drunk," I stated, glaring at him.
Grinning he answered, "You've had two cups of that, not much for some people, but you always did get drunk easily."
My eyes narrowed. "I'm not drunk."
"Can you walk in a strait line?" Todd asked.
My glare shifted to him. "Is that one of the tests?"
"I don't know, I just thought that a drunk person might have a hard time doing it," he replied.
Shaking my head I continued with my point. "I'm not drunk."
"Fine, you're not drunk," Alucard gave in, "but I think some of the other girls are."
I looked around the club again. The girls were enjoying themselves, most looked sober, but there were a few holding plastic cups that seemed maybe a little out of it. "We'll just blame it on Faith," I stated.
"I'm surprised Buffy let them all go out," Todd stated.
"They went with me," I pointed out.
Alucard chuckled. "She never found out, though. She thought you were just taking them to a movie or a park or something for an hour or so."
"Kennedy said she asked Buffy. . . crap." He kept laughing. I glared. He laughed harder. "Fine, but it turned out okay."
"For them. You got kid napped by Zeke," Todd pointed out. He knew that part of the story. I glared at both of them. "And this time you're getting drunk," he added with a smile of his own.
Grumbling I looked away. I wasn't drunk. I didn't feel drunk. I felt fine, happy even. Things were going fine. Too fine almost. I half expected a swarm of vampires to invade just to stop things from going well. Next best thing happened, the police showed up.
They walked strait over to Faith, who was dancing with several guys, and started talking to her. I couldn't hear what they were saying, being on the other side of the club, but I figured Faith could probably take care of herself. Then again the cops were carrying major artillery, she might have a problem. I didn't get up though.
Next thing I knew Faith was being dragged to the door. Some of the potentials, and Dawn, follow them, but a police man blocked their way out. They talked, Dawn glaring at them defiantly, then Dawn turned towards the counter. She started to walk away and the police guy fired his shotgun at the ceiling. A light fixture crashed down and everyone in the club dropped to the floor. Except of course for the potentials and Dawn near the police guy, and Alucard, Todd and me.
I stood up, ready to walk over and help them, but Todd grabbed my arm. "Don't worry, they're be okay. They need a fight they can win, Beth, just sit down and watch what happens."
"You sure?" I asked, not being sure myself. Todd nodded and I took my seat.
The three of us watched what was going on. The moment the police man was distracted Kennedy grabbed his gun then slammed the butt of it into the cop's head. He reeled backwards, grabbing for her but he came up short as she flipped the gun around and cocked it, the barrel inches from his face. He hesitated for a moment, then knocked the gun away. His victory was short- lived, though, as Amanda came up beside him and knocks him over the head with a broom handle. He falls, stunned for a second, then tries to crawl away. The potentials were on him, though, and then running out the door to help Faith.
"I guess that went well," I murmured.
"It'll make them feel better," Todd said.
"Maybe we should join them outside?" Alucard suggested. I nodded and we stood up, walking to the door.
We got outside about the time the cops were finished. We watched for a second, taking in the scene. The potentials looked happy. They had partied, they had fought, and most importantly they had won. Never hurts to have an ego boost when you're feeling low.
Then something happens to screw it up. In this case it would be Buffy. "Faith! What are you doing?" Buffy asked, her voice calm but angry as she walked up to us.
Faith glanced at her and the potentials began to back off a little. "Just blowing off steam. Well, it started that way. Turned when the cops went evil on us." Any girl that remained in the club came outside, gathering around Faith and Buffy.
Buffy carefully controlled her anger. "Girls, go home. I need to talk to Faith for a minute."
"Buffy, we weren't-" Dawn started.
Buffy cut her off. "Dawn, you too. Go."
I nudged the guys and we were off, along with the rest of the girls who's spirits had suddenly dropped again.
"Don't suppose she noticed me up and about?" Alucard murmured as he glanced back at the two Slayers who stayed behind.
"Let's hope not, she'd have a cow," I muttered.
Todd nodded. "True. Let's just pretend he was never here, how does that sound?"
"Peachy."
The rest of the trip home was in silence as we followed the girls.
Inside the house everyone went to work. Giles had told us that Xander was coming home and everyone wanted it to be a good occasion. The girls made a big sign and Alucard actually helped them hang it up. No one cared anymore that he wasn't really a part of the group. If he noticed you couldn't tell.
As for myself, I was feeling a little nauseous. I climbed the stairs and went into Dawn's room to lay down for a bit, Todd came up after me. He knocked on the half open door then came in without waiting for my comment.
"You okay? You're looking a little green," he said, checking up on me.
I glared at him. "I'm not green."
"But are you okay?"
The glare was continuing. He had to ask that. I growled softly and rolled over. "No," I admitted sourly. I didn't want to feel sick, but it was happening.
"Maybe you are a little drunk?"
"I'm fine now," I stated.
He walked around the bed and shrugged. "Maybe. I'm going with Alucard on this one though. If he says you can't hold your alcohol. . . well, he's known you longer than me."
And still I glared. "Look, I'm not drunk. I kept my head and everything. I haven't gotten violent, or done anything really stupid."
"And yet you had a conversation about ladybugs and penguins."
Okay, that wasn't fair. I had been really bored. "Doesn't count," I muttered.
He smirked. "Why's that?"
"Alucard started it."
Chuckling, Todd helped me sit up. "Fine, but Xander's going to be home soon and it'll be awkward if you're not one of the many people welcoming him home. I'm sure someone will notice that Slayer number three isn't there."
Nodding I got to my feet and we went back downstairs to join the gathering crowd of girls in the living room. All seats were taken so I stood in the back with Todd. Alucard joined us a few minutes later.
A few moments later Buffy and Willow escort Xander in, with Anya not far behind. A big bandage rested over Xander's left eye. Faith and Wood come in after them, closing the door behind them. Xander was led into the living room, and then he just froze for a second.
"Oh, god. . ." he murmured, touched. If he was a girl he would have cried.
"We didn't have time to do more," Kennedy stated, "you have to pretend there's a big party here."
Dawn walked up and wrapped her arms around Xander in a tight hug.
"That's fine," Xander said, trying to soften the mood. "Parties in this house, I usually end up having to rebuild something."
Buffy walked in behind him with a tight smile. "Welcome home, Xander. I wanted you to be here for this. I think you'll be interested in what I found out."
Willow turned to her. "What did you find out?"
Buffy went strait to the point. "It's about the cellar. Look, I know that night wasn't fun for any of us. . . but I figured some things out about that place and I realize now what we have to do. We're going back in."
Stunned silence greeted that remark. No one knew what to say. I was left gapping with the rest. Why would she want to go back in? Hadn't Caleb just beat us up? Sure, we could go back in and a few more people would die, but what for?
"Look, I know what you're thinking but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb," Buffy said.
Dawn instantly looked concerned. "Buffy, why didn't you-"
"I'm fine. I mean, it wasn't fun but I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school," Buffy continued.
"Is it the seal again?" Wood asked.
Willow added, "Do we need to try shutting it again?"
"No, that's just it," Buffy insisted. "We've spent all this time worrying about the seal and the Hellmouth. Why isn't Caleb guarding them? Why doesn't he have someone there protecting it? Why is he camped out at the vineyard? The bad guys always go where the power is. So if the seal was so important to Caleb and The First, they would be there right now. They're protecting the vineyard. Or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them."
"Or, in the alternative, how about we don't?" Faith suggested. "I mean, it's a neat theory, B, but I'm not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they."
"I'm not saying it's going to be easy," Buffy said.
Wood jumped in before she could say anything else. "I think Faith had the floor.
"Maybe it ends okay the way you want to play it but maybe it doesn't and right now, I don't think I want you playing the odds," Faith stated, sure of herself.
"Did you come here to fight?" Buffy asked pointedly.
Faith went on, "Listen, we're fighters, all of us, but you gotta give me something to fight. Something real, not-"
"Windmills?" Giles filled in for her.
"There is something there," Buffy insisted.
"Maybe. . . but we can't be sure of that. This is a hell of a lot to ask," Giles stated.
"Too much," Wood agreed.
Buffy wasn't use to people questioning her decisions. She looked around, confused and seeking support. I wasn't sure who to side with. I half agreed with Buffy, but I also thought she was rushing into this. We need to plan it out, research it, or do something before jumping in blindly. It wouldn't work doing it her way. At least it wouldn't work well.
"I don't understand this. For seven years I've kept us safe by doing this-exactly this-making the hard decisions. And now what? Suddenly you're all acting like you can't trust me?" Buffy asked.
"Didn't you say to me today you can't trust us?" Giles pointed out. "Maybe there's something there that should be addressed."
"Is that why you sent Spike away? To ambush me?" Buffy snapped.
"Oh, come on," Giles said.
"You know what? I am sick of your deal with this Spike guy. This isn't about him. This is about you. You're being reckless," Rona said, pulling away from the other potentials and taking a stand.
Buffy frowned at her, looking surprised again. "What?"
"You are. I don't even know you and I can tell. You are so obsessed with beating Caleb, you are willing to jump into any plan without thinking.
Buffy almost glared at her, but kept her cool enough not to. "That's not what I'm doing."
Kennedy stood up to face Buffy. "Well, that's how it feels to us. People are dying."
"Kennedy. . ." Willow murmured softly.
"Why are you always standing up for her?" Kennedy snapped, annoyed.
"I'm not," Willow says, then looked away, not wanting to look at Buffy. She said it like it was hurting her, like her emotions were jumbled on the fact.
"What do you mean, you're not?" Buffy asked, just as confused, and almost scared.
"With everything that's happened. . .I'm worried about your judgment," Willow stated, growing slightly more sure of herself.
"Look, I wish this could be a democracy. I really do. Democracies don't win battles. It's a hard truth but there has to be a single voice. You need someone to issue orders and be reckless sometimes and not take your feelings into account. You need someone to lead you," Buffy stated, insisting on the point.
"And it's automatically you." Anya stated, drawing everyone's attention. "you really do think you're better than we are."
Buffy was taken aback, again. "No, I-"
"But we don't know. We don't know if you're actually better. I mean, you came into the world with certain advantages, sure. I mean, that's the legacy. But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. You've never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us."
"I've gotten us this far," Buffy stated, trying to sound in control.
"But not without a price," Xander pointed out, tearing down Buffy's resolve.
"Xander-"
"I'm trying to see your point here, Buff. . . but I guess it must be a little bit to my left because I just don't."
"Look, I'm willing to talk strategy, okay, I'll hear suggestions on how to break this down but this is the plan. We have to be together on this or we will fail again," Buffy didn't turn from her decision.
"We are clearly demonstrating that we are not together on this!" Giles said angrily.
"Which is why you have to fall in line! I'm still in charge here," Buffy pointed out, just as angry.
"Why is that, exactly?" Rona asked.
Buffy glared at her. "Because I'm the Slayer."
"And isn't Faith a Slayer, too? And Beth? They're both Slayers. Just like you," Rona continued.
Faith's head snapped up, about the same time mine did, we were both caught off guard.
"What? Whoa. . . so not what I meant," Faith stated. "I'm not "in charge" chick. I think B here just needs to chill out for a little bit, take a siesta or something. But I'm not the one you want."
Some eyes turned to me. "Hey, I'm worse than she is! Worse than both of them. Besides, while Buffy's been giving orders Faith's been keeping us together, not me." That got me a glare from Buffy and a confused look from Faith.
"Maybe we need a vote. . ." Kennedy said, stepping back up, "to see who wants Faith to have a turn in charge."
"No," Buffy said.
"No what?" Kennedy asked.
"No. you don't get to vote until I've had my chance to pal around. You know, get everybody drunk. See, I didn't get that this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair-"
"Learn their names?" Faith suggested.
Sneering Buffy turned to her. "You're just loving this, aren't you?
"You have no idea what I'm feeling," Faith said, holding her own.
"Come in here, take everything that I have. You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun? Hey, you guys think that's nifty?"
"Buffy, that's enough!" Giles demanded, and she stopped.
Faith took her turn to talk. "I didn't come here to take anything away from you but I'm not going to be your little lapdog, either. I came here to beat the other guy, to do right, however it works. I don't know if I can lead but the real question is. . . can you follow?"
"So we vote," Wood said, making it final.
"Wait. Guys. . ." Buffy looked around, losing her confidence and letting the fact that she was desperate show. No one was giving her support. I didn't know if I should. I agreed that she was probably right about the vineyard, but I also agreed that she was being reckless. I might be able to talk Faith into checking out the vineyard later, who knew?
"I can't watch you just throw away everything. I know I'm right about this. I just need a little. . . I can't stay here and watch her lead you into some disaster," Buffy stated, trying to get someone to see things her way.
Dawn stood up and walked over to her. "Then you can't stay here. Buffy, I love you but you were right. We have to be together on this. You can't be a part of it. . . so I need you to leave. I'm sorry but this is my house too."
Anyone in the room who wasn't speechless before was now. I could understand Kennedy and Rona, even Xander and Giles, but I never expected even Dawn to stand against her. Buffy was too shocked to say anything. She stared at us all for a long moment, holding her chin high and holding back tears. Then she turned and walked out the door.
We all watched silently for a moment, then Rona said almost happily "Ding dong, the witch is dead."
Down turned on her with a murderous glare. "Shut your mouth!"
We all just stared for a moment, most people not even noticing Faith follow Buffy out. After a few minutes things started to break up, the potentials went their own way. Dawn, Xander, Willow and Giles just sat quietly, all of them still in shock with what just happened. Todd bid me good night and left soon after, probably to tell the other watchers what had happened. Alucard waited for me to go upstairs, then he followed.
At the top of the stairs the nausea came back and I ran for the bathroom. Luckily no one was in it for a change and I was able to go right in. I threw up in the toilet then sat back, grabbing some toilet paper to wipe my mouth as I stared at nothing. Damn it, I wasn't suppose to get sick. At least Todd had left before he had a chance to tease me about it.
Sighing tried to stand up, then stumbled. Growling to myself I got back on my feet, and someone grabbed my arm to help support me. I wasn't surprised to look up and see Alucard. He silently watched me as I rinsed out my mouth. When I finished I turned to him.
"What? No sarcastic remark?" I asked, looking for something to lighten the mood.
Alucard shrugged. "Told you so?" he said helpfully.
I shook my head and walked out of the bathroom. He followed me into Dawn's room. "We're going to have to give Dawn her room back soon," I murmured as we walked in. Alucard nodded, but didn't say anything.
I sat on the bed, rubbing my eyes. "Tired?" he asked softly. I shrugged.
Easily I kicked off my flip flops and flopped back onto the bed. "My head hurts," I muttered.
He chuckled. "Yeah, that can happen."
"I thought hangovers came in the morning," I muttered.
"Would you believe it if I said I thought you were actually sick?" he asked.
Huh, good question. "Why would you say that? I thought Slayers didn't get sick."
He chuckled. "Viruses attack everyone. You heal fast, normally it makes up for it, but you can still get sick," he explained.
"So you think I just have a cold?"
He nodded. "And the drinking didn't help much, but yeah, you have a cold."
"Damn, that sucks," I muttered. He laughed again. "I think vampires should get sick, then I could laugh at you."
"No such luck there," he said. "I'm dead, it's a bit harder to get sick."
I shrugged. "Fine then. I'll just have to find some spell that would make it happen."
Still grinning to himself Alucard shook his head. "That energy could go to a much better use, ya know."
I nodded. "But not a much funner use."
He smirked. "Maybe."
"That's your answer to everything," I stated.
He grinned. "Maybe."
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. He caught it with a laugh, throwing it back. "Go to bed. You'll feel better in the morning."
Catching the pillow I put it back on the bed. Normally right now I'd go somewhere to change, but I was too tired. Tonight I'd just sleep in my clothes. Slowly I pulled the sweat shirt off and threw it in a pile of dirty laundry that had been accumulating over the last few days.
"I'll leave if you want to change," Alucard offered.
I shook my head. "Nah, that's okay, I'm just going to go to sleep."
He shrugged. "Good night then."
I nodded good night to him and climbed into bed. The light turned off and I heard Alucard go back to his chair. After that things were quiet, he didn't make a sound. As tired as I was I didn't really want to sleep. I wanted to talk, or at least to do something, but I didn't know what to talk about or what I could do. If I was sick I shouldn't be doing anything. I never did like getting sick.
Awhile later, I'm not sure how long, Alucard spoke up. "Don't make this a habit, Liz. When you go to bed you're suppose to fall asleep."
I grinned into the darkness. "Not tired."
"The moment I turn the lights on you'll change your mind," he pointed out. I nodded, though I didn't know if he'd be able to see me. "What do you want me to do? Make chicken noodle soup?" he asked sarcastically.
"If I said yes would you get mad?" I murmured.
"If you said yes I think I'd throw a pillow at you."
I giggled a little. Second time in one day, maybe I was sick. I decided to blame it on the fact that I was tired. It sounded better to me.
I heard Alucard stand up, then nothing. He could be really quiet at times. Next thing I knew his voice was coming from right in front of me. "If you don't go to sleep I'm going to have Faith come in here and yell at you."
"I don't think she'll listen to you."
"You never know."
"What, are you waiting for me to nod off so you can go do something?"
He chuckled. "No, it's just bugging me."
"Why?"
"Don't know. Go to sleep."
"You don't know?"
"Nope."
"Oh, okay."
I felt more than saw him move again. I had the feeling that he was back in his chair, watching me. With a sigh I rolled over, snuggling with the pillow.
"G'night Alucard," I murmured, then forced myself to sleep. It welcomed me happily.
~
I was staring at myself. No, she wasn't me, or at least not who I was now. Airaei smiled at me. She looked confident, sure of herself, important. She held herself as if she was. . . as if she were better than me. I had to shake my head. She wasn't better than me, but heaven forbid I told her that.
*Do you want to know what should happen?* Airaei asked, though her lips didn't move.
I was confused, not sure of what to do, but I nodded.
*There were two options.* she said. *The first:*
I was fighting, we were winning. My enemy, or enemies, were falling back, their numbers were decreasing. The fight was almost over, and I was so tired, but I had to keep going. So many of us had died. They had fought until the end, but potentials could only do so much. We never should have won, it was by miracle alone that we lasted this long. But we lasted, we were winning. Another girl feel, but before she did she threw her weapon away, to me. I held it tight, it's power filling me. I grinned at the oncoming enemy. The last one. I swung the scythe, and it was over.
What was that?
*A choice.*
Right. And the second?
I was in a chamber. No, it was more than a chamber, it was a throne room, The ceiling went so high that the light didn't reach the top. I stared up into the darkness and it was like an ill omen. My eyes lowered to the monster in front of me. To think he was once human, once a vampire. I stared into his eyes, monster's eyes. Then I glanced back at Zeke, standing to the right of a throne. Things were blurry, I couldn't see it all, but the monster in front of me was all too clear. He was dressed in black and crimson, death and blood. He was still shaped like a human, but horns jutted out of his head, his shoulders, his elbows and his hands. His skin was a yellowish color, with black tattoos winding their way along. I can't turn away from his gaze, he held me in his thrall. The Boss took a step towards me. My body screamed for me to move, but I couldn't. My gaze was caught in his, and his held it. He came closer until he could touch me. A hand slid up my arm and I shuddered, but didn't pull away. He tilted my head to the side and I didn't see his fangs slid into my neck, tearing my throat out.
*What choice would you make? If you could forget everything would you do it? Would you make the choice? Would it be the right one? It's too late though. You've changed things.*
It can't be all black and white. There have to be other options. You can't know what would have happened.
*It would have been one of those. I died before I knew which. If I hadn't interfered then I would have known it would have been one of them. But no, I thought to save you. I fear I've destroyed everything.*
You haven't. I won't let things end that way.
Airaei smirked. *You have no choice.*
Give me the choice. When do I make it?
*You seek to do the right thing? But I can't tell you just that. I can't limit your knowledge.*
I know.
*It's all or nothing.*
I know.
*It would change things. Change you.*
Don't make me repeat myself.
She nodded. *Then you'll know.*
~
I woke up, it was morning out. The light shined through the window brightening the room, all except the small corner where Alucard slept.
My head was pounding. Something was wrong. Something had happened.
I couldn't remember what.
~
bit of a long author's note tonight.
Okay, before I express much joy and happiness I apologize for all typos, unfortunately I have a nasty head ache and the thought of reading through this chapter is not good. And so, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. and you know the rest.
Oh, and did you watch Buffy!? The final episode. (I admit it, I cried) it was. great, horrible, sad, hilarious, and above all else, inspiring. I shall miss it, I'm already missing it. Buffy why do you leave us! *cries* ah well, life goes on..
Five reviews! *does a happy dance, complete with disco moves that she doesn't know and the splits, which she can't do. Notices people watching and stops.* anywho. we have some newbie reviewers. special thanks, and of course, first thank you is to a regular:
Beyond the silence: More about Alucard? You wish is my command! Just not yet. Soon! I promise soon! I'm glad the spelling was better, sometimes I'm good at it, I just think I didn't use any big words. Glad you like the character though. Hope you keep reading, and thanks again for the review!
Srbarnett: ::cough cough:: um. ::bites her lip, twiddles her thumbs, zips her mouth shut:: mmm, mmm hmm, mmm ::unzips lips:: Sorry, I can't say anything, nada, not a thing, but thanks for the review ^.^
Maude: Thank you thank you, I know, I have a dead line *sighs* It will be finished! It will I say! I plan on having the epilogue up on June 13th to celebrate the birthday of the main char. In my other stories. Ja ne, ttyl.
Annje: Lol, yeah, I wanted to tell everyone 'bout that, but it would ruin the twist. Glad you're liking it, and thanks for reading! Hope you review again!
Ninii the Lucil33t: my new longest review! I think. Okay, you're tied. Yeah, I've kept her not better than Buffy, or Faith, something pops up later though. . . Can't tell you much more than that. Which isn't really anything. *shrugs* Alucard is the sarcastic one who turns out to be serious, kind of like Xander just very different. Thanks for saying it's assume! I try, I really do. Yeah, it follows Buffy, sometimes (aka group meetings) word for word mostly. Scoobies: you know scooby doo the show? Well, the scoobies there solved mysteries, much like Buffy and her friends. So Xander started calling them the scoobies and it stuck. Have a day, very cool. I like those sayings ^.^ You're stories good, too, haven't gotten around to finishing it yet, been busy, but I will! Hope you have the sequel up soon! Well, that's about it.
Till next time,
Rave