Also, it's been a hectic week. Real Life is proving to be a pain in the butt as I've been locked in rehearsals all week, and The Cooler King and I's self-imposed deadline to finish Project One is up in 17 days. Which means that we need to get it finished soon so that we can send it off to the BBC! *crosses fingers* Here's hoping that they pick it up!
Oh! And one of my other fics, One Day in Your Life, (it's something like the fifth in the Darkling Series although in a Darkling AU) has been nominated in the Shades of Grey Awards!!!!!! I've also picked up a nomination for Favourite Author! One Day's nominated in the Best W/Other Comedy and Romance categories! You can check it out at http://www.shadesofgrey.us/awards.html
Anyway, I'm gonna go and leave you guys to the fic now. It's just this chapter today, although I'm hoping to update again tomorrow after work. I guess I'll see how it goes. Later guys!
Kennie
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four, Friday, High Street, St. Treharne, Cornwall, England"So, I'm thinking, get to know the layout, maybe the inside of a few pubs." Xander rubbed his hands together gleefully.
"Xander." Buffy said reprovingly.
"What?" He asked, genuinely puzzled. "It's legal here."
"We're patrolling." Willow explained.
"And it takes five of us?" A woman's scream shattered the quiet night. "Obviously it does." Xander finished as they ran towards the sound. "Hey, you know who that sounded like? That sounded like Cordelia."
They rounded a corner and saw a corpse on the ground, a group of vampires about to pick it up. Pulling a stake from her pocket, Buffy rushed at the vampires.
The nearest vampire turned and knocked Buffy's legs from underneath her. Buffy hit the tarmac hard, every bone in her body jarring. Instantly she was up on her feet and in a fighting stance. She looked at her opponent, her friends grouped behind her, armed to the teeth with holy water, crosses and stakes. The vampires were nothing more than your typical, run of the mill vampire goon. Quickly, Buffy dispatched most of the vampires, the rest running off into the night.
Willow stepped forward and knelt beside the girl on the ground. She felt for a pulse. "She's dead." She said sadly, looking up at Buffy.
"How?" Buffy asked.
"It looks like a vampire tried to stake her through her heart. But the hole isn't deep enough to explain how she died so quickly and with so much blood loss." Willow explained quietly.
"How do you know that?" Asked Xander, ever so slightly more amazed than grossed out.
"You pick up a lot when you hack into the coroners office on a regular basis." Willow explained.
"What's with the cat?" Anya asked, pointing to a small kitten curled up against the corpse.
Willow looked at the tiny cat. "She's so sweet." She rubbed the cat's ears. It sat up and looked right at her.
"Please." It said. "Do not patronise me, I am the runt of the litter. Darcy only chose me because she had no choice. It was pre-ordained. And my name is Basil. And I'm male. And I used to be human."
Willow stared at the cat open-mouthed. She squeaked and turned to Buffy.
"There's a cat… and it talks. Are we sure we're not in Sunnydale?" Buffy asked, shrugging.
Basil practically danced for joy. "You also come from Sunnydale?" He asked.
"Where else?" Said Xander.
"Uh, guys?" Buffy said in a strange tone of voice "I don't know how whoever died but nothing went through her heart." Everyone looked at her. "There isn't a hole, not even a scratch."
"But that's impossible!" Willow exclaimed. "Look! A stake-sized hole in her blouse, right where her heart would be."
"But that's not possible right?" Asked Xander. "Not unless she was a…demon?" He gulped nervously.
Willow screamed and backed away, pointing at Darcy's body. "She breathed!" She accused.
"Will, she's dead, I don't think she can breathe." Buffy said reasonably.
Willow stared at Darcy. "She's doing it again! Look!!"
Buffy glanced at the body on the ground. It moved. She looked back and her eyes widened.
"Oh my God." She whispered.
The corpse sat up, looked down at herself and grimaced.
"This was one of my favourite shirts." She grumbled as she stood up. She looked around her. "What?" She asked the stupefied onlookers. "Didn't you tell them?" She glared at the small cat named Basil.
He hung his head. "I tried but I got side-tracked. They called me a female. Why didn't you tell them?"
"Um, let me think, possibly because I was dead." The girl said sarcastically.
Buffy rushed at her, convinced she was a demon. The diminutive girl side-stepped neatly.
"Didn't you ever teach her to ask first, slay later?" She asked Giles. "I mean, being her Watcher and all."
Buffy stopped midst attack. "How do you know about that?" She asked, still in a fighting stance.
"She reads." Basil quipped.
"Are you a witch?" Asked Anya "Because I've known several witches and none of them have ever come back from the dead."
"I'm a dhampir." The girl said proudly.
"Huh?" Exclaimed Buffy, turning to Giles. "What's a dhampir Giles?."
"T-that's impossible." Stuttered Giles. "Dhampirs are just legends. They don't exist."
"They do." The girl said indignantly. "And I'm one of them."
"Uh, obvious question here." Said Xander, stepping forward. "What's a...dhampir?"
"Supposedly, a dhampir is the offspring of a vampire and a mortal." Giles explained. "Usually the father is the vampire. Dhampirs have certain abilities. One of them being an ability to come back from the dead. But they don't exist."
"You keep saying that." Anya pointed out.
"Look. There is simply no evidence that says conclusively, dhampirs are real."
"And there is no evidence to conclusively prove that they are not," the girl said somewhat triumphantly. "And unless you choose to disbelieve the evidence in front of your eyes, I am a dhampir. Pleased to meet you all, call me Darcy."
"Let me get this straight. Vampires can have children, and you're one of them. As a child of a vampire, you have certain...powers. Am I right so far?" Buffy queried.
"Yep." Said Darcy.
"I don't believe you. Vampires can't have children. Even the vampires know that." Buffy said stubbornly, crossing her arms.
Darcy sighed. "The existence of dhampirs is not well known. The mixture of our heritage seems to attract demons and vampires, all of whom will want to breed with us. So we tend to keep our heads down."
"So, how much of you is human?" Xander asked. "Not to imply that you don't have a soul or anything but...I really need to be quiet now."
Darcy smiled. "I'm a first-generation dhampir. I'm fifty percent human so, yes I have a soul." Suddenly, she looked around at their surroundings and her mood changed. "We should get to shelter." She said. "There's been a big increase in the vampire population lately, it's possible that they might attack again." She began walking towards her home. "We can go to my flat."
"No." Giles said firmly. "If you're what you say you are, vampires can enter your home freely. We should go to our accommodation. You can tell us all that you know about the recent influx of mystical power here."
Darcy shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard. Got a spare few days?"
The group broke up and headed for the house that the Watcher's Council had provided for Buffy. Meaning that the group of vampires that burst onto the scene scant minutes later were greeted with nothing but a few drunken revellers. They quite enjoyed the revellers.