Chapter 2 – Voices
Three months laterBuffy Summers walked slowly through the graveyard, idly twirling a stake in her one hand, thinking about the changes to her life in the last few months.
It had only taken a week for the Slayer to recover from surgery, but everyone still treated her as if she was going to break. They had decided to head for New York, since Angel seemed to have Los Angeles under control. A few of the Slayers had gone to visit their families, and Angel had helped them buy an old apartment building so that everyone else could stay together.
She had finally managed to convince the rest of the gang to go on a vacation. Willow and Kennedy had gone to visit her parents – as well as look for new Slayers on the way. Having been connected to the Slayer line, Willow had developed an affinity for detecting the former potentials, though they had no real operation to gather and train the new slayers yet. Basically, when they were found an experienced slayer volunteered to stay and train them.
Giles had gone back to England to try and salvage what was left of the Watcher Council. A little while ago, the surviving Watchers' and their families began to contact him. Surprisingly, there were quite a few since the First had concentrated on Sunnydale in the last few months. Xander had tagged along, wanting to get away from everyone for while – to finish grieving for Anya.
Dawn decided to go to England to finish her high school – wanting to get out on her own. Giles had spoken with the headmaster of the boarding school he had attended and got her accepted, and at the same time Dawn was training to become a Watcher. Buffy was happy for her sister, though she still wished that Dawn would choose a path other than that of danger and death. The Slayer was finally able to accept that her little sister wasn't so little anymore – and given her track record, Dawn was going to outlive her anyways.
Wood had left for Cleveland with a few of the surviving former potentials to look after the hellmouth on their own. To Buffy's surprise, Faith had decided to stick around with Buffy instead of heading off. The older slayer was grateful and the two were finally becoming good friends. For Buffy, it was like all the anger, and bitterness she had felt for Faith was gone. The two shared a room in the apartment building, both taking turns training and leading the new slayers.
Everything was going well – great even -- but…
There was something tugging in the back of Buffy's mind – as if there was something she was supposed to be doing. Buffy had been feeling this way since she woke up in the hospital. That had been a surprise; since the last thing she remembered was standing over the crater. Xander loved to point out that Buffy had died for the fourth time (second time in the hospital). Whenever Xander mentioned it, the blonde girl felt something tug at her memory – but passed it off as yet another traumatic been-dead experience.
On the day she had finally been able to leave the hospital, Buffy had stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. The last eight years had paid their price – her eyes had the look of constant worry: her face thinning from her lack of food. But staring in the mirror – she didn't see those things. Her eyes were bright and full of life and she looked sixteen again.
Buffy figured it was her imagination, since none of the others said anything. But in the back of her mind, Buffy felt that something had changed. When nothing happened for the next few weeks, Buffy forgot –denied – the feeling, enjoying her new life.
Then the voices came.
It began a month ago; at first Buffy thought she was just hearing the other Slayers in the house, but then she heard them when she was all alone. In the beginning there were only one or two that came and went. Now they were a constant hum in her mind – the same voices crying in fear, in happiness, in loneliness, in need.
At times she couldn't make out what was being said, and other times she heard whole conversations. It reminded her of the time that she had been infected with the aspect of the demon and could read minds. But she had no idea whose thoughts these were, or where they were coming from.
Several times she had tried to talk with Faith, or Willow about them. But something stopped her – some inner voice that told her not to confide in her friends. The sound of a struggle broke Buffy out of her thoughts. Breaking into a run, she found the two figures within moments.
The vampire had his game face on, obviously figuring the girl to be an easy meal. The girl appeared to be around fifteen, with brightly dyed shoulder length red hair and a pale complexion. There was not a trace of fat on the girl, though she did have muscle, which she used to push the vampire away.
The vampire lunged at the young girl, who shoved a fist into his face. Awkwardly done, the punch had the desired effect of causing the demon to pause. The eldest Slayer watched the new one fight with interest. It was obvious the girl had no professional training, but was clearly winning the fight through experience in brawling. But definitely not with the undead kind, since she appeared to not have a stake.
"Here!" Buffy yelled out, tossing the stick to the girl. She caught it easily and looked at the blond girl in confusion. The vampire raced at her again and she instinctively shoved it into his chest. A look of shock crossed her face as her attacker turned into a pile of dust. Turning to say thanks, she was dimly aware of an object passing by her ear. She turned just in time to see another burst of dust.
Her rescuer walked towards her smiling.
"Hi, my name's Buffy."
The younger girl looked at the blonde with suspicion. She had learned never to trust anyone, no matter how innocent or kind they looked. That was the first rule of the streets – one she had learned the hard way at a young age. Even though the blonde girl looked like a preppy valley girl, she moved like a predator. Living on the streets – she knew how to recognize the predators. But there was something about this girl that made her feel safe…
"I'm Andy," she said abruptly, looking at the ground.
Buffy's breathe caught as the girl gave her name. She recognized the voice.
It was one of the ones she heard in her mind.
TBC