CHAPTER THREE

Romulus knew he was foolish to keep seeing Faith. The sex was great and he knew he could dispose of her quickly, one way or the other. She was a pleasant distraction but she couldn't know his secret. If she found out, Faith's death would have to feed his power.

Rom picked up his small iron cauldron with its fire-blackened bottom and took it into the bathroom with him. Plugging the tub, Rom stripped and got on his knees in front of the porcelain and started retching. His mouth gaped open as his retching worsened. His insides began to turn out, stomach first, a glistening sack, followed by loops of intestines. Once the alimentary canal had been expelled, the other organs followed until the tub looked like an abattoir.

Rom rose, feeling very light. He opened the bathroom window, and concentrated his magic inwardly. His body shimmied and shook, shriveling up, sprouting feathers until he became a horned owl. His massive talons clenched the cauldron as he flew out the window on the hunt.

The first house was easy. The window was already open on the second floor. He set the cauldron on the sill and flew in. He always knew which houses to hit, the ones with just one occupant. Once inside, he stalked his prey.

He needed more hearts.

Faith stood outside Rom's darkened house. She knew what she was about to do was stupid but she was at the end of her rope. The prostitute who worked out of the room next to hers in that fleabag hotel had been insanely loud tonight and the coke dealer on the other side was equally obnoxious with the amount of business he was doing. Faith knew she could have gone home with Buffy and slept in the guest room but her pride wouldn't let her. She couldn't let Buffy know she was in over her head. How could they not have figured it out yet? They knew where she lived and that she didn't have a job but no one offered to help. She'd be damned if she begged for it.

Rom was going to be gone for a few days. She didn't see why she couldn't just crash at his place for a night and get a good night's...day's rest. Of course, if he had been lying to her about going out of town or if he had another girl over she was going to feel like a real ass. If Buffy knew what she was planning, the girl would wig out.

Faith thought about the night's patrol. Buffy had been sort of curious about Rom, more than Faith thought was normal for her. Buffy usually didn't want to hear about Faith's sex life so Buffy's questions put her on alert. Buffy finally fessed up to Angel remembering similar murders happening in Rom's home state back in the Seventies. Buffy said it like it meant something serious, as if anyone from Oklahoma was naturally a killer. Faith very hotly pointed out that Rom was born around the time period Angel was talking about so he could hardly have been involved back then. Buffy said they just wanted to talk to him, see if he had ever heard of anything like this. That made a little sense. Faith had agreed to bring Rom around when he got back.

The home was dark as she jimmied the lock and went inside. There were no sounds. She didn't want to turn on any lights until she had a chance to investigate the place. The bedroom was empty. As she left the room, Faith caught a whiff of something nasty. It was swampy like a mix of a boy's dorm bathroom and something metallic. She went down the hall trying to find the source. She hoped a rat hadn't died in the house or the plumbing had backed up.

She went into the bathroom and flicked on the light. Her knees went weak at what she saw. This was almost as bad as what Kakistos had done to her Watcher. She hadn't really seen anyone eviscerated before. Faith shook all over, staring at the glistening tub full of organs. What had the killer done with Rom's body? Was the killer still in the house?

Faith felt her stomach trying to revolt. She leaned on the wall, flicking off the light. She bolted from the house, managing not to puke but only just. She looked back at the home. What was she going to do? She couldn't call the cops and tell them she had broken into her lover's home and found him dead...or at least found his insides. They'd probably think she was the killer, given how dumb Sunnydale cops were.

She needed help. She needed to find Buffy. Maybe she should have run for Giles' first but what if he didn't believe her? She had innate troubles trusting men. Faith was surprised that Buffy wasn't shacked up with Angel then she remembered what Buffy had said about her mom being out of town. Faith headed for Revello Drive. There was a light on so she banged on the door and kept it up until Buffy answered. Her annoyed look melted into one of concern.

"What's wrong, Faith?"

Faith pushed past her into the living room. Angel was there, getting up from the couch. He looked as concerned as Buffy.

"Faith, what happened?" he asked.

She paced the room. "I went to Rom's place, thinking I could crash there while he was out of town because my neighbors were so damn obnoxious." She tore at her hair. "Someone killed him."

Buffy's mouth gaped and she caught Faith's arm. "Are you sure?"

"All his guts are in the tub." Faith growled, wanting to jerk away, unable to move. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Faith, I'm so sorry." Buffy's grip changed into a soothing stroke. "You need to call the cops."

"I can't do that. What if they think I'm involved." Faith pulled free of Buffy's grip. "I thought we could go over there, see if there's anything I missed and then we can tell Giles everything and see if he has any ideas."

"That's probably not-" Buffy started to say but Angel laid a hand on her shoulder.

"We can do that," Angel said gently. "For all we know, it could be related to our other organ harvester."

"Do you think he could change from just taking a heart to taking the whole body and leaving the guts?" Buffy shot Angel a querulous look.

Angel shrugged. "I don't know. It won't hurt to go over and look."

"You and B shouldn't touch anything," Faith said, pulling herself together. "I can explain my fingerprints on stuff. Other people working at the Bronze have seen me and Rom together."

"Okay. Show us where," Angel said.

Faith took them to Rom's place. She paused before going to the door. She pointed to the upstairs window, bright with light. "I didn't leave on any lights."

Buffy's face hardened, her hand going into a pocket in her jacket where Faith knew a stake was riding. She half expected Angel's face to go bumpy from how tense he was. Faith pushed opened the door and they went in silently except for Angel who got bounced back, unable to enter the house.

Faith's face screwed up. "Does that mean Rom's alive?"

"Yes, or maybe he's not the owner of the house," Angel said.

"Come in, Angel," Buffy whispered.

The trio made their way upstairs. A shirtless man came out of the bedroom. There was a chorus of startled cries echoing around the house.

The man slung back his curtain of ebon hair, his dark eyes wide. "Faith! What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing home, Rom?" She was too surprised to say anything else.

Romulus hesitated a moment. "My business wrapped up quickly. You didn't answer my question."

Faith swallowed hard, still stunned by the fact he wasn't dead, her mind whirling. She glanced back at her companions then over to Rom. "Angel was walking me and Buffy home. When we came past here and saw the light on, we came in because we thought you were being robbed."

"And you came to stop them?" Rom's eyebrows shot up. "Can't decide if that's very brave or dumb. Either way, I'm grateful." He didn't sound very grateful to Faith's ear.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Faith said, feeling more confused by the moment. "Like I said, this is Angel and she's Buffy." She swung her hand between the two.

"The root beer," Rom said. "I bartend at the Bronze."

"Faith pointed you out. Nice to meet you," Buffy said, looking as confused as Faith felt.

"Rom, I need to hit the bathroom." Faith had to check it out. She knew what she had seen, had smelled and this didn't make sense.

His lips thinned. "Go ahead."

Faith ducked into it, locking the door. She sat on the tub's edge. It was perfectly clean, no organs, not even a drip of blood on the bone-hued porcelain. She flushed the toilet, ran the water and hustled out, more confused than ever. She paused seeing a hard glint in Rom's eyes, a hint of suspicion she had never seen before.

"Faith, I'm a little tired," Rom said, obviously trying to get them out of the house.

"No prob. We need to get to Buffy's," Faith said. "I'm spending the weekend since her mom's out of town."

"Okay. Thanks for looking out for my house."

"Glad to help," Faith said, following Buffy and Angel down the stairs.

After they were a good distance from the house Angel said, "Was it me, or did he seem nervous?"

"I don't know him well but I'd say so," Buffy hedged.

"He was acting weird. He told me he was out of town all weekend," Faith said. "And he definitely wanted us gone."

"But what happened to the organs?" Buffy asked, glancing over her shoulder at Rom's place.

"Gone, all of them. The tub's clean enough to eat from," Faith said, punching a fist into her hand. "I don't get it. I mean, I thought he was dead and now, not only isn't he dead but the guts are gone, too. I know I didn't hallucinate them, and I don't do acid. It doesn't make sense."

"Unless he's the killer," Buffy said. "He could have been hiding in there all along and disposed of the guts when he realized you saw them, Faith."

Angel nodded. "You two head to Giles' I'll meet you there. I'm going back to check the garbage cans and see if he's been digging in the yard. I thought I might have smelled blood but it's hard to tell."

"I wouldn't think that'd be a problem for vampires," Faith said.

"Usually not but, um..." Angel's eyes slipped over to Buffy.

She blushed, folding her hands over her belly. "You can't be serious? You can smell...ewww. That's so gross."

Angel spread his hands. "Why do you think I never mention it?"

"At the risk of you continuing to weird out Buffy at a really bad time of the month, I think you two should go warn Giles while I go back," Faith said.

Buffy eyed her. "Why?"

"Angel's big and easy to spot even with the silent vampire thing going for him and B, you're so white you glow," Faith said and Buffy touched her pale hair. "If I get caught, I can play the horny girlfriend who can't take a hint."

"Faith has a point," Angel said.

"Okay, meet us back at Giles'," Buffy said.