Snowblind Chapter 2

Damn stupid kids.

She rolled the squad card into the park, past the gate and toward the picnic area.

Kids come out here and drink. Sometimes they get too drunk to realize they're freezing. Sometimes they pass out and never wake up.

Damn stupid drunken kids.

She saw someone in a picnic shelter. A kid in an unzipped parka, laying down on top of a picnic table. Half the cans of a case of beer were crushed and on the ground, next to a trash can. She couldn't see any sign of breathing from the car, so she grabbed her big Mag-Lite and left the vehicle.

He looked dead. She felt no body heat through the rubber gloves. No pulse, either. Hypothermia aggravate by alcohol poisoning. Gotta be.

She started patting him down for ID. 'Young man with baseball cap and baggy pants' is hardly a unique identifier these days. There was no ID. She was turning back to her squad car when he stood up.


The pool was just too short to get any real laps done. It was built for families to splash around in as they travel between Wall Drug and the World's Biggest Ball of Twine, not for athletes wanting to work on endurance. Just as a lap is started, it's time to turn around.

Still, the exertion made Kennedy's muscles feel good. Willow said she holds her tension in her shoulders, and since the one person whose fingers and elbows she would prefer to work out her kinks with is far away, this would have to do.

She sounded worried over the phone last night. Like ... she couldn't place it. Xander asked for a few things to be emailed to them, if they could find them. The crime scene and autopsy photos from Kenny Tolerud. The time and location of his last 5 ATM transactions. A find demon map covering southwestern Minnesota. "You understand that will entail illegal access into several protected computing systems, don't you?" Willow proceeded to promise all three by noon that day.

She switched from crawl to backstroke this lap.

Faith had taken the line, asking how well we were playing together, how this corn-fed slayer was doing.

Then she asked about Xander. How he had handled the flight and the first meeting. Everything was fine, she insisted. There was that whole Dante "I'm not even supposed to be here today" thing at the airport, but since then he had thrown himself into his role, pretty much.

"Two things. First, don't underestimate the guy. He's done this thing before. He's played the game and he knows how it works. Better than you. Better than me, even. Use that."

The second thing is what freaked her. "Watch his back, though," Faith had said, "because I'm not sure he's playing to win."

She climbed out of the pool and walked to the table where her towel, flip-flops and key card were set. She felt a chill while the water dripped down her body.

She had spent the morning -- the swim time, the running time, and the kata time in her room -- running that through her head.


Xander sat in the booth at Shays, intensely avoiding all thoughts about the folder and map on the table in front of him. He had spent half the night going through Beth's clippings, finding the towns listed. Once that pass proved useless, he then went through again, setting a chronology on Best Western paper and marking numbers on the map. When this didn't lead to a strong pattern either, he assigned a value to each, with odd-but-sad unlikely events getting a 5 and clear cases of drug gangs on PCP getting a 1.

Three passes on the victims' faces. Three passes on the scene descriptions.

He couldn't sleep for an hour after he stopped.

He knew the day would be near-straight research, adding dots and dates to the map. Thinking about the victims. This he wouldn't do until after breakfast.

He had decided on the ham and cheese omelette. He also decided to coffee and orange juice until Kennedy showed up. He was famished, but he wasn't rude. Much.

He had dug through the Star-Tribune, looking for Dilbert and gossip on J-Lo, when he found a story that made the map. Now he was drinking his coffee and watching the traffic out the window.

Mother, father and three daughters in Blue Earth, found dismembered in their home, with Mother's sister already a missing person. Where had he heard stories about slaughtered families before? Right. The Watchers' Journals on Angelus. "Round up the usual drug gangs," he said under his breath, as he folded up the paper and sipped his orange juice. He really didn't like this one. Or ones; He wasn't sure. He couldn't tell without autopsy photos, and sometimes not even then.

He now had ten more additions to his photos-wanted list, not that he really wanted to see them.

He saw Kennedy coming. Her hair was still wet, and he could tell by the shape of the bulge she had a stake in the left leg pocket of her cargo pants. Of course, vampires usually don't show up in diners until after 2am, when the bar crowd comes in, but it never hurts to be careful.

He waved his hand when she came in, and she pulled off her coat when she sat. "Morning." He slides the map over. "Looks like we got called just in time."

"What? More?"

"Whole family got it. I think I know who got 'em." A glance at her face says there's more. "What you have?"

"TV news out of Minneapolis says a police officer was found in a park in Redwood Falls. Didn't say anything about how she was found, but the other cops looked pissed."

Xander took out his notebook and began writing. Number eleven, marked with a bullet and an exclamation mark. Important, but be careful.

The waitress walked over. "You to ready to order?" Xander quickly turned to a blank page.

Kennedy took a quick pass through the menu. "A short stack with wheat toast, and orange juice."

She looked at Xander. His stomach was reacting to the new news.

"Toast. Just toast."


She sees death coming at her with great speed.

She has the vampire down, fear in his yellow eyes, and she starts her kill swing, tmen her left side erupts in pain. She tries to draw a breath but it won't come. She sinks to her knees and feels the teeth tear into her neck....

She opened her eyes. She saw a desktop and a puddle of drool. She shot up in her seat, then kicked herself mentally. Nice way to call attention to yourself.

She reached down to her backpack. Her notebook has to be there. She tried to grab it without looking, trying to look attentive while doing it.

She didn't sleep much the night before, She had been nervous and expectant and slightly sick to her stomach. But mostly excited.

She wasn't as excited now as she was last night.


Xander was done with the library. Meaning he never wanted to go back there.

He didn't know what was worse; that most of these town weeklies had something in the last two years that his Sunnydale-calibrated danger sense would call 'hinky' or even 'odd', or that the regular fare of these papers, such as high school sports reports, interviews with the winner of the Canned Meat Day pageant and the announcement that one of someone's grandchildren stopped it for an hour on the way between someplace and someplace else, put such a human face on the odd things that it pushed the odd things deeper into the "bad stuff" category in his mind.

He was hunched over the laptop. He couldn't make it dance like Willow could, not-literally, but he could dial into the internet and get his email. And he was downloading a map.

He had his maps. First thing he did after his not-lunch was to get a new map and just mark the 1's. Just the ugly situations that seemed likely connected. He could read a map, and while these guys were clearly using this as a feeding ground, it wasn't like they all the old dates were in Iowa and all the new ones were in northern Minnesota. They were roaming, but they were staying here. How wide a here is here? They only went through what was at the library, so he had no idea. He wanted to believe that yes, he could document their activities with the dailies and weeklies available at the Lyon County Public Library.

Willow had sent what she got from her sources, plus the high-detail scan of Willow's find demon map. He knew what to do with it, and would've even if he didn't have Willow's instructions: Drag the pics.zip icon to the desktop . Then double-click it. Click "Extract". It should already have the path already set in the "Extract to:" field. If not, it's the root icon in that little window. Click "Extract". Double-clicking an image will open it in an Internet Explorer browser window. And Giles should've bought Macs.

What he saw made him glad he hadn't had lunch. The Blue Earth photos were ... words failed him. The youngest girl was six years old. Whoever -- whatever -- did this didn't drink from her, and he found himself in debate whether or not that was a good thing. The oldest was twelve, and she held an aluminum softball bat. She bled, but not without getting a hit or two in. Twelve was how old Dawn was when Angelus came. He remembered how she cried when Buffy didn't come home. Except she didn't. He knew that, and he knew she would've.

Whoever did this was an amateur, though. The screengrab on the investigation management software put the adults dead first. Angel would've made sure the parents saw their children's death. Angelus. Angelus would've. He closed the window.

He opened the first picture for the Redwood Falls investigation, then closed it again. Again, a vampire. Clearly. He knew exactly why the police were angry. He deleted the .ZIP file and those pictures. He then opened Willow's scan.

A map can be useless without additional information. You can't really align a map for hiking without North being clearly marked. A road map has different colors and weights for different types of roads. Diagrams in anatomy books come with different layers on clear plastic, so that you can take away the skin and see the muscles, and then the other different systems. The Haynes book for Buffy's old Jeep Cherokee used to really annoy him, because it showed where the upstream oxygen sensor was, but only after you had stripped half the car away. He had found it, but he couldn't reach it. His arm didn't fit. Dawn's skinny little arm didn't fit. Eventually he admitted defeat and took it to Tito's brother friend, Chuy. Chuy knew that engine enough to find his way. It was Xander who paid, and it was Xander who got Buffy's thank-you hug for fixing the "Check Engine" light.

Anyway, a map can be useless without additional information. When the image opened up, small white dots covered the landscape. He compared the map with the first map, and he began to make connections. This demon might have something to do with these 4s. These demons here the likely cause for these 3s. Someone really needs to give Minneapolis a visit one of these days.

And the key fell into place.

He stood up as he dialed the phone, and paced as it rang. He'd contact Kennedy when he had enough to plan from.

"Watched Cauldron Books. How may I direct your call?"

"Andrew, it's Xander. I'm going to need more detail. Now."


"OK, Xander, what's the deal?"

Xander was just getting settled in the back, since Beth had her math homework spread out on her lap. "I found the key. It was in the blanks."

"Go over that in more detail." Kennedy was anxious, switching her gaze from the road ahead and the man in the rear view mirror.

"It came to me. I compared our map, with the circles and arrows the paragraph on the back, with the one Willow sent. At first I looked for connections, and there were demon clusters where there there were unexplained things." Xander looked excited.

"So, demons and odd things in the paper. Is there a point?"

"Yes, there's a point. Two points at the end of fangs. I started looking for demons where we didn't put numbers."

"Thinking what?"

"Vampires hunt where people are. They nest in cemeteries, abandoned buildings, sewers, caves -- where people aren't. I'm thinking our friend is driving out to where the food is and keeping his home safe."

"That isn't how they did it in Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale had a Hellmouth."

"So, tell me where."

"Worthington. In a closed soup plant. Mapquest says it's about an hour." He passed forward a map.

"We'll need gas. You want anything?"

"Doughnuts."


They parked a few blocks away, where the business district met residential, just a few blocks away from the closed plant. Xander kept his bow unstrung and in the carry bag. The other two had stakes in their hands and their back pockets. They were trying to look like just a group of teenagers out for a walk at night.

The building is one story in most places, painted red around the top and white to the bottom, like a soup can.

Beth borrowed Kennedy's cell phone and was trying to explain where she was and when she was coming home as Xander strung his bow. Kennedy took a seat on the loading dock, six feet -- out of flying drawstring range -- and sat down.

"Think it's still there?"

"Yeah. I do."

"'Cause the sun has set. No reason not to go out to eat."

"Well, if the vamp's gone, there's still a nest. We can turn this into a fun educational outing."

"Field trip from hell."

Xander stopped and looked up. "Been to that one already. I hate the zoo."

"Anyone ever tell you you're weird?"

"Says the Slayer with a witch for a girlfriend." He laughs to himself as he finishes stringing his compound bow.

"We ready?"

"Beth off the phone?"

After a long, uncomfortable silence, punctuated occasionally by "Yes, Dad", "I'm sorry" or "I understand", Beth returned the cellphone to Kennedy, and they prepared to enter.

Beth asked first. "How do we get in?"

Kennedy reached to the door knob, and the lock shattered as she turned. "We walk."

Xander knew something was wrong twenty feet into the warehouse. Kennedy was five feet in front of him, her Slayer-enhanced night vision making her perfect for point. He had his arrow nocked and ready, and Beth was right behind him, stakes in both hands.

It was the rats.

It had been a while since he had seen a nest, it didn't come immediately.

The cannery line was where it came to him. It was then that Kennedy started walking faster. She lead through a door, around a corner and through another door when they came to a room with tables, chairs and vending machines.

Xander remembered Spike's description of vampires that didn't feed. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries, except not nearly as funny. He had a gaunt, drawn face and pale yellow eyes. His leg lay in a seemingly impossible position, covered in ragged camouflage. The fingers on his right hand were gnarled, and

He couldn't read the gold writing on the faded maroon shirt, but he knew what it said. "Razorback Fever! Catch It!"

This was a Sunnydale vamp.

"We have the vamp, but this one is practically down," Kennedy said. "What do we do?"

Xander took the arrow off nock and handed both to her. "Hunt up some rats."

She came back with four raw rat-kabobs, and with the knife of his Leatherman, he slit their throats and poured their blood into the vampire's mouth. Beth kept quiet, but longed to ask what the plan was. So this was a vampire. Why revive it? What's the plan?

Kennedy had to go into the factory twice more before the vampire showed signs of life. It blinked it's yellow eyes. A few more rats and it started to laugh.

"I...", it started. It had a hoarse, horrible laugh.

"What?"

"I know you."


Kennedy made way first out the door, followed by Xander. Beth stayed up with the vampire, keeping quiet and staying near the door, where she could hear.

"How does it know you?"

"I don't know."

"I'm hunting rats for that vampire, Xander! This is not the calling I signed up for!"

"I know. I know. But this is the first supernatural thing I've seen here besides you and Beth. I am so not ready to give up now. Not until I know what he knows."

"This vampire hasn't fed in a while, Xander! It doesn't have anything to do with this!"

Kennedy's been yelling. Xander kept his cool. The vampire couldn't lift his head, but had turned it. He was listening.

"I know. This one has nothing to do with last night. But maybe he knows something we can use."

"And if it doesn't?" Kennedy used the word 'it'.

"We used to have Spike as proof. Put on his game face and stand him in front of a mirror and you couldn't say there's no such thing as vampires."

"And keeping a pet vamp would be a good thing?"

"I'm thinking maybe. Worth thinking about."

"How are we gonna restrain it? The hardware stores close at night here, Xander. Hell, even the Wal-Mart closes at night here."

"Look at him. We could restrain him with a wet blanket."

"I think I'd prefer a hundred pounds of steel chain." Silence. "Alright." Then, as an afterthought, "Don't tell Buffy."

She heard a bitter laugh. She couldn't tell who it was from.

"Go get the Blazer."

"You get the Blazer!"

"I don't drive. You know that."

"Then send Beth! I don't want you alone with him."

"Beth is fourteen. She can't drive."

"I don't like this."

"I'm not asking you to like this."

"Fine." She could hear Kennedy stomp off, so she quickly moved herself away from the door. Xander came back to the room. He stopped and took a deep breath before he walked up to the vampire, pulling a chair and sitting just out of arm's reach.

He reached into the inside pocket of his coat, pulling out a cross on a necklace and a bottle of water. He kept a stake on his lap.

"Now, I don't like hanging out in places where I can see my own breath, OK? What can you tell me about the demon population around here?"

The response was a hoarse whisper. "Buy the Audubon guide and stake me already."

Xander opened the bottle, which had a small label with a cross on it. He poured a some into his hand, then splashed it on the vampire's face. It started sizzling and smoking. "That isn't being cooperative. You said you know me. How? How do you know me?"

"You lose track of all the vampires who've beat you down?"

Beth moved around quietly, toward the vampire's head, around Xander's left.

"Most of 'em got blown away. Like in that Kansas song."

"Your slayer was good."

"Is good. And hey! I've killed plenty of your kind without her."

"That so?"

"I'm the one asking the questions. You're the soon-to-be dustpile with rat blood on his lips."

"What about the dark one? Wilkins' pet?"

Beth couldn't read the look that flashed on Xander's face. He replaced it quickly with a blank one. "Out in the world. Kicking vampire ass."

"Shame. With the two you're trailing, thought someone caught a taste.... Used to sneak into the coma ward. Normally that's the bad stuff. Rather have rats. Or doped-up army crap. But a Slayer?" The hoarse laugh returned.

Xander took a deep breath. Beth breathed quietly, trying not to draw attention to herself or her alarm.

"The black girl. She smelled good. Wished we could stop. Were hell-bent on Hell. Angelus went, I hear. How's your arm?"

Xander's hand is getting twitchy on his stake. "Fine. Used it to send many of your kind to Hell. Years more use in it. Bastard." He took a breath and took the stake into his right hand. "We flipped the script on you guys. We tapped into the source. There are hundreds of Slayers. Thousands. What do you think of that?"

"What do I think?" Again, the hoarse laugh. "Soup is good food."

Xander got up and kicked the vampire, but it rolled with it and ended up on it's knees, trying to pounce at Beth. She threw her stake hand his face, connecting hard with a right cross. He grabbed her arm and pulled, turning her around and pushing her down.

Xander tried to grab the vampire, but it turned, grabbed his arm and tried to bite his wrist. He went in deep enough to draw blood, then let go and dropped to his knees. By then, Beth had recovered her footing and swung her stake, which went right through the heart.

The vampire exploded into dust.

Xander held the bow in his injured left hand, applying pressure to the bite with his right, as he walked to the loading dock.


She wasn't speeding.

She turned the radio off and reached into the glove compartment. License and registration. She checked out her smile in the rear-view mirror, then trained it back at the flashing lights.

"I told you not to drive so fast, Michele. Big ol' leadfoot."

"Fuck you, Kim."

Kim turned around and nudged their friends. "Wake up, guys. Michele's gonna flirt her way out of a speeding ticket."

Crystal wiped the sleep from her eyes. "This should be fun."

"Yeah." Tiff piped in. "She-Hulk batting her eyes at a hi-po. Where's my video camera?"

"Shut up. I wasn't speeding."

They were going to visit Kim's parents for the weekend, and she was looking forward to it. She had stolen quick looks at the sky when she could, and she was amazed at how many stars there were. A field trip to the planetarium in high school had shown that many, but she never saw them from her yard at home.

She glanced at the mirror again, but couldn't see much, between the hi-beams and the flashing lights.

Sure she was breaking training. Kim's mom was well-known on the floor for her care packages, and judging from Kim's shape, even before the freshman fifteen, this weekend's meals would make her taste buds dance and make Coach blanch. Still, she'd be sure she got her morning runs in, at least. She wasn't totally giving up. She was just taking a break.

She had been watching the mirrors, but she didn't see him come up. She looked up into the flashlight shining at her face and tried to smile. "Is there a problem, officer?"