THROUGH AN ANGEL'S EYES – CHAPTER 10
It wasn't a good night for sleep. I became aware of someone approaching our room. I sat up and woke up Dawn just as Buffy burst into our room.
"We just got a call from Wood, Cleveland's getting wiggy on us."
"How bad" I asked.
"Hellmouthy, apocalypse type of bad. There's three slayers in town, but only one of them is trained. We need to get there ASAP."
Mentally I put in a call to Janice. I asked her to find out if we could personally take part. After that I gave Buffy a verbal access code. "There's a Vatican jet at La Corruna that'll take fifteen people anywhere you need to go. You could be in Cleveland in under ten hours."
"What about you guys" Buffy asked.
I held up my hand, listening to Janice.
"No problems on this end" she said "according to the ultrawave."
"Ultrawave" I asked.
"That was Daniels word for putting in a call to the higher powers."
"Thanks" I told her "be ready to travel fast and light in ten." I looked back at Buffy. "We'll be there in under thirty minutes."
"Thanks you guys, I'll try and let em know you're coming."
Dawn and I got dressed and strapped on our weapons. I opened the door and Janice was there in her 'Faith' get up, sword strapped to her back and a dagger or two elsewhere.
"Ready" she said; I could tell she was scared but she was willing to go.
We grabbed each others hands and merging our minds and caught the express to Cleveland. I've heard more than once about miraculous timing and all; and I know it to be true. I just happen to know it's not luck. We came to ourselves in a rather shabby section of town, near the entrance to an alley. We immediately noticed a battle going on between three girls and about twenty vampires. I didn't know who the younger two were (one brunet about fifteen and an African-American girl about nineteen) but I recognized Amanda Carlson, the current guardian of the Hellmouth. She was tall and old for a slayer; I would guess that she was a couple of years older than Buffy; a potential that hadn't been called until Willow's spell. She had been trained in Spain and had a lot of practical experience from being near the Hellmouth, unfortunately she was now simply outgunned. That was what I noticed on the faces of all three; the understanding that they would die soon, and the desire to take as many with them as they could. We were there to change that outcome. As we were running towards them I noticed first one then the other companion go down. It was too dark to tell if they were dead, and right now it didn't matter. Our swords were out and glowing, yet we still seemed to be unnoticed. Acting as one, the three of us plowed into the vamps. We were moving so swiftly that at times it was tough to see because of the dust. In one break I saw Amanda go down, but now there were only five left. We were preparing to fight them when one picked up the youngest slayer and they all just ran for it. I yelled at Janice to care for the fallen slayers and to guard them, Dawn and I were already tearing out after them. The chase didn't last long. There were only five of them and there was very little on this plane of existence that was as fast as Dawn when she wants to push it. She got in front of them and I was still behind and they were out of luck. I tried to be careful when killing the idiot that was carrying the girl, but she still knocked her head a good one on the ground when he dusted. I looked around and Dawn and I were alone with the young slayer. I asked Janice if she was OK. She answered that she was; but that the slayers were heavily injured. Dawn hustled back to her to help with their healing and I picked up the youngster. She was tiny; almost as small as Janice, a delicate frame and short brunet hair. I had her in my arms and was marveling at how peaceful she looked considering her calling, when she came too and kicked me in the shin. She landed on her backside with a loud oof, and started crab-crawling away from me. I was trying to be re-assuring but she didn't seem to be paying any attention to anything except the swords on my back. She was crawling away from me which meant that she crawled right into Dawn.
"Hey, spazz much" Dawn said "I'm trying to heal this mess and you're not helping." She turned and saw her fellow slayers unconscious and not looking too good then at Dawn, then at me and she finally noticed Janice who still had her sword in her hand. I guess it was just too much for the young girl, because she just made a little sound in her throat and passed out.
I helped Dawn finish up with the two older slayers and had Janice check out the youngest, after she put her sword away. Surprisingly she told me that except for a knock on the head, that the girl was un-injured.
"Wake her up and see if there's a church nearby, we need some sanctuary."
Janice knelt in front of the girl and started pushing her essence into the girls mind. Suddenly her eyes flew open and her arm swung in a backhanded blow. Janice just caught the girls hand and asked "you feeling better"?
The girl just nodded then said "just a bit confused."
"Not surprising" said Janice "is there a church nearby?"
The girl looked shocked but said "yeah, St. Michaels is right around the corner."
Janice looked back at me. I just shrugged "any port in a storm."
Dawn and I picked up Amanda and the other two girls picked up the other slayer and we headed for the church.
The youngest slayer informed us that her name was Brittney Murphy and she probably needed to head home soon. I told her that it was too dangerous and that if necessary I would convince her parents that we would take care of her. She shot me a startled look and said "it's not too dangerous for a slayer."
Janice pointed out that it had been just a few minutes ago. The other girl looked abashed and just nodded at me. We got to the church in silence and entered. Dawn and I were setting down Amanda in the narthex when her eyes shot open. She looked around and seeing that we were in a church, relaxed.
"So, what the hell happened and who are you three" she asked.