I found out from Giles, with occasional contributions from Willow, Xander, and even Hawk, that the technical term for what Buffy Summers was was not "vampire fighter", but "vampire slayer". Giles told me that Buffy was even faster and stronger than the vampires she hunted. He said something about a prophecy that really didn't make much sense to me. I also found out that not only were vampires real, but other assorted demons and creatures of the night were real also. Oz, in his only contribution to the discussion, held up his hand and pointed to himself and said "werewolf".
Giles was a watcher. There were different kinds of watchers. Some kept track of the movements of prominent vampires and other demons. Others were assigned slayers or potentials, young girls who might become slayers.
Finally, Giles told me about Sunnydale itself. Apparently, Sunnydale was home to the Hellmouth, a subterranean dimensional gate to, well, Hell. Worse, apparently it was centered under the very high school library we were sitting in.
"Anyone else find the idea of young teenage girls suddenly having to be responsible for protecting the world from vampires and demons to be extremely disturbing?" I asked.
"Yes," said Giles. He looked at me, and several emotions seemed to cross his face. I suspected he cared for Buffy more deeply than even he realized.
Hawk, I learned, had come across vampires and a slayer while doing his usual line of work in New York. He was briefly contracted to work for the Watcher's Council, and they sent Giles, who Hawk knew by the name of "Ripper", to work with him.
"At the time, old Ripper was working his way through Oxford as a policy implementation specialist for the Watcher's Council," Hawk said. "Sorta like what I do freelance."
I could tell none of the kids understood exactly what Hawk meant when he said "policy implementation specialist". That was probably a good thing. It did explain why Giles could look so scary when he wanted to.