Devil's Trill
Chapter One:
Dark brown ringlets fell in front of an angelic face as laughter filled her eyes. Eyes much like a polished piece of jade. She threw her hands in the air as she squealed in delight, the sun playing with the shadows that surrounded her face. Buffy could only smile and sigh in contentment. Something seemed terribly wrong with this picture but something also felt terribly right. The meadow was a rich green this time of year and perfect for playing in. Thick Fir trees surrounded the clearing, giving the illusion of a separate dimension. The child glanced at Buffy before running to her, collapsing in her lap. The Slayer gently pushed the girl's thick hair out of her face, smiling as she did it.
"Did you have fun, Kathy?" Buffy asked softly. The girl smiled a toothy grin before presenting Buffy with a bunch of wild flowers. The Slayer took the messy bouquet and took in their scent, a sense of peace filling her.
"Do you like them?" The girl, Kathy, asked. Buffy smiled and nodded. She picked a dandelion out of the bunch and placed it behind Kathy's ear, making her eyes show bright. Kathy mimicked Buffy's action, placing one behind her ear.
"See, now both of our eyes will show!" She smiled and hugged the Slayer's neck tightly. God, when had she gotten so strong? Buffy thought to herself as she ran her hand through the girl's hair.
The sun set slowly, oranges and yellows playing with the shadows of the surrounding meadow. Small droplets of shaded dew finally saw the light of day just before the clutches of night. A small bird flew out the surrounding trees, taking flight towards the east, where daylight would exist for a longer time, no matter how much longer. When the sun had set behind the ring of trees, Kathy sat up and got out of the circle of Buffy's arms. She watched past Buffy for something or someone. Buffy watched Kathy intently, working to memorize every line and curve of the girl's face. She saw her face change into a bright smile that would rival the stars themselves before she ran.
"Buffy…" She turned, knowing how this would play out. She knew the lines and she knew the motions, but she still wanted it.
"Buffy!" Someone's voice loudly interrupted the silence of the forest. Buffy's vision suddenly blurred and was greeted by an extremely bright light.
"Buffy! Wake up!" Dawn's voice rang, whiney and annoyed. A pillow made contact against Buffy's head.
"Wha?" She asked groggily. The pillow came down again but she grabbed and pulled it away from her assailant. Dawn "oofed" and fell on top of her sister. Buffy pushed Dawn off of her and sat up. She looked around, eyes wide. It had been a dream? Simply a dream? Dawn looked at her older sister and watched her frantically touch her arms and face. Her hands ran through her hair and she searched for something behind her ear. She pulled her fist away from her face and carefully lowered it front of her. Dawn watched as she slowly, almost painfully slow, opened her hand to reveal an empty palm. Her eyes widened and she closed them in pain, bring her hand to cover her eyes. Dawn sat up and hugged her sister.
"What?" Buffy asked. Dawn shook her head before releasing her.
"You were crying…I thought you would need a hug." Buffy brought her hand to her face and did find tears still running down her cheeks. Dawn sat on the corner of the bed and looked at her sister.
"It was just a dream, Dawnie." Buffy said, taking a deep breath.
"Wanna talk about it?" Buffy glared at her sister before looking at her clock radio.
"Don't you have school in like…" She grabbed it and looked closer. "five minutes?" Dawn grinned sheepishly.
"I was hoping that me waking you from your nightmare would equal me a day of no school!" When Buffy didn't smile back but simply raised her eyebrow, Dawn stood and glared at her sister, hands on her hips.
"Well, fine then! If waking you up from a bad dream is crime, then I'm sorry!" Buffy sighed and motioned for Dawn to come sit next to her. The hormonal teen glared but sat next to her sister with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She sat down with her back to the Slayer and huffed. Buffy shook her head and smiled softly. Had I been like that?
"Dawnie, how does skipping first sound?" Dawn whipped her head around and grinned, hugging her sister tightly. Her tight hug startled the Slayer and sent them sprawling on the ground. They giggled softly, Dawn doing most of it. Buffy sighed and shook her head.
"Up." Dawn pouted, but dutifully stood as she was asked, even though it was extremely slow. Buffy ended up having to push the girl. After crawling out from under her, she proceeded to stumble down the stairs, taking up as much room as possible, keeping her sister from getting in front of her. That earned her with many whines and "Buffy!" from the girl behind her. They giggled as the pushed each other back and forth into walls on their way into the kitchen, Buffy controlling her pushes. The girls were greeted by a groggy Rona, who merely mumbled hello, a Starbucks coffee mug in hand as she headed out the door and to school in Riverside. Dawn noticed she got a weird glance from her since they went to the same high school but all she heard was a muttered "Slayer's pet." That made Dawn smile. She was "special" today.
Buffy pushed her blonde hair away from her face, yawing. The Slayer plopped down on a stool, burying her head into her arms. She was trying to forget the dream and her sister was helping. A sudden shrill scream alerted her that some of the other slayerettes had woken up late. Willow's voice was heard amongst the riffling through closets and screaming about why their clocks hadn't woken them.
"Actually, Rona decided to get back at them for not telling her that they didn't have school and she went anyway. That's why she was so tired." Dawn commentated lightly. Buffy raised an eyebrow.
"You were obviously in on this?" Dawn shrugged with a sly smile, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. When only a dribble came out she screamed in frustration.
"Dammit! Why would you put an empty carton back in the fridge!" She screamed up at the frantic girls. The sisters heard a couple of "Shut up, Dawn."s and "It wasn't me." Buffy shook her head as she watched the potentials, well not potentials anymore, stream down the stairs and run into the kitchen, throwing open cabinets and grabbing the first edible thing. Kennedy rushed into the kitchen, her jacket falling off her shoulders as she grabbed a granola bar before screaming for everyone to get their butts going. She nodded in greeting to Buffy before racing out the door. Things had never been good between them and the whole lets-kick-Buffy-out-of-the-house thing made their relationship worse, but they were trying.
Buffy sighed, pressing her hand to her head. Dawn raised an eyebrow.
"You ok?" Buffy jerked awake, wiping the silken moisture on her cheeks.
"Yeah, Dawnie. Um, what do you want for breakfast?" Dawn thought about her small collection of options. Her sister could always "make" cereal. But before she could answer, Buffy was already pulling out a skillet and eggs.
"How does an omelet sound, hmm?" Dawn stared at the Slayer in shock. Since when could her sister cook? With a skillet no less? With out waiting for an answer, Buffy proceeded to crack a couple eggs into a separate bowl, adding various food stuffs.
"Alright, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" While it had been meant to make a smile appear on her sister's face, it seemed to make the Slayer fall back within herself, her expression becoming vacant.
"Dawn, is Buffy…cooking?" Willow asked as she descended down the stairs, one hand brushing her vermillion colored hair and the other straightening out her clothes. Dawn nodded at the witch with the exact same expression before turning to stare in wonderment at the real life miracle happening in front of her. Buffy rolled her eyes as she poured the egg batter into the skillet, hearing the soft sizzle of egg and hot oil.
"Oh come on! You guys act like I've never cooked before." She cried out in mock hurt. Dawn stared dumbly as she plopped down onto a stool, Willow almost faring no better.
"Buffy, sweetie, last time we tried this, a couple of the slayerette's got food poisoning. Do you want Dawnie to be sick then have to deal with her when she can't go to school?" Willow reasoned, sincerely concerned for the teen's health. Buffy threw the Wicca a look while beating the egg.
"Will, that was like seven months ago. I have learned how to cook!" The sound of sizzling egg filled the kitchen as she poured the egg into the hot skillet. Dawn and Willow were silenced as the watched her perform miracles. Turning, mixing, gently prodding, and then flipping flawlessly. They couldn't have been more stunned if she had conjured a dragon out of thin air before expertly filleting it.
Willow gently nudged Dawn, being as discreet as possible. "Don't look now, but we're looking at an actual miracle." Dawn snickered, oblivious to her supernatural, butt-kicking, slayer of a sister's glare. Suddenly a wooden spoon appeared between the two girls, wagging up and down angrily.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't bite that hand that feeds you, little girl!" Her glare instantly turned to amusement as Dawn looked horrified at the plate now place in front of her. Whilst talking with her red head of a friend, she hadn't noticed the perfect, golden omelet waiting for her. Gingerly lifting her fork, Dawn poked at the seemingly "alien" thing. Willow stared in the same wonderment. Not being able to take it, Buffy sighed in frustration.
"Come on guys! It's not like it's the first omelet I've ever made!"
"The first edible one." Willow snickered, tearing a small piece to pop into her mouth. Dawn quickly followed suit, using a fork to direct a daintily small piece into her own mouth. They were both pleasantly surprised with its rich taste rather than its usual…unique charbroiled flavor.
"Wow, Buffy, this tastes awesome!" Dawn praised, quickly cutting the flaky goodness into more bite-size pieces before plopping them into her mouth. Willow discreetly stole pieces away from the girl's plate, smirking at Buffy. The slayer simply smiled, shaking her head before washing the plate.
"Buffy, aren't you going to make one for yourself?" Dawn spluttered through of mouthful of egg. Buffy stopped, contemplating this and placed the skillet back on the burner.
"I guess I will, but wait—What's today?"
Willow glanced over at the refrigerator. "Friday, March seventh. Why?"
The glass mixing bowl that Buffy had been holding fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Her eyes went wide, her hand resting against her now frantically beating heart. Willow rushed to her friend's side, Dawn standing and looking over the counter.
"Buffy, are you okay? Buffy?" Willow asked panicky, shaking her. Green eyes stared at the calendar, slightly out of focus. Suddenly, as if woken from a trance, her eyes contracting to their original shape and she shook her head.
"What? I'm fine. Sorry, I just forgot I have to—that I had to pick something up for Giles today. It's at the post office. Well, I better go get changed if I'm going to go pick it up. Bye." She quickly disappeared up the stairs, pushing a few slayerettes out of her way. Willow and Dawn stared at each other before they both looked back at the calendar.
Buffy didn't stop running until she had slammed the door to the bathroom in her room. She caught her breath, one pale hand against her throat. Slowly she felt herself slipping down to the tiled floor. So that's why she had had the dream…Oh God, she had to go…She had gotten so busy she hadn't noticed. But I need to… With a made up mind, she bravely stepped out from the bathroom, grabbed her cell phone and then scuttled back in. Holding down the number two, it quickly speed-dialed the person she needed to talk to. She would have made it one, but that went to voicemail.
"Buffy?" That one word answer help her be strong. She knew she had to be. After all, she would have to leave afterwards.
"So, tonight right?"
"Yes, same place?"
"For pick up? Yeah, 'round seven, kay?"
"Yeah." There was silence for a moment before the other person spoke.
"Buffy, I'll--"
"I'll see you at seven. Bye." She quickly hung up the phone. She glanced at the time she had spent on the conversation. Almost exactly one minute. These private calls were getter shorter and harder every time.
Dawn watched silently out her window at the moon, carefully perched on the sill but within the shadow of the tree. She heard the front door open. She watched as her sister walked out the front door, calling back a perky "Bye guys! Be back tomorrow!" and set out onto the sidewalk. Why wasn't she driving? Stealthily, Dawn shimmied down the tree to follow her sister. She tracked her until the stop sign three blocks away.
Buffy looked around before getting into a black Plymouth. The car sat for a while before being turned on and turning right. With a quick glance, Buffy noticed a small shadow looming just beyond the street light but she chose to ignore it. She had more important places to be than here.
Please review guys! Thanks, let me know what you think!