"You know," Nadja began at lunch, picking at her chicken salad. Or, at least, what looked like chicken. Beth had come to find that tofu had many forms, which was incredibly disconcerting. "I think Gene's in love with Finny."
Beth snorted, shaking her head. "No, I would have noticed that."
Nadja raised an eyebrow, chortling, "Really? You sure? Are you willing to bet money on that?"
"My dad says never to make bets with Romany," Beth told her. "Which now that I say that, it sounds racist. Also who is he to make that judgement? He cheats a lot."
"Forget what your dad says," Nadja said. "Have you even noticed all the boys that look at you since you arrived? Even moreso now that you're a slayer?"
She blinked. "What?"
Nadja smiled smugly. "My point exactly. Gene loves Finny, simple as that. But he doesn't realize it. You see, his jealousy toward his friend is due to subconscious homoerotic tendencies," she explained.
"Are you really going to write your paper on this?" Beth questioned.
"Our English teacher is the most conservative old hag I've ever met, what do you think?" Nadja asked in return.
She sighed. "Why do you do this? You know you're going to fail that paper."
"Or she'll find my reasoning and logic so sound, she'll have no choice but to pass me," Nadja crowed.
"Is that what you're going to bet on?" she asked. "Tell me this paper won't make you fail the entire semester."
"Look, she already dislikes me for taking a gay perspective on everything we've read," Nadja explained. "I mean, Shakespeare, why'd he make so many jokes about penises? Because he was obsessed with them. Anyway, I have a high C right now."
"Do you openly engage in these debates with her?" she wondered.
"Uh, yes. I will research ahead of time so I have good arguing material. Just you wait for The Great Gatsby. Nick Carroway is going to get it. Or get some, I guess."
She let out a loud sigh as the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
"You have English next, right? Remember, gay. Everything is gay. Maybe Ron married Hermione, but like him and Harry? It happened. Probably multiple times."
"You really are hounding this gay agenda," she laughed good-naturedly.
"I'm just trying to make the world a better place," Nadja informed her. "There's a reason the word for homosexuals is synonymous with happiness."
As the two made their way down the hall, Nadja asked, "how's everything going with your vampire informant?"
She shrugged. "Better than I had thought. My mum hasn't noticed me smuggling blood out of the house for him. She just thinks I use it to heal faster. I guess she's already used to blood quickening my healing process, she forgot that slayers naturally do that anyway. And he has yet to point me in the wrong direction."
"You don't think he's making you feel all safe and comfortable just to take the floor out from underneath you?" Nadja inquired worriedly.
She stopped in front of her locker, putting in her combination. "That's always a concern, yeah, but I don't think he has much of a reason to set me up. You haven't met him, but he's very much one of those 'Every Man for Himself' kind of guys. He wants to live and this deal is the only way to ensure the slayers won't strike him down."
"But your mom doesn't know about him," Nadja reminded her.
"And that's all a part of it. Made by design," she explained. "First off, she'd go after him regardless, sure he had some covert agenda against me. Secondly, my mum's my failsafe. If for whatever reason this deal goes sour, my mom can off him without anyone knowing I made a deal with him."
"I guess you have a point," Nadja conceded. "I mean, he lives in a school basement for goddesses' sake. Whatever happened to his clan or whatever?"
"Don't know," she answered, slamming her locker shut. "We don't talk about our personal lives. It's all business. Anyway, I have to go to English now. See you after school."
Beth bid farewell to Nadja, heading her own way to go to English class. She had originally wanted to keep her slayer status between family and friends, not wanting the attention that could go along with it. What she forgot about what that St. Renevier's was a small school and nothing was kept secret. One errant look into her file and the next thing she knew, everybody knew. And unlike what Nadja said, she had noticed the boys from St. Jude's staring, but they all kept their distance. The girls did too, but from them she saw a mix of envy and respect. While slayerhood was no easy task, and it was safer to have someone else run toward the demon while you ran away, it still held its coveted status. It was a burden, but a kickass one.
Of course, now that burden might lead her to destroying the world, but small potatoes, right?
She sat down in her chair in English class, watching as Ms. Byrd, their seventy-something English teacher wrote away on some papers. Probably harshly grading their chapter responses. And Nadja's was in there somewhere, purposefully written to piss the woman off.
The bell rang, the last few girls scrambling into their seats before Ms. Byrd barked at them. She was one of those stern old teachers who put a student down as tardy for so much as being an inch out of their seat. She had been put in place by the Council when rehiring had to begin after the Great Staff Clean-Out courtesy of Beth's stubbornness. She may have come highly recommended, but she was a sour old lady who didn't know how to enjoy life.
"Alright, class has started," she stated with a frown, still looking down at her desk. "I have been grading your papers and I have to say I am quite disappointed with some of your analyses. Remember, simply summarizing the chapter is not analyzing it. I want you all to show me something new about the chapter and its bigger role in the novel." Ms. Byrd looked up, looking each student in the eye critically. A few students bowed under her hard gaze, but others only smiled innocently back at her. Beth herself didn't cower under the harsh woman's gaze, even if she had been one of those hated "summarizers." After staring down a Thesulac demon, a mere seventy-something woman was basically a bunny. A bunny with very wrinkly skin and thin lips, but still a bunny.
"I expect to see much better workmanship from all of your next week," she went on to add, finally ending her attempt at intimidating all her students. "I have been grading you all far too easy, it seems, as you all seem to believe I will accept anything as a paper. From now on, I want new insight into the novel or don't expect to keep up your grades."
She stood up from behind her desk, coming around to stand behind the wooden podium she had in her room. Beth supposed it made her feel like some important college professor teaching the great young minds of English scholars, rather than a bunch of teenage girls who wished they were anywhere but here.
"Now I hope you all did the reading," she announced, opening her own copy of the book. "Because I will be holding a pop quiz before we begin our discussion today. You will have five minutes to show me how much you read."
The quite muttering and groaning that circulated throughout the classroom told just how much reading everyone had done. She frowned as well. She had spent the whole weekend training and fighting off demons that used the bones of children for some weird goopy potion crap, didn't she get some sort of pop quiz excuse for that? Children, she saved children.
Apparently not, because Ms. Byrd placed a paper on her desk all the same, giving her a look that said slayer-related duties meant nothing to the crotchety old woman.
She pouted, flipping over her paper and reading the first question. Thanks to Nadja, who had read the Sparknotes synopsis beforehand to argue with Ms. Byrd and had told Beth just about everything, she had a clear idea of what the novel was about enough to write good bullshit. Maybe she wouldn't get an A, but maybe she could at least pass. While she still cared about her grades, their importance in her life had slipped with her new slayer abilities. She had more important things to do in life now than be really good at chemistry. She started to scribble down her response, hoping Ms. Byrd wasn't too sour today.
Halfway through the second question, a small tremor travelled through the floor, causing several of the students to look up from their quiz. Ms. Byrd didn't seem affected though, still standing behind her podium, looking for anyone trying to cheat. Another tremor happened and more students looked up, looking around at one another in confusion. Earthquakes weren't unheard of, per say, but that one was localized enough to cause some doubt.
"Eyes on your own tests," Ms. Byrd remarked sharply. The ones who had cowered under her gaze earlier dropped their heads, but raised them once more when another, louder tremor shook the walls. Now even Ms. Byrd looked curious, in an annoyed sort of way.
"There better not be students still out in the hall," she murmured, walking over to the door. She looked out the window, but seemed unsatisfied with what she saw. She huffed, turning around. "Well," she began, "I don't know what that is, but it's not stopping you from working on your quizzes and I'm not giving you anymore time to finish it. Now, everyone return to your qu—"
Her voice was cut off by a great big boom and cracking sound, the walls shaking more than they had before. A loud roar echoed through the halls, right before the entire classroom erupted into chaos.
Now, the school had set up evacuation plans in case of a demon attack. Bellevue was teeming with underground demon activity and such plans were logical. But before today, they'd never been used. Demons rarely attacked in broad daylight, let alone such a populated building. The increase of human awareness had pushed them back into the shadows, hunting in small groups.
So you could imagine Beth's surprise when, as Ms. Byrd evacuated them out into the hallway to lead them out of the school, she saw a demon smashing lockers and generally making a mess. Students were streaming all around her, running towards the nearest exit. The demon's goal didn't seem to be hurting anyone, seeing as it didn't attack the loud mass of panicking students. Beth pushed back against the crowd, surging forward to get to the demon.
"Elizabeth Summers!" Ms. Byrd cried. "All students need to exit the building!" She ignored her, already knowing what she had to do. She picked up a brick from the debris, tossing it at the demon's head. The demon snorted, turning its gaze on her.
"Elizabeth!" Ms. Byrd tried again.
"Everyone out now!" Beth barked, not taking her eyes off the demon. It seemed to be sizing her up. "I've got something I need to kill."
The demon finally came at her. For safety reasons, she always kept a stake with her, as was expected of any slayer. But a small piece of wood wasn't much in terms of the hulking thing currently staring her down with a peeved look. She didn't recognize the demon type, but it was angry and running at her so that was all she really needed to know at the moment.
She easily evaded it, taking out her stake in hopes of at least inflicting a little damage. She immediately jumped at it, slamming her fist into its face. Its head snapped to the side with an audible crack, but that didn't slow it down. It grabbed her, throwing her into a row of lockers where she left a sizeable dent. Regardless, she jumped back onto her feet, knowing she was going to feel that tomorrow. She kept going though, not sure of what this demon's aim was. It was wearing clothes, of all things, suggesting some sort of intelligence. Usually only the more animalistic demons went in causing destruction without a plan.
She feinted left and went in right, jabbing her stake into its side. She was forced to leave her stake as the demon tried to swing at her, causing her to quickly jump back to avoid the blow. She delivered a kick to its chest, sending the demon sailing back down the hall. It landed in a pile of rubble, taking a second to get back up.
She smirked. "Feeling the pain now, are ya?" she taunted.
"Not yet, little slayer," it growled, standing back up on its feet.
"Oh, look, it talks," she patronized with a grin. The demon ripped her stake out of its side, smashing it against the wall. She didn't flinch, only raised an eyebrow. "That's going to give you splinters."
Their little exchange over, the demon and Beth launched themselves at each other, delivering blows and kicks. She sidestepped a punch, delivering a side kick to the demon. She took a solid hit to her stomach, but retaliated with an uppercut to its jaw. After exchanging several blows, her uniform was dirty and bloody, though the other guy wasn't looking so hot either. His jacket was ripped and the front of his shirt was soaked with blood, his or Beth's, she didn't know. Though she hoped it was mainly his.
The demon delivered a hit to her face, causing her to stumble back. "Hey, watch the face," she spat, wiping her mouth. "Why do you all go for the face?" she snapped her hand up, thrusting her palm right into the demon's nose. She heard a satisfying crunch as blood began to pour out.
"Could say the same for you, slayers," the demon grunted, knocking her to the side. She slammed into the wall, hitting her head pretty hard. Her vision went blurry, long enough for the demon to take ahold of her and throw her through a classroom door. She landed on a row of desks, making them scatter. The demon came in after her, grinning.
"Done yet, little slayer?" it taunted.
"Hardly," she grunted, getting back up. Her head still throbbed something terrible, but she dodged another hit while giving a hit of her own, sending the demon reeling back. Taking the upper hand, she delivered a round of kicks and punches, driving the demon back into the hallway. She dropped down and knocked the demon's feet out from underneath it and sending it tumbling to the floor. Just as she was about to deliver a sharp kick to its head, hopefully severing its spine and killing it, it kicked her right in the stomach, sending her flying and effectively leaving her breathless. The demon stumbled to get back up, looking worn. She scrambled to regain her breathing, knowing that even if it was more ragged than her, the fact that it was up on its feet put it at an advantage. But instead of attacking her, it gave her one hard look before turning and running away.
"Hey!" she coughed out in disbelief. "We're not done here!" The demon kept running though, or limping more like it.
She got back up on her feet finally and started to chase after it. But as soon as she got outside, an EMT was at her side, trying to talk to her.
"Miss, you've lost a lot of blood," he said to her, putting a hand on her arm to direct her toward an ambulance. "You need to come with me."
"Excuse me," she interrupted sharply, "Demon I am chasing. Worry about injuries later. Besides, this is mostly his!"
She didn't want to shove the guy out of the way, as he was just doing his job, but she was tempted to. The demon was getting away and that was not something a slayer allowed.
And then a police officer was at her side, along with another EMT trying to get her to the ambulance. Students and faculty were standing and sitting around, looking frazzled. Parents' cars were pulling up and the sound was deafening to Beth and her sensitive ears. Damn vampire genes. With all the noise and overwhelming amount of people in her line of sight, she lost track of the demon. It was gone and its purpose for attacking the school along with it. She sighed, allowing herself to be taken over to the ambulance.
-.-
She tried her best to sit still, but she didn't understand why the nurse was checking her blood pressure. She had already explained to the two EMTs, the concerned police officer, the student in residency, and now the nurse, that she was absolutely fine. That hadn't prevented the vision test, reflex test, and asking her inane questions like what her name was and where she was from. And now she was forced to sit through the usual, mundane check-ups she'd been forced through every time she visited the nursing staff at the academy.
The nurse took the arm strap off finally and smiled at Beth. "Everything looks fine so far. Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?"
Que the eye roll. They'd been asking her that since she was taken into hospital custody, via ambulance and continuously reminding her (after she had given them a firm no) that if she did begin to feel dizzy, nausea, or faint she would tell them. It was almost as annoying as the EMT who insisted on talking to her so they'd know she hadn't lost consciousness. She didn't lose consciousness. That was like giving up.
"I feel fine," she assured the nurse, trying not to sound too annoyed.
"After the damage of the school aired on the news, I don't think anyone could come out of there fine," the nurse retorted with a chuckle.
"Have you ever dealt with a slayer?" Beth inquired.
The nurse's eyes widened and her jaw slackened in quite a humorous fashion. Before either patient or nurse could say something, the doctor found his way into their room.
"Hello Elizabeth," he greeted. "I'm Dr. Hans. I've been hearing about the nasty blow you took at your school this afternoon. How're you feeling?"
"Fine," she muttered.
"No problems with standing?" he asked good-naturedly, taking some papers from the nurse. "Can touch your toes and everything?"
"Yes," she assured. "I did the whole 'Head-Shoulders-Knees-and-Toes' deal, so can I go now?"
"Wait just a quick second," he chuckled. "Your cuts may have gotten cleaned up, but itty-bitty particles can still be there. I'd like to prescribe you an antibiotic just so we can be sure you won't get an infection. Besides, demons can be dirty things. Who knows where that guy has been? Any allergies?"
"Just garlic," she responded blandly.
"Well, can't imagine they'll be any garlic in the ointment," Dr. Hans chuckled. "Now, just to note, this antibiotic will make you a little sensitive to the sun, so make sure you don't go out without sunscreen."
"Alright," she said as the doctor handed her a paper with some jargon scribbled on it. She tilted her head, trying to read the writing. How was anyone supposed to read that and give her the correct dosage? Would that be her end, O.D. on antibiotics?
"You can take that to our pharmacy," the doctor informed her. "And if you notice any signs of a concussion, you come right back okay?"
She nodded. "Will do, sir doctor."
Dr. Hans nodded and then paused for a moment before chuckling. "Sorry, just thought of something funny. With this sun-sensitive medication and your garlic allergy, you'll be a bit of a vampire, won't you?"
She didn't mean to laugh as forcefully as she did. It was one of those times when she gave a 110% to something that only needed 50. He'd hit a little bit too close to home though and so she overcompensated for her growing feeling on anxiety. Oh, what a clueless doctor.
Awkward laughter over, she hoped off the examination chair just as the door to the room swung open, revealing a very concerned and a bit furious Momma Summers. Any fury instantly melted off Buffy's face when she saw Beth standing there, a bit bandaged and bruised, but looking very alert and very confused.
"Oh, thank god you're alright," Buffy exclaimed, pulling her daughter into a tight hug.
"How did you know I was here?" Beth squeaked.
"School and Hospital called," Spike informed her, coming into the room right behind his wife. Oh great, her dad was here too. "Told your mum they said you were okay, but didn' matter. She stormed in 'ere with enough fury to set grass aflame."
"What does that even mean?" Beth muttered. She lightly tugged herself out of her mother's firm grasp and spoke in higher tone, "Look, I handled it. Well, by handled it I mean it ran away because I hurt its feelings."
"You hurt its feelings?" her mother inquired, confused.
"Kicked his ass," Beth said proudly.
"Language," her mother scolded.
"So you must be Mrs. Summers. I'm Dr. Hans," the doctor introduced, hand extended. "Might I say what a pleasure it is to meet the Slayer. You've done so much for this town."
"Oh, thank you," she replied, pleased.
"'Course, all 'bout the slayer," Spike grumbled from the doorway. "Star of the show."
"Hush," she said, swatting him.
"I have to get medication," Beth interrupted, turning the attention back to her. Hey, she was the one who fought the demon. She had the pint of blood outside her body to prove it. "For my injuries."
"Just an antibiotic," Dr. Hans assured when both Buffy and Spike turned their heads toward him. "Standard procedure. Demons can be carriers of God only know what."
Buffy took the prescription paper and frowned. She sure never worried about infections when she fought demons. Didn't really matter to her in the end though, since this was her daughter and mother-bear mode was still in play.
Once Beth was out of the hospital, she sighed in relief, done with all the concussion questions.
"Do you know what it was that attacked the school?" Buffy asked, starting the car. It was a slight bit disconcerting that her mother was driving, considering her past record. Of course, not that Spike really had that much more going for his. He just didn't have the permanent record to reflect it.
"Uh, it was big and ugly and wore people clothes?" Beth replied.
"How ugly?" Buffy inquired.
"It had a face like this." Beth leaned forward in her seat, scrunching up her nose a bit and making a snarl.
Buffy frowned. "I don't know if I've seen one of those before. What does Andrew teach you?"
"Quantum physics."
Spike sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. "Not getting' us anywhere, you are. Here is someone that's got Internet."
"Willow?" Buffy asked, confused.
"That's a phone, Mum," Beth sighed. "He obviously means Verizon."
"You kids these days," he went on, ignoring their jabs, "always got a phone on you. An' some insane habit of videoing everythi'g—oh and look, two hundred thousand views on Youtube."
Beth was surprised to see her Victorian Era father actually navigating the Internet with enough expertise to find a video taken by a student from her school that filmed the demon making a run. "Too bad they didn't us fighting," she sighed. "Would have liked to see my form."
"What is that?" Buffy asked, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to look at the video. She began to drift a little into the other lane, making the car beside her honk its horn loudly. She jumped, jerking back into her own lane.
"I was still on the line!" Buffy shouted angrily.
"Maybe you should drive," Beth told her father.
"Looks like a M'Fashnik," Spike commented.
"A Mc-what-nick?" Buffy asked.
"M'fashnik," he repeated. "Bit of a funny thing to find 'round a school. Mercenary demons, they are. Not very smart, but know the highest bidder when they see one."
"So they're like hit men?" Beth asked for clarification.
He shrugged. "Can be, yeah. Mostly just do the dirty work."
"And so someone sent one to attack a school?" Buffy inquired. "How weird is that?"
"Unlikely someone sent it to just attack the school, love," he replied good-naturedly.
"Well, it's not like it came to do much else," Beth snorted. "Broke a couple of lockers with my back, let me tell you. Wait, does this mean school is cancelled?"
"For a few days to clean up the mess, yes, but then right back you go," Buffy informed her. "Your education is important."
"You're not suggesting I actually go to college, are you?" Beth whined. "You tried that and look how well that worked out. You don't even have an associate's degree."
"Hey, my mother died!" Buffy exclaimed. "And seeing how I am alive and well, and care about your education, you will be going to college missy an—and this is completely off topic. Spike, why would a mercenary demon attack a school full of children?"
He shrugged. "Maybe someone got bored an' wanted to cause a panic; had the money to do so."
"That's stupid," Beth grumbled.
"Or maybe word's startin' to get around," Spike suggested, looking meaningfully at his daughter.
"No demon is stupid enough to plan an attack on a slayer like that," Buffy said with a snort.
"Yeah, but Beth's not jus' a slayer," he pointed out. "She's got more goin' on. S'not jus' a slayer with a sacred callin'. Got a full-blown destiny too."
"What? You think they know about the prophecy?" Buffy asked. "No way. We've been quiet about that. No one outside a few people know about that. There's no way that's getting around."
"Maybe someone overheard," Spike said, tossing a casual look at his daughter.
"Hey! I've been good," she protested indignantly. "I haven't told anyone. Well, okay no, that's a lie. I told Nadja, but that's it. And I told her at her house."
"There's no way anyone should know about it," Buffy agreed, "at least no one we don't want to know about it. It has to be some other reason."
"Well, I am a slayer, you know, that thing demons don't like?" Beth reminded them. "I'd be an easier target than you. In school, with little protection beside that brick wall it smashed through. I'm so easy to get ahold of. I think someone would be willing to give that a shot. But it's okay, because I fight good. It might've smacked me around a bit, but let me tell you, you should—"
"See the other guy," Buffy and Spike finished in chorus.
"But this is a problem now," Buffy went on to say. "If demons think they can just start attacking in broad daylight and in crowded areas, my workload is about to increase. And as for you, Beth, you're supposed to be able to focus on other things, not have to worry about a demon interrupting your school time!"
"I don't mind actually," Beth told her. "It had really great timing. You see, there was a book I didn't read and then a pop quiz—"
"We need to start listening around," Buffy decided. "Hear what the demons are talking about. Maybe some Big Bad moved in, thinking he owns the place."
"Won't work too much love. Gettin' our faces noticed. They're picking up on us," Spike reminded her.
"I could try," Beth suggested. "I mean, I've been able to get information before."
"She has been successful with the nests and what not," Spike added when he noticed Buffy's hesitant look.
"Yes, see what you can find out," Buffy finally decided. "This is all a part of being a slayer and you have to do everything if I expect you to be the best."
"Can't be the best if you're still around," Beth reminded her mother with a smile.
-.-
After two days one would think they'd be a bit further along on the school cleanup. Nadja had told Beth people were talking about using some of the classrooms at the boy's school for the girls. But since that information came from Zack who knew next to nothing about everything that wasn't science-y, who knew how accurate his gossip was? But judging from the amount of destruction still marking St. Renevier's, maybe he had heard something that was true. Beth could even see the dents she made when the demon slammed her into the lockers. Just the thought of it made her back throb.
She had finally been able to sneak out to try and make contact with Charlie, who she hoped hadn't moved locations since the recent demon attack. The school had been a safe spot, until the M'Fashnik rammed its entire body through the brick wall and brought down that curtain. Getting out her bedroom window had been hard since she was still a bit sore after the attack. She had been smuggling blood for Charlie, meaning she couldn't take any blood for herself without raising any questions. She knew a bag or two would heal her up nice and easy, but her father would notice that blood was going a lot faster than it normally did, since she was so hesitant to use it in the first place. Oh, how little forethought she had about such matters.
"Charlie?" she whispered, her voice echoing down the halls. The building looked even more haunting than it normally did at night with all the damage to it. It now looked like it was really abandoned and left to debilitate into obscurity.
"Charlie?" she whispered again. She was afraid he'd pack up and leave. Besides, with all those construction guys around, he'd be a lot easier to find and wouldn't that be bad for him?
"Wasn't expectin' to see you up so quickly after that beatin' you got." She jumped from the sound of his voice behind her. She whipped around to see him sitting on the stairs, having not made a sound until she spoke. Beth really needed to work on her listening skills or she was going to get kidnapped. Again.
"Why didn't you say anything the first time I called your name?" she grumbled, more annoyed at herself for having not heard him.
He shrugged, chewing something and spitting it out. She made a face. Why'd it have to be chewing tobacco? Couldn't he have invested in cigarettes like any other self-respecting vampire? "Didn't quite feel like it."
"Well, if you want me to keep you safe, you better start feeling like it," she warned, crossing her arms. "I need information. On that demon, the M'Fashnik."
"You got the goods?" he inquired, eyebrows raised.
She rolled her eyes, but dropped her backpack to the floor. She unzipped it and pulled out two bags on blood.
"Only a couple?" he asked, pouting.
"It's all I could sneak," she told him.
"Sneak?" he repeated.
Oops. Mouth slip.
"Do you want it or not?" she asked, thrusting the bags toward him.
"Course I do, little lady," he replied, taking them from her hand. "Don't ever turn down a free meal, now do I?"
"It's not free," she reminded him. "So what have you heard about the demon?"
Bags in hand, he immediately ripped one open and chugged it down. He finished it, crumpling up the plastic bag and tossing it. "Always like it a bit more when it's room-temperature. Think that makes me a bit odd?"
"You can't just leave that there," she remarked, ignoring his question. "The workers'll see it."
"They don't give a rat's ass 'bout me," he responded. "Been ignorin' my kind since we first bunked out in a basement. Now, you wanna hear what I got or not?"
"Go then."
"Well, frankly, I ain't got much," he admitted, even having the audacity to look sheepish about it. "I assure you I ain't used to that. Ain't nobody 'round here been hearin' 'bout that attack. Some saw him come in an' got a bit out of it. 'Parently, someone called him in to deal with some 'portant crap."
"What important crap?" she asked.
"Don't rightly know," he answered, shrugging and guzzling the other bag of blood. "Ain't nobody know an' don't think I wasn't curious. I got my own right to know 'bout the folks 'round here an' ain't no M'Fashnik a good thing. Will right down destroy you if told to. They liked to get paid, ya see. They get summoned by the highest bidder. Someone wanted to take you out an' got the demon best made to do it."
"So what you're telling me is you don't know anything I didn't already know," she responded. "And I paid you too."
"Happens," he said. "All I can say is somethin' is goin' on 'round here. Whoever it is, is keepin' it low. Don't want no one to know they're here. You know why?"
She thought she'd humor him. "Why?"
"Cuz then the slayer'll know. Can't have that if you got something' big goin' up," he answered knowingly. "Ain't nobody want the slayer up in their business."
"But I am the slayer," she reminded him. "By attacking me, they got me up in their business. And it's not like my mum's uninvolved in this. They must be the stupidest enemies ever since they go after slayers with one M'Fashnik."
"And now they got you chasin' after that," he noted with a small grin. "The demon didn' kill you, so what does that mean?"
Pretty sure he was onto something, she wished she could respond so at least she didn't look so dumb. But she just blinked at him, not sure to what he was hinting at.
"A distraction," he said slowly, so she understood.
"A red herring," Beth joined in, having been clued in. "But to what?"
He shrugged, obviously having no clue. "I'll keep my ears open an' get you anythin' I got on the attack, free of charge."
"Oh, how kind of you," she replied dryly.
"Now, no need to be like that," he told her. "I got myself to care for, yeah, but you got something' 'bout you little lady, an' if you don't go 'round trying to kill me, I'd say we got what you'd call a nice relationship going."
"Call it whatever you want, but that doesn't mean in the future I'll take to paying you only to get nada in response," she told him.
He chuckled lightly. "Wouldn' call that nada, since you was about ready to go chasin' after that mercenary."
"No I wasn't," she defended. "I have to go now. If you hear anything at all, even if it's just speculation, I want to know about it."
He nodded, stuffing his hands into his pants' pockets. "You stay safe now, darlin'. Don't think that just cuz you're a slayer, you got some shield 'round you. We don't all like having a slayer 'round us. I'm what you'd call a 'Rule Breaker' after all."
She left without another word to Charlie, leaving him to his hideout in the basement of a broken building. She'd gotten nothing out of that visit besides the budding knowledge that something was going down in Bellevue, something someone didn't want the slayers to know about—enough so they were willing to send a mercenary demon after her in broad daylight in a crowded building. It had to mean they were desperate. But that still left her with the question of who.
-.-
"So did you ever figure out why that demon attacked our school?" Nadja asked that Friday night while lounging on the large leather couch in Zack's house. While Nadja's house probably had the best kitchen Beth had ever seen, Zack's parents had decided to invest in a top-notch theatre room with surround sound and those comfy leather chairs that reclined. They even had one of those popcorn machines, much to Beth's enjoyment, all of which was weird considering his family owned actual movies theatres. She herself was sitting on the plush red carpet beside the DVD player as she and Zack went through the extensive movie collection.
"Nope," she replied, perusing the rom-com section. Why, she didn't know. She hated rom-coms, but her mother always made them watch those movies together because Buffy loved them so much (and so did her father, but she wasn't supposed to tell people that). "What exactly is Little Black Book?" she asked, holding up the case.
"Ah, oh, my dad likes to be thorough," Zack explained. "Now let me just take that."
She released the movie to him so he could throw it across the room. Nadja watched as the case sailed through the air, landing on the other side of the couch.
"Was that really necessary?" Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If I never have to see that movie again, it'll still be too soon," he replied. "In fact, this entire section?" He waved his hands towards the Rom-Coms. "Just forget these all exist."
"Oh, but I thought maybe Lover's Lane might actually be interesting," she said, faking a pout.
"So are demons now just going to storm in and ruin my math class?" Nadja asked.
She shrugged. "Probably not, but who knows? I hope not. That would just be annoying."
"I just don't want to keep having classes closer to Zack," Nadja complained. "How long did they say we're going to be sharing with the boy's school?"
"Indefinitely," he informed her, "or so I've been told. I've also heard things about portables."
Nadja groaned, throwing her hands over her eyes.
"Portables?" Beth repeated, confused. "What's a portable? You don't mean those bathrooms, do you?"
"Moveable box classrooms," he elaborated. "If you can picture that in your head, you have a portable."
"Was the demon aiming for you?" Nadja went on to ask. "Does it have anything to do with that whole prophecy thing?"
"It's been theorized that the demon was aiming for me, but due to the prophecy? Unlikely," she answered. "There's no way they'd have that information unless they broke into the Watcher's Council and stole sensitive documents. We're pretty sure the prophecy we have was the only version made. Can we watch Alien? That's a good movie."
"I do not want to watch aliens popping out of people's stomachs," he replied. "And what's this about a prophecy? You've mentioned it before, and remained obnoxiously vague about it. I want to be read-in."
"My birth was prophesized," she explained. "You know, because that's the only way it'd work since my dad was still and vampire and all."
"Yeah, and it says she's supposed to save the world," Nadja boasted with a smile. "I'm friends with a superhero."
"It doesn't specifically say that," Beth amended carefully, avoiding making eye contact with anyone.
"That's not what you told me," Nadja said with a pout.
"Yes, well, it was recently brought to my attention that the version I had been told was incorrect," she explained moodily. "My parents colluded to keep the truth from me because they thought the actual one was too vague for me to not take poorly. Most of it was destroyed, and what's left apparently says very little else."
"Are you still mad at your parents?" Nadja inquired.
Beth frowned. "No. Yes. Maybe. They did lie to me, but I also have to admit I'd probably go to the worst mind place ever since I'm, you know." Nadja nodded knowingly, considering Beth had veered toward dramatics when her vampire-secret had been revealed. "I don't actually know if I'm capable of saving the world," she admitted softly, looking downward.
"I bet you'll save the world," Zack said casually, tossing another DVD behind him. "That's just what you do."
An unfamiliar sort of warmth flooded her, but before she could even comprehend what it meant, Zack stood up, triumphantly holding up a DVD. "I found it! This is the movie we're going to watch!" he assured.
"It's not one of those apocalypse movies, is it?" Nadja moaned. She turned to look at Beth, saying, "He just loves those movies. Thinks they're so great and all. And they are so overly dramatic and fake."
"Hey, this one is based on true events," he argued. "Built up from eye witness reports."
"Which one is it?" Nadja asked, unable to seen the cover from her position on the couch and unwilling to move.
"Hell.A.," he told her. "It's a playoff of L.A."
Beth couldn't help it. She giggled.
"What's so funny?" he asked, looking down at her. "I like this movie."
"Yeah, that's what's funny," she said, smiling. "Based off true accounts, you said?"
"Yes," he responded, eyeing her suspiciously.
"You know, both my dad and uncle were there when L.A. actually went to a hell dimension," she hinted.
He looked at her for a long moment, then at the movie, then back at her. "Shit," he muttered when it hit him.
"Didn't it ever seem odd to you that the two main characters are named Angela and Spike?" she asked.
"Oh my god, you idiot," Nadja laughed. "You are so dumb. How many times have you watched that movie?"
"But Angela's a girl," he argued weakly.
"You know Hollywood, always wanting to put hetero-romance in everything," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Can't be homoerotic now can it? It was the early 2000s after all."
"I am never watching this ever again," he vowed, scowling at the DVD case. "In fact, I'm going to burn it."
"Do it outside," Nadja told him. "The smell of burning plastic lingers."
"So Alien?" Beth asked, standing up. "Yes? Awesome. I'll go get drinks. Any requests?"
"I'd like a Sprite," Nadja asked.
"Something to burn this movie from my mind?" Zack grumbled.
"Bleach?" Nadja suggested.
"I'll be right back," Beth said with a sigh, leaving the theatre room.
Once downstairs, Beth strolled into Zack's kitchen, not realizing someone else was in the room. She had collected the drinks and closed the fridge door before she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She froze before quickly jerking around. It was their grandfather, which only made her tense up more. Zack and Nadja may be okay with her, but being in the presence of their grandfather always made her feel a little dirty, like she didn't belong. Like she shouldn't be anywhere near him.
"I did not mean you frighten you," he apologized. "I can forget how on edge a slayer must be to survive. Always looking behind, aren't you?"
She shrugged, not sure of how to respond. "I just came down to get drinks," she explained lamely, holding up the soda cans.
He tsked lightly. "Forgive my rude grandchildren for making their guest get refreshments. I sometimes get so caught up in my own things I forget to raise them."
"Oh, I don't mind," she told him. "Besides, I think I ruined Zack's day."
"How so?" he asked.
Now how to explain this one? "I kind of told him that one of his favorite apocalypse movies starred some of his least favorite people. Well, vampires to be more accurate. You know, uh, those vampires."
He nodded knowingly. "Yes, Zackariah fears vampires above all things, even those things which are more likely to kill him, like that motorcycle he always likes to borrow. I do hope he grows up one day."
"Well, I mean he has reason to," she disagreed, not really sure why she felt the need to defend Zack's overwhelming and sometimes ridiculous fear of vampires. "Vampires kill without feelings. They aren't good people. They're not even people, they're—"
"Things?" he interrupted; eyebrows raised.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "Things. Monsters."
"It is dangerous to underestimate your opponent," he wisely advised. "But more importantly, it is dangerous to derive humanity from something that is so clearly human. We only fear vampires because they are the very thing we fear most—our own darkest secrets. A vampire only acts on the desires we so commonly bury. It's what keeps order. Have a good night, Beth."
She watched as he left the kitchen, not moving until she heard the front door close. She took a few what she called "breather moments" before heading back down the hall towards the movie room.
"What took you so long?" Nadja asked when she came back. "You go to Russia to get those drinks?"
"Your grandfather was here," Beth blurted out.
"He was probably just returning my mom's pot. She brought him some goulash about a week ago," Zack explained. "If someone doesn't cook for him, he'll just eat McDonalds all the time, which isn't healthy at his age."
"Did you give you some mystic-y advice?" Nadja asked.
"I think he saw into my soul," Beth stated.
"Yeah, he does that sometimes," Zack informed her. "Anyone want some popcorn?"
