A/N: This takes place straight after the last chapter.

Key To My Heart – Chapter Seventeen – Tales of Slayers past

Buffy POV

I could see I'd hurt Giles with what I'd said, but to be honest I really didn't care. He deserved worse. Being too hard on him didn't come into it. He never should have left. He put his glasses back on and took a deep breath. "Xander, there are some documents in the suitcases. Diaries of past Watchers and their Slayers. Could you help me bring them in?" Xander nodded and got up. I didn't like that he was so calm. It made me feel…weird that I wasn't. Whatever, they went outside and Willow came up to me.

"Buffy, don't you think you're being a little hard on him?"

"No, I don't."

"Buffy…"

"Don't, Wills. Just don't." She sighed and sat back down. After a few trips back and forth, the luggage was inside. I watched Giles look through it.

"I know it's here somewhere," he muttered. Finally, he stopped after putting six books on the table. "These are all I had time to get. I'll ask the Council to sent some more."

I nodded. "Fine. What's first?"

Anya came from behind the counter and picked up a book. "This one," she said. "What?" She asked at the stares she got. "They're in no particular order. We can start with any of them."

"Yes, Anya, you are quite right," Giles said. I got the feeling he was trying to hide a smile. It tightened a knot in my stomach. She handed the book to him and he opened it. "Ah yes, here it is." He looked up. "This is the diary of Alberte Rayner, a Danish Slayer from the late 1700s." I watched him flick thru the old pages. God, I can almost believe he never left. He found what he was looking for and cleared his throat in that familiar 'this is important so pay attention' way that he has. It made the knot in my gut just a little tighter.

"September 2nd, 1773. 'I came across an unusually brutal vampire in last nights hunt. I am ashamed to say that I could not slay it. Why it was different from most I cannot say, but there was something in those demonic eyes, something in the way it snarled. It fought with fury, yes, but undeniable passion. I have been a Slayer for almost three years now, unusually long for a Slayer. The arrival of this vampire…it's silly I know, but I felt fear. Every vampire I have killed has fought me, but that was to continue their existence. They fought for survival, but I never saw anger in their eyes. Unholy evil, a cold calculating mind, but not anger. This vampire…its eyes were not filled with anger or rage, but hatred. Such hatred I have never seen. In our battle I lost my stake, so I had no way to kill it. We fought for hours, a game at times of cat and mouse. Eventually the sky began to lighten and the demon stopped. Its true face slipped away and the trick of humanity appeared. I am ashamed that these thoughts even entered my head, but I cannot deny the truth. It was beautiful. Not merely handsome like many men I have met, but an undeniable almost female beauty. Still, Lucifer was the most beautiful angel in Heaven. I stood facing the demon. The hatred was still there. And then it spoke to me. By its voice, in life it was a man of distinction. "Remember my name Slayer. I am Glazzior." I must sleep now. Tomorrow night, I shall inform my Watcher.'

September 5th, 1773. 'The past three days have been very demanding. I informed my Watcher of this vampire Glazzior, and she was quite distressed. I soon found out why. He is known as the Impaler, and he has killed three Slayers, ironically enough, with their own stakes. I wonder if that is why he spared me. He could have killed me that night. Many a time he had the opportunity to sink his fangs into my neck.'"

Giles scratched the end of his nose. "Hmm, how interesting."

"What's interesting?" I asked.

"What? Oh. It's just, in the first passage, she refers to Glazzior as 'it', but in the second one it's 'he'."

"Yes, breath-taking. Look, this isn't telling us anything. Get to the good stuff." He blinked at me. "No, I don't mean good, I mean…oh, you know what I mean!"

Giles nodded. "Yes, of course." He flicked thru the diary. "Hmm, strange. There's no date on this one. 'Glazzior has taken my Watcher from me. I came home and I found her naked, hanging above my door. Her torso ripped apart, her insides being used to string her up like some perverse Christ. Her throat torn out. Dry blood stains her legs and woman hood. I fear she was violated.'" Giles flicked thru more pages while I tried to hold down my lunch. "There are no more entries. Glazzior must have killed her after she wrote this."

"And you used to date this guy?" I turned my head and saw Xander, who was looking a little pale, giving Anya a look of disbelief.

Anya shrugged. "He's a hottie."

I rolled my eyes and watched Giles pick up another book. "Christine Pettet, a French Slayer from 1841." He glanced up. "Her first meeting with Glazzior is of no importance. I'll try and find some relevant passages." More page flicking. "July 5th, 1841. 'The Impaler came to me again last night. He is using his witch to enter my dreams and turn them into nightmares. The things he shows me…I can't bare it. He's done so many things, Lord preserve me, I am slowly slipping into insanity. I kill his minions, but he always sends more, he makes me a fox on the run from the hounds. I don't know how much longer I can go on." Giles flicked thru more pages. "August 11th, 1841. 'I have had my fill of this vampire. He sought to make me weak with his mind games and sorcery, and for a time I was. But now I am strong. I feel stronger than I have ever felt before. The demon tried to drive me mad. He has failed. I found his lair, and in front of his children and minions I challenged him. Tomorrow night. I feel incredible. Tomorrow night he will die.'"

Giles put the book down. "That was her last entry. She fought Glazzior and lost the next night."

I started pacing. "This isn't possible. They were Slayers! How did he beat them?"

"Magic?" Willow offered. "Some spells to make him stronger, faster, or something?"

I looked at Giles. "Well?"

He shook his head. "The Watchers Council thought so too. They were wrong."

I sat down. "There has to be something. For God's sake, he's just one vamp."

"You'll stop him Buff," Xander said. I looked at him. He smiled. "You'll stop him. We'll find a way. We always do."

"He's right Buffy," Willow piped up. "We've stopped so much. The Master, Angelus, Spike, the Mayor, Faith, Adam, Glory. We'll stop this to."

"Yeah, except I died with the Master and Glory. Hell, Spike was right, I nearly died against him."

"But you came back," Giles said. He gave a small smile. "Nothing can stop you."

I started to smile back at him, but I stopped myself. I was still mad at him darn it!

Giles sighed and picked up yet another book and opened it. "Edward Roberts. Oh…"

"What?"

"Edward Roberts…his Slayer was Adalgisa Ada. The first Slayer Glazzior ever killed." He flicked thru it. "Yes, here it is." He squinted. "It's a little difficult to read."

"Give it here," I said. He passed it over to me. The writing was really bad, like he'd just been trying to get it all down and didn't care how bad it was. And…"What's with parts of the ink being smudged?"

Giles took off his glasses. "I, ah, I believe that they're tears."

"…Oh." I passed it back to him.

He put his glasses on and squinted again. "There's no date. If memory serves, I believe this was sometime in the mid 1760s."

"Can you read it?"

"It's difficult, but I believe so."

"Then do it."

"'How do I begin? How do I live knowing what has happened? Even writing this down is difficult. I feel as if I'm betraying her. Don't blame her, please. She was a good woman, and she will enter the gates of Heaven. I feel sick. Her sister Kaethe, how could she? A demon! A foot soldier of Satan! No no, I am a Watcher, I must record the events.

Kaethe. I hope her soul burns for eternity for what happened to her sister. No, it was not her fault. The blame lies with Glazzior. Glazzior. On my deathbed I will remember that name. I pray I live to see the day that the creatures foul heart is pierced with a stake. I ramble. Forgive me. I will write the events that took place.

For five years now my Slayer, Adalgisa's sister has been courting what we believed to be a nobleman named Glazzior. Where he comes from, how old he is, know one knows. We have met him before, and indeed he seemed to be a fine man. He pretended to love Kaethe. I am ashamed that I could not see the truth. The first lesson every Watcher learns is how to separate what is real and what is not. For in the world of demons and magic, not everything is as it appears.

I had of course met Glazzior before, passing myself off as an uncle. Fortunately, he didn't really seem to care, so no one was worried about him discovering the truth. As I have documented, we were on the hunt for an unknown vampire. Bodies appeared every other month, and the bite marks confirmed it to be the same creature. I became suspicious of Glazzior when I learned from the towns people that he was never seen at Church, however he is a man of wealth so it was not questioned. Why I did not think of it sooner I do not know. Why I even suspected him at all is beyond me. However, I did. I informed Adalgisa of my suspicions and she accompanied me to the monster's room. That we shared a house with him. Lord forgive me for the lives lost because of my incompetence.

We entered Glazzior's room and all seemed well. Let it be known that this vampire is a master of deceit. We began conversation, and Adalgisa pretended to drop a book she had on her presence. Unknown to Glazzior, the Holy Bible. Keeping up the act of a gentleman, Glazzior reached to pick it up for her. As soon as his fingers touched it, they began to burn. An animalistic growl rumbled out of him, and the mask of humanity slipped away to revile his true face. Adalgisa drew a stake from her skirts and pounded on him. Glazzior made for the door, but I held him back with a cross. The sounds of battle echoed through the house. Adalgisa had the upper hand, but quite unexpectedly her sister, Kaethe, hurried thru the door. I tried to hold her back but was unable. She ran screaming towards the pair. She flung herself at Glazzior and when I stared at her I caught for a split second the images of tears running down her cheeks. I screamed at what I thought to be a stupid girl to get away. She cradled Glazzior's face, still twisted by the curse of vampirism, in her hands and trailed kisses along his face. Both Adalgisa and myself were in shock. My Slayer recovered faster than I. She threw Kaethe to the side and advanced on Glazzior, only to have her sister throw herself between them. Kaethe tells Adalgisa that she knows what Galzzior is, that she has taken him to her bed knowing. I began screaming at her. Adalgisa seemed frozen to the spot. Kaethe reaches for Adalgisa's face, but she grabbed a hold of her wrist before she could touch her.

The vampire let out a growl, but Kaethe made a quieting motion. This is where I blame myself. So enchanted was I with that simple act. A vampire obeying the whims of a mere woman. It is unheard of. They are ravening beast for most part. Due to this, I did not pay attention to Adalgisa and Kaetha. I heard words, "whore of Satan", "Devil- Worshipper", and others. I finally turned my attention to the sisters. I heard Adalgisa say "You have betrayed your fellow man, you have betrayed our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ, and you have betrayed our Lord God." What happened next seemed to be in slow motion. Adaligisa said "You love vampires so much, you can die like one." And then Adalgisa's stake was buried in Kaethe's heart. A freezing silence echoed throughout the room. Kaethe had a look on her face of innocent surprise. A small sound escaped her lips and she stumbled backwards into the arms of the demon. He cradled her agenised him. She reached out with a shacking hand and cupped his cheek. I heard her gasp his name. "Glazzior." He cradled her against him, his movements like that of a puttet. I stared at Adalgisa. She had a look of childlike bewilderment on her face.

She turned to me. "Edward." A scream came from the vampire. I sounded like both the fury of a demon and a man in agony, somehow together. I saw him rip out the stake from Kaethe's chest. He flung himself at her. Her training took the place of her shock. But every time she knocked him to the ground he got up again with a speed that at times I did not see. Glazzior managed to daze her. He picked up the stake and advanced. I cried out and flung myself at him, but he mealy swatted me away. He had eyes only for Adalgisa. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled. In one motion, her back arched and Glazzior thrust the stake thru her. I didn't seem to be able to comprehend what was happening. He yanked the stake out and threw it to the floor. They locked eyes. Glazzior let out a howl, and literary ripped her head off of her body.

He stood there, back arched, shoulders back, and howled. At first I couldn't understand what my eyes and ears were telling me. Then it came to me. I crawled over to her and threw up. I don't know how much time passed. It could have been a second; it could have been an eternity. Finally I could think. I turned and saw Glazzior. He was holding the dead Kaethe to his chest, rocking back and forth. His wrist was seeping blood, and he was desperately trying to get her to drink, but she was to far gone. All I felt was rage. I picked up that accursed stake and made my way towards him. He would pay. I raised the stake high, but then he turned his face towards me. His face was everything I hate. Ugly ridges, evil sharpened teeth, and those eyes…he was crying. Grief and pain and rage and agony and a thousand other to human emotions. But his eyes, those horrible evil yellow eyes. He was crying. He is it possible? He's a demon, an abomination to all that is good. God in Heaven, those horrible yellow eyes. He shouldn't be crying. The monsters aren't supposed to cry. I couldn't do it. Adalgisa, my darling, I've failed you.'"

Giles stopped reading and closed the book. "That's it," he said softly. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He looked very tired. No one said anything for a few minutes.

"What happened to the Watcher?" Willow finally asked.

Giles put his glasses back on. "About a month later Edward Roberts led a mob to Glazzior's lair. Glazzior slaughtered them all but left Edward alive. Shortly after he committed suicide."

Giles looked at the table for a few seconds, and then picked up another book. "Don't," I said. He looked up at me wearily. "Just don't Giles. Not now. That's enough."