"Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear."
American poet, 1807--1882
Year: 2015
Kennedy hasn't returned to Sao Paulo since, Faith knows. Why should she have? It's not like Buffy and her Scoobies ever had camping trips at the Sunnydale crater, hiking around it, panting through the dryness of the desert or shimming in the cool weather of the ocean at what once was Sunnydale's beach. They scattered to the ends of the world, Buffy to Italy, Giles to England, Xander to Africa, running from the past, from a truth no one wanted to face.
And Willow and Kennedy came here, to South America, to the suburbs of Sao Paulo. Faith never knew why exactly they came here, but why did any of them go anywhere? Now Giles, going to England, that made sense. And she had been pretty much stuck in Cleveland for the first few years after Sunnydale because, well, she was a wanted fugitive. Leaving the country wasn't exactly an option unless Willow or someone teleported her out. But what allure did Rome have for Buffy? Why was Xander sent to Africa? No one had ever deigned to inform Faith of the answers.
Just as no one told her why she and Kennedy had been chosen for this mission. It couldn't have passed the Council's awareness that this was the very city that Willow and Kennedy had lived in for five years. Faith guessed that Dawn had assigned them this mission on purpose, had decided that it was time for Kennedy to begin the next stage of some healing process. She didn't like the Council playing with Slayers' minds like that, not really, but knew that Dawn wasn't exactly fond of it either. She did it because she felt she had to, because it was what was necessary to save Slayers' lives and hold off the next apocalypse. And as much as Faith didn't like it, she could respect it.
Sao Paulo itself was a busy metropolitan cosmopolis. Full of people, bristling with activity, it was the type of city that Faith liked. The type of city one could get lost in—just a single, nameless person in a sea of over twenty-five million. The fourth largest city in the world, after Mexico City, Mumbai, and Calcutta. But on the outskirts, in the suburbs, Willow and Kennedy had known a very different type of existence.
Faith pulled out her box of Newport Lights and took a cigarette. There were only three left within, which meant that Kennedy had smoked half the carton in the last three days. Not a good sign.
Faith slipped out of the motel room, lighting the cigarette once she was outside. She took a drag, then exhaled it slowly as she thought. Kennedy wouldn't be at her best on this mission, could be prone to mistakes. Faith would have to be extra careful, have to watch out for both of them.
Not that the mission was supposed to be all that difficult. A new figure had appeared on the scene of the demonic underworld, a figure known only as the Shadow. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he was still just a bit player. Small chips. But the Council wanted him dealt with before he had the potential to cause even bigger problems. He was reputed to be working from Sao Paulo, so that's where Faith and Kennedy were sent to find him.
Earlier that afternoon. . . .
Kennedy made her way through the streets of Sao Paulo looking for something to kill. It was still only late afternoon, not nearly dark enough for vampires to be about, but if she stuck to back allies where the sun did not shine she might find something. Not to mention the host of evil creatures which did not need to fear the sun. She was sure to find something. Anything.
Kennedy slipped into a back alley, scanning it for potential threats. Even seven years later, she still knew the city of Sao Paulo like the back of her hand. Five years of patrolling every night had taught her every nuance, every characteristic which made the great city what it was. The city had a bristling night life, with many restaurants not even serving until nine or ten in the evening and staying open until three in the morning. A veritable vampire feeding ground.
She made an effort to stay close to the center of the city, to keep from wandering into the suburbs. The house she had shared with Willow was miles away, but still she wanted to stay far away from anything that might remind her of it. She had to be together, because any mistake could be the one which ended her life.
That was okay, though. Sao Paulo was a huge city, and so the metropolitan center provided plenty of space for her to hunt. She penetrated deeper into the darkness of the alley, then paused when she heard voices. "A Sombra procura um Assassino," said a voice, "como o espírito deve ser zangado para ser acordado." Kennedy's Portugese was rusty, but he was saying something about A Sombra—the Shadow—needing a Slayer to anger some spirit or other.
"Só então possa o herdeiro da feiticeira ser matou," another voice, this one female, replied. Something about killing the witch's heir, whatever that meant.
Kennedy stepped forward, and in the darkness she could make out the two shadowy figures exchange some sort of package. Then the first one, the one who had given the package to the other, walked past. Kennedy froze, and the figure passed her, completely oblivious to her presence. From the sound of his footstep, Kennedy figure that one must have been the male.
The female waited for him to leave, then too walked past Kennedy. As she did so, however, Kennedy reached out and grabbed the woman's hand. She hissed and attacked back, attempting to grab Kennedy's wrist, but she quickly twisted the woman's—the vampire's—arm behind her back. The vampire tried to attack with her other hand, dropping the package, but Kennedy grabbed that one too, and pushed the vampire into the wall.
"A Sombra," Kennedy said, menacing. "How can I find him?"
The vampire only growled and, with sudden move, succeeded in throwing Kennedy off her.
"Oh, I don't think so," said Kennedy, grabbing the vampire by the neck and dragging her to the end of the shadow. "I think you're going to tell me what I know." She held the vampire just an inch or so from the direct sunlight which would burn her to cinders.
The vampire spat out an address.
"When?"
"Now."
Kennedy threw the vampire into the sun, picked up the package, and began to run. As she made her way down the city streets, she ripped the covering off the package to reveal a box with a knife inside it. The knife's hilt was wood, carved into the shape of a macaw.
Kennedy's inertia kept her going even as she stopped running. Not watching she was going, she had to fall into a roll to keep from crashing completely.
The knife had been in their house, back when Kennedy and Willow had lived in Sao Paulo together.
It had hung on the wall of their bedroom.