No one in Sunnydale needed to tune in to the weather channel to know that there was going to be a storm that night- a big one. The sky was a dark, wet grey, the air was still and tense, and the whole atmosphere seemed charged with energy, like a mousetrap about to spring shut on some hapless rodent. The tension in the air matched Buffy's mood as she strolled through the graveyard. Something in her was wound up tight, telling her that there was something going on, something about to happen that was much bigger than a creepy crawly and a bunch of vague clues. She felt that she was missing something…

KRRAACCK! The night was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant bolt of lightning snaking across the heavens, followed immediately by an bone-rattling thunderclap. That was the cue for the rain to come, drenching Buffy instantly despite her raincoat and thick enough that she felt like she was breathing it. A generous portion of hail battered her too, as the wind howled as though every demon, werewolf, banshee and ghoul in the world had decided to form a hellish choir group.

Buffy knew that nothing- except of course her- would be stupid enough to stalk a night like this one, but she kept going anyway. The alternative was a talk from Giles about how sacred duties don't have rain checks, and on the whole, she preferred the storm. Besides, if there were any clues at the spot where the meteor had landed last night, it wouldn't be long before the storm destroyed them. She ran.

Kara Winchester was miserable. The storm was almost battering her to her knees, and she could barely see two feet in front of her, but she kept struggling onwards, into the graveyard. Her physical discomfort was nothing compared to her emotional suffering. It had been two years since she'd lost her husband, two years since he'd been murdered for some bizarre and senseless reason by gangsters on PCP. And although Kara had done her best to move on since then, sometimes she just had to visit his grave and be with to him, just had to, no matter what. Even on a night like this.

She stumbled, and fell in the mud, sobbing. The worst part was that with this storm, Kara wasn't sure if she could even find his grave. Wouldn't that be something- to come all this way in the storm and just get lost, to not be with her husband? There was no way, she decided as she got back up, that she could feel worse than she did right now. She continued on.

Splash.

What was that?

Above the fury of the storm, hadn't she heard something landing in a puddle? A hailstone, of course, like the one which had just bounced off her head. Kara kept going. She needed to find shelter, get her bearings back…

Squelch.

The sound had come from right behind her, and it was no hailstone. She turned. Something large and black stood there, shrouded in rain. It stepped forward, and a flash of lightning illuminated teeth.

Kara fell to her knees, whimpering, realizing that she might be with her husband very soon after all.

Buffy knelt in front of the meteor's impact trench, searching for something, anything. Didn't know what she was going to find in this storm, but... there! Something had glinted in the baked earth of the trench. Buffy dug it out with her fingers and held it up to-

The scream rose above the storm, above the hailstones hitting gravestones and the wind savaging the air and the rain pounding everything it touched, rose above the storm and came to Buffy clear and strong, and galvanized her as though there was no storm. She jammed whatever she'd found in her pocket and then she was running, stake at the ready, leaping over gravestones, eyes straining for the source of the scream- and the reason. She ran so fast, in fact, that she almost fell over the body.

Thankfully, the rain and darkness kept Buffy from getting a good look at the victim. All she could tell was that she was young, black, and that something horrible and bloody had been done to her throat.

Another flash of lightning gave Buffy a glimpse of a large, dark figure moving swiftly away. She immediately gave chase, at the same time trying to get a better fix on its location. The storm didn't oblige the Slayer with another flash of lightning to reveal the creature, so she concentrated as she ran through the mud, trying to hone in on like she would a demon or vampire… but she sensed nothing. But she did realize that whatever it was, it was heading towards a mausoleum- in fact, the same mausoleum where she'd first fought Darla and Luke, so long ago.

She slowed down as she approached the mausoleum, looking about alertly. The mausoleum appeared even darker and more foreboding than usual as she moved to inspect the doorway. If the creature had gone inside, and then ducked into the sewer tunnels, she was in for a long chase.

But the door was still closed and locked. Then where…?

A snarl was all the warning she had. Buffy looked up in time to see a dark shape descending on her and realize she'd been ambushed. Then it was upon her.

Whatever it was, it was definitely bigger than her. It drove her straight to the ground as it landed, and she immediately felt claws piercing her clothes, her skin, her flesh, blood beginning to run over her skin. It snarled again, and the Slayer reacted instinctively, pushing upwards with her legs. The creature's body was hard and unyielding against her feet, but it was lifted up and off of her all the same. Buffy flipped herself to her feet, ready to fight.

It was nowhere to be seen. Thunder rumbled again.

She turned around to look for it, just in time to see it charging towards her. It had circled around with inhuman speed while she got up, and she only had time to get an impression of something black and shiny running on all fours before it slammed painfully into her legs, knocking them out from under her. It leapt on top of her like a cat, pinned her, she couldn't get it off. Warm drool splashed on her face, mixing with the cold rain, and Buffy could feel its teeth on her throat…

There was a bright flash, pain, and then all was dark.