See Part I for disclaimer and details. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far – and wow, over a dozen reviews already? Color me astonished! But there's a downside, of course, because reviews are like an addictive drug – the more you get, the more you want. And believe me, every author needs his daily fix! So please, keep 'em coming...

Part III: Heart Of Darkness

The underground prison of the Master, Sunnydale. A few hours later

After Buffy and Xander had found out about the corpse on campus and learned that he was a vampire victim, a very worried Giles had told the two teens in private that there was a reason why the Slayer had moved to the Hellmouth, here and now. And it wasn't because her brother had been kicked out of Hemery High and this was the only school Hank and Joyce had found willing to accept him. There had been signs and portents for a while now that something huge and apocalyptic was coming soon.

But even the Watcher, for all his intellect, wasn't able to grasp the full extent of the problems facing them – as in the Master's lair, a horde of vampires bearing burning torches gathered together.

"The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake, and the world will bleed. Amen!" the centuries-old vamp known as Luke chanted.

"Oh, please. Could that possibly sound any more like a cheesy pep rally?" a distinctive and sardonic male voice rang out.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea and three newcomer vampires to the Hellmouth entered Luke's field of vision: Darla, Angelus and Drusilla.

"Darla," Luke spat out towards his one-time equal, not appearing to acknowledge the others as they approached him. "You shouldn't have come back, at least not with him!"

"That's always been your problem, Luke; feeling threatened by strong women. Me, I like 'em!" Angelus smirked, as he got behind Drusilla and squeezed her breasts, making her squeal in delight.

Luke scowled in disgust. "Why are you here, Angelus? Or should I call you Angel?"

Angelus suddenly snarled, "You wanna know why I'm here? To do this!"

The Scourge of Europe was already in game face, and with unbelievable speed staked Luke directly in the heart, making him explode into ashes. He then glared at the rest of the vamps, who had begun to angrily murmur amongst themselves, "Anybody here got a problem with that?"

The muttering instantly stopped. Drusilla suddenly called out, "The King of Cups expects a picnic! But this is not his birthday."

All of the undead briefly stared at her before dismissing the nonsensical statement. Darla looked around before saying, "Look, I know most of you, just like you know me. We've come here for the Master's ascension, and no doubt he'll deliver his judgement upon us when he awakens. So until then, just go about your duties!"

Most of those gathered looked unwilling to obey her, but they all did so anyway because disagreement with those of superior ability didn't exactly operate to lengthen the span of un-life. Angelus let Drusilla walk off into the cave and said to his sire lovingly, "You really think the old bat nose will accept us back, just like that?"

Darla frowned at him. "Don't call him that, dear boy. Not even in private! This isn't 1760 any longer..."

Main Street, Sunnydale. Later that night

Xander and Buffy's after-school conversation with their mother had not gone well.

Deep down the poor woman had been hoping her family had left that...that year-long insanity in Los Angeles behind them. But to learn that there were also vampires in this town, that nothing had changed...well, it had felt like her hopes and dreams were being completely shredded apart again.

At any rate, after a worried farewell from Joyce – who had told both teenagers that she was almost ready to set up her art gallery here in town, just before Hank had called again – Buffy and Xander had set off to check out the only teen hangout in this one-Starbucks town: the Bronze.

They were walking down the darkened street, when the Chosen One noticed her twin's face. "What?"

Xander scrunched his forehead in distaste. "They're everywhere, Buffy. I can feel them now all over the place. It's like this entire town is INFESTED with the damn things!"

It was times like this that Buffy was really glad she hadn't gotten the whole Slayer ESP-detection deal, that Merrick had explained about back in the early days of her calling. She remembered how the Council operative had been very surprised when he'd learned how Buffy was completely unable to sense the undead. The only other Chosen One he'd known of with such a lack of ability had apparently been a Hungarian gypsy girl, back in the early 17th century.

"Xander?" Ms. Summers suddenly asked, noticing his change in expression.

Suddenly, the guy stopped dead. "Over there." He pointed to a dark alley.

"How many?" Buffy asked as she took out her stake, ready to slay.

"No, wait..." Xander suddenly looked confused. "Not...a bloodsucker. Demon of some kind, though."

The two teens carefully ventured into the alley, and as they did so someone stepped out of the darkness. "About time you two got here!" Whistler's aggrieved voice rang out.

"Demon?" the Slayer asked, before looking at Whistler's outfit. "Or just a major fashion victim?" she added sarcastically.

"Ha, ha," the balance demon said grumpily. "Look-"

"He's starting to freak me out, even though I don't know why," Xander interrupted, staring at their new acquaintance. "Who are you?"

"Name's Whistler, or at least lately it is. As for the rest of it – yeah I'm a demon, but I'm also like your godfather," Whistler said, staring at Xander and for the first time ever feeling proud of his handiwork. ( Guess you turned out all right, huh? Well, I sure as hell hope so, anyway. )

"Oh, please. A demon godfather? Next thing you know, you'll be saying that I have a vampire boyfriend!" Buffy said sarcastically.

( Sure, like that could ever happen, ) the balance demon thought sarcastically to himself. Then the short guy tried to focus, as he had a very important message to impart here after all.

"Thing is...I'm not a bad guy, Slayer," Whistler said, even as he addressed both of the twins. "Believe it or not, not all demons are dedicated to the destruction of all life. And I promise ya, I've been watching over you and your other half here – ever since before you two were born."

Buffy and Xander glanced at one another before the male part of the equation asked, "Okay, now, just for the sake of argument – why's that, Whis?"

Whistler scowled at the boy's unwelcome nickname. "I don't have all the answers, and even if I did – I'm guessing I wouldn't be allowed to tell you. But basically, something went wrong 117 years ago. And for the last hundred or so years, pal, a vamp's been constantly dreaming about you-"

"Huh?" "What?" Buffy and Xander demanded in incredulity at the same time.

"Oh yeah, that particular broad? She's a complete undead nut job, but she still has the sight. And I swear, it's been a hell of a thing hiding you two from her for the last 16 years, lemme tell you! But that's all over now. On account of you guys are standing on the mouth of Hell, and it's about to open!"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" the blonde girl demanded irritably, starting to get a creepy feeling about all this.

"For now, it means you white hats gotta get ready for the Harvest. See, my problem is...the guy who was originally supposed to fill you in and stand guard over you, sweetcheeks? He couldn't make it to the party, at least not the way he was supposed to. That's why Big Brother over there got drafted for this gig! Now take my advice..." the demon tossed Buffy and then Xander a small box. "Don't either of you turn your backs on this."

Xander was instantly suspicious. "What else do you know? And what exactly did you mean by me getting 'drafted'?"

The balance demon shook his head, reminding himself never to use the name 'Harris' within this boy's hearing. "One day, maybe, you'll find out. But not from me."

Both teens opened their boxes when their mystery benefactor vanished back into the shadows, and they saw the silver crosses within for them to wear around their necks.

"Intense," Buffy said simply.

"I'm thinkin' it could be Watcher time," Xander agreed.

The underground prison of the Master, Sunnydale. The same time

Angelus watched in apparent boredom, as the 600-year-old vampire called the Master rose out of a pool of blood and Darla knelt before him. "Master!"

The Master, otherwise known as Heinrich Nest, stared down at her thoughtfully. She had been his favorite for centuries, after all. "Darla..."

In his own insulting way his grandchilde felt it was time to break the ice with a, "Hi there!"

The Master instantly whirled around and fastened his non-human eyes upon the other vampire. "Angelus?"

"In the flesh, Master."

Nest didn't miss the slightly mocking tone, but in his current state he decided not to press the issue. "When last we spoke, Darla informed me that the curse is no more. Is this true?"

The dark-haired vampire said with a genuine smile, "Had a soul, now I'm free!"

The Master scowled at the younger vamp's wording, what with the situation he himself was currently in. "I have waited three-score years, imprisoned in this...house of worship. And now on the eve of my release, the first thing I see is your face?"

Angelus grinned. "So you missed me, then?"

The Master's features curled into a blood-curdling smirk. "You were the most vicious creature I ever met, boy. And I once promised you that you would sit at my right hand, come the day. But now..."

"...the big day's here, and ya got someone else in mind?"

The Master ignored Angelus's words and looked towards his former favorite. "Where's Luke, Darla?"

"He pissed me off, so I killed him," Angelus said before his sire could say anything.

In a flash the Master grabbed his potential victim by the neck and spat out, "You would forfeit your existence to me so easily, callow child?"

Darla looked worried, four centuries in age or not. But to his credit the 244-year-old vamp didn't flinch. Angelus just kept smirking, "Not if you want our help with the Harvest, now that that idiot's pancake mix!"

The Master's red-gold eyes seemed to blaze in fury, till Darla said, "Forgive me, but it's evident you're still weak, Master. Only from the Harvest will you truly be restored and released from this foul place!"

The vampiric Heinrich Nest unexpectedly released Angelus, who just disdainfully rubbed his throat. But before he had the chance to say anything further a lost and trembling female voice called out, "Daddy? Grandmother?"

The three vamps turned around to face Drusilla as she wandered over and then said absently, "Hello again, Great-grandfather..."

The Master faced Angelus with a strange expression, but Angelus just continued to smirk at his grandsire. Nest then quickly tested the limits of his mystical confines, but they were still as strong as ever. In exasperation the Master beckoned to Dru, "Come closer, my child."

Drusilla immediately obeyed, but then stopped. "Daddy? I can't see her. The Slayer. I can't see. It's too dark where she is. Kill her. Kill her, Daddy. Kill her for me?"

The Master turned to Darla, his expression instantly dark and ominous. "There is a Slayer here, now?"

"This is the first I've heard of it," Darla shook her head.

"Doesn't matter, my Dru's never wrong about this sort of thing. If she says there's a Slayer here, then there's a Slayer here," Angelus said forcefully, as he reconsidered his previous strategy in light of this new development. Then the male vamp said to Dru, who had started to whimper, "Hush, Drusilla. We'll take care of the Slayer, all right? Just calm down."

The Master looked at him thoughtfully. "The Harvest approaches and I must be ready. I need my strength."

The former vampire with a soul shrugged, albeit in a calculated way. "You want us to bring you a quick meal, then?"

Nest smiled at the veiled peace offering, in a way that would have chilled any mortal's blood. "Bring me something...young."

TBC...