Chapter 2: Welcome to the Hellmouth Part 2
Rushing from the building, Buffy and Faith, followed at a distance by Savannah, went quickly around the side of the gym. It was easy locating another door to the locker room.
Savannah muttered the incantation for a cover spell seconds before Buffy looked in her direction.
Buffy kept watch as Faith twisted the knob, but the door was locked tight. Faith looked to her sister who nodded indicating they were alone.
Faith with one quick tug pulled the door open, splintering the lock in the process. She slipped inside, leaving Buffy to watch the door. She saw the body at once, lying on the floor stretched out beneath a blanket. Hesitantly she approached it, feeling certain she wasn't going to be at all pleased with what she found. Slowly she folded the blanket down from the corpse's head and shoulders.
Grim frustration flooded Faith's face. She stared down at the body, nearly seething.
"Oh, great!" she exploded.
There on the boy's neck were two distinct bite marks.
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Savannah watched as Faith exited out the door she had entered moments earlier. As they walked away she noticed her aunt was standing next to her.
"It seems we have vampires," Marie said.
"Do you remember?" Savannah asked.
"I was ten, Savannah. I wasn't privilege to knowing what Buffy and Faith were doing. It's why your mom gives us the info we need to help keep Buffy and Faith safe from anyone who might come after them because Buffy is your mom's past self."
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Faith and Buffy strode back into the library.
"Okay, what's the sitch?" Faith demanded.
Giles was standing on the second level, completely engrossed in a book. He looked down as they started up toward him.
"Sorry?" he asked, unnoticed by the trio Savannah and Marie slipped in and immediately cast a cover spell.
"You heard about the dead guy, right?" Buffy retorted. "The dead guy in the locker?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's the weirdest thing," Faith said. "He's got two little holes in his neck, and all his blood's been drained."
"Isn't that bizarre?" Buffy added. "Aren't you just going, 'Ooooh . . .'"
Giles let out a sigh. "I was afraid of this."
"Well, we weren't!" Faith said a tad bit harsher than she had intended. "It's our first day."
"We were afraid that we'd be behind in all our classes," Buffy added, "that we wouldn't make any friends, that we'd have last month's hair."
"Well all except the last month's hair deal, that's all Buffy," Faith said with a roll of her eyes.
"You know what I meant, Faith," Buffy said returning her attention back to Giles. "We didn't think there would be vampires on campus. And we don't care."
"Then why are you two here?"
That stopped the sisters, but only for a moment.
"To tell you that we don't care," Faith answered. "Which we don't."
"And have now told you," Buffy said. "So, 'bye." She started for the door pulling Faith along with her.
"Will he rise again?" Giles asked.
Buffy and Faith looked at each other.
"You mean the boy?" Faith asked as Giles nodded. "No he's dead. Dead, dead, not undead."
"Can you be sure?"
Faith sighed. "He would have had to drink, which he didn't," she answered. "No blood on the mouth. You know why are we still talking to you?"
"You two have no idea what's going on, do you?" Giles challenged the sisters, his words tightly controlled. "Do you think it's a coincidence, you two came here? That boy was just the beginning."
Buffy turned back and looked up at him. "Oh, why can't you leave us alone?"
"Because you are the Slayer," he replied before remembering the reports Merrick had written about the fact that both of the sisters had been called. "Because you both are Slayers."
They watched as Giles came down the stairs, his gaze very solemn.
"Into every generation, a Slayer is born," Giles intoned. "One girl, in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the—"
"—the strength and skill to hunt the vampires—" Faith added.
"To stop the spread of their evil blah blah, we've heard it, okay?" Buffy finished.
Giles looked troubled. "I don't understand this attitude. You two have accepted your duty, you both have slain vampires before—"
"Yeah, well," Faith answered. "We also lost Merrick to good ole Lothos. We got kicked out of school, forced to move two hours away from our friends. And all because of this stupid duty. We're moving on, now."
Giles considered this a moment, then asked, "What do you two know about this town?"
"It's two hours on the freeway from Neiman Marcus," Buffy answered.
"It's two hours from our friends," Faith added.
Motioning the sisters to wait for him, Giles disappeared into a back room and continued to talk.
"Dig a bit into the history of this place and you'll find there has been a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. I believe this area is a center of mystical energy. Things gravitate toward it that you might not find elsewhere."
He reappeared with a stack of books.
"Like vampires," Buffy and Faith concluded.
They tried to move past him, but he pulled a book from the pile and handed it to Buffy. It resembled the vampire book he had shown them earlier, and while Buffy stared down at it, he heaped one into Faith's arms and then another into Buffy's, back and forth he went till they were holding all of the books.
"Like werewolves," Giles went on quickly. "Zombies. Succubi, incubi . . ." He leaned close into their faces. "Everything you ever dreaded under your bed and told yourself couldn't be by the light of day."
"What, did you send away for the Time Life series?" Faith asked as a giggle escaped Buffy's lips.
Giles actually looked a bit sheepish. "Uh, yes."
"Did you get the free phone?"
"The calendar."
"Cool," Buffy stated as Faith transferred her books back into his arms, "Okay, first of all, we're vampire slayers," she transferred the stack in her own arms back into his. "And second, we're retired. Hey, I know! Why don't you kill them?"
Giles's smile seemed rather surprised. "I'm a Watcher. I haven't the skill."
"Oh, come on," Faith said with a roll of her eyes. "Stake through the heart, a little sunlight—it's like falling off a log."
"The Slayer … Slayers slays," Giles explained patiently. "The Watcher—"
"Watches?" Buffy asked with a roll of her eyes.
"Yes. No!" Giles recovered himself. "He—he— trains her … them, he prepares them—"
"Prepares us for what?" Faith said getting in Giles face. "For getting kicked out of school? Losing all our friends? Having to spend all our time fighting for our lives and never getting to tell anyone, because it might 'endanger' them? Go ahead." Her gaze was challenging. "Prepare us."
Faith grabbed Buffy and pulled her from the library. Giles went out after them.
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Giles continued to follow the sisters through the hallway as it began filling with students once again.
"It's getting worse," Giles called after them.
Buffy glanced at Faith as they whirled to face him. All too conscious of the crowds around them, she tried not to sigh too loudly. "What's getting worse?"
"The influx of the undead," Giles murmured, moving the sisters over against the wall. "The supernatural occurrences. It's been building for years, and now . . . there's a reason why you're here, and there's a reason why it's now."
"Because now is the time our mom moved here."
The sisters started to walk away from him, but he put up an arm on the both of them to stop them.
"Something is coming," he insisted. "Something is going to happen here soon."
The sisters pulled his arms down.
"Gee, can you vague that up for us . . . ?" Buffy asked.
"As far as I can tell," he explained, "the signs point to a crucial mystical upheaval very soon— days, possibly less."
Faith gave him a narrow stare. "Come on. This is Sunnydale," she reminded him. "How bad an evil can there be here?"
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Across town Rei smiled at Joyce Summers as she stood across from the woman. They stood in the storefront Rei had bought that would house her antiquities business.
"I've looked through your resume and I have to say I am impressed," Rei said. "A Bachelor's degree in antiquities and you worked for the premiere gallery in Los Angeles. I have to ask, why did you move to Sunnydale when you had a nice job in L.A.?"
Joyce let out a sigh. She did not want to explain that the move was the only solution to the situation of her eldest girls being kicked out of school and that no other school in L.A. would take them. So she partially lied. "I wanted a fresh start for me and the girls," she said. "My ex-husband still lives in L.A. and I wanted to put some distance between us."
"Those are very good reasons," Rei said. "I myself am very family oriented so you doing that, especially for your girls is very commendable. When can you start?"
"You mean …?"
"I do," Rei replied.
"Tomorrow?" Joyce offered.
"That'll be fine," Rei replied. "I will be gone a bit. But my daughter who coincidentally is also named Rei, her father's choice, will run things in my absence."
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Savannah and Marie walked through the front door of the five hundred acre estate house that they had bought just outside Sunnydale. "Clay, Buffy, Logan, Joyce, Anne. Savannah and I are home," Marie called out.
Joyce and Logan, Marie's daughters came running into the foyer barreling into to Dawn and Savannah. They were closely followed by Anne and Clay, Marie's husband.
"Hey, darling. Everything go alright?" Clay said.
"Everything went fine," Marie said as she kissed Clay.
"So how did I look?" Anne wondered.
Savannah laughed. "You look just the same, mom."
"Hey," Dawn said as she knelt down in front of her children and hugged first Logan and then Joyce. She looked up at Clay and Anne. "Savannah and I found something out today. Did Xander ever tell you how he found out about you being the Slayer, Buffy?"
"Yeah he said he had been in the library," Anne said. "When Faith and I had been talking to Giles after the body had been found. You two are going out to the Bronze tonight. Clay wanted to go too. I think he's getting kind of restless. But I need someone here with me to help wrangle your kids." She motioned to Logan and Joyce. "Anyways you two will go to the Bronze. Introduce yourselves to my past self."
"Ok," Marie and Savannah said.
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Buffy stood in front of her bedroom mirror, agonizing over her fashion statement of the evening. Holding up an outfit that was shockingly scanty, she spoke aloud to her sisters as well as her own reflection.
"Hi! I'm an enormous slut!"
"No you're not," Dawn said.
Faith rolled her eyes. "Let's see the other one."
Buffy held up the second outfit, this one a much plainer version. "Hi! Would you like a copy of theWatchtower?"
Faith shook her head as she watched her twin throw both outfits down.
"I used to be so good at this," Buffy grumbled as their mother came into the room.
"Are you two going out tonight?" Joyce asked her eldest daughters.
"Yeah, Mom," Buffy answered. "We're going to a club."
"Will there be boys there?"
"No, Mom," Faith answered, "it's a nun club."
Joyce ignored the mild sarcasm. "Well, just be careful."
"We will," Buffy and Faith answered.
"I think we can make it work here," Joyce insisted. "I've got my positive energy flowing. I got a job at this gallery and I'm gonna get it on its feet."
Buffy tried to sound enthusiastic. "Great."
"And that school is a very nurturing environment, which is what you need."
"Mom . . ." Faith, Dawn and Buffy all said simultaneously.
"Oh, not too nurturing. I know," Joyce replied. She looked at her eldest daughters. "You two are sixteen." She looked to Dawn, "and you are ten; I read all about the dangers of overnurturing." She hesitated, then added truthfully, "It's hard. New town and all. For me, too. I'm trying to make it work. I'm going to make it work."
"We know," Faith said.
"You're good girls, Buffy, Faith. You two just fell in with the wrong crowd. But that's all behind us now."
"It is," Buffy reassured her. "From now on, Faith and I are only hanging out with the living."
"She means," Faith said jumping in to cover for her sister, "the lively . . . people."
Joyce looked relieved. "Okay. You two have fun. Dawn, dinner will be in fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Dawn replied.
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Rei watched the sisters walk away from her. She looked over their attire and shook her head. The blonde, she assumed was Buffy, was dressed in tight slacks, a powder blue shirt, and a knit tank top. The brunette, had only a simple white tank and black leather pants. She wondered if they were going out on patrol or to the Bronze, the only club she had found to be in Sunnydale. The way they were dressed she assumed the Bronze.
Rei followed them through the suburbs and into the deserted city streets on the edge of town. She watched as they turned a corner.
"Faith," Rei heard Buffy say. She smiled she had been correct in her assumption. "I think we're being followed."
Rei stopped moving just as the sisters did they whirled around and looked at her. Thankfully she was shrouded in darkness. Just far enough away so that they couldn't see her clearly.
Faith looked to her sister and whispered in Buffy's ear, who nodded.
Turning quickly, the sisters went on and Rei followed.
Buffy and Faith picked up speed and so did Rei.
Rei kept pace till she noticed the sisters duck into an alley. She smirked, rookie mistake, or was it? What if they thought she was a vampire. She decided to see what they would do, so she followed them into the alley.
As she walked down the alley someone dropped down on her from above without warning. With legs locked over her neck, Rei was tipped over, then rolled and slammed onto the ground.
Rei was on her feet instantly, but she was grabbed and thrown up against a wall. Rei smiled as she finally saw who had attacked her, Buffy. She looked up and saw the pipe ten feet above them and nodded. It would have been a move she would have used. She looked back at Buffy as Faith moved beside her sister.
"Is there a problem?" Rei asked innocently.
Buffy and Faith eyed her suspiciously, getting a good look at her for the first time.
"There's a problem," Faith shot back. "Why are you following us?"
"Do you two think there are not others in the world, besides yourselves who are Slayers?" Rei asked.
"Impossible," Buffy answered. "We were told the last one died and that the reason there are two of us now is a fluke because we're twins."
"Three hundred years ago, I was a Slayer," Rei told them. "Then … I died … and I became immortal. As far as the Watcher's Council is concerned I am no longer a Slayer even though I still have the abilities that you two have."
"And we're supposed to believe that," Faith said.
"Only vampires live that long," Buffy said. "You could very well be one."
"Stake me," Rei said with a smile. "If I'm lying then I will turn to dust. If I'm telling the truth, I will heal quickly. You see for me there is only one way for me to suffer the final death. You would have to take my head."
Faith and Buffy looked at each other and then at Rei. If she was a vampire she would dust, simple as that. If she weren't they would be responsible for murder. Maybe Rei had a death wish and simply wanted them to kill her. Buffy and Faith didn't know and didn't want to take the chance. It seemed like Rei picked up on their dilemma.
"Go to your watcher," Rei said. "Mention to him the name of Rei Mori. Mention to him he should have gotten a call from the Council via a watcher named Joe Dawson. That the Master is alive, and trapped within the Hellmouth. And tell him the Harvest is coming. You two have a good night." She reached into the pocket of her coat and withdrew two boxes and threw them at Buffy and Faith who caught them. She then turned and walked out of the alley.
Faith and Buffy watched Rei go. They saw her shadow fading into all the other shadows, and then they carefully opened the boxes, both of which held a cross attached to a long silver chain.
They glanced up quickly. Rei had disappeared.
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Unbeknownst to Rei she had been followed just as she had followed Buffy and Faith.
Marie and Savannah watched as Rei walked past where they were hidden under a cover spell. A moment later they watched as Buffy and Faith exited the alley.
"Aunt Marie," Savannah said. "Mom appears to have always been quick on her feet."
"Yes," Marie replied. "The stereotypical blonde routine Buffy used tended to fool vampires into thinking she was anything but the Slayer. Of course your Aunt Faith was quite the opposite. Come on, we need to teleport to the Bronze before Buffy and Faith arrive."