Chapter 10: Dark Age
November 13, 1997 - Thursday
Philip Henry quickened his pace as he passed the sign that read Sunnydale High. There had been no-one at the address he'd been given so this was his next port of call. He had to see him, to warn him, to get help…
"Can I help you?" asked the custodian who was emptying bins nearby.
Philip turned to him. Perhaps he could help. "Rupert Giles. I need to see him."
The custodian seemed taken aback by the question. "Mr. Giles…he's our librarian. Next building along, first door on the left." Philip immediately headed off in the direction indicated. "You're welcome!" the custodian called after him sarcastically.
But Philip had no time for politeness. He had heard stories about Giles, about what he was now. Maybe he could help him. They were all in danger now.
The building was in sight when Philip froze, some sixth sense telling him something was wrong. He turned around and saw a woman standing in the shadows. "Oh god," he murmured. It had come for him. The woman stepped out of the shadows. She was dead, her skin decaying. And yet she was still upright, still dangerous, her eyes glowing with the power of the thing that possessed her. Worse, he knew her, as he knew he would. "Deirdre?"
Deirdre smiled a malicious smile. "Philip. "
He ran for the door but it was locked. He hammered on it. "Help! Help! Somebody, please!" But there was no answer. It suddenly occurred to him that Giles might not even be there. "God, no! Help!"
In fact, Giles was in the library but there was a good reason why he hadn't heard Philip's banging. He and Chloe were in the middle of a training session with Dawn, Faith and Buffy. They were currently doing their aerobics, jumping on and off a box. And there was…something playing from a stereo as they did so.
"Must we have this noise during your calisthenics?" Giles complained, shouting above the noise as he did so.
"It's not noise," Buffy corrected in between jumps," It's music."
"I know music," Giles snapped," Music has notes. This is noise."
"It's not noise," said Chloe. "Besides their aerobizing! They have to have a beat!"
Giles gave up. "Wonderful. They work on their muscle tone while my brain dribbles out of my ears."
"You are being a little overdramatic," said Chloe.
Buffy, Dawn and Faith finished their session and Chloe turned off the music.
Giles breathed a sigh of relief. "Very good. And the rest is silence."
November 14, 1997 - Friday
Buffy considered her answer carefully. "I'm on a beach, but not an American beach, one of those island beaches where the water's way too blue. I'm lying on my towel and it's just before sunset and Chloe is massaging my feet."
"Okay," Dawn said taking her turn. "It's night. The moon is full. There are no clouds and the stars are shining really bright. I'm in Egypt, at the pyramids, and they're doing a light show. It's dry and everything and I'm feeling really thirsty. I grab my canteen - because I'm like a female Indiana Jones, and would therefore have a canteen - and lift it to my lips, but it's completely empty."
"Aww, poor parched Dawn," sympathized Faith.
"As I go to put my canteen back, someone offers me a bottle of Diet Coke. Not one of those plastic ones, but one of the old-time glass ones, all ice cold and with beads of water running down the side? I look up, and it's of course you, Faith," Dawn added with pride.
Faith gave Dawn an approving grin. "Very nice."
Willow took a deep breath as it was now her turn. "I'm in Florence, Italy. I've rented a scooter which is parked outside and I'm in a little restaurant eating ziti. And there are no other tables so they have to sit this guy with me and it's John Cusack."
"Very impressive," Buffy complimented, "You have such an eye for detail."
Willow nodded enthusiastically. "'Cos with the ziti."
"What are you four doing?" Xander asked, as he joined them.
"Just playing a quick gam of Anywhere but Here," Buffy told him.
"Ah." Xander nodded approvingly. "Amy Yip at the water slide park."
"You never come up with anything new," Willow noted, amused.
"I'm just not fickle like you guys, okay? I'm constant with my affections. Amy Yip. At the water slide park."
Willow glanced across the yard to where Chloe and Giles were talking with a student. "Do you think Giles and Chloe ever played Anywhere but Here when he was at school?"
"Giles lived for school," Xander replied, "He's still bitter that there were only twelve grades."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "He probably sat in math thinking 'There should be more math. This could be mathier.'"
"C'mon, you don't think he ever got restless as a kid?" Willow persisted.
"Are you kidding?" Buffy retorted, "His diapers were tweed." She noticed Chloe and Giles had finished their conversation. "Hi, Giles! Chloe!"
It took Giles and Chloe a moment to realize who had called to them and came over.
"There you three are," said Giles.
"Is that tweed?" Buffy asked, looking at Giles' outfit knowingly.
"What? Oh. Yes." Giles said slightly confused by Buffy's question. Then he went on. "Now, look, tonight is very important…"
"So, what's going on tonight?" Dawn asked.
"Uprising? Prophesized ritual? Preordained death fest?" added Buffy as Chloe laughed. She smiled at her girlfriend.
"Ah, the old standards," Xander mused.
"A medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital," Giles explained.
"Meals on wheels for vampires," Faith said.
"Hopefully not," Chloe said. "You should be at the hospital at eight sharp."
"We'll bring the party mix," Buffy quipped as they stopped by her locker.
"Morning, England," Jenny remarked as she approached them.
"Good morning, Miss, er, Jenny," Giles responded.
"Feel the passion," Willow muttered under her breath.
Jenny gave her a mild look. "Willow."
Willow gave an exaggerated cough. "Just coughing, not talking "
"You still on for tomorrow?" Jenny asked Willow and Dawn.
"What's happening tomorrow?" Xander asked.
"I'm reviewing computer basics for a couple of students who have fallen behind," Jenny explained, "Dawn and Willow are helping me out for extra credit. "
Xander laughed. "Those poor schlubs, having to come in to school on Saturday."
Jenny's expression was stony. "9am okay for you, Xander?"
Buffy gave Xander an amused look. "I think you've got a bit of schlub on your shoe."
"Cordelia's meeting us there," Jenny offered.
Xander rolled his eyes. "Ooh, gang, did you hear that? A bonus day of school plus Cordelia. Throw in a bit of rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!"
Jenny turned her attention to Giles. "Walk me to class?" Giles nodded in agreement and fell into step with her.
"Aww, look at them," Buffy remarked as the pair walked away.
"They are adorable," agreed Chloe. She looked at Dawn. "Does their relationship last?"
"Sadly, no, but not because they fell out of love. But because Ms. Calendar died within the coming weeks. It was after Angel turned, he killed her to keep her from giving him his soul back," Dawn said.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Thank you for lending me the Forrester book," Jenny noted as they approached her classroom, "It's wonderful. "
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Giles answered.
"It was so romantic, so evocative."
"That edition was my father's. I must've read it twenty times."
"You know how you dog ear your favorite pages so you can go back to them?"
Giles froze. "What?"
"Well, I pretty much had to fold back every single page so finally I just started underlining the pages I really wanted to discuss…"
Giles' sense of horror was mounting. "U-underlined?"
"…and then I split coffee all over it so now I can't even read it!"
Giles was as close to apoplectic as he had ever got around her. "It was a first edition," he thundered.
"I'm lying, Rupert. Your book's fine." Jenny produced it from her bag and handed it to him. "I just wanted to see you squirm."
Giles suspected that good form at this point would be to laugh and appreciate the joke that had been played on him. But Jenny knew how important his books were to him, despite her insistence that she could get the same information from her computers. "I trust I gave good…squirm," he responded coldly.
Jenny smiled at him. "Anyone ever tell you you're kind of a fuddy duddy?"
Giles sighed. "No-one ever seems to tell me anything else."
"Anyone ever tell you you're a sexy fuddy duddy?"
"No, that part usually gets left out. I can't imagine why."
"This weekend."
Giles struggled to follow the non-sequitur. "Would you like to go out?"
"No, I'd like to stay in."
Giles stared at her, waiting for her to tell him she was joking. Then he realized she wasn't. He leaned in to kiss her, just as the bell rang. Their lips met but the kiss was cut short by the corridor filling with students. Giles reluctantly pulled back. "This Saturday then?" he remarked casually.
"Saturday night," Jenny confirmed. She smiled mischievously. "I'll see if I can make you squirm."
"Will Chloe and Buffy be joining us this time?" Giles asked.
"No," said Jenny. "No double date this time."
Giles was in a good mood as he arrived at the library. But his good mood evaporated when he found three people waiting for him there. A smartly-dressed woman and two uniformed police officers. "Rupert Giles?" the woman asked.
Giles stared at her cautiously. "Yes?"
The woman flashed a police badge. "Detective Winslow. You're going to have to come with me."
Giles remained cautious. "Why?"
"There was a homicide on the campus last night. The victim had no identification but he was carrying a slip of paper with your name and address on him." She held up an evidence bag.
Giles stepped forward to examine it. "My name?"
At that moment, Chloe stepped into the library. "Giles?" said as she looked at the woman and the police officers confused on why they were there.
Giles sighed. "You will have to run the library till I get back, Chloe," he said as he turned back to the police officers. "Where do you want me to go?"
Where they wanted him to go was, perhaps inevitably, the morgue. He and Winslow stood either side of one of the slots as the attendant pulled the tray out. "You have your breakfast?"
"Er, no," Giles answered, his concentration fully focused on the tray rather than morgue humour.
"That's probably just as well." The attendant pulled back the sheets to reveal Philip's body.
"Do you know him?" asked Winslow.
"Yes," Giles confirmed, "I mean, I did. His name's Philip Henry. He was a friend in London. I haven't seen him in over twenty years."
"Can you think of any reason why he might've wanted to contact you?"
"No," Giles said quietly. But his gaze drifted down to the tattoo on Philip's arm. The Mark of Eyghon.
"Do you know what this is?" Winslow pressed. "The tattoo?"
Giles met her gaze. "No. No, I don't."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn pulled up and parked in the shadows. They sat there and watched as the medical transport approached. Then they saw two men in scrubs exit the building.
The delivery driver greeted them cheerily as he lifted the box of blood bags out of the back of the transport. "Hey, fellas."
Buffy began to breathe easily. "All's well that ends with cute ER doctors I always say."
"I don't think so," said Dawn. "Doctors generally don't come out to accept the delivery."
The delivery man seemed to see nothing wrong with the doctors coming out to greet him. He drove off, leaving the box with the two doctors. At that point, a car in the car park turned on its lights and drove over to where the two doctors were waiting. The driver was a vampire…as were the two doctors. One of them took out one of the bags and ripped it open with his teeth. "Hey!" the driver snapped," No sampling the product."
Buffy, Faith and Dawn got out of Dawn's car as the vampire doctor looked at the driver mutinously, then replaced the bag. They charged the vampires, kicking them in unison and knocking them to the ground, and quickly dusted them.
Dawn stooped by the abandoned box of blood bags. "They only ruined one." She looked at Buffy and Faith. "I will run this inside. Then we'll head home."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the morgue, the dead body of Philip Henry sat up straight and his eyes glowed.
November 15, 1997 - Saturday
It was next morning when the morgue attendant was doing his rounds. Checking the bodies was normally without incident and this time was no exception…until he reached the drawer that should have contained Philip Henry. It was empty. Moments later, someone behind him threw a sheet over his head. He would have been even more shocked if he could have seen who it was: The missing body.
Philip bundled him into the vacated drawer, slammed the door shut and locked it. Then he staggered from the mortuary.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"This is all wrong," Cordelia complained as she followed Dawn, Willow, Xander and Jenny down the hallway," School on a Saturday. It really throws off my internal clock."
"Yeah, when are we going to use computers for real life anyway?" Xander agreed.
"Hmm, let's see," Jenny mused," Home, school, work, games."
Xander was not to be thrown off. "You know, computers are on the way out. I think paper's going to make a big comeback."
"Computers are going nowhere," said Dawn.
They headed into the classroom and took their seats. "Right," Jenny told them," the first thing I want you to do is…" It was then they heard something coming from the library across the hall.
"I'll check it out," said Dawn as she headed straight for the library. She saw a shadow flitter across the upper level of the library. Someone was up there.
The most likely explanation was that it was Giles and if she called out, he'd answer. But somehow Dawn knew it wasn't going to be that simple. She crept up the stairs and moved between the shelves, looking closely about her. She only caught a glimpse of Ethan Rayne standing on the other side of a bookcase…just before he pushed it over towards her.
Dawn dived out of the way, then was up before Ethan could react, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. She turned him round to face her and then recognition dawned. "You!" she said recognizing Ethan Rayne. She punched him.
Ethan sighed. "What was that for?"
"Simple, I'm from the future and in the future that I came from my sister bought a Victorian dress and she got me a Tinkerbell costume," explained Dawn. "I transformed into Tinkerbell and buzzed around my mom's head till the spell was reversed. Buffy, she became a Victorian era noblewoman. She almost died as a result. So, believe me when I say I owe you a world of pain. What are you doing here?"
Ethan wasn't sure he believed her story but he wasn't about to say anything after all he could feel her strength and it was equal to his if not more so. "Snooping about," he said.
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Honesty. Nice touch."
Ethan smiled. "It's one of my virtues." He paused. "Not really. "
Dawn thought about calling the police but she knew that Ethan was one of the bad guys, she just didn't know exactly what was going on. "I wish Buffy had told me things," she said with a sigh as she strong-armed him to the front counter. Pining him there with one arm, with the other she dialed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Giles, it's Dawn," said Dawn.
"Dawn, unless you can't get a hold of Chloe and this is an emergency, I'll see you on Monday."
"I have Ethan Rayne," said Dawn. "He broke into the library. I know something should be going on right now, I just don't know what."
"He's there with you now? Dawn, listen to me, you're in danger so long as you're with Ethan. I need you to put down the phone and get out of the library as soon as possible."
"Giles you need to level with me," said Dawn.
Dawn turned at the sound of breaking glass as she saw someone breaking in through the window. Dawn vaulted over the counter, Ethan taking the long way around. Xander, Cordelia, Willow and Jenny, obviously attracted by the sound of breaking glass, came hurrying in.
Philip came staggering out of the office. Dawn blocked his path but his intention was focused past her. "Ethan!" he snarled.
That was enough to have Ethan running for the door. "Don't let him get away!" Dawn snapped. Xander grabbed hold of Ethan but he managed to wriggle free … only for Cordelia to kick him in the groin as he ran past her. He ended up in a whimpering heap on the floor.
Philip swung at Dawn, which she dodged. She backed away towards the library cage. Philip charged and Dawn leapt aside. Philip crashed through the open cage door and Dawn slammed it shut and locked it.
Once Ethan was vaguely sensible again, he was placed in a chair with Dawn standing close by. Philip prowled around the inside of the cage.
Willow looked at him. "I'm not getting close enough to check for a pulse but he looks dead."
"Except for the walking and attacking Dawn part," Xander pointed out.
"Oh, he's dead," Ethan confirmed, "Sorry, Philip. I really am."
At that moment, Giles came rushing in. "Is everyone all right?"
"Super! I kicked a guy," Cordelia supplied.
"We're okay," Jenny assured him.
"Dead guy here interrupted our tutorial," Xander explained. He leaned in to the cage where Philip was held. "I've been meaning to thank you for that, by the way."
Philip clattered against the cage, snarling, and Xander backed off.
Giles stared at the animated corpse of his old friend in horror. "It can't be. "
"Oh yes, it can," Ethan replied, "Hello, Ripper."
Giles turned on him in fury. "I told you to leave town."
"You did, I didn't. Shop lease is paid till the end of the month."
"Why did he call him Ripper?" Cordelia wondered to no-one in particular.
Giles grabbed Ethan by the hair and dragged him to his feet. "You should have left when I told you."
"Oh," Cordelia noted in realization.
"Giles!" Dawn protested but Giles was in no mood to be chastised.
"You are putting these people in danger, people I care about."
Ethan pulled free from Giles' grip. "If you care so much about them, why didn't you leave town? You've been having the dreams. I know. I have. We both know what's coming."
"Dreams?" said Dawn. "I know something is supposed to be going down around now. Giles I need information if I am to change how things go."
It wasn't clear if Giles was going to answer, but ultimately, he didn't get a chance. At that moment, Philip burst out of the cage. Jenny was in the path of the door: It hit her and sent her flying.
"Jenny!" Giles shouted, rushing to her side.
Dawn kicked Philip away but there was no lengthy fight this time. Philip started convulsing. Something sparked in Dawn's mind some long forgotten memory. She grabbed Philip and tossed him to the side away from Jenny and Giles. Philip collapsed and dissolved into goo.
"That's something you don't see every day," Willow commented.
"Everyone stay away from it," said Dawn. She looked at Willow and Xander. "Find, Angel."
"Why?" Xander and Willow asked.
"We're going to need him to evict it from me," Dawn answered. "Go, now!" Willow and Xander turned and ran out the door. She turned and looked at Giles. "Hit me."
"What?" said Giles, shocked at what Dawn was asking.
"It can only inhabit an unconscious or dead host," explained Dawn. "Unless you want Ms. Calendar to be the host. I suggest you knock me out. Don't worry as soon as Xander and Willow find Angel, he will be able to get it out of me. He only has to threaten my life."
Giles nodded as he stood and walked over to Dawn. "I don't relish this," he said.
"I know," said Dawn.
Giles swung and hit Dawn as hard as he good knocking her to the floor and into unconsciousness. Her hand flopped into the goo. She convulsed once. "Ethan," he said as he looked at Ethan Rayne. "Help me get her into the book cage."
Ethan and Giles carried Dawn to the book cage and locked her in.
"Do you think her plan will work?" Ethan asked.
"I don't know," answered Giles as he and Cordelia moved Jenny away from the cage and behind the counter. "I hope so." He knelt down next to Jenny as she began to regain consciousness. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," said Jenny.
"Rupert!" said Ethan as he noticed Dawn was slowly regained consciousness. "She's waking up!"
"Stay here with her," said Giles as he looked at Cordelia. "If Dawn's plan doesn't work you will be safer if it doesn't know you're here." He stood and watched as Dawn pulled herself to her feet as her eyes glowed. "You two were never strong enough for me," she taunted, "You never deserved me."
Giles and Ethan watched as Dawn's face became fully demonic, showing the aspect of Eyghon.
"You two never had the stomach for it. But that's okay. I'm going to rip it out."
It was at that moment that Angel ran through the door followed by Willow and Xander. Giles ran to the cage and unlocked it. He opened it as Angel ran at Dawn. The vampire and the demon tussled and Angel grabbed Dawn by the throat.
Then the demon left Dawn. She slumped to the floor, free of possession. "Dawn?" Giles asked.
Everyone's gaze turned to Eyghon's new host. Angel's features began to change into that of the demon. Then they turned into that of his vampiric self.
Willow and Xander helped Dawn to her feet and moved her away from Angel.
Angel's features changed again and again: His human self, his vampire self, Eyghon. Finally, the Eyghon part fell away and crumbled to dust.
Ethan watched the scene. With Eyghon dead, attention would soon be shifting back to him…and that wasn't an idea he liked very much. He slipped out of the library.
"You knew if Angel put it into danger after it was within you," said Willow.
"That it would jump into Angel," said Dawn.
"And I've had a demon inside me for two hundred years," Angel said. "Just waiting for a good fight."
"It was a good plan," said Giles. "A little dangerous on your part, Dawn, but still a good plan."
Xander was looking around the library. "Er, I think that Ethan guy disappeared."
"Darn," Dawn sighed, "I was really looking forward to hitting him until he bled."
"At least it's over," Cordelia noted.
November 17, 1997 - Monday
Dawn looked across the yard in time to see Giles disappearing into the school building. She followed at a distance as Giles hurried down the corridor, seeing Jenny about to climb the stairs. "Jenny…Jenny!"
Jenny turned around. Polite. "Oh, hi, Rupert."
"I tried to call you last night, see how you were. "
"I had the phone off the hook. I seem to need a lot of sleep lately. "
"But you're all right? Is there anything you need?" he asked.
"Rupert," said Jenny as she came back down the stairs to him. "We both had our secrets; you knew that and I knew that. I still love you but I just need time. Dawn told me what would have happened if I had been the one possessed and …"
"I would like to help," Giles ventured.
Jenny looked at him with understanding. "I know."
"Ms. Calendar," said Dawn. "Kiss him."
"What," Giles and Jenny said as they looked at Dawn.
"Kiss him," said Dawn. "I know what you two mean to each other. What I did, I did for the two of you so it would not drive a wedge between the two of you."
Jenny looked at Giles for a long moment and then she cupped his face in her hands and she kissed him. When they broke the kiss she smiled at Giles. "Dinner, tonight?"
"I would like that," he said as he watched Jenny hurry up the stairs. He turned and looked at Dawn.