Gypsy Girl

Pairing: OC/Spike

Summary: When a travelling Gypsy from the Kalderash clan settles on the Sunnydale, she'll be no exception to the challenges of life on the Hellmouth. Alexandreina will survive though, she always does, but will she get a chance to live?

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN


Alexandreina immediately shot Janna a look when her cousin walked into the room. She was not pleased with Janna at the moment. Being woken up at 5 am after a night of partying was not helping either. But being woken up to requests of assistance for the Slayers problems made it worse.

Janna grimaced.

Yet despite that, Alexandreina hadn't been able to tell her cousin no.

Not when Janna sounded really worried about this. And with Enyos fresh in mind, she couldn't blame Janna for being scared. Especially when Janna wasn't in touch with the spirits or her intuition. She would be defenceless against a vampire.

"I have a ritual to revoke the invitation to vampires" Alexandreina grudgingly told the expectant group.

They looked relieved.

Cordelia smiled, "Oh, thank goodness. I actually had to talk my grandmother into switching cars with me last night"

Wow.

Well... that sure was fucking stupid.

Giles cleared his throat after giving Cordelia a look of pity that the girl mistook for sympathy.

"The ritual's simple. It's just the recitation of a few rhyming couplets, burning of moss herbs, sprinkling of holy water and hanging of crosses" Alexandreina briefly explained

It was easy.

Buffy nodded, "All stuff I have in my house"

"Good" Alexandreina nodded and waved her hand in the vague direction of the stairs. "Go get the supplies. We should do this now"

Giles nodded in agreement, "Yes. Willows house will need it as well. Though I believe if you demonstrate we should be able to recreate it on our own"

"Yeah. But I'm gonna have a hard time explaining that to my dad" Willie muttered with a wince

"You really think it'll bother him?" Xander rose a brow

"Ira Rosenberg's only daughter nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall?" Willow scoffed slightly. "I have to go over to Xander's house just to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' every year"

"Right" Alexandreina cleared her throat uncomfortably

Thankfully Buffy chose then to return with the supplies. Alexandreina set about nailing them at the doors. Giles spreading the holy water on the perimeter and Janna burning the herbs. It really was a simply thing to do. Despite few actually knowing of the rituals possibility. It was a Kalderash Clan specialty though. Their clan were experts in creating protective barriers to keep their homes safe. All travellers had to be if they wanted to survive. So it was no surprise the travellers with special abilities used then to do so.

"'Hicce verbis consensus rescissus est.' By these strong unanimous words Angelus' permission to enter is rescinded" Alexandreina finished off the ritual.


Flash.

"My Uncle Enyos told me about you" Janna said to a woman in a store.

The Shopkeeper nodded, "So you're Janna, then? Sorry to hear about your uncle". The Shopkeeper producer a round wooden box. "He was a good customer. Here. One Thesulan Orb. Spirit vault for the rituals of the undead. He said you would want it"

Janna smiled sadly

"I don't get many calls for those lately. Sold a couple as new age paperweights last year. Yeah, I just love those new-agers, boy. They helped to send my youngest to college." The shopkeeper spoke fondly.

Janna nodded along as she paid for the orb.

"By the way, you do know that the transliteration annals for the ritual of the undead were lost. Without the annals, the surviving text is gibberish" the shopkeeper informed Janna helpfully.

Janna nodded, "And without a translated text, the Orbs of Thesulah are pretty much useless... Yeah, I know"

The Shopkeeper nodded slowly, "Well, I only mention it because I have a strict policy of no refunds"

Janna chuckled at that and nodded. "It's okay. I'm working on a computer program to translate the Rumanian liturgy to English based on a random sampling of the text"

The Shopkeeper frowned, "Yecchh. I don't like computers. They give me the willies"

Janna took the orb and shrugged. "Well, thank you"

"You're welcome" the shopkeeper nodded politely. "By the way... Not that it's any of my business, really, but, uh, what are you planning on conjuring up? If you can decipher the text?"

Janna paused at the exit of the shop and looks thoughtful for a moment. "A present for a friend of mine"

The Shopkeeper rose her brows. "Really? What are you gonna give him?"

Janna looks into the Orb and it begins to glow lightly. "His soul"

Flash.

Janna is sat at the desk in her classroom working on her computer. She taps a few keys, but then looks up at the screen. A window appears on the screen of the Rumanian text, and the bar zips across it.

"Come on, come on..." Janna frowns before triumph takes over her face. "That's it! It's gonna work! This... will work"

Janna pops out an unlabeled yellow floppy disk and sets it aside by some books near the edge of her desk. Janna wheels her chair over to the printer and looks at what she set to print. When Jana looks up she's face to face with Angelus who's sitting in a desk at the back of the class.

Jana gasps

"Angel... How did you get in here?" Janna quickly backs up, casting a nervous look towards the door.

Angelus smirked, "I was invited. The sign in front of the school... 'Formatia trans sicere educatorum.'"

"'Enter all ye who seek knowledge.'" Janna sighed

Angelus laughs mocking as he gets up and slowly approaches. "What can I say? I'm a knowledge seeker"

"Angel, I-I-I've got good news" Janna attempts to tell him

Angelus nods absentmindedly, "I heard. You went shopping at the local boogedy-boogedy store" he stated as he spots the Orb on her desk and picks it up. "The Orb of Thesulah. If memory serves, this is supposed to summon a person's soul... from the ether... store it until it can be transferred"

The Orb begins to glow as he looks into it. He glances up at Janna as she edges away from him.

Angelus smirked, "You know what I hate most about these things?"

Janna watches him warily.

He heaves the orb into the chalkboard behind her head. Janna screams. The orb shatters into hundreds of pieces and a cloud of dust fills the room.

Angelus smiles, "They're so damn fragile. Must be that shoddy gypsy craftsmanship, huh?"

Janna is backed into the wall and trembles with fear. Bravely inching her way toward the open door.

Angelus reaches over to the PC and turns the monitor so he can see it. "I never cease to be amazed how much the world has changed in just two and a half centuries. It's a miracle to me. You, you put the secrets to restoring my soul in here..." He shoves the computer off her of desk and onto the floor. It breaks, and the monitor shatters and sparks and starts to burn. Angelus tears the printout from the printer. "It comes out here. 'The Ritual of Restoration.' Wow. This, this brings back memories" He starts to tear the printout in half.

"Wait. That's your..." Janna cuts herself off

Angelus laughed. "Oh, my cure? No, thanks. Been there, done that, and deja vu just isn't what it used to be. My... Isn't this my lucky day. The computer... and the pages. Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone"

Jenny starts toward the back door after she finds the first one to be locked.

Angelus looks back up at her sporting his game face. "And teacher makes three" he grins As he roars and quickly jumps up, grabbing hold of Janna.

Janna screams, "No!"

He throws her back into the locked door, and it breaks open. Janna looks back at him, scrambles to her feet and begins to run.

Angelus sneered, "Oh, good. I need to work up an appetite first"

Janna just keeps running.

Janna looks around as she runs but Angelus isn't anywhere to be seen. He's not chasing anymore. So she comes to s stop at the landing by a large arched window. Jenny looks around to come up with a plan, right as Angelita appears beside her again. Janna screams when he grabs hold of her.

Angelus sighs, "Sorry, Jenny, this is where you get off". In one swift movement he twists her head and snaps her neck. Her body collapses to the floor. Angelus smirked, " Ah... I never get tired of doing that"

Flash.

Giles' arrives at his apartment door, unlocking it with his keys. Surprise crosses his face. He sees a red roses on the floor and the music of the opera "La Boheme" coming from upstairs. He takes the rose, inhales its aroma and smiles.

"Hello? " he calls out smiling, "Jenny?"

There's no answer.

Giles puts his briefcase aside and steps over to his coat rack. "It's me!" He calls upstairs as he takes off his coat and hangs it up. Giles looks around again and sees a chilled bottle of champagne and two long-stemmed glasses on his desk. On top of the crystal ice bucket is a folded piece of paper leaning against the bottle. Giles sets down his keys and takes the note. He unfolds it and reads;

Upstairs.

Giles smiles and looks up toward the loft. He takes the two glasses and starts up the stairs. The opera music gets louder as he nears the loft. There is a rose on each step of the staircase that widens his smile the further he gets. When Giles reaches the top he sees Janna on the bed.

Dead.

Janna isn't moving, her dead eyes stare unseeing, her neck at an odd angle.

Giles falls to his knees.

Flash.

Giles is leaning on the wall by his front door staring blankly into space. The coroners take Jannas body away, but he doesn't notice. Red and blue lights flash on the night.

A police officer approaches him. "Mr. Giles, I need to ask you to come with us. Just to answer a few questions"

Giles nods while still staring blankly ahead. "Of course. Yes. Procedure" he looks up at the officer then and sighs. "I need to make a phone call... if that's all right"

The officer nods

Giles goes to the phone and dials a number, whispering to himself as he does.

Flash.


Alexandreina didn't even bother getting dressed properly after her vision. Instead she found herself running into town with a pair of leggings and an old baggy t-shirt on. Her shoes were the nearest pair of boots she had been able to find. Clearly she looked like a mess...

But she didn't care.

It didn't matter right now.

Appearances didn't matter when her cousin and closest friend might be dead.

So Alexandreina never stopped to worry about how she looked right now. Her mess of curls blowing freely in the wind as she ran. Her face drained of colour as she turned onto Giles street and spotted the police vehicles and crime scene tape. Just like in her vision.

She was too late.

Oh fuck.

Oh fuck no.

"Janna..." Alexandreina pitifully whispered, a whimper leaving her mouth as her eyes pooled with tears.

She was too late and she knew it.

Alexandreina stood in the street watching the police move around the scene for a few moments. Frozen in shock. Nobody seemed to see her or her reaction. Thankfully. And she didn't need to see what was left of Giles apartment, already having seen it in her vision. She knew the details only two others would know. And those details replayed in her mind on a loop now.

She couldn't get the look on Janna's terrified face out of head...

But she didn't try too hard.

It was times like these that her visions were both a gift and a curse. She didn't want to see the things she does, but she didn't think she could bare not knowing them. At least she had true answers.

Unlike Giles.

Giles...

Alexandreina sighed and shook her head at the thought. She didn't know the man very well. But she did know that Janna had been in love with him. So in love that Janna had been ready to settle down here in Sunnydale instead of going back to the city. They'd spoken about it the other day after the ritual for Buffys house. Janna had been so happy... so... so alive and so Janna-like.

She choked on a sob.

Alexandreina let her face, for one moment, crumple before she held her breath and regained her composure.

Crying never helped anything...

So she didn't cry.

Couldn't cry.

Alexandreina failed to remember the last time that she ever had met those tears freely fall. At this point it would be like opening a flood gate. Once she opened that door, she'd never get it sealed again. That was not something she could risk doing and she knew it. Alexandreina also knew that Janna would accept and understand why. What Janna wouldn't be able to accept was Alexandreina leaving Giles to mourn on his own. Janna wouldn't forgive that. The woman was too loyal and caring to have ever wanted that for Giles.

So Alexandreina knew that was where her attention was best put.

Giles.

She would take care of the man for Janna. It's what Janna would want her to do. And Alexandreina owed a lot to her cousin.

She sighed sadly.

With a shake of her head she made the walk to where she guessed Giles would be. It didn't take long to arrive there. Honestly, even if it had, Alexandreina didn't think she would have really noticed anyway. But she didn't debate that as she walked up the driveway to her destination.

The Summers household.

Alexandreina knocked on the door and waited silently for someone to open it.

Mrs. Summers, Joyce, opened the door with a worried frown as she took in Alexandreinas appearance. "Hi? Uh, is everything alright?" Joyce asked kindly, eyes filling with worry

"Is Giles here?" Alexandreina asked, "I was hoping to talk to him"

Joyce's face softened slightly at that. "Uh, Mr. Giles had had a long night. Maybe you haven't heard but-"

"She was my cousin" Alexandreina supplied, surprising herself with the amount of grief that had slipped into her voice. She cleared her throat uncomfortably at Joyce's wide eyed stare. Diverting her eyes she sighed slowly.

"Oh" Joyce whispered

The woman then ushered her into the house, as if that once piece of information had made all the world of sense to her. Maybe it had? Maybe Alexandreina looked as bad as she thought she did and grief was the easiest explanation for that. Either way, Alexandreina didn't question it as she was led into the Summers living room. She spotted Giles sitting unblinking on the couch. He looked as if he weren't mentally in the room with them right now, and she supposed he probably wasn't.

He was with Janna.

Only Alexandreina knew better than to think it was happy memory's of Janna he was seeing.

Alexandreina offered Joyce a small smile as the woman moved to give them privacy. She sighed then and looked back at the man her cousin loved. A deeper love than Alexandreina had ever know. Once Alexandreina couldn't fathom.

"Giles" Alexandreina muttered, hoping to gain his attention

Giles' head snapped up and he stared at her for a second. Processing. Then his face softened and he looked suddenly apologetic. "I-I-I'm sorry. I forgot Jenny was f-family to you too..." Giles stuttered. "I-I should have told you sooner"

Alexandreina shrugged, "I saw it all in a vision"

Giles' face paled.

Like he couldn't think of anything worse than watching someone you love be killed. To be trapped in your mind instead of being able to actually stop it.

"I-I burnt the warehouse down" Giles announced quietly. "I-I was so a-angry. Buffy had to save me. I-I wasn't t-thinking. I just went and tried to kill him... to kill Angel... but now... now I'm just-" he stopped, as if he didn't have the right words to explain anymore.

He probably didn't.

Alexandreina couldn't think of the right words either, so she didn't say anything. But she did sit down in the couch beside him. She hoped Janna could see that she was with Giles. Janna would probably have laughed at her or tried to hide a small smirk if she had been here to see this. Everyone knew Alexandreina usually left a conversation when emotions became the subject. Janna had seen how uncomfortable Alexandreina would get, and Janna thought it had been amusing.

Maybe it was amusing?

Alexandreina didn't know.

But she still hoped that Janna could see that Alexandreina was doing as she knew Janna would want.

Oh, Janna...

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