Alone in the house

Buffy walked quietly down Revello Drive, deep in thought. Cordelia's murder still troubled her, not just because of the grisly nature, but also because now she had all sorts of unwelcome doubts about her boyfriend. She clasped her books tighter to her chest, and bit her lip worriedly. Angel had a soul. He had gotten over his hell experience. What reason would he have to mutilate like that, not even feed? It just didn't make sense. For a moment, Cordelia's desperate face flashed in front of her.

'We have to UN-INVITE Angel from my car!' she insisted. 'I gave him a lift once!'

Suddenly, Buffy felt a whole lot better. Cordelia had never invited Angel into her house, she realised, her heart missing a beat. He couldn't have killed her, how could he have gotten into her house uninvited?

With this thought firmly in mind, she finally arrived at her house. She quickly entered the front door, and instinctively found her self locking it behind her. It was one of those rare times Buffy was actually grateful that she was a Chosen One. At least she could defend herself if anything Splatter movie-ish came her way.

Humming a little tunelessly, she briskly turned on the television with every intention of watching the kids' channels. Anything to keep her mind off things.

Her humming died abruptly when a newscaster frowned solemnly from the TV screen.

'Sunnydale has been overwhelmed by a terrible murder. '

A picture of Cordelia in her May Queen gown smiled widely.

'Sunnydale is known for its high crime rate and attracts gangs from all over California, who wish to take advantage of its small town mentality, However, Cordelia Chase…'

She flicked over the channel only to find an alternate newsreader, equally miserable.

'Word has it that the family was in severe debt due to tax evasion. It is possible that this horrible tragedy is the product of loan sharks…the family denies…'

She tried another channel, hoping for the best.

No such luck.

'Last night, a local teenager was found slaughtered outside her own home in the picturesque town of Sunnydale.'

Buffy snorted.

''Cordelia Chase, aged eighteen,, had been found a bloody mess, her neck stabbed multiple times and extreme knife wounds to the stomach. Never has Sunnydale seen such a heinous crime. The tragedy links to another teenage death. Only a few months ago, a young Caribbean girl was discovered in Sunnydale High itself, her throat gashed open. Police are baffled by this case, as-'

Sick of seeing Cordelia's carefree smile, Buffy hurriedly turned the television off, and there herself back on the couch. Hearing about Kendra's death made her realise that it was her fault people she knew kept dying around her. If only she'd saved Kendra, if only she was a closer friend to Cordelia, where would they be now? Was she some kind of curse to all she met?

The phone rang shrilly, and she woke up from her self pity. Maybe it was her mother, calling from her hotel.

She picked up. 'Hello', she drawled lazily into the receiver.

Silence. She sat up.

'Hello?' she tried again,

'Oh Buffy, sorry, it's just me'

'Willow!' Buffy breathed, relieved somehow. 'Thanks god, you were beginning to scare me'

'Sorry, I was just feeding my new fish. Anyway, I wanted to ask you a favour. Could I come over tonight? My parents are out, and I really don't want to be alone in the house tonight. After what happened. I've got a severe case of the wiggins.'

'And you thought you're bound to be safe with a Slayer, right?' Buffy teased, smiling despite the knot in her stomach.

'Well, yeah, I just wanted to check with you first, as'

'C'mon Will, you're welcome here like all the time. Of course you can come over'

'Thanks. How about six?'

'Fine by me. And Will, thanks for the company'

'You too. See you later'

'The door will totally be open for you. Bye'

It felt better, knowing that she wouldn't have to be alone that night after all. Maybe she could give patrol a break even. She didn't want to unnecessarily endanger Willow.

She lay back on the couch, feeling her eyelids droop heavily. Before she knew it, she lost all sense of consciousness.

In her dreams, Buffy saw Angel. He seemed so far away. 'Buffy, don't answer the phone', he shouted.

'What?' she spluttered, feeling her throat tighten.

'Don't open the door!' he yelled, his voice strangely echoey.

'Angel, I….don't…understand…' she begged, her tongue feeling fuzzy and sticky and basically useless.

'Don't try to es-'

But a loud noise drowned out his words, and Buffy collapsed, clutching her neck.

There was ringing. Buffy opened her blurry eyes and groaned, and reached for the alarm clock. She knocked an object to the floor, but the noise persisted.

'Urgggh', she mumbled, forcing herself to get up. It was the phone. She automatically picked up.

'Hello', she grumbled sleepily.

'Buffy, are you okay? You sound kinda oozy'

Willow again… She glanced at the time. It was half past six.

'I was just taking a little nap. Anyway, where are you, I thought you were coming over'

'I am. That's actually why I'm calling. I'm gonna be another half an hour. My neighbour's cat got run over, and I was kind of a witness. I won't be long'

'O-kay…just don't be too long Will'

'Yeah I…WAIT MRS TINGLE, NO!'

'Willow?'

'Look, I've gotta go. I'll explain later'

'Right…' Buffy began, but stopped when she heard the dial tone.

Buffy frowned. She didn't really want Willow to come over too late. With a weirdo skulking about, anything could happen to her vulnerable friend. She tried to recall her dream, but found she could hardly remember any of it. Something about Angel…. But after that…zilch.

The phone screamed shrilly, and Buffy jumped. She laughed at her nervousness, and picked up.

'Will, can you please hurry up, you're wasting time just-'

'Hello, Buffy', a strange, deep voice rasped from the receiver.

Buffy thought fast. The voice was a little familiar, but she couldn't immediately put it into context.

'Uh…who is this?'

'You tell me'

'I…I have no idea', Buffy answered, frowning.

'Scary night isn't it? With all the murders and all it's like just out of a horror movie or something'

'My life IS a horror movie', she muttered dryly. 'Look, whatever small headed jock this is, I'm not interested in playing your stupid wind-up-Buffy game, so-'

'Do you like scary movies, Buffy?'

'No', she said quickly.

'Why not?'

'They're all the same. They're full of deluded television actors thinking they're great 'cos they've broken into movies whilst they're actually in some low-budget, badly written screen junk that kills them off in a disgustingly gory way which you know will be cut before it even hit's the cinemas'

'Are you alone in the house?'

'Look, do you want me to find you and kick your ass? It can be so arranged.'

'Are you going to….slay…me?' the voice laughed.

Buffy froze. 'Come on, tell me who you really are', she said quietly, getting up to peer through the curtains.

'The question isn't who am I…its where am I?'

'S-so…where…are you?'

'Your front porch'

Buffy walked softly towards the bookcase, and reached behind an encyclopaedia. She pulled out a stake and a small dagger, still clasping the phone to her ear. This had to be a vampire. A vampire that wanted her to leave the sanctuary of her home, and be taken by surprise somewhere outside. This wasn't the first time a vampire had tried their luck like this.

'Alright, I call your bluff', she said suddenly, and quickly opened the front door.

She looked around her. The night air was quiet, motionless, serene. No toothy no-brainer with an attitude problem. The phone was still connected. She laughed.

'So where are you?', she asked the voice.

'Right here'

She spun round, feeling her senses tingle. But still she saw nothing.

''Listen', she threatened, 'if you think you can waste my time like this, you are so mistaken. I have better things to do than play little miss Drew for your sick pleasure.'

There was silence down the other end. Buffy sighed, knowing that the vampire had realized she was not as stupid as they'd obviously thought.

'Whatever. Bye now'

'You hang up on me and you'll die just like the others!', the voice exploded. She widened her eyes in surprise. 'Do you want to die again, Buffy? We can make it more painful this time…'

Buffy backed into the house, her mind reeling. She sensed a sudden movement behind her, and relying on her quick reflexes, twirled round and stabbed with her stake. Her instincts were right. She had just plunged the wooden point into the left shoulder of a black cloaked figure holding a long, sharp knife. And wearing a white ghostface mask that could have come from the Scream movie set.

The figure groaned in pain, and her stomach churned as thick blood oozed from the mask's eye sockets, forming bloody trails of tears. Taking advantage of her split second shock, the figure lunged forward, pushing her to the floor. She dropped her stake and dagger. It delivered a hard blow to her head, making her vision blur. She tried to get up, but only felt hard knees on her rib cage. She closed her eyes, knowing that her destiny was to be killed before her eighteenth birthday.

She felt the pressure on her ribs lighten a little, and she opened her eyes to see her attacker raising the knife high in the air, targeting her vulnerable bare neck.

'No!', she screamed, and knocked the knife out of the killer's hands. She then jumped up and punched at the masked head, knocking it backwards. She picked up her fallen dagger, and raised it to strike back. Sensing a losing battle, the ghostface ran up the stairs.

'Come back here!', Buffy shouted, running after him. She saw him disappear into her bedroom, and she followed, almost tripping over the small table. But when she reached her room, panting, it was empty. Whoever it was had already gone, and left through her now open window.

'Crap', she breathed, clutching her sore ribs. She walked over to the window, and looked through it to find out which direction they fled. She looked down and screamed. She then let out a sigh of relief. It was only Angel, on his way to climb through the window.

'Buffy, it's only me', Angel soothed, jumping over the window sill to take her in his arms. 'What's wrong? Why are you holding that dagger?'

'Oh Angel', Buffy sobbed, her strength collapsing under his touch. 'Cordy's killer…I think…I think he was her tonight, he tried to kill me and… he got away and…I failed…I couldn't…'

'Shhhh', Angel whispered, stroking her hair softly. 'It's okay. I'm here'

Buffy leant against him, her hands against his chest. Her right hand felt wet, and she pulled away to examine it. It was covered in blood. Gasping, she looked at Angel's left shoulder, and even in the darkness of the room, she could make out a bloody wound of some sort.

'Oh my god', she murmured, taking two steps back.

'Buffy?', Angel said, his eyes questioning.

Buffy took one look at true love and could only see fear and evil there.

'Buffy, what-?'

'Get away from me!', she screamed, fleeing from the room. She could vaguely hear him call her name, he was following her, she had to get away…

She fumbled with the front door lock and finally thrust it open…right into the face of the killer.