Ilona locked the doors behind her then walked behind her desk and sat down; Andrew and Dawn sat in chairs in front of the desk.

Dawn looked at Ilona. "Are you sure that this room is secure? I'm sure you've heard of my sister and how she feels about Wolfram and Hart. She probably has spies working here, and I don't want her to know just yet that I'm interviewing for a summer internship here; she would throw a fit."

"Si, Si!" Ilona replied. "I've hired a warlock to put a spell on the room to make it soundproof to anyone outside; I've also had the room scanned for bugs and cameras. Don't you worry your pretty head, Signora Dawn! No one will be able to watch or listen to what goes on in here. Oh, and grazie for reminding me; I need to have my mind readers check the staff tomorrow for these spies you speak of." She scribbled a note down on a pad on her desk.

Dawn and Andrew looked at each other. Then, simultaneously, he reached inside his suit jacket and she reached inside her purse, and they both pulled out recently sharpened stakes.

Ilona's smile vanished as Andrew and Dawn stood up. She looked at the two of them with a look of puzzlement, which slowly gave way to realization. She smiled again.

"Ohh, I see. Very clever, si, si. Tell me, how did you get past my mind readers?"

Dawn's hand went to her neck, and pulled out a necklace. Attached to it was a small, green, sphere.

"We each have one of these talismans. We ordered them online; very expensive, too."

"And what exactly do they do, Signora Dawn?"

"They can only be used once. Andrew and I both whispered the words 'mentis reflectum' when your assistant came downstairs. Doing this activated the talisman, and for a few minutes, it made our minds reflect our actions. In other words, we were pretending to be interviewing for summer internships, and when we activated the talisman, we actually were intending to do exactly that. That is how the mind readers did not catch us; the spell wore off by the time you brought us in here."

The CEO smiled widely. "Very clever, yes. But it will do you no good. You are not Slayers; you know you can't defeat me, even if nobody outside can hear what goes on here, si?

"I guess we'll just have to test that theory," replied Andrew.

"Okay." Ilona's face changed; sharp fangs replaced her smile and her eyes turned yellow. She had a more bat-like visage than most vampires, indicating that she was quite aged. Andrew and Dawn knew that when it came to vampires, age meant strength, and they both realized at that moment that they had more than likely bitten off more than they could chew.

Ilona stood suddenly and violently shoved her desk away from her; pens and paper went flying. Dawn quickly jumped and landed on her side on top of the desk, then rolled off the other side onto the floor, next to Ilona's feet. Andrew, on the other hand, was hit hard, and he flew into the wall behind him.

Ilona dropped to her knees and lunged at Dawn. Dawn raised her stake in defense, but Ilona just grabbed Dawn's hand and twisted it, forcing her to drop the stake.

Dawn struggled violently, hitting at Ilona with her free hand. Ilona grabbed at Dawn's throat. Dawn kicked Ilona, to no avail.

After a moment's struggle, Ilona finally had her right hand tightly gripping Dawn's neck; she pulled her up into a sitting position. Using her left hand, she took the collar of Dawn's shirt and yanked it, causing several buttons to pop off, and then pulled Dawn's shirt and bra strap down to expose her right shoulder.

"I know that it's easy to think of me as an evil creature who should die, Signora," said Ilona. "But I'm sure that once I'm done, you'll begin to see my point of view."

Ilona pulled Dawn close in a tight embrace. Due to the tight grip on her throat, Dawn was unable to scream as she felt the CEO's fangs sink into the area between her neck and her right shoulder.

--

Willow tiptoed cautiously through the maze of cubicles, listening intently and watching carefully for any sign of the Black Hat.

She and Kennedy had been at this for about ten minutes. They knew he was still in here because occasionally they could hear the sound of his alligator boots clopping on the floor.

Willow took a right and continued. She checked each cubicle on both the left and the right as she crept down the aisle.

She turned to check a cubicle on her left, but as she was about to stick her head in, she saw movement out of the corner of her right eye. She turned swiftly and found the Black Hat coming out of a cubicle up ahead; he looked just as surprised to see her.

"Kennedy! Over here!" Willow yelled. She threw the knife in her right hand at the cowboy (again using magic as guidance); she aimed it lower so that it would be more difficult for him to catch.

The Black Hat evidently noticed this tactic and swiftly reached into the cubicle he had just exited and pulled out a chair, raising it a foot in the air. The knife landed and was impaled in the seat. Immediately, he set the chair down and kicked it towards Willow. She only had time to raise her arms in protection as the chair smashed into her, knocking her backwards. The Black Hat started to run down the hall away from her, but he stopped when he saw Kennedy come around the corner from the left. Turning his head both ways, he picked a cubicle and ducked into it.

Kennedy saw him run into the cubicle. She looked down the hall, and saw Willow getting up; she appeared to be alright. Kennedy decided to go after the cowboy first.

She reached the cubicle in less than two seconds, and ran into it, axe raised.

The Black Hat was standing there behind a desk, smiling.

In his hands was a shotgun, pointed directly at Kennedy's chest. She saw a flash come from the barrel, and heard a deafening sound.

This is going to be really hard on Willow was the last thought that went through Kennedy's mind before the bullet tore through her insides and splattered them all over the floor behind her.

--

Author's Note: I can already hear the boos in the background; I'd better duck before the throwing of the tomatoes begins.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Keep chugging along, the end of the story approacheth.

As a reminder, I still have midterms coming up; I know I managed to get this chapter typed out, but it could still be a week before I get another one out.

Leave feedback as always; I would especially like it for this chapter. Special thanks to AscaDuin and Allen Pitt, both of whom with their constant feedback have been very good about keeping me accountable and encouraging me to keep going.