Chapter 8 The Council.
Tuesday: 10: 30 a.m.
Several hours later Julian called an impromptu clan meeting. This consisted of the Nosferatu, Gangrel, the Toreadors, Brujah, and a new clan, the Assamites. Each clan was different from each other. The Brujah Kindred were typically outspoken and defiant. The Gangrel's ancestors were gypsies, and they were proud and street smart. The Nosferatu possessed talents both magical and mystical, and they tended to live solitary lives. The Toreadors were elegant, flamboyant creatures both creative and passionate. There was always an artist in the bunch. And the new clan, the Assamites were assassins. There was a lot of noise against having them in the Camarila, but they also brought their own uniqueness.
For several years in San Francisco, Julian had been the Prince of the city. He created the laws and selected which Kindred he would allow in the city, but most importantly, they needed his permission to embrace someone into the Kindred lifestyle. Being the Prince has been all about power. As a Ventrue industrialist, Julian has to be constantly on guard against other clans trying to usurp his position.
He stood at the head of the conference table in the Haven. The Haven is a club once owned by Lillie Langtry, Julian's old girlfriend. For several years, Julian and Lillie had lived together in his mansion across the bay. But that changed when Buffy entered their lives. Jealousy and resentment caused Lillie to do the unthinkable – she broke the Kindred's number one tradition: The masquerade. But she did not die because of that. Lillie was executed because she had also conspired to have Buffy killed and to have a new Kindred take over Julian's city. Since her death, there has been a lack of Toreador leaders willing to stay in the position of being the Primogen.
Upon Lillie's death, the Haven had reverted to Julian who was its co-owner. However, the Toreadors grew angry that Julian had ownership of the club. Since a Toreador had also owned the club, they thought it should go to the new Primogen, whoever he or she may be.
Julian then took roll by calling each clan leader by name, acknowledging their right to be at the meeting. "For the last couple of days," he said, "something has come to my attention that we have unknown Kindred in our fair city. These Kindred didn't see fit to come acknowledge me as their prince," he said with an angry rumble in his voice, "but we had the Gangrel looking through that. The other item on my agenda is a new Toreador Primogen. Peter Turk has been acting Primogen until a permanent could be found. The position was offered to him, but he declined, stating lack of desire. Is there anyone the Toreadors have considered stepping in to be Primogen?"
"Yes, we have," Peter said, with a slight hesitation. He was a third generation Toreador, a second lieutenant in the clan. The fair Lillie herself sired his sire, that's why he got the job. A job he never wanted in the first place. He wasn't cut out to be a leader. Everyone knew this.
"Good," said Julian, momentarily speechless in his surprise. "The clan needs someone strong enough to hold the position; the Toreadors haven't shown any such leadership since Lillie died."
"Since she was murdered, you mean," said a voice at the door.
Everyone turned to watch a beautiful woman walk seductively into the room.
Julian frowned. "Who are you?" he demanded, eyebrows lifted inquiringly.
"Sabine Petit-Raine, the Toreador Primogen," she said taking a chair at the far end of the room. Sabine was a small platinum blond woman barely five feet, with large green eyes that seemed to dominate her face and full pouty lips.
Julian was taken aback by the nonchalant answer. "Why wasn't I told that the Toreadors had a new Primogen?" he questioned.
"I'm sorry, my prince," said Peter. "It's my fault. I should have told you," he said wringing his pale hands nervously.
"I've never seen you before," Julian continued, ignoring Peter. "Why didn't you come to me and acknowledge me as Prince of the city?" he asked.
"I had things to take care of," Sabine said, regarding Julian with a lofty expression.
"So I wasn't important?" he asked flatly.
"That's not what I meant," she said exasperated.
"What did you mean?" asked Julian, with an inquiring lift of his eyebrow.
"I am new to your city," said Sabine with a suggestive smile. "I didn't quite understand the protocole."
Julian nodded his head. "Was your sire so ignorant that you were not taught the holiest of Kindred laws?" Julian growled.
Sabine eyes flash gray for a second. "My sire taught all I needed to know," she retorted.
"Then if you aren't ignorant of the laws, then you are being disrespectful."
"No, no," said Peter clamoring. His eyes widened in fright and his breath hitched. "It's my fault," he said on a shaky sigh.
"How?" Julian demanded.
"Uhh-Uhh," Peter stammered, his eyes roaming wildly around the room.
Sabine smiled at Peter with a mock frown. "Ignore him," she said. "As I stated earlier I am new to votre belle ville. Your lovely city."
"New?" Julian inquired, choosing to ignore the byplay for a moment.
"Oui," she said, giving him a raking glance.
"I see," said Julian, brow knitted. "But you were named clan leader?"
"I am, how do you say this," Sabine said, wrinkling her nose adorably, "Fort," she admitted sardonically. "Strong."
"Why are you here?" Julian insisted.
She wrinkled her nose delicately. "Didn't you call for all chefs de clan to meet?" she questioned her voice like silk. "Or this was an arbitrary meeting?"
"Don't be facetious," said Julian, his own voice was velvety smooth, yet edged with steel. "You know what I mean."
She gave him a hint of smile, but it didn't reach her cold eyes. "I wanted to be where ma mère spent her last days."
"Your mother?" Julian asked, eyeing her skeptically. "Who is your mother?"
"Lillie," she said. It was as if she had dropped a bomb. Throughout the room, there were several quick intakes of breath.
Julian could only blink in surprise. "Lillie? Lillie Langtry?" he asked. Mixed feelings surged through Julian. 'Lillie,' he thought. For a person that had meant so much to him, he had barely mentioned her name. One, because it might hurt Lissa to have her name uttered in her presence, and two, even though she had been dead for several years, Julian hadn't quite forgiven her for her trespass against him and Buffy. They had so much history together. Why couldn't Lillie be happy with just being friends? They made better friends than lovers anyway. Why didn't she see that? He sighed and tuned back into the conversation.
"Oui," she said with a forced demure smile. "I am the fille naturelleand the embraced daughter of Lillie Langtry."
An uncomfortable silence enveloped the room.
"I didn't know that Lillie had a child," said Julian, his voice was carefully colored in neutral shades.
Sabine shrugged. "It was a long time ago."
"I thought you had died," said Daedalus, his tone was apologetic. "At least that was the impression I got from Lillie."
Julian looked at Daedalus in disbelief. "You knew?" asked Julian incredulously.
"Lillie was a friend," said Daedalus stoically. "We did talk occasionally. She told me about the child several years ago. Naturally, it was before she was embraced."
"Naturally," Julian muttered. He hated having things kept back from him. Sure, everyone has a right to his or her privacy, but he would like to have known what was going on. "If you are Lillie's daughter, why haven't you contacted me or any of us before this?"
Sabine dropped her stormy eyes before Julian's steady gaze. "I thought I wouldn't be welcome," she said.
"Welcome!" said Julian with a surprise air. "Of course you would be welcome. Why did you think you wouldn't be?"
She kept all expression from her face when she said quietly, "You had my mother killed."
Julian winced and took a deep breath. "She broke the law," he said. "As Prince of this city, I must uphold the laws. Because of her actions, Kindred died."
Sabine's fist bunched. "The laws arevieilli," she retorted. Antiquated. "We are more than what we once were. Nous sommes robuste, plus intelligent et sans aucun doute plus rapide. We are stronger, smarter, and definitely faster. Why should we bow down to a lowly human?"
"Yeah," said Cameron. He didn't care about the woman in front of him, and he didn't know Lillie very well. But the newcomer made sense. Why should they hide, when the Kindred are stronger than humans are? Sure, Kindred were human once, but it was a choice each of them made to become something else.
"Because," said Julian, remembering what Buffy had said. "We need mortals for survival. We need to have tighter laws, because in the last few days, mortals around the city are coming up missing."
"So, what does that have to do with us," said Cameron with an arrogant lift of his eyebrow. "We can't police mortals; we are not their mamas or papas."
"No, we are not," acknowledged Cash. "But, it is our responsibility to make sure that one of us is not doing the killing."
"One of us?" said Cameron, shrugging dismissively. "That is absurd. None of us would be so blatant in disregard of the laws," he retorted.
"Well, one of us has been," said Julian matter-of-factly.
"Who says?" Cameron demanded his voice heavy with sarcasm. "The human police that don't know their hand from their foot?"
"No," Julian said. There was an edge to his voice. "I have it on good authority – Kindred authority – that there were Kindred involved with these deaths."
"How many deaths are we talking?" asked the Assamites curiously. The Assamites were shape shifters. They were also mercenaries. No one really knows what sex an Assamite really is. You could be talking to a male but looking at a female. That is why they made the perfect killer.
"It's been about three deaths so far," said Julian with a mild inflection in his voice.
"Three!" said Cameron with an incredulous expression on his face. "All of this over three deaths?"
Julian drew himself up. "It's been three deaths too many," he said, his tone chilly.
"I have been in your fair city for awhile, I never heard of these deaths," said Sabine, with a forced smile. "Don't you think if Kindred were killing humans, it would be in the news?"
"Am I not Prince of this city?" he retorted. "I know how to control my city. Remember I am law here!" said Julian, banging his fist on the table. "Nothing escapes my notice. Nothing," he shouted. Suddenly, the anger deflated and he sighed. "We don't want the people to panic, so I have been keeping everything under wraps," he said softly.
Sabine casually glanced around the room. "So," she said, taking a nail file out of her Prada bag. "What will you do to the malfaiteur?" (perpetrator)
Julian's eyes narrowed thoughtfully on her for a second. "Death," he said, getting up from his chair in a dismissive gesture forgetting the reason he had called the meeting in the first place – The Laws. As the group turned to walk out the door, Julian said, "I want every one of you to check with your people and find out who's doing these murders. I want this person or persons to be found quickly," he demanded. "I can't have dissention in my city," he said. "Cash," he called. "I want to talk to you for a few minutes."
"Sure, Julian," Cash said, pausing on his way out the door.
Julian stood at the empty doorway for a few minutes, watching the newcomer and Cameron headed towards the bar. "I want you to check out our Ms. Petit-Raine. Find out when she entered the city and where she's coming from."
"You don't think she's Lillie's daughter?" Cash questioned curiously.
Julian smiled coldly. "Better to be safe than sorry."
Tuesday 12:00 p.m.
Buffy needed down time, especially after viewing Catherine Dunmore's body, so she decided to call home. Not finding the one person she needed to talk to, she had Victor drive her to the Haven, where she was sure to find him. The viewing of the body had affected her more than most. Why? She asked herself. Was it the way the girl had died? Sure, it was awful. She shook her head. Nah, that wasn't it, she thought. She had viewed other deaths that were more gruesome. She took a deep breath, but her mind kept going back to that photograph. That damn photograph. She couldn't get it out of her head. The only difference between that photograph and Buffy was the eyes. In the picture, Catherine's eyes were the picture of innocence; she hadn't been inside the belly of the beast yet. As Buffy walked towards the conference room, she took one last look at the picture she carried in her hand.
Sensing that Buffy was near, Julian, who had been for the past forty minutes sitting and staring at an empty wall, got up to greet her as she walked into the room.
"Hey there," she said dragging him back to the chair to sit in his lap.
"Hey there yourself," he said, nuzzling her neck and inhaling her unique scent of vanilla and spice. "This is a surprise. What are doing here?"
"Can't I just want to see you," Buffy said with a pout.
"A bad day?" he whispered, his breath hot against her ear.
She shrugged. Even now after all these years, the mere touch of his hand sent warming shivers through her.
"Tell me about it?" he said sighing deeply.
"Here," Buffy said, handing Julian the photo of the dead girl.
"What's this," he asked puzzled, turning the photograph over in his hands.
"Ms. Catherine Dunmore. You don't want to see what she looks like now," Buffy said bitterly.
"Ah honey, I am so sorry," Julian said, gathering her more securely into his arms. He glanced at the photograph and almost did a double take. His gaze swung from the picture to the woman in his arms. "She looks a little like you," he said with a slight hesitation.
"Little? She looked a lot like me," Buffy said, her voice raising an octave. Tears slowly found their way down her cheeks. "Because of me, she's dead."
"You don't know that?" said Julian, his dark brows slanted in a frown. He gently wiped her tears. "Don't ever think that," he admonished.
"Why shouldn't I," she retorted. "It's the truth."
"We don't know if that's fact," Julian said firmly, eying her sympathetically.
"Why then was she killed?" Buffy demanded, jumping out of his arms.
"I don't know," he said emphatically. "Maybe it's was some coincidence," Julian said, gazing up at her. "Or maybe there is a mad man out there slaughtering people, because they can. On the other hand, maybe it was an accident."
"Accident!" Buffy cried shrilly. "I just came from the autopsy. What they did to her wasn't an accident. They raped and mutilated her, Julian," she wept, digging her nails in her palm. "When they finished, she was no longer a person. She was just meat," Buffy said, as grief and despair tore at her heart. She whimpered.
Julian rushed to gather her back into his arms. "La petit, I'm so sorry."
"I want to catch this bastard that's doing this," Buffy said, her voice muffled by Julian's dark blue jacket. "I can't handle anymore deaths." Suddenly she stiffened and pushed out of his arms. She closed her eyes and slowly lowered her shields.
"What? What is it?" Julian asked bewildered. One moment he was comforting Buffy, and the next she went into Slayer mode. Frowning, Julian peered around him.
"I don't know," she said distractedly. "Something is wrong. Do you smell that?" she demanded, hands on her hips as she walked around sniffing.
"Smell what?" he asked, following her example of sniffing the air. He turned to her and with a negligent shrug, he said, "Stale air, cigarettes, and perfume."
"Perfume?" she questioned. "What kind of perfume?"
"It's a sickly sweet smell," Julian said bemused. "I think it's perfume."
"Who comes to this office but me and Sasha that wears perfume?" Buffy demanded, scowling.
"Are you jealous?" he asked incredulously. "I can't believe you are jealous," he said laughing.
"I'm not jealous," she muttered giving him an irritated look.
"You know I don't have eyes for anyone but you," he said watching her keenly.
Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Okay, I believe you," he said placatingly. "You are not jealous."
"That's right I'm not," she said firmly. "So whose perfume do I smell? It is an interesting perfume," she admitted, wrinkling her nose against the scent that seemed to permeate the whole room. To Buffy, the scent was very distinct; she had smelled it twice before at each crime scene.
"If you are not jealous, then you don't need to know," Julian said, hiding a grin. He knew with his luck, Buffy could read the answer in his mind.
"Julian!" she drawled.
"Lissa!" he drawled, walking her towards the door.
Buffy allowed Julian to guide her through the door and down the steps. "Don't you think I know what you are doing," she said, smiling slightly.
"I am not doing anything," he denied, laughing down into her face.
Suddenly she stiffened.
"What!" Julian said, pushing her behind him. He peered intently throughout the room. "What is it?"
Buffy shook her head. "For a minute there, I thought I saw someone from home."
"Home?" he questioned, grabbing her.
"I must be seeing things," she said with a frown. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the same dark hair and white dress that had caught her eye. She shrugged out of his arms and walked slowly into the room, looking over people's heads to catch a glimpse of that person.
"Lissa, what is it?" he asked, his eyes crinkled with concern.
She stopped suddenly in mid walk and Julian, who was walking behind her, crashed into her. "It can't be," she said, gaping at the ethereal looking woman at the end of the bar.
The woman turns around and notices Buffy watching her. "Mummy," she cried, skipping happily towards Buffy.
"It can't be," she repeats, taking note of the woman's dark hair and long, white, almost Victorian dress. "Drusilla?" she said, her eyes blinking with incredulity.
"Mummy!" Drusilla cried, trying to catch Buffy in a hug.
Instinctively, Buffy drew a stake putting it between her body and Dru's.
"Mummy!" she said, giving a start of surprise.
"Lissa! What are you doing?" Julian said, staring flabbergasted.
"Do you know who this is?" Buffy demanded, her heart was pounding madly and her mind was reeling. What does this mean? It can't be, she thought, eying the familiar features. She must be a doppelganger.
"Yes," he said, measuring her for a moment. "She's under my protection."
"Drusilla?!" she asked incredulously. "Insane Drusilla?" Buffy stood in the middle of the room watching Drusilla intently all the while gripping the stake tightly in her hand.
"Well yes," Julian said firmly, guiding both Buffy and Drusilla to a secluded corner. "As far I can tell, she doesn't comprehend many things."
"Duh!"
"Papa Julian is my new daddy and you're my mummy," Drusilla said. "He's not like my old daddy."
"But this Drusilla?" Buffy said, gesturing in disbelief. "From my dimension. She is evil," she said through clenched teeth.
"Lissa," Julian said frowning. "I cannot allow you to harm her."
"She's evil, Julian," Buffy snapped.
"Nevertheless, she hasn't done anything here to warrant your mistrust."
"You are protecting Drusilla?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"If I have to," he said. "Lissa," he continued, arms outstretched.
Buffy shook her head, giving both Drusilla and Julian a wide berth. "I can't believe you would take her side."
"Mon coeur, there's no side to take," said Julian in a gentle tone. "I am always on our side."
"Our side," she blurted out, backing slowly away. "Our side."
"Is mummy mad at me, daddy?" Drusilla asked, with a frown on her face.
"Of course not," Julian said with a grimace. "More at me I think," he said absentmindedly. "Why don't you stay with Helen, she will provide you with a drink," Julian said signaling one the waitress. "A drink for Dru," he said, gazing at the dark vampiress. He sighed. He knew that taking a chance on the vampire would cause a problem.
From what he had deduced, she sometimes has some lucid moments. Several days ago Sasha had came frantically into his office because she had found Drusilla wandering the streets. At first, they had both thought she was a newly made vampire. Then he had ascertained after several minutes of interesting conversation that she was almost his age in vampire years, but something about her was off and from her description of how she got here, she had entered a dimensional gate similar to what Lissa had described. At first, all he could feel was pity, but something about her called to him. Inherently he's a very protective person, and he would protect Drusilla, even from the one person he trusted most, his wife Lissa.
In his wildest imagination, he never thought that she would have come from the same place as Lissa. What were the odds? It was going to take a lot of groveling before Lissa would listen to him. But he couldn't let Lissa hurt Drusilla. From what Drusilla had told him, and even Buffy herself, Drusilla's Sire was a sadistic brute. In good conscience, he cannot allow anyone to hurt her now. He is Prince of the City and he protects his own.
Buffy stormed out of the club, steam seemed to be literally coming out of her ears. She marched over to the car that was waiting for her at the curb and jerked the door open. The slamming of the door caused Victor to jerk up out of his sleep. "Whoa!" he said surprised, eying her in alarm. He checked his watch. "What's going on?" he questioned. "I thought you'd be cuddling up to your sweetheart by now."
"Men!" she fumed.
"Uh, oh," said Victor, rolling his eyes. "What did Julian do?"
"You probably agree with him," Buffy fumed, her lips puckered with annoyance. "You men always stick together."
"So do you women," Victor said mildly, his eyebrows arched mischievously. "Now tell Papa Victor what did the mean bad Julian do?"
Buffy frowned. "Can't you be serious?" she said with a vague hint of disapproval.
"Serious?" Victor asked. Again, the mischievous look came into his eyes. "Why should I be serious? We see too much seriousness in our type of business. We need a little bit of levity in our lives." He turned, easing into a smile. "So?" he said.
"What," she said with a shrug.
Victor eyes were sharp and assessing. "Your problem with Julian," he said. There was a gentle softness in his voice.
For a moment, she studied him intently, then she must have come to some inner conclusion, she said, "Okay." Her eyes blazed with sudden anger. "I found out that Julian is harboring an enemy of mine. If that wasn't weird, she is from the same dimension that I was from."
"What!" he said, surprise made his voice squeak. As partners and friends, he had known about Buffy's surprise entry into this world. But it is still a shock to learn that other people were coming from her world. From Buffy's descriptions, he knew that he didn't want to live there. But what was the chance of having two people, who actually know each other, entering the same portal. One was an anomaly, but two may be a pattern.
"Yeah, Drusilla," Buffy said bitterly. "My old boyfriend was her sire," she admits wryly.
"If she's from your dimension, what is she doing here?" Victor asked, his eyes full of concern.
"I was so angry, I never thought to ask," Buffy said thoughtfully.
"Don't you think you should find out? Plus if she is your enemy, do you think she was the one that is killing those guys?"
"Oh my God," she said, her eyes widened in alarm. "I wasn't thinking. Remember the description of Mr. Dean's date."
"Yes," said Victor, thoughtfully. "Dark hair. Short."
"That's Drusilla!" she snapped, jumping out the car and rushing towards the club.
"Uh, oh," said Victor running after Buffy.
"Drusilla!" yelled Buffy running through the club door. The glass door slammed loudly in her haste; it vibrated for a few minutes on its hinges before the glass smashed into several pieces.
The room full of both Kindred and humans turned to watch her cross the room in disbelief.
"What the…?" exclaimed Julian, as he walked out of a back room.
But with supernatural speed Buffy crossed the room to grabbed Drusilla by the throat. Drusilla squealed in fright and pain, her face turning paler by the minute.
"Lissa!" Julian thundered. "By the holy, what is wrong with you?" he questioned, his face glazed with shock.
"Me?" Buffy yelled. "You are the one that let a killer loose in the city," she said, holding a struggling Drusilla aloft with one hand.
Julian eyed the enraged Slayer cautiously, ignoring the muttering of the other people in the room. "Lissa, put her down," he said, holding out his hands carefully.
"You want me to put her down?" Buffy mocked, her mouth took on an unpleasant twist. She looked venomously at the struggling Dru at the end of her arm.
Julian inclined his head, with a forced smile.
His body tense, Victor cautiously eyed Buffy. If he could get an opening, he thought. Power flared in the room, making it smell of jasmine and hibiscus. Instinctively, he moved to block her.
Sensing his approach, Buffy used her telekinesis to push Victor roughly across the marble floor, crashing him into several tables and chairs. He winced as pain radiated throughout his body. He shook his head to clear it and sat up gingerly. Victor could feel his stomach knotting. What can he do? He knew she was powerful. There was no hint of vulnerability he could see. He got up slowly, his left hip creaking, but Julian gave him a cautious shake of his head.
"Lissa, can we talk about this?" Julian said with a supplicant air. He knew that standing before him was no longer Lissa his wife, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the warrior and predator of his kind. He had to proceed with caution.
She turned stormy gray eyes to look at him.
Julian blanched. Since that accident several years ago, Buffy's powers had grown and were sometimes unpredictable. Merging their essences had created a type of symbiotic relationship between them, which included characteristics like a Ventrue Kindred. She was no longer just a Slayer, but other. They weren't quite sure what she was. She wasn't human as one would characterize a human, but also she wasn't Kindred. She was powerful and growing more powerful daily.
In this new world that Buffy had found herself in, she became the last remaining Slayer. During a domination fight between the Vampire Remnants and demons, the last Slayer had fallen and no new one had risen up. In a lightning fast motion, Julian rushed Buffy, and in retaliation, she flung Drusilla across the room.
More power flared into the room, and Victor was almost breathless as he sprinted across the room just in time to catch Drusilla, tumbling both of them to the floor.
"Bad mummy," Drusilla croaked, holding her swollen throat.
Buffy, eyes a dark and stormy gray, growled. She bared her teeth, springing forward, and Julian charged her. He blocked her arm, and soon the fight was on in earnest, each not willing to give any quarter. Both Julian and Buffy were not only using physical power, but also mystical power, each trying to get the upper hand, consciously trying not to hurt each other. Much.
Suddenly amidst the sound of battle, a voice yelled, "Freeze, this is the police."
Abruptly coming to her senses, Buffy stopped in mid lunge. She turned to find herself surrounded by several police officers holding guns by the broken front door. Breathing harshly, she gazed around in disbelief. Did I do that, she thought, eying the broken furniture and tableware on the floor. Did we do that, she amended eying Julian. He was also breathing harshly, and he was favoring his right side. His face was bruised and his clothing was ripped. He limped towards the voice.
"Freeze," the voice called again, this time harshly, making Julian stop with his palm out as if saying, 'I have no weapons.'
"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" said a portly officer sourly as he walked fully into the room, hitching up his sagging pants.
Both Buffy and Julian turned to each other and shrugged.
"It's nothing," Julian said smoothly, limping to shake the man's hands.
"Nothing?" the man questioned, eyeing both Julian and the room askance.
"Yes, it is nothing," Julian said, his voice was smooth but insistent. He walked in front of the man, his movements stiff and awkward, and the sound of the guns being cocked rang loudly in the silence. Ignoring it, Julian said softly, "Look at me."
The man was helpless to resist and soon Julian had captured his eyes.
"Repeat after me," Julian said. "It's nothing."
The man blinked and his body froze, as if he was stuck in cement. "It's nothing," the man intoned.
Suddenly there was a clamor of noise.
"Sarg?" a voice yelled.
Someone exclaimed. "We have to get out here! He put a spell on O'Brien."
"Yes," someone agreed.
A loud noise burst in the room. One of the police officers had instinctually fired his gun. The bullet shattered a wall mirror missing Julian Luna by an inch. The officer backed away slowly, looking at the heated gun in his hand. In the shocked silence, a loud growl vibrated throughout the room. The man looked toward where he thought the threat would be coming from, Luna. He never thought to look at the inconspicuous young woman on his right.
Wind gathered from nowhere and lightening arced in the room; Buffy's eyes darkened to a stormy gray color. She waved her hand and the men were shoved hard against the wall. She held them effortlessly, and Julian walked towards them and said. "There was no disturbance; it was a false report."
They were yelling as each of them fought the mystical power that Buffy used to hold them.
"Nooo," a young man wailed as Julian captured his eyes.
"There was no disturbance; it was a false report," he said.
Soon, each man was nodding and repeating the phrase. Julian then proceeded to erase both the policemen's and civilians' minds of the memory of the fight.
After making sure that the fight did not have any lasting effects and repercussions, Buffy walked out through the opening where a glass door once stood.
"Lissa? We need to talk," Julian said, watching her cautiously.
Her steps slowed, and she took a deep breath as she sought to erect a wall of defense against him. She turned around slowly. "I have nothing to say," she said looking at him, tears welling up in her eyes. There was a long brittle silence, and Buffy felt her heart hammering in her chest.
Julian strode towards Buffy and extended a hand, looking at her intensely. She took an abrupt step back. He stopped and inhaled a deep breath. He moved closer. "I love you," he said.
Buffy moved away, her lower lip trembling. "I'm ready to leave," she said simply to Victor who was watching with concern on his face. She turned on her heels and strode to the door. Victor eyed Julian a moment, shrugged, and helplessly followed Buffy out the door.
Julian sighed; he could feel her pain pounding at him. He wanted to say so much, but she wasn't ready to listen. He could feel the shut door between their minds.