Author's Note: I am so so so sorry for the lack of any updates. For anyone who's following my stories, I have three that I'm currently working on, which is why there hasn't been any updates for this story in a while, so tonight I decided to change all that. I hope you guys enjoy. There will be another update soon.
Instinctively, she elbowed the person in the face, accidentally and suddenly realizing out of sheer embarrassment that it was only her mother, hands both full with a bag of groceries that were spilling onto the porch. "Mom! Sorry! Didn't mean to hit you. I didn't know you went food shopping," Buffy cowered her head sheepishly, running up to make sure her mother's nose wasn't bleeding or broken. It's alright Buffy, but what's gotten into you? Are you okay?" Joyce only said, pressing her hand against her nostrils, but no trails of blood were leaking.
The bone structure nor the cartilage was broken, just bruised. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She looked down upon her clothes, realizing that pieces of cloth were missing and shredded. She blew tendrils of hair away from her face, before tucking a strand behind her ear nervously.
She was hesitant before she opened her mouth to answer. "I'm alright Mom. Just a little trouble, no big deal." She turned to undo the lock, pushing the door ajar to allow her mother in. Her mother turned to peer at her, a disconcerting look appearing in her eyes. "Are you sure everything's okay Buffy? I feel like there's something you might want to talk about. Any boy trouble I should know about? Anything at all? You know you can always talk to me if something's bothering you."
Buffy's eyes widened at the question. It was obvious the answer was no. Or was it? She couldn't pinpoint the problem exactly. "Boy trouble? What do you mean Mom? I have none whatsoever. Really. Just a bit of a crush on someone, that's all." She plastered a false grin on her face, revealing a set of teeth in the process. Her mother simply nodded, satisfied with her answer, at least for the time being. Buffy released another deep sigh of relief before turning to exit out to retrieve the fallen groceries.
Immediately she sensed a presence nearby. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, shuffling for the stake underneath her pant leg. Legs still weak from the earlier event, she leaned against the front door to stand, eying both sides of the house for any signs of an intruder.
All she heard in the next few minutes were shrill cries of help coming from the next door neighbor's house or the few houses down the block. She detected a slim shadow leaping over a fence, attempting to run from something or someone that may have been after them. Under the streetlight, a girl no older than Buffy appeared, long chestnut hair matted to her face, tears trickling down her flushed cheeks onto her chin.
Buffy noticed quickly from a small distance that two deep punctured holes were exposed from her neck, a trail of blood seeping from the wounds. A few drops of blood spilled onto her velvet cashmere sweater as she stumbled through the sidewalk with weakening strength. The girl's outfit, much like Buffy's, was also slashed, most noticeably from between the leg area.
Buffy shook her head. It couldn't be a coincidence. Somehow, this girl was another victim of a vampire attack, the very same one that had gotten the Slayer. She was sure of it. "Someone, please help me. I've been attacked!" The girl cried in earnest, clutching at her neck, almost stumbling over a pile of metal trash cans that stood rooted at the edge of the sidewalk.
"Over here! Let me help you," Buffy ran towards the girl, offering to help her stand. She folded her arm underneath the girl's, supporting her weight when she sensed another presence nearby, this time the sounds of a vampire growling just mere feet away from where they stood. "Just great," Buffy muttered, hurrying the girl along when she felt something heavy attacking her from behind, releasing her grip.
Buffy stumbled onto the street, chin and cheek matted with a fresh coat of blood from a newly formed gash. She held the grip on the stake tightly when she felt a hand wrapping around her throat, constricting her breathing. "Slayerrrr," the vampire hissed with its' foul mouth, causing the Slayer to almost gag.
"Breath mints. Get some," the Slayer slammed her elbow onto the vampire's face, knocking its' weight and body away from her. She flipped to her knees, one knee bent before standing, quickly connecting her foot against the vampire's grotesque face, not giving him time to recover from the attack. She gave the girl one look to assure that no harm came to her before she regain her stance on the feral vampire with a few thrown punches and mirror palm blocks, sending him reeling against the metal trash cans. He growled in frustration and pain.
Buffy wasted no time as she hurried to plunge the stake into his undead heart. In seconds, he was dust. The girl standing a few feet in front of her gasped, clamping her mouth in sincere horror. "How did you do that? What was that guy?"
Buffy exasperated a sigh. "Doesn't matter. You're safe now. C'mon, let's get you inside. We need to clean that wound. At least you'll be safe and taken care of," she offered gently, taking the girl's arm to lead her inside the house. The girl looked at her, mouth agape. "Who are you? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be really saying that should I? Given that you saved my life and all, from that thing. Whatever it was," she muted softly, shame laced in her voice.
"It's okay, really. I'm just glad I got to you in time. Got any idea as to who could have done this to you?" For the Slayer, now was the time for answers. The girl shook her head before pondering her answer as they entered the house, heading towards the kitchen. "I don't remember, exactly, just some of it. I was at The Bronze, waiting for a friend to arrive. I was sitting next to the concession stand, waiting for her when this man came up to me, asking if he could dance with me. At first I thought it was weird, this strange man asking me out of nowhere."
Buffy nodded as she forced the girl to sit on the kitchen table while searching for the first aid kit in the cupboards. She nodded for her to continue. "Then what happened?"
"Well, this man asked me to dance with him, like I said, and for a second, I didn't want to, but at the last minute I said yes. I mean, why wouldn't I? Besides the weirdness. He was incredibly handsome. Tall, dark haired, dressed all in black. All the girls in line at The Bronze was crazy jealous when he took my hand to the dance floor."
Alarm bells rang off in the Slayer's mind. No it couldn't be...could it?
"Did this man give you his name?" Buffy interrogated, cocking an eyebrow. The girl thought for a second before she answered.
"Yeah, I think he did. He said his name was Angel."
