Authors Note; PLEASE READ!
Hey everyone. Sorry for the ridiculously long time between updates. I'll endeavor to get things out faster from now on but I'm not making any promises. Anyway here is the first half of section two. I'd give you the whole thing but the second half isn't quite ready yet. That and I wanted to give you guys something so that you wouldn't think that I had abandoned this. Also thanks to the few of you who reviewed the first section. I appreciate any feedback that I get and please feel free to throw any ideas my way. Okay, so lets get this show on the road.
Xander the Vampire Slayer
Book One
Chapter 2 A
Harvest
In every generation there is a Chosen One. He alone will stand against the Vampires, Demons and the forces of darkness. He is the Slayer.
XXX
'I'm dead.' That was all Xander Harris could think as the monstrous vampire descended on him, fangs out and intent on draining him dry. Still the slayer struggled for all he was worth to get free but the undead bastard had him completely pinned. All the super-strength in the world didn't mean a damn if you couldn't get the leverage to use it.
Luke was only centimeters away from cutting Xander's life tragically short when the vampire suddenly reared back howling in pain and subsequently releasing his death grip on the slayer. Looking down at the hand he had been using to hold the boy in place Luke spotted the source of his pain. In the center of his palm there was a smoldering vaguely cross-shaped burn mark.
Now that his arms were free Xander reached up to where the bloodsucker had been holding him down and felt the cross that his very attractive benefactor from the alley had given him. Sometime during the fight it had fallen out from under his shirt. Luke must have placed his hand on it when he was restraining Xander and got burned. If he ever saw his mystery girl again Xander would have to remember to thank her.
Luke was still staring at the smoking wound the holy object had inflicted on him when Xander got his legs free. The slayer kicked the vamp as hard as he could in the face literally launching the creature into the air and out of the coffin. Now that the overgrown leech was stunned Xan didn't waste any time getting out of the stone casket and bolting for the mausoleum's door. On some instinctual level Xander just knew that he wouldn't be able to beat Luke there. One of the first lessons Giles had taught him about slaying was to always listen to his instincts. Right now they were screaming at him to get the hell out of the tomb that had almost become his own final resting-place.
His spidey-sense started to calm down after he put a little over half a football field's worth of distance between himself and the mausoleum. If Luke was going to chase after him he would have done so by now. The slayer was just getting his bearings back when the growl of a vampire and a cry for help reached his sensitive ears. Without a moments hesitation Xan sprinted toward where the noise was coming from.
"Get off!" Xander heard Buffy shout angrily as he came into a small clearing in the cemetery and surveyed the situation. With a vampire pinning her to the ground and moving in for the kill, Sunnydale's newest resident had found herself in a similar position to the one Xander had just barely escaped from moments ago.
"Hey, overbite." Xander yelled at the vamp trying to divert the demon's attention away from his new friend. It worked as the bloodsucker looked up to see who was interrupting his evening meal and then caught a heavy boot in the jaw knocking him aside. Deciding that this feast on legs was more trouble than she was worth the vamp cut his losses and scurried away into the darkness.
"Come on." Xander reached down and effortlessly hauled Buffy to her feet. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know." Buffy said remorsefully. "When the vampire knocked me down I lost sight of them."
"Which way did the vampires come from?" Xan asked trying very hard not to lose his own cool.
"That way." Buffy pointed to the north of the cemetery.
"Let's go." the Slayer nodded. The pair set off in the direction that Buffy had indicated. Xander hoped that they were going the right way and that they weren't too far behind.
It was moments later that Buffy spotted a pair of vampires about twenty meters ahead dragging a very unconscious Jesse McNally behind them. "Hey!" She shouted trying to grab their attention. It worked as both bloodsuckers stopped to see who was yelling at them, inadvertently giving Xander all the time he needed to close the distance. The vampires released their hold on Jesse as Xander knocked them both aside with a punch-kick combo.
One vamp managed to get away in the confusion. The other however quickly found a branch imbedded in his chest. The slayer had snapped it off a nearby tree while the creature of the night had been stunned. The vamp only had enough time to look surprised before it dusted.
"Oh, my poor noggin." Jesse moaned as he regained consciousness clutching his head.
"Where's Willow?" Buffy asked him while helping him to sit upright.
"I don't know." He answered miserably. "That blond guy grabbed her and took off. I tried to stop him but he walloped me pretty good."
Xander scanned the immediate area hoping to see some sign of his friend but there was none. As he helped Buffy get Jesse off the ground all Xander could think was that this was all his fault.
XXX
Willow was scared. No, scratch that. She was absolutely terrified. The only reason she hadn't passed out yet was because she didn't want to be unconscious while being flanked by two monsters.
They had been walking for what seemed like an eternity. They were underground, Willow knew that much. But she had no idea where. All the tunnels looked the same.
They were coming into what looked like a cave when she slipped and the big one grabbed her roughly.
"Keep moving." He snarled at her. The chamber looked like it had once been a church. How it got underground though she didn't know.
"Is this for me?" an amused voice asked.
Willow had thought she had been afraid before but the figure that came out of the shadows inspired a whole new level of terror. Unlike the two monsters holding her the being standing before her didn't contain even a shred of humanity.
"An offering for you Master." Luke said.
"She's a good one." Darien said stepping forward excitedly. "Her blood is pure."
The Master's blood red eyes narrowed dangerously. "You've tasted her." He stated. "I'm your faithful pet. You bring me scraps."
"I-I didn't mea…" Darien stuttered fearfully.
"I have been waiting here for decades!" the ancient vampire said angrily "While you come and go I am trapped here in this house of…" the Master visibly shuddered "…worship!" He stalked menacingly forward. "My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes." Suddenly his hand shot forward to seize Darien by the throat. "I'm in a better mood."
"Master, forgive me." Darien pleaded. "We had more offerings but there was trouble, a boy."
"There was a boy." Luke said coming to Darien's aid. "He fought well and knew of our breed. It is possible that he may be…"
"A Slayer." The Master finished for his most devoted lieutenant and released his hold on Darien. Well that would certainly explain why more of his children than usual hadn't been coming home recently "Do you have any proof?" he asked.
"Only that he fought me and still lives Sire." Luke answered.
The Master nodded in agreement. "Very nearly proof enough. In fact I can't remember the last time that happened."
"1843, Madrid." Luke supplied sounding sheepish. "He caught me sleeping."
"Well, he must not be allowed to interfere with the Harvest." The Master said giving Luke a significant look.
"I would never let that happen." Luke stated adamantly.
"I wouldn't worry about it." The Master told him reassuringly. "I believe he'll come to us. We have something he wants." With that his red gaze locked onto Willow. She was really hoping that they had forgotten about her. "If he is indeed a slayer and this girl lives, he'll try to save her."
"I believed you to be nothing more than a meal girl." Luke smiled wickedly at her. Willow flinched away from his evil grin. "Congratulations, you just became far more valuable. Now you're bait."
XXX
It had been just shy of two o'clock in the morning when Xander, Buffy and Jesse had arrived at Sunnydale General's emergency room. After the fight in the cemetery the slayer had been incredibly torn about what to do next. Part of him wanted to do nothing more than go after Willow. To search high and low and not stop until he found her.
But he also had a responsibility to Jesse and Buffy. He couldn't leave them on their own. Especially considering Jesse's condition. The poor guy had lost quite a bit of blood and probably had a concussion. So it had been decided that they would make their way to Sunnydale General to get Jesse checked out at the ER.
It had been surprisingly easy to pull one over on the hospital staff. A Dr. Marks had asked them what had happened when they walked in. Xander had told him jokingly that Jesse had had an unfortunate run-in with a barbecue fork after getting a bump on the head. The doc had shrugged and then said without even a hint of irony that he had seen that happening a lot lately. The Slayer probably would have laughed if things hadn't been so serious. After that Dr. Marks took Jes for treatment.
That had been almost two hours ago. Now, Xander was sitting in one of those very uncomfortable plastic hospital chairs, holding an icepack a nurse had given him over a livid bruise on his right arm. All the while feeling quite sorry for himself. He couldn't have imagined a worse way for this night to have gone. Willow had been taken and he had gotten his ass handed to him by a sermonizing vampire. Maybe his parents were right about him; maybe he was just a screw up.
"So," Buffy started taking the seat next to him "how much longer are you going to sit around beating yourself up over things that aren't actually your fault?"
Xander sighed "I don't know. I've got a pretty good brood going here."
"Well, I think happy looks better on you." Buffy replied as she pulled the ice pack away to look at his arm. The bruise had almost faded completely. "Wow, you heal fast."
"I am most definitely Wolverine-like." Xander said with a small smile. Sitting there talking to Buffy was giving him that déjà vu feeling again but this time it was in a good way.
"Wha?" the blank look on Buffy's face classic.
"I suppose comic book references are gonna be lost on you, huh?"
"Yep." She agreed with a nod.
"The uber fast healing is a slayer thing." He explained motioning to his arm.
"Oh, I know all about slayers." Buffy sounded almost sad when she said that.
Xan suddenly remembered the hurried conversation the two had shared at the Bronze right when this night had started to spiral out of control. From the way Buffy had talked it was obvious that she wasn't just now coming to terms with the existence of the supernatural. It seemed as if she had known about it for sometime.
"Yeah," Xander started "I wanted to ask you about how you found me out."
"Well, I was in the library today after lunch, tracking down the textbooks I needed when I kinda accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation with Mr. Giles." Buffy told him looking a little embarrassed. "That's a funny expression isn't it, eavesdropping? Like, how exactly do you drop an eave?" She rambled.
"That explains how you found out about me but I'm getting the feeling that none of this stuff was new information to you."
"Yeah." Buffy said taking a deep breath. "I know that I've only been at school for a day but that should have been plenty of time for you to hear some of the rumors flying around about me."
Xan nodded. "You mean like the one about you burning down the gym at your last school?"
"That's the one and it's completely true." Buffy confirmed. "Well, mostly true anyway."
"Alright." Xander said taking the bait although he couldn't really see Buffy as the arson type. "But I don't see what that has to do with you already knowing about the supernatural?"
"You see… the gym was kinda infested with vampires at the time." She explained. "And you know exterminators, they're fantastic at killing cockroaches but they're not so great when it comes to the undead."
"Ah yes, and they probably would have charged an arm and a leg for a job like that too." The slayer added. "It was probably a lot cheaper to just burn the place down yourself. I applaud you on your thrifty yet effective approach to vamp slayage." Xan paused for a moment to let the reality of what was just said sink in, then he said "Okay that's one rumor down. What about the one that has you running around with a gang member at your old school?"
"He wasn't in a gang!" Buffy angrily denied but then softened her tone. "He would've had to have friends for that."
Xan could see that this was a touchy subject but for some reason he felt compelled to go on. "Okay, so if he wasn't in a gang then who was he?" Xander asked.
"His name was Oliver Pike. He was the vampire Slayer before you."
To say that Xan was intrigued by that revelation would have been an understatement. Even with everything that was going on he was still very curious about other slayers. He was about to ask her to continue when Jesse finally came out of the exam area followed by Dr. Marks.
As they got closer Xan could see that Jesse was now sporting a bandage over the bite on the left side of his neck. The slayer also noticed that his friend was holding an ice pack to the back of his head.
"Hey Jesse-man, how you feeling?" Xander asked getting up from his seat.
"Pretty good," Jesse answered with a small wince "except for you know, the minor blood loss, the neck wound and the raging headache I've got. But other than that I'm great." Jesse's sarcasm was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
"You're friend is going to be just fine." Dr. Marks told the teens. Then he turned to address Jesse "Now Mr. McNally, are you sure that you don't want me to try and get a hold of your parents?"
"Yeah." Jesse answered sounding embarrassed "It's the middle of the night and they're on vacation. I don't want to worry them just because I was doing something very teenage and stupid." Right then Xander knew that Jesse was lying. His parents weren't on vacation. In fact the McNallys never went anywhere. Jes was covering for them.
"Alright then." Dr. Marks said. "But you and your friends be more careful around sharp cooking implements." He told the trio seriously before he walked away.
"Yeah, cause those barbecue forks are so vicious." Buffy commented under her breath.
"Personally I thinks it's the potato peelers that you have to watch out for. Sure they seem harmless but they'll skin you alive when you least expect it." Xander added. Buffy couldn't help but chuckle.
"Okay guys." Jesse said getting their attention, his tone serious. "I just lied to a healthcare professional. So I would kinda like to know exactly what happened tonight?"
Xander could respect that his friend wanted answers and he fully intended to supply them. But a hospital waiting room was not the place to have this particular discussion.
"Alright Jesse-man," Xander began "I'll get you the answers you need, but we can't do this here. Let's head to the school." Giles would be able tell Jesse what he needed to know. Also the watcher needed to know what happened. Xan just hoped he didn't get an "I told you so" speech.
XXX
"This world is far older than any of you know." Giles lectured to Xander, Buffy and Jesse as he went through the library stacks gathering pertinent reference materials. "Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth." He momentarily halted his explanation as he came down the small staircase from the stacks. "They made it their home, their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality and the way was made for mortal animals, for man." Giles paused again as he set the books that he had gathered down on the reading table. "All that remains of the Old Ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures."
"And vampires, don't forget about them." Xander added to the watcher's explanation.
"Vampires are real?" Jesse asked his incredulous tone clearly implying that he was seriously questioning the sanity of everyone in the room. "This is without a doubt the most surreal discussion I have ever had."
"How else would you explain what you witnessed last night Mr. McNally?" Giles asked.
However before Jesse could respond Buffy did it for him. "No, those weren't vampires." Buffy began dramatically. "Those were just guys in thunder need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies." She said with mock hysteria. "And that girl bursting into dust? Just a trick of light." The girl from L.A. finished with a nonchalant wave of her hand. "Believe me, I said all the same things the first time I saw a vampire." Then she paused. "Well, after I finished screaming anyway."
"That goes ditto for me." Xander said backing Buffy up "Except for the screaming part." At that Giles gave the slayer a pointed look that said that the young man was being less than honest. Xander noticed the glare and amended reluctantly "Okay, there may have been some very manly bellowing, but there was definitely no screaming."
Giles shook his head. 'Whatever the boy has to tell himself I suppose.'
"Okay," Jesse began "let's totally suspend reality here for a moment and say I believe you. What are we gonna do about this?"
"There is no "we" Jes, there's just me." Xander said with a serious tone that was most unusual for the young man.
Jesse looked at Xander like he'd grown a second head. "How exactly does that work?"
"He's the Slayer." Buffy answered knowingly. Giles gave the Summers girl a questioning look at that.
"You seem to be quite knowledgeable about slayers Miss Summers?" The watcher queried.
"Oh, I knew the one before Xander." Buffy told him simply.
"Really." The watcher said perking up excitedly at the new information. "Maybe you could give me your…"
"Guys!" Jes shouted getting everyone's attention. "I'm sure this is fascinating but I have no idea what a slayer is?"
"Giles?" Xan questioned looking to his mentor.
The Brit took a deep breath. "As long as there have been vampires there has been the Slayer. The one boy in all the world with the power to…"
"He loves doing this speech." Xander said to his friends interrupting the watcher.
"Fine." Giles sighed in consternation. "Vampires exist, Xander is the Slayer, he alone has the power to hunt them and you should keep all this to yourself. That should be all the vampire information you need."
At that moment it all came together quite suddenly for Mr. McNally. The stupid excuses, the constantly being late and all Xan's time recently spent in the library. Xander Harris had been living a double life and hadn't bothered to inform his two best friends of the possible danger they were all in. The look Jesse gave Xander upon coming to this revelation was filled with anger and betrayal. "Why didn't you ever tell me or Will any this stuff Xan?"
"Jesse-man, believe me I wanted to tell you but…" Xander began defensively before Jesse cut him off.
"But, but what? Give me a good reason for why my best friend has been lying to me."
"I thought I was protecting you and Will." Xan said quietly.
"Protecting us?" Jesse asked with a humorless chuckle. "Good job brother." Xander was about to make a retort when Buffy cut into the heated conversation.
"Hey!" She shouted at the two teenage males. "I get that you're pissed," Buffy said to Jesse "but yelling at Xander isn't going to help us get Willow back."
Jesse was about to round furiously on Buffy but Xander stopped him. "She's right." He told his friend firmly. "This isn't getting us anywhere."
The reminder that Willow was in trouble and needed help seemed to cool Jesse down considerably. He was still upset over all of this but he was willing to put his feeling aside for the moment. "Alright," Jes said taking a deep calming breath, letting go of most of his anger "where we're we before I went off?"
Giles cleared his throat reminding the three adolescent youths that he was still in the room. "I hate to be the one to say this but it is very unlikely that your friend is still alive."
"I don't think they were just looking for take out last night G-man." Xander said shaking his head in disagreement. "The big one that used me as a punching bag said something about collecting offerings for the Master." The slayer told his watcher. "I don't know what that means but if they weren't just feeding then Willow might still be okay."
Giles took his glasses off and began to polish them. "Alright, if that is indeed the case then the question becomes where did they take her?"
"I looked around but as soon as they got out of the cemetery they could have just, vroomed!" Xander finished making a taking off motion.
"They can fly?" Jesse asked in disbelief.
"They can drive." Xander and Buffy answered in unison.
"Oh." Jes said awkwardly "Well, I know that I was nearly concussed at the time but I don't remember hearing a car."
Giles sighed heavily. "Let's make an enormous intuitive leap and say that they went underground."
"Pike told me once that vamps really jam on sewers." Buffy said. "They can get just about anywhere without having to worry about catching any rays."
"There's an electrical tunnel that runs beneath the whole town." Xander added. "But I didn't see any access around there."
"I suppose we could go to the building commission and see if they will let us look at the plans for the tunnel?" Giles ventured looking to his charge.
"Willow doesn't have that kind of time Giles." Xan said shooting down the idea.
"Um, guys." Jesse spoke up grabbing the attention of the group. "I think I might know another way to get a look at those plans."
Fifteen minutes later.
Jesse McNally would never claim to be "Willow Smart" but he did know his way around a computer. On the monitor before him flashed images of blueprints and diagrams for the town's underground service tunnels. Now all he had to do was find the right one.
"So the town's plans are just open to the public via computer?" the librarian asked uncertainly.
Jesse just smirked. "They are if you know how to find them."
"I'm sensing a story here." Xander said eyeing his friend suspiciously.
"Remember last summer when Willow and I spent a whole week talking nothing but computer?" Jesse asked the smug expression never leaving his face.
"I remember my eyes glazing over from the sheer amount of nerdspeak coming out of your mouths." The slayer answered.
"The nerdspeak as you call it was actually Willow and I figuring out how to decrypt the city council's security system." Jesse told his friend. "We came across these after we did."
"Sounds like someone's been naughty." Buffy said with a grin.
Jesse just grinned right back. "It's only naughty if you get caught." Jes replied as he continued to scroll through the schematics.
"Stop." Xan ordered firmly and Jesse complied. "This is the one." The slayer said pointing to the screen. "It runs beneath the graveyard but I can't make out where the access should be." Xander felt beyond frustrated. "This is useless!" He shouted. "I'm wasting time that Will doesn't have because I'm not smart enough read a stupid diagram."
"I think you're being a bit hard on yourself." Giles pointed out to the clearly agitated young man.
Xander rounded on the watcher. "Aren't you the one who told me yesterday that I wasn't taking things seriously enough?" He asked the older man. "Understatement. I thought I had things under control and then that monster Luke came out of nowhere…" Xander trailed off as he suddenly got a flash of insight.
The scene from last night in the tomb replayed in slow motion in his mind. The smaller vamp was on the floor in front of him and to the right of the doorway begging for mercy. Then Luke grabbed him from behind.
"Xander, what is it?" Buffy asked with concern
"He didn't come out of nowhere." Xander suddenly said as he came back to himself. "He came from behind me. I was facing the door when he showed up and when I got away he didn't follow me out." He looked to his friends as the realization fully hit him. "The entrance into the tunnels is in the mausoleum." It was so obvious. "The guy that grabbed Willow must have doubled back after I made my escape." Xander mentally berated himself for not figuring it out sooner.
"Alright, we know where they are so let's go." Buffy said eagerly.
"Buff, "we" are not going anywhere." He said trying very hard not to sound condescending. "I'm the Slayer and you're not. I'm sorry but this is my mess to fix." There was a look of defiance in Buffy's eyes and Xan could tell that she wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Buffy told him shaking her head.
"I appreciate that you want to help." Xander told her. "But this is extremely dangerous. I don't want anything happening to anybody else."
"Why do slayers think that they have to do everything on their own?" the former cheerleader asked rhetorically her tone filled with frustration.
'Probably because there's never been more than one of us at a time.' Xander thought in answer to her question, but for once he was smart enough to not actually say what he'd been thinking.
"Buffy," Jesse said getting the blonde's attention "I kinda have to agree with the Xan-man on this one. Uh, I mean, I feel like I need to help too but I don't think that either of us would be much good to anyone in a dark tunnel filled with monsters."
"Well then, maybe you could help me?" Giles proposed offering up an alternative to the two normal teenagers. "I've been researching this Harvest affair." He said while leaning over Jesse's shoulder to look closer at the computer. "It seems to be some preordained massacre, rivers of blood, hell on Earth." He looked around at the teens in the room. "Quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details." Then he looked to Jesse directly. "It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine." The librarian finished nodding to the computer.
After several long moments of silence Giles glanced up to see that the all three teens were giving him decidedly funny looks. 'Americans.' He thought wryly.
"That was a bit, uh, British, wasn't it?" the older man asked.
"Welcome to the New World G-man." Xander said with a small smile.
"I want you to go on the Net." Giles clarified for Jesse.
"Oh, yeah, I can do that." The lanky boy smiled in understanding and then got to work.
"Then I'm gone. If Willow's alive I'll get her back." Xander said turning for the library doors.
"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles called after him. The slayer turned back to his mentor and gave the older man a reassuring smile.
"Hey, it's me." Xander said doing his best Han Solo impression, then he was out the doors.
"That's what I'm afraid of." The librarian muttered under his breath.
XXX
Xander was surprised to see that classes had already started for the day as he went to exit the school grounds. A lot had happened last night and early this morning and he had completely lost track of time. At least he wasn't feeling tired even though he hadn't slept at all during the in-between. Xan wasn't sure if it was his slayerness or the fact that he was still a teenager that allowed him to pull an all-nighter without any ill effects. Either way Xander was just thankful that he was wide-awake and alert. He would need to be completely on his game if he wanted to rescue Willow.
"Where do we think we are going?" the unmistakable voice of Principal Flutie asked causing Xander to roll his eyes and mentally swear. He had almost made it out the gate.
"Hi Bob." Xander said turning to face the older man with a smile. Xan's grin became even wider when he saw Mr. Flutie wince at the use of his first name. The guy should have known better then to tell the students that it was all right to call him Bob. "I wasn't going anywhere. I just wanted to, uh." Xan verbally stumbled as he tried to come up with an excuse. "To, um, check out this fence." He told Flutie resting his hand on the metal work. "I was thinking of going into construction someday and this is one well put together fence."
"That's pretty good Mr. Harris." Flutie answered with a knowing look. Xander could tell that the educator hadn't believed a single word that he had just said. "Now what were you really doing?"
"You see I'm kinda Mr. Giles' student aide this period and I told him that my friend Willow didn't make it to school today and that I was worried about her." When all else fails, go with the truth or at the very least, a variation of the truth. It totally throws off the adults. "So I asked him if it would be alright if I bailed for a bit so I could go check on her. He said it was cool, you can go talk to him if you want."
"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear about your friend but the policy is that no student is to leave school grounds while classes are in session." The principal told Xander firmly as he closed and locked the gate. "However if you are truly worried about your friend I would be more than willing to let you make a phone call from the office." Flutie said in a more compassionate tone.
"No that won't be necessary." Xander said feigning nonchalance "I'm sure she's fine and that there's nothing wrong. I'm probably just being paranoid."
Mr. Flutie smiled amiably and patted Xander on the shoulder "See, that's the Alexander Harris I want in my school. A sensible young man with his feet on the ground who doesn't let his imagination run away with him." Flutie turned to check the lock on the gate one more time and was satisfied that Xander wouldn't be going anywhere. "Have a good day Mr. Harris."
"You too Bob." Xan took a little pleasure in seeing the educator flinch again at the use of his first name as he went to walk away. Luckily the older man decided to keep on walking. As soon as he was gone the slayer began to examine the iron gate. The lock was a just a standard padlock and Xander knew that he could easily break it. However that was probably not the best idea. If Mr. Flutie came by here again and saw it broken, it wouldn't take him long to figure out who was responsible. That left Xander with only one other option. Looking up at the fence Xan judged its height to be just shy of nine feet. He could make that easily, the slayer thought with a smug smile.
Xander looked around the immediate area making sure that no one was watching before he set himself. As usual not a single person was even paying attention to the actions of one Xander Harris, which was just fine with him. He faced away from the fence and bent his knees, his incredibly powerful muscles coiling in preparation for what he was about to do. Xan took a quick breath to center himself. Then suddenly the teen sprang impossibly high into the air and back flipped over the iron fence landing soundlessly on the other side. Xander looked up at the tall fence again and shook his head with a rueful smile.
"Too easy." The slayer left then, heading determinedly in the direction of the Verdant Meadows cemetery.
XXX
"Rain of toads?" Jesse asked with an air of disbelief as he and Buffy walked through the halls of Sunnydale High. Jesse had computer science this period and he had decided that he might be able to compile the info they needed faster if he used the newer systems in the computer lab.
"Yeah, rain of toads." Buffy answered confirming what she had just said. "Hey, you asked for weird and wiggsome things to put into your search motor."
"Search engine." Jes corrected without missing a beat. "It's just that in my entire life I never thought that "rain of toads" would be something that I'd have to worry about."
Buffy just shrugged. "Kind of an eye opener isn't it?"
"No kidding." The lanky boy sighed. "And no one else even has a clue." He waved his hand at the other students milling around in the halls.
"Yep, and we can't tell them either." Buffy followed up. "Unless of course you want to be committed? Personally I prefer to stay away from the men in white coats."
"Being called crazy certainly would put a crimp in your social life." he agreed.
"Not to mention all the trouble I'd have trying to find a purse that looks good with a straitjacket." Buffy added seriously. "Accessorizing is important after all." The two teens both paused for a moment after that, then they both cracked up laughing. This was probably one of the most ridiculous conversations either one of them had ever had.
The pair composed themselves after a moment. "Okay," Buffy said catching her breath and pointed to the computer lab "seriously though, shouldn't you be getting to class?"
"You mean "we" right?" Jesse asked giving the new girl a curious look. "We should get to class…or do you have other plans?" Buffy looked away from him and didn't say anything. Her not so subtle avoidance of the question told him everything he needed to know. "You're gonna follow Xander aren't you?" She still didn't respond. "Buffy, I'm new to this stuff and even I think that's a bad idea of epic proportions."
"I just feel so useless." Was Buffy's frustrated reply. "You're doing this computer stuff, Giles is hitting the books and Xander has gone to save the day all by himself." She slumped against a row of lockers looking angry. "Meanwhile I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs. I'm not the damsel in distress anymore damn it! I want to help."
Jes could see that this really bothered her and that she was determined to do something about it regardless of what he or anyone else said. "Okay go, I'll cover for you." She looked up at him with a surprised expression. Clearly she had been expecting him to argue with her about this. "But promise me that you'll be careful and won't do anything too stupid."
"I promise." She said unexpectedly giving him a hug, "Thanks Jesse."
"You better get moving if you want to catch up with him." At his prompting she turned to go. "Oh and Buffy?"
"Yeah." She replied turning back.
"If Xander asks, you tell him I threatened to tie you up rather than let you go but you managed to escape from me."
"Sure thing." Buffy said with a smile as she went to exit the school building "Wouldn't want him to kick your ass for letting poor little defenseless me out of your sight."
XXX
Verdant Meadows cemetery was definitely a lot less sinister in daylight than it had been the night before. If anything it was kinda peaceful.
'Too bad it's all just an illusion like everything else in this town.' Xander silently mused as he walked through the rows of headstones. Since last night Xan had been reevaluating his position on his hometown being a place of normalcy with a slight vampire problem. Too many things just didn't make sense when you put them together. For example, yesterday everyone (including himself to a lesser degree) was fairly blasé about a dead girl popping up in a locker. That should have sent up some red flags, right? Instead though it became a subject for gossip that lasted for about an hour and was then forgotten like it never happened.
When Xander thought back on it, people in this town disappeared and died all the time and no one ever said anything about it. He couldn't even begin to count all the funerals and memorials he'd attended growing up. Why had that never seemed odd to him before?
Also the trip to the hospital the night before had been kind of a revelation as well. Xander hadn't expected to be taken seriously at all with his barbecue fork crack and yet the doctor hadn't even questioned it. In fact he had told them that he saw that kind of thing all the time. What the hell!
'Giles is right, there is something seriously wrong with this town.' The slayer thought as he found the mausoleum he'd been looking for. 'And would I have ever noticed if I hadn't become the slayer?' That thought was not a pleasant one.
The wrought iron gate on the tomb squeaked ominously as Xander pushed it open. He kept his guard up as he entered, half expecting that there would be a dozen vampires waiting to ambush him. So Xan was quite relieved when the place turned out to be empty. Well mostly empty anyway. Xander's heightened senses detected one person lurking in the shadows but the slayer knew who it was the moment he spotted them. He chose to ignore the tomb invader for the moment though as he crossed the room. At the back he found another gate with a heavy chain and lock on it. What was it with him and locks today?
"I don't suppose you have the key for this do ya?" he asked the lurker in a hopeful tone not bothering to turn around.
"They really don't like me dropping in." the mystery girl from the alley said stepping out of the shadows.
"Why not?" Xander asked crossing his arms as he turned to face her.
"They really don't like me." She answered enigmatically with a sly smile.
"With people skills like yours? That's hard to believe." Xan shot back sarcastically.
"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later." She started completely disregarding the slayer's attempt at wit. "Actually, I thought it was going to be a little sooner." She finished acerbically.
"Okay, I don't want to fight with you." Xander made a placating gesture. "In fact I wanted to thank you."
"Why?" she asked puzzled by the shift in conversation.
Noticing her confusion Xander pulled the cross he was wearing out from underneath his shirt. It was the one she had given him the night before. "This kinda saved my bacon last night. So, thank you. I'll try to be less irksome from now on."
"Oh, um," she replied sounding unsure "you're welcome."
"Anyway," the slayer said with a shrug "if you're going to be showing up with this whole cryptic wise-girl act on a regular basis how about you give me a name to go with that pretty face of yours?"
"Angel." She told him smiling again.
"Just Angel huh?" Xander replied with a smirk. "Is that like Cher or Madonna?"
"I thought you said you were going to be nice?" Angel asked though she sounded more amused than upset by his crack about her name.
"Sorry." the slayer apologized sincerely. "Smart-ass is kind of my default setting." He told her as he turned back to the gate.
"Uh, don't go down there." Angel said anxiously taking a step forward.
"Well you'll have to deal with my going." Xander rounded back to face the girl again. "Cause it's non-negotiable."
"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk." Angel told him sounding concerned. "Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it…the Master walks." She finished darkly.
"Well if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest and you hate vamps so much, why don't you do something about it?" Xan asked.
"'Cause I'm afraid." Angel chuckled grimly shaking her head.
Without warning Xander lashed out at the door with a fierce kick. The slayer's blow was so powerful it shattered the chain and nearly broke the gate off its hinges.
"They'll be expecting you." Angel stated with certainty.
"One of my best friends is down there and I won't leave her in that pit when I can do something about it." Xan told her. "Otherwise what's the point of being the slayer if I can't even protect the people that are close to me?"
"Your friends mean a lot to you, don't they?" The dark haired girl asked, her expression becoming almost wistful at the concept.
"Yeah, don't yours?" Angel looked uncertain about how to answer the question. The lost expression that appeared on her face spoke volumes to Xander. "You don't really have any friends do you?"
"Not for a very long time." The mysterious girl confirmed. That just seemed unnatural to Xander. Everyone should have a friend. Before he could comment on that though she spoke again.
"When you hit the tunnels, head east toward the school." She instructed. "That's where you're likely to find them."
Xander nodded as he absorbed the information. "So, you gonna wish me luck?" the slayer asked. Silence was Angel's only response. "Yeah, I don't really like my chances either." Xan uttered quietly as he went through the broken gate and entered the underground labyrinth beneath Sunnydale.
Angel watched as the slayer vanished into the darkness. When he was gone she whispered softly "Good luck."