Author note.
Hey readers. I bet y'all thought this was a dead story. Truth is this section has been sitting on my hard drive mostly finished for about a year and a half. Just been kinda busy with life and hadn't really had the time to finish up the last little bit. I'd started work on the sections or episodes that will follow this but I've been having a terrible time trying to get the end to this finished to my satisfaction. Honestly it's still not as good as I wanted it to be but I figured if I waited for it to be that good y'all would never see it. Anyway I can always go back and revise the parts I'm not happy with later. Lucas does it all the time. Well then nothing left say but on with show and please enjoy.
XXX
The Sunnnydale High library was as usual nearly devoid of life. It's only occupant being the school librarian Rupert Giles. Who was at the moment seated at the main reading table hunched over a large pile of books and muttering quietly to himself. Researching the Harvest had been slow going for the watcher. He had found several references to various rituals all called the Harvest but most had nothing to do with vampires. It was on his second read through of 'The Almanac of Arcane Events' that he finally found what he was looking for.
"For they will gather and be gathered…" Giles read aloud from the text before him "…from the vessel pours life." He looked up from the tome. "Pours life?" He said again. That sounded familiar. Giles grabbed another ancient book from the pile on the table and flipped through its pages until he found what he was looking for.
'Yes, this is it.' The watcher thought triumphantly as he studied the manuscript. Drawn on the page that he was currently examining was a picture of two vampiric creatures. One with a symbol on its forehead standing tall and strong while the other lie weakly on the ground. The image also depicted some type of energy flowing between them. Giles looked to the text on the next page.
"On the night of the crescent moon," He read aloud again "the first part of the solstice, it will come." Giles again looked up in thought. "Of course." The Brit said in comprehension as he double-checked the pagan calendar that was also on the table. "That's tonight."
XXX
So far, with the exception of the occasional rat Xander hadn't really seen any signs of life in the dank tunnels running beneath his hometown. Still he kept his guard up. These tunnels weren't exactly the best place to be if he had to fight. They were cramped which would limit his movement and they were also cluttered with garbage and other junk that could trip him up if he needed to run. Not to mention the layout for the tunnel system was confusing as hell. Every other passage looked identical and if one weren't careful it would be real easy to get turned around in the underground maze.
The slayer sighed heavily and pushed those dark thoughts aside as he pressed on. "Being a Donnie Downer is not going to help Willow." Xander muttered to himself.
As the slayer rounded the next corner his senses detected something moving in the tunnels behind him. And whatever it was, it was a lot bigger than a rat. Flattening himself against a wall Xander readied for an attack. It was closer now and Xan could make out the distinct sound of footsteps. Deciding that his target was close enough Xander jumped out of his hiding spot with stake in hand to confront them.
"Ahh!" Buffy screamed almost falling over in fright from the slayer's sudden appearance. "Xander don't scare me like that!" she shouted smacking him on the arm.
"What are you doing down here?" Xander asked exasperatedly.
"I followed you." Buffy replied vehemently "I couldn't just sit around and do nothing."
"Well thanks and all but I almost turned you into a Buffy ca-bob just now!" the slayer said crossly holding up his stake for emphasis. "You need to get out of here, like yesterday."
"I know how to spot a vampire. Maybe if I hadn't left Willow alone last night she might not of been taken." Buffy's eyes became steely with determination. "I'm just as responsible for this mess as you think you are and I'm going to help whether you like it or not buster."
The girl had a resolve face that rivaled Willow's. Xander knew that he wasn't going to be able to talk her into leaving on her own. So he did the only thing he could do, he relented. "Fine, you can come with, but you stay behind me and you do as I say. Capiche?" She nodded in agreement of his terms. He sighed letting his tension go. "Let's go then." With that the pair of teens continued further into the dark underground.
XXX
Jesse had been amazed at the info he was finding regarding his hometown. According to the statistics he had dug up on the net the little hamlet of Sunnydale had a mortality rate that made big cities like Detroit and Washington D.C. look like Mayberry in comparison. Also it seemed that there was a huge epidemic of gangs using PCP in Sunnydale. At least that's what the local PD claimed as the official reason for all the bad stuff that happened. Jes had lived in this little southern California town his whole life and he couldn't remember ever seeing roving gangs hopped up on drugs terrorizing the citizens. What all this basically boiled down to was that everything he thought he knew about his home was a lie.
"No!" Cordelia shouted mournfully breaking Jesse's concentration. He glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting at one of the other terminals staring despairingly at the screen before her. "It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait…"
Jesse suppressed a chuckle. The girl had no idea what she was talking about. Why she was even taking this class was beyond him. Cordy had never struck him as a computer person. That wasn't to say that she was stupid, far from it actually. Jes knew for a fact that Cordelia was probably one of the more intelligent people in this school. He had taken a peak at her test scores once. The problem was that she was so concerned with keeping up appearances with the in-crowd that she dumbed herself down and acted like a complete bitch.
She had such potential. That was one of the reasons why he was kinda hung up on her. Jesse knew she could be a better person if she wanted to be. All Cordy had to learn was that status wasn't everything and not everyone you meet cares about it.
"Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" Harmony Kendall (AKA Cordy's number one hanger on) suddenly asked the brunette. She was seated at the next computer over to Cordelia's left. In Jesse's opinion, girls like Harmony were the main reason why the dumb blonde stereotype refused to go away.
"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Cordelia replied condescendingly. Harmony began to look very confused which caused Cordy to roll her eyes. "Of course we're going to the Bronze!" she clarified for the empty headed girl. "Thursday night, no cover? But you should have been there last night."
"What happened?" Harmony asked excitedly.
"I ran into Xander and could he be any weirder?" The self-proclaimed queen of Sunnydale High asked dramatically. "He attacked me! Can you believe it?" Jesse felt his own eyes rolling in annoyance. It was fine when Cordelia slammed him but it was something else entirely when she went after his friends.
"Uh, I think we did this part wrong." Harmony said as she stared blankly at her computer screen.
"Why do we have to devise these programs?" Cordy asked irritably. "Isn't that what nerds are for?" Harmony nodded in agreement. Then Cordelia leaned in closer to the girl. "What did he do?" she whispered conspiratorially nodding in Jesse's direction. Harmony turned in her seat and tried to look covertly at his screen. However in the end she couldn't make heads or tails of the search program he was running.
"Um, he's doing something else." The idiot blonde told her friend all the while smiling like the little sycophant she was.
Of course he was doing something else, Jesse thought with a snicker. The computer science teacher, Mr. Tucker, tended to let him do whatever he wanted simply because the educator couldn't understand even half of what Jes was up to most of the time. The man was a technological dinosaur who thought that DOS was still cutting edge. Word was though that he was going to be retiring at the end of the semester and that they were going to be getting a new computer teacher. A Miss Colander or was it Calendar? Well her name was something like that anyway.
"Ok and then "pattern run," right?" Cordelia asked looking for confirmation from Harmony. "Or…"go to end." Yeah that's it."
"Maybe." Harmony said sounding even more confused.
"So anyway, I come out of the bathroom and he comes running at me," Cordy was back on the incident with Xander again and becoming more dramatic with every word "with a stick shouting. "I'm gonna kill you!" I swear!"
Now she was starting to tick Jesse off. He wasn't present for the altercation she was relaying to Harmony but he seriously doubted that it happened the way the self-proclaimed queen of SHS was describing it.
"Who?" The longhaired burnout boy seated on Cordy's other side asked.
"Xander Harris."
"I saw him talking with the new girl, Buffy, yesterday morning." Harmony added. "You know what the rumors say about her."
"What's her deal?" Burnout boy asked clearly not having heard the gossip.
"She got booted from her old school." Harmony began.
"Because apparently she's a total pyro." Cordelia finished. "If you ask me, she and Harris deserve each other. Psychos!"
Okay, that was it. Jesse had to do something. He just wasn't sure what that something would be. He didn't like Cordelia badmouthing Xander but he could tolerate it. Xan and Cordy had been feuding since kindergarten so that was nothing new. But slamming Buffy when she didn't even really know anything about her, now that just wasn't cool.
While Queen C and her court continued to dish about his friends, Jesse finished his search and sent what he had gathered to the printer. The bell for the end of class would be ringing soon and Giles needed to see what he had found.
"Okay," Harmony said sounding relieved "I think the program's done."
"Finally the nightmare ends!" was Cordelia's triumphant reply. "Okay, so how do we save it?"
It was at that moment that Jesse had a brilliant idea. He liked Cordy. He really did, but sometimes she needed to be put in her place. "Try deliver." Jes told them with a sly smile as he finished gathering his papers from the printer.
"Deliver? Where's that?" Cordy asked thoughtfully as she scanned her keyboard. "Oh." She said as she spied a key marked "Del." Without any hesitation she pressed the button. A moment later her eyes went wide with surprise as all of her hard work vanished from the screen with only an electronic beep to mark it's passing. She shot an angry glare in Jesse's direction just as the bell rang. He just winked at her smugly and stepped out the door with his research in hand.
XXX
"So what are the four most essential pieces of equipment for vamp slayage?" Xander asked quizzing Buffy as the two teens continued to make their way through the dark tunnels beneath Sunnydale.
"Stake, cross and holy water. That's three." She answered and then asked uncertainly "But what's the fourth?"
"Twinkies. Arguably the most vital of all the essentials." Xander stated with mock seriousness. "One does not slay on an empty stomach Buffster."
Buffy giggled. "I'll have to remember that for future reference."
"Okay, next question." The slayer said continuing with the impromptu quiz. Buffy didn't mind that Xander felt the need to test her. He was just making sure that she wasn't going to be a liability and Miss Summers was determined to prove that she wouldn't be. "Did you happen to bring any of those things with you?" He asked.
Buffy reached into her jacket with a confident smile. "Never leave home without it." She said as she produced an intricately carved wooden cross from her pocket. "Some people pack pepper-spray for self-defense. I pack a crucifix."
"Very good." Xander said thoroughly impressed. "Alright, last question on the Harris standardized test for vampire slaying. List the most effective ways for killing a vampire?"
"Stake through the heart of course, sunlight and fire." Buffy replied counting them off on her fingers. "Pretty much anything you've seen in the movies will get the job done."
"Bravo Buffy," Xander praised "but don't forget about beheading. That makes 'em dusty real fast."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that one." She said becoming pensive. "I saw Pike do a beheading once."
"Yeah, how did that go?" Xander asked curiously.
"Not that great," Buffy said with a sigh "it was kind of an ordeal. You see, Pike was pinned down by this guy that played left tackle for varsity. Well, at least he did before he was a vampire. Anyway the guy had this…"
Suddenly Xander was hit with a vision of himself, at least he thought it was himself, grappling with a rather large vampire in a letterman's jacket.
"…Really thick neck and all Pike had was a little X-Acto knife." Xander finished for her as the vision cleared leaving him with a peculiar expression forming on his face.
"Good call." the ex-cheerleader said looking confused. "Did I already tell you this story?"
"No, but I remember it."
"Huh?" was Buffy's oh so eloquent reply.
"I remember it like it happened to me." Xander clarified.
"Okay, that's kinda wiggy." Buffy said uncertainly. "Any idea how that's possible?"
"Giles told me once that when a slayer dies all of his memories and all the memories of every other slayer that came before him are subconsciously passed to the next guy in line." Xander sighed and scratched his head in thought. "Come to think of it that could explain all the feelings of déjà vu I've been having concerning you."
"You've been déjà vu-ing me?" Buffy asked surprised then blushed. "Wow, that sounded dirty."
Xander laughed "That's alright Buff, I know what you meant." Then the slayer shrugged "It's just that when I first saw you yesterday I had this feeling like I should already know you. And it's been getting stronger the more I'm around you. I think it's like leftovers from the guy before me."
"So because Pike knew me, you do to?" Buffy questioned uncertainly. "Is that what you're trying to say?"
"I guess, maybe, I don't know. It's complicated. How about we ask Giles what it all means later?" Xander offered.
"Fine with me." Buffy agreed.
"Hey, did you used to be a cheerleader?" The slayer suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Yeah, why?"
"No reason." Xander said smirking as he got a flash of memory featuring Buffy wearing the standard skimpy cheerleader uniform while jumping around and shaking her pompoms so to speak.
Buffy noticed Xander's smirk and smacked his arm. "Slayer or not I will find a way to hurt you." The petite blonde promised as the pair continued cautiously down the dark tunnel.
XXX
Giles was still cross-referencing when Jesse entered the library with what he had found. "Xander?" The older man questioned looking up hopefully when he heard the door open.
"Sorry, just me." Jesse answered as he walked into the room. "I guess that means you haven't heard from him yet?"
"Unfortunately, no." Giles shook his head worriedly.
"Well I'm sure that they are just fine." Jesse said reassuringly.
"They?" the Brit asked quirking an eyebrow.
"Uh, did I say "they"?" Jes desperately tried to wipe the 'deer caught in headlights' look off his face when he realized his slip. "I meant to say, um, he's just fine. Yeah that's it."
"Jesse," Giles gave the teen the serious over the glasses stare "what aren't you telling me?"
Jesse crumbled like a house of cards under the watcher's glare. "Buffy went to follow Xander, I told her that it was a bad idea, but she left anyway, and I'm really, really sorry." Jesse babbled so fast that Giles almost couldn't understand him.
"Oh dear Lord." Giles said incredulously. He took his glasses off and began to polish them furiously. "Did you at least try to stop her?"
"Um, not really." Was Jesse's shameful reply. "But to be honest I don't think I could have. She was determined to go."
"Why would Buffy do something so reckless?" the librarian asked in frustration.
"She just wanted to help." The teen answered lamely. Giles stopped polishing his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in resignation.
"Well, I suppose there is nothing that we can do at the moment." Then the older man pointed to the stack of papers in Jesse's hand. "What did you find?"
"Oh yeah." Jesse said stepping forward having almost forgotten about his research. "I found all kinds of stuff going back more than two hundred years but I limited the search to the last century for the most part. I bet there's more but this seemed to be closer to the kind of info you asked for." The teen told Giles as he handed over the papers.
Giles scanned through the pages Jesse gave him. There was a lot about the rather odd history of the town. Some of which the watcher already knew about and some that he didn't. What really caught his attention though was a rash of murders that happened in the area some sixty years ago, just before a major earthquake devastated the area. The time frame just happened to correspond with something else the watcher had been referencing. Xander had told him that the vampires from last night's attack had mentioned a being called the Master and Giles had thought it prudent to look up supernatural entities that went by that title. It just so happened that very powerful vampire called the Master arrived in this area about the same time as the last spree of murders and hadn't been heard from since. It was possible that this particular being was connected with recent events.
"This is very good Jesse." The older man praised as he started to understand more of the puzzle. "In fact this is all starting to come together. I rather wish it weren't though." Giles finished apprehensively. This could all go very badly if they weren't careful.
XXX
"I think we're getting close to where we're going." Xander told Buffy as the pair of high school students turned down yet another tunnel.
"How can you tell?" Buffy asked looking around for some type landmark that would have identified their location in the tunnel system to Xander. It all looked exactly the same to her.
"No more rats." The slayer said in an ominous tone pointing out the sudden lack of rodents under foot. If even the rats weren't willing to stick around then this was definitely not a place for humans.
"I never thought that there being zero rats around would translate into a bad thing." Buffy commented quietly.
"Shush." Xan said stopping suddenly. He cocked his head to the side as if listening for something. "This way, come on." The slayer motioned for Buffy to follow. Picking up the pace the pair rounded yet another corner and came face to face with what had gotten Xander's attention. Lying on the dirty floor in the fetal position and chained to the wall was a whimpering Willow. The slayer was at the redhead's side in an instant.
"Get away!" she screamed curling up even tighter.
"Will, it's me." Xander said in a soothing voice trying to calm her down. "You're safe now."
"Xander?" Willow asked in disbelief looking up with tear streaked eyes. Almost instantly the slayer had his arms full of hysterical redhead. "I didn't think you'd come." Willow cried her voice being muffled by Xander's shirt.
"Seriously?" Xan asked with mock incredulity as he wiped her tears away. "No power on this Earth bestest bud o mine, could have kept me away."
"I really hate to be the one to end this very Kodak-y moment," Buffy said reasserting her presence to her friends "but we need to get out of here pronto."
"Buffy's right." Xander let go of Willow and knelt down to look at the manacle around her ankle. Yet another stupid lock. This was turning into a regular running gag today. After a quick examination Xander decided he could break it. However the noise he'd make doing so would probably alert the locals. Then again that was probably the point. The second he saw Willow chained to the wall Xander knew this was a trap. 'Well, nothing for it.' The slayer thought picking up a nearby pipe.
"Xander what are you doing?" Willow asked sounding confused.
"Nothing to worry about Willow." Buffy said reassuringly "This year's Xander model comes with extras."
"Don't move." Xan ordered and then swung the pipe down onto the manacle's clasp. The powerful blow shattered the lock but also as predicted made quite a racket.
"Okay, someone definitely heard that." Buffy stated. Moments later the sound of many footsteps and animalistic growls could be heard coming their way.
"No kidding." Xander replied as he quickly started ushering both girls in the direction he and Buffy had come in through and away from the vamps.
"They knew you would come." Willow said shakily as they hurried through the labyrinth of tunnels trying to escape. "They said that I was the bait."
"Wonderful." Xander commented though he had guessed as much. They rounded another corner and stopped dead in their tracks. At the far end of the passage he could see several pairs of glowing eyes that belonged to the undead and they were approaching rapidly. "Okay, not going that way."
"Nononono!" the redhead was starting to panic and Xander couldn't blame her. This was a bad situation.
"Is there another way out?" Buffy asked frantically.
"This way!" Willow shouted grabbing both Xander and Buffy by the hand and dragged them along. "They brought me through here earlier. I think it leads up." A few frenzied moments later Will lead them into a chamber with a heavy steel door. Unfortunately it turned out to be a dead end.
"I'm just spit-balling here, but I don't think this is the way out." Xander said anxiously.
"What are we gonna do?" asked a very worried Buffy. Both she and Xander were looking out the door and back the way they had come. They could tell that their pursuers were not far behind.
"I've got an idea," Willow said causing the slayer and former cheerleader to look back at her and gasp at what they saw "you can die." Willow Rosenberg was now a vampire. Her once beautiful face marred by the demon within.
Xander couldn't move, he could barely even think his shock was so great. He had failed his friend utterly. "Willow, I'm so sorry." His voice was an agonized whisper.
"Don't feel sorry for me Xander." The thing that wore Willow's face said as she glided up to the slayer. "I am so much more now then I was before." Her twisted smile widened when Xander didn't step back. "You know, you don't have to die here. You and I could have the rest of eternity to play together." Her glowing yellow eyes were almost hypnotic as she reached up and caressed his face. "Wouldn't that be fun Xander?"
"Back off!" Buffy shouted stepping up and shoving her cross into the newly turned bloodsucker's face. Vamp-Willow instantly retreated away from the holy object with a snarl. This action also had the added benefit of snapping Xan out of his stupor.
Survival instincts finally kicked in as the slayer grabbed Vamp-Willow by the shirt and flung her out the entryway and into the approaching horde of undead, knocking many of them to the ground in the process. Then he and Buffy worked together to close the reinforced steel door. It wasn't easy, even with all his considerable strength being exerted against it the thing didn't want to budge. They almost had it sealed when the first vamp reached them, sticking it's clawed hand through the gap in the door stopping them from closing it. Xan grabbed the cross out of Buffy's hand and pressed it into the vampire's arm. The unpleasant smell of seared flesh suddenly permeated the area. The undead minion quickly retracted its burned appendage allowing Buffy to latch the door.
"We need to find a way out of here." Buffy said slumping against the door as the vamps started to beat on it. From the sound of things it wasn't going to hold for long.
"There is no out of here." Xander answered next to her sounding defeated. Buffy refused to believe that though. Looking around she spotted a ventilation grate in the ceiling.
"Look," the blonde pointed to what she had found "what about that vent?" Xander nodded in agreement his need to survive momentarily overshadowing his despair at losing one of his oldest friends. Jumping up onto some crates piled beneath the vent Xan went to work on prying it open. It was a torturously slow process but the rusty grate finally started to give way and open. Which was none too soon as the door keeping the vampires out began to buckle under their assault. One corner was starting to warp and fold over as a vamp pushed himself through trying to reach the latch.
"Up you go." Xander effortlessly lifted Buffy into ventilation duct then climbed in himself just as the vamps breached the room.
The two high school students crawled quickly through the pitch-black ducts, the enemy hot on their heels spurring them to move faster. Soon the duct ended in a shaft with a ladder that went straight up to the surface.
"Climb." Xander ordered. The Summers girl didn't need to be told twice as she moved up the rungs as fast as possible. When she reached the top Buffy shoved the shaft's manhole cover aside and hauled herself out of the hole, Xander only a few seconds behind her. She had never been so glad to see the sun. The slayer was almost clear of the shaft's opening himself when a pale hand latched onto his lower leg, attempting to drag him back down.
"Buffy, help me pull!" Xan shouted. Buffy wrapped her arms around Xander and aided him in this deadlier version of tug-of-war. Soon the vampire lost ground as its hand was pulled into the light of day. When it started to smoke the vamp let go with an angry hiss causing the two teens to overbalance and fall over. Xander twisted mid-fall hitting the ground first and cushioning the impact for Buffy.
"Let's not do that again…ever." Buffy said with sigh of relief. Xander just silently nodded in agreement as the two of them lay there on the ground happy to still be alive.
XXX
"You let him escape when I should be drinking his heart's blood right now!" The Master raged at his gathered minions. "Careless."
"Well, I played my part perfectly." Willow said stepping out from the crowd. "I had the slayer practically eating out of my hand. If that blonde bitch hadn't been there and if Collin here," she smirked spitefully at the vampire responsible for orchestrating the ambush, "hadn't taken his sweet time closing the trap, dear Xander would be ours right now."
The Master smiled at the newest childe to join his little family. This one showed initiative in making sure the blame for the failure landed squarely on poor Collin. She was an intelligent and vicious little thing. He liked her already.
"My dear, I'm sure you did your part as best you could." He said taking her hand in an almost fatherly way. "As for the rest of you though, you are all weak! It has been too long since any of you have faced a slayer."
"Master, we had him trapped." Collin said trying to save himself.
"Oh… are you going to make excuses now Collin?" the Master asked cruelly. The lesser vampire wisely chose to keep his mouth shut after that. Pleas for mercy weren't going to help him now. Their leader had none to give to those who failed him.
"Well, no matter." The Master shook his head in a dismissive manner. "He will not stop the Harvest. Just means there'll be someone worth killing when I reach the surface." He looked to Darien who was standing off to the side of the room. "Is Luke ready?"
"He's waiting." The blonde vampire answered with a devilish smile.
"It's time, bring him to me." With that everyone scattered to make preparations for the ritual. Collin went to leave as well feeling a wave of relief. He might make it out of this unscathed.
"Oh Collin?" The Master called preventing the younger vampire's escape. Reluctantly Collin turned to face his Sire. He should have known better than to hope he would get away clean. "You failed me." The Master spoke as if he were talking to a small child. "Say you're sorry."
"I'm sorry." Collin apologized sincerely. He truly was sorry, but not for failing to kill the slayer. No, what he was really sorry for was allowing that fledgling bitch to lay sole responsibility for the screw-up on him.
"See." the Master said with a forgiving smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That wasn't so hard." Collin however did not feel relieved. "One more thing…" the ancient vampire was grinning with true delight now. His hand shot forward swiftly, clawed index finger extended. Then there was a squishing sound that seemed to echo in the enclosed space of the cave. "You seem to have something in your eye."
To his credit Collin managed not to scream…too much.
XXX
Jesse and Giles were still in the library waiting for Xander and Buffy to return, hopefully with Willow in tow. In the mean time however they had come up with a pretty solid theory about what was going on. The pair had pulled out a dry erase board and sketched out their ideas upon it. What came together seemed to be feasible. Jesse's research had been incredibly thorough and had allowed Giles to connect the dots quite nicely. The boy would make a fine watcher someday if he chose to follow that path.
"Giles, what exactly are vampires anyway?" Jesse suddenly asked from his seat across from the older man. "When you were telling me what was what earlier this morning you never really went into detail about them."
The librarian looked at the young man across from him curiously as he mentally went over their discussion from this morning when the other two teenagers had still been present. He soon came to the conclusion that the young man was right, he hadn't explained exactly what a vampire was. Well, that was easily remedied.
"Well Jesse, vampires are very much like what popular culture has made them out to be." Giles began. "Most of what you know from movies and books is very true. They subsist on the blood of the living. Daylight, fire, and objects of a holy significance are repellant to them. And they can be killed by a stake through the heart."
"Okay, so where did they come from then?" Jesse asked.
"Ah, now that is a far more interesting question." Giles said with a smile appreciating how sharp the young man before him was. "According to legend, just before the last true demon left this plain of existence he fed on a human and mixed their blood together. That human became infected by the demon's soul. In essence he became a human form possessed." Jesse was on the edge of his seat now. "Over time he bit another and they bit another, feeding on some and mixing blood with others to make more of their kind." The Brit. sighed as he finished his story. "Now they wait for the animals to die out and for the Old Ones to return."
"Whoa." Jesse said astounded. "That's heavy."
"Indeed."
"So, besides vampires, what else goes bump in the night?" Jesse asked eager to learn more.
"Well," Giles began, enjoying Jesse's enthusiasm for the subject "there are…" It was at that moment though that the doors to the library swung open admitting Xander and Buffy. The watcher noticed the stormy looks on both their faces and the distinct lack of a redhead in their company. From those signs the librarian deduced that things had not gone well on their end.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Jesse asked his voice sounding hollow and broken. Apparently he had noticed Willow's absence as well.
Buffy shook her head negative but her expression didn't lighten. "Worse, I'm sorry Jesse." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We were too late and they were waiting for us."
All the blood drained away from Jesse's face as he realized what could be worse than dying where vampires were concerned. "Well, at least you guys are okay."
Right then Xander savagely kicked an innocent library cart, sending it careening into the far wall with a sizable dent in its side. Giles didn't have it in him to admonish the young man over his lack of self-control.
"I have decided that I really don't like vampires." Xander's voice trembled with rage. "Before, it was just me doing my job but now…" The slayer took a deep breath but his anger refused to abate. "Now, I'm gonna take it to 'em "Charles Bronson" style."
"So Giles, did you and Jesse find anything that might make our day any worse?" Buffy asked trying to change the subject slightly.
Giles stood up and sighed. "How about the end of the world?"
"You're a glass is half empty kinda guy aren't you G-man?" The slayer joked but his voice lacked any of its usual humor.
XXX
The Master stood in the middle of the chamber as his followers finished lighting the candles for the ritual. Luke entered a few moments later and knelt before his sire. The Master offered his hand to his most loyal disciple. Then Luke bit into his leader's wrist and drank.
"My blood is your blood." The Master intoned pulling his wrist away. "My soul is your soul."
"My body is your instrument." Luke pledged.
"On this most hallowed night…" The ancient vampire began as he started to mark Luke's forehead with blood. "We are as one. Luke is the vessel." The Master told all those who had gathered for the ritual. "Every soul he takes will feed me and their souls will give me the strength to free myself." The Master continued to paint a tri-pointed symbol on Luke. "Tonight I shall walk the Earth and the Stars themselves will hide!"
Darien smiled evilly at the spectacle taking place. Willow just looked bored and thought the whole thing to be a little over dramatic.
XXX
"This is what we know." Giles started as he paced around the library. "Some sixty years ago a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore and not just to feed."
"He came 'cause this little town of ours is sitting on top of a mystical thingamajig." Xander guessed.
The watcher nodded an affirmative "Yes, the Spanish that first settled the area referred to it as 'Boca Del Inferno' or roughly translated 'Hellmouth'." The older man paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "It's sort of a portal between this reality and the next. This vampire, the Master, hoped to open it."
"Bring the old demons back?" Buffy asked with an eyebrow raised.
"End of the world." Xander concluded from his part of the room.
"But it got messed up!" Jesse interjected excitedly. "There was this huge earthquake that swallowed half the town. I'll give you three guesses who got taken along for the ride and the first two don't count."
"You see," Giles said stepping back into the discussion "opening dimensional doorways is a tricky business. It would seem that the Master got himself stuck, like a cork in a bottle."
"And this Harvest thing is his get out of jail free card." Xander presumed.
"Exactly." Giles confirmed. "It comes once in a century on this night. A master vampire can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds." Giles then walked over to the dry erase board he and Jesse had set up earlier. "Presumably, he can draw enough power to break free and open the portal." The watcher pulled the cap off a dry erase marker and began to sketch a tri-pointed symbol on the board. "The minion is called the vessel and he bears this symbol." Giles said as he finished the diagram.
"So, I put a stake to anyone sporting that symbol and the Harvest goes down the drain." Xander said coming over to the board to get a better look at the mark.
"That is an oversimplification but yes." Giles agreed.
"Cool," Buffy added "any idea where this little bloodbath is going down?"
"There are a few possibilities." The watcher told them sounding unsure.
"It'll be the Bronze." The slayer said with certainty.
"Are you positive on that Xan-man?" Jesse asked.
Xander nodded "To them the place is basically like an all you can eat buffet. Trust me that's where they're going to be."
"Then we should get there as well." Giles said grabbing his jacket. "The sun will be down before long."
"My house is on the way." Buffy said as they all made for the library exit. "I need to stop and pick up some stuff first."
"Like what?" Xander questioned looking at her like she was crazy. They were talking about possible Armageddon here. Time was most definitely a factor.
The LA native just winked at him "Why, the essentials of course."
'Yep,' Xander thought cracking a real smile in spite of the day's events 'this girl's a keeper.'
XXX
A short time later.
Buffy Summers was pretty sure that she had managed to sneak into the house without her mother noticing. She took this opportunity to quickly change clothes; after all she had been wearing the same thing since last night. Now that she was changed it was time to get down to business. The others were waiting for her outside while she gathered the supplies.
Buffy had just gone over to her closet and pulled out a jacket when her mother walked in. "Buffy?" the elder Summers called.
"Mom, hi." The blonde girl greeted as normally as she could.
"You're going out?" Joyce asked crossing her arms and glancing at the jacket in her daughter's hands.
"Yeah, I have to."
"I didn't hear you come in last night."
"I was really quiet." Buffy said lying through teeth. It wasn't like she could tell her mom where she had really been last night.
"It's happening again isn't it?" Joyce sighed in frustration somehow sensing the lie anyway. "I got a call from your new principal, he said you missed some classes today."
"I was running an errand." Buffy explained though she could tell her Mom still didn't believe a word.
"We haven't even finished unpacking yet and I'm already getting calls from the principal." This was not going well in Buffy's opinion.
"Mom, I promise it's not going to be like before, but I have to go." The teen pleaded.
"No." Joyce replied firmly.
"Mom!" Buffy shouted angrily.
"The tapes all say I should get used to saying it." Joyce shook her head and took a deep breath. "No."
"This is really, really important!" Buffy shouted again trying to make her see.
"I know." Joyce answered in an understanding tone. "If you don't go out tonight it'll be the end of the world." Buffy couldn't help but think that in this instance that might actually be true. Xander was going to need all the help he could get tonight. "Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen year-old girl."
"Look, I don't have time to talk about it…"
"Buffy, you've got all the time in the world." Her mother said cutting her off. "You're not going anywhere." Joyce took another deep breath and then continued in her most reasonable tone of voice. "Now if you want to stay up here and sulk, I won't hold it against you. But if you want to come down I'll make us some dinner." With one last look that said there would be no further arguments on the subject, Joyce left the room.
Buffy just sighed heavily.
"You're mom's pretty cool." Xander's voice said coming from the window. Buffy turned suddenly to see the slayer perched on her windowsill. His damn slayer stealth had allowed him to sneak up on her.
"What are you doing up here?" Buffy asked in an irritated whisper afraid her mother would hear.
"I came to see what the holdup was." Xander answered in his normal voice. "Don't worry your mom's already down stairs. Unless she's part bat she shouldn't hear us."
"How can you tell where she is?" Buffy asked still whispering. "Last time I checked slayers didn't have X-ray vision." In answer to her question Xander just pointed to his own ears. Then Buffy remembered that slayers could hear a whole lot better than the average person.
"Oh, yeah." She said in her normal voice. "Wait, so you heard everything she just said and you still think my mom is cool?"
"She cares, that's pretty cool." He told her getting up from the window and coming into the room. "It's more than my parents ever did."
"Oh." Buffy didn't really know what Xander's family situation was. From the sound of that sentence it didn't sound like he had it too good. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He told her smiling sincerely if just a little sadly. "I live with my uncle Rory now. He's a pretty awesome guy. He's been reading a lot of those parenting self-help books too since I moved in." Xander chuckled a little. "Maybe he and your mom should get together and compare notes." Buffy laughed a little at that too. Then Xander sobered up "So, you said something about the essentials?"
"Right." Buffy said going back over to her closet. A few seconds later she pulled out a large trunk and an empty black duffel bag. Opening the trunk revealed an assortment of girly item such as stuffed animals, journals, cheer trophies and colorful seashells just to name a few.
"Um, Buffy?" Xander gave her a questioning look. "Unless we're doing battle with the characters from Hello Kitty I don't think this stuff is going to help." The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance and pulled the top tray out revealing that the trunk had a false bottom. Beneath was a small arsenal of vampire hunting equipment including stakes, bottles of holy water and crosses. Basically, all the essentials as laid down by Xander Harris, minus the Twinkies. Buffy hadn't had a chance to stock those yet. "Ooh, shiny." Xander said in approval with a big grin.
"Shiny?" Buffy asked quirking an eyebrow.
"Not feeling it, uh?" Then the slayer shrugged "Maybe it'll catch on in the future?"
"The far future." Buffy joked. "Anyway, this is everything I've got. When I moved here I hoped I'd never see a vamp again but like a good Girl Scout, I'm always prepared."
"Always be prepared, is the Boy Scout's motto Buffster." Xander pointed out.
"Whatever, just load up."
They quickly filled the duffel bag with just about everything in the trunk. When they were done there were only two items left and Xander was staring at them intently. One was a distinctive stake carved from what looked to be teak and the other was a beat up brown leather jacket. The slayer knew without a doubt that both items had belonged to the late Oliver Pike.
A memory assaulted Xander's mind as he picked up the jacket. It was more vivid than any he had experienced before. It felt completely real and he was having trouble keeping it straight that this had actually happened to someone else and not to him.
Buffy was there, wearing a beautiful white evening dress. "I wanted you to see me in it." she told him/Pike indicating the dress. "I don't think we'll have much of a chance to dance tonight considering Lothos' plans for homecoming." She looked up at him/Pike, there was fear in her eyes. "I don't want you to die."
He/Pike put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not gonna die Summers." Pike/he said with a reassuring smile. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."
"How do you know?" She asked close to tears. He/Pike sighed and took off the jacket and put it over Buffy's shoulders. She gazed at Pike/him questioningly.
"You've got my jacket and I'm gonna want it back." He/Pike told her. "It's got my favorite stake in the pocket. So you know I'll be coming back for it for sure."
Buffy smiled at him/Pike "I've got something else you'll want to come back for too."
"Yeah, what's that?" Pike/he asked genuinely curious.
"This." Buffy leaned forward on her toes and kissed Pike/him. Immediately he/Pike kissed her back passionately. Too soon though the need for oxygen drove them apart.
"Okay, I'm definitely not going to die now." He/Pike told her. It was funny, until that moment Pike/he hadn't realized how important this little cheerleader had become to him/Pike. "When this is all over you and I are gonna have plenty of time together to figure stuff out. I promise."
"I'm gonna hold you to that Oliver Pike." Buffy said moving in for another kiss.
Then it was over and Xander was himself again but the feelings had not gone away.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked looking concerned. "Did you get another flash just now?"
He looked at her and the urge to kiss her was almost overwhelming. Somehow though, Xander kept it together, barely. "Yeah, I got another flash and it was a doosey. But I'm okay now Sum… uh, I mean, Buff." He told her catching himself. Great, now he wasn't just getting Pike's memories but his feelings and mannerisms too.
"I guess certain stuff will trigger a memory." Buffy said taking the jacket. "This was Pike's. He gave it to me to hold onto. He said he would come back for it but he never did."
"I know." Xan told her remembering when Pike had given it to her and also how good her lips felt when she… 'Stop it!' He ordered his brain firmly. Those were not his thoughts. They belonged to someone else and he would not act on them.
"Try it on." Buffy said handing the jacket back to him. "I think he would have wanted it to go to the next slayer."
Xander now fully in control of himself again did as she asked. The jacket fit perfectly and it just felt right. "How do I look?" He asked.
"Like a slayer." Buffy told him sticking the teak stake in his pocket. "Now lets get a move on mister. The world's not going to save itself."
XXX
The Bronze was, as usual, jumping with activity. The local youth had come out in droves this Thursday night. The manager was pretty sure this was the biggest crowd they had had for quite a while. Everywhere one looked something was going on. Teens were dancing, some were talking and Cordelia Chase was once again holding court.
"Senior boys are the only way to go." She told her crew of sycophants. "The guys from our grade? Forget about it. They're children, you know?" All the gathered girls just nodded mindlessly. "Like Jesse McNally." Cordy pointed out as an example. Never mind that he had impressed her a little today when he tricked her into deleting her work for computer class. Who knew that the little geek had a devious streak in him? Though she wasn't about to tell her friends that he had gotten one over on her.
"Did you see him last night following me around like a little puppy dog?" The other girls laughed appropriately at Cordelia's joke. "You just want to put him to sleep. But senior boys?" Cordy groaned a little in appreciation. "They have mystery. They have…" Ms. Chase paused in consideration. "What's the word I'm searching for?" she asked rhetorically. Then her face lit up as it came to her "Cars." Again the airheads laughed at their leader's wit.
"I am just not the type to settle, you know?" Cordelia continued to do what she did best which was talk about things that don't really matter and have her flock of sheep hang off of every word. "It's like when I go shopping. I have to have the most expensive thing. Not because it's the most expensive but because it costs more." She finished trying to sound sage.
"Well you know…" said a girl who's name wasn't important enough to remember but Cordelia shut her down before she could utter another word.
"Hello, Miss Motormouth, Can I get a sentence finished?" Right then the DJ stared a new song over the sound system and Cordy's face lit up in recognition. "Oh I love this song! Come on!" She motioned for her crew to follow her down to the dance floor. A few moments later Cordy and her posse were moving along to the fast beats of the song on the floor.
In the shadows near the bar, the demon that had once been Willow Rosenberg watched the dancing brunette with a malicious smirk. This was going to be fun.
Back on the dance floor the fast song had just ended and a slow one had begun. Cordy quickly snagged herself a drool worthy senior boy to dance with. Things were going good until someone said "Cutting in." and rudely shoved Cordelia aside snatching her partner.
"Hey." The rich girl shouted at the bimbo that thought she could push Cordelia Chase around. So just imagine her surprise when it was Wittle Willow Rosenberg that turned around to answer her challenge. If she hadn't seen her face Cordelia wouldn't have recognized her. Willow had gone with the naughty catholic schoolgirl look, wearing a plaid mini skirt, knee high socks and a white button down that she had knotted showing off her midriff. Also there was just something in her eyes that gave Cordy some pause.
"Back off Whoredelia," the redhead said while grinding her rear into the boy she had stolen "I'm taking this one for a test drive." Then she turned around and led the all to willing teenage male elsewhere on the dance floor. Cordy couldn't even speak she was so shocked. When had Willow grown a spine?
XXX
Outside the Bronze Luke, Darien and several of the Master's most trusted minions approached the club's entrance. At first the bouncer didn't look up as the group went to enter the building.
"Hey, I need to see some ID first." He shouted trying to stop them but the undead just brushed past him. "I said I need…" Luke stopped him with a challenging look and the man backed down.
"Get him inside." He told one of the minions who promptly grabbed the bouncer and hauled him into the club.
Once they were in the group of vampire's split up. One went to cover the back exit, another stayed at the front locking the door, most went to do crowd control and one went to the power box and cut the lights. The club was plunged into darkness and though everyone was surprised but no one panicked…yet.
Luke mounted the stage and began to address the club goers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no cause for alarm." He assured. Then an overhead spot came on illuminating his disfigured face. There were several screams and frightened shouts when this happened. "Well actually there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good." Luke clarified smiling sadistically. The crowd backed away from the stage in terror.
Down on the dance floor Cordelia Chase looked up at the stage in confusion. "There isn't supposed to be a band tonight." She said aloud.
"This show is gonna be so much better than any band." Someone on her left said. Cordy turned to see who had spoken and came face to face with a demonic looking Willow. Before Cordelia could scream the newly minted vampire grabbed her by the neck. "Lets see if you're as tasty as you look Cordy."
Back on the stage Luke continued with his grand performance. "This is a glorious night." The large vampire said to those unwillingly assembled. "It is also the last night any of you shall ever see." He turned to one of his compatriots off stage "Bring me the first." He ordered dramatically.
"What do you guys want?" the bouncer shouted as he was shoved towards Luke. "Do you want money, is that it?" Then the poor man finally got a close look at Luke's horrifying visage. "Man! What's wrong with your fac-ack!" Luke savagely grabbed the bouncer by the throat curtailing his words.
"Watch me, people." The vessel instructed as he brought the struggling man closer. "Fear is like an elixir." He intoned. "It's almost like blood." Then he bit down into the man's jugular and began to feed. The crowd watched in horror as Luke drained the bouncer dry.
Deep within his underground prison the Master began to feel the power that would set him free beginning to flow.
Luke unceremoniously dropped the dead body of the bouncer to the ground. "Next." He shouted calling for another victim.
XXX
Xander, having outpaced the others arrived at the Bronze's main entrance first only to find it solidly locked from the inside. "Damn it!" he cursed as Buffy, Jesse and Giles caught up with him.
"Are we…too late?" Giles asked, shortness of breath breaking up his words.
"Yeah, they're already inside." Everyone turned an accusing stare at Buffy.
"Hey, I didn't know my Mom would try to ground me." She answered defensively then looked to Xander. "Can you kick it down?"
Xan shook his head negative. "No, that thing is too solid even for me." He said pointing to the steel door. "You three try the back entrance." Xander told them handing Buffy the weapon bag. "I'll find another way in. And guys, for the love of Mike don't try to be heroes. Just get the exit clear and get everyone out. Understood?" They all nodded in unison.
"See you inside then." Giles nodded to Xander and then turned to the other two teens. "Let's go." The trio headed around back and out of sight. Xander spied a drainage pipe that went up the side of the club and to the roof. Deciding that one of the skylights would make for an excellent entrance the slayer began to climb.
XXX
It only took moments for Giles, Buffy and Jesse to reach the rear entrance of the Bronze. Unfortunately it was locked as well.
"This could really put a damper on our rescue plan." Buffy said staring at the pad lock on the outside of the door. "Isn't this a safety hazard?" She asked rhetorically as Giles took a closer look at the door.
"Willow's probably in there." Jesse said in a contemplative way.
"Listen," Giles said severely as he turned away from his examination of the door to face Jesse "if you see Willow in there you must remember one thing. She is not your friend." Giles came to stand in front of Jesse so the older man could look him directly in the eye. "It can talk like Willow, act like Willow and it even knows the things that Willow knew. However it is not Willow, it is the thing that killed her. Don't ever forget that."
Jesse nodded though it was easy to see that it was a bitter pill for him to swallow. Satisfied that his message had been received the watcher went back to work on the door.
XXX
Back within the Bronze things were not going so well for the building's human inhabitants. Luke continued to feed on club goers, funneling even more power to the Master. He had just discarded the drained corpse of a young girl and was calling for yet another victim. Darien intended to supply the next one.
Searching through the crowd for a suitable sacrifice he soon came across a most unwelcome sight. There, against the back wall was the girl, Willow, whom he had sired the night before feeding greedily on a statuesque brunette.
"What do you think you're doing?" he shouted at her. "These are all supposed to be for the Master!"
Willow looked up and put on an innocent smile for her sire. There was still some blood on her lips. "Darien." she called sweetly dropping Cordelia's limp form to the ground with a thud. "It's true what they say, revenge really does taste sweet…" she then licked the last of the blood off her lips with a thoughtful expression "and a little bit coppery."
"You didn't answer my question childe." The blonde vampire said trying to assert some authority. It didn't seem to be working though. Willow slinked up to him seductively; she had reverted to her human face and was sporting a pretty impressive pout.
"Are you gonna tell on me Darien?" she asked in mock distress. "Cause the way I see it," she started to circle him dragging her fingers over his chest and back as she went "what the Master doesn't know, won't hurt us. There are plenty of blood bags here for the big man to feed on and I owed that bitch some payback anyway." It was eerie how much Willow reminded Darien of his former companion, whom he had sired as well. She too had been a persuasive little temptress with a vindictive streak a mile wide. Boy, did he know how to pick 'em.
Willow stopped, standing in front of him again "It's not like this one is going to make a difference." She tilted her head to the dead girl on the floor. He agreed with her on that score, the loss of one sacrifice wasn't really going to hinder the Harvest. Still he was about to tell her "no deal" when she finally put the cherry on top of her little proposal.
"I promise to make it worth your while." She whispered into his ear. "Just use your imagination."
Something told Darien that he would probably end up paying for this in the long run, but right then he didn't care. He nodded in agreement letting her go and then he went off to find someone else to give to Luke. All the while thinking of the many sinful things he and his newest companion would be doing later.
XXX
At the same time on the Bronze's roof.
It hadn't taken Xander long to scale the outside of the Bronze and reach the top of the building. Although, it was a surprise to see that he wasn't alone on the roof. Kneeling down next one of the skylights fiddling with the latch was Angel.
"Hello there." the slayer greeted. "You're the last person I expected to see here. I thought you said you were afraid."
"I was," she answered but didn't turn to face him "but I ran into this guy earlier today. I told him that he was walking into a death trap but he didn't care. He told me that he had to at least try to save his friend." Now she looked at him with a smile. "I thought that was pretty brave and I guess he kind of rubbed off on me."
"Sounds like a cool guy." Xander said smiling from the ego boost while he got down next to her and helped force the latch, opening the skylight. "Anything else stand out about him?"
"Well, he was a bit of a smart-ass," Angel told him playfully with a wink "but kinda cute too."
Xan turned away from her gorgeous dark eyes trying to hide the slight blush that was creeping up. God, was this girl hot. "So um, did you have a strategy for going in there or were you just gonna go for a "Hail Marry play" and hope everything works out?" the slayer asked.
"I suppose that you have a plan then?" she countered with a knowing look.
"I have an idea." He answered honestly if a little sheepishly. "It basically consists of "kill the vessel, save the world" and that is going one step further than I usually do in my planning."
Angel just rolled her eyes and then jumped down through the open skylight.
"Well, I guess its ladies first tonight." Xander said following her lead. They both landed silently on the deserted upper level of the Bronze. The vampires had herded everyone down to the ground floor leaving the top tier empty. The pair crept forward to the guardrail overlooking the stage so that they could get a better sense of the situation.
Luke was on the stage, he had just finished off another victim and was now going on and on about what a great honor it was for those assembled to be sacrificed for the Master's glory. Xander wanted to gag.
"I can clear the front entrance but I'll need a distraction." Angel whispered to him.
"That's good; my friends are coming in through the back." Xander answered quietly. "As for the distraction, I can guarantee you that in about sixty seconds all eyes will be on me."
The dark haired girl nodded "Then let's get this show on the road."
"You gonna be okay taking on the vamp at the entrance?" Xan asked in concern.
"This is not my first rodeo." Angel replied confidently. "Granted it's been a while but I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. You just worry about dealing with Luke." That said, she turned and vanished into the shadows of the club. If Xander's senses weren't so keen he would have sworn that she was using some type of magic to disappear like that. In reality though, it seemed that the girl was just incredibly stealthy.
'She has some neat tricks.' Xan thought idly. Then he spied the vampire operating the spotlight being directed at Luke. "Yeah, that'll work." The Slayer said to himself with a ruthless smirk as he went to provide that diversion he had promised.
XXX
Darien had just given Luke another young girl as an offering however before he could feed the disciple that had been sent to handle the lights was thrown screaming from the upper tier of the Bronze. All looked up to see what had caused the disturbance but Luke already had a good idea who was responsible.
The vessel's assumption was proven correct when the young man he had fought with the previous night stepped forward and leaned over the railing. "Hi there Lukey, ready for round two?" the slayer asked confidently.
"I had hoped you would come boy." Luke shoved the girl he had been about to feed on aside. "We have some unfinished business you and I. I'm going to enjoy making your death as excruciating as possible. Your corpse will make a most wondrous gift for the Master once he ascends. I will start by ripping out your…"
"Hey Mr. Vessel, enough already!" Xander yelled in protest cutting off Luke's tirade. "From now on, less monologue-ing," The slayer did a leaping somersault from the upper tier of the Bronze and landed on the floor in the midst of the terrified club patrons "more action."
The marked vampire chuckled and motioned for his subordinates to stay back and not get in the way. "Come boy," Luke beckoned "time to die." The slayer was his to kill and no one else's.
Xander accepted the demon's invitation and charged forward onto the stage taking Luke head on. The battle had begun.
XXX
As the slayer had promised, everyone's attention living and undead was centered on him and Luke as they grappled. The minion guarding the front entrance of the Bronze was so entranced by the fight that he didn't even register Angel's presence until she tapped him on the shoulder.
"You!" He shouted in recognition as he faced her.
"Me." She replied casually as her right fist lashed out with preternatural speed to strike him across the jaw. Then in the same motion she plunged a stake into his heart with her left. He burst into dust with a look of stunned amazement. "Not even a challenge." Angel sighed as she unlocked the door and went to discreetly herd some of the terrified teens to safety. "They just don't make minions like they used to."
XXX
It had taken several minutes but Giles had finally managed to pick the lock on the club's rear entrance. On the count of three he and his two charges threw the door open and burst into the club. Giles and Jesse immediately tackled the vampire that had been guarding the door to the ground. Then a moment later Buffy promptly staked the bloodsucker while the librarian and boy still had it restrained.
"Good job, both of you." Giles praised the two high school students as he brushed the vampire's remains off of himself. "Now let's start to evacuate the club's patrons."
"Okay." Buffy nodded and handed Giles the equipment bag. "You two cover the door. I'll get people moving in this direction."
"Buffy that's not exactly the plan I had in min…" Buffy had already disappeared into the crowd before the watcher could finish protesting. "Damn! She causes me almost as many headaches as Xander."
XXX
Punch, block, kick, feint, duck, elbow strike. The fight had become Xander's primary focus as he and Luke continued to trade blows on the Bronze's dance floor. Xan was doing much better this time than he had the night before but it was still anyone's guess how this would end. Xan wanted better odds than fifty/fifty in this fight. Dodging another strike he grinned evilly as his mind formulated a plan to increase his chances and all the slayer had to do to get the ball rolling was do the one thing he was best at, talk.
"Hey Luke, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed." Xander began nonchalantly, verbally laying the groundwork for his plan while throwing another punch. "I mean last night you were takin' it to me hardcore and tonight…well lets just say I'm not feelin' the same level of commitment on your part." Luke sent a vicious jab at Xander's throat only to have the slayer intercept it mid strike. Then Xan twisted the vampire's wrist painfully locking the arm and holding him there as he continued. "Are you tired tonight or do you just experience performance anxiety in front of large crowds?" The slayer finished with a wink.
Luke broke Xander's hold and with a growl of unadulterated rage and renewed his assault on the slayer with savage single mindedness. Oddly enough getting the large vampire pissed off had been Xander's plan. Sure, the slayer now had to work twice as hard to keep Luke's strikes from connecting but the vampire's anger was also causing him to become sloppy. Now all Xander had to do was wait for just the right moment when Luke made a mistake and he could end this. Just then the slayer ducked a swing that would have taken his head off if it had connected. 'Of course it all hinges on me not dying first.' Xan thought mentally sighing at the near miss.
XXX
Xander's fight with Luke was still going full tilt but unfortunately for Buffy the underlings that the vessel had brought with him had finally noticed that something else was up besides their leader's battle and they were now taking steps to deal with the situation. One came straight at her as she shepherded another girl to Giles and Jesse at the back of the club.
Thinking quickly Buffy pulled the cap off a vile of holy water and threw its contents in the bloodsucker's face. The creature screamed in agony, it's skin sizzling as it turned and ran away.
"Whew!" Buffy blew across the top of the open vial like it was a smoking gun. "That'll learn ya." She drawled in a horrible approximation of a southern accent as she watched the smoking vamp scurry away.
'Not bad for an ex-cheerleader.' Buffy mentally patted herself on the back. However her good fortune was short lived for moments later a pair of clawed hands pinned her arms to her sides. 'Oh crap!' One of the last remaining vampires had managed to sneak up on her.
"Scream for me little one." The minion whispered in her ear.
"Well, if you insist." The Summers girl said to her captor. "HELP!"
XXX
"HELP!"
Hearing Buffy's cry for aid, Xander snap kicked Luke in the jaw sending the massive vampire flying across the stage. Turning quickly to survey the situation the slayer immediately spotted the trouble. Not to far from the right side of the stage on the dance floor he spotted Buffy struggling with one of Luke's remaining minions.
'I need a weapon!' Xan thought frantically. Then he noticed the drum kit next to him. 'Bingo.' Grabbing one of the cymbals off its stand Xan quickly took aim at the vampire that was manhandling his friend.
"It's a good thing you're short Buff." He whispered to himself then threw the cymbal like a discus decapitating the offending vamp.
"Thank you!" The blonde shouted to him as her assailant turned to dust.
It had only been a second's worth of distraction but apparently that had been all the opportunity Luke needed to get the drop on him. The enormous vampire came from behind wrapping his arms around the slayer in a vice grip literally crushing air out of Xan's lungs. Within seconds black spots started to appear in Xander's vision. This was definitely not of the good.
Luke bared his fangs in a smile of triumph as Xander stopped struggling. "I have always wanted to kill a slayer." He chuckled evilly. "Master, taste of this and be free." Luke growled in anticipation and as he started to lower his mouth to Xander's throat. However before the vessel could finish the job Xander flung his head back with all the force he could muster smashing Luke's face with a reverse head butt. The shock and suddenness of the blow staggered Luke and he lost his hold on the slayer.
Once again free Xander snatched up the cymbal-less stand and turned back to face Luke. Holding the stand like a spear the slayer was ready to strike.
The vessel chuckled mirthlessly as if at some private joke that the slayer wasn't privy to. "I thought you would know better boy, metal cannot kill me." Right then Xander knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for.
"Oh, I know that this won't kill you…" Then Xander flung the cymbal stand like a javelin impaling Luke through the stomach and doubling the massive vampire over in pain. "...but I bet that it'll hurt you enough to give me time to do this." Xan finished saying as he closed the distance between himself and the shish ca-bobbed vampire. Then in one graceful move he pulled out Pike's favorite stake and slammed it into Luke's back and through his unbeating heart.
Luke took a few stumbling steps away from Xander and then fell from the stage with only the cymbal stand and dust hitting the dance floor after he exploded.
Far beneath Sunnydale the Master screamed in impotent rage as he felt the barrier re-assert itself keeping him in his prison.
Looking up from Luke's dusty remains Xander just smirked at the remaining minions.
"Who's next?" The slayer asked of the vampires before him. Looking at each other with panic in their yellowed eyes the remaining vamps scattered running for the exits.
XXX
Seeing her fellow vampires scurry away like cockroaches before Xander made Willow want to laugh. "Well there goes 60 years of planning and hard work." she said mockingly to Darien who was seething in rage at her side. "I think it's time we made our retreat." She added placing a hand on his shoulder.
Darien shrugged her hand off. "You don't think I can kill him?" He asked angrily.
"No I don't." the redhead vampire stated and then smiled evilly "At least not yet. But I do have more than a few ideas for how to make it happen. In fact I've already started." Darien nodded to her wisdom in this instance, besides they needed to find a scapegoat to pin this whole debacle on. The Master was definitely going to want a pound of flesh after this. Taking his newest companion by the hand they both ran out into the night through the clubs front entrance.
Stepping out of the shadows Angel watched as the pair ran away. "He pulled it off." A smile parted her lips "I'll be damned."
XXX
"Everyone ok?" Xan asked as the last of the fang faces cleared out of the now empty night club.
"I'm fine." Buffy said cheerfully as she sauntered on to the dance floor. "I'm pretty sure we just saved the world."
"I too am unharmed." Giles added as he walked out into the open still trying to pat the dust out of his clothes from the vampire he and the others has slayed earlier. "Although I'm not sure where Mr. McNally ended up."
As if on cue Jesse burst out of the shadows of the Bronze's back area looking distressed "Guys I need your help, quick!" He shouted urgently and ran back the way he'd come. The others followed after to see what had him so distraught. They quickly came upon Jesse kneeling over Cordelia's pale and prone form on the floor.
"Is she?" Buffy asked and just then Cordelia moaned slightly. "Guess not." Giles knelt down as well and examined the incapacitated high school socialite.
"No miss Chase is still alive but she won't be for long if we don't hurry." Looking up to his slayer "Xander, if you would please?" As Xan effortlessly lifted Cordy off the ground he noticed something odd. On the spot where Cordelia had been left to die was a single yellow crayon neatly broken in half. Looking to his best friend Xan could see that Jesse had seen it too and understood what it meant.
"That's weird." Buffy said picking up the crayon. "What's it mean?"
"Willow." Xander said gravely as he moved towards the exit carrying Cordelia as swiftly and gingerly as he could. "She doesn't want us forgetting she's still out there."
XXX
Friday morning at Sunnydale High was turning out to be remarkably ordinary Jesse McNally decided especially considering the previous night's events.
"Nothing. "Jesse said in disbelief he walked up to join Xander, Buffy and Giles on the school's steps "Absolutely nothing. No one seems to have noticed that the dead rose last night and tried to end the world." He sighed heavily "All anyone is talking about is a how a gang on PCP busted up the Bronze and that Cordelia suffered a tragic but not fatal barbeque fork injury last night."
"What did you expect?" Xander asked smirking as he patted his bud on the back.
"I don't know, something." Jesse replied. "We should have at least had an assembly."
"People have an alarming tendency to rationalize what they can and simply forget what the can't." Giles interjected.
"Believe me I've seen it happen." Buffy added with a knowing grin.
"Well I'm never gonna forget it." Jesse swore.
"Good." Giles said as he adjusted his glasses "Then next time you'll be prepared."
"Next time?" Jesse asked uncertainly.
"Of course." Giles responded looking a little surprised "We may have stopped the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell although I doubt that means he'll stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning." In Xan's opinion his watcher sounded just a little too enthusiastic about that.
"More vampires then?" Jess asked reluctantly. They'd barely survived the ones last night.
"Oh not just vampires. The next threat we face may be entirely different." Giles had a gleam in his eye that really set Xander's spidey sense a tingling. "We are at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may very well stand between the Earth and it's total destruction."
"Ok, so no pressure then?" Xander said sarcastically to the older Brit. "Hey Buff, any tips on how to get expelled so we don't have to deal with this?"
"Oh I like that plan." The former cheerleader crowed as the trio walked away from Giles. "Hey what are the chances the school we'd have to go to afterward would also be on a hellmouth?"
"We could always blow something up." Jesse added helpfully "They're pretty strict about that sorta thing."
"Nah, already did that one and I don't want anyone calling me a one trick pony." Buffy answered with a laugh.
"I was thinking excessive non-studying." Xander suggested. After that the three were too far away for Giles to hear anymore.
Shaking his head in utter astonishment that the fates would choose those three to guard the hellmouth the Englishman simply proclaimed "The Earth is doomed."