Inca Mummy Girl Part 3

(_)(_)(_)

October 12

It hadn't been until Ampata broke out the prayer rug the first time the day before that Xander had realized that Ampata might not necessarily be Christian. Not that it was a big deal - not when he'd been friends with Willow all her life, and she was Jewish. It was just ... different. He'd asked Ampata about dietary restrictions, because he knew that Jews had them (even if Willow didn't always go by them), and he had been fairly sure Muslims had them too, but different ones. Turned out he'd been right about that, but like Willow, Ampata didn't observe that part of his faith particularly stringently. He wasn't about to eat a pork chop or anything like that, but he wasn't going to throw a fit if his food got prepared in the same kitchen as said pork chops.

The gang had walked Willow and Ampata home, since they hadn't left until after dark, under the pretense of giving Ampata a bit of a tour of the town. Then the gang, sans Willow who wasn't going to be able to sneak back out with them tonight, patrolled the town. The entire town.

Normally, they didn't do that. They'd broken the town into overlapping sections, so that they could patrol a workable chunk of the town each night, and cover the entire town over two or three days. But with a bunch of vulnerable, ignorant out-of-towners in the 'dale, they needed to cover the entire town in a fast sweep. Mostly to make sure everyone was inside where they'd be safe. Well, safer.

It was a damn good thing they'd decided to do the whole town, because they found four of the exchange students out. It had taken some fast talking, but they'd convinced all four that staying out after dark was a Very Bad Idea. Unfortunately, because of the fast sweep and trying to talk the out-of-towners into going back inside, the Scoobies had missed something rather important down by the docks.

Today being Sunday, everyone congregated at Buffy's house as had become the norm on weekends. Ampata was included of course. They spent most of the day talking about their respective countries and cultures, watching more movies, and generally getting to know each other. Xander decided that Ampata was a pretty ok guy. Provided he survived the next week (which the gang was going to do their utmost to guarantee), Xander thought being pen-pals with the guy might be workable.

(_)(_)(_)

Elsewhere in Sunnydale, the day was going ... fairly well. Dominga had been able to obtain enough life-force the night before to last her several days. Now she just had to evade her erstwhile bodyguard and she would be all set.

Though she had noticed something odd the night before- a group of teens wandering around in a group, looking like they were looking for trouble. She remembered seeing most of them, if only briefly, at the bus stop that morning, so she'd decided to steer clear of them.

Dominga spent the day wandering the town people-watching and learning about this new world. She found it utterly fascinating, if confusing. Especially the odd-looking people she came across in a few places. Unfortunately she wasn't able to enjoy it as much as she might have liked. She had to duck her guard several times, as he kept almost stumbling across her. Whatever else she did, she didn't want to get caught.

(_)(_)(_)

In his secondary Court HQ, Spike was receiving a rather intriguing report from Lucas and a couple other lower-ranked vampires who'd witnessed something odd during their nightly hunt. A girl who had sucked some people dry in a way that didn't match up with any demon Spike knew of.

"Track her tonight." He told Lucas. "I want to know who she is and where she's from and why she sucks people dry."

Lucas nodded, accepting the orders. "Also, the Slayer and her groupies didn't really hunt last night. They altered their usual pattern pretty heavily. Swept the entire town instead of just part of it, and I didn't see them actually kill any vamps or demons last night at all."

Spike frowned. "Huh. They must be tryin' to protect the out-of-townies the rumor mill's been so hot about the last few days." There'd been more than one demon looking forward to hunting an exotic snack.

Spike had informed his Court they weren't to so much as sniff in the general direction of the out-of-towners. He recognized that if they went missing and never went back home, it would generate notice, which would never be a good thing for Sunnydale. The demonic population had a good thing here - plentiful hunting grounds, entertainment, and a benevolent town leadership that actively encouraged demonic activity. All that would change if outsiders took notice of the town, and Spike knew it.

Unfortunately, while Spike could and did dictate what his Court did, he didn't yet have the ability to do the same with the other demonic residents and make it stick. He needed to build up his Court's numbers and turn them into an effective fighting force before he could pull that off. That said, he could and had spread the word anyway. He was counting on the tear he'd gone on when he'd taken up Mastership and their obedience to the old Master (and the tendency for demons to not adapt quickly, which would have some of them obeying him out of habit) to cow most of the local demons. It would at least reduce the chances of the visitors getting eaten.

"Nobody but Lucas goes out above the surface tonight." Spike ordered. "Not until we know if the Slayer's gonna keep to this routine while those folks are in town. If you gotta hunt, snack on something in the tunnels."

Several of the minions made faces, but none of them dared actually speak out. Spike had made it very clear that he was willing to make an example out of anyone that questioned his orders. Well, anyone from the minion level, anyway. He didn't want them getting the idea that they actually had a brain among them. Which they really didn't. At least, not yet.

That said, his tendency to dust anyone that bucked him had ensured that the stupidest minions were now long gone, leaving only the middling-stupid and halfway intelligent minions. Of which there was a scant handful, to be honest. The old Master hadn't exactly been in a position to ensure quality in his minions, just quantity.

Spike knew he'd have to sire some folks soon if he wanted to really make a dent. He was just taking his time observing the herd, as it were. He'd not be culling the weakest of the lot, after all. He wanted minions with a bit of brain and some sort of skill, like Lucas. Besides which, siring replacement vamps was going to be tricky. He wouldn't be able to leave them to be buried, for one - the Slayer and her groupies still kept an eye on the graveyards. For another, snatching someone to sire required good timing now ... catching the right person out at night, away from where the Slayer and her groupies were patrolling.

He already had his eye on a couple folks. A pair of teens that didn't hang out anywhere near the Slayer on any kind of basis, both of them tech-heads and geeks. Spike knew the value of that sort, even if they generally couldn't fight worth a damn. There were a few adults he had his eye on as well.

Two of his potential adult targets he would admit he was eyeing partially to fuck with the mind of one of the Slayer's groupies. Though there were ... advantages ... to siring someone with violent tendencies and a mean streak a mile wide. Be fun to see what sort of hell those two could raise if he did sire them. He wasn't completely positive he would, yet. Mostly because the both of them were die-hard drunks who'd pickled their livers a long time ago, and Spike didn't want to end up with a second-hand hangover.

(_)(_)(_)

Things were not quite so sanguine in the apartment Sam Zabuto and Kendra were sharing. Kendra had, as per her Watcher's orders, observed Buffy and her group. Unaware of the reasons behind their actions (or rather, their lack of action) she was not at all impressed.

"She did not even patrol last night." Kendra told Zabuto. "All she and those ... children ... did was walk around town and talk to various people. They did not stake a single vampire or demon all night." Then she frowned. "Not that there were vampires to be found. I have seen perhaps three since we arrived. There are more demons here than vampires."

Zabuto frowned. "That is strange. According to the Council, the Hellmouth is heavily populated by vampires as well as demons. I wonder what has occurred to change that." Then he shook his head. "It is of no consequence. What of your own hunting efforts?"

"A single vampire and three Giosu." Kendra informed him. "I thought I saw a Fyarl, but it disappeared too quickly for me to be certain. By the time I got to where I thought it had been, it was long gone. I checked the cemeteries but they were empty of both older vampires and new-risen ones."

Zabuto actually smiled. "Ah. I believe I understand what has happened. I believe a vampire has crowned itself Master of the Hellmouth. That would account for many of the changes you have observed. Especially the lack of new minions about. Masters do tend to control who is turned and when. Whether this vampire will succeed in its claim long-term will be ... interesting to observe."

"I will not be attacking its nest, if I find it, then?" Kendra asked.

"Not immediately. We still are not fully informed as to the goings-on here. Until we know more, it would not be wise to go on the offensive. The Hellmouth changes a lot of things as to how demons interact, so depending on typical behavior is unwise. That said, you will of course kill any vampire you encounter on your patrols."

(_)(_)(_)

That night, things got ... interesting.

Buffy and company did indeed do their fast check through the entire town again, but this time only half the Scoobies did it. The other half (Buffy, Giles, and a reluctant Angel) did a proper patrol of a section of town. It was during that patrol that Angel, led by his nose, found the sucked-dry bodies by the docks.

"What could do this?" Buffy asked Giles.

"I am unsure." Giles admitted. "Nothing comes immediately to mind. We shall have to do some research come the morning. Unless you know of something, Angel?"

"I can't think of anything either." Angel admitted after a few moments. "I've seen all sorts of leftovers after a demon got done with a human, but nothing quite like this."

"Right. In the meantime, keeping my eyes open for anything odd for the rest of the patrol. Not that I wasn't already, but ... you know. Just ... better."

Giles gave Buffy an amused smile. "Quite." He agreed, not bothering to try to get something that made sense out of her. He'd learned better in the last year or so. Sometimes, Buffy just couldn't spit it out, and came up with increasingly odd work-arounds when pushed.

(_)(_)(_)

Meanwhile, on the other end of town, a different encounter was taking place.

Dominga was still out and about, exploring. She was not expecting her bodyguard to show up, but he did.

"You must return." The man said, in their native tongue.

"No. I will not. I want to live. I want to explore. This ... should not have been asked of me. It wasn't fair."

"Nevertheless, you will return." The man said, and started to lunge forward.

He never made it.

Lucas had been tracking the odd girl, and had noticed the bodyguard sniffing around her. Aware something odd was going on, he had hurried back to the lair to inform Spike, who had come out to take a look. When the bodyguard lunged at the girl, Spike erupted out of the shadows and took him down. It wasn't even hard - the guy wasn't exactly beefed up or anything.

One foot on the bodyguard's neck to keep him down, Spike eyed Dominga.

"You got an interesting appetite." He commented.

Dominga, not exactly stupid, even if she was ill-informed, tried to pretend she didn't know what Spike was on about. "I do not know what you mean."

"Those bodies at the dock. Nice work. Never seen that before. So what are you?" Spike said.

"I am just a girl."

"Yeah, an' I'm just a guy." Spike said with a snort, then vamped out for a second. "Don't lie to a liar, doll. It don't work."

It took another couple minutes, but Spike eventually got her to confess the whole story. Once she had, he shook his head.

"Well, if you want to stay alive, it's easy enough to manage. I just kill this bloke and nobody'll be after you. But you're gonna need a guide for a while. There's folks around here that'd try to kill you off if they notice you. Might have already. You hang out with me, I'll watch your back and let you hang out as long as you want."

Dominga liked the sound of that. "Then we are agreed." She said.

Spike grinned at her, then grabbed the bodyguard. Since he wasn't sure if he could eat the guy, given he'd come back to life and all that jazz, he literally ripped the guy's head off.

"Lucas, go burn this, and then dump the ashes in the ocean, just to be sure." Spike told his lieutenant.

"You got it boss." Lucas said, grabbing the body.

"C'mon, pet. I'll take you to my place and introduce you around." Spike said, motioning for Dominga to join him.

Privately, he was cheering. Oh, she was naive, but she had potential. That power of hers could be very useful, and if he played it right, he'd be able to have her off enemies he couldn't or didn't want to. At least, if she could suck demons dry as well a humans. And even if she couldn't ... well, she did look and act human, and might just be able to wiggle into the Slayer's pack.

And as invested as she seemed to be in staying alive, it ought to be fairly easy to corrupt her into being willing to suck anyone dry at any time. She was damn close to it already.