Night gripped the city, painting it in deep black shadow and blazing orange artificial light. Electricity smudged the horizon with pale luminescence, almost ethereal, so that night was never truly dark, just as it was never truly quiet. In the distance, cars swooshed faintly over tarmac damp from the days rain, accompanied every so often by the bump and rattle of a late night train or the wailing siren of an emergency vehicle rushing toward some crisis.
A city never slept.
And, Buffy was starting to believe, neither did she.
The slayer trudged gloomily through the streets of Cleveland trying to look more like a victim than a confident hunter in an effort to entice some foolhardy vampires from whatever hidey holes they were skulking down. She had cancelled on a night out with her friends at the local bar in favour of patrolling and so far had dusted a measly two vampires. She still had ash in her hair. So not worth it.
It was way past midnight by now. Everyone would long since have left for home. They would be tucked up cosy in their beds, fast asleep… Like Buffy would love to be right now. It had been a long week at work alone, combine that with patrolling every night…needless to say she was currently a very grumpy slayer.
Still, at least she had Saturday games night to look forwards to. It helped her unwind at the end of a difficult week. That, and she fully intended to win back her twenty dollars from Xander, lost playing poker the previous week.
She decided to do a sweep of the nearby cemetery (one of several in Cleveland that, like Sunnydale, she was becoming increasingly well acquainted with) to check for any newly risen vampires, and then head home. She turned the corner and made her way towards the cemetery, keeping to the shadows so that any prying eyes from the houses on the opposite side of the street would be blind to her. Not that anyone should be awake at such a time. Unless there were some serious party animals out there.
"Friday night and I'm visiting cemeteries dusting dead guys." Buffy grumbled, putting one hand on the chest-high iron railings that fenced in the cemetery grounds. She vaulted over easily and moved off across the grass without breaking stride.
Headstones loomed pale as ghosts in the gloom of the unlit cemetery, tall trees standing sentry at the far end. Wind rushed through their boughs with the sound of creaking wood and whispering leaves, hissed through the grass making it ripple like waves, and then pushed its icy fingers through Buffy's hair. She shivered and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets, hunching her shoulders so the collar rode up and kept her neck warm. Giles would have yelled at her about making herself an easy target if he had been with her, a thought that amused her greatly for all of a minute because then her keen slayer senses homed in on something skulking behind what had once been a brilliant white prancing cherub statue and was now a mottled green and grey prancing cherub statue. The passage of time had done little to wear away the creepiness of it.
Still smirking over thoughts of Giles and his Watcherly ways, Buffy stalked forwards, reaching behind for the wooden stake stuffed into the back of her waistband. She kept her eyes on that shadow straight ahead, her other senses reaching out for signs of attack from other directions. As she inched forward she felt a ping from her spider sense. Behind and to the right, someone else was there, watching as she moved towards the statue.
Then suddenly the shadow burst free of its hiding place before her, arms spread wide and black cloak billowing.
"Behold! The majesty of Count Dracula!" His voice boomed throughout the silent cemetery. Buffy paused and took in the spectacle in bemusement.
He didn't look like a newly risen vampire. And he had gone to the trouble of acquiring a costume of sorts. Black skinny jeans, white pirate style shirt, black cloak with a stiff collar. He had his hungry face on, yellow eyes burning in the darkness.
"If you're going to impersonate someone, make sure your victim hasn't actually met that someone." She told the vampire. His arms dropped to his sides and he deflated somewhat, taken aback by her cool attitude.
She heard grass rustle and turned her head towards the sound to see a second vampire step out of hiding. This one wore just jeans and a T-shirt. He was pale and handsome and seemed to be doing his best to appear brooding in his human form. And there was something else…
Buffy did a double take.
"Is that body glitter?"
"Maybe…" He replied cagily, and as she watched his smooth features morphed into the ridged brows and demonic yellow eyes of a vampire. His skin sparkled under the moonlight.
She said nothing for a moment. Then, "You look ridiculous."
"That doesn't matter. Chicks dig it." He told her, walking slowly forwards. His movements appeared casual, but Buffy knew he was moving in towards her, probing for a weakness. As he did so, she heard his friend doing the same on her blind side.
"I don't know," Buffy said, her stance relaxed as she shrugged. "I think I'm more of a Lestat kind of girl. Or maybe Louis." They moved closer, growing confident with her laidback manner, sensing an easy kill. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love brooding as much as the next girl. Sparkling? Not so much. Same with capes. So last century."
The vampires struck, lunging forwards at the same moment. Buffy simply dived forwards and rolled, coming up onto her feet as Dracula and Glitter Guy crashed into each other and fell to the ground. She turned to face them, nonchalantly spinning the stake in her palm as they leaped up and snarled at her.
They moved forwards, more cautiously this time, circling slightly to attack from the sides. Buffy let them come, alert and ready for the next attack. Dracula, she decided, was the ring leader. He moved slightly ahead of his fabulous buddy, his motion was surer, burning eyes fixed on hers. Glitter Guy moved slower, his movements a reaction to Dracula's. And his eyes darted from slayer to vampire constantly.
Okay, then.
She jumped forwards, driving one elbow up into the face of Dracula, connecting with his nose in a stunning blow. Bone and cartilage shattered on impact and forced him backwards. In the same instant she flew at Glitter Guy, ducking inside a wild swing he sent her way. She rammed her wooden stake home in his rib cage and he exploded into a cloud of ash and glitter.
Dracula was just recovering at this moment, and gave a bellow of rage as he realized his fight for dinner had become a fight for his life.
"Who are you?" He demanded, blinking rapidly to clear the stars from his vision.
"Fashion police." Buffy said, and roundhoused him into the nearest headstone. He struck the stone and flipped over it backwards. Before he had the chance to get back up buffy was on him. She slapped his arms away as he flailed blindly and jabbed downwards with her stake, crushing wood through bone and muscle and into his heart. She wrenched the stake free and he burst into ash.
"Idiots." She muttered. Dressing up to lure in innocent victims. There was no way that had worked. She hoped…
She stood up and returned her stake to its place in the back of her waistband then dusted off her hands and clothes, wrinkling her nose at the glitter mixed in with the ash.
She continued through the cemetery grounds searching for signs of more vampires or other nasties in the darkness, but found nothing. She had either staked the only two currently hanging out there, or scared off any others with the fight. Once she had looped back to the spot she had entered the cemetery by, she leaped over the fence and back onto the pavement on the other side and began the long walk back home through the sleeping city.
There was a shop-lined street a short walk from her house that was busy during the day, but now was silent and empty. Only streetlights illuminated the road, each shop front dark and unwelcoming. A couple of cars were parked at the side of the road but no one was about.
There was a newsagents on the corner of the road where it T-ed into more residential streets. The corrugated steel shutter was down protecting the glass front, dully reflecting orange light from the streetlight opposite where Buffy presumed the door to the shop would be. Pasted to the streetlight were several ragged, weather worn A4 printouts. Closer inspection revealed them to be homemade 'missing' person posters, all with 'last seen' dates spanning the same few months.
"Definitley of the weird…" Buffy murmured to herself. She had seen a fair few reports on missing people in the newspaper, posters in shop windows and at bus stops. Even Sunnydale hadn't been this bad. She didn't remember ever seeing so many homicide reports or people disappearing. But then…Sunnydale was a much smaller town. Maybe that was why there were so many more here? She made a mental note to ask Giles when she saw him in the morning. …Later.
She had just started on her way once again, turning onto the next street, when a flicker of movement brought her up short. It had been at the end of the road, a blur of shadow that had made her slayer sense ping. She withdrew the wooden stake from her waistband and strode forwards, slayer senses straining for signs of danger. Her body seemed to be on high alert, but she reached the end of the street without finding anything. The fine hairs at the back of her neck prickled. She whipped around just in time to see a creeping black something disappearing around the corner of a house across the road.
It was a house between street lights, not enough of the electric glow reached the building for her to have snatched a decent view of the shadowy thing. One thing was for sure, it wasn't human. It moved too fast and too silently, and something about the shape was all wrong. And that meant it fell within her job description to pursue it and find out if it was in need of some serious slayage.
Buffy darted after the shadow, plunging into the darkness between houses, following an alley way onto the next street. She had only been a few seconds behind the shadow, and yet, by the time she reached the other side and came back out into the glare of street lights, it had vanished. Her senses picked up nothing.
What the Hell had she seen? Hopefully nothing too dangerous…Any attacks or deaths would be her fault now for not catching up to it. Though, in all fairness, it had been lightning fast. A blink and you miss it kind of deal.
She spent a few minutes walking up and down the neighbouring streets, searching for signs of the shadow until the horizon began to lighten with the dawns approach. She finally decided to head home for some much needed rest.
Saturday morning was a time traditionally for the coveted lay-in. A week spent getting up at the crack of dawn and trudging to work, slaving away for nine hours a day before heading home and repeating the process Monday to Friday earned two days rest at the end.
This was not the case for Dawn Summers, who worked weekends at a coffee shop in town, taking any extra hours thrown her way during the week. But they only ever seemed to need staff at weekends. Never mind. A job was a job.
She gave her alarm a groggy slap as it began beeping, and the noise ceased as soon as it started. She paused a moment, cocooned in the warmth of her bed, and then rolled out of the covers to sit on the edge of the mattress. She shuddered as the cool air hit the bare skin of her arms and stood up to dress hurriedly in her all black work uniform, fixing her brass name badge to the breast pocket once done. She tied her long hair up in a high ponytail at the back of her head, checked her appearance in the mirror and then bounded out of her bedroom, remembering to tiptoe along the landing as she passed Buffy's room. She knew her sister would have come in from patrol in the early hours and didn't want to disturb her, and Willow and Tara would still be fast asleep. Tucked up in bed, all snuggly and warm… Dawn felt a flash of jealousy.
She padded softly down the stairs and was just about to make her way towards the kitchen when she froze. She heard movement from within the kitchen, a soft thud, a scraping noise. But she was the only one up.
Dawn crept towards the doorway, heart pounding, and peered around the frame. The room was empty. Silent. There was a glass and a carton of juice on the counter, presumably left over from the night before. Otherwise no signs of disturbance. She frowned, and took a step inside.
Tara popped up from the other side of the island. After briefly registering surprise, she smiled.
"Oh, hey, Da-" Dawn cut her friend off with a loud shriek and Tara jumped, again dropping the plastic cap from the carton of juice that she had only just picked up.
"Tara!" She squeaked, hands pressed over her racing heart. Tara stared at her in alarm. "You scared me!"
"N-no, I think you scared me…" Tara replied.
Thundering footsteps on the floor above and then down the stairs announced the rest of the house waking and springing into action. Buffy was first on the scene, bursting into the kitchen with her fists raised ready to fight. Willow was hot on her heels and literally skidded to a stop beside her friend.
"What's going on?" Buffy demanded. She had a serious case of bed hair, but her demeanour was all business.
"Um, I think I scared Dawn…" Tara said. Dawn smiled awkwardly at the group.
"Sorry… I thought I was the only one up…"
The doorbell rang, causing Buffy to roll her eyes.
"If that's the neighbours, you're explaining." She warned her sister, leaving the kitchen while pushing her fingers back through her hair in an effort to tame it. She opened the front door a crack and peered round to see who was calling so early, well aware she wore just pyjamas (baggy blue and white striped bottoms and a thin white vest top. Not exactly the best attire to be opening the front door in) and smiled as she saw Giles stood on the porch frowning at her. She opened the door wide and stepped back for him.
"Is everything all right?" He asked, concern and confusion evident on his face as he entered the house. "I heard screaming…"
"Yup. Just Dawn making sure we're all up." Buffy replied, closing the door behind him. She folded her arms over her chest, watching him take off his shoes. "Anyway, what're you doing here so early?" Giles straightened up and turned to her.
"Dawn asked me to take her to work." He said. Buffy raised one eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Did she now?"
"Yes. I gather she had a late night…" Giles looked amused and Buffy rolled her eyes. "I don't mind."
"Well," Buffy said, turning away and leading him through to the living room to sit on the sofa while Dawn made breakfast and finished getting ready for work, "I guess it's a good thing. I wanted to talk to you about something that happened last night." She sat down on the sofa and looked up as Giles' brow creased worriedly.
"Oh?" He sat beside her.
"It's nothing bad." Buffy assured him quickly, though paused. "Um…I hope. Just weird." Giles nodded, watching her and motioning with one hand for her to go on. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, finding a way to phrase them.
"I went out on patrol last night and…it was pretty uneventful." She began, hunching forwards and leaning her forearms on her thighs. She looked down at her hands and began to pick at a thumbnail. "I dusted a couple of vamps. On the way back there was…something. Like a…shadow." She sighed and shook her head as she realized she wasn't explaining it right, sitting back to look at Giles, who was thoroughly confused. "Something that moved incredibly fast. I didn't really get a good look at it, but it gave me the wiggins."
"Some kind of demon?" Giles suggested. Buffy shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe." She replied.
"Malicious?" Buffy shrugged again.
"Maybe. Enough to blip my Spidey sense."
"Right." Giles said. He understood the pop culture reference enough to know what that meant. "And you weren't able to identify it?"
"Moved too fast." Buffy shook her head almost apologetically. "I tried to follow it but lost sight. I just…Thought I should say. You know, in case." Giles would always be her watcher, and she would always mention to him anything out of the ordinary that she saw on her patrols. Which, if she thought it was something strange, then it really fell outside of the realms of normality.
"Keep an eye out." Giles told her. "If it, ah…blipped your Spidey sense, as you say, it's probably not something particularly good. We'll need more to go on than its speed."
"It was really tall." Buffy added with the hint of a pout. Giles raised an eyebrow at her.
Dawn bounded out of the kitchen then and grabbed her bag from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm ready!" She called out, slipping on her work shoes as she made her way to the living room. Giles stood and looked down at Buffy before he left.
"If you find out anything else, let me know." He told her. She nodded.
"I will."
Giles left with Dawn, calling goodbye as he went.
The day passed uneventfully for Buffy. Willow and Tara left shortly after breakfast to go on a cutsey coupley walk that turned into a cutsey coupley afternoon out. Buffy had been invited but declined, not wanting to get in their way and-okay, yes, she was kind of bitter that they were the embodiment of all that was wonderful in the world while she was pretty much the poster girl for broken relationships.
But at the same time she loved to see them so happy. They had been through a lot and they deserved every moment of happiness they could find, and seeing them hold hands under the dining table still made Buffy smile fondly.
She spent the morning organising her weapons and getting on with housework until lunch time where she made herself a sandwich and ate it in front of the TV while watching some kids film.
She stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth and stood up, plate in hand, and went into the kitchen, leaving the TV on behind her. She left the plate in the sink and flicked the switch on the kettle to boil water for a cup of coffee. While waiting for the kettle to do its thing she leaned her hands on the work surface by the sink and looked out of the window into the back garden.
It was a relatively nice day. The sky was cloudy but it was still fairly bright out, and enough sun found its way through the cover to keep the edge off the cold air. The wind was getting up though. As she watched a gust blew through the tall bushes at the end of the garden, making them shake and rustle.
Her mind drifted back to the events of her patrol the previous night, and the strange…thing she had seen. The best descriptor her mind could throw up was 'shadow' but not 'shadow demon'. Not like the one she had fought with Cat and Kennedy in England. That was a hulking beast of a thing. The thing from last night was more tall and lanky and had only appeared as a shadow because it was dark and the creature moved too fast to register properly in her brain. And it was somewhere out there in Cleveland. Hopefully not wreaking havoc.
The switch on the kettle clicked back up into the 'off' position and steam billowed from the spout as the boiling water rumbled inside. Buffy began to turn away from the window to grab herself a mug from one of the cupboards above the work surface when something made her stop. A heads up from her subconscious. She looked back up and out through the window at the garden, green eyes narrowed and scouring the scene. Her slayer instincts had seen something. Movement. The tightening in her gut told her the culprit was still there, out there somewhere hidden away.
The culprit soon revealed themselves, leaping up from beneath the window with a roar, arms raised above her head.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Buffy leaped backwards in alarm and Cat burst out laughing. Buffy stormed across the kitchen to the back door and wrenched it open. "Goddammit, what is up with you people today? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
"Your face!" Cat cried, hysterical.
"Yeah, my face!" Buffy snapped. "What the Hell are you doing back here, anyway?" Cat grinned at her.
"Was gunna scare you. Totally succeeded." Buffy let out a low breath to steady her nerves.
"And if I broke the window trying to bust your head?" She challenged. Cat stopped laughing. That was a very real alternative to the way her prank had played out.
"Sorry, I didn't think of that…" She admitted. Buffy rolled her eyes and motioned Cat inside.
"I will get you back." She told her reaper friend as she stepped inside the kitchen. Cat closed the door behind her and wiped her shoes on the door mat.
"I better watch my back tonight then." She grinned at Buffy, who was now getting down two mugs for coffee. "Where is everyone, anyway?" She unslung her messenger bag from one shoulder and shrugged off her jacket, putting both on one of the kitchen stools.
"Dawn's at work." Buffy answered, though she knew Cat would know that already. "Willow and Tara went out earlier, I don't know when they're back." She spooned coffee into two mugs, added milk to one. "And Giles and Xander are doing their own thing until tonight. We're getting pizza for dinner, is that okay?" She looked over at Cat as she took the mugs to the kettle.
"Scrummy." Cat smiled at her. "I bought chips and dip." She patted her bag, which rustled in response. Buffy turned to her and handed over a mug of coffee.
"Good." She said. "Prepare for an evening of gambling and hijinks." Cat took the offered mug and gave a mischievous grin in response.
"Yes, ma'am."