I waited a good fifteen minutes after Xander left before I left. The air felt thicker, heavier, and more sinister.
Something big was definitely happening here. Something was coming. The Watcher at least seemed to think so. I had little reason to doubt his word. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and why would a Watcher lie to the Slayer?
The Slayer seemed less than pleased about this development. So was I, for that matter.
Call me naïve, but I had been rather hoping being 'called' back here would end up being another witch trying to blow up a football team. That's what I get for hoping, I suppose. You'd think I'd have learned by now that things very rarely go according to one's desires.
The rest of the day passed in relative quiet. I shared a few classes with Buffy, Willow, and Xander, but Buffy was distracted and didn't speak to me most of the time, and I must confess I wasn't exactly friendly towards her. I wanted to go unnoticed by the Slayer as much as possible.
Forgive me if I'm wary of being staked. I still have a scar from where one over-eager young vampire-hunter (not a Slayer) had figured out why I didn't have a reflection and had hunted me down. He'd stabbed me, but I had turned at the last second, so he got me in the chest, but not the heart.
I know I said I'm more vulnerable than most vampires, and I am, but…well, not when I get a taste of blood. I…I'm not proud of this, but at the time it felt justifiable.
I drained him. It healed me, but…he had just been a young thing. Maybe eighteen…I can still remember the look on his face…
All right, moving on.
Willow was as friendly as ever. She kept talking about the Bronze, about books, what I liked to read, what she liked to read, etc. She was delightful. She had read most of what I had read, as it turned out. Well, out of the few I mentioned.
When I told her I had been to Oxford I thought she was going to faint with delight, she got so excited. She demanded to know all about the library, and prattled on about C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, and how they had gone to Oxford. It did me good to see such enthusiasm. I couldn't help but wonder how she would have reacted if I confessed I had actually had tea with dear Charles (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll). She probably would have thought me as mad as his Hatter.
Xander, on the other hand, mostly talked to Willow. I don't think he quite knew what to say to me. He'd make jokes when I answered vaguely about where I had lived before, but seemed impressed to learn I was a 'bit' of a world traveler.
I didn't say much, really. I try not to give out too much information. It's just safer that way.
I must say, it was delightful to listen to Xander and Willow joke and laugh and talk together. Even if I didn't understand all of what they were talking about, it was fun to watch them. At the same time, however, it was a little sad.
Willow was obviously madly in love with Xander, but he saw her as his best friend, or his sister. He couldn't see how much she adored him. That's very often the case, I've found. It never fails to confuse me.
Then again, it's fifty years since I've been in love. Perhaps I've forgotten what it feels like to feel that uncertainty, that hesitation?
Love is such an inconvenient thing.
I arrived at Willow's house early, so I took a moment to look it over.
It was a cheerful building. Warm lights glowed in the windows, plants were all over the place, the garden as well manicured, the porch was clean. I could hear voices chattering to each other just beyond the door.
In short, it felt like a home.
I hated to interrupt the voices, but I knocked on the door anyway.
I pulled self-consciously at the hem of my T-shirt. Since it was dark I didn't have to cover myself from head to toe, for which I was grateful.
The only drawback was my skin. It was practically glowing in the dim light coming from inside the house.
Maybe I should have worn a long-sleeve shirt after all?
The door opened and Willow poked her head out, her long hair falling over her shoulder. She grinned when she saw me and held up a finger to tell me to wait a moment.
"Mom, I'm going!" she called over her shoulder.
"Have fun, honey!" her mother yelled back.
"You're early." She said as she closed the door behind her. An idea came to me and I returned her smile.
"A wizard is never late," I told her gravel, "nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." Willow's smile widened and she performed that adorable laugh once again. She grabbed my wrist between both of her hands and trotted up the sidewalk, pulling me with her.
"Come on!" she said, "This is going to be so much fun! I haven't anyone to talk about Lord of the Rings with in forever!" I grinned and ran with her, letting the excitement of the moment infect me as well. It felt good to feel like a schoolgirl again. At least, I assumed that was what I was feeling like.
I had only ever been tutored at home by my mother, so I'm not really sure what a schoolgirl is supposed to feel like. I assume it means careless? Giddy?
That's what I felt like, so we'll say I felt like a school-girl.
Sorry, digressing again.
"Me either." I told her. Only I was being literal.
The only reason I went to The Bronze was because of Willow.
I don't go to parties or clubs. Remember how I said loud noises hurt? Yes, well, school had been a whisper compared to the clangor going on in there. I could hear it pumping through the building as we walked up to the door.
The 'bouncer' didn't even ask for ID. We just each paid five dollars and then went in.
I glanced at Willow as we went in. She didn't seem the type to sneak off to go drinking and clubbing on the sly. Plus, her mom hadn't seemed to mind her going off so late, so I doubted there would be any drinking going on.
More than likely we were just here to talk. I also had a feeling Xander would be around here somewhere.
We sat down and ordered drinks (I got water, Willow got orange juice) and once again began a discussion about books.
We both had the same taste in books. And by that I mean we read pretty much every genre. Except romance. I didn't read romance. Willow had, on occasion. She said it was a guilty pleasure. Like brownies.
I could empathize.
We spoke pleasantly for several minutes, until something surprising happened: the Slayer showed up.
All of the bodies and noise had masked her scent, so I didn't know she was there until she came up to our spot at the counter.
"Hey!" she greeted Willow. She didn't see me, but then glanced over and raised her eyebrows.
"Oh, hey!" she said, "I almost didn't recognize you without the coat." She laughed. I laughed with her, but didn't say anything in response. What are you supposed to say to that sort of thing? Or are you even supposed to say something?
Social interactions are confusing.
"So are you guys here with someone?" she asked, sitting down beside me. I leaned back a bit so she could talk to Willow. By 'someone' I assumed she meant a male.
"Oh, no," Willow said, shaking her head, "I'm just here with Margery."
"And I'm here with Willow." I said with a smirk. Willow blushed and glanced at me, then gave a shrug and said, "Actually, I kind of thought Xander was going to show up too."
Ah, yes. I thought as much.
"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed. "Are you guys going out?"
I nearly covered my face with my hand.
Oh, if only…
"No, we're just friends." Willow said, sounding a bit sad. "We used to go out, but, we broke up."
"How come?" Buffy asked.
That was a great question. Willow was an enchanting smart, not to mention beautiful, girl. Any man should be overjoyed to have such a girl to call his own.
Willow's answer surprised me.
"He stole my Barbie."
I had to think for a moment of what that was. I vaguely remembered seeing one in a store last year. I don't really pay attention to toys.
Buffy looked surprised as well.
"Oh, we were five." Willow explained. I couldn't help but snort with laughter. I never snort. I blame the fact that I was drinking at the time.
"I don't actually date a whole lot…lately." Willow continued. She seemed fine with that. On the surface, at least. It was hard to tell if she wished that was different or if she was happy being alone.
"Why not?" Buffy asked.
"Well, when I'm with a boy I like, it's hard for me to say anything cool or witty, or at all." I smiled at her. The poor dear. "I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away." Oh good Lord.
"It's not that bad." Buffy said.
"Oh it is." Willow insisted. "I think boys are more interested in girls who can talk."
"I don't think that's the case anymore." I murmured. Buffy echoed this statement.
"You really haven't been dating for a while." She said sympathetically.
"I don't see that as a problem," I joined in, "if a young man cannot appreciate the art of conversation but instead lets his testosterone control how he thinks of a female and so degrades her to little more than a pleasure object, I think it's safer that young women don't date right now."
They both looked at me, surprised that I had said so much. I was surprised too.
"Sorry." I said. I don't know why I apologized. I got nervous, all right?
"Oh don't be." Willow said. "That was nice of you to say. You're right. Anyway, it's probably easier for you," she continued, turning back to Buffy. I dropped my eyes to my glass but glanced at Buffy's face so as to watch her reaction.
Her conversation with the Watcher didn't make it sound as though she had been any less isolated than Willow, lately.
"Yeah, real easy." She said, suddenly finding the straws in her drink very interesting.
"I mean, you don't seem too shy." Willow explained.
"Well, my philosophy-do you want to hear my philosophy?" she looked at Willow and me.
"Certainly." I answered. Willow was a little more eager than I was.
"Oh yeah, I do!"
"Life is short." Buffy said.
For you mortals, perhaps.
"Life is short?" Willow repeated.
"Not original, I'll grant you, but it's true, you know? Why waste time being all shy and worrying about some guy and if he's going to laugh at you. Seize the moment. 'Cause, tomorrow you might be dead."
I think that last part came out more morbid than she'd expected it to.
Willow didn't seem to think so.
"Aw, that's nice!"
The Slayer suddenly looked up and I saw her eyes flicker. I followed her gaze and saw the Watcher standing up above us, looking decidedly lost and out of place amongst the young, lithe, pulsing bodies around him.
Why do they call that dancing, anyway? It should be called wiggling.
I looked back at the Slayer.
"Um, I'll be right back." She said, dismounting from her barstool.
"Oh, it's okay, you don't have to come back." Willow said, letting Buffy off the hook. Buffy and I both looked at her in surprise. Was she really this used to people not wanting to be around her that she just told people to feel free to leave her?
"I'll be back." Buffy assured her.
I knew she was going to talk to the Watcher. I needed to listen to that conversation.
First, I needed to find out what the man's name was. It was going to get tiresome, calling him the Watcher or the librarian all the time.
"Willow," I said, "what's the librarian's name again?"
"Oh it's Giles. Rupert Giles, I think. It might be Robert but I think it's Rupert."
Of course. He dresses in tweed, of course his name would be Giles. Rupert was just an added bonus. I almost felt like I was back in Oxford, if not for the absurdly loud music and thrashing young people.
"Thank you. Where's the lava-I mean, where's the toilet?" I asked.
"Oh, the girl's bathroom is just in the corner by the exit. You'll see the sign for it. It's neon pink."
I thanked her, promised her I would return shortly, and then swiftly made my way towards the bathroom, then, once I was sure she was no longer watching me, banked back, muscling my way through the crowd and to the stairs.
I reached the landing and hid behind a smaller group who weren't moving around as much. I was fairly close to Buffy and Giles, but it took a great deal of effort to focus in on their conversation and understand what they were saying.
"So, you like to party with the students?" Buffy asked, sauntering up to him. "Isn't that kind of skanky?"
These new words. What on earth is skanky?
"Oh, right, this is me having fun." Giles said sarcastically. "Watching clown-hair here prance about is my idea of a good time. I'd much rather be at home with a cup of Bovril and a good book."
I recoiled at the thought of Bovril, which is not to say I disapprove if you like it, but I had it once and I…would rather not think about the result. However, he won me over when he mentioned the book part of his good evening.
He was a librarian, after all, what else had I expected?
"You need a personality, stat." Buffy responded.
I sniffed disdainfully, which made a young lad who had been eyeing me turn away quickly and sniff at his arm-pit to see if he was what I had sniffed at. I rolled my eyes and pretended to be looking for someone down below.
"This is a perfect breeding ground for vampire activity;" Giles said, pointing below us, "it's dark, it's crowded-"
"Most everyone is drunk and full of angst and hormones." I muttered.
"-and I knew you were likely to show up and I had to make you understand."
"That the Harvest is coming, I know." Buffy finished.
I frowned. Harvest? What Harvest? That sounded ominous.
'This is what happens when you only follow half a lead, Margery.' I told myself. I would have to be more thorough next time. I've read Sherlock Holmes over three hundred times, but I've yet had to do much investigating myself.
Until now, that is.
"Your friend told me." Buffy said.
"What did you say?" Giles demanded, a deep frown creasing his forehead.
"The Harvest," Buffy repeated, "that mean something to you? Because I'm drawing a blank."
So the Watcher didn't know about the Harvest either? Well, at least I wasn't the only one clueless here.
"I-I'm not sure." Giles stammered, the wheels in his mind turning faster and faster. "Who told you this?"
"This…guy." Buffy said, realizing Giles didn't know anything more than she did. So the Slayer didn't know either? Did anyone know what was going on? Someone who was actually trying to stop something horrible happening, anyway?
"Dark…" Buffy continued, "gorgeous in an annoying sort of way-I figured you two were buds."
Now Giles really looked confused. Evidently he didn't know any gorgeous people.
"No." He said. "The Harvest?" he continued, "did he say anything else?"
"Something about the Mouth of Hell. I really didn't like him."
Which of course meant she was interested. But…he had said something about the Hellmouth? Not many people knew about the Hellmouth. I had only learned what it was called by accidentally stumbling across it in an old manuscript in a monastery in Spain.
The music finally ended, and Giles walked around Buffy so that he stood on the other side of her. Another song started up and I groaned, rubbing my temples. Would the noise never stop? I was going to have to stuff my ears with cotton tomorrow.
"Look at them." Giles said disapprovingly. He sounded very much like a disgusted father. I half expected him to use the term 'whipper-snapper'. "Throwing themselves about, completely unaware of the danger that surrounds them."
He sounded like me.
"Lucky them." Buffy sounded wistful.
"Perhaps you're right," Giles suggested, "perhaps there is no trouble coming, the signs could be wrong. It's not as though you've been having the nightmares." Buffy tensed and he looked at her expectantly.
Nightmares? So, they were having nightmares, and I was feeling a pull?
The signs weren't wrong.
There was definitely trouble coming.
They started to move away, and I followed, nearly getting elbowed in the face a couple of times. It's really inconvenient being short, sometimes. Plus, I wearing black again, so maybe they couldn't see me, though my skin surely must have looked like a beacon with the lights flashing on me all the time.
"I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire." Buffy was saying. I swallowed. "It's not like I have all these fluffy bunny feelings for them, it's just that I'm not going to get extracurricular with it. You know, if I see one, sure I'll-"
This time Giles interrupted.
"Will you be ready?" he asked. "There's so much you don't know about them or about your own powers."
For some reason, his pointing out she didn't know much about them made me feel guilty. I wasn't a vampire, sure, but I nearly was. Close enough to make me a potential victim if she found out what I was. And here I had been chatting with her, acting normal, acting like I didn't know what she was or what was going on.
And Willow….I'd been lying to that sweet girl. But what was I to say? I couldn't exactly just tell her I was half a vampire, she'd think I was crazy. And if she believed me she'd be frightened of me. I didn't want her to be frightened of me. I wanted to be her friend.
And Buffy…I should tell her what I was. If she continued being friends with Willow, then she'd end up making friends with me. Sooner or later she would figure out what I was, she wasn't a dumb-blond by any means.
One way or another my true nature would be found out. If I waited, it would make me look the villain. It would make me look as though I had been targeting Willow, or even the Slayer herself.
On the other hand, if I just came right out and told her, would she kill me?
Possibly.
Giles was talking again. The more he described a vampire, the worse I felt.
"A vampire appears completely normal until the Feed is upon them, and then do they reveal their…true demonic visage."
That hurt too. I could feel the change when I fed, but I don't think it was as severe as the true face of other vampires I had seen. However, I couldn't be sure. After all, I couldn't exactly look in a mirror and tell, could I?
"You're like a textbook with arms," Buffy said, "I know this."
"The point is the Slayer should be able to see them anyway. Without looking, without thinking."
Oh dear.
"Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?" Giles queried.
Oh dear, oh dear. I felt myself pull away from them, half expecting her to look right at me. Instead, she looked down, scanning the crowd. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped closer to the railing.
"Maybe." She answered. Giles wasn't pleased with that answer.
"You should know. Even through this mass and this din, you should be able to sense them. Well try." He motioned to the crowd. "Reach out with your mind, you have to hone your senses, focus, until the energy washes over you, until you feel every particle-"
"There's one!" Buffy announced. She pointed, but not at me. She pointed down. Giles followed her direction.
"W-Where?" he demanded.
"Right there, talking to that girl." She pointed again. I looked this time too and saw a young man. I narrowed my eyes, focusing solely on him and trying to block everything else out. I inhaled deeply and listened.
Sure enough, there was the faint scent of decay and darkness, and there was no heartbeat.
'Not bad, Slayer.' I thought, though it escaped me how on earth she had figured that out.
There was something mingled with that scent, however. Something familiar…
"You don't know-" Giles said, breaking my concentration.
"Oh please, look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt? Deal with that outfit for a moment."
Mercy. If a poorly constructed wardrobe gave a vampire away, I was doomed once she starting noticing I wore the same two shirts over and over again.
"It's dated?" Giles asked. I suppose he was no more knowledgeable about that sort of thing than I was.
"It's carbon-dated." Buffy said. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Trust me, only someone living underground for ten years would think that was still the look." Poor Giles still looked a bit lost.
"B-But you didn't…hone." He insisted. I wanted to laugh.
"Oh no." Buffy said suddenly. Every desire to laugh faded and I snapped to attention. I looked down at the vampire.
The girl he was talking to had been Willow.
How long had I left her alone? She must have come looking for me!
If my heart had been beating it would have stopped at that moment. As it was, I felt my chest constrict in panic. What had I done? I'd left Willow alone with a lion on the prowl. How could I have been so careless? How could I have not noticed him?
I moved towards the Slayer. If she was going after the vampire, I was coming with her, and the consequences be hanged. Let her know I was an abomination, I didn't care. I had to protect Willow. I had to save her from that fiend down there.
"Isn't that-?" Giles began.
"Willow." Buffy and I both said at the same time.
They both heard me and turned. They both looked surprised, but Giles looked more confused.
"What're you doing up here?" Buffy asked.
"Looking for you." I answered honestly, then looked down at Willow. "We have to help her." I said.
"How did-" she began, but Giles interrupted her.
"Sorry, but, who are you?"
"Margery." I answered. "You don't know me. Yet. But that's not important right now. What's important is getting Willow away from that vampire."
Now they both looked confused.
"I can explain everything later," I promised, "but we've got to go now."
The vampire and Willow looked as though they were moving for the exit.
"What's she doing?" Giles asked, leaning over the rail.
"Seizing the moment." Buffy said grimly, and marched for the stairs. I followed. I caught a final glimpse of Willow and the vampire. He had her by the hand, leading his lamb to the slaughter, while Willow looked overjoyed and content.
That look sent a knife through me.
This was all my fault.
By the time we reached the ground floor, they had already disappeared. Buffy looked around desperately.
"Where'd they go?" she growled. I grabbed hold of her arm to make her stop moving and closed my eyes.
"Wait." I said. There it was: Willow's scent. "This way." I said, pulling her with me towards a dark, empty corridor in the back. To her credit, she didn't ask any questions, she just followed me, stiff and ready for a fight.
In the corridor were dusty old pieces of furniture. She broke off the leg of a chair as we passed by, but I knew she wasn't going to use it on me. Yet.
I heard a footstep going up a stair and broke into a trot. She followed, but stopped my before we got all the way up the stairs. She gave me a warning look and we listened.
Somewhere, someone or something laughed. We went back down and I followed Buffy as she went towards a door. She hesitated, then gripped the handle and swung it open swiftly, barely giving me enough time to brace myself had anyone come through that door.
She sighed, closed the door, then motioned down the other end of the corridor.
"Let's try this way. Do you sense them?"
I tried, but Willow's scent was filling the whole place. No one had been back here nearly all day, so her scent was dominating everything. It smelled like it was everywhere. I shrugged and shook my head.
"Sorry." I said.
"You owe me an explanation."
"Later." I said. She nodded.
"Later. Let's try down this way." She turned and started to walk down the hallway in the opposite direction when I sensed something just as a shadow moved towards Buffy. But this wasn't something malicious.
"Buffy, wait!" I called, just as she grabbed Cordelia and slammed her against the wall, raising her 'stake' for the kill.
I darted to her side and grabbed her arm.
"I said wait!" I barked at her.
Cordelia looked shocked and infuriated rather than scared. Typical. Buffy looked embarrassed and dropped her arm.
"What is your childhood trauma?" Cordelia demanded as her friends appeared in a doorway beside us.
"Uh, have…you guys seen Willow?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, it's rather urgent we find her." I added. That didn't seem to impress Cordelia at all.
"Why? Do you need to attack her with a stick?"
"She's in danger." I snapped, "Buffy is on edge, that's all. Now have you or have you not seen Willow?"
Cordelia blinked at me.
"No." she said.
I growled under my breath, then both Buffy and I whirled and stalked away from them. Well, I stalked, Buffy trotted.
When we exited the hallway and reentered the din, the Watcher was coming to meet us. He looked worried, as well he should. I was worried. Very worried. And guilty. Giles looked a little proud, however.
"That was quick," he said, "Well done! I-I have to go to the library, this Harvest-"
Oh. Woops.
Buffy sighed.
"I didn't find them." She announced. Giles seized her arm and turned her.
"The vampire is not dead?" he said.
"No. But my social life is on the critical list." Buffy snapped back. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my temples. Sometimes I really, really can't stand young people. Particularly young girls.
"Oh mercy, whatever shall we do to rescue your social life?" I said. Buffy glared at me, and Giles finally remembered my existence.
"You know what?" Buffy said, getting heated, "You can just mind your own business. Who are you anyway? You've been lying me to this whole time, haven't you? Why are you here?"
"Destiny." I said with a shrug, "I was pulled here."
"What, um, what are you, exactly?" Giles asked, adjusting his glasses so he could peer at me as though I were a specimen. I really didn't have time to go into this right now, but I had to answer them honestly if I was going to help Willow.
"Half-vampire." I answered. He started to ask something else but I cut him off, "It would require a long explanation, one which we do not have time for. Willow is the priority. That's why I haven't left yet, and I'm not until I know she's safe. Understood, sir?"
I met his eyes. He looked startled, intrigued, a little impressed, and…frightened.
Oh God…how I hate when people look frightened of me.
Buffy stared, and I could sense her tightening her grip on that stake, not that she would pull anything amidst this crowd.
I'd just made an enemy.
"Right." He said. "Apologies, Miss." Egad. He called me 'Miss'. I was old enough to be his grandmother twenty times over but he called me 'Miss'. I could have kissed the man, it felt good to be called something other than 'child' or 'monster', or the always-favorite: 'abomination'.
"But…you will discuss it?" he said.
"Later." I said with a sigh.
"Yes, of course, later. Well, what do we do?" he addressed Buffy with the question.
"I'll take care of it."
"But I-I need to come with you, yes?"
I liked the man, even if he was frightened of me, but I didn't want to have to protect yet another fragile mortal whilst searching for another one. I looked at Buffy, hoping she would turn him down. If need be I'd use the 'two's company, three's a crowd' line.
"Don't worry!" Buffy insisted, "One vampire I can handle." She looked at me. "Two, if need be."
I shook my head and gave her a rueful smile.
"Half a vampire, remember? Can you handle one and a half?"
She actually smirked at that. "Sure." She said, then motioned with her head. "Come on. We've gotta get out of here." She started moving through the crowd, and I followed, keeping an eye on that stake.
Somehow we made it out of that hellhole and into the open air.
"Smell anything?" she asked me. I lifted my head and inhaled the clean, cigarette-smokeless air. I didn't smell Willow, but I did catch the scent of decay, and hunger. It was faint, but unmistakable if you knew what to look for.
The vampire.
"I think-" I began when someone approached us.
"Hey!" Xander said, addressing Buffy, of course, "Leaving already?"
"Xander! Have you seen Willow?" Buffy asked, "She left with a guy."
"You're talking about Willow, right?" Xander said. "Scorin' the Bronze," he said with a grin, "workin' the-"
"We need to find Willow." Buffy and I broke in simultaneously. "Where would he take her?" Buffy asked. I grabbed her wrist and started pulling her in the direction of the scent, which was rapidly fading.
"Oh, I hope he's not a vampire," Xander said, making us both stop dead in our tracks, "because then you might have to slay him."
I winced and looked at Buffy. She looked crestfallen.
I didn't blame her. If I had my secret to practically everyone I had just met after my first day in town, I'd be pretty upset too. In a way, I sort of had, though perhaps not to such an extent as Buffy…I don't think.
Anyway, I think I win when it comes to subtlety because I had actually had to tell them what I was.
"Was there…a school bulletin?" Buffy demanded, "Was it in the newspaper? Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know I'm a Slayer?" she whirled on Xander.
"Willow doesn't." I pointed out. She ignored me, of course.
"I only know that you think you're the Slayer," Xander replied, "and the reason I know that-"
"It doesn't matter," Buffy interrupted, "just tell me where would Willow go?"
"You're serious?" Xander said quietly.
Oh, merciful heavens he didn't believe her. Or Giles. Or, by extensions, me. Sure, this sort of thing was out of the ordinary, but I thought surely he would have believed the Watcher. He was a figure of authority, more or less.
We didn't have time to argue.
"Xander." I murmured. I lowered my fangs, exciting the Essence. I had to look away from Xander as he looked at me, otherwise I would have latched onto that fear I immediately felt pour off of him as he inhaled sharply.
"There are very dark, powerful things in existence which you know not of." I continued. "And Willow is in the grasp of one of them."
"You're a-a-" he stammered as I retracted my fangs and looked at the ground. I hate doing that sort of thing. Especially in mixed company.
"If we don't find Willow," Buffy said grimly, "then there's going to be one more dead body in the morning."
I looked up. Xander had gone ashen and was staring at me, but he looked at Buffy when he heard the word 'dead'. He swallowed, trembling slightly, and nodded. Finally. Progress.
"This way." I said, pointing in the direction of the scent. "They went that way, I smell him."
"What's that way?" Buffy asked Xander.
"Cemetery." He answered.
How cliché.
I looked at Buffy, she looked at me, and then wordlessly we turned and sprinted off into the darkness, while Xander loped behind us.
I was faster than the Slayer, I'll have you know. But for all that, she was rather speedy herself. Xander, poor thing, puffed and wheezed after us. To be honest, I was surprised he even followed at all. But it was sweet to see he cared about Willow.
We reached the cemetery soon enough, and I smelled the scent grow stronger. There was a second decaying scent. Two vampires. I warned Buffy as much, but that didn't faze her one bit, though Xander made a groaning noise.
"Just show me where." She said. I nodded and pointed at the most likely source.
"The mausoleum." I said.
"Is Willow with them?" Xander asked. I inhaled again. There it was, that light, sweet scent.
"Yes."
"Then let's move." Buffy said, and again we ran.
I heard Willow scream as we got closer, and that made me run even faster. The Slayer was right behind me when I burst through the iron door of the mausoleum and skidded to a halt at the sight of two vampires, Willow, and Jesse.
"Well," Buffy said, entering behind me, "this is nice. It's a little bare, but a dash of paint, a few throw pillows: call it home."
I had to admire how nonplussed she was about all this. Xander couldn't stop panting. Willow, the poor thing, looked frightened and confused. I just wanted to scoop her up and whisk her back to that comfy, loving home we had left earlier.
Destroy the ones who oppose you. The Essence whispered to me as I glared at the vampire who had taken her. I felt a growl burn through my chest as the vampire looked at me.
Destroy and annihilate them.
"Who are you?" the female vampire said. She was showing her true face. They both were. She thought it made her look intimidating. It gave her confidence.
Show her how wrong she is. Rip that face off. Make it bleed.
"You mean there's someone in this town that actually doesn't know already?" Buffy quipped. "Phew! That's a relief, I'm telling you," Buffy was walking around the chamber, the vampires closing in, I stepped alongside Buffy and locked onto the female. I felt the burning growing.
Kill her. Kill them all. Show them how powerful we are.
"Having a secret identity in this town," Buffy continued, "is a job."
"Buffy, we bail now, right?" Xander said.
Weakling. He doesn't deserve to share in this.
'Enough.'
Too little. We could be more. You're too afraid.
I growled then. All right, I downright snarled. I felt my face contort, and my fangs snapped at the female. She recoiled in surprise. Buffy faltered for a split second, then kept going.
"Okay, first of all what's with the outfit?" she teased. They were getting closer.
That's right. Come closer. We'll tear you apart. We'll show you what happens when you cross us. You'll burn and break.
I'm ashamed to admit it, but the Essence and I were thinking as one now. I was angry. Angry with the Essence, angry with the vampires, angry with Buffy for already treating me as a monster, angry at Xander for being so fearful; I was even angry with Willow and Giles for being so afraid of me.
Anger is never a could thing when dealing with a demon.
I needed to hurt something.
"Live in the now, okay?" Buffy said, "You look like DeBarge."
The female growled at me and I snarled back at her, trembling with rage. Trembling with the bliss of unleashing that rage after so long.
Buffy glanced over at us.
"Now, we can do this the hard way, or-actually it's just the hard way."
"That's fine with me." The female said. Oh how I hated her.
"Are you sure?" Buffy said, "Now this is not going to be pretty, we're talking violence, strong language adult content-"
The male snarled and lunged for Buffy while she whipped a stake out of her shirt. The female darted for me and I yowled and dove at her. We collided and I felt her nails dig into my neck before I lashed out.
I wasn't nearly as strong as she was, but I was mindless with fury and had momentum on my side. Plus I was small and faster.
My hit connected with her jaw and sent her twisting and tumbling into the wall. I swooped in, kicking her in the stomach so she flinched away. I enjoyed it. I kicked again, caught her in her face, felt a fang break as she fell back with a grunt.
Oh that felt good.
Buffy caught her vampire with the stake as he ran at her back. She got him right in the heart. He gasped, choked, then fell, turning into dust the moment he hit the ground.
I took a step back from my victim and saw Xander quail and look sick.
The female gaped at her fallen comrade, then at Buffy and me. I loved seeing that fear. It made me excited. Too excited. I could heard everyone's heartbeats, peppering away from adrenaline and fear. A chorus of ecstasy to me.
I snarled again, and started to go for the female when she stood back up.
"Margery?" Willow's small, quivering, frightened voice reached me and I snapped my head to the left to look at her. She winced and quailed.
That hurt. I remembered then that I presumably looked like a monster. What's more important was that I was acting like one. No wonder she shrank from me. I felt the fury fade, replaced with concern and shame.
I was ashamed for how I'd been feeling. I swallowed, blinked, and felt my face melt to normal.
"Willow." I breathed.
"See what happens when you roughhouse?" Buffy said to the female.
"He was young and stupid." The female began.
"Xander, go!" Buffy ordered.
He nodded and started down for his friends. I looked back at Buffy, asking permission. She nodded to me and then looked past me to the female.
I jumped over the crypt in the center of the chamber and landed beside Willow. She winced again, but I took her hand gently and tried to smile reassuringly. She didn't trust me. Why should she? I had lied to her too. I was a monster. You don't trust abominations.
"It's all right." I said, "I won't hurt you. Let's get you home." I pulled her to her feet as Xander helped Jesse rise. I caught a whiff of blood as they rose and I stared at Jesse's neck, where blood was seeping from two small wounds.
See? A treat is already prepared.
'We came to save. Not kill.'
I helped Xander with Jesse and we all darted off into the night, while the Slayer started fighting the female. A part of me yearned to go back and join the fray. It had been so long since I'd had anyone to fight alongside me, not that I do a lot of fighting, mind you, but just the thrill of the hunt had been missing from my existence for so long.
No matter. The Slayer had entrusted me with her friends' lives'. I had a duty to see them to safety.
I had to see Willow to safety. I owed her an apology. And an explanation.
We charged across the cemetery, when I felt something was…wrong.
"Stop!" I barked. Xander slid (literally, the grass was wet) to a halt and the others all looked at me. The air was rank with that hunger, that decay. There were more vampires. Many, many more. More than I could handle by myself.
"This way." I said, turning them.
"Where are we going?" Willow asked.
"Away from the horde." I answered, grasping her arm and wrapping the other around Jesse to help Xander support him. We started running again, but even as we started putting distance between us and the others, I couldn't help but feel that something was very, very wrong.