Author's Note: BeneathYouICrunch (2013) - No Buffy won't be flame teleporting, or as it is called on Charmed Wikia - Flaming. The reason being Flaming appears to be a demon only power while Fire power like the one Buffy has can be used by either a witch or a demon.
Side Note: 5/22/2022 - I eventually did give Buffy the ability to flame teleport. And originally Buffy only had the fireball power at the start. She didn't have a premonition power or the telekinetic flaming. When I was rewriting Chapter 2 was when I added in the telekinetic flaming. And the premonition power is to explain away Buffy's Slayer dreams.
Chapter 4: The Harvest
March 11, 1997 - Tuesday
Woodlawn Memorial Park
Through a haze of terror Buffy could see Luke's monstrous face, his lips curled back from his gums, his fangs bared greedily, moving closer and closer to her neck. She twisted and fought with all her strength, but her struggles were useless against him.
With one quick slash of his fingernails, Luke pulled her shirt open, just wide enough to expose her throat.
Buffy gasped, bracing herself for the quick, searing stab of his teeth—but instead, Luke let out a shriek and jumped back.
Buffy stared at him, her mind reeling in confusion. Smoke was streaming from his hand, and he was glaring at his palm, eyes blazing with fury and shock.
As Buffy's own gaze lowered to her chest, she saw a silver cross lying there—the cross that the mysterious guy had given her earlier that night. Somehow it had slipped free from her inside pocket and come in contact with Luke's hand during the struggle.
Buffy wasted no time. With a burst of renewed energy, she kicked at Luke with both legs, sending him flying from the tomb. Before he could recover, she leaped out and ran for the door.
The beating had taken a toll on her—much more than she'd realized, Buffy thought glumly. Now as she tried to run through the woods, she was all too aware of the lightness in her head, the rubbery feeling in her legs, the painful heaving of her chest. She stumbled through the graveyard as fast as she could. When she finally reached the opposite edge of the trees, she stopped and looked behind her in the direction of the mausoleum.
She was alone.
Nobody seemed to be following her . . . not even the shadows were moving.
And then she heard Willow scream. "No! Nooo! Get—off—"
Adrenaline pumping, Buffy raced toward the sound of her friend's voice. As she burst upon the scene, she could see both Phoebe and Willow on the ground, wrestling with a vampire.
"Phoebe duck," Buffy called out as a fireball formed in her hand.
Phoebe looked back toward Buffy, seeing the fireball she rolled away from the vampire she was fighting as Buffy threw the fireball, catching him on fire moments before he exploded to dust.
Buffy turned toward Willow and saw the vampire held Willow mercilessly in his grasp. He was just going in for her neck when she surprised him, causing him to look up. With one swift kick to his face, she sent the vampire sprawling backward. He gave a grunt of pain, then staggered to his feet, holding his nose and trying to get away from her.
Another fireball formed in her hand and she threw it at the retreating vampire and like his companion he caught on fire before exploding to dust.
Buffy stood there a second, catching her breath. All her senses were at their most alert now, and she furiously scanned her surroundings. She heard a cracking sound followed by unmistakable scuffling, and again she took off, leaving Willow still sitting there on the ground, her eyes huge with fright, her body trembling.
Phoebe walked over to the redhead. "You all right?" she asked.
"Getting there," Willow managed as she pulled herself together. When she was ready Phoebe helped her to her feet and then they followed the path Buffy had taken.
It didn't take Buffy long to find what she was looking for. Almost immediately she caught sight of Xander, his unconscious body being dragged away by two more vampires. Buffy had the element of surprise as a fireball formed in her hand and she threw it. One of the vampires caught on fire and exploded to dust.
The remaining vampire slowly turned around looking for what had just dusted his partner. He saw Buffy with another fireball already formed in her hand. He scrambled to get away as Buffy threw it catching him on fire and he exploded to dust.
Buffy heard a twig break behind her, when she turned she saw Willow and Phoebe appearing through the trees.
When Willow saw Xander she ran up to and knelt beside him, cradling his head in her arms.
Phoebe came up beside Buffy. "Are you all right?" she asked looking her cousin over for any obvious injuries.
Buffy smiled at her cousin and nodded. "Yeah I'm good. I really love this power," she whispered so only Phoebe could hear her. "It's going to make being a Slayer that much easier. I can dust them from ten feet away. Oh and Phoebe, I think I have two powers. I'll tell you more at home."
To Willow's relief Xander seemed to be coming to, and after blinking a few times, he frowned up at her, trying to get his bearings.
"Xander . . . are you okay?" Willow asked softly.
"Man . . ." Xander still seemed a little disoriented. "Something hit me . . ."
Buffy peered hard through the trees looking for her last innocent. "Where's Jesse?"
For the first time Willow seemed to realize that Jesse was missing. "I don't know," she shook her head. "They surrounded us—he was really weak . . ."
"That girl grabbed him," Xander mumbled. "Took off."
"Which way?" Buffy demanded, but Xander looked blank.
"I don't know."
"I didn't see which way they took him, sorry, Buffy," said Phoebe.
Buffy stared into the night. She honed all her senses, reaching out, straining through the darkness—but there was nothing . . .
Nothing at all.
Buffy's heart felt heavy and sad.
"Jesse . . ." she whispered.
March 12, 1997 - Wednesday
Gateway High School
In the peaceful calm of the school library, a feeling of doom hung thick in the air. No one had gotten any sleep, and Jesse was still missing. Buffy couldn't remember when she'd been so sore; her body ached all over and her brain felt numb. She and Phoebe hid their injuries from Prue and Piper so as not to worry either of them.
Giles stood at the railing on the upper level of bookshelves and tried to give Xander and Willow an explanation for what was happening. "This world is older than any of you know," he told them solemnly, spinning a globe for emphasis. "And contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth. Made it their home . . . their hell."
Willow and Xander listened intently.
Phoebe glanced at Buffy as if to say, our Books didn't say anything about any of this. Buffy nodded in agreement.
"In time they lost their purchase on this reality," he continued, carrying an armload of books down the stairs, "and the way was made for the mortal animals. For man. What remains of the Old Ones are vestiges. Certain magics, certain creatures . . ."
"And vampires," Buffy added.
Xander stood up, clearly agitated. "Okay, this is where I have a problem, see, because we're now talking about vampires." He frowned. "We're having a talk with vampires in it."
"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asked.
"No, those weren't vampires," Buffy quipped. "Those were just some guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies—coulda been rabies. And those guys turning to dust . . . just a trick of the light." She ignored the look Xander gave her and regarded him with total understanding. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. I mean, when I was done with the screaming part."
"Oooh . . ." Willow murmured. "I need to sit down."
"You are sitting down," Phoebe reminded her.
"Oh." Willow gave a vacant nod. "Good for me."
"So vampires are demons?" Xander went on, while Giles again tried to clarify.
"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed—infected—by the demon's soul." Giles handed Xander one of the heavy volumes. "He bit another, and another . . . and so they walk the earth feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return."
The Hellmouth
Far below the earth, where the morning sun never reached, Luke and Darla dragged Jesse along the dark, dank tunnel toward the church. Jesse staggered between them, his consciousness slowly returning at last—and as his eyes grew accustomed to the blackness, terror rose sickeningly in his throat.
He looked at the two inhuman faces on either side and then at the mouth of the tunnel they were pulling him through. They seemed to be inside an old pipe, huge and cracked and slimy with mold. As they hauled him the rest of the way, he felt himself being propelled down a pile of rocks and onto a cold, damp floor.
His eyes widened in alarm. A church? It looked like a church—or what had once been a church—and yet this was a foul, evil place; he could feel it in every fiber of his being.
Jesse looked around, a strange sort of wonder mixed with his fear. He could see now that he was standing before an altar. An altar and what appeared to be a thick red pool.
And then from the total darkness, something moved. Moved and gathered itself from the endless shadows as it slowly emerged and came toward him.
The Master regarded his servants with a cold, imperious stare. He turned his gaze on Jesse, and then at last he spoke.
"Is this for me?"
"An offering, Master," Luke replied humbly.
"He's a good one," Darla added. "His blood is pure."
The Master's voice was quiet. Cunningly innocuous. "You've tasted it."
Realizing her mistake, Darla stepped back in fear. The Master bestowed her a taunting smile.
"I'm your faithful dog. You bring me scraps."
"I didn't mean to—" Darla stammered, but the Master cut her off.
"I have waited. For three-score years I have waited. While you come and go I have been stuck here." His voice rose, trembling with his power. "Here, in a house of worship. My ascension is almost at hand."
He broke off. He clutched Darla's face between his fingers.
"Pray that when it comes . . ." he snarled, "I'm in a better mood."
"Master, forgive me," Darla begged him. "We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl."
Luke nodded affirmation. "There was a girl. She fought well and she knew of our breed. It's possible that she may be . . ."
The Master calmly turned to him. "A Slayer?"
Gateway High School
"A Slayer," Giles continued to explain.
"And that would be a what?" Xander asked him.
"As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer," Giles recited. "One girl in all the world—"
"He loves doing this part," Buffy interrupted.
"All right," Giles conceded, speeding up a little. "They hunt vampires, one Slayer dies, the next is called, Buffy is the Slayer, don't tell anyone." He stopped and drew a breath. "I think that's all the vampire information you need."
"Except for one thing," Xander spoke up. "How do you kill them?"
"You don't," Buffy corrected him before motioning towards herself and Phoebe. "We do."
"Well, Jesse—"
"Jesse's our responsibility," said Buffy. "I let him get taken."
Xander frowned. "That's not true."
"If you hadn't shown up," Willow added loyally, "they would have . . . taken us, too. . . . Does anybody mind if I pass out?"
"Breathe . . ." Phoebe ordered her.
Willow nodded. "Breathe."
"Breathe," Buffy echoed, and then to Giles, "This big guy, Luke, he talked about an offering to the Master. I don't know who or what that was, but if they weren't just feeding, Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him."
Calmer now, Willow offered a suggestion. "This is probably a dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?"
"And they'd believe us, of course," Giles replied.
"We don't have to say vampires," Willow stammered. "We could say there was . . . a bad man."
Buffy shook her head consolingly. "They couldn't handle it if they did come. They'd only show up with guns."
"You've no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles asked her.
"Phoebe and I looked around, but . . . soon as they got clear of the woods they could have just—" Buffy made a quick motion with her hand. "—whoom."
"Can they fly?" Xander looked surprised.
"They can drive."
"Oh."
Willow tried to think back. "I don't remember hearing a car."
"Well, let's take an enormous intuitive leap and say they went underground," Giles said.
"Vampires really jam on sewer systems," Buffy agreed. "You can get anywhere in town without catching any rays. I didn't see any access around there, though."
Xander shrugged. "Well, there's electrical tunnels. They run under the whole town."
For a moment Giles considered this. "If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system, it might indicate a meeting place. I suppose we could go to the building commission—"
"We so don't have time," Buffy cut him off.
"Uh, guys?" Willow said tentatively. "There may be another way. First though I have a question. How did you do the fire thing, Buffy?"
"Fire thing?" Giles asked confused on what Willow meant.
"Buffy created a fireball in her hand," Willow explained.
Giles looked at Buffy and frowned. "That is a good question. Only a witch with an active power could do something like that. But…"
"Actually…" Buffy started.
"Buffy…" Phoebe warned.
"You knew she could do this?" Giles asked Phoebe.
Buffy sighed as she looked at her cousin. "He's going to find out sooner or later. Especially if I keep using magic."
Phoebe sighed. "You know Prue is going to ground you for life."
"We don't have to tell her you know," Buffy pleaded.
Giles coughed. "Excuse me," he said. "Not that this conversation isn't interesting. But how can you do magic?"
Buffy smiled a wicked smile. "Like this," she said. "Book!" The book that Giles had given to Xander appeared in her hand in a flurry of flames.
"That's rather amazing," Giles admitted as he took the book from Buffy, it wasn't even burned. "I don't know of any Slayer that has been a witch before. Let alone a witch with an active power such as that. How did you come to have such a power?"
Buffy smiled. "Remember my hint at the Bronze last night," she reminded him.
"That you and your cousin here are Charmed?" Giles asked.
"You do some research on that and see what you come up with," Buffy told him.
"Something to look into later," said Giles. "Willow you said you could get us maps of the electrical tunnels?"
The Hellmouth
"A Slayer . . ." The Master pondered this possibility. "Have you any proof?"
Luke answered him with a sneer. "Only that she fought me and yet lives."
"Very nearly proof enough," the Master conceded. "I can't remember the last time that happened."
"Eighteen forty-three." Luke looked almost embarrassed. "In Madrid. Caught me sleeping."
The Master gave a vague nod. "She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest."
"I would never let that happen."
"You needn't worry. I believe she'll come to us." As his two servants looked at him questioningly, the Master added, "We have something that she wants. If sheis a Slayer and this boy lives, she'll try to save him."
Luke walked over to Jesse. His hideous face split in a macabre smile. "I thought you nothing more than a meal, boy," he chuckled. "Congratulations. You've just been upgraded to 'bait.'"
Gateway High School
"There it is," Buffy said eagerly.
Willow sat at the computer while everyone else gathered around her. Showing on the screen was a complete map of the city's electrical tunnels.
"This runs under the graveyard," Willow explained, pointing to one in particular, but Xander shook his head.
"I don't see any access."
"So all the city plans are just open to the public?" Giles asked.
"I doubt it," Phoebe said, sure that Willow had hacked into the city's computers.
"Uh, well, in a way," Willow frowned a little sheepishly. "I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally . . . decrypted the city council's security system."
Xander's focus remained on the screen. "Someone's been naughty . . ."
"There's nothing here," Buffy sounded disappointed. "This is useless!"
"You should ease up on yourself, Buffy," Phoebe consoled her cousin, not that she didn't feel the same thing Buffy did.
Buffy looked at her cousin for a long moment. "Phoebe …" she started as something dawned on her.
"What?" Xander asked noticing the pause.
Buffy was remembering the scene from last night playing out perfectly in her mind. "The vampire, Luke, didn't come out of nowhere," she said excitedly. "He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance. He came from behind me and he didn't follow me out." She looked at the other four faces around her. "The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum."
"Are you sure?" Giles straightened.
"The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out," Buffy went on. "God, I'm so mentally challenged!"
"You aren't, Buffy," said Phoebe.
Xander stepped back, ready for action. "So what's the plan? We saddle up, right?"
"There's no 'we,'" Buffy corrected him. "There is only me and Phoebe. I'm the Slayer and you're not. And Phoebe's a …" she stopped short of mentioning that Phoebe was a witch. "… has some martial arts training. Plus, being one of my three legal guardians she can get me out of school with very few questions asked."
"I knew you were gonna throw that in my face," Xander grumbled.
"Xander, this is deeply dangerous. I'm only letting Phoebe come along because she has fought them with me before."
"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."
Xander turned his back on her and walked off. With a sympathetic glance in Xander's direction, Willow appealed to Buffy. "Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters, but I do want to help. I need to."
"Then help me," Giles replied without hesitation. "I've been researching this Harvest affair. Seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, hell on earth . . . quite charmless. I am fuzzy on the details, however, and it may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine."
He paused, glancing from one uncomprehending look to another.
"That was a bit British, wasn't it?" he admitted, embarrassed.
Phoebe smiled. "Welcome to the new world."
"I want you to go on the Net," Giles translated.
"Oh!" Willow brightened. "Yeah. Sure. I can do that."
"Then I'm out of here," Buffy announced. "If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back."
Giles stepped forward, his grave expression softening. "Do I have to tell you to be careful? Especially with your cousin going with you?"
Buffy and Phoebe met his eyes for a long moment.
And then they went out.
Phoebe and Buffy headed across the school grounds toward the outer gate. It was standing wide open, but before they could go through, Mr. Flutie suddenly appeared behind her.
"And where do we think we're going?" Mr. Flutie greeted her.
"We?" Buffy was all innocence. "I? Me?"
Mr. Flutie gave her a patronizing look. "We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"
Phoebe smiled as she thrust her hand out. "Phoebe Halliwell," she said. "I'm one of Buffy's cousins and one of her legal guardians. There is a family emergency."
Mr. Flutie took Phoebe's hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you Ms. Halliwell," he said. "I hope everything is alright."
"Don't know yet," said Phoebe cryptically. "Hopefully everything will be."
"Alright then," he said as he let them out before locking the gate. He then turned and walked away.
"I knew there was a reason I was bringing you along," said Buffy as they walked away from the schoo. "Prue will go ballistic now won't she? Between Giles, Willow and Xander knowing about my power and my ditching school."
"Possibly," said Phoebe with a sigh. "But the good news you won't be alone there. She's likely to be just as equally mad at me. Especially when she finds out what went on last night."
Woodlawn Memorial Park
Phoebe and Buffy made their way through the cemtery once more, back to the mausoleum.
Except for the feeble light angling in from the doorway, it was just as dark in here as it had been last night, and they moved cautiously, inching farther and farther into the gloom. Their eyes kept a continual watch.
Every sense warned Buffy that a presence lurked nearby, but the shadows closed thick about her and Phoebe, revealing nothing.
They reached the iron door on the opposite side of the room. Buffy tried it, but it was locked. Standing there, she lowered her arms to her sides and let out a long, slow breath. Without turning around, she said, "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"
"Who are you talking to?" asked Phoebe when no one answered immediately.
And then their mysterious friend stepped from the shadows, a faint smile in his eyes. "They really don't like me dropping in," he answered.
"Why not?" Buffy asked.
"They really don't like me," he admitted.
Buffy couldn't help her sarcasm. "How could that possibly be?"
"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later," he said, changing the subject. "Actually, I thought it was gonna be a little sooner."
"I'm sorry you had to wait," Buffy retorted. "Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this cryptic wise-man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell us your name?"
"Since you seem to know us it would be nice to know who you are," agreed Phoebe.
Another silence. Then, "Angel."
"Angel." Buffy waited for a last name. When he didn't respond, she added somewhat offhandedly, "It's a pretty name."
"Don't go down there." The warning was calm, matter-of-fact. Buffy shrugged it off.
"Deal with our going."
"You shouldn't be putting yourselves at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it," his voice dropped to a whisper, "the Master walks."
"If this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, as my cousin here would say, why don't you stop it?" Phoebe asked.
"Because I'm afraid."
It was an answer neither Phoebe or Buffy had expected and wasn't the least prepared for. The unashamed openness of his confession caught them completely off guard.
Buffy stared at him, at his face silhouetted in the dim light. Then she kicked the door open.
"They'll be expecting you both," Angel said.
"I've got a friend down there—or a potential friend." Almost as an afterthought, Buffy joked, "Do you know what it's like to have a friend?"
Angel didn't answer.
Buffy paused, a note of gentleness creeping into her voice. "That wasn't supposed to be a stumper," she told him.
"When you hit the tunnels, head east, toward the school. That's where you're likely to find them."
"You gonna wish us luck?" Phoebe asked.
Again Angel was silent. Phoebe and Buffy gazed at him, then turned abruptly and headed into the darkness.
Angel watched them go. He stood there for a long while without moving, and his face held quiet concern. "Good luck," he said softly.
Electrical Tunnels beneath San Francisco
The tunnels spread like a forbidden maze beneath the city. Dark and twisting, they ran in all directions.
As Phoebe and Buffy made their way carefully down a flight of steps, Buffy said, "You think we will ever find our way out again?"
"I hope so," said Phoebe. "You have a stake?"
Buffy smiled as she reached to the small of her back and pulled out a stake. She handed it to Phoebe. "Not like I will need it," she said.
"I've been meaning to ask, since we didn't get the chance last night to talk," Phoebe said as they moved on slowly, their senses groping into every crack and crevice, through every thick bank of shadows. "What did you mean when you said you had two powers?"
"I had a premonition," answered Buffy. "I'm thinking the fire power might be something given to me by the Slayer when my powers were activated. I think my Charmed power is the premonition power."
"That would make sense," said Phoebe. One to help you with each of your destinies. The fire for your Slayer destiny, the premonition for your Charmed destiny."
With the murky blackness flowing over them, they continued along the tunnel. They came to a corner and turned. This new passageway seemed to be empty, but still they hesitated a moment longer, ears straining through the eerie quiet. Once more they started forward, every nerve on edge.
"This is perfect breeding ground for vampires," admitted Buffy. "They could be anywhere, watching us, waiting."
"That doesn't make me feel any better, Buffy," said Phoebe.
It was then that Buffy thought she heard something then. Spinning around, she sneaked back the way they'd come and peered around a wall into yet another tunnel.
"What?" Phoebe asked as she followed Buffy.
"Thought I heard something," admitted Buffy as she saw shadows, but nothing more. She pulled her head back. And realized he was standing behind her and Phoebe.
"Behind you," whispered Buffy to her cousin. Her body tensed, prepared for attack, and she and Phoebe whirled around, right into a familiar face.
"Did you see anything?"
"Xander!" Buffy exploded.
"What are you doing here?" Phoebe asked.
"Something stupid. I followed you two," Xander didn't seem at all contrite. "I couldn't just sit around not doing anything."
Buffy stared at him, not knowing whether to laugh or scream. "I understand. Now go away."
"No!"
"Xander, you're gonna have to!"
"Jesse's my bud, okay?" Xander insisted. "If I can help him, then that's what I gotta do."
Buffy paused, weighing the sincerity of his words.
"Besides," Xander added, "it's this or chem class."
Buffy sighed.
Phoebe saw the resignation on Buffy's face. "Buffy, you're not serious?"
Buffy looked at her cousin and nodded. "If it was you instead of Jesse and I was in Xander's place I would be doing the exact same thing, Phoebe."
Phoebe looked at Buffy for a long moment, if it was Buffy, Prue or Piper instead of Jesse and she was in Xander's place. She would do the same thing too. "All right."
They continued down the tunnel, reaching the end and pausing to listen.
There was nothing around the next corner.
Relieved, they turned into still another passageway, their eyes searching the shadows. They kept close to each other, bodies tense, ready for anything.
"Okay," Xander said, trying to prepare himself. "So, crosses, garlic, stake through the heart."
"That'll get it done," Buffy assured him.
"Cool. Of course, I don't actually have any of those things."
Buffy gave him a look, then immediately handed him a cross. "Good thinking."
"Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff is still busy telling me not to come down here," Xander defended himself. "I brought this, though."
He produced a flashlight and flicked it on. The bright beam of light stabbed through the darkness, illuminating seeping walls and oozing puddles underfoot.
"Turn that off!" Phoebe hissed while Xander scrambled to do so.
"Okay, okay," Xander complied. "So, what else?"
"What else what?" Buffy asked.
"For vampire slayage."
Buffy sighed. "Fire, beheading, sunlight, holy water . . . the usual."
"So," Xander's voice sounded a little weak. "You've done some beheading in your time?"
"Oh, yeah. There was this one time, I was pinned down by this vampire, he played left tackle for the varsity—I mean, before he was . . . well anyway, he's got one of those really thick necks, and all I've got is a little X-Acto knife—"
She broke off abruptly as Xander gaped at her.
"You're not loving this story," she accused him.
Xander managed to suppress a shudder. "Actually," he mumbled, "I find it oddly comforting."
Gateway High School
In the library, Giles was on a quest of his own.
With his ancient texts spread out upon the table, he looked closely from one to another, reading passages, pondering their various meanings. He'd been at it for some time now, and the look on his face was weary but still determined. He picked up yet another of his volumes, consulted it, and suddenly discovered something quite interesting.
Giles peered closely at one particular passage. And then he began to translate it aloud, softly to himself, from the original Latin.
"'For they will gather, and be gathered. All that is theirs shall be his. . . . From the Vessel pours life.'"
Giles paused, repeating thoughtfully, "Pours life . . ."
He studied the engraving on the facing page of his book. The picture showed a hideous man-beast with his hand extended, commanding a throng of villagers. All of the villagers were bleeding. Below them, in what might have been hell, a demon glowed with power.
Giles leaned closer. His brow furrowed in concentration.
Upon the bestial one's forehead, a crude symbol had been drawn. A star with three points.
Giles squinted behind his glasses, peering intently at yet another passage. Once more he began to read.
"'On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice, it will come.'"
He straightened up. Realization dawned upon his face.
"Of course," he mumbled. "Tonight."
Electrical Tunnels beneath San Francisco
"They're close," Buffy said.
They'd been walking quite a while without speaking. Tunnel after tunnel melted into nothingness behind them, and their uneasiness continued to grow. There was no comfortable banter between them now. The air was heavy, thick with a dark, dangerous expectancy, and Buffy frowned as she scanned the blackness with worried eyes.
"How can you tell?" Xander asked nervously.
"Yeah, how can you?" Phoebe asked out of curiosity.
"No more rats."
It wasn't exactly the information either Phoebe or Xander wanted to hear. They passed through several more tunnels before he spoke again.
"Over there." Xander stopped, pointing. "What's that?"
Ahead of them was a small, gloomy side chamber. They could just barely make out the outline of a doorway, but past that, nothing.
After a quick glance behind them, the three walked closer. Xander pulled out his flashlight and played it slowly over the entrance.
The light shone faintly just beyond the opening. Over the motionless shape of a body, lying face down on the ground.
Xander drew a quick, sudden breath. "Jesse!"
"Oh, no . . ." Buffy and Phoebe murmured glancing at each other.
The cousins started forward as Xander kept the light focused on them. Reaching Jesse, Buffy held out her arms to help him.
Jesse leaped at Phoebe and Buffy without warning, a heavy pipe brandished in his fist. As he prepared to bring it down on Buffy's head, Xander's voice rang out.
"Jesse!"
Jesse stopped, amazed. "Xander?"
With a look of sheer relief, Jesse dropped his weapon. He walked slowly toward his friend, meeting Xander's hug with one of his own. After a moment, Xander pulled away, holding Jesse at arm's length, looking him over.
"Jesse, man, are you okay?"
"I'm not okay on an epic scale." Jesse made a frail attempt at humor. "We gotta get out of here!"
He pointed to his leg. A heavy chain held him fast to a metal ring in the wall.
"It's cool!" Xander assured him. "Buffy's a superhero!"
At the mention of her name, Buffy frowned and ran one hand along Jesse's restraints.
"Hold on," she said grimly.
Taking the pipe he'd dropped, Buffy smashed the lock on the shackles. The sound of it reverberated back and back through the labyrinth of tunnels.
Xander cringed, fixing Buffy and Phoebe with a doubtful stare. "You think anybody heard that?" he murmured.
"You can bet your life someone probably did. We should get out of here," Phoebe said.
From the corner of her eye Buffy thought she saw something moving just outside the chamber door . . . several black indistinct shapes shifting within the shadows.
She motioned the others to follow her out.
"They knew you were gonna come," Jesse told her anxiously. "They said that I—I was the bait..."
"Oh, now you tell us," Xander grumbled.
"I've seen their leader," Jesse went on. He didn't have to elaborate; as Phoebe, Buffy and Xander watched him, the look of sheer horror in his eyes said all there was to say.
Quickly Phoebe and Buffy led the way back through the tunnel. Then without warning, they froze in their tracks.
Xander and Jesse could see them now, too. The deep, murky, shadowy things moving at the other end of the passageway . . .
"Oops," Buffy said.
Jesse's voice quivered with fear. "Oh, no, no . . ."
"Do you know another way out?" Phoebe asked.
Jesse threw her a desperate look. "I don't, uh, maybe?"
"Come on," Xander ordered.
Turning, the four of them hurried in the opposite direction. They began to run, and as they came to a junction of several tunnels, they chose one and headed inside. They didn't expect to see the eyes there ahead of them, gleaming in the darkness— they didn't expect the whispered sounds of laughter. In rising panic they swung back again, until they reached yet another intersection.
"Wait, wait," Jesse paused breathlessly. "They brought me through here! There should be a way up. I hope."
No one stopped to argue—they simply ran.
A moment later they found themselves in a small, murky chamber. Too late, they saw the vampires closing slowly in behind them—too late, they realized there was no other way out. In mounting horror,
Phoebe, Buffy and Xander looked around for an escape, but there was nowhere to go.
Buffy raced back to the doorway. She could hear the vampires stalking closer and closer, and she glanced frantically at her cousin and friends. "I don't think this is the way out!"
"We can't fight our way back through those things," Xander's voice was shaking. "What do we do?"
"I've got an idea," Jesse said who was standing right behind Xander and Phoebe.
But as Xander and Phoebe turned to look at him, he wasn't Jesse anymore.
"Buffy!" shouted Phoebe.
Buffy turned to see what had shocked her cousin. She saw that Jesse's face was repulsive and twisted, an inhuman face, an unholy face. His eyes were cold and passionless, and as he smiled at them, his pointed teeth gleamed through the darkness.
"You can die," Jesse said as his smile widened.
In painfully slow motion, Xander began backing away from Jesse, while Buffy's mind raced, trying to think what to do. As she glanced at Jesse, then back again to the doorway, she could hear the vampires closing in on them, could see their shadows slithering along the outside walls.
Jesse regarded him with a triumphant sneer. "Sorry? I feel good, Xander. I feel strong."
Even as they talked, Buffy was grabbing at the door, trying desperately to shut it—but the thick metal had rusted badly, jamming it open. "Phoebe, I can't power up a fireball and try and close this door. Grab him and throw him out," she told her cousin.
Phoebe nodded. "The cross, Xander," she told him.
Xander didn't hesitate as he tossed the cross to Phoebe. She moved toward Jesse cross in hand driving him toward the door.
With all her strength, Buffy pushed against the door. At last she could feel it giving way beneath her, ever so slightly—but she could also hear the vampires, their measured footfalls, their muffled laughter along the passageway. They were practically at the entrance now, and in the flickering shadows she caught quick glimpses of their fiendish grins. They were certain of their victory. It was only a matter of seconds.
Jesse was furious. He stumbled backward as Phoebe forced him toward the doorway.
With a last-ditch effort, Buffy heaved at the door. She could see the vampires massed together in the corridor. Getting nearer . . . nearer . . .
Jesse lashed out, knocking the cross from Phoebe's grasp. He grinned victoriously—but only for an instant. Without warning Buffy grabbed him from behind and hurled him out of the room, knocking vampires over like so many bowling pins. Xander stood staring in disbelief.
"Help me!" Buffy cried.
Phoebe and Xander joined Buffy, the three of them wedged their backs against the door, straining for all they were worth. At last there was a slow groan of loosening metal—and then—blessedly—the door slammed shut.
The arm shot in without warning.
Groping and grasping for their faces, trying to pull them out.
Buffy jerked the door open slightly, and then slammed it again till the arm withdrew. This time she managed to bolt the door, and as she did so, she turned to look at Phoebe and Xander.
Xander was as breathless as Buffy and Phoebe were. He was stunned over what had happened to Jesse. "I can't believe it . . . we were too late."
"It's okay, Xander," said Phoebe comfortingly.
A resounding thud shuddered the door behind them. The vampires were trying to break it down.
"We need to get out of here," Buffy said grimly.
"There is no out of here!"
Another thud shook the door to its very frame. Horrified, Buffy could see it beginning to buckle on its hinges. She glanced around, mind working swiftly. There were odds and ends of assorted junk lying about the room, and she started picking them up, flinging them away, searching for some other route of escape.
Phoebe and Xander was also scanning the area. As their eyes darted quickly over the walls, Phoebe suddenly spied something high up in the shadows. It looked like an air vent. Just a hint of grating behind a metal sheet, practically obscured by the darkness.
"Buffy, up there," Phoebe said motioning toward the grating.
Buffy looked. She threw down a box she was holding, and then used it as a footstool to try and reach the vent. She peeled away the sheet of metal, revealing the grate behind it. Her heart gave a hopeful leap.
It was indeed an air vent.
And it was big enough to climb through.
Using her bare hands, Buffy tried to pry open the grate. She tried to shut out the sounds of the vampires behind them, the thudding and pounding, the screech of breaking hinges . . .
Xander glanced worriedly from Buffy to Phoebe to the door.
It was off its hinges now, Xander and Phoebe could see—just enough for a vampire to put his fingers through, just enough for a vampire to get a really good grip—
Buffy ripped the grating loose and flung it aside.
"Come on!" she shouted.
A vampire shot out of the air vent. Its arm came straight at her, and the fingers closed around her head.
Behind them, the door burst wider. A vampire's face squeezed through, grinning at them in smug triumph.
Buffy yanked the vampire out of the vent and hurled him to the floor. She jumped down on top of the creature, pinning him, and yelled at Xander, "Go!"
Xander didn't argue. He raced past her and climbed up on the box just as a Phoebe sank the stake Buffy had given her into the vampire's back. Fumbling the flashlight, Xander aimed it into the vent.
Empty. The vent seemed clear, at least for now.
With one last look at Buffy and Phoebe, Xander crawled inside the vent and began worming his way toward safety.
Phoebe turned and climbed up on the box and then hoisted herself up and crawled inside the vent as she followed Xander. Behing her she could hear a muffled crash as the door broke down at last. She could hear the vampires piling into the room. "Come on, Buffy," she whispered to herself.
At the last possible second, Buffy jumped up, clawing at the wall.
Then she pulled herself into the air vent and hurried after Phoebe and Xander, with the vampires close behind.
Crawling on all fours in the darkness, Phoebe, Buffy and Xander were aware of the creatures following, squeezing their bodies one by one into the narrow air vent, keeping close on their trail.
They had no idea how far they'd gone, but suddenly the tunnel opened into a much wider space, and the two of them spotted a ladder leading up. High above them, the faintest glow of sunshine showed through a grating at the top.
Xander glanced over his shoulder at Phoebe. "Up?"
"UP!" Phoebe agreed.
He started climbing, Phoebe and Buffy right behind him. Reaching the top, he opened the grating, then hoisted himself out onto the deserted street. He turned at once to help Phoebe out. Then they turned to help Buffy. Their hands closed tightly around Buffy, and they began pulling her free.
Buffy'd almost cleared the opening when something grabbed her. She felt fingers clamp around her ankle as the vampire tried to drag her back into the hole.
Instinctively, Buffy strained upward. With Phoebe and Xander's arms tight around her, she pulled harder, forcing the hand into the afternoon sunlight. The fingers began to smoke, and there was a horrible stench of burning flesh. After an agonizing shriek, the hand twisted back into the darkness and Buffy rolled out, slamming the grate shut.
Buffy lay on the ground beside Xander and Phoebe.
None of them spoke and none of them moved.
They only lay there, side by side, stunned and shaken, trying to catch their breath.
The Hellmouth
The Master rose slowly and silently from his chair.
His face was grim and his eyes were dangerously hard.
Several vampires stood uneasily before him and he took his time with them, toying with their fear, allowing his pitiless gaze to linger upon each one in turn.
"She escaped," the Master spoke at last. "She walks free when I should be drinking her heart's blood right now. Careless."
The vampire called Colin at last found the courage to speak. "Master, we had her trapped," he tried to explain, but the Master stopped him with a glance.
"Are you going to make excuses?" the Master hissed. "You are all weak. It's been too long since you faced a Slayer." He considered a moment, then added, "But it's no matter to me. She'll not stop the Harvest. It just means there will be someone worth killing when I reach the surface."
He took a step closer to Colin. He leaned down into Colin's face.
"Is Luke ready?" the Master asked.
Colin nodded. "He waits."
The Master seemed pleased at this. He gestured vaguely to another vampire who kept his head lowered.
"It's time," the Master said. "Bring him to me." Then, almost as an afterthought, "And Colin, you failed
me." His voice purred with gentle malice. "Tell me you're sorry."
Colin felt a stab of fear. "I'm sorry . . ." he whispered.
"There, now." The Master nodded. "That wasn't so hard. Oh, hold on—"
He jabbed his finger viciously into Colin's face. Colin gasped in pain as his eyeball suddenly popped, squishing deep in its socket.
The Master smiled at him. "You've got something in your eye."
Gateway High School
Giles was still poring intently over his notes. When he suddenly realized that someone had entered the library, he glanced up, his voice hopeful.
"Buffy?"
Willow shook her head, looking apologetic. "It's just me. So there's no word?"
Giles's face fell. "Not as yet." He looked very tired as he took off his glasses.
"Well, I'm sure they're . . . great," Willow offered, trying to reassure herself as much as him.
"Did you find anything of interest?" he asked her.
The girl sat down, spreading out the copied articles so he could see.
"I think maybe. I looked through the old papers, around the time of that big earthquake back in
'Thirty-seven." Willow placed her finger on one of the pages. "And for several months before it, there was a rash of murders."
"Great!" Giles straightened and put his glasses back on. "I mean, not great in a good way. . . . Go on."
Willow obligingly began flipping through the articles. "They sound like the kind you were looking for. Throats, blood. Months, and not even a clue."
"It's all coming together." He nodded. And then, with an anxious glance at Willow, "I rather wish it weren't."
The time was drawing nearer.
The Harvest was at hand.
The Hellmouth
Darla lit the last row of candles at the back of the church. Solemnly she stepped away from them, clutching her taper, and at the exact moment, another vampire completed his own row of lighted candles along the opposite wall. The flickering light cast a strange, sickly glow over the congregation. The two lines of candles extended all the way to the altar, to the place where their Master stood waiting.
The chanting had begun again. Yet not quite a chanting . . . more a low, primal whisper that made the blood turn cold . . .
Luke stepped forward and drew off his shirt. He stepped forward to the altar and knelt humbly before his Master. When the Master held out his hand Luke kissed it, and when the Master turned his open palm upward Luke kissed that as well.
And then very gently, Luke took hold of the Master's wrist. He lifted it delicately to his mouth, and he sank his teeth deep into the arteries and veins.
The Master winced. He shut his eyes and felt centuries of time flowing through him. As Luke continued to feed, he reared back his head in an agony of delicious pain.
"My blood runs with yours," the Master said. "My soul is your province."
"My body is your instrument," Luke murmured.
Luke pulled away. The Master took one drop of blood from his own wrist, then touched it to Luke's forehead, painting a three-pointed star.
He faced his disciples and spoke.
"On this most hallowed night, we are as one. Luke is the Vessel. Every soul he takes shall feed me. Their souls will grant me the power to free myself."
A smile spread across his face. His eyes narrowed with keen anticipation.
"Tonight I will walk the earth . . . and the stars themselves will hide."
Gateway High School
Phoebe, Buffy and Xander dragged themselves wearily into the library. As Giles and Willow stared open mouthed at their disheveled appearance, it was painfully obvious that nothing good had come of their search.
Still, Willow couldn't help asking. "Did you find Jesse?" she asked, though deep down she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
Xander confirmed it with a terse reply. He wouldn't even look at her. "Yeah."
"Worse," Buffy echoed. She plopped heavily into a chair, her face a mixture of anger and regret.
"I'm sorry, Willow," Phoebe said. "We were too late. And they were waiting for us."
Willow shook her head. "At least you three are okay."
"I don't like vampires," Xander burst out. He aimed his foot at a trash can, kicking it in frustration. "I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good."
Buffy turned to the Watcher. "So, Giles, you got anything that can make this day worse?"
"How about the end of the world?" he replied calmly.
"I knew I could count on you," Buffy said as she sat down at the table. She rested her chin on her hands.
"This is what we know," Giles went on. "Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, and not just to feed."
"He came because this town is a mystical convergence?" asked Phoebe.
"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it Boca Del Infierno—roughly translated: Hellmouth." Giles began pacing. "A sort of portal from this reality to the next. This vampire hoped to open it."
"Bring the demons back," Buffy said.
"End of the world," Xander clarified.
"But he blew it," Willow picked up the story. "Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed about half the town. And him, too—or at least there were no more vampire-type killings afterward."
Giles looked thoughtful as he pulled up a chair. "Opening dimensional portals is tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck. Like a cork in a bottle."
"And this Harvest thing is to get him out?" Phoebe asked.
"It comes once in a century. On this night." Giles stood and crossed to a chalkboard where he'd rendered several mysterious diagrams. He began to design several more as he explained. "A Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and to open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He paused, pointing to a sketch of the three-pointed star.
"So," Buffy made an attempt at cheerfulness. "I dust anyone sporting this look, and no Harvest."
"Simply put," Giles responded, "yes."
"Any clue where this little get-together is being held?"
"Well, there are a number of possibilities—"
Before Giles could finish, Xander broke in. "They're going to the Bronze."
The room went silent. They all stared at him.
"Are you sure?" Willow looked surprised, but Xander simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Come on, tasty young morsels all over the place. Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be. Trust me."
"I'm not sure," Phoebe said. "There is any number of clubs in San Francisco they could go to."
"I think Xander is right," said Buffy as she looked at her cousin. "You told me that the Bronze is one of only a handful of clubs that allow high school students and adults."
"Then we need to get there." Giles's voice was tense. "The sun will be down before long."
The five of them headed out the door, but Buffy and Phoebe suddenly turned in another direction.
"We gotta make a stop," Buffy explained. "Won't take long."
"What for?" Giles asked.
Buffy gave a secretive smile. "Supplies, and a little extra firepower."
Halliwell Manor
Dusk was already beginning to fall.
The last bloodred rays of sunlight streamed through Buffy's window, and the round ball of sun eased itself lower upon the horizon.
"Buffy? Phoebe?"
"In here, Prue," called Phoebe as she watched Buffy rummaging through her closet as Prue entered the bedroom.
"Where have you two been all day?" Prue asked as Buffy pulled out a brown leather jacket. "I got a call from school, Buffy, saying Phoebe took you out of classes due to a family emergency. Yet neither of you came home."
Buffy heard the frown in Prue's voice. She tried to keep her own tone casual. "We have a vampire problem, Prue. One in which I need yours, Piper and Phoebe's help with. Or it could mean the end of the world."
There was a pause. Then Prue said just as casually, "No, Buffy. You're grounded."
"Fine starting tomorrow, okay?" Buffy suggested. "I'm serious Prue. If we don't stop this tonight, tomorrow we may all be dead."
"It's what we've been dealing with all day, Prue," explained Phoebe. "First it was just to rescue a new friend of Buffy's who ended up becoming a vampire before we could get to him. But we found out about this prophecy that if it came to pass will literally mean hell on earth."
Prue let out a sigh of frustration. "Alright. But starting tomorrow you're grounded, Buffy. Get what you need. I'll call Piper and have her meet us… Where are we going?"
"Remember that club I always hung out in?" asked Phoebe.
"The Bronze?" Prue said. "Yeah, so?"
"That's where were going," said Buffy.
Prue nodded as she left the room to make a phone call.
Buffy stared after her for a moment, then reached down into the trunk.
All her special things were in there—photographs, letters, her diary, mementoes from her childhood, a Teen Beat magazine . . .
She groped along the bottom, and then lifted it out. No one but she knew that the trunk had a false bottom.
"Wow," said Phoebe. "I assume that was to hide stuff from Aunt Joyce?"
"Yeah," said Buffy as she looked at her secret cache—the stakes and crosses, the garlic, the wide mouthed jar of holy water. Quickly she gathered everything up and stuffed them into a bag.
Then, almost reverently, Buffy withdrew one particularly deadly looking stake. "My favorite," she explained. "Whittled it myself till it became a natural extension of my arm," she explained. She handed the stake to Phoebe. She moved to her vanity, sitting there was the jewelry box that Angel had given her. She took out two of the Carolingian crosses. She handed one to Phoebe while she put on the other.
They then hurried down the stairs. She handed another Carolingian cross to Prue.
"What is this for?" asked Prue.
"Put it on," Buffy said as Prue looked at the cross. "Vampires are repelled by crosses. It can even hurt them, but the best thing against vampires is fire, stakes and decapitation. I have the fire thing down."
"How's that?" Prue asked. "You only have the telekinetic thing we saw with Javna."
"Not anymore, I think it advanced a little," answered Buffy as she held up her hand as a fireball formed in it. "I have a little theory, you see. The Slayer gave me this power when I read the incantation. But it's not my Charmed power. I also have Phoebe's power."
"You get premonitions?" said Prue.
Buffy nodded. "I do," she said as she handed her bag to Prue. "This is for you, Piper and Phoebe as well as for my Watcher and my friends who will meet us at the Bronze. And before you say anything neither Phoebe or I said we were witches. They put two and two together. Anyways what's in the bag is my extra stakes, holy water and crosses."
"What's the family emergency?" Piper asked as she walked through the front door.
"Vampires," answered Buffy as she handed the last cross to Piper. "Put it on. We're going to save some innocents."
The Bronze
"This is a glorious night," Luke proclaimed. His predatory eyes hungrily scanned the sea of faces below him. "It's also the last one any of you shall ever see."
There was a tense, uncomprehending moment of silence.
Then Luke commanded, "Bring me the first!"
He watched, sneering, as the bouncer was thrust onstage.
"What do you guys want?" the young man asked earnestly. "You want money? Man, what's wrong with your faces?"
Luke grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, squeezing any further conversation out of him.
"Watch me, people!" he shouted. And then to the struggling victim in his grasp, "Their fear is elixir. It's almost like blood."
With one expert motion, Luke bit into the young man's neck, sucking his life out in huge, wet gulps. He could feel a warm red haze enveloping him . . . could sense his Master growing stronger and stronger with every sip, the power of the ages coursing through his Master's veins, radiating through him like divine light . . .
Luke continued to feed.
After several moments longer, he pulled his head back and flung the young man's body away.
"Next!" he roared.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
When Prue pulled her car up outside the Bronze the sisters and Buffy found Giles, Willow and Xander waiting.
"Buffy, who are they?" asked Giles as he looked at Prue and Piper.
"Did you research that word I told you about?" Buffy asked.
"I found one obscure text relating to a prophecy uttered by Melinda Warren about three sisters descended her from her," Giles admitted.
Buffy smiled. "You're looking at them."
"Buffy!" said Prue as she glared at her cousin.
"You're the Charmed Ones?" Giles asked shocked as he looked from Prue, to Piper and finally to Phoebe.
"That would be us," said Phoebe. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Of course," Giles said as he glanced at Xander and Willow, both of whom nodded in agreement that they would keep the secret. "Your secret is safe with us."
"Buffy we will be talking about this when we get home," said Prue. "Now how are we getting in?"
Buffy moved to the door and struggled to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. "It's locked," she told them.
Giles looked almost sick. "We're too late."
"Can you break it down?" Xander asked, but Buffy shook her head.
"Not this thing. You guys try the back entrance. I'll find my own way."
"Where are you going?" Prue asked.
"I think I remember seeing a skylight last night," answered Buffy as she looked at the roof. "So up and in. You guys go with Giles, okay?"
"Right." Giles glanced from the Halliwells to Xander and finally to Willow. "Come on."
The Hellmouth
The Master was even more powerful now.
His whole being seemed to glow with energy and light, with indomitable strength, with eternal life.
He stepped once more to the mystical wall that confined him. He placed his hands against it and began to push.
Slowly . . . slowly . . . the wall disintegrated at his touch. Very slightly now . . . but soon . . .
"Almost free," he murmured.
He shut his eyes and his voice raged throughout his sanctuary.
"Yes! Give me more!"
The Bronze
Flushed with power, Luke triumphantly dropped another body and looked about at his hostages.
They were really terrified now, and it exhilarated him to see it. With the two corpses lying before them, the reality—and the utter hopelessness—of their plight had begun to sink in at last, and he could hear screams and pitiful whimpers from the crowd.
In a corner under the stairs, Darla was facing off with Jesse. He held on to Cordelia, and he was determined not to give her up.
"This one's mine," Jesse challenged her.
Darla had no time for his games. "They are all for the Master," she told him, grabbing the stunned girl from his grasp and heading toward the stage.
Jesse paused, disappointed. "I don't get one?"
They didn't notice the upstairs window opening . . . the window by the balcony where an equally oblivious vampire stood with his back to it. No one saw Buffy slip in and no one saw her standing there, sizing up the situation.
"I feel him rising!" Luke shouted. "I need another!"
Buffy stared at the three-pointed star on his forehead. "The Vessel . . ." she murmured to herself.
But this time the vampire on duty did hear her. As he turned and grabbed her, Buffy felt herself being hauled to the middle of the balcony, another potential offering for Luke.
Luke was still unaware of her intrusion. "Tonight is his ascension," he informed the horrified onlookers.
"Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice. Degradation most holy."
He stopped, his evil gaze sliding from one face to another.
"What, no volunteers?" he mocked.
And then Darla emerged, holding Cordelia.
"Here's a pretty one," she said.
"Nooo . . ." Cordelia struggled, but to no avail. As she started to cry, Darla dragged her toward the stage and handed her over to Luke.
The activity had momentarily distracted Buffy's captor. With one quick movement, she slipped from the vampire's grasp as a fireball formed in her hand. She tossed it at the vampire and as he caught on fire he exploded to dust.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Buffy said. "Were you in the middle of something?"
Luke looked around for the source of the voice. He found it up on the balcony as his face contorted with fury. "YOU!"
"You didn't think I'd miss this, did you?" Buffy tossed back at him.
The anger drained from Luke's expression.
His lips curled in a dangerous smile.
"I hoped you'd come," he said.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The door was open at last.
Wielding a metal pipe, Giles burst through the backstage exit with Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Xander and Willow close behind.
At the same moment, a vampire rushed Buffy from the side. Grabbing him easily, she tossed him into the hookah pit, where he tried to scramble back up. Buffy did a backward flip, sailed through the hole, and landed on top of a pool table. There was a cue lying there. With one simple handspring, she grabbed it and landed neatly on her feet.
A vampire came at her other side.
Without looking at him, she jammed the cue end into his heart. There was a soft sound of punctured flesh, and when Buffy released the cue it stayed right where it was.
"Okay, Vessel-boy." She stared straight at Luke, challenge flashing in her eyes. "You want blood?"
She stepped forward as the cue rose into the air. It looked curiously like the arm of a guard gate, and in the next second, the vampire's impaled body thudded to the floor and burst into dust.
"I want yours," Luke snarled at her. "Only yours."
"Then come and get it."
Seeing her chance, Cordelia tried to break free of Luke's grasp. He flung her roughly away just as Buffy leaped at him and slammed her fist into his face. Luke was shocked at her strength. He stumbled back in pain.
Almost instantly he came back at her. Buffy ducked and met his face again, this time with a roundhouse kick. He came back with a blow to her face. Badly hurt now, Buffy skidded into the corner.
As the crowd panicked and shoved in all directions, the backstage door burst open. Prue, Piper and Phoebe stepped out. They took a quick look around, saw that the immediate vicinity was free of vampires, and instantly began herding people out.
"Come on!" Prue yelled.
As fast as the sisters could direct them, they moved the panicky crowd through the door. Xander, Willow and Giles waited backstage to push everyone safely toward the exit.
Luke was closing in.
Buffy kicked him fiercely in the chest, sending him back against the wall. He landed hard, and seeing her chance, then she spotted Phoebe.
Phoebe was too busy getting people out to notice the vampire at her back.
"Phoebe, duck!" shouted Buffy as a fireball formed in her hand and as Phoebe ducked out of the way she threw it.
Sensing something, the vampire turned, his eyes wide, as the fireball flew straight at him. He caught on fire and exploded to dust.
Buffy barely had time to turn before Luke grabbed her from behind. His arms closed around her and he lifted her in a crushing bear hug. She twisted uselessly in Luke's grasp. She could feel him squeezing and squeezing—everything around her spinning, fading to black . . .
She coughed and choked, gasped desperately for air. From some distant place she thought she could hear Luke laughing.
"I've always wanted to kill a Slayer," he confessed. He sounded proud and somewhat amused.
And then Buffy heard something else.
Something inside of her beginning to crack.
Backstage, people were still rushing out, and Giles shouldered his way through them, shouting to Willow and Xander. "Come on! We've got to open the front as well!" he headed for the door, moving against a current of hysterical people, trying to reach the main room.
Darla came out of nowhere, leaping upon him and digging for his throat. Giles tried to use his stake, but it knocked out of his hand as he toppled to the floor.
When Xander arrived in the main room of the Bronze he saw Luke holding Buffy in a bear hug. He started toward her, but a shriek stopped him in his tracks. Whirling around, he saw Jesse dragging Cordelia farther below the stairs. As Cordelia screamed and struggled, Jesse threw her to the ground and knelt above her, pinning her with his weight.
"Hold still!" Jesse ordered her. "You're not helping."
Xander came up behind them. He stood looking down, clutching a stake in his hand. He could do it right then, he thought to himself, could end it right then, just plunge the stake through Jesse's back, straight into Jesse's heart . . .
"Jesse, man . . ." Xander begged him. "Don't make me do it."
Jesse looked up. His grin was anything but human. He looked like something from the dregs of a nightmare.
"Buddy . . ." Jesse said.
Xander took a step back as Jesse rose and faced him. "Jesse, I know there's still a part of you in there," he insisted.
Jesse looked exasperated. "Okay, let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me now! I'm a new man!"
To prove his point, he grabbed Xander and hurled him against the wall. Xander slid back down again and fell in a heap beside Cordelia.
"See," Jesse sighed impatiently. "The old Jesse would have reasoned with you."
Giles was no match for Darla.
While Willow dug frantically through Buffy's bag for a weapon, Giles continued to struggle, all too aware that he was losing the battle. Darla held him flat against the floor, and as he stared up at her, her teeth lowered menacingly toward his neck.
"Get off him!" Willow cried.
Darla turned at the sound of Willow's voice. Something wet hit her full in the face, and she realized too late that she'd been doused with holy water.
Screaming, she brought her hands up to her cheeks, smoke pouring from between her fingers.
Giles pushed her off and staggered to his feet, prepared to confront her. But Darla was already stumbling out of the exit, her face a scorched, sizzling mask of agony.
Up on the stage, it looked as if Buffy was losing her own battle.
Her body went limp in Luke's merciless grasp. Her head dangled forward like a rag doll.
Luke looked down at her, smiling. Wild elation rushed through him, and he uttered his humble prayer. "Master, taste of this and be free." His lips peeled back . . . mouth opening wide. He lowered his head, leaning in for the kill.
Suddenly Luke went flying backwards away from Buffy, who crumpled to the floor. Prue rushed to her cousin who looked up at her.
"Thanks, Prue," Buffy said as she stood up and faced Luke. "You're messing with the wrong witch, Vessel boy." A fireball formed in her hand and she threw it at Luke, he caught on fire and exploded to dust.
The Hellmouth
"Nooooo . . ." the Master gasped, and as he touched the mystical wall that entrapped him, it was once again too strong to escape. Fury and despair crossed his face as he gazed up at it. A scream of defeat welled up in his throat.
The Bronze
Jesse picked Xander up from the floor and shoved him against the wall. He didn't have time for all these interruptions, these old reminders that meant nothing to him now. He glared at this easy prey that had once been a friend, and cold fury etched his new face. "I'm sick of you getting in the way, you know?" he railed at Xander. "Cordelia, she's gonna live forever. You're not."
Mustering his courage, Xander held the stake up to Jesse's chest. His face was determined, but Jesse could see that it was also very scared.
Jesse couldn't help but taunt him. "Oh, right! Put me out of my misery! You don't have the g—"
His words gagged in his throat. He felt the sharp, quick thrust and looked down at his stomach.
A panic-stricken girl had slammed into him from behind. She'd been trying to escape and had driven him forward, right onto Xander's stake.
Jesse stared at Xander in shocked surprise.
Gasping, dying, he grabbed onto his old friend.
Xander watched stunned as what once had been Jesse disintegrated into a pile of dust.
Buffy stared at the spot where Luke had been only a moment before. Then she turned her gaze slowly and deliberately on the remaining vampires, who turned tail and ran.
Xander, Prue, Piper and Phoebe moved toward Buffy while Giles and Willow came out from backstage. They met in the middle of the dance floor.
Giles glanced around, a note of relief in his voice. "I take it its over."
"Did we win?" Willow was almost afraid to ask.
The seven of them looked about at the carnage surrounding them. Most of the crowd had managed to escape by then, but a few still remained, some sitting, some wandering, all of them stunned and silent.
"Well, we averted the apocalypse," Buffy said wearily. "You gotta give us points for that."
Prue glared at her cousin. "No we don't," she said. "We're still having that talk when we get home."
Buffy sighed and nodded as thought, "Oh, boy, what have I gotten myself into?"
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Out in front of the Bronze, vampires were fleeing in panic. As the last of them retreated down the street, Angel stepped quietly from the shadows and stood there alone, gazing after them.
He turned slightly and stared at the entrance to the club.
And then he smiled.
"They did it," he murmured. "I'll be damned."
Halliwell Manor
Buffy and Phoebe sat in the living room of the Manor listening to Prue yell at them. "You know I don't like being the bad guy," said Prue. "But since we became witches we have to be careful. Buffy, you told several people…"
"Actually I told no one I was the Slayer or a witch," Buffy said in defense of herself.
"She didn't," agreed Phoebe.
Prue sighed. "Then how did they find out?"
"I think Giles might be Merrick's replacement," Buffy explained.
"Who is Merrick?" Prue asked.
"Merrick was my Watcher in L.A. before he died at the hands of a vampire," said Buffy with a sigh. "A Watcher is supposed to be someone who trains the Slayer. Anyways that's how I think Giles knows I'm the Slayer is because he's Merrick's replacement. Xander happened to be in the library and overheard a conversation I had with Giles. That's how he learned I was the Slayer. Willow on the other hand saw me dust a vampire last night with my power."
"The fireball?" Prue asked.
"Yes," said Buffy. "Have to say it'll make my job as the Slayer that much easier. Anyways when Phoebe and I were at the Bronze last night, I saw Giles and went to talk to him. Phoebe came and told me she had a premonition about Willow dying at the hands of a vampire. So Phoebe and I went to rescue Willow who didn't know she was with a vampire. Giles wanted to know why Phoebe was coming with me and I just said that Phoebe and I were Charmed. When Willow mentioned seeing me use my power this morning. Giles questioned me about it. I simply reminded Giles about what I said and told him to research it if he wanted to know more. He obviously did and that's how he found out about you, Piper and Phoebe. I told no-one that I'm a Charmed Slayer or you three are the Charmed Ones."
Prue sighed. "Buffy, this puts us in a bad situation you are aware of that. What would have happened if Willow, Xander or Mr. Giles had been warlocks?" she said. "We would have been in a world of trouble. Now based on what happened tonight I would say they're not. But you can't go revealing to anyone else that we're witches or you're the Charmed Slayer. Tomorrow I will talk to Mr. Giles and your friends and make sure that they won't tell anyone else. Also you're grounded for the next week. That's means no going out to the Bronze, no talking to your friends on the phone."
"Okay, Prue. I'm sorry."
"I know," said Prue. "All of that said I do have to admit I am proud of you."
March 13, 1997 – Thursday
Gateway High School
The warm California sunshine enveloped Gateway High, and in the fountain quad the routine was exactly the same. Students milled about laughing and talking, and Cordelia held court with her friends.
"Well, I heard it was rival gangs fighting for turf," she said dramatically. She glanced around at all the eager faces, her adoring fans clinging to every word. "Anyway, Buffy totally knew these guys, which is too weird. I can't remember anything too well, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show."
"Oh, I wish I'd been there," one Cordelia-wannabe sighed.
Crossing the quad in the opposite direction, Buffy and her own friends happened to overhear Cordelia's play-by-play. While Buffy hid a smile, Xander turned to her in exasperated disbelief.
"Well, what exactly were you expecting?" Buffy chided him, while Xander gave an indignant shrug.
"I don't know! Something. The dead rose! We should've at least had an assembly."
"People have a tendency to rationalize what they can," Giles reminded him gently as he joined them outside the building, "and forget what they can't."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "Believe me, I've seen it happen."
"Well, I'll never forget it," Willow said emphatically, giving an inward shudder. "None of it."
Giles looked pleased. "Good. Next time you'll be prepared."
"Next time?" Xander sounded suspicious, while Willow echoed, "Next time is why?"
Giles gave them a tolerant smile. "We stopped the Master from freeing himself and opening the mouth of hell. Doesn't mean he'll stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning."
"More vampires?" Willow croaked.
"Not just vampires." Giles stopped and turned to face them. His expression was very solemn, even for him. "The next creature we face may be something quite different."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I can hardly wait."
"We're at a center of mystical convergence here," Giles went on. "We may in fact stand between the earth and its total destruction."
Xander shook his head. "Buffy, this isn't good."
"Well, I gotta look on the bright side," Buffy told them cheerfully. "Maybe I can still get kicked out of school." She smiled at Giles.
"Hey, that's a plan," Xander was agreeable. "'Cause a lot of schools aren't on hellmouths."
"Maybe you could blow something up," Willow suggested helpfully. "They're really strict about that."
Buffy considered this with a shrug. "I was aiming for a subtle approach, like excessive not studying."
Giles arched one eyebrow and settled his glasses more firmly upon his nose. "The earth is doomed," he muttered to himself.
"Ah who am I kidding," Buffy said. "Prue would kill me if I got kicked out."
"Now I want you to remember what Prue and I told you all," Giles said looking at Xander and Willow. "You can tell no one that Buffy is a Charmed Slayer, or that her cousins are the Charmed Ones."
Willow and Xander both nodded. "We won't," they said simultaneously.