"You heard me?"

"Repeatedly. Your shoes scrape on the sidewalk. Were you following me before I got to the Bronze too? Someone was."

"Well, yeah." He confessed. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?" She eyed him, something...just at the edge of her senses.

"The vampires, I saw you dust the guy dressed like John Travolta."

"Who?"

"Never mind. I need to give you a heads up. The Harvest is coming."

"Don't harvests usually happen in the fall?"

"Not that kind of harvest. There's a vampire, trapped underground, old, powerful. He's known simply as the Master. The Harvest is a rite, a magical rite. It'll free him. He wants to open the Hellmouth."

"And what's the Hellmouth?"

"Just what it sounds like, the Mouth of Hell. A door to Hell, he opens it and the world dies."

"And when is this harvest happening?"

"Soon, that's all I know. You need to be ready." He unexpectedly tossed her something and she jerked back in surprise and watched as it landed in the gutter. In mud. "Oops, sorry." He looked embarrassed and turned and left. Buffy watched him go and that faint something faded away the farther he got from her. He didn't feel like a vampire, but he still set off her senses, even if only slightly, she was probably aware of it because the Watcher had called her attention to her senses. She glanced at the mud covered box in the gutter, she had no reason to trust him, so she left it there and headed home. Looks like she'd have to talk to the creepy Watcher after all.

"Is that you, Buffy?" Joyce called from the kitchen. "You're back sooner then I expected."

"Really bad band playing. But on the bright side the kids who helped me with my assignments today were there, like I hoped. Their names are Willow and Johnathan. We seem to be hitting it off. They're really different from anyone I hung out with before. But they agreed that the music was bad and we walked each other home. Willow insisted there isn't a lot of crime in Sunnydale, but L.A girl here, I insisted and we were able to talk some more. I think there's definite potential for the possiblity of friendship."

"I'm glad, I'd like to meet them at some point. Want some hot chocolate?"

"That sounds great, it's definitely on the cool side out there. Well, as cool as Southern California gets in the winter." After chatting with her mom for about an hour, Buffy decided to call it a night. She had to get to school early so she could talk to the creepy Watcher. There really was no escape from being a Slayer, now it was following her home.

Even as early as it was and it was about a half an hour before her first class, which for her was early, Buffy still found the Watcher already in the Library.

"I need to talk to you."

"Did you get the vampire you went after last night? You came back in rather quickly. And didn't see fit to inform me."

"Yes I did and there's a reason I didn't. I don't care what you think your authority it. As far as I'm concerned, you're an information source, that's it. I don't like you, I don't trust you and for all I know, you damn Watchers are the ones who cursed me. Because being the Slayer isn't a blessing, it's a curse. I can't escape it, as much as I want to. You think I should be jumping up and down with joy because my life has been turned upside down. I've lost everything I once valued and am having to redefine my life, but I'm never going to be happy with this. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes." He said tightly. "I find your attitude incomprehensible and not at all what it should be and I hope you will come to understand the honor that has been bestowed on you eventually. Anything else?"

"This isn't an honor, it's a living nightmare and occasionally, actual nightmares. That being said, I need you to research something. A guy followed me home last night. He tripped my senses, very faintly, which has never happened before and might not have if you hadn't had me trying to use them. He warned me that there's a old and powerful vampire, called simply the Master, trapped underground. He wants to use some kind of Magic called the Harvest to get free, apparently soon. Be an information source and find out what you can, fast. I have no idea how long we actually have, but the guy said soon. And apparently this old and powerful vampire wants to open something called the Hellmouth, a door to Hell. I've got class, later." She slammed out of the library leaving a Watcher that had gone from annoyed to stunned in short order.

"I shall do that." He muttered and headed for the stacks and the resources he'd need to consult to find out what this Harvest was. What he found was disturbing. No, if he was being honest, terrifying. Especially since his sources indicated that tonight was the night the stars were in the correct alignment for the Harvest rite to happen.