Chapter 1:



Buffy woke up startled and bewildered. It has been the third time in a row that she woke up in the middle of the night with no recollection of the dream she was having. All she knew was that something, correction, someone was coming….coming soon.

‘Perhaps it’s a Slayer dream’ Buffy remembered a few of the basics of the way of life for a Slayer from her assigned Watcher. She remembered that dreams about imposing doom were on that list.

‘But you aren’t the Slayer’ Buffy reminded herself, ‘You’re not even 15 yet.’

Another tidbit of information that her Watcher, Mr. Giles, told her was that Slayer’s were mainly called around the age of 16 or 17, and that their were rare occasions that a potential was called before the age of 15. The oldest called slayer to date was a 19 year old Swedish Slayer back in 1818. Mr. Giles said that as soon as Buffy reached that magical age of 19 she was free to go and leave the Council, live her life anyway she liked. Buffy was counting down those days. She missed L.A and shopping, she missed her boyfriend, Tyler, and her annoying little sister Dawn. Little things that she took for granted when she was at home were the things she was pinning for desperately. Most of all, Buffy missed having her own room.

In the darkness Buffy could count the heads of all the other Potential Slayers that were forced to bunk with her. Five, five girls and possibly one more was on her way to England. Buffy was the youngest one out of the bunch, and the newest addition too. Chloe, who slept soundly in the bed next her was the oldest, at 18 she had been in England for 2 years and was happy to see each day pass and her calling never come up. Chloe too hated this place and being away from her family that lived in Michigan. Buffy worried how her life with the Council would be when she heard that Chloe only saw her parents once since she moved to England.

‘I have 5 years to go…5 years at least. Chloe is the lucky one; she only had to suffer 2. But me, 5 years?’ Buffy thought to herself.

The weight of the situation almost made Buffy have a panic attack. She felt the need to escape, the need to runaway.

Voices down the hallway of her room could be heard through the door. Curious, the little potential Slayer decided to risk getting in trouble and follow the sound.

A tiny little squeak could be heard as soon as she opened the 300 year old castle door.

Buffy glanced back to see if anyone woke up, she sighed when not one of the Potentials stirred.

‘We need some oil for this freakin door…’ she made a mental note as she slipped into the chilly hallway in her robe and slippers.


*~*~*~*~*~


“I don’t care if he has a soul, I don’t care if he has 3 souls and is defanged, that THING is not coming into this castle.” Mr. Giles argued in his wrinkled pajamas and tousled hair; the man had clearly been awakened from his slumber and dragged out of his comfy bed in the middle of the night to attend to some important business.

“It’s not your decision to make though Rupert, he’s on his way whether you like it or not.” Mr. Travis said calmly, much more relaxed than his employee across his desk.

“I don’t want him near these girls.” Rupert argued back, his fury caused him to whip off his glasses and slam his right fist on top of the wooden desk.

“Our subject won’t cause harm to them, the girls won’t even notice his presence. He’ll be guarded nonstop in the left wing in the basement; no Potential is even aloud in that part of the castle.”

”You’re willing to take that risk?”

“Yes, yes I am.” Travis nodded whilst fiddling with his ballpoint pen between his hands. He looked down at his desk, at the papers that weren’t finalized yet. He needed one last signature.

“What if he were to break loose in the middle of the night and—“

”Every possibility has been analyzed and been brought up Rupert. We are equipped to handle one vampire.”

”He’s a master vampire.” Giles corrected, “Have you studied his history at all? He’s killed 2 slayers, maybe even 3.”

”The last one that we know for a fact was over 80 years ago Rupert.”

”Oh, so it can easily be forgotten then?”

“Will you just sign so I can go to sleep and we can all go on with our lives?”

”I won’t.”

Mr. Giles straightened up and stood tall. He put his glasses back on his face and stood firm on his decision. He has been a Watcher for 17 years and wasn’t going to make any exceptions for one lone vampire.

Quentin Travis raised his hands up and said, “Fine”. He reached into the file cabinet next to his desk and pulled out a different form. “Tell me Rupert, are you fond of sushi?”

”What?”

”This move to the castle is going to happen whether you like it or not. Now, either sign the paper, which all the other Watcher’s have already done except for you, or I’ll complete this form here to have you transferred to Japan tomorrow.” Travis threatened and clicked his retractable pen, causing his warning to be more dramatic.

“Japan?”

”Japan headquarters in Osaka, little bit hot this time of year but I’m sure you’ll adjust…” Travis said as he slid the form over for Mr. Giles to see that he wasn’t kidding.

Giles glanced down at the piece of paper that was his ticket out of his mother country before looking back at Travis. The head Watcher shrugged, letting Giles decide.

“You’re a bastard.”

”I’m a leader…” Quentin corrected, “I do the duties that others can not. That’s why I was voted headmaster and you weren’t.”

Giles clenched his jaw, ‘Still throwing that in my face I see’ he thought to himself.

With a tiny growl, Giles grabbed a pen off Quentin’s desk and started to sign his name hard, letting his signature be engraved not only onto the paper but also onto Travis’s desk.

”Happy to see you aren’t leaving us Rups…” Quentin smiled as he took the paper work and placed it in an orange envelope for save keeping. “I would hate to tell our new potential, Buffy, that her new Watcher was deported because he wasn’t a game player.”

With a huff Giles turned to leave, he put his hand on the doorknob and started to turn it. However, Travis stopped him again.

Buffy, who was listening carefully on the opposite side of the door panicked when she heard the jiggling of the door knob. She raced down the hall toward the nearest empty room and peeked back out to see Giles and Travis exchanging a few words before parting.

All Buffy could think about was the tingling sensation that she got while Giles and Travis talked about this vampire. She felt like everything they talked about was important, important specifically to her for some reason. She made a grab at the ring that hung from her chain around her neck. It was her grandma’s ring and always brought a sense of calmness whenever she held it close. Buffy rubbed the emerald stone as if it were a magic lamp, within a minute or two she felt at ease.




TBC…

Chapter 2:



‘Overwhelming’

That was a word that Buffy often used when she thought about the Watcher’s Council, along with ‘weird’, ‘heartless’, and ‘unavoidable’. It seemed that every time she turned around there was a Watcher there, asking her questions and telling her what to do—controlling her life and controlling her food.

It seemed that chocolate, pizza, and lattes were not part of the ‘Potential Slayer Diet’.

Buffy was unsure how she was going to survive eating this stuff everyday for the next couple of years. She already been in England for six days and was already sick and tired of chicken and carrots.

‘What do they think I am, a rabbit?’ Buffy thought to herself as she poked at the carrots on her plate before looking up and around the room. It was lunch time at the moment and half of the Potentials were in the castle cafeteria, gossiping and looking at Buffy sitting alone at a table.

“Did you hear she—“

”I think she’s—“

”I heard from someone that she—“

”God, where did she buy that—“

It was funny, well, not really funny, but Buffy found it ironic that in Europe she was a social outcast while back in LA she was treated like a Goddess. She was even voted by her peers to be ‘Best Dressed’ in the school, beating out her best friend Cordelia for the title.

‘Do I have something on my face? Do I have bad breath? Did I cut in line in front of someone one day when I was getting my lunch?’ Buffy asked herself when she tried to pinpoint why she wasn’t making any friends.

When she saw a girl with brown hair and doe eyes sneak a glare at Buffy from across the room, Buffy’s heart started to race with fear. She grabbed her ring that hung from her chain and gripped it hard in her sweaty palms.

“Hi…” Buffy looked up in surprise at a girl with a lunch tray and a friendly smile.

‘Could this be a trick?’ Buffy suspected, ‘A cruel joke that brown hair girl wanted to play on me so she could humiliate me?’

“Ummm…hi?” Buffy said quietly.

“Mind if I sit with you? The tables are all full or dirty…” the red head girl said as she eyed a table on the left that had salt and some sort of spilled drink covering the top.

“Umm…” Buffy looked over at brown hair girl and saw that she wasn’t looking at her anymore, “Sure…I guess…I’m almost done….”

“Well stay anyway, keep me company for a while…I’m Willow.” The girl smiled as she sat her soda and food tray down.

“Buffy…”

”Ya, I know. I know all the Potentials.”

“Oh, are you a Watcher?” Buffy was afraid that this girl would say ‘yes’, she didn’t want to make friends or even associate outside the learning area with Watchers. Her grudge that she had on them was still strong. The way Buffy saw it, not only were they keeping her away from her home, but this whole ‘eat what I tell you’ thing was not giving the Council bonus points in Buffy’s book.

“Oh no, I’m not a Watcher…” Willow said as she picked up her plastic knife and started to spread clotted cream on her scone, “I’m a witch.”

Buffy wrinkled her forehead and watched the red headed girl take a bite out of her scone. ‘Okay…not a Watcher…maybe schizophrenia?’

“Did you say witch?” Buffy looked back at the brown hair girl across the room once again, looking to see if this still maybe was a trick or joke. It sounded like a joke.

“Ya…I’m only here 2 days a week, but I’m mostly stationed at the Coven…it’s only a thirty minute drive away.” Willow said as she whipped some cream off her lips with a napkin.

“But you did say ‘witch’ right? Like flying broom stick and burning at the stakes kind of witches?” Buffy asked.

“Oh don’t get me started on the burning thing…darn those Salem judges with their less-satanic-than-thou attitude.” Willow muttered the last part to herself.

Buffy’s eyes widen when she saw a little bit of black flash inside Willow’s eyes, like the girl was possessed or something.

“Umm…maybe I should go…” Buffy said as she quickly scooted her chair back.

The sound of the Buffy’s chair legs scrapping across the tiled floor snapped Willow out of her demented state.

“Oh no, wait…sorry. Stay.” Willow eyes went back to normal and she was motioning for Buffy to sit back down. “I’m not crazy…or evil…I really am a witch. You want to see me float a pencil?” she asked with a shy smile.

“I should really go.” Buffy stood up and picked up her tray.

“Well…alright…” Willow sounded disappointed.

Without a word Buffy went straight toward the area where she could deposit her silverware and tray.

“Hey Summers!” a call from across the cafeteria had everyone looking Buffy’s way. It was the doe eyed girl again, standing up and looking like she was ready to strike an insult at the newest Potential.

Buffy looked around the room, even at Willow, before looking at the brown haired girl.

”Yes?” Buffy said softly.

“Heard you did wonders on that vamp in your first training session this morning” the girl said with an evil smirk. Her comment caused a bunch of girls from her table to start snickering wildly.

Buffy had a hunch that a few of the Potentials would tease her about what happened earlier and that word would spread around the castle.

“So uh…did you eventually get the heart?” the girl asked.

Without a word, Buffy turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. She decided from here on out that she wouldn’t let these girls get to her. And if she didn’t make friends, fine. She could now invest her time elsewhere, which was trying to escape this god forsaken place.

‘They are a bunch of bloody wankers’ a little voice inside her head whispered.

“Ya…” Buffy said a loud, agreeing with that voice that came out of no where.

*~*~*~*~*~

When Buffy entered her bedroom she was surprised to see that someone was already there. Chloe had clothes tossed around on her bed and on the floor, packing up her things in suitcases and boxes.

“You’re leaving?” Buffy said from the doorway.

Chloe looked up and smiled at her roommate, “Ya…Travis said I can finally go. Told me this morning that I could leave early…”

”How nice of him…congratulations” Buffy muttered unenthused.

“Well thanks Buffy.” Chloe said sarcastically with a laugh.

“Sorry…” Buffy continued her dreary attitude as she walked inside the room and sat on her own bed. She didn’t caring that she may be killing this joyous moment for Chloe.

“You’ll someday make it out of here…all girls need to serve their time, live through the wrath of Travis and get beat up a bit…I did it, now you have to too.” Chloe explained as she continued to roll her t-shirts into balls before shoving them into her suitcase.

“I don’t think I can survive.” Buffy collapsed back onto the bed, burying her face into her pillow and groaning.

‘Haven’t even been here a week and I already made an enemy.’ Buffy thought to herself.

“Well…I don’t think you have a choice. The Council won’t let you leave no matter what…you’re only enemy now is time.”

“Time and that stupid brown haired girl” Buffy muttered through her pillow.

“What’s that?” Chloe stopped packing and looked over at Buffy moping.

“Nothing” Buffy sat up straight, “So, when are you leaving?”

”Well…now…” Chloe said as she zipped up her bag. “You can have my bed if you want…its pretty nice, closest to the bathroom. Springs aren’t worn out.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll let the new girl get the luxury of being adjacent to the potty.”

“Oh suck it up Buffy…with this attitude you’ll be dead by next week.”

‘Is that a promise?’ Buffy thought to herself; this new alternative didn’t sound that bad.

“I’m just not having such a good day.” Buffy explained.

“Just make sure you don’t have one of those while you’re fighting the vamps in training…they’ll eat you up…literally.”

‘Is that a promise too?’

After Chloe left, Buffy was left alone with her thoughts. She leaned back in her bed and closed her eyes. The training that she did this morning made her tired and sore; muscles that Buffy didn’t know existed were now making their presence known. However, she forgot all about her aches and pains when a distant voice in the back of her head started calling for her.

‘Love…love…’ it whispered.

Buffy gave into the sound of the memorizing voice. Within seconds she was in dreamland with someone that she would soon forget when she woke up.




TBC…

Chapter 3:




The redhead let out a long tired yawn and blinked a few times to readjust her vision. Willow knew she was a little rusty when it came to researching through hundreds of books, usually all she needed was a spell or Google to find what she needed.

“You finished with that one?” Giles asked Willow as he walked by with more books in his hands and placed them on the table.

Willow nodded her head, “There was nothing in that one that’s useful…not even close to what we’re looking for.”

“Perhaps we need some of the foreign Watcher dairies and translate those to look through….then we could—“

”Giles?”

“Yes?”

”I’m going to turn you into an actual bookworm if you don’t cool it” Willow grumbled as she shut her book and pushed it away from her. The sight of all these books was starting to nausea her, and that was saying much considering she was the biggest nerd in her high school.

“Uhh…we have been here long, haven’t we?” Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose; he too was getting exhausted from the research. It seemed that he could only look at so much Greek text before going into a sort of trance and everything starts to get jumbled. Giles could have sworn a minute ago he translated a sentence that said: ‘The duck flies at midnight with the cows.’

“I’m sorry Giles, but there is only so much a witch can take.”

”It’s alright, I too am tired and believe we need a chance to regroup and take our mind off things before we come back to look up—“

”And sleep…don’t forget sleep.”

Giles smiled, “Yes, I won’t forget that. Do you need a ride back to the coven or…?”

“It’s late, maybe I can crash here tonight if it’s alright.”

”Well, Chloe’s bed is free at the moment.”

Willow smiled in relief, she was afraid she had to push some books away and call this table her bed for the night if there was a lack of beds.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Willow greeted Chloe’s bed with a pleasant sigh. She walked over toward it in a sleepy state and turned over the covers. The witch was about to fall face first into the cotton sheets when she noticed something near the big picture window. She cursed her eyes for still being alert to things—all she wanted was sleep that she desperately needed.

However, when Willow noticed what was at the window her tired eyes widened a bit and the rest of her body woke up.

“Buffy?”

*~*~*~*~

“What? What?!” Giles said as he was shaken in his sleep. His first thought was an apocalypse was approaching. “I'll get the weapons!”

Once his eyes opened and readjusted to the darkness he could see that it was only Willow by his bed. She didn’t look scared or frantic, she looked worried and antsy.

“Willow? What are you—“

”I think you should come with me” she said.

Giles looked at the witch for a moment before tossing the covers off him and followed her quickly down the hall.

*~*~*~*~*~

“Buffy?”

Giles stood by his student’s side and looked into her empty eyes.

“Buffy?” he tried again.

“Did you know she could sleepwalk?”

“No…” Giles shook his head and waved his hand over the girl’s unblinking eyes.

“What are you going to do?” Willow asked as she looked back at the young Potential.

“Well, I guess we can contact the Council’s psychiatrist and get Buffy examined to find out—“ Giles whispered but was interrupted by Willow.

“No, I mean about her standing here…what do we do?”

“Ummm….I’m not certain…maybe, maybe we should try to direct her back into her bed.” Giles suggested as he reached out to take Buffy’s hand.

“Wait” Willow stopped him, “I thought it was dangerous, she could wake up and go into shock or something.”

”Well we can’t just leave her standing here.” Giles argued, “Help me.”

Giles grabbed one hand gently as Willow grabbed the other. With a little bit of force they maneuvered Buffy to turn toward her bed and push her to take steps forward.

“Okay, now just umm…” Giles was not clear how to sit her down on the bed without pushing her hard and waking her up.

“What’s going on?” one of Buffy’s roommates asked loudly from the opposite side of the room; it seems that Giles and Willow were not quiet enough and had disrupted this girl’s sleep.

Willow and Giles looked over at the Potential in surprise before looking back at Buffy to see that she let out a small gasp and blinked her eyes for the first time.

“Buffy?” Giles grabbed a hold of Buffy’s arms to hold her steady.

Buffy blinked a few more times; she was clearly confused and surprised that she was not in her bed and instead surrounding by people watching her. Her heartbeat started to pick up and she felt a bit dizzy, and as soon as she shut her eyes she fainted right into Giles’s arms.

*~*~*~*~

The next day…

“Buffy hasn’t made any friends here has she?” Travis asked as he stared out the window from his office and into the courtyard where a group of Potentials were practicing fencing with a Watcher. His eyes fell on two girls laughing as they sparred; as one girl fell down the other one helped her up and seemed to show her what she did wrong.

“She hasn’t been here long…I’m sure with time she will” Giles said. He was seated behind Travis’s desk; earlier that morning he was called down to speak with Quentin about Buffy’s sleepwalking incident and how to fix the situation. It seems that Buffy’s fainting spell has been the talk of the castle that morning, causing more Potentials to take notice of the new peculiar girl they are living with.

“Has she made an effort to be social?”

”Yes, I’m sure she has.”

“Do the girls like her? Have you heard what they say about her?”

Giles paused and thought about all the times he went to get his lunch in the cafeteria and saw that Buffy was sitting alone. “I’m not sure they are making an effort to be nice. I don’t see why they wouldn’t like her.”

”She's been hostile to us—the Council, she hasn’t been that way with the girls has she?”

Getting upset with the round of twenty questions, Giles had had enough. “What’s this about?”

Travis turned around to look at Giles. “I want you to keep a close eye on Ms. Summers.”

”Why?”

”Just do as you’re told.” Travis said as he took a seat in his leather chair. “But in the meantime I would suggest we send Buffy to the Council psychiatrist and see if we can find out more about what’s going on in that little head of hers…maybe get her to stop sleepwalking. It may be that this whole thing is nothing but anxiety and she needs some medication for her restfulness. If it happens to be something else…well, we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“I feel so stupid.” Buffy said as she looked down at her bed covers, shying away from the redhead’s eyes.

“Why? It’s not your fault.” Willow said.

After last night, Giles gave Buffy permission to miss her training sessions and just rest in her room. Buffy didn’t hesitant to take the advantage to get away from everyone—that morning had been awkward with her roommates. As the Potentials got dressed she could feel their eyes on her as she tried to get more sleep.

“Have you had this problem back at home?” Willow asked.

“I—no…I don’t think so.” Buffy had been skimming through her memories and couldn’t find a time where she was ever told that she sleepwalked.

“Maybe…maybe it’s just adjusting to England. You are alone here in a new country and away from your family and familiar surroundings. Plus, it’s not like you’re here on holiday or something…getting use to being a Potential can take a toll on a girl.”

“Wish I never was chosen for this.” Buffy mumbled as she lay back down in her bed.

“Well…you’re not the Chosen One yet…you may never be.”

“With any luck I’ll be called tomorrow.”

Willow smiled at the sarcasm, “Do you think you’re ready if you were?”

Buffy didn’t answer, she knew she was in ranked as a runt here—that slaying wasn’t coming as naturally for her as it did for the other girls.

“You know, maybe you should give this place a chance…Giles is more than a scruffy old Watcher…he has layers and is more than just a bookish book man.”

“It seems that Giles is the only one I can stand…the others…” Buffy looked over at her roommates empty made beds and shook her head.

”It’s hard to make friends sometimes.”

”Not for me…not when I was at home. Here, it’s like homework to get girls to act civil towards me…and I didn’t do anything!”

Willow wrinkled her forehead, she found that weird. Usually all the girls were nice to one another, Willow was sure that it was some fight that Buffy got into the first day that caused her unpopularity.

“Well…I’ll look into it for you…maybe there is a misunderstanding…possibly some jealous girls are just spreading false rumors.”

”Start with that brown haired girl…”

Willow raised an eyebrow, “Brown haired girl?”

“Ya…what’s her name…Hope?”

”Faith?” Willow suggested.

“Yay…that’s the one…doe eyes, brown hair, likes to think she’s queen Potential everywhere I go…” Buffy scoffed.

“Well…I’ll keep an eye on her…”

Buffy looked up at Willow and saw the girl smiling at her. “I’m sorry…”

”For what?”

“No wonder I’m not so popular—I wasn’t very nice to you the other day.”

”Oh, that’s alright.” Willow waved her hand at Buffy, “I have a tendency to not make good first impressions…it’s my biggest flaw…along with teleportation spells.”

”Still, I should have been a little bit nicer…guess this whole supernatural world still hasn’t sunk in…if someone says they are an alien….well, I might have to actually think that it might be true before automatically assuming they’re crazy.”

Willow let out a giggle, “Especially if it comes to Travis.”

Both girls laughed out loud at the statement, it didn’t seem so farfetched.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Later that night…

Heathrow Airport…

“And where would you like your cargo?”

The two men, both dressed in tweed and one carrying a briefcase, turned from the windows that overlooked the area where workers were tossing luggage from the airplane and onto a truck. One of the airport security personnel’s had approached them and was waiting for orders.

“We have a truck…it can be unloaded onto there.”

”What’s the license plate? I’ll tell our truck to drop off the crate there.”

Once the information was passed along the security worker left the two men alone at the gate. Everyone that exited the plane earlier, even the pilots, was gone. The man carrying the briefcase stepped forward, his face almost pressed again the glass as watched their wooden crate roll down the conveyor belt and onto a truck.

“Welcome home Spike…” he whispered with a smile.


TBC....

Chapter 4:

Willow felt like she was in a monster movie when they wheeled that rectangular crate into the castle dungeon.

“Place it over in the corner Nathan.” Mr. Travis ordered one of the Watchers.

She glanced at Giles and saw that he looked uneasy too; the butterflies in her stomach just had quadrupled when she caught sight of the container that held their new guest.

“Was he willingly put into that crate?” Willow whispered as she crossed her arms and examined the Watchers move the dolly to the corner and maneuver the box so it was shoved into the dark corner.

“Hardly…” Travis mumbled, “Drugs were necessary for his capture. They’ll be out of his system completely by daybreak and I expect that’s when the ‘interesting’ observations will start.”

“I still don’t understand him being here…”

“I’ll explain it to you later Ms. Rosenberg, but for now you’ll be in charge of protecting us and protecting the Potentials from him. We need powerful magic to make sure he doesn’t escape.” Travis explained.

“Just the other day you said he wouldn’t be any harm to the girls.” Giles said in a snippy tone.

“Oh stop your complaining Rupert…he will be harmless with the spell in place.” Travis smiled at Willow, all his faith was put into her witchcraft skills.

Willow smiled nervously back, “Thanks for picking me…”

Giles rolled his eyes at this plan, he knew Willow was talented but this was ridiculous. Putting Potential Slayers in harms way by housing a master vampire? Giles concluded it was purely idiotic and thought that if he was in charge this would never happen.

“Oh have a little confidence in yourself Ms. Rosenberg” Travis patted the redhead’s arm when he noted her look of distress, “It’s a simple spell…I would do it myself, but since you’re an expert in this department I feel better handing over this duty to you.”

The three Watchers that wheeled the box that held William the Bloody quickly opened the front panel with a crowbar and backed away.

Willow took a step forward and went on her tippy toes to see the vampire inside the box known as ‘Spike’ and ‘William the Bloody’ for the first time.

“He’s asleep…right?” Willow turned to look at Travis.

“Quit knackered, yes.” Quentin nodded, “You could dress him up in women’s clothing and he wouldn’t wake up.”

“If you’re so sure of that, then why don’t you do it?” Giles said sarcastically to Travis.

“You’re getting on my last nerve Rupert…you still fond of Japan?” Travis asked.

Giles, having had enough of Quentin, turned around and went down the hallway and up the stairs.

*~**~*~*~*~*~*

The Next Morning…

“Sooo….what are we supposed to talk about?” Buffy asked the psychologist that sat across from her in a leather swivel chair.

“We can talk about anything you like Buffy” Dr. Burkle smiled as she folded her hands on top of her notepad.

The doctor was young, a few years out of getting her doctorate; Quentin thought it was sensible for the Potentials to work with someone young and hip…someone they could trust.

“Well…I’m not sure what to talk about….”

Buffy shifted in her chair, she was uncomfortable despite Dr. Burkle’s friendliness. Waking up in the morning and being told to go see a shrink wasn’t her idea of the perfect way to start the day. Heck, it was scoring more negative points with the Council in her book.

“Well, how bout we start with why you’re here…you’ve been sleepwalking and I’d like to know if this has ever happened before?” Dr. Burkle asked as she picked up her pen and started jotting down a few things.

“No…” Buffy shook her head.

“Never?” Dr. Burkle tilted her head to the side as she asked.

“Never…”

“Hmmm…”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“Tell me Buffy, when you fall asleep and you dream, do you remember any of them?”

“I—I use to…however, lately…no.”

“None at all?”

“No…” Buffy shrugged, thinking it was no big deal.

“When was the last time you had a dream that you could remember?”

“I-I’m not sure…”

Dr. Burkle sighed, “Well…how about when you did dream, before, do you remember any of your dreams that you had? Any details…?”

Buffy paused and thought long and hard. However, while she thought, Buffy’s hand went up to the ring hanging her chained necklace. Dr. Burkle glanced at the ring and then back to Buffy’s face; the doctor instantly noticed that young Potential didn’t realize what she was doing. Dr. Burkle looked down at her pad and scribbled a few more notes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I’m telling you Mr. Travis, the child has no recollection of what she dreams about, and it seems it’s not the sort of thing where you wake up and forget later in the day what you dreamed about…it’s like her mind is wiped clean as soon as she wakes up.”

“Hmmm…causes quit a problem for solving her sleepwalking…maybe she needs a sleep study test.”

“Well I don’t think it’s too serious for that too happen.” Dr. Burkle reassured, “She says this is probably the first time she ever went sleepwalking.”

“Still…I’d like for her to be tested.”

Dr. Burkle sighed and nodded as she got up from the chair across from Travis’s desk, “If that is what you like I can arrange it…”

“I’ll inform you when I feel she needs this done.”

“Call me…you have my card.” Dr. Burkle was just about to leave when Quentin stopped her.

“I have one more request while you’re here…”

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dr. Burkle felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she walked down dark hallway inside the castle behind Travis.

“I—I’m not sure I like working in such hostile conditions.”

“We can move him to another room when you examine him if you like.” Travis said without glancing behind his shoulder at her. “I have no problem with that request, just a little notice would be nice…I’ll call Willow to be nearby while you examine him.”

“Well, I haven’t agreed to do this yet…I’m just going to take a peek at him. I must really catch the train back to Brighton by 5:30.”

“You won’t miss the train…” Travis stopped at a steel door and turned to look at the nervous woman, “I assure you this will only take a minute.”

Travis pressed a five digit code into a computerized security system that opened the doors.

“Is…is he calm?” she asked while she straightened her glasses that were on her face.

“Give me time and he will be controlled properly.” Quentin smiled as she held his hand out, gesturing for her to enter first.

“Umm…you first…” she said as she bit her lip.

“Alright…” Quentin stepped through the doorway and into the medium size room that was now Spike’s home; Dr. Burkle followed.

The psychologist squinted her eyes and looked into the darkness, “Is he here?”

It only took a second before Spike revealed himself at the boundary of the light coming into the room from the hallway. Dr. Burkle flinched in surprise and held her hand to her racing heart.

“Don’t be alarmed…he can’t touch you or anyone…not with the spell in place.”

Dr. Burkle blinked a few times and cleared her throat, “I’m fine…just startled me…”

Spike stared at the woman without saying a word. The doctor took note of his black wardrobe that was dirty and torn; his hair was greasy and in a mess of brown curls.

“Doesn’t he speak?”

“No…not yet…lets out a few growls ever now and then. Mr. Spike is just being a stubborn demon at the moment….” Quentin turned to look at Spike, “Isn’t that right?”

Dr. Burkle glanced between the two of them, “Do you think it’s wise to taunt him?” she whispered to Travis.

“I need a reaction from him…any reaction…hopefully it’s something verbal.”

“Why am I here if he won’t talk?”

“He will talk if he knows what’s good for him…” Quentin said.

Spike growled and shifted his face to show the demon inside himself.

“He understands you…” Dr. Burkle stated.

“He’s conscious to his surroundings, yes; it’s just sometimes he gets into these moods…his tormented soul makes him a bit crazy at times.”

“He has a soul?”

Quentin turned and smiled at Dr. Burkle, “You’ll find out in the next few weeks that Spike isn’t your ordinary demon…”

“But what about Buffy, you still want me to see her too?”

“It will be a bit of a challenge, but I believe that you can handle the both of them…” Travis said and then turned to Spike, who moved back into the shadows of the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that night…

Willow yawned, but kept her eyes moving over the text, trying hard not to lose her spot while she read.

“Would help if there were pictures…something entertaining…” she muttered to herself and then turned the page, “Or perhaps—“

Willow stopped when she read the first line on the top of the page.

“Here it is…” she muttered to herself before reading aloud, “‘William the Bloody: tormentor of slayers, descendent of Master.’”

Finally, after thirty books, Willow hopefully found exactly what Giles wanted.

“‘…childe of Drusilla, grandchilde of Angelus…sired before the turn of the century, exact date unclear—evidence dates to around 1877. The name ‘Spike’ originated in East London after several guests at a hotel were killed with spikes in their rooms in 1884. After mob attacks, Spike seemed to have disappeared from the human and demon society until 1901; he killed his first Slayer in China during the Boxer Rebellion.’”

Willow skimmed a few more paragraphs, but didn’t find anything too exciting. Everything in the book was basic facts on Drusilla and Angelus, the parts containing Spike’s life seemed rather vague and what one would find in a textbook. The redhead glanced down at the page numbers that were marked in the corner of the book. She flipped to one page and then back to the previous one.

“Page 194….page 200…” she said to herself.

It seemed that several pages were missing.




TBC…