Chapter 21
Somewhere in England
Alden Clark impatiently listened to the ring filtering into his ear. He held the phone tighter. How long did it take to answer? With his experience with the council, he had learned that there were plenty of watchers who pretended to be busy but essentially did practically nothing. So someone should be free to pick up the bloody telephone, right?
“Hullo, state your name and status,” a voice finally said.
Clark sighed. “Weaver, this is Alden Clark. I assume you know my status.”
“Oh, yes, you are currently under research duty. Am I correct?”
The watcher scooted the open book closer toward him. “Uh, yes. I have the job of delving into the history of Buffy Anne Summers,” he explained.
“Have you discovered anything of use?” Mr. Weaver questioned.
Clark removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “My assignment was rather vague. I’m not even entirely sure as to what I’m supposed to find.”
“The similarities of the current slayer and Miss Summers.”
“In a condensed summery.” Clark set his glasses down on the desk. “I have a theory here, Weaver. The council suspects that this girl truly is the reanimation of Buffy Anne Summers.”
There was a long pause. “The likeliness is probably coincidental,” Weaver finally replied.
“We both know, ol’ mate, that things are never coincidental,” Clark said forcefully. “I’m not a fool. I would not have gotten this assignment because the council wants to ‘check up’ on our champion.”
A defeated sigh escaped Weaver. “We are not certain on the matter, Mr. Clark. Ms. Reese’s watcher, Fredrick, left a substantial journal detailing her similarities to Buffy. He seemed very convinced.”
“I see,” Clark muttered. “So are you trying to prove him right or wrong?”
“We only want the truth.”
Right. The council never wanted the simple truth. They always wanted things to go their way. And if they didn’t, they changed it so it would.
“So, I ask again, Mr. Clark, have you found anything of interest?”
Clark looked down at the book. Giles’s face, his face, stared back at him.
“N-No, I haven’t found anything as of yet. I only wanted more details on my assignment.”
“Very well. Please inform me when you do uncover anything.”
“I will. Goodbye, Mr. Weaver.”
Clark hung up the phone. The council’s motives for the slayer were unclear, but whatever they were it couldn’t be good.
|} - - -> <- - - {|
Clark fell asleep reading more in-depth into the past of Rupert Giles through his diary. The entries were astonishing. He felt bonded to the man, and even would have sworn he felt the same emotions Giles had as the words soaked into him. His eyes passed from page-to-page until they drooped from exhaustion.
Dreams haunted his mind, dreams of long passed. He saw the events Rupert Giles recorded. And with the fall of Buffy Summers, Clark startled awake.
He rubbed his face with his hands, taking a deep breath. His mind was foggy with confusion. What the bleeding hell was going on? He needed answers. The council wasn’t dishing any out, but they were the only ones who had them.
He grabbed his coat and threw it on. Then, he headed out the door with his car keys. The air was cool and the sky was cloudy. Typical English weather. He began to go down the steps of his apartment building.
“You don’t want to go to them.”
Clark halted. He craned his neck to see a woman. She had long black hair that cascaded all the way down to her waist. Her eyes were emerald and glowed like a cat. She was very mysterious looking.
“Do I know you?” Clark answered.
She grinned. “In this lifetime? No. Before? No. So, I’d say nope you’ve never set eyes on me until now.”
He shook his head, giving her an odd look. He continued moving toward his vehicle.
“Ok, now I don’t think you heard me properly the first time. I don’t think you want to go to them,” the woman said, forcefully.
“Who?”
She laughed. “The council, duh.”
His hand froze on the car door. “How did you know where I was going?”
“I know lots of things.”
“That didn’t answer my question.” Clark turned around to face her.
She took a step toward him. Up close, she was even more beautiful. “My name is Cristina. I know things of the past, present, and even what might be. I know who you are, Alden Clark, and who you were.”
“Th-That’s very interesting.”
“Isn’t it, though? The perks of being a missionary to the powers.
“Powers?”
“That be. Omnipotent beings that see all.”
Clark cleared his throat. “I see.”
She smiled. “No, you don’t. But you will.”
He studied her with curiosity.
“Please, hear me out before going to spill to the other watchers. They can’t be trusted.”
He chuckled. “That I’ll agree with.”
“They aren’t telling you the truth. About the prophecy.”
His eyes widened. “The prophecy that says that the slayer will live forever?”
“Yes. But there is more that they aren’t telling you. The final battle is approaching. The one to end all evil, or end all good. The council wishes to stop it.”
“And how would they do this?”
She met his gaze straight-on. “By killing your slayer.”
Somewhere in Las Vegas
The bus came, but Heather didn’t even notice. Tara knelt in front of her, holding her hands. The tears kept coming. She didn’t know where the burst of emotion came from. All she knew was that her heart felt like it was being glued back together. It was painful and joyful all at the same time.
Tara smoothed down Heather’s hair. “Sweetie, please don’t cry.”
Through her tears, Heather gazed back at Tara. “I know you. Not rationally, but my soul knows you.”
The blond witch looked as if she might break into sobs as well. “You’ll remember. It takes time, but soon you’ll know me completely.”
It didn’t make sense, but still Heather smiled. This seemed so right even if it was totally insane.
“It’s all going to b-be all right now. I found you. We were lost, but now we’re both found,” Tara whispered.
And she was right. Heather realized how hollow she had been before that moment. She was finally whole again.
|} - - -> <- - - {|
Buffy was vaguely awake. She held the body next to her a little more to her. A small smile came to her lips.
Beside her, Spike smirked at the display. He was a lucky bloke. Too lucky in fact, and it scared him. When you have so much, you have so much to lose. And what really frightened him the most was that he didn’t deserve to keep any of this happiness.
Buffy’s eyes fluttered open. The smile on her lips widened. “How long have you been watching me?”
“Dunno, pet. Quite sometime, I’d reckon. Could never get tired of watchin a beautiful face like yours.”
She swatted him. “Stop, I probably have bed-hair.”
He chuckled. “Well, yeah.”
She swatted him again. Then she rolled over to face him, her arm still across his chest. “Mmmm, this feels nice.”
“We should get up, luv,” Spike told her.
She frowned. “Not yet.”
“Dawn’s gonna make a mess in the kitchen,” he reminded her.
“She does that regardless if we’re up or not.”
He ran a finger down her bare arm, sending shivers through her. “The Magic Box is going to open tomorrow. You need to prepare.”
“It can wait.”
He rose an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Totally.”
A playful gleam came to his eyes. “Maybe we could lay here a tad bit longer.”
Her innocent smile became naughty. “Or we could do more than just lay here.”
|} - - -> <- - - {|
Dawn loafed around for about an hour. Then she fixed herself a plate of cheese scrambled eggs and toast. She poured a tall glass of orange-juice. Yummy.
After a full tummy, Dawn glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was almost 11:30. Geez, how long was her sister and Spike going to sleep? Okay, she wasn’t that naïve, she knew they weren’t ‘sleeping’. She wasn’t even that disgusted (even if she pretended to be), but man, it didn’t take this long. Unless you were a slayer and vampire, apparently. Must be all the concealed energy.
Nothing was on the television. All fifty-five channels. Was it her or did shows get stupider in seventy-five years?
Well, she wasn’t going to sit around waiting for Buffy and Spike to drag themselves out of bed. There was nothing here to keep her occupied. What they needed was one of those virtual reality game sets she saw advertised. Now that would rule. But of course, Buffy was lame and spent all her money on clothes. Looking good was vital, but a teen needs some fun along with the glamour. She let out a tiny giggle. The powers were awfully funny beings. They returned her to her former 15, going on 16 years, body and didn’t eliminate the hormones and mixed-up emotions. If it had been her choice, she probably would have skipped out on that.
A walk was the only thing Dawn could think of to do. She would have went to tell Spike and Buffy but the thought of catching the sound of her sister moan from pleasure was too dramatizing to contemplate. Instead, she grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote a quick note. She grabbed her fake-leather jacket and headed out the door.
It was a decent day out. The sky was blue with a couple clouds. It was refreshing to soak up the sun rays, especially since their apartment had the windows covered by closed blinds. She loved Spike, like a brother in fact, but shacking up with him was frustrating. No sun and icky bags of blood when you opened the fridge.
She walked, not really heading for a known location. There were people out the streets, but not a whole lot. She passed some houses and realized she was standing in front of her old house. Anger shot through her. It was blue now. Someone painted their house!
She stomped off in a huff. Before she knew it she was in the park. They had different play equipment and Dawn guessed from the look of them, better quality. No kid was there, however. She went over to the vacant swings, going back and forth slightly in the breeze. She sat down on one.
“Awww, now Dawnie, I expected to find you somewhere more grown-up. What are you now? Over a hundred at least. Wait, no, you‘re the key. So, you have to be old as grit.”
Dawn shot up from the swing. Dread filled her to the bone. She spun around and gasped.
“Didn’t expect to see me again did you, precious? Well, you need to realize that every heads has a tail. Every rose has a thorn. You didn’t think only the good guys came back, did ya?”
The key took a step backwards.
Glory flipped her hair. “Oh, you did, didn’t you?”
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He he he. Pretty intense chapter, huh? Hope you enjoyed. Something I came to realize while writing this part, I’m probably only half done. Wow. This is the longest story I’ve ever written.
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