Prologue
Alone in a darkened room, a figure sat comfortably in a highback chair. A decanter of blood with its matching glass
sat half-forgotten on a side table. Moonlight shone in between the drawn open curtains, black as night and thick with dust.
The figure, female, bore an elfin face framed with straight, dark red hair and gazed listlessly out the window.
Breaking the deafening silence, soft giggles tinkled then escalated into mad laughter. Just as suddenly, they
ceased. Her family was coming home.
Time grew short, and there was so much to be done.
xxx
The old black DeSoto roared towards Sunnydale. Drusilla was ill, cursed by a mob in Prague. Spike hoped fervently
that the power of the Hellmouth would restore his beloved Sire’s health. As he pushed the gas a bit harder, he felt a
twinge in the back of his neck, signaling family was close by. Curious, he tilted his head to the side in quiet
contemplation. Who could it be? As if on cue, Dru stirred from her sickly stupor, regaining some semblance of her former
self.
“The pixies dance gaily!,” she gushed excitedly. “Can you not feel it my Spike? Daddy is here, and my baby as well!
Miss Edith will be so pleased! There will be much tea and cake!”
Shocked would have been an understatement. Appalled another. ‘Angelus? Bloody fantastic,’ Spike thought. No good
could come of that revelation. ‘Poofter will ruin everything.’
‘Would be good to see the bit though. Been too soddin’ long.’
Smiling at that thought, he focused again on the road ahead. They were close now. As Dru clapped and giggled
happily, one final thought crossed Spike’s mind.
‘Wonder what the bleedin’ hell the bit’s doin’ here in the first place?’
Chapter 1
Buffy was bored.
Ok, so Buffy was more than bored. Research and the Buffster? Not so of the mixy, though it was a necessary evil.
As of late, a strange malady was plaguing Sunnydale. No deaths thus far, but that wasn’t saying much. Several of
the Hellmouth’s adult residents were prone to giggles and all out laughter, coming at random intervals. Even the teachers
at old Sunnydale High were prone to these fits, including Giles, Miss Calendar, and even Buffy’s mother, Joyce. No
explanations were forthcoming so far, but it was early yet.
Unfortunately for Buffy, too early too patrol. Looking at her watch, she realized that it was still late afternoon,
and would be hours before she could escape the monotony of research and do what she did best – slay.
“Got it!” Willow beamed.
“What have you found my dear? Sounds like it might possibly be a Cha’ruut demon,” Giles replied.
“Great. Now we have a crazy carrot demon on the loose. How do you kill it?” Buffy asked.
“Cha’ruut, and I don’t think so Giles. This is gonna sound really weird, but I think it’s more witchy than that.”
Willow continued, “According to this tome, a powerful witch can act as a conduit for emotions or feelings. If they were to
channel someone insane or unstable...the madness could spread to an entire city. The more powerful the witch the greater
the area of effect.”
“Good Lord!,” Giles exclaimed, quickly removing his glasses from his face and a cloth from his pocket. The Scoobies
watched in amusement as the ritual polishing began.
“So how do we stop the channeling? Do we just ask them nicely?” Xander snarked.
“The tome doesn’t say anything about that,” Willow replied. “However, if the conduit is closed improperly...”
“The madness could last indefinitely,” Giles responded flatly.
A new voice entered the conversation. “We’ve got a bigger problem.”
xxx
“Angel! I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Not like we ever do Buffster,” Xander muttered.
“Hi Buffy,” Angel said with a small smile. “As I was saying, we have a bigger problem.”
“What praytell could be more problematic than town-wide bouts of madness, Angel?” Giles said.
“Let’s just say...the extended family is coming to visit.”
All at once, the Scoobies were talking over one another. In the commotion, Angel slipped out the door in usual
fashion. Giles went to the stacks to retrieve more books, his Watcher sense in overdrive. He’d heard about the rest of the
Aurelians of course, but never in his mind would all the surviving members have been in Sunnydale at once. Most foreboding
to be certain.
“Hey where did the Evil Dead go?” Xander asked. “As always, cryptic message then stealthy escape. We should
totally put a bell on that guy.”
“Quite,” Giles replied. As he continued, “More important than Angel’s rather abrupt exit, we must now hasten to
process this new discovery. The Aurelian line is was most deadly at its pinnacle, when the Scourge of Europe was still
composed as such. As we know Angel is now cursed with a soul, Darla dead at his hand. However, that leaves William the
Bloody and his Sire, Drusilla.” Giles continued, “William the Bloody, or Spike, was known for torturing his victims with
railroad spikes, and oh dear...”
“What else Giles? That seems wiggy enough.” Buffy said.
“It seems that Spike has fought two slayers in the last century, and has killed them both.”
Silence hung in the air.
“That’s not all. Drusilla, his Sire, is known to have a powerful thrall. Formerly a nun, she was tortured to
insanity by Angelus and turned on the day she was to take her final vows. She is not to be underestimated,” Giles
explained.
“So one kills Slayers, and one’s nutty as a fruitcake. Gotcha,” said Buffy as she looked to her watch. As the
research session had worn on, dusk began to fall, and patrolley goodness was upon her. “I assume pointy stake to the heart
still works?” Buffy said as she got up, packed a few vials of holy water, several stakes, and adjusted her necklace bearing
a cross and headed towards the door.
“Buffy, do you really think it’s wise to...” Giles started to say, but she was already gone, having had all the
research one girl could take.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hi all! Long time lurker, first time poster. Finally had an idea I wanted to put to paper, and I hope you like it. This work is unbeta'd, and does take some info/dialogue from School Hard. We start at that ep and go very AU. Come along for the ride!
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading, reviews welcome!