Chapter 20
The next night, Buffy and Ford were strolling along outside the high school.
“And on your right, once again, the beautiful campus. I think you've now seen everything there is to see in Sunnydale.”
“Well, it’s…really…”
“Feel free to say dull.”
“Okay. Dull’s good.” They spotted a man and woman running away from the building. “Or maybe not so dull.”
“Must be the weather. Go find a payphone to let the police know about a break-in.” She ran after the vampires.
A blonde vampire grabbed Buffy from behind and tried to bite. Buffy high-kicked her face, then grabbed her arm and judo-flipped her onto her back. She knew how to use leverage to make up for her lack of strength.
A male vampire rushed her and grabbed her, pulling her over a railing with him. She landed on the grass below and got up while the vamp rolled to his feet. She kicked him in the jaw.
Ford approached the female vampire and held the cross in her face. She hissed at him.
“You've got one chance to live. Tell me what I wanna know, and I'll let you go,” he whispered.
Below, Buffy punched the vampire’s face and staked him. She ran back up the stairs to Ford, shaking her tingling hand.
“Are you alright?”
“I killed her.” He coughed. “I, I killed her and she just turned to dust. It was amazing!”
Her brows rose in surprise. “I think you got hit on the head.”
“Buffy, I know.”
“Know what?”
“You’re the Slayer. I’ve known since L.A.”
“Huh-whuh?”
****
Xander, Willow, and Angel walked down an alley.
“The only thing I could track down was this address. The Sunset Club. Still didn't find anything incriminating.”
“He leaves no paper trail, no records, that's incriminating enough,” Angel said.
“Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Dead Boy on this one.”
“Could you not call me that?” Angel knocked on the door. The viewport opened. “We’re friends of Ford’s.”
The doorman nodded. They walked in through both doors and looked around. It was gloomy.
“Boy, we blend in,” Willow said. She wore a colorful striped shirt.
“In no way do we stick out like sore thumbs.”
“Let’s look around. You guys check out downstairs,” Angel said.
“Sure thing, Bossy the Cow!”
“Okay, but do they really stick out?” Willow asked.
“What?”
“Sore thumbs. Do they stick out? I mean, have you ever seen a thumb and gone, 'Wow! That baby is sore!'”
“You have too many thoughts.”
Reptile by Creaming Jesus was playing.
The one hungry life
My life with the other.
Willow and Xander walked by a man standing in a coffin dressed as a movie vampire. He waved. “Hi!”
Xander waved back and looked around. “Are you probably noticing a theme here?”
“As in ‘Vampires! Yay!’?
“That’s the one.”
A blonde girl approached them. “You guys are newbies. I can tell.”
“Oh, no. We come here all the time.”
“Don't be ashamed! It's cool that you're open to it. We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones.”
Angel came down the stairs.
“The Lonely Ones?” Willow asked.
“Vampires.”
“Oh! We usually call them the nasty, pointy, bite-y ones,” Xander said.
“So many people have that misconception. But they who walk with the night are not interested in harming anyone. They are creatures above us. Exalted!”
“You’re a fool,” Angel told her.
“You don't have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know.” She fled.
“Nice meeting you,” Willow called.
“You really are a people person,” Xander said to Angel.
“Now nobody’s gonna talk to us.”
“I've seen enough. I've seen this type before. They're children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark,” Angel said.
“Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story,” Willow said.
“These people don't know anything about vampires. What they are, how they live, how they dress...”
A young man dressed exactly like Angel came down the stairs behind him and looked him up and down before continuing on. Angel cleared his throat.
They started up the stairs to get out of the club.
“You know, I love a good diatribe. But I'm still curious why Ford, the bestest friend of the Slayer-who-recently-isn’t-anymore, is hanging with a bunch of vampire wannabes.”
“Something's up with him, you're right about that.”
****
The Sunnydale High library. Buffy walked in, followed by Giles and Jenny.
“Sorry to beep you guys in the middle of…stuff, but it seemed really weird.”
“No, you did the right thing. Absolutely,” Giles said.
“You hated it that much?” Jenny asked.
“No! But, but, uh, vampires on campus is, could have implications. Very, very grave...”
“You could’ve just said something.”
“Uh, honestly, I, I've always, I've always been interested in, in, uh, monster trucks.”
“You took him to monster trucks?” Buffy asked.
Jenny shrugged. “I thought it would be a change!”
“It was a change.”
“Look, we could’ve just left.”
“Wha-what, and miss the nitro-burning funny cars? No, couldn't have that.”
“Okay, can we get back on the vampire tip here? These guys were here with a purpose,” Buffy said.
“Yes, yes, and, uh, we must, uh, ascertain what that purpose is.”
“Where's your friend?”
“I sent him home,” Buffy said.
“Oh, uh, good. Yes, the less he's involved in all this, the safer he'll be.”
“He did bag a vamp his first time out.”
“Who did?” Kendra walked in.
“Ford. He knew I was the Slayer. Used to be.”
“Do you tell everyone you meet?”
“I didn’t tell. He figured it out on his own.”
Giles took an open book from on top of another and exposed an old picture of Drusilla.
“Gotta give him credit for that.”
Kendra picked up the photo. “Who’s this?”
“Um, she's called Drusilla, a sometime paramour of Spike's. She was killed by an angry mob in Prague.”
“They don’t make angry mobs like they used to. I saw her with Angelus.”
“With Angel?” Giles asked.
“Isn’t he supposed to be a good guy?” Jenny asked.
Buffy looked at the photo. “Yeah. He is.” So this was Spike’s sire, the one he wanted her to heal. She was pretty in an unconventional way.
“I think maybe we need to read up on this nice lady.”
Giles went to his office. “Well, some of my new volumes may be more helpful. Uh, my own research is...”
The blonde vampire ran into him as she ran from his office. Buffy went to Giles' aid, but was knocked to the floor underneath him when the vampire shoved him.
She jumped onto the table and leapt over the mezzanine railing, making her escape through the stacks. Kendra gave chase.
Jenny helped Giles and Buffy up. “Are you guys okay?”
“A book! It took one of my books!”
“Well, at least someone in this school is reading.”
“He said he killed it. That's the vampire Ford said he killed,” Buffy said. What was going on?
****
Spike and Drusilla’s warehouse.
“You sing the sweetest little song. Won’t you sing for me, hmm? Don’t you love me anymore?” The bird was dead on the bottom of the cage.
Spike entered the room. “Darling! I heard a funny thing just now. Lucius tells me that you went out on a hunt the other night.”
“My tummy was growly. And you were out. Come on.” She whistled to the bird. “I’ll pout if you don’t sing.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “You, um, meet anyone? Anyone interesting? Like Angel?”
“Angel.”
“Yeah. So...” He kissed her temple. “What might you guys have talked about, then? Old times? Childhood pranks? It's a little off, you two so friendly, him being the enemy and all that.”
“I’ll give you a seed if you sing.”
Spike’s patience with her avoiding the question ran thin. “The bird's dead, Dru. You left it in a cage, and you didn't feed it, and now it's all dead, just like the last one.”
She cowered and whined.
“Oh, I'm sorry baby. I'm a bad, rude man. I just don't like you goin' out, that's all. You are weak.” He took her hand. “Would you like a new bird? One that's not dead?” He nibbled her finger.
“This is so cool!” It was Ford. “I would totally live here.”
“Do I have anyone on watch here? It's called security, people. Are you all asleep?” He stalked toward Ford. “Or did we finally find a restaurant that delivers?”
“I know who you are.”
“Yeah, I know who I am, too. So what?”
“I came looking for you, Spike. You are Spike, right? William the Bloody?”
“You've got a real death wish. It's almost interesting.” The blonde vampire came in, walked up to Spike, and handed him the book she stole. Spike began leafing through it. “Oh, this is great. This'll be very useful. So, how did you find me?”
“That doesn't matter. I've got something to offer you. I-I'm pretty sure this is the part where you take out a watch and say I've got thirty seconds to convince you not to kill me? It's traditional.”
“Well. I don’t go much for tradition.” He grabbed Ford by the ear and lifted him by it.
“Wait, love.” Drusilla put her hand on Spike’s shoulder.
He sighed and let the boy go. “Well?”
“Oh, c’mon! Say it! It’s no fun if you don’t say it.”
“What? Oh.” He rolled his eyes. “You've got thirty seconds to convince me not to kill you.”
“Yes! See, this is the best! I wanna be like you. A vampire.”
“I've known you for two minutes, and I can't stand you. I don't really feature you livin' forever. Can I eat him now, love?”
Drusilla shook her head.
“Well, feature this: I'm offering you a trade. You make me a vampire, and I give you the Slayer.”
Spike smiled. Finally, a break in this wretched town.
****
Buffy sipped a cup of coffee at home.
Angel slowly pushed the kitchen door open. “Buffy. May I come in?”
“Sure. I thought once you were invited you could always just walk in.”
“I can. I was just being polite.” He closed the door. “We need to talk.”
“We do?”
“It’s about your friend Ford. He’s not what he seems.”
“Who is these days?”
“Willow ran him down on the computer.”
“Willow?”
“We found this address, we checked it out with Xander, and it turned out--”
“And Xander? Wow. Everybody's in. It's like a great big exciting conspiracy.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the people I trust. Who’s Drusilla? And don’t lie to me.”
He looked away. “Some lies are necessary.”
“For what?”
“Sometimes the truth is worse. You live long enough, you find that out.”
“I can take the truth.”
“I did a lot of unconscionable things when I became a vampire. Drusilla was the worst. She was…an obsession of mine. She was pure and sweet and chaste--”
“And you made her a vampire.”
“First I made her insane. Killed everybody she loved. Visited every mental torture on her I could devise. She eventually fled to a convent, and on the day she took her holy orders, I turned her into a demon.”
“I see.” She didn’t like thinking about Angel’s past misdeeds. Even though she’d decided to be friends and not boyfriend and girlfriend, she still wanted to focus on him being part of Team Good. What did it say about her judgment if she used to be falling for a former mass-murderer?
He sighed. “Ford's part of some society that reveres vampires. Practically worships them. I don't know what he wants from you, but you can't trust him.” With that final word, he left.
Buffy would’ve defended her friend, but after the lie about the vampire, she wondered if Angel was right. Did everyone have a dark side these days?
****
Sunnydale High, the next day.
“Buffy!”
“Ford.” She would play it cool, see what he really wanted from her.
“I had a great time last night. Well, an interesting time.”
“I’m glad.”
“Do you wanna go out again tonight?”
“Not busy.”
“I sort of had an idea. It’s a…it’s a secret. Kinda wanna surprise you.”
“I like surprises.” Hated them, actually, since becoming a Slayer, but he wouldn’t know that.
“Can you meet me here?”
“Sure.”
“At nine?”
She smiled for him. “At nine.”
“It’s gonna be fun!” He walked off.
Buffy stood there a moment before continuing on her way. Xander and Willow were sitting on the stair steps.
“Buffy!”
She paused.
“Did, uh, Angel…”
“He told me everything.”
“I'm sorry we kept stuff from you,” Willow said.
“It's okay.” It was, now. She knew where their intentions lay.
“When Angel came to my room he was just really concerned for you, and we didn't wanna say anything in case we were wrong.”
“Did you find out what Ford is up to?” Xander asked.
“I will.” She walked off.
They watched her go.
“Angel was in your bedroom?” he asked.
Willow nodded. “Ours is a forbidden love.”
****
The Sunset Club.
The blonde was sitting, drumming her fingers. Diego paced. Ford came down the stairs.
“Chanterelle. Is everything ready?” he asked.
“Of course. It’s ready,” Diego said. “Hi, I took care of it. I always take care of it.”
“Is it time? Tonight?” she asked.
“You nervous?” Ford poured wine into goblets.
“Yes. No. I'm ready for the change. Do you really think they'll bless us?”
“I know they will.” Ford smiled at her. She smiled back. “Everything’s falling into place.” He sipped the wine.
“What about your friends? Are they comin’?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your friends. They came. Last night. Two guys and a girl.”
“One was mean,” she said.
“Oh, Christ! Why didn't you tell me about this?” Ford asked.
“I have to do everything around here. Sorry, Mr. Flawless Plan Guy, it slipped my mind,” Diego said.
“It's gonna be alright, isn't it?” she asked.
Ford winced in pain and put his fingertips to his forehead.
“They're not gonna let us down?”
“It's gonna be fine,” Ford said.
“I need them to bless me,” she said.
“It’s gonna be fine!”
“No.” They looked up at Buffy at the top of the stairs. “It’s really not.”
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