Pairings/Characters: B/R (not for long), B/S, W/T, X/A, Giles, Dawn, Joyce, Sarah
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Action, Drama (just in the right mix ^_^)
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these charakters or the storyline; all this belongs to the genius mind of Joss Whedon. I do however own the charakter of Sarah (who btw is my best friend)
A/N: I wrote this fiction as a gift for my friend Sarah. She’s obsessed with BTVS, so I made her a maincharakter in an adventure in Sunnydale. She’s a Spuffy and so am I, so Riley will get out of the picture pretty soon.
A/N 2: Thanks to Jenny for reading beta for me (that sounded weird ^_^)
Chapter 1
The night was dark. Darker than it was when she usually, got home from her Wicca-group.
Today they had tried a very effective happiness-spell, which made people act like they had been to the dentist and taken laughing gas as local anaesthetic.
She had to smile when she remembered Cindy's laughing fit, after she had volunteered to be the guinea pig. She wondered what Cindy's roommates would think when she got back to the dorm still giggling. Hopefully the spell would have worn off by the next morning; otherwise she might have a few problems with her professors in her lectures.
Nevertheless her smile vanished as she passed the graveyard entrance.
She looked up into the dark, clouded sky. The moon was currently hidden behind a very dark cloud and only a few stars were visible in the black sky.
She shuddered whilst looking at the many gravestones and tombs that covered the vast graveyard. Strangely, Sunnydale had a very high death rate and mysterious murders happened almost every weak. It wasn't wise for a young woman to walk through the night all alone, but she had no car and needed to get home. Her parents certainly would already be waiting for her, so she sped up her steps in order to get to the city centre faster, and away from the creepy graveyard.
A few minutes later she reached the first lit up street of the city. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and relaxed. The streets were crowded with young people, who came from the Bronze, a local danceclub, or were on their way to a bar, to spend some time with their friends. She felt secure and wandered along the streets to get home.
She didn't notice the darkly handsome man, who had followed her since she had passed the graveyard. A smile appeared on his face, while the woman walked around a bend and entered a rather scantly lit alleyway. 'Time to play' he thought and disappeared behind a tree, his figure merging into the shadows.
The woman reached her neighbour's house and rummaged through her purse to find her keys. She didn't want to wake up her parents if they had already gone to bed.
She finally found her key and raised her head; she looked straight into a pair of dark, intense eyes. Startled she opened her mouth to scream, but the stranger’s big white hand quickly covered her mouth and prevented her from making a single sound.
"Hush, little witch. We don't want to wake someone up, do we?" he whispered in her ear, his icy cold breath tickled the little hairs on her neck. She looked up at him, her eyes wide open, tears started to well up. Panicking, she tried to free herself from the strong grasp, but he just smiled at her and pulled her behind a big, old oak tree.
Blue flashes gleamed through the heavy darkness and all that could be heard was the cracking of electrical energy and a barely audible groan. After a few minutes a dull thud echoed through the night and the stranger reappeared from behind the tree, and stepped on the cement sidewalk.
His eyes glowed with light blue energy, and bright darting light of the same color webbed around his hands.
Suddenly he spun around, his black cape fluttering in the wind, and he dissolved into a small cloud of black smoke, leaving nothing behind, except a beautiful, black raven feather.
It was an uncomfortable afternoon mid-November. It was the perfect weather to snuggle up in bed with hot chocolate and a good book, but that wasn't what Buffy was doing now.
Evil vampires and other mysterious killers unfortunately showed no consideration for the weather or the well being of the Slayer. Buffy laughed bitterly on her way to the magic box. Willow and Tara had some bad news to tell her. With a bit of luck, the new problems wouldn't cause the apocalypse...again, but there were few chances that this situation would not end in disaster and Buffy having to save the world...again.
Buffy was pissed, her mood was bad since the weather had changed and become autumnal, with continuous rain and cold temperatures. Giles had to feel very at home now, because the weather was much more like that of England than California.
Halfway through Sunnydale she realised, that it could've been useful to bring an umbrella along, instead of trying to protect her face from the cold rain with her hands. At least she didn't have to fear getting sick (one major advantage of her slayer strength). However, it didn't keep her from feeling cold and wet.
Buffy finally arrived at the new magic shop, dripping wet, and entered. Relieved to get into the warm building she shuddered and was welcomed by the Scooby gang including her current boyfriend Riley.
"You're late." stated Giles matter-of-factly and asked her to join the group at the table.
"Hey, are you okay Buffy? You're soaking!" Willow asked, concerned.
"You should bring an umbrella along, they're very useful!" said Anya enthusiastically, which earned her odd looks from the other Scooby’s. “What? Isn't it true? Xander, why are they looking like that?"
"It's okay An, you're right." Xander tried to reassure his girlfriend.
Buffy rolled her eyes and walked past the round table and into the back room.
Her friends looked at each other confused and wondered what was wrong with her. Two minutes later she reappeared drying her damp hair with a towel and sat down between Riley and Tara.
"So what's going on? Any bad monsters to kill, vampires to stake, funny Demon cyborgs to pull their hearts out? Bring it on. I'm prepared for the worst!"
Xander watched his best friend carefully, trying to figure out what might have caused Buffy's miserable mood.
"Buffy what's up with all the negative-thinking? Perhaps the news will lead to some proper demon ass kicking. I thought you like that."
"Yeah, demon-killing, which causes loads of demon slime, that will ruin my new shoes. What's not to love?" Buffy replied sarcastically.
"Seriously Buffy, don't be so childish, we have to focus our concentration on the latest mystical occurrence that happened here. Willow and Tara, share your news with us!" Giles ordered clearly annoyed by Buffy's temper.
Buffy looked apologetically at her Watcher and glanced at Willow and her new girlfriend, waiting for them to speak.
"Well, lately many mysterious murders have happened around here." Willow started and was interrupted by Buffy.
"But what's so special about this? Mysterious murders happen here all the time. Hellmouth and stuff, remember?"
"Yeah, that's true, but all the victims had something in common." Willow continued, still not giving everything away.
"Tasty blood?" Xander guessed.
"They all have been witches." Tara said quietly.
"Oh." Xander said concerned. "Did...Did you know one of them?"
"Two girls from our Wicca-group were murdered within the last three weeks." Willow explained sadly and looked at Tara.
"Yeah, and no clear cause of death could be diagnosed. It's like they… I dunno… Got their life energy sucked out,” added her girlfriend.
"Then you are in immediate danger." Giles stated, standing up and getting some books from the bookcase.
"We really should find out what killed these women. Was there anything special about the murders?" Riley asked concerned.
Willow stood up to get her laptop and switched it on. "There was a feather mentioned in the police case, hold on a sec."
Willow started to tip different key combinations in the keyboard and stared, concentrated at the screen. A few minutes later the laptop beeped and Willow read out the police report.
"In both cases a raven feather was located in the immediate vicinity of the victim." Willow looked up at Giles questioningly.
"This could be a indication of the killer, do you suspect something?"
Giles concentrated, staring into space. Buffy could nearly see the wheels turning inside of his head. He frowned and picked up a book about animalistic demons.
"I'm not sure, I never heard about anything that could fit into this pattern.
What's the cause of death according to the police?"
"Cardiac arrest" replied Willow.
Buffy could feel Riley getting nervous. He played with his hands and rocked on the balls of his feet.
"Hey, are you alright?" she asked him quietly, not to get attention from the others. Riley looked startled, then smiled slightly and nodded. Buffy focused her attention back to the discussion with her friends.
"So, there's no other option than hitting the books and searching for something we don't know?"
"And back with the sarcasm." Xander commented and grabbed one of the books. "Hey Anya, do you know something about a demon, that kills witches and has feathers?"
"Well, I once met a demon, that looked like a crow. He had a bill and gorgeous eyes, but his feathers tickled all the time during…"
"I don't think I want to hear that!" Buffy nearly shouted, disturbed by the mental image, Anya had given her.
"You had sex with a crow?" Xander asked shocked, starring wide-eyed at his girlfriend.
"He was just half a crow, he had human body parts as well. Otherwise we couldn't have..." She pondered trying to find a good expression, knowing that Buffy didn't like when she spoke to graphic, then finally came up with a solution "performed the sexual act!" she smiled proudly at Xander, expecting to get commended for her expression skills.
Xander just stared at her; still in shock with his mouth wide open. "I can't believe you had sex with a crow!"
Anya rolled her eyes. "It was just a one-night stand and believe me, you are much better." She smiled sweetly at Xander and kissed him on his cheek. Xander finally snapped out of his initial shock and smiled back at his girlfriend, proud that she approved of his bed skills.
Giles, who had taken his glasses off during this conversation, was wiping them vigorously and looking at the couple incredulously. "As much as I enjoyed hearing about your private life, could we please get back on topic and try to find out what killed these witches?" he asked harshly.
"Yes, please." added Buffy with a similar look on her face.
"Anya, do you know of a demon who would consume the magical energy of its victims?" Giles asked her again.
"No, no one specific. I mean… Every rather powerful witch or warlock could suck the magic out of someone. That's the dark side of magic, it becomes addictive very fast." Anya responded seriously.
Silence fell upon the group, everyone sharing the same thought. Buffy looked at Willow, who got very uncomfortable and looked away. Tara finally broke the silence. "Well, that's true, but I-in order to get addicted you have to do magic very often, especially black magic.
We have to be strong and keep control, but all of the witches I know are able to do that."
"So, all the stuff you do is white magic, right? I mean to help us fight the demons and protect us?" Xander questioned them.
"Yes… Yes of course! I've never done any black magic, I never had to."
Buffy wanted to believe her, but seeing Willow fumbling with the paper sheets on the table, she got sceptical. But Riley, who was sliding on his seat, looking impatient, interrupted her thoughts.
"Are you sure you are all right?" She asked him again. Riley looked at her as if he had forgotten she was sitting next to him.
"I think we should patrol." he suddenly said. "I mean, this thing that's killing the witches will be here in Sunnydale, so we should find it and kill it. Problem solved."
"Um...Riley, it isn't as easy as that." Buffy replied. "You know, I've done this job for five years now and the most important thing I've learned is, that it's never easy. We have to know what we are searching for, before we can go out and slay it."
"Buffy is right. It could be very dangerous to go out there unprepared." Giles told Riley.
"What the hell could happen to me?" Riley asked aloud, as his temper rose.
"I have my guns and if something tries to attack me, I shoot it. End of the story."
"You could get killed." Buffy answered his first question sharply. "And what is it with your guns? They can't always help you. They're not useful, if you are dealing with an armoured demon!"
"What's wrong with you Buffy? I want to help and kill the fiend. Why are you complaining? I'm strong, and can look after myself. You can come with me, or stay. Whatever you do, I'm leaving now!" Riley shouted.
Buffy watched him storm out of the magic box. 'What the hell just happened?' she asked herself. She found the others staring at her expectantly. "What?" she asked.
"Um Buffy, I think you should go after him." Xander answered her. Buffy thought about the cold weather outside and the idea of patrolling didn't seem very appealing to her.
"Why? He wanted to leave, so I let him. He had no reason to shout at me like that!"
Xander raised his eyebrow and looked questioningly at her.
"Ahh whatever!" She muttered annoyed, grabbed her jacket and hurried out of the warm shop.
A/N 3: I know this wasn’t shippy yet. But Spike certainly will be there in the next chapter. Had to build the plot first and introduce the current BB (is he cool, or what?! lol) Reviews appreciated!