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From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (Buffyfic-digest)
To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com
Subject: Buffyfic-digest V1 #78
Reply-To: buffyfic@xmission.com
Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com
Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com
Precedence: bulk
Buffyfic-digest Sunday, January 11 1998 Volume 01 : Number 078
In this issue:
BUFFYFIC: Buffyfic: If I Were Brave 13/?
BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy
BUFFYFIC: Buffy fic: If I Were Brave 14/18 (I think)
BUFFYFIC: Bite Christmas
BUFFYFIC: The Thirteen Days of Undeath
BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (6a/?) REVISED
BUFFYFIC: pleasant dreams (6b/?) revised
BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (7/?)
BUFFYFIC: Song Parody - One Night On Hellmouth
BUFFYFIC: writing a slayer handbook
BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy
Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
BUFFYFIC: New Comer
Re: BUFFYFIC: New Comer
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6)
BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed
Re: BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed
BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/?
Re: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/?
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6)
BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
BUFFYFIC: For The Future's Sake (1/1)
Re: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS:For The Future's Sake (1/1)
BUFFYFIC: Christmas Madness
BUFFYFIC: more christmas madness
BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section one of Part One of Hopefully Six,
BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section Two of Part One of Six
See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the buffyfic
or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 19:00:01 +0000
From: Christy Montgomery <CHRISTYM@trex2.oscs.montana.edu>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Buffyfic: If I Were Brave 13/?
IF I WERE BRAVE PART THIRTEEN/?
BY NERISSA
ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY
CHECK PART ONE FOR ALL THE DETAILS
If I Were Brave
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Part Thirteen~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ah, the career fair. The highlight of my dull, teenage life,"
Buffy said dryly, looking at Willow as they walked down the hallway
towards the booths.
"What do you have today?" Willow asked her.
Buffy shrugged.
"Whatever my test say that I should be pursuing as a career...,"
Buffy began to say.
"And they say that...?" Willow interrupted.
"Thank you for interrupting," Buffy scolded playfully. Willow
mumbled a sorry and looked back at her. "As I was saying, before I was so
rudely interrupted by an unknown person." She laughed and turned the
corner. Her smile hardened at the corners of her mouth and she grimaced.
There it was...the police booth. Yech!
"So, my tests say that I should look into law enforcement. Duh!"
Buffy continued, "and environmental design."
"Environmental design? That's landscaping? Right?" Willow asked her.
"I checked the shrub box!" Buffy shrugged and smiled. Willow looked at
her and gave her a big grin. "But, landscaping was yesterday,so law enforcement
it is." Buffy swung her hands in front of her and looked around in
procrastination. She looked up at the alcove and watched as a guy stared at
Willow intently. *Oh my god, he's totally checking Will out!* she thought
silently. She turned to her friend and smiled.
"Hey Will, don't look okay..." Buffy whispered excitedly to her
best friend. Of course Willow turned and looked. "But- no don't look."
she physically turned Will to face her and smiled broadly. "That guy over
there is totally checking you out."
Willow looked back at the guy and smiled slightly as the guy
grinned back.
"Oh, that's Oz," Willow explained to her. "He's expressing
computer nerd solidarity."
"Really?" Buffy said, raising an eyebrow. "Then why is he on his
way over here right now?" She put her hands behind her back and rolled
back on her heels.
Oz made his way over to them and smiled at Willow.
"Told you," Buffy whispered, smiling secretly as she walked away
leaving them to talk alone.
*Go Willow. It's about time girl!* Buffy knew that Willow was
totally jonesing over Xander, but Buffy knew that Xander was oblivious.
And though eventually he might wake up and see how much Will loved him,
he wasn't going to do it any time soon. Willow deserved a love life and
Oz seemed nice enough, though she was sure that he probably wasn't so
thrilled with her accosting him earlier.
Buffy walked over to the police booth and looked around. There
was a large sign that said 'Police Vehicles Only' and piles of pamphlets
and other information about the law enforcement career field. *Well, I
can't put it off any longer,* Buffy thought to herself as she signed her
name on the clipboard sitting on the table. *Polyester and doughnuts here
I come!*
She walked over to stand amongst the group of guys waiting for
the seminar to begin and took a deep breath. The female officer in charge
of the seminar picked up the clipboard and skimmed over the names.
"Alright, listen up and answer when I call your name," the
officer said sternly.
*Oh boy!* Buffy thought, *This is going to be fun*.
"Buffy Summers," the officer called.
Buffy raised her hand and watched as the officer put her pencil
back into the clipboard and placed it on the table. *What that's it?!*
The officer then straightened up and reached for her gun.
Buffy's Slayer reflexes were already alert and shifted into overdrive.
She ran up to the woman and grabbed her hands, refusing to let the police
officer shoot her or anyone else. The gun fired as they struggled for control.
Another shot rang out and a crescendo of people screaming and running and
ducking for cover echoed in Buffy's ears.
Buffy lashed out with her left foot and caught the cop in her
right shin below the knee, bringing her to the ground. This gave Buffy
enough time to turn and run for cover.
Buffy rolled over a table holding additional tests and ducked
just as killer-cop lady fired another shot, barely missing Buffy and
hitting the stack of tests instead. *God, can't I be safe in school at
least* Buffy thought exasperatedly.
"Get down!" Buffy shouted, standing up and rushing out of range
of the assassin's gun.
"Look out," Buffy heard Oz scream behind her.
Bufy turned at his alarmed voice and looked at him. She watched
as he flew in front of Willow, shielding her from the police officer.
Another shot ran out and Buffy turned to run. She hoped that Oz
and Willow were okay, but she didn't really have the chance to check
right now with a maniac shooting at her. Buffy ran towards a pillow to
shield herself. Yet another bullet whizzed by her, taking the top off a
skeleton's skull that was hanging for another demonstration.
Buffy fought to keep her breath undercontrol and stay as silent
as possible as she hid behind the pillar. She listened closely, waiting
to hear any signs of the assassin. She watched as the police officer
inched her way carefully at the corner of the pillar. She hadn't seen
Buffy yet. *Good,* Buffy thought.
Buffy crouched down and launched herself into the air, leaping
onto a chair, over a table and onto the assassin. The officer hit the
ground hard, along with Buffy and lost her gun in the process.
Buffy scrambled to her feet and crouched into a fighting stance,
ready for whatever this lady brought on, ignoring the pain that had
rekindled in her injured knee.
However, Buffy did not expect the small pistol that the assassin
brought out of her ankle holster and leveled at Buffy. Buffy got ready to
kick the gun from her grasp, praying that it didn't go off before she had
a chance to kick it away.
Just then a high kick flew into the assassin's hand knocking the
gun out of her grasp and then landing another to the assassin's face,
knocking her back to the floor.
Buffy couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as Kendra came to
stand next to her. This assassin had no chance now that both her and
Kendra were ready to fight.
The assassin must have sensed this as well because she grabbed
the cowering figure of a teenage boy and held him in a chokehold. She
then reached behind her back and pulled out a small knife that resembled
a scottish dirk.
Buffy and Kendra merely stared at her, alert and ready. Buffy
looked at the assassin's hostage and felt a twinge of fear. The student
was struggling to stay calm, his face a twisted mask of fear and
confusion. *Just don't kill him*, Buffy pleaded silently.
The assassin only wanted to kill one person though and that was
Buffy. The police woman stared at Buffy one more time as if to say 'we'll
finish this later' and then glanced around for an escape route. The
female bounty hunter found it, tossed the boy aside, and flew towards the
doors leading to the outside.
Kendra flew after the assassin, leaving Buffy alone to stare at
the remains of a very unhappy situation.
*Oh my God! Will?!* Buffy thought fearfully as she spun around,
searching the mass of frightened students for a mass of auburn hair. She
spotted Willow and ran towards her. Willow's terrified face was staring
at Oz. *Oh No!* Buffy bent down and stared anxiously at the two of them.
"He-He's shot!" Willow cried, staring at Buffy.
Buffy cast a worried glance down at Oz and searched for signs
that he was okay. Oz clutched his arm tightly and Buffy took a deep
breath in relief. She didn't see a lot of blood and Oz didn't seem to be
in that much of pain. *Good, he's okay...I mean he's not, but...calm down
self, it's just his arm,* Buffy thought to herself.
"Are you okay?" Willow asked Oz.
Oz looked up at her and tried to smile.
"Yeah, well...I, um...I'm shot you know," he told Willow. He then
looked at Buffy and raised his eyebrows. "Wow! It's odd! And painful." He
clutched his arm tighter and winced.
Buffy heard running footsteps approaching and got up from the ground.
"She's gone," Kendra told Buffy as she caught her breath.
Buffy stared at her a little dazed. *What had just happened here?
I mean I *am* in school for crying out loud! God, somebody could have
been killed.* Buffy blinked her eyes a couple of times. *So killer cop
lady got away. Great! Now she'll get another chance at me!*
The assassin's hostage walked over to Kendra and Buffy and looked
at them sheepishly.
"Was that a demonstration?" he asked them meekly.
Buffy looked back at the guy, unable to figure out what to say.
"Ummmm.....," Buffy said quietly, "yeah."
Buffy took a step back towards Willow and Oz and winced in pain.
her knee was killing her. That was the second time that she had landed on
it hard. She limped over to her best friend and Oz and stared at them
apologetically.
Willow saw the look in her eyes and nodded that it was okay.
"Are you alright, Buffy?" Willow then asked her.
"Don't worry about me," Buffy responded as she knelt to look at
Oz. "I am not the one that was shot."
Oz looked at her curiously as if he was trying to understand what
had happened as well.
Just then Principal Snyder and the school nurse came running down
the hallway and pushed the gathering crowd out of the way.
"What is going on here, Summers? We heard gunshots and screaming. What
happened here?" Snyder asked Buffy sternly. "Are you responsible for this?"
Buffy frowned. *No!...This wasn't her fault...was it?* She stood
looking at her angry principal, silent and speechless.
Principal Snyder opened his mouth to yell at her again, but
Willow interrupted. She stood up and looked at him.
"It wasn't Buffy, Mr.Snyder. It was a police officer," Willow
told him.
"Are you telling me that a police officer is responsible for this
boy's gunshot?" he responded, his tone unbelieving as he pointed down at Oz.
Oz looked up at the principal and the crowd surrounding him dumbfoundedly. He
grimaced as the school nurse wrapped a bandage around his arm. The nurse
then rose up and whispered to Snyder that she was going to call the
paramedics.
Buffy turned to walk away, now that she knew that everyone was
safe. She heard Snyder talking behind her.
"There's nothing to see here..." Snyder said loudly, as he
ushered students away from Oz. "School is dimissed...everyone out, Now!"
A few scattered cries of hooray echoed through Buffy's ears as
she watched frightened students scramble to their lockers and out the
doors. *Good, now I can talk to Giles without getting in more trouble
with The Principal from Hell,* she thought as she turned back around and
tried to get the attention of Will.
Buffy called Willow's name softly and motioned her to come and
talk to her. Willow looked up and straightened. She whispered something
to Oz and then walked over to her.
"I am going to talk to Giles," Buffy told Willow.
"Okay," Willow responded quietly. I will be there as soon as the
paramedics get here and help Oz."
"Okay." Buffy turned and headed toward the libary. *Giles was
going to love this!*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
END OF PART THIRTEEN
Sorry, it's been a while guys. I had finals to take care of, still do,
but I hope to post up to fifteen before I head home for the holidays. I
have also started on a new piece of fic, this next one more original
since you all seem to like my tentative first try. Though feedback is
still encouraged on this one still.
Nerissa
- -
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 22:10:40 EST
From: Bryce2000 <Bryce2000@aol.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy
unsubscribe buffy
- -
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 22:49:11 +0000
From: Christy Montgomery <CHRISTYM@trex2.oscs.montana.edu>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Buffy fic: If I Were Brave 14/18 (I think)
IF I WERE BRAVE PART FOURTEEN/18
BY NERISSA
ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY
SUMMARY: Continuation of If I Were Brave. Buffy and Kendra and the crew
discuss what the spell entails and what they are going to do about it.
THANKS: To everone who has given me feedback. You guys rock and I totally
appreciated it. Still do. Also thanks to my kindred spirit who helped me
out of a minor case of writer's block and final syndrome. You're a
lifesaver. Tapadh Liebh my friend.
If I Were Brave
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Part Fourteen~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy stalked into the library limping, and swung the doors
forcefully. Kendra walked in behind her silently.
"Giles, you are *so* not going to believe what just happened!"
Buffy called to her Watcher.
Giles emerged from his office, a look of concern etched on his face.
"Buffy?" he asked her worriedly. "What has happened?" Giles knew
from her tone by now that something had happened...and that it was not good.
Buffy quickly recounted the events that had just taken place and
frowned just as Willow walked in through the swinging doors.
"Explain this to me again, Buffy," Giles said, pushing his
glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You say that there aws an assassin...uh,
here?"
Buffy nodded her head vigorously.
"Yes, that is what I am saying..." Buffy winced as she shifted
her balance, reminding her that her knee was indeed not functioning to
its full potential.
"Buffy?" Giles asked concernedly as he looked at Buffy's pained
face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah...I just hit my knee again," Buffy responded.
"I'll wrap it for you," Willow offered. "If Giles has any bandages-"
"Just a moment," Giles said as he walked over to the circulation
counter and brought out a small first aid kit.
Buffy hobbled over to the counter and jumped on to it carefully
so that her legs swung over it. Willow followed her and grabbed the ace
bandage that Giles held out to her. Buffy rolled up her pant leg and let
her best friend do her nursing abilities.
"Thanks Will," Buffy said softly as she watched her friend
bandage her knee.
"Your welcome," Willow responded.
"Now about this police officer," Giles said, as he fished through
the first aid kit for some pain killers. "Was she-"
"She was definitely one of the Taraka gang Giles and way gun
happy," Buffy interrupted, staring at her Watcher, the humor gone in her
voice.
"This...um...Oz chap, he's alright?" Giles then asked Willow.
"The paramedics said that it was only a scrape," Willow said,
sounding relieved. "Thank goodness."
The library doors swung open again, this time to reveal a very
haggard, disgusted and unhappy Cordelia Chase followed by Xander.
Buffy watched Kendra tense and begin to stride towards her
friends out of the corner of her eye.
"Down girl!" Buffy ordered the other Slayer, pointing her to stay put.
"Who sponsored career day today, the British Soccer Fan
Association?" Xander asked in a feeble attempt at conversation.
Buffy looked at Giles. *You explain it!* she shot at him silently.
"We had a rather violent visit from the Order of Taraka!" Giles
explained, stalking out from behind the counetr and towards the stacks
and all the infinite wisdom and doom the books in it held.
Beside Buffy, Cordelia squirmed. *Maybe she just saw someone with
the same...wet outfit?* Buffy thought hopefully. *She *so* did not need
more bad news.*
"You wanna talk Order of Taraka?" Xander responded. "We just met
the King Freak of the..." Xander's gaze reached Kendra's figure and his
eyes widened appreciatively, "hello?!"
"Oh forgive me," Giles said, gesturing toward Kendra, whose head was
currently bowed. "Xander. Cordelia. This is Kendra. It's rather complicated,
but she's also a Slayer."
"Hi. Nice to meet you," Cordelia said drly as she stalked over to
the study desk near Glies and sat down.
Buffy noticed that Cordelia's clothes looked damp when she
walked by her. *I'm not even going to ask*, Buffy thought to herself quickly.
"A Slayer huh?" Xander said to Kendra. He then turned to Buffy
and looked at her, his eyebrows raised in amusement. "I knew this 'I'm
the only one. I'm the only one' thing was just an attention getter."
Buffy tiredly rolled her eyes and winced in agony as she jumped
off the counter.
"Just say hello Xander," Buffy told him, forcing pleasantless in
her tone. Buffy and Willow then walked over to the study desk where Giles
had piled a bunch of tomes, journals and books on top.
"Welcome!" Buffy heard Xander tell Kendra. "So, you're a Slayer
huh? I like that in a woman," he finished as he looked at Kendra witha
big smile that was all charm.
"I hope...uh, thank you...I mean, sir, um...I will be of
service..." Kendra muttered, refusing to look at Xander, her hands
clenched nervously behind her back.
Buffy looked at the other Slayer curiously. *Ah, percepto-girl is
worse than Will around guys. Weird. She must not get out much*
Xander looked at Buffy, a confused expression on his face that
clearly said 'Huh?!'. Buffy shrugged slightly. *I don't know what's wrong
with her. Don't look at me!* she shot back at him silently.
Xander turned and faced Kendra again.
"Great. Good. It's good to be a giver," he pointed out as he
walked away from the suddenly-shy second Slayer and towards the desk.
"Xander," Giles asked him as Xander came to stand above Cordelia,
"this...uh...assassin you encountered, what di-did he look like?"
Cordelia suddenly fished a mealworm out of her hair and threw it
on the desk before Xander could answer and began to whimper loudly in
utter revulsion.
"Oh God, I'm showering," Cordelia cried as she leaped out of her
chair and pushed her way past Xander and Kendra.
"Like that!" Xander said, pointing to the book on which the
larvae was squirming.
Buffy shuddered in disgust. *Eww!! Ick factor!!* She actually
felt sorry for Cordy at the moment. A feeling that would shortly pass.
She looked up at Xander and frowned confusedly.
"You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that," Buffy asked
her friend.
"No, but this dude was completely diferent than Praying Mantis
Lady," Xander retorted, shaking his head. "He was a man of bugs, not a
man who *was* a bug." He slammed the Bio book together, squashing the
remains of the assassin he and Cordelia had encountered.
"The im-important th-thing is that everyone's alright," Giles
said, gesturing for them to all calm down. "Still it's quite apparent
that we are under serious attack," he finished as he paced behind the
desk and took off his glasses. He looked troubled. *Not a good sign!*
thought Buffy.
"These Taraka are definitely serious," Buffy agreed. She turned
to look at Kendra. "Fortunately for me, so is Kendra." She held a silent
'thank you' in her eyes towards the other Slayer. Whether Kendra bothered
to acknowledge it was another story in itself.
"And I fear the worst is yet to come," Giles added, replacing his
glasses. "I-I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusillla's cure." he
returned his gaze to the tome in front of him and skimmed over it's pages
quickly. "The...uh...ritual requires the presence of her sire and it must
take place in a church on the night of the new moon."
It hit Buffy in a painful wave of realization. It was Angel. She
knew something hadn't been right when she had left Willy's bar. Buffy
took in a ragged breath and tried to supress the insistent worry and fear
that she held for her Angel.
"The new moon? But that is tonight," Buffy scarcely heard Kendra
say as Buffy turned away from her friends and looked up at the sun
streaming in through the window above her. *Oh God, please don't let
anything happen to Angel*, she pleaded for a second time that day.
"Exactly," Giles said, "and I-I'm sure that the assassins were
here to kill Buffy befoe she could put a stop to things."
Buffy whipped around and looked at Giles.
"They need Drusilla's sire. You mean the vamp that made her?"
Buffy asked her Watcher.
"Yes," he responded, as he walked closer to her. He looked at her
oddly as if she knew something that he did not.
Buffy recoiled and went pale.
"Buffy, what is it?" Willow asked her worriedly.
Buffy looked at the floor, trying to keep her emotions in check,
unwilling to admit that Angel was in the middle of all this trouble.
"Angel," Buffy stated simply, her voice strained. She stared at
Willow. "He's Drusilla's sire."
"Mmmmman, that guy got some major neck in his day," Xander
commented in amazement.
Willow smacked him hard and gave him a reprimanding look as she
shook her head.
Xander's comments were the least of Buffy's worries though.
"Will this ritual kill him?" Buffy said, turning to her Watcher.
"Yes. I'm afraid it will," he answered reluctantly, seeing the
silent plea that buffy held in her blue eyes.
Buffy blinked back the tears that were threatening to surface
and turned to stare at the books on the table.
"We *need* to find this church. We NEED to find where this ritual
is gonna take place," Buffy said with conviction as she leaned on the oak
desk and stared at the various pieces of literature.
"Agreed," Giles said above her as he began to thumb through a
journal on the table. "And wemust work quickly. We have five hours until
sundown," he finished, looking at his watch.
"Don't worry, Buffy. We'll save Angel," Willow assured Buffy.
"Angel?" Kendra asked in disbelief. "But our priority is to stop
Drusilla." She crossed her arms in front of her defiantly and looked at
everyone in turn.
Buffy could feel her temples pounding with supressed rage at Kendra.
"Angel's our friend," Xander shouted back, gesturing for her to
*not* even go in that direction, "except I don't like him."
"Look," Buffy hissed as she stalked over to Kendra and stared at
her challengingly. "You've got your priorities and I've got mine. Right
now they mesh."
Kendra met her insistent gaze and sized her up.
"So are you going to help me? Or are you going to get out of my
way?!" Buffy shot a look of silent warning at the other girl that clearly
said 'Nothing is going to stop me from saving the guy I love. Even you!'
Kendra rolled her eyes in resignation. She had no other choice
but to listen to Buffy and work with her. *Believe me! You do *not* want
to work against me at this point* Buffy shot silently at the other Slayer.
"I'm with you," kendra told Buffy blandly.
"Good. Cause I've had it," Buffy said through clenched teeth.
"Spike is going down," she continued, walking back over to the desk and
standing between Willow and Giles. "You can attack me. You can send
assassins after me. That's fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend,"
she finished with a vengeance.
"Alright," Giles said to everyone. "Buffy, you and Kendra best
get ready to slay. There is no telling what kind of forces that Spike
could have." He gestured to the weapons in the utility cage and Buffy
began to walk over to them. "Xander, you and Cordelia can research the
assassins when shge returns and Willow you can help me research the
churches in Sunnydale," Giles finished delegating.
Everyone nodded their head in agreement and began working on
their task. Buffy grabbed a knife and a sharpener as well as a few pieces
of wood that needed to be made into stakes and walked towards Giles'
office. Kendra grabbed her own selection of weapons and followed behind her.
*There is no way that Spike is going to win this one* Buffy
thought angrily as she opened up the office door and stalked over to a
chair in the corner. *This time he was going down!*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
END OF PART FOURTEEN
FEEDBACK IS GOOD!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
I will finish this when I get back. I hope that you can all wait for such
a wonderful ending that I have cooked up for Angel and Buffy.
See ya in a few weeks.
Nerissa
--<--{(@
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 13:34:04 -0800
From: Lisa Rose <cybrpaws@wco.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Bite Christmas
A new Little Buffy song, for the Holidays:
- ------------------------------------------
Bite Christmas
(To the tune of "White Christmas")
I'm dreaming of a Bite Christmas
Just like the kind in Sunnydale
By a burning Yule log
With fresh red eggnog
From kids anemically pale
I'm feeding for this Bite Christmas
On every caroler in sight
May your days fade quickly to night
And may all your Christmases just bite
- ------------------------------------------
http://www.wco.com/~cybrpaws/lilbuffy.html
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 1997 13:51:47 -0800
From: Lisa Rose <cybrpaws@wco.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: The Thirteen Days of Undeath
Happy Holidays! Thought I'd share this little seasonal
ditty composed as an homage to Dru/Spike and the first
half of Season Two (I'll be going offline tonight for
just over a week). So enjoy the return of the Sun
(or Son, depending on your faith)!
Lisa
- -------------------------------
The Thirteen Days of Undeath
(To the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")
On My First Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
A Birdie as dead as can be
On My Second Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Third Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Fourth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Fifth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Sixth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Seventh Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Eighth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Ninth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Nine Watchers Boozing
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Tenth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Ten Mummies Mating
Nine Watchers Boozing
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Eleventh Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Eleven Ethans Baiting
Ten Mummies Mating
Nine Watchers Boozing
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Twelfth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Twelve Tedbots Twitching
Eleven Ethans Baiting
Ten Mummies Mating
Nine Watchers Boozing
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
On My Thirteenth Day of Undeath, Drusilla gave to me
Thirteen Chris's Stitching
Twelve Tedbots Twitching
Eleven Ethans Baiting
Ten Mummies Mating
Nine Watchers Boozing
Eight Eyghons Oozing
Seven Snakeboys Snacking
Six Halfbacks Hacking
Five Guys like Sting!
Four Water Burns
Three Worm Men
Two Naughty Dolls
And a Birdie as dead as can be
- ------------------------------------------
http://www.wco.com/~cybrpaws/lilbuffy.html
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 97 10:28:41 -0600
From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (6a/?) REVISED
Title: Pleasant Dreams
Author: Kimela
Email: kimela@writeme.com
Rating:PG -- PG13
Summary: So far: When Xander, Willow, and Giles were attacked in the
library (during episode When She Was Bad) the Anointed One keeps one
of the vampires from killing Xander, but places some sort of curse on
him as revenge for saving Buffy's life (Prophecy Girl). Xander has
become plagued by nightmares, and his perception of his "awake" life
skewed from reality. When he is hospitalized (for suspected drug
reaction) Willow stays with him and upon falling asleep joins him in
his nightmare. Fleeing from "vampires" they have holed up in the
hospital sanctuary.
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Since it has been a long time since they were posted...Parts
Prologue-Five are posted at http://www.geocities.com/~zandarah
Pleasant Dreams Part 6
"Another exciting night," Buffy announced sarcastically. She
scowled at Giles as she handed him her crossbow. "Guess it's a good
thing I wasn't waiting at the hospital with my best friends."
Giles groaned inwardly. It wasn't that he wanted Buffy to be
attacked by the undead. Unfortunately, the lack of action had
probably caused her to sit around worrying about her slayerettes,
likely getting more agitated as the night progressed. Now she was
glaring at him, angry that she had needlessly been denied the courtesy
of being able to stay with her friends when they needed her.
"Um...yes," he stammered. "Well...Have you heard anything about
Xander's...uh...condition?"
"Oh, yes! They sent me a telegram at the graveyard!" Buffy
rolled her eyes. For such an intelligent man, Giles sure could be
dense.
"What? Oh...right. Well, I'm sure we could call over there..."
"Nah. I'm heading there now. I told Willow I would come back as
soon as the graveyard shift was over...It is over, right. No last
second prophecies before the sun rises?"
Giles shook his head. "No. I think it'd be a good idea to check
up on Mr. Harris and Ms. Rosenberg. We can stop by for a few moments,
but then you really should go home and get some sleep." Giles waited
for the Slayer's outburst at his suggestion. When it didn't come he
became slightly worried.
"What?" Buffy demanded, noting the Watcher's concern. "I'm a
little tired, okay? It was a long boring night. Not to mention it's
been a bit of a stressful day." Her expression softened a bit. "I
just want to make sure that they're okay. I won't be able to rest
until I know for sure."
Giles nodded sympathetically. "Of course. Just let me-" he
stopped as Buffy sighed impatiently. "No...Let's go. I can come back
after..." He picked up his keys and hurried after her.
---
Xander's room was empty. This was not the reassurance Buffy was
anticipating. Her first thought was that he had been released, but
then she noticed Willow's abandoned school bag. In addition, the room
looked as though it had been vacated recently. And quickly, Buffy
realized apprehensively. She noted that the IV line was dangling
loose. A small puddle of fluid had formed on the floor around the
needle.
"Let's go ask at the desk," Giles proposed, observing Buffy's
uneasiness. He had barely gotten the words out when Buffy pushed past
him, hurrying toward the nurse's station. He followed her, silently
praying for the news to be good. He dreaded the day that anything
happened to any of the teenagers that he watched over. On a
professional level, it would be devastating to the Slayer-possibly to
the point of rendering her ineffective. On a more personal level, he
had grown quite fond of them. They amazed him with their loyalty and
their bravery. The slayer put her life on the line because it was her
calling. They did it because of their devotion to each other and to
Buffy. He had to admit, he'd never had friends quite like them.
"Where is Xander Harris?" Buffy was interrogating one of the
orderlies as Giles approached.
The aide looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid we don't know. There
was a bit of...an incident," he replied.
"An incident," Buffy repeated rudely. "Just what-"
"Perhaps you could elaborate," Giles cut in, stepping between the
Slayer and the attendant. "His room appears to be empty."
"About an hour ago...He and the girl he was with...um...escaped."
Giles raised his eyebrows. "Escaped, you say?"
"They haven't left the hospital," the orderly assured them. "We
have security cameras at the entrances so we know they're still here.
We just don't know where exactly they are. They kind of...freaked out
on us."
Giles closed his eyes, almost afraid to ask. "Freaked out?"
The assistant proceeded to recount a tale of Willow and Xander
attacking him, a security guard and a second night attendant. "We
almost had them, but then he bit me!" the aide elaborated. "And the
girl! She actually tried to stab Stephens in the heart-with a pencil!
Security is still looking for them."
Buffy and Giles exchanged glances. "So, Willow's hallucinating
now, too?" she groaned. "Do the doctors know what's causing this
yet?"
The attendant snorted. "I'd bet on dr-"
"Don't even go there," Buffy warned, her eyes flaring.
"Thank you for your help," Giles acknowledged, steering Buffy
away from the orderly before she did something they would all regret.
He led her back into Xander's room, closing the door for some privacy.
Buffy began to pace, nervously. "If I were hiding out here,
where would I be?" she wondered aloud.
Giles sat in the visitor's chair, pondering the strange behavior
exhibited by the slayerettes. The orderly said that Willow had tried
to stab someone in the heart. Could it be that the girl perceived the
poor man as a vampire? If that were the case..."I would hide in the
rectory."
Buffy paused from her pacing to give Giles a confused look. "And
that would be..."
"Most hospitals have a sanctuary where family and friends can go
to pray for their loved ones. I am guessing that Ms. Rosenberg
believed that she was fleeing from vampires. She did try to stake
one, after all," Giles explained patiently.
"Well, let's go. We have to find them before they do
anything...else." Buffy was out of the room before Giles could even
get to his feet. He could hear her loudly asking the orderly where
the "rectuary" was. He rolled his eyes and hurried out to translate.
--
The door to the hospital chapel was barricaded shut from the
inside. For an average person, this would have proven to be a
problem. Fortunately, Buffy was not average. While Giles stood
watch, she forced the door open, pushing the pews that had blocked it
out of the way. Giles was amazed that she managed this feat without
attracting unwanted attention. He was even more astonished when they
entered the rectory and found Willow and Xander still asleep.
Teenagers could sleep through the damnedest things...
"This is definitely a Kodak moment," Buffy cooed, observing the way
Xander's arms were wrapped protectively around Willow, who was pressed
snugly against him. She knelt down next to the sleeping pair, but
paused before attempting to waken them. "What if they're
still...hallucinatory?" she questioned Giles as quietly as possible.
"I don't want to have to fight them."
Willow's eyes fluttered open. She eyed Buffy groggily. "Buffy?
What're you doing in my...I was having the strangest..." Her eyes
widened and she blushed as she became aware of the fact that she was
not at home in bed, and she was most definitely not alone. She
relaxed only slightly when she realized that she was nestled against
Xander. "Where am I? What happened?" she asked, her mind reeling.
She reached up to brush her hair out of her face and was astounded to
find that there was inexplicably a handcuff attached to her wrist.
She dimly recalled being in a cave and having a vampire...but she
wasn't in a cave-she was in a...church? She remembered the cave
having a crucifix on the wall, and there was still a crucifix. If she
wasn't in a cave then-her mind made a few mental leaps-maybe that
wasn't a vampire! "Oh my. What did I do?"
"Don't worry about that, now," Buffy replied curtly. "The main
thing is that you guys are okay...right? You know where you are? You
recognize me? You don't want to stab me with a pencil or anything?"
Willow cringed. "I didn't, um, hurt anyone...did I?"
"Nothing that won't heal. But you do have several security
guards searching the hospital for you two. We're going to have to get
you guys out of here or you'll have a lot of explaining to do."
Willow looked over her shoulder at Xander, who was still asleep.
"Is he okay to move?"
Buffy frowned, and glanced back at Giles, hoping he would know
how to answer. "Willow, you two attacked hospital personnel." The
Watcher knelt down next to the slayerettes, keeping a close eye on
Xander, but speaking to Willow. "My guess is that you thought you
were fighting vampires. That is why you tried to, um, stake one of
them. Am I correct?"
"Three of them," Willow acknowledged. "They attacked us as we
were trying to get out of the, uh, the cave."
"You thought you were in a cave?" Buffy raised her eyebrows.
"You do know that you are in the hospital now, right?"
Willow nodded. She recounted everything she could remember
starting with falling asleep in the hospital room and ending with when
they woke her in the chapel.
Giles frowned as he listened to Willow's tale. "It is quite odd
that you and Mr. Harris shared the same hallucination. There is no
logical explanation for that..."
"So what do we do now? Should we wake Xander?" Buffy queried.
"If Willow's okay now, maybe he is, too?"
"Perhaps," the Watcher sounded skeptical. "From what you told me
about his, uh, earlier behavior I would gather that he has slept and
awakened several times since these hallucinations began. We have no
reason to believe that waking him up again will make them go away."
"But why did Willow have them? And why is she okay now?"
Giles gave the Slayer a grim look. "I really don't know. I'll
go back to the library, do some digging."
"And in the meantime, what do we do about these two? We have to
get Willow out of here. Security won't exactly buy the `I thought you
were a bloodsucking fiend' story. If they catch up to Willow she may
be in a lot of trouble. We can get Xander back to his room and--"
"No. We have to stick together," Willow cut in. Buffy glanced
at her curiously. Willow smiled faintly. "We're kind of attached."
She indicated the handcuff that was fastened to her wrist.
"Well, I guess that cinches that," Buffy quipped. "So...do we
wake him?" She gazed at Giles questioningly.
"Not just yet," Giles replied. "We have to come up with a way to
get them past the security cameras without arousing suspicion. I
don't think they'll look too kindly on us abducting a patient. You
two stay here. I'm going to...check on some things."
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 97 10:30:04 -0600
From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: pleasant dreams (6b/?) revised
Title: Pleasant Dreams
Author: Kimela
Email: kimela@writeme.com
Rating:PG -- PG13
Summary: So far: When Xander, Willow, and Giles were attacked in the
library (during episode When She Was Bad) the Anointed One keeps one
of the vampires from killing Xander, but places some sort of curse on
him as revenge for saving Buffy's life (Prophecy Girl). Xander has
become plagued by nightmares, and his perception of his "awake" life
skewed from reality. When he is hospitalized (for suspected drug
reaction) Willow stays with him and upon falling asleep joins him in
his nightmare. Fleeing from "vampires" they have holed up in the
hospital sanctuary.
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Since it has been a long time since they were posted...Parts
Prologue-Five are posted at http://www.geocities.com/~zandarah
Pleasant Dreams Part 6 (cont.)
It took most of Buffy's self control not to laugh when Giles
appeared, nearly half an hour later, wearing the hospital's house
cleaning uniform. He looked so...unGileslike. There was not an ounce
of tweed to be seen. "This is a new look for you," she commented. "I
must say that you look good in polyester."
Giles glared at her. "The only way we'll get them out is through
the loading dock. All the other exits have cameras. Only hospital
employees are allowed access to that entrance, so you'll have to, uh,
ride in this." Giles pulled a large laundry cart into the chapel.
"I think I'll leave that to you guys. I think stuffing three of
us in there would be a little difficult, and I can still walk out the
front door. I'll get the car and meet you around back."
Giles reached into the laundry bin and pulled out his tweed
jacket. "The keys are in the pocket," he informed her as he handed it
to her. "Now, let's see if we can get Mr. Harris into this cart
without disturbing his repose."
"His what?"
"Sleep," Willow interpreted as she gingerly extracted herself
from Xander's hold. Giles and Buffy cautiously lifted Xander, waited
for her to climb into the bin, then delicately set him down beside
her. There was something about the plan that disturbed her, but she
couldn't put her finger on what bothered her, so she kept quiet and
allowed herself to be buried in towels and bedsheets.
"I'll meet you guys around the back. Be careful."
--
Giles did not see the flaw in his escape plan until it was too
late.
"Where are you going with that cart?" a voice called out from
behind him. He turned to see a security guard coming toward him.
"Oh, hello, there. I'm just taking this down to the laundry,"
Giles said matter-of-factly.
"You must be new here," the guard determined. "The chute is that
way."
The Watcher's mind raced. "Er, yes. This is my first...I was
just going to take it down in the elevator."
The guard smiled at him. "Welcome aboard. It's much faster to
dump it down and take the stairs. I'll show you."
Giles tried to think of a good reason to protest, but he could not
think of anything that would be even remotely convincing.
Reluctantly, he followed the guard to the laundry chute. "Oh, Willow,
forgive me," he murmured as he opened the trap door.
"Here, let me help," the guard offered, grabbing hold of the
cart. "Geez, this thing is heavier than I would have thought!"
Willow held her breath as she felt the cart being lifted and
tipped. There was no way that Xander would sleep through being
dropped a floor. What if he saw her and thought that she was a demon
again? She didn't want to fight him. How could she possibly keep him
from waking and seeing her? There was no way that she could hide from
him-they were chained together for goodness sakes! This was going to
be a disaster...She felt herself starting to slide out of the bin.
She grabbed hold of Xander and together they tumbled into the chute.
The drop wasn't as bad as Willow expected it to be. It was over
in a matter of seconds, and the landing was unexpectedly soft.
Fortunately, the hospital staff seemed to be behind in its laundering.
A split second later, the answer to her visibility problem became
apparent-they were quickly buried in the linen and sheets that Giles
had collected. She heard a muffled call for help coming from Xander
and her pulse quickened. It would only be a matter of moments before
he became alert enough to realize that he could get out on his own.
She had to stall him. "Uh...Keep still! We'll be okay," she tried to
assure him, keep him calm. She felt his hand squeeze hers in
response. "Are you okay?"
"I think so...What happened?"
"Long story. Just hang tight, I'll get you out." She released
her hold on his hand and carefully extracted herself from the laundry
pile. She had to think quickly. How was she going to convince Xander
not to look at her? She could cover herself with a sheet, but how
would she possibly explain that? Even if she covered herself what
would keep him from freaking out when he saw Giles or Buffy? An idea
began to formulate. Of course, it was all going to rely on Xander
trusting her completely...which in his state might be kind of a bad
thing to count on...especially if he managed to catch site of her.
First thing first, she had to disguise herself. She grabbed one of
the bedsheets and wrapped herself in it, creating a makeshift cloak.
That accomplished, she began to pull the laundry off of Xander.
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 97 11:23:26 -0600
From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (7/?)
Title: Pleasant Dreams
Author: Kimela
Email: kimela@writeme.com
Rating:PG -- PG13
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Parts Prologue-Six are posted at http://www.geocities.com/~zandarah
Pleasant Dreams Part 7
In his dream, Xander was floating. He couldn't see her through the
thick clouds, but he knew that Willow was with him. They were, after
all, stuck together. For the first time in what seemed like days, he
was truly relaxed, totally at peace. The coldness that had
encompassed him was blessedly gone, replaced by a serene warmth that
he had not felt in a long time. A part of him was aware that he was
dreaming--he remembered falling asleep with Willow in the cave--but it
didn't matter. Anything was better than dealing with the hell he had
been put through in the past few days...Somewhere in the distance he
thought he heard voices, but they didn't sound particularly
threatening, so he decided not to worry about them. He needed this
rest, needed the chance to recuperate and gather his strength. The
battle was far from over...But now wasn't the time to worry about
that.
Or perhaps, it was, he realized as the clouds suddenly dissipated and
the sky turned a deathly black. His eyes flew open as he felt
Willow's hand grasp his tightly, waking him. His first observation
was that they were no longer on the cave floor. Instead they
were...falling! He tried to scream, but his voice failed him. His
free arm flailed, trying to find something to grasp onto, to stop them
from falling.
To Xander's astonishment, they landed a moment later. It wasn't the
hard landing he had anticipated, but rather it was as if he had belly
flopped on a giant mattress...no it was more like...quicksand? No,
that wasn't quite right, either. But, he was sinking...no, he
realized abruptly. He was being buried. "Help!" he cried out, alarm
rising in him. The sound was muffled by the substance that was
pelting down on his back. He struggled to keep his panic under
control.
"Keep still," he heard Willow's voice instruct him. "We'll be okay."
He could hear the strain in her voice and gave her hand a squeeze to
reassure her. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," he answered, confused by his new surroundings. The last
thing he remembered was falling asleep. "What happened?"
"Long story," she replied. "Just hang tight, I'll get you out." She
withdrew her hand from his and he could hear her as she dug her way
out of the...pit?...and after a minute he could feel the load on his
back lessening as she dug toward him. As soon as he felt as though he
could get up on his own, he started to move. "Wait!" Willow stopped
him from standing up completely.
Xander tensed, noticing for the first time a hint of threat in her
voice. "What's wrong?" He started to spin toward her catching sight
only of a billowing white gown. The figure in the gown quickly dodged
out of his line of sight, moving behind him again. "Willow?" What
was going on?
"Please, just trust me. I need you to close your eyes."
"Ooookaaaay," he drawled. "I don't get it, but..." He closed his
eyes, but remained apprehensive about the request. Why would she need
him to close his eyes? And why did she suddenly seem so cold? It
reminded him of his first encounter with the demon, but...that just
wasn't impossible. This was his Willow--they were still chained
together. So what was she up to? His answer came a moment later as
she wrapped some sort of cloth around his head, blindfolding him.
"Kinky," he quipped...old habits die hard. "Willow, not that I'm not
a little-"
"Willow?" Xander stopped as heard a familiar voice calling from the
distance. "Willow are you down here?"
"Giles?" Xander tried to turn toward the voice, but Willow stopped
him.
"Wait a second. Please trust me on this!" She sounded so desperate
that he couldn't help but comply. He allowed her to tie on the
blindfold.
"Willow, are you all right? Xander?" Giles sounded much closer this
time. There was something odd about his voice, but Xander couldn't
quite place it.
"We're over here, G-Man!" Xander called.
"How many times have I asked you never to call me that?" the
librarian's voice growled in his ear a moment later. Surprised, he
stumbled back, toppling over and pulling Willow with him. "Oh,
terribly sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you."
Xander stifled a scream as he felt a cold bony hand grasp his arm and
haul him to his feet. He wasn't going to let this thing get the
better of him; he refused to let it know that it scared him. "Willow
stay back!" he ordered, pushing his best friend behind him. He
started to reach up to pull away his blindfold.
"Xander, don't! Don't look at it, it'll blind you!" Willow blurted
out, grabbing his hands. He marveled about how cold her fingers felt
clasped on his wrists. She couldn't be a demon...she just couldn't!
His mind wouldn't allow it; he had to trust her. Besides, if she was
right...just the idea of being eternally in darkness made him shudder.
He allowed her to lower his arms. "Just be very very quiet and he
won't know where you are." It almost seemed like she was talking to
someone beyond him, but it was good advice, so he followed it.
Obediently, he let her lead him. Every once in a while he thought he
heard someone, or something, creeping along behind him, but whatever
it was made no move to attack. "We're almost there," she announced,
although to Xander it sounded more like a question than a statement.
"Is Buffy...?"
"Is Buffy what?" Xander prompted.
"Oh nothing, just thinking aloud."
Xander heard the sound of a door being opened and was hit by a
freezing blast of air. Involuntarily he began to shiver, and he
wrapped his arms around himself, trying to warm back up. "Jeez, Will,
where are you taking me? The International House if Ice?"
"Ice?" Giles' voice ridiculed from directly behind Xander causing him
to jump. He felt one large hand clasp his shoulder and a second
scrape across his forehead. "The fever is worse," it teased. "We
must get him-" It was silenced by a hiss coming from Willow's
direction.
Xander's heart sank as he finally began to understand that the thing
he was chained to was no longer Willow...and she was quite possibly
leading him further into his personal hell. It was quite possibly the
most devastating realization he had ever made. He had lost
Willow...his best friend...gone. "Oh, Willow, no," he murmured, his
voice choked with dread. It had been bad enough having to stake
Jesse, and he didn't think he had it in him to ever kill Willow...
No, he reminded himself. Not Willow...the demon that killed her.
It didn't really lessen the pain, but it did replenish the rage that
allowed him to fight. He whirled on the Giles-Demon and with a bellow
of fury he pounced.
"No, Xander, don't!" the Willow-demon cried. He felt her cold hands
grab him around the waist and try to pull him back. "Giles, get
Buffy!"
"I'm here," the Slayer's voice announced.
Buffy? Xander froze, stunned by the implication. Oh, God, she
couldn't be a demon, too...could she? If so, he didn't stand a
chance. He was going to die...but not without a fight. He reached up
and yanked the blindfold away from his eyes, preparing to battle his
former friends unhindered. He blinked, unexpectedly confronted with a
new complication. It couldn't be! He blinked again, hoping that he
was mistaken. Unfortunately, he wasn't--even without the blindfold,
he couldn't see! It was almost as if the demons could sense his fears
and were turning them into reality...his mind halted, absorbing that
idea. If that were the case, he was royally screwed. He didn't stand
a chance against them. He was going to have to shut down; if he
didn't respond to anything, they couldn't find anything new to torture
him with. They had already hit him where it hurt the most--turning
his friends from him--and in his mind, he had nothing left to lose.
He willed his mind to go blank as the demons surrounded him. He could
hear their voices, but did not listen to the words as they grew
fainter and fainter, being pushed farther from his consciousness.
Momentarily he felt their claws digging into his flesh, but when he
refused to acknowledge the pain, it too faded from his perception.
Within a matter of minutes he managed to shut himself off completely,
retreating into the dark recesses of his tormented mind.
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 23:00:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Sonja Marie <whtrose@eskimo.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Song Parody - One Night On Hellmouth
Hi all,
I started writing this parody months ago, and could never get it done or
some of the lines to work out right, but Jennifer Ottesen sent me some
wonderful suggestions back in June and Lisa Vedeckis helped me tonight on
IRC.
Title: One Night On Hellmouth - Parody of "One Night In Bangkok"
Author: Main One: Sonja Marie, Helpers: Jennifer Ottesen and Lisa Vedeckis
Email: whtrose@eskimo.com
Feedback: If you have something to say, I'd love to hear it, bad or good.
Flames will be ignored, and "Hey I like this" posts on the list will
probably get you in trouble with Elaine and I (If you reply on BBETA)
Distribution: Hey if you want to put this on your site, way cool, I'm
thrilled and honoured, just let me know what site!
Summary/Background: The Song is a parody of "One Night In Bangkok" From
the Musical "Chess" in which The American played orignally by Murray Head
(Anthony Head's Older Brother) sings about playing chess in Bangkok.
Anthony also played the same role after Murray left the cast. It's the
perfect parody in a way since Tony played The American at one time and now
plays Giles, or as in this case - The Watcher.
Copyrights/Credits: The original song does not belong to me, but to Tim
Rice and that guy from ABBA (Bjorn something or other). The Watcher and
Buffy and Co. don't belong to me either, they belong to Joss Whedon and
Fox. No copyright infringements in both cases meant. Now on to the
song!:
The Watcher:
Sunnydale, Oridnary setting
And the city don't know that the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the horror world in a
Show with everything but a happy ending
Time flies -- doesn't seem a minute
Since the Science lab had the praying mantis in it
All Change -- don't you know that when you
Slay at this level there's no ordinary venue
It's the cemetary -- or the Bronze -- or the library -- or -- or this place!
Buffy and Co:
One night on Hellmouth and the world's your nightmare
The Bronze is kickin' but the drinks ain't free
You'll find a blood sucker in every darkened corner
And if you're lucky it's met a Romani
Buffy: I can feel an Angel sliding up to me
The Watcher:
One curse's is very like another
When your head's down over your books, brother
Buffy and Co:
It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity
To be slaying in the grave yard, not playing in the city
The Watcher:
Whaddya mean? Ya seen one ugly, undead, stinking vamp --
Vampires:
Good blood, warm and sweet
Set them up, we'll have good eats
The Watcher:
Get real! You're talking about my slayer
Whose every move's among the purest
She aims her kicks above the waistline, sunshine
Buffy and Co:
One night on Hellmouth makes a slayer humble
Not much between you and your destiny
One night on Hellmouth and the vampires tumble
Can't be to careful with a prophecy
Buffy: I can feel the evil all around me
The Watcher:
Bronze's gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of physical fitness
This grips me more than would a
Mouldy old volume or ancient scroll
And thank god I'm only watching the slay -- directing it
I don't see you vamps rating
The kind of moves I'm comtemplating
I'd let you in, I would invite you
But the stakes we use would not delight you
So you better go back to your tombs, your graveyeards, your catacombs
Buffy & Co:
One night in Hellmouth and the world's your nightmare
The Bronze is kickin' but the drinks ain't free
You'll find a vamp in every darkned corner
A little blood and your soul's history
Buffy: I can feel an Angel sliding up to me
Buffy and Co:
One night on Hellmouth makes a slayer humble
Not much between you and your destiny
One night on Hellmouth and the vampires tumble
Can't be to careful with a prophecy
Buffy: I can feel the evil all around me
Finis
PS. I'm going to send it to Anthony :D
Sonja Marie - The White Rose @--'->-- http://www.eskimo.com/~whtrose/sonja.html
Paul Wylie Fan Pages - http://www.eskimo.com/~whtrose/pwylie/pwylie.html
Owner of the Jeff Fahey, Paul Wylie, Anthony S. Head, & Buffy-Beta Lists
Pres. of Giles' Appreciation Society Panters - GASP!- Keeper of Coats & Ties
Anthony Stewart Head (Giles-BTVS) About What Fans Sent Him in the Mail:
"Fair amount of lingerie, yeah, all of which I tried, none of which fitted"
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 02:01:03 -0800 (PST)
From: krissy <teenybopper@rocketmail.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: writing a slayer handbook
hi.. i'm krissy and i'm thinking of writing a
slayer's handbook... i have a rough gauge of what to
put in.. do you think i could get help on this?
krissy
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 14:35:34 EST
From: RitaLance9 <RitaLance9@aol.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
TITLE: Part of That World
AUTHOR: Leila
EMAIL ADDY: RitaLance9@aol.com
WEB SITE: http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/6358
FEEDBACK: Yes, please. All constructive criticisms are appreciated.
SPOILER WARNING: Requires general Buffy knowledge...no particular episode.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy and Co. belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, and Fox. Don't sue.
I'm 16. My mother still gives me lunch money.
DISTRIBUTION: I would love to have this posted somewhere, please just let me
know if you are going to put it up so that I can visit the site and gush ;-)
RATING: 100% Rated G, absolutely no bad parts...unless my proof readers
sneaked some in!
SUMMARY: It's pretty darn short! Saying anything would be too much. Hope you
enjoy!
Part of That World
To anyone who didn't know any better, Buffy Summers would seem like a normal
American teenage girl. Buffy sat on her bed, wearing a large t-shirt and
baggy sweat pants. Positioned as she was, and having no makeup on her face,
Buffy looked almost two years younger than her sixteen years. Perhaps this
retreat to her childhood was intentional. On this night, her CD player, which
usually played the music of such diverse, contemporary music groups as Sugar
Ray and Bush was now playing the soundtrack to her favorite movie, The Little
Mermaid. Buffy closed her eyes and leaned back on the bed, as Ariel's sweet
voice filled her room.
"Up where they walk,
Up where they run,
Up where they stay all day in the sun.
Wanderin' free,
Wish I could be
Part of that world."
The song came to an end, but Buffy was so caught up that she failed to see the
figure perched on the roof outside of her second story window, listening to
the song as intently as she, disturbing the stillness only to wipe away a tear
from his eye.
Fini! Told you that it was short!
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 16:14:50 EST
From: Bryce2000 <Bryce2000@aol.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy
unsubscribe buffy
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 11:20:34 EST
From: Carriedel <Carriedel@aol.com>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
That was really good, you are right it was short, but still good.
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 14:05:46 -0800
From: lisewilliams <lisewilliams@geocities.com>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila
Leila
Very sweet story! I liked it.
Lise
PS: By the way, I've got a few questions to those who post to this list
regularly. I'm a newbie here *g*, so I'm not so sure how this list
works. Do you guys post anything (fitting into the guidelines of
course)..... can people archive this stuff if they ask the author, or is
it strictly to be archived somewhere else.... are you picky about who
posts.....etc.
Please don't flay me for posting this bit to the list itself. I'm just
hoping to get some feedback from 'regulars', so to speak. Don't drum me
out!
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 11:22:16 EST
From: Carriedel <Carriedel@aol.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: New Comer
Hi! I just subscribe to this and I am not really sure how it works. I got
one fic in my mail already. Is that how it works? People just send it and it
goes to everyone on the list? I would be most appreciative if someone would
fill me in if they get a chance. Thank you!
Carrie
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 20:34:58 -0800
From: John & Barbie <tixylix@netcomuk.co.uk>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: New Comer
Carriedel wrote:
>
> Hi! I just subscribe to this and I am not really sure how it works. I got
> one fic in my mail already. Is that how it works? People just send it and it
> goes to everyone on the list? I would be most appreciative if someone would
> fill me in if they get a chance. Thank you!
> Carrie
>
> -Dear Carrie,
HI!, Welcome to the wonderful world of Fan Fic.
yep, get ready for a ton of Buffy Fic. People write, post it, and it
gets sent to everyone on the list...that includes YOU!. :+]
John P.
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 13:28:43 PST
From: "Katie Bischoff" <ktnb@hotmail.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Brutal Youth (1/6)
By IndyStokes@aol.com
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox Inc, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'Beautiful teeth make beautiful people.'
Xander read the words of the poster over and over again, trying to lose
himself in the reading. His knuckles were ghost white, and he couldn't
breathe. In the past three months he had battled vampires, been
possessed by a hyena, and fallen in love with a giant insect, but
nothing could compare with the sheer terror he was endearing at the
moment. He closed his eyes and hoped that soon this terrifying ordeal
would be over.
"All done!" The dentist chirped. He snapped of the white latex gloves
and smiled. "Now, wasn't that easy?!"
"Faw ou, maube." Xander muttered. The Novocain in his mouth numbed his
entire face. Truthfully he hadn't felt anything, but the whole idea of a
guy drilling your teeth didn't appeal to him much.
"Oh, it just one filling. By the time the Novocain wears off you won't
feel anything. Now, all you have do is take better care of your teeth,
and you'll never have to do this again. Remember beautiful teeth
(poor fool)
make beautiful people."
"Fat di ou all me?" Xander asked.
"I didn't call you anything, Mr. Harris. Now if you'll excuse me, I
have other patients." The dentist stood up, obviously offended by
Xander's question, and walked out of the room.
"Forry." Xander said sheepishly, but the dentist had already left. He
could have sworn he had heard the dentist say "poor fool". Oh well, he
figured. All he cared about now, was getting some Aspirin to dull the
headache he had just gotten.
*****************
Buffy felt her flesh crawl at she walked through the dark cavern. She
felt her palms sweat all over the wooden stake she was carrying. She
proceeded through the dark corridor, looking for her target. As she
ventured further, Buffy realized she was not where she had thought she
was. She was back in the high school library, the last place she
expected to be. She walked around the once familiar room, now a puzzling
labyrinth. Suddenly, there was a scurrying sound behind her.
"Who's there?" Buffy called into the rows of books. "Giles?"
"No, I'm afraid your Watcher will not be joining us today." The voice
that answered was a familiar one. It was that of the Master, lord of the
vampires. She had only heard his voice in her dreams, but still she knew
it well enough to fear it. "It's just you and me tonight, my dear."
Buffy held up the stake and turned to face the Master. She soon saw
that the Master had grown to a towering height, standing above her and
laughing maniacally. "You poor girl!" he cackled. He extended one of his
giant hands and gripped Buffy raising her to meet his eye level.
"We will meet, soon. Very, very soon." He dropped Buffy, watching her
scream has she fell into a black abyss.
Buffy awoke in her bed clutching a stuffed bear. A thin layer of sweat
draped her young body. "I've gotta talk to Giles, or I'm never gonna
sleep again in my life." She muttered to herself. Buffy lay back in bed,
but sleep never claimed her that night.
***************************
"Have a nice day at school, honey." Ms. Summers said smiling.
"I'll be sure to tell you if anybody dies today." Buffy joked.
"I wish you wouldn't say that." Buffy hopped out the car and watched
her mother drive away. She knew how rough the past few weeks had been on
her, moving to a new neighborhood, being a single mom and trying to
balance her career and her daughter. It hadn't been an easy trick, but
Buffy thought her mom was doing fine. It had nearly scared the life out
of her when her mother had almost become the latest victim of the
growing number of vampires in Sunnydale. At first slaying the Master
just seemed like her responsibility, but
now her desire to kill him was fueled by a personal vendetta.
She walked to her locker, careful to ignore the stares of the other
students. Buffy knew that she had earned quite a reputation on campus,
but tried to pretend it didn't exist. Sometimes she wished she could
just be a "normal" teenager, but then she thought, "Where would the fun
be in THAT?"
"Hey." Willow, one her few friends in Sunnydale popped up next to her,
matching her speedy pace. "Be sure to be extra nice to Xander today, he
had his first filling yesterday." She brushed her long reddish hair out
of her eyes.
"Yowch!" Buffy commented as she opened her locker. 20-12-40...Damn, she
thought. If it were up to her she'd just tear the door off of the stupid
locker. "Never a pleasant experience."
"Stopping by the library?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to Giles alone.
Personal stuff." She pulled her Geometry book out of her locker.
'Actually', she thought, 'I'm probably cutting Geometry', and put the
book back.
"Oh. No problem. I'll tell Xander too."
"Thanks." Buffy zipped up her backpack.
"Umm," Willow said nervously. "Is it the nightmares again?"
Buffy was about to ask her how she knew that, but then remembered what
had happened a few weeks ago. A comatose boy had accidentally unleashed
all of the citizens of Sunnydale's darkest nightmares into reality. Her,
Willow, Xander, and Giles, were apparently the only people in Sunnydale
who had any recollection of the ordeal after it ended. During the
horrific experience, the
four of them had been subject to each other's inner fears, including
Buffy's phobia of being turned into a vampire. "Well, since you asked,
yes. If anyone else asks, no."
"Gotcha. No nightmares." Willow tried to smile, but could see that she
had accidentally hurt Buffy. The sound of the bell pierced through the
hallway.
"Gotta go, remember to be nice to Xander."
Buffy watched her scurry down the hall. She didn't mean to sound
hostile to Willow. She hadn't really had any friends when she first
started slaying, or at least any that knew her secret. 'Why do I always
hurt the people I care about?' she thought and drifted into the library.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 13:33:01 PST
From: "Katie Bischoff" <ktnb@hotmail.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (2/6)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'He lied.' Xander realized. The Novocain had worn off almost twelve
hours ago, and the pain in his mouth had yet to subside as the dentist
had promised. The throbbing had made it impossible to sleep, and the
noise outside of his room didn't help either.
All night he kept hearing loud snippets of conversations
(where's the dog)
(hungry now)
(blood, oh my god, so much blood), but every time he looked out
the window or out the door the voices had vanished, and there was
nothing there. His stereo hadn't helped drain out the sound no matter
how loud he had cranked the music.
Xander's eyes were completely bloodshot the next day in school, and be
it either the bottle of Advil he had downed or the lack of sleep, it was
definitely affecting his train of thought. He spent twenty minutes in
front of his locker trying to remember his combination. Later, he
realized it wasn't even his locker.
Now he was sitting in his desk looking into his backpack trying to
remember
exactly what class he was in. Only a few more weeks 'till summer, he
told
himself. Then he
was spending a few weeks as far away from the Hellmouth as possible.
"Hey, you." He heard someone say. He didn't even turn his head,
figuring this
was
another one of the voices. "Hello? Xander? It's me, Willow."
He spun around and saw the face of his best friend. "Oh, Willow, thank
god! I
thought you were imaginary!"
"Thanks." Willow said laughing. "That's the nicest thing you've ever
said to
me."
(He's cute even when he's crazy)
"What!?" Xander said, panicked. "What did you just say?"
"Xander, you need to get a grip. What's wrong with you?" She looked
concerned.
He blew out a long gust of air and ran his hands through his unusually
messy
black
hair. "Willow, I think I'm going crazy."
"Well, you'd better go crazy later. Class is starting." Sure enough,
Mr.
Mallory had
just walked through the door. He was the new biology teacher, after the
last
one had been
decapitated by a giant praying mantis.
Willow thought he was one of the nicest teachers in the school, after
Mr.
Giles, but
he wasn't really a teacher. Mr. Mallory was tall, with a thin goatee,
and a
aging sports
jacket he wore every day. Most male teachers just wore a shirt and tie,
but the
jacket and
bowtie gave Mr. Mallory the look of a college professor.
Xander, realizing what class he was in, dove into his backpack and
pulled out
his
biology binder. "Greetings, class." Mr. Mallory boomed as he entered the
room.
(Little maggots)
Xander snorted loudly and caught the attention of just about the entire
class.
They
all looked at him oddly, especially Willow. "Sorry." He commented.
'They didn't hear that?' he questioned. What was wrong with him?
"Can I ask you what's so funny, Mr. Harris?" Mr. Mallory said in his
loud,
deep
voice.
"Uh, I must have inhaled a bug or something." Nice....
"I see." Mr. Mallory responded.
(I'll kill you, Mr. Harris. I'll wring the life out of you from your
neck)
Xander faced drained of all color. Once again, the students reacted as
if they
hadn't
heard what he had. Was it possible that it was people's thoughts he was
hearing? It seemed
unlikely, but in a place where reality was just a variable, it also
seemed
possible.
"...a virus is, unlike many would believe, not a living thing." Mr.
Mallory
continued. "It is however, the simplest organism known. A virus like the
mumps
injects it's
DNA into a body cell, where it replicates itself and spreads throughout
the
body infecting
other cells. It is truly
(a beautiful)
a horrible thing."
Mr. Mallory began to look in Xander's general direction, with a curious
expression
on is face. Xander sat quietly in his seat trying to avoid detection.
"Mr.
Burrows," he said.
Xander turned to view the sleeping figure of Rusty Burrows, a junior
Xander
only
knew from his reputation as a complete junkie. Xander wouldn't have been
surprised if he
had OD'ed back there.
"Mr. Burrows," Mr. Mallory said, louder then he had before. Rusty
slowly
returned to consciousness, and smiled.
"Yeah?" He said in a gruff voice. The class chuckled slightly, but Mr.
Mallory
was
anything but amused.
"Don't you think it would be beneficiary for you to stay awake during
class?"
The
teacher said harshly.
"Good idea. I'll try to do that from now on." Rusty gave the teacher a
thumbs
up
and smiled again. Xander thought Mr. Mallory would just freak out on the
kid
right there,
but instead he looked rather calm.
"Thank you."
(Go ahead. Don't pay attention. You'll feel the fever soon. You all
will. All
of you
who took my daughter away from me. You'll all pay.)
Oh my God, Xander thought. He's completely insane.
"I don't get this, Gy." Buffy quipped. "You guys knew who I was, where
I was
going to be, what I was going to look like, but you have no idea about
anything
after
that?"
Giles looked up from the book he had been paging through, and adjusted
his
glasses. "Um, well, yes. A large number of the books of prophecy were
lost to
the
Watchers during the Middle Ages, and sadly even more when the move to
the New
World
came."
Buffy paced around the dimly light library that had become her "home
away from
home". She shuffled her feet anxiously. "Buffy," Giles asked, irritated.
"There
must be
some reason you came here."
Without missing a beat Buffy quickly answered, "I had a dream I was
fighting
the
Master."
Giles placed down the book and sighed. "I'm afraid that the time is
getting
closer
when you're going to have face the Master in combat. The nightmares are
only a
warning
system devised by the original Watchers to prepare the girls in their
sleep."
"You guys are total jerks sometimes. Look at these bags, Giles." She
pointed
to
her eyes. "I haven't had a decent nights sleep in weeks. Every time I
face him
in my
dreams, I'm just, just..." Buffy fluttered for a moment. "I'm helpless."
Giles put his hand over hers. "I can give you something that will help
you
sleep, if
you absolutely need it, but believe me, the dreams are making you
stronger."
"I don't know, Giles. It's just so frustrating." The two were
interrupted, but
the
entering of Willow and Xander. Xander had a wide grin across and his
arms
outspread in a
victorious manner.
"Have I got something for you guys!" Xander boomed. Willow quickly ran
ahead
of him, toward Buffy.
"I'm sorry," She said softly. "I told him you wanted to be alone."
Buffy
quickly
raised her hand, trying to calm the exasperated girl down.
"Welcome to Xander's Magic Happy Hour!" He said in a loud voice.
"Giles, my
man, I'd like you to think of a passage from one of your favorite
books."
"I don't understand." The Watcher responded.
(O brave new world that has such people in it)
"O, brave new world that has such people in it." Xander commented.
Willow looked at Giles anxiously, "Well, is he close?"
"No, he is exactly right. How the devil did you know that?" The
librarian shut
the
book he had been paging through and looked at the tall boy.
"The good news is....I have gained psychic powers." He dropped his
backpack on
the ground and took a bow.
There was brief moment of silence, which Buffy chose to break. "This
must be a
joke."
Xander laughed. "You wish. Oh, and before any speculation, wait till
you hear
how I got them."
"Your dental work." Giles interrupted.
"My dent....hey. How'd you know that?" He asked.
"Buffy told me." He pointed his finger at her, and she nodded her head
smiling.
Xander frowned and fell into a chair. "You take the fun out of
everything."
"Actually, it's not a fairly odd phenomenon." Giles continued "People
have
claimed to be able to pick up certain radio stations on metal plates in
their
head or braces.
It's never been, uh, proven scientifically, but I suppose it's feasible.
Reading thoughts is
new to me, though."
"Time to hit the books?" Xander asked jokingly.
"Time to hit the books." Giles sighed, and prepared to venture through
the
library
for information as he had done so often.
"Well, I'm glad to see you boys are having such an easy time with this,
but
I'm
not." Buffy snapped. "You can tell what all of us are thinking right
now?"
"Well, sort of. Oh , wait!" Xander held his hand to his head,
mockingly.
"Buffy, I
can't believe you. I don't even own a g-string!"
"Ha, ha. Now seriously, Swami."
"No, just fragments of thoughts. Which reminds me, the bad news is
coming. You
guys all know Mr. Mallory, the biology teacher?" Willow and Buffy
nodded.
"Yeah, well.
He's crazy. I mean, psycho killer crazy. I just sat through an entire
class
listening to him
plot the deaths of the entire class."
"Are you serious?" Willow asked. "He's such a nice guy though."
"I am dead serious. We've gotta check this guy out before he finally
snaps."
Xander snapped his fingers to correspond with the last word.
"Xander, I really doubt it. You probably just mis....thought-read him."
Buffy
didn't
like to doubt her friends, but Xander was easily excited.
"Fine, don't believe me! I'm telling you, right now Buffy, he's
planning
something.
He said he was getting revenge for what we did to his daughter, whatever
that
was. He
said 'we were all going to feel the fever'."
Giles walked out from one of the aisles. "I talked to Mr. Mallory, and
I
thought he
was a very nice fellow."
"I don't believe this!" Xander shouted. "Buffy says she thinks a dummy
is
alive and
you instantly assume she's right!"
"But I was." Buffy interrupted.
"Maybe Xander's right." Willow said softly, then instantly regretted it
as all
eyes
became focused on her. "I mean, the Hellmouth does weird things to
people
right?"
"Willow's right. We should check it out." Buffy looked at her watch.
"Whoops,
if
I'm late for gym again, Ms. Morgan will wig out." She and Willow left
headed to
the exit.
Xander stood still with his arms opened. "What do you mean WILLOW's
right? It
was my idea!"
"Hey, pass that on over here." Rusty took a drag off the toke and
escaped into
a
alternate reality, one where his teachers weren't bugging him and his
parents
weren't
yelling at him. "This is good shit,"
"I can't believe how stupid everyone is at this god damn school."
Madeline
snatched the joint out of his hand. She snorted and wiped the water from
her
eyes. "We
don't even have to leave school to trip face!"
The basement was dank and empty, the perfect place to go when you
didn't want
to get caught. Rusty and Madeline needed to come down there every once
and a
while,
but recently they had been avoiding it.
(If that stupid bitch hadn't gotten her ass kicked)
Rusty puffed on the joint and drifted again. "Did you hear that?"
Madeline
asked
him.
"I didn't hear anything." Rusty answered. "But I'm also pretty well
stoned."
"I think it came from back there." She pointed to a dark corner of the
room.
Rusty sighed and got up from the crate he had been sitting on. "Who's
there?"
he
shouted into the darkness. He walked, although it looked more like
staggering,
into the
corner of the basement. He turned to Madeline. "See babe, it was
nothing."
Suddenly he felt a sharp stinging sensation as a long hypodermic needle
entered the
back of his neck. "Uh, uh....," he stuttered. He saw Madeline, who was
more
confused
than scared at the situation.
"Feel the fever." His assailant whispered into his ear, then in one
with
motion he
removed the needle. Rusty fell onto the floor clutching his neck.
Madeline ran
over to his
body, screaming. By the time she looked up, the figure in the shadows
was
already gone.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 13:37:12 PST
From: "Katie Bischoff" <ktnb@hotmail.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (4/5)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
Note: This story takes place between "Invisible Girl" and "Prophecy
Girl"
The ambulance wheeled the two bodies away in a stretcher, blood seeping
through
the sheet covering the bodies. The orderlies wore thin paper masks, and
were
obviously
worried about catching whatever had killed the two students. Willow
glanced
around
nervously, afraid of all the commotion that had suddenly built up around
her.
After finding
Madeline, she was rushed into the nurses office and remained there. She
had
only seen
Buffy and Xander once, the two of them being pushed behind a yellow tape
barrier that
had been constructed at the end of the hallway.
She knew that both Madeline and Rusty Burrows were both dead, and if
it
really
was a disease that had killed them, she would be most likely to get it
next. A
woman
wearing what looked like and orange gas mask over her face and mouth
kneeled
down in
front of her, and identified herself as a doctor. "Winnifred," she
said.
"Willow," The girl corrected.
"Willow," The doctor continued. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine!" Willow ignored the headache and nausea she felt. "Can I go
now?" She
asked, knowing that the doctor's answer would not be 'yes'. Willow stood
up,
and in
seconds fell on top of the doctor, sweat dripping down her brow.
"I.....don't
feel so good."
Willow said weakly.
The doctor looked up at a man in the corner of the room wearing a full
yellow
body suit. "Let's get her to the hospital. Be sure to place a call into
the
CDC. I've never
seen anything like this." She handed the unconscious girl to the man and
he
carried her
out.
The principal of the school, the doctor forgot his name, walked into
the
office. He
was a short balding man, with large protruding ears that reminded her of
a
character on
'Star Trek'. "I'm getting ready to send the students home."
"Not yet, I'm afraid." The doctor sighed. "I've got to quarantine the
school
immediately, or risk spreading an isolated virus. Please keep them all
in their
homerooms
or something."
The principal wiped at his brow. "I never should have taken this job."
He left
the
room promptly. As the doctor looked at pictures of the victim's bodies,
she
thought the
same thing.
Xander and Buffy struggled their way through the crowd that had formed
in the
front of the school. Kids were straining for a glimpse of their dead
colleagues
as they
wheeled them to the ambulance. The two had finally managed to burst to
the
front of the
riot scene only to be pushed back by a rather burly man wearing a
surgical
mask. Buffy
noticed their were several of them trying to push students back into the
school.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked the man.
"Please just step back, Miss." He replied, as if he had said the line
hundreds
of
times already.
"WILLOW!" Xander screamed. Willow was lying on a stretcher, an IV tube
protruding from her right arm. Willow waved back weakly and then dropped
her
head in
exhaustion.
(I'm scared, Xander)
His last glance of her came when the EMT's carried her into the
ambulance.
Xander burst from the guard, running to the ambulance. Another man
grabbed him,
trying
to hold him back. "Let go of me!" Xander shouted. The man struck him
over the
back of
his neck, bringing him to his knees.
Buffy bolted to the fallen Xander, and looked at the helmeted guard.
She swung
her arm back and punched the guard square in the face, shattering the
plastic
on his mask.
(Oh my god), Xander heard the man think (I could be infected!)
The suppressed crowd of students cheered at Buffy's accomplishment.
"You
bitch!" The guard wheezed as two other large figures dragged Xander and
Buffy
away.
"I'm okay." Xander said to her, holding his hand on his neck. "What
happened
to
Willow?"
"I have no idea what's going on, Xander." She spoke seriously. "But
it's
scaring
the shit out of me."
Miss Calendar watched the nervous Giles fluster as he spoke, and loved
every
minute of it. She had been attracted to the tall British man since she
had
helped him cast a
demon out of the internet a few weeks ago. Giles had been one of the few
reasons she
continued her job at Sunnydale after two of her students were killed by
Moloch
the
Corrupter.
(Now that's a lie. You just couldn't get a job anywhere else)
"So, un, can you do it?" Giles finished. Miss Calendar realized she
hadn't
been
listening to the poor man and became embarrassed at the situation.
"Do what?" The computer teacher asked.
"Can you get me background information on one of the faculty members?"
Giles
said, frustrated.
"Yeah, sure." She quipped. "Who?" Giles opened his mouth to speak, but
was
interrupted by Buffy and Xander, who stormed into the library.
"Sometimes I hate this town!" Xander boomed. Buffy sped up and raced
toward
Giles.
"Giles, we've gotta do something. There's something going on, the
governments
involved, and Xander thinks it might be a virus!" Buffy sentence was so
slurred, Giles had
trouble comprehending the girl.
"Slow down, Buffy." Ms. Calendar said.
"There isn't time to slow down, lady." Xander spoke passionately.
"There's
some
sort of virus running around the school. Willow's got it, and it must be
highly
contagious,
because even the guards are scared pissless of it......what are you
doing
here?" He turned
to the computer teacher.
Giles took the opportunity to field the question. "I asked her to help
us find
background on Mr. Mallory. I, uh, think he may be involved somehow."
Upon
learning of
the task assigned to her, she turned to the computer mounted on the
library
table and
began clicking away on the keyboard.
"They've quarantined everyone to homerooms, but we managed to get out.
Xander, is there a homeroom in Mr. Mallory's classroom?" Buffy asked her
friend. He
nodded, and she continued. "Then I'm going to check it out. You guys
stay
here." Buffy
started to walk away, but Xander stopped her.
"No way, I'm coming." Xander clasped her elbow and looked into her
eyes.
"You're going to need someone who can help you get into that nutball's
mind.
And as of
now, I happen to be the resident psychic."
Buffy tried to object, but couldn't. She knew how much Xander cared
about
Willow, and would do anything to help her. "All right."
"You two need to be careful," Giles added. "This isn't some demon
you're
fighting, it's a real person. And Buffy, you may be the slayer, but
you're jut
as susceptible
to viruses as anyone else."
(What's a slayer?) Miss Calendar thought. Xander glanced at her and saw
she
was
busily typing away.
"Nice pep talk, coach." Buffy said and the two of them left the
library.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 13:38:40 PST
From: "Katie Bischoff" <ktnb@hotmail.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (3/6)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
Author's Note: This story takes place between "Invisible Girl" and
"Prophecy
Girl"
"How about him?" Willow pointed at a short boy wearing a blue hat.
Xander bit into his sandwich. "Um,......something about a math test."
He spoke
with his mouth full.
"That's incredible!" Willow said.
"How do we know you're right at all?" Buffy snapped. "He's probably
just
faking."
(I'm special too, you know)
"Whoah!" Xander shouted. "I just got a major fix on you! You, my dear
girl,"
He
pointed at Buffy, "Are 100 percent jealous of me. You thought you were
the one
with the
gift and now, you're not so special."
"Xander," Buffy bit into a carrot stick. "I was thinking nothing of the
sort.
Slayer's
honor."
"But," Xander said, dumbfounded. "I heard you think, 'I'm special
too'."
"Maybe, my dear boy," She taunted. "Are not half as good at reading
minds as
you
think you are! Which leads me to believe you wrong about, Mr. Mallory."
"Don't worry, Xander." Willow tried to comfort the boy. "It's a crowded
cafeteria.
It could have been anyone."
(But it was me)
"It was you?" Xander asked curiously.
"No!" Willow barked. "Of course not! I gotta go." She got up and ran
away from
the table.
Xander shook his head. "15 years I've known that girl, and I still
can't
figure her."
"I can tell you what's bothering her. I've been chosen to slay
vampires, and
now
you can read minds. She just feels ignored."
"It's times like this that I miss the good old days." Xander whined.
"You mean before I moved here, right?" Buffy said angrily.
"Uh-oh." Xander realized what he had just said and wished his newfound
gift
was
time travel rather than mind reading. "Buffy, I.....," He was
interrupted by
the entrance of
Giles, who immediately sat down at the table.
"I think I know what's happening to Xander." He said. Xander and Buffy
sat
silently, listening. "Everybody emits brain waves when they think,
although all
of them are
such an odd frequency that no one can hear them."
"So we're all walking radio stations, basically." Buffy offered her
insight.
"Man, my
analogies are good."
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was, ahem, interrupted," Giles
continued.
"Now
certain brain waves can be transmitted, possibly. For example, if you
spend all
day with a
depressed person, you're bound to get depressed too."
(Like I'm doing to all my friends)
Xander heard Buffy's thought, but decided to remain silent.
"Xander's metal filling has turned him into a giant brain wave
receptor, as it
should
happen. There are a few reported cases, but most of them get the object
removed, or,
ah....do something else."
"Like what?" He asked.
"Many of them joined circus side shows." After Giles said that, Buffy
began to
laugh so hard, she thought she felt a slight trickle of tears roll down
her
cheek.
"You know, nobody laughs at your problems." Xander commented.
"Didn't you hear? You don't have any problems." Buffy said, still
laughing.
"Most
circuses have dental plans."
Even Giles emitted a slight chuckle at that. "Fine, I'll schedule an
appointment with
my dentist." Xander caved in to pressure. Besides reading minds had just
lost
it's appeal.
(You can be so stupid sometimes, Willow)
She would have kicked her self in the halls, had she not been wearing a
skirt.
She
had just made an idiot of herself in front of her friends. When she
realized
Xander could
read her thought, she flipped out. The last thing she wanted was for
Xander to
realize how
she really felt about him.
She shuffled down the halls, not paying any real attention to the
direction
she was
walking in. There was a scraping sound at the door she had just walked
by, and
she
realized what door it was. The basement. The place where she had
witnessed her
worst
nightmare unfold in front of her eyes.
"Help....me.....," she heard from behind the door. She fiddled with the
knob
and
pulled it opened. A figure lurched onto the floor, dripping blood all
over
Willow's shoes.
The face was barely recognizable as Madeline Rowchek, a girl Willow knew
only
be her
reputation as a major junkie. Her eyes were wide open and blood red, her
flesh
specked
with hemorrhages, as if their were a pulpy mass trapped under her skin.
Thick,
syrupy,
blood oozed from her mouth, ears, and eyes. "Feel....the...fever....,"
she
wheezed at
Willow.
"Someone help me!" Willow shouted into the empty hall.
(Somebody help me)
Xander's carton of milk crashed onto the ground. "Willow's in trouble!"
He
said to
Buffy, a large puddle forming at his feet. The two sprung up from their
seats,
and ran out
of the cafeteria.
"Good afternoon, Rupert." Giles spun around, with his fifth cup of
coffee of
the
day in his right hand, and saw the tall figure of James Mallory.
"Same to you," Giles said, weakly smiling. He didn't wander much into
the
teacher's lounge, but Giles felt it was good to make interaction
occasionally
in order to
make sure people didn't suspect his true nature.
"Rough day," Mallory reached over for the coffee pot "Seems like
everyday
there
are just more and more students. Although, I guess statistically, that
isn't
true."
"Well," Giles replied. "I don't let it bother me."
"Easy for you to say. Those little buggers are afraid to even go in the
library." He
took a long sip from his mug. "Whatever you're doing, you gotta tell
me."
"Oh, the students aren't all bad here, I guess."
"Hah!" Mallory laughed. "Sometimes, Rupert, I worry about the future
generation.
They're a bunch of smart-mouth empty headed slackers. I mean, the ones
that
aren't killing
each other."
Giles gulped. He shuttered to think it, but what if Xander was right?
What if
there
was something mentally wrong with Mallory? "James, do you have any
children of
your
own?"
The man looked down into his cup of coffee as if looking for answers.
He
looked
at Giles, and said meekly, "I have a daughter."
At that point, a large woman Giles recognized as a German teacher,
barged into
the teachers lounge and shouted for someone to call an ambulance. Giles
ran for
the
phone, while Mallory slowly slipped away.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 00:29:12 EST
From: RitaLance9 <RitaLance9@aol.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed
Hi, I need beta readers for my latest project, a poem. It's nothing of epic
proportions, but it's still longer than my last story (which I still may redo
and make longer)...so anyway, I'm looking for about 4 people to reader for me,
but if more volunteer, i wouldn't mind.
Toodles,
Lei :-)
- -
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 17:08:29 -0500
From: Silver Maiden <silvermaiden@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed
RitaLance9 wrote:
>
> Hi, I need beta readers for my latest project, a poem. It's nothing of epic
> proportions, but it's still longer than my last story (which I still may redo
> and make longer)...so anyway, I'm looking for about 4 people to reader for me,
> but if more volunteer, i wouldn't mind.
>
> Toodles,
> Lei :-)
>
> -
I'd love to!! Really!
Liz
- -
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 15:46:37 -0600
From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/?
Title: Pleasant Dreams
Author: Kimela
Email: kimela@writeme.com
Rating:PG -- PG13
Summary: Why Xander's life was spared when the vampires abducted
Willow and Giles from the Sunnydale Library (during the episode When
She Was Bad)
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Since it has been a long time since they were posted...Parts
Prologue-Seven are posted at http://www.geocities.com/~zandarah
Pleasant Dreams Pt 8
Willow didn't like Xander's complete withdrawal. In her mind it
was far worse than when he had started to fight with Giles and
herself. To her, it signified him giving up. She didn't know how
they were ever going to reach him in his catatonic state. He needed
more help than they could give him; unfortunately, she didn't think
that doctors could even help him at this point. Besides, they
couldn't really go back to the hospital now-there were too many things
that she would have to answer for-attacking hospital personnel,
kidnapping a patient, theft of bedsheets...how was she ever going to
explain this to her parents...or his mom? She wondered if Anna had
been alerted to Xander's departure and the part that she had played in
it. Would Ms. Harris ever forgive her? Especially if Xander never
recovered-NO! She wouldn't even consider that possibility. Giles
would figure something out. He just had to.
Willow gazed down at Xander as he lay on the cot that Buffy had
dragged from the nurse's office. His eyes were wide open, but they
showed no sign of life.
"Do we know exactly when Mr. Harris began having
these...eh...dreams?" Giles asked, looking at Willow thoughtfully.
"Friday morning," Buffy answered before Willow even registered
that the librarian had spoken to her. "When he didn't show up at
school-"
"No," Willow cut in. "He may have been having them before that.
He had some sort of nightmare on Thursday night, when he was sleeping
at my house. I was able to wake him up from that one, though."
"So they may not be connected?" Giles concluded.
"Oh, they're connected, all right," a voice called from within
the stacks.
"Angel?" Buffy called, recognizing the voice immediately. A
moment later, the vampire appeared. "What are you doing here?" She
quickly stood to greet him.
Buffy's words were almost drowned out by Willow's eager query.
"What do you know about this? How do we fix it?"
Angel glanced wearily at Buffy and she noticed a glimmer of pain
in his eyes. He nodded slightly as he passed by her and continued to
move closer to Willow, who did not miss the silent exchange. A sick
feeling grew in the pit of her stomach as Angel drew nearer.
Angel stopped, directly in front of Willow and he looked down at
her, not quite meeting her eyes. "I overheard a
couple...acquaintances...talking about what happened," he started.
"One of them-Adrious-said that the Anointed put a curse on the boy who
saved the Slayer...on Xander."
"What kind of a...uh...curse?" Giles asked.
Angel glanced at the watcher and seemed to be about to answer
when Willow interrupted with another question. "How do we undo the
curse? What do I have to do?"
"Basically he's been condemned to his own personal hell," Angel
spoke quietly. "It'll start with nightmares. He'll be confronted by
pretty much everything that has ever scared him...The nightmares will
overlap into his reality. Everything he sees will be distorted into
something he fears. Everything that touches him will cause pain.
This skewed reality will eventually take over entirely."
"We already know that much!" Willow cried, exasperated. "What do
we do to reverse it?"
"I'm afraid I'm not finished..." Angel looked past Willow at
Xander's prone form. The boy's eyes were wide open, but there was no
sign that he could see or hear anything. It looked as though Xander
was already several stages into the curse. Angel took a deep breath,
trying to figure out the best way to explain what was yet to come.
"What are you not telling us?" Buffy asked, dreading the answer.
"Xander will likely lose contact completely with reality. He'll
block out all sight and sound. It's the victim's way of trying to
stop the nightmares. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the curse
relies on..."
Willow sat down on the edge of the cot, staring down at Xander's
expressionless face. She only half listened as Angel continued.
"Once he is cut off completely from normal existence...he'll be
pretty much trapped by his own terror. The more he fights, the worse
it'll get, the more damage it...causes. It won't be just the people
or things around him that become distorted, but every thought will
create...problems." He kept talking, but Willow no longer heard the
words.
"So, what can we do?" she finally broke in.
"I asked a few...friends...and apparently there are three ways to
break this curse," Angel replied. He knelt down next to her and
stared into her face. "If we know exactly what the curse was, we
might be able to find a counter curse to it. That's a long shot,
though. Unless you know what exactly was said?"
Willow shook her head. She vaguely remembered the Anointed one
standing over Xander that night at the library and saying some strange
incantations, but she would never be able to remember what he said.
"No. I didn't pay attention to what he was saying. Why didn't I-"
"Will, it's not your fault," Buffy cut in before the hacker could
start to feel guilty. "You said there were three ways. What's the
next one?"
"We have to find and kill the person who placed it and convince
him to recant."
"The Anointed one?" Buffy sounded doubtful. "That sounds great
and all, but somehow I don't think it's going to work. Could we just
hunt him down and kill him?"
Angel shook his head. "No. It wouldn't do any good, he has to
revoke the curse willingly or it won't be broken."
"Like that will happen. What's the last one?"
Angel took a deep breath. Willow looked at him expectantly. He
couldn't look her in the eyes. He rose to his feet and turned back to
Buffy. "The last one's no good. There's nothing-"
"NO!" Willow roared, bolting to her feet. "Take it back. Tell
me what it is and I'll do it. Anything."
"I wish it were that easy," Angel tried to explain. "It's not
something that you can do. He's progressed too far. The only other
way is to convince him that what he is seeing is not reality.
Unfortunately, he's already cut himself off from us. We have no way
to reach him..."
Willow fingered the chain that still linked her to Xander.
"Maybe we do," she murmured. She looked over at Giles. "I was in his
dream once. I'm not exactly sure how I did it, but maybe I can do it
again?"
"Will, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Buffy countered. "I
mean you could have really-"
"We don't have a choice!" Willow responded, unwilling to waver in
her resolve. "I don't care what it costs. I'll do it."
"No. I will," Buffy announced. "I'm the more likely choice. I
can fight-"
"I'm afraid not, Buffy," Angel stopped her. "You can't kill
anything."
Buffy looked at the vampire confused. "Of course I can, I do
it-"
Angel shook his head. "If you damage anything, you're not really
killing a demon. You'll be...killing a part of his brain."
The implication of Angel's words slowly sank in. "Well," she
spoke after considering a few moments, "it should still be me. I
don't want to risk putting Willow in danger."
"No. It has to be me. I'm his oldest friend. He listens to me.
He trusts me!"
Buffy didn't want to admit it, but Willow had a point. "What if
we both go?"
"Not a good idea," Angel countered. "With two of you, there's a
bigger chance of damage being inflicted."
"So it's going to be me," Willow reiterated. "All we have to
figure out is how. Giles? Any ideas?"
"You have no idea how you did it last time?" Buffy asked before
the Watcher could respond.
"All I did was...I fell asleep next to him."
Buffy raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Next to him?"
"I was scared, I had to be close. I had to know that his heart
was beating..."
"Willow, you said that you actually heard the Anointed one
placing the curse?" Giles interrupted.
"Yes. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was
saying...it was just gibberish, but I saw and heard the whole thing."
"Buffy, you may not have been able to help Willow, anyway. I
think that maybe Willow was able to get into Xander's dream because
she may be slightly affected by the curse." Giles turned to Willow.
"Have you been having any nightmares?"
"Other than this one?" she returned quietly. "No. Not really.
Just when I was with Xander."
"I think that perhaps you were able to enter
Xander's...dream...because you were present at the placement of the
curse, and because of your...proximity to him when you fell asleep.
Perhaps we can try to...recreate that situation."
"I'll do it." She turned to Angel. "All I have to do is
convince him that nothing is real, right?"
Angel smiled faintly. "Right."
"And not damage anything..." Willow added. She looked around at
the others in the room. "Is there something I could have...to help me
sleep?"
"I'll fix you some hot tea. Buffy, perhaps you could go back to
the nurse's office and see if you can find...anything?"
Buffy nodded. She and Angel slipped from the office, and headed
off in search of sleep aides.
"Willow, are you sure about this?" Giles asked, watching as the
hacker carefully positioned herself on the cot next to Xander. "It
could be dangerous. There's no telling what could happen...in there."
"It's a chance I have to take," she replied. "I'd never forgive
myself if I didn't do something."
Giles nodded. "I'll get your tea. I'll be right back."
When Giles returned a couple minutes later with a cup of tea he
found Willow fast asleep with her head on Xander's chest. He
retrieved the afghan that he had brought to use during his late night
research sessions and covered them. He gently stroked Willow's hair,
placed a fatherly kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Pleasant dreams,
Ms. Rosenberg."
- -
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 19:45:02 EST
From: NuPhalanx <NuPhalanx@aol.com>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/?
HI!
You're doing a good job with this story. I should have part 3 of All Alone
finished by the end of January; so you are welcome to post it at your site.
cordially,
Mike Z.
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:26 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (4/5)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
Note: This story takes place between "Invisible Girl" and "Prophecy
Girl"
The ambulance wheeled the two bodies away in a stretcher, blood seeping
through
the sheet covering the bodies. The orderlies wore thin paper masks, and
were
obviously
worried about catching whatever had killed the two students. Willow
glanced
around
nervously, afraid of all the commotion that had suddenly built up around
her.
After finding
Madeline, she was rushed into the nurses office and remained there. She
had
only seen
Buffy and Xander once, the two of them being pushed behind a yellow tape
barrier that
had been constructed at the end of the hallway.
She knew that both Madeline and Rusty Burrows were both dead, and if
it
really
was a disease that had killed them, she would be most likely to get it
next. A
woman
wearing what looked like and orange gas mask over her face and mouth
kneeled
down in
front of her, and identified herself as a doctor. "Winnifred," she
said.
"Willow," The girl corrected.
"Willow," The doctor continued. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine!" Willow ignored the headache and nausea she felt. "Can I go
now?" She
asked, knowing that the doctor's answer would not be 'yes'. Willow stood
up,
and in
seconds fell on top of the doctor, sweat dripping down her brow.
"I.....don't
feel so good."
Willow said weakly.
The doctor looked up at a man in the corner of the room wearing a full
yellow
body suit. "Let's get her to the hospital. Be sure to place a call into
the
CDC. I've never
seen anything like this." She handed the unconscious girl to the man and
he
carried her
out.
The principal of the school, the doctor forgot his name, walked into
the
office. He
was a short balding man, with large protruding ears that reminded her of
a
character on
'Star Trek'. "I'm getting ready to send the students home."
"Not yet, I'm afraid." The doctor sighed. "I've got to quarantine the
school
immediately, or risk spreading an isolated virus. Please keep them all
in their
homerooms
or something."
The principal wiped at his brow. "I never should have taken this job."
He left
the
room promptly. As the doctor looked at pictures of the victim's bodies,
she
thought the
same thing.
Xander and Buffy struggled their way through the crowd that had formed
in the
front of the school. Kids were straining for a glimpse of their dead
colleagues
as they
wheeled them to the ambulance. The two had finally managed to burst to
the
front of the
riot scene only to be pushed back by a rather burly man wearing a
surgical
mask. Buffy
noticed their were several of them trying to push students back into the
school.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked the man.
"Please just step back, Miss." He replied, as if he had said the line
hundreds
of
times already.
"WILLOW!" Xander screamed. Willow was lying on a stretcher, an IV tube
protruding from her right arm. Willow waved back weakly and then dropped
her
head in
exhaustion.
(I'm scared, Xander)
His last glance of her came when the EMT's carried her into the
ambulance.
Xander burst from the guard, running to the ambulance. Another man
grabbed him,
trying
to hold him back. "Let go of me!" Xander shouted. The man struck him
over the
back of
his neck, bringing him to his knees.
Buffy bolted to the fallen Xander, and looked at the helmeted guard.
She swung
her arm back and punched the guard square in the face, shattering the
plastic
on his mask.
(Oh my god), Xander heard the man think (I could be infected!)
The suppressed crowd of students cheered at Buffy's accomplishment.
"You
bitch!" The guard wheezed as two other large figures dragged Xander and
Buffy
away.
"I'm okay." Xander said to her, holding his hand on his neck. "What
happened
to
Willow?"
"I have no idea what's going on, Xander." She spoke seriously. "But
it's
scaring
the shit out of me."
Miss Calendar watched the nervous Giles fluster as he spoke, and loved
every
minute of it. She had been attracted to the tall British man since she
had
helped him cast a
demon out of the internet a few weeks ago. Giles had been one of the few
reasons she
continued her job at Sunnydale after two of her students were killed by
Moloch
the
Corrupter.
(Now that's a lie. You just couldn't get a job anywhere else)
"So, un, can you do it?" Giles finished. Miss Calendar realized she
hadn't
been
listening to the poor man and became embarrassed at the situation.
"Do what?" The computer teacher asked.
"Can you get me background information on one of the faculty members?"
Giles
said, frustrated.
"Yeah, sure." She quipped. "Who?" Giles opened his mouth to speak, but
was
interrupted by Buffy and Xander, who stormed into the library.
"Sometimes I hate this town!" Xander boomed. Buffy sped up and raced
toward
Giles.
"Giles, we've gotta do something. There's something going on, the
governments
involved, and Xander thinks it might be a virus!" Buffy sentence was so
slurred, Giles had
trouble comprehending the girl.
"Slow down, Buffy." Ms. Calendar said.
"There isn't time to slow down, lady." Xander spoke passionately.
"There's
some
sort of virus running around the school. Willow's got it, and it must be
highly
contagious,
because even the guards are scared pissless of it......what are you
doing
here?" He turned
to the computer teacher.
Giles took the opportunity to field the question. "I asked her to help
us find
background on Mr. Mallory. I, uh, think he may be involved somehow."
Upon
learning of
the task assigned to her, she turned to the computer mounted on the
library
table and
began clicking away on the keyboard.
"They've quarantined everyone to homerooms, but we managed to get out.
Xander, is there a homeroom in Mr. Mallory's classroom?" Buffy asked her
friend. He
nodded, and she continued. "Then I'm going to check it out. You guys
stay
here." Buffy
started to walk away, but Xander stopped her.
"No way, I'm coming." Xander clasped her elbow and looked into her
eyes.
"You're going to need someone who can help you get into that nutball's
mind.
And as of
now, I happen to be the resident psychic."
Buffy tried to object, but couldn't. She knew how much Xander cared
about
Willow, and would do anything to help her. "All right."
"You two need to be careful," Giles added. "This isn't some demon
you're
fighting, it's a real person. And Buffy, you may be the slayer, but
you're jut
as susceptible
to viruses as anyone else."
(What's a slayer?) Miss Calendar thought. Xander glanced at her and
saw
she
was
busily typing away.
"Nice pep talk, coach." Buffy said and the two of them left the
library.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Brutal Youth (1/6)
By IndyStokes@aol.com
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox Inc, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'Beautiful teeth make beautiful people.'
Xander read the words of the poster over and over again, trying to
lose
himself in the reading. His knuckles were ghost white, and he couldn't
breathe. In the past three months he had battled vampires, been
possessed by a hyena, and fallen in love with a giant insect, but
nothing could compare with the sheer terror he was endearing at the
moment. He closed his eyes and hoped that soon this terrifying ordeal
would be over.
"All done!" The dentist chirped. He snapped of the white latex gloves
and smiled. "Now, wasn't that easy?!"
"Faw ou, maube." Xander muttered. The Novocain in his mouth numbed his
entire face. Truthfully he hadn't felt anything, but the whole idea of a
guy drilling your teeth didn't appeal to him much.
"Oh, it just one filling. By the time the Novocain wears off you won't
feel anything. Now, all you have do is take better care of your teeth,
and you'll never have to do this again. Remember beautiful teeth
(poor fool)
make beautiful people."
"Fat di ou all me?" Xander asked.
"I didn't call you anything, Mr. Harris. Now if you'll excuse me, I
have other patients." The dentist stood up, obviously offended by
Xander's question, and walked out of the room.
"Forry." Xander said sheepishly, but the dentist had already left. He
could have sworn he had heard the dentist say "poor fool". Oh well, he
figured. All he cared about now, was getting some Aspirin to dull the
headache he had just gotten.
*****************
Buffy felt her flesh crawl at she walked through the dark cavern. She
felt her palms sweat all over the wooden stake she was carrying. She
proceeded through the dark corridor, looking for her target. As she
ventured further, Buffy realized she was not where she had thought she
was. She was back in the high school library, the last place she
expected to be. She walked around the once familiar room, now a puzzling
labyrinth. Suddenly, there was a scurrying sound behind her.
"Who's there?" Buffy called into the rows of books. "Giles?"
"No, I'm afraid your Watcher will not be joining us today." The voice
that answered was a familiar one. It was that of the Master, lord of the
vampires. She had only heard his voice in her dreams, but still she knew
it well enough to fear it. "It's just you and me tonight, my dear."
Buffy held up the stake and turned to face the Master. She soon saw
that the Master had grown to a towering height, standing above her and
laughing maniacally. "You poor girl!" he cackled. He extended one of his
giant hands and gripped Buffy raising her to meet his eye level.
"We will meet, soon. Very, very soon." He dropped Buffy, watching her
scream has she fell into a black abyss.
Buffy awoke in her bed clutching a stuffed bear. A thin layer of sweat
draped her young body. "I've gotta talk to Giles, or I'm never gonna
sleep again in my life." She muttered to herself. Buffy lay back in bed,
but sleep never claimed her that night.
***************************
"Have a nice day at school, honey." Ms. Summers said smiling.
"I'll be sure to tell you if anybody dies today." Buffy joked.
"I wish you wouldn't say that." Buffy hopped out the car and watched
her mother drive away. She knew how rough the past few weeks had been on
her, moving to a new neighborhood, being a single mom and trying to
balance her career and her daughter. It hadn't been an easy trick, but
Buffy thought her mom was doing fine. It had nearly scared the life out
of her when her mother had almost become the latest victim of the
growing number of vampires in Sunnydale. At first slaying the Master
just seemed like her responsibility, but
now her desire to kill him was fueled by a personal vendetta.
She walked to her locker, careful to ignore the stares of the other
students. Buffy knew that she had earned quite a reputation on campus,
but tried to pretend it didn't exist. Sometimes she wished she could
just be a "normal" teenager, but then she thought, "Where would the fun
be in THAT?"
"Hey." Willow, one her few friends in Sunnydale popped up next to her,
matching her speedy pace. "Be sure to be extra nice to Xander today, he
had his first filling yesterday." She brushed her long reddish hair out
of her eyes.
"Yowch!" Buffy commented as she opened her locker. 20-12-40...Damn,
she
thought. If it were up to her she'd just tear the door off of the stupid
locker. "Never a pleasant experience."
"Stopping by the library?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to Giles alone.
Personal stuff." She pulled her Geometry book out of her locker.
'Actually', she thought, 'I'm probably cutting Geometry', and put the
book back.
"Oh. No problem. I'll tell Xander too."
"Thanks." Buffy zipped up her backpack.
"Umm," Willow said nervously. "Is it the nightmares again?"
Buffy was about to ask her how she knew that, but then remembered what
had happened a few weeks ago. A comatose boy had accidentally unleashed
all of the citizens of Sunnydale's darkest nightmares into reality. Her,
Willow, Xander, and Giles, were apparently the only people in Sunnydale
who had any recollection of the ordeal after it ended. During the
horrific experience, the
four of them had been subject to each other's inner fears, including
Buffy's phobia of being turned into a vampire. "Well, since you asked,
yes. If anyone else asks, no."
"Gotcha. No nightmares." Willow tried to smile, but could see that she
had accidentally hurt Buffy. The sound of the bell pierced through the
hallway.
"Gotta go, remember to be nice to Xander."
Buffy watched her scurry down the hall. She didn't mean to sound
hostile to Willow. She hadn't really had any friends when she first
started slaying, or at least any that knew her secret. 'Why do I always
hurt the people I care about?' she thought and drifted into the library.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:27 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (3/6)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
Author's Note: This story takes place between "Invisible Girl" and
"Prophecy
Girl"
"How about him?" Willow pointed at a short boy wearing a blue hat.
Xander bit into his sandwich. "Um,......something about a math test."
He spoke
with his mouth full.
"That's incredible!" Willow said.
"How do we know you're right at all?" Buffy snapped. "He's probably
just
faking."
(I'm special too, you know)
"Whoah!" Xander shouted. "I just got a major fix on you! You, my dear
girl,"
He
pointed at Buffy, "Are 100 percent jealous of me. You thought you were
the one
with the
gift and now, you're not so special."
"Xander," Buffy bit into a carrot stick. "I was thinking nothing of
the
sort.
Slayer's
honor."
"But," Xander said, dumbfounded. "I heard you think, 'I'm special
too'."
"Maybe, my dear boy," She taunted. "Are not half as good at reading
minds as
you
think you are! Which leads me to believe you wrong about, Mr. Mallory."
"Don't worry, Xander." Willow tried to comfort the boy. "It's a crowded
cafeteria.
It could have been anyone."
(But it was me)
"It was you?" Xander asked curiously.
"No!" Willow barked. "Of course not! I gotta go." She got up and ran
away from
the table.
Xander shook his head. "15 years I've known that girl, and I still
can't
figure her."
"I can tell you what's bothering her. I've been chosen to slay
vampires, and
now
you can read minds. She just feels ignored."
"It's times like this that I miss the good old days." Xander whined.
"You mean before I moved here, right?" Buffy said angrily.
"Uh-oh." Xander realized what he had just said and wished his newfound
gift
was
time travel rather than mind reading. "Buffy, I.....," He was
interrupted by
the entrance of
Giles, who immediately sat down at the table.
"I think I know what's happening to Xander." He said. Xander and Buffy
sat
silently, listening. "Everybody emits brain waves when they think,
although all
of them are
such an odd frequency that no one can hear them."
"So we're all walking radio stations, basically." Buffy offered her
insight.
"Man, my
analogies are good."
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was, ahem, interrupted," Giles
continued.
"Now
certain brain waves can be transmitted, possibly. For example, if you
spend all
day with a
depressed person, you're bound to get depressed too."
(Like I'm doing to all my friends)
Xander heard Buffy's thought, but decided to remain silent.
"Xander's metal filling has turned him into a giant brain wave
receptor, as it
should
happen. There are a few reported cases, but most of them get the object
removed, or,
ah....do something else."
"Like what?" He asked.
"Many of them joined circus side shows." After Giles said that, Buffy
began to
laugh so hard, she thought she felt a slight trickle of tears roll down
her
cheek.
"You know, nobody laughs at your problems." Xander commented.
"Didn't you hear? You don't have any problems." Buffy said, still
laughing.
"Most
circuses have dental plans."
Even Giles emitted a slight chuckle at that. "Fine, I'll schedule an
appointment with
my dentist." Xander caved in to pressure. Besides reading minds had just
lost
it's appeal.
(You can be so stupid sometimes, Willow)
She would have kicked her self in the halls, had she not been
wearing a
skirt.
She
had just made an idiot of herself in front of her friends. When she
realized
Xander could
read her thought, she flipped out. The last thing she wanted was for
Xander to
realize how
she really felt about him.
She shuffled down the halls, not paying any real attention to the
direction
she was
walking in. There was a scraping sound at the door she had just walked
by, and
she
realized what door it was. The basement. The place where she had
witnessed her
worst
nightmare unfold in front of her eyes.
"Help....me.....," she heard from behind the door. She fiddled with
the
knob
and
pulled it opened. A figure lurched onto the floor, dripping blood all
over
Willow's shoes.
The face was barely recognizable as Madeline Rowchek, a girl Willow knew
only
be her
reputation as a major junkie. Her eyes were wide open and blood red, her
flesh
specked
with hemorrhages, as if their were a pulpy mass trapped under her skin.
Thick,
syrupy,
blood oozed from her mouth, ears, and eyes. "Feel....the...fever....,"
she
wheezed at
Willow.
"Someone help me!" Willow shouted into the empty hall.
(Somebody help me)
Xander's carton of milk crashed onto the ground. "Willow's in
trouble!"
He
said to
Buffy, a large puddle forming at his feet. The two sprung up from their
seats,
and ran out
of the cafeteria.
"Good afternoon, Rupert." Giles spun around, with his fifth cup of
coffee of
the
day in his right hand, and saw the tall figure of James Mallory.
"Same to you," Giles said, weakly smiling. He didn't wander much into
the
teacher's lounge, but Giles felt it was good to make interaction
occasionally
in order to
make sure people didn't suspect his true nature.
"Rough day," Mallory reached over for the coffee pot "Seems like
everyday
there
are just more and more students. Although, I guess statistically, that
isn't
true."
"Well," Giles replied. "I don't let it bother me."
"Easy for you to say. Those little buggers are afraid to even go in the
library." He
took a long sip from his mug. "Whatever you're doing, you gotta tell
me."
"Oh, the students aren't all bad here, I guess."
"Hah!" Mallory laughed. "Sometimes, Rupert, I worry about the future
generation.
They're a bunch of smart-mouth empty headed slackers. I mean, the ones
that
aren't killing
each other."
Giles gulped. He shuttered to think it, but what if Xander was right?
What if
there
was something mentally wrong with Mallory? "James, do you have any
children of
your
own?"
The man looked down into his cup of coffee as if looking for answers.
He
looked
at Giles, and said meekly, "I have a daughter."
At that point, a large woman Giles recognized as a German teacher,
barged into
the teachers lounge and shouted for someone to call an ambulance. Giles
ran for
the
phone, while Mallory slowly slipped away.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Brutal Youth (1/6)
By IndyStokes@aol.com
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox Inc, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'Beautiful teeth make beautiful people.'
Xander read the words of the poster over and over again, trying to
lose
himself in the reading. His knuckles were ghost white, and he couldn't
breathe. In the past three months he had battled vampires, been
possessed by a hyena, and fallen in love with a giant insect, but
nothing could compare with the sheer terror he was endearing at the
moment. He closed his eyes and hoped that soon this terrifying ordeal
would be over.
"All done!" The dentist chirped. He snapped of the white latex gloves
and smiled. "Now, wasn't that easy?!"
"Faw ou, maube." Xander muttered. The Novocain in his mouth numbed his
entire face. Truthfully he hadn't felt anything, but the whole idea of a
guy drilling your teeth didn't appeal to him much.
"Oh, it just one filling. By the time the Novocain wears off you won't
feel anything. Now, all you have do is take better care of your teeth,
and you'll never have to do this again. Remember beautiful teeth
(poor fool)
make beautiful people."
"Fat di ou all me?" Xander asked.
"I didn't call you anything, Mr. Harris. Now if you'll excuse me, I
have other patients." The dentist stood up, obviously offended by
Xander's question, and walked out of the room.
"Forry." Xander said sheepishly, but the dentist had already left. He
could have sworn he had heard the dentist say "poor fool". Oh well, he
figured. All he cared about now, was getting some Aspirin to dull the
headache he had just gotten.
*****************
Buffy felt her flesh crawl at she walked through the dark cavern. She
felt her palms sweat all over the wooden stake she was carrying. She
proceeded through the dark corridor, looking for her target. As she
ventured further, Buffy realized she was not where she had thought she
was. She was back in the high school library, the last place she
expected to be. She walked around the once familiar room, now a puzzling
labyrinth. Suddenly, there was a scurrying sound behind her.
"Who's there?" Buffy called into the rows of books. "Giles?"
"No, I'm afraid your Watcher will not be joining us today." The voice
that answered was a familiar one. It was that of the Master, lord of the
vampires. She had only heard his voice in her dreams, but still she knew
it well enough to fear it. "It's just you and me tonight, my dear."
Buffy held up the stake and turned to face the Master. She soon saw
that the Master had grown to a towering height, standing above her and
laughing maniacally. "You poor girl!" he cackled. He extended one of his
giant hands and gripped Buffy raising her to meet his eye level.
"We will meet, soon. Very, very soon." He dropped Buffy, watching her
scream has she fell into a black abyss.
Buffy awoke in her bed clutching a stuffed bear. A thin layer of sweat
draped her young body. "I've gotta talk to Giles, or I'm never gonna
sleep again in my life." She muttered to herself. Buffy lay back in bed,
but sleep never claimed her that night.
***************************
"Have a nice day at school, honey." Ms. Summers said smiling.
"I'll be sure to tell you if anybody dies today." Buffy joked.
"I wish you wouldn't say that." Buffy hopped out the car and watched
her mother drive away. She knew how rough the past few weeks had been on
her, moving to a new neighborhood, being a single mom and trying to
balance her career and her daughter. It hadn't been an easy trick, but
Buffy thought her mom was doing fine. It had nearly scared the life out
of her when her mother had almost become the latest victim of the
growing number of vampires in Sunnydale. At first slaying the Master
just seemed like her responsibility, but
now her desire to kill him was fueled by a personal vendetta.
She walked to her locker, careful to ignore the stares of the other
students. Buffy knew that she had earned quite a reputation on campus,
but tried to pretend it didn't exist. Sometimes she wished she could
just be a "normal" teenager, but then she thought, "Where would the fun
be in THAT?"
"Hey." Willow, one her few friends in Sunnydale popped up next to her,
matching her speedy pace. "Be sure to be extra nice to Xander today, he
had his first filling yesterday." She brushed her long reddish hair out
of her eyes.
"Yowch!" Buffy commented as she opened her locker. 20-12-40...Damn,
she
thought. If it were up to her she'd just tear the door off of the stupid
locker. "Never a pleasant experience."
"Stopping by the library?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to Giles alone.
Personal stuff." She pulled her Geometry book out of her locker.
'Actually', she thought, 'I'm probably cutting Geometry', and put the
book back.
"Oh. No problem. I'll tell Xander too."
"Thanks." Buffy zipped up her backpack.
"Umm," Willow said nervously. "Is it the nightmares again?"
Buffy was about to ask her how she knew that, but then remembered what
had happened a few weeks ago. A comatose boy had accidentally unleashed
all of the citizens of Sunnydale's darkest nightmares into reality. Her,
Willow, Xander, and Giles, were apparently the only people in Sunnydale
who had any recollection of the ordeal after it ended. During the
horrific experience, the
four of them had been subject to each other's inner fears, including
Buffy's phobia of being turned into a vampire. "Well, since you asked,
yes. If anyone else asks, no."
"Gotcha. No nightmares." Willow tried to smile, but could see that she
had accidentally hurt Buffy. The sound of the bell pierced through the
hallway.
"Gotta go, remember to be nice to Xander."
Buffy watched her scurry down the hall. She didn't mean to sound
hostile to Willow. She hadn't really had any friends when she first
started slaying, or at least any that knew her secret. 'Why do I always
hurt the people I care about?' she thought and drifted into the library.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
- -
- -
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
Brutal Youth (2/6)
by Ian Stokes (IndyStokes@aol.com)
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'He lied.' Xander realized. The Novocain had worn off almost twelve
hours ago, and the pain in his mouth had yet to subside as the dentist
had promised. The throbbing had made it impossible to sleep, and the
noise outside of his room didn't help either.
All night he kept hearing loud snippets of conversations
(where's the dog)
(hungry now)
(blood, oh my god, so much blood), but every time he looked out
the window or out the door the voices had vanished, and there was
nothing there. His stereo hadn't helped drain out the sound no matter
how loud he had cranked the music.
Xander's eyes were completely bloodshot the next day in school, and be
it either the bottle of Advil he had downed or the lack of sleep, it was
definitely affecting his train of thought. He spent twenty minutes in
front of his locker trying to remember his combination. Later, he
realized it wasn't even his locker.
Now he was sitting in his desk looking into his backpack trying to
remember
exactly what class he was in. Only a few more weeks 'till summer, he
told
himself. Then he
was spending a few weeks as far away from the Hellmouth as possible.
"Hey, you." He heard someone say. He didn't even turn his head,
figuring this
was
another one of the voices. "Hello? Xander? It's me, Willow."
He spun around and saw the face of his best friend. "Oh, Willow, thank
god! I
thought you were imaginary!"
"Thanks." Willow said laughing. "That's the nicest thing you've ever
said to
me."
(He's cute even when he's crazy)
"What!?" Xander said, panicked. "What did you just say?"
"Xander, you need to get a grip. What's wrong with you?" She looked
concerned.
He blew out a long gust of air and ran his hands through his unusually
messy
black
hair. "Willow, I think I'm going crazy."
"Well, you'd better go crazy later. Class is starting." Sure enough,
Mr.
Mallory had
just walked through the door. He was the new biology teacher, after the
last
one had been
decapitated by a giant praying mantis.
Willow thought he was one of the nicest teachers in the school, after
Mr.
Giles, but
he wasn't really a teacher. Mr. Mallory was tall, with a thin goatee,
and a
aging sports
jacket he wore every day. Most male teachers just wore a shirt and tie,
but the
jacket and
bowtie gave Mr. Mallory the look of a college professor.
Xander, realizing what class he was in, dove into his backpack and
pulled out
his
biology binder. "Greetings, class." Mr. Mallory boomed as he entered the
room.
(Little maggots)
Xander snorted loudly and caught the attention of just about the
entire
class.
They
all looked at him oddly, especially Willow. "Sorry." He commented.
'They didn't hear that?' he questioned. What was wrong with him?
"Can I ask you what's so funny, Mr. Harris?" Mr. Mallory said in his
loud,
deep
voice.
"Uh, I must have inhaled a bug or something." Nice....
"I see." Mr. Mallory responded.
(I'll kill you, Mr. Harris. I'll wring the life out of you from your
neck)
Xander faced drained of all color. Once again, the students reacted as
if they
hadn't
heard what he had. Was it possible that it was people's thoughts he was
hearing? It seemed
unlikely, but in a place where reality was just a variable, it also
seemed
possible.
"...a virus is, unlike many would believe, not a living thing." Mr.
Mallory
continued. "It is however, the simplest organism known. A virus like the
mumps
injects it's
DNA into a body cell, where it replicates itself and spreads throughout
the
body infecting
other cells. It is truly
(a beautiful)
a horrible thing."
Mr. Mallory began to look in Xander's general direction, with a curious
expression
on is face. Xander sat quietly in his seat trying to avoid detection.
"Mr.
Burrows," he said.
Xander turned to view the sleeping figure of Rusty Burrows, a junior
Xander
only
knew from his reputation as a complete junkie. Xander wouldn't have been
surprised if he
had OD'ed back there.
"Mr. Burrows," Mr. Mallory said, louder then he had before. Rusty
slowly
returned to consciousness, and smiled.
"Yeah?" He said in a gruff voice. The class chuckled slightly, but Mr.
Mallory
was
anything but amused.
"Don't you think it would be beneficiary for you to stay awake during
class?"
The
teacher said harshly.
"Good idea. I'll try to do that from now on." Rusty gave the teacher a
thumbs
up
and smiled again. Xander thought Mr. Mallory would just freak out on the
kid
right there,
but instead he looked rather calm.
"Thank you."
(Go ahead. Don't pay attention. You'll feel the fever soon. You all
will. All
of you
who took my daughter away from me. You'll all pay.)
Oh my God, Xander thought. He's completely insane.
"I don't get this, Gy." Buffy quipped. "You guys knew who I was, where
I was
going to be, what I was going to look like, but you have no idea about
anything
after
that?"
Giles looked up from the book he had been paging through, and adjusted
his
glasses. "Um, well, yes. A large number of the books of prophecy were
lost to
the
Watchers during the Middle Ages, and sadly even more when the move to
the New
World
came."
Buffy paced around the dimly light library that had become her "home
away from
home". She shuffled her feet anxiously. "Buffy," Giles asked, irritated.
"There
must be
some reason you came here."
Without missing a beat Buffy quickly answered, "I had a dream I was
fighting
the
Master."
Giles placed down the book and sighed. "I'm afraid that the time is
getting
closer
when you're going to have face the Master in combat. The nightmares are
only a
warning
system devised by the original Watchers to prepare the girls in their
sleep."
"You guys are total jerks sometimes. Look at these bags, Giles." She
pointed
to
her eyes. "I haven't had a decent nights sleep in weeks. Every time I
face him
in my
dreams, I'm just, just..." Buffy fluttered for a moment. "I'm helpless."
Giles put his hand over hers. "I can give you something that will help
you
sleep, if
you absolutely need it, but believe me, the dreams are making you
stronger."
"I don't know, Giles. It's just so frustrating." The two were
interrupted, but
the
entering of Willow and Xander. Xander had a wide grin across and his
arms
outspread in a
victorious manner.
"Have I got something for you guys!" Xander boomed. Willow quickly ran
ahead
of him, toward Buffy.
"I'm sorry," She said softly. "I told him you wanted to be alone."
Buffy
quickly
raised her hand, trying to calm the exasperated girl down.
"Welcome to Xander's Magic Happy Hour!" He said in a loud voice.
"Giles, my
man, I'd like you to think of a passage from one of your favorite
books."
"I don't understand." The Watcher responded.
(O brave new world that has such people in it)
"O, brave new world that has such people in it." Xander commented.
Willow looked at Giles anxiously, "Well, is he close?"
"No, he is exactly right. How the devil did you know that?" The
librarian shut
the
book he had been paging through and looked at the tall boy.
"The good news is....I have gained psychic powers." He dropped his
backpack on
the ground and took a bow.
There was brief moment of silence, which Buffy chose to break. "This
must be a
joke."
Xander laughed. "You wish. Oh, and before any speculation, wait till
you hear
how I got them."
"Your dental work." Giles interrupted.
"My dent....hey. How'd you know that?" He asked.
"Buffy told me." He pointed his finger at her, and she nodded her head
smiling.
Xander frowned and fell into a chair. "You take the fun out of
everything."
"Actually, it's not a fairly odd phenomenon." Giles continued "People
have
claimed to be able to pick up certain radio stations on metal plates in
their
head or braces.
It's never been, uh, proven scientifically, but I suppose it's feasible.
Reading thoughts is
new to me, though."
"Time to hit the books?" Xander asked jokingly.
"Time to hit the books." Giles sighed, and prepared to venture through
the
library
for information as he had done so often.
"Well, I'm glad to see you boys are having such an easy time with
this,
but
I'm
not." Buffy snapped. "You can tell what all of us are thinking right
now?"
"Well, sort of. Oh , wait!" Xander held his hand to his head,
mockingly.
"Buffy, I
can't believe you. I don't even own a g-string!"
"Ha, ha. Now seriously, Swami."
"No, just fragments of thoughts. Which reminds me, the bad news is
coming. You
guys all know Mr. Mallory, the biology teacher?" Willow and Buffy
nodded.
"Yeah, well.
He's crazy. I mean, psycho killer crazy. I just sat through an entire
class
listening to him
plot the deaths of the entire class."
"Are you serious?" Willow asked. "He's such a nice guy though."
"I am dead serious. We've gotta check this guy out before he finally
snaps."
Xander snapped his fingers to correspond with the last word.
"Xander, I really doubt it. You probably just mis....thought-read
him."
Buffy
didn't
like to doubt her friends, but Xander was easily excited.
"Fine, don't believe me! I'm telling you, right now Buffy, he's
planning
something.
He said he was getting revenge for what we did to his daughter, whatever
that
was. He
said 'we were all going to feel the fever'."
Giles walked out from one of the aisles. "I talked to Mr. Mallory, and
I
thought he
was a very nice fellow."
"I don't believe this!" Xander shouted. "Buffy says she thinks a dummy
is
alive and
you instantly assume she's right!"
"But I was." Buffy interrupted.
"Maybe Xander's right." Willow said softly, then instantly
regretted it
as all
eyes
became focused on her. "I mean, the Hellmouth does weird things to
people
right?"
"Willow's right. We should check it out." Buffy looked at her watch.
"Whoops,
if
I'm late for gym again, Ms. Morgan will wig out." She and Willow left
headed to
the exit.
Xander stood still with his arms opened. "What do you mean WILLOW's
right? It
was my idea!"
"Hey, pass that on over here." Rusty took a drag off the toke and
escaped into
a
alternate reality, one where his teachers weren't bugging him and his
parents
weren't
yelling at him. "This is good shit,"
"I can't believe how stupid everyone is at this god damn school."
Madeline
snatched the joint out of his hand. She snorted and wiped the water from
her
eyes. "We
don't even have to leave school to trip face!"
The basement was dank and empty, the perfect place to go when you
didn't want
to get caught. Rusty and Madeline needed to come down there every once
and a
while,
but recently they had been avoiding it.
(If that stupid bitch hadn't gotten her ass kicked)
Rusty puffed on the joint and drifted again. "Did you hear that?"
Madeline
asked
him.
"I didn't hear anything." Rusty answered. "But I'm also pretty well
stoned."
"I think it came from back there." She pointed to a dark corner of the
room.
Rusty sighed and got up from the crate he had been sitting on. "Who's
there?"
he
shouted into the darkness. He walked, although it looked more like
staggering,
into the
corner of the basement. He turned to Madeline. "See babe, it was
nothing."
Suddenly he felt a sharp stinging sensation as a long hypodermic needle
entered the
back of his neck. "Uh, uh....," he stuttered. He saw Madeline, who was
more
confused
than scared at the situation.
"Feel the fever." His assailant whispered into his ear, then in one
with
motion he
removed the needle. Rusty fell onto the floor clutching his neck.
Madeline ran
over to his
body, screaming. By the time she looked up, the figure in the shadows
was
already gone.
TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6)
This story was not written by me, it was written by IndyStokes@aol.com.
If you have any comments about this story, send them to him.
Brutal Youth (1/6)
By IndyStokes@aol.com
(c) Copyright May 1997
This document can be freely distributed with the condition that it is
not modified or sold in any way. Some characters and elements of
this story are the property of 20th Century Fox Inc, used without
authorization. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work.
'Beautiful teeth make beautiful people.'
Xander read the words of the poster over and over again, trying to
lose
himself in the reading. His knuckles were ghost white, and he couldn't
breathe. In the past three months he had battled vampires, been
possessed by a hyena, and fallen in love with a giant insect, but
nothing could compare with the sheer terror he was endearing at the
moment. He closed his eyes and hoped that soon this terrifying ordeal
would be over.
"All done!" The dentist chirped. He snapped of the white latex gloves
and smiled. "Now, wasn't that easy?!"
"Faw ou, maube." Xander muttered. The Novocain in his mouth numbed his
entire face. Truthfully he hadn't felt anything, but the whole idea of a
guy drilling your teeth didn't appeal to him much.
"Oh, it just one filling. By the time the Novocain wears off you won't
feel anything. Now, all you have do is take better care of your teeth,
and you'll never have to do this again. Remember beautiful teeth
(poor fool)
make beautiful people."
"Fat di ou all me?" Xander asked.
"I didn't call you anything, Mr. Harris. Now if you'll excuse me, I
have other patients." The dentist stood up, obviously offended by
Xander's question, and walked out of the room.
"Forry." Xander said sheepishly, but the dentist had already left. He
could have sworn he had heard the dentist say "poor fool". Oh well, he
figured. All he cared about now, was getting some Aspirin to dull the
headache he had just gotten.
*****************
Buffy felt her flesh crawl at she walked through the dark cavern. She
felt her palms sweat all over the wooden stake she was carrying. She
proceeded through the dark corridor, looking for her target. As she
ventured further, Buffy realized she was not where she had thought she
was. She was back in the high school library, the last place she
expected to be. She walked around the once familiar room, now a puzzling
labyrinth. Suddenly, there was a scurrying sound behind her.
"Who's there?" Buffy called into the rows of books. "Giles?"
"No, I'm afraid your Watcher will not be joining us today." The voice
that answered was a familiar one. It was that of the Master, lord of the
vampires. She had only heard his voice in her dreams, but still she knew
it well enough to fear it. "It's just you and me tonight, my dear."
Buffy held up the stake and turned to face the Master. She soon saw
that the Master had grown to a towering height, standing above her and
laughing maniacally. "You poor girl!" he cackled. He extended one of his
giant hands and gripped Buffy raising her to meet his eye level.
"We will meet, soon. Very, very soon." He dropped Buffy, watching her
scream has she fell into a black abyss.
Buffy awoke in her bed clutching a stuffed bear. A thin layer of sweat
draped her young body. "I've gotta talk to Giles, or I'm never gonna
sleep again in my life." She muttered to herself. Buffy lay back in bed,
but sleep never claimed her that night.
***************************
"Have a nice day at school, honey." Ms. Summers said smiling.
"I'll be sure to tell you if anybody dies today." Buffy joked.
"I wish you wouldn't say that." Buffy hopped out the car and watched
her mother drive away. She knew how rough the past few weeks had been on
her, moving to a new neighborhood, being a single mom and trying to
balance her career and her daughter. It hadn't been an easy trick, but
Buffy thought her mom was doing fine. It had nearly scared the life out
of her when her mother had almost become the latest victim of the
growing number of vampires in Sunnydale. At first slaying the Master
just seemed like her responsibility, but
now her desire to kill him was fueled by a personal vendetta.
She walked to her locker, careful to ignore the stares of the other
students. Buffy knew that she had earned quite a reputation on campus,
but tried to pretend it didn't exist. Sometimes she wished she could
just be a "normal" teenager, but then she thought, "Where would the fun
be in THAT?"
"Hey." Willow, one her few friends in Sunnydale popped up next to her,
matching her speedy pace. "Be sure to be extra nice to Xander today, he
had his first filling yesterday." She brushed her long reddish hair out
of her eyes.
"Yowch!" Buffy commented as she opened her locker. 20-12-40...Damn,
she
thought. If it were up to her she'd just tear the door off of the stupid
locker. "Never a pleasant experience."
"Stopping by the library?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to Giles alone.
Personal stuff." She pulled her Geometry book out of her locker.
'Actually', she thought, 'I'm probably cutting Geometry', and put the
book back.
"Oh. No problem. I'll tell Xander too."
"Thanks." Buffy zipped up her backpack.
"Umm," Willow said nervously. "Is it the nightmares again?"
Buffy was about to ask her how she knew that, but then remembered what
had happened a few weeks ago. A comatose boy had accidentally unleashed
all of the citizens of Sunnydale's darkest nightmares into reality. Her,
Willow, Xander, and Giles, were apparently the only people in Sunnydale
who had any recollection of the ordeal after it ended. During the
horrific experience, the
four of them had been subject to each other's inner fears, including
Buffy's phobia of being turned into a vampire. "Well, since you asked,
yes. If anyone else asks, no."
"Gotcha. No nightmares." Willow tried to smile, but could see that she
had accidentally hurt Buffy. The sound of the bell pierced through the
hallway.
"Gotta go, remember to be nice to Xander."
Buffy watched her scurry down the hall. She didn't mean to sound
hostile to Willow. She hadn't really had any friends when she first
started slaying, or at least any that knew her secret. 'Why do I always
hurt the people I care about?' she thought and drifted into the library.
______________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 00:39:28 -0800
From: Elizabeth Ann Lewis <lizbet@primenet.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: For The Future's Sake (1/1)
This story is somewhat connected to another one I'm working on; it's
connected in the sense that, when I tried to work on *that* story, Giles
kept telling me that I really needed to write *this* one so *that* one
would make sense. What*ever*, Giles. <g>
Big group hug for the Sunnydale Slayers, the best insane asylum I've ever
been in. 'Specially Chris&Perri for (recite it with me now) sucking me
into this %@#!$ fandom to begin with (and Perri alone, for finding the
Frost quote), Dianne, for helping me keep track of our little cybercrazies,
and anyone whose name got used in the story. <g>
Disclaimer: The characters and concepts of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are
not mine. (Duh.) All legal and monetary rights belong to Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, 20th Century Fox, The WB, and probably half a
dozen other
names-that-belong-on-legal-documents-but-that-I-don't-know-so-am-leaving-out. S
uing me would not only be a waste of time and effort, but would make me
very, very sad. <sniff> <look pathetic> <fail miserably>
Comments, praise, flames, chocolate, and tall, dark, undead angsty guys
(but I'll accept tall, not-so-dark, not-so-undead-but-still-somewhat-angsty
British guys, and even tall, dark, not-undead Xander-shaped guys in a
pinch) to lizbet@primenet.com. Please write me. Please. I'll pout if you
don't write.
~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~
For the Future's Sake
by Elizabeth Ann Lewis
"As my two eyes make one in sight
Only where love and need are one
And the work is play for mortal stakes
Is the deed ever truly done
For Heaven and the future's sakes"
Robert Frost, <Two Tramps in Mud Time>
"We are led to believe a lie
When we see *with*, not *through* the eye,
Which was born in a night, to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light."
William Blake, <Songs of Innocence>
He was scared. He didn't want to admit it. Ten year old male
pride was too touchy to allow such a thing. If Mum and Valentina weren't
scared, then he wouldn't be.
Except that Mum was scared, no matter how many times she told
Father that she wasn't, that she was fine. And Valentina... Valentina had
changed.
Bertie left the little farmhouse that his family had moved into
less than a year ago to find his thinking space by the river. He missed
London, missed it dreadfully. In London after school let out he could take
the Underground to Tottingham Court and to the Museum, to wander among the
artifacts. Here, he had no Museum, no library other than the little one by
the school -- and Father's, but Father wouldn't let him look.
And he had no friends. The people here were too scared. They
didn't like or trust strangers. Bad things happened here, in this little
town so very far north of London. Even their accents were so different
that Bertie sometimes couldn't even understand what the teacher said.
The sky overhead was grey, threatening rain in a desultory way.
Bertie settled down by the river under the shelter of a rowan tree, idly
listening to the yammering of the water. It really sounded like human
voices, sometimes, something that the boy raised in a city desperately
needed.
He was scared.
He didn't know what was happening. Katie had gone away, Miss Hull
said that morning, gone to God, intoned in pious but quite genuine
mourning. She was the third child to have died since Bertie's father had
inexplicably left London and brought his family here.
And they were a family, Bertie thought stubbornly. Valentina
wasn't really his sister, but he loved her -- something he wouldn't admit
until... until... until they stuck bamboo shoots under his fingernails.
Until they used thumbscrews... whatever thumbscrews were. Until they made
him eat turnips. Bertie spent a few more pleasant moments imagining
horrible and hideous tortures that he, Rupert Giles, Flying Ace, would
withstand manfully while making witty comments, before his thoughts
inevitably returned to Cathy, to Chris, to Diana. To the miners. Even
Bertie had heard about how they had found the bodies of the miners. The
tales had given him nightmares for weeks. And Mr. Smith, the grocer.
Bertie had loved the market. Mr. Smith had always seemed so happy
surrounded by people, and had always had a kind word for the new boy in a
town where most of the townspeople lived in the same homes that had been
occupied by their parents and grandparents and great-great-great-great
grandparents.
And then one day the market was closed, and Mr. Smith no longer
lived where his ancestors had lived. Instead, he joined them in the
churchyard, and sour-faced Miss Wynn had taken over the market. She didn't
hand out treats to children the way Mr. Smith had, and he had heard the
women in the town mutter that she kept her thumb on the scale when weighing
the meat. Bertie decided that he would have a market someday, but it would
be like Mr. Smith's, *not* like Miss Wynn's. After he was a flying ace, of
course.
Mum didn't like it here. Bertie knew that. Even if she told him
that she liked being away from the city, back in the country where *she*
had grown up, she didn't like it. Late at night, when she thought he was
asleep, she and Father had argued. Father said they had no choice, that
they had to stay. Then he said something that Bertie was still trying to
puzzle out. "Valentina is the Chosen One," and Bertie could hear the
weight of capitals in his voice. "It is her destiny."
"Her destiny?" His mother's voice had risen in anger. "How many
times have you told me that? How can it be *destiny* for a girl that young
to--" His mother had cut herself off abruptly with a sound like a sob, and
Bertie could hear no more after that then the voices themselves, murmuring
low.
Father didn't seem to be afraid, but Bertie really couldn't tell.
Father didn't have time for him, generally. Sometimes, in London, Father
would teach him things. Languages, mostly. Sometimes Bertie would tell
him what he had seen in the Museum, and Father would tell him strange and
fascinating stories about this cross and that spear. But from the day that
Father had abruptly announced that they were moving to Dunsbury-on-Trent,
he hadn't ever had time for Bertie.
And Valentina was looking more and more weary. Father told the
school board that she was delicate, weak, and so couldn't attend the public
school. He'd tutor her at home, he promised, and proved to the school that
he was qualified to do so. Bertie wondered sometimes why he had to go to
school where all he did was the sums he had learned two years before and
stumbled through baby books and stared out the window until the teacher
scolded him and made him write, "I will attend to the lesson" one hundred
times on the blackboard.
And he knew Valentina wasn't weak. She was strong. Very strong.
In the London house, just before they'd left, she'd accidentally snapped a
knob off the door, just by tugging too hard on it. Father's face had
looked so strange when she had done that.
But she was tired all the time. Sometimes, at night when he had
nightmares, Bertie crept into her room --just to see if she was scared too.
If she was, he'd comfort her. She was six years older than he was, but she
was a girl. But almost all the time, she wasn't there. And once he'd seen
her come in, limping, looking so... so very tired. Very, very tired.
Bertie yawned as the rushing water below began to sound like a
lullaby. His lower lip slid out in a pout that he had outgrown by the time
he was three. He didn't like it here. He wanted to go home. Home, where
people and things to see, and his father wasn't always preoccupied and his
mother's eyes weren't dark with fear, and where Valentina had had time to
play with him every now and again. Home...
It was dark when he woke, dark and cold, the promise of rain having
become a drizzly reality. His heavy sweater was soaked through, and he
shivered. Disoriented by sleep and rain, for a moment he didn't know where
he was. Stumbling to his feet, slipping, smearing mud on his school
trousers, he turned in a slow circle, trying to get his bearings.
A figure moved in the shadows before him, a silhouette against the
faintest of moonlight. Without knowing why, Bertie cringed back against
the tree that had sheltered him through his drift through dreamtime. He
closed his eyes tightly and chanted silently that he was still asleep, that
this was just a nightmare, that he'd wake up and it would be light and he
would go home and get scolded for not coming home directly from school...
"Bertie!" the shadow cried out, and Bertie recognized his mother's
voice. Manfully biting back a sob of relief he stumbled forward.
"Mum! I'm here!"
Clouds parted enough to let moonlight show him his mother's face,
drawn with worry. No, more than that. Terror. "Bertie!" She clutched
him to her, holding tightly in an embrace that Bertie would have normally
freed himself from, if he hadn't been so scared. Then she took him by the
shoulders and shook him slightly. "Rupert Edmund Giles," she scolded
fiercely. "You *know* that you are to come straight home from school!
Come along," she said, glancing around nervously as Bertie began to try to
excuse himself, he needed to think, he hadn't *meant* to fall asleep. "We
must go in...."
For the rest of his life, Bertie never really clearly remembered
what happened next. He could work out later that, logically, they had been
accosted on their way back to the farmhouse. But the first warning that
Bertie had was when something warm and wet had splattered on his cheek.
His mother's tight clasp on his hand disappeared, as though the misty night
had just swallowed her up.
And a monster that even his worst nightmares hadn't imagined stood
before him.
Bertie could almost feel his toes growing like roots into the
ground. Fear paralyzed him; he couldn't move. He couldn't do anything but
stand and shake as a... THING tilted its head and grinned. Eyes gleamed
with their own light through the fog, and the horribly distorted face was a
study in glee. Without a word, it stepped forward and grabbed Bertie.
With its attack, Bertie's paralysis abruptly was cured, and he
began struggling in the creature's grasp. Crying out, flailing in its
grasp, Bertie kicked and struck out in blind desperation. With a hoarse
laugh, the monster wrenched Bertie's head to one side and prepared to feed.
Bertie tumbled suddenly to the ground, rolling back to curl next to
his mother. She was up on her knees, a cut on her cheek seeping blood,
horror in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her son, but didn't take
her eyes off the battle before her.
Valentina was holding a long branch, parrying the monster's
attempts to rush her. Her face was set, determined, fierce in the low
light. The monster had chosen his ambush site well; Bertie and his mother
were trapped on a promontory above the river. As long as the path was
blocked, they couldn't go anywhere.
"Coward," Valentina hissed, and Bertie felt his chest swell with
pride. Valentina was a girl, but she sure didn't act like it sometimes.
"All you and yours ever do is attack children. How about a real fight for
a change?"
The monster laughed. "A Slayer? Oh, yes, that would be a good
challenge. Your blood will be sweet and powerful. I've been waiting for
you," he crooned, sounding like, like... Bertie tried to think. Like
heroes in movies, he decided, when they got all mushy and kissy. Somehow,
it sounded really sick coming from this monster to Valentina. "Why did you
wait so long? Why did I have to content myself with the blood of children
when you could have--"
He cut himself off when Valentina rushed him suddenly, an
inarticulate cry breaking from her throat. He dodged the branch, but not
the kick that sent him to the ground. Rolling to avoid the branch that was
being brought straight down, like a medieval knight plunging a sword into
the ground, the monster gained his feet again, and he and Valentina circled
again.
"Let them go," she ordered, casting a glance over her shoulder at
Bertie and his mother. Suddenly more scared, Bertie crowded back against
his mother again. She didn't seem like Valentina at that moment. She
looked cold, and hard, and as dangerous as the creature that had attacked
him.
"Oh, hardly, Slayer. Why would I do a silly thing like that? As
long as you keep worrying about them, they are a weapon for me."
Bertie had no idea how long the fight went on. It was silent after
that, except for grunts and growls that broke from the combatants. Circle,
attack, dodge, break away, circle again. There seemed no end to the
pattern. The mist strengthened into rain, washing the battle before him
into a watercolor of blurring figures.
Finally, Valentina broke out of it for a moment. Breathing hard,
she glanced again over at Bertie and his mother. Her eyes met theirs for
one moment. Then she folded her lips tightly and she turned back to her
enemy. And attacked. With laughable ease, the creature ducked to one side
and grabbed her.
This time, she didn't break away. Howling in triumph, the creature
bent his head to her neck as he had to Bertie. Valentina's voice was a
high, thin cry of pain. The monster was silent -- until a sudden strange
cry seemed to coalesce from the air around him and he burst into dust.
Valentina, released from his killing embrace, dropped to the ground.
Bertie felt his mother shudder against him, then bury her face in
his hair and start crying. ~Girls,~ he thought, disgusted. Valentina won,
and Mum was crying.
Valentina wasn't moving, though. Bertie started wiggling, trying
to free himself from his mother's suffocating hold. She wouldn't let him
go, merely held on and rocked him. She held him while the rain cleared and
the moon gleamed across the path, while Bertie's father found them. He
glanced at his wife and son, then knelt beside Valentina. Slowly, he
touched her hand, then her cheek. Then he passed his palm over her eyes,
bowing his head.
And that was when Bertie understood.
*****
They were leaving, going back to London. Within the week, Father
said. Bertie felt guilty. He'd wanted to go home, had dreamed of it.
But standing beside Valentina's grave, he wished that he'd never
wished of it.
Bertie looked at his mother, surrounded by clucking townswomen.
She seemed remote from them, her face pale and drawn, ravaged by grief.
Even though Valentina hadn't been her daughter, Bertie knew that his mother
had loved her.
Slowly, everyone left, everyone in the small town who had barely
known the Giles family and now would never know that Valentina had been the
only one standing between them and a monster that was killing them. The
monster was dead, and they were safe. But it had taken Valentina with him.
Alone, Bertie stood where the gravestone would be, staring at the
mound of earth that had rattled with such dreadful finality against the
coffin. He jumped when his father put his hand on his shoulder, clasping
tightly. His father didn't say anything, just the hold on his shoulder,
the warmth of human touch. Slowly, unsure of whether or not his father
would allow it, Bertie tilted his head until it rested against his father's
arm.
They stood there for a long time. Finally, Bertie sniffed and drew
his hand under his nose. "Father... why? What was that thing? Why did he
kill Valentina?"
Edmund Giles turned his son to face him. His eyes were sharp,
piercing as they examined his son's face. Then slowly, he sighed,
retreating several steps to a bench, pulling Bertie with him. "I never
meant to tell you this so young," he said simply.
And then, as plainly as he could, explained why Valentina had died.
THE END
~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~*~-~
Lizbet, High Priestess of the Cult of Joss
lizbet@primenet.com ~*~ Lizbetann@aol.com
Co-List Mummy, Sunnydale Slayers: "Spank your inner moppet."
http://www.primenet.com/~lizbet/ ~~*~~
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 12:59:27 -0500
From: Dori <cleindor@cfw.com>
Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS:For The Future's Sake (1/1)
>something he wouldn't admit
>until... until... until they stuck bamboo shoots under his fingernails.
>Until they used thumbscrews... whatever thumbscrews were. Until they made
>him eat turnips.
Lizbet, I love this! It's so... so... =ten=.
Oh, poor Giles! All that responsibility, so soon. Thank you, Lizbet, I
liked this a lot.
Dori/cleindor@cfw.com
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Dreams die hard, and we hold them in our hands long after
they've turned to dust." DRAGONHEART
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 11:15:29 -0800
From: Lisa Rose <cybrpaws@wco.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Christmas Madness
I'm Baaaaack! Didja miss me?
Troubling song parodies filled my head as I
twiddled my thumbs over Christmas vacation.
Here is part of the madness:
I SAW MUMMY KISSING XANDER CLAUS
(To the tune of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus")
I saw Mummy kissing Xander Claus
Outside her sarcophagus last night
She was tired of feeling cold
Being several centuries old
She thought that he might make her
Feel a little less like mold
I saw Mummy kissing Xander Claus
Draining him like some big battery
He should have known when they first clicked
She was a monster, not a chick
'Cause monsters sure dig Xander Claus!
(repeat melody)
I saw Mummy kissing Xander Claus
Just before she turned a gruesome sight
How she longed to take a whirl
Such a pre-Colombian pearl!
She hoped that he might make her
Feel like any other girl
I saw Mummy kissing Xander Claus
Flaunting Incan immortality
He should have known right from the start
She was a monster at her heart
'Cause monsters all love Xander Claus!
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 11:38:12 -0800
From: Lisa Rose <cybrpaws@wco.com>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: more christmas madness
As promised, lots of dark thoughts filled my
mind as I twiddled my thumbs over Solstice
vacation. Here is yet another one:
STAKE ME EASY
(To the tune of "Take it Easy" by The Eagles)
Well I'm trompin' through the mud
Tryin' to score me some blood
Got a couple slayers on my mind
First one wants to thrill me
Second wants to kill me
Number one's my favorite kind
Stake me easy, stake me easy
Instead of gouging at my chest
Touch light and please me
Number two, cut me some slack
Because I've got my nice soul back
I sure don't need no heart attack
Just stake me easy
Well I'm standin' at the center
Of Hellmouth, California
And it's such a grim sight I see
Number two, godsakes
With a ten-inch stake
Comin' by to take a stab at me
Come on Kendra, be more tender
Where the hell is number one?
She's my defender
If I die, you slaying thug
Buff will beat you like a rug
So drop that stick, give me hug
Just stake me easy
Well I'm rollin' in the hay
With my gal of type-A, cause the
Strong ones really give me kicks
Love my slayer teenage
Who won't jab my ribcage
She's such a perfect mix
Stake me easy, stake me easy
Just run that wood across my chest
And softly tease me
On this point you gotta trust
Poke me lightly if you must
It's more fun than making dust
Just stake me easy
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Oh, just stake me easy
Ya gotta stake me easy...
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 22:58:01 -0800
From: Angel's Lover <lfox@continuum.org>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section one of Part One of Hopefully Six,
Okay all.. I've been posting this on my homepage, but I thought perhaps
a larger audience would prove helpful when I start my next fic next week
(after part six is written.. it's half way there.. so I'm gonna post the
first five and then post six when it's done).
As we all know, the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are not mine,
they are created by Joss Whedon and owned by Mutant Enemy Productions,
et al. I am quite obviously not making a cent off of my writing, I do
this purely for my own entertainment, and no copywrite infringement is
intended.
Please feel free to let me know what you think of my story, either once
part six is posted, or before, which ever you perfer. I love
comments... and well intentioned criticism. Write to Lea at:
lfox@continuum.org or angels_lover@hotmail.com
Now.. on with the show..
_________________________
Time Heals All ~
By Lea
She sighed. Nothing seemed to be happening that night... just like
every night for the past few weeks. Giles was becoming concerned;
for Spike to remain this quiet for so long seemed to indicate that he
was up to something. Angel couldn't offer them any explanation. The
vampires had hardly even come out to feed, and he was just as puzzled
as to why.
She leaned up against a gravestone and sighed. Two weeks of useless
patrol were starting to get to her; she needed time off. She made up
her mind right then to ask Giles for tomorrow night off. She wanted to
go to the Bronze, hang with Willow and Xander, spend some time
with Angel.
Angel. A soft smile crossed her face as she thought about the vampire
she had grown to care for more than even he knew. She wondered
what he was doing... she hadn't seen even him in three nights, which
after recent events was unusual.
"Buff."
Her heart leaped. She hadn't even sensed him coming. "Angel!" She
turned with a ready smile on her face.
He smiled back softly, "Desire springs from impossibility."
She blinked, "Say again?"
"Sorry. Just something I heard tonight. I was just thinking how utterly
appropriate it is to us."
She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I guess so."
He paused, "Do you have some time free?"
She looked around the graveyard, "Yeah.. it's pretty dead here." He
grinned and raised an eyebrow; Buffy blushed. "Not that dead's a bad
thing.. well, it is but not in your case.. I mean.." She sighed,
"Shutting up now."
Angel laughed lowly. "Would you like to come home with me?" he aked
after a moments hesitation. He hadn't intended upon inviting her into
his home, but his heart wanted her to see where he lived.
"Really?"
"Really."
She jumped down off the grave stone, "Let's go."
*************
Angel held his breath as she looked around quietly. The windows
were covered in dark, inpenetrable shades.
She looked at them thoughtfully. "Do you wake before sunset?"
He nodded, "I eat, get dressed, clean the place.. just stuff to pass the
time."
"Eat?" a sick curiosity overwhelmed her.
Slowly he took her hand and led her to the refridgerator. He opened
the door to reveal the pints of bagged blood, chilled, ready for his
consumption. Bottles of what could be taken for red wine lined the
lower shelves and the side pockets. Her eyes were irresistably drawn
to the half empty bag sitting on the top shelf. The missing blood had
been eaten by him.. he was a vampire... she shivered.. this was all too
real.
He sighed as he watched her try and cope with what he was showing
her. He waited expectantly as she looked up at him, only there was
concern in her eyes, not fear.
She reached out and caressed his too pale cheek, the cold of his skin
chilling her fingers. "You haven't eaten enough."
He looked at her in shock, "What?"
She gestured back to the fridge. "One half empty bag. Your skin is so
pale... and so much colder than normal."
He sat down heavily on his sofa and almost laughed aloud. Only
Buffy. "I wasn't really hungry tonight."
She shrugged and closed the fridge. "Just don't go anorexic on me,
okay?"
"You amaze me you know that?"
"Why?" she moved to sit beside him.
His fingers slowly caressed her throat, and she raised her head slightly
for him. His hand stroked under her jaw, to her collar bone, and back
up again.
"You hardly even blinked at the blood."
She smiled, "I know you need it."
"But it's different to see it... to know what it's for."
She shrugged, "You don't kill for your blood anymore, so I'm not
gonna wig about it, okay?"
"No fear?"
"Not of you."
Slowly he lowered his mouth to kiss her throat. His tongue darted out
to taste her, while his teeth grated lightly over her sensitive skin.
Her fingers stroked lightly through his hair; he pulled away and looked
into her eyes.
"Yes."
He blinked. "What?"
"I trust you." She settled down against his chest as she sighed. "When
you asked I told you I loved you but that I didn't know if I could trust
you."
Pain flickered in his eyes. "I remember."
"I was wrong. I do trust you."
"You shouldn't."
"I do."
"You should run while you can."
"Or what, you'll bite me?"
"Maybe."
"We all have to die sometime."
"Not necessarily."
"You'd bring me across?"
"I couldn't live without you."
"I love you."
He sighed, "We're both damned."
"Do you love me?"
He nodded, "I love you."
She smiled.
***********
Continued in Email Two
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 23:02:22 -0800
From: Angel's Lover <lfox@continuum.org>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section Two of Part One of Six
Here's the conclusion to Part One.. Standard disclaimers apply, the
characters are not mine, they're Joss's and Mutant Enemies.. I'm making
not a cent and no copywright infringement was intended. Send comments
to Lea at lfox@continuum.org or angels_lover@hotmail.com .
_______________
Conclusion to Part One:
Buffy almost floated through the halls of Sunnydale high the next
morning; she never even heard as Willow called her name.
"Buffy... Buffy...Buffy!"
Finally Xander stepped out in front of her, "Whoa there little filly.
The
derby isn't being run for another, oh.. eight months."
Buffy stopped dead and looked at Xander blankly for a moment. "Hi,
Xander."
"Didn't you hear me, Buffy? I've been calling."
The slayer smiled at Willow, taking her arm and dragging her to the
side of the hallway. "We have got to talk, Will." Her eyes betrayed
her excitement, and Willow's own excitement grew to match.
"Angel?" she asked wit bright eyes.
Buffy nodded quickly.
"What about Angel?"
Both girls looked up to see Xander standing close, listening to them.
Willow looked to Buffy who shrugged. Just as she was about to
speak the bell rang.
"Class!" she said suddenly. "We have to go to class now before...
well.. before Principle Schnyder decides to make us wash the
windows or something."
They settled into their desks just as their teacher began talking.
English class, great, Cordelia would likely keep the teacher's attention
focussed on her. Willow passed Buffy a note.
"Well? What about Angel?!"
Buffy smiled as she scrawled out, "He took me to his place."
"Where is it? This is so kewl!"
"I know! It's a loft near the Bronze."
"Was there kissing?"
Buffy had to force herself not to giggle, "Major kissing!"
Willow sighed, "I'm so jealous." A pause and then a new note, "Was
there tongue?"
"Willow!" Buffy spoke aloud before clasping her hand across her
mouth.
"Buffy?"
The slayer looked up guiltily at her teacher, "Um.. sorry, Mrs. Datrie..
um.. Willow's book was .. um.. about to fall off her desk. I just spoke
to loud when I was trying to warn her." Lame, lame, lame! she
thought as the teacher's eyes turned to Willow's book blatently closed
in the middle of her desk.
Mrs. Datrie frowned at her as she continued her discussion.
Another note from Willow, "Well?"
Buffy laughed silently, "Live vicariously through someone else, Will!"
Willow giggled as she handed the note back. "But you're the only one
dating an experienced, older.. well, guy I guess."
Buffy sighed, "He's coming tonight. We're going to the Bronze.
Coming?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
**********
"So.. what time is dead boy gonna show?" Xander asked
offhandedly.
A cold hand encircled his neck from behind, "I've asked you not to
call me that."
Xander brushed him off, "Lose your sense of humor some time in the
last two and a half centuries, or were you just born this dull?"
Buffy moved to Angel's side, "You made it."
He nodded, "I'm sorry I'm late. I made a quick run of the cemetary
just to make sure everything is still quiet."
"Is it?"
He nodded, "Too quiet."
She sighed, "Want to dance?"
Again he nodded, affording her a small smile.
Xander scowled, "She's doing this to make me jealous, you know,
Will. She really has no feelings for the vampire."
Willow giggled, "Oh, of course not. That's why her tongue is busily
making it's way down his throat."
Xander groaned, "He's dead! It's just too sad when a girl willingly
chooses a dead guy over me!"
Willow burst out into laughter, "True, but you can take comfort in one
thing..."
"What's that?"
She sighed, "He's a really cute dead guy."
*********
Angel pulled away from the kiss and smiled into Buffy's eyes. She
sighed. How was it possible someone so alive could possibly be
dead.. or undead for that matter.
"Buff? What are you thinking?"
She shrugged, "Nothing major."
Slowly they moved back into the rythm of the music. Angel closed his
eyes while they danced, the feel of her body moving against his a
comfort greater than any other he had ever known.
Buffy suddenly giggled. Angel blinked. "What's so funny?"
"Can you imagine what people would say about us? `Tsk tsk, he's
241 and she's 16. He's robbing the cradle and she's robbing the
grave.'"
Angel winced, "Buffy.."
She giggled again, "Sorry."
"You're the only one who could find the humor in falling for a
vampire."
She grinned, "Must be your biting personality... it brings out my
darkside."
He rolled his eyes, "There must be too much smoke in here tonight.
You're weirder than normal." She smacked his chest and he smiled.
"Want to go for a walk?"
She nodded, "Good idea."
***********
"Okay so maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
Buffy and Angel watched from the shadows as Spike, Drusilla and
several other vampires as they gathered in a clearing behind the
school. Buffy sighed.
"So much for my night off." She frowned, "What are they doing?"
Angel's eyes narrowed, "They have one of Giles' books by the look
of it."
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, one stole it during that whole mess with Ford."
Angel visably flinched at the mention of Buffy's old friend's name, but
he said nothing on the topic. "It looks like they're conjuring
something,
but I don't know what."
A flash of lightning overhead; Buffy pulled out a stake. "What ever it
is, with Spike involved it can't be good. Let's go bag us some
vamps!"
"Buffy wait.. somethings...!" But the girl was already moving behind
the first vampire.. one swift stroke and the demon was dust.
Just as she moved to the next creature the lightning building overhead
crashed down in amidst the circle of vampires. What appeared to be
a shining portal appeared in the lightning's wake.
Buffy paused in her slayage and stared wide eyed at the portal; Spike
laughed loudly, "Witness the portal of Grosaak! Keeper of the Space
within Time! Slayer, enjoy your last few moments of life, for once I
pass through this door you will be no more!"
A vampire moved forward and grabbed Buffy from behind. Her
shock at the portal coupled with the surprise attack allowed the
demon the leverage it needed to pick her off her feet. Without
thinking it through her in the direction of the portal.
"No!" Spike hollared.
"Buffy!" Angel tore through the crowd of vampires but was too late.
With a soft cry she was dragged through the portal and disappeared
from view.
"Damn!" Angel shouted. He turned, "I'll be back for you, Spike!"
With that he turned back to the portal stepping unwaveringly through
the shimmering light into the darkness of the beyond.
***************
End Chapter One.
- -
------------------------------
End of Buffyfic-digest V1 #78
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