The King wore his white jumpsuit with the flared trousers, silver trim and fringes. As he removed his dark glasses, his face morphed into that of a demon.
"Now really," Giles said looking him up and down. "That isn't terribly original, dressing up like Elvis. I believe I saw a good dozen other Elvises here tonight."
Affronted, the demon hitched up his belly over the wide belt, planted his legs wide and swivelled his hips. "They're imposters, all of them. I am the King."
"Are you trying to tell me that you are Elvis Aaron Presley?" Giles stared him down in disbelief.
The vampire looked sheepish. "Actually, my name is Wilfred Frick. But I was the best doggone Elvis impersonator this side of Vegas. I even played Vegas once."
"You and a thousand others," Giles said under his breath. Louder, he asked, "What are you doing in Sunnydale then? This can't be a lucrative market for your profession."
He felt ridiculous having this conversation. Part of his mind was engaged in cobbling together an escape plan. Another part of it was thinking about how very much he despised this house and all the memories contained within it.
Wesley hovered on his right, visibly trembling, yet bravely standing in front of Zoey who peered around his arm. Erykah covered Giles' left side, standing close, but not crowding him in case he needed to move suddenly.
"I got family here," the vamp explained.
"Perhaps they should move away. Sunnydale isn't a safe place to live."
"Too late. I turned them!" Elvis crowed. "And you're next. I smell your fear, human."
"That's not me. It's him." Giles pointed at Wesley.
The vampire automatically turned his head to look and Giles sprang forward, slamming both hands against the demon's chest. The blow rocked him back on his heels but he didn't fall.
"Run!" Giles yelled.
Wesley, towing Zoey by the hand, followed as Giles took off, the older Watcher shouldering his way through the crowd in the direction of the back door. Erykah brought up the rear, her face determinedly set.
Elvis followed, bellowing like a beestung bull.
The dancers seem to conspire against them, preventing a hasty exit, and yet no one deliberately got in their way. One or two drunks shoved back when pushed to the side. Giles dealt with them by straight-arming them out of his path. A third ducked under his arm and tried to tackle Wesley, but the younger man neatly sidestepped. The drunk, who was dressed as Shakespeare complete with a goatee that was becoming unglued, stumbled directly into Erykah, clutching at her to stay on his feet. He saw who he had run into and then his hands were all over her body, flattening her breasts, pawing at her hips and ass. She tried to shove him away but he clung to her, lowering his mouth to the side of her long neck. She jammed the heel of her hand under his jaw and pushed upwards. He stepped back, but only enough to gain her a few inches distance. He wasn't a vampire, just slobbering drunk and ugly. As he swayed there, leering, looking like he was going to plaster himself on her again, Erykah eyed him levelly. Then she smiled. He took that as a come-hither look, and reached for her. Erykah met him with her foot, connecting solidly with the soft flesh between his legs.
He went down like a stone, fast and hard.
Giles approached her then. She nearly clocked him, but checked her reflex at the last second.
"Ery? Are you all right?"
She nodded; the adrenaline had her wired. "I'm fine, luv. We must get out of here now."
He searched her expression. "Yes. Now would be a good time."
Looking over her shoulder he tried to see where their pursuer was, but Elvis had gotten lost in the crowd. That didn't mean there weren't others. They couldn't trust anyone here tonight, although it appeared not all were demonic.
Securing her hand in his, he turned back the way he'd come keeping Erykah beside him. They caught up with Wesley and Zoey who had stopped dead and were staring towards their last exit.
The Three Musketeers in full regalia and game face were lined up in front of the doorway.
Giles eyed them dispassionately. "Porthos, Aramis, and Athos. But what about..." He trailed off as a fourth Musketeer joined them. "...D'Artagnan? Of course."
"Wonderful," Erykah growled. "Now what?"
Giles scanned the room behind them. "If we can get past them to the next room, there are stairs that will take us up. From there we can reach the outside."
The beautiful woman regarded him without a change in her expression. "And when did you have time to read the blueprints of this house?"
Giles swallowed a grimace. "This is Angel's mansion. Or, rather, it was."
"Oh, Rupert." She touched his arm, sympathy causing her eyes to glisten in the corners.
He turned, freezing his features in studied nonchalance, yet he squeezed her hand for just a second or two to let her know her concern was appreciated.
"We still need to get out of here. Our friends over there don't appear to be willing to just let us walk out."
"On the other hand," Wesley said, coming up on Giles' other side, "they aren't making any aggressive moves, either."
Giles nodded. "True, but why not?"
"Guys?"
They all turned to look at Zoey.
"Why are all those odd looking men chasing us and keeping us from leaving?"
Erykah moved to slip an arm around Zoey. "They aren't exactly men, dear. They are something...other."
Her mouth forming an O, Zoey asked, "Are they supernatural?"
While Giles and Erykah merely stared, Wesley managed to blink once or twice.
"Yes, dear," Erykah said finally. "They are of the supernatural. They're vampires."
"Cool! They are real then? I love ghosts and ghoulies and things like that."
Giles frowned. "No. Not cool. They are all extremely dangerous."
"Oh."
With an admonishing glance at Giles for his tone, Erykah said gently, "Now, Zoey, you must do as we say so none of us gets hurt."
"Okay," she said in a small voice.
Giles didn't have time to worry about the possibility of hurt feelings, but another look from Erykah prompted him to smile reassuringly at Zoey who looked grateful.
"I have an idea," Wesley announced brightly. "Shall we take a page from the book of Monsieur Dumas and go all for one, one for all?"
Giles grinned at Wesley in surprise. "Excellent!"
Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two men were joined first by Erykah and then by Zoey. The four stepped forward together.
"Let's kick some demon butt!" Zoey exclaimed, her hands balled into fists.
With fierce expressions, they advanced on the Musketeers who held their ground...for all of two seconds. Then the vampires split and ran.
Watching them go, Wesley commented, "That wasn't very sporting of them. They didn't give us a chance to beat them to a pulp."
Herding his friends through the exit, Giles said, "I would like to know why they ran, but now is not the time to ask them. Let's go!"
Moments later they were out in the fresh night air. Zoey lingered, trying to see if any more exciting creatures were about, but Giles kept her moving. They could see the car from where they were, and he had every intention of getting in it and driving home to safety.
Almost as soon as he completed that thought, a pair of dark shadows broke away from the side of the mansion.
"Bloody... Come on. Get to the car! Quickly!"
They dashed to the street, but the demons were gaining on them.
"Ery! Get everyone inside."
"What are you going to do?" she shouted over her shoulder, while bodily pushing Wesley and Zoey into the back seat of her sedan.
"I'm right behind you!"
But he wasn't. He turned at the last minute and ran off across the expanse of dead grass that was once a lawn. The vampires glanced at the car, decided the other three weren't worth the bother, and raced after Giles.
Giles wasn't running as fast as he could have done. In fact, he slowed down and let them catch up. When they were very close, he stopped suddenly and dropped to the ground. The vampires, unable to stop in time, fell over him and each other. Giles rose to his knees, lifted his arm back and staked the one closest to him with a tree branch. As it exploded into moonlit ash, he lunged forward, aiming for the heart of the second one. The vampire fended him off with one hand, reaching for his throat with the other. Both still kneeling, they each struggled to gain the advantage.
A cry rang out, "Mr. Giles! Be careful!"
Distracted by Zoey's yell, the vampire relaxed his grip. Giles pressed forward, swung with his fist, and knocked the creature back with a right uppercut. Then he impaled the undead heart with the broken end of the branch. The fight was over. Giles remained where he was, panting.
"Rupert!" Erykah called to him. "Please!"
He got to his feet and loped over to the car. As he got in and slid onto the front passenger seat, Erykah leaned over and captured his face in her hands, depositing a lingering kiss on his lips.
His eyes met hers in surprise and he saw the worry there. He smiled at her, trying for reassurance.
Erykah tried to smile for him, couldn't quite manage it, put the car in drive, and burned rubber. She obviously couldn't get away from there fast enough.