Strange Place to Live:
Demon Hunter
by Cynamin

"The world has come calling and it's bleeding at my door
Am I supposed to turn away or is this what I'm here for?"
~Someone Keeps Calling My Name
Harry Chapin

Monday night
Giles' House

The gathering at Giles' home that evening was a strange one. Not that they ever had a normal gathering, Willow reflected, but this one was a touch stranger than usual. Like one of their "usual" gatherings, the majority of those there were staring at strange, dusty tomes searching for clues to defeating their latest enemy. Everyone had gathered in Giles' living room, making their way through every strange old book Giles thought might be relevant. The pile of books they were discarding was growing as the pile of donuts next to it was

shrinking.Willow glanced up from her own confusing text to look at everyone else. Oz sat next to her, still trying to get through another one of the books. Xander was nodding off across the room. Neither Buffy nor Angel were getting much done, as they were concentrating more on each other than any of the books. Every once in a while Buffy would turn a page. It was sweet in a romantic sort of a way, but also rather funny to watch. Giles was talking to their new friend, Kenneth, who was telling him about being a demon hunter while mixing up some strange herbs in a bowl.

Oz stopped his reading and added the book to the reject pile. "Hey," he said to Willow, "how's your book going?"

Willow sighed. "It's not." She spoke up then. "There's nothing here, Giles!" she said.

Buffy looked up from her book as well. "Nothing over here!" she declared. "Have we found *anything*?"

"Well," Giles said, "we know that this Orin is planning to use the . . . demonic magnetism of the Hellmouth to call stronger and more powerful demons than he'd usually be able to call and control."

"So, if we don't do something we're going to have a demonic army on our hands," muttered Buffy. "Fun and games in Sunnydale."

Kenneth looked up from his smelly herbs. "We do know where he is, that's a plus," he said. "And he's waiting for something. The thing is, until we find out what that something is, we'll have great difficulty stopping him."

Suddenly Xander snapped to full wakefulness. "Ooh, ooh, I've got something! Here Giles, demon summoner stuff. Demon armies. . . ."

"Give it here, Xander," Giles said, taking the book from him. "Well, this is certainly interesting," he said, reading quickly. He handed the book to Kenneth.

The demon hunter regarded the book seriously. "Huh," he said, "well, that certainly explains it."

"What?" Buffy demanded. "Come on, if you want me to help you defeat this guy you've got to tell me what's going on."

Giles paused to adjust his glasses and said, "It seems that two nights from now the conditions will be perfect for him to . . . open a portal of sorts through which he can bring a true demon army. It seems you were correct, Buffy."

"Oh, thrill. I just love being correct," she replied

sarcastically."Well, there is something good here," said Kenneth. "We can defeat him, with some luck and good planning."

The gathering looked at him expectantly.

"Orin's work requires a focus stone, a large crystal through which he channels his magic. When he starts the ritual and the portal begins to open . . . if we can interrupt his spell before he completes it, the magic should destroy him for us. Smash the focus stone, and Orin and his pet demons will be pulled through the collapsing portal . . . to nowhere."

"And the catch is?"

"The catch is that Orin already has a significant cadre of lesser demons and vampires. We'll have to get past them to stop him. And we have to time it right or we'll still have to fight all the demons," Kenneth explained.

"So," said Willow, "it looks like you need all the help you can

get.""Yes," said Giles. "And fortunately we have two days to plan. Willow, could you find the plans to their . . . lair so that we can plan our approach?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll look on my computer tonight. You want me to bring the information tomorrow?"

"I suppose that would be best. There's nothing else we can accomplish here tonight."

"Oh, good," Angel said softly with a yawn. Willow didn't think he'd meant for anyone to hear him. Buffy looked at him and laughed slightly. "What?"

"Now you're sounding like the rest of us."

Angel smiled, then yawned again. "Sorry," he said. "I just got out of the hospital this morning, my sleep schedule's all off, and it's been a long day. I'm tired."

"Are we done here, Giles?" Buffy asked. "I'm not good at the research part anyway, I still need to patrol, and I'd like to walk Angel home."

Everyone looked at Giles expectantly, who nodded. "We all should get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I'll see all of you in the morning."

With that everyone began to disperse. Buffy and Angel left first after helping put some of Giles books away. Xander was cleaning up the last of the uneaten donuts. Kenneth was putting away his herbs when Willow approached him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," the demon hunter replied without looking up.

"You know, I don't think we were introduced earlier," she said. "I'm Willow, by the way."

The demon hunter looked up, smiling slightly. "Nice to meet you, Willow," he said. "I'm Kenneth . . . but you already knew that." He laughed slightly. "Sorry, I'm tired."

"Yeah, we all are," Willow acknowledged. "By the way, what were you doing?"

"Hmm?"

"With the herbs," Willow clarified. When Kenneth didn't answer at first she said, "You're the new guy in town, I'm just trying to make conversation, and I didn't recognize any of the herbs you were using."

"You do magic?" asked Kenneth curiously.

"Some," replied Willow with a smile. "I'm working on it. When it works it's really helpful to everyone. When it doesn't. . . ." Willow looked closer at the bag of herbs Kenneth was putting away. "Preparing for some sort of anti-demon spell?"

"Sort of," replied Kenneth. "I use it to detect demons. Sort of a demon locator."

"Wow, that would be useful around here. Does it work for vampires too?"

"Yes, but it'll detect more pure demons first," Kenneth explained. "That's how I found Orin's lair."

"Do . . . you think you could teach me?"

Kenneth looked at her seriously, and Willow got the impression he was looking through her. "You have quite a gift for someone not born to witchcraft. You've cast powerful magic before," he said seriously. "I can teach you," he said.

"Really?" Willow grinned.

"Really," Kenneth replied with a smile. "Now, I've never taught anyone before, but there's a first time for anything, right?"

"Right," Willow replied, still smiling. "Listen, I've got to go. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, Willow."

Willow joined Oz in the van, smiling. Tomorrow, a new magic lesson. Finally, someone would be teaching her something they could all really, really use.

Part Three

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