Part Seven

Whister grinned at Giles sheepishly. “The Whatcher’s Council, Rupie, among others.”

“What others,” Giles asked surprised. Being book man, Giles wasn’t used to beig left in the dark when it came to things, and he didn’t like it.

“You probably wouldn’t recognize them,” Whister sighned, “But the Fallowers of the Writings of Gregorius, Cult of the Eight Seal, The Keepers of the Cronicles to name a few. All of which work to help the balance.”

Giles nodded, satiated for the moment. He read over the prophesy once more. “I still don’t under stand the relevence,” he complained.

Whister took the book from Giles grasp, “And the one who lead him astray . . . This confirms that the Codex is talking about Buffy because she’s the one that took Angel’s soul and made him turn to his old ways . . . .shall she herself be lead astray Something of the like will happen to her. . . . -but will not fallow into the dark. . . . So, she’ll not end up the same way in the end . . . For she is the slayer no longer . . . her status will change some how . . . but the stars themselves. The light in the dark, condemed not to the dark. So for some reason or anouther, Buffy will not lose her goodness, her light. . . But to eternal life as a merciful death. . . . She will continue to give the souls of the vampires freedom, for they lie in wait as the demons who stole them away, by giving thier earthly bodies an end. ”

Giles stared at Whister. “That’s all good and well,” he said frustrated, “But what exactly does that mean?”

Whister chuckled, “Hell if I know.”


Part Eight

Buffy pushed her bangs from her eyes as she finished adding up her recieps. She hadn’t had a chance to go see Giles after her “date” with Jake because Buffy had to go to work. Besides that, the owners had talked her into working over time by offering her the next day off. Since getting up early in the morning wasn’t Buffy’s favorite past time, she agreed. Afterall, the tips were better in the evenings anyways.

Waving good night to her boss, Buffy started the walk back to the boarding house. The night was warm. Not even a hint of breeze was blowing to alieveate the oppressive heat. And it was quiet. Too quiet.

To be perfectly honest, the silence was creeping Buffy out. She had hurried out of the house in the morning, leaving her usual slaying supplied in a small purse by her nightstand. She didn’t even have a vial of holy water or a simple stake with her to protect her self. Stupid, Buffy Summers, she thought, angry with herself. Why didn’t you just put yourself on the menue at the resturant?

Buffy quikened her pace, trying to speed up the trip home. She had been hunting almost every night of the week and she knew what was out there. It wasn’t a good idea to leave the house at night. Buffy stopped dead in her tracks trying to identify the noise behind her.

Buffy let out a small shriek when a hand on her shoulder shook her out of her reverie. She whirled around defensively, ready for an attack.

“You shouldn’t be out here at night,” Jake said, looking at Buffy strangely. “The nights a dangerous place for a lady.”

Buffy let out a relieved laugh, “Thanks for the warning. I don’t think I’ll need it in a safe place like this though. Besides, I can take of myself.”

Jake reached out for her hand, “You’d be surprised. Let me walk you home.”

Buffy let him pull her forward. They walked quickly through the night, their pace increasing until they neared the boarding house. Buffy’s slayer senses perked up. Something was wrong. Buffy steped infront of Jake defensively. She narrowed her eyes and searched the premisses. There.

In the corner of her eye, Buffy spotted what she was looking for. The vamps couldn’t be more than twenty feet away. There was at least seven of them hunting in a pack. The smartest thing that Buffy could do now was run. With out any weapons, she was almost helpless. Buffy took a deep breath, grabbed Jake’s hand, and got ready to run.

Buffy stopped mid stride when she saw her worst fear. Giles in the grasp of one of the vamps. Her breath caught in her throat and for an instant she forgot how to breathe. She let Jake’s hand go and charged up to Giles and the vamp.

She slammed into the monster, causing him to realease her watcher. With a quick jump, she was up on her feet again, none the worse for the wear. With a quick gasp for breath, Buffy got in to a fighting stance. Part Nine

The vamps started to circle, ready for a battle. With a quick lash of her foot, Buffy cleared a path for herself. She hurried to Gile’s side, helping him up.

“Come on,” she grunted. Almost before she could let out a sigh of relief at the fact that Giles was still concious, one of the vamps yanked her away from him by the collar of her shirt. She flew back and hit the ground with a yelp. With no weapon in sight, and no defenses, Buffy was scared.

The vampire jumped on top of her, yanking her face up to the level of his eyes. The vamp grinned before plunging his teeth toward her neck. Buffy closed her eyes. So this is the end. No begging for Buffy Summers. Not this slayer. Buffy relaxed and tried to set her mind away.

All of a sudden her neck was released and she crumpled to the ground. Buffy opened her eyes, confused. Standing over her prone form was . . .

“Jake?” Buffy asked. Jake bent down quickly and helped her from the pile of ashed she was lying in.

“I definitely want an explination,” Buffy began angry, excited, confused. “How do you know what to do with a vampire? Tell me? Huh? I want to know,” Buffy demanded.

Jake looked around himself at all the vampires congregating, readying themselves for an attack. “I guess I could ask the same things,” Jake said.

“Yeah, well,” Buffy said, “I asked first.” Buffy stood there, arms crossed over her chest in defiance.

The vampires started to circle. “Not now darling,” Jake said quickly, picking Buffy up and tossing her over his shoulder. He ran toward the little room Buffy was staying in. Fallowing Giles and Whister through the doorway, Jake slid Buffy off of his shoulders and onto the bed.

Buffy bounced on her butt and slipped on the covers. Every one in the room was looking at Jake in awe and confusion. Jake looked around bewildered. He finaly focused his eyes on Buffy and sat down beside her on the bed.

“You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”