From: krissy Subject: BUFFYFIC: writing a slayer handbook Date: 02 Jan 1998 02:01:03 -0800 (PST) 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RitaLance9 Subject: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila Date: 02 Jan 1998 14:35:34 EST 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! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bryce2000 Subject: BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy Date: 02 Jan 1998 16:14:50 EST unsubscribe buffy - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Carriedel Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila Date: 03 Jan 1998 11:20:34 EST That was really good, you are right it was short, but still good. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lisewilliams Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Part of That World 1/1 by Leila Date: 03 Jan 1998 14:05:46 -0800 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! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Carriedel Subject: BUFFYFIC: New Comer Date: 04 Jan 1998 11:22:16 EST 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John & Barbie Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: New Comer Date: 03 Jan 1998 20:34:58 -0800 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. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Katie Bischoff" Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6) Date: 04 Jan 1998 13:28:43 PST 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Katie Bischoff" Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6) Date: 04 Jan 1998 13:33:01 PST 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Katie Bischoff" Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6) Date: 04 Jan 1998 13:37:12 PST 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Katie Bischoff" Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6) Date: 04 Jan 1998 13:38:40 PST 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RitaLance9 Subject: BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed Date: 06 Jan 1998 00:29:12 EST 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 :-) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Silver Maiden Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Beta Readers Needed Date: 06 Jan 1998 17:08:29 -0500 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kimela M Wilker" Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/? Date: 07 Jan 1998 15:46:37 -0600 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." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: NuPhalanx Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams Pt 8/? Date: 07 Jan 1998 19:45:02 EST 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. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(3/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:27 -0500 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 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(4/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:26 -0500 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 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(2/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500 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 t ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500 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 - - he 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 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500 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 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: BUFFYFIC: Brutal Youth(1/6) Date: 08 Jan 1998 18:49:25 -0500 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 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Elizabeth Ann Lewis Subject: BUFFYFIC: For The Future's Sake (1/1) Date: 11 Jan 1998 00:39:28 -0800 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. 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. 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. 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, "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, 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/ ~~*~~ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dori Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS:For The Future's Sake (1/1) Date: 11 Jan 1998 12:59:27 -0500 >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 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Rose Subject: BUFFYFIC: Christmas Madness Date: 11 Jan 1998 11:15:29 -0800 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! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Rose Subject: BUFFYFIC: more christmas madness Date: 11 Jan 1998 11:38:12 -0800 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... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Angel's Lover Subject: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section one of Part One of Hopefully Six, Date: 11 Jan 1998 22:58:01 -0800 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 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Angel's Lover Subject: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Section Two of Part One of Six Date: 11 Jan 1998 23:02:22 -0800 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 w