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Sunnydale High, Library, approximately 21:00 :
'Get in there!' The shout snapped Gilesī head up from the book heīd been reading, and he swiveled in his chair. He knew the voice, of course, but why was she here now? She always hated coming in at this hour.
The doors swung open, and in walked Buffy, pushing a young man in front of her. 'Sit down, right now!' the Slayer snapped. 'Donīt say a word!'
With a disgusted sigh, the boy obeyed, turning his chair in order to be able to see the Slayer.
'Giles? Giles! Get out here!' Buffy yelled, just as the Watcher was exiting his office. 'Oh. Good. You know what this guy did? Do you have any idea?'
'Er.. no, I donīt,' Giles replied, slightly taken aback. He turned to the boy. 'What did you do?'
The stranger smiled slightly and inclined his head, indicating the still glaring, huffing Slayer, who was eyeing him with her arms crossed.
'He was fighting vampires, Giles,' she said, her voice terrifyingly controlled. 'With no trouble, I might add. He even saved my damn life, and he... he scared one of them. Giles, what do we have on things that can scare vampires?'
'Quite a lot,' Giles replied, 'one of them a treatise on the properties of a dog with white eyebrows. But Buffy, what do you...'
'A dog with white eyebrows?' Buffy interrupted him. 'What are you talking about? Whatīs a dog got to do with scaring undead monsters?'
'Iīll fill you in later,' Giles said. 'Buffy, why are you so... er... upset? After all, if he saved your life...'
'My life wouldnīt have had to be saved if this guy hadnīt been doing a walk by the cemetery,' the Slayer grated. 'And you remember the last person that scared a vampire here?'
'Yes, you,' Giles replied.
Silence. The stranger looked at Buffy with an air of polite disinterest.
'Other than me, Giles,' Buffy finally said. 'Remember the teacher lady? The one that bit off heads while she was making whoopie? I need to know if weīre dealing with something like that here.'
'Well, I wouldnīt really know what...' Giles began to say. The boy raised his hand in a casual manner, seeming prepared to hold it up for the rest of the night.
'Yes?' Giles asked. 'Would such a... prolific being possibly be offended by the regalia of Christian religion?' the stranger asked, his voice crisp and undeniably English.
'Indeed it would. Youīre the... er... the new boy in school, arenīt you?' Giles asked. 'I donīt believe weīve had the pleasure.' He started forward with his hand extended, then suddenly found he couldnīt go further. Someone had grabbed him by the belt, and was pulling him back.
'Donīt touch him until weīre sure,' Buffy said, quietly. Dangerously.
'Is this convincing enough?' the boy - Cassiel was his name, Giles remembered - asked, and pulled a cruficix on a chain from under his shirt. The simple form was clearly made of some sort of metal, and it glittered in the dim glow of the overhead lights.
'Not nearly,' Buffy replied. 'Giles, whip up a test. Any test.' 'What is it exactly that you would like me to do?' Giles snapped back. 'Chant prayers and sprinkle holy water on him? Iīm not exactly the Pope, you know.'
'Then get out one of the books on magic and do something from that,' Buffy ordered. 'Iīve got to be sure what Iīm dealing with here, Giles. Normal people donīt scare vampires. They get turned into lunch.'
'This is thoroughly ridiculous,' Cassiel said. 'What would satisfy you as to the fact that Iīm not a... whatever you think I could be?'
'You tell me,' Buffy answered, calmly.
Sunnydale Baptist Church, 21:34 :
'Are you quite sure we should be doing this?' 'Shut up, Giles. I gotta be sure.' 'May one suggest that you both be quiet, before criminal charges are added to sacrilege?'
'You shut up, scare-boy,' Buffy said, shoving Cassiel through the already opened church-door. 'Iīm gonna be sure about this, or youīre going to be looking at a stake coming down.'
'Pardon me if I donīt tremble, the weatherīs too bloody warm,' Cassiel said, his voice betraying boredom. He didnīt stumble when Buffy shoved him again.
'We could, perhaps, be a little more quiet,' Giles suggested as he came in last, quietly pulling the door shut.
'Get the lead out, Giles,' Buffy said. 'Whereīs the holy water?'
'Itīs usually located in the Font,' Giles sighed. When this did not make Buffyīs eyes light up with understanding, he groaned. 'The big stone basin over there. Holy waterīs inside, for the use of the faithful and the clergy.'
'Letīs not dawdle,' Cassiel remarked, and walked towards the Font without waiting for Buffy. The Slayer ran past him, skidded, turned around and grabbed him by the throat.
'Donīt do that again,' she warned him. 'Not until Iīve got full proof. Understand?'
'It is painfully easy to understand,' was Cassielīs dry, almost caustic reply. 'In more ways than one.'
'Giles, get over here,' Buffy called. 'How do we see if this stuffīs for real?'
'Oh, for goodness sake!' the Watcher exploded, storming past his Slayer. 'Itīs in the bloody Font! Of course itīs for real! Did you think they change the water in case burglars come in and try to steal some? Itīs there to be used by the faithful, darn it!'
With swift, irritated movements, the watcher stuck his fingers into the holy water, stepped towards the two young people standing at not a stoneīs throw away, and flicked the water into Cassielīs face.
The drops spattered over Cassielīs cheeks, nose and glasses, taking on the blue glow of the glass for a moment before they rolled down. No hissing, no wounds. Cassiel remained quite unperturbed...
'I... er, I invoke the One True God to behold this being,' Giles stammered, feeling suddenly foolish, 'that has been touched by the Blood of Christ. Let, if it be a being of evil, the Blood touch it and cast it forth. So do I beseech Thee, in the name of the Covenant.'
Nothing happened.
'Let. Go,' Cassiel said, his voice cold and threatening. Reluctantly, Buffy released him. 'Now,' the young man said, calmly slipping his crucifix back into his collar, 'if you donīt need me anymore, I think I shall conclude my walk for the evening.'
He turned around and simply walked away. 'Wait a minute,' Buffy called out. 'You have to know something about this place...'
'I shall be in the library tomorrow morning, at the eight hour,' Cassielīs voice rang out. 'By that time, I should have calmed considerably. Do not pursue this further tonight, Miss Summers.'
The door squeaked open and slammed shut.
'Well, that was not entirely useful,' Giles sighed. 'Yeah,' Buffy agreed. 'Now we have to get up early. Seeya, Giles.'
'Er... yes, indeed,' the Watcher mumbled.
Sunnydale Baptist Church, 21:40 :
From the top of the roof, the black-robed figure looked on, only the cold, deathly blaze of the eyes within its hood to highlight the darkness surrounding it.
It watched, as the humans exited the church, its hands clenching around the hilt of a longsword, hidden between the folds of its robes.
There was no mercy in those eyes, no sadness. Only patience.
'A Slayer,' its heartstoppingly cold voice whispered into the whispering
night winds. 'It has been a long time...'