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Part 3
"A Slayer?" questioned Buffy, incredulous. "This is just my luck. I come almost 2,500 miles to get away from my friends and slayer connections to meet up with the new Slayer of all people. This is just great!"
Audrey tried to speak but Buffy was not finished.
"Why can’t you people leave me alone?" she all but screamed, her tone indicating she was not talking to Audrey.
Confused, Audrey finally managed to get in a word.
"Listen, I don’t know what you are talking about, but why don’t you come home with me tonight? We can talk to my watcher and sort everything out."
Suddenly, a vamp popped out and rushed at Buffy from behind. Before Audrey could even react, Buffy drew out her stake and flipped the slayee to the ground. She paused, stake aimed at heart
"D’ya mind? We were talking" she drawled before plunging the stake into the vampire.
Buffy stood and dusted herself off "Anyways, you were saying?"
Audrey just stared. "Well, you were rumored to be the strongest Slayer."
"Who me? I don’t think so. And I’m retired. I’m through with slaying." Buffy remarked as she turned to go.
"No! Wait!" cried Audrey, "Just come and talk to Alfred, and me. I want to talk to you. Find out about this job. About you."
Buffy hesitated. Then, she seemed to surrender to something.
"All right. I was running out of money anyways. Lead on."
The stone mansion that Audrey led Buffy to was gorgeous. It was 3 stories tall and looked to be from the 18th century.
"Gee, how d’ya manage to live in such small quarters?" remarked Buffy dryly.
Audrey didn’t answer, instead striding quickly up to the door and letting Buffy and herself in. She led Buffy up the stairs and down a long hall. At the end of the hall, they ran into a door. Audrey knocked once and barged in. A man was seated at a computer, typing, with his back turned to the girls.
Audrey cleared her throat and the chair swiveled to face them. It was all Buffy could do not to gasp. The man that sat before them was YOUNG! He couldn't be more than 25. This couldn't be Audrey's watcher. Her brother maybe…
The mystery man rose quickly and strode towards Audrey.
"Audrey! Back so soon? Is something wrong?" he exclaimed before finally resting his gaze on Buffy, "You brought a friend?"
"Al, where are your manners?" Audrey chided, obviously enjoying the thought of how her watcher was going to react to her next few words, "Buffy, this is my watcher, Alfred Williams."
On the word ~watcher~, Alfred's eyes bugged out. He shot her a quick "what-are-you- doing?!" look which Audrey impishly ignored.
"Alfred, I would like for you to meet Buffy Summers. A Slayer"
Buffy settled into bed about 2 hours after her meeting with Alfred. <It's a good watcher name> she thought with a snort. He sure didn't look at all like a watcher. He was about 6 feet, dwarfing Buffy. With sandy blond hair and twinkling blue eyes, he totally destroyed the mold she had cast for all watchers. Well, from the look on his face she wasn't exactly his vision of a typical slayer.
The corner of her eyes caught sight of the phone on the nightstand and for a moment, she wanted to call Willow. <No! She needs to forget about you. She's safer that way><Should I call Giles?> It was midnight, which would put it at 9 o'clock in Sunnydale. <No, not even Giles.>
It was on that thought that Buffy drifted into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.
<Buffy Summers! She's not what I expected,> Alfred thought with a chuckle. He hadn't been able to believe his ears when Audrey had introduced her as a Slayer. But, she had the skill and the Student ID to prove it. He had asked her about a license but she had mumbled something about her mother and a plate before turning away.
After he had been convinced that the small girl was in fact the Buffy Summers, he had sent Audrey to find Buffy a room to stay in and got Buffy to promise to attend Audrey's training session in the morning.
There was something that that girl was hiding. But, to judge from her eyes and attitude it
wasn't likely that she was going to divulge anything anytime soon. Well, extreme times call
for extreme measures. He turned to his computer and opened up an e-mail message. Then
he began typing a message for help to the Watcher's Council.