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It took some time to convince Risa and Kenyon that she was telling the truth once they reached the factory, but Ivory was eventually able to sway them towards it, especially with her father's and Cordelia's help. She had just leaned back in her seat, sighing heavily, when she saw Willow and Xander approaching from the far side of the warehouse.
Ivory started, causing her father to follow her gaze. Standing, she asked, "What are you two doing here? Did something happen to Jesse?"
Willow shook her head. "He came home some time ago and said something about a fight having broken out at the roller rink. But he doesn't know much; he was pretty vague on the order of events or on what exactly happened. So when it comes to him, your identity's still a secret." The Watcher paused. "And it was actually Stefanie who called and asked us to come here. She said she'd be right along."
Ivory furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Did she say why?"
The Watcher shook her head, then fixed her gaze on Kenyon and Risa. "But whatever it is, the odds are it has to do with Slayer business... Why don't you two walk home?" she suggested. "I'm sure you don't want to be bored listening to us grownups talk."
Both teens nodded, grabbing their jackets from the sofa and getting up to leave. They said good night to Ivory, then silently walked out into the night, both carrying large wooden crosses with them.
Ivory found herself growing restless while waiting for her foster mother to arrive, pacing back and forth through the main area while her elder friends struck up a conversation. Finally, she heard a car pull up and instantly became alert.
Stefanie walked in moments later, with Chase right on her heels. Ivory held her tongue until both were within hearing distance. "Okay, what is happening?" the Slayer said angrily. "What is he doing here?!"
Stefanie looked from Ivory to Chase and back again. "So you do know each other... Your boyfriend here told me as much." She sighed, taking a step or two towards the young Slayer. "He says he has something important to tell us, all of us."
"And why should we listen?" Ivory snapped. "He'll say anything just to get on my good side again!"
Stefanie grew serious. "Because he knows things about us that he shouldn't," she said in a firm voice. "That you're a vampire Slayer, that I'm a lot older than I look, and that a man who appears to be in his twenties is your father... I don't know about you, but I'm interested in hearing what Chase has to say. Give him a chance, Ivory."
The young brunette sighed, showing her willingness to do so by returning to her seat and watching as Stefanie and Chase sat across from her. After a long moment, Chase began with, "I have so much to tell you all, I don't know where to start... I realize I should have come clean sooner, but when I first arrived in town, I didn't know you were endowed with super powers, Ivory. I only found out tonight, from Nick, right before I killed him." He looked up at Angel, directing his next statement to the elder vampire. "I came to Sunnydale solely to locate you and whomever the current Slayer may have been."
Angel was intrigued but also outright suspicious. "Why? Who led you to us?" he asked guardedly.
Chase shook his head. "I'll get to that. Just let me say this without interruption for now, please."
When Angel nodded, the young man took a deep breath and continued, "There are some very bad things going on in the remote plains of Arizona, where Cinnamon, Nick, and I are from. Less than three decades ago, a group of roving vampires took up residence in a huge underground cavern system. They found it to be quite habitable and it was large enough for hundreds of their species to take refuge in. Only, they didn't stop there; instead, they set their aspirations higher.
"Scouts were sent out all over the country, informing other vampires of this structure or to kidnap any poor mortal who happened to be out in the dead of night. Eventually, they were maintaining their own personal slave camp... Most humans at this establishment were killed for their blood or turned into bloodsuckers themselves. However, with the source of food quickly drying up, the vampires came up with a more sadistic plan, growing their own."
Chase wiped a stray tear from his eye. "They kept the people they brought in alive from then on, feeding them lies about how great it was to live as an immortal, while continually pairing some of them off with each other. In time, those who were born in the caverns would eventually become the main supply of food. Couples were torn apart, parents were taken from children and vice versa... Meanwhile, the network kept growing, as more and more vampire began to put down roots there. It was truly a hellish existence. And still, they wanted more."
Chase looked up at Ivory, and she was chilled by the haunted look in his eyes. "They converted a few Watchers from overseas, convinced them to look up prophecies that may help raise a few demons. Then, maybe fifteen-odd years ago, they began intensely focused on conjuring this one... Faljorlean or something..."
Everyone else let their eyes grow wide at the mention of that name, letting Chase know that they had become familiar with it. "At first, they had no idea where or how to get most of the people required. But, as I understand it, a recently-made vampire, a sorceror, hatched a plan to get the one without hope." Chase sighed deeply, looking around at all those around him. "They kidnapped her from underneath her loved one's noses, simultaneously making it appear as if she'd died in an explosion. Over the years, they goaded her with this fact, slowly chipping away at her spirit. If you were to see her now, you might not even recognize her..."
Had Angel been capable of breathing, he was sure the air would have caught in his throat. With his eyes misting with tears, he whispered a name, almost questioningly, that he strongly hoped that Chase would not write off. "Buffy...?"
Feeling a lump in his throat, Chase nodded slowly. "They keep her locked away in one section of the caverns. I probably couldn't even have gotten in to see her except that they offered me to her as a meal a couple of times... Most times, she would refuse to feed right away, and that was when she'd tell me about her life in Sunnydale, of happier times for her."
Chase sighed. "I told Buffy on the last day I saw her that I was going to attempt an escape, perhaps flee here to this town. She made me promise that I would seek out Ivory if she still lived here, at least make sure her daughter was safe. And to give me an edge, Buffy fed me some of her blood without draining any of mine first." He sighed. "It didn't make me a vampire in any sense of the word for some reason. Instead, I think the term 'immortal' would apply more to me. And it enhanced my psychic abilities in one area at least, in that I was able to control the minds of vampires, bend them to my will. Works best on the younger ones though; it took quite an effort to gain power over Nick."
Chase halted in his confession, looking around at everyone. Several of them, mostly Buffy's friends, wore expressions of shock, and Willow and Stefanie both had tears streaming down their faces.
However, it was Ivory who refused to accept the story outright. "How can we believe a word you're saying?" she asked in a hard tone. "For all we know, you could be lying to us, just to lead us into a trap."
Chase sighed, shifting slightly to remove an object from his pants pocket. He hesitated for a second, then offered the ring out towards Angel, who took it with equal hesitancy.
For a long while, all Angel could do was stare blankly at the small gold band he held, then twirled it to look for an inscription inside. And there, in a tiny lilting script were the words, "Yours eternally, my Angel."
After another long pause, Angel managed to find his voice. "It's Buffy's wedding band," he said quietly. "I never told anyone, but I had gone back to the cavern a few weeks after she supposedly died, hoping to retrieve it. The place was buried; it would have taken years just to find it and even then, it might have been crushed by a fallen rock." He looked up at Ivory, tears in his eyes. "There's only one way Chase could have gotten it so easily. Buffy's alive!"
Ivory took time to absorb all this, then she began to shed tears as well. "Oh, God," she whispered. "Mom..."
Stefanie rose despite knowing which mother to whom Ivory was referring, going to the young Slayer and pulling her into a big bear hug. "It's okay," she whispered to Ivory. "Everything's going to be alright."
Ivory paused, then shook her head. "No, it's not okay," she choked out, raising her eyes to meet her father's gaze. "They've kept her from us far too long. I'm not gonna let them have her any longer... Dad, we have to get her out of there."
Willow spoke up in protest of this. "Ivory," she started. "Be reasonable. You can't go against a whole network of vampires. You'd be killed in an instant..."
Angel cut in before Willow could add more. "No, she's right," he said. "I mean, it's not just about Buffy... Both she and I are key elements in raising this demon. And if the other two are already there and we don't know it... Willow, it's only a matter of time. We have to stop it before it has a chance to go down."
Stefanie looked up. "But how? You can't be seen there either, Angel!"
Angel sighed, then averted his gaze from Stefanie to the vampiress sitting across from him. "I can't, but Cordelia can... She's younger and not as well-known as I am for being a good guy." To Cordelia, he added, "If you're up to it, if you think you can pull it off."
Cordy nodded, confirming that she was up to the challenge. "Okay," Angel said. "Then it's your job to find out Buffy's whereabouts, and provide us an easy way in and out when the time is right."
Ivory cut in. "Excuse me! I think we're forgetting one important thing here... I still have school here in Sunnydale. It would kinda be an inconvenience if I had to drive to Arizona every weekend or even for Spring Break!"
For once, her father was at a loss for words, having not considered that aspect. And surprisingly enough, it was Stefanie who came up with a reasonable answer. "We could make arrangements to enroll you in a high school in that state," Ivory's foster mother said quietly. "But we'd have to wait until Winter Break in a couple weeks for you to head down there. That should give Cordelia enough time to integrate herself in the caverns, and your father to find a suitable apartment to temporarily live at." At the shocked looks she got from Ivory and Angel, Stefanie added, "Buffy was the best friend I had all those years ago. If I can spare her one more day of suffering, then so be it."
Ivory sighed. "Okay, then we're all set?" she asked, waiting until she got nods from everyone before continuing. "Then, I guess we call it a night. We'll start making preparations over the next few days." She watched her elder friends get up to leave, then turned to Chase. "For now, can we talk in private, just the two of us?" she said to him, keeping her tone even.
"Sure thing," he replied, following her out a back door of the factory. Once it was closed, Ivory faced him with slightly sad eyes.
"How does your girlfriend fit into what you told me?" Ivory asked quietly. "Is she a prisoner there too?"
Chase felt a lump growing in his throat. "I wish I could tell you she was... Cinnamon was the one who found me and brought me to the camp. However, she took a liking to me and decided to keep me all to herself." He laughed bitterly. "Imagine! Me, the object of a vampire's affection!" He bit his lip, taking a step closer. "But believe me when I tell you that's finished with now. I don't love her... I don't know if I ever did."
Ivory fought back the tears that threatened to spill forth. After a long while, she said, "I don't know what to say, Chase... Look, I don't know what will happen between us, and I can't promise that any relationship will be easy, but..." She looked up at him, a very slight smile pulling at her lips. "But you're giving me my mother back. It's a step in the right direction."
Chase managed a tiny smile as well. He hesitated a moment, then moved to embrace her, relieved when she didn't pull away. For a long while, he and Ivory just held each other, both of them glad for that one moment of complete and utter peace...