-
Faith watched as Dru simmered the milk for the cocoa. It had been hours since she fully woke and hours since she had that dream. She could not help but to wonder if it were just her subconscious trying to tell her something she had been repressing or if it was a prophetic dream. She tried to talk to Dru about the dream earlier but all she got from the former vampire was that Charley and Ed were not going to be happy when they woke up. That was all that she said. She wanted to speak with Xander about it, but he had a lot of phone calls to make and e-mails to send out. He had to stay in contact with several of the other Slayers.
Faith was not the only one to have such dreams. Lyra also had them the night before and she was so upset that she woke up crying. She told Ronnie about them and then later she spoke to Tyler, Ace and Rissa about them. The kids were now on their way over and when the vampires woke up then everyone would hear about them.
“A little bit of cocoa,” Dru said as she used the tablespoon to put in three heaping spoonfuls of powder into the milk. “A little bit of sugar.” She added three spoons of sugar. “A lot of bit of cocoa and a lot a bit of sugar.” She put in a cup of cocoa powder and a cup of sugar. “Now for the magic bean.” She put in two spoonfuls of vanilla. “And several shakes of fairy powder.” She shook the cinnamon over the milk and stirred it up. “It is made.”
“Good job,” Faith told her and earned a smile. “I wondered what it would taste like if you added that strawberry powder they use for strawberry milk. Maybe make it taste like chocolate covered strawberries?”
Dru’s eyes lit up at the idea. “Next time.” She turned off the oven.
“Let me help you with that,” Faith said and gathered several mugs from the cupboard.
Dru used a ladle to pour in the cocoa into each cup. With the last three cups she had to tilt it to the side to get a good ladle full and pour it in.
“Evening, Poodle, and Vixen,” Spike greeted them as he entered the kitchen. He grabbed three of the travel mugs and opened the fridge. He brought out the containers of blood and poured them each into the microwavable mugs.
“Couldn’t wait until we are done?” Faith asked. She put all of the mugs on a tray.
“We’re all awake,” Spike explained as he put one of the mugs in the microwave. “And we are hungry.” He turned it on.
“I better get these out then,” Faith said and carried the tray out into the entertainment room where everyone had gathered. “Good evening. We got some cocoa ala Drusilla.”
“My favorite,” Ace said and grabbed one of the mugs. “My thanks to you and Drusilla.”
“You are very kind,” Dru said as she carried out a dish full of mini marshmallows and silver tongs in one hand and a can of Reddi Whip in the other.
Everyone grabbed their mug and thanked both Dru and Faith and took their turns for the marshmallows and the whip cream. Spike came out a few minutes later with the heated up blood for the vampires and their straws.
“Who wants to go first?” Xander asked.
“Lyra?” Faith looked at the girl who was still too upset about her dream. “I’ll go first then.” She stared at her cocoa and watched the marshmallows melt. “I was in this house and it was full of antiques and there a mirror and I looked in it and I saw Buffy.”
“You were in Buffy’s body again?” Xander asked.
“Were you leading anyone on?” Spike asked.
“No,” Faith answered. “It was her reflection, but still my body. I can see my hands and my hair and my tattoo when I look at myself at certain angles. There was a man there. A bit handsome but he was a vampire and he was about to bite me when Glory came inside and she threw him out.”
“You dreamed of Glory?” Xander asked. Both he and Spike look a little distressed.
“Yeah but I kicked her ass and then I came across the Master,” Faith continued. “I went to find a weapon and I came across the Slayer Scythe and across Richard Wilkins.”
“Human or snake?” Xander asked.
“Human. I never saw him as a snake. He wanted me to work for him again and his friend, the tall vampire. I told him I was over him and I used the Scythe to kill everyone and destroy the house and then I woke up.”
“I fought against three people also,” Lyra said softly. She did not look up from her mug. “I first fought this demon borg guy called Adam.”
“Adam?” Xander and Spike repeated.
“Did he have a skewer in his arm?” Spike asked.
“He had it until I broke it,” Lyra said. “He sounded intelligent. I thought I could reason with him but he wanted to kill me. Willow took out his battery.”
“Good for Red,” Faith said.
“Her hair wasn’t red at first,” Lyra said. “Her hair was black and so were her eyes.”
“What about her face?” Xander asked. “Was it all pale and veiny?”
“Exactly like that,” Lyra said. “I mention your name and her eyes turned normal for a second. I reminded her of her friends and how I want to be her friend and she turned back to normal and there was this guy guiding me, but I could only hear his voice until Willow had turned back and was crying and then he snapped her neck.”
“What did this guy look like?” Ronnie asked.
“He was tall and wore dark clothes and a black leather duster,” Lyra described. “He was quite handsome had brown hair that stuck up a bit.” It almost sounded like Angel.
“You mean all poofed up because of his hair gel?” Spike asked. He also recognized the description, as did Xander and Dru. “Did he have a bit of a caveman like forehead?”
“Well yeah.”
“Bad daddy,” Dru gasped. She trembled. “Don’t let him kill me. I want to be good.”
“Not going to let anything happen to you, pet,” Spike said as wrapped his arm around her.
“Go on,” Faith urged.
“We fought in this place in front of this statue of a demon,” Lyra explained. He nicked my side with a sword. Then I stabbed him with a sword except when I stabbed him he turned into Charley and my sword turned into a stake.” She set her cocoa down. “I stabbed him and he told me he loved me and…and…” she couldn’t continue. She broke down in tears while Ronnie comforted her.
“I’m still here,” Charley said.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Lyra told him. “I will never hurt you.”
“Could someone explain all this?” Ace asked.
“Pretty hard to see what this means,” Xander said. “Faith and Lyra faced off against the enemies that we fought before.”
“The ones Buffy fought before,” Spike corrected. “Now Ripper was able to kill Glory and you calmed down the witch but Buffy physically fought against them all.” He turned to Lyra. “Don’t have to worry about a thing, Fun Size. Before Buffy put a sword through Angel he got resouled. Reason why he turned into Boy Next Door was because Buffy thought she killed the one she loved. You and the Wild Slayer experienced what she did.”
“You see?” Charley asked and took her hands. “There is nothing to worry about.”
“Except for that other guy,” Faith said. “That one tall vampire with the scarf.”
“Vampire with the red scarf you mean?” Lyra looked up at her. “Tall with dark eyes and oozed charisma?”
“That’s the one.”
“I dreamed about him before,” Lyra said. “Weeks ago. He was in a kitchen again and there was this pie plate and it was full of marzipan and after I tasted it Buffy said Bingo.”
“Marzipan, pie plate, bingo,” Xander repeated and shared a knowing look with Spike. Charley and Ed also were looking at each other.
“Did he have a name?” Faith asked.
“Nope,” Lyra said. “Unless it’s Bingo.”
“Richard introduced him as Jerry in my dream.”
“Shit,” Ed said. “Shit, shit damn it.”
“Do I need to get a bar of soap?” Ronnie asked. “Or is there a reason for this sudden outburst of profanity?”
“Jerry Dandridge,” Charley said.
“The vampire you helped kill?” Lyra asked.
“Yes,” Charley said in a worried tone. “You dreamed of him because of the warning in October.”
“Or maybe because he is already back,” Faith said.
-
The move wasn’t a hard one and it was technically a temporary one for Abigail, her father, Jerry and their minions. They rented a nice house that would suit their needs just fine. They blotted out the window in one room for Jerry’s coffin and did everything to make the vampire feel welcome. The minions they had brought hunted down victims for their master to feed on. They brought him newspaper clippings on Fright Night.
Abigail went several steps further. She taught the resurrected vampire how to use the Internet and helped him select his own mobile with ring tone. She brought him up on the world news that had happened since his death and about pop culture. She thought his requests about Buffy were a bit odd. He wanted to know where she was and her most recent photos.
“You seem to have become his new favorite,” Ethan said as the two of them returned home from a shopping trip. “I do worry about you becoming too close to him.”
“We are friends,” Abigail said. Her father worried about her way too much these days and that was a huge contrast from years ago when he barely even called her. He was more focused on black magic and chaos and hanging out with demons. Now he was making up for lost time and while Abigail’s mother thought it was too little too late, Abigail didn’t think so.
“I worry about you two.”
“He will not attack me,” Abigail assured. “He will not feed off of me, nor would he try and turn me.”
“How can you be certain of that?” Her father asked as he opened the door.
“Because he knows of your power, and he does not want to risk the wrath of Ethan Rayne by harming his only daughter.”
“I do appreciate your confidence in me,” Ethan said as he entered the house. Abigail followed him.
Jerry was sitting on the couch in front of the television. The Nightmare Before Christmas was on the screen “Such marvelous stop motion. It’s a pity that Hollywood has to use computer graphics now these days.”
“You should see Coraline,” Abigail said as she dropped off a few plastic bags. “Hard to believe that it is stop motion.”
“I will watch that next,” Jerry said. “I enjoy this Jack character. His voice is especially soothing to my ears.”
“Are you forming a crush?” Abigail teased.
Jerry laughed. “I only have my heart for a special woman.”
“Do we know who she is?” Abigail asked and got a stern look from her father.
“She is closer to you both than you may think.”
As soon as she head heard the answer Abigail gave her father a smug smile and earned a headshake from in return.
“Put these away,” her father ordered. “I have work to do.”
-
Another evening of rehearsals was finished and Charley walked back to his car, this time with security to accompany him. After what had happened last time with the kidnapping the studio took the extra caution to make sure their employees would be safe. He appreciated the extra help and did enjoy the company. The security guard was named Rob and he also enjoyed the classic vampire movies.
“I know all the ladies are going for those dreamy vamps,” Rob said as they neared where Charley parked. “That Edward or Bill and Eric from Trueblood.”
“To be honest they all don’t go gaga for them,” Charley said. “And to really be fair Edward isn’t exactly a vampire.”
“You got that right,” Rob laughed. “He’s some sort of sparkling fairy and they all got their own special powers? That makes em mutants. Of course I can’t really complain about them looking at those guys when I’m checking out Salma Hayek. I mean damn. She was so fine.”
“That is true,” Charley laughed along with him.
“I wouldn’t mind her biting me on the neck.”
“I wouldn’t mind either if it’s the mixing blood kind of vampire.”
“What do you mean?” Rob gave him a look.
“Depends on the story. Some vampires can turn people into other vampires by just biting them. Then there are other types that have it where they have to drink your blood and then you drink their blood. If one bites me I want it to make sure it is the latter so I don’t turn into one.”
“Damn man,” Rob said. “You really get into the work.”
“What can I say?” Charley said as he turned around to face his car. “Chaz Broker is an ex-“ He paused when he saw his car. The driver’s side had a message written in blood. “I’ll be seeing you.” There was more blood on the hood. It read “Buffy.”
“What the hell?” Rob asked. He brought up his radio. “Hey this is Rob. Did you not notice that someone had tagged Mr. Brewster’s car?”
“Sorry,” the voice on the other end said. “Must have happened when I grabbed some coffee.”
“That boy is getting a stern talking to,” Rob said. He stared at the car and blinked. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It certainly looks like it,” Charley said. He could smell the blood and it was making him hungry. He had already drained his travel mug and the only source close to him was Rob. He closed his eyes and turned away.
“Gross you out too?” Rob asked.
“Yeah. I know we have to wait for the cops that is if they send someone out here but I want to wait a little bit away from here.”
“Just go on a little bit aways,” Rob said as he motioned for him to move. “I’m going to call this in.”
Charley walked a few feet away until he could no longer smell the blood and sat down at the edge of the curb. He buried his head in his hands. He hated being tempted to drink from humans. He hated being a vampire, but until another Mohra demon was captured he was going to have to stay this way.
Once he got his mind off of the blood he thought about the message. Whoever had put it there had targeted him. He had a good theory that is was someone working for Jerry Dandridge. Jerry was either in town or on his way. He also wanted Buffy for some reason. He had no idea if his old enemy knew what he was. That part didn’t matter. What did was the fact that he had to inform his friends.
-
The lack of having something to hunt was getting to Faith again. There was nothing to kill the previous evening either. She wanted to find something, whether it be a vampire, a demon, or a rabid dog and track it down, kick its ass and kill it. She wouldn’t mind finding a freaky message like Unicorn Boy did the previous evening.
That was odd, not odd for them, but pretty odd in general and pretty creepy as well. It wasn’t just the message that was written, but the fact that it was written in blood. Both Charley and Ed agreed with the idea that the source of the message was this Jerry Dandridge person, but the thing Faith couldn’t figure out was why was he interested in Buffy?
“You have fleece in your fingers, pet,” Spike said as he walked along side her. He and she were one team while Ed went with Xander and Lyra and Tyler were the third. The rest of the Avengers were safely at home and Charley was at another rehearsal.
“What?” Faith asked as she looked at her fingers. There was nothing in them.
“An expression,” Spike said before he took another drag from his cigarette. “Actually a variation of an expression about gathering wool.”
“Huh?”
“It means you are daydreaming.” He shook his head. “What did they teach you in school?”
“I dropped out at sixteen.”
“All right,” Spike sighed. “I just want to know what you are thinking about.”
“How boring this is.”
“Now here I thought you would have been thinking about the messages that appeared on Boy Next Door’s car.”
“It was, but it was mostly about how we been out here for hours and found nothing.”
“I’ll give you that,” Spike said. “Has Xander said anything about contacting Buffy?”
“He doesn’t want to worry her,” Faith relayed the gist of what Xander had told her earlier. “He also doesn’t want to play into their hands. If Buffy does come that would be giving the enemy what they want.”
Spike nodded. “Good advice. I tell you what. We finish this leg and it will be the end of the night.”
“Sure, Fine, Whatever,” Faith said.
They continued on their path barely talking except for the weather and about the Slayer organization. They were looking at each other and almost didn’t notice the small group of vampires until they were about to literally bump into them.
The trio did not all assume vamp face. They looked human and Faith thought it was a small gang of teens that were tagging the side of a building. It was what they were using to tag the wall was what made them stand out. Instead of using cans of spray paint they had a small bucket of blood and were painting the words.
“Now why are you three going to do a stupid thing like that?” Spike shouted at them. “Perfectly good food going to waste. You know there are starving vampires in Ethiopia who would kill to have a bucket of blood?”
The faces of the trio all vamped out as they ran away. Faith chased after one and kicked his legs out from under him before she tackled him to the ground. Once she had him staked she looked up and saw that Spike had killed the other. The third had gotten into their car and drove away.
“Two out of three’s not bad then,” Spike said as he wandered back to the building.
“Damn it,” Faith shouted as she followed him. “I’m losing my game.” She went to kick the bucket of blood but Spike had snatched it at the last second. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” He stared into bucket. “Only about an eight full and it smells human.” He took a sip. “It is human.”
“Not going to look,” Faith said as she turned her attention from Spike to the message. This time it said. “Brewster, where are you?” She stepped backwards from the wall. “Getting really serious now.” They had to phone in the others and when Charley returns home fill him on what is going on.
-
Ethan dismissed the minions for the evening. They have done their job well. They spread out the messages asking for both Buffy Summers and Charley Brewster. Ethan did not have any dislike for the horror host but he knew how Dandridge detested him. The vampire that he had brought back also seemed interested in Buffy for some reason. Ethan would like to have a few good blows with the girl as well as Ripper for getting him sent to that military prison in Nevada, but he had no idea why Jerry wanted her. He was only interested in her when Ethan showed him a picture of the girl.
Ethan knocked on the door to Jerry’s private chamber. “Master, may I come in?”
“You may,” Jerry said.
Ethan entered. “The minions have returned with more of the messages spread. I don’t think it will be enough to lure your enemy out and I doubt even more that it will bring the Summers girl to you.”
“I want to unnerve Charley Brewster,” Jerry said. His voice took on an acidic tone when he mentioned the celebrity’s name. “Throw him off his game.” He was looking at something on the wall.
“That will either have the effect you seek or it might make him more prepared to face you.” Ethan could not help to hide his curiosity. “What are you looking at?”
“One of my many loves,” Jerry explained. “I fell in love and turned her in Italy in 1344. This painting was done in 1505. She was killed by a mob two years later.”
Ethan stared at the painting. The woman had dark hair and piercing blue eyes but she looked almost exactly like the Summers girl.
-