-
It had been days since the party and Xander could still smell Regine’s perfume. It was a sexy scent that had a bit of a sweet and spicy after scent. He had to go to various stores and sniff all of the testers to see which scent was hers. It wasn’t just the scent. Xander could also hear her voice that was warm and smooth as silk. He could feel her hands as they danced. Damn, he hadn’t had celebrity crush this bad in years, then again he never really been that close to a celebrity.
“Yo X-man,” Faith’s voice brought him back to the here and now. She was standing in a defense stance while Lyra looked like she was about to pounce on her. “Are you paying any attention?”
“What?” Xander sat up. “Sorry, just a lot on my mind with the airport and the complaints.” All the airports in Scotland were under lockdown due to terrorist activity. It was just normal human activity, not supernatural at all about it. That did impede on their flying back to Scotland with Lyra, but they knew that would still have to wait at least until the start of the next semester since they got their own Big Bad to take care of in Orlando. The complaints were from neighbors about they noises that were being made during training.
“I can help with that,” Tyler said. He had brought over a bag of shiny pieces of metal, and a toolbox that contained the basic set of tools, a blowtorch, and a soldering iron. “My aunt and uncle own a mystical book shop. Like the one Ray had at the start of the second Ghostbusters movie. Well there is a large backroom that is set up for my cousin and her Wicca group and on Saturdays they have Magic competitions.”
“They attack each other with spells?” Xander asked. He could not believe that some witches and wizards would hold such competitions.
“Magic as in the Gathering,” Tyler explained. He had a ‘Are you serious?’ look on his face. “You know with cards?”
“Oh that.” Xander realized how stupid he must have recently sounded. “People still play that?”
“That they do,” Tyler told him. “I’ll call Aunt Rosalind and Uncle Cornelius and ask if we can borrow the room for a few nights.”
“Thank you,” Xander told him.
“I’ll be out on your patio balcony,” Tyler said
“I can’t wait to see what you whip up.” Xander was impressed with the weapons that Tyler had created so far. He had told Buffy and the others and they applied the same technique and created similar weapons.
“Are you saying magic is real?” Ronnie asked. The young girl was kneeling in front of the coffee table and working on Xander’s laptop. Her attitude screamed Cordelia at times but deep down her brain was on Willow’s level.
“Yeah it is real,” Xander said. He continued to watch the way the two Slayers mock fought each other. Faith was a good instructor and Lyra was a good listener and student.
“People can summon stuff and turn things into other things and make things float,” Ronnie asked. “And I am aware that my speech has mutated into senseless jabber.”
“Don’t apologize,” Faith told her. “At least you are using real words unlike Xander at the party when what’s her name danced with him.”
“Her name is Regine,” Xander said. He reflected on the party again and remembered how she chose him first and how it felt like they were the only ones there as they danced.
“Aw he’s getting starry eyed again,” Lyra said.
“I think it’s sweet,” Ronnie said with a smile on her face.
“Ladies,” Xander held up his hands. “I wanted to say something more comprehensible.”
“Your brain couldn’t think of the words?”
“No my brain did think of the right words. My mouth just couldn’t form them.”
Faith laughed along with the others before she spoke again. “Do you think Tyler is going to stay out there for long?” She was answered by the clanks and tinks of a blunt object banging against metal.
“He looked pretty busy and determined,” Xander said. “What do you need him for?”
“I thought it would be neat if he sparred with us,” Faith said. “He could use some of his moves on us.”
“That would only work if we fought against karate vampires or ninja vampires,” Lyra said. “They don’t exist do they?”
“Ninja vampires?” Xander asked. “Sure if some ninjas happen to get turned into vampires.
“Remember they retain all the knowledge they had as a human,” Ronnie told her. “I still wish I could narrow it down.”
“Don’t give up,” Xander told her. “We will find out the name of this vamp bitch and where she is.” He felt his phone go off and when he looked at the number he saw that it belonged to Willow. “Faith, Lyra, you two keep on training. Ronnie, keep on doing research. I need to take this.”
“We’ll try not to have too much fun,” Faith told him.
Xander went into the single bedroom and closed the door. “Hello Willow.”
“Hi Xander,” Willow greeted. “How’s Faith and the new girl. Faith didn’t break her yet has she?”
“She is still a hundred percent intact,” Xander answered. “Orlando is great. It’s a little muggy as usual and the traffic sucks because of the tourists.”
“Xander, you are tourist technically.”
“I wish you were here, and I’m not saying because it is bad but because of this great party we went to. We were at the residence of horror hostess and performance artist Regine aka the hostess of Fright Night.” He relayed to her what had happened at the party.
“Did you actually say anything to her or did you trip over your tongue again?” Willow asked.
“You wound me.” Xander pretended to cringe. “You know me too well, but that still hurts. So what brings your voice to my ear, besides the obvious form of technology that I’m holding.”
“We came across a couple of vampires.”
“That’s it?” There had to be more. She wouldn’t call him just to tell him that.
“These were different. Their fangs were different and so were their eyes and they could make their eyes glow red.”
“Were they hard to kill?” While it was fascinating that there were some vampires that were a little bit different than the ones they fought he still wanted to know the important details.
“No, they told us their kind can die like our kind, except you have to keep the stake in their chests and then decapitate them.”
“Wait they told you?” Xander wasn’t sure he heard right.
“Yeah they did. They don’t go poof like ours and they can turn into bats and wolves and mist. They were very helpful.”
“They learned the same tricks that Dracula did? Wait they helped you? Do they have souls or something?”
“Their kind has souls. A lot of them don’t choose to listen to their conscious, they get high of their power and sometimes it’s hard to control their blood cravings, but Evana and Derek just feed of wildlife or the get blood from butcher shops.”
“You guys are working with them?”
“Well they are being helpful. I just wanted to call to tell you about these other kind of vampires.”
“Thanks for the head’s up,” Xander said. “I’ll let you know if we learn anything.”
“Same here, take care,” Willow said and hung up.
When Xander left the room he had saw both Lyra and Ronnie were packing up their stuff. Tyler was sitting on the floor and waiting for them.
“Leaving already?” Xander asked.
“I have to get home and shower,” Lyra said. “You did say I can go on dates.”
“And I need to go with her and help coordinate what she should wear tonight,” Ronnie said.
“And I’m driving them,” Tyler added. “Don’t mind if I leave my tools here?”
“No problem,” Xander told him. He could understand how much of a pain it would be to keep on packing up and unpacking the tools whenever he came over. “Looks great out there. Let’s people know that a manly man is here, or let them think that.”
“So you are saying that Tyler is marking the territory for you?” Faith asked.
“Not in such words,” Xander said. “And thank you, Faith.”
“Anytime.” Faith smiled.
“Thanks for giving me a night off,” Lyra said.
“I’m not a hardass,” Xander said. It would feel hypocritical for him to tell her not too when Giles let Buffy go on dates. “Just one word of advice. Never kill a boy on the first date.”
“Good advice,” Ronnie said as she gave him thumbs up.
Xander waited until they had gone before he sat down. “Almost feels like old times.”
“Heh,” Faith chuckled. She opened the bottle of sports drink in her hand. “I would love to be able to have a night off to do what I want to do.”
“What would you like to do tonight?”
She pursed her lips and looked like she had to think about it for a while. “I want to go out and kill some vampires.”
“All yours.” He leaned back against the small love seat and closed his eyes. He wanted to mention Willow’s advice to Faith, but not now.
“I’m bored,” Faith said after she took a long sip from her bottle. “You want to do it?”
“What?” Xander sat up. He looked at her. “Are you serious?”
She grabbed him by his shirt. “Less talk more fun.” She dragged him to the bedroom and Xander did not protest.
-
They went to a coffee shop called Studios. It was designed to resemble a cozy cottage that would have been found in the French countryside. There were several tables outside and since it was a nice evening they decided to sit there.
“Never know what to really order in a new café,” Charley said once had picked up the menu. “I don’t really go to coffee houses that much.” He did drink coffee, but it was usually brewed at home or purchased at Starbucks.
“I love the fact that Studios is pretty close,” Lyra said. She had a pretty nice outfit on, probably what she would have considered perfect for a friend date. It was a cute little jumper dress with a pale blue dress part and a short sleeved white shirt. She wore a white headband in her hair and completed the look with a pair of tan sandals.
“Hard to find non franchise café’s,” Charley agreed.
“What’s not to love about this place?” Lyra asked. “The coffee is delicious all the pastries are freshly baked. The art on the walls is done by local artists and they have local musicians and poets that come here for entertainment.”
“I wish we had such a place where I grew up,” Charley said. It would have been a fun place to hangout. He certainly would have taken Amy to it, and probably Alex. He tried not to cringe at the thought of Alex. At least he knew that Amy was still alive and safe. Last he heard she was happily married with children.
“I would like to know about you,” Lyra said. “Where you are from and how you got involved with fighting vampires.”
“Long story,” Charley said. He read the menu and still couldn’t decide. “What would you recommend for a newbie?”
“I would go for the choconilla cappuccino,” Lyra said.
“Hi guys,” their waitress approached them. “Welcome to Studio’s. My name is Patty, what would you like this evening?”
“Ladies first,” Charley said and smiled at Lyra.
“I’ll have the decaf butterscotch latte and can I have that with two percent milk?” Lyra asked.
“Sure thing,” the waitress said as she wrote it down.
“And I would like two triple chocolate chip cookies,” Lyra said.
“Going for the deal.” Patty turned to Charley. “And what would you like?”
“I’ll go with the choconilla cappuccino and a cinnamon roll,” Charley ordered. He did not need human food and could not get the right kind of energy from food that he did with blood. He ate for taste and while his taste buds have been dulled from vampirism there were certain foods he could not get enough of and he loved baked goods.
“I’ll be back with your orders shortly,” Patty said and left.
“So,” Charley said after a few seconds had passed. “Where would you like to start?”
“With you,” Lyra said. She was staring at his lower right arm. “How did you get those bruises?”
“An accident,” Charley said as he pulled down his sleeve. He had forgotten how the sleeves tended to ride up on him.
“What kind of an accident?” Lyra asked.
“Fell off a bicycle.”
“Oh.” She pressed her lips together. “I guess we can get back to the main topic. How did you get involved with fighting vampires?”
“When I was in high school. A vampire named Jerry Dandridge moved in next door to me. He killed a few women, turned my friend into a vampire and nearly turned my girlfriend at the time into one as well. I killed him with the help from Peter Vincent. I’ve come across the supernatural from time to time. I know plenty about vampires and werewolves. What about you?”
“I actually recently started killing vampires this summer,” Lyra answered.
“Just recently?” Charley blinked. “But you are pretty good at it and you are well stronger than you look.”
“That’s because I’m a Slayer. My powers were activated recently.”
“Powers? Are you saying you have super powers?” Well why not? That would explain why she was able to fight like that.
“Yeah there are hundreds of girls like me with the strength and speed and agility to take on vampires. I’m pretty much learning about this.”
“Wow,” Charley sat back. “Wish there was a Slayer in town when Dandridge came.”
Lyra shrugged. A few seconds later she smiled and sat up in her seat. Charley turned around to see their waitress return.
“Here you go,” Patty said as she set their cups down in front of them first and then set down their baked treats. “I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Charley told her. “Don’t know where to go from that.”
“You can always tell me what life was like in your old town,” Lyra said and “About your hobbies.”
Charley told her everything he remembered from his high school life. He told her what he loved to do in his free time. He mentioned his favorite movies, television shows, books and movies.
Lyra went next. She was a student and Dr. Phillips, the high school that was across the street from Universal. She was going to be a junior and her favorite classes were science, English and art and while she was not a fan of math she did okay in the subject. She was a fan of comic books and Japanese animation. She loved to try different things on dates and it doesn’t have to be big and fancy.
“I’m glad we were able to do this,” Charley said before he took another sip from his mug it had a good combination of chocolate and vanilla flavors and the top of the foam was covered in chocolate shavings.
“Maybe we could do it again,” Lyra suggested. She did not see the group of people that were walking up to her from behind until the last second. “What is it?”
“Don’t move,” a gruff voice said and two hands slammed down on Charley’s shoulders. “We just want the girl.”
“I’m sorry.” Charley shot up from his seat. “But you can’t have her.” He spun around and punched the stranger in the jaw.
“Looks like you want to be snack food.” The strange man’s face shifted into the mug of one of the demonic vampires. The other people in the group’s face also shifted.
“Big mistake,” Charley said as he punched another in the gut and avoided being struck by another.
“Take both of them,” the one monster ordered and grabbed onto Charley’s arm.
As Charley tried to wrench him free he was grabbed at the side and back by two more and was dragged away. He watched as Lyra faced off against three others with a stake. She probably had that in her purse. She was smart to bring it.
“There is something you just don’t know about me,” Charley said once he was far enough away from Lyra. Using all his strength he wrenched his arms free and jumped away from his captors.
“He’s strong.” One of the demonic creatures said. “Almost as strong as one of us.”
“I might actually be stronger,” Charley growled out the last part as his face went straight to the third and most frightening stage. He snarled at them with his mouth wide open and giving them a good view of all of his sharp teeth.
“What the hell is he?” One the creatures asked as they turned to run.
Charley instantly caught up with them. He grabbed one, lifted him up and threw him at the others. He missed but he caused the creature to smash through a small fence. Charley broke off a long and pointed piece.
The demon he threw tried to stand up but Charley slammed his new wooden weapon through his back and into his heart. The creature turned into brown dust and dissipated.
“One down,” he muttered as he chased down the others. Too bad for them that he was much faster, although he didn’t want to kill them, not quite yet anyway. He braced himself against the side of the building. He heard a different struggle not too far away and watched as Lyra dusted another of the creatures she only had one more to go.
“The Slayer is dating some sort of freak,” one of the creatures that Charley fought against said to the other.
“A Slayer,” the other said. “There is no longer the anymore.”
“Whatever, get to the Purple Tower and let Maxine know.”
“Thank you.” Charley said as he leapt out from his hiding place and staked one of the creatures.
“Shit.” The other one tried to run but Charley tackled him and slammed the stake through his back.
“That was for ruining our date,” Charley said after the demon was dusted. Now he just had to help Lyra. He made sure he looked like a normal human before he went to find his friend.
Except Lyra did not need any help at all. She had killed the three vampires that had advanced on her. She stared at the stake in her hands before looking at Charley with sad and frightened eyes.
“Lyra?” He knew something was wrong.
“They knew who I was,” She said. “They knew what I was. They know I’m a Slayer.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Charley told her. “We killed them all.” He pulled her close. “We got them.”
“There will be more,” Lyra said. “I put you in danger because of it. Charley, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“We shouldn’t see each other any more. You could get hurt or killed.”
“I know about them. I know how to fight them. I know how to kill them.” He didn’t want their friendship to end. “I want to see you again.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
“Life is short. We should live in the moment and eat up the sweet dessert first.” He blinked. “Yeah, that did not come out sounding the way I wanted to. Let’s pay the bill, tip the waitress and I’ll take you home.”
The drive back to Lyra’s house was in silence. The poor girl kept thinking the whole thing was her fault and kept apologizing despite what Charley told her.
“Tears don’t suit you,” Charley said as they pulled into Lyra’s neighborhood. “You are very pretty when you smile. Well, you are pretty all the time, but you are even prettier when you smile.” Our of the corner of his eye he saw her mouth form a small smile. “See now you are lighting up my car with your radiant beauty.” Good lord Brewster, could you sound even more stupid?
“Are you trying to flirt with me?” Lyra asked.
“I thought that was what we are doing all night.” He pulled into the driveway of her house. “Let me walk you to your door.”
“Sure,” Lyra agreed.
“I did learn something from our attackers,” Charley said as the two walked. “They work for a Maxine and there is a Purple Tower.”
“That’s great,” Lyra’s eyes lit up. “But how did you learn all this?”
“I’m kind of stealthy.”
“Stealthy is good,” Lyra said as they reached the door.
“I know you are not ready for a second date,” Charley said. “But when you feel up to it I want you to call me.”
“I will. Maybe after we kill their boss it will be safe to go out again.” She had her hand on the doorknob and stared into his eyes. Was she expecting a good night kiss? Was she wondering if they should kiss?
“Good night,” Charley said. He took her hand into his and kissed the back of her knuckles. “I hope you sleep well.”
“I will,” Lyra said as her cheeks became flushed. “You be careful getting home.”
“I’m always on the side of caution,” Charley said. He walked back to his car. After a few steps he turned around and watched her enter the house before he returned to his vehicle. “I hope she does call.” He slid into the front seat.
“Hello, Charley,” Regine said from behind.
Charley jumped and banged his head. “How long have you been there?”
“Not long at all,” Regine said. “We saw your car and we followed. I had Bosworth drop me off at the corner and I entered while you were walking your girlfriend to the door.” She stared in the direction of the house. “You seem to be quite taken by Lyra.”
“Don’t hurt her,” Charley said. His voice was low. He didn’t care what Regine did to him but he would not allow Regine to harm Lyra.
“Are you commanding me, or are you threatening me?”
“You will not feed off of her. You will not kill her.” He glared into her eyes.
“I won’t touch her,” Regine said. Charley did not like that smile on her face. “You however will. You will bite her, taste her blood and turn her into one of us. She will be all yours.”
“And you will take her brother?” Charley asked. He had no intention of turning Lyra into a vampire.
“Tony is cute, but there was not a connection. Not the way I felt with Xander Harris. Now Charley, drive us home. It is time for you to take your medicine.”
-