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Part Eleven
The images swirled around her like a dangerous vortex, threatening to suck her into its dark grasp. Horrible, disfigured faces, called out to her...wanting...needing.... As hard as she tried, Tamara couldn’t escape the cold death-like grasp of the nightmare she was trapped in. She peered into the chaos, desperate to make sense of the montage of death before her, but couldn’t see passed the grinning face. His face. The one who was haunting her dreams.
Marvin!
“Uh!” she gasped, sitting up in the bed shaking violently.
Michael was still fast asleep next to her, and had no idea of the turmoil that was running through her mind. Slowly she got out of bed and padded over to the window of the motel room. She told herself over and over that she wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to give that son-of-a-bitch the pleasure. But there she stood, staring out into the night, fighting back the tears, and wishing she never left Pennsylvania.
As she looked out the window, Tamara cocked her head. She thought she heard a noise. Softly at first...like a thumping...then it grew louder, as it approached.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
“What is that?” she whispered to herself, trying to see through the darkness.
“YOU’RE MINE!!!” Marvin reached through the glass of the window, grabbing onto a long thin cross that she wore on her neck.
She tried to back up, but his grip was firm, and his face was determined. He yanked the cross from her neck and held it out in front. As it glowed a dark, sickly color, Tamara felt her body burning.
“The Cross!!!” she cried out, “No!!!!”
****** “Noooo!!!!” Tamara sat up in the bed that was in the back of the van.
Michael grabbed her tightly, as she thrashed against him, “Shhh....come on. It’s okay....it’s okay. It was just a dream.”
“No, it wasn’t!” she cried, “No!!!”
Giles was by her side in a flash, “Tamara?! Tamara?!” he helped Michael hold her down, to prevent her from hurting herself, “It’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t,” tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Can you remember anything?” Giles asked, “Anything at all?”
She focused on the Watcher, as she tried to concentrate on the fading images, “I....I...I don’t remember! Why can’t I remember?!”
“You must be blocking it,” Giles explained, brushing her hair away from her face, “There isn’t anything you can tell me?”
“No,” she sulked, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Giles smiled, kissing her on her forehead, “It’s not your fault. Okay?”
She smiled wearily, and curled up against Michael, who wrapped his arms protectively around her.
Giles climbed back to the passenger seats, and sighed.
“The dreams are getting worse.” Kimberly shook her head in concern, “What the hell’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Giles sighed, taking her hand.
“Hey, guys,” Laura announced, as the van sped passed the Roswell Welcome sign, “Weee’re heeerrrreee.”
“This is great,” Earl wriggled excitedly in the driver’s seat, “I haven’t been to Roswell since...well....I promised not to talk about it.”
“You were here when the space ship crashed, weren’t you?” Laura asked, wide eyed.
“I Promised.”
“Oh, come on,” the black hair girl giggled, “Like any of the aliens would mind?”
“Yeah, well...they might.”
“Really?”
“Laura,” Michael snipped, calling from the back of the van, “don’t encourage him.”
“I’m not,” Laura said, “it really happened.”
“What happened?” Giles asked, his curiosity was now peeked.
“YOU don’t know about Roswell?!” Kimberly gasped, “Where did you grow up...under a rock?”
“Back in 1947,” Laura lectured, “An alien space craft, crashed in the desert just outside of Roswell, New Mexico. There were reports of several bodies found at the crash site. Other reports said that the aliens were still alive.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Giles gave a heavy sigh.
“So, this farmer guy, claimed he found pieces of the ship by his farm. When the sheriff reported the crash to the Army...they came in...and the next day...the papers retracted the statement, and acted like nothing happened.”
“So?” Giles asked.
“Wait,” Michael sighed, “She’s just getting warmed up.”
“A lot of people say that the reason why the government covered it up, was because they believed the alien ship might have been a scout ship....”
“Here it comes...”
“...coming to invade us.”
“Why did we have to come here,” Michael shook his head at his younger sister, “this is like Mecca for her.”
“So,” Laura turned to Earl, “did you meet any aliens?”
“You’re asking a demon, whether or not he met an alien,” Kimberly furrowed her brow, “tell me...what’s wrong with this picture?”
“Because,” Tamara sighed, sitting up, “I think I saw something like this on an ‘Outer Limits’ episode.”
“You feeling better?” Michael asked, rubbing her shoulders.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “I just won’t sleep....ever again.” she saw the worried expression on his face and smiled, “I’m kidding. I’m sure the dreams will go away before I have the urge to throw myself under a train.”
Giles winced at that remark, knowing there was a small amount of truth in her candor, “Do you really believe the Slayer’s Cross could be here? Can’t we just get the directions to the next stop and be on our way?”
“What,” Laura asked, “You don’t want to find an alien?”
“I don’t really believe in aliens,” Giles sighed.
The van pulled up to the Roswell, historic society building, and stopped. As soon as Earl threw the car into park, everyone had piled out of the vehicle and headed toward the building.
“What do you mean you don’t believe in aliens?” Kimberly chuckled, “It’s kinda like the pot not believing the kettle is black.”
Giles paused, “What?”
“You’re telling me that you believe in vampires, demons, and other creatures that go bump in the night,” she took his arm, “and you don’t believe in the possibility of life on other planets?”
“Vampires and demons are real,” Giles stated, mater-of-factly, “Where as, aliens are the product of people’s over active imaginations.”
“Okay,” Tamara said, “that statement, coming from anyone else, might seem strange. But from you? Makes perfect sense.”
“All I’m saying,” Giles countered, “is that, if there were as many alien abductions, sightings, ect...as people claim...wouldn’t the majority of the population have seen it as well?”
“Yeah,” Michael agreed, “why is it, that most of these things are spotted by Billy Bo Bob, from his red pickup truck?”
“Aliens are not living on earth,” Giles finished.
“You’ve never been to Piqua.” Kimberly said, soberly.
As they entered the building, the first thing they noticed was the incredible lack of alien memorabilia. Of course there was a section on the 1947 incident, and some of the other sightings over the years, but mainly...
“It’s so...normal,” Michael said in surprise.
“Yeah,” Laura said, slightly disappointed, “I though this would be, like, alien central.”
“Roswell,” a man dressed in a nice suit, said “has a much more rich history than a few U.F.O. sightings.”
“Well, yeah,” Laura sighed, “but most tourists come here for the alien thing, right?”
The man sighed, shook his head, and walked behind the counter, “What can I help you folks with?”
Giles took out the paper they received at the last stop, “We’re here for the Treasure Hunt...”
“Of course,” the man said, taking out the brown folder and handing it to him, “If it aint alien seeking nuts, coming here...it’s you treasure hunter nuts. You know I have to check your tracking devise.”
“Of course,” Giles nodded, leading the man to their car.
“This car looks like it took a beating,” the man said, waving a high tech wand under the car. He check the results and nodded, “All good, and working just fine.” As the group climbed back into the van, he added, “Do me a favor? Don’t go around harassing the locals. They are not aliens, nor have they even been aliens. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Michael cocked his head, “Sure.”
“What was that all about?” Kimberly asked, as the van pulled away from the curb.
“I have no idea,” Laura said.
“I do,” Giles sighed, reading the words on the page, “You will not believe what we have to get for this damn treasure hunt.”
“What?” was the general response.
“A picture of an alien.”
“Can this trip get any weirder?” Tamara sighed, staring at the Elvis painting, that rested against the wall of the van.
“What is it?” Kimberly asked, “you becoming a fan of Elvis on me?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, “this painting....it’s like...I don’t know. It’s like a thought on the edge of my brain, and I can’t figure out what.”
“It’ll come to you,” Michael smiled, kissing her gently.
“Yeah, I guess,” Tamara stared. “It’s almost like...someone’s watching me.”
****** “We have been driving for hours,” Lisa shifted uncomfortably, “Why are we bothering going to Roswell? There’s nothing in that puny town, but desert, and alien-freaks. I doubt the Cross is there.” She stood up and passed around, “And what’s with the truck? Couldn’t you find something with...oh I don’t know...a little more comfortable?!”
“If you don’t like it...you can get out,” Marvin growled at his ex-lover, “and we’re going to Roswell, because she’s gonna be there.”
“Obsessing much?” Lisa snipped, “Look, get the little bitch out of you head, and concentrate on getting the Cross.”
“I wish I could,” Marvin sighed, “I don’t know what happened, but I keep dreaming about her. And the Cross. I think she’s connected to it somehow. And until I figure out what that connection is...we follow them to the ends of the earth. Understood?”
“Whatever.”
****** “This shouldn’t be hard taking a picture of an alien, right?” Kimberly smiled, “I mean, look around. They’re having an E.T. festival.”
Laura looked out of the window and jumped, “Right...July....this must be the week of the 52nd anniversary of the U.F.O. incident. This is sooo cool! I bet we do get a picture of an alien.”
“I was thinking of finding someone with a costume...” Kimberly began.
“Why go for less...when we can have the best,” Laura said, “Right Earl?”
“Uh...yeah...I guess.”
“And we have an inside connection to the aliens...” she turned to the demon.
“Oh no,” Earl shook his head, pulling off to a side street, “no way! I made a promise a long time ago...”
“Come on Earl,” she batted her eyes, “please? Just one alien. We’ll take a picture and leave. Besides, no one will believe that it’s real anyway...right?”
“No,” he said strongly, “A promise is a promise!”
“There are no such things as aliens!” Giles shouted.
“Than what do you call that?” Laura said, pointing to a slight figure walking to a house.
The figure looked almost identical to the stereotypical ‘alien’ that most people would know. Identical, that is, except for the sweats, shirt, and running shoes. Laura hopped out of the van, before Earl could come to a stop...or utter a protest.
“Hi,” she greeted, “I know this sounds strange, but...you’re costume is great! We are part of this contest, and we need a picture of an alien. Can I take a picture of you?”
“No,” the ‘alien’ said, backing up, “please find someone else. I...I...” he paused, when he saw the scraggly, redheaded demon, “Earl? Is that you?”
“Pete?” Earl said, shaking his hand, “Wow...it’s been...well awhile. How are you?”
“Good,” he noticed the others as they left the car, “Friends of yours?”
“Yeah,” the demon nodded, “and we were just leaving.”
“Nah,” Pete smiled, “any friends of yours...are friends of mine. I was just going to fix myself some coffee. Want some?”
“Sure,” Earl smiled, following his friend to the tidy, little house, “you’ve done pretty good for yourself.”
As they all entered the building, Pete nodded, “Yeah, I’m a salesman now. I do all right. You still driving?”
“Yeah. I’m working for these guys now.”
“Humans?” Pete smiled, “I never thought it.”
“You are an alien, aren’t you?” Laura said, excited. “Wow, this is sooo cool!!!”
Pete brought out some coffee, tea, and bisques, “Yeah, I am...and look, kid...don’t spread it around, okay. You know, you tell a friend, and they tell a friend...and pretty soon I have I.N.S knocking at my door, looking for my interstellar green card.”
“Not only is he an interstellar alien,” Kimberly whispered, “but he’s an illegal interstellar alien.”
“Only in America,” Giles sighed.
“How can you get away with it...looking like that?” Kimberly asked, Pete.
“Are you kidding,” Pete said, sipping a cup of coffee, “this is the only time of year, I can look normal...well this and Halloween. Usually I have to disguise myself to get by.”
“In what...a wig?” Tamara deadpanned.
“No wait,” Kimberly laughed, “those really big sunglasses.”
“And a bathrobe,” Michael was tearing with fits of laughter.
“Hey,” Earl scolded, “we don’t make fun of how strange humans look...do we?”
“Sorry,” all three said, holding in their giggles.
“Don’t sweat it,” Pete smiled, pouring another cup of coffee, “I don’t blame them. I mean, looked how you reacted when we first met? You were a scared demon, praying I didn’t vaporize you...”
“Well,” he defended, “could you blame me? With all those sci-fi comics back then...a person could get the wrong idea.”
“So,” Giles looked at Pete skeptically, “how have you managed to go un-noticed all these years. They are right, you know. A wig wouldn’t exactly conceal the truth.”
“No,” Pete explained, taking a small device out of his pocket, “But this would.”
With that, the devise made a high pitched whine and the alien’s vestige, transformed into an typical human look. In fact, Pete looked so typical, that Giles would have been hard pressed to give an accurate description of him.
“That's remarkable,” the Watcher said in awe.
“It’s an Image Inducer,” he explained to the group, “All it does is place a holographic image over my own. Looks perfect...as long as no one gets too close. I’m still an alien underneath. But with this, I can blend in with ease.”
“Does this thing work on everyone...” Laura began to say, as Tamara slowly stood up and headed over to the window.
“Yeah, it works great....”
Tamara looked out at the fading sun and shuddered.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Michael said, wrapping his arms around her, and pressing his cheek on her head.
Tamara continued to stare outside, “He’s coming, you know. Coming for me.”
“Who is?” the young man asked, concerned.
“Marvin,” she sighed, “He’s following me, hoping to get the Cross.”
“How do you know?”
“I can feel it.”
“But how?” Michael asked again.
Tamara pulled away from him and shouted, “I don’t know! I just do!”
That got everyone’s attention.
“Is your friend all right?” Pete asked Giles.
“She’s having a bit of a rough time,” Giles explained, “Several days ago, she was kidnapped by Vampires. One of them bit her.”
“Post Traumatic Stress?”
“Something like that.”
“Can we get the picture and go?” Tamara asked, nervously looking out at the darkening skies. “I really thing we should be moving.”
“Look,” Giles said, sympathetically, “I understand your concerns, but remember...a vampire cannot enter a house without being invited.”
“No,” she turned to him, “But they can burn it down.”
“Good point,” Kimberly gulped.
“Can we have that picture?” Laura added her concerns.
****** Three men sat in a dark sedan, several houses down, watching, and waiting. They had been at this for hours, staking out the suspect’s home, but only now, was it getting interesting.
“So,” one of them said, “Who are these people?”
“Beats me,” the driver shook his head, “I’ve never seen them before.” Turning to the other man he asked, “Q, did you get a trace on the plates yet?”
Q looked at his laptop and nodded, “Yeah, P. The van belongs to a Tamara Healy, of Bushkill, Pennsylvania.”
“Pennsylvania?” R rubbed his eyes, “What is someone from Pennsylvania doing out here?”
“And meeting with an alien to boot?” P added.
“I wish I knew,” Q answered his companions, “But until I do...we keep watch.”
“I don’t know why we just don’t take Pete in,” R said, adjusting his night vision goggles, “We know he’s an E.T.-”
“And an upstanding member of the community,” Q explained, “We take him now, and people will ask questions. I really don’t feel like explaining to the world about the existence of Extra Terrestrials...do you?”
“No.”
Q bit into his sandwich, “So, then we wait.”
****** “Now what,” Lisa asked, looking out at the dark landscape. The had entered the town of Roswell shortly after sunset, and stopped for a “bite to eat”. Lisa, as usual, had no trouble finding herself a tasty, hunk of a dinner, at a local pub. But now, she was getting bored, and wanted to move on.
Marvin, had other ideas.
“She’s close,” he said, looking out at the night sky, “I can feel it.”
Lisa rolled her eyes and sighed.
“I know she’s connected to the Cross, damnit!” Marvin snapped, “If we get to her, we’ll get the Cross!”
“Fine,” Lisa snotted, “If we find her, will you be happy?”
“Yes!”
“Good!”
As they both stormed off toward the truck, Philip looked over at Thomas and sighed, “Were they always like this?”
“Nah,” he smiled, “I think time’s mellowed them.”
Nigel shook his head, “Bloody wonderful, we’ll get the Cross...if they don’t kill each other first.” He paused as he saw Patrick saunder over to the truck with a blonde bombshell at his side, “Who the hell is this?!”
Patrick beamed, “She’s a vamp, too.”
“Hi, I’m Tiffany,” she said, extending her hand.
To Patrick, she was heaven in a short blue dress. To Nigel, she was blonde, undead ditz, with a voice of a mouse, and intelligence to match. But then...that would have been insulting the rodent population of the world.
“We met over dinner,” Patrick explained, as they neared the truck.
“Oh, yeah,” she nodded, “great tasting human. Really delish.”
“What kind of human?” Nigel was almost afraid to ask.
Tiffany cocked her head and looked at the human confused, “A dead one.”
“No, Pet,” Patrick sighed, “I think he wanted to know whether it was male or female. Right, mate? You wondering what kind of killing preferences I have, eh?”
“Not anymore,” Nigel wrinkled his nose, and got back into the driver’s seat.
****** “Got any three’s?” P asked.
“Go fish,” R smiled, holding on to his cards with a tight grip.
“Will you guys quit playing that stupid game,” Q snipped, “and keep an eye on the house. Jeeze!”
P sighed and placed his cards on the deck, “Come on, there hasn’t been movement in the house for hours. Nothing is happening.”
“Hey,” R asked, as a yellow U-Haul truck passed them, stopping several doors down, “Don’t you think it’s a little late for some one to be moving in?”
****** “Why did you ever allow ‘wonder-twit’, to come along with us?” Lisa snarled, looking at Tiffany giggling at all of Patrick’s stupid jokes.
“She might prove to be of use,” Marvin snipped, opening the rear window, leading into the front van.
“Yeah,” Lisa growled, folding her arms, “if I don’t stake her first!”
“Stop!” Marvin shouted at Nigel, as the human slammed his foot on the break, bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt, “That’s it. There’s the van...” he turned to Lisa and sneered, “I told you she would be here.”
“Yeah, fine. Can we kill her now?”
“Who, Tiffany?” Thomas asked, hopeful.
Lisa, thought for a minute, enjoying the possibility, then said, “No, I mean the witch.”
“First we get the Cross,” he said, hopping out of the cab, “then we kill them all.”
“And what makes you think they have it?” Lisa bit back, “If they did, do you honestly think they would be here?”
Marvin continued to walk up the street to the house, “Don’t bother me with the details. She’s connected to the Cross...and to me...if they don’t have it...that red headed little Witch is the key to getting it!”
****** Pete’s front door opened, as the group began to file out one at a time.
“Are you sure we can’t take your picture?” Laura looked deflated.
“I’m sorry,” Pete said, “Look, you can always go into town and take a picture of someone else. Everyone is dressing up like aliens tonight for the festival...”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “But it won’t be the same.”
Tamara walked out into the night and froze, like a deer in headlights.
“What is it?” Giles asked, looking at her wide eyes.
Tamara looked directly into his eyes and whispered, “They’re here!”
Before anyone could react, the group found themselves surrounded by three vampires, two humans...and a woman they hadn’t seen before.
“Going somewhere?” Marvin smiled viscously. He noticed Earl standing protectively next to Laura and sneered, “So, you’ve found another obsession, have you? Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did. Now...” With lightning speed he reached out and grabbed Tamara, “I believe this is mine!”
“Let go!” Tamara gasped, struggling against his grasp.
Giles went to help her, but was stopped by Lisa, who pushed him against the wall of the house, “Not so fast, handsome, it’s rude to interfere.”
“Now this looks very familiar,” Marvin said, tightening his grip on Tamara, “Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah...the drive-in. Right. Now...where were we? Where’s the Cross?!”
“We don’t have it,” Michael hissed, inching closer to the demon, “It was a fake. Now let her go!”
“I know it was,” Marvin began.
“Don’t move any closer, mate,” Nigel said, as he and Philip aimed their guns at Michael and Earl, “You wouldn’t want this to get ugly.”
“Too late,” Michael said under his breath, backing up slowly.
Marvin whispered in Tamara’s ear, “And I don’t think you will be trying any magic this time. Not in your weakened state. No twisters, or strange occurrences, or...”
He stopped as he felt a presence enter his mind. It was almost too small to notice, but the feeling grew. It was as though someone was inside his...
“GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!” he growled, tossing Tamara roughly to the ground.
“I can’t help it!” she cried, as he pounced on top of her, pinning her to the ground, “Do you think I want to be inside your sick brain?!”
“If you don’t get out,” he bared his fangs, “I’ll get you out!”
“Let her go, you bastard!” Giles shouted at Marvin. He struggled against the inhuman strength of the female vampire, but felt her grip tighten around his throat. He was finding it difficult to breath, or to think for that matter. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Kimberly managed to sneak off to safety.
****** “Oh shit!” Kimberly hissed, grabbing Pete and pulling him into his living room as soon as she noticed the vampires outside.
“W-what’s going on?” Pete asked, as they hid behind his couch.
“These are the Vamps we were telling you about,” Kimberly explained, listening to the voices that drifted in through the open door, “Damnit! I can’t believe they followed us here! We’ve got to do something! Something to even the odds a bit. Can you see how many are out there?”
“Not when you toss me behind the couch,” Pete grumbled, trying to sit up. He carefully crawled over to the window and peered outside. “One...two....I think I see about five...no...six of them.”
“Six?!” Kimberly sighed in exasperation, “Great...they’re multiplying. Do you have any stakes?”
“In the freezer...oh, you mean STAKES. Um....I have a wooden broom handle. That might work.”
“It’ll have to,” she said, hearing Giles shouts of protest.
****** Lisa leaned in close to Giles and smiled sweetly at him, “You’re a Watcher, aren’t you?” When she didn’t get a response she continued, “ ‘Never talk to the enemy’. First thing they teach you, right? Especially when they’re stalking you. I’ve never actually met a Watcher before, but you seem so....un-Watcher-like...at least from the stories I’ve heard. Definately not stuffy.” With her other hand, she reached down and played with the zipper on his jeans, “So, what are Watchers like underneath?”
Giles wriggled, trying to avoid her touch, “You really don’t want to know,” he stammered, “I-it’s terribly boring, and...”
Lisa pushed her body against him and murmured, “Mmmm....let me be the judge of that.”
****** Q sat up in the car, as he watched the seven figures walk toward the house, “Hey! Hey! We’ve got movement!”
“What the hell?!”
R wrapped up the rest of his sandwich and opened the door, “This doesn’t look too friendly.” When he saw one of the men toss a young woman to the ground, and the others surround the group, he added, “Not friendly at all.”
“Let’s go!”
****** “ ‘Keep the car running’ they say,” Patrick huffed, “Keep the bloody car running! What do they think I am? I was a mercenary, you know.”
“A mercenary. Cool,” Tiffany cocked her head, “Um, you were a car?”
“A what?”
“You know,” she said, completely serious, “Like, a Mercenary Benz? I love those cars. I ate this guy once who had one of them...or was it a Beemer? I can’t remember, but it was red one. Matched his blood, which is really important. One must accessorize, ah-hee.”
“It’s not a car....a mercenary is a...oh, never mind,” he suddenly stopped as he noticed three men get out of a black sedan, and head toward the house, “Hang on. What have we here?” he turned at the blonde vampire and said, “Stay here. And don’t touch anything.”
“But-”
“Not a blessed thing.”
****** Michael looked helplessly at Tamara, who was still pinned to the ground by Marvin. He wanted desperately to rescue her, but two gun toting Mercenaries prevented him from doing so. If he could only have a distraction...
“FREEZE!”
Ask, and ye shall receive...
It only took Michael three seconds to react to the turned heads of the Mercenaries. He rushed into them, knocking both unsuspecting men to the ground, and sending their guns flying out of their hands. At the same time, Earl, tossed Laura out of the way, morphed into his blond counterpart, and attacked the two hench vamps blocking his way to Tamara.
“I said ‘FREEZE’!” Q shouted again, as he watched the fiasco materialize in front of his eyes. “I mean it! Aw...come on now....FREEZE!”
Lisa had Giles pinned to the wall of the house, and proceeded in reaching down his pants. The brown hair vampire had a look of desire mixed with a dangerous dose of hunger. If Giles couldn’t break free, he knew he would surely die by her hands.
“Back off, bitch!” Kimberly shouted, brandishing her broom handle.
Lisa paused, and turned slightly to face her ‘would-be’ attacker, “Or what? You’ll sweep me to death? Yeah...I’m scared.”
“You should be,” she sneered, putting her foot on one end of the wooden handle, “Sharpened wood, does little for your complexion,” she pushed her foot down on the handle, dramatically, causing it to....
“Ah...heehee,” Kimberly chuckled, embarrassed, pushing on the unbroken handle again, “Come on, you stupid, piece of wood...BREAK!!!”
“Having problems?” Lisa smiled, at the struggling human.
“Kimberly,” Giles shouted, “Run!”
“Oh no,” Kimberly growled, “I’m going to break this damn thing, if it kills me!”
“And it just might,” Lisa growled, moving away from Giles, and on to her new prey.
The moment she moved away from him, Giles found the opportunity to reach into his jacket pocket and pull out the small stake he had hidden for circumstances just like this. But as he grasped the stake in his hand, preparing to plunge it into the vampire, Lisa turned around and viscously grabbed his hand.
“Playing the hero, are we?” With incredible strength, she turned the point around, and drove it deep into his chest, missing his heart by mear inches. “How noble.”
“NO!!!!” Kimberly shouted, breaking the handle in two, as her lover sank to the ground. She held the stake tightly in her hand. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You are sooo dust!”
“I don’t think so,” Lisa growled, bearing her fangs, and moving toward her.
Suddenly both woman stopped when several shots where fired. They turned around to see three men in black suits pointing their guns at the group.
“Now,” Q said, “That’s better. You are ALL going to be detained, while an investigation is conducted....”
He didn’t even finish his sentence when he heard the roar of a truck behind him. Patrick, who had managed to sneak up behind all three men, preparing to take them out, turned to see the yellow U-Haul plow into the black sedan.
“Tiffany?!” Patrick shouted, “What the bloody hell are you doing?!”
“Ooops, ah-hee!” she giggle, as she tried to back the truck up, “Pesky clutch.”
“Our car!” R cried out. But worrying about their wreaked vehicle was the least of their concerns, as two human, mercenaries, and several vampires rushed passed them toward the truck.
“STOP!”
Lisa turned to Kimberly and spat, “This aint over. Next time I see you...you’ll be my dinner! Oh, yeah....say goodbye to the Watcher for me.”
“Fuck you!” She yelled at the rapidly departing vampire.
She watched the men in black chase the moving truck down the street, firing at the wheels, in the vain attempt to stop it from escaping. She watched, that is, for all of about two seconds before rushing to Giles’ side.
She kneeled down next to him, assessing his injury. She was no doctor, but she definately knew a severe wound when she saw one. And this was as bad as it gets. Giles leaned up against the house, trying desperately to breath. Frothy blood trickled down the corner of his lips, every time he exhaled. The staked pierced his lung. If he didn’t get help soon, he would drown in his own blood.
“Rupert,” she tried to remain calm, “It’s gonna be okay.” Kissing his head, she began to stroke his hair, “Just hang on for me, okay? Please hang on.”
“Oh my god,” Michael shook his head, “We’ve got to call an ambulance. This is bad.”
“Where’s the nearest hospital?” Tamara said, kneeling by his other side.
“We don’t have the time to wait for an ambulance to get here,” Laura stated, looking into the house, “but I think I might know what to do.”
She raced into the house to find Pete grabbing the few items he could fit into his small suitcase. He was planning on skipping town. Leaving them. Well, that was NOT in the game plan.
“Hey!” she shouted, reaching for his suitcase, “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I gotta get out of here,” he explained, as Earl joined Laura, “Those G-Men are gonna come back. And when they do, I want to be as far away from them as I can.”
“You can’t just leave, and let Giles die,” Laura insisted.
“What do you want me to do?” Pete shook his head.
“You’re an alien, for god sake,” she huffed, “Use some of your advanced, alien technology stuff to help him!”
“I can’t...”
“You can’t,” Earl pointed out, “Or you won’t?”
“I can’t.”
“Come on, Petey...this is me you’re talking to.”
“They’ll lock me away and perform horrible experiments on me,” the alien complained, “I’ve got to leave now.”
“And if you do,” Earl said, “Giles will die,” he paused for a moment, before going in for the kill, “Do you really want to live with the knowledge that you could have saved him, but chose to save yourself instead?”
“I’m loosing him!” Kimberly shouted from outside.
“Please.” Laura pleaded.
Pete thought for a long moment and sighed, reaching for a large leather satchel, “Okay, fine. But if they dissect me...I’m gonna blame you.”
The three of them ran out of the house, and headed toward the fallen Watcher. His breathing had become more labored, and his skin was so pale. He was dying.
Pete crouched down on the ground in front of Giles and sighed, “This is bad.”
“Can you save him?” Kimberly said through her tears, “Please tell me you can save him.”
“I think so,” he nodded, “but we have to remove the stake first.” He turned to Tamara, who seem the most calm of the two woman, “It’s in really deep. I’m gonna pull it out. As soon as I do, I want you to press this,” he handed her a flashing, metal disc, “to the wound. Then I’ll do the rest. But you have to push hard, to create a seal. I don’t want his lung to collapse. You understand?”
Tamara nodded taking the disc in her trembling hand.
Pete turned back to Giles, and took a hold of the protruding stake, “I’m going to pull this out, on the count of three. Are you still with me?”
All the Watcher could to was nod weakly.
“When it comes out, you’re gonna feel the need to cough,” Pete went on to explain, “Don’t. What ever you do, don’t cough. I promise, if all goes well, in about fifteen minutes, you’ll be feeling much better. Okay?”
Giles mouthed the word, yes, as he took Kimberly’s hand.
“Okay,” Pete inhaled, “Everyone ready? One. Two. THREE!”
With one clean motion, Pete withdrew the stake, just as Tamara, pressed the disc firmly on the opening. Giles squeezed Kimberly’s hand hard, for a moment, before loosing consciousness. His head slumped on her shoulder, as his body went slack.
“Oh my god,” Kimberly cried, “He’s...”
“Dead?” Pete said, reaching for more of his equipment, “No. Just out cold.” He smiled at Tamara and said, “Good job. You created a perfect seal. Now, let me get to work.”
Tamara stood up and walked away, leaving Kimberly and Pete to tend to the injured Watcher. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the three figures approach the group.
“All right,” Q puffed, quite out of breath, “I want all of you to stay put. Where’s Pete?”
“You’re NOT taking him,” Tamara said, plainly.
“Yeah,” Laura agreed, standing next to her friend, “You’re not going to dissect him like a worm!”
“What are you talking about?” R cocked his head, “Where not planning on dissecting him-”
“And if you think you can get to him,” Michael sneered, folding his arms, “You’ll have to come through us first!”
“He saved our friend’s life,” Tamara continued, “If that doesn’t mean anything to you---did you say you weren’t going to dissect him?”
“Why the hell would we dissect him?” Q shook his head.
“Well,” Earl looked confused, “You know...aliens...government conspiracy...secret autopsies...”
“Government conspiracies? You’ve been watching too many Oliver Stone movies.” Q explained. “WE don’t do that.”
“You don’t?” Laura asked.
“No,” R wrinkled his brow, “we were just going to offer him a job.”
“A job?” Pete looked up, and turned to the men in black, “You mean, you were here to offer me a job?”
“Yeah,” Q nodded, “We’ve been keeping you under surveillance to make sure you were not a security risk. Actually, we have many aliens working for us. Mainly in R&D.”
“Aliens in Research and Development?”
“Yeah,” Q said, “Where do you think we got Velcro from?”
“With your medical knowledge,” R stated, “You would be a great asset in our medical research program. So, what do you say? All we need to do is get you in for an interview.”
“Wow,” Pete smiled, checking his ‘patient’, “a job. So, how much does it pay?”
“Well, we can discuss that during the interview.”
Kimberly looked into Giles’ face, and smiled when he opened his eyes. He groaned softly, and was definately in pain...but he was alive. The gaping wound that had been in his chest twenty minutes ago was almost healed, and the color had returned to his face.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
“Like I’ve been skewered,” Giles groaned, “But otherwise...much better.” He noticed the tears running down her checks and gently brushed them away, “Hey, none of that. I will not have you crying over me. I’m fine, really.”
“But if it wasn’t for Pete-”
Giles leaned over and kissed her on the lips, “I know. But fate was kind to us. Let’s not question it.”
“Well,” Tamara sighed, “this stop was completely pointless, and Rupert almost died. When is this supposed to get better?”
“Yeah,” Laura grumbled, “No Cross...and no picture of an alien. We should have just gone directly on to Las Vegas.”
“Yeah.”
Pete walked over to the group and tilted his head, “Well, since my getting this job had something to do with you guys, I guess I could take a little picture with you.” He took the camera from Laura and gave it to Q, “You mind?”
“Well.....” Q hesitated.
“Don’t worry,” Pete reassured him, “How many people are going to believe I’m really an alien?”
“I see your point.”
****** After the pictures were taken, and Giles was gently eased into the van, the weary group pulled away from the little, quite town of Roswell.
Pete carried his tiny suitcase out to his car, where the three men in black were waiting, “So,” he asked, as they climbed into the car, “anyone working there that I know?”
“Actually,” Q explained, “there are quite a few aliens working in the United States government. I mean, half the Congress are from other planets.”
“Wow,” Pete grinned, as they drove off into the rising sun, “That would explain alot.”
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