Disclaimer
- Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enemy and Warner Bros. Television and are used without their permission. No
copyright infringement is intended.
Other
Disclaimers
– There is subtext and such between two women in this story (technically
this would be rated PG-17), if that offends you or this is illegal in your
state then hit the BACK button now. There is violence here as well, we are
talking about Buffy and a Hellmouth, things like violence tend to go hand in
hand here.
Notes – This story is dedicated to Rodrigo, who
inspired two of the dream sequences and demanded – demanded! – that I post or
else. J
You
can contact me at Shadowlander1@coastalnet.com
Summary – This story takes
place in an alternate universe, which means you’re no longer in Kansas Dorothy.
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The
streets were bathed in blood, as the howls of the dying intermixed with those
of ancient predator long thought to be figments of terrified imaginations. Mangled
bodies, ravaged by tooth and claw, gave mute testimony to the onslaught of
destruction unleashed by a furious mistress in search of her mate. A mate who
had been taken by these ‘children of man’, who seemed to infest the very core
of a world that once trembled at her mere presence. The night had called out to
her to reclaim what was hers by birthright, to wipe out the inferior race that
had the audacity to put itself at the top of the food chain, when they clearly
belonged much lower. But no more! The mistress was finally free to reclaim her
kingdom and the mate that had been taken form her by the forerunners of the
humans who lay littered about like broken, discarded playthings who had lost
their appeal long ago.
Oh
how the sounds of terror spoke to the Mistress as she surveyed the death and destruction around her.
Calling to her for more, always more of the rich screams of the foolish humans,
as they were re-taught the lessons of their ancestors. The night did not belong
to them, it belonged to her! It would always belong to her! This was a night of
many lessons as the Mistress reaffirmed her mark on the world and all those who
inhabited it. The blood alone would ensure for the survivors that this town,
‘Sunnydale’, was hers as were they.
Insignificant
beings allowed to live at her whim, for
her amusement and nothing else. Still it wasn’t enough, the blood, the screams
of innocence being sent to the slaughter wasn’t enough! Something was missing,
something that belonged to the Mistress more than anything else, something
these humans were keeping from her. But soon, soon they would learn the
magnitude of their mistake, soon they would learn that they could hide nothing
from her, even if she had to slaughter all of them to prove it.
Suddenly
the Mistress looked up from her most recent kill, a dark-haired boy lay at
an odd angle at her feet, his life’s
blood flowing through the Mistress as she searched for her next kill. That
scent! She knew it, almost as well as her own, it had called to her for countless
centuries, singing to her of passion and fury that only it could ignite in the
Mistress. It was the scent of her mate, at long last her mate was here. But
where? The night wind had changed as if to mock her, to deny her of her mate.
No!!!!!
She roared to the uncaring heavens, she would not be denied! This was her
world, her time! Nothing would stop her from reclaiming what was hers! Then she
saw it, a figure calmly stepping out of the surrounding darkness. ‘It’s her!’
The Mistress nearly groaned after so long, so many centuries of imprisonment,
she was here! Her mate had returned to her, like she promised!
She
was just as beautiful, as mesmorizing as she had always been, and she was here.
‘She’s mine,’ the mistress swore possessively watching with eager eyes as the
young woman approached. ‘Soon, so very soon you will be at my side again.’ She
thought, recalling the hunts of the past and how her beloved mate looked during
the kill; leaning over her prey, blood dripping from her fangs, as the life force
drained away from whatever creature they had decided to prey upon that
particular night. It was a glorious sight her life mate made just after the
kill. Eyes still flashing with the intensity of a predator as the blood of her
prey flowed through her veins like quicksilver.
It
aroused the Mistress just thinking about it, her mate was like no other when it
came to the hunt, she herself hunted for survival – or to prove a point – but
not her mate. No, her beautiful mate hunted for the sheer pleasure of the kill,
the embodiment of grace and beauty found only in a true creature of the night.
As
the young woman stepped close, the Mistress couldn’t suppress a smile that came
to her lips. ‘She’s even more magnificent than before! And she’s mine, only
mine!’ Holding out her right hand, the Mistress waits silently for her mate to
take it, to reclaim her proper place. Eyes, one set green, the other blue, lock
with one another as the young woman without hesitation places her hand in the
Mistress’s own bloody one, retaking her proper place.
“I
missed you,” the Mistress whispers drawing the young woman to her. “It has been
so very long. Do you like my gifts?” She questions, indicating the carnage
around them with a dismissive wave of her left hand. “The dead sing out for
you.” She spoke low. “Calling for you to add to their numbers, as only you
can.” Her head lowers, “Can you feel them?” With each sentence. “The ‘sheep’
that inhabit this place, their blood aches to be drunk.” Lower. “I can feel it
calling to you.” Until lips nearly meet. “It longs to run down your throat,
igniting the hunger inside of you.” A low growl, halfway between longing and
pleasure, is the Mistress’s only response as the woman in her arms is
overwhelmed with the images dancing in her minds eye. “Be with me.” Came the
low command before the Mistress claims the lips before her in a searing kiss,
igniting a fire that has long lain smoldering between the two for centuries.
Suddenly they are pulling aat one another’s clothing as they slowly sink to the
blood covered street, the urge to mate, to reclaim one another, the over
powering urge to kill.
Breaking
away for air, two names cut through the dark night, over shadowing the screams
of the dying…………
“Buffy”…………
“Willow”………..
Elsewhere….
Buffy
Summers jolted out of a troubled sleep, in a cold sweat that clings to her
body, her heart racing she tries to escape from the nightmare images running
through her mind. Sitting straight up in bed, she looks around her darkened room
almost to remind herself that she was indeed safe after all, that whatever it
was, was only a nightmare.
With
a shaky hand she pushes a damp lock of hair out of her eyes and glances at the
clock. “4:15 AM” She says to herself more out of a need to hear something other
than the pounding of her own heart at the moment. Taking deep, calming breaths
she struggles to recall as much of the nightmare as possible, ‘Giles isn’t
going to believe this,’ she thought, ruefully running another hand through her
hair before falling back on the mattress, her mind working.
Once
her heart is no longer threatening to pound itself out of her chest, she drifts
back off to less troubled sleep. One thought making itself known just before
she surrenders to unconsciousness, ‘Just who the hell is this Willow person?’
Rapidly he narrowed it
down to three possible scenarios for her somewhat odd behaviour, and it was
truly out of character for the young woman to be anywhere near the school this
early in the morning. Either; One, the
world was about to end in one big fiery ball, unless the Slayer intervened in
time. Which Giles dismissed almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, it
such an event was about to happen, chances were that he would have known about
it already. Two, Buffy had come across something worth while on patrol that
needed his immediate attention, which was also unlikely, mainly to do with the
fact that Giles had accompanied the young woman on her tour through Sunnydale’s
many graveyards – he had found the entire ordeal numbly boring beyond all
reason. The last option somewhat chilled the Watcher/Librarian to the bone,
perhaps the stress of her sacred duty – an inability to find sensible slaying
shoes – had finally cracked the young woman, causing her to stalk British
Librarians in high school parking lots.
“Rubbish.”
He said under his breath, coming to the conclusion that he had been spending
way too much time in the company of Alexander Harris. The boy was most
definitely rubbing off on Giles in the most annoying way. Shaking his head to
clear it of unruly thoughts, he began to gather up his kit in the seat next to
him only to be startled by the driver’s side door suddenly being flung open.
“Will
you get out of the car all ready!” Buffy hissed leaning in to give him the evil
eye.
Meanwhile at the same time just
outside of town.
“Wills,
breakfast!” Marco Garibaldi called out, putting the final touches on his
carefully simmering omelet by adding a healthy amount of mushrooms and cheese
before folding the entire thing in half and easily sliding it out of the pan
and onto a waiting plate. “Your omelet, madam.” He playfully said handing over
the plate to the young redhead that chose that moment to walk into the kitchen.
Not
quite awake, Willow took the plate absently as she passed doing a double take
once she reached the corner table and realized what she had in her hands. “I
hate when you do that.” She grumbled lowly putting down the plate and taking
her seat at the table.
“No
you don’t,” Marco chuckled placing a kiss on the top of her head as he walked
by to take his own place at the table.
For
as long as Willow could remember Marco had always been there for her. He always
knew where she was, what she was doing, and usually with whom. To most
teenagers having their movements so easily tracked would be mortifying. The
teen years being when most young people start to experiment and test their
surroundings, trying to find their place in the world.
To
Willow it was just her “half-brother” being himself, Marco was a strong psi,
border line telepath actually, so one just got used to such behaviour. Marco
just couldn’t shut off what made him unique among their people, no more then he
could change the colour of the fine black fur that covered his body.
Looking
at him, Willow assumed most would find him to be a terrifying sight, a giant
black panther that decided to just stand up on two legs one fine day to see
what all the fuss was about. To her, he was just Marco; her big brother,
protector, fellow mischief maker and confidant all rolled into one. It was he
who took in the tiny halfling all those years ago when she had been abandoned
by her family. It was Marco who had taught her about her heritage, taught her
the ways of her people – the ones who made their homes in the shadows, not the
sun-walkers how had left her to die in a dumpster behind a nameless hotel in
some forgotten town. It was also Marco, who had encouraged her to learn about
the sun-walkers who made up the other half of her heritage. Sometimes Willow
wished she carried one type of blood in her veins, instead of the dual heritage
of a sun-walker/shadow-walker mix. It was so hard trying to balance both sides
of herself, the one that could go among the ‘humans’ and pass for one of them
without much trouble, and the other that longed to prowl the night with her
‘wild’ cousins who roamed the earth on all fours.
“Eat.”
Came the gentle encouragement, bringing her out of her silent musings.
Looking
into the golden eyes across from her, Willow cut into the side of her omelet
with her fork pushing aside melancholy thoughts. She learned a long time ago to
accept her ‘uniqueness’ among the pack, it kept things interesting as
Grandfather would say.
“Did
you sleep okay? I heard you call out last night.” Marco questioned. His golden
eyes studying, what by all appearances, was a young human seated across from
him. He could feel the direction her thoughts had taken moments ago. Such
thoughts had deeply troubled his little sister over the past few months, as her
approaching adulthood weighed heavily on her young mind. It wasn’t easy growing
up, it was one of the few traits that the humans shared with his kink. He had
no delusions that it was any easier on Willow, especially with her dual
heritage pulling at her from different directions. He also knew that things
were about to get more difficult for Willow in the very near future. There was
a reason he had asked her to move with him to Sunnydale, away from the extended
family of the pack, to finish up her junior and senior year of high school
among the sun-walkers. Willow was destined for something big, Marco had known
it for a long time, every since that day seventeen years ago when a vision led
him to an infant-child abandoned by frightened parents, who had little
understanding of why their only child had somehow gained fur and a set of
fangs.
“I
was dreaming about that nut vampire again.” Willow replied with a growl. “That
crazy leech was having…I don’t know…a tea party, I think. All night, she kept
going on and on about the stairs singing to her and killing the nasty old
Slayer, whatever THAT is!!” she continued stabbing at the remains of her
breakfast. “And she wants me to help her! Kept calling me her little kitten!
Her new little pet! I’ll kitten her, just let her try to collar me. I got
something for her.” She growled darkly, her green eyes flashing with anger and
something not quite human.
“Drusilla,”
Marco’s voice cut into her grumbling. “She’s going to be trouble, don’t
underestimate her, she’s as dangerous as they come. Don’t try to take her on
alone, she’s almost as powerful as I am and she’s a lot crazier than I’ll ever
be…..not a very good combination.” His words brought a knowing smile to both of
their faces. “As for the Slayer, that one’s easy. The Slayer is the
sun-walker’s chosen one to kill vampires. I’m not sure exactly how it works,
never had much to do with any of them, they come and go fast. I do know that
there is a Slayer here, a powerful one at that. Not really trained up here.” He
continued tapping the side of his dark head with one claw. “But has the
potential for it. I think Drusilla knows this too, and is looking for a way to
destroy the Slayer before she becomes a real threat to the leeches.” Marco said
finishing off his own breakfast.
“Does
that make this Slayer friend or foe?” Willow wondered, cocking her head to one
side in thought.
“I’m
not sure….things are muddled where she is concerned. Ideally, she is a good
ally, we both hate leeches and really have no desire to see the world end
anytime soon. Then there is Drusilla. She’s the real wild card in all this, if
she’s messing with your dreams, chances are she’s playing with the Slayer’s
too. Can’t really be sure how the Slayer will react until we come face to
face.” Marco paused for a moment noting the time. “But all of that is going to
have to wait….you’re going to be late for school.”
Later
Sunnydale High Library
“Er….Hello?” Willow called
out letting the door swing closed behind her as she cautiously stepped into the
library. Something about the large room void of any living beings at the moment
tugged at the back of her mind calling at her base instincts. Telling her that
this was a place that held great power and knowledge, and unfortunately like
the rest of the town, reeked of evil. Although, in truth the library did seem
to smell better than the rest of Sunnydale, but Willow dismissed it as the
effects of the Hellmouth the whole city had been built upon.
‘Only
sun-walkers would build a town over a Hellmouth,’ she thought ruefully, before
being distracted by a new scent. “What the?…….” She whispered to herself
turning back toward the doors, just as they opened to reveal Buffy Summers in
deep conversation with her Watcher. Quickly stepping out of the way, Willow
took a moment to study the two, they didn’t seem to be aware of her at all.
‘Odd, the girl doesn’t smell like a sun-walker.’ She absently noted. ‘And they
both smell of leeches and…’
Willow
was brought out of her silent musings when Buffy’s ‘spider sense’ finally kicked
in and she realized that she and Giles were not alone. Turning around to face
the possible threat…..she only stared in shock at the site of the figure from
her nightmare calmly standing before her.
For
her part, Willow didn’t know what to make of the blond girl’s rapid change of
emotions. First there was caution, then recognition and then…shock?? Which made
no sense at all, she was sure she would remember someone like the funny
smelling sun-walker before her. If nothing more, then because of the strange
little scent she had. She was thrown into even more confusion when Buffy
finally found her voice and said.
“You!!!!”