Buffy surveyed the beach, intently. Music blared from loud speakers, and everyone was dancing
with glasses of punch in their hands. It looked a lot like fun, but something inside of Buffy was
nagging her that she had done the wrong thing, coming here tonight, because a) she hardly knew
anybody here, and b) would anybody *want* to know her? There was also the fact that she
hadn't told Giles her whereabouts, and that she wouldn't be out hunting this evening. Looking up,
Buffy noticed a cute guy walking over to her. She seemed to remember that his name was Rick,
or something like that.
"Hi," he said, cheerfully.
"Uh, hi!"
"Your name is Bunty, right?" Buffy frowned, and corrected him.
"Buffy." He laughed, and Buffy realised that he was drunk. Quickly stepping away from him, she
walked to the edge of the crowd. From here, she could see Willow and Xander dancing
together. Willow was giggling, as Xander whispered things in her ear. Buffy wondered what he
was saying. Obviously not one of his normal jokes, because they never raised a laugh from even
the most excitable of people. Buffy smiled at this thought. Turning around, she gazed over at the
darkened end of the beach. It looked so peaceful and...Buffy saw movement in the corner of her
eye. A vampire leapt into the bushes behind the beach house, and Buffy rolled her eyes.
Unzipping her small bag, she reached inside, and placed her fingers on her stake.
"A girl's gotta have protection," she muttered to herself, as she began to follow the vampire,
slowly.
* * *
As Xander span Willow around, she laughed even more, at the same time, slapping his wrists
playfully, to free herself. Xander stopped, and Willow suddenly caught sight of Buffy, running off
into the shadows. Alone.
"Uh, Xander, could you get us some fruit punch?" Willow asked quickly, hoping to create a
diversion. Xander nodded casually, and turned towards the beach hut. As soon as he reached
the doors, Willow turned on her heel and ran, following the path that Buffy had taken. She
became tired quickly, as running in sand was difficult. She knew that this was a bad thing - if a
vampire chased her, Willow wouldn't be coming back to this party, tonight.
* * *
As Buffy progressed through the undergrowth, she was able to follow the path of broken twigs
and footprints in the sand, which her quarry had left behind. She was worried though. It all
seemed too easy...there was a chance that it was a trap, but if this was the only chance Buffy
would have to salvage her social life, she was willing to take the risk. The footprints came to an
abrupt end, and Buffy realised that the vampire must have clambered over the fence, into a
nearby resort.
"It's not as if he turned into a bat or anything," she thought. Placing her hands on top of the fence,
she pulled herself up, and was able to swing one leg over. Placing this leg on top of the fence in a
half crouch position, she leapt onto the ground beneath, as agile as a cat, landing on all fours.
Scanning the area, Buffy suddenly realised that the resort she was standing in was deserted. The
building work hadn't been completed, and there was a fair amount of rubble lying around. Buffy
could see that several of the buildings were almost finished, but what struck her as strange, was
the perfect swimming pool. The water was a perfect blue colour, and underwater lights caused it
to glimmer, prettily. A wooden bridge swept over the centre of it, with a flourishing arc. Buffy
walked silently over to the pool, stooping slowly to dip her hand into the water. It was cold.
Buffy shivered. This place was eerily quiet. She could barely hear the party, and the
party...couldn't....hear...her. Buffy swallowed deeply. She wished she hadn't come here.
"BUFFY! BUFFY!" Buffy leapt to her feet, as she saw Willow running breathlessly towards her,
her face red. Her eyes swelled with fear.
"Willow, what's wrong?"
"Vampires!" she wailed. "They're coming, Buffy, we have to hide!" A low growl came from
across the enclosure, and Buffy stiffened.
"Willow, get out of here." Willow looked back uncertainly. She didn't want to leave her best
friend behind, in the mess which she, Willow, had made. "Go!" Three tall vampires emerged
from the shadows wearing black trenchcoats, giving Willow incentive. She quickly found her
feet, and began to run. Behind her she could hear Buffy kicking butt, but she still felt afraid.
Willow soon realised that she didn't have the energy to run any further, so the next best thing
was to hide! Ducking quickly into the shadow of one of the appartment buildings, she paused for
breath. She didn't hear anyone sneaking up on her, in fact she didn't hear anything, due to her
heavy breathing. By the time the vampire had clamped it's hand over her mouth, Willow didn't
have time to scream - she was taken totally by surprise.
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