Giles slammed down another pile of books on his desk. He flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for. Buffy and Willow sat opposite and watched the watcher work.
“Anything Giles?” Buffy asked rhetorically
“Noting new. The Canatu Demon feeds on the energies of the young until it power has grown . . . well you know the rest. It doesn’t mention anything about masking bodies to look like other bodies.”
Buffy picked up the organic looking dagger from the desk and played with it lightly.
“We still have this fancy looking doohickey. Maybe this has something.”
Giles looked up to the dagger. As Buffy twisted it around an engraving he didn’t notice the first time reflected on the hilt. Giles leant over and took the dagger. He examined the engraving for a few moments before placing the dagger back on the table in frustration.
“Of course! How could I have been so blind?” he exclaimed
“Sat to close to the TV? Maybe you didn’t eat enough carrots.” Willow prompted
“I don’t know Will,” Buffy replied, “That doesn’t sound like Giles. Maybe he had too much personal time . . . I did not just say that!”
Giles glared at the two girls in front of him.
“As pleasant as these looks into my private life are maybe we could get back to the job at hand.” He said
“Alright Giles, I’m concentration girl again. What’s the stitch?” Buffy replied
“We may be dealing with a different demon.”
“So I didn’t kill a Canatu?”
“Well . . . yes and no.”
Buffy gave her watcher a confused look.
“Thanks Giles that made things so much clearer.”
Giles picked up a book from the pile and handed it to Buffy. He walked around from his side of the desk and looked over her shoulder. He pointed to the diagram.
“We are dealing with a Canatu,” Giles explained, “but it’s a sub-species called a Parob. They mainly work as minions for higher demons and entities. It says here that it has glands in the palms of it’s which excrete a liquid that acts like a sought of mystical hallucinogen. Any person or demon within a few feet of the body would believe that it looked like something that it was not.”
“So that’s why we though body-double guy looked like Xander.” Willow exclaimed, “Hey. If this mystical stuff works on everybody how come we noticed?”
“Ghost Xander,” Buffy pondered, “He was the one who saw it first.”
Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them thoughtfully.
“That makes sense. Out of all of the teenagers murdered we were the only one to have a comparison.” He replied thoughtfully
Buffy cringed as she put the disturbing jigsaw puzzled together in her mind.
“Okay. I have a really disgusting question. If we got body double guy where did Xanders body go?”
“I believe this merits investigation,” Giles replied, “Willow, Check the city morgue database see if any unidentified males have surfaced in the last week. Buffy and I shall return to the cave and look for clues.”
Willow nodded and ventured her way over to the computer. As it booted up she frowned.
“Hey guys should we tell Xander about this?” Willow asked
Buffy and Giles looked at each other curiously.
“I suppose,” Buffy replied, “Has anybody seen Xander since the funeral?”
“I talked to his family a bunch. They though they saw him there but I think they are in denial because of the sadness.” Willow replied.
“That’s one small mercy. I really wasn’t looking forward to explaining that to his parents,” Giles replied, “at the moment I think it best if we give Xander some time. He needs to adjust and find his place in the world. This type of thing doesn’t happen overnight.”
Xander sat on the roof of the school. As much as he would have loved to help in the research mode seeing his own funeral knocked him around emotionally. Xander looks over the skyline of Sunnydale feeling a loss he had never felt before.
“Hey.” An unfamiliar female voice called out from behind him.
Xander turned around to find the source. The girl, who stood behind him, looked roughly about his age. She was medium sized and very slender. Her smile lit up her face as her emerald green eyes seemed to look straight through Xander. As she walked up to him she brushed her medium length black hair out of her face. Xander couldn’t help notice a theme in her colour scheme. She was wearing black jeans and a plain black T-shirt. In fact the only color she had in her ensemble was the two streaks of red hair she had died into her fringe.
“Uh . . . hi.” Xander replied nervously.
The Girl sat down next to Xander and looked at him friendly. Xander returned this look with his usual nervous confusion.
“How you feeling?” the girl asked
“Pardon?” Xander asked inquisitively
“Your feeling. How are they?”
“Okay I guess . . . have we met?”
“Don’t think so. I’m Beth.”
Beth stuck out her hand. Xander looked down at the scene hesitantly.
“It’s very simple,” Beth continued, “you hold my hand and we make this up and down motion with them. It’s called shaking hands most people do it when they meet for the first time.”
“Yeah I know but I’m sorta different.” Xander replied nervously
Beth rolled her eyes in amusement. She grabbed Xanders right arm and forced his hand into hers. Xander shook hands with that strange girl weakly.
“That wasn’t so hard was it?” Beth asked
“You just touched me.” Xander said in amazement
“Duh! Shouldn’t I have? You don’t have this weird germ thing do you?”
“No. It’s just. You might not believe me but I’m a ghost.”
“I know,” Beth replied flatly.
“And yet you’re not surprised.” Xander asked in a stunned tone
“Hey I’ve been dead for two years. After all this time seeing someone dead kinda looses it’s edge.”
Xander jumped back slightly.
“You’re a ghost?”
“Again I say Duh! Why do you think we can touch?”
Xander shrugged. He looked carefully at the female to see if she was lying. Beth leant back against the room.
“You know you’re pretty talented for an R.D.” she commented
“R.D.?” Xander asked curiously
“Recently Died. It took me two months to handle popping and I ended up in a lot worse places then someone’s bathroom.”
Xander narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Beth looked at him playfully
“I’ve been following you,” she explained, “you’re an interesting catch . . . sorry didn’t get your name.”
“Xander.”
“No seriously I really want to know your name.”
“That is my name. It’s short for Alexander. But everybody calls me Xander”
“That wont work for me Alex,” Beth replied, “Do I look like most people?”
Xander thought about this seriously.
“Not most people I know. A lot of the girls I talked to say they would be caught dead with me. Since you here and, well, dead I’m sensing a big difference.”
Beth laughed. She looked back at Xander with those amazing eyes of hers.
“You’re cute when you’re trying to be funny.” She replied
Xander smiled goofily at her.
“Really? Cool . . . Wait, what do you mean ‘trying to be’?”
Beth didn’t answer. She slinked over to him and held his hand.
“Do you want to find out what you can do Alex?” she asked seductively
Xander gulped nervously. If he has sweat glands they would be working overtime by now.
“Does this involve talking, ‘Cause I’m gonna lose not be able to do that in a couple of minutes.” He replied
“Come on. There is a lot you need to see”
She held Xanders hand tightly then suddenly . . .
* POP! *
They disappeared.
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