When Kaeleigh came too, she was laying in a bright patch of sunlight smack dab in the middle of someone’s yard. She looked around groggily, not recognizing anything around her. Her brows knitted in confusion. She didn’t drink, so it was nearly impossible that she had gotten drunk last night and wandered away from her place. Ian always told her that a slayer needed to stay sharp, and alcohol makes you dimwitted and slow. Being dimwitted and being slow were two of the many things that could get you killed.
At the thought of Ian, she sat bolt upright, suddenly remembering. She remembered the metallic tang of blood, the irrational fear and hope raging inside her as she had pushed open his apartment door, and then, the soul-crushing pain of seeing Ian’s dead body. She remembered the man coming up behind her, and then….and then what? What had happened after that? Cold fear trickled slowly down her spine as she realized that she simply didn’t remember.
In a stunned kind of daze, Kae stood and began walking down the street. It was strangely empty of both cars and people. She still didn’t know where she was. Halfway down the street it was intersected by another road. The street sign proclaimed the new street as Rodeo Drive. Confused, Kaeleigh stopped to double check. There wasn’t any Rodeo Drive anywhere near her house. Why did it sound so familiar then? She wondered. Suddenly, it clicked. The Slayer lived on Rodeo, in Sunnydale, California. But that wasn’t possible. How do you pass out in Red Rock, Nevada, and wake up in Sunnydale California? Either way, she was here now.
At least if she found the Slayer’s house, she could get to a phone and…and what? Call Ian? He was gone now. Call the council? What would she do then? With a confused shrug she figured she would worry about that when the time came. For now, she focused on finding the Slayer’s home. Thankfully, it was yet another piece of information that Ian had her memorize during her training. It had seemed unimportant at the time, but then again, she hadn’t expected to just wake up in California and go off looking for…what was her name….Buffy?
The house wasn’t hard to find. Thankfully, the road was pretty much strait, and the houses were numbered on both the mailboxes and beside the doors. After finding the house, she took a moment to steady herself. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. The strength it would take to knock on the door seemed beyond her at the moment. After a few minutes, a pretty redheaded woman opened the door. “Hello?” She asked cheerfully. Then she actually looked at Kaeleigh. There was dirt and bloodstains across her shirt, her jeans were ripped and torn. She was sure her face wasn’t to good looking either. “Are you Buffy?” Kae asked, leaning on the doorframe for support. “Umm, no, no but I can get her, BUFFY!” The woman yelled in one breath. An instant later a tiny woman with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail popped up beside her. “Yeah Will? What is it?” She asked. “Umm…” Will, as Kaeleigh presumed the redhead to be, inclined her head towards the new arrival.
“I’m Kaeleigh.” She managed, with a ragged smile that was probably more frightening than friendly. “I’m-“ “Buffy. The Slayer. I know.” Kaeleigh cut her off. Truth be told, the young girl was surprised. She was taller than the Slayer, and more filled out to boot. The Slayer was giving her an equally appraising look. “Giles, we got another one.” Buffy called over her shoulder. “Well, bring her in and fix her a cup of tea.” A mans deep voice came from the kitchen. His voice was deep but sweet, with a British accent that made Kae’s heart ache. He must be Buffy’s watcher. Then she realized what Buffy had said, about “another one”. Her head was beginning to throb. She just wanted something to make sense. “What do you mean another one? Another what?” The Slayer gave her a look that was just as confused as she felt. “You don’t know?” She asked, a gentle tone coming into her voice. When Kaeleigh shook her head, Buffy motioned for her to come inside. “Common. Giles will know how to explain it better.” She turned to walk off, and Kaeleigh attempted to follow, but ended up only stumbling and nearly falling after her. The other woman, Will, caught her and put her arm around her shoulder. “I think she’s hurt Buff.” She informed the blonde. “I’m…I’ll be alright.” Kaeleigh braved, sliding into a kitchen chair. She could manage to sit up at least. She hoped.
A balding man with glasses was sitting on the other side of the table, sipping a glass of hot tea. He looked the young girl over before saying “I’m Giles. You’ve already met Buffy and Willow. You must be a slayer-in-waiting. There are already a few other girls gathered here. I am Buffy’s watcher, and she is, obviously, the Slayer. Willow is our practicing Wicca.” He nodded at each of them in turn. Kae blinked rapidly, trying to force the blackness away from the edges of her vision. Giles’s eyes flicked to a space above and behind Kaeleigh, and he added “This is Spike. He’s…well, Spike is a bit of a strange case, I suppose you could say.” Kae wondered what he meant by the disapproving look he gave the Slayer. “Spike is a vampire, but he won’t hurt you. At least, we don’t think he will.”
For the tenth time since waking up, Kaeleigh’s brows arched with confusion and surprise. “But that’s not….” She paused a moment as the world began to spin. “Spikes the only vampire who wont hurt you. All the others, of course, would bite you on sight.” Giles interrupted, obviously mistaking Kae’s pause. “This a new one?” Came a masculine voice from directly behind her. It was rumbley and, although obviously British, it was not sweet like Giles’s voice had been. The tone was inquisitive, but she could feel it, there under the actual question. It was the feel of an animal, a sleepy predator that might let you go if he was too lazy or to full to give chase. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and, forgetting what Buffy and Giles had said, she leapt to her feet and spun to face the vampire.
“Whoa there, Pet. I don’t bite. Well…oh bugger it, forget I said anything. Raarrr.” Spike was obviously relaxed as he pretended to claw the air and make a biting motion. “Be afraid.” Buffy said sardonically. “What’s got you in such a good mood anyway?” She asked the vamp. His gaze shifted from Kaeleigh to Buffy and he smiled. Although her vision was swimming, Kae could tell he was quiet attractive. He was tall, with platinum white blonde hair slicked back. His eyes were a blazing ice blue, and his black clothes were hugged tight in all the right places. He held up a bottle of some amber colored liquid. “Look at what I found. That was good old Joyce, looking out for me to the last.” He held out the bottle for Giles to inspect. “My, that’s a very old Brandy, nearly half as old as you are Spike. Where did you find it?” The watcher didn’t bother feigning disinterest. “Behind some old plates and such in the kitchen cabinet.” He replied. “What? Spike, you can’t just go through the stuff in my house like that!” Buffy cried indignantly.
Realizing that Willow hadn’t spoken for some time, Kae looked around the room, but the witch had left. “Umm…hi?” She said in a small voice. “Does anybody want to tell me what’s going on?” “Oh!” Buffy gestured at her. “The new girl says she doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. Which makes no sense cause, if you don’t know, why are you here? Decide to go on a road trip and ran into the Devils Rejects?” She asked, only half kidding. It really didn’t make any sense at all, if the girl didn’t know about the Bringers, then why would her watcher send her here? Giles seemed to be having the exact same thought. “Your watched didn’t tell you?” He asked. “No…Ian…he….he didn’t alert me to any new trouble…” She replied, chocking down a sob. “Ian? Ian McWethy?” Giles asked, alarmed. Kaeleigh nodded. “But he’s…” “Dead.” The girl finished the sentence for him. Giles felt a shiver at the emotionless tone she’d used. For the first time he noticed her eyes. They were a dull, moss green.
Another shudder crept down his back as he thought about the word he really would have used- lifeless. Her eyes looked lifeless. “But if that’s so…and you really didn’t know anything about this...then how did you come to be here? And more importantly, how are you still alive?” Giles asked softly, but urgently. His answers would have to wait though. With a heavy thud, Kaeleigh passed out and her body hit the floor.
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