Buffy Summers stepped off the bus to the cool, night air and surrounded by the forest encroaching the city. She shouldered her bag and watched the bus pull away, leaving with it any resolve to go back. Her heart still trembled as it went, though because she saw the reflection of everything she knew and loved go with it. Angel, her mother, her friends, her life; everything was gone. Months after she had left and still, the farther she traveled the less it seemed like she would ever get away from her duty or her memories.
Buffy began to walk towards the lights of the warehouse district, where vampires were most likely to house. There was nowhere else to go and nothing else she could do. It wasn’t like she could get a job and settle down, even if anyone would hire someone like her. So she’d do what fate made her to do, fight the nasties of the world. Maybe she might even find some comfort in it; it was her destiny after all.
She sat down on a crate, gazing into the darkness,
“Okay, come on and get me.” Buffy sighed, twirling a stake. The whole place smelled like fish. Rotting fish. She wrinkled her nose and leaned back into the wall of one warehouse. A long time passed, an owl hooted somewhere and a few cars passed by in the distance. Buffy got up and walked around, following an abstract trail of crates and refuse. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be in her own bed, right now, waiting for tomorrow to come so she could see her friends again. She wanted…
Buffy ducked back behind a crate but the three vampires didn’t notice her. They were too busy advancing upon catch of the day. They had cornered a girl between the warehouses; a nearby lamp cast a dull light on her face. She was about Buffy’s age and she seemed to be in a state of shock. Her hands and cheeks were caked with dried mud; it shook from her cartoon-red hair, too. The girl was crouched in the corner, gazing up at the vampires with confusion. Her hands clenched as they reached down to grab her. Buffy stood up but before she could do anything, she heard an almost inaudible growl and the vampires went flying back. The girl leapt out of the corner like a hungry tiger, slamming the first one to the ground and snapping his neck. The second one got the same treatment, even though he tried to defend himself. The third one eyed her carefully, advancing slowly and the girl sent her into the waterspout with a wild roundhouse kick. The spout went straight into the vampire’s heart and she exploded.
The girl fell back with a startled cry, her eyes wide. She obviously had troubling comprehending the concept of sudden combustion. The other vampires began to wake and Buffy quickly moved into the scene, dispatching them efficiently with the stake. Buffy then turned to the girl,
“You okay?” The girl scrambled away from Buffy back to the corner. Buffy held out her hand. “I won’t hurt you.”
She gazed at Buffy for a long time before she flashed a grin. She began to speak in a language that Buffy had never heard of, growing more urgent, “Menaloi es ich dansoriwa! Giga hommis es Valchika nova. Imaari es danchi koves el warai, nela geel rino mo forwis!” The girl looked like she came from a hospital, she wore one of those shapeless, green gowns. “Koya, koya es verita, es dan Ashtar kel poirel noni kuchin!”
Buffy ventured, pointing at herself,
“I’m Buffy. Buffy, me.”
The girl blinked and then grinned again, pointing at Buffy,
“Buffy.” She then pointed at herself. “Maea. Maea, Buffy.”
Buffy pulled her down behind a crate as a security car passed by.
“Come on… Maea. We have to get inside.” She grabbed the girl’s hand and then her bag before heading towards the nearest all-night donut shop. She was careful to avoid the few patrons of the shop, timing her entrance so that the two cops didn’t notice her. They passed into the bathroom.
Buffy washed her hands, muttering,
“God, I’ll never get the stink out.” Maea peered at the faucet as Buffy moved to dry her hands. She turned it on and put her hands under the water, a wide smile stretching across her face. She said something brief in her language and cleaned the dirt off her hands. Maea examined the soap dispenser briefly before experimenting with it. She quickly grasped the concept and before long, she had washed all the grime from her face and hands. Buffy rummaged through her bag and passed her some clothes. “You can borrow them, I suppose, you can’t walk around in a hospital gown.”
Maea said something that Buffy assumed to be as gratitude and stripped off the gown, rubbing mud from her naked legs.
“Danko!”
Buffy turned away, turning red, wondering where Maea came from.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m helping you.” Buffy said, more to herself than to Maea. “I mean, this goes past my usual rescue missions. Hell, I didn’t even have to save you, you look like you can take care of yourself pretty well.” Maea gazed up at her, adjusting the pants. “You do need some help, you obviously aren’t from this country and I guess we’re both alone out here. Lost.” Maea pulled a striped toque over her bright-red hair, peering at herself in the mirror. The hat made her less conspicuous. “Who am I kidding?” Buffy sat on the sink counter. “I’m sick of protecting people. I just want the company. Even if you don’t speak English.” She sighed. “Even the people I thought who could protect themselves couldn’t. I guess it’s not my fault but still… I can’t help but feel bad. Useless. I thought everything was about me.” Buffy slammed her fist against the counter. “Damn! I was so selfish and I got Kendra killed!”
Maea looked at her and said something in a serious tone, her wide, amber eyes full of concern. Her language was lyrical, one word passing smoothly into the next like music.
“Londales mara isvakel me foratenvi.” She touched Buffy reassuringly on her shoulder and together they moved to leave the bathroom. Buffy noticed two men in suits talking to the clerk, the clerk pointed towards the bathrooms. Then Buffy was back into the bathroom, Maea pulling her towards the window.
“What’s wrong? Why are we leaving through the window?” The door began to open. Maea slammed the door back shut, fear etched in her face. She clutched Buffy’s hand and pointed towards the window, waving her hand upward.
“Pero! Pero!”
Buffy went to it, lifting the pane. “You want me to open it?” Maea nodded frantically. “You want me to go through it? What about you?” Maea shook her head as if to tell Buffy not to worry. Buffy reluctantly pulled herself through the small window into the alleyway after dropping her bag through. She stood outside waiting, worried when Maea jumped through like a dolphin through a hoop, fluid. Glass shattered and sparks of reflected light showered onto the ground. Maea grabbed Buffy’s hand and pulled her around the corner, backs pressed against the wall. “Did this suddenly turn into an X-files episode?” There was the loud boom of an explosion and clouds of dust billowed beside them. Buffy peered around the corner, there was a hole where the wall used to be and the two men stepped out into the alley.
“Pero!” Maea whispered urgently, pulling Buffy through a hole in the fence behind the donut shop. Buffy looked back and saw the clerk following the two men, his hands waving in anger. She saw the two men turn around and then a flash of light and only the skeleton of the clerk remained. It crumbled to the ground, a pile of bones. “Pero!” They ran out into the streets and away, into the deep black night.
It was not until they were in the middle of a forest that Maea stopped running, she crouched down with a large tree behind her and stared off into space, listening. Buffy caught her breath then, her body still pushing adrenaline through her bloodstream. It was then that she saw that Maea was shaking, almost in tears with what Buffy assumed to be fear.
Maea spoke quietly,
“Valchika es torin, wa dega nol.” She gazed up at Buffy and said, mournfully. “Damio.” For a long time they stared at each other, Buffy couldn’t understand her and she probably couldn’t understand Buffy.
Buffy sighed, running tired hands through golden hair,
“Great, every time I think I’ll settle into a routine something strange comes my way.” Maea looked away, eyes following a rustle in the bushes. “Well, what do we do now?” Only the wind replied, howling through leaves like troubled waters and malevolent spirits. “I guess we should find a safe house. Come on.” Buffy led Maea back towards the streets, into the urban center of the city where there would be shelters built for street kids and battered women. It began to rain, lightly but steadily. “Rain.” Buffy muttered holding out a hand.
“Rain?” Maea repeated, imitating Buffy. “Rain.” She opened her mouth and turned her face to the sky, catching droplets on her tongue.
Buffy smiled briefly. She studied the horizon, gazing at the towering buildings and neon lights before lowering her gaze to the rain-slicked streets before her. There were four figures in the distant, huddled in a group under the streetlight. Three men and one woman and they glanced over in Buffy’s direction from time to time.
“Vampires.” Buffy reached into her pocket and slid the stake up her sleeve for ready use.
“Laarta.” Maea murmured in response. “Valchika moni ves.”
The woman said as she pointed at them, as if in command,
“That one.” The other three vampires approached Buffy, their stroll casual and their faces transforming into the mask of cruelty. “Take that one alive but leave the other one to me.”
“Bad idea.” Buffy brandished her stake and met the vampires, taking the defensive stance. She had to trust Maea could protect herself. The three men eyed Buffy before rushing past her like an ill wind and attacked Maea. “What?!” Buffy turned around to see Maea doing just that, protecting herself. She saw a flash of light, the shiny metal of a gun and rushed to help Maea.
“Oh no, Slayer.” Buffy felt the unnaturally strong arm of a vampire pull her back. The woman, with eyes dark as sin, smiled at her. “Let’s play.”
Buffy elbowed the vampire hard in the stomach and spun around, putting her fists up.
“You want to play? Let’s play.” Buffy swung but the woman kept backing away until the sound of a trigger being pulled distracted Buffy. She spun around and saw Maea collapse into the arms of one of the male vampires. “Maea!” A car, windows painted black pulled up and the three men and Maea were gone before Buffy could blink. “Maea!!”
“Now, let’s finish this.” The woman vampire grinned wickedly and went to attack Buffy.
“I’m sick of this!” Buffy grabbed the vampire’s arm and sent her sprawling to the floor. “Tell me where they took her! Tell me or I’ll make you wish you’d never heard of me!” The woman laughed against the pavement even as the first streaks of dawn brushed the sky.
As the light smoked through the vampire’s skin, she whispered to Buffy,
“Your friend is as good as dead.” Flames burst momentarily and then the vampire was gone, dust on the wind.
“Damn it!” Buffy exclaimed. She gazed down at where the woman had been lying and dug through the clothes. Buffy found money, which she stuffed into her bag and jewelry, which she could later pawn for cash. “Come on, please let there be an address, something!” There was only a packet of matches from a franchised restaurant.
“Hey miss? Gotta light?” An old bum tapped her on the shoulder, holding up a cigarette.
“Uh, yeah.” Buffy opened the matchbook. “Wait a sec.” There was hotel number written on the inside with the initials, H. I., beside it. “Room 214.”
“Miss, I can’t wait all day.” The bum coughed, hacking up a wad of phlegm and spitting it on the ground. Buffy flinched with disgust.
“Sorry.” She lit a match. “Say, is there a hotel around with the initials H. I.?”
“Sure, miss, Herald Inn, but I don’t think a young lady like you should stay in a place like that.” He laughed, the sound hissing painfully from his blackened lungs.
“Where is it?”
The bum shrugged, shuffling away,
“Beats me. Take my advice, girl, there are bad men there and you could get hurt so stay away.”
Buffy smiled grimly,
“Thanks but no thanks.” She headed down the street towards the nearest drugstore.
“Take number three north and then walk west on Fairlane Street. You can’t miss it.” The pharmacy clerk said as he handed Buffy her change.
Buffy stuck the lollipop into her mouth,
“I can’t believe you wouldn’t break a twenty unless I bought something.”
The clerk shrugged, “Sorry, store policy.” He leaned against the counter. “Why would a well-brought up girl like you want to go to a place like Herald Inn?”
Buffy replied, pocketing the change, “My friend’s waiting for me there.”
“Are you sure it’s a friend? People can’t be trusted down there.”
Buffy paused for a long time before saying, quietly,
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She left the drugstore and headed for the bus stop. The rise of the sun brought out the people as well. The streets swelled with cars and commuters heading towards work and school. The bus pulled up to the curb and Buffy got on, dropping change into the machine as she took a transfer. The driver nodded at her.
The neighborhood slowly got worse, the decay of the inner city clinging to the edges of buildings and in the eyes of the people who lived there. Buffy got off where she was told and began to walk, hearing the sirens of police cars in the distance. The hotel, even though it shouldn’t have been classified as anything more than the rotting shell of a cheaply made haven for criminals, consisted of two floors. There was an outside staircase leading to the second floor. Buffy climbed the stairs and looked at the room numbers until she found the one she wanted.
“Room 214.” Buffy kicked the door open and cautiously stepped in. There was no one inside, the beds were still unmade and there was a stink of tobacco. Buffy heard a shuffle behind her and went to turn around. She felt something hard make contact with her head and then, black.
Buffy awoke slowly to the sound of things spinning and grinding. She opened her eyes and found herself bound in a chair with metal bands. It was kind of like a dentist’s chair from Hell; strange devices hung over her head. A light bathed an uncertain circle around her. Buffy turned her head and saw Maea in another, similar chair nearby. The girl was unconscious and bleeding badly but still alive. A painfully brilliant light was shone directly in Maea’s face, it so bright that Buffy had to look away. Maea moaned, coming around.
“Maea!”
Maea rolled her head towards Buffy’s voice, trying to see into the dimmer surrounding areas,
“Buffy?” She smiled weakly. “Damio, wa elsa mish vorechio ni.” Buffy looked around them, it had the smell of a warehouse and she could make out the ripples of corrugated steel.
“We’ll get out of here, Maea, somehow.” Buffy strained against the chair, it gave way a little bit but not enough.
A voice cut through the darkness like something terrible, it spoke in Maea’s fluid language though the words awkward on its insidious voice,
“Ashtari, ni ista terrino. Samma jo.”
Maea replied, her voice tired but determined,
“Iso. Iso do Valchika.”
“Mas omi?” Maea’s lip quivered at those words. She glanced over at Buffy and pulled weakly on the restraints. “Ni ista terrino. Samma jo! Wan vak omi!”
“Is!” Maea exclaimed. “Ni isa vak omi! Omi isa serri el tan!” One of the suited men that Buffy saw stepped out of the shadows; he leaned close to Maea and whispered something in her ear. She turned her head away. “Iso!”
The man looked at Buffy; his English was broken, “You, you not liked by dead ones but you can beg us for freedom. Like we will make her beg.” He laughed the sound hurt Buffy’s ears. He moved back to Maea’s side and reached up to the panel on the top of the chair. The smell of burnt flesh made Buffy gag as she heard Maea gasp in pain. “Samma jo!”
Maea whispered, in agony, “Iso.” It went on like this for awhile. Buffy had no idea what they were saying but she understood the gist of it. The man wanted something from Maea; something that could only be given and she refused to give it. The man had also threatened Maea with something about Buffy. As she watched helplessly, Buffy began to have an idea of what Angel had done to Giles, of how horrible it was and how much death was a release from that torture. Except this was slower and much, much messier. Buffy struggled more against the metal bands but they still held tight. There was a ringing in the distance. The man pressed another button and the spotlight on Maea’s face began to flash in a hypnotic pattern. He returned into the shadows that borne him; to answer that ringing, Buffy surmised.
“Maea!”
She turned her head, eyes closed tight, “Ai?”
“How do we get out of here?” Maea only replied by shaking the chair. The panel began to rattle, the objects loosening from the rack above her. Buffy watched as a pen-like thing dropped, its tube hanging down like an umbilical cord and Maea caught it in her mouth. She swung her neck sharply, wincing in pain and let the thing drop near her hands. A hiss and the smell of sulfur followed the little flame that came from the thing. Maea held her breath as she pressed it against the metal bands. The heat of the bands burned her skin but she did not make a sound, tears coming to her silent eyes. The first restraint snapped open and Maea, with her arms free, quickly released herself. She limped to Buffy’s side and helped her out.
“Pero!” Buffy held Maea up as they wandered into the darkness. Buffy couldn’t see any doors and eventually came to rest in a dimly lit hallway. Maea collapsed onto the ground, brushing careful fingers over the wounds inflicted on her. “Buffy… okay?” She gazed up at Buffy, speaking the word hesitantly.
Buffy felt like crying, “Yeah, I’m okay.” Maea nodded, closing her eyes. “Are you?”
“Okay. Maea okay.”
“I… I don’t know if I could have done what you did back there. Don’t die Maea. Hang on.”
An unwilled tear made its way down Buffy’s cheek. It fell on Maea’s hand and she said softly, drifting into tired unconscious, “Rain.” It was then, once again, that Buffy was reminded that she was only a teenager. That Maea was only a teenager and they were both forced from the things that they knew and loved. That she and Maea were both at risk from the enemies they gathered by simply existing. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.
Buffy held back the tears and saved them in a little place in a secret part of her heart for when she could afford to cry. Then she knelt to Maea, shaking her gently, “Wake up, Maea, we have to go. We have to run. Pero! We have to pero.” Maea opened her eyes and stood up unsteadily. “Pero!”
She repeated, “Ai, pero.” They moved urgently down the hall, Maea supporting herself against the wall leaving a trail of blood behind her. Suddenly, Buffy and Maea were both on the floor after Maea pulled Buffy down just as the weird gun exploded part of the wall in front of them. They turned to face the two suited men; Buffy stood up, clenching her fists. Maea held her back, though, standing up uncertainly. “Valchika.” After making sure Buffy was out of the sights of the gun. Maea steadied herself, bending into a fighting stance that reminded Buffy of those old Chinese kung-fu movies. “Iso wa samma jo.” The man pointed the gun at Maea and she tensed her legs. The gun went off with a shock of light but Maea was faster, leaping into the air at a sharp angle. She recoiled off the wall and barreled into the one with the gun. He fell back against the wall at a fatal twist of his head. The weapon went flying and Maea kicked it towards Buffy. The second man ran and Maea leapt after him, bringing him down. She held his head tenderly in her hands and spoke regretfully. “Damio.” The snap of his neck echoed through the corridor. Maea sat there for a long time, cradling the man in her arms as if he were her long lost brother. “Damio Ashtari.” She let his body slid from her lap as she stood up.
Buffy helped Maea as they headed down the hall and towards the cool air of the night.
As they walked out of the city limits some time later, Buffy would glance at Maea from time to time. She wasn’t sure what happened back in the warehouse, what relationship Maea had with those two men or why the vampires took her to them. Buffy wasn’t even sure Maea was on the side of good, whatever that was. Still, it was nice to have someone to talk to, even if she could barely string two words together in English. Maea seemed a lot more at ease now that her two pursuers were dead. She healed fast and it seemed that she was tough enough to fend for herself. It was clear to Buffy that Maea didn’t need her physical protection anyway.
Buffy stopped for a moment, watching Maea chase dust devils down the road, her bright-red hair flirting with the wind. She thought about Kendra and Angel, about Willow and Xander and the others. And she thought about her mother. Nothing could replace Buffy’s home and no one could replace those people in her heart. However with her own kind of grace, Maea had made herself part of Buffy’s life too, a part that Buffy hoped she wouldn’t have to give up.
The night would be too lonely otherwise.
