Author's Notes: Thank you to all cross-over writers and to Anne Rice.
My head slammed down on Giles’ kitchen counter with a loud bang. Giles flinched. I was so tired.
“Buffy, I think you need to rest more,” said Willow. “You’re always out slaying so late, I always thought you were gonna drop dead asleep in the middle of class.”
“I did half the time,” I reminded her.
“Oh, yeah.”
Giles poured the water from the boiling teakettle. “Has anyone heard from Xander?” asked Giles. Silence. No word between us.
“Giles, enough small talk. What’s the good – or bad – word about the voices in my heard. Am I going nuts?”
He handed me a teacup, Willow took hers before he could pick it up. “Probably not,” he said.
“Do you remember what you said about it being a vampire?” asked Willow.
“Yeah, so? Giles said it wasn’t.”
“Well, I might have been wrong,” he said, opening one of the books. He pointed to the picture on the left page. “Vampiricus Demonica-Amme,” he said.
I looked at the picture. The ‘vampire’ looked pretty normal to me. I said so.
“Well, these notes here,” he said pointing to the small words that were written inside the frame of the picture, “state the differences.”
“Well, they’re in Latin, Giles. What do they say?”
He touched his temple, “I forget sometimes. The entire world isn’t as educated as they should be. Well this,” he said pointing as he read, “claims that their faces do not change when they are about to feed.”
“Hence the line to the forehead,” explained Willow. I nodded.
“Their hair and nails do not grow after death, unless – unless they are cut. In that case, the hair or nails grow back while they sleep during the day. Which brings us to another point. They must, and I mean must, sleep during they day. They have no other choice. They slow down and drop as if dead when the sun rises.”
“Giles, this sounds like hooey to me. Besides what does it have to do with the voices?”
“Well, that’s where I was going. These seem to be the only type of vampires with telepathic powers. They are also the only type of telepathic demons who are strictly nocturnal.”
“So it could be a … Vampiricus Demonica-Amme talking to me?”
“The only other guess I have is a ghost,” said Giles. “All these other creatures use their powers, mostly, to communicate with each other; or to enthrall – and kill immediately – their prey. Since it seems that you are still very much alive, seemingly, I can rather rule out most other possibilities.”
I sighed. “Well, OK. What do we do?”
“Well, Buffy, I suggest that you stay as far away form it as you can,” said Giles.
I was incredulous. “What? You mean I can’t kill it?”
“No, you can’t kill it. I would seem that literally could not kill it. Here it states that Demonica-Amme can only be killed three ways – sunlight, decapitation, and fire.”
“Well, then I burn the sucker!” I cried. I didn’t want this thing stalking me anymore.
“Buffy,” said Willow, “this things is more dangerous than our regular vampires. They’re a whole bunch stronger – and they’re smarter.”
“Smart vampires? Now that is a novelty,” I said, sighing. I really wanted to kill it. Wait, why was I calling him an ‘it’ all of a sudden? Did it even matter? I got up to go. “Will, you wanna go get a coffee or something?” She nodded. I picked up my purse. Before I walked out the door, I turned around, thinking about my conversation with Willow the night before. “Hey, Giles?”
“Hmmm?”
I looked at Willow, thinking, you’ll see. “Just how did these vampires get made? I mean, the very first one.”
Giles looked up. “Buffy, I’d never thought you one interested in history.”
“Call me inspired,” I said, throwing another glance at Willow. She was not quite sure what I was up to.
“Well, some time ago, back before the birth of Christ, an ancient king and queen were murdered. A demon took such a strong possession of them that they became vampires. I-I think the demon’s name was … Amel.” Our jaws dropped. My purse fell to the floor. Willow dropped her teacup in the sink and it shattered. Neither of us moved for five minutes.
