"How nice of you to come. Please, make yourself at home." An older woman led Buffy into a large lounge, where she sat herself on an ancient Roman piece of furniture. "Ah, yes. My favorite as well." The woman smiled warmly. "This piece, we like to call 'Comfort De Romanus'. " Buffy let her hand slide over the peculiar arch of the back of the chair. "It's lovely. Does De Romanus mean something in like, Greek or something?" Buffy blushed at her lack of knowledge. The woman shook her head and laughed softly. "No, child. It's a name. See, this piece came from the quarters in which Marius De Romanus once lived in Dresden, under the Duke of Saxony." Buffy nodded, having no idea what she was talking about.
"Miss Nollis will be with you in just a moment, sweetie." The woman staggered from the room. Buffy looked around at the wall hangings. There were such beautiful works of art like she'd never seen before. She got up slowly and walked to the largest one on her far right. It looked as if the painter was trying to capture something, but was having some difficulty. It was a beautiful field of an assortment of wild flowers, with fairies darting to and fro. And in the center was a nymph. She was scarcely clothed with voluminous garments, and her intimates covered with flowing locks of hair.
"Ah, Venus. The goddess with the face of a vampire." Buffy jumped and twirled around. Behind her stood a rather tall elderly woman, but younger than the one who had recently left the room. Her hair flowed to her waist and was painted with shades of gray. "Elizabeth Nollis, I presume?" Buffy smiled warmly. The woman nodded, "And you are Buffy Summers." Buffy shrugged, "the one and only. Um, what did you mean 'with the face of a vampire'?"
The woman stepped up to the painting and ran a hand over the brush strokes. "Marius De Romanus painted this, trying to captivate the beauty of one painted by his comrade, Botticelli. But the longing for his fledgling had him subconsciously painting the face of Pandora on every woman's body."
Buffy raised an eyebrow and stepped back from the painting. She laughed and sarcastically remarked, "Could you be a little more vague? I mean, we're talking real vampires right? Not some character in The Interview With The Vampire…"
Miss Nollis slowly withdrew her hand from the work of art and studied Buffy. Her face was taut and her eyes, so solemn. Buffy shifted uncomfortably, "Did I… say something wrong?" The woman put a hand on Buffys' shoulder, "Come child, I've had tea prepared for us in the courtyard. Do you like water crest tea sandwiches?" Buffy forced a smile. How did I know I'd end up sipping tea?
"One lump or two?" A young man was leaning over the table, dropping sugar cubes in the teacups. "Two, please. Thanks." Buffy turned her attention to the old woman again. "So you're telling me that Interview, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, and so forth, are all autobiographies?" She inspected the tea sandwiches and flipped it in her hand. "Precisely. The vampire Lestat exists, as well as Louis, Armand, Pandora, Marius, Daniel, David, Maharet, and Mekare. I'm sure you know that Claudia, Akasha, and Enkil are no more."
Buffy nodded, not quite sure she believed her. "Do you have any idea how many hairy, not to mention ugly, vampires have tried telling me that they're Lestat?" Buffy smiled softly. "I thought I was wigging when I met Dracula…" It was the woman's turn to laugh now, but Buffy didn't find it humorous.
"We have many a vaults filled with proof of these beings. But this is not why we asked you here, child." "Buffy. That's my name. Please." The woman nodded. "Alright, Buffy… We wanted to be acquainted with you. The legend of the slayer…" "Is in many a volume? Yeah, heard that line already." The woman lifted her teacup and sipped slowly. Buffy shifted in her seat, and dropped the sandwich back on the plate. No way she was going to eat that. Ick. "We have followed the legend since the Talamasca opened. But only you have made such an impact on the world, Buffy Summers." "Thank you, Miss Nollis…" "Elizabeth. That is my name, please." Buffy nodded, surprised that she had been mocked. "Elizabeth, very well. But how did you come across… well, me?" Elizabeth stood up. "Come now, Buffy. I want to show you something." Buffy rose slowly. What now? She wasn't up for any surprises. But lo and behold…
The woman slid a heavy brass door back on its' hinges, and hit a switch on the wall panel. The lights sprung on and Buffy's eyes darted across the room. She was beside herself. She couldn't decide if she was disgusted or honored.
There was a painting on the far wall of her and Angel, embracing in the moonlight. And beside it were UC Sunnydale spirit flags. To her immediate left, was a cardboard box of odds and ends. She bent over and stuck her hand in the box. "Miss Summers, please that stuff is the property of the Tala…" "This stuff is mine!" Now Buffy had made up her mind, She was not flattered or honored; she was without a doubt mortified. She pulled from the box a wooden dummy, She gasped and whispered, "Sid?" she had kept Sid after his demon hunting days, when he took his last life, and he himself went lifeless. It wigged the Scoobies out when the dummy disappeared, but they knew it didn't just 'walk' away because Sid was gone from the puppet. It was but an empty shell now, and had been then, as well. But now she knew…
"You've been researching me? Or stealing my things? Think fast and give me an answer." Buffy was seeing red, as she swung around to graze the right side of the room. There was a lump of metal in the far corner. "Buffy, it's not like that at all. Please, let me explain…" The woman didn't get to finish before Buffy moved swiftly to the corner to inspect the metallic object. It seemed to be bent in half, so Buffy grabbed what she could in her left hand and lifted it up right. Blue eyes and blond hair met her gaze. She could not believe that she was staring at herself. She slung the ruins of her double back against the wall.
"The Buffy Bot???!!! I don't believe you people!" She pushed past the woman, determined to get the hell out of The 'Tala-Stalker' Mother house… Mother 'ship' is more like it; these people are psychos!
"Miss Nollis, phone call!" the young man from teatime called into the doorway. She bowed her head, then glanced at Buffy remorsefully, who had stopped mid stride. "Excuse me." She muttered as she took the steps back up to her office.
Buffy watched the woman take her leave, then glanced about the room. There was a bookcase along the right wall. "Now what could they possibly put in th-…" she grabbed a fuzzy pink book with a lock on the front. Buffy was confused; she had never seen this little accessory before. Or so she had thought.
She pulled a bobby pin from her hair and managed to tinker the lock open. Inside the front cover read "Buffy Summers. This Diary was a gift from daddy on my 10th birthday." Her mouth fell open. She flipped through a few pages and read, teary eyed, the words she had written as a child about her parents' divorce. The scribbled handwriting blurred and she threw the book against the bookcase.
She turned swiftly and marched out of the vault of Buffy Summers. She had to get out of here, but ever fiber of her being wanted to torch their god damned 'Slayer Files'. She paced the hall of the basement holding her head. "Stay sane, Buff…" She muttered to herself. She stopped, startled, as a door down the corridor lazily swung open. "Is some one there?" She took a step slowly towards the door as her words echoed back at her. Upon reaching the room, she grabbed the doorframe and peered in. No one was there, but the eyes stared back at her… The eyes of a small auburn boy painted so delicately, with such love and adoration. The painting on the wall drew Buffy into the room. "She stood before the painting and crossed her arms. "Mom, if you could see this…the museum…" She thought of Joyce and how things like this were always brought to the museum where her mother had worked. But nothing was even remotely close to the brush strokes and color put into this piece. The auburn haired boy was surrounded by what looked like angels, but their wings were black. Buffy gasped. On the bottom left hand corner was a signature, "M.D. Romanus, Temptation'. She laughed nervously, "Doctor Marius, how clever. Marius De Romanus…devils surrounding a saint…"
She turned her back slowly on the painting, not wanting to tear her eyes from it. Suddenly, something else caught her attention. A wooden table in the corner of the room had a fairly big, 19th century, leather bound book on it. "Interesting…" She stepped up to the table and wiped the dust from the cover. "Lestat De Lioncourt" was embossed in gold leaf. She flipped the book open and a cloud of dust choked her of air. "A vampire older than Angel, I guess…" She flipped through the pages, learning of the violin, and of Claudia… Talk about Louis and Nicholas… This vampire was very passionate for… well, a vampire. She clapped the book shut again, engulfing herself in dust yet again.
"How many vampires have said they were Lestat before I dusted them?" She paced, hugging the book to her chest. "And this is him, the real guy! Not yet dusted…" "And it would be a shame if you tried it, Miss Summers." Buffy spun around. "You Talamasca people like sneaking up on a girl, don't ya?" she said as Elizabeth entered the room. "My apologies, but you should not be in here, and neither should I." Buffy laid the book back on the table and started for the door. "Sorry, door was open. Curiosity." She led the woman back to the hall. Elizabeth locked the vault behind them and turned to her. "Leave Lestat be. His current love of the Mayfair family has him occupied, there's no reason for slaying." Buffy laughed. It was a hearty laugh, and she grabbed her side. "Listen Lady… I just wanna meet the guy! And you! Stop being Miss Nice Stalker. I want my stuff out of here!"
The woman cringed. "I'm afraid I can't do that." She shifted uncomfortably. "Oh…we'll see about that…" Buffy remarked, snidely, and swiftly took the stairs up to the main floor. She let herself out and stood at the front door step. "Now if I were an infamous Vampire, were would I be…?" She skipped down off the step, knowing exactly where to start looking.
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