Part Nine
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Jordan followed Nicole into the darkened alleyway, cringing at the bones strewn haphazardly across the pavement. This was a side of Los Angeles even Jordan rarely saw - mostly because he tried not to see, along with everyone else he'd ever met. It seemed to be the general opinion that if you found out, it was too late, and if you didn't then you'd never need that knowledge.
Maybe that was why the evil hadn't gone away long before now.
Nicole had gotten far ahead of him, and he had to sprint to catch up. "Where are we going?" he asked breathlessly.
She held up her finger to keep him quiet. "Shh..." she warned. She pressed her back against the wall, motioning for him to do the same. They crept alongside the building, and finally came up to the warehouse.
Nicole crouched down and he followed suit. "Here's the deal," she said. "Aurélie knows how to...um, suck, for lack of a better word...people's souls out, correct?" He nodded and she continued. "Then chances are she knows how to reverse it."
"Uh huh..." he said doubtfully. "And you're just gonna what? Beat it out of her?"
"If I have to, yes," she replied.
"And, you're sure you'll be able to."
Nicole looked away. "I've killed plenty of vampires before -"
"-and you've been *killed* by a vampire before," Jordan added.
She sighed and faced him again. "Do you want your friend back or not?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but I don't want to lose another one in the process."
Their gazes met and locked for a moment, both of their minds reflecting the same thought - they couldn't turn this into a thing.
Nicole turned away and began walking again. "We don't have time for this."
Jordan followed in silence.
* * *
Stéphan glanced around the room. Wooden boxes were stacked ceiling-high, and he knew that it wouldn't be long at all until sunrise. Aurélie was his blood-sister, and like him, she stayed out until the last possible moment. Stéphan was far more worried by the prospect of the female vampire finding him there than he was by sunlight.
Sunlight, after all, could only kill you.
His search had, so far, been fruitless. Aurélie kept all of her records in this room, he knew, and within one of them was stored the answer to the burning question that all vampires who knew of his blood-sister wanted to know.
How did she keep her powers?
For many had made a deal with Beirgin so that they could take away someone's soul just by making contact with them. What was difficult was maintaining that power. So many had lost it because of their incompetence, even though other vampires killed just as many as Aurélie.
More importantly, he needed to know if her power would ever escape her...because that was when Stéphan would strike. He and Aurélie were the only two vampires that currently had the power of stealing souls, and because of that, there was a certain deadly rivalry between them.
He had spent the last decade of his immortal life looking for all of those answers, and had found nothing. He had just recently come to America, beginning on the Hellmouth - the place those foolish humans had named "Sunnydale". He had assumed, wrongly, that Aurélie would be there, especially since the Slayer was gone.
He whipped around.
The Slayer was *here*.
* * *
"Giles! I think I found something!" Willow called from his living room.
Giles hurried into the room, peering over Willow's shoulder and reading the text on her laptop screen. Oz glanced up from the heavy demon volume he was skimming through.
She read the words excitedly. "Look, it says that you can disable a vampire's powers - all of them, not just the soul-sucking thing - with this spell..." Willow looked over the ingredients for the spell, and her smile disappeared. "Giles, where are we ever gonna find this stuff? Dragon's Cove doesn't exactly sell real vampire fangs, you know."
The ex-librarian grinned and stood up. "You'd be surprised what I've picked up over the years..."
* * *
Buffy glared at Stéphan in fighting stance, ready to attack or defend herself, however it ended up.
"Foolish girl," he sneered. "You think that after a century on this planet I do not know when a Slayer is near?"
Buffy shook her finger at him. "I *really* don't like that attitude. Very rude," she scolded, wincing when she realized how much she sounded like Snyder. "And on top of that, you've been messing with my friends, haven't you? Tsk, tsk...I'm gonna have to give you a detention for -" she kicked him hard in the gut, ducking as he shot a kick back at her, "THAT!" she grunted.
Stéphan growled angrily and aimed a rapid series of punches at her face.
This time, she didn't duck.
Buffy was knocked to the ground as the vampire attacked her, one vicious punch and kick after another. The Slayer's mouth was bleeding, as well as the cut she thought had closed, from the pure force of the vampire's punches. The pain in her head was mind-numbing to the point where she could barely think, much less formulate an attack against the vampire, who was far stronger than she had anticipated.
She moaned as she slipped into oblivion.
In the basement twenty feet below her, Angel screamed.
* * *
Willow sat surrounded by eight unlit violet candles, a heavy iron pot set in front of her.
Giles and Oz sat on the Watcher's couch, watching the Wicca-in-training carefully in case the spell got out of hand.
The slim red-head took a deep breath and began to chant.
"I summon the powers that be to
Intervene against those who would undermine your rule;
Who would bring about the destruction of this Earth
And of the creatures who thrive on its surface."
As she chanted, the candles lit themselves, the flame glowing a dark red-orange. Willow looked mildly surprised by the effect of her words, but all expression disappeared from her face as she spoke again.
"I call the four elements
Fire, lend your strength
Wind, lend your anger
Water, lend your fluidity
Earth, lend your ancient wisdom."
Her eyes began to glow an eerie violet, the same color as the candle wax that pooled in piles on the floor around her. The candles were already almost used up as she completed the spell.
"I beg you,
Strip this creature of evil's powers
So that those who would aid your will
Defeat those who would destroy your work.
Let it be so!" Willow cried, and the candle flames shot up one last burst, this time glowing a brilliant electric purple, and melted the remainder of the candles.
Willow suddenly snapped out of whatever trance had possessed her, and looked at the other two people in the room.
Now all they could do was wait, and hope.
* * *
Stéphan fell away from his vicious attack on Buffy, collapsing on the ground.
Jordan stood over him, holding a sharp piece of wood pulled from one of the boxes.
Jordan glared at the vampire, nothing but rage in his eyes. He leaned over Stéphan, looking him in the eye.
"This," Jordan began, his voice filled with contempt, "is for my friends."
Jordan slammed the makeshift stake into the vampire's heart, watching detachedly as Stéphan slowly evaporated into ashes.
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