Chuck McNair leaned back into his cushioned chair and glanced up at the security console. Images of the main lobby of Cloudvale First National Bank flickered across the screens of the stacked televisions in front of him. The lobby was deserted, as it should be at 1:00 in the morning. Satisfied that nothing unusual was going on, Chuck turned back to his hoagie and bit deeply, sending bits of shredded lettuce tumbling on to his lap.
"Who could ask for a better job?" he sighed aloud, absently brushing some bread crumbs off his bulging stomach and on to the floor. A sudden crash from the lobby nearly caused him to choke on his sandwich. He gazed at the monitor in disbelief as four figures stormed across the lobby floor towards the vault. Before he could sit up, a buzzing noise like a thousand hornets shook the floor. The room was plunged into darkness as the electric died.
Chuck stared slack jawed at the afterglow of the televisions for a moment, then dropped his sandwich and fumbled for his gun and flashlight.
"Where's the emergency switch?" he repeated to himself like a mantra, feeling the surface of his desk for the alarm switch that would bring the police. The door to his security room suddenly convulsed against its hinges with a boom. Chuck numbly flicked on his flashlight and aimed it at the door. He watched with grim fascination as the bolted metal door frame twisted and bent under another blow from the outside. There was a third crash and then the door fell inwards in defeat. A hulking shadow appeared in the doorway.
"My God," Chuck breathed, backing away from the twisted and scarred face that appeared into his beam of light.
"He can't help you now," the thing in the doorway answered with a jagged smile that matched his wrinkled malformed face.
Chuck's hand snapped up as he brought his revolver level with what he hoped was the monster's chest. Before he could pull the trigger however, the creature appeared beside him. Chuck did not even have time to scream as his head was yanked back and two sharp fangs sank into the arteries of his neck.
* * *
Buffy tapped her nails on the bar of the Bronze. As was usual for a Friday night, the dance club was alive with swaying teenagers. She bit her lip while she watched the couples drift by through the smoky light
"Why don't you go out there and dance?" Zack, the middle aged bartender, asked. "It's got to be more fun than just watching."
"The person I really want to dance with isn't here," Buffy said, glancing down at the floor. She absentmindedly rubbed her hands over Angel's leather jacket.
"Well, what about him?" Zack asked, scratching his full beard with one hand while pointing at a young man who had just entered the club with the other.
"Jimmy Giseman?" Buffy shrugged and turned back to her Coke. "He's a nice guy, if a little quiet. I'm really not into the whole Sady Hawkins thing, though, and besides Willow and Xander should be here soon."
"Looks like your nice guy has some not so nice friends," Zack growled, his eyes locked to the entrance.
Buffy turned to see four scowling young men enter the Bronze behind Jimmy. All five, including the usually conservatively dressed Jimmy, were wearing worn leather jackets and ripped jeans. The group moved as one towards the dance floor, shoving anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way as they forged for the rear corner of the room.
Despite his age, Zack was over the bar and hurrying out to intercept the group before Buffy had a chance to stand. Buffy slipped quietly off her stool and reached behind the counter. Finding what she was looking for, she jogged after the bartender.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you're going to treat my customers that way," Zack said, cutting the gang off as Jimmy sent a girl at least two years younger than him sprawling to the floor. People were quickly backing away from the rowdy group.
"Or you'll do what if we don't?" a buzz cut boy with a scar running down the left side of his cheek sneered. He was the largest of the gang and towered over Zack.
"Or I'll call the cops," Buffy replied pleasantly, holding up the portable phone she had grabbed from behind the bar before following Zack.
"I'll handle this," Jimmy said, striding forward. His lean frame and soft features looked out of place among the rest of the hardened boys. "Buffy , baby, if you stay out of this maybe later I'll let you dance with me," he said, wiggling his pelvis in demonstration.
"I'd rather lick the rest room clean," Buffy replied. She silently thanked Cordelia for that little jewel. The four boys behind Jimmy burst out laughing.
"Oh you handled her all right," the scar faced boy snickered.
Jimmy's face flushed as he looked around at the laughing faces that surrounded him. He lunged at Buffy and grabbed her wrist.
"Now you listen to me --" he began to say.
Buffy instinctively spun her wrist out of Jimmy's grip and reversed the hold on him. He sank to his knees, gasping in pain as she bent his hand back. The gang hooted and cheered, pointing at Jimmy and shaking their heads as they continued on their way. Buffy held the wrist lock a moment longer, waiting to see if the group would cause any more problems. Seeing that they no longer bothered the other patrons as they left, Buffy released Jimmy from the hold.
"Wait for me guys," he whined, snatching his hand back from Buffy and stumbling after the gang.
"Guess this was the wrong night to let the bouncer have time off," Zack said as he watched them go. "Sorry Buffy, you okay?"
Buffy suppressed a laugh as she told him she was fine. The thought of Jimmy hurting her was just too amusing.
"Hey Buffy, there you are," Xander called. He and Willow weaved their way through the crowd up to her.
"Sorry we're late," Willow greeted Buffy, "but *somebody* just couldn't resist stopping to ogle the new Victoria's Secrets that opened downtown."
"I wasn't ogling!" Xander exclaimed defensively.
"Then why was your face pressed against the window?" Willow countered.
"Well, I, ... it's simply that, uh...you know, I just kind of..." Xander put his hands in his back pockets and thought for a second. "If they didn't want people to look, what do they put those displays in the windows for anyways!" he finally broke down and said.
"I hate to interrupt," Buffy cut in, "but have you seen those guys before?"
For a moment, the throng of dancing teenagers parted and they could see the far side of the room. A prickly sensation stirred in Buffy's stomach as she stared straight into the gaze of a stranger with spiky blonde hair. He returned her stare, his lip curling in a slight sneer. Buffy's line of vision was broken as more teenagers danced back into view.
"Who are we looking at?" Willow asked.
The masses drifted away once again for a second. Buffy scanned the wall. The stranger, as well as Jimmy and his new friends, had disappeared.
"Never mind," Buffy said quietly.
"Hey, are we going to eat or what, I'm starving," Xander said, heading for the bar. Willow quickly followed him. Buffy glanced uneasily around the room one more time. Seeing only happy teenagers, however, she shrugged and trotted after her friends.
* * *
"Shouldn't we be at the crime scenes collecting evidence with the other agents?" Agent Dana Scully asked as she and her partner made their way through the halls of Sunnydale High School. The afternoon sunlight blazed golden patches onto the floor.
"There's more to this than just simple bank robberies Scully," Agent Fox Mulder replied. The pair turned a corner and headed down the hall towards the school library.
"What makes you so sure?" Scully asked, seeing a conviction in her partners face she knew all too well.
"This," Mulder replied, pulling a folded paper from the inside of his blue trench coat. "It's from the FBI crime lab. They pulled a partial print off the first crime scene and found a match."
"Jonothan Richardson," Scully read aloud as she took the paper. "Born: August 4, 1953. Died: September 16, 1973... you said they found this at the crime scene?"
"It gets better. Those were the only prints at the scene," Mulder answered. "It's as if the whole building was wiped clean."
"You're not seriously telling me you think a ghost robbed these banks, are you Mulder?" Scully asked, her shoulders slumping.
"Cheer up, Scully," Mulder grinned. "As of yet I'm not sure what's really going on here. This Richardson fellow is a start, though. He's a graduate of this high school. With the Sunnydale Public Library computer system down, we'll have to hope some of the records stored in the school archives can shed some light on the case."
"No practice today I guess," Buffy said. She peeked around the corner of the hallway and watched as a man and red haired woman in trench coats entered the library. With a sigh she eased her duffel bag higher over her shoulder, causing the weapons Giles had lent her to practice with at home to clink as they shifted.
"Hey Buffy, glad to see me?" a voice called from behind her.
"Jimmy," Buffy said, looking over her shoulder. "Not if you're planning on pushing some more people around. Where are your pals?"
"They're busy," he said, looking down at his boots.
"Why do you hang out with those guys?" Buffy asked.
"Hey, they're getting me what I want," he quipped.
"You want to be unpopular?"
"It won't matter in a day what anyone thinks," Jimmy said with a grin. Buffy caught a different tone to Jimmy's voice, almost condescending.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"It's a secret," he replied smugly and folded his arms across his chest. "But since I like you, I'll let you know this much. By tomorrow there are going to be lots of changes around here. Be prepared."
Jimmy turned away from her and strolled down the corridor, a slight bounce to his step.
******
"We're looking for a Mr. Giles," Scully said to the slim man with the wire framed glasses sitting at the table in front of them.
"Well in that case you've found him," Giles replied. Closing the book he had been translating he glanced between the man and the woman who had just entered his library.
"I'm Agent Scully and this is my partner Agent Mulder," Scully said as the pair presented their identification. "We're here investigating a series of bank robberies in the area."
"Ah, yes I read about that in the paper," Giles nodded, throwing his tweed jacket on around his shoulders. "Five robberies in five nights, correct? Rather peculiar case, though. How could they possibly have gotten away with the gold bars without ever opening the vaults?"
"Mr. Giles, we need your help finding information on Jonothan Richardson, a Sunnydale High graduate. He's a," Scully paused to give a sidelong glance at Mulder, "suspect in the recent robberies."
"You'll want to talk with Willow, then," Giles said, beckoning them to follow him. The three walked up the short staircase to the office library. "She manages the library's computer system. I'm sure she could find the information you require."
Willow looked up in surprise as Giles, Mulder, and Scully entered the office. Giles quickly explained the situation.
"Well, I can check the database. Since he was a student here, maybe something will be on file," Willow said.
Using the mouse, she clicked open the proper program and entered the name.
"Here's his school records. Wow, from junior year on he had straight A's, and became captain of the fencing team too. That's funny, he was an average student up until then. I wonder what happened," she talked mostly to herself as the information scrolled by the screen. "There's a newspaper article in the file as well."
She clicked on the icon.
"Sunnydale High Graduate Dies in Tragic Car Crash," Mulder read the headline as a picture of a young hawk-nosed man with short blonde hair appeared on the screen.
"So much for your ghost theory, Mulder," Scully said. Giles head snapped up at her mention of ghosts. "Says here Richardson's body was never recovered from the river he plunged into."
"Scully, it says he ran into a tractor trailer head on and was flipped off a bridge into a river," Mulder replied. "Do you really think someone could have survived an ordeal like that?"
"Frankly, Mulder, it's more plausible than a dead man coming back to life just to steal gold bars," Scully countered. "Willow, could you print that photo for us please? I'll fax it to the crime lab and get it age enhanced."
"Why does the FBI think all these crimes are related?" Giles asked.
"Besides the fact that all the security guards on duty at the time of the crime have disappeared? At every crime scene, a five pointed star was drawn on the floor," Mulder paused, "in blood."
"Whose blood?" Willow asked wide eyed as she retrieved the photo image from the printer for Scully.
"So far we've matched three of the blood types to missing teens in each of the respective towns," Scully answered, taking the photo.
Giles opened his mouth to ask another question when a series of high pitched beeps filled the room. Mulder reached into his jacket and produced a cell phone.
"Mulder here," he answered as he flipped the phone on. He listened for a few moments, nodding. "Are you sure?" he asked suddenly. "We're on our way," he finished a moment later, snapping the phone shut.
"They've found the body of one of the missing security guards, here in Sunnydale," Mulder said to Scully, then turned to Willow and Giles. "Thank you both for your help. Here's my card. If you find any more information you think might be useful, call the number on the back."
"Stars painted in blood... how icky... " Willow said as they watched the two FBI agent hurry from the library. "What do you think it means Giles?"
"I'm not sure," the Watcher mused, rubbing his chin. "But I intend to find out."
* * *
Buffy spun the combination to her locker and yanked the metal door open. A folded piece of paper caught her eye as it fell to the floor. Xander materialized next to her before she could pick it up, nearly knocking her over in his excitement.
"Did you hear the news? Kathy Dunlapp never made it home last night from the Bronze. No one knows where she is," Xander said.
"Maybe she just needed some time to herself?" Buffy suggested.
"Not unless she decided to backpack there. Her car was still parked at the Bronze," Xander replied. "Hey, what's that?"
Buffy picked the note up off the floor.
"Meet me at the cemetery. 9 o' clock tonight," Buffy read. Her eyes suddenly glazed over, reflecting her smile. "Maybe it's from Angel," she pondered aloud.
"No one's seen him all week," Xander shrugged. "Not that that's a bad thing," he mumbled to himself. "You're not thinking of going are you?"
"If it is Angel, he may have information on what's been going on around here recently," Buffy said, looking back at the note. "I'd better check it out."
"Buffy, he's a vampire. For all we know he could be behind all the stuff that's been going on around here," Xander said.
"He's always been there when we've needed him most," Buffy chastised him.
"I don't know, Buffy, I've got a really bad feeling about this," Xander sighed as she slammed her locker shut.
"So what do you think?" Mulder asked as Scully emerged from the autopsy room of the Sunnydale Funeral Home. She stripped off her rubber gloves and tossed them in the hazardous waste container.
"I've identified him as the guard from the first robbery. He's been dead since that night. Even considering that, it's like nothing I've ever seen," Scully replied, shaking her head. "Someone's drained all the blood from his body."
"Any bite marks?" Mulder asked with a grin and handed Scully a paper cup filled with water.
"Sorry Mulder, there's a definite needle mark over the carotid artery. You might be interested in knowing that the body contained no internal organs, however."
"He was mutilated?" Mulder asked, furrowing his brow.
"Not in the slightest," Scully said, sinking down into a chair and rubbing her temples. "Besides the bruise from the needle I found no external trauma to the body."
"So what's your theory?" Mulder asked, walking over to the autopsy room door.
"Well, the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process used hooks to pull organs out through the deceased's mouth," Scully sighed, "but I found no indication of the internal damage something of that nature might cause. You don't appear very surprised by any of this Mulder."
"I did a little extra checking of my own on Jonothan Richardson," Mulder said. "A friend of mine faxed me this roster from a cult that called themselves the Brethren of Qulexia. Look at the twenty-fifth name on the list," he continued, handing the paper to Scully.
"Jonothan Richardson," Scully read. "Initiated in 1973, the year he died."
"Scully, this cult was notorious for its belief in human sacrifice to gain the favor of its demon deity Qulex," Mulder said. "Since 1973, all cult members have either been rounded up and arrested or killed."
"So Richardson faked his death to escape arrest and is now carrying out some sort of ritual to appease his god?"
"I don't know, but I think it's worth checking out," Mulder said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I do know this much there have been five robberies in as many nights. If our suspects follow the same pattern, we won't be getting much sleep tonight."
* * *
Buffy checked her watch as she padded softly through the damp grass of the cemetery. The glowing readout displayed 8:55. She stopped in the center of the graveyard and pulled her hip length leather jacket tighter around her. The stars glittered high above, in stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded her.
"I knew you'd come," Jimmy's voice drifted from an old oak tree. "You crave mystery and excitement just like I do."
"What's going on here Jimmy?" Buffy said, turning to face him.
"Easy, Buffy, I just want to talk," the boy said, raising his hands in front of him. "You and me are a lot alike, you know."
"Couldn't this have waited until school on Monday?" Buffy began, but Jimmy cut her off.
"I've seen you walking around school, Buffy. You watch all the laughing faces drift by, wishing you could be a part of it," he said, taking a step closer.
Buffy opened her mouth, prepared to give a sarcastic retort when an image of Cordelia brushing by her like she didn't exist flashed into her mind. Seeing her hesitate, Jimmy pressed his advantage.
"Neither of us have many friends. I mean, let's face it, we're not about to be crowned class king or queen anytime soon," he said. "Do you know why?"
"I have a feeling you're going to tell me whether I do or don't," Buffy replied, starting to feel more like herself again.
"Because this world is wrong," Jimmy said in a low voice. "Those who are unworthy attain power while people like you and me get stepped on. Well I'm going to change that. For once I'm not going to be quiet and let them control me. I'm going to fix this world, make it the way it should be."
"How?" Buffy asked, a quiver creeping into her voice. Jimmy was changing before her. His eyes flashed and a thick vein drummed a solemn beat on his temple.
"I met someone. This guy Jonothan, he has a plan. When we're done, the people who deserve to rule will make the rest grovel in the dirt for a change. Buffy, I can make you someone special. What do you say?"
"I'd say your friend Jonothan's been smoking something stronger than cigarettes," Buffy answered.
"No, you don't understand, he came back to life. Qulex gives him the power --" Jimmy strode forward.
"You talk too much Jimmy," a voice cut through the night. Buffy fell a chilling twinge in her stomach as she looked around.
"Jimmy, you have to get out of here, now," she said to him in a low voice. Four figures appeared from behind the surrounding tombstones. The thick shadows concealed their faces.
"Scar, what are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked, recognizing the voice.
"You done good, Jimmy. You got her here like you were supposed to. We'll take care of the rest."
"But I'm not done talking. She might--"
"Shut up, Jimmy, and go back to Jonothan," Scar snarled and stepped into the dim starlight.
"What happened to your face?" Jimmy stammered, backing away. Although the telling jagged scar that ran down his left cheek still remained, Scar's face was twisted into harsh ridges, as if the skin had shrunken and wrinkled. He opened his mouth and bared gleaming fangs.
"Jonothan arranged for me to receive the power I deserve," he said simply. Then he pointed at Buffy. "Take her."
"Jimmy, run for it!" Buffy yelled as Scar's gang surged forward, their faces contorted into the demon visage of vampires. One of the monsters dove low and tried to tackle her legs. Buffy jumped backwards, landing easily on a square tombstone behind her. The vampire crashed headfirst into the stone with a wet crunch.
Buffy hopped off the tombstone only to have another vampire sink his clawed hand into the lapel of her jacket and drag her forward. Buffy slammed the palm of her open hand into his nose, snapping his head back and forcing his grip to loosen. She quickly sank a kick into his stomach that sent him reeling backwards.
Buffy turned to look for Jimmy when something crashed against the back of her head. She fell to the ground dazed, the smell of moist earth filling her nostrils.
Suddenly the air was filled with light. Buffy blinked as she heard an engine racing, and looked over her shoulder in time to see a tan wood paneled station wagon smash into the vampire that stood behind her. The beast soared into the air, crashing into his companions and sending them all to the ground.
"Come on, Buffy, let's go!" Xander yelled from the driver's seat. He reached over and pushed the passenger side door open.
Buffy looked around frantically, searching for some sign of Jimmy. Both he and Scar were no where to be seen.
"Uh, Buffy, is this some new tactic we haven't discussed?" Xander yelled from the car in panic as the remaining vampires untangled themselves.
With a final scan of the area, Buffy ran and dove into the car, slamming the door behind her.
Xander threw the gear shift into reverse and stomped on the gas pedal, sending clods of grass and dirt into the air. One vampire sprinted after them. He leapt onto the hood, his leather jacket flaring like a cape behind him. The car lurched crazily through the dark graveyard while the demon clawed at the windshield.
"Hang on," Xander said, and jerked the wheel hard. The car spun around sideways, hurling the vampire off into the darkness. Xander shifted into drive and raced through the misty graveyard, winding in between and bouncing over tombstones. Finally, the road materialized out of the blackness ahead of them. Sparks flew as the car jumped the curb on to the street and nicked its frame.
"Xander," Buffy said quietly, "I think we can slow down now."
"Oh, right," Xander said, staring at the speedometer needle that dipped past 80mph.
"Thanks for coming," Buffy said as he took his foot off the accelerator.
"Yeah well, Angel's not around so I figured you'd be lonely without someone following you, " Xander bobbed his head and shrugged. "Besides I told you I had a bad feeling about the whole thing."
"We have to find Giles," Buffy said, her voice soft and far away as she stared out the window into the night. "You'd better take us to school."
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