ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 207 – IT FELT LIKE WAR, IT FELT LIKE HELL WAS COMING

GREENWICH
7:00AM

Gathered in Giles’ study, they spoke in hushed tones. It was the sort of reserved voices heard after tragedies, or in hospital waiting rooms in the middle of the night, In their case, it was once again being confronted by The First, and all that implied.

With a sigh, Giles pulled back the drapes a crack, allowing the gray light of early morning to filter in. It did nothing to lighten their mood.

With nothing to do but wait until Willow could cast the protection spell, nervous energy coursed through Buffy, as evidenced by her restless pacing every few minutes. She was proactive girl, not waiting-around-for-the- other-shoe-to drop-girl. Although she’d learned plenty of patience in the years since she’d hung up her stakes, and become a teacher; inherently, it wasn’t in her nature.

When she could no longer stand it, she went off to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and kettle of tea. Willow went with her, leaving the men in the study.

Having discreetly put away the Shanshu Prophecy manuscript for now, Giles settled down at his desk to look at some texts pertaining to The First, while William sat alone with his thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” William blurted out after a few minutes.

Giles raised his eyes from his book he was reading to peer over the rim of his glasses at the younger man.

“About what?”

“In particular, I’m sorry about earlier tonight, up in my room…when you tried to stop me. Apparently, it’s a good thing Willow was there or we both might have wound up with broken necks. In my case, I’m not so sure that wouldn’t have been the best for everyone concerned.”

“That’s not true.”

William shrugged; it didn’t matter if Giles refuted his statement. He wasn’t looking for sympathy, or worse still, pity. “More importantly, I also want to apologize for involving you at all in this; especially now that The First is in the picture. You have more than enough responsibilities running The Council and providing training to all the slayers who were called.”

Giles shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. After all, if I hadn’t cared to be involved in your life, I wouldn’t have given you my card last year. As for The First, you’re certainly not to blame for its existence. As for its untimely appearance…who is to say? The First has been around since time immemorial. I dare say, it’s as old as God is, if you believe in a divine being. In any case, evil exists along with good. The unfortunate yin to good’s yang, if you will.”

“I know that, Giles. Still, I want you to carefully consider what I’m about to ask you."

“And that would be what?”

“That maybe it would be the best for everyone if I went away. I don’t want to endanger you and Willow, or the slayers. I just…I think it would be for the best; for the greater good and all that."

Giles winced. Wood had used that very same expression of persuasion, to get him to distract-- no, betray, Buffy, when he went along with the principal’s plan to kill Spike. He had no intention of letting William use that same argument to increase the chances of his dying again.

“You’re talking about leaving Buffy, too, I assume?”

“First and foremost, I don’t wish to see any harm come to her. Everything I’ve done in these past few months has been motivated with her in mind; her safety, what sort of life I can provide for her…what she deserves.”

Giles couldn’t help himself. “Working at a demon bar in Los Angeles was motivated by what Buffy deserves?”

“Point taken.” William smiled sadly. “However, to answer your question, I don’t see that I’d be able to take my leave without her. As you are quite aware, she’s usually pretty keen at finding out my whereabouts, and my plans. “ He looked directly at Giles. “Unless you could…”

Giles shook his head. “I’m sorry, William. I can’t do that; not even for her sake. I can’t stop you from going, but I won’t help you deceive Buffy.”

William nodded. “I understand. Then we both should go.”

“I don’t think you do understand. What I’m getting at is, had you never come back, The First would have just as likely made another appearance in my lifetime, and in Buffy’s as well. It’s just its nature. It’s also our nature - all of our natures,” he said, looking pointedly at William, “to fight evil; when and wherever it appears.”

“It only seems to be after me, though. Why involve any others? Too many innocent lives have been lost...because of me. You know it’s true, Giles. You don’t have to look any further than your own files to know that.”

“That’s isn’t the same thing. You’re not a vampire now, you’re a human being.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want anymore blood spilled on my account; for any reason.”

“While I appreciate your sentiments, William, I still have to disagree with your assessment. For one thing, we don’t know if The First is particularly after you, or that you’re just a vehicle for some other intention it has in mind. Whether that’s to get to Buffy or the rest of the slayers…well, that’s what we’re going to have to figure out. When The First is involved, innocent lives are lost; whether or not you’re involved. Secondly, yes, Spike killed many thousands of people. He…you also saved the rest of the world by helping to avert the apocalypse six years ago and died doing so. Whether or not you feel it can erase what you did is immaterial. You’re owed a huge debt of gratitude from everyone; myself included.

Having said that, as head of The Council, it’s my job to help protect you, as well as the rest of the world.” Giles came around from behind the desk and walked over to where William was seated “As your friend; as I hope you have come to look upon me, I could also do no less.”

“Thank you,” William said softly, his throat tightening. “I do consider you my friend.”

“Just remember, there’s strength in numbers, and that’s one thing that we surely have now.”

~~~~~~~~~~

William accepted the hot cup of tea that Elizabeth held out to him.

“Thanks,” he mumbled,

“Have some of these, too,” she said, putting down a plate of cold cheese and biscuits that she’d hurriedly grabbed out of the refrigerator. “You need to eat something,” she added, before he could protest. It wasn’t the most appetizing thing ever, but it would have to do for the moment.

Without seeking Buffy’s approval, Giles walked over and poured a generous shot of scotch into William’s cup.

He was rewarded by a grateful nod.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but until Willow can get that protection spell in place, we all might be subject to seeing things.”

“What sort of things?” William asked nervously.

Buffy covered his hand with hers. “The sort of things that you saw in your nightmare. Back in Sunnydale, The First came to me as my mother, and to Willow as somebody sent by Tara.”

“Wood saw his mother, I believe.” Giles stopped, clearing his throat. “The point is, William, whatever or more likely, whomever it is that you see, you have to know that it’s not real and ignore anything that it says.”

William swallowed. While it was a tiny bit of a comfort to know - according to what everyone was saying - that the nightmares hadn’t originated from him, he still didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

“That’s right,” Buffy said. “Just remember, The First takes kernels of truth and twists it into its own ugly evil.”

Looking at William, they all nodded.

“That goes for all of us,” Willow said. “We can all be vulnerable to The First’s manipulation; it’s a master at…”

They all jumped as the front door suddenly flew open, and an icy gust of wind swept down the hallway and into the study, before banging shut again. A shuffling sound followed. Grabbing the nearest thing she could think to use as a weapon, Buffy was on her feet and headed to the door of the study, with Giles not far behind her. Like a leopard ready to pounce, she tensed as she heard the footsteps heading towards them.

“Wait, Buffy. It’s alright,” Giles said, just as the footsteps came to an abrupt stop in front of the study.

"Oh…you’re here. Good morning, Mrs. Hall," Giles said, as he discreetly removed the bottle of scotch from Buffy’s hand.

“Aye, I’m always here at this time, aren’t I?”

“Of course you are. I was just startled by the door.”

Suspiciously, the housekeeper looked at each of them, While it wasn’t unusual to find Mr. Giles at his desk early in the morning, the other three were rarely even up on time for breakfast, let alone on a Sunday morning. On second glance, it looked as though they’d never gone to bed, rather than arose early like decent, normal people. While her employer had all the appearances of such, the people he always seemed to keep company with certainly didn’t seem to. If the old adage held true, ‘that one is judged by the company one keeps,’ in the case of her employer, well, she really just wasn’t sure.

“The wind blew it right out of my hands. It’s quite strong this morning. “

“Yes, quite. Wait! This is Sunday, isn’t it?”

“Aye.”

“Then why are you here, Mrs. Hall?”

Mrs. Hall blew out a frustrated breath. Between Mr. Giles’ being about the most absent minded man when it came to remembering anything she told him about his household affairs, to his less-than-savory borders, along with her own problems, most days it felt like she was losing her own mind. God’s own day of rest would obviously be no exception.

“I’m here, Mr. Giles,” she said distinctly, speaking as though to a small child, or a simpleton, “because I told you I was going out of town to my sister’s over New Year’s, and would be gone a few days, so I came in today to make up the time.”

“Yes…I remember now. I thought you would be coming after church.”

“I decided to come and make your breakfast, and go to a late morning mass, then return in time to make your dinner.”

“Ah…”

“If there’s nothing else…”

“Yes, of course. I mean, no; there’s nothing else.”

With a shake of her head, Mrs. Hall shuffled off to the kitchen.

Giles blew out a breath as he turned back towards Buffy. “Well, that was…”

“I think you should’ve allowed me to hit her just on principle,” Buffy said under her breath.

“Now, now. I think you should probably reserve your strength for more immediate threats; don’t you agree? Mrs. Hall is alright, she’s just had a rough couple of years.”

Buffy harrumphed.

“Yeah? Well, not to sound unsympathetic, but I bet my rough years could trump hers any day. In fact, I’d bet that any of our so-called normal years could trump…Oh, never mind. Still, Giles, I always feel like she’s dressing me down with her eyes, which, when you think of it, is nearly as disturbing as undressing someone with your eyes. I think I should be allowed to conk her on the head for that reason alone.”


Willow giggled nervously. Even William couldn't help but snort; he knew only too well the feeling of being dressed down by Mrs. Hal. She really didn't like him. So, in the midst of everything, laughter was a welcome relief, even at another's expense. He caught Elizabeth’s eye from across the room and smiled. She grinned back.

Giles shook his head, bemused. He indulged the quips and seemingly mean spirited sarcasm, knowing it was a direct result of the fear they all felt. . Nonetheless, he was glad he had closed he door to the study as soon as Mrs. Hall had departed. There was no reason to hurt her feelings because of what was happening to them.

~~~~~~~~~~

JULIAN
11:00PM
THE RITTENHOUSE RESTAURANT

Wally turned off the small light over the sign on the lawn and locked the door as the last customer got into their car. He walked over to the Maitre de's podium and rechecked all the diners who had come through tonight. It hadn't been too busy. It usually wasn't during the week after Christmas, until New Year's Eve, when it started picking up again. If he'd had his way, they'd be closed for that week, but his grandmother had other ideas. In any case, they could've closed an hour ago, except for that one late dinner party.

"We're not open for our convenience, Wally, we're open for our customers," his grandmother had told him.

Wally understood. Really, he did. It was just sometimes he'd rather be doing something else; like tonight. It was his new girlfriend’s birthday. She lived in San Diego, and he had promised to catch up with her and her friends and do a bit of bar hopping in Pacific Beach.

He walked into the dining room and saw the new waitress, Isabel, cleaning up. She smiled at him and he grinned back. Wally knew that back in his high school days a pretty little thing like her would have never given him the time of day. It was likely that the only reason he got it now was that he was her employer’s great-grandson. Still, gift horse and all that.

Isabel was an undergraduate in Washington and was home for winter break. This week she was filling in for their long-time waitress, Claire, who had gone back east for the holidays. Earlier, Wally had come to her with a deal. Promising to work her shift on New Year's Eve, which he already was scheduled for anyway, she had promised in return to look after Edna tonight so he could leave early.

"Make sure you walk my grandmother home when she's finished, okay?"

"No problem," Isabel said, looking at her watch. "When does she usually get finished?"

"Hmm...Shouldn’t be too long," Wally fibbed. Unlike most of the world that wanted to kick back on Saturday nights, for Edna it was time to finish filling in the forms for the food and supplies she needed to reorder for the coming week, as well as do the previous weeks’ bookkeeping. Of course, he had tried to show his grandmother how to order what she needed online, and how to do bookkeeping with a spreadsheet, but old habits died hard. Or, as she would ask him, ‘If it’s not broke, why fix it?’

He stopped by the storeroom and retrieved his coat from the box he’d thrown it onto, then went to the office. He tapped lightly on the open door.

Edna looked up from her paperwork.

“I’m leaving now,” Wally said. A little pang of guilt nibbled at his consciousness. “Isabel will walk you home when you’re finished.”

“Oh, that’s right. You have a date with Valerie.”

“No, Grandmother. Valerie and I broke up a while back. It’s with Melissa. You remember her don’t you? She was here a couple of weeks ago.”

“Ah…that’s right. Melissa.”

He nodded and smiled at her.

“I liked Valerie.”

Wally sighed. He’d liked her himself. Actually, he’d loved her and hoped to marry her, but things had gotten complicated and suddenly fell apart.

“Don’t you like Melissa, too?”

Edna shrugged. “She seemed nice enough. I guess I don’t know her well enough to say one way or the other. Besides, it’s you that has to like her.”

“I do like her,” he said, knowing he sounded defensive.

“Then that’s all that matters.”

Wally shook his head and grinned, good-naturedly. He knew when she had him. “Good night, Grandma. Don’t stay here all night, okay?”

She smiled and waved him off with her hand.

~~~~~~~~~

Standing in the kitchen, Isabel looked at the time on her cell phone, as she impatiently waited to hear her employer come out of her office. It was already past 11:30. She’d expected to be out of there by eleven at the latest. She wondered how long the old lady was going to be. It’s not that she didn’t like her; she liked her a lot. She’d never known either of her own grandmothers, but if she had, she would’ve wanted them to be just like Edna. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, letting her know she had a message.

Taking it out of her pant’s pocket, she opened it up and read the screen. It was from Carrie, telling her that she was at Tom’s house already and wondering where she was. She texted back that she wouldn’t be long. Carrie said that if they were going to make the midnight movie in San Ramon, they’d have to leave in the next fifteen minutes.

Damn. She really wanted to go. She messaged back that she would try as hard as she could to be there, but to go on if she didn’t make it in time.

Just then she heard Edna as she walked into the kitchen.

“Can I do anything for you before we leave?” Isabel asked.

“Oh, I’m not leaving now. I’ve still got my bookkeeping to do. That will keep me here at least another hour. I was just coming to fix myself a cup of tea; caffeine helps stimulate the brain, you know. Especially, when you get to be my age.”

“Oh,” Isabel said mildly, although inside she was howling in frustration. Her only Saturday night left in town, before she had to go back to school, and she was stuck in this restaurant. That Wally was a sly one. He damned well knew she wouldn’t be leaving any time soon like he’d made it sound like.

Edna read the young girl’s face.

“You don’t have to stay here with me, you know.”

“That’s alright. I don’t mind.”

“Yes you do, and rightly so,” Edna said, grinning. “Nobody your age wants to be stuck home on a Saturday night, let alone with an old lady.”

“No, really, it’s okay.”

“Dear, I’m going to be here quite a long time and there’s nothing for you to do except sit and look at these four walls. Now, I insist, go home.”

Isabel hesitated.

“I know you told Wally that you’d walk me home, but really, Isabel, it’s only next door, and it’s not even icy out. Surely, I can make it that far on my own. If I can’t, I really should be retired by now.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to…”

“I’m positive. Now, scat!”

With that, Isabel gathered her things together and left. Her night had just gotten a whole lot better. The forty-five dollars she’d made in tips didn’t hurt a bit either.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Edna smiled to herself as she watched Isabel hurry down the sidewalk, her hair whipping around in the winter’s wind. Smiling she locked the door again, as bits of a poem came to her.

Exuberant youth;
Still unfettered,
By life’s hard lessons

Smiling, she locked the door again and headed back to her office. The old fashioned kettle gave one final whistle as Edna took it off the stove and poured it through a strainer filled with tealeaves. As it seeped, she put a couple of cookies on a saucer before taking out the strainer. That done, she headed down the hall to her office. As she passed the storage room, she suddenly felt a strange sensation. She slowed her pace, as she tried to ascertain why it seemed discomfortingly familiar. With no further hint as to anything untoward, she continued to her office.

“Ach…too much imagination,” she mumbled, as she walked over to her desk and started to put down the saucer.

“Or maybe not enough.”

Her hand missed the desk, as she spun around to the sound of a voice she hadn’t heard in over half a century. Shattering on impact, the hot tea scalded her leg, but she took no notice as she stared at the apparition before her.

“Hello, lass. How have you been?”

~~~~~~~~~~

LOS ANGELES
11:30PM

Dawn got up from the couch and turned off the news.

“You going to bed?” John asked, looking up from his case file he’d been reading.

She yawned. “Yeah. I’m beat from that early flight we had to take to get back here this morning. How about you?”

“I’ll just be another couple of minutes. I just want to finish this article.”

“Okay,” Dawn said, playfully rumpling his hair as she passed by his chair.

“I wish I didn’t have to go back to work tomorrow morning, but then I’ll have New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day off.”

“That will be nice. I don’t think you’ve ever had one of those off since we started going out,” Dawn called from the bathroom.

“I know.” John smiled to himself. She didn’t know it yet, but he had booked reservations at Dawn’s favorite restaurant and had paid a scalper a pretty penny to get tickets to see their favorite band for a sell-out New Year’s Eve show.

Dawn was thinking about New Year’s Eve, and how nice it would be to spend it with John this year, as she went through the motions of getting ready for bed.
Raising the glass to rinse the toothpaste out of her mouth, she froze as she saw the reflection behind her in the mirror.

“Hello, Dawnie. How’s my Key doing?”

~~~~~~~~~

JULIAN
11:30PM

Downstairs in the lower level that nobody else knew about, Clem was watching a mother cat feeding her litter of two-week old kittens. They were getting so cute.
There were six of them; two tabbies, two solid blacks, one black and white and a sort of orange and white mottled longhaired one. As far as he could tell of their sexes, it was half-and-half. The orange and white one came up to the side of the cage and mewled at him. He reached in and pulled it out and played with it for a while. It was his favorite. He thought he might just keep it as a pet. He really didn’t eat cats anymore. Well, not much, in any case. Heck, he figured he’d saved more kittens throughout the years than the average humane society did. Still, they made swell currency for poker, and it was easier to raise them than it was to find them. Suddenly the little kitten’s fur stood up and it hissed – which was a pretty funny for the little guy – at something.

“What’s the matter little fellow?” Clem asked in a soothing voice, but the kitten seemed frantic to get away. Reluctantly, he gingerly put him back in the cage with his mother and brothers and sisters. It wasn’t until he turned around that he saw what had spooked the kitten. Standing not six feet away, was Drusilla.

The chair that Clem was sitting on fell over as he stood up in a flash.

“What do you want?”

She grinned at him, as he looked around for something to defend himself and the kittens with.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“Um...no. I just asked you what you wanted.”

“Yes, but you ruined the joke, so I’m pretending that you didn’t. It’s much more fun that way!” Drusilla giggled at her own cleverness, twirling around in glee. “In your case, perhaps it’s the other way around. Maybe you’ve got the cat’s tongue. You like cat’s tongues, don’t you?”

He shook his head.

She stopped twirling and fixed him with a steely dare. “Thought you could help your dear William, did you? Well, we’ll see about that when it’s payback time.”

“You’re dead. I saw you dust.”

“And soon, my loose-skinned demon friend, so will you be, so will you.”

And with that, to a cacophony of kittens hissing, she vanished.

Shaken, Clem plopped down on the chair in front of the cat’s cage. “Don’t worry, little fellows. I’ll protect you...I just hope I can protect myself, as well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
2:30AM

Xander awoke in a cold sweat to Angela shaking him. He nearly panicked - as only a one-eyed man who had lived through the Hellmouth to tell about it could - when he opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. Slowly, he started to make out the familiar shapes in the dim light. He shuddered in relief as he finally made out the green neon numbers on the alarm clock and the blades of the overhead fan.

“Wha…? What’s wrong?”

“You tell me. You were calling out and thrashing around like something was after you,” Angela said, as her hand swept the damp hair off of his forehead.

“Shit…”

“Another nightmare?” Angela asked.

“I guess.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I don’t remember it.” He lied. He always remembered them. They were filled with vampires and monsters, pain and death, and blindness. Always blindness. Complete and utter blindness.

When he first met Angela, he was still having nightmares at least once a week, if not more. Over the years, the frequency had greatly decreased. Now, he only had them a few times a year; usually on the occasion of when they’d closed the Hellmouth, and of course, what would’ve been his and Anya’s anniversary, had they married. He also knew that sometimes just talking to someone out of his past, like Willow, Giles, or Buffy would precipitate a nightmare. Strange, this one had come without any of the above mentioned reasons.

“Sorry I woke you, Ang.”

“That’s okay.”

“I think I’m going to get up and get some water. Go back to sleep, babe,” Xander said, leaning over to kiss her. At the word sleep, she yawned despite herself.

“Okay. Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.”

Before going downstairs to the kitchen, Xander checked on the children. Not surprisingly, Ann's little toddler's bed was empty. He continued onto Alex's room. Sure enough, there was Ann sleeping next to her adored big brother. With a soft smile on his face, he watched them sleep for a few moments. Alex, now five and a half, and Ann, nearly three, along with Angela, were the loves of his life. They gave his life meaning and purpose after everything that had happened in Sunnydale.

In the kitchen, he took a clean glass from the dishwasher and put it under the water-cooled tap on the fancy refrigerator they’d bought last year. As he stood there waiting for it to fill, he suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Slowly he turned around.

“So, how’s the one who ‘sees’ everything doing these days?”

The color drained from Xander’s face as he saw the bastard responsible for his worst nightmares.

Xander stood rooted to the spot, as the water from the glass overflowed and
spilled unnoticed onto the floor behind him.

“What? Cat’s got your tongue? Maybe we can do something about that, along with my taking your other eye; or maybe that of your children’s or your pretty little wife’s.”

At hearing those threatening words Xander bellowed, and flung himself at Caleb with everything he had. He would gladly die if it meant saving his family. However, instead of meeting the resistance of another body, he found himself lying on the floor, with the reverend nowhere to be seen.

A moment later, Angela came running into the kitchen and hurried to his side. Xander had a cut on his forehead from where his head had hit the tiles.

“Jesus! What happened, are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Did you see him?” Xander said, struggling to sit up.

“Who? What are you talking about?” Angela said, looking around.

With clenched jaw, he grabbed the counter and pulled himself up, nearly slipping in the process on the water that was still spilling from the refrigerator.

Angela turned it off and started to grab some newspapers to sop up the spill. His voice stopped her.

“Don’t! We have to get the kids. We’re leaving.”

“Alright,” she answered, not bothering to ask why. His tone told her all she needed to know. Although she could tell he was trying to keep up a brave face for her sake, Angela had never seen Xander looking so terrified, not even after a nightmare. She didn’t understand it, but she knew him long enough to trust that if he was sensing a threat, then there must be one.

Less than five minutes later, two hastily dressed adults, carrying two sleepy children, were heading back through the kitchen to the garage.

“Get into the car and pull it out front. I’ll be right back,” Xander said, racing upstairs before Angela had the chance to ask him why. He ran back into his bedroom, and grabbed his cell phone off the charger. Quickly, he looked at his address book on his phone. Satisfied that the number he wanted was there, he raced outside to join his family.

~~~~~~~~~~

JULIAN

“Hello, lass. How have you been?”

“You...it can’t be! You still look...”

Edna was chilled by the sound of his sudden laughter. “The same?”

She nodded, never taking her eyes off his face.

“Well, you should be used to that, now shouldn’t you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I think you do. Think! Who do you know who has always looked the same throughout the years, except for maybe changing his clothes with the times? Even then, he was never very original, was he? I believe you met him a year or so before you met me. At least, that’s my guess when he disappeared on us. He thought he could have secrets from me, but I showed him, didn’t I? He thought he could go make nice with humans and I wouldn’t find out about it. Not that I didn’t enjoy the meal,” he said, as he morphed into and out of his game face.

Edna screamed, but he went on as though he hadn’t heard her.

“That’s why I killed your husband you know -- to leave our boy a little message. I knew he’d eventually find out about it. So what does he do? Does he realize the error of his ways? No! The idiot sets you up for life, doesn’t he? Pays your bills off, sets up a college fund for your son, and builds himself a little house in the woods, and he kept looking out for you all these years in one way or another,” he said, spitting on the floor.

“William...” Edna whispered.

“Well, looks like you’re not as stupid as you look.”

“No. That’s not right. It was William’s grandfather that Lawrence and I met all those years ago. Then his father came here, and now him. “

In a flash, Angel was in her face. She made a small sound but couldn’t move.

“You ignorant old woman. It was William! He also went by Spike in the past 40 years. There was no grandfather or father. I know you know the truth inside your gut, don’t you?”

She shook her head, refusing to look at him now.

“Tell yourself whatever makes you sleep better at night, but your sweet William was a murderous vampire, just like I was. He may have taken a fancy to you and spared you and yours for whatever twisted reason he had, but he killed thousands just like you without batting an eyelash. Men, women, children; you name it.

“No! I don’t believe you. William is a good man.”

“William is a good man,” he mocked. “Maybe that’s why he spared you, because you reminded him what his mother looked like when she was young. Yeah, I bet that’s it. Maybe he needed a mother figure, because he killed his own you know. He viciously ripped her throat open, then turned her into our kind. Then when it didn’t work out for him, he killed her again.”

Edna gripped at her heart, before slumping to the floor.

An evil grin crossed his features as he stepped over the old woman’s body.
Humming a little jaunty tune, he left the way he had appeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello, Dawnie. How’s my Key doing?”

John was out of his chair a second after he heard Dawn’s scream.

“It won’t help to scream, you know. I’ll kill you, and him, and your sister, too!”

Dawn stopped screaming.

“What do you want?” She asked, trembling.

“Dawn! What’s wrong?” John yelled, trying the door.

“It’s all your fault you know.”

“Dawn! Let me in!”

“What’s my fault?”

“Dawn! Who are you talking to?”

“All of it – the slayer’s death, which caused the universe to go out of whack when she was brought back, all the deaths from the Hellmouth opening, Spike’s death, and his Shanshu, which shouldn’t have been his in the first place. It’s all on your head, Dawnie; every slayer who died, every life that was sacrificed, all because you didn’t accept your destiny.”

“No, it’s not true!”

John lunged at the door with his shoulder, and it crashed open. Dawn stood frozen, staring at something he couldn’t see.

“The only way to end it, is to...”

“Get out, get out, get out!” Dawn screeched, causing John to jump back.

Glory disappeared.

“Dawn!” John said, catching her before she hit the floor. “Honey, what is it? What’s going on? What’s wrong.”

“Buffy,” she said, her rigid form trembling in his arms.

“Something’s wrong with Buffy?”

“No. I mean, I don’t know. Call Buffy, John. Please, I need Buffy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wally was halfway to San Diego, and the DJ on his favorite station had just played a song that had reminded him of Valerie, leaving him with a pang of regret. Edna had liked her, she’d said. He clicked the button on his Blue Tooth, and said, “Restaurant.” The phone rang and rang. That was unusual. When Edna locked up for the night, she always made sure to turn on the answering machine. Next, he called the house, and once again, received no answer. She wouldn’t be asleep already, would she? Maybe she was just in the bathroom.

He pulled over at a gas station off the main road and looked at his address book. Damn. He didn’t have Isabel’s number. The directory assistance gave him her parent’s number, and they gave him her cell phone.

“Hello,” a voice said very quietly.

“Isabel?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“It’s Wally. Let me speak to my grandmother. She’s not answering the phone in her office.”

“Um...I can’t. I’m not there; I’m at the movies,” she whispered.

“Oh, then what time did you walk her home.”

Silence.

“Isabel?”

“I didn’t. She told me I could leave. She said she’d be fine, she...”

He hung up, turned the car around, and raced back to Julian.

As he drove down the main street, he could see the light still on at the back of the restaurant. He hurried up the walkway and let himself in.

“Grandma,” Wally called, as he made his way through the dining room, and kitchen. “You promised me you wouldn’t work so late. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

From the hallway, he could her lying on the floor inside her office.

“Grandma!” Wally cried, running to her.

She didn’t respond.

He knelt down and felt for a pulse. She was still alive.

“Grandma, please. It’s me, Wally. Wake up.”

He took his phone out of his pocket and called 911, and sat down to wait.

Edna finally started to come to as the paramedics were loading her into the ambulance. Her eyes flew open and with a surprisingly strong grip, she grabbed hold of his arm.

“It’s alright, Grandma. You had a fall. You’re going to be okay.”

“William!”

He made a face. “No, Grandma. It’s me, Wally.”

“William! William!” Edna repeated, more urgently this time.

“Wait. What are you trying to say? Was William here tonight?”

“Trouble,” she croaked out in a hoarse whisper. “In trouble...”

“He’s in trouble? How do you know?”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Call. You’ve got to call...William.”

“I will, but Grandma...”

“Promise...promise you’ll call.”

Wally nodded. “I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~

GREENWICH

The sound of glass breaking, followed by a high-pitched scream pierced the quiet. They all ran into the kitchen. Mrs. Hall was making the sign of the cross as she stared at the corner of the kitchen. At her feet, were the load of dishes she had started to take to the table.

“Mrs. Hall,” Giles said, walking up to her, and gently taking hold of her arm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I...I saw him.”

“You saw who?”

“My ex-husband. He was standing there talking to me as though he were..”

“Alive?” Giles asked gently.

She nodded, looking at him. “I’m not crazy.”

“I know you’re not.

“I’m not crazy,” she repeated. “Am I, Mr. Giles?”

“No, dear. I’m afraid not. There are some things that are happening...let’s just say that you probably shouldn’t come back for a few days.”

“I’ll be at my sister’s.”

“Well, yes. Even after that.”

She hesitated.

“It’s alright, Mrs. Hall. You’ll still get paid your full salary until we sort this out.”

“No, Mr. Giles, that ain’t right. I can’t let you do that.”

“You can and you will, Mrs. Hall,” he said, steering her towards the hallway.

“But the mess...”

“We’ll take care of it, dear.”

He opened the door for her to let her out. “Take care, Mrs. Hall. I’m sure we’ll have all this sorted in no time.”

She nodded and walked out onto the landing, then turned back towards him. “What about you, Mr. Giles?” Mrs. Hall asked, looking over his shoulder. “What about all of you?”

He smiled at her. “We’ll be alright. I promise.”

She looked as though she was going to say something else, but didn’t. With a single nod, she left.

They all stood at the doorway watching her walk down the sidewalk. She may have not been their favorite person, but it felt like they’d just lost someone; it felt like war. It felt like hell was coming.

Then, the phones started ringing.

END CHAPTER 207