Avoiding Death

By Jessi Knorr

Disclaimer: Buffy, Angel, Angelus, Spike, Dru and the others aren't mine. They're Joss' and the WB's. I do, however, own Jessie, Cory and Zac. Please don't reuse my guys without permission. The songs throughout the story aren't mine either, they're the Goo-Goo Dolls', Sugar Ray's (no lyrics mentioned though), Shawn Colvin's, Boyz II Men's, and Alanis Moressette's.

Summary: What was in the spell book that Mardelnina stole at the end of Imposters? You can guarentee it's *not* good, especally if it involves Dru's Angel... Jessie's good friend from home appears to help her and the others thwart Spike and Drusilla's evil plan to do away with the slayers and the slayerettes...

Dedication: This is for my friend Cori,whose been begging me to make a character based on her for one of my Buffy stories, but not let anything bad happen to her. So, here you go Cori. Now get off my back about it!!!

Notes: Yes,this should actually be intitled "Avoiding Death in Many Weird and Stupid Ways", but that's too long and I need to keep them safe, or as safe as they always are, until the end!

Also,you should really read Imposters and A New Slayer in Sunnydale before you go on to read this since this is the sequal to Imposters and Avoiding Death picks up right after the end.So if you haven't,go read those first then come back and read this!

And Chapter 14 has a bit of IKWYDLS-type gore in it. Just a small warning for those with weak stomachs.

~Prolouge~

Spike hurridly scribbled down something on a small piece of paper and handed it to the minion beside him.

"Remember, not a lot. Just a little...from his hand or something. With the dagger." He handed a jewel-encrusted knife to the vampire, who nodded and walked off.

"Hurry back Jonathan. I want My Angel..." Dru called weakly, playing with her doll.

"You're going to have to wait. Angel's with them at the school. Where there's sun. When he goes home, we'll nail him. Then you'll get your bloody Angel and we'll be able to kill the slayers," Spike told her, sitting on one of the cushions that served as a bed.

"Then we can have a party. With music, and balloons."

"No balloons Dru. You know I hate the bloody things." Drusilla started whimpering. "Oh fine, balloons too. Now why don't you take a nap. When you wake up, we'll be ready for the ritual." Dru was already dozing off beside Spike. "Actually,that's not such a bad idea..."

~Chapter 1~

"So...Now this Spike guy has some book," Zac said. The slayers had been trying to explain to him about their 'secret identities' and what had happened from Buffy moving to Sunnydale to Jessie coming.

"Yeah, and we don't know what the book is yet," Jessie said. She, Xander, Cordelia, Buffy, Angel and Zac were all trying to clean up as to not arouse suspicion. Oz had come in after the bodies of Alissa and Mirkelle had been cleared away and was now looking through Giles' office with the watcher and Willow, trying to determine what the book was.

"Well, that's the last of it," Cordelia reported, walking up to them. "Here's the two last necklaces. I have to be getting to biology." The others bid farewell and the semi-priss walked out.

"Angel, are you okay?" Xander asked him, grabbing some books that were threatening to fall from the vampire's grasp.

"Xander?" Buffy raised an eyebrow in shock.

"What? He was having trouble." Giles sighed as he and the other two walked out of the office with grime faces.

"What's wrong?" Zac asked,uprighting a fallen chair.

"Well, it appears Willow has found something truely...castostrophic..."

"Again with the big words! Just say, Will found something bad and the world's going to end unless we stop it!" Xander urged.

"Well..." Willow started. "The book that that Morpher took was a spell book. One of Ms.Calendar's books that I found in her file cabinet last year. It had a bunch of curses for demons: Containment spells, death chants...And the majority were for vampires."

"And this means?" Buffy asked.

"It means that Spike and Dru are planning something big involving spells," Oz explained.

"What we're afraid is, that some of these were written by several vampiric...monks, if you will, who despised their sires," Giles continued. "So,they may be plotting something horrible against...Angel, or one of his loved ones. We're all at a great risk here."

"How did Ms.Calendar get ahold of them? We're talking the old computer teacher, right?" Zac asked.

"Ms. Calendar was the computer teacher. She turned out to be a gypsy too," Buffy said quietly, her eyes travelling between Giles, Willow and Angel, then to the floor.

"But she was killed," Jessie added.

"I remember that. By who?" No one answered. They were all silent with sadness, Giles and Angel feeling the pain the most.

"Back on track, now Spike has the Book Of 101 Spells To Use Against Your Sire For Revenge, and we don't know what we're going to do about it," Xander quipped. No one laughed, the situation was too serious.

"But, who's Spike's sire?" slowly, everyone's eyes travelled to the vampire, who looked down to his shoes and kicked at the dust on the library floor. "Oh."

Suddenly, the library doors flew open and Joyce Summers walked in, followed by Principal Snyder.

"You are in deep trouble young lady!" she said to Jessie, grabbing the slayer's arm.

"What did I do?!" Jessie wrenched away from her.

"Beating up the football captin? Starting a fight in the washroom? Lying? Plugging up the toilet purposly? Biting people???"

"Aunt Joyce, I didn't do any of that!"

"Sure you didn't, missy. Is that why the entire floor was soaked with water when I walked in to check on you?" Snyder asked casually, striding up to them. "Shouldn't you all be in class?"

"It's our free period," the seniors all said.

"How about you, Mr.Morrison?" he asked, turning to Zac.

"Oh, the bell rang? Oops. I'll see you guys all later," Zac replied. He ran out of the library and turned the corner, but ducked into a corridor near the doors.

"Now back to you Summers, for starting all these fights...You're suspended for a week."

"What?!" Jessie yelled.

"Jessie, it's for your own good. You've been out slaying all night, that's why you're always in these fighting moods and failing. I think you should take some time off. You too Buffy. You're coming home too."

"Mom, we've got pre-tests today!" Buffy told her mother, walking away from Buffy.

"There's time to catch up on Saturday when you'll be here to study," Snyder replied.

"What?! Saturday! I can't, I have-"

"Training, I know. But you won't be doing anymore slaying for the rest of the year. I'm making sure of that. Now come on, I need to get back to the gallery." Joyce took her niece and her daughter's arms and pulled them gently.

"No way! I'm not being suspended for a whole week! The end of school is in a month, we have a report due next Friday-"

"Do it at home, Summers. If you don't go, you'll be expelled," Snyder warned. Jessie yanked free, glared at her aunt and the reptilian principal, and stormed out. Joyce smiled softly at Snyder and pulled Buffy along behind her.

"Now, you all better be getting to class before you're suspended too." Xander,Willow and Oz nodded and walked out. "And you," Snyder turned to Angel, "who are you?"

"Oh, that's Angel. He's my nephew, he's just here to help me catologue books," Giles said, his eye's making contact with Angel's.

The vampire cleared his throat and replied in a crisp British accent, "Yes. I was just assissting Miss Summers and Mr. Morrison with their reports. Miss...Summers, Miss Rosenburg and Mr.Harris were just here to talk to Uncle for a few seconds. So now I'd better be getting back home. I'll see you later, Uncle Rupert. Do keep well." Angel smiled as best he could at the principal,turned and walked to the stacks.

"Fine. I want him to check in next time he comes," Snyder told Giles, turned and walked out. "I didn't know he had a sister or a brother. And what was that bitch talking about? Slaying? That's where she get's it from..."

~Chapter 2~

"Alright Angel, you can come back now," Giles called to him. Angel came back out of the stacks and down the stairs. "How on earth did you do that?"

"What?"

"The accent. How did you do that?"

"You pick up a few things spending 2 centuries around the British, Irish, French and Italian," Angel explained, smirking softly.

"I suppose you would. Well, since we've done all the research we can do, you can probably head home now. Thank you for your assistance."

"No problem." Angel smiled at the watcher and disappeared once again into the stacks to get to the opening leading to the sewer to avoid the deadly noon-time sun.


On to Part 2