Terris jumped slightly when his brother shattered the door to their sisters' quarters with what seemed like quiet ease. "Could ye be so kind as tae *warn* me next time ye do that?"

But Angelus wasn't listening. He was ran into the room, a clear look of worry etched into his face. After his brief, expressive grumble, Terris followed.

Inside, one of their sisters was backed against a wall, blinking sleep dazedly out of her eyes. Another--Eppie--was semi-sprawled across her bed, covering her ears against the scream with one hand, and using the other hand to try desperately to wake up the third of the O'Malley sisters-

Cyranainia O'Malley was spread-eagled across a disheveled mop of sheets that might once have resembled a bed. Her small frame shook with convulsions, and sweat trickled down the side of her face. She was obviously in the middle of a very violent nightmare, and seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble waking up.

Angelus was by Cyranainia in an instant, taking over Eppie's attempts to wake her.

Angelus became worried about the time his sister stopped screaming and took up alternately mumbling and yelling.

"...The vampires...VAMPIRES!...everywhere... they're too CLOSE!...GET THEM AWAY!...please...make it stop...it hurts..."

Alarm bells rang out in Angelus' mind like great clangs of a grandfather clock at midnight. This was *not* a good thing...

"Kathleen? Kathleen, wake up! Ye've GOT to *wake up*!"

Angelus' sister didn't hear his pleas. "...Make it go away...make *them* go away... THEY HURT!...stop it..."

Seeing that his first tactic wasn't working, Angelus went onto the next: namely, a large pail of very chilly water fetched from a nearby room. But before the eldest O'Malley child could administer this improvised wake-up call to his frantic sister, her eyes snapped open.

It took a moment for the wild look in her chocolate eyes to dissipate, and for her to focus in on the brother hovering over her with a bucket in his hands.

Angelus had been just about to dump it on her face, and had barely enough time to register that she was awake and stop himself from up-ending the pail.

"Angelus!" Kathleen cried out, her small hand darting up and grabbing her brother's wrist in a vice-like grip. "I saw..." she choked up, "I felt..."

Seeing his sister's distress, Angelus sat his burden of water-filled bucket on the floor, and immediately started to comfort her. "It's alrigh'...it's alrigh', dearest. Everything be alright. Just tell me what happened, if ye can."

She swallowed heavily, and took a moment to summon the proper words to describe her dream. "I-it were horrible! I...felt like I wasn't me, l-like I were someone else. There was these people, everywhere--only they weren't people. Their faces..." The small girl paused and shook her head, as if to rid herself of the memory.

"It's okay, Kathleen. Go on," Angelus cooed, supportively.

Cyranainia nodded. "Th-their faces were...*wrong.* Twisted. And they..." She swallowed again, and spoke in nearly a whisper. "They killed Da, and me."

*Oh, no, oh no, oh no, oh no...* The phrase repeated itself again and again in Angelus' mind, his dread growing with each passing moment. *Please, no! She can't mean...please, Lord, don't let it be true...*

Trying desperately to retain some semblance of calm, trying to "put up a brave face" for his panicked sister, Angelus spoke his next words slowly, comfortingly. "Do ye know where, Kathleen? Where di' this happen?"

Cyranainia paused, then nodded, slowly. "Th' alley, the one dow' by Artwick McCaffrey's place, I think."

"Thank ye, dearest." He and Terris exchanged grim glances. "Eh, Kathleen? Tobin and I are going to have a quick talk, alrigh'? I'll be just outside yer door..."

The disheveled girl hesitated, but nodded and released her brother's hand. Eppie swooped down into Angelus' vacated spot like a mother hawk, held Cyranainia's hand, and started to get the young woman cleaned up.

Closing the door silently, and speaking in hushed tones, Angelus asked his brother, "Are ye thinkin' what I be thinkin'?"

Terris nodded, a dismal expression firmly on his face. "That Da and Maighred are dead, and that poor Cyranainia was dreamin' it through Maighred's eyes? Aye. But I didna think that this would happen so soon..."

Angelus sighed. "No, neither did I. I thought that Maighred would have held up fer at least another year. And Da! I though' he'd be with us tae train Kathleen."

"T'would have been better, if he were. But Tobin was getting sadder and sadder, poor Father--he's seen so many Slayers die, in 'is time. I had me doubts if he wanted to outlive Maighred. But I've ne'er heard of a Slayer being Chosen as young as Cyranainia...only eleven!"

"She is nearly twelve, brother. But no, Slayers this young are rare." He sighed. "Da and I had been putting off her training fer years, we thought that there'd always be more time! We shou' have started long ago..."

Terris put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't blame yerself for things ye canna change, Angelus. Things will turn out fine." Terris held out his hand towards the now-Watcher. "Why don't ye go back and comfort Cyranainia, see if ye can bring yerself to tell her 'bout her destiny, and I'll go and look at Artwick McCaffrey's. Alrigh'?"

"Alrigh'. Be careful, Terris. I've lost two people I cared for teday, I dunna wish to be burying another."

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