“A sleepover?” Joyce said doubtfully. “Buffy I don't know it's a school night and don't you think you're too old for that sort of thing?” She listened to Buffy's pleading on the other end of the line. Despite herself, Joyce still had to struggle to deny her daughter anything when she used that tone of voice. She had a lot of practice though.

On the other hand, Joyce really liked Xander and Willow. And with Willow there nothing would happen right? She was going to regret this she was sure but...

“Alright Buffy. But don't let this become a habit.”

Her business partner smirked at her as she hung up. “What's Buffy up to now?”

Joyce sighed. “She wanted to have her friends Willow and Xander sleep over.” she said. “I'm not sure, but I don't think Xander has a very good home life.” she added pensively.

“Xander's a boy?” the other woman asked.

“Yes but they'd have a chaperon. Willow's another girl. Besides I think Buffy looks at Xander as if he were a brother. I know she's said she thinks of Willow as a sister.” It did her heart good to see that Buffy had such good friends anyway. Times had been hard on both of them.

After her daughter's breakdown, and her own divorce, it had been hard to start over. But then things had started to turn around. She'd found a school that would take Buffy, and she'd found a gallery that was looking for a co-owner/manager. Her new partner in the business was a little strange, but Joyce liked her.

“Well, here's hoping your girl can help him with that. I gotta go, see you tomorrow? I think we can get the rest of this stuff unpacked and ready.”

“Of course.” Joyce nodded. “I've got a few things left to wrap up. I'll lock up.”

Her partner nodded and headed out into the darkening parking lot. A habit of long years, she kept a sharp lookout all around for trouble. Therefore she was not taken completely by surprise when something leaped over her car, to stand between her and her means of transport.

“Well, ain't you pretty.” he said, leering. The leer was creepy enough without the fangs and demonic forehead.

She backed up, reaching for her purse. But before she could reach inside, something flew over her shoulder and embedded itself in the Vampire's throat.

“Human beings are monster enough.” someone said darkly. “Without parasites like you trying to worm your way in.”

A pale, dark haired man sidled past her as the Vampire gagged, pulling the knife out.

“Fucking-” the thing got out before another knife sliced across it's belly, and the man angrily thrust his free hand into it's gut, and yanked out the intestines.

“Swearing, as if you had any right to human speech. Your presence in this meat sack is the worst kind of rape. And I would know.”

He suddenly seemed to be aware of, if not the perversity of what he was doing, then the fact that he had an audience.

Johnny looked up at the woman, with an almost embarrassed smile. “Uh, hi Devi.”

*****

“This is weird.” Willow muttered. She'd been looking through news reports from when she and Xander had been kids. “It's like the Hellmouth effect times a million.”

“Well not exactly.” Xander said. “People didn't quite ignore what was going on.”

“But this article says that he was still at the restaurant when the police got there.”

“Are we sure this guy isn't a demon or something?” Buffy asked. Even she, with all the carnage she'd seen, was getting a bit queasy at the descriptions of the things Johnny had done.

Giles emerged from the stacks with more books. “Fairly certain. There are very few Demons who-”

“They've got no need for a big ol' knife.” Xander muttered, remembering the talent show of last year.

“Precisely.” Giles agreed with a shudder. He remembered that particular incident quite well. Cordelia's singing. Brrrrrr. “Though granted it's not as unheard of as one might think. Xander is there anything else you might be able to remember?

Xander sighed. He'd spent so much of his childhood trying to repress his memories of that time. Now to deliberately call them up was difficult. And painful. It wasn't even the terror of his past that bothered him. Well not entirely. It was his embarrassment about what he'd been like back then.

When had he gone from being the kid who was so terrified of everything that it nearly paralyzed him to being the guy who sought out a Vampire's lair to try to save the day?

Though maybe it wasn't that surprising after all. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't been completely without courage the first time he'd met Johnny.

Sunnydale, Some years ago...

Alexander didn't like to bring problems to his parents. They rarely appreciated it. But just now it seemed really important. “Mommy, I heard a noise.”

“Mommy's ignoring you honey. Go bother your father, he's in his study.” In later years Xander would never be sure if his mother had actually been that blunt. Or if maybe she'd been kidding.

In any case he turned, and timidly headed for his father's study. He was almost more scared to do that than he was of the noises he was hearing. “Come on Shmee, Daddy will help us.” There was another crash from somewhere in the house, and he clutched his teddy bear tighter.

“Daddy?” he said, opening the door to the study slowly. “I'm scared, I heard noises.”

His father had not wanted to be interrupted. He clenched his teeth against his frustration and grabbed his head. “Son, we just moved here. You're just not used to the sounds of our new house.” He tried to keep himself from giving in to his dissatisfaction with his life, but it slipped out. “I'm busy right now, working. That's all I seem to do anymore. I have to work to keep you alive. To feed you. I haven't smiled since you were born. Go to sleep.”

Alexander chose to ignore that. He knew his father was just tired. He didn't mean it. “But I can't! There aren't any curtains on my windows and I feel like things are watching me! Please daddy it's scary here. Shmee hears sounds!”

“Your presence tires me.” his father snarled, starting to lose control. “Go to your room and stay quiet or the things will find you.”

It might be a lost cause, but Alexander had to make them see the danger! “But Shmee-”

“Go, to sleep.”

Finally the boy realized this was a useless exercise. “Yes Daddy.” He was scared, but he was sad as well. Why wouldn't his daddy listen to him? “Come on Shmee. We'll hide under the covers and hope we fall asleep before we die.”

He froze upon opening the door to his room however. The window was broken, and there was blood on the glass.

“Mommy.”

There was another crash, and now he could tell where it was coming from. The bathroom! It was a bathroom monster! The worse kind. “The bathroom Shmee, there's something in the bathroom!”

His first instinct was to go to his parents and try to warn them. But he knew that they would not listen. They were in as much danger as he was. If not more so. Because they were not aware of the danger.

He squared his shoulders, and knew what he had to do. “Let's be brave Shmee. We have to protect mommy and daddy.”

But then Shmee spoke to him. Shmee did that often. Alexander was sure the most toys did this, whether adults wanted to believe it or not. Shmee told him that his parents were not worthy of his protection. That were the roles reversed, they would not lift a finger to protect him. “Huh? No you're wrong Shmee. They're not bad people, they love me. They don't mean it when they tell me to get kidnapped.

He crept to the bathroom, and carefully opened the door.

“Where the fuck is the bactine!!” the occupant screamed. He suddenly realized he had company and turned to see the tiny, terrified boy before him.

Johnny however, did not realize that the boy was scared of him. Like many crazy people, he was innocent of many other people's perceptions. “Oh, hello.” He gave what was meant to be a charming, but was in fact horrifying, smile. “My name is Johnny, but you can call me Nny for short. Who might you be?”

Alexander tried to answer, but his fear was so overwhelming that all he could manage was a tiny “Squee.”

“Squee huh? Well okay. I don't mean to intrude Squee but where do you keep the bactine? Some of this blood is mine.” He rummaged around in the medicine cabinet some more. “Wait, I found it. Yeah that's it.”

He was covered in blood, and also cuts and scrapes, which he poured the bactine over liberally. “Damn! That one really put up a fight. Cut me up like a cat on crack. Nothing brings out the zest for life in a person like their impending death.” He gave another of those smiles. “I can see by the looks of you that you understand.”

Johnny rather liked children. Quiet ones at least, like this one. Why couldn't more kids, or even adults be like this? “Hey who's your friend there?” he asked, pointing at the teddy bear that Alexander had dropped in his fright.

“Um, that's Shmee.”

Nny knelt and picked the bear up. “Well hello there Shmee! I'm Nny. So you're Squee's little friend eh? Well you certainly are a cute little bear-bear. Yes you are. Yes you are!”

Johnny's tone with Shmee began to dispel some of Alexander's fear. No other adult had ever even talked to Shmee, let alone been nice to him.

“Hmm? What's that Shmee? Uh huh. Yeah? Uh huh. Hmmm.” Suddenly, Nny snapped. “Well fuck you bear! You speak lies! Liiiiies!”

Before Alexander's horrified eyes, Johnny slammed the bear against the wall. What had Shmee said?

“Stuffed with pure venom you vile lint infested bastard! How many more like you are there? How many more? You can't even imagine the things I've endured! And always at the hands of shit like you! You don't know the truth!”

In the coming weeks Shmee's warning to Johnny about his being used by a demon and that it still was not quite too late to turn back from his course would prove to be true. But it would not be until Johnny had finally left that he would realize he owed Squee and his teddy bear an apology. For now, he stabbed Shmee repeatedly in the belly before once again, coming to his senses.

“Oh...um...” He handed Alexander back his doll. “It's getting late, I should go. I'm so awake I need to be out. Come on, you can walk me out.”

At this point Alexander only hoped to make it out of this with a relatively painless death.

“Hey,” Johnny said, when the reached Alexander's room. “Sorry about the window, but I noticed it was locked. I don't suggest you ever lock it again. Well...later. And thanks for the disinfectant. It's been nice talking. But we'll have plenty of time for that. After all...”

He climbed out the window, and smiled at Alexander. The grin was the most terrifying yet, especially coupled with his next words. “We're neighbors now.”

“Mommy!!” Alexander screamed, in desperate need of someone bigger than he to protect him. “Daddy!”

“I don't hear you honey!” his mother said.

“You ruined my life!” his father said.

To be continued...