Giles paced the length behind the counter of the library, stopping occasionally
to wipe a non-existent spot from his glasses. Willow and Oz sat
in opposite chairs facing each other, obviously wrapped up in their own conversation.
Cordy was absently twirling a lock of her brown hair around
her finger and snapping her gum from time to time.
"Cordelia, do you mind?" Xander asked.
The brunette smiled sweetly. "Mind what Xander? That I'm stuck here with
you losers when I'm supposed to be out shopping with Harmony right now? Yes,
I
mind, Xander."
"Harmony is better company than us?" Cordelia gave Xander a cool smile.
"All of that aside, do you think you could stop cracking your gum? I'm getting a monster of a headache from it."
Cordelia leaned in closer to Xander, blew a big bubble, popped it with a loud, cracking sound and smiled mockingly.
Giles came out from behind the counter, the irritation and worry worn plain
on his face. "Buffy and Angel have not come back. It's been well over
an hour now."
Willow's cheery voice penetrated the room. "I'm sure they didn't get lost, Giles. Probably ran into some vamps on the way."
"You thinking we should go look for them? Cause we could do that. I've got the van outside," Oz offered.
Cordelia's cell phone rang, disrupting everyone's train of thought. "I
bet this is Harmony. If it is, I'm getting up and leaving you loons to all this
monster stuff. I have important things to do."
"Like what? Shop for 10 pair of shoes in the same color?" Xander chuckled at his joke while Cordelia just glared icily while answering her phone.
"Oh, sure, Harm, I can pick you up. Where are you? What are you doing there at this time of night? You know that's not going to do your reputation any good. Well, whatever. I'll be over in a few." Cordy hung up the phone and tossed it inside her petite black handbag before putting on her coat. "Harm's going to meet me over on 7th and Crawford and we are going shopping. Have fun with your demon houses."
Giles grabbed his coat. "Well, we can tag along then. Buffy and Angel should have been there and back by now. I'm quite worried about their whereabouts."
Cordelia groaned as the rest of the gang nodded in agreement. Oz took Willow's hand and smiled. "You can ride with me if you want to."
Willow's bashful smile was aglow as she replied. "I want to."
"I'll ride with Cordelia and Xander," Giles told them.
"Don't you have a car?" Cordelia asked snidely.
"I don't think what Giles drives is considered to be a car." Catching an irritated stare from the Watcher, Xander quickly corrected himself. "I mean that it could be considered a car that's not worthy to be driven on the streets of Sunnydale."
"Xander, quit while you are ahead."
"Right." Xander moseyed out with the rest of the gang, closing the door behind him.
**************************************************************
Buffy and Angel walked hand in hand towards their destination. He listened to
Buffy ramble on and off about little things. Her new shoes, how her mom
won't let her drive, simple things to him. They were more than simple to her,
though. This was her life. The life she led when there were not demons afoot
or vampires to slay. Buffy captivated him in every way possible. Angel wondered
if she knew just how much.
"So, what's new in your life?" Buffy asked while her eyes remained focused out in front of her.
Angel smiled down at their joined hands and set them into a gentle swing.
"Oh nothing. Just sat around reading, sleeping." His lips curved in
to an
upward fleeting smile.
Buffy inwardly groaned. **Once again no conversation
from Mr. Big Broody vampire. If anything remotely exciting happens in his
day I bet he'd…. whoa look at the size of that house.** "Look at the
size of that house." Buffy and Angel stopped in their tracks at the site
of the Victorian Mansion. Angel let out a whistle while Buffy quickly let go
of his hand to inspect the house closer.
"Buffy, Giles said not to get too close to it until we know what it is."
"I know, I'm just looking. See the doors? I've never seen doors that big before."
Angel followed Buffy, trying to keep in step with her. "I've seen houses
like this before. Pretty dull stuff inside usually. C'mon. We need to get
back to Giles."
Buffy waved him off. "No, I want to check it out. Make sure it's safe for anyone that's going to pass by."
Angel rolled his eyes. "Buffy, its nearly ten pm. Who's going to come along this late except for us?"
"Hey, guys what are you doing out here? Buffy, is this your weirdo boyfriend
that Cordy talks about all the time?" Harmony bounced up to the couple
that
turned to her with agitated looks on their faces. Harmony tried to smile sexily
at Angel as she gave him a through and obvious once over with her eyes.
"He's certainly got the package to make you go vroom. How'd you bag a guy like that?"
Buffy crossed her arms. "Harmony, what are you doing out here at this time of night? It's getting late and you…"
"I'm meeting Cordelia here to go shopping. Which is a much more normal
thing to do than whatever it is you're always doing." Harmony shifted her
purse
from one shoulder to the other.
"Look, you need to just meet her somewhere else. It's not safe here."
"I can meet her anywhere I want to! You are so not the boss of me."
Harmony
told her as she rooted in her purse for a compact. "It's not your town,
Buffy."
Buffy and Angel joined hands again, walking away from Harmony who was paying
little attention to them as she fluffed and brushed her hair. From the
shadows a pair of brown eyes narrowed, fast chanting was whispered from an
evil pair of lips and a loud bang went off in the distance. Lightening accompanied
the bang: lighting up the sky in a brilliant violet color. Buffy was caught
completely unaware and stumbled backwards toward the house.
Angel reached out quickly to grab a hold of her hand, but came up short on
his desperate effort to keep Buffy from falling. Instead, he fell right beside
her on the
porch steps of the house with a thud. "Ow!" Angel exclaimed.
"I'll second your 'ow' and raise you three 'damn that hurt'. What was that?"
Angel shrugged. "I'm not sure. Looked like it went off over towards the school."
"We better get back to Giles." Buffy got up quickly with Angel's help.
Before they could take one step, they vanished inside the house.
Harmony turned around, gaping. "Did you guys see that light? It was so pretty. Buffy?" Figuring that Buffy had gone elsewhere, Harmony simply shrugged and went back to her primping.
The man in the shadows smiled at a job well done. Part one of his plan was well underway.
"Here Ripper, Ripper, Ripper. I've got a surprise for you…,"
The man hissed the words under his breath, sitting back to enjoy the second
half of the
show.