About twenty minutes later, they heard the library door open and saw Sunnydale High School’s Assistant Principal Brandt walk through. “Hello everyone.”

“Hey Mr. Brandt. Is everything okay? We’ve been worried since the power went out.” Buffy said in her most innocent tone.

“Yes, everything is fine. It seems as though someone broke into the school’s electrical room and busted the generator.”

“Oh no! Can it be fixed?”

“Not anytime soon. I came to let you know that school is canceled for at least the rest of the week, and there will be no more classes for the rest of the day. He said, and left.

Buffy glanced at Giles with a big smile. “Like I said, a job well done.” she put her leather jacket on that Angel gave her, and put the book she had previously dropped into her bag. “I’m going to go see Angel now. I’ll come back in a couple of hours.” As the girl ran out of the library, Xander was coming in. She was in such a hurry that she almost knocked him over.

“Woah! Where ya going?” He asked.

“Bye Xander!” she yelled back.

“Hmm,” he said and shrugged his shoulders. “This is sooo cool! No school. Hey guys did you here what happened in the cafeteria? A whole bunch of mice ran through and Cordelia freaked out,” he started laughing. “You should have seen the look on her face!” he said, laughing harder. “Then, to top it off, some kid caused the power to go out...” he stopped laughing when he noticed that they didn’t seem surprised. “What’s going on?” he asked, confused.

“Well are you guys happy? I made a total fool out of myself just for you! Now my throat hurts from screaming so hard. Anyway, how did Buffy get the power to go out?” Cordelia said, walking into the room.

“Wha...wait. You guys were behind this?” Xander asked, completely surprised. “I should have known.”

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Willow said, then busted up laughing.

Buffy practically ran all the way to Angel’s loft. When she reached his door, she stopped to catch her breath. She knocked on his door.

“Angel! Are you there?” Nothing happened. “Hello?”

A groggy Angel opened his door slowly. She had woken him up. “Where else would I be?” he asked, yawning.

“Oh yeah.” she felt bad for awakening him. “I’m sorry. Its just that there is something incredibly important that you need to know about,” and she pushed her way past him into inside.

“What’s going on?”

The Slayer opened her bag and pulled out the book. “Turn to the bookmarked page and read.”

He did what she said. “What the hell is this?” He asked her, fear and concern in his voice.

She swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat. “Well, Giles came across this-this morning. H..he was worried because of how quiet its been lately, and so he did some researching, and this is what he found.” She looked at him and saw the fear and disbelief. “I...I...” He gazed into her eyes and watched a flood of tears form as her fragile body began to tremble. Immediately he rushed to her side and embraced her.

“Ssshhh...Its okay.” he spoke in a soothing voice. He gently wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead.

“No, its not okay.” she uttered, her voice quivering. “Why does something like this always happen?”

“I don’t know, Buffy.” he told her softly.

“This has been the worst day of my life. First I hear about this damn prophecy, then this weird girl comes to school who give me the creeps.”

“Who is she?” he asked, as he stroked her hair.

She sighed. “Her name is Hope, and she is new here.” Buffy turned her body around so she was facing him. “Angel, something isn’t right about her. I get the most bizarre feeling when I’m near hear, but what’s even more strange is that the feeling is so familiar, like I’ve felt it before.”

“Do you know if she has any connection to the Hellmouth?”

“I have not idea, but I’m going to find out. We are going to the Bronze tonight, will you come with?”

“Of course I will.”

“Thanks,” she took a deep breath, “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just going crazy,” she said with a half-hearted laugh.

“The only thing that is crazy,” he paused, then smiled, “is the way I feel about you.” Angel took her face into his hands. “Buffy, I love you. I love you with all my heart and more.” Buffy was so shocked at his confession that she almost fainted.

“You do?”

“Yes, I do. You keep me going. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know how I would survive.”

“I love you too.” She uttered. Her eyes searched his face till they got to his lips. “Don’t ever let me go.”

“I won’t.” As if in slow motion, Buffy and Angel leaned closer, till their lips were barely touching. They were both trembling. Their breathing grew heavier, and Buffy felt as if she would melt in the moment. Then, in the midst of their passion, their desire to have each other, they kissed. The fire that was overflowing in their bodies grew out of control, and their kiss grew more passionate, until their mouths were pressed hard against one another, their arms embracing. It seemed as if it would never end. They wanted to stay this way forever.

It was just after sunset, when Buffy and Angel left his loft. They had spent the rest of the day in each others arms, talking and cuddling. Buffy had phoned Willow, and the plans were set. They would meet her, Xander, Hope, and Cordelia at the Bronze at 7 o’clock. As they walked through the heavy front doors of the only decent hang out place in Sunnydale, they saw the 4 friends immediately.

“Hey guys,” Willow said, greeting them.

“Hey Will. So what’s going on?” Buffy asked, taking a seat. Angel sat down next to her.

“Not much. We’re just hanging out. Hope was telling us about her old school, in San Diego.”

“Really? Cool. Oh! Hope, this is my boyfriend, Angel. Angel, this is Hope.” They shook hands.

“Nice to meet you, Hope,” Angel said.

“You look really familiar, have we met before?” she asked.

He laughed. “I doubt it. I don’t get around much.” Buffy gave him a small smile.

The rest of the evening didn’t get Buffy anywhere. She tried to find something, anything about Hope that was suspicious, but had no luck at all. When it was time to leave, and the group was standing outside of the Bronze, Buffy decided to give it one more shot.

“Hope, where do you live?” she asked.

“Oh, at 1675 Rovello Drive.”

“You do?” She was genuinely surprised. “That’s right by my house. I live at 1630, on the same street. How about we walk home together?”

“That would be great!” She said.

Before the group all when their separate ways, Buffy whispered in Angels ear. “Listen, can you do your swell lurking thing and follow us home? Just in case.”

He grinned. “No prob.”

“So what do you think of Sunnydale so far?” Buffy asked, as they walked under the dark sky.

“Its a nice town. A lot quieter than San Diego, but I can deal.”

Buffy thought with a silent chuckle.

Hope sighed. “I wanted to thank you, Buffy. You have been so nice to me, and so have your friends. I was worried that when I moved, I wouldn’t make any friends.”

“Your very welcome. I know what its like being the ‘new girl’. I moved her last year from L.A. and felt the same way you do. Its tough starting over.”

“That’s not all that’s tough,” a deep voice growled from behind.

Buffy spun around to come face to face with a vampire. “Hope! Run!” She shouted. The vamp moved in to bite her neck but Buffy moved quicker and flipped over him. When she landed she kicked him from behind, causing him to fly forward into a tree, but he was only dazed for a moment and charged at her. He pushed her so hard she fell back, and he jumped on top of her.

“I wonder how it will feel to kill a Slayer,” he snarled.

“Well its too bad that you won’t find out!” She yelled and grabbed a stake from her pocket, then plunged it into his heart. Buffy stood up and brushed the grass off of her skirt.

“Whew. That was soooo eas.....” Buffy’s mouth gaped open in utter astonishment. There, in the middle of the street, was Hope fighting a vampire, and from her moves Buffy could tell the frail girl was stronger than the vampire was. She watched as Hope kicked the vamp into the fence, then grabbing his hair and letting his head collide with her knee. He stumbled back, charged again, and she did a roundhouse kick that sent him flying. When the vamp fell to the ground, Hope turned to Buffy and started screaming, “How the Hell do I kill this thing?!?!”

The Slayer snapped out of her trance and ran over to Hope, but out of nowhere Angel got there first and drove a tree branch into him, turning the vamp into dust.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Wha...Wha...What w..was that?”

“Hope! How did you fight him off like that?!” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Like what?” she asked, her eyes still wide from fear.

Buffy looked at Angel. He was just as shocked as she was. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, but I had two vamps attack me as I was following you.”

“That’s all right, Angel.” At that moment Hope screamed again, only this time because of Angel. “Oh no, Angel! Your vampire face!” Angel, without realizing, had his game face on. He quickly transformed. “It’s okay, Hope, its okay,” she breathed, trying to reassure her friend, “he is our friend.”

“Sorry,” Angel whispered, feeling a little guilty. Buffy just gave him an ‘its okay’ smile.

“You saw her fight, Angel. I’ve never seen anybody who wasn’t a vampire or some other weird creature fight like that. Lets go see Giles. He can explain this.” Hope nodded, still a little shaky.

And the three made their way to the school library.

Buffy busted through the library doors, causing an unsuspecting Giles’ to freak out. “AAAAGGG!” he screamed, then noticed who it was. “Oh, its only you, Buffy. You scared me half to death.”

Jenny Calendar came out from behind a bookshelf, obviously startled. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“No. Everything is NOT okay. You would not believe what happened. Hope can fight off a vampire. And I don’t mean just fight, she can fight with the same strength, as..as...,” Buffy was trying to think of the right word, “Well, I don’t know what, but she is really strong..” Giles looked at her puzzled. “It’s true! She can! Watch this.” She turned to Hope. “Hope, punch Angel in the face with all you’ve got.”

“What? I can’t do that!” She said, her eyes open wide.

“Yes you can. Trust me, it won’t hurt that much,” Angel said reassuringly.

“Are you sure?” Angel nodded. “Well, okay, here goes nothing,” Hope said, and pulled her fist back. She let out a right-hook at Angel’s jaw.

“Holy shit!” he shouted, as he fell back on the floor with a thud.

“Oh God! I’m sorry! Are you okay?” she asked, helping him up.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he said, rubbing his sore jaw.

Buffy looked at Giles, who was in complete absolute astonishment. “See? See? You saw that. She has the strength of a....of a....of a slayer!”

“Buffy is right. Last time I was hit like that was when I fought off a slayer a long time ago.” Angel said.

“That was remarkable. Hope, have you always been like this?”

“No, I...I just put all of my strength into it. I’ve never been this strong.” She sat down the steps. “Whoa! Wait a minute. Are you saying that I was fighting....a vampire?” She asked incredulously.

Jenny sighed. “Yes. You were fighting a real life vampire.”

“No way. I don’t believe it. Vampires are fiction!”

“Nope, there as real as you and me. Well, I guess that you should know the story too.” Buffy glanced over at her Watcher, who took it from there.

“Most likely, you aren’t going to believe me when I tell you this, but I assure you that it is all real.” He said, and told Hope the story of the Hellmouth, the Master, and vampires. He explained it all. When he was finished, she just sat there, slowly digesting it all.

“Either you guys are all insane, or you are telling the truth. No one can make up a story like that.” Hope said at last. “Although, it is *very* hard to believe.”

“Everyone is shocked when they hear it for the first time, but it will all wear in soon. Now that you’ve got the jist on Sunnydale life, we need the jist on you.”

“Buffy is right. If you fight the way she says you do, you have to have some kind of connection with something.”

“Well if there is I don’t know anything about it. I mean, there isn’t much to tell. I’m sixteen, I moved here from San Diego, the only real interesting thing about me is that I was born in Ireland.”

“You were born in Ireland? Where?” Angel asked, suddenly *very* interested.

“Dublin. Why?”

“Uh, no reason.”

“Can you think of anything else?” Buffy asked, desperate.

“Well...” she sat there for a moment. “Oh my god! Where is my necklace!” she said, feeling her chest. “I thought for sure I was wearing it!” Hope was seriously panicked.

“What necklace?”

“The necklace I got for my birthday, it belonged to one of my great, great aunts! Oh no!” she started looking on the floor. “Oh!” she said, as she put her hand in her pocket. “I feel like an idiot now. I forgot I put it in my pocket.” She pulled it out and looked at it, as if she just found the most important thing in her life. Relief filled her face. “Would you like to see it?”

“Sure.” Hope handed it to Buffy. The Slayer gasped. “Its breathtaking!” It was a beautiful sapphire pendant, encased with two silver bands that seemed to hold it in place. The deep blue sparkle of it mesmerized Buffy.

“Let me see,” Jenny asked. She looked over her shoulder. “Oh my! It is brilliant! Giles, look at this.” Buffy handed it to him.

He studied it. “Yes, its astounding. I haven’t seen one like it in years.” he said, amazed.

“You mean you’ve seen one like it before?” Hope asked him.

“Many, many years ago, before you were born. Where, might I ask, did you get it?”

“Oh, well it belonged to my grandmother’s great aunt. Her name was Mira.”

Both Giles and Angel looked as if they would have a heart attack.

“D..Did you say Mira?”

“Uh, yeah, why?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Oh no,” Angel breathed. He began to get dizzy. The vampire grabbed onto a nearby chair for support. Buffy ran over to him and helped him sit down.

“Angel! What’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, concerned, but he didn’t say anything. He looked as if he would be sick. “Giles! What is going on?”

With a heavy sigh, he took of his glasses and rubbed his temples. He knew the same thing that Angel did. He was beginning to get a throbbing headache. “In the early 1800’s, in Ireland, there was a slayer named Mira Dashwood. She was one of the strongest ever known. Back in that time there were many vampires roaming about, more than today in Sunnydale.” he stopped and grabbed one of his diaries. “She is in here somewhere...” he said as he flipped through the pages.

“Well I take it this Mira chick had a lot of slayage to do.” Buffy said.

“Yes, she did. Ah, here it is.” he said when he found the right page. “She soon became the hero of her village, and was well known all around Ireland.”

“Wow. She must of been some girl.”

“She was. She was slaying one night, and came across a vicious vampire. He was unlike the others. Very strong and very determined to kill her.” Giles was looking over his book. “Here is her picture.” He gave the book to Buffy.

She gasped. “Giles, she looks just like Hope, and she is wearing that pendant too. Angel, look at this.” He tried to show him the picture, but he just turned his head.

Jenny walked over and took a look. “Wow. Its she’s a splitting image of her. If I didn’t know better, I would think that *was* Hope.”

“What happened to her?” Buffy asked.

“Uhh...W...Well,” he stuttered.

“Giles, don’t make me find out myself. Just tell me.”

He was about to protest again, but Angel interrupted him.

“I killed her.”