Antoine Darkstalker growled in pleasure as he brought his hands up to her chest. "This is fine," he told her, as he struggled to unbutton her shirt. "Are you ready to consecrate the night?" he asked, pushing her back against the wall of the mausoleum.

"I'm always ready, m'lord," she breathed passionately.

"'Consecrate the night?'" an unfamiliar voice asked incredulously.

Antoine whirled around in panic, ducking half behind Ravyn as he faced the intruder.

Intruders. There were four of them. Eugene he recognized, but the rest were strangers. Two pretty girls, a blonde and a redhead, and one tall, dark-haired boy.

It was the blonde girl who'd spoken. "'Consecrate the night?'" she asked again. "Please tell me you didn't come up with that on your own."

"Eugene, who are these people?" Ravyn demanded as she frantically buttoned her shirt.

Eugene blushed and averted his eyes. "They're a, uh, neighborhood watch group. This is Buffy, Willow and Xander." He indicated each of them with a wave of his hand. "They caught me walking around."

"Lurking around," Xander corrected. "You were definitely lurking. Possibly even skulking."

"With intent," Buffy added. "You two would be Tony and Melanie, I presume?"

"My name is Antoine Darkstalker, and this is Ravyn Bloodmoon!"

"Your name is Tony Smith," Eugene said flatly. "Hers is Melanie Waters. Trust me, these guys aren't into the game." He jerked his head at Willow and Xander. "They're table-toppers. Dungeons and Dragons, no less."

Tony and Melanie recoiled in alarm and disgust. "God, Eugene," Melanie whined, "why'd you bring them here?"

Eugene shrugged. "They say there's a lot of muggers and stuff out here. I was worried about you guys." He said it to both of them, but his eyes never left Melanie's face.

Off to one side, Xander shook his head sadly and bent down to whisper in Willow's ear. "Boy's got it bad, huh?" The redhead giggled softly.

Tony hadn't heard them. "What do you mean, muggers?" he demanded. "In the graveyard?"

Buffy nodded briskly. "Like you wouldn't believe. We've got to get you guys home safe." Melanie opened her mouth to argue. Buffy narrowed her eyes and went on. "Let me rephrase that. We're *going* to get you guys home safe."

Melanie thought it best not to argue, but she couldn't resist a jab. "Who put you guys in charge of the graveyard?" she demanded haughtily.

"Sunnydale police department," Xander told her smoothly. "We're special operatives."

"You don't look old enough," Tony said.

"Didn't you ever watch 21 Jump Street?" Buffy asked. Xander laughed. She favored him with a smile before turning back to Tony and Melanie. "Who we are doesn't matter. What matters is that we're all leaving. Together. Now."

In short order, the motley crew started moving towards the exit to the main street. No one spoke for several minutes, but eventually Xander said, "Okay, I just have to know. Why the hell do you guys do this? Play in the graveyard, I mean."

"We're not playing," Tony snapped. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"Fine," he sniffed. "We come here for the power this place represents. To commune with the spirits of the dead."

"Commune with the spirits of the dead," Xander repeated.

"Yeah," Melanie said eagerly. Eugene just winced. He had an idea what was coming.

"And this communing, it involves being naked near the dead folks?" Buffy asked, drawn in despite herself.

Melanie blushed. "You wouldn't understand. It's very powerful. Primal, even."

"Now can I stake 'em?" Xander asked no one in particular.

"No!" Buffy and Willow said. "Less talk, more walk," Buffy ordered.

Several more minutes passed before Willow spoke up. "There's something I have to know, too. We found your card in Eugene's wallet. Chyldrenne of the Night, right?"

"I came up with that," Melanie said proudly.

"It's very nice," Willow offered. "But why'd you spell it that way? Why not with two Y's instead of that first E? Chyldrynne?"

Melanie stopped and turned to look at the redhead. "That would have been silly," she said, her voice serious.

Xander shot Willow a wicked grin. "She's got ya there, Will. It would, in fact, have been silly." He was silent for a few moments before adding, "And y'know, I think I'm going to change my diagnosis from earlier. These guys aren't friggin' nuts. They're fuckin' nuts."

"No argument here," Buffy muttered. "Keep walking," she growled, cutting off Tony's attempt to argue. He pouted, but obeyed.

Eventually, the streetlights beyond the graveyard's entrance came into view. Willow sighed in relief. "Safe at last," she said cheerfully.

Xander and Buffy stopped and turned to stare at her in horror. Willow looked back at them in confusion for a moment, then clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Will," Xander begged, "tell me you didn't just say that."

Harsh laughter from the darkness was his answer.

"She said it, all right," a deep voice crooned. "Sounds like our cue, boys."

Six leather-clad figures stepped into the cemetery from the street. Five men and one woman. They leered at Buffy as they fanned out to block all escape.

"Slayer, eh?" the biggest and ugliest asked as he slipped into his game face. He shook his arm to swing loose the long chain he had wrapped around it. "I always wanted to bag me a Slayer," he said as he twirled the chain menacingly.

Buffy laughed and dropped into a fighting stance. "Not the best of ideas. Take my word for it." Her eyes were serious, belying her light tone. She glanced around, searching for a way Willow and Xander could get the others out of danger. She noted with satisfaction that Willow's hands were in her pockets, and Xander was poised to rip open the weapons bag. She knew the two of them would protect the non-combatants. For their part, Eugene, Melinda and Tony seemed frozen in fear and horror, staring at the vampire's demonic face.

Savage cheers from the encircling vampires brought Buffy's attention back to their leader just in time to react as he attacked with an overhead swipe of the chain. She danced out of the way of the weapon and brought her foot up to kick the vampire in the chest, sending him sailing into a headstone ten feet away.

The other vampires laughed as their leader leapt to his feet. "That's gonna cost you, little girl," he growled.

Buffy rolled her eyes and motioned him forward. "Can we get on with this? I've got a test tomorrow, and I don't have all night to waste on you morons."

The vampire leader screamed in rage and charged, swinging the chain in a wide arc aimed at the Slayer's head.

Buffy ducked her head under the chain and brought her left arm up to block it, wincing when the links cut into her flesh as it wound around her forearm. Her left hand gripped the chain tightly and she pulled with all her strength, tearing the weapon out of the vampire's hands and forcing him off balance to sprawl in the dirt.

She whirled around and yelled, "Now!" to Xander and Willow, then snapped the chain like a whip across the eyes of the vampire closest to her friends. He screamed and fell back, but Buffy was already turning and looking for new targets.

The leader's thick arms engulfed her in a crushing bear hug from behind. He leaned down to hiss into her ear, "Now you die hard, bitch," but his words turned into a shriek as Buffy simultaneously smashed her head backwards into his nose and slammed her heel into his instep. His grip loosened as the pain hit him.

That was all Buffy needed. She turned around in his embrace and brought her knee up into his crotch. His hands let go of her and shot down to cradle his injured groin. Buffy snapped her wrist outward and caught the stake that slid out of her sleeve, then brought it up through the vampire's heart in one smooth motion. She ignored his final scream as she yanked the stake out and looked around to assess the situation.

She watched as Willow plunged a stake into the heart of the vampire Buffy had blinded. Xander was struggling with another vamp, a stake in each of his hands and the weapons bag at his feet.

*That leaves three,* Buffy thought. She could hear two charging up from behind her, but she couldn't see the third. She also couldn't see Melanie, Eugene or Tony.

A shriek from behind a nearby mausoleum turned out to be Melanie in full flight. Tony was right behind her. He tripped and grabbed at Melanie, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The female vampire pursuing them laughed and closed in.

"Not me! Take her!" Tony pleaded, pushing Melanie towards the demon and scrabbling away on all fours. Melanie screamed and clutched at her ankle, unable to run.

Buffy cursed and started to run towards them, only to be brought low by a tackle from behind. The last thing she saw as she fell was Eugene, with a stake in one hand and a berserker glint in his eyes, as he leapt from the darkness onto the female vamp's back.

The vampire who'd tackled Buffy wasted no time in trying to kill her as they rolled on the ground. It held her right wrist in an iron grip, keeping her stake out of play, then lunged in to bite her. She managed to twist in its grasp so its fangs tore into her shoulder rather than her neck. Grimacing in pain, she snapped three quick punches into its abdomen, then wrenched her hand out of its loosened grip. She plunged the stake through the vampire's heart and closed her eyes and mouth against the cloud of dust that suddenly enveloped her.

Buffy opened her eyes to see the last vampire almost on top of her. She desperately twisted her body into a backwards somersault, then sprang forward into the charging demon, skewering its heart with her stake and sending them both crashing to the earth. The vampire dissolved just before they hit the ground, causing Buffy to slam painfully into the dirt.

She sprang right back up, favoring her wounded shoulder, and started to run towards where she'd last seen Eugene and Melanie. As she looked and took in the situation, she slowed to a walk and smiled.

The female vampire had apparently thrown Eugene from its back. He'd landed on top of Melanie and was shielding her with his body as they both watched the demon slowly advance on them.

None of them noticed Xander and Willow running up until they were in position. The relief on Eugene's face tipped off the demon, and she whirled towards the new threat.

Just in time to catch Willow's flung holy water full in the face. The vampire screamed and clutched at her burning flesh. Xander caught her in the jaw with a vicious uppercut that lifted her into the air and knocked her down to the ground next to Eugene and Melanie. Melanie's screams got even louder.

For a moment, Eugene seemed paralyzed. Then, with one spasmodic lurch, he lunged forward to bury his stake in the screaming vampire's heart. He watched in terror and fascination as the demon dissolved into dust.

For a long moment, everyone was silent. Then Xander nodded in satisfaction.

"And that," he proclaimed, "is how you do the ol' one-two."

Willow laughed. Eugene nodded absently. Melanie stopped screaming. All in all, Buffy decided, things were looking up.

"Let's go, people," she said. "There may be more of them. Has anyone seen that twit Tony?" She looked around but couldn't see him.

"He... he left me. He left me to die," Melanie whimpered.

"He sure did," Xander told her happily. "Good thing Eugene here didn't, huh?"

"Matchmaker," Willow accused in a whisper. Xander just smiled.

Neither Melanie nor Eugene noticed. They were staring at each other. Eugene was blushing furiously. Melanie was wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Yep," Buffy muttered to herself. "Definitely looking up." She turned and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Tony! The big, bad monsters are gone! C'mon out! It's time to go home!"

After a moment, Tony emerged from behind a crypt. He walked slowly up to the group, his eyes never leaving the ground. Melanie stared daggers at him for a moment, then turned back to Eugene when he reached down to offer her a hand up. She took it and let him pull her upright, then kept her hand in his as everyone walked off towards the cemetery exit.

Eugene spoke up as the group achieved the comparative safety of the street. "Those were real vampires, weren't they?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah," Buffy told him. "Vampires are real."

"They're ugly," Melanie said. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"And nasty," Willow informed her. "Evil, even."

"Not to be emulated in any way, shape or form," Xander put in, just to be sure.

"We get it," Eugene assured him. "I do, anyway, and I think I can speak for Melanie and Tony, as well." Tony nodded meekly, still not meeting anyone's eyes. Melanie shrugged, but she was obviously still shaken by the night's events.

Buffy, Xander and Willow looked at each other. Buffy gave a shrug of her own. "That'll have to do, I guess." Turning back to the others, she said, "Where do you guys live? We'll get you home."

"It's okay," Eugene said, pointing. "I've got a car around the corner, there." He started walking and everyone joined him.

Once all three of the LARPers were in the car - Eugene and Melanie in the front, Tony in the back - Eugene rolled down the window and said, "Can I give you guys a lift anywhere? We owe you at least that much."

Buffy shook her head. "No, we're good. Thanks, though."

Eugene nodded. "Thank you," he said, quietly but fervently. He turned to Xander. "And no more Vampire games, I promise. We'll find something else to play. Werewolf, maybe?" Seeing the expression on his rescuer's faces, he chuckled and went on, "Okay, scratch that, too. Maybe I'll dig out my old Call of Cthulhu books instead. After tonight, Elder Things and sanity-sucking horror seem pretty safe."

"That sounds like your best bet," Xander agreed with a smile.

Eugene nodded again, then drove off.

The gang watched until the car was out of sight.

"He'll be all right," Buffy said. "I'm not so sure about Melanie and Tony, though."

Willow sighed in agreement. "Not much more we can do, though."

"Nope," Buffy said. "What do you think, Xander?"

"I think," Xander said, "that we should go the hell home and get some sleep."

"He always was the smart one," Willow told Buffy.

Buffy snorted in derision. "He has his moments," she conceded, "I'll give him that. Let's get home."

"Hey, Xander," Willow said as they walked along, "maybe I should dig out Jesse's D&D books and dice this weekend. What do you think?"

Xander thought that one over for awhile, then said, "Only if I can play Muklukk."

"Who, and I hate to get involved in this, but who is Muklukk?" Buffy asked.

"Muklukk the Destroyer," Xander informed her proudly. "Meanest damned dwarf barbarian you'll ever meet."

"I can but hope," Buffy said.

"Do you want to play?" Willow asked her.

"Why not?" Buffy decided. "But only if I can sit my ass in a comfy chair with plenty of junk food around. Also, I want to play a princess. A figure-skating princess."

"You're not giving this subject the respect it deserves, Buff." Xander groused.

"You're probably right," she conceded. "What if I promised to bring the cheesy chips? Then can I play a figure-skating princess?"

"Deal," Willow and Xander said in unison, and all three friends laughed as they walked off into the night.