Faith the Vampire Slayer:

The Master

1. Welcome to the Hellmouth

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith sat bolt up in the cheap motel's bed. Wavy dark hair matted against her sweat slick skin. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Most of the nightmare was gone, but a few images stayed with her: a dagger with a split blade, a small tribal tattoo, a gray bat faced man, an old book titled Vampyre and a silver cross necklace.

She showered and grabbed a few things from the free continental breakfast. Faith spent most of the day looking for a job. She needed quick cash for food and the motel. And a boss that was willing to overlook the fact that she was a runaway.

Luckily her friend Ronnie had gotten her a fake ID from his older brother. So what if she'd had to trade some unsavory favors for it. Ronnie was a deadbeat, but he wasn't all bad. Eighteen would have been too far of a stretch, but sixteen was doable and it allowed her to work.

"You should try the Bronze. Coffee shop by day, club by night and with the highest turnover in town they pay the first month of employment in cash at the end of your shift," the girl at the Espresso Pump had told her when she handed in her application.

The manager did arch his eyebrows at the motel address but in the end, "Your shift is from four to nine weekdays, but you get a free lunch and you can pick up weekend shifts." He tossed her an apron, "Put that on and follow Tony. It's only two hours but it'll be the all the training you'll get, so pay attention."

Bussing the tables was easy, and operating the dishwasher was a no-brainer. Faith smiled and bobbed her head to the music. The band sucked but it was a live band on a Tuesday so you couldn't really complain. She cleared a table next to a thirty-ish guy with black hair wearing a suit but no tie. He was staring at her the whole time. He had the kind of dreamy deep brown eyes girls got lost in. Faith tried to ignore him, but he made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Luckily on her next round through the place he was gone.

"You've got the hang of this, Lehane," Tony handed her eight dollars.

"Thanks," She smiled back at him. "You can call me Faith, you know."

"Sure, Faith. You got a ride?" Tony asked.

"Uh, Yeah. I've got it covered." Faith grinned, "Figured I get my groove on before I head home."

"Cool," Tony nodded. "Here, I never get my free lunch – no vegan options – so go ahead and order something," He led her to the counter. "The band changes out at ten, the Dingoes Ate My Baby have potential, but Social Cyanide Habit is as groove worthy as it gets on weekdays."

"Thanks." Faith smiled. She decided on the bacon-cheese burger and potato salad. As Faith ate she was joined by a perky redhead in a black flower print dress and a fuzzy rust colored coat.

"Oh, sorry, we'll find another table!" the girl stammered. She was flanked by two dark haired boys; one trying too hard in a black striped sweater, the other in a threadbare tee and a hand-me-down over shirt. The boys waved a girl with blonde hair and darkening roots over. She was dressed in dark corduroy pants and a baggy tan top.

"Nah, s'okay, Red," Faith smiled at the shy girl. "Place is packed for a weekday, and I'm hitting the dance floor soon anyway. Wouldn't mind if ya wanted to join me," Faith winked.

Hand-me-down made a faint whining noise and trying-too-hard said 'humina,' under his breath.

Red just blushed and stammered more apologies and a 'thank you, but no.'

Faith shrugged and finished her food. Her eyes fell to the blonde. "What about you? Wanna make your boy jealous?"

"Oh, no we're not. Nothing like that. We're just friends," she stammered out.

"Too bad, they're kinda cute. Wanna dance anyway?"

"Sure."

Hours later the five teens left the club laughing and chatting about the town. "This is the bad side of town," Amy informed her.

"Conveniently located half a block from the good side of town," Willow added.

"We don't have a lot of town here," Jesse joked.

Faith laughed, "So, not much to do around here?"

"Let's see we got the Bronze, the Espresso Pump, Sun Cinema, mini-golf, the arcade, the mall, the beach, the park, the museum and the zoo. So no not much to do," Xander quipped. "So, it's late, nine out of the ten things to do in town are closed, who wants to hang out at the park until sunrise?"

"Can't," Willow shrugged, "I have history in the morning. Mr. Chomsky is so boring he puts me to sleep."

"Mom will murder me if I stay up all night again," Amy groaned. "It's bad for your complexion. And can you believe she wants me to try out for cheerleading, again?"

"That's, uh, rough," Jesse said without any emotion. "I'll walk you home."

"Thanks," Amy smiled and looped her arm in his. They sang I Want You by Savage Garden horribly off key as they sauntered away.

Xander chuckled, "So, Faith, you need an escort?"

"Nah, I'm good," she pushed Willow toward him, "But make sure Red gets home okay."

"I shall protect the fair maiden with my very life!" Xander walked next to Willow making sword swinging gestures. For her part, Willow sang Brave Sir Robin softly.

Faith shook her head and started back to her motel. She got two blocks from the Bronze when a snarling bumpy foreheaded man jumped out at her. His strange yellow eyes were alight with malice. Faith screamed and kicked him in the crotch. Instincts kick in, street tough combined with something ancient. Faith grabbed a slat from a broken shipping palette and cracked the guy in the ribs with it. He snarled and swiped at her from the ground. She responded by braining him. Her world went red. Then black.

When she came back to herself Faith was perched on a fire escape. Cash crammed into her pocket she chucked the empty wallet down the alley. Looking around she saw the bloodied slat broken over the man's still form.

"Not bad for your first time," a velvety voice came from the darkest shadows of the alleyway. Once she knew he was there, Faith had no trouble seeing him: the thirty-something guy from the Bronze. He strolled over to where her attacker lay in the mouth of the alley. Faith watched in horror as he picked up a piece of the broken wood and jammed it into the unconscious man's heart. She frowned when he turned to dust and blew away in the light breeze. Tall, dark and stabby turned back to her and explained, "You're standing at the Mouth of Hell. And it's about to open. Don't turn your back on this," he tossed her a gray box tied with silver ribbon. "You've gotta be ready."

"What for?" Faith opened the box. It contained a silver cross and chain.

"For the Harvest," he turned to leave.

"The what?" Faith called after him.

"Look it up," he strolled off into the darkness.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith scoured the public library. Harvest brought a lot of farming guides and vampire resulted in an endless tide of paperback novels. She did find a few books with general information on vampires, mostly they covered regional variations.

Growling in frustration Faith left the library and wandered about the town. She was headed towards the grocery store when she spotted a little shop in a strip mall called Uncle Bob's Magic Cabinet. Shrugging she detoured into the strange shop: Half rare bookstore, a third hippie spice rack, and one sixth curio shop. It smelled like someone was burning pies in the back.

"Um, Hi," Faith approached the cashier. "Do you have a section on vampires?"

"Second shelf from the back, far side," the woman told her in a bored tone.

"Thanks," the dark haired teen meandered to the indicated section. She began flipping through the tomes, finding that they rarely had an index. She kept muttering, "Harvest, harvest, harvest," as she searched.

"It's not a library," a gruff male voice barked.

Faith looked up startled. "I'm looking for something. The Harvest. I'm not having any luck," Faith told him.

"Never heard of it," the man scratched his short thick beard and looked thoughtful. "Ya might try the high school library. A lot of my younger customers have been talking about the new librarian there. Seems he more than doubled the amount of books they have and all of the new ones are rare occult books."

"I'll check that out, thanks," Faith nodded to him. "Uh, how much do these usually cost?" she hefted the book she had been skimming.

"Fifty to five hundred dollars. I don't keep the really expensive books on the floor," he shrugged.

"Oh." She slid the book back into its place.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Sneaking into the school was simple. And not at all sneaking. Faith walked onto the campus and strolled straight in the front door with the seniors returning from lunch. She asked a pretty blonde girl the way to the library.

"Like I would ever go there," she sneered.

"I'm not saying you would, Barbie. But you'd need to know where it is to avoid it, right?" Faith pressed.

"Like, I guess," the girl agreed. "I think it's down that hall and around the corner."

"Thanks, doll," Faith headed the way she indicated. Finding the kitchen style doors Faith entered the library. It had one study table big enough to seat eight comfortably. The chairs looked to be donations from the seventies. To one side was a checkout counter. On the other side were a card catalog and a sports equipment locker. Behind the study nook, up a short set of steps to either side, were the books. Faith didn't see anyone so she started with the books nearest the counter. After a half hour of searching, she heard the office door open and the librarian come out. Peering through the stacks she saw him sit with his feet propped up on a second chair reading the paper. He was a square-jawed man in his forties with wire-rimmed glasses. Faith slipped through a set of glass doors to continue her search deeper in the stacks.

It was hours later when she had to leave, still not having found anything, or be late for work. The librarian was re-shelving books so she waited until he bent down to slip out of the back. She was almost to the stairs when he said, "Oh, my! I, I didn't know anyone was in here," he paused for a breath. "Can I help you find something? Miss?"

"No, I gotta get going," She hurried down the stairs.

He grabbed a book from his cart and held it up, "Perhaps this is what you are looking for?"

Faith glanced back as she reached the door. The book said VAMPYRE across the front. She turned to face him, "What's the Harvest?"

"What did you say?"

"The Harvest. It's coming, I, apparently need to be ready for it. I don't even know what it is."

"Who told you this?"

"This guy in his late twenties, early thirties trying to look early twenties. Looks like Sean Faris, with James Dean hair. Was hanging out at this all-ages club, the Bronze." Faith shook her head, "Gave me the creeps something fierce. Then on my way home after work this other dude, with a bumpy forehead, attacks me and I, I, ah, fought him off. Get some distance. Creepy guy comes out of nowhere and stabs the bumpy forehead dude with a jagged piece of wood and the guy just vanishes." She took a steadying breath. "Then the creepy guy says I need to be ready for the Harvest."

"Did he say anything else?"

"No, wait, yes. Something about standing on the mouth of hell," she glanced at the wall clock. "I gotta go. I'm gonna be late for work."

"I'll give you a lift," the librarian offered. "And I'll look up this Harvest for you."

Faith regarded him with an appraising look. He didn't seem dangerous, capable yes, but not dangerous. Faith nodded, "I'm Faith."

"Rupert Giles," he offered her the book.

"Nice to meet you," the girl smiled, "G-man." She took the heavy tome and began skimming it as they headed out to his car. She quirked an eyebrow at him upon seeing the primer gray car but said nothing.

"It's a perfectly serviceable automobile," Giles said defensively.

"I'm not knocking it. It's a '63 Citroen DS," Faith climbed in. "The real test of a classic is how it runs."

Giles fired the engine up. There was a light, high-frequency tapping sound, like someone hitting a pencil on a desk. As they drove along Faith could hear a knocking sound. A glance behind them showed a plume of blue smoke. When the rattle trap backfired she began humming the tune to Chitty-chitty Bang Bang.

"Oh, funny," the librarian said dully.

"You have lifter tap, it knocks, there's blow-by, exhaust leak and it backfires. The only thing you seem to be missing is transmission problems."

Frowning he changed the subject, "What do you know about vampires?"

"Well, just stuff from movies mostly, but I did learn that they come in, like a billion different types."

"Well, yes, sort of. The different types of, of parasitic demons are often lumped into the vampire category; even when they are not vampiric."

"Oh," was all she could say. She winced as he shifted and the gears clashed with a metallic grinding noise. "There it is." After a few minutes of relative silence, she said, "I dreamed about this book."

Giles was quiet for a moment. "Into each generation a, a Chosen One is born, one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. This world is older than you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures. The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."

After a minute Faith asked, "You think I'm this slayer chick?"

"You had a prophetic dream and managed to fight off a vampire, Faith. Yes, I believe you are the chosen one, the slayer."

"I'm nobody."

"Not anymore," Giles smiled.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Giles loitered at the Bronze in hopes of seeing the 'creepy guy' that Faith had described to him. He felt a bit like a creeper himself watching the teens and twenty-somethings while away their evening. After getting a latte he headed to the upper level.

At the bar Faith was helping with a large soft drink order when she spotted Willow, "Hey, Red, you here with someone?"

"Oh, hi! No, I'm just here. I thought Xander was gonna show up. You work here?" Willow tugged at the sleeve of her yellow and orange sweater.

"Yeah." She smiled holding the loaded tray with ease.

"You sure you got that Leh… Faith?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." She rolled her eyes. Even with eight large sodas, she could hold the tray with one hand as if it were empty. "So, why are you sulking at the bar when you could be out on the dance floor getting your grind on?"

"I-I-I don't have a grind to get on!" the blushing teen stammered.

"Try it; you might surprise yourself," Faith winked at her. "I'm off at nine. I'll walk you home. So go have fun. Cut loose!" She headed off with Tony to deliver the drinks.

Later, on her break, Faith found Giles on the upper level, "Hey, you know, I was thinking, I know a thing or two about cars. I could give the poor thing a tune-up. I work cheap."

Giles smiled at her, "Are you free this Saturday?"

She nodded, "I'm picking up an extra shift in the evening but I can stop by in the morning to at least get you a list of parts. I'm free all Sunday."

"Good," he smiled as she sat down with her burger and fries. Giles pointed to the crowd, "This is a perfect breeding ground for vampire activity. It's dark, it's crowded. This music is atrocious. It's a seething mass of, of clown haired hormones."

"Damn kids always on your lawn," Faith piped up between bites.

"There's so much you don't know about them, about your own powers," he shook his head. "A vampire appears to be completely normal until the feed is upon them, only then do they reveal their true demonic visage. A Slayer has the ability to see, to sense them anyway. Without looking, without thinking. Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?"

"Maybe..." She thought she felt something, a strange prickle in the back of her neck.

"Even through this mass and this, this noise, you should be able to sense them. Reach out with your mind. You have to hone your senses, focus until the energy washes over you, until you, you feel every particle of-of…"

"Is he one?" Faith asked looking over the edge.

"W-where?"

"Right there, dancing with that girl," she pointed to a guy in a jacket with his sleeves rolled up and a gold shirt with a red and black diamond pattern on it. "He gives me the major wiggins."

"But you didn't hone," Giles practically pouted.

"You said 'Without looking, without thinking.' I felt. He is a giver of wiggins, even at this distance. Is he a vampire, though?" she paused. "Oh, no."

"What?"

"Willow." Faith bolted toward the stairs, "Watch my food!" Faith maneuvered her way through the crowd, trying to keep her eyes on the pair. Her line of sight was blocked by two slabs in lettermen's jackets.

"Hey beautiful, I haven't seen you around before," the left one grinned.

"Not interested," Faith moved to go around him but the guy stepped in her way. "I don't have time for this!" the dark haired slayer reached out and cupped his crotch. Then she gave a hard squeeze that sent the jock to the floor. Before the second boy could even call her 'bitch' she was weaving through the crowd again. It was too late, she had lost them. She dashed up to the bar, "Tony, can you clock me out on lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," he made a note on a guest check. "You know your red headed friend left with some sleaze."

"Which way?"

"Out the back."

Faith bolted toward the bathrooms. She passed the Barbie doll and her entourage, bumping into a smoking hot brunette. "Sorry, Legs," she barely glanced back at the girls on her way out. In the ally, she found a pallet and broke off a wooden slat.

Looking around frantically, she tried to sense him as she had inside.

"Hey, you're leaving already?"

She whirled to around to see Xander coming out the door behind her. "We have to find Willow! She left with a, a guy…"

He raised his eyebrows, "Our Willow? Scorin' at the Bronze, work it, girl…"

"No! He's a, a drug dealer! Bouncer warned me about him. Where would he take her?"

"Why would Willow hang out with a drug dealer?"

"I don't think she knows," Faith growled.

"Do you think he's making a drug deal?"

"Maybe?"

"He'd need privacy. Uh, there's a cemetery a few blocks from here. People in this town tend to avoid cemeteries." Xander shrugged. "Not really sure why."

"Let's go, Xan."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

As the pair entered the graveyard they saw Willow being pushed into a mausoleum. Faith took off at a dead sprint, vastly outdistancing Xander. He piled on the speed when he heard Willow's scream.

Faith was glad the mausoleum door was still open as she ran in. The slayer noticed Willow cowering in the corner with Jesse. She tackled the man looming over them. The woman with him shouted. Willow tried to drag Jesse to the door. Faith pounded her fists into the vampire. He roared and threw her. Faith slammed into the mausoleum wall. Her world went red. Then black.

Xander entered the mausoleum. Faith was scraping herself off the floor. Both vampires were advancing on her. The woman clawed at her. Faith backed against the wall, clutching her makeshift stake. She snarled at the blonde vampire. The boy lunged at her. Faith spun with the stake leading. It sank into the yielding flesh of his neck. The vampire howled in pain.

"Shut up and bite her, already," the blonde growled.

Faith jabbed with the splintering wood. He continued to groan and clutch his throat. Finally, he evaporated in a cloud of ash.

Xander helped Willow drag Jesse to the door.

"Not so fast, kiddies," The blonde had turned to them. As she leaped at the trio Faith slammed into her. The pair went down in a tangle of limbs. Faith's makeshift stake slid across the floor. Clawing and scratching until she found some leverage, Faith rained punches down on the vampire's ribs. With each impact, a sharp crack rent the air.

Suddenly, Faith was flung backward.

A booming male voice snapped, "Get back to the Master. I will handle the little girl."

The blonde managed to gurgle, "She's strong, she killed Thomas."

"Pathetic," the large man growled. "You were supposed to be bringing an offering for the Master! We're almost at Harvest, and you dally with this child!" He grabbed the blonde and pulled her roughly to her feet. "Go!"

Faith staggered to her feet as he approached her. The large vampire reached out to grab her but she stepped back. Faith jumped and pushed him back with a drop kick. She landed hard on the stone floor.

Regaining his balance the vampire grinned at her, "You are strong." He backhanded her. "I am stronger."

Faith was sent flying across the mausoleum.

"You are wasting my time," the big vampire said as he stalked towards her.

"Hey," Faith groaned. "I've got things to do, too, buddy. I gotta be back to work in fifteen…" She was cut off when he shoved the stone coffin lid at her. Faith hopped onto the rim. She booted him in the mouth. The vampire stumbled to the ground. She grabbed the stake and lunged at the vampire. He caught her wrist and held her fast. She couldn't plunge forward or move back.

"You think you can stop me? Stop us?" he growled. The vampire wrapped his free hand around the stake and crushed it to tender. Taking her by the shirt he tossed her against the coffin. "You have no idea what you are dealing with." Standing he smirked at her dazed and bruised form. "And like a plague of boils, the race of man covered the Earth. But on the third day of the newest light would come the Harvest. And the blood of men will flow as wine. When the Master will walk among them once more. The Earth will belong to the old ones." He lifted Faith by the throat. "And Hell itself will come to town." The vampire leaned in to bite her, finishing with, "Amen!"

She could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn't get any air past his vice like grip. Faith pulled the silver cross out of her pocket. The chain was tangled around her fingers. The cross burned him when she pressed against his face. He jerked back, dropping her. Faith kicked him in the knee. The joint dislocated and the slayer ran out of the mausoleum.

A short distance away she spotted her three friends surrounded by vampires. As Faith closed the distance a shriek pierced the night air. "No! Get off!" Willow screamed.

Without breaking stride Faith grabbed the vampiric teen off the redhead. Gripping his shirt collar and waistband she flung him into a headstone with a sick crunch. Using the momentum of the toss she whirled about and slammed the next vampire with a well-executed clothesline. The undead man flipped up into the air, his feet fighting for traction as he spun about. He was suddenly a dusty memory as the crossbow bolt entered his spine and kissed his heart.

Faith took a pair of running steps and turned to finish him off…when she saw him blow away on the cool night breeze.

Willow got shakily to her feet. "Xander!" She shouted spotting her friend. The boy was being carried away by two vampires.

The Vampire to his right exploded in a hail of dust and ash. Faith watched as Giles jogged toward them, reloading his crossbow as he went. The second vampire rushed to meet the middle-aged watcher. Only to take a wooden stake to the heart as Giles deftly sidestepped the lunge. He paused only to pull Xander to his feet. As he neared the pair of girls he tossed Faith a stake. She knelt and plunged it into the prone form of the vampire that had attacked Willow.

"Is everyone all right?" Giles asked.

"Just bumps and scrapes, I think," Faith offered.

Xander felt the back of his head and winced, "Something hit me."

"Where's Jesse?" Willow asked.

"He got drug off when they surrounded us," Xander answered. Fear edged both of their voices.

"Which way?" Faith started to scan the cemetery for movement.

"I don't know." Xander offered, still rubbing the back of his knotted cranium.

Giles drove toward the Bronze. Over the various rattles, taps and bangs of the car he explained to the teens, "For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One…"

"You must love this part, G."

"Alright," He said gruffly, "The Slayer hunts vampires, Faith is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing: how do you kill them?" Xander asked from the back seat.

"You don't, I do," was Faith's answer.

"Well, Jesse's my…"

Faith interrupted him, "Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken."

"Bullshit," Xander spat. He ignored the admonishment from Willow. "If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too. But Jesse's my friend. I can't just abandon him."

"I'll find him. The big guy, he talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive."

"You have no idea where they took Jesse," Xander pointed out.

"Do you?" Faith shot back. "As soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just hopped in a car and drove off."

"I don't remember hearing a car," Willow offered.

Giles sighed, "Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground."

"How? It's not like there was sewer access in the cemetery," Faith quirked an eyebrow at him.

"There's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town," Xander supplied.

"If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh... I suppose we could go to the building commission," Giles nodded.

"And that will take how long?" Faith asked.

"I, um, I might be able to get it faster," Willow offered. "I'd need to use the school's computers."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Giles dropped Faith back at the Bronze and drove the other two to the school. After twenty minutes at the computer, Willow called the boys over to look at the plans, "That tunnel runs under the graveyard."

"I don't see any access," Xander remarked.

"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" Giles inquired as he examined the plans closely.

Willow blushed. "Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system."

"Someone's been naughty," Xander teased. "Oh! That big guy came from inside the crypt! What if that's the access!"

"He didn't chase us. I don't think he came out at all!" Willow added excitedly.

"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander turned to Giles, "Pick Faith up after her shift and …"

"There's no 'we'. Faith is the Slayer and you are not," Giles corrected.

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face," the teen groused.

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous," the watcher tried to reason with him.

"I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to," Willow piped up.

"Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine," he waved his hand dismissively at the computer.

"Sure, I can do that," she turned back to the computer.

Giles lead Xander out of the office, "I know a thing or two about the rebelliousness of youth." He smiled somewhat wistfully. "If I merely tell you that you cannot help you will try to do so anyway. I cannot and will not let your foolishness put Faith at unnecessary risk. To that end we will spend the next," he checked his watch, "two hours teaching you first why you are no match for a vampire, and then how to use a crossbow."

Willow cringed every time she heard the meaty thump of Xander hitting the mat Giles laid out.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Hours later Faith, Giles, and Xander reentered the mausoleum. The men covered her as she searched the room. "Bingo," Faith called softly. They followed her into the electrical tunnel. Faith 'felt' for vampires. "Which way?" she asked upon not feeling anything.

Xander grimaced at the sound of rats squeaking and scurrying.

"We shall head toward the center of town," Giles told them. "Faith try to sense for them while walking."

Not knowing if she wasn't feeling anything because she was doing it wrong or there weren't any vampires to sense she stopped every hundred feet just to be sure. After an hour or so Faith felt a prickle in the back of her neck, "They're close."

"How can you tell?" Xander asked.

"No more rats," Giles replied. "Look, there."

Faith gasped, "Jesse."

Xander moved cautiously to the other boy, "Jesse? Hey, you okay, man?"

"Xander?" the other boy croaked groggily. "I am not okay, on an epic scale."

"He's chained up," Xander called out softly.

"We gotta get outta here!" Jesse whined.

"Here," Giles said, offering Faith a large stone carving chisel.

"Hold on." Faith bashed the shackle with it.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" Xander frowned.

"Head back the way we came," Giles growled. They could see shadows moving on the walls. Another group of Vampires came around the corner. Giles covered their tactical retreat.

"They knew you were gonna come. They said that I...I was the bait," Jesse groaned.

"Easy buddy, you don't look so good," Xander handed his crossbow to Faith so he could support his friend.

The group rounded a corner only to be met by vampires. "They're herding us," the watcher informed the teens.

"Do you know another way out?" Faith asked.

"Through here, there, there should be a way up. I hope!" Jesse guided them through another intersection and a heavy metal door into a chamber. Faith tossed Xander his crossbow.

"I don't think this is the way out!" Faith exclaimed even as she and Giles shoved the door shut and latched it.

"We can't fight our way back through those things. What do we do?" Xander asked panic edging into his voice.

"I got an idea," Jesse said, pointing up at a grate in the ceiling.

"Xander, then Jesse," Giles and Faith helped the boys into the ventilation shaft. "You next," He insisted, even as the vampires banging began to warp the door. Instead of arguing Faith leaped up but turned around to pull him up.

Giles was few feet from the grate when a vampire shimmied into the duct. Xander was crawling like mad. He nearly slammed into the rungs of a ladder up to a manhole.

Meanwhile, Giles had rolled onto his back and fired a crossbow bolt into the vampire's skull. Faith practically drug him to the ladder while he reloaded. "You first," Faith demanded.

"Very well," he huffed. It did allow him to cover her while she climbed out. The quartet ran as soon as Faith was clear. It took them an hour to get back to Giles' Citroen but they didn't run into any more vampires.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

"Giles?" Willow called when she heard the doors swing open.

"Yes, we have Jesse," the librarian called.

"Is he okay?" She came out of his office with a stack of printouts.

"I believe so," Giles sighed. It was well past midnight. "Would you all like a ride home?"

"No, I have more research to do," Willow retreated to the office.

"I'm good," Faith settled into a chair leaning back and propping her feet up.

"I'm better off staying out if I don't get in before the bars close," Xander shrugged.

Jesse just leaned against him on the stairs and fell asleep.

Giles joined Willow in the research, "Find anything?"

"I think, maybe...I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of the big earthquake in '37. And for several months before that, there was a rash of murders."

"Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?" he stammered.

"Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for. Throats, blood..." she grimaced.

Frowning Giles replied, "It's all coming together." He pulled his glasses off and massaged the bridge of his nose, groaning. "And I rather wish it weren't."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

A beam of sunlight shone down through the skylight onto Faith. She sat up and popped her back. Her mouth tasted like hair and stale diet soda. "Ick," she groaned. Faith staggered to the coffee pot. She gave a disgruntled grunt upon finding it empty.

"Oh, good," Giles came down the steps with an armload of books. "You're up. I was contemplating picking up breakfast for everyone." He set the books on the study table, "Would you like to come along?"

"Sure thing, G," She smiled walking backward ahead of him. "Ooh! Can we get some breakfast sammiches?"

"Sandwiches," Giles corrected on the way out the door, "and yes."

As they drove Faith did a mental inventory of the Citroen's problems. It sputtered to a stop a block from the Espresso Pump. "I'll check the engine, you go get food," the slayer told her watcher.

Giles stalked into the coffee shop and to the end of the short line. When it was his turn the cashier gave him a bright smile. He returned a polite smile of his own despite his now sour mood. "Can I get a dozen donuts: four glazed, four jelly, – the strawberry please – two crullers and two Boston cream. Oh, and six egg and sausage breakfast sandwiches, please."

"Biscuit or croissant?"

"Three of each," he decided. After paying he returned to the car to find a greasy but grinning Faith.

"Sammiches!" She took the bag from him as he set the donuts in the backseat. She had devoured the first one before he was settled behind the wheel.

"You have no intention of sharing those do you?"

"You can have some," she pushed the bag at him.

Giles sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned the key. He pumped the gas as he did so. The engine whined but refused to catch.

"You flooded it," Faith said her mouth full of egg, sausage, and biscuit.

"It is not flooded," Giles shot back stubbornly.

"Two more sandwiches say it is," she wiped her mouth on a paper napkin. "Pop the hood."

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Amy entered the library, "Willow?" Xander, Jesse, and Willow were all asleep on the steps, still cocooned in the shadow of a bookcase. As she approached them Amy called out louder, "Guys!"

The trio jumped, startled and groggy. It would have been comical if not for Jesse's face. His eyes were yellow and his teeth were sharp and jagged. A thick ridge surrounded his eyes giving him a permanent scowl despite the lack of eyebrows.

Amy screamed. Jesse lunged at her, roaring.

Adrenaline forced Xander to react. As Amy backpedaled, she tripped and fell on her butt on the floor. Xander, a heavy wooden chair in his hands, struck. The seat blasted apart across Jesse's undead ribs, sending him across the table's surface to hit the floor on the opposing side. Xander went in for the kill, a shard of wood in his hand.

Jesse was to his feet in an instant. Xander came in, the makeshift stake raised. Jesse, sped by the supernatural, caught his wrist and stared at him. "Really, bro?" He said, grinning. A hard backhand to Xander's face sent him flying across the table. He then staggered forward, a sharp pain ripping up his spine. Jesse whipped around to stare into the terrified green eyes of Willow. "Ow! Christ, Willow! That hurt! What the hell, man?"

"W-well, you, you were gonna eat A-Amy!" The redhead stammered, the sharp wood still clutched in her hands.

"Yeah, but…I wasn't trying to eat you!" He shot back.

"Hey!" Amy snapped, standing arms akimbo. "Screw you."

Willow tried to stab him again. He easily caught her wrist and gripped her throat. "Maybe I should eat you." He said, smiling.

"No, you don't!" Amy growled. "Dissolvo!" She shouted. A gleaming bolt of energy shot from her hand and impacted Jesse's side, hurling him free of Willow, sending him sprawling on the floor. He slid into the sunlight from the skylight above.

His skin blistered and boiled in the harsh light. Jesse rose to his feet and rushed from the sun's rays, leaning against the table, all thoughts of the three surrounding him gone. The pain was incredible. "That sucked."

Xander, a grimace of determination firmly in place, wrapped his fingers in Jesse's thick dark hair and yanked back as he plunged the long shard of wood deeply into the boy's back, tearing his heart in two. "I'm sorry, bro." He said, softly.

For a split second, time stood still. Jesse's yellow eyes turned toward him. Xander could see the fear and pain. He lamented his friend's death but reveled in the death of the monster that had taken him.

Jesse – or rather the demon that wore his flesh – disintegrated into a fine ashen dust.

Willow dropped onto the steps. Amy sat next to her a comforting arm around the redhead. Willow was shaking and Amy was breathing heavy and sweating.

Without a word, Xander got them both a glass of water. He said nothing as he swept up their friend's remains and secured them in a paper coffee cup. He made sure to label it before joining the girls on the steps.

"I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good," Xander said tonelessly.

"Oh, I-I need to sit down," Willow grabbed Amy's arm for support.

"You are sitting down," the brunette told her.

"Oh. Good for me," Willow gave a pained smile. "Does anybody mind if I pass out?"

"Breathe," Amy said.

"Breathe," Willow repeated.

"Breathe," Amy said again, nodding.

Giles entered the library carrying a box of donuts and looking slightly disheveled, "What happened here?"

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Faith returned to the school library after walking the three teens to Willow's house, "Found anything, G?"

Giles began reading aloud from the large tome, "'For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life.' P-Pours life..." he paused and flipped back a page to a picture of Satan feeding power to a man. "'On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come...' Of course. That's tonight!"

"But I work tonight," Faith grumbled. "Could this get any worse?"

Giles gestured at the whiteboard he had set up. "Yes, the end of the world."

"Well, you're just full of sunshine. Also, rhetorical much?"

He made a face at her abuse of the English language. "Nearly a century ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed. This vampire hoped to open a sort of, um, a portal between this reality and the next. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. However, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. There was an earthquake that swallowed half the town. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle."

"And this Harvest thing is to get him out."

"It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol," He explained as he drew a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

"So, I find the vampire sporting that, take him out and bye, bye Harvest?" the slayer smirked.

"Simply put, yes."

"Any idea where this shindig is being held?"

"There, there are a number of possibilities," Giles sighed, "Anywhere there will be a large number of victims."

"The Bronze is going to be packed. It's the first weekend of the new term."

Giles grabbed his coat, "We best hurry. The sun will be down before long."

"How, how do I kill, uh, slay him? The vessel guy?"

The watcher stopped and stared at his slayer; his completely untrained slayer. "A wooden stake through the heart or decapitation. You are not in this alone, Faith." Giles opened the storage cage and pulled a crossbow from a locker.

{FtVS}{FtVS}{FtVS}

Giles waited until just before sunset to enter the bronze. He went to the counter to place his order.

"What'll it be?" the barista/bartender asked him.

"Do you, by chance, have tea?"

"Tea," the man frowned.

"Yes," Giles nodded.

The bartender grabbed a mug and filled it with hot water from a stainless steel airpot. He tossed a packet of Lipton next to the mug, "Buck fifty."

"Do you have Chamomile?"

The man still frowning took the tea back and with an ink pen wrote Chamomile across the package.

"Thank you," Giles sneered as he paid the man. He found a seat on the upper level and waited. He looked at the package and sighed. "At least he spelled it properly." He said to himself as he prepared it.

Faith moved around the Bronze collecting empty plates and glasses. The stake hidden in her boot was a litter awkward at first, but she would rather not have to improvise a weapon when the Vessel showed up.

As she dropped off a bus tub in the kitchen Faith felt the creepy tingly in the back of her neck she was quickly associating with vampires. They came into view pushing Paul, the doorman, in front of them. The last one in shut and locked the door. He stood guard keeping the teens and twenty-some-things away from the exit. Another one moved to the upper level.

The lights cut out, as did the band's amps. The crowd started to murmur. Faith as slid her stake out she peered through the window in the kitchen door.

The large vampire from the mausoleum was standing on the stage with the three-pointed star on his forehead. A spotlight beamed down on him from the upper level. The crowd's murmuring turned to screaming as they got a good look at the face of the Vessel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good," he chuckled. "This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see."

As the Vessel made his speech Faith made her way backstage. Giles slammed a stake into the chest of the vampire operating the portable spotlight and raised his crossbow.

"Bring me the first!" the Vessel demanded.

Two vampires began dragging Paul toward the stage. "What do you guys want? You want money?" Paul begged.

Faith dashed through the curtains, her stake poised. The Vessel barely had time to react as the angry teen slayer raced toward him.

He wrapped his big hand around her wrist. "We've done this before." He said, grinning. "You lost, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." Faith said, putting her boot directly between his legs. Undead or not, he still felt pain. "I also remembered that you're a guy." He growled and released her. She then kicked him as hard as she could in the gut, staggering him back.

Giles grinned. "Thank you, Faith." He said, softly before letting fly. The bolt flew straight into his heart. The large vampire staggered and fell off the stage. He was ash and dust before he hit the floor.

Seeing the oldest and strongest among them reduced to so much Dust-buster feed the remaining vampires fled. Giles took out two more and injured a third. Faith, meanwhile, slammed her stake into one of the vampires that had been manhandling Paul. She raced after the second one. Using her momentum to smash the vampire into the door, as he tried to unlock it, Faith slid the stake in under his ribs. She turned back to the room and felt for more of them but the Bronze was clear.

After helping to clean up Faith went to find Giles. "Hey, G-man, I, uh. Can I crash at your place tonight?" she looked tired. "I mean, I don't know how the whole watcher-slayer thing works but I just don't want to be alone right now."

"Of course, Faith," he smiled at her. "We'll stop by your… where are you staying?"

"The Downtowner Apartments."

"That will never do," Giles sighed, again pulling his glasses off and massaging the bridge of his nose. He had figured her living arrangements were something of the kind. He'd heard rather unsettling things about the low-rent accommodations. Those stories, however, weren't the reason for his dismay.

"Hey, it's all I can afford," she offered with a shrug.

"That's not what I meant, Faith. You're a very resourceful girl, but that is a motel," he paused. "It offers no protection against vampires."

"Oh. Crap," Faith muttered a chill running down her spine at the thought.