Chapter 10
Lie to Me
Restview Cemetery
Night
We see a very large, both tall and chubby, vampire running steadily between the headstones. Then we see Xander running after him. Then Willow runs after them, and Giles behind her, carrying an axe.
They come up to a fence and the vampire is gone.
"Aw man!" Xander yells in frustration as he kicks the fence.
Kendra jumped off a gravestone onto a crypt. She began to run and jump from crypt to crypt at an inhuman pace. She's jumping 15 or 20 feet distance between each one. She quickly spots the demon, she was hunting and jumped off the crypt in a flying tackle hitting it in the back. Kendra then raised her hunting knife and drove it into the back of the demons neck, cutting through his spine killing it almost instantly.
As she stands to her feet, she hears Xander's shout and takes off like a shot. Little is known to her, but someone is watching her in the shadows.
On the other side of the Cemetery
The vampire, Giles' group was chasing runs back across their field of vision, sees them, turns and starts back the way he came. Giles throws his axe. It thuds into a tree right by the vampire's face. The vamp turns and heads left. Xander and Willow look at Giles, then they all run after the vampire.
The vampire winds up at a dead-end and turns to go back. Suddenly a fist comes out and punches him in the face. He falls down. A pair of feet walk over and stand by the prone vampire's feet. He stares up at the person. It's Kendra.
"Big, fast, and dumb. Just de way I like 'em." Kendra quipped.
The vampire sits up and she kicks him in the face, thrusts out with her stake, but he grabs her arm, hits her with his other arm, and gets up.
Willow and Giles appear, grab the vamp's arms and hold him while Xander punches him in the face twice. Then Xander moves for another punch but the vampire head-butts him and he staggers back.
Before the vampire could do anything more, Kendra plunged her stake into his unbeating heart. With a look of frustration, the vampire exploded into dust. Before Giles could congragulate, Kendra on a job well done they all hear clapping. As they turn around they see a tall black man step out of the shadows.
"Very well done, Kendra." the black man said as his face came into view. "I see Mr. Giles has been training you well."
"Mr. Zabuto?" Kendra asked, not believing her eye's.
Twenty minute's later
Giles apartment
"Would you like some sugar in your tea?" Giles asked as he poured some tea in Mr. Zabuto's cup.
"No thank you." Zabuto said as he sipped at his tea. The rest of the Scooby gang just watched him curiously until Xander broke the silence.
"You look pretty good for a dead man."
"Xander!" Kendra shrieked as she hit him on the arm.
"That's quite alright Kendra." Zabuto said with a smile. "Mr. Harris is just curious, like I suppose all of you are?" Everyone just nodded their heads, especially Kendra who was looking at him anxiously.
"When the plane I was on went down on an island, It killed everyone on it. All except me of course. I suffered from some form of Amnesia, so I wondered around the island for a bit and was picked up by the local coast guard. I didn't gain my memory back until about a week ago."
"Why didn't you inform the council?" Giles asked strangely not believing the man's story.
"Actually I did." Zabuto answered as he sat down his cup of tea. "They told me that they had sent you a memo."
"So now that you're here..." Giles started as he sat down on the couch. "what are your plans?"
"I'm not here to become Kendra's Watcher again." Zabuto said releaving Giles tremendously. "I actually retired as a Watcher once I was told that you adopted her. I'm only here to check up on her and to make sure that she's alright."
"Well we'll let you two be alone so you can talk." Giles said as he stood to his feet. "Xander, Willow please come with me into the kitchen." with that said Giles and the others left the room, leaving Kendra and Mr. Zabuto to talk.
"So how has everything been going?" Zabuto asked.
"Okay, just a little different." Kendra admitted.
"Mr. Giles has been treating you okay, hasn't he?" Zabuto asked, his voice full of concern.
"Yes, it's just dat...I thought dat we would be together forever..." Kendra said as she looked up to meet his gaze. "...as a team."
"As my last official act as your Watcher, let me give you some advice." Zabuto said as he smiled at her. "You have to learn to adapt. Alot of things...obstacles will come in your path, but you have to learn to overcome them. To change along with them."
"Alright." Kendra said getting, what he was saying.
"But other than that, is there anything else troubling you?"
"Besides de vampires and demons?" Kendra joked. "I just wish, I didn't have to deal with dem anymore."
"Wish granted." Zabuto said in a dark gravely voice, as his face changed to something demonic. Kendra let out a scream, before she collasped to the floor.
"It's something about that guy, I don't trust." Xander was saying to Giles as he paced in the kitchen.
"I am inclined to agree with you." Giles said as he removed his glasses and started to polish them. "Something about his story, just doesn't add up."
"You don't think that he wants to take Kendra away from you, do you?" Willow asked.
"He has already made it clear, that he doesn't intend to do anything of the sort." Giles said as he chewed on the earpiece of his glasses. "But I must admit that, I'm a little apprehensive of him being here." As he says this, they all hear Kendra scream. Quickly putting on his glasses, Giles and the others run into the living room to find, Mr. Zabuto gone and Kendra shaking violently on the floor.
"My God." Giles said as he ran to Kendra and checked her over. To the naked eye it would look like she was having a seizure, but Giles could tell that it was something more.
"Where's Mr. Zabuto?" Willow asked as she looked about the room.
"Never mind him." Giles said as he sat the still shaking Slayer up. "Xander help me get Kendra on the couch." Giles ordered. Not wasting any time Xander grabbed Kendra's legs and Giles got her from under her arms and they both lifted her onto the couch.
"Kendra, sweetheart can you hear me?" Giles pleaded as he sat down beside her and ran his hand through her hair. Kendra just had her eye's wide open looking at him, still shaking, and she started to sweat perfusely.
"Willow." Giles said as he turned to look at the shy redhead. "Fetch a bowl of water and a towel." with that said Willow ran off.
"What do you want me to do, G-man?" Xander asked. His voice was full of concern.
"Pray." Giles replied as he looked up at the boy.
Kendra sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding. Light flooded her eyes as she became instantly alert, scanning her surroundings. What had happened? Where was she? Looking around she saw that she was in her room. Looking more closely she saw that her room was bigger...more personalized.
As she sat up in bed, someone opened the door to her room and walked inside. Looking up she saw that it was...
"Xander?"
"That's my name." Xander said as he beamed at her and walked into the room. "Your mom told me to come up and get you to see if you wanted breakfast before school?"
"Me mom?" Kendra asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Something is wrong here.' She thought to herself.
"Yeah, cute lady about yay high." Xander said as he indicated her height with his hand.
"Xander what's going on here?" Kendra asked as she stood to her feet. "Where's Mr. Zabuto?"
"Mr. Zabuto?" Xander asked looking at Kendra strangely. "Honey are you feeling okay? Maybe I should get..."
"No, I'm feeling fine." Kendra lied. "Tell me...mother dat I'll be down for breakfast in a few minutes."
"Okay." Xander said giving her a look. "I'll see you in a few." with that said he walked out of the room.
'What's going on here?' Kendra thought to herself. Knowing that the only way she was going to find out any answers, was to meet her mother. What was even more disturbing, was that she couldn't find any weapons in her room. After getting ready for school she walked down the stairs and found that she was not in Giles' apartment, but a very nice house. Hearing voices in another room, she followed the sound and opened the door to a kitchen area.
When she opened the door, she saw Xander sitting at the breakfast table tickling a little black girl, that looked just like her when she was about 12. As she walked fully into the room, she saw a woman with her back turned from her cooking on the stove. As the woman turned around she saw that it was...
"Miss Calendar?"
"Kendra." Jenny said with a playful smile on her face. "I'm glad you decided to join us for breakfast."
"Um...yeah sorry for being late." Kendra said with an awkward smile as she sat down at the table. 'Something really wierd is going on.' she thought to herself.
"Hey." the girl spoke to Kendra. "You're still coming to me birthday party tonight aren't you."
"Your birthday?" Kendra asked as she looked at the girl. "Who are you?"
"Mom!" the girl whined. "Kendra's acting wierd again."
"Kendra stop teasing your sister." Miss Calendar said as she put a plate of food in front of Kendra. "You know how worked up Dierdre gets."
'Mom...me sister?' Kendra thought to herself. 'I got to find Giles."
Kendra decided not to ask anything about Giles as she silently ate her food. After that her and Xander got up and started to walk to school. Several times Xander started to hold her hand as they walked, until he revealed to her that they were dating. Then it clicked with her. She must have slipped into another dimension.
Thinking things through, she thought that the best course of action was to find Giles and see if he could get her back home.
As she finished her second period class, which she was thankful that her school schedule stayed the same, she walked into the library.
"At least dis is still de same." she said aloud as she looked about the familiar library. As she walked into the room looking at books, someone tapped her on the shoulder. With a smile on her face, thinking that it was Giles, she whirled around and saw someone else.
He was young, probably in his mid-twenties, wearing glasses and he seemed to have an air of snobbishness about himself.
"Do you need help with anything?" the man asked in a british accent.
"I was looking for a Mr. Giles." Kendra said to the man. "Have you seen him?"
"I'm sorry." the man said with a shake of his head. "Mr. Giles no longer works here. I'm new here and I'm his replacement Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." he said as he extended his hand to shake her's.
"Nice to meet you." Kendra said as she shook his hand. "Now do you know where Giles is?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't." Wes told her. "But hey, Jenny the computer teacher is his wife. Maybe you should talk to her."
"Thanks again." Kendra told him as she walked out of the library and right into somebody. "Sorry." Kendra blurted out as she looked up at the person and saw that it was her old Watcher.
"Mr. Zabuto." Kendra said as she gave him a hug. "What's going on? Why..." she stopped herself as she thought about the moment before she woke up in this dimension. When she was talking to Mr. Zabuto his face had changed into something demonic.
"Who are you?" Kendra asked as she broke her embrace from him.
"It's about time you figured I was someone different." the demon said in a dark gravely voice. "I am Tempus, the demon of temptation at your service." he said as he gave her a bow.
"What have you done to me?" Kendra asked. "Where am I?"
"My dear, I did nothing to you." Tempus said as he smiled at her. "I merely answered your wish."
"What wish?" Kendra asked as she grabbed him by his shirt, fully intent on lifting him off of his feet. But she found that she had no strength to do so.
"Ahhh...ahhhh...ahhhh." Tempus softly chided. "You have no power here Slayer. To answer your question you made a wish to me saying that you wish that you didn't have to deal with demons anymore. So now on this world, demons don't exist. This is how your life would be if all of those things like Slayers and Demons never existed."
"But what about Buffy?" Kendra asked as she let the demon go.
"She's alive and well. Since no vampires exist here she never burned down her school gym and came here. All of those mysterious deaths never happened in this town."
"What about Giles?" Kendra asked, only to find that the demon was smiling at her.
"Try Sunnydale Memorial." the demon said as he flashed away, leaving a very confused Kendra in his wake. Thinking of what he was saying, Kendra takes off into a run.
"Hey Ken, wait up!" Xander yells out to her as she runs by him in the hall. Kendra doesn't stop though, she just keeps running.
"What's up with her?" Willow asks as she and Jesse walk up beside Xander.
"I don't know." Xander said as he looked at Willow. "I just don't know."
Kendra stood puffing and wheezing as she finally made it to the hospital. She never really appreciated having Slayer stamina, but now that she didn't have it she missed it. As she entered the hospital, she looked around until she found the receptionalist's desk.
"Ahh, Miss Giles." the nurse behind the desk said as she looked up and saw Kendra. "You're here early. Shouldn't you be in school?"
"I came to see me father." Kendra said still a little out of breath from running from school to hospital. "What room is he in?" The nurse frowned at that. Kendra had been coming there for almost four months. She should know exactly where his room is.
"Room 314." the nurse said giving the now running Kendra a confused looked. As Kendra made it to room 314, her heart started to ache. Giles was in bed unconcious, with tubes and needles all in him. And just to look at his face was like she was looking at a much older man. He looked as if he were twice his age.
"Giles?" Kendra said as she walked up to him and put her head on his chest. As she started to cry Giles eye's suddenly fluttered open.
"Kendra." Giles said in a low and hoarse voice. "What are you doing here so early?" Kendra doesn't answer him, she just holds onto him a little tighter. With a weak smile Giles goes unconcious again.
"Mmm, very touching." someone said aloud. Looking up through tear stained eye's, Kendra saw that it was Tempus.
"What did you do to him?" Kendra asked, hot tears falling down her cheeks.
"I did nothing." Tempus said with a shrug. "He has cancer. You see in your dimension, he didn't contact cancer because he was healed by a voodoo shaman years ago, of whom owed Giles a favor. But now since he's in a world without magic, he's going to die."
"Send me back!" Kendra demanded as she started to tremble.
"Why?" Tempus asked as he walked up closer to her. "You have everything here. A mother, a little sister, a loving boyfriend and friends. Why on earth would you want to go back to all of that death and destruction? You're living in the perfect world."
"Because it's not perfect without him." Kendra said as she pointed at Giles. Tempus looked at the trembling girl before him and sighed. She really did love the old man. His mission to tempt Kendra into staying in this perfect world was a bust.
"Wish granted." Tempus said as he put his hand on her forehead.
Hot tears flowed from Giles eye's as he gathered Kendra in his arms. She'd only been in the seizure for a minute but it seemed like an eternity. Just as suddenly as her body spasmed it stopped. Kendra's eye's closed and she fell unconcious.
"Kendra! Kendra!" Giles yelled fearing the worse. As he pulled her close to himself and started to weep, Kendra weakly opened her eyes.
"Giles?" Kendra asked.
"Good Lord, you gave us a scare." Giles informed her, getting a hold of himself.
"Yeah, Kendra what happened?" Xander asked worriedly.
"And where's Mr. Zabuto?" Willow asked.
"I'm sorry I scared...you all." Kendra said weakly. "I'm just so tired."
"Of course." Giles said as he stood to his feet and gathered Kendra into his arms. As he looked at her he wondered how someone so powerful, could look so fragile. "Xander, Willow I'll be back in a moment." Giles said as he dissappeared upstairs with Kendra.
As he layed her down in her bed he let out a sigh. He had thought that he had lost her, but she came back to him. As he turned to walk out of the room, Kendra's next words stopped him in his tracks.
"Dad I'm cold." Kendra said half sleepily as she rolled over in bed. Giles put a smile on his face and tucked his daughter in goodnight. Kissing her on the forehead, he walked to her bedroom door, turned off the lights, and walked out of her room.
With a smile still on his face, he walked downstairs for he knew that his girl was now safe.
In an underground cavern
sametime
A man wearing all black and protective head gear for drilling, hits on a wall with a sledge hammer as other vampires work around him.
"Boss we're close to the crypt." one of the vampires tells the man with the head gear.
"Good." the man replies as he removes the gear, revealing himself to be Spike. "Soon, Slayer...oh so very soon."
TBC...
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