Buffy story! Yay! I've been in love with all things Buffy for a rather long time now. About four and a half years ago, I bought the Collector's Edition of the entire series, costing me $200. It was worth it! :D

And surprise, surprise...it's m/m! Lots of m/m, basically. In fact, I will pretty much pair a LOT of guys with my OC...because let's face it; all major Buffy guys were rather hot/sexy/adorable/cuddly. :3 In fact, the only main pairings I won't go with would be Giles/OMC and Oz/OMC. So that leaves Xander/OMC, Angel/OMC, Riley/OMC, and Spike/OMC, not necessarily in that order...so...yeah...But don't worry! Buffy will be find somebody for all you Buffy lovers.

Now, as for my other stories; don't worry! I'm working on every single next installment for all of my stories that haven't been dubbed and discontinued.

Okay, more information on this story. You've been through the pairings, so let's so over the story summary, eh?

Eric was just a normal kid in a very strange town. Everything that happened here seemed to be 'out of the norm.' But that didn't stop Eric from attempting to have the most normal existence since he already felt out of it for being gay. He had normal friends and a normal time in high school. He wasn't popular, but not really unpopular, either. He was sitting somewhere in the middle like most of the Sunnydale High population. But unlike the rest of the high school, he wanted to find out why all of the strange things kept happening and ends up getting sucked into an entire world he didn't think was even possible.

Disclaimer: Hi. Do I seem like I could be Joss Whedon? No? That's because I'm not, so don't assume I own any part of Buffy The Vampire Slayer...but I would love to. Joss Whedon...call me and we can work something out! :D

This takes place during the pilot. Yay! BTW Who knew that such a campy movie would turn into something so spectacular? Okay...sorry lol. MOVING ON!

I can honestly say that I've never worked so hard on a story before, what with all of the research and episode viewing I had to do. It was worth it, though. I always have fun writing my stories, and I hope you guys have fun reading them! :D

B U F F Y

Maybe one of these days, I'll be able to have a normal day in this hellhole. And no, I'm not talking about some pop quiz in a class I never do well in, or even having a person of the female persuasion ask me out. No, it's those days that have people suddenly missing, only leaving a trail of slime leading to the kitchen sink, or even somebody's body found near a cemetery with two puncture wounds in their neck. Yeah, it's rather unreal in this town.

I started to veer more and more away from my usual friends because all they talked about were the normal things in life, but I wasn't one to just ignore whatever happens around me. Unlike them, instead of talking about music or clothes, I wanted to talk about last week's freaky murder that left the victim with a pentagram carved into their forehead. I decided I wasn't going to stick my head in the sand any longer. This is a new year, my sophomore year to be exact, so that means that it's time to finally make some sense of this place. I was going to dedicate my time to researching some of the weird things that went on here.

After greeting my 'friends,' I saw somebody I didn't recognize. And trust me, in such a small town, it was hard not to recognize somebody. She had golden locks of hair with thin bangs hanging across her forehead. She was wearing a white top with a burgundy colored skirt and black boots that stopped a few inches below her knees. The mystery girl looked around in, what seemed like, a nervous gaze. Her emerald eyes only held that emotion, and it didn't seem like a good kind of nervous either. Everybody seemed to stop and glance at her, a lot of them stopping to whisper about 'the new girl' I wasn't gonna lie, though; she is really attractive. I mean, I'm not into girls, but I'm sure that if I were straight, I'd be running into a rail like Xander Harris did not moments later.

Xander. His name always kind of sent emotion coursing through me. I've had a crush on Xander Harris for many years, but that didn't change the fact that he was one hundred percent into the female anatomy. And him staring at Buffy like that only proved it more so.

Don't feel bad, though. I've gotten used to it. He was just somebody I could never have, but I accepted that some time in middle school. Sure, we chatted a little bit, but that was all.

I guess it kind of started in 1st grade. I was sitting there, minding my own business, and this later-to-be jock, Larry Blaisdell, walked up to me and stole my cookies and juice and proceeded to kick sand in my face. As I spat the grainy unpleasantness out of my mouth, I could feel the tears swelling up behind my eyes, but I couldn't let them spill. Everybody was watching and I couldn't let the entire class see me.

That was when Xander ran up to me. "Here, you wanna share?" he asked me with such kindness and innocence. I remember smiling brightly before nodding. After we were done, though, he laughed it off and went back to his redhead friend, Willow Rosenberg.

They contrasted a little bit, though. Xander had dark chestnut colored hair, fair skin, and chocolate brown orbs, where as Willow had bright orange hair with equally bright eyes and somewhat of a pale complexion.

Over the years, they gained a new friend into their duo; Jesse. And as I walked into the school, I could see them conversing with each other, even as I was lost in thought. Jesse McNally was a little tanner than Xander, with a bit more curliness to his hair. He was a little bit slimmer than Xander, too.

I'm sorry. I'm comparing everything to Xander, you guys must think I belong in a mental institution somewhere with my hands wrapped up in a jacket that only opens up from the back. I promise you that I'm not, though. I've grown comfortably around him, and liking him was just another factor in my life. It was no big deal, nor did it need any sort of acknowledgment. It was just there, and I've already dealt with that.

As I walked down the hall, I saw that the new girl had entered Principal Flutie's office. More than likely, she was going to be given a rundown of how the school worked. But that didn't stop me on my way to the school's library to start on my research.

I entered through the double doors and found a new librarian than from last year. Last year, it was some crotchety old woman with pale brown hair and what seemed like a bunch of one-piece outfits when really, it was just a shirt that matched her pants...completely. It was like a tracksuit for the lazy.

This one, however, was a man. He wore glasses on the tip of his nose as he went through some of the boxes of books he had. He looked up and smiled pleasantly.

"Hello, there." And apparently, he was also British. "I'm Mr. Giles, your new...librarian." he greeted as he continued to stand behind the tiny counter. I walked up to the counter and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Eric Lobes." I said with a polite grin as I readjusted the only strap from my backpack I used and glanced over at one of the books.

The cover was old with many dust particles resting upon it. The brown leather casing was well-preserved, though. No tears in the binding or anything like that. That's when I noticed the title to the book. "Vampyr." It was clasped together, unable to open. He noticed my gaze and quickly hid the book under the counter.

"Can I help you with something?" His attempt at changing the subject didn't really do much for me. I kept it on the same track, or at least attempted to.

"Did that...say 'vampire?' Is that...available...you know, to check out, possibly?" I don't know if it was his status as the new librarian or just the subject at hand, but he seemed intrigued.

"Do you know a Ms. Buffy Summers, perhaps?" Mr. Giles asked cautiously. It seemed he was holding something back, but I didn't call him on it.

"No, I don't. Sorry. Oh, wait. Is that that new girl?" I asked curiously, my head slightly tilting to the side in a questioning manner.

"Umm...why do you want to check out this book?" He changed the subject quickly, making me wonder why he did so. I scratched the back of my head, the strands of dark brown hair moving along my fingers. He fidgeted a little at his question, nervously adjusting his glasses.

"If you lived here, you might know for yourself." Would I really get into my whole 'evil things are real' rant with the school librarian? The questioning look he gave me told me that yes, I would.

I glanced over at the newspaper stand near the entryway of the library. I grabbed the most recent issue of the Sunnydale Press they had and looked for a good article. I saw one and pulled a red felt marker out of my backpack, circling the title and picture of the article.

"Look. 'Local Boys Still Missing.' Says here that they were playing in the park around the time the sun went down. One of the boys friends was found in that park with two small holes in his neck and drained of his blood." I looked up at him and noticed he was unfazed by it.

"Yes, well that could be an animal. A, umm, coyote, or possibly a wo-"

"A wolf? Yeah, that's what the police said. The thing is, there wasn't any trace of scratches or footprints that would indicate as such." I went on, putting the marker back into my backpack having already read over the article once before.

"Yes, well that's quite a conspiracy theory you have there..." He began adjusting his glasses again. "But, this book isn't allowed to be checked out. It's part of a personal collection." Mr. Giles went to the back, which I figured to be his own work space. For a second, I contemplated over just grabbing the book from behind the counter, but that was too unethical for me.

"Well, I guess if you're not going to let me see it, can you point me in the direction of some sort of mythical section?" I asked politely even though I was a little irritated at the fact that he avoided the entire conversation we just had. He peeked out of the back and pointed toward the left side of the library.

"Fantasy and fiction are over in that corner." Fiction? Fine, I guess it'll have to do. I sighed and slowly dragged my feet up the steps of the small section and proceeded to look through all of the titles rapidly. It was nothing but Anne Rice and Stephen King novels. So much for researching via literature. I guess I could use my free period to come back during my free period after my math class. I sighed heavily and went on my way to class as the bell rang.

B U F F Y

After a dreary assignment of the Pythagorean theorem, I slumped my way out of my chair and headed straight for the library, only to be stopped the new girl exiting her class with one Cordelia Chase.

How do I put this lightly? Cordelia is...well, she's a bitch. In fact, she's an uber bitch. Sometimes, I think that she's some sort of evil entity concocted by Lucifer's third grandson or something. But no, she's just a normal teen prom queen who thinks she's above everybody else in the world. I walked up in time to hear her scoff softly.

"Ugh, I would kill to live in L.A. That close to that many shoes." The girl just laughed along. Great; another recruit to Cordelia's army of overbearingly materialistic teeny-boppers who have no clue on what goes on in the world around them. Poor Xander will be so disappointed to find out that the new girl will be forbidden to be seen with him by said conceited creature.

See, Xander wasn't exactly high up on the social ladder. Let's face it; he was no Harmony Kendall, another one of Cordelia's followers. But, that didn't matter to him, which I found to be a very redeeming quality about him.

As I walked down the hall, I saw a certain redhead walking along. She had on a pale green flannel dress that stopped just below her knees, which had white leggings to cover them up. There was an eggshell colored shirt underneath her dress, the collar folded it to just barely brush against the black straps of her navy blue backpack. No, she didn't have the best fashion sense, but she was probably the sweetest girl I've ever met. I mean, even though half of the school knew she was practically in love with Xander, and the other half assumed they were dating already, I wasn't going to let that stop me from gaining a good friend. She was soft spoken and rather selfless, always with a kind word and support, no matter what the situation might be. No wonder her and Xander were such good friends.

She smiled at me kindly before waving as she made her way to the water fountain.

I walked into the library for the second time that day and glanced over at the counter. I grinned lightly at the newspaper article that still sat atop it from this morning. Mr. Giles was nowhere to be found, so I helped myself to a computer in the back of the school, not really wanting people to know exactly what I was doing. I turned it on and set my bag aside. I heard a tiny bit of shuffling from a few feet behind me and decided to peek through the bookshelf to see who it was.

To my surprise, it was Xander. I don't think I've ever seen him set foot inside a library, let alone reading in one. That's when I realized that he was looking at a textbook. He must be getting one for his classes, which made sense. Sure, he didn't study too hard, but he didn't really fail either. He glanced up, probably feeling my gaze, and smiled lightly. He waved kindly at me and I returned it with full enthusiasm. Or at least enough enthusiasm to still be able to look normal.

At that point, I heard the door to the library slowly squeak open. "Hello?" The voice was definitely female and one I didn't seem to recognize. My mind automatically flashed to the new girl. Both Xander and I turned our heads in the direction of the foreign noise. It seems we both knew she was looking for Mr. Giles and went back to whatever we were doing. "Is anybody here?" she continued, her voice slow and cautious.

A few moments later, I heard her let out a tiny gasp. She sighed with relief before replying to whatever made her jump. "Anybody's here." I grinned at that. If this was the new girl, I liked her sense of humor. I looked over and it seemed like Xander was thinking the same thing because he had a tiny smirk in place of where his usual goofy grin was. Some locks of his hair covered parts of his eye, so I couldn't tell if he seemed to be unintentionally eavesdropping due to the acoustics in this library, like me, or if he was grinning at something he was reading.

"Can I help you?" a very British voice proceeded to answer her. Yup, she found Mr. Giles. Well , that, or there was some other British man with a very proper way of speaking walking around this part of California.

"I was looking for some, well, books. I-I'm new." Both Xander and I perked up at this. It was the new girl after all. Xander continued to face toward the entrance for a little bit before placing one of the textbooks back and picking up another.

"Ms. Summers?" That's right, her name is Buffy. Buffy Summers.

"Good...call...Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?" she said a tad bit comically. Well, she'd be right. She was big news in such a tiny school. It was all anybody talked about last period and I'm guessing the discussion will still be going on for quite some time.

"I'm Mr. Giles...the librarian-" Did he always say it like that? "I was told you were coming." I'm guessing Principal Flutie already mentioned her to him, which is different, but not really abnormal of Flutie. He always had a tendency to talk too much, leading to some information getting out. That's how the Seniors last year protested against the senior trip to be at some crappy carnival a few towns over. I heard all they had was a broken down Ferris wheel and a cotton candy stand.

"Great...so, I'm gonna need perspectives on 20th century-" she was stopped mid-sentence by the very British librarian.

"I know what you're after." It was followed by a loud bang of a book's weight being placed on the counter, the noise only intensified by the vibrato within the room. Wow, he's a pretty good librarian if he knew exactly what books she needed. Well done, Sunnydale school district.

After a long pause, Buffy responded. "That's not what I'm looking for..." Whoops, never mind Sunnydale, you still suck...

"You sure?" It's kind of obvious that, yes, she's sure. I laughed a little bit at that.

"I'm way sure." See, Mr. Giles? Told you.

"Oh. My mistake." Yes, Mr. Giles...yes. "So what is it you-" That was when the door squeaked a little bit. She must have left, and in a hurry if the librarian was still talking to her. Xander and I looked at each other and we both smiled briefly before returning to what we were doing.

B U F F Y

Just when I was finally getting onto something, the bell rang. I cursed to myself and saved it as a bookmark. I'll see if I can come back later during lunch.

The rest of the time was all classes I didn't pay much attention in. My mind kept wondering back to that book and some of the research I did. I ended up using a search engine for random things I found through the town's newspaper, but only found the specific articles on their website. I thought back to the book that Mr. Giles had and typed it in. Finally, I was getting much more research leaning more toward what really goes on. And that's when the bell rang.

Finally, I made it to lunch. By that time, I had heard about a dead body found in one of the lockers in the girls' locker room. I didn't get the name, but I still felt bad for the guy. There were, apparently, some puncture wounds (big surprise). I felt bad for his family and friends who had to deal with that, probably burying themselves deeper into convincing themselves everything was normal.

As I passed from one class to the library, I came upon Buffy talking to Xander, Willow, Jesse, and Cordelia, which is weird because Cordelia wouldn't be caught dead having them in her presence, let alone have a conversation with them. That's when I saw Buffy get up in a rushed manner to leave her new...friends? Acquaintances? Buddies? What were they?

Not too long after, I saw Xander getting up and going in my direction. I grinned widely as he continued only to be subjected to rejection as he walked past me and entered the library. Yeah, that felt good...

Once again, I entered the library taking my previous spot in the back of the library. I noticed Mr. Giles putting away some books, but he didn't notice me. Nor did he notice Xander on the other side of the library. I decided not to really get any attention and just continue my research. After a few minutes of looking up random paranormal entities that Sunnydale might have come across.

That's when I heard Buffy's voice yell, "Okay! What's the sitch?" It made me jump since I was so enthralled by what I was reading about some sort of phantom thing.

"Sorry?" Mr. Giles asked as he peaked from behind the bookcase he was currently at and toward the direction of the loud disturbance.

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?" The next minute was a blur of random phrases that could only be described as paranormal. 'Vampire slayers,' and 'demons.' It was finally coming together that I wasn't over-analyzing everything just because I was bored. That brought somewhat of a small smile to my face. But still, it was somewhat unsettling to finally get confirmation from people around me that everybody's nightmares were walking around and existing right here in a little town in California. I looked over at Xander incredulously and he looked more freaked out than I did. But let's face it, I've realized it a long time ago that something was going on and had enough time to not only process, but believe in it all. Xander, on the other hand, must just be hearing about all of this now. He was staring at the bookshelf like it was the only sense of sanity he had left.

After a long period of silence and the squeaking of the double doors of the library, Xander made a movement toward the front of the library. "...What?" was all he could exclaim as he held onto his book in hand. Then, he looked behind him and at me. "Did you...?"

"Y-Ye-...I think so..." I answered, knowing he was asking me if I heard all of that as he gestured toward where the two people were standing not too long ago talking about werewolves and succubi and vampires...all of that jolly lovey dovey that is evil.

After a long look of confusion shared between the two of us, the bell rang.

"Do you still have the same number you did last year?" he asked me bluntly. I was taken aback a bit but didn't late it show.

"Yeah, why?" My confusion, however, leaked through to the surface more so than it had from earlier.

"I think we need to meet Buffy at The Bronze. I heard from somebody that Cordelia invited her tonight." The Bronze was this trendy club where anybody of any age could go to and have fun. Of course, people under 21 had to drink Sprite and Kool-Aid while older ones got beer and cocktails. Other than that, it was pretty fun. I've been there a couple of times and they usually have live bands playing.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Should we tell your friends?" Of course, I referred to Willow and Jesse, a brief image of the two people flashing in my mind.

"Even if we told them, I doubt we would believe them. But I'm going to invite Willow and Jesse, anyways. If this was all just a big misunderstanding we can still have a night out. Music, lights, non-alcoholic beverages...music..." I knew him well enough to know that when he was uncomfortable, he jokes around to cover up the mood with some sort of comical tone.

At first, I didn't really want to go out tonight, but Xander invited me, of all people. Yes, we needed to talk to Buffy, but why not consequently have fun tonight?

"Sure." I said, my insides lit with fireworks and...clowns? What else is considered happy? Maybe puppies. Sure, why not? My insides were lit with fireworks and pup...wait, I don't want to light puppies on fire!

"Cool." Xander said, still somewhat frantic of the subject he was previously educated in. It threw me out of my disturbing thoughts of puppies, though, so that was good. "I'll call your number when I'm on my way to pick you up." I nodded and he was on his way out the door with one last acknowledgment of said nod.

I linked myself the website I found, deciding to show it to Xander when he comes over.

Maybe I'll make some new friends tonight.

B U F F Y

It was close to 8:00 when I got the phone call from Xander. He was only a few minutes away, so the walk was fairly short.

I got dressed in an dark crimson sweater with some bleached jeans I bought not too long ago and some shoes I found in the back of my father's old closet. I winced internally at the use of thinking 'my father's old closet.' It still hurt to think about him, but that was an entirely different thing at hand.

Anyways, I got dressed and did my hair like I like it; sort of messy looking but it wasn't long enough to look messy. In fact, it looked rather good, if I do say so myself. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my hazel eyes staring back at me. My eyes held so much more emotion than I usually emit. It wasn't that I was closed up, it's just that I didn't really talk to my friends much outside of school. I didn't really have many to depend on, which is probably why the only person I've shared my theories about this cursed town was Mr. Giles. It felt good to discuss with somebody instead of just letting it dwell in my head, I didn't care that he thought I was crazy. Then again, he must not have considering that he basically confirmed my every suspicion of Sunnydale with his little chat with Buffy.

I flattened out my sweater and proceeded over to my computer. I opened up the website and kept it there for when Xander arrived.

Not moments after I sat down at the computer desk did Xander ring the doorbell. Of course, I was the one to get it since my mom was working until midnight again. My mom, Lisa, had two jobs to keep the roof over our heads. I felt bad that I haven't found a job yet to help out, but absolutely nobody seemed to be hiring. It was that whole 'you need experience to get a job and a job to get experience' kind of thing. So, instead, I make it easier on her and clean the house and cook dinner and whatnot so that when she gets home, she can just relax and have a nice meal. She didn't need nor deserve any extra burdens.

I opened the door and saw Xander smirking at me. "Hey Er! Haven't been here in a while. What was it; 8th grade? Remember? When we had that project together?"

Of course I do, Xander. That's the day I realized that you and I would never happen.

"Mm, barely." I answered jokingly, inviting him in by opening the door just enough to enter. "Come on, I gotta show you something." I led him through the hallway and into my room. It was tiny, but quaint. It was bright with a striped bedspread sprawled out lazily across the mattress. There was a wooden nightstand right next to it, which was where my alarm clock and nothing else sat on top of it. And across from my bed was my closet and my computer desk.

"I was doing some research in the library and I came across some stuff," I scrolled down the page and found the spot that was most important and read it out loud. "The mouth of Hell, or Hellmouth, is a place of increased supernatural energies. This is the area where barriers between dimensions are weak." I glanced over at Xander and he just looked incredulously at the computer screen. He didn't say anything or gave any sign to stop, so I just continued. "The Hellmouth has a focal point, which serves as a portal between earth and Hell. The Hellmouth attracts demons and other supernatural creatures and becomes a 'hot spot' for supernatural activity." The paragraph ended there, so I stopped reading the words off of the screen.

I looked at Xander for any sort of confirmation that he understood, if not, got what I was saying. He just had a dumbfounded look on his face as he took a seat on my bed.

"So...life sucks for normal people but this entire town gets to deal with 'demons' too?" He added air quotations around the word, probably his only way of keeping somewhat sane at what he just learned. I nodded, my arms now across my chest. "...Fun..."

"Alright, we should probably go. Don't want to miss Buffy, or Willow and Jesse for that matter...buuut...mostly Buffy..." I babbled a little. It's what happens when I'm around Xander, or a guy a liked. Sadly for me, they were the same people, so I didn't know how to differentiate the two.

B U F F Y

"So, how's life?" Xander asked as we walked along the side of the road leading up to the club."Anything exciting happen since the last time we hung out? No dancing bear or a gang of circus freaks cleaning up the city or anything like that? Ooh, or maybe there was a gang of circus freaks with a pet dancing bear. Bet you didn't think about that, did ya?" He joked. He did that a lot, and I found all of them adorable, even if they were some of the longest jokes I've ever witnessed. I laughed enthusiastically as we continued step-by-step toward our destination.

"No, none of that. Although, I did see a monkey with a tiny red Russian cap. You know with the tassel and everything?" I responded eagerly to his joke with something equally in the goodness of fun, gesturing toward the top of my head. "Yeah, that was nice."

"Ooh, ooh, did he have those little cymbals that he can clap with?" Xander asked, playing along. I was happy that my jokes went over well with him, it made me grin that much wider.

"It did, it did." I continued, smiling the entire time. "Turns out, though, that it was fake. Can't really tell the difference when you're peering into a toy shop from across the street."

"Damn it. Thought maybe we could hire it for parties or something." I laughed heartily at that, my hands nervously grabbing at nothing particular inside the pockets of my jeans.

It fell into silence again, but it was more of a comfortable silence. With anybody else, I would have wanted to try and revive some sort of conversation with them but it turns out that it wasn't a big necessity when I was with him. I felt comfortable in my own skin, which was new to me.

"So, where was your mom?" he asked me, his brown jacket slightly brushing against my arm. I shivered at the thought of him offering me his jacket. I wasn't cold. Not in the least. But to be wrapped in Xander's scent would be...intoxicating, to say the least.

"She's working. Won't be home for a while." I answered him easily, my thoughts still lost in fantasy.

"And your dad?" Wow. That definitely broke me out of it. Should I tell him?

"He...he's not home, either." I lied. It was nowhere near his 'home' anymore, whatever that meant.

"Oh, well, looks like we have you for quite some time there, buddy." he chuckled lightly and jabbed me softly on the shoulder for emphasis. It made me smile softly knowing that the idea of me around him wasn't just mandatory, but it was welcomed.

We finally made it to The Bronze and saw Buffy exiting it in a rather rushed manner. Her bangs were softly moving across the top of her face as she continued at a brisk pace in the opposite direction.

"Hey, you're leaving already?" Xander greeted, Buffy surprised by the contact. I looked at her, her eyes frantic and worried.

"Oh. Xander have you seen Willow?" she asked immediately after what Xander said. Wasn't Willow supposed to be inside? No...something's wrong; I can tell.

"Not tonight, no. We just got here." he said, gesturing behind him at me in acknowledgment. I didn't have time to feel good about because with the way Buffy made it seem, Willow really needed to be found. It's never good to be lost in Sunnydale.

"She left with a guy." Buffy informed us, her eyes moving back and forth between Xander's and mine, pleading with herself that everything would be okay.

"...Talking about Willow, right?" he joked, causing Buffy to scoff loudly at him. "Scorin' at The Bronze. Work it, Girlf-" At that point, I slapped Xander in the arm and pointed to Buffy to pay attention.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, looking back at me. His eyes meeting mine, and even though we were in a bad situation, I couldn't help but enjoy it.

"No, I need to find her. Where would he take her?" she asked Xander, not really expecting an answer. She searched the area within sight, taking a few steps in front of her, ready to leave.

"Why? Oh hey, I hope he's not a vampire because then you might have to slay him." She looked back at us with shock in her eyes. I returned it with a knowing look which I hope didn't come off as feigned belief.

"...Wa...Was there, uhh, uhh, a school bulletin? Was it i-in the newspaper? Is there anyone in this town that doesn't know I'm the slayer?" She waved her arms out for emphasis, obviously peeved that her secret was no longer only hers and the librarian's.

"We only know that you think you're the slayer, and the reason we know that-" Xander started, attempting to explain it briefly, but was interrupted by a rushing Buffy.

"Look, whatever, it doesn't matter. Just tell me; where would Willow go? Because if we don't find her, there's going to be one more dead body in the morning."

"Where do vampires like to go, exactly?" I asked, trying to bring light to the problem at hand.

"...Cemetery! Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed as we all started running toward the local graveyard. We must have looked like psychos just sprinting down Blue Hill Street, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was getting Willow away from this guy.

We made it to the cemetery, both Xander and I panting softly amongst ourselves as Buffy seemed unfazed by it. We looked around, looking for any sign that Willow was around here. Then, we heard a shriek come from one of the crypts ten feet away.

"Come on!" Buffy said, gesturing toward the small stone structure. Instantly, Buffy went from worried to sarcastic, using banter to psych out the enemies, perhaps?

"Well, this is nice. It's a little bare, but a dash of of paint, a few throw pillows; call it home." she teased as she ran her fingers across the top of a stone sarcophagus as she rounded it, looking brave in the sense that she could care less that these were vampires.

I looked over at the two unknown beings and couldn't help but see that their faces were deformed. Extra ridges went along their entire face and their eyes were a piercing yellow that you could clearly see, especially in the dark, almost glowing. And of course, their fangs stuck out the most. Sharp, pointed teeth were no longer hidden behind the crooked smile of the blonde vampire as she continued her banter with 'the chosen one.'

"Who the hell are you?" the vampire asked, walking toward Buffy. Xander tapped my hand from behind, causing me to jump slightly but still unnoticed, or at least ignored, by the two vampires that kept creeping toward the small blonde high school sophomore.

"Buffy, we bail now, right?" Xander asked, fear very noticeable in his voice.

"Not yet." the male vampire responded for her as they continued to approach her. I looked over at Willow and Jesse as Buffy continued on. Jesse had a wound on his neck, obviously being bitten by one of them. He looked dazed and out of it as he continued covering up the open wound. Willow, on the other hand, just looked absolutely terrified. I glanced over at Buffy to see if there was any chance we could sneak them out of here and I looked just in time to see Buffy pull out a wooden stake from her jacket and stab the vampire who crept up from behind her while she continued being witty with the blonde one. He gasped in pain and fell over, suddenly turning into nothing but...dust? Ash? I'm not sure how that works, but either way, I could feel my eyes practically bulge out from my sockets as my breathing became faster and more panicked.

"See what happens when you roughhouse?" Buffy said with amusement, the stake held up to her shoulder.

"He was young and stupid!" The vampire proclaimed in defense. If I wasn't mistaken, there was somewhat of surprise in her voice...maybe even some sort of terror.

"Xander, Eric, go!" Buffy called to us, followed closely by a warning from the creature across from her.

"Don't go far." Xander and I scattered to get Jesse and Willow. I helped Willow up while Xander got Jesse and we both helped him out of the crypt safely, the iron gate to the crypt squeaking. The sound of what could only be described as fighting could be heard from within the four walls as it echoed throughout the cemetery.

Almost immediately, the four of us ran as fast as we could across the many graves that lay upon the ground, nothing but green, gray, and black streaming past us as we were fueled by adrenaline. Adrenaline and fear.

"We'll get the police. It's just a few blocks up." Willow informed us as we continued to run. I could start to see dark moving figures in front of us but it was too late to turn back as more vampires started to surround us, causing us to stop in our tracks. They growled in hunger as they gazed at us like we were their next meal, and to be honest, I was truly terrified for our lives.

Behind us, I could hear blonde vampire from earlier start to laugh sinisterly, sending the most disturbing chill down my spine. If she was here, does that mean that Buffy...

At that point, each vampire grabbed one of us. I tried fighting back but it was no use, whoever this was was way too strong for me to handle. He threw me down on the ground and I could hear somebody else being thrown down next to me. They started to shriek with terror and I realized it was Willow who was struggling near me, her panicked screams vibrating in my ears.

"Let me go!" I yelled at the creature that now lay on top of me as Willow continued to fight back. The vampire snapped my neck to the side suddenly and I could see that Willow was in the same situation. "Get off!" I continued, even though it did nothing. I could now feel the tip of his fang tease at the base of my neck, only causing me to freeze completely as I silently pleaded for me life.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another figure rushing toward us. Oh, God. Another vampire to make sure the job gets done. I closed my eyes in hopes to black out or faint or something. Anything so that I wouldn't have to feel every second of agony.

I felt the vampire above me push back, his fangs no longer anywhere near me or my exposed neck. I opened my eyes to see Buffy stake the final one with a broken tree branch, relief suddenly washing over me. I got up to help Willow off from the grass. I looked around and my heart sank; where are Xander and Jessie?

Buffy started to back away and then run in the opposite direction of where the crypt was. Willow and I both rushed after her, hoping that both of them were okay.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed, causing me to turn my head toward where she was looking. Xander was being dragged by two vampires, obviously been hurt himself. Buffy appeared out of nowhere, staking one of them. The other fled away in fear of gaining the same fate.

"Xander." Willow knelt beside me as I helped Xander up, having his shoulder rest against my chest.

"Are you okay?" My voice sounded more frantic than was normal for somebody who was supposed to be an old friend, but nobody seemed to notice it, let alone acknowledge it.

"Man, something hit me." he replied as he clutched at his wounded head.

"W-where's Jesse?" Buffy asked to nobody specific, hoping for a positive answer.

"I don't know." I replied, my eyes now searching around the graveyard's many shadows.

"They surrounded us." Willow finished informatively, looking at Xander with a worried look in her eyes. Yes, she was definitely in love with him.

"That-that girl grabbed him and took off." Xander said, still a hand over the bloodied battle wound, the smell of iron wisping in the air from the crimson liquid.

"Jesse..." Buffy whispered as she stood there and looked around the cemetery for any sign of him.

We all helped Xander up, but Willow volunteered to take him home, which nobody had any objections to. Well...none that were verbal, anyway. Buffy walked me back to my house to make sure that I was safe.

"Thanks, Buffy." I said as we walked up the concrete path that led to my front door, the brightness of the white almost acting as a beacon of safety after what happened tonight.

"No problem." she said softly, obviously deep in her own thoughts.

"Buffy." I started, causing her to look up from the spot she was looking at absentmindedly on the ground. "We'll find Jesse." I assured her, feeling the need to try and comfort my new friend. Well, that's what anybody would be if they had to go through that with others, right? It brought us closer, and once we find Jesse, we will be closer to him, also.

"I know we will. We might need to talk to the librarian tomorrow." Buffy informed as she walked away, still following the cold, gray path.

"Right. Mr. Giles. The...Watcher, or whatever..." I was still somewhat confused as to what happened, but it was more out of shock than being uninformed. I had a feeling about all of this, and it all just became vividly clear tonight. "Don't worry, I'll be there first thing in the morning."

She flashed me a friendly smile before continuing on. "Hey Buffy. I don't have to worry about anything, like, coming in here, right?"

"Nope. Lucky for you, you don't need to go all Sister Mary and hang crosses everywhere. They can only come in when invited." she explained, a sigh of relief escaping my lips.

"Cool, thanks." I said before finally entering my home. I looked at the clock and noticed it was still only ten o' clock. I was alone in this eery silence for another two hours. I walked down the hall, each step seemingly growing louder the farther I went. The clomping of the hardwood floors underneath my steps didn't do much to help me ease my fears, either.

I entered my bedroom and flicked on the light, half expecting to see some sort of figure standing in the darkness, waiting for me. I walked over to my bedroom window and closed the blinds since I had a feeling that somebody was watching me from outside. Of course, nobody was, but I couldn't help the uneasiness that came with tonight's events.

B U F F Y

In the morning, we were all gathered in the library listening to Mr. Giles' brief history of demons. He told us that they lived on this planet way before any humans had. They lost touch with this world because it became more and more made for mortal beings.

"All that are left are 'The Old Ones.'" he continued on as he placed books onto the table we all shared. "Vestiges. Certain magics, certain creatures."

"And vampires." Buffy said as she continued nursing her arm, hurt from last night.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem." Xander suddenly interjected as he paced the floor of the carpeted room. "See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a talk with vampires in it."

"That doesn't mean they aren't real, Xander. You saw what happened last night." I said, trying to bring some sort of sanity into what Xander was trying to explain.

"No. No, those weren't vampires. Those were just...guys in thunder need of a facial. O-or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies." Buffy said, continuing to mock any sort of disbelief we all might have had. "And that guy turning into dust; just a trick of light...That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire...well...after I was done with the screaming part..." I smirked slightly trying to picture the brave hero from last night screaming at anything...it didn't seem too realistic.

"Oh, I—I need to sit down..." Willow stated softly, her face paler than it ever was.

"You are sitting down." Buffy informed her as she looked down at her new friend.

"Oh, good for me..." Willow trailed off, still staring at nothing in particular.

"You okay?" I asked Willow in a soft tone and only received a very distracted nod. "I can't blame you for looking like you want to run out of here screaming at the top of your lungs. I mean, this is completely insane...finally getting confirmation of everythi-"

"Wait, confirmation?" Xander asked curiously as he leaned against one of the tables across from where Willow and I were sitting. His brown eyes bore into mine as he waited for a response.

"Oh, come on. Haven't you guys ever suspected something weird has been going on here?" I asked, looking at the two old friends in the room. "I mean, the mysterious disappearances, the bodies hardly having a drop of blood left in them to cover the top of a thimble..."

"Well, it's certainly out of the ordinary." Mr. Giles spoke as he gazed upon the group of teenagers that were talking about the paranormal in his library.

"So, vampires are demons." It was uttered out of Xander's mouth more as a statement than it was a question, which meant that there was finally some understanding within the group itself.

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human; mixed their blood. He was uh—uh a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another...and so they walked the earth; feeding."

"Thus the creation of the big fanged baddies." I said as Xander took the book from the older man and looked at its scriptures.

"They waited for the animals to die out...and 'The Old Ones' to return." Mr. Giles continued, finally granting some clarity on 'how.'

"What about slayers?" Willow asked, still in somewhat of a daze as she continued to speak in only a soft tone overwhelmed by information.

"And that would be a what?" Xander asked as he continued to pace the library as he did just a couple of minutes beforehand. Xander had this cute confused face that made me practically melt into my seat, but I kept it to myself. Oh, wait. The British man is talking. Surely, it's more important than Xander's adorable expressions. Must...look...away...! There!

"...One girl in all the world; a chosen one."

"He loves doing this part." Buffy said with a small grin on her face, causing me to smirk as well as I recalled the previous time he had explained to Buffy and, unbeknownst to the two at the time, Xander and I.

"Alright." Mr. Giles started again, an exasperated sigh leaving his mouth. "Slayers kill vampires. Buffy's a slayer. Don't tell anyone." I chuckled silently to myself at how simplistic it all actually was.

"See? Now was that so hard using small and short descriptions for us American teenagers?" I teased, finding it both friendly and comfortable.

"I think that's all the vampire information you need." he finished, looking down at the books of demons sitting on top of the wooden bookshelves across from him.

"Except for one thing; how do you kill them?" Xander asked the question that was on probably both Willow's and my own mind. He had a point, though. We need some way of protecting ourselves.

"You don't. I do." Buffy pointed out as she continued to nurse her forearm in a blue rag of some sort.

"But Jesse's my-" Xander attempted to continue but was stopped by Buffy.

"Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken."

"That's not true, Buffy. We were all there yesterday. We're just glad you were there at all" I said, having everybody look in my direction as they briefly took in what I said before Willow elaborated on it.

"Eric's right. If you hadn't shown up, they would have taken us, too." Xander and I both nodded in agreement. "Does anybody mind if I pass out." Buffy then continued to help calm Willow down by making her breathe.

"This big guy, Luke, he talked about an offering to a master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they were just feeding, then Jesse may still be alive...I'm gonna find him." Buffy stated clearly, the news about this only hitting the rest of us for the first time.

"What about the police?" Willow asked sheepishly, her face letting the room know that she felt stupid hearing it out loud.

"I don't think they would believe that we were attacked by vampires. We can't just make up that they were some tragic plastic surgery gang..." I explained, hopefully clearing that up.

"No?" Guess not. Willow looked at me in hope that maybe we could.

"No." I said.

"No..." She looked like a lost puppy, so I tried to comfort her by patting her on the shoulder closest to me. She looked at me with a kind smile and we both returned to the conversation at hand.

"So, you have no idea where they took Jesse?" Mr. Giles spoke once again as he readjusted his glasses for the second time since he stood back up.

"I checked the graveyard but I when I wasn't looking, they could have just fwoom." Buffy expressed with a sound effect for emphasis.

"They can fly?" Xander asked urgently, his eyes wider than they were before. I found his comment cute and it was hard to hold in a laugh, but I could do nothing to hide the grin on my face.

"They can drive." Buffy informed Xander, making me let out a chuckle. Xander looked in my direction and laughed softly with me.

"But I don't remember hearing a car..." Willow told us as she leaned over the table, her arms resting on it.

"Come to think of it, they were pretty...you know...soundless..." I agreed, lack of a better term escaping me at the moment.

"Quiet." Buffy said, trying to cover up what I had just said. I gave a short nod before proceeding.

"I may be crazy for suggesting this, but...what if they went underground?"

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the town without catching any rays." Buffy informed us as she stood up from what seemed like feeling too antsy. "But, I didn't see any access there."

"What about the electrical tunnel system that leads all over town?" Xander

"We do have a diagnostic that might indicate a meeting place. I suppose we could go to the building commission." Mr. Giles slid his hands into his tweed pockets as he tried to form some sort of plan.

"I don't think we have that kind of time, you know?" I said, hoping that I wasn't the only person that was still fearful of whatever time schedule the vampires might have made for us.

"Uh, guys?" Willow started, gathering everybody's attention on her. "There may be another way."

"How?" Xander asked quizzically as he slightly leaned forward.

B U F F Y

A bunch of computer pings and blips later, Willow found the blueprints to the tunnels.

"Lookie there. They run under the graveyard..." I commented observantly, but everyone could already see that.

"I don't see any access." Xander said as he looked over the blueprints next to me. I could feel the heat from his body resonating onto me. I wished I could get closer to feel more, but Jesse was still in danger, so my troubled little teenage fantasies will just have to wait for another day.

"So, the city plans are just...open to the public...?" The librarian asked from behind me, I gave a small knowing smirk that they weren't nearly available to the populace of Sunnydale.

"Umm...well...i—in a way...I sort of stumble onto them...when I accidentally decrypted the city council security system..." Willow explained, trying to keep her innocence in what she was doing.

"Someone's been naughty." Xander teased, causing me to grin widely and start to chuckle before Buffy jumped up in frustration.

"There's nothing here; this is useless! I mean, I was on top of things when that vampire, Luke, just came out of nowhere-" A glazed look fell over her as she paused mid-sentence. "He didn't just come out of nowhere; he came from behind me." I quickly decided this was no time for jokes, so I'll save that one for Xander later if the subject ever came up again...wait, sorry...trailing off, now. Back to Buffy-talk. "The entrance is inside the mausoleum. The girl must have rounded the graveyard and came back there after we were gone. God! I am so mentally challenged!" she exclaimed as she briefly ran her fingers over her temples.

"So what, we just saddle up and go in there?" Xander asked as he approached the golden blonde girl only to be shot down completely.

"...There is no 'we.'" Buffy informed us. "I'm the slayer, and you're not..." she said as she looked at the three of us behind Xander, hoping for some sort of support.

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face. I'm inadequate...that's fine. I'm less than a man..." Xander was hurt from Buffy's comment and I could see it more so when he turned around that it was in not only his posture, but in his eyes, too. They were filled with both sadness and frustration, and I didn't really know which one was winning.

"Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters, but I do want to help. I need to...we need to." Willow said, gesturing toward me. I nodded in agreement and looked up for a response from Buffy.

"Willow, you can help me." Mr. Giles began as he knelt down to Willow's side as he looked upon the lit up computer screen. "Help me with this harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre; rivers of blood, Hell on earth...quite charmist. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. Maybe you could rest information from that dread machine..." We all just stared at him as if he was speaking a different language entirely. Moments passed before he looked up to see the confused looks on all of our faces. "That was a bit, umm...British, wasn't it?"

"Nah, I understood. I think I heard a 'the' in there...right?" I looked over at him with fake need of confirmation.

"I want you to go on the net." The English librarian simplified it to it's simplest terms, making Willow and I finally both understand.

"Oh, sure. I can do that." Willow said proudly as she started typing in something into the computer, a window popping up that looked rather unfamiliar to me.

"I already know of some sites and texts that might have some significance. I've been researching quite a bit lately and might come up with something useful." I informed the group as I slid a chair next to Willow.

"Very well, then." Mr. Giles said with a small smile.

"I'm out of here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." As if that needed to be confirmed, but I didn't glance up from the computer screen, anyway.

"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles asked Buffy as he readjusted his glasses from the tip of his nose to a resting point on the bridge of it. Silence was her response.

B U F F Y

I stayed behind in the library with Mr. Giles as Xander and Willow headed off to class. It was 2nd period, so I had a free period and was able to continue researching the simple things versus Willow's bad-ass ability to hack into whatever computer system she wanted. Of course, I looked up simple terms like 'vampire feeding' and 'vampire master' but that only led me to freaky porn sites that made both he and I blush profusely. I continued on with a term I remember him mentioning earlier. As Mr. Giles put it, 'the harvest.'

After a few pages of nothing but links to websites dedicated to big dinners for the nuclear family-type, I came across something. "Mr. Giles, I think I might have found something." I called as I gestured him over from the stack of books and scriptures he was looking over. He took off his glasses as looked upon the lit screen.

"It says something in Latin. Can you read that?" I asked him curiously. Sure, it probably wasn't likely that a high school librarian/babysitter would be able to read one bit of Latin, but it was worth a tr-"

"It appears that it just talks about a meal with very rare steak fit for a king. Don't think that would help us much, would it?" he teased as he positioned the glasses back onto his nose and went back to the pile of selections he picked out. I grabbed my piece of paper that listed some reading material that might help our cause.

"Where would I find the real selection of mystical literature? You know, not the kind that Anne Rice could construct and publish it." He gave me a knowing look and proceeded to send me to the back room.

"How did you find out about all of this even before yesterday afternoon?" he asked quizzically before I turned the corner into the next room.

"I'm just observant, I suppose." I explained as I stood near one of the bookshelves holding some ancient texts I could never pronounce without sounding like a total dick.

"Yes well, you're rather wise to realize something was wrong." I smiled sweetly at him through the tangible wall, unable to see him and vice-verse.

"Thanks" I replied before gathering some of the stuff that needed to be studied for further analysis.

After another half an hour of gathering some more possible aids, Giles advised me to go to my next class. I didn't want to because there was so much more I had to do, but he told me that it was best not to look suspicious. I agreed to come back during lunch hour, though.

The classes passed by ever so slowly, yet they were felt very foggy. I couldn't help but have my mind wander back to everything, and not only the research, but if Jesse was truly okay.

"Did you hear? That weird girl, Muffy, almost shot Cordelia with a pistol!" a tan girl with black curly hair said as she whispered to the blonde haired girl next to her. The teacher was still talking, but that didn't seem to stop them.

"Well, I heard it was a switch knife and that she threatened to cut her if she told anybody." the lighter haired girl said, her eyes filled with amusement. I couldn't help but feel the anger boil in me, hoping that it wouldn't overflow...that didn't last long...

"Well, I heard that she stole a guitar, smashed it over Cordelia's head and continued to play 'Smoke On The Water' in B-Flat..." I spat, hoping to prove my point with sarcasm. They just glared at me and continued on, calling me 'a freak' or whatever. I laughed at that just loud enough that they heard me. They turned to face me with a look of disgust on my face while I continued to look indifferent and gave them a friendly smile.

"Hi, we're trying to have a private conversation here. Maybe you can try not to be a nosy little freakazoid." the curly haired one argued, her mouth curled into a sneer as she fiddled with her 'cute' pencil. You know, the glittery ones with the little poof on top that made it look like one of those troll dolls.

I clicked my tongue before I replied, still seeming rather emotionless. "You know, I would...but, your guys' volume is so enhanced that it has became insanely hard not to interject between your moronic buzz of 'he said, she said.'"

Both of them scoffed loudly before they grabbed their books and stood up as the teacher had her back facing the class. "Come on, Kandi. Let's get away from this mutant queer before we catch AIDS or something." she insulted, my nostrils absolutely flaring at their bigotry. But, I kept my cool and just kept on conversing with insulting banner.

"Yeah, you know, I would absolutely die for the chance at it but I kind of already gave that to your boyfriend a couple nights ago in the back of his mom's mini van, and I don't really feel up to giving it to you right now. Just give him a BJ in the bathroom and, I promise, you'll be golden." I said with a kind smile as if we were having a conversation as friends. "Just, you know, make sure you do it like I did. He told me you kind of suck at it and that I was better."

Once again, they scoffed, a look of both annoyance and anger visible on both of their faces as they walked toward the other side of the classroom, looking back at me as they sat down as they whispered on about something, most likely starting a rumor about me. No doubt that it would get around the school that I admitted to it, even though I've never even kissed anybody, let alone had sex with them in their parents' cars. I was happy to take a bullet for Buffy, though. She saves my life, I help save her social one by sacrificing my own. Not like I had much of one, anyways.

I know who my real friends are and I was with them all of last night. I just hope they feel the same and that once we get Jesse, we will still be able to hang out.

B U F F Y

After my last class, I decided to see if I could do more to help with doing my part to save Jesse and find out what was going on, so I went back to the library in search of Giles, I decided it was short than saying Mr. Giles, and found Willow at the table going through a couple of books.

"Is Buffy back yet?" I asked curiously, a tinge of worry in my voice. I sat my bag down onto the table and pulled up a seat next to her.

"No, no word. And it wasn't just Buffy. I think Xander might have snuck out to follow her." My heart dropped at that. Not only was the life of my new blonde mystical friend in danger, but also the boy who shared his cookies and juice with me. I think Willow noticed my fear and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure they're both fine." Her voice was soft and calming, relaxing me a little bit.

"Where's Giles?" I asked as I searched around the room for the Englishman.

"He's trying to make sense of some stuff I found in some newspapers." she informed me, her hand resting on the dusty book that lay in front of her as she looked over at me.

"Way to go, Willow. I thin I might have found some stuff, too. Some ancient texts said some stuff that I couldn't really translate. Giles said he'd look over them during my classes..." I corrected, remembering I had only been to my math class. "I got sick of hearing people talk, though."

"Rumors going around in your classes, too?" she asked curiously. I nodded in response, sharing the confirmation that I didn't want; that it wasn't just those two girls that heard about Cordelia Chase's tall tales.

A few more minutes of going through some literature with carvings of vicious demons and magical creatures, Willow turned to me suddenly.

"Eric, do you have...feeli-" she started but was interrupted by the doors opening in the front of the room.

"Did you find Jesse?" Willow called out worriedly to the two that entered. Thank God that they're both okay, though.

"Yeah." Xander said simply, his tone glum making me think that Jesse was no longer alive.

"Is he dead?" Willow's voice was tinier than before, realizing that Xander wasn't exactly ecstatic at this point.

"Worse." Buffy informed us. What could be worse than...oh...poor Jesse. He never did anything to deserve that.

"I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late, and they were waiting for us." Buffy apologized sincerely as she sat down in the wooden chair across from the two researchers of the group.

"Well, at least you two are okay." I looked over at Xander, truly happy to see him here and alive. Even though I saw him pull back his leg in frustration, I still jumped at the loud kick he gave to the recycle bin near the back room. Both Willow and Xander lost one of their best friends today. I never had one, but I'm sure that it must be absolutely horrible. "I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good." A feeling of agreement and understanding circled the room as each of us couldn't really find much good to say about them, except that they get to experience many Christmas mornings, but I doubt that vampires are big on the whole 'fluffy white snow and gift-giving' part of it all.

"So, Giles..." Buffy began, her head now resting on the back of her hand. I looked behind me to see him for the first time in about an hour. "Got anything that could make this day any worse?"

Giles walked from behind the stacks of books and went toward the white board which he had previously written down some scenarios and theories. "How about the end of the world...?"

"I knew I could count on you." Buffy responded as she joked to cover the worry that everybody was currently sporting.

"Yes, way to be a mood lifter there, Giles." Gesturing was something I did with jokes and teasing, but I stayed clear of that since it was more dry humor than comical.

"This is what we know..." Giles continued as he paced past Willow and I and toward the middle of the room to lean onto the table we were sitting at. "Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

"He came because this town is a mystical whoozit." Buffy said, more as a statement and less as a question.

"Yes...the Spanish that settled here called it 'Boca de Infierno'...roughly translated; Hellmouth."

" That makes sense. I mean, if the whole world were experiencing this, then everybody would know about vampires and demons and...whatever other...yeah...demons..." I said slowly, not really sure where the end to my sentence really was.

"It served as sort of a portal between this reality and the next." Giles continued. I could see Xander from the corner of my eye start to move from his spot in the back and continued to go back and forth between spots. "This vampire wished to open it."

"Bring the demons back" Buffy clarified as she lifted her head from resting on her arms. Willow seemed much like she did this morning, but a little less confused. Wow...was it really just this morning that we first discussed all of this with each other. It seems much longer than that.

"But he blew it." Willow spoke with information from her recent research that she explained to me a little bit earlier. "Or...there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town and him, too."

"Opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got stuck, much like a, uh, a cork in a bottle." Giles simplified, motioning how it was possible as he knelt down to our eye level.

"So, this harvest thing is to get him out." Xander said, breaking the silence he had kept since all of this started to be discussed. Guess he was listening, after all.

"It comes once in a century; on this night." Giles continued, his face still rather stoney and cryptic of what he really felt about all of this. "The Master can draw power from one of his minions as he feeds. Enough power to...break free and open the portal..." He started to walk over to the white board once again and erased the word 'Hellmouth' from it's surface. "The minion is called a 'vessel' and he bares this symbol." he explained, drawing a three point star onto the board with a black marker.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no harvest." The blonde hero said confidently as she got up from the table and walked over to Giles.

"Simply put, yes." the librarian blinked as he turned around to face her.

"Any idea where this little get together is being held?" she continued, her hands on her hips and ready to stop whatever evil might be threatening our existence.

"They're going to The Bronze." Xander said, his voice still as glum as before. I felt for him, I really did.

"You sure?" Willow asked, not a hundred percent sure Xander's theory was accurate.

"Come on, all those tasty young morsels all over the place." he defended as he looked at us all, stopping his gaze on me. "Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be; trust me." I frowned to myself thinking what I could have possibly done to save Jesse from his fate. Oh yeah, maybe not screamed for help like a little girl on her Barbie trike. God, if I had seen where they had went...

"Yeah, it makes sense. It's dark, crowded. They could get in without any problems." My support for Xander's thoughts escaped as it added on to whatever ideas were floating around between the five of us.

"Then we should get there. The sun won't be down before long." Giles informed us as he pulled on his coat. Willow and I both got up from our chairs and followed, knowing it was time to make a difference tonight. Xander walked beside me, I glanced up quickly at him, but he was too busy in his thoughts to notice.

"I gotta make a stop. It won't take long." Buffy said, catching up to Giles' side.

"What for?" He asked curiously as he looked back at the supernatural teenager.

"Supplies." she said simply as we all exited the school library.

B U F F Y

We ran to Buffy's house and waited outside for her to race back down.

"So, what do we, anyways, to protect ourselves?" I asked curiously, looking at Giles for information.

"Buffy told me it's all the stereotypical things; stakes to the heart, sunlight, holy water, crosses...all that fun stuff." Xander informed us, his eyes wandering the dark streets as we saw Buffy's bedroom light flick on and gazed out the window for a split second to notify us that she was there.

"And what happens if we don't have any of that stuff on us?" My curiosity grew with each passing word, along with worry and pessimism.

"Then, you end up like Jesse...and nobody wants that..." Xander's voice was unemotional, but his eyes spoke for him. He was grieving in his own way. He hasn't cracked a joke, he hasn't laughed. This wasn't the Xander everybody knew of. This was a whole new side to Xander I don't think he's ever shown to his friends, let alone anybody else.

After a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, Buffy opened her window and slid her bag down the roof of her house as she lifted one leg over the windowsill and started to climb out. She landed on her feet with a small 'oomph' but was otherwise completely quiet.

"Alright. Let's go kick some ass before my mom figures out I snuck out..."

B U F F Y

We all ran up to the doors of the club we all knew of well. Buffy was the first one to make it to the entrance. She wiggled the handle, but was unsuccessful at opening it. "It's locked."

"We're too late." Giles verbally confirmed as he spun on his heels and faced the opposite direction.

"I didn't know I was gonna get grounded!" Buffy defended as she waved her hands in disbelief. Giles made his way back toward the doors and tried once more, hoping it was some sort of mistake.

"Can you break it down?" Xander's idea echoed between us, his hand gesturing toward the door.

"Yeah, I'm sure with enough of us, we cou-" I began, but was mistaken to think it was a good idea to elaborate on.

"No, not that thing. Umm...you guys try to get in through the back entrances and...uhh...I'll find my own way." Buffy spoke once more as she examined the club's external walls, looking for some sort of less obvious way to get in.

We motioned toward following her plan, but was stopped by her urgent voice. "Guys, wait. Here." she handed Willow over the bag of what must have been weapons and supplies and continued. "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all." she warned as she passed looks over all four of us, making sure we got it, her eyes lingering on Xander. "Don't go "Wild Bunch" on me"

"Well...see you inside, then." Giles said, briefly touching Willow's arm to signal her it was finally time to make our way around the building. The four of us rushed along each other, a sense of panic flowing between us, thick in the air.

We made it to the first entrance we saw and Willow ended up pulling on the handle this time. "Oh, joy." she said, confirming that it was, in fact, another locked entryway. I put my hands on my hip in frustration, trying to regain my composure back to normal.

"We've got to get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual." Xander implied as he swung his arm down, having the same frustrated feeling I felt.

"You listen to me." Giles jumped up with a pointed finger at the tall boy, his dark locks shifting ever so slightly as he turned his attention toward the older man. "Jesse is dead." he continued, his voice tired and panting for air. "Remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend...you're looking at the thing that killed him." Xander only looked at him with acceptance, but I knew that for him, letting go of his best friend was way too hard. It may not have been written all over his face, but it was subtly hidden in his brown irises.

There was commotion coming from inside the club, making us scramble for some way to get in. Giles settled with a metal trash can and slammed it against the lock, causing it to break off and allowing us into the building. "Hurry!" he exclaimed as the we rushed inside, a small part of me hoping we weren't met with any undead soldiers. I trailed behind Willow and Giles and noticed that Xander had run off without us, eager to find his friend...or former friend, I suppose.

Soon enough, though, people started to run towards us, or rather, started running toward the exit, hoping to get out alive. We helped them get out.

After the last person had exited, Giles had an idea. "We may need to open the front entrance as well." In a flash, a vampire jumped onto Giles, straddling him onto the ground. It was the same blonde vampire from last night. Behind her came another vampire; a male one with short black hair and a cobalt striped button up. He straddled his legs, making sure he wouldn't squirm. I ran over to the other side of the hallway, coming up with a plan to hopefully have them follow me.

"Hey, Butterface!" I called, both demons snapping their heads up at me. "Free snack." I pushed my arms out in emphasis, making it clear that I was defenseless.

"Take care of the boy." The female creature said, her face bending down toward Giles.

"With pleasure." the other vampire grinned sinisterly, his fangs evident. Before running around the corner, I made sure I made eye contact with Willow to make sure she found a way to take care of the one holding down Giles.

Running up the stairs, I was caught by my leg, his hands bruising and rough. Luckily, I kicked out of his grip, causing the bottom of my shoe to come into contact with his face, knocking him back down the staircase. My mind told me that I wasn't done yet and I started running up the stairs once again, hopefully faster than before. I rounded the corner and swiftly took the stake I had hidden in between my jeans and boxers and quickly tied it to my shoelace, hiding it underneath my white sneakers.

As soon as he turned the corner, he had a wide grin on his face, his yellow hungry eyes glaring at me with amusement. A scream could be heard from downstairs; a woman. But I knew Willow's screams, and those weren't hers. I was hoping those were the other vampire's.

It seemed to distract the being in front of me long enough for me to quickly bring my foot back and kick with enough force in the groin to topple him over.

"Glad to know that still works." I spoke humorously as I saw the vampire roll around, groaning while his disfigured face warped into something I haven't seen as of yet; a vampire in pain. It gave me enough fuel to continue with my plan. I took my foot back and swung at his chest as hard as possible, placing my hands on the concrete wall for balance.

I felt my foot stop abruptly, making it clear that the stake stabbed the creature in its chest. Now, the question was, did I get him in the heart?

I looked down fast enough to see him turn to dust, my foot breaking free from the well-preserved corpse. I quickly smiled at myself in satisfaction as I ran downstairs to make sure the others were okay.

Going down the stairs, I was met by Willow and Giles, all three of us shouting in surprise, my arms making the most movement as I slipped down the step I was about to reach. The both helped me up as I leaned against the wall reach for my shoe.

"Did you get the-?" Willow asked briefly before I gestured toward the stake tied to my white Nike's.

"Clever." Giles blinked as he adjusted his glasses for the first time that night. "Alright, yes, let's go." We proceeded to follow him in a rush down the rest of the steps.

As soon as we entered the main room, we saw that it was only the five of us, now. The room eerily empty of any other form of life...or death, in this case. "I take it it's over?" Giles asked, cleaning off his hands, probably still wondering if it had vampire dust on them.

"Did we win?" Willow asked sheepishly as we all made out way toward each other.

"Hopefully. I don't want to see another vampire pop out from behind that dark corner." I gestured toward the very back of the room covered by complete darkness. The five at us stared at it for a few seconds, half expecting there to be something there, but we soon started realizing that it would be way too ironic to see a creepy walk out from there.

"Well...at least we averted the apocalypse." Buffy said, grabbing her jacket that Xander was holding out for her. She hugged it close to her body, the exhaustion of the last two days finally catching up to us. "Give us points for that..."

Behind me, I heard Giles searching for something in his jacket, I glanced behind me only to find him cleaning his glasses. I smirked, finding the familiar action weirdly comforting.

"One things for sure." Xander began, slightly exasperated by tonight's events. "Nothing's ever going to be the same." That didn't dawn on me until now. My life would never be as simple anymore. No more students that I hung around as to not look lonely. No more being uninformed of what really goes on in this town, always having to be skeptical on whether or not events were normal or supernatural.

No, Xander was right. Nothing could ever be the same. But somehow, I knew we were all better off.

"Smoothies?" My sudden invitation causing the four of my new friends to turn and look at me.

"Yeah, sure. I could go for a delicious smoothie." Xander spoke up first, causing the rest of them to finally respond. Xander put his arm around me, but I knew it was only in a friendly manner. I just couldn't help but feel all warm within his half-hearted embrace.

"Ooh, I want something with strawberries." Willow said happily as we turned toward the exit, walking in its direction.

"I'm feeling exotic tonight. I might go with mango." Buffy interjected, her coat hanging loosely in her arms.

"Yes, I could go for a, uh, a 'smoothie' as you call it." Giles smiled briefly as he put his cleaning cloth back into the inside pocket of his jacket and planted his lenses back onto his face.

Yeah, we're definitely all better off.

B U F F Y

I entered my house, calling out for my mother before realizing there was still another fifteen minutes before her shift even ended.

I took off my jacket before making my way back to my room to change into something much more comfortable. T-shirt and some sweats should do. I sighed to myself heavily as I realized what a long night it was. No, not just night; day. It has probably been one of the longest days I've ever had. Thank God it was topped off with a fun outing with friends.

It was incredibly too stuffy in my house thanks to this dry California heat us Sunnydalians have to endure. I turned on the AC briefly to help the house out and opened some windows to let the air in.

Once I was done opening the window in my bedroom, I flopped down onto my bed with a book in hand. I got it from the library earlier today, hoping that it might inform me of some stuff. It was recommended by Giles as a sort of clarification on what demons and vampires truly meant and how they were even here.

After a couple of pages in, I was startled by a voice at my window.

"Surprised you didn't die tonight." a mysterious figure said, only half of his face illuminated by my bedroom light. He had brown hair that was spiked up with as little bit of hair product as possible, as his hair seemed rather soft. His eyes were a warm golden brown that were kind and inviting. His skin was a little bit more pale than normal, but that might have just been the lighting. His cheek bones were rather sculpted, also, bringing more to this figure standing before me.

I gasped, shocked to hear somebody at my window. "Who the he-"

"You know, most people aren't aware of what goes on around them. How come you were before any of this?" he asked curiously as he stepped forward. I backed away slowly, even though there was still a barrier between us. "Relax. I don't bite." And for whatever reason it was, I believed him one hundred percent. It put me at ease for reasons unknown. "So how come, Eric?" he asked after a long moment of silent shared between the two of us.

"How come what?"

"How come you knew about the things you shouldn't have?" His voice was a tad bit more curious than the first time as it rung in my ears as a sound so calming, it would probably haunt me in my sleep tonight.

"Because this town doesn't just have normal deaths. There's always something that ties back to weird things." I explained as I set the book down on my nightstand next to my alarm clock, not turning away from the face glowing at me from behind the wall. "What's your name, anyways? Since, apparently, you know mine..."

"Angel." he responded with some sort of amusement in his eyes, baring a small grin.

"I like your name, Angel."

"Thank you." he responded, his grin somewhat bigger now.

"I had a cat named 'Angel' before. She didn't seem to mind the name, either." He smirked back at me, obviously getting the snide yet teasing remark.

"So, why are you here? I doubt it's to see my mom's flower garden." I stood up this time, closer to the window, unafraid of him.

"Already saw it. Quite lovely. Love the color of the petunias." he joked, causing a smirk to creep onto my face.

"Well, I'll be sure to let her know." After a brief silence, I asked the question once more.

"Just came to tell you to be careful. You don't know what's out there." he warned me, a much more serious tone to his voice than before. The smile on my face also disappeared entirely. I inched closer reflexively, wanting him to elaborate.

"What do you me-"

"Eric, I'm home!" the familiar voice of my mother called from behind me, causing me to turn back toward the sudden noise. Once I had turned back, Angel was gone. I stuck my head out the window, hoping to see where he had gone to but was unsuccessful.

I walked outside toward the entrance to the house to see my mom entering the kitchen, her curly golden brown hair bobbing as she walked. I followed her in and found her at the microwave, opening it to reveal nothing. Oh, crap.

"Oh...you didn't make dinner tonight?" she asked me disbelievingly, her small voice showing signs of exhaustion. Not only did her voice show signs of being tired, but as did her solid sapphire eyes. They were drained of any sort of energy.

"I am so sorry. I completely spaced. Let me make you an egg sandwich or something." I apologized, pulling out a frying pan from a cupboard next to the stove.

"Oh, sweetie, you don't have to d-" she began, but I interrupted her to defend my actions.

"Mom, I know you're tired, and you need to eat something before your blood sugar gets too low. Now," I defended as I took out the bread from the pantry across the kitchen, "go take the pills for your diabetes and take your blood sugar level. Let me know if I need to give you some orange juice."

She looked at me lovingly as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it up with water. "You're so good to me." She took a couple steps toward me and embraced me in a tight hug. "It's been...tough, to say the least, since your father-"

"I know." I interrupted, not being able to stand hearing anybody even say the words. She gave me a knowing before she continued.

"I love you. So much. Don't ever forget that."

"I know, Mom. I love you, too." I said, hugging her back full-heartedly. She left the room to go do what she had to do and by the time she was back, I had made the sandwich for her and proceeded to wash all of the dishes as she told me about her day.

"How about you? How was your day, sweetie?" she asked curiously, her head tilting to the side much like I did when I was sincerely curious.

"Oh, well...you know..." I responded, internally nervous out of my mind. She just nodded knowingly and continued taking the last few bites of her sandwich and sipping the last few gulps of orange juice.

I gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead and made my way back to my room. I flipped the switch to my light, turning it off and flopped down on my bed for the second time that night.

I sighed to myself as I just laid there, unwilling to move to get up and close my window. It didn't feel like I had to, anyway. But what did Angel mean by what he said?

I pondered it for a good hour or so before I was able to go sleep at around 2 A.M. I snuggled into my blanket, it's warmth drifting me that much closer to sleep. It was the only sense of normality today, and that's all I needed.

B U F F Y

I woke up that morning and took a shower before heading off to school yet again. In the shower, I came to a conclusion that I would need to find more out about Angel before I mentioned anything to them. I mean, for all I knew, I could have been hallucinating from exhaustion. Oh, lord. Now I'm sounding like the rest of Sunnydale's populace, making excuses for the unexplained. No, there was definitely something up with him, and I'm going to find out what...

As soon as I had stepped foot onto the campus, all of these rumors floated around about last night, most of them coming from, big shocker, one Cordelia Chase.

"...and Buffy, like, knew them, which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you; it was a freak show!" she informed her blonde friend, I scoffed at how she seriously turned it around from Buffy saving her life to saying she was a friend of the man who tried to kill her. Very nice, Ms. Chase...

I spotted both Buffy and Xander and gave them a big grin, but it mostly stayed on Xander. I walked up to the both of them and turned around to walk back in the direction I had came from since they were headed that way, anyway.

"What exactly were you guys expecting?" Buffy asked as she took the bright red lollipop from her mouth.

"I don't know. Something...I mean, the dead rose. Should have at least had an assembly..." Xander added, his hands slightly flailing out in exaggeration.

"I would prefer a parade." I started, walking to Xander's side. "Or at least a change in today's lunch special from mystery stew surprise to something, oh I don't know, edible."

"Rumor is is that the 'surprise' is that it doesn't contain any meat that you can buy at a normal grocery store." Buffy informed us, her candy kind of glistening from the natural lighting outside.

"Yeah, that's not a surprise to me." Xander dead-panned, causing me to grin, which broke his stony face and had him grinning alongside me. That's when both Giles and Willow caught up to us. Giles was carrying some old leathery text while Willow was fidgeting with her hands.

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Willow spoke, her eyes in disbelief that anybody would rationalize whatever they saw last night.

"Good. Next time, you'll be prepared." Giles said simply, his posture seeming more teasing than it had before, but I don't think it was just teasing.

"Next time? I'm sorry, Eric...did he say next time?" he asked me, patting my shoulder to stop me in my tracks for a moment.

"I sure hope not, because the only thing that would even come close to resembling a cross at my house would be tire iron we have in the garage." I responded comically, causing the four of us to grin softly.

"We prevented the Master from freeing himself and...opening the mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. My guess is that the fun is just beginning." he said in an unfazed yet informative matter as he adjusted the glasses resting on his face.

"More vampires?" Willow asked Giles, seeing if she heard him correctly.

"Not just vampires." Giles stated swiftly, trying to sound as serious as possible. "The next threat we face could be something quite different."

"I can hardly wait." Buffy joked as she shrugged her shoulders in indifference.

"We're in the central of a mystical convergence here." Giles was quite serious, trying to get our attentions back and our minds from slacking. "We may have, in fact, stepped in front of the earth and it's total destruction."

"Well, I gotta look on the bright side; maybe I could still get kicked out of school." Buffy continued as we started making our way further from the English Watcher.

"Oh yeah, that's a plan. 'Cuz our school's not on 'Hellmouths.' Xander added, going along with the joking style Buffy had began.

"I was researching in the library yesterday and came across some weird porn sites that could 'mysteriously' pop up on your screen during electronics class." I added, enjoying the time with my new friends.

"Or maybe you can blow something up. They're really strict about that."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, you know? Like, excessive not-studying..." I smirked at Buffy's comment as we continued along with our mindless babble.

Yeah, this was great. I felt not only accepted around them, but welcomed. It was weird to me; different. But it was different in the best way possible.

B U F F Y

Hey! It's FINALLY done! YAY! The two episodes I saw for this first chapter felt like the longest episodes of any show known to man. I had to pause practically every line so that I could get it right.

Now, as you can see. This was very familiar considering it was the pilot. I added a couple of my own things and only did it in Eric's POV, but I promise that from now on, everything will just be a select few episodes written somewhat differently. Much more differently than from what I had here.

Well, hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know by reviewing and putting me on alert! :D