Dark Moon: Pt One - Waxing Moon

“It was my fault, you know,” said Xander sadly as he and Willow sat on a bench near one of the more active cemeteries.

With only two days until the dark moon, the Vampires were growing thick in Sunnydale, and even two Slayers were not able to cover all the bases. Faith and Buffy patrolled the more heavily infested areas, while Giles, Oz, Willow and Xander stuck to the areas that were frequented a little less often. On that evening, Giles was assisting Faith and Buffy, and Oz had band practise. Xander and Willow had been left to their own devices.

“Why would you say that?” Willow asked, “No one knew that it was going to happen. If anyone should feel guilty, it should be Buffy and I. We were the last people with her. She was over helping us de-rat Amy.”

“She met up with me afterwards. We had a date.”

“Really?” Willow squeaked, “I didn’t know you were dating her.”

“We didn’t really get the chance to start... I was hoping, though.”

“Oh,” said Willow quietly.

“So see, it is my fault,” Xander concluded, “If I had stuck around after I walked her home, I could have saved her.”

“We’re talking about Dru, remember,” Willow reminded him, “Even Angel couldn’t save her. It hurts all of us, and it’s not fair that it happened, but it doesn’t help if you or me or anyone kills themselves over it. We have to remember how she was in life, and that now she’s finally at rest. Well, as at rest as she can be, until we find her body and Giles gives her that burial he was talking about...”

“It’s me, Will, I’m cursed,” he stated flatly, “I fell in love with Buffy, and she died...”

“And you brought her back!”

“I fell for Cordy, broke her heart, and she left me for the city. I fell for you, and hurt you and Oz and your relationship. I slept with Faith, and she ended up turning bad, and then she fell into a coma...”

“But she’s back now!”

“And then Ciorstaidh died because I...”

Xander suddenly became silent when he detected movement out of the corner of his eye. From among the gravestones moved a solitary figure, gliding silently. Xander signalled to Willow, who grabbed a stake out of her bag. She passed another to Xander, and they both prepared for the confrontation that was about to ensue. Willow allowed herself to blend into the shadows, and Xander stood up and walked forth.

She was young, and she was pretty. Petite, blonde, and had curves in all the right places. She was dressed in a green private school uniform, and looked to be the picture of innocence. However, Xander wasn’t fooled.

But he could pretend to be.

“Hey,” he called out, “Don’t you know it’s dangerous for a pretty thing like you to be wandering out alone at this hour?”

The girl smiled sweetly, and said, “I’m a little lost... maybe you can help me?”

“Sure; what do you need to know?”

The girl shrugged offhandedly, and continued to smile sweetly. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said, as she stepped closer, “Do you happen to know of a place to get a good meal? I’ve been wandering for quite a while, and I’m a little hungry.”

Xander stood thoughtfully for a moment, then pointed to some distant lights. “There’s a burger joint within walking distance that should still be open,” he told her, “Do you want me to take you there?”

She reached up seductively, and caressed his cheek with her hand. “I kind of had something else in mind,” she told him, giving him one last smile before allowing her face to morph of that of the Demon she carried within.

“Sorry, I have other plans!” Xander exclaimed, shoving her away from his tender throat and revealing the crucifix he had hidden under his jacket. The Vampire cowered momentarily, but rapidly moved forward when Xander fumbled the crucifix and dropped it. She grabbed him around his neck and lifted him above the ground, slowly strangling him as the Vampire looked on with an evil smile on her face. Xander’s face slowly blanched, and as the oxygen remaining in his lungs was rapidly depleted, he began to pass out.

At that moment, Willow stepped in and attempted to take control of the situation. She quickly moved behind the Vampire, and raised her stake in preparation to strike.

But the Vampire sensed the movement behind her, and quickly whirled about, causing Willow to bring down the stake almost into Xander’s back. She stopped short, and barely escaped skewering her best friend. The Vampire threw Xander onto Willow, and the two ended up in a pile sprawled on the soggy ground.

Untangling themselves quickly, Xander grabbed his own stake, and leaped at the Vampire. He aimed his stake directly over her heart, and closed his eyes as he expected to make contact with her body.

The Vampire flung him aside as though he was nothing more than a rag doll.

“This is really starting to hurt,” Xander moaned as he rolled onto his back.

Willow scrambled to find the stake she dropped, then turned to find herself face to face with the Demon. The Vampire grabbed Willow’s hand and squeezed it hard, forcing her to drop the stake.

Willow yelped in pain, quickly rousing Xander from his state of self absorbed pity. He stood up, and felt his head pound in opposition, bringing on a brief dizzy spell.

“I’m coming, Will,” he managed to wheeze out as he stumbled over to where the Vampire was preparing to enjoy her latest meal. The combination of being strangled and then thrown had rendered Xander almost useless as a fighter.

On the ground before him, was the crucifix he had dropped earlier. As the Vampire lowered her fangs into Willow’s throat he picked it up, and held it out in front of him, using it as a shield.

The Vampire saw it, and paused, her fangs just slightly penetrating Willow’s neck. A small amount of blood began to dribble down Willow’s throat, as she stood perfectly still. Willow’s eyes were huge with fear.

Xander summed up all the courage he held within, and growled, “Back off, or all decorate your pretty face with some holy scars.”

He stepped closer, and the Vampire quickly decided that Xander would make good on his threat. She threw Willow aside, and turned to run.

But Willow was quick, and she retrieved her stake from the ground in one swift motion. The Vampire had only taken two steps when Willow brought the stake down in a arcing thrust and straight into her back.

The Vampire squealed in surprise, then dissolved into a cloud of dust. Willow fell over in exhaustion, and let her head rest on the cool ground. Xander rushed to her side as quickly as his aching body would allow, and took her in his arms.

“Are you ok, Will?” he asked, his voice full of concern.

“I can’t believe I actually got her,” she replied, panting for air, “I think we’re getting better at this slaying thing.”

“We make a good team. If we had taken her on separately, we’d both have become an late-night snack by now.”

Willow lifted her head slightly, and smiled at Xander. Even covered with sweat and dirt, Xander couldn’t help but ache with the desire to kiss her.

But he knew better than to do that.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Giles! Crossbow!” Buffy yelled, ducking the blow of her Demon assailant. Faith took him from the other side, landing a solid kick on his back. The vampire flinched, then turned to attack Faith, giving Buffy a chance to catch the weapon Giles tossed to her.

“Faith, duck!” Buffy commanded, quickly aiming the crossbow and letting a bolt fly. It quickly found its mark, and the Vampire was no more.

Faith wiped a few droplets of sweat from her brow, then smiled broadly. “Seven down!” she hooted proudly.

“They’re really starting to flood into Sunnydale, aren’t they,” said Buffy, tossing the crossbow back to Giles, “If this is any indication of what is to come on Wednesday night, then we’re going to be up to quite a challenge.”

“Erinyes Vrekolakas will be the greatest challenge yet for both of you,” said Giles as he tucked the crossbow into the large duffel bag he was carrying, “In order to meet the challenge, we must be as prepared as humanely possible.”

“Of course,” Buffy concluded, “Watcher guy is right, as usual.”

“So, no one has told me what the deal is with this prophecy,” said Faith, tossing her favourite stake from hand to hand as they packed to move to another area, “So what’s the big secret?”

Giles and Buffy exchanged a secret glance, then Giles began to speak.

“The prophecy itself is rather vague...”

“And that’s something new?” Faith interjected.

“Well, basically,” Giles continued, “It says that two Slayers will encounter a large number of Vampires, and that they will be guided by two Greek Goddess and some sort of animal... and then...”

Giles trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Buffy finished it for him.

“And basically, one of us isn’t coming back,” she stated, then rushed on to say, “Not to worry, though; they said that about me before too, and I’ve taken on quite a few rounds since then.”

Faith stood thoughtfully for a moment, contemplating her own mortality. Both Giles and Buffy froze in anticipation of her reaction.

“Well,” she finally said, “If I’m going to die, I’ll need to take tomorrow off, and get some serious living done.”