~*The Sunnydale Revamped Series*~

The night was cold. A damp cold that chilled the bones. The sky was full of stars though no one could tell through the think fog that covered the sky above Sunnydale. Not everyone was safe in their beds, naive to the things that went bump in the night.

One, in particular, walked among the tombs of Sunnydale cemetery. She walked silently and softly across the dew moistened grass, stopping only to listen to the night around her. The grass crunched softly below her feet and her senses were awakened, for she could see and hear better than any normal person. Normal. A picture of her past that still haunted her when at one time she’d wished to be something other than normal. If only she had known.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a large crypt looming in the shadows ahead of her. Her steps were quicker now, but she moved like a lion hunting it’s prey- with an almost deathly silence.

Turning the handle with a sharp twist that broke the lock, she quietly stepped inside. The door opened with minimal noise and she found herself in a dark and very musty crypt. Before her was a women asleep on top of the crypt surrounded by several white candles. The women’s dark hair was spread out beside her and lay across her bare shoulders and pale face. She was a vision in a white silk dress.

As the young girl walked, the sleeping women raised her arm silently. As the girl drew closer she saw the bite marks on her neck that would be her metamorphous. The women’s eyes flew open and as her eyes adjusted quickly to the dark surroundings and she saw the girl standing a few feet away watching her. Her mouth opened in a scream, but was cut short when a stake came down into her dead heart.

A young male poked his head around the corner. “Izzie, you ok?”

The girl turned her head, pushing back the hood off her face, as she flashed him a smile. “Consider her dust.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Izzie strolled into the library just after the last bell of the morning. The library doors swung shut behind her. Giles looked up from his stack of books. “How did it go with Victoria?” he asked, somewhat eagerly.

Izzie tossed her bag onto the large oak table and hoisted herself up next to it. She made a show of pulling her apple from her bag and polishing it on her skirt as though digesting the question. Giles dug his hands into his pockets and tried not to show how impatient he was. “Well, hello to you too,” Izzie said airily, before taking a bite from her apple.

“Hello Izzie,” Giles said wearily. “Now would you please stop stalling and tell me about Victoria?”

Izzie made a face at her apple as though unimpressed with the taste and set it beside her on the table. “Dust,” she stated simply, since that was the more important part of the night.

“No problems?” Giles pressed.

“Nope, she was sleeping, which actually made it feel kinda cheap,” Izzie, said, after a thought. She shrugged.” Either way she’s dead....er, deader.”

“Well, either way. Well done.”

“Thanks coach!” Izzie said enthusiastically, which only made Giles roll his eyes in reply.

Just then Lyla strolled in, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’m here, I’m here,” she said, as if no one could notice with an entrance like that. Everyone noticed Lyla when she entered a room whether you wanted to or not. She walked as though stuck forever on a runway, carrying with her an air of confidence and oozing sex appeal without dressing like a skank. Hell, she could have been classified as elegant...until, of course, she opened her mouth.

Lyla came to a stop in front of Izzie, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where’s everyone else?”

“You know,” Izzie began,” it’s amazing to me how someone can actually ask a question without really caring what the answer is.”

Lyla smiled, not at Izzie’s little jab, but because it was the truth. Izzie shrugged her answer anyway and Lyla wasn’t too happy. “Oh great, I show up and no one else is here?”

Giles stepped from behind the counter, polishing his glasses. “No one said you had to be here.”

The comment didn’t faze Lyla at all; instead she frowned at the giggle the comment had produced from Izzie.

.

Just then Brody and Elliot *Ellie* walked in talking animatedly about something they’d done on the weekend. Lyla frowned at the sudden switch of attention and sunk down into the nearest chair and crossed her long legs. Brody flashed her an indifferent look, which was laughable to Lyla, because he actually went out of his way to be indifferent to her. Lyla glanced, instead, at her newly manicured nails.

Ellie sat next to Izzie on the table. “How did last night go?”

“She didn’t put up much of a fight....in the way of no fight. Caught her sleeping,” Izzie explained.

“Disappointed?” Ellie asked.

Izzie shrugged. “Wouldn’t have minded a little action Things have been pretty dull.”

“Count your blessings,” Giles muttered from his spot at the counter. Izzie stuck her tongue out at him when he wasn’t looking. Ellie smiled.

“Anyway,” Izzie continued.” We haven’t had much action in the last year. The whole *The First* thing was the last big bad.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~


Maybe a little explanation is in store. Izzie Riggs, sometimes called Riggs, was called after Faith was killed in the battle with the first. Izzie was thrown into the role of slayer quickly when she fought and killed her first vampire only just before she’d been called. Her first vampire was one of the hardest kills, and not because of the fight itself, but because it had been her boyfriend. Not only was her first vampire, her first true love, but also he had also first feed upon her father. Her mother had died of cancer years before. After her father’s death she was left homeless and went to live with her aunt.


Giles had decided to remain a watcher and after Buffy *retired* he’d come to get Izzie and bring her back.

Ever since the battle, there wasn’t a lot of evil doings. Of course there were still vampires, but sometimes it seemed like there was ONLY vampires.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~


Giles was intently reading a huge brown leather book with a worried look evident in his crinkled brow. “What’s up?” Izzie asked, startling him out of his daze.

“I think that things are not going to be dull for long.”

Izzie’s face lit up. “Really?”

“I feel as though something is going to occur.”

“Such as?” Izzie pressed, wishing he’d stop being so *polite* and just be like “Dear god, we’re all going to die” or *perish* in Giles case. Giles returned his attention to the book. “I’m not sure really.”

Izzie sighed. “You’re not sure that something is going to happen?”

“As stimulating as this is,” Lyla yawned, “I have cheerleading practice.”

“Cheerleading practice is now done during class time?” Brody asked. Lyla stopped with her hands on her hips. “Oh sorry, here’s me actually trying to be polite. Silly me. What I meant to say was that I am going now because you’re all really really boring and dull and I feel as though my brain might actually burst in my head from the boredom I am subjecting myself to.” With that said, Lyla tossed him a huge smile as she turned on her heel. “Toodles!”

The door swung shut behind her. The gang quickly tried to act as though she hadn’t captured their undivided attention yet again. “I have so many nasty things to say but my mind goes blank whenever she opens her mouth,” Brody said incredulously.

“I’m sure your silence is enough,” Ellie said, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

Brody shrugged her off. “Don’t patronize me.”

Ellie pulled back her hand with a wounded look on her pretty face. Izzie hopped off the table and walked to where Giles was, where the conversation most likely wouldn’t be about Lyla.

“Patrol tonight, n’est pas?” Izzie said brightly.

“How infuriating,” Giles muttered.

Izzie sighed. “She’s probably just surfing the crimson wave there Giles, no need to be all upset about...”

Giles’ look stopped her midspeech. “Not about Lyla,” Izzie guessed. Giles shook his head. “Right then,” Izzie said, feeling stupid for talking about *women things* with her watcher. “Then... let’s start talking about something else.”

Giles nodded, relived. “Patrolling would be good.”

Izzie leaned across the counter. “You ok?”

Giles looked up then and smiled at the concern on her face. “Fine.” He grabbed his book and walked back into his office. Izzie stood there. He hardly talked to her except to tell her when to patrol or kill something. She’d never had a watcher before, granted, so she really didn’t know if this was normal. Izzie’s shoulders slumped in defeat and she shuffled back to her friends.

Brody was still going on about Lyla.

“You know,” Izzie said glumly. “You talk about her so much that one might think you liked her.”

This was the worst thing to even say out loud to Brody and it showed. “I hate her!” He spat, in a very unlike Brody way.

“You know the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s disterest,” Izzie informed him.

Brody grabbed his bag. “Thanks for the insight Riggs.”

Izzie turned to his retreating form. “Brody...come on.”

Brody pushed past her and stomped out of the library. Drew sidestepped him as he came through the library doors. Drew had only been here for a couple of weeks, fresh from England, to bring more documents on the hell mouth. He was tall, blonde and was so chiseled and perfect he could be made from marble. “Giles?” He asked, without so much as a nod hello. Ellie pointed to Giles’ office and Drew disappeared inside.

“What’s with Brody?” Izzie asked.

Ellie shrugged. “Lyla.”


The bell rang for class. “Gotta jet,” Izzie said. Both girls made plans to meet up for lunch and then went their separate ways to class. As they exited the room the door to the office opened. Giles stepped out and leant against the doorway, Drew beside him. He dug his hands into his pockets. “Do you think they suspect anything?” Drew asked.

Giles raised his coffee mug up to his lips. “No.”

“I can’t believe it,” Drew said in an almost whisper.

“I can.” Giles said.

“We’ll have to let her know soon then,” Drew asked.

“I know,” Giles said calmly. “We will...soon.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The gang might back at lunch and to everyone’s surprise at the event earlier today, Lyla had actually made an appearance. Giles announced that Izzie would be patrolling and wanted everyone to go along, Izzie protested; not too thrilled at getting her friends in any danger, but Giles was firm in his decision.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Izzie looked at Jade’s outfit with a critical eye. Lyla cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms defensibly, “What are you looking at?”

“That’s what you wear for patrolling?”

Lyla raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. Her body language screamed defiance. “This is suitable for me.”

“For what?” Izzie asked. “Acting as bait?”

Lyla smiled smugly. “Ya know Riggs, just because a girl has to get a little *dusty* now and again doesn’t mean she can’t look good. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Drew looked sympathetically at Izzie who just shrugged her indifference. “Besides what’s wrong with my outfit?” Lyla cooed. It wasn’t until Drew caught Izzie staring at him as though waiting to hear his answer, that he noticed that Lyla had been addressing the question to him. Then he was well aware of the fact he was staring, as if in awe, at the leather pants suit that fit her like a second skin. He swallowed hard, and turned away unable to give any kind of answer. Lyla smiled to herself, and looked back at Izzie as if to say, “I told you so.”

Izzie frowned and turned her attention to Giles’ plan of attack. “It’s not exactly stealthy,” Izzie muttered under her breath.

The graveyard was pretty quiet or “dead” as Brody has so wittingly put it. It was a warmer night but a cool spring breeze drifted through the trees. The gang was all there with stakes and various weapons in hand. Then, just as things were becoming pretty uneventful a group of vampires made their entrance.

“Well, it’s about time,” Izzie said, pulling a stake from her belt loop. She made a show of tossing it into a spin and catching it again. The vampires stood by ready to pounce. Izzie figured that they wanted her to make the first move and she hated to disappoint. She brought her hand back and threw the stake, missile style, which went flying through the air to hit a vampire square in the chest. The fight had begun.

Izzie did a roundhouse to one vamp, rolling across the grass to stop beside her stake. She brought it up and dusted one vamp, bringing her arm back to dust the one ready to attack her from the side. Ellie stuck close to Brody as she usually did and together they tag teamed a couple more. However, the more they dusted the more that appeared. One vamp came towards Lyla, who had been standing by Drew, and she fought the urge to pass out.

Lyla looked around frantically for help but soon realized everyone was too busy to even notice her. If she hadn’t been so frightened she would have caused a scene. Suddenly, without thinking of the repercussions, she turned and fled in the opposite direction of the group. Her heels sank into the soggy grass as she ran causing her to work her legs harder to keep ahead of the vampire who was right on her tail. She cursed her choice of outfit now, though she still wouldn’t admit it to Izzie...should she live through the night.

Lyla pushed aside branches as she ran, feeling them cut into her bare flesh as she went. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst in her chest. The heavy footsteps behind her urged her to go on. Lyla couldn’t scream as her stomach felt like it was now in her chest. The vampire grabbed her and missed, his icy touch sending the contents of her dinner up into her throat. Lyla cried out in panic as she pumped her legs faster, finding a burst of adrenaline somewhere inside her. She suddenly found herself in a clearing and ...a dead end. Trapped between her attacker and a large rock face she came to a sudden halt. Her chest was heaving with ragged, panicked breaths as she turned to face the dark nest of trees where the vampire would soon emerge. I’m going to die, she thought wildly. This was it. God, let it be quick. Her back was pressed against the cool rock, and she pressed herself back further accepting the sharp rock that pressed into her raw flesh. Maybe he wouldn’t see her maybe she would blend in. The vampire crushed through the trees, spotting her instantly. He came to a stop just outside the trees and stared.

“I’ll stake you,” she said pathetically.

The vampire, amused by this, laughed loudly. The clouds moved in the sky and the moon was in clear view now, lighting the small clearing around them. Lyla held up her stake as he came forward and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for it. The vampire’s eyes widened and he began to back away slowly. “It has begun,” he said, before disappearing.

Lyla rapidly blinked her eyes as if her eyes had betrayed her. What did that all mean, and more importantly why was she still alive. Just then she felt a hand on the back on her neck and spun around. “Who’s there?”

She almost laughed out loud in relief. It was solid rock there was no way anything could be behind her. She reached out hesitantly to touch it, and was shocked to feel that the rock was warm to the touch. Lyla laughed nervously. What is happening, she thought as she began to back away. Just then something caught her eyes, and it appeared to be an inscription. It wasn’t even words it was symbols. Then to her amazement, she realized that she could read it perfectly. A glassy look came over her face and any characteristic slowly faded away until she was emotionless. “I understand,” she said aloud in an eerie voice.

The clouds drifted, once more, over the moon concealing the inscription as the young girl walked through the woods. She walked as if mechanical, there was no ducking under branches or pushing them aside, as it seemed as though they were moving for her and then enveloping her again.

Meanwhile the others were wiping dust off of their clothing and checking for any serious injuries. “That was a pretty big gang of vamps,” Izzie observed. “Do you think they wanted something besides the obvious?”

Giles cleaned his glasses with the end of his shirt. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

Drew looked at Giles with an unreadable expression. Giles simply gave him a look as if to say “Later”. Izzie looked between the two, feeling very much left out of the loop. Drew looked away immediately after she’d caught his eye, adding to her feelings of paranoia.

Ellie dusted off her knees, cursing the grass stains that would probably ruin her jeans. As she looked around her, she noticed that someone was missing. Lyla. A cold chill spread through her bones at what that could mean.

“Ummm guys?” She said quietly, trying to keep the panic out of her voice,” Where’s Lyla?”


Just as everyone began to search around them, Lyla emerged from a small mound of trees a couple of feet away from them. “Way to freak us out,” Brody yelled, as he closed the distance between them,” on second thought, I wasn’t worried at all.”

Lyla, as per usual, ignored that jab. What was unusual however, was a snappy afterthought that she normally would have added. “I don’t care if you...”Brody began again, ready with another remark, ”hey...I am insulting you here.”

“Shut up,” Ellie said, swatting his arm as she came to stand beside him. Brody turned and found a concerned expression on his best friend’s face.

“What’s wrong with her?” Izzie asked when Lyla passed them all by.

“You mean, besides the normal?” Brody asked. The look on Lyla’s face actually concerned him, even more so the look on Ellie’s face concerned him the most. When Ellie was upset, he was upset...it was sort of the way they worked. Giles pushed through the group and began to walk quickly after Lyla. “Come on,” he said to the rest.

Lyla didn’t slow; instead an eerie half smile came to her, otherwise, emotionless face.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The group followed Lyla, without speaking, for several blocks until they realized that she was heading in the direction of the school. At times they would call out questions to her, but they remained unanswered. Once inside the school, she walked into the library.... and into Giles’ office.

“Hey!” Drew called out, moving to stop her. Giles too moved to stop her from entering his sacred space but some invisible force blocked both. Izzie watched in amazement as Drew and Giles tried to break through the border.

“You don’t try and stop her the whole way here, but she goes into your office and you wig?” she asked.

Giles turned to her, opening his mouth to say something but stopped when Lyla walked back out. She was holding an antique book in both of her hands and she continued to the platform as if to stand above and before them. Still the invisible barrier remained in place, and they were forced to watch.

“If she reads from any of those books, she could invoke something powerful,” Giles said to no one in particular.

“It’s always something,” Brody muttered.

Lyla closed her eyes then and the book flipped open and the pages began to flip on their own. Suddenly her head snapped up and her eyes opened. Her eyes were the color of coal, and her normally blonde tresses turned a dark burgundy. She opened her mouth and began speaking in foreign tongue. A wind seemed to pick up around her, tossing her curls around her face. The others watched in awe until, just like that, it was over. The wind died, the book fell to the ground and Lyla closed her eyes and collapsed.

Brody was first at her side, pulling her upper body into his lap. Ellie watched, sick hearted, as he gently caressed the curls from her face. “Is she?”

Giles shook his head as he picked up her wrist and felt for a pulse. “She’s alive....”

Izzie looked down at Lyla’s peaceful expression and then back to Giles. “What’s going on here Giles?”

“It could be a number of things,” he said slowly as though weighing the options.” Right now we have no clue what has happened.”

“So it could be nothing right?” Brody asked. To this question he received silence. “Right?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

In the small clearing just beyond the woods, invisible to anyone trying to find it, the rock race began to shake. The earth shook only around the base of the rock, as the rock began to split right down the middle. A small doorway seemed to appear in the rock and from it stepped a young women. Young in appearance, but old in the years on this earth and any other dimension. Her hair was as black as the night and it swayed around her shoulders in the gentle breeze as she walked from her prison. The robe she wore was spun with an almost web like silk that hung in wisps down to the ground and as she moved it swayed around her bare feet, and as she lifted her bell shaped sleeves around her hands she looked around the clearing. She was free, finally. With a half smile on her face she said aloud. “It has begun.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~