Nusac

Chapter 31
Faiths POV

Walking around the Summers’ house kinda takes me back to the old days. And let me tell you it isn’t a good image to have in your head. I skulk around the house trying to leave the scoobies to their celebration, since Buffy left I know they have been keeping their distance. Can you really blame them?

Again I am in search of soda, might try some cherry 7 up this time if they have any… mmm. I’ve been craving that stuff like a bitch for the past sic months. I stop a step in front of the kitchen door, hearing raised voices.

“What the hell has it got to do with you anyway? Who do you think you are turning up here with someone we all hate and trying to tell me how to live my life!” Shit Red is pissed.

I hear Namine’s hushed tone cut in. “I do not say that I know you, all I can tell you is that the way and kind of magic you are using is going to take over. It is stronger than you are.” She sounds like she’s trying to talk Willow down from something. She always uses that tome of voice on me when I’m all gung hoe to go and kill a demon that is far to strong for me on my own.

I feel fear coming off Namine through the door, I can just imagine her trying not to be frightened at Reds famous ‘glare of death.’ I had to deal with it a few time but I was the ‘dark slayer’ couldn’t look frightened, that would have cost me my badass image. So decide to enter trying to act like I know nothing. “Hey kids, how we all doin’?” I ask with a smile.

Red gives that patented sinister death stare type thing before shooting an even stronger one at Namine, she then stalks out of the room. Well I think that went well. I’m not a ball of fire and she didn’t throw anything at me.

“What the hell was all that about?” I ask making my way over to the refrigerator. Looky what I found. That cherry goodness I like so much.

Namine shakes her head as if she doesn’t even know before replying. “She thinks she is in control and she isn’t, it will destroy her… or her friends, or even the world if she carries on but she will not see sense.”

“Yeah well Red aint exactly used to being told what to do, she’s always the smart know it all one…” I take a swig of my soda. This time I’m careful not to drink too fast. “If I were you I would think of a way to show her or something, she aint gonna believe what you say to her cause you came here with me and I don’t see her ever trusting me again.”

Namine nods at me in understanding. “I will try.” She lifts her gaze to me as if something had just dawned on her. “Why is it that she wont trust you anymore.”

She had to go and ask that didn’t she? I’m in the process of coming up with an answer which doesn’t involve me nearly slitting Red’s throat when I hear the music cut off in the other room so go to investigate, Namine following behind. I walk in to see Giles standing by the stereo, yeah party pooper G-man as always. However he did just save my ass so I’m going to go ahead and stop taking the piss out of him.

“That was Janice's mother on the telephone. Apparently Janice said that she was staying here tonight.”

“Ahh, they’re dipping into the classics. You gotta respect that.” Xander pipes up.

Giles walks towards the front door. “Is Buffy still outside?”

This time I put in some information. “She needed to get her slay on, went to find Spike to go patrol.”

“Well it’s nice to be kept in the loop.” Giles says mostly to himself before telling Anya and Xander to stay at the house and for Willow and Tara to search downtown. “I will go and see if I can catch Buffy at Spikes, Faith you, Namine and Pike try the cemeteries just in case.”

I nod and go along with the plan, can get out of the house and maybe slay something if I find it on the way. Can’t complain with that anyway.

I’m quite surprised that I know my way around Sunnyhell so well still. I find myself leading Nam and Pike to my favourite cemeteries.

“Still nothing.” Pike says emerging from a crypt. I twirl my stake around in my hand whilst leaning against the crypts outer wall.

“Damn Halloween.” I say under my breath as we start walking to yet another cemetery.

We walk along the sidewalk all looking into the distance for something to kill. “Ooh there’s one!” Pike says getting excited, I free up my slayer senses for a second.

“No Pike, It’s another kid… again.”

Pike gives me a defensive look. “Well they shouldn’t have such realistic looking costumes.”

I roll my eyes and smirk at him. “Yeah cause that first kid you scared half to death really looked like a fully grown Fyarl demon.”

Cue Faith being punched in the arm. “You two are worse than children.” Namine puts in.

“So you keep telling us sweetie.” I reply before sticking my tongue out at her. Yeah I matured whilst I was away. “So… Pike… this Dawn chick we’re looking for… what is that all about again?” I ask.

“She’s Buff’s little sister.” Again with that answer.

“Look I know I was away for quite a while but how the hell would I forget a whole person?” I ask him. He shakes his head at me, probably thinking I’ve gone a bit mental or something.

“The one you call Dawn is not of this world.” Namine says after a lengthy pause.

“What?” Me and Pike ask at the same time. Out of all the answers I could have got that one wasn’t one of them.

“She is not a girl, she is pure energy.” She’s slipped back into Latin. I don’t think she has the words in English to explain it properly.

“Again… what?” I ask.

We stop walking, both me and Pike looking at Namine. “When I look at her… she has no external aura but when I look at her… she has this great green energy coming out from within, it is like looking at a green sun, it is almost blinding.”

“And this all means what exactly?” Pike asks looking between me and Nam. Don’t know why he’s looking at me it’s not like I have any idea.

“She was not born… as far as I can tell she was made and with her all the memories she holds and it seems that she has not long been of this world.”

I raise my eyebrows. “So I’m not going mad then, I never knew her right?”

Nam sighs, that either means she is pissed off or she doesn’t know how to dumb it down enough for me and Pike. “I do not know the particulars but I am guessing that the strange anomaly I can see in Pikes aura and that is present in everyone else here who knows Dawn means that this happened not too long ago, and since it is not present in you Faith that is why you do not remember her.”

“Why do you think it didn’t get me?” I ask genuinely interested.

“I can only assume that when the change took place you were with me in Nusac, the magic’s used couldn’t transcend the inter dimensional barrier.”

“Okay then, but she sure remembers me which is a bit weird.” I say thinking back to the looks she has given me since I arrived.

“Well you were in everyone else’s memories so whoever cast the spell would have used everyone else’s memories to make Dawns.”

“Eurgh, can we stop now… my head hurts!” I say with a grimace. After I’ve finished trying to unsuccessfully rub the ache out of my head I let my senses flow out of me to see if I can find any sort of supernatural activity anywhere. “This place is dead and I don mean the un-dead kind of dead.”

“Shall we head back? They might have found her by now.” Pike asks, we all agree and start the long walk back to the summers’ house. Anything has got to be better than watching kids run around the cemetery just because it’s a little bit scary. I’ve had two toilet rolls bounce off my head so far.

“Why do we have Halloween?” I ask just before another roll bounces off the side of my head followed by lots of very childish laughter. That’s it now I’m annoyed. I snatch the offending projectile off the ground and throw it back to the children it came from. I may have just given them there ammunition back but it bounces off a the back off a boys legs and he falls to the floor before taking off in the opposite direction. Yeah that fucking scared ya didn’t it.

I look back to Nam who is currently shaking her head at my childishness and Pike looks as though he wishes he’d thought of that.

I spend the entire walk back trying to find something to kick the shit out of. That isn’t a kid dresses as a demon. Back on Nusac I would have no problem finding anything. Just step out the house and there you have it. Haven’t needed to go hunting this hard in over two years. Nothing on the entire walk back. There must be some vampires somewhere that don’t follow the rules and don’t take the night off. I even took a few detours though a few more cemeteries. Nothing, nada, zippo.

By the time I walk back into the house I’m beyond frustrated. What’s more I’m hit with a whole load of tension. Buffy is standing at the foot of the stairs talking to G. I only catch the last sentence of the discussion. “What would I do without you Giles?” She smiles and touches his arm before she turns to us. “Oh Faith. You’re welcome to stay here. Everybody does. There’s a bed in the basement and there’s always the couch.” How had I not even thought about my sleeping arrangements?

“Thanks B.” My attention is drawn to Giles as he disappears into the kitchen where Dawn is sitting. Would have been nice to be kept in the loop on that one.

I head in the other direction to Giles snatching up the TV remote to try and drown out the tension in the air throughout the whole house. The screen jumps to life just as Nam takes a seat beside me. ”Why are little men jumping around in the small black box?” This is going to be a long night.