Buffy the vampire show

Disclaimer : This is not so much MY intellectual property but rather those talented writers who made the real Buffy show. Kudos to them and theirs.

O-O-O-O

Chapter name – Bark at the moon.

O-O-O-O

Scene – Sunnydale national park in the hills.

Several occupied cars were parked around the grass while Giles and Buffy were camped out by the tree line, waiting for the werewolf.

Buffy, cringing for some reason Giles couldn’t fathom – “Do we have to wait for the werewolf here?”

Giles – “This was where Cordelia was last night so it makes sense we should wait here. Uh, are you sure you’re okay? You look ill.”

Buffy – “I’m fine. I just need some fresh air. Is it just me or is it hot in here?”

Giles, looking at her strangely - “We’re outside.”

Buffy – “Oh, so we are. Umm, I think I need a drink then.”

Buffy quickly twisted the cap off her thermos and knocked it back, making disconcerting purring noises as the blood slid down her throat.

To Giles, it was a quiet night under the stars. To Buffy, the night was alive, an orchestra of gentle moans and smacking lips.

Giles – “Did you hear that?”

Buffy stopped drinking and looked over at him with glazed eyes.

Buffy – “Huh?”

Giles – “I said, did you hear that? That noise right then.”

Buffy – “Nope. I haven’t heard anything. Particularly from that car over there.”

Giles – “From deeper inside the park, I believe I heard something.”

Buffy, keen to leave – “Let’s go check it out then.”

Once out of ear shot from lovers lane, Buffy rested against a tree and breathed in and out a few soothing lungfuls of night air. Buffy considered kicking the habit of breathing but decided it wasn’t a dirty one at all. In fact, it was strangely soothing considering how futile the act was.

Giles – “What’s wrong?”

Buffy – “Oh, nothing. I’m just, uh-“

She didn’t need to make up a suitable excuse as Giles yelped, cutting her short. When Buffy turned around she found Giles tangled up in a net trap. From behind a boulder, a hunter with a double barreled flintlock rifle came out.

Hunter – “Gotcha! What the hell?”

The hunter lowered his rifle and stared at Giles then spotted Buffy walking up to him.

Buffy - “Kudos. It seems you’ve snared a tweed-breasted librarian. Very rare this side of the pond. But I hear they’ll take away your permit if you poach them. So, if it’s not too much to ask, could you cut him down?”

The hunter didn’t see any harm in it so he pulled out a skinning knife and cut the taut rope keeping the net up. Giles fell down before Buffy had a chance to catch him.

Buffy, wincing – “Ooh, are you okay?”

Giles, getting up with a kink in his back – “I’ll live. But I say, what’s your game?”

Cain, the hunter – “The name’s Cain. I’m a hunter. Most people can tell by the rifle. Look, why don’t you just go back to canoodling in your car where it’s nice and safe? Haven’t you heard there’s a dangerous wild animal around?”

Giles, infuriated – “We were not canoodling.”

Cain, laughing – “You don’t have to preach to me. Just one question. When you’re on a date, whose running her lemonade stand?”

Giles – “But we weren’t - Buffy, tell him.”

Buffy, not really listening to Giles – “This dangerous wild animal. You’re hunting it?”

Cain – “It’s what I do, little lady.”

Buffy – “Uh, I don’t know if you know this but it’s not a bear.”

Cain – “You don’t say.”

Buffy – “It’s a werewolf.”

Cain hardly reacted at first then he laughed at Buffy.

Cain – “How did you know that, little lady? Hey, you’re not from fish and game, are you?”

Buffy and Giles did a double-take.

Cain – “That would be a no. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a werewolf out there with my name on it.”

Buffy – “We’re hunting it too.”

Now it was Cain’s turn to double-take.

Cain – “With what? Where’s your gun?”

Buffy – “We aren’t hunting it to kill it. We’re taking it alive.”

Cain – “Obviously you really don’t know what you’re getting into. Girlie, werewolves aren’t just people with a bad hair problem. They’re animals. They’ll bite your throat out before you can blink. Best you just go home and let the professionals take care of this. Say, you’re a local, aren’t you? You know where else boys and girls get together around here?”

Buffy – “Uh.. why?”

Cain – “Since Fido hasn’t been here all night, he must be somewhere else. And they’re suckers for teen spirit. They can smell it miles away.”

Buffy, mumbling to herself – “Not the only one.”

Cain – “Excuse me?”

Buffy – “Nothing.”

Cain – “So how about it? Know of a party going on?”

Buffy, shrugging - “Sorry. Can’t think of anywhere.”

Cain – “Not playing ball? Typical. But you better wish I find them before they find you.”

With that said, Cain turned away and left the clearing. Buffy turned with a purpose and started to leave too.

Giles, hurrying after her - “I take it you know where it will be?”

Buffy – “I’ve got a hunch. Let’s just hope we get there before the great white hunter does.”

O-O-O-O

Scene – The bronze.

Willow and Cordelia were sitting down at a table.

Cordelia – “You should hear him, continually going on about Buffy.”

Willow – “Xander took it pretty hard.”

Cordelia – “But she’s not even gone. She’s walking around like nothing happened. But him, he’s in mourning. Do you think he’d ever be in mourning if I died? I don’t think so.”

Willow, frowning – “He, uh, might.”

Cordelia – “You don’t seem so sure about that.”

Willow – “No. I think he would mourn. He’s the type.”

Suddenly the werewolf jumped down onto their table from the second floor. They both screamed and then the whole room started screaming.

O-O-O-O

Scene - Outside the bronze.

Giles’ old 1963 Citroen DS19 skidded to a stop outside the Bronze, just in time to watch everyone inside run outside.

Buffy got out and habitually took in a deep breath. The air was thick with exciting, intoxicating smells that made Buffy’s head dizzy and made her mouth smile curl into a vicious smile.

Giles, as he got out – “It looks like your hunch was right.”

Buffy didn’t hear this, as she was distracted by the running, screaming bronzers.

Giles nudged her and she flinched back to reality with a growl.

Giles – “Buffy. The werewolf. Go after it.”

Buffy – “Right. Sorry.”

Then she was off, just making it through the front doors before the bouncer closed them.

Once inside, the doors slammed shut and locked. She found herself very alone on the inside.

The smell of panic and desire was even thicker here, nearing claustrophobic and Buffy shook her head to clear it. It didn’t work.

She heard something from the stage and slowly approached it, taking a chain from out of her backpack as she did. She reached out with her vampire hearing and found a soft but very persistent throbbing sound.

It was a heart beat.

She jumped on the stage and the werewolf came out from its hiding place behind the drums, growling. Buffy instinctively growled back as her game-face turned on. Somewhere in her clouded thoughts there was some part of her mind that deciphered the werewolf’s intentions.

Stopping herself from agitating the werewolf into an attack, she tried something different. She backed down and silenced herself.

It seemed to work and the werewolf looked at her curiously, almost dog like.

For a few moments, they stood like that, the werewolf analyzing Buffy and Buffy thinking about something.

It was then Buffy who took the initiative, slowly couching down onto her knees and letting out a low, almost sad keening. She let it out before she realized what message she had given.

The man-wolf slowly edged towards and Buffy’s brain just caught onto the fact that she had just given it the supernatural equivalent of a mating call. She was trying to be friendly but not *that* friendly. Hell, she didn’t even know where those sounds inside her were coming from.

The werewolf noticed her hesitation and hesitated himself, his muzzle so close to her neck that it was huffing hot air down her shirt.

Then she heard metal sliding against metal and a quick snap. The werewolf pushed her away and jumped back. Before Buffy realized what was happening, Cain fired his flintlock at the werewolf but missed. Then the werewolf jumped through a window, out into the alleyway behind the bronze.

Cain – “Dammit!”

Buffy covered her face until it turned back to normal and then confronted the hunter.

Buffy – “What the hell do you think you were doing?!”

Cain – “Me? What were you doing? Letting it eat you?”

Buffy – “No, I was-”

Cain – “You were what? Being nice to it and hoping it wouldn’t bite your head off?”

Buffy – “Uh, yeah. That’s exactly what I was doing.”

The front doors unlocked and Giles and Willow were the first ones in.

Willow, calling out – “Buffy.”

Buffy – “Over here.”

Willow – “Did you get it?”

Buffy, angrily – “Does it look like I got it?”

Cain – “Jesus Christ, there’s more of you? It’s fricken amateur hour.”

Willow blinked at Cain, seeing him for the first time.

Willow – “Who’s this?”

Cain – “The man who’s going to get that pup.”

Cain, now pointing at Buffy – “And you. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep out of this. If that doggie kills anyone tonight, it’s on your head.”

Then Cain left the club on the slim hope of pursuing his quarry before sunrise.

Giles looked over to Buffy who was still on her knees on the stage.

Giles – “Are you okay?”

Buffy – “Uh. Yeah. Fine.”

Giles – “What happened?”

Buffy looked around and found that there were too many people around for talking about such matters out loud. So she got up, put her bag on and took them outside.

On the outside of the Bronze, Cordelia was waiting by her car for them.

Cordelia, yelling over to them and pointed – “It got away. Down that way.”

Buffy – “We know. I was there.”

Cordelia, as they got closer – “Aren’t you going after it?”

Buffy shook her head - “Nah. It’ll be long gone by now. It can really move.”

Willow – “So what happened?”

Buffy, now excited - “Oh! It was amazing. Giles, I can talk werewolf!”

Giles – “Excuse me?”

Buffy – “Okay, it’s not really talking, more like growling and hissing and snarling. Yes, that’s it. I can growl werewolf.”

The others gave her a sanity questioning look.

Buffy – “I’m serious. When it growls at me the vampire part of me understands what it’s trying to say and I can talk back to it too. It’s just simple things like I-want-to-kill-you, I-want-to-be-your-friend, I-want-to-know-where-a-good-salt-lick-is, Hey!-that’s-my-cave-get-out-of-it. You know, animal things. I almost got the werewolf on my side before Long John Silver scared them off.”

Willow looked to Giles who was perplexed.

Giles – “I-I haven’t heard of anything like this before. I shall have to consult my books.”

Willow, to Giles – “I don’t think you’ll find anything.”

Giles – “Oh, uh, why not?”

Willow – “This was what I was talking about before. It’s information which you could only get from a vampire. I can’t imagine a watcher interrogating a vampire and getting that sort of information out of them. No one would even think of asking about it.”

Buffy – “She’s right. People usually don’t tie vampires down for lengthy conversations. At least, I don’t.”

Giles – “But I still think there would be something in my books about this.”

Buffy – “Why would you think that? Before we went out to capture the wolf, you told me that werewolves and vampires don’t mesh. Now I know, from first hand experience, they can mesh. In fact, that werewolf really wanted to mesh with me pretty badly.”

Willow, not understanding – “What do you mean?”

Cordelia stifled a laugh and Giles cleaned his glasses. Willow looked at both of them in confusion.

Willow – “No, really. What do you mean?”

O-O-O-O

The next day, at the library.

Oz walked in during the middle of a conversation between Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander.

Xander – “All I’m saying is Buffy really knows how to pick men.”

Before Buffy could retort, the four scoobies noticed Oz and turned to face him.

Oz – “Hey, What’s up?”

Xander, smirking – “Buffy almost got some action from the wolfman last night.”

Oz - “They-they tried to fight her? Buffy, are you hurt?”

Xander, chuckling – “Not that type of action, Oz. I’m talking about sweet sweet loving.”

Oz – “W-What?”

Buffy, growling – “Xander. Shut up about that.”

Xander – “Oh alright.”

Buffy – “But tonight, if I see them, I’m going to take them down. They killed Theresa and okay, I hardly knew her, but no one kills anyone on my watch. Unless it’s me, uh, killing someone else and that someone else is evil and.. you know.”

Oz, shocked – “Theresa? They.. oh no.”

Giles – “And they will hunt again tonight. So Buffy, you’ve got one more chance.”

Oz – “Another night where they turn into a wolf?”

Buffy – “That’s right. And tonight I’m really going to give them something to howl about.”

Xander couldn’t help himself and laughed at what Buffy said. He stopped himself after Buffy and Willow gave him cold glares.

Xander – “Hey, you know what we should do. We should find them BEFORE they turn tonight. There’s a very human werewolf out there and I bet they’re making fun of us right now.”

Willow, smirking – “I doubt it.”

Buffy – “No. I can picture that. They’re probably telling their friends about how they almost scored with me last night… not that they almost scored. I’m just saying, men, they lie like that.”

Xander – “Really? I don’t.”

Willow – “That’s because if you did, we’d kill you.”

Xander – “Good point.”

Oz – “But how can you tell who is a werewolf? There’s no way to tell. We don’t even know if they’re a girl or a boy.”

Buffy – “Trust me. They’re a boy. Either that or they’re a very open minded girl.”

Oz, frowned - “This is.. That is embarrassing.”

Buffy – “You don’t have to tell me that.”

Xander – “Besides, there’s got to be plenty of ways to find a werewolf. Giles has books on them and I’m practically an expert.”

Willow – “On account of being a hyena.”

Xander – “I know what it’s like to crave the taste of freshly killed meat, to be completely taken over by those uncontrollable urges, to revel in the slaughter of innocent prey… uh. Buffy. You’ve got- you’ve got some drool. Just um.”

Buffy, wiping her mouth - “Sorry. I missed breakfast. I’ll uh, be standing over there.”

Buffy rushed over to the other side of the room and pulled out her thermos and wolfed down some warm blood from it.

Xander – “I’m really starting to get worried about her. She enjoys the red stuff far too much.”

Willow, trying to ignore the vampire in the room - “Go on. You were talking about being a ravenous eating machine.”

Xander – “Umm, so where was I? That’s right. I know how to think like this werewolf. Lemme just get into character here. I’m big. I’m bad. I’ve got gnashers the size of Oklahoma city. Oh my god. I know who the werewolf is.”

Willow, shocked – “Xander. It’s you!?.. Or are you like a were-hyena?”

Xander – “No. Not me. Larry! It’s so obvious. He’s got the dog bite and he’s the biggest ball of misplaced testosterone I’ve ever seen.”

Oz let out a sigh of relief which no one else noticed.

Giles – “That’s not exactly damning evidence.”

Xander – “But it’s a start. I’m going to talk to him and force a confession.”

Confident in his conclusions, Xander left the room to chase down Larry and Buffy came back to the conversation.

Buffy – “If it’s not Larry. We should make plans for tonight. I’m thinking we lure them somewhere. Umm, what would a werewolf like to eat? A dead rabbit?”

Oz – “Cocktail wieners.”

Buffy gives him a weird look.

Giles – “He’s right. Everyone likes those. But Buffy, I don’t think we can trust it to be civil. It’s too dangerous, too unpredictable and too wild. With Theresa dead, now it’s a man killer. That means we need to take it out of the fight any way we can. In fact, I believe I know how to achieve such an effect.”

Buffy – “Does it involve something pointy?”

Giles – “More or less. More or less.”

Giles went into his office and Buffy tailed after him, leaving Willow and Oz alone.

Willow, to Oz – “Are you okay? You sort of knew Theresa, didn’t you?”

Oz, clearly troubled – “Uh, yeah. I-It’s a lot to deal.”

Willow – “It is. But we can do stuff to help. Sometime it feels good to help.”

Oz – “Uh huh.”

Willow, holding up a book, hopefully – “Like we could look things up and-and find something to crack this mystery. We could do it together, uh, tonight.”

Oz, shaking his head and backpedaling - “I-I can’t. I’ve got something to do.”

Willow – “Oh so maybe-“

Oz – “I can’t. I’ve got to go.”

He turned and almost ran out of the library away from Willow. Willow spots Buffy watching from Giles’ office and they both look at each other sadly.

Buffy – “I’m sure he’ll come around. He just needs some time.”

Willow nodded but internally she wasn’t so certain.

Buffy – “But hey, at least you’ve got books to keep your mind off things.”

Willow, pulling out her laptop and unfolding it on the desk – “Actually, I just thought of something. We could profile the werewolf and check the police records for people who fit the description.”

Buffy – “I don’t know. Furry and virile aren’t much to go on.”

Willow, giving Buffy a weird look - “Virile?”

Buffy, embarrassed – “I just got that impression.”

Willow – “But what about size? Height? Fur color?”

Buffy – “Size? Kind of werewolf sized. I dunno. They all look the same to me. The fur was .. mottled.”

Willow – “Did you see any sort of tattoos or markings?”

Buffy – “Sorry. I was distracted by the whole werewolf thing. But now that I think of it, I don’t think they would have any. They were definitely younger. Around our age.”

Willow – “How could you tell?”

Buffy, tilting her head – “I don’t know. I can just tell. Also, I think they know me. There was some definite recognition going on there.”

Willow – “So you think it’s someone here at school?”

Buffy – “I’m certain of it. I can almost smell them. Actually, I think I can smell them.”

Willow raised an eyebrow.

Buffy, taking a few sniffs of air – “No really. I can smell them. I’m sure of it. It’s a vampire thing. You know, with my enhanced sense of smell.”

Willow – “Yes. I know about that but you really think you can track them?”

Buffy nodded and walked forwards, sniffing the air as she did. Then she turned around with a confused look on her face.

Buffy – “Nope. Sorry. I was just tracking you. Strange.”

Willow – “And we know I’m not the werewolf.”

Buffy looked at her skeptically.

Willow – “Oh come on. I was with Cordelia all last night.”

Buffy – “That in itself is reason for investigation.”

Willow gave Buffy an unimpressed look.

Buffy, sighing – “Okay. I’ll admit it. My nose stinks.”

Willow – “Maybe you just need practice.”

Buffy – “I think I’m having a hard time distinguishing the icky-werewolf smell from the normal yummy smells around.”

Willow – “Yummy smells?”

Buffy – “You know. Things like you and that smell in the supply closet.”

Willow – “What’s the smell in the supply closet?”

Buffy, shrugging – “I don’t know. But it’s kinda nice. It reminds me of the seashore for some reason.”

Willow – “Like ozone?”

Buffy – “Maybe. What’s ozone smell like?”

Willow – “Like the seashore. I heard that once in a chat room once. Now that I think of it, that’s not the best authority. Umm, so what else can you tell me about this guy?”

Buffy thought about it and shook her head.

Buffy – “Not much.”

Willow started typing the keys to her laptop with a determination.

Willow – “Then we’ll have to work on psychological factors. Disturbing behavior, run-ins with authority and -”

Then Willow chuckled.

Buffy – “What?”

Willow – “You won’t believe who keeps coming up.”

Buffy – “Now, I can explain that. Bad things just kept happening around me.”

Willow, turning back to her lap top – “I’ll keep looking.”

Right then, Xander ran into the library and hid behind the door with a wild-eyed look of horror on his face.

Buffy went into action mode and expected something big and furry to chase Xander in. When nothing did, she and Willow relaxed somewhat.

Xander – “Buffy. Quick. Look into the hallway and check if Larry is out there.”

Buffy did as he asked and shook her head.

Buffy – “No Larry. Is he the werewolf?”

Xander – “No. I think we can safely put Larry in the not-werewolf category. He’s something else entirely. It actually explains a lot. Particularly how he always harassed girls like that, trying to fit in. Didn’t he know someone would find out one day?”

Buffy – “Xander. What happened? He didn’t get physical with you, did he?”

Xander, looking at her in horror – “What? God no.”

Buffy – “Because I could go straighten him out for you.”

Xander – “No. I-I don’t think that’s possible. We should just leave him alone.”

Buffy – “Why? What did he say?”

Xander – “Um, it’s not so much what he said. It’s more what I found in his locker.”

Buffy – “What was in his locker? Uh, hang on. How did you get into his locker?”

Xander – “Willow downloaded an anarchist text file about how to get into school lockers. Her anti-social tendencies sometimes come in handy.”

Willow, beaming a smile at him – “Thanks.”

Buffy, frowning – “Look. Larry could still be the werewolf. He seems the type. Did you see yesterday in the gym? He was humping my leg. If that doesn’t scream canine, what does?”

Xander – “No, Buffy. He’s not the werewolf. Just trust me on this.”

Buffy – “Back to square one. Ahh, I suck.”

Xander – “You don’t suck. You’re Buffy, the vampire that doesn’t suck. You’ve sworn off it, haven’t you?”

Buffy – “Well, not so much sworn. I just kinda said I wouldn’t. Hang on. Theresa!”

Xander – “What about her?”

Buffy – “We just assumed she was killed by the werewolf because that’s what the newspaper said. But it didn’t say anything about her being mauled, just being dead in a general sense.”

Xander – “So what?”

Buffy – “Xander. There’s a lot more in Sunnydale that could’ve killed her besides the werewolf.”

Xander – “Yeah. Like what?”

O-O-O-O

Scene – cut to funeral.

The room was empty except for Theresa in her coffin with Xander and Buffy hovering over her.

Buffy’s pulled the scarf on her neck down to expose two small bite marks.

Buffy – “See. That’s a vampire bite.”

Xander – “But that’s so obvious. Of course she was killed by a vampire. Why didn’t they just put that in the paper instead of blaming it on the werewolf.”

Buffy gave him an inpatient look.

Xander – “Oh, right. They didn’t write that either. It’s just another case of plausible deniability striking again.”

Buffy looked down at Theresa and gently tugged the scarf back up to hide the bite. Then she just stood there with a sad look. A few moments of silence passed by and Xander placed his hand on her shoulder.

Xander – “Come on, Buffy. We should go.”

Buffy – “Wait. It’s almost time. I can feel it coming.”

Xander – “You can feel what coming?”

Then Theresa’s eyes flicked open and Xander let out a little yelp.

Theresa tried to get up but Buffy held her down with one hand to her chest.

Buffy – “Relax. You’ll feel a little disorientated for a while.”

Theresa blinked at Buffy, her eyes looking small and beady under the vampire scowl she had on.

Theresa – “Buffy? Oh, Angel said he knew you.”

Buffy, blankly – “Angel turned you?”

Theresa – “Yeah. Where is he?”

Buffy – “He couldn’t make it. The sun’s out.”

Then she looked over at Xander with a smirk.

Theresa - “A snack?”

Buffy – “Sure. Eat your heart out. Or better yet, eat his heart out.”

Xander stared wide-eyed at Buffy as she let Theresa out of the coffin to eat him.

Then Buffy staked her in the back and the dead girl turned to ash.

Xander, sighing with relief – “Buffy. That’s not too cool. Don’t scare me like that.”

Then he realized how she was looking at the pile of ash on the floor with such sad eyes and he stopped scolding her.

Buffy, almost whispering – “Angel turned her.”

Xander, a little awkward – “He’s not the same guy you knew.”

Buffy – “And I’m not the same girl. Xander, I-I’m not supposed to feel like this.”

Xander – “What do you mean?”

Buffy – “I’m not stupid. I know what you’re say behind my back. I shouldn’t be on your side at all.”

Xander frowned and reluctantly brought Buffy into a hug, feeling it was the thing to do.

Buffy, crying into his shoulder – “But you’re right. I’m a vampire. I know I shouldn’t… I just don’t get it. I shouldn’t be like this. I should be like Angelus. But I’m not.”

Xander – “I don’t know if you could ever be like him. You’re Buffy.”

Buffy – “But I’m not. I’m just a shadow of her.”

Xander, sadly – “Even a shadow of Buffy is better than no Buffy at all.”

Buffy gently broke out of the hug and walked out of the room. Xander watched her go then followed, careful to walk around the pile of dust on the floor.

O-O-O-O

Scene - Dark unlit crypt.

The door to the room swung open after something hit it. Then Spike trundled in on his wheelchair. Artificial light flooded in through the open door to show a bed with Angelus and Drusilla on it and in various stages of undress.

Angelus, annoyed – “Spike. What is it?”

Spike – “I just had a vision. I don’t believe it. My first one.”

Angelus and Drusilla both looked at him crookedly.

Spike – “I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”

Angelus ground his face into his hand while Drusilla smiled dreamily.

Drusilla – “That sounds wonderful.”

Angelus – “Dru, it’s from that infernal Star Trek movie.”

Spike, sighing – “It’s star WARS. Even Drusilla knew that.”

Drusilla nodded which made Angel shake his head in disbelief.

Angel – “I expect this from the Xander Harris but not from MY side. Don’t you have better things to do than watch science fiction?”

Spike – “Well yeah. But it’s fun. Isn’t it Dru? Remember when drive in theatres got popular?”

Drusilla, smiling wickedly – “You mean drive through take-ways.”

Spikes – “That’s right, luv. You remember. Good ducky.”

Drusilla, to Angelus – “You should have been there.”

Both Angelus and Spike rolled there eyes at that.

Angel, impatiently – “Spike. Why are you here?”

Spike – “Good news and bad news. Depends how you look at it. Bad news. That girly you turned last night got staked by Buffy. You know, that other girly you turned a while back. Good news. Our sources say that the um.. say, what do we call Buffy now?”

Angel, groaning – “We call her Buffy or the Slayer. I don’t care. What about her?”

Spike, now smiling – “Well, the Slay-er is going to be hunting wolfie wolf bits tonight so that frees up us vampires, doesn’t it?”

Drusilla, giggling – “I can go out, daddy?”

Angel, frowning and prodding the still angry machete wound in her chest – “No. You’re still too weak.”

Drusilla winced from the pain and laid back down, pouting.

Drusilla – “Bring something back for me?”

Angel, grinning – “Of course. Don’t I always take care of you?”

Drusilla, ignoring Spikes steely glare – “Yes.”

Angel, smiling evilly at Spike - “Thanks for the update, Spike. Now, if you’d please leave. I think Dru still has a few goes left in her tonight. That is unless you want to watch. That’s about all you can do now, isn’t it?”

Spike turned in his wheel chair almost robotically and then wheeled himself out, closing the doors behind him.

O-O-O-O

Scene – Oz’s house.

As soon as school had finished, Oz brought some shackles and chains at one of the local hardware stores. He dumped them out of the shopping bag onto a table and looked down at them with a concerned look.

The inquisitive part of his mind pondered whether shackles were something you could buy in any hardware store or just those in Sunnydale.

The adult, responsible part of his mind was trying to figure out exactly what to chain himself to.

He was trying to ignore the part of his mind which wanted to howl at the open night sky and have sex with Buffy. That part was really freaking him out right now and Oz came to the reasonable conclusion that it needed a good shackling.

With a sigh of resignation, he put one of the shackles on a wrist and a knock sounded at the door. He ignored it but more came as he looked over at the front door. Seeing nothing else for it, he put the shackles down and opened it.

On the other side was an angry Willow, almost knocking at thin air where the front door used to be. She quickly put down her hand and barged her way in.

Oz – “Willow! What are you doing here?”

Willow – “Look, this thing we have, we have to work out what it is. We have to work it out right now because this isn’t good enough.”

Oz – “Willow. This really is not a good time.”

Willow – “B-because there I was in the library alone and I was wondering why because I have a boyfriend, don’t I?”

Oz, taking Willow by the arm and taking her to the door – “Uh, y-yeah. I’m your boyfriend. Now please leave. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Willow, pulling out of his grip – “No! You can’t just tell me to go away because if we’re dating then there has to be talking.”

Oz doubled over in pain and half-fell against the couch.

Oz – “Willow. Get out of here, now!”

Willow blinked at him as he clutched his heart and completely fell over, behind the couch.

Willow – “Oz? Oz?”

She got no reply and inched closer towards the couch.

Willow – “Oz. Are you.. are you having a heart attack? Should I call an ambulance?”

Then the couch was pushed and slid aside. Behind it, in Oz’s place, was the werewolf snarling at her.

Willow screamed and ran away, through the kitchen. The werewolf gave chase as Willow turned the corner into a hallway. Willow kept running, not bothering to look back. At the end of the hallway, she came across the back door. Once through the door she slammed it back closed just in time for to Oz hit it face first. The door shook off its hinges and the force shuddered through Willow, knocking her off her feet.

For a few seconds nothing happened and Willow just stared at the door. Then she heard a growl and saw the loose door pushed aside by the concussed werewolf. That was all Willow needed to know Oz was still okay, so she ran for it and tried to outrun her increasingly dangerous boyfriend.

O-O-O-O

Scene – Library.

When Buffy got back to the library, she found Giles in the final preparations of his tranquilizer rifle.

He heard Buffy come in and turned to her.

Giles – “You’re late.”

Buffy – “Sorry. Um, Theresa wasn’t killed by the werewolf. Angel turned her.”

Giles – “She’s a vampire?”

Buffy – “In the past tense. I guess Angel didn’t tell her much about me. She thought I was her new friend. She didn’t see the stake coming.”

Giles paused for a moment before speaking.

Giles, sliding the bolt home in a business fashion – “I can think of less humane ways to die. Now, we have a werewolf to catch. Are you up to that?”

Buffy, nodding – “I’m up to it. Hey, don’t you just love sounds of interlocking metal parts?”

Giles, considering the question – “Yes. They do seem to hold an attraction for me. Now let’s go.”

They both left the office and came face to face with a distressed and disheveled Willow. She even had a bit of bush caught in her hair.

Willow - “Oz is the werewolf!”

Giles – “Are you certain?”

Willow – “Yeah. He normally doesn’t chase me around town like a wild animal.”

Buffy – “Maybe he was just being friendly.”

Willow – “I don’t care how friendly someone is, Buffy. It doesn’t make them grow hair and hop along on all fours.”

Buffy – “Okay. So he’s the wolfman. Where was it you saw him last?”

Willow - “He was right behind me and then he disappeared.”

Then she spotted the rifle Giles was carrying and her eyes shot wide open.

Willow – “No! You can’t kill him. He’s Oz. We can’t kill Oz. He’s Oz!”

Giles – “And I don’t intend to. I’m quite certain tranquilizer darts will work on werewolves just as they would on other wild animals.”

O-O-O-O

Continued in next chapter.