Chapter One
“Interview with a Vampire Slayer”
“This is Rupert Giles. It is the first of April-“
“Oooh, so formal! Don’t I feel special?” The watcher shot his slayer a look of warning and she rolled her eyes. “Sorry.”
With a sigh, Giles rewound his recorder and started over. By the time he was done reciting facts that Buffy was positive nobody would ever care to know about, she was having doubts. Did she really want people to know about this whole ordeal? Was this really anyone’s business? The answer was, no… and yes. No, she didn’t want people to know about her current state; but if she had had access to this kind of information when she had first started slaying, there would have been certain things that would have been easier to deal with.
Giles slid a piece of paper in front of Buffy with key points for her to mention when she started talking. She worried over a couple of the questions for a second, but he offered her a smile and it eased a bit of her anxiety. Surely, this couldn’t be easy on him either. What happened wasn’t any person’s fault as far as Buffy was concerned, but Giles blamed himself for not having prepared her. He had apologized for his negligence on more than one occasion, but Buffy always corrected him. There was no negligence, it had been a surprise attack and a lucky shot; nothing more.
Joyce quietly tip-toed around the table, handing out drinks. A tea for Giles and a bottle of water for Faith. Buffy’s mother had taken the news extremely well. In her eyes, Buffy was Buffy - her daughter, not the slayer or anything else, just her teenage daughter whom she loved. Welcoming Faith into her home had been just one more adjustment she had made to embrace Buffy’s calling. Giles had suggested that Faith live with them as an extra security measure, keeping everyone who was involved that bit safer. Joyce had agreed as she was willing to do anything to keep Buffy safe.
Even though Joyce had made many changes in what seemed to be an effortless manner, Buffy could still tell that the events had taken their toll on her mother. The slow loss of hope that Joyce experienced made Buffy feel like a burden. At night she could hear Joyce’s prayers and the tears that followed soon after. Everyone had hoped that the situation would right itself, but after a year and a half, things were looking bleak. It hadn’t taken long for Buffy to realize that she couldn’t continue living with her mother, pretending that everything was normal. She had begun to act as if her current condition was going to be permanent and decided to move out.
Giles cleared his throat and signaled for Buffy to introduce herself. She opened her mouth several times to start her monologue, but she quickly found that her mind was drawing a blank. She knew what had happened, but she couldn’t manage to get the words out. Even after all this time and after countless explanations she just couldn’t find a painless way to say it.
“I think that this might go a bit more smoothly if everyone who is not needed would kindly leave the room.” Giles offered helpfully.
To be honest, Buffy admittedly felt like a freak show. She knew Willow and Xander were there in an attempt to support her, but the awkwardness that surrounded them rubbed Buffy the wrong way. Her best friends never knew what to say to her and she wasn’t quite sure that she managed to hide her jealousy of them at all. How easy it must be to wander around clueless about the “other” side of life. They knew about the evils of the world, but it wasn’t their job to fight it. They weren’t the chosen ones who had to go around and rid the place of dangers. Potential apocalypses didn’t rest on their shoulders. Paranormal adventures were something they could choose to participate in, not something that was shoved at them. For those reasons, she was jealous.
Buffy did enjoy Oz’s company. Although he never talked much, there were no silences that she felt obligated to fill in. They had an understanding. He knew what it was like to have something darker lurking within you and she was learning that it was something that wasn’t easy to control.
Without a word, the three of them turned to leave. Giles fixed his gaze on Faith who was currently sitting at the table next to Buffy.
“Oh no,” she said, leaning back, “I’m sticking around for this. It’s my duty and all.”
Even Joyce cleared out of the room - taking a mug of cocoa out the back door - which left the three of them alone.
It still took a minute to find the perfect way to phrase things, but Buffy was satisfied with the words she managed to find.
“I’m Buffy Summers and I’m the Vampire Slayer.” Buffy heard Faith let out a quiet snort of amusement and she grinned. Giles, on the other hand, was not a fan of her play on words. Reluctantly, she added, “As in the slayer that is a vampire.”
There it was out. She had said what needed to be said. What happened to ‘The truth shall set you free’? she wondered. She had told the truth, but she didn’t feel any better about it.
“Why don’t you tell us about your death?” Giles asked.
“Which one?” Buffy replied, not skipping a beat.
Again, Faith let out a snicker. Buffy was happy that Faith had come around when she had; she knew that had Faith been here before she had a bit of demon in her, they wouldn’t have gotten along so well. Faith was Buffy’s opposite - loud and impulsive, with a true love for slaying. Yes, she was almost certain that Faith would have been quite the problem during her good girl days.
“The death that caused your condition,” he clarified. Buffy shuddered as she remembered that night and the helplessness that went with it, but, with the familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach, she started filling Giles in on the events leading up to it.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!