Los Angeles, California. In an alley near the old Hyperion hotel on a rainy night in May of 2004. The night the L.A. demon community heard the battle cry.
Blue was right. Charlie Boy made it about ten minutes ‘fore he fell. She glanced over her shoulder at him, just as he was goin’ down, and looked like Fred just long enough to scream “Charles!” in her little Texas accent. Then she was Blue again, punchin’ the daylights outta every big nasty she could reach.
Peaches an’ me was plowin’ our way down that alley, lettin’ Blue get her fun putting her fist through anything that got around us. Angel had his heart set on that damned dragon, but I was pushing toward somethin’ else. The great poof, for all his brooding and thinking in solitude, was never much of a thinker on the battlefield. Good at figurin’ up the best torture for a person, but the rush of a good brawl took away that imagination every time. He was so intent on slicin’ his way to that soddin’ dragon, he just didn’t see it. I did.
Those demons wasn’t fightin’ each other… not at all. They were scared enough of something else that they didn’t even notice each other. They were runnin’ into that alley like they had no choice, and could do nothin’ more than hope to survive. It was like they were bein’ pushed, herded in, like cattle to the slaughter. It didn’t make sense… unless there was something out on the street a hell of a lot scarier than the bad mood Blue was throwin’ around in the alley. I had to find out. I was set on getting to the street to see what it was had those demons runnin’ scared.
By the time Peaches climbed up a fire escape ladder and jumped on the dragon’s back, he was so bloody and banged up, I figured he’d pass out and fall off ‘fore he did it any real harm. But I didn’t exactly have much time to watch him. I had enough demon comin’ my way to keep me busy without sight-seein’. I must’ve gotten a good whack on the head about that time, ‘cause I suddenly couldn’t see too well. Everything was kind of blurry. But I was almost to the corner; I had to see… whatever it was. I was stumblin’, I was bleedin’, but I got there. What I saw made me think I was dreamin’.
The demons were funneling into the alley as they tried to escape a mob of teenage girls attacking from three sides. They were armed. They were strong and fast. They smelled more familiar than they looked. I sucked in a breath of that battlefield air. Slayers.
To the right, just ‘round the corner from me, I spotted Faith, swingin’ an axe and wearing the smile of a born brawler. Girl loves to get her hands dirty. I could appreciate that. Like a spot of violence myself, now and again. It’s good for the soul… so to speak. Faith was yellin’ at the girls behind her to push forward, close in the fight. I think they were just trying to avoid gettin’ too close to that axe.
A shot of light caught my eye in the corner of my blurred vision. Comin’ at the alley straight on was Red, lighting bolts shootin’ off her hands, white streaks in her hair, and another slayer brigade fightin’ the demons around her.
Then I caught that scent. The scent so familiar that I couldn’t miss it…even in the midst of hundreds of demons bleedin’ all over the place, a scent so distinctive, it screamed out to me over the scents of a hundred slayers. She was there.
I was still fightin’ but I was so weak an’ bloody there was no way I could get to her. She was moving toward the alley from the left, opposite Faith’s approach, as usual. She was going to get to Peaches first. I squinted up at him. Looked like he was tryin’ to saw the dragon’s head off with his sword, but I couldn’t be sure. If that was what he was up to, it was gonna be slow work. Wondered how long he’d be able to keep it up.
I knew it had to be almost sun up by that time, but everything seemed to be getting darker. I could still see enough to fight, though, and even sneak a peek toward the far side of the alley to check on her. In a whirl of blond, she was swingin’ the scythe through the crowds of demons, working her way in. Was she comin’ to me? Did she see me? Did she even know to look?
Her voice pierced the noise of the battle. “Hey Angel! You started another apocalypse and didn’t invite me? I’m hurt. Doesn’t the phrase ‘vampire slayer’ mean anything to you? Now kill that thing already and get down here so I can remind you!”
I was fightin’ slower. I could feel it. My own fists felt heavy. The world around me had slowly become so dark I was down to moving on instinct, strikin’ out wherever I could see a flash of movement and using my ears to figure out the rest. So this is what it felt like to go down truly fighting. I’d been wondering about that.
From above I heard the poofter yellin’ out words to her. He was grinding ‘em out like it took everything he had to speak. “I …got this! Back up… Spike and Illyria… down there!”
The red flash of her weapon disappeared from my strained vision. It was one of the last things bright enough for me to see. Maybe I was completely blinded now. Maybe she stopped moving. Oh God! Was she hurt?
I guess she was just standing still. Maybe it was shock. ‘Cause the next thing I heard was her shriekin’, “What! Spike? …Spike! Where?”
She was still so bloody far away. I wasn’t goin’ to get to her… especially since my knees were getting weaker. I wasn’t going to be able to fight my way away from this soddin’ corner.
Suddenly two large, troll-ish lookin’ buggers were on me, had me up against the brick wall, sinkin’ to my knees. Just before silence closed in on my darkened world, I screamed.
“Buffy!”
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!