By Neva
neva.crandall@csus.edu
Feedback is much appreciated
Note to the Reader:
This is the sequel to my previous story "Dreams?"; a description of
my version of the BtVS universe was included with part one of that story.
I apologize in advance for all inaccuracies related to Highlander.
I missed many of the episodes, so I'm making things up. I have no idea
how
long it will take to write the longer sequel to "Dreams?" and "White
Lies" because I've got summer school and my writing time is too small.
This series now has a name: Swords and Secrets
(The web page addressed used in this story is completely fictional.)
Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Highlander
belong to the shows' creators. I'm just borrowing them for
entertainment.
Rating PG13
< > Indicate thoughts
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Eight more deaths and they still hadn't even caught so much as glimpse
of the demon. It didn't seem to need to feed as frequently as most of
the nasties they had gone up against. Vampires generally fed nightly,
but this thing had only killed a total of eleven people, some of whom
were still unidentified, over a course of two months. Of course, eleven
was more than enough. Willow had known one of the dead slightly, a
young male witch who had moved to the area recently and was starting
classes at Sunnydale University. Hours of research had turned up
nothing, not even the tiniest bit of information. Giles had even gone
so far as to attempt contacting the Council, but it had been a totally
useless effort. No one there would even talk to him. He'd been understandably
pissed. Willow was still trying to find something on the
Internet, but like the others she was having no luck.
<We've got to do something . . . anything. Buffy is getting worn
out; we all are. > Willow looked at her friend with some concern. Buffy
looked
tired; between patrolling, studying, and hunting for the elusive demon
the slayer was badly overextended. The nightmares finding three
mutilated bodies had given her certainly hadn't helped. Her social
life was currently nonexistent. Willow and Angel had done their best to
help with patrolling and research but it wasn't enough. Cassandra refused
to let up on the redhead's magic training, and Willow also had
regular college classes. She was beginning to droop, and her grades
were suffering -- although she hadn't dropped any classes yet.
Something had to be done, and Willow had an idea. She had discussed
the idea with Angel and he thought it made sense. Unfortunately,
the plan had one major flaw. Cassandra would hate it. Willow could
see her teacher's face go cold and distant in her mind. It was not a
pleasant or reassuring image, but the image of the body behind the
dumpster was worse. After the eleventh body was found she made up
her mind and decided to lie.
The email she sent Methos was lengthy. She described the situation and
the victims in great detail. Willow also scanned a drawing of the
symbols into the computer and attached the file to the message. Willow
watched the mail received message come up on the screen with a
sense of deep relief. Even if this didn't work, she wasn't going to
be haunted by the feeling that she had left a possible source of information
out while people died.
She'd sent email to the oldest Immortal before. The first had been to
thank him for the book that had permanently bound Angel's soul. There
had been a couple of short notes to discuss points in the book. An
ongoing discussion had been started when historical events in the journal
became confusing. Cass hadn't been in that part of the world at that
time, and Angel hadn't been born yet so neither of them had been much
help. Asking Methos had led to a number of long discussions about history.
For the past two weeks though Willow had had little time to reply
to email. Angel knew about the slowly developing friendship, but Cass
didn't. The Immortal refused to even mention Methos. When they
discussed the journal, she always called it the book Joe brought. Willow
knew that Cass would be angry that she had begun to ask advice of
the man. Furious actually. >From what she could tell, both from the
emails and talking to Joe, the man who now used the name Adam
Pierson had only a distant relationship to the man who had ridden as
one of the Four Horsemen. Three thousand years or so is a lot of time
to change. The fact that he freely admitted that he wasn't perfect
and that he tended to lean towards expediency was a point in his favor.
Willow preferred honesty. <Which is why I hate lying to Cass, but
I don't see what else to do. >
Willow realized she'd been staring into space when her computer beeped
insistently at her. < I guess I’m even more tired than I thought. >
The "you've got mail" message was blinking on the screen. Methos had
already replied.
Willow,
Never heard of
demon like that, but I'll see what I can find in my library. I‘ll get back
to you as soon as I
can. This sounds
like a truly nasty piece of work, no wonder I haven't heard from you lately.
How's the magic
training going?
Methos
Willow smiled as she read the note; he was going to help, and the odds
of finding some information had just gone up. It was several days
before she heard from him again --- and he had precisely the information
she needed.
. . . I know
you have to hide this correspondence from Cassandra so I found a way get
the information to the
whole group
without you revealing where you got it. I've started an occult website
at
members.tripod.com/demonlogy_resource_guide/main.html
The information
will be there. Anytime I find something your group should know I'll post
it there. I'm glad I
could help.
Let me know how things go.
Methos
Since Cassandra was walking past to her own room, Willow had to restrain
a shout for joy. Spreading the information around would have to
wait until tomorrow. However, she could tell Angel now. Willow quietly
slipped out the door and into the next-door room. The celebration
quickly turned into a kissing session fully enjoyed by both parties.
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Willow watched as Cass sat down, coffee in hand, to check her email.
Walking over to the weight machine in the corner, the young witch
decided it was best if her teacher found the information. Then Willow
wouldn't have to explain why she hadn't found the site earlier.
"Cass, when you’re done with your email there's a new site we need to
check out. I found it last night, but I was too tired to look it over.
It’s
bookmarked under demons, at the top of the list." Willow felt her stomach
twist at telling the lie. Cass had given her so much; she hated
telling her teacher a lie. <I won't cringe. It's a harmless white
lie. We need that information. > This situation reminded Willow of those
first few
days of hiding Angel's return from Hell from the others and of her
careful concealment of the friendship that had followed. She didn't want
her
relationship with Cass to undergo the same sort of strain that those
friendships had. Resolutely Willow worked out, shutting out everything
but the physical exertion.
Cass looked at the website’s introductory page dubiously. It didn't
look terribly promising. The contents page was lavishly decorated with
cartoon demons and ridiculous looking vampires with capes and greenish
slime. All the wording was done up in ornate Halloween fonts -- all
drips and cobwebs. However, the artistic sensibilities of the creator
weren't of interest here, just the accuracy of the information. Sighing
with
resignation, and ignoring the animated ghost that followed the mouse,
Cassandra clicked on 'types of demons' and began exploring the
website.
Things got better quickly. The actual descriptions were unadorned, detailed,
and blessedly accurate. However, none of the information was
new to her. She clicked back to the main page and scanned the contents.
A small note at the top caught her eye "All new stuff is under
updates and is not in the types list." <Oh well. Can't hurt to look.
> There wasn't much on the updates page, just two additions to the demon
types list, but it was enough. The first demon on the page was the
one they were looking for. Not a lot was known about what the demon
looked like, but its feeding and breeding habits were fully described;
and there were instructions on how to lure it out into the open where
they could fight it. Cassandra stared at the screen then smiled, filled
with relief. "Willow, you found it. We can get this thing."
Willow walked over and leaned read over Cass's shoulder. Normal weapons
were sufficient for killing this type of demon. The problem,
which they had all noticed, was that the demon was very shy, and it
normally fed only once or twice a year, remaining in hiding the rest of
the
time. It reproduced asexually and had to feed more frequently to do
so. It was drawn to magical energy, power of any type, which is what had
drawn it to Sunnydale, and to that unfortunate young witch. <The
others must have had latent magic abilities. > Willow stood up, stretching
out the muscles she'd been exercising,"I'll go call Buffy and Giles
and tell them the good news. We can get rid of this thing tonight." The
redhead smiled, voice cheerful and tension free for the first time
in weeks. <Thank you Methos! >
"Hello, Giles?"
"Yes, Willow. What is it?"
"We found something." Her smile was clear in the tone of her voice.
Giles effusively expressed his relief that a solution had been found and
agreed to find Buffy and then come over to the new house immediately.
The former Watcher sounded like an enormous weight had been
lifted off his shoulders. Much of his assistance to the Slayer consisted
of information, and he had been unable to provide any. Now a plan
could be made, and a demon eliminated.
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The group spent the rest of the day putting together a plan of action.
The final result was fairly direct and uncomplicated. Cassandra and
Buffy were going to do the actual killing. The two of them went scouting
through the graveyard near the location of the demon’s most recent
kill. They Immortal and the Slayer managed to find a spot they felt
they could defend against an unfamiliar opponent. After all, they still
had no
idea what the demon was like physically, and it had done a lot of damage
to its victims. Control over the fight was essential, especially since
the plan called for the near immobilization of everyone else except
Angel. Cassandra quickly laid out the tasks for the rest of the Scooby
gang.
"Willow, you are going to drop your shields and provide a tempting target
for the demon. Giles, Anya, you two are going to help her boost
the strength of her magic, make her smell better, so to speak." Angel
made a sound of protest, which both Cass and Willow stared down.
"Angel, you stand guard, in case the demon somehow gets around the
Slayer and I. Willow will be a bit drained -- setting up a magic beacon
that the demon can't resist will take a great deal of energy. She'll
be a little vulnerable in a fight, so you handle that. As soon as Buffy
and I
engage the demon, stop the spell, and the rest of you all get out of
there. Angel, continue guarding them. Willow, you eat and rest as soon
as
you get home." Cass gave her a firm look. "No trying to come back and
help; you won't be in any shape to do so." Xander, who protested
loudly, was staying at the house. "You're not a witch or an Immortal,
so you're staying. Plus, we need someone to handle food and have first
aid ready."
Cass turned back to Willow. "The spell you'll be using is very simple,
little more than a lantern, but the amount of power you'll be feeding into
the spell will take effort and energy to control. It will be difficult."
Willow nodded quietly in acknowledgment of the warning.