Cherish The Day
Chapter Two
"I get the feeling I'm not in Kansas any more." Buffy thought to herself.
After slipping from Spike's grasp, everything had gone black for a while. She wasn't sure if she'd passed out or not. The next thing she was aware of was that she was lying in a darkened alley. She lay there for a moment, allowing her head to clear before climbing to her feet.
She walked to the end of the alley and stopped. Now she was sure not only that she wasn't in Sunnydale, but that she wasn't in the right time period either. The people who were walking up and down the main street were dressed in clothes that Buffy had never seen before, except for the time she'd been dragged to the museum on a school field trip. The men were all wearing suits and top hats, while the women wore floor length dresses and bonnets.
The street itself was cobbled and the houses and shops lined with dark oak beams. As if someone was answering Buffy's unasked questions, a newspaper blew across the street and landed at her feet. Picking it up, she scanned the front page until she found the information she wanted. In the top right hand corner were the words 'The Daily Times, London, 19th September 1880.'
Her body suddenly numb, the paper slipped from her fingers. She was trapped in the past, in a strange town where she knew no one. She didn't have a clue what to do. Thinking of nothing else, she began to walk, ignoring the stares of the people around her. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she accidentally walked into a young woman.
"Watch where you're going." The woman snapped.
"Sorry." Buffy murmured, continuing to walk. Suddenly she stopped; the woman's words had struck a chord. 'Watch it.' That was it. She needed to find the Watcher's Council. They were based in London and they would be able to help her. The only problem was how would she find them?
Someone really was looking out for her because at that moment she heard a scream coming from one of the side streets, closely followed by a snarl that could be only one thing. Pulling a stake out of her pocket she followed the sound. Sure enough there was a vampire standing over a middle-aged woman, fangs bared ready for the kill. Buffy quickly grabbed him, spun him around to face her and plunged the stake into his chest.
"Thank you." The woman gasped, climbing to her feet. "I thought for a moment I was going to...just one second, how did you do that?"
"Do what?" Buffy asked.
"You knew that was a vampire and you knew how to kill it. The only girls that can do that are...never mind. Thank you."
Buffy took hold of the woman's arm. "Are you a Watcher?"
The woman looked genuinely surprised. "Why, yes, I'm...who are you?"
Buffy could have cried with relief. "You have to help me. I'm a Slayer from the future, I was fighting these demons and somehow I ended up here."
The woman actually looked less surprised than she should have been. "A demon you say? Do you have any idea what species it was?"
"My Watcher said they were Arakor demons, a group of them."
The woman nodded. "Yes, they are known for their ability to open temporal folds. Well, don't worry, we'll take care of you. Come with me and I'll take you to our headquarters, it isn't far."
Buffy nodded as the woman took her arm and began to lead her.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Elizabeth Darcy."
"Buffy Summers."
The two of them walked the short distance through town and were soon at their destination.
---
Henry Travers listened to Buffy's story. In all his time as Chief Watcher he had never heard anything so extraordinary, but he knew there was no way it could be anything other than the truth.
"Let me make sure I have this correct," He said once Buffy had finished her story. "You fought a group of Arakor demons, and a vampire helped you? Does the Slayer no longer hunt vampires in your time?"
"It's not like that." Buffy replied. "Something happened to Spike which left him unable to hurt humans. But because he could still harm demons, he decided to...help me and my friends."
Buffy thought about the ‘decided to...help’ part. And inwardly smiled thinking, “Yeah right!”
"I see. Well, I'm not entirely sure we can help you Miss Summers, but we'll do our best. There is no telling what the consequences of you being in our time could have on your world."
He looked her up and down, "First of all, go with Mrs. Darcy. You need to change your clothes, the less attention you draw to yourself the better. You will stay here of course and tomorrow we will go to the library and see what we can learn about the ritual these demons were involved with." Buffy nodded and followed Elizabeth. She showed her into a room.
"You can sleep here tonight, dear. I'll get someone to bring you some clothes in the morning."
Buffy glanced around the bare room. It was very basic, but she was just glad to have a roof over her head. Climbing into bed, she soon fell asleep.