Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chapter 1

It has been six hours since I saw Drusilla’s premonitions. Drusilla herself is out hunting and I am still at home trying to figure out what happened. I have to get together with my sister, I have to save my cousin, and above all, I have to save my own skin. If this is in fact, real skin. I pinch my arm and feel nothing. There is no feeling for energy. This is what I really am. I am just energy. I am energy to the world like a key is to a lock.

Wait, I think to myself. A key.

“A key!” I yell. “That’s it! A key! I need to make some kind of intervention for the slayer to focus on instead of me so I can get my sister on my side. Hmm.” I’m sitting in my chair thinking about what to do about this…intervention.

“An angelic influence? Nah, that’s no fun. Demonic? Yes, demonic. I know exactly what I am going to do,” I say to myself.

I pull out a mahogany trunk from next to the couch. I open it and pull out a few supplies for a spell. I set up my circle for a teleportation spell and sit in the center. As I am casting my spell, I remember how my sister’s eyes dilated so quickly that night. I’ve never seen anyone that influenced by a simple mind scan. I stop thinking about my sister because I feel the power really surging through me. I say my incantations and a blinding flash lights my apartment for a second or two.

The lights dim again and I feel slightly drained, but not as much as I normally did. Right in front of me is a being. It is in the shape of a woman; blonde hair and fine skin. It, she, is wearing clothes in a material I have never seen before. It looks like a dress and has a bright red tinge to it. She is also wearing a crown of a metal that seems to be made of a liquid; the pulsating and gently moving particles forms this crown-shaped headpiece. She must be royalty of some sort. The spell worked even better than I anticipated. Next to the woman-being, sits a spherical object. It has a slight yellow tinge to it and it is dimly pulsing light. It’s the key. It’s the only way she can get back to her dimension. I gingerly pick up the sphere and cradle it in my hands.

“You need to hide somewhere,” I coo at the sphere. “I need you to stay safe for awhile, but where to put you? I know! I’ll send you to a monastery! What better way to protect something so important than to embed the history into a religion? If anything bad were to happen, the monks will know what to do. I’ll make sure of it.”

I remain standing still for a moment and meditate. I focus my powers on creating a history for the sphere and woman-being. With this notion, I wave my hand over the sphere and it vanishes. The woman stirs slightly but doesn’t wake. When I finish protecting the sphere, I look to the woman-being and gently remove her crown. I wave my hand over it and it too vanishes.

“You won’t need that.” I nudge the woman being and she instantly wakes up. I gasp just slightly and the being senses my fear.

“Who are you? Where am I?” the being asks me in a demonic tongue.

In the same language I reply, “I am no one you should be worried about. You are on Earth, in a dimension not of your own. The times and planes are different as well.”

“How do I get home?”

“Do you not know who you are? Do you not know what to do?” I reply. When I cast that spell, I did embed “directions” in the woman-being’s mind so she would know what to do to get home. Actually, what I embedded such details as: in order to get home you need a key. This key has no form or physical properties and it is excruciatingly well hidden. I also incorporated some rituals on what the woman-being should do if she ever wanted to get home.

“I am Glorificus. I am a princess of a Demonic realm.” Her eyes brighten momentarily and she stands up sharply. “I know what to do,” she hisses. She marches out of my apartment, breaking down my door as she left, and races out of the building. I see her through the floor with my special sight and see that she grabs an elderly man and twists his neck, killing him. She breaks down the door of the building and out into the night.

I look over at my door and say an incantation. The door is instantly replaced, and I do the same thing for the door downstairs using my special sight. I leave the man dead on the floor because I want to cause mystery for the Slayer; for I know she will investigate.

I sit down on my couch and congratulate myself on a good distraction.

“At least the Slayer will have something else to focus on now,” I say to myself. “Now, my next big challenge is to save my cousin. He won’t be as vital to my plans, but he is family. The faster I get him out of town, the better.”

I pick up my cell phone and call William.

“Hello?” answers a heavily British-accented man.

“William, good morning,” I reply. “I need your help. Meet me at the college in an hour.”

“Why?” he asks.

“You like money, don’t you?”

He agrees to meet me in an hour in front of Sunnydale University and hangs up. I pick up my wallet and make sure there’s money in it for payment and put it in my back pocket. I throw on my trench coat after sheathing my Knight Warrior sword to my left hip. I stash a flashlight in my trench coat pocket, a dagger up my sleeve, my cell phone in my other pocket, and a 9-milimeter gun to my boot. One can never be too careful when wandering Sunnydale streets at night. I also hide a small but powerful magnet in my jeans pocket. It will be used later.

Chapter 2

An hour later, I am standing in front of Sunnydale University, waiting. William shows up moments later, his trench coat flying behind him. He pulls out his flask and takes a sip. Again it smells of vodka and blood.

“Do you not drink anything else?” I ask.

“I’m a bloody vampire! There’s not much more I can drink,” he replies.

“Touché,” I retort. “Well, now that we’re here, I need your help. Here,” I say. I pull out my wallet and throw two fifty-dollar bills at him. “Half now, half later.”

“Alright, you have my attention. Where’s the party?” he inquires.

“I need you to take me to the place where they embedded this.” I swiftly take out my magnet and press it hard against William’s cranium. I wrap my arm around his body so he cannot move and press the magnet harder as he begins to scream in pain.

“Bloody hell!” William screams. “You bloody wanker! Cut it out!” He screams louder and I finally release him. He is still holding his hands to his head, moaning slightly.

“What in the hell did you do that for?” he asks, now agitated.
“The chip in your skull wasn’t active enough for you to remember where the compound is.” He looks at me, dumfounded, and bends down to rest his hands on his knees as if he was exhausted from running.

“It hurts like hell! You could’ve asked,” he whined. After a minute of threatening him with the magnet again, he says, “This way. I think.”

“Do not think, know. This is important to me. I need to know.” I motion for William to lead the way to the Place.

William turns around and begins walking. About a hundred yards away, William stops walking. He walks up to the nearest tree and touches it. I stand at my spot, watching him as he gropes the tree and jumps up and down on the ground a few times. Finally, he kneels down and grabs a handful of grass. He doesn’t in fact, grab grass, but he grabs a big chain. He pulls the chain hard, putting all of his weight on it, and the ground pulls open revealing a stairway.

“If you think I’m following you in there, you’ve got another thing coming. I was in there twice already. I’m finished,” William says.

“Oh you’re coming. You’re coming because I need you and if you don’t come, I’ll kill you,” I reply. “And you know I can do just that with no effort at all.” Grudgingly, William starts heading down the stairway.
“You’re going to need your night-vision,” he starts. “There’s nothing but darkness in this tunnel. We don’t get to light until we hit the ventilation shafts.” Using his advice, I blink twice and I am able to see in the complete darkness.

William takes me down a long tunnel that seems to get shorter in height with every step. By the time we reach the end of the tunnel, I see light. The light emanates from the dim generator lights of the compound. The tunnel we are standing in is small and I am slouching; my back is rubbing on the ceiling. The ground is moist from the earth and the walls are coated in weird goo.

“Here we are,” William says.

I see in front of him is a ventilation fan. It is the way we are going to get into the lab. I step in front of William and look past the fan grating. I see there are about twenty Lab-coats walking around, each with a loaded gun belt.

“This is going to be easy,” I say to William.

“For you,” he replies. “I can’t fight, remember?”

“You are correct, you will not fight. I will. Instead, you will get Riley out. Take him to my place. I will be there shortly after.” He nods in understanding, and I turn my attention back to the lab. As I look at one of the lights on the ceiling, I wave my hand and they all go out. Men inside are shouting and I hear them running around. “We go now,” I say to William.

I break down the fan gate and jump through the opening. William follows and runs off. Since men are still running around to find lights, they do not acknowledge the broken fan. I walk up behind a Lab-coat and twist his neck around, killing him. His last gasping moan triggers more men to come charging towards the noise. Unfortunately for me, they approach wearing night-vision goggles. They see me as clearly as I see them.

“Come on guys,” I beckon, “hit me with your best shot.”

Instantly, the three men surrounding me throw their fists towards my face and I duck under them, reappearing behind them. I draw my sword from my hip, and with one great swing, slash them all across the back. I sever their spinal cords at the sweet-spot: left of the spinal column, fourth lumbar down, the abdominal aorta. They fall to the ground, crying in pain, dying. There is no one else around me, so I turn my attention to the center of the lab where there is a large pit. There are demons laying on tables and men shining flashlights all over them.

Deeper into the building I stare and I see William going down a long corridor. He stops at a door and kicks it down. I see my cousin emerge and he begins fighting a Lab-coat. Riley takes the goggles from the Lab-coat and puts them on. He motions to William and they both begin heading out of the underground, Riley fighting when and where he needs to.

I hear someone come up behind me. I fling my trench coat over my head like a cape and turn my body into a non-corporeal state. I move across the floor, gliding, like the ghost I presently am. I turn to face what had come up behind me and I see another dozen Lab-coats. They all have some sort of guns. They all take aim simultaneously and release fire at the voice of one man. Their bullets and rays of electricity pass through me like light through glass.

After they are told to seize fire, they all lower their guns in unison. I smile at them and raise a hand to my brow, as if I were tipping a hat to them. After my bid farewell, I twist my trench around my body and teleport out of the building; teleported, at least, to the stairwell where William and Riley escaped.

Chapter 3

Back at my apartment, I find William and Riley sitting on adjacent loveseats and staring intently at the floor. As I enter the room, they both stand up and walk over to me. Riley looks at me and then he slaps me. Since I am now solid, his hand hits me full force across the face. I do not flinch and I do not turn my head back towards him. Instead, I lift him off the ground using my powers and turn him to face the window.

“Why were you captured? Who did you tell?” I ask calmly. He doesn’t answer, so I move him closer to the closed window. “I promise you, Cousin, that if you do not communicate with me, I will throw you out of that window. I will kill you.”

He grunts and says, “You are getting in the way of the Slayer. I had to try and stop you.”

“Why would you want to do that?” I ask him. Again, he doesn’t answer and I begin to penetrate his mind. He grunts in pain because he knows I am trying to get in and he is fighting me. He fails, and I am inside. I see him and the Slayer kissing. Buffy and Riley are considered a “couple” to the Scoobies. I see them in bed together and I pull out of his mind. “You are interacting with the opposition. I am deeply unhappy.”

“I did what I had to do,” he says. “You can’t stop her. She’s powerful and knowledgeable. She’ll find you before your ceremony begins.”

“I don’t think so,” I reply to him. “You see, I’ve sent her a little present; a demi-god from a plane not of this multi-verse. Your precious Slayer will have a rather large project on her hands for the time being.” Riley hangs his head in failure and then looks at me.

He asks, “So now what? Are you gonna kill me?”

“No,” I reply. “You are going to leave this place. In a moment, I will let you leave, but I will make sure that your army-friends take you out of town. You are in violation of your own code.”

“On what charges? I was helping them,” he rebuts.

“To name a few: treason to your company, spying, etc, etc.”

“I haven’t done any of that!” he yells.

“That doesn’t stop them from believing,” I reply. I look Riley in the eyes and I cast a spell in my head. Riley sees the dilation of my eyes and he hangs his head again. “There, all set. Now, you have a bounty on your head to all demons unless your precious Initiative finds you first.” I put Riley back down on the ground and make myself non-corporeal once again in case he tries to hurt me.

He doesn’t, and then he trudges out of my apartment like a wounded soldier; which he is. I turn my attention to William and glide/walk over to my desk, becoming solid as I reach it. I pull out a small briefcase and turn the dials of the combination lock. I lift the case open just enough to get my hand inside and grab its contents. I withdraw a stack of twenties and hand William about ten or eleven. He thanks me and offers to take me to the Bronze for a drink. I decline and he graciously leaves.

I walk over to the couch and turn on the television with the remote control. The news is on. There is a reporter on Main Street with her television crew shining lights everywhere. It’s almost dawn but the area is still pitch black. The buildings along the street were broken into; glass and random objects are sprawled about the tar roads. The town is scared; scared about what kind of new monster is lurking about. I smile as I think of Glorificus. What fun she must be having right now.

My apartment door opens. I turn to see who has violated my privacy and find that my darling Drusilla has come home.

“Baby,” I coo. “Pleasant hunt?”

“As always.” She danced around the couch and twirled in front of me. “I had felt a strange presence this evening.” She stops and brings a hand to my cheek. Her cold fingers stroke my face. “Was it you?”

“Indeed, my pet. Glorificus.”

Her hand recoils fast and her face contorts into a mysterious blend of fear and anger.

“W-what have you done?”

The early morning sun beams streak into the living area, and I sense them before Dru. Quickly, I hoist her in my arms and carry her into the bedroom where the windows are painted black and midnight curtains block out the remaining light. Drusilla thanks me and begins undressing for bed. She finishes undressing and stretches out from hunting. I kiss her goodnight and watch as she climbs into bed for the day.

I walk back into the living room and resume my seat on the couch. I cross my legs Indian-style and rest my hands on my knees. I turn off the TV with my mind and close my eyes. In this meditation stance, I rest for a few hours. My strength regenerates, and while I am resting, I watch the Slayer and her gang sort out the night’s events.

I see Buffy out on patrol. She’s wandering the streets aimlessly looking for vampires and demons to fight…perhaps to rid the town of the evil influences?

Buffy is fighting a vampire, and after just a few well-placed moves, she dusts him. She is standing in front of a building guarded by a lone guard and a wire-mesh fence. There’s something on the ground; a small yellow-orange sphere…but not the key. It’s no bigger than a softball, no brighter than a soft-glow bulb. It’s metallic, as shiny as a brand new car. I wonder to myself what it could possibly be. Buffy picks up the object and stashes it in her jacket. The lone building guard came around and shooed her off the property.

Chapter 4

Two o’clock post-meridian. The sun is still up high in the sky, and I come out of my meditation. I feel rejuvenated…I can now remain awake for three full days. I open my eyes and I see Drusilla still sound asleep in the bedroom, the blankets have fallen from her torso and her breasts and abdomen are exposed. She’s so peaceful.

I look down at the floor. Through the stories I see the police have already come and chalked where the old man was found. They are still combing the floors and checking people’s apartments for a possible killer…questioning all the residents. They are on the floor below mine, at the bottom of the steel staircase waiting to ascend.

I get up from my couch and turn to the main bay window in the living room. I wave my hand in a semi-circle and watch as the black paint chips away because of the hologram I just implanted. Anyone who looks can now see outside of the window just as if it were real. I walk into the bedroom and place the hologram on each of the bedroom windows. I also hide Drusilla under a sleep-spell and hologram so she could remain asleep, undisturbed, while the police interrogate me and search my apartment.

I take a quick walk around the apartment and conceal everything in a hologram that I don’t want the police to find. My briefcases of money, my weapons, my magic supplies…I hide everything. I finish the hologram placements and take a look around. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was in someone else’s apartment.

There’s a knock at my door. I turn and look through the door, not bothering with the fish-eye lens. The police have arrived.

“Police officers here. Please open up,” one of them says. I walk over to the door and unlatch the lock. I open the door up until the chain lock stops.

“Hello ma’am. I’m Inspector Douglas here with Officers Todd and McCourtney. May we come in, please?” The inspector flashed his badge at me. I nodded my head and shut the door to unchain it.

“Come in.” I open the door for the police and they step inside. The inspector, dressed in a brown overcoat and khaki pants, pulls out a notepad.

“Do you mind if we have a look around? We are here to check every room to see if there’s a killer in the building,” one of the officers says.

“Well, Officer…”

“McCartney,” he finishes for me.

“Well, Officer McCartney, please, feel free to look around. I have nothing to hide from Sunnydale’s Finest.” Officer McCartney smiles at me. He’s missing his two canines, probably from a horrible run-in with a demon or vampire…or enraged inmate. The uniform-clad officers spread to opposite ends of my apartment, checking closets and rooms.

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Inspector Douglas asks me.

“Please do.”

“May I have your name?”

“Ariana. Just Ariana.”

“No last name?” He looks at me curiously.

“No sir, I had it legally removed when I was eighteen.”

“May I have a former last name? It’s for record purposes.” I give him my former last name. He won’t be able to find me anyway. I haven’t had a last name for over a thousand years.

“Thanks. So, did you happen to see or hear anything unusual last night around two a.m.?”

“Besides the always-not-so-friendly neighborhood prattle? Nothing in particular.”

“What do you mean by ‘neighborhood prattle?’”

“Well you know, Inspector, there are a lot of unusual people roaming these streets. I am simply stating that, besides their usual ruckus of singing drunkards, argumentative couples, and bon fires, there was nothing…unusual that happened last night.”

“All clear, sir,” Officer McCartney says.

“Well, Miss Ariana, thank you for your cooperation.” He pulls out a business card and hands it to me. “If you see or hear anything that you think may relate to this case, please give me call any time of day or night. Have a nice day.” I take the card from him and bid him and the two policemen farewell.

They continue searching the five-story building well into dusk. While they are searching the last story, I feel Drusilla stir from the spell I cast on her. With the same had I cast the holograms, I reverse the semi-circle and make them all disappear.

“Good morning, lover.”

Drusilla leaves the bedroom and sniffs at the air. “I smell men…ugly, disgusting men. What has happened here?”

“I’ll explain later, unless you decided to find out by yourself.” I tap my right temple with my pointer. Instantly I feel Drusilla stirring about in my head. Seconds later, the fuzzy feeling stops and she looks contented with the information. She turns from me and begins heading to the door.

“You can’t leave yet.”

“Why not?” She turns back to me and crosses her arms over her chest.

“When they searched the apartment, they didn’t see you. If they see you now, we’ll have trouble.”

“But I’m hungry,” she complains.

“I know, baby, I know. Here.” I extend my arm out to her, curling up my sleeve, exposing my bare wrist. With my nails I cut a deep wound across my wrist. Red gold drips from the cut, beckoning Drusilla to me.

She obliges, her mouth completely covering my wrist. She sucks hard and I feel the mortal life slipping from my form. The adrenaline rush is intoxicating. I feel limp, Drusilla catches me. Colors swirl around me. The room begins to spin. I can see Dru above me, her mouth still drinking from my wrist.

She stops.

My heart beats faintly, but I can hear it like drums in my ears. It is slow, but rhythmic. My mortal body would have died in moments, but my immortal soul regenerates the blood twelve times as fast as a normal human. Within moments I feel focused and invigorated.

“Mmm, better my love?”

“Much better, Pet.”

“Good. I’m going out now. Wait until the police leave and then you may go out. I’ll see you at dawn.” I kiss Drusilla passionately and I hear her moan ever so slightly. I turn away from her and head over to the closet. I throw on my trench, strap on my sword to my hip, a dagger up my sleeve, and gun in my boot. The same weapons in the same places are always helpful to me. There’s no need to think of where a weapon is, for I know where it is. I make sure there is still the rest of the stack of twenty-dollar bills in my wallet and head out of the apartment, concealing the weapons from the police and make my way out of the building.

The Bronze is still a huge feeding-ground for the undead and a hormonal wasteland for teenagers and young adults. The club’s music pounded through the subwoofers and speakers, causing the walls and stools to shake and rattle. The lights are dim and strobe-lights illuminate the stage in colorful phases.

With my eyes as mirrors, I can see the non-existent reflection of about ten vampires. There are only so many people dancing with air. I do not see the Slayer and her friends this evening. They must be “researching” the new evil in town that has killed and destroyed so many things. Oh the fun Glorificus must still be having.

I see a female vampire escort a drunken woman out of the club. With interest, I follow the two outside and remain a short distance behind them. The woman is laughing and slurring her words. The vampire leans in to smell the woman’s hair and neck.

They stop at a park bench a few blocks from the club. The vampire sits the woman down on the bench and sits next to her. She begins to touch the woman’s neck, stroking her clavicle with those cold, bony fingers. I am so tempted to kill, so tempted to slay. Unfortunately for me, I as a second too late.

“Goddamn Slayer,” I mutter to myself.

I watch as Buffy steps back from her recent slaying. She checks on the woman and then sheathes her stake up her sleeve. The woman looks confused, but nonetheless hurries off home…most likely to call a friend and recount the event. I am tempted to approach the Slayer, tempted to fight with her.

“Another vampire,” she says.

“I saw,” says another. I look around and see the English Watcher with her; Rupert Giles by name, “Ripper” by reputation. The two walk side-by-side down the path towards me. I change my body into a non-corporeal state and step backwards into the brick wall I was previously leaning on. The pair walks by me without a second thought.

As I come back out of the wall and change back into a physical state, the pair walks inside The Bronze and I turn towards the main roads of town.

Inside of the recently closed Magic Box, I see lights on. Inside, I can see a group of people huddled around a round wooden table. I cannot hear them…yet. I look around the main street and see that no one is around. Quickly, I change into my non-physical form, and slip through the Magic Box window, to the side aisle where the table is not visible to me nor I to it.

“What is it?” I hear my sister say.

“It’s some kind of glowey-ball-thingy.”

“Gee, Xander, did ya come up with that all by yourself?” Anyanka says.

“Hey at least I’m trying!” he rebuts.

“At least try to think of something that will actually help!” she yells back.

“Here, I found it!” the redheaded Willow screams.

“What, what is it?”

She replies, “It’s called a Dagon Sphere.”

To be continued….