"The stars are so pretty...they come out at night in the black and they sing to me. They tell me stories of things to happen...things no one knows...they sing to me...can you hear them, Spike?"

The bottle-blond vampire grunted and broke a vase angrily. "No pet, they don't sing to me. Why don't you go play with your doll somewhere?" He stomped over to his wheelchair and angrily kicked in into the statue of Acathla. The stone hulk shook, but hardly wobbled.

"They speak to me, Spike. They say I'm a pretty girl. I'm a good girl, Spike...and now I have a sister. Daddy brought me a sister...we shall laugh and play and drink tea and kill and watch the stars...they twinkle and twinkle like glitter and bells...do they glitter at you, Spike?"

Spike growled in frustration. "Yes, luv, sure. C'mon, let's go eat." He grabbed her arm and led her to the door.

Drusilla pulled away from his grasp. "My sister will be coming home...can't keep my sister waiting...it wouldn't be polite." She stared dreamily out the window. "What are stars like in the daylight? Do they still twinkle and shine? I can't remember, Spike...take me out in the daylight, Spike, show me the stars!" She was trembling slightly as she pounded on the window.

"You can't see the stars in the daylight, pet," he sighed as he dragged her away from the window angrily. "You'll burn."

She shivered in his arms. "Shrivel all up like a raisin..." she murmured, then suddenly looked startled. "Oh! Sister shall need a room!" she cried, and raced up the staircase.

"Fine," Spike muttered, "I'll hunt alone."

                 ***

The mall security guard herded the last of the teenagers out of the mall. "Sorry kids, but we gotta sleep, too." There were only a few left, he couldn't wait to get them out so he could start his shift, find his favorite bench, and fall asleep. If only these danged kids would move a little faster...

"But, I don't wanna leave!" came a cry of protest from the small group left. Without hardly even looking, the guard responded automatically.

"Sorry, hun, but you gotta get home. You all do." Then he realized that there were no more kids left, only a pair standing right in front of him. One looked older than the other, but the girl looked like she was in high school. "Come on, go on home."

"Don't wanna." The girl pouted, crossed her arms, and looked up at the man she was with. "Wanna play."

The guard was tired, and he sighed heavily, for he didn't want to deal with this. That, and the man didn't seem to want to leave, either for his own sake or for that of his companion's. The guard didn't care. He wanted to sleep.

"Listen, sister, if you want to play, go to a damned playground for all I care. Just leave already." He was close to pushing the two of them out the door forcefully.

The man gave him an icy stare. "She isn't your sister. Your sister would be nicer to you." A cold grin followed this statement, and the guard was beginning to worry that he was dealing with a pair of criminals. His hand began to drift towards the gun on his hip slowly, trying to keep his actions out of view from the couple.

Suddenly, he felt a cold hand grab his wrist tightly, and he realized that the girl was holding him with incredible strength. "Now, now, we don't want you doing that." She wrenched his arm towards her, spun him around, and pinned him up to the wall. With her other hand, she grabbed his gun and threw it onto the floor. "I like my games better." The next thing he felt was a sharp pain in his neck, and then all was black.

As Willow let the corpse fall to the ground, she looked at it in distaste, then kicked it violently. "He tasted bad. I didn't like him. Can we go look for more?" she pleaded to Angelus.

Angelus smiled. He liked this girl a lot better this way.