Giles sat back, speechless. As a Watcher, he was used to brutal, violent prophesies and rituals being discussed. It was what he did. But to see this girl, who looked so young, recount the basics of this ‘Blood Star’ ritual without breaking composure.

Clearing his throat, "Well then, um, so one girl in all the world is called- "

"Every hundred years, yes. She is called to fulfill the Spell of the Blood Star." Kathryne’s eyes sparkled blackly in the darkness.

"And you are the girl for this cycle?" Thoughts of research, protection, and so on began to filter through the Englishman’s head, mentally preparing for the days to come. Until Angel spoke up.

"No, Giles. She was called over two hundred years ago."

"Bu-but, I don’t understand." Looking at Kathryne, he drew his breath in. "Are you a vampire?"

"No." Her voice held a pang of sorrow, faint and shimmering, but there, running as a subtle undercurrent under her words. "I don’t know what I am, but I am certainly not one of those blood sucking bastards." Kathryne’s eyes fell on Angel.

Glancing at the vampire, Giles caught his visible discomfort. Angel looked at his shoes, as if the whole world depended on their leather and rubber. Unable to observe him any longer, Giles turned back to the girl.

"So if you’re not a vampire, how have you managed to live so long"

Kathryne looked off into the night, turning her head away from the librarian. Her hand slid down, and clutched the fabric of her turtlenecked shirt. "Go ahead Angelus. Tell him about the elixir."

Without looking up, Angel muttered, "To perform this ritual, the girl needs to be alive, and aware. But under normal circumstances, she would die."

Kathryne let out a small laugh, sounding almost cackle-like in the night. Giles jumped a little at the hollowness of it.

Fazed for a second, Angel shook his head briskly. Continuing:

"This spell is kept sacred by only the eldest and most powerful vampires. The Master took a shining to me when I was a fledgling, and let me observe."

"Oh, you did more than observe, Angelus." The girl’s voice, sharp like a blade, cut into Angel’s presence. He shuddered, his face turning into a mask of misery.

"I know…" he choked out.

Kathryne’s eyes ablaze, she whipped around and stared Giles down. "So they keep the poor, innocent girl alive. They fill her blood with a potion that halts the aging process, slowing cell growth, body growth, all of it to a dead stop. Making the girl immune to aging… a form of immortality. And then what do they do? They slice her open!"

Giles gulped. The raw fury of these words being spat at him was only matched by the horror they contained.

"That’s right, Watcher. They slice her open, and read the future in her blood." There was a pause as Giles considered this. *One who knows the future can change it… what a powerful weapon*

"And then they kill her. They let her live through that horrible pain, and then the vampire rips her throat out and gorges himself on her blood."

Giles winced… "The agony she must suffer… must be excruciating."

"But wait, I haven’t told you the best part. This part is hilarious. A real laugh." The sarcasm dripping from her words was thicker than the blood that pulsed through her veins. "Because of the elixir in her blood, the vampire that drinks it has his power increased one hundredfold, if not more. And a strong, old master vampire would nearly be impossible to defeat. You’d probably lose a dozen of your precious Slayers to him."

Feeling his temper arise at the brutal remarks to his calling, Giles pushed it back. *Now is not the time to get angry, Rupert.*

"So the Master was going to do this to you. How did you survive?"

Angel spoke up, his voice quavering, his chin trembling, "A Slayer. She beat us back and let Kathryne go free… I killed the Slayer before she could leave as well."

Giles contemplated this. He knew that Angelus, sans soul, was quite vicious. Something like this was to be expected. *But, it might have been Buffy, had she been alive then*

"That you did. Along with all of the other things you did… to me… to my mother… to-" Kathryne’s voice rose in pitch as she went along. Her face flushed a bright red with rage, her clenched fists beating a silent song against her thighs.

Suddenly, she gained some composure. "But that’s past now. You have a soul now- Yes, I knew about that. Don’t look so shocked. I’ve been making friends in high places." Her face returned slowly to a creamy pallor, her eyes bright.

"And I need your help."

"Us? You said someone was following you…" Giles murmured. "But Kathryne, the Master and Darla are both dead."

"It’s not them. His name is Robius. And if he gets his hands on me, the world will bleed."

But before Giles could respond, he was knocked to the ground by a large, dark beast.

*****

The smell of the library spread it’s musty scent throughout the hall. The school was silent, echoing with the nothing sounds of a weekend night. And, faintly audible was the sounds of someone wandering throughout the dusty heaps of books.

Willow Rosenberg drifted through the library stacks slowly. True, it was a Friday night, but she figured she could get some researching done while she was at it. *In this down time, we really should keep on top of things.*

The petite redhead reached up on a shelf, pulling a dusty volume down. Opening it randomly, she noted a picture of a big, hairy, snake thing. *Looks kind of like the sandworm from "Dune"* Deciding to go with it, the hacker headed over to the tables in the center of the library.

Sitting down, opening the book, she leaned on one hand. Glancing through the pages, turning the yellow leaves slowly, Willow’s thoughts began to wander. As of late they had been focusing a bit away from Xander, and more on Oz. *He does look cute when he does that guitar thing*

She smiled to herself. *A senior. A really nice senior. Maybe… *

The phone rang, it’s sharp bells cutting through the silence of the library. Willow jumped, spooked some by the sudden sound. Coming down off of her fright, she laughed nervously.

"Just the phone, Rosenberg…" she muttered to herself, standing up and walking over to Giles’ office. Once inside, she reached to silence the telephone.

Lifting the smooth black receiver to her ear, Willow chirped brightly, "Hello?"

"Oh god, Will?"

"Xander? What’s wrong?" Willow’s brow crinkled in worry at the sound of her friend’s voice.

"Um, I’m at the hospital. Cordelia and I were in a car accident. She in surgery right now… Will, you should probably come over."

"Oh my." Pulling a pad of paper off of Giles’ desk, she quickly scrawled a note to the patrolling Giles. "Have you called Buffy?"

"Yeah, she is going to come as soon as possible."

"Okay… I’ll be right over. I’m going to call Oz for a ride."

"See you then. Bye Will."

"Goodbye Xander."

Cradling the phone, Willow stared off into space. *A car accident?* She felt tears welling up in her eyes. Sure, Cordelia had never been much but mean to her, but as of late, she had become a part of their gang. Willow didn’t want anything to happen to her.

As she reached for the phone, another thought passed through Willow’s mind… *Why were Xander and Cordelia together tonight in the first place?* But before her mind could dwell on that, she had unconsciously lifted the receiver and begun to dial Oz’s number.