DISCLAIMER!!!! Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, and all the characters, from "Buffy theVampire Slayer" aren't mine. They belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy. I'm jealous, but what can I do? All other characters, and the story itself are the sole property of ME, and my imagination. Please send all comments on the story to ME! Thank you and come again!
Giles stood in front of the grave of Angela Quinn. He quickly saw that Buffy's description of the site was quite correct. The ground in front of the grave was turned up, as if it were freshly dug. Buffy was right, 4 years old, he thought as he looked at the headstone. But something came out of this grave.
"Perhaps a ghoul," he muttered to himself.
"What's up?" Buffy said from behind him.
"I'm not quite sure yet, but something came out of this grave recently."
He knelt down to investigate the ground. The feathers that Buffy had mentioned were mixed in with the dirt. The Watcher picked one up and looked at it closely. "Look's like a chicken feather," he told the group.
"A chicken?" Willow asked from beside Buffy. "Why would there be chicken feathers in the graveyard?"
"Yeah, Sunnydale isn't exactly know for its amazing live stock pavilions." Xander commented.
Giles ignored both students and continued to sift through dirt. He came across some more feathers, this time stained with blood. It appeared that the dirt and grass surrounding the grave was also splattered with blood. The Watcher stepped back from the grave and looked at it from a distance. The blood wasn't just randomly scattered. Giles noticed that there was a faint circle of dried blood around the front of a grave.
Buffy notice that the look she'd seen in the library was back on Giles face. Only more so. "So what is it? What's got you all wigged?"
Giles turned to face Buffy, Willow and Xander. "Uh, I believe I know what transpired here." His eyes turned back toward Angela Quinn's grave and stayed there.
The group of friends waited for him to continue. He didn't. He just continued to stare at the upturned dirt. "Well what happened?" Xander asked, breaking Giles out of his pause.
"Uh, well I must consult my books... but I think that someone has, well, raised a zombie."
The group stared at him for a moment. "You mean like, 'Night of the Living Dead' zombies?" Buffy asked finally.
Giles gave them a sort of pained grin. "Well not exactly, but for the moment that is a close enough definition." The Watcher shook his head. " I never believed that I would have to worry about zombies at the Hellmouth."
The students looked at him. "Why not?" Willow asked. "I thought that the whole 'mystical convergence' thing made, you know, stuff like this more... possible?"
Giles pushed his glasses, which had been making their way down his nose, back into position. "Well supernatural and paranormal activity is more likely to occur near the Hellmouth, but zombies aren't something I was prepared for. Zombies, unlike ghouls, must be summoned by a person. Usually a Necromancer or a bokor. They just don't get out of their graves and start walking around, " he told them. "Someone has to call it out from the grave."
"Hold on there for a sec." Buffy interrupted. "What's a bokor?"
"A bokor is a voodoo priest that practices black magic," Giles explained.
"Wow, voodoo!" Willow exclaimed. "That's different."
Buffy put up her hand as if to stop Giles. "But that still doesn't explain why you never expected to run into zombies here."
Giles began walking back toward the exit, the group walking beside him. "Well, uh, as a rule, bokors and Necromancers try to stay away from vampires. They really don't get along that well. Bokors and Necromancers stay away because vampires are very territorial and don't like to share their hunting grounds with others."
"Well dead is dead right? So why the big hoop-la about turf?" Xander asked as he trailed close behind the others, searching for another piece of gum.
"Well vampires are un-dead, and zombies are just, uh, dead. A vampire can't feed off a zombie because it's dead." Giles answered. "They don't like having to share their food, if they can't get anything out of it."
"Share their food?" Buffy asked.
Giles looked at the ground as they walked, his glasses once again sliding down his nose. "Uh, yes, well, a zombie is usually raised by making a sacrifice. The most common are chickens or goats." Giles seemed to be getting uneasier as he went on. "Afterwards, the zombie must be, uh, fed, if its master wants to keep it from decomposing."
Buffy's face began to look uneasy. "Fed what?"
Giles raised his eyes, and stared straight ahead as they reached the gates of the cemetery. "Well, to keep the zombie for the longest period of time, the master usually feeds it, um, people."
"You mean, like, real, live people?" Willow said, her face showing shock and a little fear.
"Yes," Giles responded as they got to his car. "Real, living people."
"Now I know why you've had that look on your face," Buffy said, her face changing from shock and disgust, to one of deadly intent.
The group crammed into Giles tiny car, Buffy in the front with Giles, Xander and Willow crushed into the back. The fit was so tight, that Willow was practically in Xander's lap. Buffy saw that her face was a bright crimson and that Willow refused to look at Xander the whole trip back to school. Buffy had to stop herself from laughing out loud. It was one of the cutest things she had ever seen.
When the car pulled up in front of the school, the group seemed to explode from the car. Willow was still blushing as she began to walk up the front steps. What surprised Buffy is that Xander was also a little red in the cheeks. He also seemed to keep tugging at his pants, as if they had rided up on him during the drive. No, Buffy thought, he didn't! This time Buffy couldn't contain herself and laughed out loud.
"What?" Xander exclaimed, looking at Buffy. His face getting redder.
Buffy gave him a sweet smile. "Oh nothing!"
Xander stared at her for a second, then up at Willow, who was almost at the doors of the school and who hadn't heard Buffy laugh. He then shoved his hands into his pockets and walked up toward the school. He didn't look at anyon e all the way to the library.
When they reached the library, Buffy noticed that Giles had that look on his face. "We have to find out who's raising them and stop them," the Slayer said, looking at him.
"Yes we do," he said, looking down at the Slayer. "I just wish I knew how."
Chapter 1