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 had been going through his books all night. Even with his new additions, he had found very little on zombies. Buffy, Xander, and Willow had tried to help, but with the sheer volume of books and with them in no real particular order, they had quickly gotten frustrated. He had sent them home, promising to inform them the next day of anything new.
The weary Watcher rubbed his eyes. He looked down at the book in his hand. It had a dark brown leather trim, the pages slightly yellowed from age and water damage. In it were all the contacts that Giles had met over the years. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of men and women who could provide information on subjects that Giles only had a slight bac kground in. He looked through the pages for someone that could help him. "Ghost... witches.... succubus... ah, zombies!"
There was only one name on the page. "Oh, of course."
Giles stared at the name for a moment, thinking of the past. The Watcher would have preferred to leave this part of his history alone. Yet he knew that he needed help. He couldn't send Buffy out to face this danger uninformed.
He came to a decision.
Giles picked up the phone and called an old friend.
Angelus watched, frustrated, as Buffy walked into her house. A few weeks ago, he would have been able to follow her in, but since her and her damn Watcher had cast a spell on the house, he was stuck on the outside.
He smiled. There's a lot that I can do from the outside, he thought. Then he frowned. Not tonight. Tonight Dru wants me back early.
As he walked back toward the Greenhouse that was his new home, he thought of Buffy. That wasn't a great shock to Angel. He didn't go an hour without thinking of the Slayer. He was obsessed and he knew it. He had given a great deal of thought as to why exactly.
He had told Spike that it was because she had made him feel human. That was true, and he did hate her for it, but there was another reason. Angel just couldn't figure out what it was. I still don't have feelings for her... do I?
As the vampire walked through the cemetery, he noticed a man by a grave on the other side of graveyard. Angel smiled again, even though he had already eaten. "Well, he said to himself, "you never can have too much of a good thing"
As he got closer, he saw that the man was kneeling on by the grave, drawing something on the ground. He didn't seem to notice as Angel came stalking behind him. As he neared the man, Angel caught the smell of blood. This is almost to easy, he thought as his features twisted into what Buffy had called, his game face.
As Angel came within a few feet of the man, he was surprised to see that he had a small chicken in his hands. "You made enough noise to wake the dead," the man said. "Well almost."
The stranger quickly stood up. Angel was surprised to see that his face was painted. He also had a gun. "What do you think your going to do with that? Shoot me?"
"For starters. I thought I'd shoot you in the knees, then the chest. It won't kill you, but it'll hurt like hell." The man removed a long knife from the inside of his coat and grinned, his painted face looking like a dea th's head. "Then the real fun starts!"
Angel quickly stepped back, his hands in front of chest. "Now, let's not do anything rash. How about I just move along, and let you get back to raising that zombie?"
The man lost his grin. "Now aren't you the smart little vampire? Why should I let you go? Hmm? So you can go and tell all your undead friends that there's a bokor in town?"
Angel stared at the voodoo priest. "No, because if you fire that gun, this place will be full of cops in about 5 minutes. I don't know how long it takes to raise a zombie, but I think it's longer then that."
The vampire and the voodoo master stared at each other. Angel hoped that the bokor wouldn't call his bluff. He knew that the Sunnydale police were deeply stupid. They probably wouldn't even show up if the gun were fired. The man stared at him, trying to decide. Finally, he motioned with the gun. "Alright you can go. I do think, though, that you and I will see each other again."
Angel backed away, his hands lowered. " I'm sure we will. I'll make sure to bring some friends."
The man glanced at the grave he was standing beside. He gave Angel another smile, this one small and deadly. "So will I."
Angel looked at him a second, then turned and ran. He was gone in a few seconds.
The man stared into the darkness for a moment, then turned back to the work that had been so rudely interrupted.
He was still smiling.
Chapter 2