“You mean he’s dealt with this thing before?” Buffy asked.

Xander nodded. “Plenty. Cause of that damn book, he had to kill his girlfriend, who was possessed by one of the demon’s it conjured up, then he was transported into medieval Europe, had to fight an army of the demons, called Deadites… All in all, not a pleasant time.”

“This guy’s the one we were looking for!” Willow exclaimed, “He’s gotta be the Keeper guy!”

“What?” asked Ash and Xander in a chorus.

“A Keeper or Protector of the Necronomicon…” Willow explained, “A person connected with the book who has the job of protecting the world from the demons it can
call…”

“I told you I was connected with that goddamned book!” Ash shouted to Xander, “And now the fuc…"

Ash suddenly stopped talking and looked around. Xander glanced at his friend, then seemed to realize something and started to look around as he was. Buffy and Willow followed suit, though they obviously had no idea why.

“What is it?” Buffy asked at last.

“There’s a deadite here…” Ash whispered, “Somewhere here in the parking lot…in the shadows…I know it.” 

Buffy looked to Xander, who nodded at her. Somehow, he felt it too, even though she couldn’t.

“Kid, you got anything good in that bag of yours?”Ash asked in a low voice, “Cause I don’t wanna be going up against one of those damn things unarmed…”

“Sure, King…” Xander murmured back, pulling the bag to an accessible spot slowly and noiselessly, “What do you want?”

“Anything with lead or a blade?”

“Sure…” Xander replied softly, pulling out a long knife that was almost sword. It must have barely fit in the bag. Without a word, the young man passed it to his friend. They were both upset, Ash more than Xander, but the presence of the blade seemed to calm
him to an extent.

“What about me?” Buffy whispered, holding her hand out for a weapon.

Xander shook his head, then gestured for Buffy to take Willow towards the high school and the safety of the library. Buffy was about to argue, but thought better of it, and walked over to her redheaded friend. Willow looked very scared, and definitely wanted to get out of there.

“Kid, you take these two to the library…” Ash told him in a sideways murmur, “You’re good enough to get em’ to safety…I know the way and I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

Xander nodded, then pulled another blade out of his bag.

“Remember, kid, trust your instincts…” Ash told him as he walked towards the girls.

“Okay, Ash…” Xander answered quietly, “Just make sure you make it to the library alive, okay? I don’t want to have to pay your damn rent…”

“No problem, kid…”

The two shared a lopsided smile, and then Xander left his friend and joined the girls. Xander motioned to tell them the plan, then they ran off, leaving Ash alone in the parking lot.

Once they were gone, Ash looked towards a specific spot in the dark shadows.

“Get your sorry dead ass out here now!”

A second later, the possessed form of a woman he’d seen in the store that day stepped out of the shades.

“We will have what is yours…” the corpse hissed, “We shall feast upon your souls and they will writhe in eternal torment…”

“Not here…” Ash said resolutely, “Not when I’m finally getting a life, a little happiness…Hell no.”

“You will never defeat us…” the cadaver continued, “We will devour your soul…”

“Come get some…”

*****************

Xander looked back into the alley as they ran, only to see his mentor conversing with a very animated carcass in cheap polyester. He didn’t know what Ash was doing, but he trusted his friend. Ash obviously knew what he was doing…

Finally, just before they hit the bend that would block the view, Xander saw the demonic corpse attack Ash. That looked about right. And from the fiendish screams, Xander knew how the fight was doing. But that wasn’t his main concern at the moment.

He had to get everyone to the library. He hoped that Oz and the rest were already there, safe from the evil that he could feel in the very air. He looked towards Buffy’s running form beside him, wondering why she couldn’t feel it. Surely if he, Xander Harris, normal
human could feel it, the Slayer should get it on her radar. But she didn’t. And that confused him.

Xander put on another burst of speed, thought he was careful not to let Willow drop behind. To do that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her. But it still wasn’t fast enough. He finally signaled to stop, then picked up the redheaded witch with ease. Then he continued to run again, now able to go as fast as he could. Buffy huffed to keep up, and that confused him as well. But he couldn’t think straight, not with the back of his neck tingling like crazy.

It took them about five minutes, but they finally made it to the library. However, just as they were about to go in, a lively cadaver jumped out. Xander immediately dropped Willow onto the grass, turned around and whacked the deadite in the face. The
corpse reeled, but came back like lightning. 

Xander’s training took over like never before. His hands and feet flew at the creature at impossible speeds. And it felt good. It felt like he’d been born to do this. He’d experienced something similar when fighting vampires, but it was nothing like this.
This was like pure pain and pure pleasure at the same time. His mind told him he shouldn’t be able to do this, but his body willingly did all asked of it. Finally, he saw a hole in the creature’s defense and spun with the blade in his hand to decapitate it.

The head bounced for a few seconds as the body toppled over, but then turned to face him. “Know that you will never regain the Necronomicon!”

“Shut up, deadhead…” Xander replied smugly. Then he kicked the head like football, which broke it up and sent it into the darkness. As soon as he saw the head disappear, Xander turned to take Willow again, only to find Buffy and the redheaded witch staring at him.

“Come on!” Xander shouted nervously, pointing to the library, “If we don’t get in soon, others will come!”

His two friends seemed to wake up, then nodded. Xander nodded back with a grin, then started towards the library. The girls followed.

They entered the library, only to find exactly what they were hoping to find for a change. Oz, Cordelia, and Giles were there, looking things up. All eyes turned to them as they entered the room, and Giles walked over to them.

“We have a problem.”

“No really!” Xander exclaimed, scratching the back of his neck.

“The Necronomicon was stolen today.”

Xander, Buffy, and Willow all stared at the Watcher, hoping to see a crack of a smile. It was so very unlikely that he’d joke about it, but everyone needs hopes.

“Well,” Xander said, his voice trying to mask the shock and anger, “That explains the deadites…”

“The what?” Giles asked.

“Deadites.” Buffy answered, “The demons that come from the book.”

“Oh.” Giles replied intelligently, “Well that explains why Oz insisted we close the doors and windows. Job well done, Oz.”

The currently redheaded werewolf nodded, then smiled at Willow. Willow smiled back.

“Yeah, and we found the Keeper!” Buffy announced.

Giles’ eyebrows rose in surprise and joy. “Well, where is he?”

“Right here…”

Everyone turned to see Ash, who looked a bit dirty but perfectly healthy. In his hands were two large bundles that Xander recognized as those which the S-Mart employee kept his best weapons.

“Did you stop at home to pick up a little artillery, buddy?”

Ash grinned, nodded, put down the bundles, and then ran his hand through his hair. “Of course…can’t fight these bastards without a few toys, eh Kid?”

“So you noticed the headless corpse on the front lawn?” Xander asked with a bit of pride.

“Hard to miss…” Ash responded, “Nice job, if I may say so.”

“You’re the authority…”

The two took a moment to smile at each other and Giles took it as an opportunity to get in a few questions. 

“May I ask you name, sir?” The Brit asked, examining Ash.

“Ashley J. Williams. But call me Ash.” He said, returning the searching eye.

“Mr. Williams, if I-“

“Ash.”

The Watcher looked a bit flustered, but continued. “Ash, if I may ask, where did you acquire that curious appendage?”

“Medieval Europe, if you must know.” Ash said, scratching the back of his neck as Xander had, “Used to be a gauntlet.”

Giles thought this answer over for a minute, then nodded. “So I guess you are the Keeper…”

“Sure, yeah…I’m the Keeper…If the Keeper is a guy that constantly gets his life screwed up because of that damn book, then I’m your guy!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it quite that way, but yes, you shall be connected to the book till you die.”

“But what happens when I die?”

“The connection will move on to another Keeper, who you should have found by then and taught. That is how your kind works. The Master finds the Apprentice and shows him how to fight the demons…”

“Apprentice?” Xander asked, a pit forming in his stomach.

“Yes, but the Apprentice can only be another Keeper…It’s not just someone who the Keeper trains…A Keeper needs to be able to sense the demons and the book, not to mention posses awesome strength and speed…” Giles explained.

“Oh, that’s good…Very good…” Xander whispered. Then he turned to see his girlfriend, who was reading and hadn’t noticed a thing, “Hey Cordy!”

“Hi Xander…” she said, preoccupied with something else.

“Xander walked over, then looked to see what she was reading. The large book on her knees said “Sumerian Demons and Spirits: A Spotter’s Guide”, however, inside of that book, he could see the smaller form of a drug store paperback which she was completely absorbed in. Xander sat down beside her, a little hurt, and pulled one of the other books from the pile. A second later, he started to read. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Ash and Buffy were in the middle of a debate.

“The Kid is not my Apprentice!” Ash whispered heatedly at the Slayer, “He’s good, but…”

“He is, Ash, he is!” Buffy argued, “I saw him fight that thing out on the lawn. He was going so fast; I couldn’t even tell what he was doing. That isn’t normal, Ash, that isn’t human.”

“He’s just trained very well…” Ash retorted, “I should know, I trained him. And I’ve seen him fight. Besides…”

“Besides what?”

“I don’t want him to live like I have to…” Ash admitted angrily, “I don’t want him live in fear, waiting for that damn book to spout out something horrible and then having to go fight it, not knowing if he’s going to make it through or not.”

“But, if he’s already-“

“Do you know what happened to me up at the cabin where I first encountered the book?” the scarred man asked with a strange glint in his eyes, “Do you have any
idea what happened to me?”

“No, but-“

“I’ll tell you what happened. I had a normal life, a normal job, and a wonderful girlfriend. We went up there because we were getting engaged. I wanted to marry her! I loved her! And then that damn book…took her away from me. It made her into a monster, a
monster whose sole purpose was to destroy me. Do you have any idea what it does to a person to have to cut the person they love up with a chainsaw? To bury the body? To know that until you stop the evil, she’ll be in eternal torment?”

“I have an idea, yeah…” Buffy slowly responded, close to tears.

“Then why can’t you understand that I don’t want Xander’s life to be like that…” Ash sighed wearily, “I’ve only known him a few months, but he’s a great kid, loyal to the end, a person who makes your life a happier one. He’s like a son to me…and I don’t want
him to live like that…I don’t ever want him to experience that.”

“I know what you mean, but he has to know…” The Slayer replied, “I know what it is like to be the Chosen One, all right? I’ve lived with it for years, and it sucks. But when you are Chosen, you are Chosen, and the only thing you can do is get really good at it.
Leaving him blind to what he is will only shorten his life span.”

The newly realized Keeper looked at Buffy, taking in everything she had just said, realizing that she knew what she was talking about. Finally, Ash breathed out slowly and nodded. “All right…”

“Better go now, before you lose your logic…” the blonde Slayer told him.

Ash nodded again, then made his way slowly over to the bookshelf where Xander was reading. As he did, Giles looked up from his book and walked over to Buffy.

“He’s not a bad guy, Giles…I little rough, but he’s got a good heart…” the Slayer told her Watcher, “And I think with his help, we’ll fix this…”

Part 8