Darla made her way deeper into the sewers, cursing softly over the loss of her prey. She felt a tingling between her shoulder blades, and glanced behind to make sure she wasn't being followed. Sensing nothing there, she turned back, shrieking when she collided with the large man in front of her. "Luke!" She gasped, and a hand flew up to rest over her chest. "I *hate* it when you do that!"

"Darla," Luke responded disapprovingly as he looked her up and down. "You were supposed to bring an offering for the Master. We're almost at Harvest!" With arms folded, he glared at her.

Darla withered under his burning yellow gaze. "I-I had someone, but then...there were others. They attacked me...they had weapons...stakes!" She gazed up at him beseechingly.

With a sneer, Luke dismissed her. "You go. I'll see if I can't find something...suitable." He watched her dart off, then carefully exited the maze of tunnels, emerging in a darkened alley. Cocking his head, he listened closely. With a predatory grin on his face, he followed the faint sound of shoes slapping against pavement.

He hid in the shadows until his chosen prey drew close. Snarling, he pounced on the unsuspecting man.

Luke laughed, amused at the fight the human put up. He quickly subdued him, and tightened an arm around his neck. "You are strong," he hissed in the terrified human's ear. "But I am stronger."

The man whimpered and continued his futile struggles, clawing frantically at the immobile arm that was slowly cutting off his air.

"You can't stop us. Nothing can stop us." Luke squeezed harder, smiling as the man's jerky movements grew weaker. A look of almost religious ecstasy passed over the vampire's face as he waited for the man to lose consciousness.

"And like a plague of boils, the race of man covered the earth." He began his recitation with a look of disgust that soon grew to one of anticipation. "But on the 3rd day of the newest light will come the Harvest. And the blood of men will flow as wine...and the Master will walk among them once more. The earth will belong to the Old Ones, and hell itself will come to town."

He released the human, who slumped to the ground, only his faint breathing betraying the fact that he still lived. Luke easily hoisted the limp form, and started back toward the sewers. "Amen."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jesse peered intently at the doors to the library, then straightened and walked inside. He glanced around curiously, wrinkling his nose at the musty smell. There didn't appear to be anyone around, so he leaned up against the counter, arms folded.

"Can I help you?"

Jesse jumped back with an aborted scream, wheeling around frantically.

"I say, are you quite all right?"

"Don't *do* that!" Jesse held a hand over his pounding heart as he glared at the librarian.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Er...was there anything I could help you with?" Rupert squinted. "I say, is there something the matter with your neck? Perhaps you should go see the nurse."

"No, no, I'm good." Jesse slapped a hand over his neck and backed up a step. "Everything's good. Just, you know, waiting for some friends. To...study." He managed not to cringe as he said the word. "With the...book things..." He blinked and stepped quickly over to a table, plopping himself down in a chair. After tugging his collar up further, he folded his hands and attempted to appear studious.

"I...see..." Rupert watched the boy for a moment, then, with a shrug, returned to shelving books.

Jesse drummed his fingers impatiently as he waited. The whole 'library' concept was pretty alien to him, and the place was giving him the creeps. His relief at the appearance of Willow and William was almost palpable.

"Hi Mr. Giles!" Willow chirped brightly as she made her way past him.

"Ms. Rosenberg. Lovely day, isn't it?"

Willow choked slightly. "Um, yeah. Wonderful day." With a fake smile on her face, she groped for a chair next to Jesse.

Rupert didn't notice, however, his attention already having been fixed on his son. "William. Here to study I presume?"

"Um, yes Da. We're...all studying for a...a test." He glanced down, shuffling past his father and taking a seat at the table across from Jesse and Willow.

"Well, good luck." With a nod to them, Rupert disappeared into the stacks.

Jesse gaped at William. "Woah, he's your *dad*? Isn't that, like, freaky or something?"

"No," William answered with a rather confused look. "Why would it be?"

"Oh. Um...no reason." He winced when Willow elbowed him in the ribs. "Would you *quit* that?"

Willow blinked at him innocently. "Quit what? And where's Xander?"

Jesse glared at her for a moment before answering. "He had to stop by his locker. He should be here in just a minute."

William grinned briefly at the mention of Xander, then glanced at Willow, resuming what must have been a previous conversation. "So...all that information you found is just...open to the public?"

Willow blushed. "Um...well...i-in a way. I sort of...stumbled on a few things when I accidentally decrypted some of the county's security systems."

"Someone's been naughty." Xander pushed through the doors and strode into the library. He bounded over to the table. "Hey, my buds!" He sat next to William, sprawling out in his chair. "So, what's the what?"

"Ok, first off...keep it down!" Willow fixed Xander with a stern look.

"Oh, sure. Low-key. Gotcha." He made a zipping gesture over his mouth.

"Right. Anyway, William and I were digging around online and stuff, and we found some things out."

"Well, spill." Jesse leaned forward eagerly.

William looked around covertly, then got up and hurried over to a bookshelf. He extracted a rather large volume, which he deposited on the table.

"'VAMPYR'...you're kidding, right?" Xander was obviously skeptical.

William shook his head. "I found this earlier, and skimmed through a few chapters." He visibly went into lecture mode. "According to this, eons ago, demons walked the earth. It was their domain. But in time, they lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was paved for man. Of the Old Ones, all that remained were vestiges...certain magics...creatures. And vampires."

Xander scoffed. "Ok, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about *vampires*. We're having a *talk*...with vampires in it."

"Well, isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow folded her arms stubbornly.

"Hey, all I know is that freaky chick was trying to suck my blood out!" Jesse shuddered and reached up to feel his neck.

"Yeah, but--"

"So, vampires are demons?" Jesse interrupted Xander, addressing his question to William.

"Well, the book tells that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human...mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed...infected by the demon itself." William cleared his throat and handed the book to Xander. "He bit another, and another. And so they walked the earth...feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind." He paused, then went on hesitantly, "Waiting for the animals to die out...and the Old Ones to return."

There was silence as everyone digested this information. Then Willow spoke up, "Anyway, after we hit on the vampire thing, I...researched the hospital and morgue statistics. Do you know how many people were either wounded or killed by 'barbecue forks' in the last year?"

"Barbecue forks? What, did someone's Uncle Pauly get a little too drunk at the annual family picnic?"

"I doubt that was really the cause," William interjected softly.

"Yeah. I mean, how many people even *own* one, much less go around stabbing themselves or others with them? Anyway, there were over 200 separate incidents like that, with the majority of them being 'cause of death', not just injuries."

Xander held up a hand. "So...you're saying Sunnydale is infested with vampires?"

William and Willow exchanged a look, and Willow nodded. "That's our guess."

Jesse gave a rather weak snort. "And you thought living here would be dull," he told William.

"One more thing," Willow added. "The body in the locker yesterday? Guess what the records list the cause of death as?"

"Lemme guess...Uncle Pauly?" Xander made a stabbing motion with his hand.

Willow nodded bleakly. With a sigh, she folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on them. "I...I think that covers everything."

Xander let the book drop onto the table, and he stood up, pacing in agitation. "Except for one thing...how do we kill them? One of these things attacked Jesse...no way am I letting it get another shot at any of us!"

Jesse nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah. I wanna know how to get rid of these suckers. No pun intended there."

With a frown, William picked up the book and replaced it on the shelf. "Are you sure we should be contemplating something like this?"

"Well, I for one am not anxious to go into dark places full of monsters, but I *do* wanna help. Like Xander said...no one can go after one of us without a little bit of payback." Willow's expression was fierce.

"All right. Fine. So...more research?"

Willow gave him a determined nod of agreement. Then a thought struck her. "Jesse, is there anything else you can tell us about what happened? Anything that might help?"

Jesse thought carefully, reviewing the previous evening's events carefully. His face brightened. "You know, she was babbling something about offerings for some 'master', and something about a 'harvest'. Think that means anything?"

"We'll see what we can find." She moved over to where the computer was, and logged on to the Internet "William, c'mere."

William pulled a chair up next to her, looking at the monitor over her shoulder.

"So..." Jesse began backing out of the library. "Does this mean I can go now?"

Willow waved a hand distractedly. "Meet after school. By the fountain." She pointed out something on the screen to William, who pulled out a pad of paper and began taking notes.

Jesse yanked on Xander’s arm. "Man, let's get outta here before we get sucked into that evil researching thing!"

Xander grinned at him, and the two boys quickly walked out of the library.

*****