Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Technically killing these guys in the game causes no humanity loss.
Plus she can get it back.
[Buffy/WoD] What is Normal?
- Thread starter Ellf
- Start date
Plus she can get it back.
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
Be careful Buffy giving into the beast tends to end with lots of collateral.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
The video-game adopts the sensible position that people who are trying to kill you don't cause humanity loss if you kill them first.
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
Really do enjoy the perspective here. Buffy trying to reconcile the world she's found herself in, versus the Dream.
Can't giving in to the Beast cause Hum. loss? Though, I am not sure if Buffy failed her frenzy roll or is she gave in intentionaly.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Hm... If we're still talking about the Bloodlines video-game, I don't know. It never happened when I played.
TheMagister
Lord Magus
The beast can cause humanity loss if it happens at the wrong time and you eat a normal human, but the beast doesn't naturally cause it.
You are however much more likely to frenzy at low humanity.
You are however much more likely to frenzy at low humanity.
Oh no I meant PnP Vampire.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Well, when you don't really care about anyone surviving where you're at....
Yep.
I also changed up the conversation with E a bit. (No need to explain what Thin Bloods are. This isn't the game) I do plan on more after she gets done.
If it's intentional, sure. But yeah, she failed her frenzy roll. Dennis threatened her family, and she was hungry and shot.
Frenzying usually happens by accident in Bloodlines. (Also, the only time I ever frenzied was in this mission with my Malk.)
Yep. There are other things that trigger frenzy too.
PnP is important, but for where I find the video game's mechanics a bit better, I'm deferring to that.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Jack: Ah ah ah! I said INNOCENT humans. If some asshole levels a twelve-gauge your way, you drain him, skin him, and bash in his skull. Self-preservation's a vital part of Humanity, after all. My favorite part, in fact. Heheheheheh.
Malk PC: Drain, skin, bash and dash...
Malk PC: Drain, skin, bash and dash...
So she's a custom build vamp with both toreador and malkavian influences
You know what this means? She has both obfuscate and celerity.
(which is actually possible in game using the console. I usually sold bloodbuff - too stronk - and got obfuscate or celerity. There is also space for another discipline if you want to cheat even more).
You know what this means? She has both obfuscate and celerity.
(which is actually possible in game using the console. I usually sold bloodbuff - too stronk - and got obfuscate or celerity. There is also space for another discipline if you want to cheat even more).
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deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Buffy has hallucinatory experience with this kind of thing, so it's not a big deal to her.
It's hard being a Malk. It's hard and no-one understands.
Blood bond. Kind of a thing.
Yeah easy one for Buffy to pull off.
Gotta love those frenzy checks.
The advantage of this not being a video game is you aren't limited by video game constraints. Like the character asking about something they 100% would know about because the player wouldn't know. (Bioware games can be very bad for this), no impassable chest high walls either. I think I remember a few times during bloodlines the game forces you to make stupid decisions you wouldn't actually have to make if it weren't a video game. Hopefully Buffy can avoid those.
Nope. She's a Malk. It's just her Sire pretended to be a Toreador and had picked up a few out of clan disciplines, but that has no effect on Buffy. She does have some advantages from Slayer heritage tho.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Buffy's very much a Malkavian. Julia... Well, the main reason people thought she was a Toreador (and she never corrected them on it) was primarily because of her obsession with beauty. Of course, if people paid attention to her actions and how she spoke about them, they'd realize it was a part of her megalomania. All beautiful things belonged to her. All things were hers. That's why she referred to Buffy as "my beauty" in Latin.
It's also why she took care of the Thin Bloods.
Chapter 4.2: Frenzied Aftermath
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
When Buffy came out of her rage, she couldn't quite stop the momentum of her fist as she splintered the desk. She looked around the house, her vision no longer tinged red, and she simultaneously felt a sense of satisfaction and disgust. She wasn't hungry anymore, as she'd had more than her fill from the scumbags that had lived here. Buffy breathed out a breath she no longer needed. What she saw as she passed through the house… Buffy couldn't believe that she had done it. She made her way into the beach house's bathroom and looked into the mirror. She hadn't known what to expect, as she didn't really think she'd have a reflection, but it turned out she did have one; it should have horrified her.
Buffy's chin dripped with blood that had escaped her mouth when she'd drank her fill. Her blouse, which she'd bought only a week prior to this point, was ruined. Bullet holes, rips, tears, blood stains, and more all adorned her blouse and pants. Her once-white blouse matched the red dripping down her face, but the revealed skin underneath was unblemished save for the drying blood. Whatever wounds she'd taken had healed, completely. Always about the blood. Blood is life.
Buffy stared at her reflection, which cocked its head at her with a smile. "Run and catch… run and catch… the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch… How the kine run, how they hide, they fight, and they die. Look at how powerful you are, how lovely and right this is. To be adorned, to be loved by the very life-giving essence."
"Okay," Buffy said, stretching out the O sound as she stared down her reflection which gestured to her, stepping out of the mirror toward her. "So, the weird thing is that entirely made sense. Care to make with the 'splainy? What happened?"
"You ripped their grubby little hearts out," Her reflection moved around behind her, snaking arms around her into a hug. "Tore out their throats and fed greedily…"
"I was going to…" Buffy shook her head as she felt the arms on her. "I was going to leave them alive."
"The Fleet-Footed God or the Jester Prince would have finished the job had you not," her reflection laid its head on her shoulder, so it could speak directly into her ear. "And it was so nice doing so, was it not? Killing without a care?"
"Want. Take. Have," Buffy said, echoing Faith's motto from her hallucination. To a hallucination. She could feel skin on her skin, breath on her cheek, and the weight settled on her shoulders. Her reflection had left the mirror entirely and she now stared at a blank surface, reflecting what was behind her, rather than the two that stood in front of it. "I've heard it before, and it feels nice… but I need to think about the Masquerade. Not everywhere has Sunnydale's tendency to ignore things."
Buffy noted that she really didn't feel all that guilty about killing the men. They'd threatened her family, after all, and she couldn't allow anyone to threaten her family. There was a reason her mother and Dawn were typically left alone in Sunnydale, and whether that was real or not, she couldn't see herself applying a different philosophy here. Family was off-limits. Period. While she was certain her reflection had more to say, she didn't want to hear it. Stepping forward, she turned on the faucet and started washing the blood off her face. When she looked up from the sink, her reflection once more was in the mirror, and her face was nearly clean. Close enough. Her clothes were a lost cause though, and she'd have to do something about that before getting back into town unless she wanted to go through the sewers. Under the ground lurk rats and beasts and the most intriguing small structures.
She left the bathroom and headed to find Dennis's corpse. She needed to get the astrolite and possibly Mercurio's money as well. With everyone up here dead, she was sure it wouldn't take all that long to obtain the items, assuming she didn't destroy them while she was pissed. Dennis's corpse laid where she left it, untouched, unlike the junky whose entrails decorated the room she was in. She really hadn't been all that subtle in taking them down. Crouching down, she patted at Dennis's clothes, looking for anything that stood out. There! In his lapel pocket was a wallet, and she opened it. Inside the wallet was identification for a Mercurio Steele along with a decent amount of cash, entirely in one hundred dollar bills. If this was what Mercurio intended on paying for the astrolite, it seemed to be an expensive product. Ah, there we go. A keycard.
Dennis had a vault around here somewhere. She walked along the walls until she reached a certain point along the interior wall and brushed off the entrails, licking her fingers afterward. It might not have been fresh blood anymore, but it still tasted better than the blood pack she had in her fridge. It only slightly disturbed her that she was willing to do something like this. It must have been something about being a vampire, even if she still had her soul. Underneath the entrails was a poster which she easily moved aside, revealing a small electronic vault. She used the keycard on it and it popped open with ease. More money sat inside the vault, which she pocketed. Want, take, have, and she grabbed the container of what must have been the astrolite from within.
Clearly this wasn't the mission that the Jester Prince wanted her to go on, not if Mercurio was supposed to retrieve the explosives. It didn't make sense for him to want a group of junkies eliminated. He probably wanted her to do more, which meant when she got back to Mercurio, he'd have something else for her. Lovely.
Oh hey, one of the more intact junkies had a leather jacket. She just needed to reach down and manipulate him so that… Okay, this was a little gross. Sure, she'd killed the guy, but now she was touching a dead guy and taking his jacket.
"Copying me now, Slayer?" Spike asked as she finally got the jacket off the body.
"It's nice, and I'm covered in blood," Buffy said, slipping the jacket on over her bloodstained clothes. "Nothing like you and Nikki Wood."
"Mmm, keep thinking that, cutie. Love your handiwork, by the way. 'Swhat they get for threatening Joyce."
"And Dad," Buffy said. "Dad's important too."
"And your bird, except I think that was more implied. It's good the Nibblet didn't see." Spike appeared near a body. "Could you imagine her reaction to this? Or maybe you'd have killed her too…"
Buffy shook her head. "I couldn't… She's not—"
"Real?" Spike asked, smirking. "All right, love, have it your way. Vampires aren't real and neither was Sunnydale. Except, hey."
Buffy pushed past the hallucination and left the house, leather coat trailing behind her in the wind. She couldn't let herself dwell on what Spike said, not when she had so much to deal with already. Sunnydale couldn't be real because this was reality. Vampires didn't die when a stake went through their heart; they were just paralyzed. Vampires didn't lose their souls upon turning, which was important because it meant she still had her soul. They just… Well, near as she could tell, she felt for the humans less. In her hallucination, the only time she'd killed anyone was when those knights were after Dawn. She supposed she could equate killing Dennis and his Menaces to something like that, except she'd drained them dry. She was a vampire now, and she'd… She'd either accept it, or she'd let herself die. Death might have been her gift, but she just couldn't take it right now. She didn't want to go into the final embrace. Some gifts can be returned. Just need to bring the right receipt.
Still. She'd have to adjust to the situation. She didn't fully understand her situation yet, and even with the help of the voices, she still needed more information. She didn't have a Watcher or confidant yet, and with Mercurio working for the Jester Prince, Lacroix, she wasn't really sure she could trust him. Maybe, just maybe, she might be able to trust the people down by the beach, but she needed to know more about them first. What was a Thin Blood, exactly? The voices had provided the name, and she'd used it like she knew what she was talking about; she didn't though. Maybe E would have some answers that she could use. If not, she could always get them to give her some clothing. She really didn't want to walk the streets of Santa Monica while covered in blood, especially not when there were cops out and about.
Buffy made it down the stairs and out the chain link fence onto the beach. Several of the people that had been gathered around the fire were now lying down on the sand, but E just stood there, watching her as she approached.
"Hey, you," E said, giving her a once over once she got within range. "Looks like you managed to deal with those guys up there just fine, didn't you?"
"Just call me Power Girl," Buffy said jokingly, and then she winced as she remembered Celia. "Or Batgirl or Batwoman or Miss Marvel, I mean, I'm not really wearing a costume, and capes are kinda tacky. But they all take out the bad guys and I did it and they won't really be hurting anyone again."
"Okay, slow down, miss," E said, shaking his head. "I'm not so sure one of your type really counts as a superhero anyway."
"Why not?" Buffy asked. "I have super powers, and I can totally be a hero if need be."
E just looked down at her blood-soaked clothes, and Buffy felt like blushing. She couldn't, obviously, with no blood able to color her cheeks, but that didn't change the fact that she felt like it.
"That reminds me," Buffy said, trying to play off her embarrassment at being called out. "I need a change of clothes. I don't suppose any of you have spares, do you?"
"We might," E said. "What's in it for us?"
He searches for the lily he threw away… Buffy cocked her head as she listened to the voice. "Maybe I can help you find your lost flower… Why did you throw it away?"
"Flower? You mean… Lily? She's not lost. She's gone. Probably on with some other guy now and ruining his life. She's the reason I'm like this, you see? The reason people like you want to hunt me down like I'm some harbinger of the apocalypse."
Buffy frowned. "I don't want to hunt you down, and my sire didn't either… You said that Julia did things to help you. Did she explain to you what you are?"
"Nothing beyond Thin Blood, which she probably told you," E said. "Other vampires don't like us, and I don't really know why. Maybe you might know."
Buffy shrugged. "Julia's not so much with the talky now. Given that the Jester kinda had the Sheriff kill her."
"Wait, what?" E shook his head. "I'm not hearing you right. Julia's dead?"
"Dust in the wind," Buffy said with a sigh. "I nearly was too. The Jester plays for power as his influence wanes. He holds me under his thumb and I wriggle…"
"Sorry, what?" E asked, and Buffy frowned. She had been perfectly clear there. Maybe she needed to explain things a little better.
"He tries to grasp this city in his fist, but things slip between his fingers." Buffy shook her head. She needed to get control of this. Metaphors weren't the best for being used here. "Never mind. He killed Julia and he has me working for him. That's all you really need to know."
"But if he killed Julia, what can we do about it? She was supposed to be our protection, our help. Without her around, who will keep the others from hunting us for sport?"
"I will," Buffy said. These Thin Bloods hadn't done anything wrong other than be sired poorly. They felt weaker than she did for certain, closer to human than vampire, but they still were vampires. "So long as you don't give me reason not to, I will protect you."
"Oh thank you, miss. Uh..." E paused and scratched the back of his head. "I… don't think you ever mentioned your name, fa—"
"Finish that statement, and I'll make sure the next blood you drink is through a straw," Buffy said with a sunny smile. "I'm Buffy."
"Sorry," E said, a little cowed. He looked down at Buffy's blood-stained clothes again. "Uh… right. I think Jenna has some spare clothing that might be your size. Oi, Jenna, come here a sec."
A light-skinned redhead pushed herself off the beach and walked over to the pair.
"What do you want, E?" asked the girl. She felt about as weak as E, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the look that came over her face when she looked at Buffy, something halfway between admiration and terror. "Oh God, what's she doing here? We haven't done anything! God, why are you here?"
Buffy couldn't help herself. She wanted to assuage the girl's fears, but something just… well, she wanted to do this too. She put on her best Austrian accent and said, "Your clothes… give them to me."
"What?" Jenna looked confused, and Buffy couldn't blame her. Still, the girl looked to be about her own size, and Buffy needed something clean before she could go back to Mercurio.
"E says you have some spare clothes. I need them," Buffy said simply. "Could you go grab them?"
"S-Sure, whatever you say, miss…" Jenna backed away. E seemed to be looking on like nothing was out of place, but Buffy knew it was a little wrong of her to just demand the clothing. She was going to offer to pay, but Jenna had backed away too soon. Buffy watched as the girl went around the fire to grab her pack, and Buffy stepped a little further away from the campfire as she did so. Not that she expected anything to happen, but she just didn't want to stand too close to it. The clothing is brought to you by the letter E and his mouse.
Jenna brought over a backpack full of clothes, and Buffy took it, giving the girl forty bucks for them before making her way closer to the water and out of sight of most people. There really wasn't a perfect place to change where nobody would see her, but she made the best of the situation she had. Pulling the clothes out of the bag, Buffy looked them over. Okay, they really weren't all that embarrassing, just a skirt that'd stop at her mid-thigh and a midriff-baring tube top. She'd be able to wear the leather coat over it and look somewhat presentable. Oh hey, there was a pair of cute stockings in here too. That'd work. She'd probably buy some new underwear later, but for now she'd stick with what she had on for bottoms, as for a bra, she'd just wrap her chest a bit.
These clothes would have to do for now, but the moment she could, she was going to go shopping. Surely some clothing stores were open after dark. Buffy buried her bloodied clothes in the sand after she finished changing, and she brushed as much of it off herself as she could before she started back up toward Santa Monica.
Buffy passed by the woman who'd told her of the men at the beach house on her way out here, and she paused. The woman stepped closer to her as if to get a look before clutching her head slightly, as if she felt a headache.
"You have been… no, you will go to China," said the woman. The red rose speaks truths and lies. Discerning the difference is half the trouble.
"Huh?" Buffy articulated. China didn't really sound so bad. It was only too bad that the only Chinese food she could really enjoy now were the Chinese. "China?"
"Why's he smiling? Is he the father? Is it the father behind him?"
"What?" Buffy couldn't quite focus on this. Something sounded off here. She knew things.
"No, A basement… a crypt, it's open. No, don't open it… From beneath… It rises… You pushed your way through the dirt… No! From beneath you it devours! Don't open it!"
"Rosa," Buffy said, drawing on her limited Spanish. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry… I see… nothing—disregard what I said." Rosa shook her head.
"You see things," Buffy said. "Like a seer? How often do your visions come true?"
"I don't know," Rosa admitted. "But they feel…"
"Real enough," Buffy nodded.
"No, never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about. Please forget what I said."
"Tell me," Buffy said.
"Not for free," Rosa said. "This is not your destiny. Every time I sleep, the future plays out before me. I know the ending… it will end over and over until I cease to dream. I know your questions. For one hundred dollars, I will tell you the answers that you don't want to hear. I need to get out of Santa Monica. To get somewhere away from here."
"When the end comes, Rosa," Buffy said, looking at the Thin Blood's eyes. "Nowhere will be safe. It takes people willing to fight against it to stop it."
"If you do not pay me, I cannot answer you. I will not."
Buffy shook her head. "I don't need to know the future that badly, Rosa. I'm not going to be Prophecy Girl. Good luck to you."
Buffy made her way back into the city, avoiding the Pier. She'd seen the shape the body was in already, and she didn't need to see it again. Something definitely did it to that person, but judging from how most of the vampires acted, she doubted it was a member of the Jester's side. Buffy wouldn't let that stop her from finding out what the source was, especially now that she knew it probably was supernatural, thus she needed to find it and kill it. She'd do that later, however. She needed to get back to Mercurio with the astrolite and his wallet.
Buffy paused once back on the street, thinking if there was anything that she was missing. Given the shape that the Fleet-Footed God was in, he probably needed some sort of helpful drug or something to ease the pain. Unfortunately, that meant Buffy had to go someplace she'd always hated when she was alive, especially after spending six years in one: a hospital. Santa Monica's hospital was just down this street, and she'd be able to get there soon.
"STOP!" A voice cried as Buffy got ready to cross the street to get on her way. Buffy frowned and turned toward the source of it. It was red, octagonal, and it stood there on a pole, mocking her. Four letters, just sitting there in the middle of its face, and it just sat there. Smug.
"No, you stop," Buffy had to answer it back. It just made perfect sense. Dumb sign. Telling her to stop.
"STOP!" It did it again! Why did it do it again? It was a sign. It didn't have any authority over her. It just was there, jutting out at her. Smug little thing.
"You stop!" Buffy glared at the sign. It just… Grr… stupid sign. If she had an SUV, she'd make sure that it didn't do anything more.
"STOP!" The sign was getting on her last nerve here. It just needed to not tell her to stop. That's all. All it needed. But the power behind the sign had to come from a demon. They always popped out of nowhere. Stop signs. Just sitting there. Smug. Telling people to stop.
"Grr… you stop!" Buffy growled and the sign remained unchanged again. Still, she just… No. There was no further point in arguing with it. It wasn't going to change its nature. Signs. "You've made a powerful enemy today, sign…"
Buffy turned and walked away from it, ignoring the sign's cries of "STOP" as she did so. She made it across the street before it hit her. She'd been arguing with a sign. An inanimate object. A smug inanimate object, but it still wasn't going to change ever. The only way it could change would be if someone painted over it. It was also telling the cars to stop, not her. All things are real. All things speak. It just takes the right kind of listening…
Regardless, she was steps away from getting what Mercurio needed. She just needed to go into the building that was right there, the Santa Monica medical center.
"Hey! Hey you!" A high pitched nasally male voice stopped her on the stairs as she was on her way into the medical center's emergency room. She turned toward its source, a college-age white man dressed in a grey sport jacket over a grey shirt with khakis. God, was he going to hit on her? He wasn't even cute. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"
Buffy brought a hand up to her face. She thought she was supposed to be the crazy one. This guy was human, definitely not a vampire and he was asking about the vampires. He must have been some kind of conspiracy nut. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on, yeah you do. I ain't gonna tell anyone. Don't bullshit me, lady. I know a vamp when I see one. I just wanna talk."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. She didn't know how old this kid was, but something was off about him in her senses. He felt almost a little like Mercurio. "About what?"
"Ah, hell yeah. I knew it! I knew it from the moment I saw you. I could just sense it, you know? You had to be a vampire. The name's Knox, Knox Harrington. Pleased to meet you."
"Buffy." She looked at the overeager man.
"Wait, that's the name of the girl that fine piece of ass is looking for at the Asylum, isn't it? What was her name again?"
It took an extreme force of will for Buffy to not reach over and throttle the man. "Samantha. Her name's Samantha."
"Oh, shit. You must have been turned recently if someone's looking for you."
"Okay, hold up," Buffy held up a hand. "How do you know any of this at all?"
"Well, I'm a ghoul. I really didn't know any of this until a few months ago, when my master found me. He showed up and, all of the sudden, bam. Vampires are real, and all sorts of other shit. Blew my mind." Knox just seemed so eager. Like an annoying puppy. Ruff. Rabid puppies get the shot. Rrruff!
"Small words, Goldie. Ghoul part first. Make with the 'splainy."
"Splainy? Oh, right! Well, you see, what I was told is a ghoul is made by a vampire sharing its power with a human through feeding the human some of their vampire blood. They get a little bit of a boost, become smarter, stronger, faster than the average human. Heal better too. That's what makes them a ghoul."
Buffy nodded. That made a bit of sense with how Mercurio was and how he was holding together after all of this. "And what are you doing here?"
"Well, I shouldn't be telling you this, but the master gave me a secret mission. I'm supposed to do something for him, and oh, right. It's been really great talking with you, Buffy. But I should probably get going. Important stuff to do and all that."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Definitely an annoying puppy. Whoever made him a ghoul probably regretted it somewhat.
"Good luck with whatever you're doing…"
Buffy shook her head and made her way inside. Her skin crawled the moment she stepped into the hospital. Even if she wouldn't ever need to be examined by a proper doctor again, hospitals just made her feel wrong. Still. This was the likely place that would have what she needed to get for Mercurio, so she walked up to the person at the front desk.
Sitting at the front desk was a brunette woman dressed in a blue floral print blouse with dirty blonde hair. She wore a professional amount of make up on her face, and Buffy could see from her pale skin that she likely hadn't been in the sun recently much, likely due to working the night shift. After all, the woman was human.
"If you'll wait your turn, you'll be seen," the woman said, an exasperated tone hanging on her voice. Buffy frowned. She wasn't really sure how she'd get past this woman without alerting way too many people to her presence. She didn't exactly want to wait for the doctors, after all. There had to be a way. My childe, use your instincts. Share yourself with her.
Buffy frowned. That sounded like Julia. Buffy supposed that it'd work. She just needed to get through.
"Excuse me, I just need to get back into the back there," Buffy said, focusing on sharing herself. Showing the woman what she saw, how she saw things… "That's okay, right?"
The woman hadn't been looking Buffy in the eyes, but Buffy saw it happen. A shudder came over the woman, and her face shifted from exasperation into a smile. "Of course, Doctor Smith. You should be able to just go in fine. I'll buzz you in since you don't have your keycard."
"Thank you, miss…" Buffy said as she slipped by. Whatever she'd done, the human hadn't resisted it at all. She felt a little bad about it, but all she was doing was sharing herself. It'd wear off eventually, she was sure.
Buffy paced the halls, looking for the pharmacy cabinet or something where she could get something strong for the Fleet-footed God when she passed an open doorway. She could see into the room beyond, a young brunette woman laid face down on an examination table, but Buffy could smell the blood. Buffy stepped inside to look at the girl, who laid down in a pool of her own blood on the table. She seemed to be nearly gone, both in body and mental capacity, but that wasn't what surprised her.
She recognized the brunette. It wasn't Sammy, thank God, but it was someone else. Someone whom she hadn't really expected to ever see again, given that the last time she'd seen the woman, Buffy had been in Sunnydale. Cordelia Chase, or a woman who very much resembled her, was sprawled out in the room, dying, and Buffy couldn't let that happen. What happens when the city of angels has no Angel left?
Buffy strode across the room, grabbing a scalpel off of a nearby tray, and she made her way to Cordelia's side. She brought the scalpel to her wrist and slit open the vein. The only way she knew of to save this young woman was what Knox said outside. Vampire blood lets humans heal. She'd heal Cordelia.
Buffy rolled Cordelia onto her back and placed her bleeding wrist near the brunette's mouth, letting blood pool into it. After a few seconds, Cordelia brought her arm up, wrapping it around Buffy's own, pulling it closer to her as she drank from Buffy. After a little bit, Buffy pulled her arm away, and the girl started stirring properly.
"Mmm…." Cordelia pushed herself up a bit. "You… wait… what did you do? What did you do to me, Buffy?"
"Wait… you recognize me?" Buffy asked. "I didn't do anything…"
"No… you did something… I can feel it. I kissed your wrist. What did you do? Why do I know you, Buffy Summers?"
"Nothing," Buffy said. "Leave it… Forget it happened, please. Go back to sleep. When you get up, I'll be gone."
"But…" Cordelia fell forward and back to sleep, thankfully. Buffy walked out of the room. She needed to get Mercurio the medicine so she could go deal with him. She could focus on the fact that Cordelia was here and that Cordelia knew her later. The implications of the situation struck her. At least this isn't a world without shrimp…
Buffy's chin dripped with blood that had escaped her mouth when she'd drank her fill. Her blouse, which she'd bought only a week prior to this point, was ruined. Bullet holes, rips, tears, blood stains, and more all adorned her blouse and pants. Her once-white blouse matched the red dripping down her face, but the revealed skin underneath was unblemished save for the drying blood. Whatever wounds she'd taken had healed, completely. Always about the blood. Blood is life.
Buffy stared at her reflection, which cocked its head at her with a smile. "Run and catch… run and catch… the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch… How the kine run, how they hide, they fight, and they die. Look at how powerful you are, how lovely and right this is. To be adorned, to be loved by the very life-giving essence."
"Okay," Buffy said, stretching out the O sound as she stared down her reflection which gestured to her, stepping out of the mirror toward her. "So, the weird thing is that entirely made sense. Care to make with the 'splainy? What happened?"
"You ripped their grubby little hearts out," Her reflection moved around behind her, snaking arms around her into a hug. "Tore out their throats and fed greedily…"
"I was going to…" Buffy shook her head as she felt the arms on her. "I was going to leave them alive."
"The Fleet-Footed God or the Jester Prince would have finished the job had you not," her reflection laid its head on her shoulder, so it could speak directly into her ear. "And it was so nice doing so, was it not? Killing without a care?"
"Want. Take. Have," Buffy said, echoing Faith's motto from her hallucination. To a hallucination. She could feel skin on her skin, breath on her cheek, and the weight settled on her shoulders. Her reflection had left the mirror entirely and she now stared at a blank surface, reflecting what was behind her, rather than the two that stood in front of it. "I've heard it before, and it feels nice… but I need to think about the Masquerade. Not everywhere has Sunnydale's tendency to ignore things."
Buffy noted that she really didn't feel all that guilty about killing the men. They'd threatened her family, after all, and she couldn't allow anyone to threaten her family. There was a reason her mother and Dawn were typically left alone in Sunnydale, and whether that was real or not, she couldn't see herself applying a different philosophy here. Family was off-limits. Period. While she was certain her reflection had more to say, she didn't want to hear it. Stepping forward, she turned on the faucet and started washing the blood off her face. When she looked up from the sink, her reflection once more was in the mirror, and her face was nearly clean. Close enough. Her clothes were a lost cause though, and she'd have to do something about that before getting back into town unless she wanted to go through the sewers. Under the ground lurk rats and beasts and the most intriguing small structures.
She left the bathroom and headed to find Dennis's corpse. She needed to get the astrolite and possibly Mercurio's money as well. With everyone up here dead, she was sure it wouldn't take all that long to obtain the items, assuming she didn't destroy them while she was pissed. Dennis's corpse laid where she left it, untouched, unlike the junky whose entrails decorated the room she was in. She really hadn't been all that subtle in taking them down. Crouching down, she patted at Dennis's clothes, looking for anything that stood out. There! In his lapel pocket was a wallet, and she opened it. Inside the wallet was identification for a Mercurio Steele along with a decent amount of cash, entirely in one hundred dollar bills. If this was what Mercurio intended on paying for the astrolite, it seemed to be an expensive product. Ah, there we go. A keycard.
Dennis had a vault around here somewhere. She walked along the walls until she reached a certain point along the interior wall and brushed off the entrails, licking her fingers afterward. It might not have been fresh blood anymore, but it still tasted better than the blood pack she had in her fridge. It only slightly disturbed her that she was willing to do something like this. It must have been something about being a vampire, even if she still had her soul. Underneath the entrails was a poster which she easily moved aside, revealing a small electronic vault. She used the keycard on it and it popped open with ease. More money sat inside the vault, which she pocketed. Want, take, have, and she grabbed the container of what must have been the astrolite from within.
Clearly this wasn't the mission that the Jester Prince wanted her to go on, not if Mercurio was supposed to retrieve the explosives. It didn't make sense for him to want a group of junkies eliminated. He probably wanted her to do more, which meant when she got back to Mercurio, he'd have something else for her. Lovely.
Oh hey, one of the more intact junkies had a leather jacket. She just needed to reach down and manipulate him so that… Okay, this was a little gross. Sure, she'd killed the guy, but now she was touching a dead guy and taking his jacket.
"Copying me now, Slayer?" Spike asked as she finally got the jacket off the body.
"It's nice, and I'm covered in blood," Buffy said, slipping the jacket on over her bloodstained clothes. "Nothing like you and Nikki Wood."
"Mmm, keep thinking that, cutie. Love your handiwork, by the way. 'Swhat they get for threatening Joyce."
"And Dad," Buffy said. "Dad's important too."
"And your bird, except I think that was more implied. It's good the Nibblet didn't see." Spike appeared near a body. "Could you imagine her reaction to this? Or maybe you'd have killed her too…"
Buffy shook her head. "I couldn't… She's not—"
"Real?" Spike asked, smirking. "All right, love, have it your way. Vampires aren't real and neither was Sunnydale. Except, hey."
Buffy pushed past the hallucination and left the house, leather coat trailing behind her in the wind. She couldn't let herself dwell on what Spike said, not when she had so much to deal with already. Sunnydale couldn't be real because this was reality. Vampires didn't die when a stake went through their heart; they were just paralyzed. Vampires didn't lose their souls upon turning, which was important because it meant she still had her soul. They just… Well, near as she could tell, she felt for the humans less. In her hallucination, the only time she'd killed anyone was when those knights were after Dawn. She supposed she could equate killing Dennis and his Menaces to something like that, except she'd drained them dry. She was a vampire now, and she'd… She'd either accept it, or she'd let herself die. Death might have been her gift, but she just couldn't take it right now. She didn't want to go into the final embrace. Some gifts can be returned. Just need to bring the right receipt.
Still. She'd have to adjust to the situation. She didn't fully understand her situation yet, and even with the help of the voices, she still needed more information. She didn't have a Watcher or confidant yet, and with Mercurio working for the Jester Prince, Lacroix, she wasn't really sure she could trust him. Maybe, just maybe, she might be able to trust the people down by the beach, but she needed to know more about them first. What was a Thin Blood, exactly? The voices had provided the name, and she'd used it like she knew what she was talking about; she didn't though. Maybe E would have some answers that she could use. If not, she could always get them to give her some clothing. She really didn't want to walk the streets of Santa Monica while covered in blood, especially not when there were cops out and about.
Buffy made it down the stairs and out the chain link fence onto the beach. Several of the people that had been gathered around the fire were now lying down on the sand, but E just stood there, watching her as she approached.
"Hey, you," E said, giving her a once over once she got within range. "Looks like you managed to deal with those guys up there just fine, didn't you?"
"Just call me Power Girl," Buffy said jokingly, and then she winced as she remembered Celia. "Or Batgirl or Batwoman or Miss Marvel, I mean, I'm not really wearing a costume, and capes are kinda tacky. But they all take out the bad guys and I did it and they won't really be hurting anyone again."
"Okay, slow down, miss," E said, shaking his head. "I'm not so sure one of your type really counts as a superhero anyway."
"Why not?" Buffy asked. "I have super powers, and I can totally be a hero if need be."
E just looked down at her blood-soaked clothes, and Buffy felt like blushing. She couldn't, obviously, with no blood able to color her cheeks, but that didn't change the fact that she felt like it.
"That reminds me," Buffy said, trying to play off her embarrassment at being called out. "I need a change of clothes. I don't suppose any of you have spares, do you?"
"We might," E said. "What's in it for us?"
He searches for the lily he threw away… Buffy cocked her head as she listened to the voice. "Maybe I can help you find your lost flower… Why did you throw it away?"
"Flower? You mean… Lily? She's not lost. She's gone. Probably on with some other guy now and ruining his life. She's the reason I'm like this, you see? The reason people like you want to hunt me down like I'm some harbinger of the apocalypse."
Buffy frowned. "I don't want to hunt you down, and my sire didn't either… You said that Julia did things to help you. Did she explain to you what you are?"
"Nothing beyond Thin Blood, which she probably told you," E said. "Other vampires don't like us, and I don't really know why. Maybe you might know."
Buffy shrugged. "Julia's not so much with the talky now. Given that the Jester kinda had the Sheriff kill her."
"Wait, what?" E shook his head. "I'm not hearing you right. Julia's dead?"
"Dust in the wind," Buffy said with a sigh. "I nearly was too. The Jester plays for power as his influence wanes. He holds me under his thumb and I wriggle…"
"Sorry, what?" E asked, and Buffy frowned. She had been perfectly clear there. Maybe she needed to explain things a little better.
"He tries to grasp this city in his fist, but things slip between his fingers." Buffy shook her head. She needed to get control of this. Metaphors weren't the best for being used here. "Never mind. He killed Julia and he has me working for him. That's all you really need to know."
"But if he killed Julia, what can we do about it? She was supposed to be our protection, our help. Without her around, who will keep the others from hunting us for sport?"
"I will," Buffy said. These Thin Bloods hadn't done anything wrong other than be sired poorly. They felt weaker than she did for certain, closer to human than vampire, but they still were vampires. "So long as you don't give me reason not to, I will protect you."
"Oh thank you, miss. Uh..." E paused and scratched the back of his head. "I… don't think you ever mentioned your name, fa—"
"Finish that statement, and I'll make sure the next blood you drink is through a straw," Buffy said with a sunny smile. "I'm Buffy."
"Sorry," E said, a little cowed. He looked down at Buffy's blood-stained clothes again. "Uh… right. I think Jenna has some spare clothing that might be your size. Oi, Jenna, come here a sec."
A light-skinned redhead pushed herself off the beach and walked over to the pair.
"What do you want, E?" asked the girl. She felt about as weak as E, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the look that came over her face when she looked at Buffy, something halfway between admiration and terror. "Oh God, what's she doing here? We haven't done anything! God, why are you here?"
Buffy couldn't help herself. She wanted to assuage the girl's fears, but something just… well, she wanted to do this too. She put on her best Austrian accent and said, "Your clothes… give them to me."
"What?" Jenna looked confused, and Buffy couldn't blame her. Still, the girl looked to be about her own size, and Buffy needed something clean before she could go back to Mercurio.
"E says you have some spare clothes. I need them," Buffy said simply. "Could you go grab them?"
"S-Sure, whatever you say, miss…" Jenna backed away. E seemed to be looking on like nothing was out of place, but Buffy knew it was a little wrong of her to just demand the clothing. She was going to offer to pay, but Jenna had backed away too soon. Buffy watched as the girl went around the fire to grab her pack, and Buffy stepped a little further away from the campfire as she did so. Not that she expected anything to happen, but she just didn't want to stand too close to it. The clothing is brought to you by the letter E and his mouse.
Jenna brought over a backpack full of clothes, and Buffy took it, giving the girl forty bucks for them before making her way closer to the water and out of sight of most people. There really wasn't a perfect place to change where nobody would see her, but she made the best of the situation she had. Pulling the clothes out of the bag, Buffy looked them over. Okay, they really weren't all that embarrassing, just a skirt that'd stop at her mid-thigh and a midriff-baring tube top. She'd be able to wear the leather coat over it and look somewhat presentable. Oh hey, there was a pair of cute stockings in here too. That'd work. She'd probably buy some new underwear later, but for now she'd stick with what she had on for bottoms, as for a bra, she'd just wrap her chest a bit.
These clothes would have to do for now, but the moment she could, she was going to go shopping. Surely some clothing stores were open after dark. Buffy buried her bloodied clothes in the sand after she finished changing, and she brushed as much of it off herself as she could before she started back up toward Santa Monica.
Buffy passed by the woman who'd told her of the men at the beach house on her way out here, and she paused. The woman stepped closer to her as if to get a look before clutching her head slightly, as if she felt a headache.
"You have been… no, you will go to China," said the woman. The red rose speaks truths and lies. Discerning the difference is half the trouble.
"Huh?" Buffy articulated. China didn't really sound so bad. It was only too bad that the only Chinese food she could really enjoy now were the Chinese. "China?"
"Why's he smiling? Is he the father? Is it the father behind him?"
"What?" Buffy couldn't quite focus on this. Something sounded off here. She knew things.
"No, A basement… a crypt, it's open. No, don't open it… From beneath… It rises… You pushed your way through the dirt… No! From beneath you it devours! Don't open it!"
"Rosa," Buffy said, drawing on her limited Spanish. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry… I see… nothing—disregard what I said." Rosa shook her head.
"You see things," Buffy said. "Like a seer? How often do your visions come true?"
"I don't know," Rosa admitted. "But they feel…"
"Real enough," Buffy nodded.
"No, never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about. Please forget what I said."
"Tell me," Buffy said.
"Not for free," Rosa said. "This is not your destiny. Every time I sleep, the future plays out before me. I know the ending… it will end over and over until I cease to dream. I know your questions. For one hundred dollars, I will tell you the answers that you don't want to hear. I need to get out of Santa Monica. To get somewhere away from here."
"When the end comes, Rosa," Buffy said, looking at the Thin Blood's eyes. "Nowhere will be safe. It takes people willing to fight against it to stop it."
"If you do not pay me, I cannot answer you. I will not."
Buffy shook her head. "I don't need to know the future that badly, Rosa. I'm not going to be Prophecy Girl. Good luck to you."
Buffy made her way back into the city, avoiding the Pier. She'd seen the shape the body was in already, and she didn't need to see it again. Something definitely did it to that person, but judging from how most of the vampires acted, she doubted it was a member of the Jester's side. Buffy wouldn't let that stop her from finding out what the source was, especially now that she knew it probably was supernatural, thus she needed to find it and kill it. She'd do that later, however. She needed to get back to Mercurio with the astrolite and his wallet.
Buffy paused once back on the street, thinking if there was anything that she was missing. Given the shape that the Fleet-Footed God was in, he probably needed some sort of helpful drug or something to ease the pain. Unfortunately, that meant Buffy had to go someplace she'd always hated when she was alive, especially after spending six years in one: a hospital. Santa Monica's hospital was just down this street, and she'd be able to get there soon.
"STOP!" A voice cried as Buffy got ready to cross the street to get on her way. Buffy frowned and turned toward the source of it. It was red, octagonal, and it stood there on a pole, mocking her. Four letters, just sitting there in the middle of its face, and it just sat there. Smug.
"No, you stop," Buffy had to answer it back. It just made perfect sense. Dumb sign. Telling her to stop.
"STOP!" It did it again! Why did it do it again? It was a sign. It didn't have any authority over her. It just was there, jutting out at her. Smug little thing.
"You stop!" Buffy glared at the sign. It just… Grr… stupid sign. If she had an SUV, she'd make sure that it didn't do anything more.
"STOP!" The sign was getting on her last nerve here. It just needed to not tell her to stop. That's all. All it needed. But the power behind the sign had to come from a demon. They always popped out of nowhere. Stop signs. Just sitting there. Smug. Telling people to stop.
"Grr… you stop!" Buffy growled and the sign remained unchanged again. Still, she just… No. There was no further point in arguing with it. It wasn't going to change its nature. Signs. "You've made a powerful enemy today, sign…"
Buffy turned and walked away from it, ignoring the sign's cries of "STOP" as she did so. She made it across the street before it hit her. She'd been arguing with a sign. An inanimate object. A smug inanimate object, but it still wasn't going to change ever. The only way it could change would be if someone painted over it. It was also telling the cars to stop, not her. All things are real. All things speak. It just takes the right kind of listening…
Regardless, she was steps away from getting what Mercurio needed. She just needed to go into the building that was right there, the Santa Monica medical center.
"Hey! Hey you!" A high pitched nasally male voice stopped her on the stairs as she was on her way into the medical center's emergency room. She turned toward its source, a college-age white man dressed in a grey sport jacket over a grey shirt with khakis. God, was he going to hit on her? He wasn't even cute. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"
Buffy brought a hand up to her face. She thought she was supposed to be the crazy one. This guy was human, definitely not a vampire and he was asking about the vampires. He must have been some kind of conspiracy nut. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on, yeah you do. I ain't gonna tell anyone. Don't bullshit me, lady. I know a vamp when I see one. I just wanna talk."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. She didn't know how old this kid was, but something was off about him in her senses. He felt almost a little like Mercurio. "About what?"
"Ah, hell yeah. I knew it! I knew it from the moment I saw you. I could just sense it, you know? You had to be a vampire. The name's Knox, Knox Harrington. Pleased to meet you."
"Buffy." She looked at the overeager man.
"Wait, that's the name of the girl that fine piece of ass is looking for at the Asylum, isn't it? What was her name again?"
It took an extreme force of will for Buffy to not reach over and throttle the man. "Samantha. Her name's Samantha."
"Oh, shit. You must have been turned recently if someone's looking for you."
"Okay, hold up," Buffy held up a hand. "How do you know any of this at all?"
"Well, I'm a ghoul. I really didn't know any of this until a few months ago, when my master found me. He showed up and, all of the sudden, bam. Vampires are real, and all sorts of other shit. Blew my mind." Knox just seemed so eager. Like an annoying puppy. Ruff. Rabid puppies get the shot. Rrruff!
"Small words, Goldie. Ghoul part first. Make with the 'splainy."
"Splainy? Oh, right! Well, you see, what I was told is a ghoul is made by a vampire sharing its power with a human through feeding the human some of their vampire blood. They get a little bit of a boost, become smarter, stronger, faster than the average human. Heal better too. That's what makes them a ghoul."
Buffy nodded. That made a bit of sense with how Mercurio was and how he was holding together after all of this. "And what are you doing here?"
"Well, I shouldn't be telling you this, but the master gave me a secret mission. I'm supposed to do something for him, and oh, right. It's been really great talking with you, Buffy. But I should probably get going. Important stuff to do and all that."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Definitely an annoying puppy. Whoever made him a ghoul probably regretted it somewhat.
"Good luck with whatever you're doing…"
Buffy shook her head and made her way inside. Her skin crawled the moment she stepped into the hospital. Even if she wouldn't ever need to be examined by a proper doctor again, hospitals just made her feel wrong. Still. This was the likely place that would have what she needed to get for Mercurio, so she walked up to the person at the front desk.
Sitting at the front desk was a brunette woman dressed in a blue floral print blouse with dirty blonde hair. She wore a professional amount of make up on her face, and Buffy could see from her pale skin that she likely hadn't been in the sun recently much, likely due to working the night shift. After all, the woman was human.
"If you'll wait your turn, you'll be seen," the woman said, an exasperated tone hanging on her voice. Buffy frowned. She wasn't really sure how she'd get past this woman without alerting way too many people to her presence. She didn't exactly want to wait for the doctors, after all. There had to be a way. My childe, use your instincts. Share yourself with her.
Buffy frowned. That sounded like Julia. Buffy supposed that it'd work. She just needed to get through.
"Excuse me, I just need to get back into the back there," Buffy said, focusing on sharing herself. Showing the woman what she saw, how she saw things… "That's okay, right?"
The woman hadn't been looking Buffy in the eyes, but Buffy saw it happen. A shudder came over the woman, and her face shifted from exasperation into a smile. "Of course, Doctor Smith. You should be able to just go in fine. I'll buzz you in since you don't have your keycard."
"Thank you, miss…" Buffy said as she slipped by. Whatever she'd done, the human hadn't resisted it at all. She felt a little bad about it, but all she was doing was sharing herself. It'd wear off eventually, she was sure.
Buffy paced the halls, looking for the pharmacy cabinet or something where she could get something strong for the Fleet-footed God when she passed an open doorway. She could see into the room beyond, a young brunette woman laid face down on an examination table, but Buffy could smell the blood. Buffy stepped inside to look at the girl, who laid down in a pool of her own blood on the table. She seemed to be nearly gone, both in body and mental capacity, but that wasn't what surprised her.
She recognized the brunette. It wasn't Sammy, thank God, but it was someone else. Someone whom she hadn't really expected to ever see again, given that the last time she'd seen the woman, Buffy had been in Sunnydale. Cordelia Chase, or a woman who very much resembled her, was sprawled out in the room, dying, and Buffy couldn't let that happen. What happens when the city of angels has no Angel left?
Buffy strode across the room, grabbing a scalpel off of a nearby tray, and she made her way to Cordelia's side. She brought the scalpel to her wrist and slit open the vein. The only way she knew of to save this young woman was what Knox said outside. Vampire blood lets humans heal. She'd heal Cordelia.
Buffy rolled Cordelia onto her back and placed her bleeding wrist near the brunette's mouth, letting blood pool into it. After a few seconds, Cordelia brought her arm up, wrapping it around Buffy's own, pulling it closer to her as she drank from Buffy. After a little bit, Buffy pulled her arm away, and the girl started stirring properly.
"Mmm…." Cordelia pushed herself up a bit. "You… wait… what did you do? What did you do to me, Buffy?"
"Wait… you recognize me?" Buffy asked. "I didn't do anything…"
"No… you did something… I can feel it. I kissed your wrist. What did you do? Why do I know you, Buffy Summers?"
"Nothing," Buffy said. "Leave it… Forget it happened, please. Go back to sleep. When you get up, I'll be gone."
"But…" Cordelia fell forward and back to sleep, thankfully. Buffy walked out of the room. She needed to get Mercurio the medicine so she could go deal with him. She could focus on the fact that Cordelia was here and that Cordelia knew her later. The implications of the situation struck her. At least this isn't a world without shrimp…
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SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
I did not expect to see Cordelia.
Also, funny, that Buffy of all people won't shell out a hundred bucks for a prophecy when she knows they're real and she just stole a bunch of money.
Also, funny, that Buffy of all people won't shell out a hundred bucks for a prophecy when she knows they're real and she just stole a bunch of money.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
It's because she knows they're real that she didn't want to know. She hates prophecy.
I died twice for words of worlds that should be and once for desire. CPR is not saving me this time.
I'm confused, what was he going to say?
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Fat-blood. The opposite of Thin blood.
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
That's a fun twist, the reflection. Given the place of mirrors in stereotypical vampire lore, having them be a way for Buffy to see herself is a good touch.
I will never get tired of Spike's commentary.
... or the random bent cultural appropriations.
This... I like less. I understood you using some of the canon dialog to get things going, but recycling the canon stop sign gag feels kinda weak, especially since you're already doing novel things with Buffy's manifestations of madness.
I was hoping she'd punch him, without knowing why, and then wander away.
Yesssss. This can only end in amazing.
Because truths are many, varied, and sometimes catching.
Or a world entirely shrimp. That was the one that always disturbed me more.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Is Messerach actually going to be a vampire in this? Or would that be a spoiler?
