Heart of Darkness: Chapter Four

by GylzGirl

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic and explicit gore. It is rated R.

"I don't want you to think I'm...weird or anything," Brenna said bashfully. It was amazing to Giles how she still managed to look fantastic under the dim, faintly orange lighting of the cafe.

"Believe me, I know every possible meaning of that word and none of the describe you."

"You know, I think that's possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. No, it's just that I don't get out very much. I don't know why. It's not so much that I absolutely love being alone or anything it just sort of happens that way. I don't know...I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense."

"Yes you are. Actually the only thing I don't understand about what you just said is how you managed to describe my existence in perfect detail after having only met me today." Brenna smiled at him and took another sip of coffee. Giles had always wondered how his father and grandmother before him had managed to have a family whilst balancing their duties as Watcher. He had always hoped that one day, somehow, the prize of a wife and children might be his also. He had thought of it more frequently since he had moved to Sunnydale and found himself a kind of surrogate family with two smart, wonderful girls, and a Xander. He wondered if this could be the start of that time. Of course, neither his father's nor his grandmother's Slayers had lasted as long as he promised himself his would. And this was only the first date.

Brenna finished her drink, then looked to him. "Rupert, let's go for a walk."

Buffy lay sleeping on Giles' bed, one arm flopped across his one hundred and sixty three year old volume and the other arm folded underneath her head. Her face twitched under the stress of her dream.

Buffy saw Giles and Brenna kissing in the graveyard. Then suddenly, vampires arose from behind most of the nearest headstones. They closed on the couple and bore them out of her sight.

Next, she saw herself at the cemetery searching frantically for Giles. He stumbled out from behind a tree, hair messed-up, glasses askew, shirt untucked, and the green tie she had picked for him hanging in shreds around his throat.

"Giles, my God!" She ran to him. "Are you okay?"

"Buffy...Buffy, God it was awful." Tears stained his cheeks, the sight of them shaking the Slayer. As soon as she was close enough, he reached out and clasped her to him with a hug, sobbing heavily over her shoulder.

Buffy, bewildered, rubbed his back and in that soothing, comforting tone he had used with her so many times she said, "It's okay. I'm here now. Everything's gonna be all right."

"No it's not. Nothing's ever going to be all right again." Giles began to pull away from her. Worried, Buffy turned to look into his jade eyes.

Except that now they were yellow.

His face had changed also, turning into the demonic vampire form of the enemy. As Buffy screamed, Giles opened his fang-filled, saliva-dripping maw, and lunged for her neck.

Buffy's scream ripped herself awake. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. The sound of her rapid panting filled the dark room. She did not rest for long, one thought consuming her mind, "Giles!" She leapt off the bed and bolted for the front door.

Brenna and Giles walked in the moonlight down Sunnydale's deserted streets. As they neared the tall hedges that marked the cemetery's south side, Giles' shoulders tensed and his pace increased.

"What's wrong?" Brenna asked.

"Oh...Oh nothing really," he lied. "It's just that, well, this isn't a particularly safe part of town."

"I feel completely safe with you, Rupert."

Giles blushed slightly and looked away for a second. He was flattered at her trust but also fearful with the knowledge that, if they ran into the kind of trouble he was thinking of, he would be primarily inadequate.

"What is this place anyway?" Brenna pointed to the hedges.

"The graveyard," he answered solemnly.

"Ooh, I love graveyards." Giles looked at her, vaguely horrified. "I love the tombstone art. I've never seen one at night before."

Giles turned and looked down the street. Glancing at his watch he said, "Yes. Well, I don't think tonight would be a good time to start. It's getting late. We probably should be getting back. I mean you have work tomorrow and I have...," he turned back to face her but she wasn't there.

"Come on Rupert," she called back to him from the middle of the cemetery, "this'll be great!" She proceeded in without him, already too far out of earshot Giles realized with dread.

"Damn." Taking the deepest breath he ever remembered taking, he jogged in after her. When he reached the oldest and most heavily populated section of the necropolis, he stopped to catch his breath. Calling her name between heavy puffs of air, he scanned the area but saw no sign of her. He leaned against a piece of statuary and drew in more of the cool, pine-scented air.

"Boo," Brenna breathed as she popped out from behind and grabbed his shoulder. Giles jumped away and turned on her as though he were ready for a fight. "Hey, take it easy. It's only me. Sorry, it was just a joke."

Giles lowered his fists. "Brenna, thank God! Come on, we've got to go." He turned and started to leave.

"I'm sorry. Don't be mad." She caught up to him and grabbed his hand.

"I'm not mad, I just think we should leave." He wanted to be mad at her but couldn't bring himself to it. How could she know what kind of danger they were in? Having lived her hole life in the real world where vampires were but a myth.

"I don't believe you." Her grasp stopped him dead and she turned him to face her. "Look into my eyes and tell me that."

Giles saw a weakness there in her vibrant blue eyes. She looked as though she were on the verge of tears. He gently took her chin in his hand and locked eyes with her. "I am not mad at you," he said softly and firmly, "I promise."

"Rupert," she leaned forward and kissed him. Giles, a little surprised, recovered quickly and kissed back, embracing her. All thoughts of impending doom flooded out of his brain at the return of this sensation which had been a memory or so long he feared it may only have been a dream. He began to lose track of time, aware of sensations only, the warmth of her soft face against his, the gentle wind blowing through his hair, the taste of her lips, the perfect still quietness of this night.

A quiet which was abruptly broken by the simultaneous sounds of a dull thud and a loud, female grunt. Giles pulled away from the kiss and turned just in time to see the origin of the noise. It was caused by Buffy, in mid-flip, kicking a burly, male vampire square in the chest and knocking him down. "Giles! Get out of here!"

When Giles snapped out of the spell he'd been in and became aware of his surroundings once more, he became aware that he was, in fact, surrounded by vampires.

"Rupert, what's happening?" The alarm in Brenna's voice became apparent.

He clasped her hand tightly and began to run with her in tow. "Follow me. Hurry!" He headed south as fast as he could and found himself both thankful that the vampires hadn't decided to follow and terrified because it meant that they had all stayed to face Buffy. He decided he would get Brenna to safety as quickly as possible then return to see what help he could be to his Slayer. Almost instantly as he thought this, he felt himself being slowed down by a weight attached to his hand.

"Rupert wait!"

"I can't. We don't have time. I've got to get to get you out of here and get back to...," just then he felt an earthshaking pain in the back of his head and the world faded to black.

Brenna stood over Giles crumpled and unconscious form still clutching the rock she had struck him with. She dropped it on the ground next to him and glanced over to the Jannson crypt. "You can come out now."

The petite blonde vampire nearly skipped out of the mausoleum, a look of utter glee beaming from her flaxen eyes. "Well done, Thrall. The Master will be very pleased."

When Brenna crossed to meet her, her back was to Giles. She didn't notice him beginning to come around.

Consciousness played around the edges of Giles' brain. His skull had been banged around so many times in his duties as Watcher he was almost accustomed to it buy now and had consequently developed a fairly rapid recovery rate. He blinked his eyes open and could just make out two blurry figures a few feet away. He decided to keep his eyes closed and just listen. He was far too dizzy to run anyway.

"I've delivered him as requested. Now, I have a request to make."

"I have no interest in the desires of a Thrall." Darla paused thoughtfully. "However, the Master is quite taken with you. Make your request, if it's not outrageous, I may allow it."

"The goal here is to cripple the Slayer with guilt, to put her out of commission, right?" Darla nodded. "Don't kill him. I want him. Transform him instead. It will still have the desired effect on the Slayer."

"Change him into what? One of your lowly kind? Neither human nor vampire?"

"No, into one of you. He's inside the Slayer's head Darla. He'd be of infinitely more use to the Master as one of his lieutenants."

Darla considered this a moment. "You have a point," she said, nodding.

Giles, having heard enough, rolled silently onto his stomach and shakily, slowly got to his feet. As he began an unsteady, swerving sprint away from the scene, Darla noticed his escape. "Not so fast, Mr. Giles." She closed on him with preternatural speed. "Remember me?" She leapt onto his back and tackled him to the ground. "Ah, just like old times." As she rolled him over to face her, she straddled his chest and pinned his arms to the ground. "Thanks for asking. My face feels much better now." Darla glanced into Brenna's worried eyes and grinned. "Deal's off, sweetie." Giles struggled helplessly under the vampire's grip and as Darla reared her head back and opened her mouth, he winced with terrified expectation.

Brenna charged a few steps then threw herself at Darla. The two she-creatures tumbled off of the hapless librarian and rolled away biting, snarling, and scratching. Giles stumbled to his feet and resting against a tree, watched the struggle, fixated. The tousle soon ended with Darla on top, Brenna's half-breed strength no match for Darla. The vampire thrust her face against Brenna's windpipe and crushed it with her steel-trap jaws. Blood sprayed the ground and doused Darla's tawny hair. Paying no mind, she continued to munch halfway through Brenna's neck.

Giles felt his dinner attempting a return voyage and had to turn away for fear of fainting or vomiting. When Darla's tongue brushed against Darla's spinal column, she pulled her face up, laughing. Darla's face, coated thick with blood, sneered as she grabbed a fistful of her victim's hair close to the scalp and gave it a quick, powerful twist. There was an inhuman squishing sound followed by a tearing noise as Darla pulled Brenna's head away from her shoulders. Darla's cackle echoed through the night. She gave Brenna's head one last lick before casually flinging it Giles' direction.

Giles felt something thud softly against his foot. Against his better judgment, he looked and saw his dinner date's decapitated head staring blindly up at him, she herself having been someone else's dinner.

Giles clamped his hand over his mouth to prevent spillage and fled back towards Buffy. "No you don't," Darla howled in a deep, unquestionably evil voice. She lurched forward at him yet again but this time found herself being propelled backwards from the force of Buffy's foot on her face.

Darla shook off the impact and glared up at Buffy. The Slayer stood there in her standard defense pose, fists raised and ready. Her hair hung in unkempt tufts, dirt smudged her cheek and jaw, the right sleeve of her blouse and the left knee of her jeans were ripped, hanging in shreds. Still, she was unmistakably in command here. She cocked her head, smiling lopsidedly as she pulled the stake from behind her back. Darla's face became a mask of fear. She scrambled backwards, never taking her eyes off the stake. Buffy charged forward. Darla pulled herself hand over foot up the stairs to the crypt and slammed it's wrought iron bar doors behind her.

Buffy watched the tomb for a minute or so, then turned and slowly went to Giles. He was pale as a ghost and breathing laboredly as a thin film of sweat glistened on his face. The solidity of the tree against his comforting and the breeze that caught his perspiration helped to slow his breath. "Are you okay?" he asked his Slayer.

Buffy found herself oddly touched that after all he had been through tonight, his first thoughts were still for her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She managed a weak smile. "Are you?"

"Not particularly no. Just happy to be alive enough to complain about how I feel."

Buffy glanced to the mangled cadaver that had once been Brenna Coventine and cringed. "I'm so sorry Giles."

Not looking back, Giles put his arm around her shoulders and began to walk her out of the graveyard. "We have to talk."

Darla made her way along the pitch black, mold-encrusted tunnels that led back to the Master's lair. She had to think of a plausible story and quick or else even being the Master's favorite wouldn't be enough to save her hide. Okay, Giles wasn't the Watcher and the slayer killed Brenna. Darla's hideous features crinkled into a frown. It was a start, a pathetic start, but a start. The Master hated defeat but he hated betrayal even worse. She knew she'd have to do some creative thinking to live through this but she decided one thing. If she did manage to live through this, she'd get that Slayer, and her little librarian too.

"...The whole thing was a set-up from the start." Giles eased an icepack against his throbbing neck as he sat down in his office. "Her whole reason for being there was to lure to my death in that graveyard tonight. God only knows what happened to the poor woman who was supposed to be in that booth."

"Okay, so new term for my Slayer resume. What's a thrall?"

"A thrall is a person who's been drained by and fed from a vampire but not killed. Instead of the demon occupying it's victim's soulless body, the soul of a thrall remains willingly and the demon's essence blends with it. They live about twice as long as a normal human and are a tad stronger. Holy relics affect them about the same as a vampire and they have a sensitivity to sunlight but are not destroyed by it."

"That wouldn't have mattered today anyway. The sun didn't come out of the clouds once."

"Quite," Giles nodded, slowly. "I'd better get you home. We both have school tomorrow." He grabbed his keys and stood.

Buffy rose also. "At least it wasn't all an act Giles." He looked at her, puzzled. "She gave her life to save you. Whatever she came to do, she fell for you, at least a little."

"Yes, well before you stay up all night marveling at the wonders of my masculine wiles, let me remind you that my becoming a vampire was an acceptable alternative to her."

Buffy paused at the door, crinkling her nose at her nightmare image of Giles the vampire. "Word of advice, Giles. Don't ever try it. You make an ugly vampire." She scooted out past a bewildered Giles who merely shook his head, turned off the light, and locked the door.

THE END