Demon Weed, Part 6

Disclaimer: the characters portrayed are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enterprises, and Twentieth Century Fox.  Other characters such as Mrs Peebles
and Caos are mines.

No copyright infringement is intended.

BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - DEMON WEED

PART 6 - EXPANDING THE PACK

Riley could feel his stomach cry out in agony from its starvation.  The
Initiative member wiped his sweaty brow trying to convince himself that he
was not hungry. 

"I must walk away...Get help." Riley muttered reluctantly to himself.

As he was about to turn around and crawl back to the main road, voices began
to reign within himself. Suddenly, Riley turned around to face the isolated
bungalow - his eyes now cloudy blue. His vision had began to change over the
course of his transformation. He no longer had the clear all-colour vision of
humans, but the acute infra-red vision of a vampire. Riley could not resist
the orders being heard within like drum beats. In a moment of golden silence,
Riley could hear his prey's heartbeat as well.

"Delicious." Riley reluctantly smiled to himself, succumbing to the pressures
of his new conscious.

The Initiative member slowly crawled up to the wooden fence surrounding the
perimeter of the garden. Between cracks in the fence, Riley relished the
sight of the boy, oblivious to the predator stalking him.

"Right, Charlie - In for Tea!" a feminine voice echoed from within the house.

"Just 5 more minutes!" replied the boy.

The boy was pre-occupied playing with his big plastic football as Riley
continued to watch intensively. 

Riley's patience had now run out - he was ready for his feed.

As the tree leeves whistled from the gusty breeze, Riley jumped over the
fence and grabbed the boy from behind. The boy struggled to break free from
the grip constantly shouting for help. However, his plea was cancelled out by
the gale blowing around. Riley then proceeded to take a bite from the boy's
neck, piercing the delicate skin with his novice fangs. 

He then began to suck relentlessly on the blood rushing from the fangmarks on
the neck. Riley's hunger was being satisfied. His rush for blood was now
completed for the time being. 

Riley released the grip on the boy, allowing the corpse to fall to the ground
like a pile of bricks. Despite the satisfaction of the craving, he felt
remorseful of his killing. He viewed his prey, lying motionlessly pale on the
grass. 

As tears trickled down Riley's face, he felt an instant sharp feeling of pain
hit him in the waist. He turned to face the door to the house. He looked down
at his bloody waist, punctured from a bullet. The blood ran free from his
body. Riley gripped his waist crying out in pain as he began to see a woman
emerge from the house.

"You done me a favour, vamp. My son will now be joining my husband." smiled
the woman, with a cigarette dangling from her lips as she spoke.

The woman inhaled on the cig, then laughed to herself as she now pointed her
shotgun at Riley.

"You now have to 3 to get the hell off my porch. 1..." commanded the woman.

Riley, still gripping his side in agony with his hands full of blood,
sprinted into the woods. He could hear the woman's commanding voice now in
the distance.

"...3"


Buffy entered her home thinking of recent events. 

"Tonight, I must find the demon and get all the info needed. I better get
ready quickly before Mom starts her lectures..." she thought to herself only
to be interrupted by a smell.

As Buffy sniffed a strange smell of lit tobacco, she shouted out "Mom, Are
you home?"

She then noticed a blue haze of smoke drift effortlessly through the house
upon entering the living room. There, Buffy found her Mother sitting on the
couch watching TV - with a cigarette in her hand.

"Are you OK, Mom?" asked Buffy, surprised at her discovery.

"Yeah, Buffy. I would like to speak to you." replied Joyce, inhaling deeply
on her shrinking cigarette, turning to face her daughter.

Buffy could not believe her eyes from the sight of her own Mother with a
cigarette. The smoke drifted upwards from Joyce's cigarette into the cloudy
atmosphere of home. Buffy viewed in disgust an overflowing ashtray sitting
patiently on the table.

"Come and sit down, Buffy." Joyce said calmly gesturing to the couch. 

Buffy sat on the couch reluctantly, wondering what sparked this change in her
Mother. She did notice at first glance how relaxed Joyce seemed as she sat
down. 

As Joyce put out the burning cigarette filter, she reached for a half-empty
orange pack of cigarettes lying on the table next to the ashtray. 

"Today, I had enough of my boss's bull@#%$. I quit work - I dont regret it at
all." Joyce began, as she extracted a cigarette from the pack and lit up.

Buffy asked, still in shock "Why do that? You said you would never leave work
because of your boss. You said you would live with it?"

"Well, that was my opinion until this morning when I had a break with the
girls..." Joyce said, pausing for another deep inhale.

"My best friend, Mandy, had just started smoking for some reason and offered
me one. Well, I was so depressed that I..." Joyce continued before Buffy
interrupted.

"...Tried one. What's going on here? This has happened a lot recently in this
town. Everyone is acting wierd. " Buffy rambled in frustration.

"And you were so against it too - how could you!?" questioned Buffy.

Joyce pulled hard on the filter again before repositioning herself nearer to
Buffy.

"Hey, Buffy don't get uptight. I feel a lot stronger now. I cant explain it.
Anyway..." smiled Joyce as she reached for her cigarettes. She flipped the
box lid back to reveal the remaining cigarettes and gestured them towards
Buffy.

"...you wanna try one?" asked Joyce.

Buffy choked"W-What? This is not you at all!"

The Slayer quickly jumped off the couch and retreated towards the staircase.
Joyce rose to her feet and began to follow.

"Its Ok, Buffy - You have my permission to try it. Come on." groaned Joyce,
deashing her cigarette on the carpet.

"Just stay away from me - I have got school tomorrow." replied Buffy.

Buffy began to tread carefully up the staircase, her eyes glued to her
Mother's movements pursuing her.

"Just try it, Buffy - You'll like it!" retorted Joyce, beginning to display
some authority in her tone.

"No way!" replied Buffy as she ran up the stairs and entered her room,
locking it from the inside. Her heartbeat was pounding furiously at what she
had just witnessed. She backed up against the window, viewing it as a way out
of the house. She viewed a black limousine car draw up outside the house
where smoking woman - woman from the local council - exited. 

"I understand now. This is a setup. Someone is using cigs to effect the
behaviours of influential people to their advantage." muttered Buffy to
herself as Joyce began to knock hard on the door.

"Buffy, Open this door right now! You are grounded!" demanded Joyce. 


Buffy grabbed her wooden chair and smashed the window. The glass shattered
outwards into the silent air. Before Buffy exited the window, she replied "I
will be back, Mom - I will get to the bottom of this."

Buffy jumped onto the railing outside and fell to the gound on the grass
below. She then rose to her feet and ran away into the distance. She knew
that entrapment was being set on her by some secret tyrant - But who?

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