Demon Weed, Part 9

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 9 - THE GREAT ESCAPE


Riley, heavily wounded, limped towards the Initiative house filled with the
notion for help and assistance. However, he noticed the house was actually
crowded with smoking women. 

Relating to his experience earlier, the last Initiative soldier remained
hidden observing the sight of smoking ladies entering and exiting the house
carelessly. On his journey through Sunnydale, Riley did notice numerous
changes; no males had been spotted, there was a constant stale smell of
tobacco flooding the atmosphere, females seemed more outgoing and huddled
about in groups.

Despite the changes noted in Sunnydale's society, he began to feel an urge
for blood again as his new-found state vibrated. Riley knew he would need to
feed on someone again urgently, however, he fought against the urge in order
to seek out an ally. 

The vampire entered the house via the back entrance and accessed the
Initiative underground through a retina scan. As the scan operated, he noted
another physical change when the machine revealed the shape and colour of his
retina had altered dramatically. His retina was now pure red with a black
pupil occupying centrally. This was another blow to his realisation of his
death. 

The secret door slid open within the wall and Riley entered without
hesitation of what fate lay for him. Immediately, the Initiative member was
hit by two abnormalities upon entering the underground; the strong scent of
tobacco smoke and the desertion, motionlessness of the secret bunker. 

He proceeded to the main office, hoping to find someone in authority who
could answer his questions. The scent from the office increased in strength
upon entry to the office door. The door creaked open and he found his boss
tapping on a computer with a cigarette dangling from her lips. 

"Ms. Bradshaw!" Riley gasped in horror. Bradshaw stared up at the vampire and
sighed. Riley was reminded of his new way of life when no reflection was
present in her spectacles. The boss rose to her feet and tutted.

"You made it back, Riley - you do have a lot of balls!" sighed Bradshaw.

"What is going on, Bradshaw?!" Riley replied, sensing his hunger for blood
was now beginning to surface once more. 

Bradshaw seemed not suprised stated "What has happened, pal, is that the
Initiative has now had a facelift. We have upgraded and you are the last of
the rejects - You are not welcome here!"

As Riley's anger and hunger intensified at the realisation that Bradshaw set
his team up for annihilation, he viewed instantly a female figure appear in
his boss's reflection and turned to face it.  Bradshaw took another deep puff
as the female figure attacked Riley with a baseball bat. The bat connected
with the open, bloody wounds on Riley. He fell to the cold floor and grasped
once again his stomach. As the figure swung back her bat in the aim of
decapitating the ex-Initiative member, Riley pounced on top of her
instinctively.  The woman was now powerless and she viewed in horror the fury
burning in Riley's eyes before her neck was turned. Immediately, Riley sunk
his teeth into her neck and began sucking the fresh blood from his victim.
This time, he felt no remorse at killing his latest victim.

After feeding, Riley rose to his feet and confronted chain-smoking Bradshaw
once more.

"This is not over, Bradshaw. I will be back! You will pay for this!"
exclaimed Riley as a herd of woman were stalking towards him.  Looking
closer, he realised that it was a group of female vampires.  In the knowledge
of not knowing vampires' fighting capabilities, he retreated outside the
house, fleeing for cover. 

Bradshaw swept back her long, blond hair and resumed her position at the
computer system. She took another nicotine hit from her burning cigarette
whilst e-mailing another headteacher. 

The boss typed within the message:

"Next week, you must come out and visit our high school. I am positive that
our atmosphere will grip you forever. I look forward to hearing from you.
Miss Bradshaw, Mayor."


"Xander, keep awake. I dont want anything to happen, OK." Giles whispered.

"Ok. Ok. I know the plan." Xander replied weakly as he felt the exposed
fleshy eye socket. 

The duo focused their attention on the teachers smoking between themselves
socially until all but one of them deserted the gym. 

The remaining teacher shouted out"My other compatriots have been called
away... so its me and you scum - Are we ready for another 'game'?"

The gym full of male wounded bodies responded in unison with groans as the
chain-smoking teacher stalked towards Giles.

"Lets start the first game as we have a new member - the 'Initiation'" the
teacher gleamed.

Giles sat frozen at fate stalking towards him, he realised this could be end
of the line. Suddenly, the teacher fell to the ground as numerous victims
grabbed her legs.

The librarian then stared momentarilly at Xander, who was smiling knowingly
despite his wounds. The duo then rose to their feet and began climbing the
gym ropes occupied near the windows at the top.  Once again, in unison, the
bedridden victims cheered as Giles and Xander made an attempt for freedom.
The sole teacher cried out for help as the victims began beating her down.
Giles asked Xander while climbing slowly "Are you up for this?"

Xander replied weakly "Yeah, sure - let's get out of here!!!!" He was
relating to the influx of teachers flooding the room to retain order. The
escaping duo continued their climb to freedom quickly as teachers began to
climb the ropes armed with knives. As Giles reached the top barricade, he
noted that below the protesting victims were being slashed by other teachers.
From that moment, Giles was now filled with ambition to rebel against this
new 'order'. The librarian helped struggling Xander onto the top barricade as
the teachers were also nearing the top of the barricade. 

"How are we going to get through?" Giles stated regarding the thickness of
the glass.

Xander replied confidently "I know."

A teacher reached the top barricade and Xander helped her up.  Suddenly,
Xander dispossed the teacher of the knive and threw her head first through
the glass. The glass shattered and Giles jumped to the grass below. Xander
then cut the gym rope, letting the teachers dropping onto the gym floor. He
then followed Giles and jumped out onto the grass below. 

Upon arrival to the outside, they both noticed the motionless body of the
teacher lying on the grass. The body was countlessly pierced with thick glass
and blood dominated the perimeter of her fall. As gruesome of the discovery,
Giles and Xander fled off into the distance knowing that they had to seek
shelter soon...

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