Demon Weed, Part 4

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 FOUR - "THE NEW PRINCIPAL WITH NEW PRINCIPLES"

Meanwhile, the male vampire grappled with the demon and proceeded to kick it
in the stomach. Once the demon fell to its knees, the vampire sank its fang
into the monsters neck causing it to howl. The demon then fell lifelessly
onto the grass padding. Buffy watched with intrigue from behind a bush in the
distance. After the vampire regained its composure from its recent conquest,
another demon appeared from nowhere and grappled its opponents neck. 

Buffy was intrigued by this unfamiliar fighting amongst two sides of evil
presences. The vampire shouted "Your master will not succeed!  We will all
rebel!"

The demon, obviously far more powerful than the vampire, laughed "She has
already succeeded. By the time she has finished with this planet, it will be
no more than a world of mindless female tyrannts!"

This was to be the last communication between the two parties as the demon
broke the vampires neck and speared the body with a stake. The demon's last
comment sent a shudder down Buffy's spine as she continuously watched
concerned.

The demon then turned and stalked off into the horizon. Buffy then left the
scene with worrying thoughts over the events just witnessed.


"We have the house secure, sir - we are waiting for command." whispered an
Initiative agent into his walkie-talkie.

"OK. Let's move in." responded Riley

Immediately, all Initiative members all burst into Spike's deserted runaway
home like ants homing in on food. Minutes Later, a small group of Initiative
members returned outside with Drusilla (knocked unconscious). They threw her
in the back of a van, locked the door and drove off back to their base.

"Ma'am, target has been located and captured. We are returning to base.
Out.." said Riley, happy with a nights work.

His boss laid the cellphone down on the table in front of her. She smiled
wickedly as an orange pack of cigarettes was retrieved. She placed a
cigarette between her lips and lit up. 

Buffy tread carefully, remaining alert just incase the demon had spotted her,
back home. She continously ran the thoughts of the demon's comments through
her mind: What has been planned? 

Her thoughts were disrupted suddenly when a loud scream echoed the street.
Immediately, Buffy responded by running towards the scene.  After turning the
street corner, she was shocked to see Mrs. Peebles strolling away from the
street with a cigarette in her hand.  Remaining out of sight, Buffy watched
her P.E teacher walk away from the scene and getting in a taxi. The taxi
car's lights illuminated as the engine came to life and drove off down the
main road.

She then continued her run towards the scene and discovered her Principal's
body lying face down on the pavement. A group of people surrounded the body
as the ambulance van entered the street. Buffy burst threw the crowd of
people and turned the body over with the face looking motionlessly up towards
the night sky. Buffy discovered that there was a bloody gash on the temple of
Snyder's head. The ambulance driver approached the scene and ordered everyone
to keep away from the body.

"Right you, out of my way." rushed the ambulance man

Buffy made way for the ambulance staff to deal with the situation.  Knowing
her hate-hate relationship with Snyder, The Slayer decided to walk home
analysing the night's procedings in her mind. 

The following day, Sunnydale High School was buzzing with excitement. Today
was the only open-family invite for its Sports Day. However, the school
morning was to begin strangely...

"Everyone be seated. Hush! Hush!" A Teacher's voice echoed throughout the
assembly hall.

Every pupil sat silently in their chairs, anticipating the school bell for
first period. On the school stage sat numerous teachers from various
departments at a table, including Mrs Peebles. They sat motionlessly until
Mrs. Pryce completed her speech.

" I am sure everyone of you heard of the tragic accident to Principal Snyder
last night. We have heard that he is in a coma and we wish him to get well
soon..." Mrs Pryce coughted momentarilly before continuing "Therefore, we
have made an appointment as a temporary replacement..." 

Buffy observed Mrs Pryce, the Home Economics teacher, carefully noting her
echoeing cough.

Mrs Pryce turned to face Mrs Peebles before announcing "The board have
decided that Mrs Peebles - the P.E teacher - will take over until Principal
Snyder." Mrs Pryce signified for Mrs Peebles to approach the stand as an
enthusiastic round of applause rung inside the assembly hall. 

Buffy gasped in horror as her new Temporary Principal, blushing furiously,
began her well rehearsed speech.

Willow caught Buffy looking in disgust at Mrs Peebles. "What's wrong, Buffy?"
whispered Willow.

"I will tell you later, Willow - Meet me in the library." replied Buffy.

As Mrs. Peebles motioned her hands down to the gound, the applause faded out
completely - The hall once again silenced. 

"Thank you all. I am shocked as everyone hear today to learn of the awful
news of our loved principal..." 

Suddenly, a unified sound of laughter filled the hall. After the laughter,
Peebles continued

"I know I can only do my best for Sunnydale. I want to be everyone's friend
here. Therefore, I have decided that I will personally hold all one-one
meetings with you all over the space of 4 weeks."

Mrs. Peebles announced finally "As a gesture of good faith to you all, you
may call me by my first name - Lindsay. Thank you all."

As a final, more emphatic round of applause echoed the hall, Buffy stood up
and exited.

In the Library, Giles collated books on Portals while speaking with another
pupil. 

Buffy stormed into the library, panting - and sniffing. "Phew! There is a
strong stench in here!" gesturing about the strong, stale tobacco smoke
oozing from the pupil. 

As the pupil was exiting the library, Buffy moved closer towards Giles.

"Buffy, we cannot be prejudice towards smokers. I agree that it is a
disgusting habit but it is their choice. We have to respect it."

Buffy crossed her arms in frustration and added"You know, the tobacco smoke
has been stronger today than normal."

Returning to the subject of her arrival, she said"Giles, you know about
Snyder's 'accident'? That night, I spotted Mrs. Peebles walking away from the
scene."

"Have you contacted the police about this?" asked Giles, passing some books
to Buffy while collecting more.

"No. My Mom would go beserk if she found out I was there. She is not very
happy right now."

"Why not?"

Buffy sighed "Oh. the art gallery has got a new supervisor and he does not
like Mom."

A tone of silence then set in until Buffy added "One more thing, Does Mrs
Peebles smoke?"

Giles dropped the pile of books resting in his arms.

"Why ask that question? What's the relevance of whether she smokes or not?
Anyway, I thought the answer was obvious." replied Giles, implying that she
didn't.

"Hey, it is just that I saw her that evening with a cigarette.  That's all."
wondered Buffy.

"I just have a feeling that something's wrong. Why would Mrs.  Peebles take
over the school the day after the 'accident'." Buffy thought.

Giles collected the scattered books on the floor before placing them on the
table. 

"I thought the rest of the gang would be here? It's almost lunchtime." Buffy
questioned about her closest friends.

Giles retorted "I feel you are forgetting Sports Day. You dont want to be
late now..."


Meanwhile, the Initiative van was resting on a small grassy brae of a country
road. All the doors were open and blood covered the sides.  Drusilla emerged
from the woodland area and dragged a body from the van into a nearby ditch.
Drusilla knew her luck was in today as the clouds dominated the skyline,
blocking out the sun's threatening rays. The vampire mistress entered the van
and sparked the engine into life. As the van drove off into the distance, it
left a trail of carbon smoke to invade the isolated woodland. 

Riley opened his eyes slowly to realise he was cold and wet. As he rose to
his feet, he noticed a bad gash to his arm and a gash on his leg exposing the
torn skin. Every move Riley made on foot struck a chord of agony throughout
his acheing body. Suddenly, the Initiative member fell to his knees. He felt
a pain oozing from his neck. When his fingers ran over the neck, Riley felt
two punchure marks. A shiver went up his spine and his body just paralysed
momentarilly at the shock of his discovery. Riley, slowly, raised his index
finger to his teeth and cut the top. Lowering his finger, he realised that
fangs had began to replace the big teeth that had once occupied his mouth. 

He then discovered a shiny fragment of glass from a broken bottle sticking
out from a pile of damp leeves. He raised it and tilted glass to capture
morning light only to find that he was not in the reflection. The reflection
only displayed the smoky main road where reminants of blood dominated. Riley
knew his life was over, and began to cry at the sight of his Initiative
friends lying motionlessly in the ditch. 

Riley then screamed out in agony and pain, hoping someone would notice him. 


END OF PART FOUR...PART FIVE COMING SOON.

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