Chapter 15
It had all happened do fast. There had been no time to respond quickly enough to save Willow. Dru was going to take her and there was nothing any of them could do to stop her in time as her fangs began to bite into Willow's throat.
Spike stared at Dru in anger and a touch of envy. He couldn't help that. He had wanted to do that to Willow some day but his love beat him to it.
Angel and Xander were both moving toward Dru to stop her, but by then the damage might be too much and too late.
But something happened.
Dru's eyes opened in horror. "What?!"
Suddenly, as if picked up by some unseen force, Dru flew over the table and crashed onto the floor hard. Willow had her hand on her neck and was amazed that there were no marks on her neck. Then she looked and she saw Jeremiah standing there. Dazedly, she blinked and he was gone.
Jeremiah had tossed aside Dru as if she were a doll.
Xander took Willow aside and he looked at her neck, moving her hair aside with one hand and holding the lantern up with his other hand. "Oh, God, Will! What...are you okay?"
"O-okay..." Willow stammered. She looked at Xander. "Bad date. C-can we go home now?"
Xander opened his mouth to respond but a hand clamped down onto his shoulder. He turned to face Spike.
"Did you just hit my woman?!" he demanded.
"Spike," Angel said, as he glanced at the seven vampires who were wayching them closely. "He didn't hit Dru. But if we don't do something about your guests, it isn't going to matter anyway."
Spike wasn't listening. He made a grab for Xander's arm and he pulled hard, causing Xander to spin around to face him. The motion was fast and Xander found his hand losing its grip on the lantern.
The seven vampires began to move forward.
The lantern began to sail upward.
Angel turned his head and he saw the advancing enemy. "Spike!" he cried out. And this time, something in his tone broke through Spike's senses.
Willow, Spike, and Xander turned to see the new threat approaching. Then the lantern finally decided to descend. It had sailed high into the air, but now the truth of the matter was at hand. For whatever must go up must therefore inevitably come down. It crashed at the feet of the head vampire, causing him to look down in horror. The lantern not only shattered, but because of the impact he burst into flames.
Spike, Xander, Willow, and Angel brought their hands up to shield their faces from the heat and the sudden brightness. The vampire began a bizarre dance on the floor.
Spike frowned. "Balls and bloody hell!!" he shouted. He turned to glare at Xander. "You strike my girl, and now you try to burn my house down?!" He pointed at him angrily. "When my truce with Angel is done with, you'd better not be anywhere near me!"
"Fine by me," Xander agreed. "Your breath stinks like rot anyway."
Spike frowned.
Xander looked around him. "Damn it! I could really use a weapon right now!"
Angel silently agreed. He quickly picked up one of the antique chairs and raised it above his head.
"NOOO!!" Spike shouted.
But it was too late. Angel brought the chair down hard and he smashed it into pieces. He picked up two of the broken legs, one of which was very sharp, and he tossed one to Xander. Xander looked at it appreciatively. He had been given the sharpest leg.
Spike glared at Angel. "Do you know how much that cost me!"
"Don't blame me..." Angel pointed at the visitors. "Blame them."
Spike glared at his guests and he sighed. "Why the bloody hell not?" He retrieved a leg for himself. "I think it's about time you blokes pay for this damage...with your lives!"
The burning vampire was screaming in agony and because of his dancing back and forth across the floor, his companions were not so ready to make a charge for their prey. But suddenly, a figure raced toward the burning vampire. No one had seen where he had come from but he had a sword and it sliced through the air. The sword sliced through the vampires neck. As the burning head began to fall, it burst into dust along with its body and the dust and ashes fell to the floor.
Lenox spun aroun to face the remaining six vampires with his sword at the ready.
Willow stared in astonishment. She knew who that was. "M-Michael?" she inquired.
Stacy appeared at her side and put her arms around her. "We're both here, Willow."
Willow turned to look at her. "Stacy!" She hugged her.
Buffy stepped to Angel's side and smiled wryly. "The calvary's here. Who are your friends?"
"Doesn't matter," Lenox growled. "Let's dust them." He charged at the nearest one with his sword, but the vampire saw it coming and stepped back. He came back with a flying kick that Lenox turned his side into. Then he wrapped his arm around the leg and he came down with the sword.
The vampire cried out in pain as the sword sliced into his leg. Lenox dropped the leg abruptly, spun around and swung at his throat. The vampire turned to dust.
Whether it was the sudden motion of the attack from Lenox, or it was something else, the other vampires charged as a group. Spike ran himself into one and they both tumbled onto the floor. Angel and Buffy soon found themselves each fighting one. That left two who remained and those two were heading for Xander, Willow, and Stacy.
Xander braced himself with the wooden leg and put himself in front of Stacy and Willow.
But suddenly, Stacy gently pulled Xander back. She looked at the approaching vampires and gathered her faith. "Shield us!!" she shouted.
The vampires suddenly charged at them but it was as if they had struck an invisible wall. They collided into air as rock hard as a brick wall and they stumbled back. Shaking thier heads in disbelife, they stared at ahead of them as they tried to see what it was that they had run into. What their eyes could not see were four angels standing side by side with their shields in front of them. Xander, Willow, and Stacy couldn't see the angels either...but they knew that something was there.
The two vampires glared at Stacy.
She looked right back at them. She raised a hand toward them. "GET BACK!!" she shouted. Her voice seemed to echo along the walls.
The unseen angels grabbed the vampires and carried them into the air. To Xander, Willow, and Stacy it seemed like the vampires were flying through the air across the warehouse where they hit the far wall hard and vanished from sight. They got up from the floor and made for their escape.
There was a long pause as Xander and Willow stood together, staring at where the vampires had gone. Then they looked at each other. Slowly, they turned around and they stared at Stacy as if seeing her for the first time.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, Stacy, but..." Xander took a deep breath and he pointed at her enthusiastically. "...I love you!"
Buffy, Angel, and Spike had managed to dust their oppenents with a minimum of trouble. But then Buffy had to play the peacemaker as she saw Lenox regarding Spike and Angel suspiciously.
"Listen," she said, "I can't vouch for Spike, but I can for Angel. He's a good vampire. He really is, so-"
"I know." Lenox nodded. "He has a soul."
She stared at him blankly. "You...know that already? You...you seem to know a lot."
He looked at Spike. "What's your story?"
"I have a truce with Angel," Spike said through clenched teethe. "A very short truce."
"For your sake, it better be longer."
"Was that a threat, mate?"
Lenox glared at him. "I'm not your mate." He shook his head. "I don't make threats."
"And I don't like you! Nor that woman of yours with her invisible friends!" Spike nodded his head. "Yeah, that's right! I know about your guardian angels..." He put his hands on his hips and glared around him. "AND THEY'RE NOT BLOODY WELCOME IN MY BLOODY HOUSE!!"
"The only reason you're still alive is because of your truce with Angel. And don't piss off the angels. They may tear you apart."
"Enough!" Buffy called out. "Look. We have to get Willow out of here. Can we do that please? Before any more testerone outbursts?"
Xander had been watching them until he felt a hand grab at his arm.
"X-Xander..."
Xander turned his head and he found Willow at his side. Something was wrong. She was looking at him fearfully. Her eyes were a little glassy and her breathing was shallow. She was trembling.
He had a sudden feeling of panic as he put his arms around her to keep her from falling. "Will?! Oh, God...Willow! Y-you're shaking."
Willow looked at Xander's face. She looked until she couldn't look any more. She lost focus, closed her eyes, and she lost consciousness. Xander held her and looked at her face, despair setting in.
"Willow!" Buffy cried out. She hurried to Xander's side, fearing for Willow.
Stacy placed her hands on Xander's shoulders and tried to guide him. "We have to get her onto the table, Xander," she said gently.
Xander nodded numbly but he picked up Willow and placed her gently onto the table.
"Now that's what I call setting the table," Spike said with a whistle.
Angel, Buffy, and Lenox shot him a look.
Spike tried to look innocent. "What? Did I say something?"
"Say anything more and I'll end the truce with a table leg in your heart," Angel promised him.
Lying on the table, Willow suddenly looked quite peaceful, as if all she were doing were just sleeping. Her breathing was steady and Xander hoped that was a good sign.
Spike tried to pretend he hadn't spoken his first comment outloud. At least he hadn't meant to say that outloud. He cleared his throat. "What the bloody hell is wrong with her?"
Stacy glanced at him. "It's called Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome."
"Th-that's a very long terminology, right?" Xander asked nervously. "I'm simple enough to know that big words like that usually mean that-that it's not a good thing."
Stacy gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It's stress, Xander. Everything that Willow has been through within the past two days has caught up with her. She's going to be fine." She turned to look at her husband. "Michael...we still need to get Willow to a hospital."
Lenox nodded his head as he approached the table. He resheathed his sword and he cast a wary glance at both Spike and Angel. Then he reached for Willow and gently picked her up. "Where's the nearest exit?" he asked.
"Right this way, mate," Spike replied. Then he frowned at Lenox. "Sorry." He began to lead the way. Lenox carried Willow behind him as Stacy and Xander followed.
Angel and Buffy stood together and watched them go. "Are you okay?" Angel asked her.
Buffy tried to keep her composure and was successful for the most part. She took a deep breath and looked at him. "Willow has gone through so much, Angel...I saw the mind games they played on her. I-I just hope she'll be okay."
Angel put his hand under her chin and raised her head toward him. "Willow is going to be all right, Buffy. She's safe now." He paused. "She needs her friends and family right now. So go with her. Give her your love. That's all she needs."
"What are you going to do?"
"There's not much I can do until sundown. But Spike and I will look for those two visitors that took off."
Buffy hugged him. "Be careful, Angel."
He smiled wryly at her. "Words to live by."
Then he was gone.
Buffy hurried to catch up with the others.
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Chapter 16
Lenox was able to communicate via his head set with his fellow Hunters and that helped them accomplish what they needed to do within a short period of time. LeBeau and Vogel were able to locate the factory where they made their pickup. Then they headed for the Sunnydale Memorial Hospital where they set the chopper down onto the rooftop. Nurses and orderlies helped get Willow onto a stretcher and then they all went into the elevator and headed for the Emergency Room.
It was quite a crowd.
Lenox, Stacy, Buffy, and Xander were with two orderlies and two nurses and one stretcher with Willow lying beneath a sheet.
They went into the ER and were met by Mulder, Scully, and Barrington.
The place was getting just a bit over crowded so a doctor ordered them all to clear out. Stacy and Scully, however, had no intentions of clearing out. They were both doctors themselves and they were both staying with Willow. But the others, however, were given the boot.
The others went into the only room they could...the waiting room. Once there, they discovered another surprise waiting for them.
Buffy looked in surprise at the two people sitting forlornly against the wall. "Giles? Cordelia?"
Giles raised his head. He looked terrible.
Cordelia got up from the chair and walked toward Buffy and the others. "Buffy! Xander!" She looked relieved to see them both. "Please tell me you have good news!" She looked at Buffy expectantly. "Did you find Willow?"
Buffy nodded. "Yes. We found Willow. She's going to be okay. She...she just needs to rest." She turned to Giles with concern. "What are you guys doing here?"
Cordelia opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. For once, she was truly at a loss for words. She turned to look at Giles with concern for him.
Barrington walked over to Giles and sat next to him, watching him with concern. "Rupert...what happened?"
Giles hesitated, "One of Jenny's neighbors had heard a d-disturbance. She-she called the police and-and they found her...bound to a chair." He paused for breath. "She h-had been shot."
Buffy brought her hands to her mouth to keep from crying out.
Xander closed his eyes and squeezed his hands into fists. "I really hate this place..."
Giles couldn't bring himself to look at either one of them. "She's in critical condition. The bullet m-missed her heart...It-it went c-completely through her shoulder."
Buffy knelt before Giles and put her arms around him. "Giles...I'm so sorry."
Giles couldn't bring himself to move. "It-it was my own fault, Buffy. I should h-have told her not to go...I should have insisted that she-she return to the library."
"Would she have listened?"
Giles thought about it. "I suppose she wouldn't have."
Xander shook his head. "You can't blame yourself for this, G-Man. You've got to put the blame where it belongs. To the bastard who shot Miss Calender."
"Do the police have any leads?" Mulder asked.
Giles shook his head. "They have no clue. They th-think it might have been someone who hates gypsy's."
Lenox paused in thought. "Jenny Calender is a gypsy?"
Giles looked up at him. "Yes. Th-that's right. She is. Why?" He frowned. "Are you seriously suggesting that th-this is a case of bias bigotry? I-I can't bring myself to believe that! She was after books on vampire lore that-that might have given us a clue as to what is about to happen here tonight! P-perhaps a vampire got to her and made it look like a shooting...to throw us off!"
"Or maybe someone wanted something from her," Lenox suggested. "Maybe a gem or a stone of some kind."
"For what?" Mulder asked.
Lenox paused. "For a nuclear device."
Everyone stared at him.
Xander frowned. "I don't get it. What could a gypsy have that can be used in a nuclear device?"
Barrington had already thought about it. "Plenty of items. Rocks, crystals, orbs, diamonds...Anything like that. Some of these items could have certain qualities that a terrorist would be looking for."
Mulder shook his head. "It's starting to seem like the shooter was the Speaker himself."
"I'm betting he has more accomplices," Lenox commented.
Giles frowned as something occurred to him. "So maybe this whole thing was a ruse of some kind. They wanted us to think that they wanted the location of the Hellmouth revealed to them, but what they really wanted all along was something from Jenny for their device." He froze as it dawned on him. "My God...m-maybe they knew all along where the Hellmouth was."
"Do you really think that?" Xander asked.
Lenox regarded Giles. "Rupert...where is it?"
Giles looked at him. "It's right under the school."
"Where's Crazy Man?"
Giles frowned. "Who?"
"Bill."
"Oh...He's still at the library, researching for me."
Lenox looked at Barrington. "I think it's time we did a little research of our own."
Barrington agreed.
Mulder looked at them. "Need a hand? I just happen to have two available."
"Then bring them along." Lenox clapped Xander on the shoulder. "Let my wife know that the boys have gone out hunting."
Xander nodded and gave him a thumbs up. "Bag one for me, will you?"
"We'll bag them all. For you and for Willow."
Lenox, Barrington, and Mulder left. Buffy, Xander, and Cordelia joined Giles as they found seats for themselves. As they sat there together, they thought of Willow and Jenny.
Finally, Buffy looked at Giles with concern. "Hey...are you okay?"
Giles let out a deep sigh and he turned his head to look out the window. "The sun is going down, Buffy. Whatever it is that is going to take place...it's g-going to happen tonight. And I'm afraid th-that we're not ready for it." He looked at her, the concern for her safety clearly on his face. He did not want her to face another danger without knowing how to deal with it. After all, he was the Watcher...wasn't he? What kind of Watcher would he be if he failed in his duties?
Buffy tried not to let her fear show. "C'mon, Giles. How bad can it be? There were things that I had to face without being fully prepared before...and I managed to beat those odds somehow. Didn't I?"
"Well...yes, b-but--"
"And I did beat the Master," she pointed out.
Xander nodded his head. "Yes, you did, Buffy, after he killed you," he reminded her.
"I still beat him."
Cordelia tried to lend her support with a cheery victory wave. "You saved us all. Three cheers!"
Buffy frowned. "Look, I'm just trying to say that I'll find a way to beat whatever is next. I have to, Giles. The other option is something I don't want to think about, so...I will find a way to win this. Okay?"
Giles let out a weary sigh. "Buffy...th-this is not the Master you are going up against. This is the Heir, and-and he is already free. There is nothing trapping him from our world like th-the Master was trapped. According to the Codex, he will be just as powerful as the Master was, and he will have an army with him." He looked at Buffy closely.
She took in a deep breath. "Oh, my God...You-you've already found something, haven't you?" She regarded him. "You found another prophecy about me!"
He looked away.
"What is it, Giles? You have to tell me!" She grabbed his arm and shook him. "I won't run like I did the last time, Giles, but please...you have to tell me what you saw!!"
Xander and Cordelia had become silent. They could only sit and watch as their friends, the Watcher and the Slayer, revealed thier sorrow and anguish over the past ordeal. And it wasn't over yet. Far from it.
Giles looked at Buffy. "Th-there was something I found," he said quietly.
Buffy waited.
He took off his glasses. Then he quoted from the Codex. "'The Slayer shall meet the Heir and the Heir shall seal his own fate. The Slayer shall fall and a child shall stand to release judgment.'"
Silence filled the room.
"Giles," Buffy finally said, "did I ever tell you how much I hate books?"
asasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasasas
Angel and Spike had found the remaining two vampires who had fled from the factory. They had followed them to their lair using the tunnels. They realized that the lair was a place of so much evil that even they could feel it's presence. That unnerved Spike. He had always considered himself to be an evil in his own way...but not like this. He and Angel found a hiding spot and they kept low as they watched the proceedings within the large chamber room.
If this had ever been a movie, the eerie music with the deep sounding drums would have begun to play. The camera would have panned overhead to view the hundred vampires standing in formation, periodically bowing to the man lying on the altar. The three who stood at the altar simply remained as they were, waiting and watching.
Suddenly, the man, Rueben Julius, the Knife began to stir.
His hands flexed and then they closed into fists. Slowly, he rose to a sitting position, and his back was straight, his eyes closed. He swung his feet over the side of the altar and stood on his own.
He opened his eyes, and they were red. He flexed his mouth open only to reveal his fangs. His muscles bulged as he raised his arms and looked at them.
He smiled with great pleasure.
His army began to chant.
"MASTER! MASTER! MASTER!"
Julius looked out at them and he knew that they would do his bidding. "I AM ALIVE!" he shouted at them.
"YOU LIVE!" they cried back as one.
Julius paused for affect. "I am alive...and tonight, we shall take Sunnydale and make it our own. We shall feed on some and enslave the rest!" He smiled. Evil radiated from him. "Tomorrow night, we shall take the rest of the world!"
The army of vampires broke into cheering.
Then Julius held up a finger and he shushed his followers who eagerly obeyed. "But first...I must go shopping." He grinned happily. "For a pet!"
The followers puzzled over that.
"This pet already has a name..." He beamed at his beloved followers. "Her name is Willow."
From their hiding place, Angel and Spike looked at each other. Angel didn't want anything to happen to Willow and even Spike didn't want her to end up with this monster as she would be nothing more to him than a pet. They had to stop Julius, but at the moment, the odds were not stacked in their favor.
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Chapter 17
Lenox, Barrington, and Mulder took Mulder's rental and headed for Sunnydale
High. As Mulder drove, Barrington used his head-set to make contact with
Fronk. He outlined for Fronk what they had suspected Abhar Jhamel was up to
and Fronk confirmed it when he told him what he had found.
"I found the mother lode, baby," Fronk began, "and I mean it's a beaut.
Using the link that began at Willow's computer and the other links that were
tapped into by the foul accursed villains, I followed them all to one
source. It led me to their hard drive where I was able to tap into, break
into their files, and back my way out again...leaving behind one nasty
little bug that will permanently shut them down as soon as one of them
accesses it."
Barrington nodded his head. "Well, that's great. What did you find?"
"The device that they're planning on using...Well, it has a special design.
It's like a mole, once activated that is. It burrows itself deep into the
ground and then it explodes. The explosion, of course, can be set to go off
at any time that the time is set for."
"So he'll set the device, drop it, and then...what?" Barrington frowned.
"He's a terrorist. I don't believe he means to run." He thought for a
moment. "Crazy Man, we're on our way to your location. I have a plan." He
glanced back at Lenox who was sitting in the back seat.
Mulder floored the accelerator.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Abhar Jhamel and six other terrorists arrived in a van. They parked the van
in the most vacant part of the parking lot and for a short time, they simply
remained in the van. Jhamel and his driver looked out through the
windshield as they watched the Sunnydale High, anticipating their mission.
As the sun was setting and it became dark, Jhamel decided that the time was
right.
He climbed out of the van first.
He stood in front of the van as the others climbed out and moved toward him.
The driver stopped to stand beside him as the remaining five walked to the
end of the parking lot. The five men stopped beside a sewer drain, and in
no time at all, they had removed the cover. One by one, they disappeared
into the hole. When the last one entered, he closed the cover back into
place.
Then there was silence.
Jhamel and his driver stood there in the silence for another moment. Jhamel
himself carried no weapon other than his nuclear device. The Mole had the
orb inserted within and all he had to do was set the timer.
He smiled.
The driver looked at him expectantly.
"Come," Jhamel said with pride. "Tonight we will become hero's, and America
will suffer horribly."
Together they began to walk toward the school.
HEIRHEIRHEIRHEIRHEIRHEIRHEIRHEIRHEIR
Sunnydale Mall was crowded. The place was packed full of shoppers of every
age group. Most of the shoppers had the same thought in mind and that was
to simply spend, buy, want, take...more, more, more. They earned their
money for the most part, and now it was time to splurge a little. Maybe
they were buying for a friend, a relative, a parent, or a spouse, or maybe
they were spending a little money on themselves.
It didn't really matter.
Julius found the whole thing repulsive.
Americans and their pleasures.
Then he corrected himself...Humans and their pleasures on the frivolous
things in life.
Rueben Julius himself was a sight to see walking through the Mall with his
bulging muscles in his arms, chest, and neck, and his new distorted
face...that of a demon. Walking around him, but a pace or two behind, were
four other vampires with their true faces revealed. They were all smiling
happily and they were very eager to please their new Master. They wanted to
please the Heir.
"Would you like a snack, Master?" one of them asked, rubbing his hands in
anticipation of pleasing the Heir.
Julius stopped walking, turned and looked at the fool. "Why, yes! I do
want to 'smack'!" With the back of his hand, he slapped the eager vampire
and there was a loud resounding smack as the lackey fell against the wall.
The other three vamps laughed with the Heir.
The fallen vamp got back up to his feet sheepishly and he noticed that they
were drawing stares, but still no one approached them. He slowly approached
the Heir, rubbing his face. He grinned like an idiot. "Please...Master...I
only meant to offer you food! Look around! They are ripe for the taking."
People who were in close proximity to them looked at them with curiousity,
revulsion, and fear. But the fear was misplaced, and Julius knew it.
"They are all fools," he said. "And that will be their curse. They want to
believe that we do not exist, so therefore, they make up other excuses to
explain us." He pointed. "Look at them. They think we are sick! Well, we
shall let them think that for the time being and we shall snack later." He
looked at his followers and smiled. "Besides...I really did come here
tonight to go shopping!"
They headed for a store called Henson's Pets & Things.
As they entered, several customers left in a hurry because they were afraid
that they might catch something. Julius ignored them. They were
unimportant to his plans. At least for the moment. He walked up to the
counter and placed his palms flat onto the surface. He looked down at the
store clerk and smiled, showing his fangs.
"You must be Henson," Julius said.
Henson swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. "That would b-be me." He
looked at Julius and the four other patrons now in his store. "Uh...costume
party somewhere, fellas?"
Julius nodded. "Yes."
"Uh...what...what can I do for you here?"
Julius leaned toward him. "I want the best leash and the most secure collar
you have to offer." He waved a finger. "Only the best, now."
Henson grinned. "Oh...Well...Sir, I must say that you have come to the
right place. I am your 'Collar Man', sir. That's what I am. I know all
about collars and leashes. Have a dog myself, you know. Yes, siree. A
great dane, but, his name is Garfield."
Julius smiled. "Garfield. Very clever of you, Henson. You named your
Great Dane after a comic strip cat!" He laughed. "And you are a pet owner
as well. Then you really do understand my needs."
Henson didn't know his life was in jeapordy. All he knew was that he was
going to make a sale. He nodded his head and shrugged. "Aw, well, that's
why I'm in the business, you know. I know pets and I know people who have
pets. You, sir, I knew right away was a dog person."
"Actually, my pet isn't actually a dog...but she is still my pet and I must
take the proper care for her."
"That is true. That is so true. Now, this all depends on what kind of
collar and leash you are in the market to purchase. It has to be just right
and it has to go with your charming personality." He paused in thought.
"There are chain leashes, but I have the feeling that your pet is small, so
this wouldn't do. The chain can have a tendency to pinch you and your dog,
so I would say that we should rule out the chain. Now how about a nice
leather leash? This could be just right for you. It really is the in thing
among dog owners these days, especially because it comes in so many
different colors. Now for the collar, how about a collar with studs?
Doberman Pincer owners love those. Or how about a collar with locks?"
Julius looked at him with a gleam in his eyes. It was rather a mad kind of
gleam. "There are such collars?"
"Oh, yes! Of course. It's a new design. It snugs around your dogs throat
without constricting her air supply. It has a tiny padlock on it. It was
designed mostly for the women folk who worry about someone dog-napping their
little Fifi." He shrugged. "You know, it's really just a cute little
gimmick."
"How strong is this tiny little padlock?"
"Oh, it's real strong. Unbreakable. The leash even comes with it." He
looked around the counter behind him and found what he was looking for.
"Well, in fact, here's one right here, sir. It costs fifty bucks, but it's
well worth it." He smiled, thinking to himself that this was going to be an
easy sale. "Will that be cash, check, or credit card?" He looked at Julius
expectantly.
Julius smiled at his followers as he took the leash. "I have to make a
small withdrawal from my bank." He looked at Henson, his friendly smile
erased from his face.
Henson was beginning to get a very bad feeling about his new customers.
"Uh...you don't have any checks?" He shrugged. "It will only take a moment
to run a credit check on it. Really, company policy demands that we do
basic security checks, but if you have an account and your credit is good,
it's relatively harmeless."
The Heir shook his head. "I don't deal with checks. I deal strictly with
blood withdrawals only."
"B-blood...withdrawals?"
Julius began to walk away. As he did, two of his minions pounced on Henson
and dragged him to the floor behind the counter. He didn't even have time
to scream as they sank their teethe into him.
Julius and the other two minions walked out into the corridor and headed for
the exit. "Send others here to feed and frolic," he ordered them. "Word
will reach the Slayer and she will have to come running in to save them.
Then meet me at the hospital."
"More withdrawals, Master?" one of them asked eagerly.
Julius slapped him. "No, imbecile! I am going to retrieve my pet!" He
paused in thought for a moment. "Oh, dear...I do hope she's had all of her
shots."
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