Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Trinity

Chapter Ten: Nightmares

Buffy quietly walks into the entrance of the Master's lair with a stake in her hand. She stops and scans the area around her, keeping an eye out for potential threats. She slowly makes her way to the floor below, tightening her grip on the stake. She doesn't see the danger hiding behind a pillar. Sensing something behind her, Buffy turns around and raises her stake. The Master hisses at her, making the girl freeze in fear. The stake tumbles out of Buffy's hand and she begins to back away. The Master advances towards her. Seeing that his prey has nowhere to retreat he clasps a clawed hand around her neck and closes in for the bite.

"NO! NO!" Buffy screams.

Joyce sits on the edge of Buffy's bed, attempting to shake her awake.

"No..." Buffy mutters.

"Yes." Joyce tells her. The sound makes the teen's eyes snap open. "It's time to get up for school."

"Mom?" Buffy asks, relieved that it was just a dream.

Joyce looks at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"No. Uh, yeah! Yeah! I'm, I'm fine! Oh..." She sits up. "School! Great." She tosses the covers off and quickly gets out of bed.

"You wanna go to school?" Joyce asks as she stands up, never seeing her daughter so happy about the subject before.

"Sure! Why not?"

"Okay." She walks over to the window and opens the blinds. "Good day to buy that lottery ticket. I spoke with your father."

"He's coming, right?"

"You're on for this weekend."

Buffy smiles. "Good."

Willow, Buffy, and Trinity walk through the down the hallway. "So, do you see your dad a lot?" Willow asks.

"Not a whole lot. He's still in L.A. He, like, comes down for weekends sometimes."

"When did they get divorced?" Trinity asks.

"Well, it wasn't finalized till last year, but they were separated before that."

"Musta been harsh." Willow says as they approach Buffy's locker.

"Yeah, that's the word you're looking for." The blond works the combination. "I-I mean, they were really good about it around me, anyway, but still..."

"My parents don't even bicker. Sometimes they glare. Do you know why your folks split up?"

Trinity leans against the lockers and watches as the two converse, not really having anything to offer to the conversation. She lost her parents when she was young and barely had any memories of them. The only parental figure in her life was Carter and since he raised her by himself there was never anyone to fight with.

Buffy opens her locker. "I didn't ask. They just stopped getting along. I'm sure I was a really big help, though, with all the slaying and everything. I was in so much trouble. I was a big mess."

"Well, I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with him leaving." Willow tells her.

"No." Buffy says. Trinity can hear the hint of doubt in her voice as she closes her locker.

"And he still comes down on weekends."

"Sometimes."

In a classroom, Cordelia checks her makeup in a mirror when a shadow appears over her. She looks up and sees a boy checking his paper in the light. "Hello? Doofus!" The boy looks at her. "You're in my light."

Xander walks over. "Wendell, what is wrong with you? Don't you know that she is the center of the universe, and the rest of us merely revolve around her?" He says sarcastically.