Dance With the Dead (BTVS, Book Six)

chapter 17 - Normal Again

Buffy and I were on patrol, searching for vampires, demons or the trio of geeks, coming along a house that we thought that the geeks would be. We heard a horn sound, exchanging a look, continuing to walk, rounding a corner, finding an alley, dark, containing a pickup truck and a car. 

Buffy looked from a piece of paper to the address on the house. "This is the place."

I heard someone hit the ground behind me, turning to see an ugly demon with waxy skin and weird marble-like eyes. "Yeah, I would say that it's the right place, all right. Oh, hi. You didn't by chance happen to just eat a couple of nerds, did you?"

The demon tried to punch me. I leaned back to avoid it. The demon tried to punch and kick me with a roundhouse that I ducked underneath to make him miss. The demon tried to punch me. I blocked the move, punching it in the stomach, spinning to kick it in the back. The demon picked me up, throwing me to the ground. 

Buffy ran closer to kick the demon back into a car, falling back onto the car so that she could use both legs to kick the demon, making it reel back, standing up on the hood of the car. The demon tried to punch her. Buffy leaped up onto the car's roof, making him punch the hood where she had just been. The demon tried to hit her legs, but she jumped up, crouching on the hood, kicking the demon again.

I stood, cartwheeling closer to kick the demon in the head twice, making it fall against the car. Buffy did a flip off of the car onto the ground, landing lightly on her feet. I picked up a metal garbage can, slamming it onto the demon. The demon stood. I raised the can for another blow. The demon shoved the can out of my hands, using it to hit me in the face. I spun around to kick him back toward Buffy. Buffy spun around in the opposite direction to backhand punch him in the face, making it reel backward toward me so that I could kick it in the back of the head, slamming his head through the car window, breaking it. The demon's hand was pressed against the car door. A long, thin, bony spike suddenly shot out of its knuckle. The demon struggled with its head and shoulders still inside the car. Buffy grabbed the demon. The demon elbowed her off, turning around, grabbing Buffy to turn around and throw into me, making us both fall to the ground, jumping down on top of Buffy, stabbing the spike on its hand through Buffy's shoulder before she could fight him off, making her scream in pain.

I stood, running closer to kick the demon off of Buffy, making it fly across the alley and hit the house, making it fall and land badly on the ground. I turned to Buffy, making sure she was okay. "Buffy?" Buffy was out of it, like she wasn't seeing me or anything in front of her, but something else entirely. "Buffy!"

I turned to see that the demon had already gotten away, sighing, turning to Buffy to get her out of here and home so that I could snap her out of the daze and make sure that she was okay.

  ••••••  

Buffy seemed fine by the time that I got her home, fine enough to go to work at the Doublemeat Palace the next day.

After that, I met up with Willow and Buffy at Buffy's house, seeing that they were sitting at the table in the living room, and Willow was on her laptop. "Whatcha doing?"

"I'm online, checking to see if Xander emailed," Willow answered.

I sat down with them. "Any luck?"

"No such," Willow answered.

I tried to be hopeful. "Well, maybe Anya found him, and they're trying to work it out." Willow shrugged. "How come you're all home, hearth and DSL anyway? I thought you were gonna go see Tara."

Willow looked unhappy. "Saw her. Saw her completely."

"Ouch," Buffy told her. "Just got a scratch from all that brittle."