WCHB Chapter 8: Crown Street 13
A short while later everybody was gathered around the table in the library and Buffy was filling them in on what she had found out, "I went back to the cemetery this morning, the grave belonged to a George Reynolds. Willow could you look him up on the computer?"
"Sure." A long and slightly uncomfortable silence followed the only sound was Willow's fingers tapping against the keys, "Found him. It says here he died 8 months ago of a heart attack."
Buffy frowned. "That's weird. If he's been dead for eight months why would they wait so long before digging him up."
"Maybe they just found out he had the amulet?" Willow suggested.
"It's a possibility. However it doesn't really help us," Giles pointed out. "We need to know exactly what amulet they where looking for if we are going to find out what they need it for."
"Well there is one obvious solution to this," Xander said looking at them all in expectation, when all he receives in return is confused stares he elaborates, "Well the vampire was looking for it in his grave right?"
"You mean we should dig him up?" asked Willow
"Eww!" Cordelia abruptly exclaimed giving her boyfriend a disgusted look.
"Well no, not exactly we just... dig up the grave, get the amulet and then we dig it back down," explained Xander while shrugging his shoulders.
"You can't be serious," Jenny said, glaring.
"Why not? We've dug up graves before," Xander reasoned.
"I don't think the situation costs for such drastic actions just yet," Giles interrupted. "Our first priority should be to try and find the vampires who where looking for the amulet."
"How are we suppose to do that?" Buffy wondered, her brow furrowing in confusion. She was trying her best to focus on the subject at hand but found it increasingly hard to do so. At first the thought of some new vampires to deal with had actually been uplifting but when Giles had made that comment about them probably being involved with Angel her optimism had quickly died. How was she ever going to stop thinking about him when he was constantly intertwined in her life.
"Well the quickest way would probably be if you could get a hold of a vampire and try to get some information, vampires digging up graves is bound to catch some attention," Giles said while looking at her worriedly as she seems to be spacing out.
"Okay. Actually I think I might know someone who would probably know," Buffy answered her attempts of trying not to think of Angel at once gone from her mind at the thought of seeing him again.
"Oh, well good, then we can go out on patrol tonight and..."
Buffy quickly interrupts him, "That's okay Giles, no offence but it might go quicker if I go on my own." As soon as the words are out of her mouth she almost regrets them, she had already decided to tell Giles the truth and patrol would have been the perfect opportunity to speak with him in private. However her desire to see Angel was enough to overrode her guilty conscience at the moment.
"Oh-h all right, but in that case I want you to come here tomorrow, you're training has been neglected for far to long."
"Fine," Buffy muttered, it was probably the best deal she was going to get.
"Good," Giles approved.
"Does that mean we get to go?" Xander abruptly asked while leaping from his chair with a hopeful smile.
"What? Oh yes, yes go."
"Peachy. I'll let you know what I find out," said Buffy, also standing up.
"Please do a-and be careful," Giles added.
"Come on you guys, let's leave before he changes his mind," said Xander hurrying towards the door with Cordelia closely following. Buffy waits for Willow to shut down the computer and join her before following them out.
"They seamed to be in a pretty good mood considering," Jenny commented. "Maybe things while actually get back to normal soon."
"One can always hope."
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Once again Buffy found herself in the Sunnydale cemetery looking for Angel, after leaving the library Xander has suggested that they should all go get some pizza, not feeling up to socializing Buffy had tried to decline but Willow had persuaded her to go along with them. And to her surprise she had a great time and it had almost seemed like nothing had really changed. The time had flown by and before she knew it was almost dark outside and Willow had reminded her she had to go out and look for vampires breaking her new found relief.
When Giles had first suggested she try and get information about this mystery amulet it had seemed like a great opportunity to talk to Angel, he could hardly blame her for contacting him about a possible threat. It wasn't until she had gone in search for him that she realized she had no way of getting in contact with him. It was to risky for her to seek him out at the warehouse, she had tried his old apartment but the place was completely deserted, clearly he hadn't returned there since the morning after they... no, she refused to let herself think about that.
Since she couldn't get in touch with Angel she decided to simply to as Giles suggested and find a vampire and try go get some information, but after walking through the graveyard for the second time and only coming in contact with a newly raised vampire she was just about to give up for the night and go home before her mother would start getting worried when a rustling in the nearby bushes catches her attention. With her luck it wouldn't be surprising if it turned out to be a cat or something but it was worth checking out.
As she slowly made her way forward she could feel a presence behind her, before she was able to strike she hears a familiar voice whispering, "Buffy, it's me."
Losing her iron grip on her stake she slowly turns around trying to calm her racing heart. "Angel. I was just lo..."
"We have to talk, it's important."
She's momentarily thrown of by his cold voice and distant body language, "Yeah, I-I actually need to talk to you too."
"Not here, someone could see us," he warns her while anxiously looking around to see that they haven't been spotted. "There is an abandoned house at the end of Crown Street, number thirteen, meet me there in ten minutes." Before she has a chance to respond he turns and quickly walks away disappearing into the darkness.
It takes her a moment to process his abrupt departure, she starts making her way towards the road trying desperately to shake the feeling of dread. He wanted to talk to her in private, that had to be a good sign. Maybe he had even realized how foolish his plan to spy at Spike and Drusilla really was. Her rational side however doubted it, if he had there wasn't any reason for him to be so distant.
After walking for a while completely lost in her thoughts she realized she had reached her destination, the house was located at the end of an blind alley and the big threes and overgrown bushes made it mostly secluded from the other houses on the street. The house was rather small but had a large yard that Buffy imagined had been really beautiful at some point. There was a large wooden porch at the front of the house and an old rotten stairway leading up to it. As she walked up to the door she could see that red paint was flaking off and a big part of the porch sealing had fallen down. The front door was already partly open and it looked like it was in danger of falling of at any moment, she carefully opens it and steps inside.
It takes her a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dark, the windows are thirty that the moonlight doesn't shine through. She sees a large room that probably was a living room once upon a time, except for a fireplace and some old curtains that looks like they used to be white the room is completely empty. She steps further into the room and coughs as a result of all the dust laying thick across the floor.
"Buffy, over here," she hears Angel call out.
She sees him standing at a door frame across the room, he waves for her to follow him. As she reaches the door she sees a flight of stairs leading down to what she assumes is the basement. As she makes her way down the thought crosses her mind that this could be some sort of trap but she determinedly pushes it away. The basement turns out to be in much better shape then the rest of the house, there is a light shining bright in the ceiling and it's much warmer than the rest of the house. There is an large wooden table and an old couch that had clearly seen better days but still seemed useable.
After looking around the room her eyes finally landed on Angel, they stand like that for a moment just looking at each other before Buffy tentatively asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he answered in a hard tone. "Spike and Drusilla... they don't suspect anything."
"Good."
He studied her for a moment seeming uncertain all of a sudden before he blurted out, "Spike told me had found a way to... to get ride of you. He wouldn't tell me how, I'm going to try and get him to tell me exactly what he has planed. Until I find out more you should probably keep your eye out for anything out of the ordinary."
Buffy couldn't help but feel disappointed that he had sought her out to talk about Spike. "Well as it happens something out of the ordinary has already happened, that's why I was looking for you tonight. To see if you knew anything," she replied hoping to hide her disappointment.
"About what?" he asked warily.
"Uh, the other night when I was out... I came across three vampires digging up a grave."
"Grave robbers?" he exclaimed in surprise.
Instantly her disappointment was replaced with relief, if Angel hadn't heard about the amulet it was possible the vampires wasn't connected to him or Spike. "One of them said he was looking for an amulet, Giles is worried that there is something in the works. Do you think they could be working for Spike?"
"I'd say that's a good guess, if Spike has gotten an amulet it probably has something to do with a demon," he says going over his conversation with Spike to see if it all fit. "What happened to them? The vampires?"
"I staked one but the other two got away. They didn't get the amulet do."
"Are you sure?" he asked, instantly on alert. "It sounded like Spike already had it. When was this?"
"The day that..." she stops herself for some reason feeling hesitant about mentioning him getting his soul back, instead she says, "two days ago."
"That's the day before I talked to Spike, he probably thought they wouldn't have any problem retrieving it. How can you be sure they don't have it now?"
"Because they didn't have it when I fought with them and the grave hasn't been disturbed since then," Buffy explained, feeling indignant that he seemed to doubt her.
"All right, you need to get a hold of this amulet before Spike those."
She bites her tongue before she can say something rash, she then takes a deep breath before responding, "Think you can find out witch amulet it is and what he want's it for?"
"I can try," he offered.
"Okay," she said, all of a sudden feeling like she couldn't stand another minute of being in his company with him seeming so cold and distant. She has started to make her way back up the stairs when she hears him call out her name softly, despite her better judgment she felt her hope rise again as she slowly turns back towards him.
"If you find anything and need to get in touch with me you can leave a note down her on the table, I'll try to check in regularly. Just make sure that no one sees you go in here."
Immediately her hope is dashed and she berates herself for being so gullible while trying desperately to hold back her tears. She managed to nod in agreement and give him a small smile before continuing up the stairs and hurrying out of the house.
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Giles came down the stairs and saw Jenny sitting at her computer, he smiled at the memory of his own surprise when Jenny had told him that there where computers you could take with you and use almost everywhere. He made his way towards the kitchen while at the same time asking Jenny, "Do you want eggs for breakfast?"
Totally absorbed in what she was reading she starts at the sound of his voice, "I'm sorry, what?"
Giles held up the frying pan and repeated, "Do you want eggs?"
Shaking her head vigorously Jenny turned her focus back to the computer whilst saying, "Oh no we don't have time for that, we'll just have to pick something up on the way."
Giles came to an abrupt stop in his motion to take out the eggs from the refrigerator and looks at her in confusion, "The way? The way to where?"
"Were going to visit George Reynolds widow," she states matter-of-factly as she shuts down the computer.
"We are? Why?"
She gives him a amused smile and explains, "To ask her about the amulet, chances are she still has it. I mean why would a guy be buried with an amulet?"
Giles had to admit that it made a lot of sense and he was a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought of it himself, "Have you talked to this woman?"
"No... that's why were going to see her remember," Jenny reasoned, feeling her patience starting to run out.
"So are we just going show up at her doorstep," he wondered, doubtful that this woman would want to share information about her late husbands personal effects with two complete strangers.
"Pretty much."
"Can't we have breakfast first?" he tried to persuade her.
"No, we don't know how long it will take and you're meeting Buffy in an hour." Shaking her head at him Jenny grabs his hand at starts pulling him towards the door, "Come on, we can buy some doughnuts after were done."
"Doughnuts are not breakfast," Giles objected as he followed her out the door.