Fic: The X Factor
Randall Flagg
Author: Dave
Feedback to: alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative or emi_reco...@hotmail.com
Feeback, comments are very much appreciated
Rated M
(this is my first attempt so go easy!)
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Drusilla "How do you feel about eternal life"
Xander "Couldn't we just start off with dinner and a movie?"
In the background a chorus of screaming, rabid girls moves ever closer.
Xanders love spell has gone horribly wrong and all the women of Sunnydale
are madly in love with him. Only Cordelia, the intended subject, is immune.
Drusilla is reminded of the angry mob in Prague and senses trouble. She
delivers a savage backhand blow that knocks an unexpectant Xander
unconscious. Drusilla is herself madly in love with Xander, and is
determined to keep him for herself. She hoists his limp figure over her
shoulder and runs into the night. Unable to keep pace, the sounds of the
spurned women retreat ever further until there is silence. Cordelia, the
only sane participant in the thronged mass of aggrieved women, arrives only
in time to spy Drusilla fleeing with her ex. She would happily give all the
money in the world to reverse this situation and have Xander back in her
arms, but this time wishing will change nothing and Cordelia rushes to the
only person she knows can help - Buffy.
Sniff, sniff, the need for cheese. These things are uppermost in Buffy's
mind. Her rodent self is patrolling the boiler room in search for food.
Buffy has been turned into a rat. Oz is there, blocking the gaps in the
boiler room exit before turning to search for Buffy. Upstairs Giles and a
reluctant Amy are searching for a way to reverse the spell. Suddenly the
doors of the library fly open and Cordelia, bad hair and all, recounts the
happenings of the past few minutes. "Oh God Giles!! You have to help Xander.
Please. Now! He's been taken by Drusilla. Hold on, where's Buffy?" Giles
tries to calm Cordelia down and explain what has happened.
"Cordelia there has been an unfortunate, uh, accident". "I turned Buffy into
a rat" pipes in Amy. Cordelia is frantic."Oh that's just great. What about
Xander, we have to do something or he'll get eaten. I don't want to join the
undead dating club, plus the whole drinking blood thing - it's gross"
Despite Cordelia's concern for her image, it is apparent to everyone how
urgent it is that Buffy be returned to her former self.
Page by page, volume through volume the minutes segue into hours. Everyone
is growing more and more frustrated with their lack of success. Giles urges
everyone to keep looking "until Buffy can be changed back there is no hope
of finding Xander let alone rescuing him. " Privately Giles is berating
himself for the harsh words he said to Xander earlier that day in the
library. The other occupants in the library are still under the love spell,
and most of their concern stems from the obsession with Xander that the
spell created. But in Willow below the artificial lust there is the love and
friendship forged through knowing someone since you can remember.
The night drags on until some hours later Amy remembers the spell needed to
reverse Buffy's transformation, suddenly gaining the clarity of mind that
had been missing for most of the day. It's almost as though Xanders spell
had been broken. Oz returns from the boiler room with a confused Buffy
sporting only a blanket. Other than the need for food (specifically cheese),
Buffy has few recollections of the past hours. Cordelia breaks the news to
Buffy about Xander, while Willow silently on the stairs.
Buffy remains stoic and composed while she and Giles work out how to get
Xander back alive. There are just a few hours before dawn when the gang
leaves the library in search of their friend. Each person is privately
thinking the worst, but still not at the stage where they will let
themselves believe it. Of all the situations they have been in so far, this
more than most brings a chill dread to everyones spine.
The gang heads off to the abandoned factory on the town fringe, where they
suspect Spike, Drusilla and Angelus have made their station. Arriving at the
factory Buffy scouts the perimeter while the others wait nervously in the
bushes nearby. Willow almost expects Xander to appear any moment, gung-ho
and ready to charge the factory. There is nothing but silence.
Buffy peers into the factory from an upper story window. It's dimly lit at
best, but her eyes and senses reveal nothing. The factory is deserted. Buffy
returns to her friends with an update. With no other option left to them,
the group will have to enter the Factory to search for Xander. Buffy warns
the group to stick together and be vigilant. "Guys, be careful. It's not
that long till sunrise so if they're here they aren't going anywhere soon.
Look out for Xander. If you find him, get out and leave the fang gang to
me."
Giles leads followed closely by Willow, Oz, Cordelia and then Buffy. It
hasn't registered to Cordelia yet that she should be scared, she is still
busy blaming herself for the whole situation. Her guilt is keeping away the
fear, for now. Willow is in shock, remembering all the times with Xander
when they were children. Now it's too hard to believe that he has been lost.
She tries to be optimistic, and then each time remembers what happened to
Jessie last year and again enters the dark depths of sorrow. Soon that
sorrow will lead to anger and unfathomable rage, but that time is not yet
upon her, and many things will change before it does.
After over an hour of searching every nook, cranny and corner there is no
sign of anyone, dead or alive. There are signs of habitation though,
Drusilla's dolls litter her bed like minaturette's on a dance floor. Other
signs indicate that the factory was being used as a hideaway. There is a
fridge in the corner connected to power and keeping cool a nice selection of
O+ for those partial to a snack. Buffy turns to Giles "Giles, there's
nobody here. Where have they gone?" Giles is at a loss because his knowledge
of vampires are that they aren't very nomadic at all "Buffy there is no way
of telling. Once vampires decide to stay in a town normally they maintain
the same crypt or mausoleum for the duration. I'm afraid there is little
choice but to return to the library and get some rest before investigating
further".
Although privately he suspects the worst Giles maintains his concentration
by focusing on solving the problem. Worrying about what may or may not have
happened will achieve nothing at this point. Cordelia is sick with grief and
moving on to self pity, an altogether new sensation but one that won't be
going away any time soon. She can't stop blaming herself for her weakness in
allowing peer pressure to cause her to break up with Xander. Were it not for
her she laments, none of this would be happening. Buffy is at times frantic
and restless. Like having a large gun but nowhere to point it, her Slayer
power is ineffectual without finding an enemy to use it on.
The hours slip by and the sun is again losing it's purchase on the land.
Without a specific target to attack, without a solid lead to investigate
Buffy is now frustrated and angry. The anger is directed an noone in
particular, it's simply a release for the pent up emotions flowing through
her since she heard about Xanders capture. The gang have returned after
searching the town during the day, all the graveyards, crypts and
mausoluems. Even with all their resources, relative skills and experience
there was still not enough time to complete that task before nightfall. Now
as dusk
settles and the hour of the undead approaches, Xanders fate is grave and
hopes begin to slip. Even now Buffy finds herself yearning to talk to Angel,
she feels lost without him, he always knew what to do.
Earlier the previous night - at the factory:
Xander regains consciousness to find himself in the factory, alone with
Drusilla. There is no time to scream as Drusilla bestows upon her lover the
greatest gift she can give, eternal life. Before Xander dies he drinks from
Drusilla, sealing his fate that he will rise with the ranks of the undead
next sundown. The spell that Xander helped cast dies with him, and miles
away in central Sunnydale many women find themselves outdoors, far from home
and lost for words. Although now unaffected by the spell and therefore no
longer pining for Xander, Drusilla as his sire still has a bond towards him.
Before the sun can make its usual appearance Drusilla has buried Xander in
the yard behind the factory, and he will never walk in daylight again.
Sometime in the afternoon Xander becomes aware. He has not actually opened
his eyes or regained consciousness, if you can say that about the undead.
Instead his awareness is almost on a sub-conscious level, similar to the
minutes before you wake up in the morning when the dreams and reality begin
to bleed together. He opens his eyes and can sense his surroundings, about 4
feet underground in an old wooden box. Instinctively he also knows that it
is daylight above him, and to bide his time until night falls and he can
walk the earth once again. It is about this time back in the library that
his friends, Buffy and the other Scooby gang members are arguing about what
to do next.
The waiting is interminable, and Xander is like an impatient child on
Christmas Eve. Christmas he thinks, normally Willow will come over to watch
the Charlie Brown Christmas special, and he would do the Snoopy dance. Now
the only dance that Xander thinks about is his mouth on Willows neck,
severing her carotid artery and drinking, drinking. Memories are returning
to him, of his mortal life and specifically the hours just prior to his
death. The spell that he cast with Amy, Buffy being turned into a rat, Giles
telling him off and sending him home. Dusk has arrived and the shadows draw
ever longer on the ground. Ever slowly the sun slips below the horizon and
the daylight melts away.
Xander senses that it is time and with a strength unknown to his mortal self
breaks out of the makeshift coffin and makes his way to the surface. His
first instinct is to breath in deeply and he does, but Xander realises that
drawing breath is something he can do, but it is not necessary. Just for a
lark he pinches his nose and closes his mouth, and finds the need to take a
breath is non existent. He then inhales through his nose and finds that his
sense of smell is far more acute than it ever was when he was human. Some
sort of paradox this, he thinks. I can't breathe but as a vampire I have a
better sense of smell that I ever did as a human. Xander looks around and
senses his location. He sees the factory close by where Drusilla took him
and made him, and although now it's pitch black and there are no lights
nearby, Xander can see just fine. And with that thought, heads off towards
town to find someone to eat.
Xander is coming from the outskirts of Sunnydale and feeling peckish breaks
into a steady jog. He can feel the power of his legs pushing from the
ground, and a feeling that along with the new found power comes stamina too.
It's not long before the brighter lights of the centre of Sunnydale beckon
and Xander slows to a walk, careful not to draw attention to himself.
Although as a vampire he has no conscience and no soul he still has the
knowledge that running into Buffy - the slayer, would prove futile and could
only end with his being staked. When you are immortal death is actually more
terrifying than for mere mortals. The very idea of being mortal is that life
is finite, and so death is an accepted if not welcomed part of the normal
life cycle. Not so for vampires. So another paradox, we the undead fear
death far more than humans ever would. Who ever would have thought it,
Xander muses.
Xander is strolling along the sidewalk, the neon sign for the Sun Cinema to
his right. He is careful to look ahead, not wanting to spot any of the
Scoobies at this early stage. They would be quick to guess what had happened
and then the hunt would be on. At the end of the block Xander spies Larry
leaving the café. Dinner at last. Xander quickens his pace to catch up with
him, "Hey Larry. Whats up?". "Oh Xander its you. What are you doing sneaking
up on a guy like that?" "Well Larry actually I've got something I wanted to
show you. I just found this great girlie book, lets pop into this alley
where people can't see what we're looking at."
"Harris you deviate, this better be good or I'll kick your ass into a brand
new shape" Xander leads his first victim down the alley, and once they are
behind the dumpster he attacks, his incisors piercing Larrys throat and
cutting off his scream. Xander gets his first taste of human blood and it
invigorates him. The normal human has around 6 litres of blood circulating
through their bodies. Death occurs when the blood volume falls below 3
litres, and for Larry that happened just after 8 o'clock that Saturday
night. Xander, now sated after his first kill throws the body in the
dumpster and heads out of the alley.
Meg
I like your description of Xander not needing to breathe.
Meg
Randall Flagg
"Meg" <mf...@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:3da6a810$0$23173$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Randall, very interesting beginning. I hope you're continuing it.
>
> I like your description of Xander not needing to breathe.
>
> Meg
>
>
Thanks Meg. Yes this is Part 1 of many parts! Part 2 to follow very soon.