i am...drac-ula

Dampness slowly seeped through Buffy's shoes as she stood among the haphazard headstones in the middle of the graveyard. It was one of the twelve Sunnydale cemeteries she made a point of checking out on patrol and the fact that no real danger or challenge had yet ensued was starting to annoy her. She was the Slayer after all. It was the nightly routine: locate evil thing, jam pointy stick into evil thing's heart, and watch evil thing turn to dust. It was quite simple, really. But the evil things apparently had other plans, cuz none of this had happened tonight and her routine was thrown off balance, much to her displeasure.

She had spent nearly an hour strolling through the last graveyard, reading the names and dates inscribed on the crumbling grave markers, and wondering what each person they belonged to had been like. Finally, she concluded that if anything were out here it would have made itself known by now. As fate would have it, just as she turned to head towards the cemeterie's exit, a sudden snap of a twing from behind caught her attention and she spun around abruptly. A vampire emerged from behind a tree and was now in mid-air, lunging towards her.

She stood calmly, waiting until the last second, when he was just about to topple her, to make her move. That's when she punched him square in the chest with such force that he impact caused him to flip backwards onto the ground, leaving him gasping for air that he didn't really need. Standing over him, she roughly grabbed the collar of his tattered shirt, pulled him towards her, and revealed the wooden stake she had concealed in the handbag at her side. "And I thought tonight was going to be dull." Realization that he had just attempted to attack the Slayer spread across his face, causing fear to seep into his dead eyes. "Unfortunately for you," she went on, "another thing not so dull right now is the tip of this." She cocked her head towards the stake, verifying what she meant. "Let me introduce you two." Before the vampire could protest the Slayer was standing over a pile of dust and congratulating herself on a job well done.

To her surprise, she wasn't the only one. The sound of clapping resonated through the air. Still in Slayer mode, she turned to where the noise was originating with stake in hand, ready to do battle, only to find a figure mere inches from her. The unexpected closeness caused her to stumble backwards into a tombstone.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you about personal space?" she asked,making sure to keep her voice steady.

"I can't remember. It was...such a long time ago." The vampire responded. She noticed he spoke with a slight foreign accent but couldn't quite place its origin. He was rather tall, with long black hair neatly tied back, lucid skin, sharp blue eyes piercing her own, and a seductive quality hanging about him. Something about the way he held himself told her he was more dignified and experienced than most vampires.

"Nicely done," she said, referring to her slaying performance. "You are...the Slayer, I presume?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Uninterested in small talk, and ready to dust this guy, Buffy made a short response. "Yeah, that's right, and you are...dead, I presume." Before she finished the last word she was already attempting a kick to his head with the outside of her right foot. To no avail, however. The vampire suddenly vanished into thin air just as her foot was about to connect with his jaw, only to reappear behind his unknowing assailant. If it weren't for the amused chuckle that emitted from his throat, his new position would have gone noticed.

"How...How'd you do that?" she asked in an exasperated, and somewhat impressed tone. The baffled expression on her face was enough to bring a slight smile to his own.

"Perhaps the better question to ask, Buffy, is why was I able to do that?" He paused, contemplating his next words. "I am like no other vampire you've ever known or ever will know. I am...an entirely different breed."

She was about to ask why he was so "different" when something else from his words caught her attention. "How did you know my name?" she inquired suspiciously.

"Why do you seem surprised that I do? You are the Slayer. Any educated and respected vampire knows your name. Stories have spread throughout the world about you. Many consider you one of the strongest and most threatening slayers ever to come to be. For this reason I've been observing your progress for quite some time. To see if your strength was simply a myth."

"And what have you concluded?" she tried to sound disinterested in what he was saying but the idea that her name alone could easily strike fear in the un-beating hearts of vampires the world over was at the least, flattering.

"You are quite impressive." Buffy blushed a little until she realized what was happening. There was something about him she found attractive and his words of approval somehow relieved her, as though that was what she had been seeking since the start of their conversation. She snapped out of it, once again acknowledging the she was talking to a vampire, which in itself was the problem. She should have staked him by now.

"Great. Now we know who I am, but I'm still a little foggy as to who you are." She said sarcastically.

"I am..." he inserted a dramatic pause for effect, "Dracula."

Buffy burst out laughing. "You're kidding, right? You're the Dracula?" He nodded solemnly. "I thought you could turn into a bat and stuff."

"That...is a myth."

"Oh, well, bear with me Drac, up until now I thought you were a myth," she quirked. The sound of talking caught both their attention and they turned around to see Willow and Xander walking towards them a distance off.

"I have come for you Buffy. By the end of this night, you will be mine." He promised her just before he vanished again, leaving a confused Buffy in his wake.

"Hey Buff," her friends were now jogging towards her, curious about her disappearing visitor. "What was that?" Xander inquired.

Coming out of her thoughts, she tried to be nonchalant. "That? That was Dracula."

"No kidding!" remarked Willow. "Why didn't he turn into a bat and fly away?"

"That's a myth."

"Oh, well, that's rather disappointing." Xander commented.


Needless to say, they went immediately over to Giles and told him about the encounter. He had thought Dracula was a ficticious character as well but after being told otherwie he was quite interested in the conversation the slayer had had with him. She told about the threat he had made, which startled Giles.

"I wonder just how he intends to, eh, 'make you his.' It's a bit...confusing. You're the Slayer, after all. It's impossible." He looked Buffy over. "You look tired." the Watcher said with concern. "Perhaps you should lie down upstairs for awhile while we look into it."

"No, I'm fine. It's just, I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep. Whatever he's planning, he's doing it tonight. I think I should just..."

"Have Xander go up with you. He'll wake you if anything unusual happens." Buffy opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by the brit. "Buffy, you're in no condition to fight him right now. You're exhausted."

She sighed. "You're right. Come on Xander."

Now she was in bed, thinking about Dracula. No matter what she did, she couldn't get him out of her mind. It was as if he had put some kind of trance on her. She looked over at Xander, who was lying in the chair next to the bed, sleeping soundly.

"Dreaming about me?" a voice asked from out of the darkness. She slowly turned her head to the right side and peered into blue eyes, inches from her own. Oddly, she wasn't frightened. In fact, she was feeling rather exhilirated.

"What have you done to me?" she asked inquisitively.

"Nothing compared to what I'm about to do." He responded, as he leaned over her. She tilted her head, sensually offering him her life.


Xander awoke to find Buffy sitting upright in bed, simply staring at him. "I wasn't sleeping, I swear. I was just...thinking with my eyes closed." He noted her unchanging expression. "All right, I was sleeping. But...you should have woken me up. Buffy?" She seemed to be ignoring him. "Oh, what?" Are we in third grade? Giving me the silent treatment? Really Buff, that's unlike you. I mean, you always yell when you're mad." She got up off the bed and started walking towards the door, but he intervened.

"You seem slightly disoriented, are you...hey, what's that on your neck?" he asked as he brushed some of her blond hair back to get a better look. Blood was trickling down from two puncture wounds and seeping into her white shirt collar. They held eachothers gaze for an instant, both greatly confused.

The door opened from the other side just as Buffy's face unexpectantly shifted into a vampire. Willow walked into the room in time to witness Buffy slam Xander up against the wall and prepare to drain him. Willow's sudden exclamation startled her enough to stall the process.

"Buffy, you're all evil! What happened?!" she asked Xander.

"Perhaps...you could...ask this question when I'm not about to be brutally...murdered by our best friend." he said. "In fact, a little wiccan action would be appreciated."

"Oh, right! Um, I think I know a spell..." she thought for an instant. Buffy released Xander and turned to Willow. The vampire face vanished, leaving a very startled expression in it's place.

"Willow, wait!" she begged. Both looked at her dumbfounded. "I...I don't know what's happening to me. It's like...something takes over...but I'm still inside of me, helple-" As if to reinforce what she was just saying, her face morphed back into vampire form, causing both her friends to yelp in surprise. Willow hurridly began the spell, as Buffy moved towards her. Xander grabbed a lamp and slammed it against the back of Buffy's head. She growled menacingly, causing Xander to step back timidly.

"Sorry Buff." He said, his voice shaking. The distraction enabled Willow to finish the spell, freezing her in place, just before she attacked Xander.

"Alright, Will! You get a gold star."

She blushed. "Aw, thanks." she brushed off the compliment though, remembering that the spell had a tendency to wear off quickly. "Come on. Let's get out of here." They ran out of the room, slamming the door behind them and locking it.


"She's not in here now." Giles called down to the three uneasy figures waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Well, the good news is that she can't get back in, she she needs to be invited. So, I tell you all, no matter what she says, even if she seems to be herself again, do not let her in. Can you remember that?"

"I think we can store that in our memory banks." said Xander as Willow and Tara nodded their heads vigorously in agreement.

"What do we do now? Has anything like this happened to any of the other slayers?" Tara asked.

"Not to my recollection. In fact, it should be impossible for the slayer to be converted. I can only assume that this is why Buffy seemed to return to her normal self for a bit. The Slayer within her is fighting the change, kind of like an antibiotic. But I fear the inevitable outcome will result in a completely transformed Buffy, still possessing slayer abilities." He walked towards a stack of books and pulled one out. "However, I do believe there's a spell to reverse her conversion. It was created by the Watcher's Council as a safeguard, incase such a thing were ever to happen."

"Wait, you mean, all this time Buffy's been slaying vampires when she could have just been turning them back into humans?" Xander asked, somewhat irritated.

"Uh, no, the spell only works on a slayer. It's designed to target a slayer's DNA. And the spell can only be used once. If this were to ever happen again...I'm afraid the council would have to take action." Giles was looking at the book containing the spell quite contently now, a worried look crossing his face.

"Well, let's get to it then. I'm the ingredients guy. What do I need to go get?" Xander asked.

"The, uh, blood of a slayer." Giles stated, as he pushed his glasses towards the bridge of his nose.

"What? You're kidding. Giles, she was practically completely a vampire up there. If you say her vampire-self will eventually take over...It won't be long til that happens. She almost killed us up there. You want us to go for a repeat performance?" Xander asked, exasperated.

"Maybe if we ask her nicely..." Willow said innocently as she trailed off. Tara rested a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"You mistook what I mean. We need the blood of a slayer, not necessarily Buffy's."

"What are you saying?" Understanding crossed all three of their faces simultaneously.

"You don't mean...?" Xander gasped.

"Faith. I'm afraid so. It's nearly impossible to convince Buffy at this stage. I believe we'll have a better chance with Faith."

"Yeah, and maybe if we ask her nicely..." Willow began again.

"She'll laugh in our faces and say she'll see us in hell."

"Now hold on, Xander." Giles interrupted. "We all know Faith has done some rather...colorful things in her past..."

"Colorful? Is that what you'd call it?" Xander snorted.

"Shush." The Watcher gave him a reprimanding look. "From what Angel's reported, however, she's rather sorry. Now I know this doesn't make everything all right, but if she's trying to atone for her past deeds, why not take advantage of that? And really, this is a perfect opportunity for redemption." All of them had to agree. Saving their best friend would definately knock her from the top to the bottom of the 'Things We Despise and Fear' list. "So it's settled, Willow and I will head out to the Los Angeles prison facility tomorrow."


Buffy, no longer in vampire form, stumbled into the mansion he had told her to go to. The hall she stood in was lit by candles located along the walls. The dim light cast an eerie glow across everything. To the right was a set of stairs that wounded up to the second floor. He stood at the top of the banister, examining her as she came to him.

"How did things go, my love?" he asked. Inside Buffy was raging, wanting to rush up the banister and plunge a stake in him for whatever it was he had done to her. Without giving consent to her voice, it answered, "They got away." Confusion sprung up on her face. What's going on?!

"Not to worry. I've...developed a new plan. Tomorrow night, we'll try again. A vampire's first kill is always very important. It should be someone your former self cared greatly about." She felt like screaming that she still did care about them, but held back the impulse. As the sun began to rise and rays started to cascade themselves upon the corridors' walls, he led the a startled and oddly complacent Buffy to the underground bedroom, where they both rested for the task that lay before them.


To be continued...