Chapter Three.

> "Bloods kinda thin," Kim moaned as she dropped the body of her meal to the floor. She turned over to look at Tiger who’s teeth were still buried deep in neck of his victim. She could tell he was definitely having a blast; he always was the one with the enthusiasm. He finished draining the mortal of its blood and turned to look at her.

"Tasted fine to me," he hissed as he shoved the corpse to the dirt-ridden ground on which they stood. Kim chuckled to herself; Tiger would eat anything and anyone, he wasn’t picky. He picked up his jacket and swung it across his shoulders and strolled past her, heading to the woods.

"We better get back," he said as he walked, "It’ll be getting light soon." He was right and Karl would be waiting for them anyway. He’d stayed back at the lair working on his plan to kill the witches; she only hoped it was good because they were making life hard for vampires in Sunnydale.

Willow stretched out across the bed as the sun shone down awaking her from her sleep. She blinked and opened her eyes to the dazzling light beaming through the curtains of the room. She looked to her side to find an empty space; Tara was already up and about. Miss Kitty ran across to greet her good morning as Willow pulled herself up into a sitting position. The best thing about Summer, she thought, was being able to spend in morning in bed without worrying about missing classes. As she became more aware of her surroundings she noticed Tara had dressed already; she wondered where she might of gone. Her question was quickly answered as Tara strolled through the door holding a large tray of scrambled eggs and toast.

"I…I brought you breakfast," she smiled nervously, "In bed." She placed the tray down on Willow’s lap. Willow looked up at her and smiled.

"Tara, that’s so sweet," she started to get up to give her a hug but quickly stopped as she felt the tray begin to slide off her. "Perhaps not a good idea, getting up," she said with a chuckle; the chuckle soon turned into a grin as Tara gave Willow one of her most endearing smiles.

"I made lots," she grinned, "In case you were very hungry."

"I’ll never eat all this!" Willow whined as she took a close look at the amount presented before her.

"Th..that’s alright, you don’t have too."

"I know," Willow said as she looked up, "You’ll have to help me." She reached over to Tara’s arm and pulled her down next to her on the bed causing a slice of toast to slide to the carpet to an awaiting Miss Kitty. The two giggled gently and Willow felt herself growing warmer inside; she loved being close to Tara, being able to touch and smell her. She loved everything about her.

"Toast is getting cold," Tara pointed out, her face bright red from laughing. As Willow looked into her eyes she saw the love Tara held for her and couldn’t help but sigh in happiness; her life had finally come back together.

Orca looked up and stretched her arms as far as she could; she was still exhausted from the night before. The sun was shining down on her as she strolled through the streets of Sunnydale; letting the warm breeze blow over her in the hope of becoming more alert after awaking in daze. It wasn’t really working and she was still quite exhausted but it was still good to be able to get out and about. She’d told Michael to meet her at the Expresso Pump; they were going to be seeing Willow and Tara again today. She had to admit they were starting to fascinate her; there was definitely a strong magikal energy between them, she could sense it.

Lost in her thoughts she suddenly found herself hitting something. She looked up to see a young male, about her age, looking at her in worry.

"Sorry!" he quickly said as he picked up his folder that she had obviously caused him to drop. She quickly bent down to help.

"No," Orca began, "I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going."

"Doesn’t matter," he smiled, "Don’t recognise you, are you new around here?" Orca actually thought he was fairly attractive with his deep blue eyes and jet black hair cut short and brushed to the sides. Still, not the kind of person she would go for.

"Yeah," she replied, "I’m just visiting with my boyfriend Michael. Came to see an old friend of his, Willow."

This girl knows Willow. Harry had thought over all the events of the other night and eventually had picked up on a face he had recognised; Willow Rosenberg. She was one of those who had helped him escape Chad; Chad who had previously died. Harry knew something was going on in Sunnydale and he had resolved to discover what exactly it was, if he could get a link to those two he might get closer to the truth.

"Harry," he said as he offered his hand to Orca. She took it lightly and shook; she seemed quite distracted at the moment, something was obviously bothering her. He didn’t want to mention anything unless he lost his chance to solve this puzzle; he needed allies if he was to…

With a start he realised where he was heading before bumping into her; he had to reach Steph’s before four! He quickly apologised for having to rush off and ran off down the road towards his friends home; he’d make sure to find her later, he wasn’t going to let this lie.

Orca watched as Harry ran off. She shrugged her shoulders and carried on the way she had been walking.

"Odd guy," she sighed to herself.

"Found them!" Xander yelled across the public library. Tara and Willow turned simultaneously to look at him; he was now the centre of attention of everyone. He simply grinned nervously and sat back down into his seat and put his finger to his lips to indicate silence. Tara couldn’t help but laugh ,as could Willow, as they walked over to the table he was sat at with Michael.

"What have you got Xander?" Willow asked quietly. He turned the book towards them and Tara saw an illustration of the demon that had attacked them the other day; it was standing on top a heap of skulls lunging out of the page. Tara felt her skin craw just looking at it; it was of the nastiest looking creatures she had seen and she really didn’t want to face it again too soon.

"What does it say?" Willow asked in interest as she hunched over the book. Xander pulled back towards him and looked down across the writing; his face suddenly turned to a look of worry.

"Uh oh," he said as he looked up to face the rest of them; seeing the group gathered together Orca came over to join them as well.

"Uh oh what?" she asked. Tara noticed Orca glancing over at her a few times; she seemed to be doing that a lot all morning.

"It says here these are called Shani’zaki demons, is that Russian?" he questioned before Willows gaze told him to carry on, "They have to offer sacrifices to their god at certain points of year. The sacrifice must be… a female virgin witch," he said as he shut the book and looked up at them.

Tara knew what this had to mean; the demons were after one of them and would attack again soon. It wasn’t over and they were going have to solve this situation.

"So..so who were they after," Orca stuttered as fear began to creep across her face; Tara could tell she thought it was her. And why shouldn’t she, after all, she and Willow were not virgins and Michael was male. That only left one possible answer and that was their intended victim was Orca; Orca who stood there before them with tears beginning to run down her cheeks. Tara walked towards her and gripped her in a comforting hug; she knew they had to protect her, they had to make sure nothing would harm her.