The Xander Years Vol. 1 by DeCandido Keith R. A

Author:DeCandido, Keith R. A. [DeCandido, Keith R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2001-06-23T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

Buffy sat staring at some pictures in one of Giles’s books. She had a large magnifying glass over it so she could make out the details, in the hopes of finding something similar to what was on the seal fragment.

She’d spent most of her free period finding absolutely nothing, and she and Willow had returned at lunch to find more absolutely nothing. The third round of nothing was now coming after school. Times like this, she really respected Giles. He did this sort of stuff all the time, and even though he obviously enjoyed it more than she did, it still had to be frustrating. Digging around through endless texts in the fond hope of finding something useful, and not actually finding anything, couldn’t have been exactly what you’d call uplifting.

Buffy decided she liked her end of Slaying better. Find the target, nail the target. Simple, straightforward.

Then she noticed something. “Hah!” she cried. Then she looked more closely at it. “Or, possible hah.” She turned the book around to face Willow, who sat opposite her. “Do you think this matches?”

Willow did not reply. She was, in fact, staring off into space while twirling a stuffed animal. Again. She’d been like this ever since Xander went off with Ampata in the morning. “Hey,” Buffy prompted.

Suddenly, Willow came out of it. “Oh! Yes, I’m caring about mummies.”

Again, Buffy’s heart broke. “Ampata’s only staying two weeks.”

“Yeah,” Willow said bitterly. “And then Xander can find someone else who’s not me to obsess about. At least with you I knew he didn’t have a shot.”

Buffy bit her lip. It had been difficult for her to turn down Xander’s invitation to the prom, and all his other advances, but she just didn’t feel that way about him. Listen to me, she thought, I’m sounding just like Xander did yesterday. Great little love triangle we’ve got going here, huh?

As Giles entered and peered at Buffy’s book, Willow put on her brave face and said, “Well, you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life.”

Buffy smiled. She’d been waiting months to hear these words from Willow. “Good for you.”

The brave face fell. “Well, I didn’t choose yet.”

Sighing, Buffy was about to launch into a pep talk, when Giles said, “Good Lord.” Then he looked at Buffy. “Good work.”

Buffy blinked in pleased surprise. “My work?”

“Yes. This is most illuminating.” He pointed at the picture in the book, which was, as Buffy had thought, a more detailed rendering of something on the seal. “It seems that Rodney’s killer might be the mummy.”

Willow leaned forward, looking at the book. “Where does it say that?”

Giles repositioned the book so that Willow could get a better view. “Here. It implies that the mummy is capable of feeding on the life force of a person. Effectively freeze drying them, you might say. Extraordinary.”

Buffy leaned back in her chair.

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