Everyone turned to see Angel and Buffy standing side by side in the library's doorway.
"So, you're the infamous Buffster, eh?" enquired Faith, smiling, but the smile quickly disappeared on receiving a look of pure disdain from the "infamous Buffster" herself.
"You're all pathetic," began Buffy, chuckling, "I knew it would take time before you could kill me. If I couldn't kill Angel for six months, it would be a lot longer before any of you could be capable of staking me..."
"Assuming *all* of us actually care, of course," interrupted Faith, annoyed. Buffy glared at her and tilted her heads sideways as she looked the unknown person up and down.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, her anger rising. Before Faith could answer, Angel motioned for the large group of vampires behind them to come forward. Speedily, everyone in the room including Faith were taken hold of by at least two vampires, while the remaining vamps left the building to stand watch outside.
Buffy walked calmly up to Faith, who struggled in vain to break free of her holders' strong grasps. Without warning, Buffy's hand whipped across Faith's face, causing her to nearly topple over.
"Actually, I don't give a damn who you are. I don't like you, and I'm just gonna kill you, so who *really* cares?!" Buffy stated mockingly as she stepped back beside Angel. "Now, it's time for our fun. In order for everyone here to get the full benefit of the game, I think...yes, how about starting with the eternally stupid snob and nerd-girl, love? That way, their precious loved ones get to watch." Angel nodded in agreement, admiring the evilness of her plan. Smiling devilishly, Buffy and Angel made their way over to the terrified girls, who began to try desperately to escape. Smirking, Buffy offered her fellow vampire Cordelia - an offer he graciously accepted.
Grabbing her roughly, Angel pushed her onto the floor, and kicked her several times in various places all over her body, getting joy from every cry of pain that came from Cordelia's now-bleeding lips. Picking her up by both legs, Angel tossed Cordy like a rag doll across the room. Screaming in terror, her body slammed head first heavily into the wall, and she hit the ground, motionless. Angel raised an eyebrow. "I think I was a bit rough for such a weak little girl, Buff!" Buffy giggled, and Angel smiled sweetly at Xander as he strolled past, to retreieve Cordelia, whom he grabbed viciously by the hair and dragged slowly across the floor. Reaching Willow, who fainted long before Cordy hit the wall, Angel let go of her hair, letting her head fall painfully to the ground. Sighing, he stepped behind Buffy. "There, she's dead. No real fun to be had with that one, though..."
Buffy slapped Willow's face lightly to waken her. Willow's eyes flashed open, and Buffy smiled. "There you are, Will! I was getting worried we'd lost you there!"
"Buff...Buffy?" Willow stammered in hope. A sharp slap across the left cheek spoke as her answer.
"It's Buffy all right - just not your one!" replied Buffy, smiling cruelly. "Fortunately for you, Will," Buffy said, twirling a few strands of Willow's hair around her fingers, "I'm not one for lots of drama and stuff the way my Angel is. He likes to bruise. I just prefer to inflict a little pain, and kill. So, think of it as getting the better end of the stick than Cordy got!" She laughed, almost maniacally, and yanked her hands down hard, pulling large amounts of twirled up hair from Willow's head, causing the poor girl to scream in agony. Buffy knew it wouldn't take much to knock her out, so she refrained from excessive battering. Willow's head drooped in pain, and she sobbed uncontrollably, begging for Buffy to stop. The vampire just laughed, and reached into her coat sleeve to reveal a hidden stake. She walked torturously around Willow, tapping the end of the stake threateningly against her pale, cold palm. Willow's sore eyes shot wide open as Buffy came back around infront of her, and looked straight into Buffy's cold, dark, evil eyes.
"Come on, Willow... you always wondered what it would be like to get staked! So guess what? I'm granting you the privilege of knowing! Only for you, it's on a slightly more painful scale. But it has the same effect - you die." Willow screamed in pain and terror as her former friend thrust the stake deeply and directly into her chest. More bloodcurdling screams of horror escaped Willow's throat as she writhed in agony on the floor, before finally lying motionless, the remaining Slayerettes looking on in speechless horror.
Buffy stood dusting her hands off, pouting. "Well, that was just a pathetic display of stamina," she said to Angel, who sat watching his girl finish off her former best friend, and snickered in reply.
"Who's next, lover?" he asked, standing and sauntering over to Faith, who had been struggling and squirming fruitlessly the entire time. "This one? She bothers me." After taking a couple of playful, but vicious swings at the Slayer's face, he turned his back on her to face Buffy, who stood contemplating their next move, her hands on her hips.
"Hmm...yes, good choice," she eventually replied, sneering, "she's getting on my nerves too, and I'm not liking that."
Suddenly, Faith let loose a loud shout, and punched both of the vampires holding her hard in the face, causing them to stumble backwards. Now free, a split second was all it took for the Slayer to whip a hidden stake out of her jacket, and slam it successfully into Angel's back. Buffy screamed and raced towards her love. "Angel!!" He stood motionless in complete shock, before looking up into Buffy's horrified eyes.
"Buffy!!" Angel cried out hoarsely, grabbing her outstretched hand and pulling her to him in terror. Moments later Angel burst into ashes, leaving Buffy standing holding nothing.
"No!!" she screamed furiously, "NO!!" Buffy spun around to face the now-terrified Slayer. "A Slayer? I should've known. The feelings I was getting... but your reign is about to be cut excessively short!" she hissed, seething with anger. Faith, frozen in terror, could do nothing but watch as Buffy lunged at her, grabbed her head with both hands, and twisted it viciously, snapping Faith's neck with an horrific crack. Xander moaned loudly in objection to the sound as Faith's lifeless body slumped to the floor in a heap.
Fired up with fury and despair at losing Angel, Buffy made short work of the remaining three lives in the library. Oz was the next victim, beaten mercilessly a roundhouse Slayer-power kick to his left temple graciously granted his pained soul leave. Eyes flashing, she spun to face the last pair of Slayerettes, her uncontrollable rage at its most poignant. "This is all your fault, Giles!" Buffy shrieked, "If it wasn't for you and your stupid books, and all your stupid knowledge, and your high-flying ideas of saving this damned world, Angel and I could've really fixed things up! We could've made you one of us..."
"I don't want to be one of you, Buffy. And if I recall, you never wanted to be one of you either." As soon as the words left his mouth, an enraged Buffy spun around, grabbing Xander and pulled him roughly so he stood next to Giles. She narrowed her eyes dangerously at the wide-eyed pair, and hissed "I'll see you in Hell!" Like lightening, her hands cut noiselessly through the air to meet their targets, slashing the throats of both her final victims.
Breathing hard, Buffy slumped to the ground. *What is this?!* she thought madly, *Vampires aren't supposed to feel this way!* They aren't supposed to feel...despair!! Confused, angry and horrified at losing Angel, Buffy instructed the remaining vampires to head back to the mansion, before crawling slowly across the floor to the dust that symbolised the remains of her beloved. She kissed the fore and middle fingers of her right hand, and pressed them into the ashes, smiling.
"One moment, my precious Angel, and we'll be together again."
Reaching for Faith's stake that lay silently beside Angel, Buffy laughed and stretched herself out across the floor, her own body covering Angel's. Closing her eyes, she smiled again, almost happily.
"Angel..." Buffy whispered breathlessly, before bringing the stake down hard onto her own chest, and bursting into ashes.
The paramedics wheeled the last body out of the Sunnydale High School library, leaving a room covered with tape that lay as the only reminder of the devastation the room once saw. Principal Snyder shook his head, wondering who - or what - inflicted such an attack on these people. Thoughtful, Snyder left the library and headed for his office.
Sighing, the police officer had a final glance around, surveying the remains of the tragedy. He was the only person left in the room, and everything was silent. A feeling of sorrow mixed with joy seemed to sweep the room, causing the officer to shiver. Suddenly uncomfortable, he took in a quiet breath, stepped quietly over to the door and left, switching the light off as he went.
Darkness overshadowed the eerie silence of the library, and from somewhere, a whispering breeze glided across the floor, lightly dusting over the taped areas in invisible, intricate patterns, before mysteriously encircling the ashes unnoticed by paramedics or police. As silently as it entered, the breeze rose and whipped swiftly above the lovers, lifting them like a sheet, and scattering them magically beneath a nearby bookstand, where no one would ever find them.
And as the wind slipped quietly out an open window, the sound of Angel and Buffy laughing together could be heard.