Charlie stood and stretched, feeling the bones in her back pop into place after hours of sitting hunched over in front of a computer screen. Somehow, despite her best intentions, when she was working at a computer she always ended up sitting that way and her back paid the price. She paced around for a few minutes before resuming her seat and flexing her fingers a moment before beginning to type. Although it was Friday afternoon and classes had ended at lunch, she wanted to make a start on the work she had been set. After only three days of classes there seemed to be a lot of it to do.
The computer she used was, outwardly, not very different to the laptop she had first used when she was a child. The long afternoons at Willow's house, learning the basics of computing, were some of her happiest memories. Charlie's computer was faster than that old machine, and could hold twenty times as much data, but otherwise its basic functions were not very different. She had opted for a larger keyboard than most people went for, to accommodate her large hands, and the flip-up screen was correspondingly larger. Thankfully it was only a quarter of the weight of that early computer, so carrying it around was no great hardship.
Most of Charlie's classmates at college had scoffed at her insistence on using a keyboard and trackball rather than the voice recognition software they all loved. Of course, that usually only lasted until one of their programs didn't work because the computer had mistaken their words and there was a tiny fault in the coding. At that point they had usually begged and bribed Charlie to debug for them.
The desk in her room in the cabin was a little lower than she liked and the wooden chair was hard and uncomfortable, but the alternative was sitting hunched over on the bed. Power sockets were in short supply - the Watchers apparently did not expect people to actually use computers. They were probably more used to trainees using pen and paper. Charlie suspected the Watchers still had trouble remembering which century they were in.
She was interrupted by a quiet tapping at her door.
"Come in," she called out, pushing away from the desk.
Vonnie popped her head around the door. "Are you ready?"
"Ready?"
The other trainee came fully into the room. "To go out. You are still coming with us, aren't you?"
Charlie checked her watch. "Oh god, is that the time? Hang on two minutes and I'll be ready."
She looked more carefully at the other girl and realised that was looking much dressier than usual. Vonnie was wearing a pale blue, sleeveless top that matched her eyes and a knee-length black skirt. Her face was made up and she had delicate, low-heeled sandals on her feet.
"Am I meant to be dressing up?" Charlie asked suspiciously.
Vonnie carefully examined her faded blue jeans and tight white T-shirt, which today proclaimed that sometimes the best man for a job is a woman. "You may want to, uh, clean up a little first. Just a suggestion, you know?"
Charlie huffed quietly. "All right, I'll see what I can do."
Vonnie backed out of the room, leaving Charlie to change. The blonde woman quickly ran through her wardrobe, trying to find something that might be appropriate. She quickly concluded that her reclusive tendencies at college might not have been a good idea. She had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to wear. After a few minutes she shrugged. If she wore the wrong thing, they would just have to accept her as she was.
A couple of minutes later she carefully examined herself in the mirror. The black leather pants weren't too tight, the tight white T-shirt ("I'm a bitca, deal with it") was comfortable and her black boots would stand up to anything she got talked into. It was also the smartest outfit she owned.
Her choice was evidently the right one because as soon as she left her room there was an appreciate whistle.
"Nice," Pat said, looking slightly stunned. "Very, very nice. Fantasy-worthy even."
Charlie smirked. "Thanks. Glad you approve."
Vonnie grinned at her. "You'll fit in just fine."
***
Charlie could hear the music from the bar half a block away. It was a deep, rhythmic beat that she could feel pulsing in her bones as they approached. The bar was on a wide, well-lit street in downtown Halifax. Apparently it was the entertainment sector because she could see coffee shops, restaurants and more bars on either side of the street. Vonnie led them into the busy bar and the noise, crowd and smell immediately overwhelmed Charlie. She rocked back on her heels for a moment as she tried to accustom herself to it all.
"Are you ok?" Pat asked, raising his voice to be heard.
Charlie nodded. "Not used to this."
"Ah. You'll be fine."
Pat took her hand and tugged her through the press of bodies to the bar. "What do you want?"
"Diet Cola," Charlie told him.
"It's Friday night! Everyone has one drink on Fridays," Pat insisted.
"Diet Cola."
Pat rolled his eyes. "Ok."
He ordered drinks, beers for himself and Vonnie plus Charlie's soft drink, and handed them out. Vonnie smiled her thanks and began weaving her way through the crowds. As they moved away from the bar it became less crowded and Charlie breathed a sigh of relief as she allowed herself to be led to a couch in a quieter corner.
"I heard the band tonight is great," Vonnie told them as they sat down. "Thought it might make a change from the usual stuff at the coffee place I go to."
"We get live music?" Charlie asked, sipping gratefully at her drink. "Great."
Vonnie nodded happily. "Yeah. The coffee place has live singers some nights but it isn't really a band type of place. This is one of the better bars - some of the other ones are complete dives."
Charlie nodded and gazed around curiously. Out on the dance floor bodies gyrated to the beat of the music from the sound-system and she could see the band setting up on the stage at the far end. Some of the patrons were sitting on sofas or at tables as her group was and a large number of people still hung around the bar, talking at the tops of their voices. Her attention was drawn back to the band on the stage. Something about them felt odd. It was nothing she could put a finger on so after a moment she dismissed it. She was probably just not used to places like this.
"What's the nightlife in Sunnydale like?" Pat asked.
Charlie shrugged. "I don't really know. I've never really had time to investigate."
It wasn't strictly true; she had just never wanted to make the time to investigate.
"Oh," Pat said, slightly disappointed. "Didn't your parents like you going out?"
"Nah, it wasn't that," Charlie quickly denied. "Hell, they practically begged me to go out. I've never felt comfortable in these places, and I didn't have time to get comfortable."
"Well, we're going to change that," Pat said with a grin. "Starting tonight."
The three of them clinked glasses and bottles in a silent toast. In some ways, it felt as though this was the beginning of something. Charlie was about to ask Vonnie about life in Oxford when there was a squeal of feedback from the stage.
"Sorry, sorry about that," apologised the pale young man who appeared be the leader. "Hi and welcome to Driscoll's bar!"
The crowd cheered.
"Thank you all for coming," the young man continued. "I hate long speeches, so that's it. I hope you enjoy the night!"
The band immediately cut into their first number, the bass thumping so loudly Charlie could feel her bones vibrating. The music was loud and the lyrics were incomprehensible but she persevered. After a few minutes her ears went a little numb and she settled back to try and enjoy it. Surprisingly the music slowly grew on her, and by the third song she found her toe tapping along to the beat.
Charlie looked around curiously to see how other people were reacting to the band. Out on the dance-floor most of the women had stopped dancing and were gazing at the stage with looks of adoration. The men at the bar were still chatting away together, apparently oblivious to their female companions' complete lack of attention. Charlie frowned. She hadn't realised the band was *that* good. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a faintly puzzled expression on Pat's face. Good, it wasn't just her.
She turned to ask Vonnie if she was seeing anything odd. Vonnie's expression was one of glazed adoration. She watched the band as though there was nothing else in the world.
Charlie began to get very worried.
"Does anything about this strike you as weird?" Pat asked her quietly.
Raising an eyebrow, Charlie turned to him. "Weird how? The band is . . . uh, passable. Vonnie's a bit spaced but . . ."
"I can't really . . . it's not . . ." Pat trailed off helplessly. "It just feels like we're in the Twilight Zone. Things aren't quite off enough to be really wrong but I'm . . ."
"Worried," Charlie finished for him. "Yeah, so am I. Thanks for reassuring me."
"Reassuring?"
"I thought I was going insane."
"If you're going insane, book me a place in the padded room with you."
At that moment the music stopped and Charlie blinked at the sudden lack of noise. Her ears rang and she felt slightly light headed.
"Thank you!" the pale lead singer called out. "You've been a great audience!"
The room erupted into thunderous applause and Charlie winced at the assault on her tender eardrums.
"Maybe it's a chick thing," Pat suggested.
Charlie slowly turned to him and waited.
"Ah . . . uh, yeah, I . . ." Pat stuttered. "That came out wrong. I meant . . . uh, please don't hurt me?"
Vonnie, thankfully, saved Pat any further embarrassment by turning to them with dreamy eyes. "Weren't they great? I knew this was a good idea."
"Yeah, they were, uh, great," Charlie said uncertainly. "They were, um, loud."
"Mmm." Vonnie's eyes were slightly glazed. "I'm going to freshen up."
The redheaded girl stood and began weaving her way through the club, towards the back where Charlie assumed the restrooms were located.
"That was bizarre," she commented slowly.
"Uh-huh. I've known her for years and I've never known her to be so . . ."
Charlie winced. "Yeah."
They sat in silence for a moment and watched the dance-floor, which seemed to have fewer females than it had a few minutes before.
"Think I should check on her?" Charlie asked after a moment.
Pat frowned, his green eyes thoughtful. "She gets pretty annoyed at me if I try to coddle her. And she has very sharp elbows."
Charlie plucked her leather jacket. "This has protected me from worse than sharp elbows. I'll just go . . ."
Pat nodded and she stood, peering over the mass of dancers to try and spot the restroom. All she could see in the direction Vonnie had taken was a Fire Exit. Frowning worriedly, Charlie turned and found the bathrooms clearly marked . . . at the other end of the bar.
"Stay here," she ordered Pat.
Moving smoothly, she wove through the pulsating mass of people towards the exit. Something about the entire evening was sending chills down her spine. The Fire Exit was open. A quick check of the lock showed that it had been forced, the wood splintered around it. Charlie slipped through into the alley and stopped, allowing her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.
She was standing in an alley behind the bar. It was badly lit and stank of garbage. The dim light revealed several shadowy figures standing, unmoving, in front of her. Charlie shrank back into the shadows of the doorway and waited to see what was happening.
A scuffing sound down the alley, and Charlie turned her head, straining to see. After a moment figures began to move and she heard the sound of quiet male laughter. The group of people in front of her began to slowly shuffle forwards, towards the sounds. Charlie caught a flash of red hair in the group and realised with a start that Vonnie was one of them. Cursing under her breath, the tall woman crept out of the shadows and moved soundlessly around the oblivious women.
The alley was blocked by a van and, through the open back doors, Charlie could see a keyboard and the case for a guitar.
"Great set," a male voice called cheerfully from the van. "You guys hungry?"
"Hell, yeah," another voice shouted. "We got us some pretty snacks tonight."
He moved into Charlie's view and she cursed as she realised that the creature in front of her was in full vamp-face. It was the lead singer, although he was not nearly as pretty now as he had been on the stage.
The bass-player jumped down out of the van. "Man, do you think it's time to move on yet? Somebody's gonna start noticing sooner or later."
"Somebody's already noticed," Charlie said, stepping out of her concealing shadow. "And she's really pissed off."
After a moment of stunned surprise the lead-singer smiled, showing his fangs, and then began laughing.
"We've got a feisty one, boys," he said chuckling. "Little girl, do you know who we are?"
Charlie smiled icily. "I'd watch who I'm calling 'little' if I were you. Shorty."
The lead vampire, who admittedly lacked something in the height department, grinned. "This is gonna be fun."
There was a faint noise behind her and out of the corner of her eye Charlie could see three more vampires closing in, surrounding her. Five vampires against little old me. Huh, I've faced worse. Usually with back up, but I can do this.
There was silence for a long, tense moment. Charlie prayed that vampires' hold over the women behind her was weaker than it looked before she went into action.
Even as she spun into a roundhouse kick, she screamed a fierce battle cry, hoping that the sudden noise would startle some of the women out of their bemusement. Her foot connected solidly with Shorty's head, sending him reeling. Charlie had no time to think after that. Two of the vampires charged her and she dropped into a crouch, letting the creatures fly over her and collide with each other. Bass-player tried jump on her while she was down, but Charlie rolled away delivering a punishing kick as she went.
She flipped onto her feet, in time to meet Shorty's fist in her ribs and stumble back. Air whooshed painfully out of her lungs and Charlie was forced to retreat again to avoid Shorty's follow-up kick. She lost sight of the colliding twins and had to hope they weren't sneaking up on her. Shorty threw another punch at her and she blocked it, following up with a jab of her own. The vampire fell back a little, allowing Charlie a moment to catch her breath.
Bass-player was not standing idle though, and Charlie caught a glimpse of movement to her right in time to twist and avoid his clumsy attempt at a roundhouse kick. Her lesson in the proper way to kick sent him flying through the air to smash into a pile of wooden crates. Luck was on her side; he landed on them badly and turned to dust as a broken slat pierced his heart.
Charlie spun and looked around wildly, waiting for the next attack. During the fight she had been pushed away from the van and the slamming of the van doors caught her attention.
"Damn," she cursed as the headlights blinked on and the engine sputtered to life.
The van began rolling towards her. Shorty laughed as he hopped into the moving vehicle and gestured obscenely. Charlie was forced to dive to the side, over another pile of crates, or be flattened as the van picked up speed.
For a moment she lay, stunned, behind the wooden crates. Then she painfully stood up, wincing as the movement pulled against what was probably going to be an impressive bruise over her ribs.
The alley was silent and still. The women she had been trying to protect were gone, as was the vampire-band, and Charlie had lost a new friend. She cursed and slumped tiredly against the wall. This was not turning out to be a fun evening.
The door to the bar slammed back against the wall and Pat rushed out. He paused for a moment before he spotted her and sprinted over. His green eyes were filled with worry and his black hair was tousled as though he had been running his hands through it.
"Where is she?" he asked, fear lacing his voice when he realised that Vonnie was nowhere to be seen.
"They got her," Charlie said wearily. "I couldn't stop them."
"Who has her? Where?" Pat looked a little more closely. "What happened to you?"
"Vampires."
"Huh?"
Charlie grimaced. "Turns out the band was about as undead as you can get. I tried to stop them but . . . they've got Vonnie."
"Vampires? But . . . but . . . what vampire in its right mind sets up shop so close to a Watcher's compound?"
"I believe the 'right mind' question is answered by the 'vampire' description. They're evil, mostly insane, and setting up near a Watcher's compound probably struck them as the height of irony."
Pat slowly sank down and sat on one of the crates, running his hand through his hair. "They've got Vonnie."
"Yeah."
The reality of what was happening finally hit Pat and he went deathly pale, before leaning over and throwing up noisily.
"That about sums it up," Charlie commented, rubbing his back soothingly. "Easy . . . easy now."
After a couple of minutes Pat managed to regain control and he sat up shakily. He was still pale but, as Charlie sat down next to him, a light of determination flickered to life in his eyes.
"So, what are we going to do?" he asked grimly.
"Get her back."
"She's still alive?"
Charlie shrugged. "They took about six of them. I'd guess they're saving some for later."
Pat's face took on a greenish tinge but he kept control as he asked tightly, "What's the plan?"
For a moment Charlie was silent, weighing up plans and quickly discarding them. She had never been plan-maker before. Usually that was someone else's job and she just followed orders. She forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths and begin thinking rationally, slowing her brain from its frantic whirling.
First she would need to find the band. Then she would need to slay the band. And then she'd have to hope Vonnie was still alive. Charlie snorted. Somehow, when she arrived in Halifax she hadn't anticipated needing to slay a rock band. In the middle of her fear and pain, it struck her as strangely funny.
"Well?" Pat asked impatiently.
"I'm thinking!" Charlie growled.
The pain in her side was a throbbing ache that sent spasms of red-hot pain whenever she moved. It would be a handicap but there was nothing she could do.
"Should we go back to the Institute? Try to get some back up?" Pat asked.
Charlie shook her head. "Can you imagine that bunch of stuffed-shirts having the faintest idea of how to hunt down and slay a pack of vampires? They'd probably have heart attacks."
"So what are we going to do?"
"I think I might have a plan. Wait here."
Pat watched her hurry back into the building with a heavy heart.
*finis*