Almost Human (Those Violet Eyes Book 2)

Chapter 13

"Okay, this is practially impossible." I groan, tossing a book onto the table. "I'm giving up."

"All I've been finding is zombie type rituals." Buffy says, throwing me a frustrated look. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, I'm so sorry for being raised from the dead and causing you frustration, Slayer."

We've been digging in books for a day now, searching for some type of clue towards what the witch could be doing. Spike went out to talk to any of the demons or vampires roaming the streets, leaving us to keep researching. I hope he comes back with some kind of information. Anything would help at this point, we have nothing.

"What did you say the name you heard in your dream was?" Willow asks, most likely to diffuse the tension.

"Alexander." I say, turning to look at her. "Why?"

"Did you hear a last name?"

"Nope, just the first name. Why?" I ask again.

"I found an account of someone who was turned in the late 15th century. Alexander is a common name, but it sounds like it could be your guy." She says, passing me the book.

I scan the page, before reading out loud to fill everyone in. "Alexander Hadleigh was a Lord in the late 1400s, he was supposedly turned by a peasant that he found roaming his estate. He presumed this woman to be a witch, and when she was confronted she attacked him. He ordered her to be executed at first light, and that night she broke out of her cell, snuck into his bedchambers, and turned him into a vampire." I look up at Willow, "That was my dream!" I exclaim.

She nods. "Apparently this Alexander Hadleigh wasn't exactly an okay guy as a human, and once he became a vampire he was a menace."

"After his turning, Hadleigh drained the blood of everyone working in his estate." I read, "Eventually he met a witch by the name of Cecilia, who promised to make him stronger. They began a hunt for the oldest living vampire, but before they could complete their search she was killed. Then he went into seclusion. He still owned his estate, and that's where he was holed up until he was killed in the early 1900s." I scan a little further down the page. "Don't they say anything about where he's from? Where was his estate? Why isn't there more information? I don't care about the havoc he wreaked on the world, I want to know more about him and this Cecilia woman."

"Well," Giles interjects. "I may have found something."

I turn to look at him. "What's that?"

He clears his throat. "It seems that Alexander's estate was in England."

My throat sticks. "Where in England?"

"The maps from that time period are a little different from the ones we have now...so I'm not sure." He's stalling. "But, ah, there's a photo of the estate."

I get up from my chair, and move closer to Giles. He's unsure at first, but then holds the page out for me to see. The house in the photo is so familiar, I'm almost certain Giles is wrong. "That can't be right." I say.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asks, stretching her neck a little to try and see the book.

"That's my Master's estate," I say. "That can't be right. Are you sure this is right?" I look up at Giles, who won't meet my gaze.

"Your Master?" Willow asks. "You have a Master?"

I look over at her and shake my head, taking the book from Giles. "I used to, when I was human the first time. I was living on the streets, and a man offered me a job," I sigh. "It was just a maid's position, but it meant food and a warm place to sleep so I followed him. I had never met the Master until his regular maid got very sick, and I had to take him one of his meals. He mistook me for an intruder, and attacked me. He injured me so terribly that he offered to turn me to heal me." I gaze down at the photo of the estate, rubbing my finger over the photo. "When I woke up, I left and never turned back. Sometime in the 1950s word got to me that he had been turned to dust, and I went back to England to see his grave. I punched it and chipped it." I crack a smile. "Never did forgive him for attacking me in the first place."

There's a moment of silence, with nobody knowing what to say. Anya comes into the room from the storeroom, and looks around.

"Wow, you guys are really gloomy. Did I miss something?" She asks, setting a bag of rat tails on the counter.

Before anyone else can speak, I look over at her. "Anya, you were a demon for a billion years," I say. "Have you ever heard of someone transferring a soul from one body to a new one, that they built?"

"Well first of all I wasn't a demon for a billion years, it was over a thousand or so," She thinks a moment, and shrugs. "I've never heard of such a thing, but that doesn't mean nobody has ever tried. We could summon D'Hoffryn, he's much older than me and he may have more information."

I nod. "That's a super good idea! We should do that."

Just as she's about to respond, there's a crash at the door. Something breaks the door in, and starts growling. I turn to look, and see a huge demon towering over us, drool dripping from it's jaws.

Buffy swings into action, grabbing an axe from a display and running at it. It just swats her sideways like a bug, and starts barreling towards me.

"Oh fuck!" I exclaim, running up the stairs toward the restricted books. "I am not getting killed again! Leave me alone!"

Everyone is yelling, Buffy is trying to attack the demon, and I'm trying to hide in the stacks of books, but this demon is unfazed by all of it. It shoves the stacks over, causing a domino affect with the bookshelves, and I run out, aiming to jump over the railing and back down into the main part of the store. Just as my hands touch the bar, a huge arm wraps around my waist, and something is shoved into my neck. I'm instantly unable to move, and the demon throws me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Fuck, I'm not getting killed again, I'm getting kidnapped again. Not cool.  My vision goes blurry just as someone else starts yelling, and I black out.