"No. It's too late right now; we can do the spell tomorrow. Probably even later than tomorrow," Jim spoke, ignoring Charles' protests.
"Jim has a point. Do we know when the Master is going to attempt to rise?" I asked and the Watchers shared a look.
"Uh...no. Not precisely," Mr. Giles said.
"We should find out right? So that we know when to do the spell?" Casey questioned and I nodded.
"Right. But not tonight. Charles, we're still in Sunnydale for the next six days. We have time,"
Charles sighed.
"Well not if the Master is able to rise tonight!" he retorted and I rolled my eyes.
"Its past midnight. If he wanted to rise, I think he would've done it by now,"
"Fine," Charles agreed, if not somewhat reluctant. "But we're back in here first thing tomorrow morning. We have to know everything we can if we want to stop this,"
I nodded.
"Yeah. Of course,"
"But...what are we gonna do about all the materials? We cant exactly leave it here- isn't there a janitor?" Ellie asked concerned.
Mr. Giles sighed.
"Ah...yes. That's an excellent point. You all go, I'll tidy it up," he said kindly but I frowned in response.
"I'll help- its fine,"
"Oh! Uh...well that would be very kind of you. Thank you,"
I shrugged.
"No problem. I don't exactly have anywhere else I need to be,"
Mr. Giles smiled and I waved a brief goodbye to the others who were all more than gladly leaving.
But when I turned around and saw the library in full view, I was suddenly wishing I hadn't agreed to help.
There were books everywhere; covering almost every inch of the library's broad expanse as well as papers and materials for the spell strewn all over the large table.
It was a mess.
"Wow..." I said after a moment and Mr. Giles nodded.
"Yes. Wow is...an accurate term for this situation, I agree,"
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in a half hearted attempt to rid myself of the headache that was swarming my brain.
"Want some coffee?" I asked.
"Uh...no. Thank you though," he replied and I grinned weakly.
"You're like Charles; only drinking tea. Well, I'm gonna go grab some but I'll be right back okay?"
Mr. Giles nodded.
"Oh and don't start without me," I told him dryly before turning to leave.
The Sunnydale coffee shop wasn't far from the library and I made the trip there and back in a fairly short amount of time.
Although when I entered the library, it looked as if Mr. Giles really had waited for me to come back before beginning.
"Hi...?" I called out and he appeared a moment later holding a stack of books that were virtually in contact with the ceiling.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, placing my coffee down to take some off of the pile.
"Oh, Summer. Thank you it was uh, very heavy," he spoke awkwardly, placing the other books down onto the still disastrous-looking table.
"Yeah no kidding!" I replied. "What were you doing anyway?"
"I was uh...well I was attempting to put the books away. All at once. Which in retrospect wasn't my greatest idea," he said and I grinned.
"Apparently so. Now let's do this. Properly this time," I replied with a sly grin and he rolled his eyes at my expression.
"Yes. Of course,"
...
"Is that your sixth coffee today?" Ellie asked in astonishment and I glared back at her.
"I was up all night sorting ancient texts by date. Don't judge my caffeine intake if you want me awake,"
She hastily apologised, raising an eyebrow at Casey.
"Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm just tired. Really, really tired," I said with a pointed look at Mr. Giles.
"My apologies Summer but uh...those texts were very old. The dates are an integral part of the dichotomous key used to categorise them," he replied and I groaned.
"I didn't understand a word of that and I desperately don't want to,"
Jim stifled laughter and I grinned weakly at him.
"Alright well...does anybody have anything of note?" Charles asked in an attempt to change the subject at hand.
"Nope. And this is the fourteenth book I've looked through. Not that I hate doing this, which I do, but can we take a break?" Casey complained.
"Not...not exactly. Time is of the essence I'm afraid," Charles replied and she groaned quite audibly.
Casey didn't exactly look like she belonged in this library surrounded by piles of dusty books; what with her dark brown hair that was braided in hundreds of little rows, the end of each tied with a pink ribbon.
Her dress was short; its pale pink colour matching that of the rest of her outfit.
She was pretty, very pretty, and far too put together for the opening of the mouth of Hell.
But so was I; despite the fact that I felt as if I had been stampeded by my Aunt Kelly's cow.
"Surely time will still be...whatever you just said in a half hour? Can't we at least go for a walk?" I asked and Charles sighed.
"Very well. But Mr. Giles and I will stay here and we're expecting you back at 1:30," he spoke. "PM,"
Ellie laughed and he gave her a stern expression.
"Oh come on. Lighten up a little. I agree that time's important but we still deserve a life!" she said.
"You have a life!" he exclaimed, shocked that she would say such a thing.
Ellie rolled her eyes, a smile dancing on her lips.
"Whatever you say Charles. See you in 30,"
Charles sighed, muttering something inaudible under his breath as the four of us left the library laughing- like we had nearly every day back home.
So far Sunnydale had been great- it offered vamps for me to dust, another Watcher and the prospect of our deaths at the hands of a bloodthirsty monster.
But still, despite all of the 'excitement' I wondered what spring break was looking like back in Mackay Hills.
Most importantly...I hoped everyone was still alive.
"Where are we even going?" I asked after a moment of being stuck in my own brain.
"No idea. I figured we could just walk around. Talk," Ellie said and the rest of us nodded.
When nobody said anything I laughed a little.
"Why is nobody saying anything?" I whispered and we all laughed.
"God I feel like my brain's turned to mush! All this talk about this demon and that demon, this curse and that curse. Its giving me literal stress acne," Casey spoke and I rolled my eyes at Jim who laughed quietly so that she wouldn't hear me.
"You can't exactly go around saying 'demon', Hellmouth or no Hellmouth," I reminded her and she sighed.
"Ugh, why is it such a big secret anyway? It's like they don't want people to know they might get eaten. If that was my everyday, I think I should have the right to know. Don't you agree?"
I grinned.
"I don't know. Never really thought about it,"
"Well I have. And the more I do, the more it annoys me! All these innocent people that might get demon-snatched and they don't even know that demons exist! Its just so awful!" Casey cried and I looked at Ellie and Jim who were trying not to laugh almost as hard I as I was.
Eventually we snapped, the three of us bursting into laughter and Casey whipped around to face us.
"What?! What is so funny?" she snapped.
"Demon-snatched?" Jim asked once we had calmed down.
"Well I don't know what else you'd call it! Demon...grabbed?" Casey replied and I grinned.
"I like demon-snatched better. Though I don't think the Watchers will," I told her.
"Well...screw what the Watchers think! My opinions are just as important you know?"
"Yeah," I replied dryly, trying not to laugh once again. "Totally,"
(A/N: Lmaoooo- hey you guyssss :) Hope you liked this chapter hehehe- stay safe and totally tubular and I'll see you in the next one xx)