Title: Don't feed the plants. 2/9
Author: Pythia
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them - Buffy and the gang belong to Joss, and
Audrey-II was originally cultivated by Roger Corman before being set to
music by Howard Ashman.
"*Well,*" the middle cheer leader huffed as Willow Rosenburg raced past the three of them, heading for the library. "Some people are just asking for a detention. Don't run in the hallways!" she yelled after the hurrying and harassed redhead.
"Maybe she's got a pass," the plump one suggested, using her locker mirror to touch up her lipstick.
"Maybe she's got something up her ass," the middle girl joked, snatching the lipstick from her friend's hand and applying to her own lips. The tallest of the three frowned, staring in the direction that Willow had been heading, then turning to glance back down the hallway with concern.
"Maybe there's something's chasing her . "
There was more shuffling and another bout of rustling in the vines as Giles reached the archway. There was definitely someone - or some thing moving about inside the greenhouse.
"Frank?" he called softly, warily pushing forward through the curtain of vines. This was Sunnydale, home to innumerable vampires and other creatures of the night, and it was entirely possible that the man he was looking for was long dead - but it never hurt to maintain a little optimism in the face of threatening darkness. There was a chance the janitor had stumbled into this peculiar jungle and become trapped here in some way. Was, even now, desperately waiting for rescue .
The interior of the greenhouse was even warmer. The heat washed over him like a wave, damp and heavy with an unplaceable perfume. The light was soft, but still bright after the dimness of the outer room. Greenery hung everywhere, twists of vines and pendulous leaves painting every surface, clinging to every fitting and pillar. Exotic buds, like tiny purple orchids, blossomed overhead - and somewhere in the middle of everything, there was some kind of vegetative mass, a green and purple mound pillowed in among leaves that stood as tall as he did.
"Good Lord," Giles breathed a second time, staring in utter amazement. He hadn't seen anything as riotously exotic as this since his last visit to Kew Gardens. His astonishment only pinned him in place for a second or two, but even that was a second or two too many. The rustling had increased, reacting to his entrance and the sound of his voice - and in amidst its distractions, someone suddenly lunged out of the jungle, armed with what looked suspiciously like a shovel.
He had time to react, time to turn in alarm and duck back a little, reducing the force of the blow that might otherwise have cracked his skull wide open - but he wasn't quick enough to avoid it altogether. Pain flared across his temples, the world spun - and then every thing went totally dark for a while.
"You're sure about this, Will?" Buffy asked, staring at Willow's anxious expression. She'd spent a fruitless hour searching the school grounds for signs of struggle or evidence of vampires, neither of which she'd managed to find. Running into Angel had been her highlight of the night so far. Xander had spent some of that time searching the school cafeteria and the rest hunting through the boy's changing rooms. There'd been no obvious sign of the missing students or the missing janitor; while Xander had found an abandoned broom lying in one of the showers, that didn't mean the missing man had left it there.
"Perfectly sure. There was blood and - everything. Giles said I had to come find you, so I did."
"Blood?" Buffy had taken a half step towards the library doors, but she swung back with a wary look on her face. Xander had gone pale.
"You didn't say anything about blood," he accused, and Willow rolled her eyes.
"I was getting there. We did the science labs and the gym, and then I said I thought I saw a light in the annex and . there was open doorness and marks on the floor and Giles thought something had been dragged inside, so we went in and .. there was blood. On the tiles. All the way up to the biology lab."
"The victim was bleeding," Angel noted with a frown. "Vampires don't like to waste food as a rule. Not unless they're sated."
"Didn't want to know that, dead boy," Xander said, glaring at him
"I did." Buffy glanced at the stake she was carrying, then headed for the library cage. "A complete cornucopia he said ." She vanished into the cage for a moment, then re-emerged to hand Angel a heavy sword with one hand and heft a nasty-looking axe with the other. "I'm guessing not vampires. I haven't had a tingle on my Spidey senses all day - other than the one Angel gave me just now."
"Didn't want to know that, either," Xander whispered to Willow, who started to smile - only for it to freeze on her face.
"Oh God, Buffy," she realised. "Giles is still in there! He said he was going to take a closer look. And all he has with him is a cross and a couple of stakes. If it's not vampires ."
"Then he's probably in trouble," Angel concluded grimly.
The Slayer shivered. "I hope not," she said. "Come on. Let's get there before something decides to put Watcher on its supper menu ."