a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

Buffy watched as the blood pulsated from the open wound. She watched as the stream of it dripped from her palm and down her fingers. Her entire hand was coated in blood now, some of it dried and flecked along her fingertips, but it was still very much wet and thick the closer her flesh was to the source of the injury. Only then does she realize that Sebastian is watching her wound perhaps more closely than she was. It made her face turn sour, not in pain, but in disgust as she thought of the way he was thinking about her in this moment. She winced again as she balled up her fist and tucked her arm behind her back, as if trying to shield it from view from the vampire. But she knew enough about them at this point to know he could still feel her. He could feel her heart beat through it. He could smell the blood. He could become frenzied by it.

The dark hunter sighs deeply as she allows her gaze to drift across the alley and peer into the street behind Sebastian. So far, no sirens. But their time was running out.

Then the vampire spoke, and Buffy was completely bewildered by it. Vampires tended to be incredibly sexual beings. She had first hand experience with that. But never before had she come across one that was particularly compassionate about others. Maybe she was going soft. But the way Sebastian spoke of this alternate being reminded her of the strange interaction she had with that blue-eyed vamp a few weeks ago, the one she found feeding on his own kind and letting the humans go. In return for some vague information, Buffy had spared the fellow. Something about him seemed different. He seemed kind, behind that undead and icy exterior. Plus they were fighting the same fight, for now at least.

But Buffy's mind didn't have a lot of time to wonder about Sebastian's relationship. He followed up this admittance with a sly question about her, which for a second made her retreat further inward. Buffy wasn't big on sharing. Especially with vampires. She bit her lip hard and took a few steps toward him. Both hands dangled at her sides as she willingly moved toward him unarmed. "This guy." She began, her eyes dead set on the vampire in front of her now. "He's not tied up in a basement somewhere. You're not holding him captive." Her voice sounded weaker than before, less defensive and demanding.

"I've been there before, is all you need to know." Buffy spat, her thick and poorly manicured eyebrows furrowing as her stare hardened at him. "If I find out you're lying to me, there won't be a third time I let you go."

GIA BUFFY JONES