This piece of FAN FICTION is written by Ariane Budberg and does not express the views or opinions of TimeWarp fan club. No copyright infringement is intended.

Part VI of VI

Buffy gave him a bad look. "Thank you very much. Willow?" She hurried behind the wall and threw the stockings on the small table beside the mirror. "How long do you think Giles will need to get here?"

Willow shook her head. "I don't know, maybe half an hour? Maybe an hour? Oh, I only hope he'll be here in time."

"Well," Buffy began another sentence and slowly undressed herself until she could put on the suspenders and stockings, "as long as they only want us to play Rocky Horror, it's quite fine. I've seen that movie at least a dozen times."

Willow looked from Buffy to the bundle of clothes that was meant for herself and back to Buffy. "I only hope you know what you're doing."

"I hope that, too," Buffy answered and stepped out into the crowd of vampires again with Willow in tow. This was going to be a night they were going to remember for a very long time.

Giles was walking up and down in his living-room. He had the strange feeling that something was going very wrong here. He did not know what that was, he did not know why - but he knew he had to do something about it. He grabbed the keys for his car and left his apartment quickly. He drove to Buffy's house and rang the bell. Nothing happened. Pressing the button again, he looked into the window right beside the door. There was a light in the darkness of this house - but nobody came to open the door. Obviously Buffy had gone out. But where was her mother? But before he could even think of ringing the bell another time, he heard a noise in the house. Somebody was rushing down the stairs and coming towards the door. It was Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers. She opened and asked Giles to come in. "I'm sorry that I didn't hear you, I was upstairs, doing some paperwork."

"It's alright. Could I talk to Buffy for a moment?" Giles looked around but could not see a hint to Buffy being here. And Joyce's answer confirmed his suspicion.

"Oh, I'm sorry but she's out with Willow. They went to the Bronze. Can I do anything for you? Tell her what you wanted?"

Giles shook his head. "No, it wasn't that important. I'll tell her in school tomorrow. Sorry that I disturbed you. Have a nice evening." He turned around and left the house before Joyce could ask him another question about what he had wanted. Now he had to find Buffy. After having heard her mother's words, he was sure that Buffy and Willow had gone to kill the vampires on their own. Surely they had gone to the graveyard where they knew a way to get into the caves that were below the streets of this town. On his way to the graveyard, he stopped by at Xander's house to collect him. He would need all the help that he could get. They left Giles's car at the giant entrance gate and rushed into the morgue without another word. They would only lose time by talking. As soon as they had entered the labyrinth of corridors below the streets, they could hear the noise the vampires were making. A very big party seemed to be celebrated there, although Giles feared that it was not simply a party but a ritual for the vampires to be able to bear sunlight again. And during this ritual Buffy was going to be killed if he did not intervene. At the entrance of the cave where the noise was coming from, Giles and Xander waited for a moment. Giles glanced a look into the cave carefully. Buffy and Willow (they were really here, just as he had thought) were dancing in the crowd, wearing - well, suspenders and stockings. What the hell was going on here? He waved Xander to follow him into the cave. For a while, nobody noticed them when they crept into the room so Giles had a chance to take a closer look at these particular vampires. They seemed to be from a new clan that he had not encountered before. All in all, they looked like the characters from "The Rocky Horror Show" and they also behaved in that tradition. When the current song, the Time Warp, stopped, Giles stepped out into the crowd and posted himself in the entrance of the cave. He spoke, to everyone's surprise, with a great parody of Frank's words at the beginning of "Sweet Transvestite". "How do you do, I see you've met my", he pointed over to Xander, "faithful handyman, he's just a little brought down because when we came in - nobody seemed interested in us."

At his words, Patricia, Richard, and Frank turned around and froze. Nobody had thought of the Watcher to come and help the Slayer. This had not been part of their plan. Patricia found her composure first. With slow, majestic steps, she walked towards Giles and Xander and looked at them dangerously. "Master, Master, we have a visitor. No, two. The Watcher. And a helping hand. How nice. You don't really dare disturbing our ritual, do you?" 

Xander opened his mouth for a reply but Giles cut him off with a short gesture. "I'm afraid we have to. You're planning to kill our friend so we have to do something about that." He gave her an unimpressed smile. "And if I know one thing then it's that you're not gonna succeed."

Now the big man in the Frank-costume, one like Giles used to wear when he was on stage, finally joined the talks. "Those are courageous words for an Earthling. How do you think you'll manage that?"

Giles only gave him a cold look and practised his bad grin, his voice dripping of sarcasm. "Oh, don't worry, I'll manage that, if you like it or not. Oh - and by the way - your stockings have some rather delicate holes. You should put some nail polish on them, then they won't grow bigger."

"I am not interested in your escapades up there. Right now you're in our caves, and here you'll do what we want." Frank wrapped his black cape around himself again and strode to the other end of the room, leaving him and Patricia staring at each other. "Well," she hissed, "it's start time! Richard, I'll get these humans out of here. We'll bring the Slayer back in when we need her." Patricia glanced a furious look at Giles and turned around to follow Frank.

"Tell me," Giles shouted after her, "is he really your master Frank - or is this just another one of your adaptations? The real Master is dead, you know that as well as I do."

She did not even stop to answer. "That's none of your business." With some more steps, she was out of sight again, shoving Buffy and Willow in front of her, and only Richard remained in the room, as the last one of this dangerous trio, along with the other vampires. "Maybe you should follow her," he advised Giles and Xander, waving his hand to get them moving. "She can get very angry when things don't go her way."

"Exactly like Magenta, huh?" Giles needed to ask this question to be completely sure that he was working against some crazy vampires who believed they were Transylvanians from The Rocky Horror Show.

"Exactly like Magenta." Richard confirmed everything Giles had thought. These vampires really believed they were Transylvanians. Well, then he would just join this game and play along for now. The aces would be pulled out some time later. If he only knew how this would end...    

Meanwhile, Patricia had taken her place on the throne-like chair that stood on a platform in the next cave. Richard and Frank were standing near her, Richard on her right, Frank on her left side. The vampires were dancing in front of her, and she was very confident. Except for the arrival of the Watcher, everything was in perfect order. Two of her faithful handymen just brought the Slayer over to her, the other girl was useless for the ritual, she could just as well serve as dinner. Patricia leant back in her chair and eyed the Slayer from top to toe. She was not very forceful, no muscle girl, so she would hardly be a danger. She looked somewhat fragile and vulnerable. Slowly, she began to understand why Richard had been drawn to her in some way. But that would never keep her from performing the ritual, nobody and nothing would manage that. "So, I understand you wanted to join our little celebration," Patricia said with a curious look.

"Well, joining in wasn't exactly our intention. Actually, we wanted to screw it up, if you know what I mean." Buffy was not afraid at all - why should she? She had encountered so many vampires, and she had coped with all of them. And she would also get rid of these ones. In addition, she had seen Giles and Xander enter the cave, and with three aids she would surely get out of this without harm. Well, at least without much harm.

Patricia ignored Buffy's words, she had something else in mind. She had always liked torturing other people, and Buffy was a perfect victim. With a mean smile on her lips, Patricia continued. "I also understand you were sexually involved with Angel." She paused for a moment while she watched Buffy stiffening. "I can understand you, I also had a lot of fun with him whenever we were together. He was so cute, wasn't he? And you killed him." Her expression changed from utter satisfaction to clear displeasure. "Really, that's no way to behave towards a friend."

Buffy did not manage to keep her deadpan expression. "I really don't know why you should be interested in my relationship to him. It's none of your business."

"Oh, yes, I know." Patricia enjoyed the sight Buffy gave her. There was so much pain in her expression - it was just like a special present for her. "But I've always been interested in... Well, things that were none of my business. They're much more interesting than what I am told without further questioning. And now, since you destroyed him, I have to look elsewhere for fun. I am sure you understand that I am really mad at you," she intoned with clearly played compassion. Oh, she would have a lot of fun with this Slayer until she was dead... Patricia clapped her hands. "You see, you are fortunate for tonight is the night that our life below the surface of this world is over. Tomorrow, we will be walking in the sunlight, and all that it takes is a small accident to make it happen. An accident, and that's how we'll finally get our rights as the Regents of the night back."

"So." Buffy swallowed hard. She could not say a thing, she was so shocked by Patricia's words. How could she have such fun in torturing her with stories about Angel?

"Oh, well, I'll tell you, honey. If you spend your days deep down in a cavern like this, being only able to leave it at night, you become somewhat... How shall I say? Sadistic? And, after all, it's big fun. You should also give it a try. Oh, sorry, I forgot, you'll be dead by morning! But maybe you would like to be a vampire, too, so we could try it together after the ritual. Don't worry - just be happy!" Patricia grinned sadistically and waved her vampires to bring the other humans, too. The Watcher looked very strange, as if he knew exactly where she got the idea for this party from - and he blocked her telepathic abilities! She turned aside to Richard and whispered, "Bring me the Watcher, I've got a few questions for him."

Richard stepped down from the platform and caught Giles's arm to lead him directly in front of Patricia. Buffy was shoved aside inconsiderately, nearly falling down on the floor. But she spared her protest for she could maybe get some information when Giles spoke with Patricia. Unfortunately, Patricia also thought about that fact and instructed one of her handymen to escort her out. Only Giles, Xander and a few vampires were left in the cave when Buffy and Willow were led out by some of Patricia's aides.

Giles and Xander could hardly hide their concern for Buffy when they saw that she was being brought out of sight again. She seemed to be all right but there had been a certain kind of weakness behind her masquerade when Patricia had brought up Angel. Xander was kept behind Giles, obviously Patricia did not have any direct interest in him - maybe he should be grateful for that... He could not really understand what Giles and Patricia talked about for he was thinking of Buffy and Willow who were dependent on Patricia's mercy. Although Buffy could defend herself without help, Willow was not trained that much and that was one of the facts that really worried him. He had even forgotten that he had seen both of them in stockings and suspenders and not much more. Maybe he could figure out something to help them. There had to be a way to stop these vampires from killing Buffy - which was obviously their intention. Xander slightly touched Giles's arm and whispered, "Giles, don't you think we should try to get the girls and us out of here? I am not interested in an interview with a vampire, not even for our school's magazine."

Giles gave him an odd look, something like, "You were disturbing me" and made a face. "One moment, Xander, please." And to Patricia, he said, "Excuse, I was distracted for a moment. What did you say about the ritual?"

"Oh, no! You won't get any further information from me, not now, not later. You're gonna join your friends in the other cave where we can start the first step of the ritual in some minutes. Richard, would you please tie them? The girls, too. We won't risk a thing tonight, it's too important." Patricia was tired of all these humans, they were so boring, nothing special like she was. Or Richard or any of her friends who were here tonight. Richard did as she had asked him to do. When he led the two men out, Patricia stood up from her chair and nodded to Frank. "Okay, it's start time! Come, we are ready for the floor show!" With long, provocative steps she walked out of this cave and over to the next one where Buffy and Willow were already tied to chairs and Giles and Xander were just experiencing the same procedure. Patricia took a closer look at this Xander. Well, he had a certain naive charm, but no muscle.

The four friends exchanged looks, making sure the others were all right. Buffy calmed her friends down with a simple look of "I know what I'm doing", and they had no choice than relying on her judgement. Meanwhile, Patricia and Frank entered this cave and took places in front of the giant mirror at the front wall, that wall where Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles sat just opposite of. There was a small fire in front of it, and Patricia knelt down on her knees to throw something in, what, Buffy could not see. Obviously the ritual was beginning. Richard strode to his sister's side to support her and softly took her hand in his. Buffy tried to get a look on her watch but she could not see the numbers, it was too dark where she was sitting. But the time must have been something around midnight, a magical time for magical rites. Richard hit a small button hidden beside the mirror and a door in the ceiling slid open with a shrieking sound, allowing the moonlight to shine directly into the fire. Patricia raised her voice. "Master of the light! Here we are, waiting for your sign." A long minute of complete silence followed. Not even Buffy dared breathing too loudly, she had such a strange feeling about this scene. Patricia took another small bundle and threw it into the fire. A large, green flame exploded suddenly and took Buffy's sight for a moment. Only the vampires seemed to be unaffected. When Buffy could see again, there was a bright light coming from the surface that was much brighter than a usual moon. How could that be possible? How could the moon suddenly give such a bright light?

Patricia and Richard slowly rose to their feet again, holding each other's hands tenderly. There was a kind of erotic tension in the air that Buffy could not quite describe. Something was definitely happening here. Having fumbled at her ties since the moment they had been closed, she finally got her right hand free and hurried to get her feet free. She stood up inconspicuously and crept over to Willow. The vampires did not notice her although they should have done so because of the mirror, they were far too fascinated by the ritual they saw. Patricia and Richard were performing some movements with their hands as if they wanted something to appear while the other vampires slowly made a semi-circle around them. The flames of the fire changed their colours even faster than their height, and Buffy could not really explain what they wanted to reach by this but she was sure it did not mean anything good. She had to stop them as fast as possible - but before, she had to get at least Willow and Xander out of here. She freed them from their ties and ordered them to leave with a simple gesture. They did so - just once in a year they did what she told them - and left the cave unseen by the vampires. Giles also was freed from his ties, and when the Watcher and the Slayer were finally free again, they walked towards the vampires determinedly. Buffy took the word and interrupted the vampires in whatever they were just doing. "I think you've been incautious, my dear Patricia."

Patricia and Richard stared at her in utter shock. "How... How is that possible!" Patricia slowly turned towards her brother and sparkled at him dangerously. "I understand you were to be watching, honey." Her voice had a very menacing tone in it.

Richard fell back a few steps. "I'm sorry, darling, I checked their ties twice and they were okay! You can't blame me for that."

"Oh yes, I can! And I will!" Patricia ran towards him and stopped right in front of him. "It's your fault that we couldn't finish the ritual! You're to blame! I wouldn't have dared thinking you would screw it up again - but you did! Maybe I should..." 'Kill you,' she had wanted to say. Unfortunately, that was impossible now for they had at least finished the first step of the ritual, granting really eternal life. Dammit, she thought.

"Well, I don't wanna interrupt you in your private little quarrel - but I think there's no other possibility to finish my job." With these words, Buffy crossed the last feet of distance and attacked the very first vampire who was standing there. And then something completely unexpected happened. The whole crowd of vampires started to run away. Only Patricia and Richard stayed, everyone else was running like hell to get out of danger. If Buffy had not been so astonished about their behaviour, she would have followed the vampires. Every vampire she had attacked until now had at least tried to defend himself - but these vampires were a complete mystery to her. She turned to Giles. "I hope you know what's going on here." Her face showed a "Come on, tell me"-expression but Giles seemed to be as astonished as she was herself. "I don't know, Buffy, I don't know."

"But I do." Oh yeah, they had forgotten Patricia and Richard who were now standing on another little platform, clearly enjoying a victory. "They're not running away from you, but from us."

Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh. And why should they do that?"

"You see," Patricia slowly walked down from the platform, "we've finished the ritual of immortality. They can never get rid of us, no matter how hard they try. And since I am very angry with them, they should better get out of my sight or I'll kill them all with a thought. I may not be able to walk in the sunlight but I am still a very powerful vampire."

"And why don't you kill us?" Buffy could not understand her. Not that she was keen on dying but they had had more than one opportunity to get rid of the Slayer - why the hell had they not taken one?

"I'll tell you, dear. I can't simply kill you or the Watcher - it's not possible to me or any of the vampires you've seen tonight. The only possibility would have been the ritual but the precondition will only be right in a few dozens of years' time." She sounded sorry - but Buffy could not really share her feelings. After all, Patricia had wanted to kill her. "Yes, I understand. It's a remis between us. We can't kill you, you can't kill us. Now what are we gonna do? Frighten some of my so-called aides to death?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't know what you're up to - but if I ever see, hear or read about you being here again, I promise that I will hunt you till the end of the world." She turned around to Giles again. "Come on, we'll leave them alone. I'm sure they've got some problems to solve." Without looking back, Buffy led Giles, who still was not sure what he had just seen, out of the cave and back to the morgue where Xander and Willow waited for them, fingers intertwined. "This can't be true," Buffy murmured for herself and was not sure if she meant the vampires, Patricia and Richard or Xander and Willow. "This can't be true. Immortal vampires who believe they're Transylvanians... My best friends holding each other's hands again, Giles playing Frank N'Furter - I think this is too much for me." She should really take some time to get used to hunting vampires again.

It took the friends some time to get home. They could not believe what they had seen and what Buffy told them. In addition, it would not have been wise for Buffy and Willow to show up in stockings and suspenders at home. But finally, everyone lay in his or her bed and tried to get some sleep, yet it refused to come. Too much had happened in the past few days, too much which could not be explained with simple vampires. Buffy was sure that she had not heard from Patricia and Richard for the last time.

Down in the cave, Patricia nearly went mad when she was sure that the humans were away. "Richard, how the hell could that happen? I can't stand any more of this! I'll go crazy if I have to stare at walls all the day! And all because you could not check their ties a third time! I only hope you know what that means!" Since he did not look as if he knew what she was talking about, she told him. "We're not gonna have sex until I say it again. Did you get me?"

Now Richard was really shocked. "But darling, why? I mean, you could have checked them, too! At least we're the immortal Regents of the night now. Why must everything always be my fault?"

"Because you're my brother! And now leave me alone! I have to think about what I shall do with you." Patricia turned around and walked back to her bedroom cave where she sat down on the bed. All her hopes of the last few decades had been destroyed in ten minutes' time. She wanted to be alone now. But of course, Richard had to give his luck another try. He followed her silently and caressed her shoulders slightly. "Come on, we're gonna get another opportunity."

Patricia spoke very slowly, very dangerously. "You should leave now, Richard, while it is still possible. I am about to explode if you stay here for another minute." She hissed at him. "Leave. Now!"

Richard decided that it would be wiser not to make her more furious than she was already. He walked back to the big cave where they had done the rite and sat down in one of the armchairs. She would calm down – at some point in the next years. 

During the next days, Buffy went back to her usual life. She went to school at day, to the graveyard at night but she did not encounter anything strange in either place. Principal Snyder used to eye her suspiciously but she did not give him any reason to complain. The vampires she slayed were just as usual as the dirt under her shoes, and somehow she asked herself where Patricia and Richard had gone.

One day, when she came home from school, she found a big bouquet of red roses in front of her door, with a little card stuck in. She could not guess who should send her flowers so she opened the card and was nearly scared to death. Someone had drawn a beautiful sketch of Angel in there and added a comment saying, "He will be back." Where the hell did this card come from? When she took a very close look at the corner of the card, she found a very small sign - the card was from Patricia.

Patricia and Richard were just having some fun when she suddenly stopped pleasing him. Instead she grinned and looked up to him. "Darling, she just received my little present. Oh, and she got new hope again - how sentimental!" She paused for a little moment and smiled diabolically. "Do you think she'll be very disappointed when she realises that he won't ever come back?"

Richard grinned back. "Oh, really, you know how to be mean. My compliments, honey." He stopped to move her face up to his lips. "Our mission is completed, my most beautiful sister. And soon we shall return to the moon-drenched shores of our beloved Las Vegas..."

Patricia's face suddenly softened. "Oh, sweet Las Vegas... Land of night... To sing and dance once more to your dark refrain... To take that... step to the right..." An expression of wishfulness crept on her face.

Oh, now he knew what she was up to. "But it's the pelvic thrust," he added, rolling aside and starting to kiss her again, beginning at her neck and moving deeper.

"That really drives us insaaaaane," she sang, pressing up against him. "And all world will do the Time Warp again!"

Oh, they would really have a big time when they left Sunnydale. But first they had to complete what they had started...

A few weeks later, in Las Vegas

The hotel park was dark and silent. A young couple, Brad Majors and his fiancée Janet Weiss were walking hand in hand, enjoying each other's presence and the warm air out here. They did not notice the other couple stepping out of the shadows at the side of the way. The new couple smiled at each other seductively and stepped towards Brad and Janet. They had found their next victims.

The last noise Brad and Janet heard as humans was Patricia's cruel and pleased laugh.

©2001 by Ariane Budberg