Buffy put a hand on her shoulder. Willow saw the regret and the stress in her eyes, and wished she could do more to help.

"Hey. Arewe okay?" Buffy asked.

"Peachy," Willow said with a firm nod. "Without the pit, even."

"We're in a place with fruit," Buffy replied happily. "Gotta like it. As long as we go nowhere near lemons. There's a whole sour element there."

"No lemons," Willow promised.

Giles rose from the table as Buffy approached.

"Sorry for the l.u.s.tus interruptus," she said, casting a meaningful glance at Olivia, who smiled and waved without the faintest trace of embarra.s.sment.

And why should she be embarra.s.sed,Willow thought.It's her boyfriend's apartment, they're consenting adults, and we're the intruders here. On the other hand, with their positions reversed Willow knew that she'd be blushing scarlet and barely able to speak beyond a babble.

"Yes, well, ritual ma.s.s murder does tend to take priority over almost anything else," Giles told her.

Buffy cast a sidelong glance at Willow. "See, it's the 'ma.s.s' in there that always gets me. I hate vampires with ambition. Why can't they be ambition free?"

In the corner, as he placed the needle on vinyl, Oz spoke without looking up from the antique record player. "Everyone's gotta have a dream."

Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, well, your timing is impeccable as usual, Buffy. I believe we've found what we're looking for."

"We were just waiting for you to get here," Willow said helpfully. "Giles didn't want to repeat himself."

"Sorry I held you guys up."

Giles held up a hand to wave away her apology. "No matter. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Willow and Buffy sat together on the sofa. Oz left the Rolling Stones on with the volume low and wandered over. Olivia gazed at them for a moment, then rolled her eyes good-naturedly and went up the stairs into the loft.

Giles gave them all a sheepish glance and shrugged. "Olivia's a skeptic," he told them in a stage whisper.

"Thinks we're all a bit mad, I suspect."

"She should spend more time in Sunnydale," Buffy replied. "It'd make a believer out of her."

Oz settled deeply into an old chair. Giles stood before them, leaning only a little against the dining room table, cracked leather book in his right hand.

"According to all the legends I've been able to find, Camazotz was not a vampire, but a G.o.d," Giles began.

"Ooh, pagan deities. Have we slain any of those yet?" Willow asked excitedly.

Oz smiled down at her, touched the side of her face. "None of the big ones."

"Camazotz is not exactly a household name," Buffy put in. "I'm guessing he's not one of the big ones, either."

"On the contrary," Giles countered. He opened the book in his hand and flipped to a page toward the end. The paper crackled as he turned the pages. When he held it up for them, Willow saw immediately what he meant for them to see. A drawing in the lower left corner of the page showed a hideous creature like a giant humanoid bat, with p.r.i.c.kly fur and pointed ears, long tapered talons and leathery, veined wings. It had a dozen smaller limbs with their own talons protruding from its chest and a thick ratlike tail with what appeared to be a sharp spike at the end.

"According to the ancient Mayans," Giles continued, "Camazotz was the G.o.d of bats. He was wed to the dark G.o.ddess Zotzilaha Chimalman, and purportedly dwelt in an ancient, tomblike cave that led to a realm of darkness and death. Translated, the name of his lair was simply the House of Bats."

Buffy shifted on the couch. "So we're thinking demon. Tunnel to realms of death sounds like a h.e.l.l-mouth to me."

"Or," Willow put in quickly, "at least a h.e.l.l-nostril."

Everyone looked at her oddly.

"Bad metaphor," she muttered to herself. "Bad, icky metaphor."

Giles turned to slide the tattered old book onto the dining room table. Then he picked up another, smaller volume that was obviously much more recent, though still quite old. When he opened it Willow could see that the text inside had been written by hand and she knew it must be one of the journals kept by the Watchers over the ages.

"The Council let you keep those?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

"Hmm?" Giles glanced up at her and frowned.

Willow wished she had not brought it up. Giles had been fired from the Council because they had felt his relationship with Buffy had become too emotional, that he cared too much for her to be an effective Watcher. He had been angry with them and seemed more than content to cut off all contact, but Willow suspected it was still a sore spot. Still, she had brought it up.

"The journal," she said. "Kinda thought with, y'know, the divorce, that the Council would have asked for those back."

"Ah, yes. Well, Wesley did confiscate most of the handwritten ones I had. I was allowed to keep those that were not originals and this single volume. It was written by my grandmother, who was quite a storyteller, actually. She cataloged many of the odd vampire myths and legends she came across. I thought I remembered something about Mayans in here. If the stories she was told are true, Camazotz was the sp.a.w.n of a union between a true demon, one of the first to walk the Earth, and a G.o.d. What 'G.o.d' means in these terms is really anyone's guess, since no one has ever really been able to catalog a meeting with one, to my knowledge.

"Suffice to say, Camazotz is a very ancient creature. Decidedly not a vampire, you understand, but my grandmother notes one particular theory that Camazotz was the demon responsible for thecreation of vampires."

Buffy slid to the edge of the couch and stared at him. "Can that be true?"

"We have no way of knowing," Giles replied. "Nor have I been able to ascertain, thus far, why his vampire followers should have powers greater than their brethren."

"The G.o.d of bats. So the markings on their faces are what, his personal logo?"

"It probably comes from that cave," Willow suggested. "Okay, a.s.suming dark and nasty lair really existed, not much of a stretch to think lots of bats there." She nodded sagely. "I'm thinking maybe he believes his own hype. G.o.d of bats. Tattoos the lackeys."

"Or a brand," Buffy said. "Like on cattle. To mark them as his."

Giles seemed to contemplate that for a moment, then held up his grandmother's journal. "The one thing in the journal that reflects the Mayan legends is the idea that Camazotz was the prince of the Mayan legions of darkness, a leader among the creatures of the night. He is a formidable foe."

"That's all we've got? Nothing on the lackeys?" Buffy asked, resignation in her voice. "Sparkly eyes, life-force sucking? Nothing?"

"For the moment I'm afraid that's it," Giles said. "It's possible the draining effect was the sorcery of that particular vampire, but time will tell. Buffy, why don't you -"

"I'll patrol again tonight. See if I can't finally hold on to one of these guys. With the brands on their faces, they're hard to miss. I might swing by w.i.l.l.y's and see if he's got any information for us."

Buffy stood up, tossed her jacket over her shoulder again, and started for the door. While they'd been talking, she'd been relaxed and even joking around. But Willow saw the change come over her.

Suddenly she was all business again, doing it all on her own.

"Will, can you call Xander, ask him and Anya to come by. Giles can brief them. If Anya has any contacts among the demon set that she's still willing to talk to, maybe she can make a few calls.

Otherwise you guys should just be checking the paper, airline records, shipping manifests, trying to figure out how they got here and where they could all be staying. That's a lotta new vampires at once. Bigger than a breadbox. My guess is Camazotz will have a Sunnydale version of his House of Bats somewhere.

That's something else to check. Where would we find bats around here?"

As Buffy spoke, Willow's eyes widened with alarm and awkwardness. "Um," she countered. "Maybe Oz and I can just go by Xander's. Giles has sort of done his part for the moment."

Buffy glanced up into the loft where Olivia had gone. "Right!" she said quickly. "Absolutely. All done with Giles, at least until the morning. We'll do just fine. Really. We'll check in tomorrow."

Giles busied himself with reorganizing the books on the table as Willow and Oz quickly followed Buffy out.

In front of Giles's apartment, they turned to face each other.

"Sure you don't need any backup on patrol?" Willow asked.

Buffy shook her head. "I've got it. Besides, I'm just going to sweep the regular circuit and swing past the areas where I've seen them before, then I'm going to head back to the dorm early, try to work on that paper and not think about how badly I messed up my history exam."

Willow wanted to reach out to her, to help in some way, but Buffy had been like one big frayed nerve the last few days. Still, she had to try.

"Hey. I know you're h.e.l.l-bent on handling everything yourself, but everybody needs help sometimes, right? Are you sure you don't want us to round up a posse, go out and pinch-hit for you tonight so you can get that paper in? You could save yourself a whole letter grade. It isn't like we haven't done it before."

Buffy sighed with frustration. "I know that, all right? And it isn't that I don't appreciate it. But you shouldn't have to. It isn't your responsibility, it's mine. I can't keep leaning on you or anyone else. If I'm going to have a life beyond being the Slayer, I've got to do it myself, I've got to know that I can handle it."

Oz said nothing, only watched the two girls. Willow gazed imploringly at Buffy.

"Your friends are part of this life you're talking about having, Buffy."

Buffy's mouth twitched and a grimace of hurt washed across her features. Then she sighed and her expression hardened.

"You don't understand, Will. But that's okay, really. How can anyone?"

With that, she turned and walked away. Willow stared after her best friend as she disappeared into the darkness, hoping Buffy would turn around, hoping she would see that she could not do it alone.

Willow was about to call after her when Oz put a hand on her arm.

"Let it go."

She gazed at him, not understanding.

"It's hard for her, trying to make it all work," he said.

Willow glanced down, trying and failing to hide her hurt. "It's hard for all of us. Can't she see that it isn't just her? That n.o.body can deal with everything life throws them if they're all alone?"

"Give it some time. She'll come around," he promised. Then he slipped an arm around her and walked her to his van.

As they drove over to Xander's house, Willow stayed silent, holding her hurt close.

CHAPTER 5.

"We got nothing."

With a frown, Giles looked up from the map of Sunnydale that was spread across his dining room table.

Xander and Anya sat on the floor in the middle of his apartment with the previous week's local newspapers arranged around them so expansively it appeared as though Giles had bought a puppy that was not yet housebroken.

"Surely there must be something," Giles said, disheartened at Xander's declaration. "A downed plane.

Strange stories from the border patrol. Violence at airport customs in Los Angeles. Something to give us just an inkling of where they might have made their lair locally." Anya gestured with a hand to indicate the newspapers. "Nothing. The new mayor has issued more lies disguised as promises, as expected of the more talented politicians. The Coast Guard is fighting charges they didn't act fast enough to clean up that oil spill last week. Nothing. Last night was boring and pointless. So is today."

"We've got bubkes," Xander added.

Anya, a former demon herself, and Xander's girl-friend, glanced at him uncertainly. "Bubkes?"

"Nada," Xander told her. "Zilch. Zip. Zero. Squat. Diddly." He shrugged. "Bubkes."

"Odd," Anya told him. She shook her head ever so slightly, an expression of frustration with the confusing world around her that was almost as common as the disparaging tone she took with most everyone. "It sounds almost like a s.e.xual act."

"Oh, for G.o.d's sake," Giles muttered under his breath. The two of them did go on a bit about the more carnal aspects of their relationship.

"You're right," Xander said thoughtfully. "I think it's our job to invent that. Bubkes. We'll be the first."

"Do you two mind?" Giles snapped. "What we're dealing with here is quite serious. An infestation of new vampires led by an ancient demon-G.o.d. Lucy Hanover visits Buffy in a dream to warn her that something terrible is on the horizon just as she runs across this new group? I'm certain there's a connection. I suggest you get serious about working with me to figure out where these new arrivals are secreting themselves, or simply take your . . . distractions with you and go elsewhere."

Anya grinned, an amiable expression on her face. "Excellent," she said, climbing to her feet. "Let's go, Xander. We've only made it halfway through theKa-masutra and there are dozens of -"

Xander had the good sense to be somewhat embarra.s.sed. "Um, Anya? That was sarcasm. Hard to tell with Giles, I know. But he needs help and was kidding about wanting us to leave." Then Xander frowned and glanced at Giles. "Right?"

"Not terribly certain of that myself," Giles replied dryly. "But, yes, I could use all the help I can get. I don't know why Buffy and Willow have not yet called me back."

"The Buffster's got nothing or she would have called you this morning, don't you think?" Xander said.

"She went down to w.i.l.l.y's Alibi Room, intimidated w.i.l.l.y. If she'd gotten anything from him she would have called."

Giles glanced across the room at his phone, then glared down at the map on the table as if it were purposely withholding information from him. In a way, he almost felt as though it were.

"I suppose," he allowed. "And if anything had happened to her, Willow would have informed us this morning."

"Or she might have, if she wasn't so ticked off at Buffy," Anya interjected.

Both Xander and Giles looked at her with identical expressions of confusion.

Anya only rolled her eyes."Men. You never pay attention. I'd bet someone's soul - not my own, of course - that Willow stayed at Oz's last night and hasn't spoken to Buffy at all today."

"Right," Giles snapped. He pushed back his chair and gathered the map up in his hands. "Let's head over there straightaway. If this Camazotz identified her as the Slayer, it's quite possible that -"

The phone rang.