TITLE: Lost Kitty On A Mission (chapter 3)

***

A week had passed, and Buffy was finally back on her feet. It was late morning, and everyone was waiting for her in the magic shop. Buffy wasn't so anxious to go since she knew that everyone thought she was crazy to think a cat did this to her. Still, they were good friends, and looked for anything that could help.

"Buffy!" Willow cried, excited to see her best friend healthy.

Buffy entered the magic shop, and put her bag on the nearest chair.

"Hey, guys." She sighed quietly. "Do you have anything for me ... about the ... kitten?" No one spoke at first, which made the whole thing very awkward.

"Buffy," Giles spoke, "we have been searching for quite a while, and I'm afraid that we have not found any information about an ... evil ... cat."

"Well, then, we have to keep searching." Buffy didn't sound too determined, but she was sure that the kitten was the one who had attacked her, and they had to find out why.

"Listen, Buffy ..." Willow found it hard to tell her best friend that they had found nothing, but she knew she had to. "We searched in all the books, and on the computer. We also looked up anything about shape shifters, you know, demons that can turn into animals, but they don't turn into cats because cats are thought as weak creatures since they were domesticated."

Buffy was already very frustrated. "So what you're trying to say is that I don't know what I'm talking about? That I'm crazy?! I'm telling you it was the cat, I SWEAR!"

No one said anything, and all avoided looking at Buffy.

"Willow, you have to believe me! You saw how she scratched me that night at your place. Maybe we thought it was nothing then, but I'm telling you ... I know what I saw. It was Miss Kitty ..."

Suddenly, Spike burst in through the door with a smoky blanket over his head.

"The Slayer's right, I saw the cat too," the vampire told them. "I just forgot it since I was ... well ... you know ... nervous and worried."

Buffy walked up to Spike, and punched him hard in the nose. "What took you so long to say something?"

"Damn you, Slayer, you should thank me for saying anything at all. I could've easily kept my gob closed and let your friends think you're bloody nuts. Bloody hell, Slayer, you would have been dead if it weren't for me."

Buffy sighed again. "You're right ... I'm ... I'm sorry."

"Well," Xander said, "I guess the Buffster was right after all. I never doubted it."

Anya elbowed Xander hard. "Yes you did, you were the one that said that maybe Buffy losing so much blood messed up her brain a bit."

Buffy didn't respond; she didn't feel like arguing now. "Lets just get to work," she said. "So ... what do we have so far?"

"Nothing," Giles said. "Nothing but a little killer kitty on the loose."

***

The young girl walked through the dark streets, the wind blowing through her long brown hair. Suddenly, a black and white kitten jumped off a nearby tree. She meowed loudly at the girl, and then started to walk off, in the direction of the graveyard. The girl followed her.

After a few minutes, they reached a building hidden by the trees outside of the graveyard. The girl looked at it curiously. She had been living in Sunnydale for a while, and never really realized that the gray building existed.

The kitten stopped at the door, and looked at the girl, as if trying to tell her to go inside. Somehow, she seemed understand the kitten, and opened the door.

Inside, she had to squint her eyes in the dark. An awful smell filled her nose; the smell of corpses.

Suddenly, a woman was standing before her. She was tall and very skinny, but that was all the girl could make out in the dark.

"You came," she said in an eerie voice. "I knew you would come. You've made a smart choice. I will reward you if you help me."

The girl couldn't see the woman's eyes, but she could feel them in hers, staring straight through her, into her.

The woman continued speaking. "You will help us get to the Chosen One. You are closer to her than us. Bring her to us, to our daughter. When you do, I will reward you."

The girl did not want to do this, but she could feel something controlling her. She nodded her head, and then left the building.

She walked home slowly unable to shake the feeling of the woman's eyes on her, in her.

***

Buffy lay awake in her bed, thinking. She had never thought she would be afraid of a cat; actually, she had always wanted a pet cat. Now she was sure that once this whole thing was over, she would stay away from cats.

Something was wrong, and it wasn't only the cat. All of Buffy's instincts were warning her of nearby danger, of betrayal that will soon come upon her. Was she going to betray someone, or was someone out to betray her?

***

Miss Kitty walked miserably through the dark streets. She had failed at her task, and now her makers were even angrier with her. They had even felt the need to call on someone else to help her with the job, or maybe even do the job for her.

She spotted a nearby alley that seemed quiet. Resting in an empty trash can, Miss Kitty reflected on her life and her past. She was the key to release her kind. The prophecy was clear. When the last child turned 1006, they could leave the darkness. Then, their power would relive within them and they would conquer. The only danger ever mentioned in the prophecies was the Chosen One, now known as the Slayer. Only she, Miss Kitty Fantastico, the last child, could kill her. The rest were to weak.

Everyone thought that she would be the perfect little child, but she made trouble from the day she was born. Miss Kitty hated the responsibility she was given, and so she made trouble, hoping that the task would be removed from her, but it wasn't; it was just made harder. Now she was a cat, and had to find a way to kill the Chosen One in her animal form. If only she had done things differently that night, then she would not have been punished ...

***

(Sunnydale, September 13, 2000)

"Don't do it, Fiorela!" The woman yelled.

Fiorela was of young appearance, though just this day, she celebrated her 1005th birthday. She hated her life, from the beginning. She was different from all the children. In the beginning, she would go to school with some of the other children that could pass as normal, but then she started making trouble and asking questions before her time.

She didn't listen to her mother, and threw the already lit torch in her hand into the small room on the west side of the gray building. After mere seconds, screams filled the room, and then silence. Sharion, Fiorela's mother, fell to her knees, weeping.

"How could you?" she cried loudly. "Who do you think you are? How could you disrespect me when I said no?"

Thirty dead corpses lay burnt in the room beside them. Fiorela walked out, satisfied. Later that evening, when she came home, she found a furious mother in a room lit only by three candles. That was when she was taught her final lesson; she got the ultimate punishment. They turned her into an evil cat.

***

(Present time, the next morning)

Willow searched through the books on the second floor of the magic shop. That was usually where the dangerous dark stuff was. She found nothing about an evil cat, but she did find something else that looked interesting. It was a folded peace of parchment; it looked like an old prophecy.

"Giles!" she yelled. "Come here, I think I found something cool."

She smiled to her self, looking at the parchment. It was always fun to find old stuff.

"What is it?" Giles asked, climbing up the steps.

"I think it's some kind of prophecy. I found it in this book."

Giles took off his glasses, and studied the parchment carefully. "Hmmm ... Well, I do recognize the language. It's ancient demon, very old, but easy to read since it was an international language. I suppose I never found this since I don't use that book much. Shall we start translating?"

"Sure," Willow answered with a wide smile on her face.

***

(Three hours later)

"Hey, guys." Buffy came in to the magic shop and sat down. She was tired after not sleeping much the night before. She couldn't shake that eerie feeling, that someone was not what they seemed.

"Buffy!" Willow cried. "You should take a look at this!"

Buffy stood beside Willow, who was translating the prophecy on her laptop.

"Is it something about Missy Kitty?" she asked curiously.

"No," Willow answered, " but I think that it's important. Buffy, have you ever heard of Golden Eye demons before?"

Buffy looked confused at the name of the demons. "No, not that I remember," she answered, still thinking.

"We found this prophecy of theirs," Willow was saying. "It sounds serious. Apparently, these demons have been living in Sunnydale for 1005 years already, and are planning on destroying it once their last child turns 1006."

Buffy, still confused, sat down to think for a moment. "So, what you're trying to say, Will, is that all this time there have been these major demons in Sunnydale and no one has noticed them?"

Willow, now also a bit confused, read the prophecy again. "I guess. The prophecy also gives a little background. The Golden Eye demons are ancient evil. They used to rule whole empires. Their power lies in their eyes. Originally, there were only two of them, a man and a woman. Sharion and Darion the Great. Though they lasted only for a while, they caused great destruction. A wizard cursed them, covering their eyes with a thick layer of skin. This made most their powers fade except for their mind manipulation and their ability to change form. Then, the brother of the wizard, who was evil, tried to help the demons. He gave them away to get their powers back. They had to have 1000 followers, which would be their own children, and when the last one was born 10,000 years after the curse, only he or she would be able to free them on his or hers 1006 birthday. But here's the catch, this child first has to kill the Chosen One of that time. That's you, Buffy. The child that was to be born is the prophecy, and I think that it's now almost 1006, leaving us little time to find and kill it."

Buffy sighed deeply. "So another thing is out to kill me. The fun just never ends, does it?"

Giles, who was standing behind the shop counter, joined the girls' conversation.

"Do you think maybe the kitten has something to do with this?"

"No!" Willow said aggressively.

"Will, he has a point," Buffy said. "You did say that the time has almost come, and the cat has only been around for a short time."

"But the prophecy says that the child has to do the job itself."

Just then, Dawn walked in to the shop. She looked a bit pale. "Buffy, I was looking for you everywhere," she told her sister. "Come, we have to go now. It's really important."

Something deep inside Buffy was telling her to stay where she was, but she ignored her inner feelings. If Dawn needed her, she'd have to go.

***

After a ten minute silent walk, Dawn and Buffy had gotten to the graveyard.

"Dawn, why are we here?" Buffy sounded a bit worried.

"Buffy, trust me, okay?"

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that lately ..."

Buffy didn't even finish her sentence, as Dawn suddenly started screaming. "BUFFY! HELP ME, I CAN'T CONTROL IT!"

"Dawn?! What is it?"

Dawn fell to the ground, hitting her head hard. Buffy picked her up, and started running towards the main street when suddenly, out of nowhere, she appeared. Miss Kitty Fantastico.

Buffy didn't know what to do. The kitten's eyes were fixated on her. It was obvious that she was going to pounce.

Buffy put Dawn down, and to her surprise, she got up and ran away. "I'M SORRY ... SO SORRY ..." she yelled as she disappeared in to the shadows.

Now it was only Buffy and Miss Kitty. Buffy knew she could easily grab the little furball and finish the whole thing once and for all, but when she looked down at the small kitty that was her enemy ... she couldn't do it. Miss Kitty, the first ever evil cat was about to murder the Slayer, and all she could do was stand frozen in place.

T.B.C.