Fic. "Predator 4/10" 'R'

["A.M. Glass" <glasswrks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: "Predator" 4/10
Author: Angela
Copyright: Jan. 14, 2000
E-Mail: glasswrks@xxxxxxxxx
Rating: 'R'
Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters from "Buffy The
Vampire Slayer". I'm only using them for a brief
interlude. No copyright infringement is intended or
inferred. All original characters are the sole
property of the author and can not be used without
expressed permission first. *Ooh* I'm not even sure at
this point if there *will* be any original characters
yet.
Author's Note: I believe this story will be a somewhat
radical departure for me, in regards to the content of
the story. I hope not to disappoint any one who has
read my previous stories with this one. I will be
using a single quotation marks ( ' ) for thoughts and
the asterisk for ( * ) emphasis on words.

PART 4

After completing her classes, Willow headed straight
for the dorm room she shared with Buffy. She thought
about her conversation with Professor Reid, when she
had asked the professor to review her story.

'It's very good Willow. I can't wait to see how
it ends,' the Professor had told her.

She was giddy and it seemed that the professor could
see what her words had provoked.

'But Willow, don't forget about life's little
surprises. Your character leaves her home to spare her
family and friends, correct?' Willow nodded her head.
'Your character will do that *before* the
transformation&'

Willow realized what her teacher was trying to tell
her.

'I'll remember that,' she replied solemnly.

She knew what she had to do with the story, but she
would have to do it later. Booting up her computer,
Willow began the task of gathering information. She
went to her bookmarks and proceeded to download copies
of all the newspaper articles involving the attacks.
After doing that, she hacked into the police computer,
downloading as much as she could.

> > From what she was reading, the attacks were sexual in
nature. What was odd about the cases was the fact that
up to a certain point, all the victims had been
willing participants. In all the reports, a common
thread appeared. All the victims stated that they felt
compelled to accompany their attacker. No threats were
ever uttered.

'I couldn't help myself,' was the reply most
given when asked by the police, why they went with the
stranger.

The comments given by eyewitness seemed to be the
same.

'He was sitting with his date I guess.'

Willow could read the name *Miss Emily James* written
in afterwards.

'& sitting with his date I guess, when this
woman
walked right up to him. She told him something, he
stood up and started leaving with her.'

The eyewitness was asked what happened after that.

'Well, the guys' date (The aforementioned Miss
James) stood up and followed them before grabbing the
other lady by the shoulders and turning her around. I
can tell you, I thought there was going to be a fight.
Here's the odd thing though, the stranger, she moved
*really* close to the guy's date. I mean *really*
close. She was practically in the other lady's face.
She bent her head forward. I thought for a second that
she was going to kiss her. She whispered something.
Whatever it was, the guy's date just nodded her head
and went back to her table. Like nothing happened. By
the time I looked back, they were gone.'

Willow wasn't the only person who wanted to know what
was said. The detectives had asked Miss James
repeatedly during the course of her interview and she
continued to give the same answer: she couldn't
remember. Miss James said she could recall the entire
day and the early part of the evening up to sitting
down for dinner but nothing else.

Willow was able to track down the other reports and
noticed that they seemed similar. She glanced at the
notes she jotted down.

1) Victim(s) never met the assailant prior to the
attack.
2) No force was used to get the victim(s) to accompany
the assailant.
3) If the victims were with someone else, something
was whispered to that person and they returned to
their table or other location without comment.
4) No one could recall what was said.
5) A bruise was found on each victim, on the chest
above the heart.
6) Each victim when found, reported an extreme sense
of weakness and had trouble getting around.

Unfortunately for Willow, she had to break her
connection with the police computers before she was
caught. Carefully gathering her notes along with the
copies of the police reports she'd printed out, she
put them in a folder. Grabbing her bag, she left the
dorm room and headed for Giles'.

***

"Ah Willow, I take it your search proved
productive?" Giles asked, as she entered his
apartment.

"Yeah. I was able to get copies of the police
reports. They aren't finalized, only preliminaries,"
she said, handing him the folder.

"I see," he muttered, delving into the reports.

"I made some notes of things I noticed about the
cases," she told him, as she sat down on the couch.

"Excellent work Willow," he told her smiling at
her, before getting back to the information she'd
brought. "Willow?"

"Yes Giles?"

"You didn't happen to get a copy of the mark
they
seemed to be referring to, did you?" he asked
hopefully.

"No, I didn't. I'm sorry. I didn't spend too
much
time on-line. There are more people working on the
afternoon shift," she explained.

"Of course. Your notes are very good and should
help immeasurably," he told her.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked.

"They went to pay Willie a visit," he told her,
searching through his books until he found the right
one.

Willow closed her eyes as she experienced as sharp
pain throughout her body.

"Giles, would you excuse me please?"

"Of course," he replied, looking up from the
book. "Willow& are you alright? You seem a bit pale."

"I'm fine. I'll be right back," she answered,
putting on a brave face until she was out of sight,
then doubled over as another jolt hit her. Breathing
heavily, Willow managed to reach the bathroom door,
her hand was shaking as she opened it. Stepping
inside, she closed the door behind her, leaning
against it. She walked the few steps to the sink.

"It's time for me to play," she heard.

__________________________________________________
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