Those kisses weren't just for practice.

dear diary,

Tomorrow will be different, and scary and new, but it will be the start of who I truly am.

The California heat was a brutal, blistering assault on the senses, even as the sky stretched dark and the suburban streets of Sunnydale grew quieter. Aurelia Giles hovered at the bus stop, fresh off a torturous journey from the airport, feeling the seconds drag by as she waited for her uncle, and a far more than awkward reunion.

At last, a battered grey car pulled into the lot, stopping in front of Aurelia and her mound of bags. Seconds later, Rupert Giles steps out, dressed in a suit despite the warmth. He approached Aurelia with caution, like she was a stray dog, an awkward half-stretched smile graced his face, but it missed his eyes, which were flickering up and down her face like he was waiting for her to explode. “Hi.” She managed to muster, voice quiet and timid. She wasn’t sure whether he’d yell or cry or say nothing at all. Instead he surprised her and pulled her in for a one-armed, stiff hug. “You look so grown up.” His voice was fond, almost shocked. Perhaps he still remembered her as that quiet little 12 year old girl who insisted on reading all his books, in languages she didn’t understand, brimmed full of vocabulary she couldn’t even make out on the page. But she wasn’t 12 anymore, but 21, fresh from university, ready for a new chapter of a life he hadn’t been a part of since he had left England three years prior. “Let me get your bags.” He insisted, carrying them to the car and shoving them into his boot. Aurelia climbed in the passenger seat and turned on the air con, letting cool air wash over her. She would miss the cold, the rain, the dim and foggy skies, but she had missed her uncle impossibly, and so weather became nothing to her. They drove home in silence, the radio swallowing the gaps left by their lack of speech.

Eventually they reached Giles’ house. A quaint house covered in yellow stone, flowers and trees blended with brown doors to create the picture of California suburbs. It was a stark difference from their family home back in London, with red brick, and dark accents. This house had light to it, life that flowed from it like gasping breath. Giles gave her a quick tour of the house, the green walls, the small living room, the bright white bathroom down the hall, and the old rickety staircase that led to the attic. He told her how the old owners had converted, added in the bay window that looked directly out to the back entrance. The room was plain, white and mismatched. There was an oak desk in front of the window, a wardrobe and a black metal bed. Scattered about the room were cluttering piles of books that hoarded dust.

“It could do with a bit of decorating. I know, I don't often come up here so it just became storage.” He explained as he set her bags down at the door. “But it’s yours now, so feel free to spruce if you see fit.” With that he left her to unpack, wishing her a goodnight.

Aurelia however was restless, despite the longest most suckiest travelling day she was still buzzing, the blood under her skin thrumming from energy. Her new slayer status offered her many excellent things, better hearing and sight that made reading glasses redundant, faster reflexes, impossible strength and agility, but it had also burdened her with endless energy, energy that she wasn’t using to fight off supernatural demons, leaving her stirring and agitated most nights. Endless energy had been a brilliant companion when she had a dissertation to write, but now it just left her bored and sullen, with violent dark circles and red eyes. She laid in bed for hours, watching clouds shift from her large window before she gave up on sleeping and decided she had exploring to do. Climbing on top of her desk, Aurelia shoved the bay window open, groaning and sore from years of idle use. She pushed herself out and landed on the slanted roof shales, tip toeing across them until she reached the gutter. The top patio of her uncle's garden was a small jump away, and then she was out, free. Aurelia pulled her map of the town out of her jacket pocket and opened it under a street lamp. University of Southern California, Sunnydale was only a 20 minute walk away, and she felt the sudden curiosity creep up her head. She had seen exactly 1 photo of the university, the one on the top of her acceptance letter, and wanted to know where she was going to be studying for the next three years. The streets were quiet as she walked, far quieter than London and even Edinburgh, where she had previously studied. Perhaps it was suburbia that she wasn’t quite useful, but a sinking and nervous feeling settled deep in her stomach that wouldn’t leave.

The university, for all it was worth, was gorgeous. It wasn't the tall, gothic paradise that Edinburgh had been, but it was deeply collegiate, and obnoxiously American. The campus was full of white stone buildings, parks and trees, and drunken students. After a little searching Aurelia found the school of law, and sat on a wooden bench directly in front of it, watching the moon peek out from behind the structure. Fishing around in her pockets, she pulled out her pack of reds and a lighter, enjoying the peaceful air of the university, and finally having a smoke after a hellish day. Aurelia however began to get the funny, unsettling feeling that she was being watched, even though there wasn’t a student in sight, just the rattling of trees and leaves in the soft breeze. She stood up with a sigh, crushing her cigarette and walking back in the direction she came from.

Spike loved college, even though he didn’t go and never had. He loved all its dark alcoves, its hoards of drunken, stupid students that practically offered themselves up to him like a bloody buffet, and the buzzing youthful feeling of uncertainty, something he himself hadn’t felt in over a hundred years, since Drusilla had made him a man, a beast, since he was something people felt uncertain about. He was currently standing underneath the clock tower, watching a lonely woman while he smoked, growing hungry. She sat on the bench, enjoying a smoke herself and looking at nothing in particular. He watched how the heel of her boots skimmed against the concrete floor, the peeking of leather underneath bootcut jeans. He saw the glimpse of what must have been a Bowie shirt underneath her leather jacket as she took a drag, watched the way her deep brown hair flowed around her as she tilted her head back to exhale, and saw how relief and satisfaction flooded her body. Faintly, Spike could hear the soft rapid thrumming of heart, a thrum that felt familiar, like she was nervous and aware. Perhaps she had seen him, but she seemed so relaxed, almost at peace as she took in the nature around her. Spike kept watching as she stood and left, casting a wary glance in his direction as she passed.

When Aurelia finally came downstairs the next morning after 5 outfit changes and a hair malfunction, she found 3 gawking teenagers in her living room. All three of them looked surprised by her presence, like they had expected her to look different, the boy was staring especially hard, making Aurelia feel impossibly uncomfortable. Giles came out of the kitchen to introduce her.

”This is my niece that I was telling you about, Aurelia.” She smiled at the group as she picked up her textbook, they all just kept looking.

“This is Buffy, Willow and Xander.” He introduced, pointing at them respectively. She had heard about Buffy from her uncle’s sparse phone calls, and Aurelia would have thought that it’s nice to put a face to a name, but that face was causing surges of jealousy. Buffy was perfect, tall, blonde and thin. She was stronger than Aurelia in every way, and was her uncle's favourite, in fact she was the entire reason why he had left Aurelia in the first place. The room grew stagnant with tense silence, as both slayers eyed each other. At last Aurelia excused herself for a meeting and scarpered away.

After the world's most dull lecture on property law, Aurelia was ready for a gigantic cup of coffee, gigantic even by American standards. She was first in line, just about to order her jolt when she saw him. A tall and thin man with white hair stood across the courtyard, staring. There was something off about his face though, and when he caught her looking it morphed, bumps protruding from his forehead as he opened his mouth and flashed two sharp fangs at her. Aurelia ran, ankles wobbling in her heels, desperate to get away from him, but he was too fast. He launched himself on her as they rounded the corner, sending them both flying into the grass. Aurelia felt her adrenaline spike, felt her blood humming beneath her skin as she fought him off of her. A pathetic show of claws, kicking and kneeing that caused the vampire on top of her to groan and yelp in pain, but still he persevered. A million questions raced in her mind, all questioning whether she was going loopy or a vampire really was attacking her in broad daylight. With a gripping hand he pulled her up by the neck to be closer to his pointing and protruding teeth, head descending towards her neck. On instinct she reached for something, anything, finding nothing but a bag and a textbook. The textbook would have to do. She swung it at his head with all her strength and managed to send him tumbling off of her. He wasn’t down for long, just long enough for her to grab the stake she had shoved begrudgingly into her bag this morning. Still, she wasn’t quick enough as he climbed on top of her again, knocking the stake out of her hands. She wriggled and fought with all her might as his teeth descended on her neck, biting at the soft skin. She used the distraction to grab the stake again and sent it straight into his chest with enough force to make her arms shake. But he didn't die. She watched in marvel as the wound closed up again, leaving nothing but a hole in his shirt. It didn’t stop him, he kept feeding, kept biting until she was woozy, arms flailing as she weakly pawed at him. Her hand dropped down on top of his as she felt her vision go fuzzy, but he flinched, pulled his hand away with a speed that made her hesitant. She supposed the ordinary person wouldn’t notice such a small detail, but she was biologically attuned to notice, and the ring was making her doubt. The vampire noticed her watching, his other hand went to guard the gaudy ring on his finger but she beat him to it, ripping it off his hand with such speed that she pulled part of his skin off. He screamed in agony immediately as the sun's harsh gaze enveloped him, running to the nearest building as he yelped in pain, leaving Aurelia with a funny feeling, a bloody stake and a ring.

It took Aurelia forty minutes to stumble home, hand clasped over her bleeding neck as she swayed under the harsh sun. She kept turning the ring around in her hand, mystified and more than a little confused. Aurelia was impressed with herself of course, her ability to hold her own when she least expected it, and her quick thinking with the ring, but still she hadn't gotten out of the ordeal unscathed. Thankfully Giles was home when she crashed through the door, going over some books with Buffy. Their attention was drawn to the swaying girl when they saw the bite mark around her neck. Buffy ran for the first aid kit while Giles inspected her neck, the skin red and angry.

“I don’t understand.” Giles stated, as he stared at a bite he was all too familiar with, with no clue as to how it could have occurred.

“I was just trying to get a coffee.” She started, grunting when the burn of the antiseptic grazed the sensitive punctures. “And then some Billy Idol wannabe starts running at me, fangs out in broad daylight.” She sighed as Giles placed a gauze to her neck and Buffy handed her a glass of water. The pair exchanged looks as they watched over Aurelia.

“How was he able to stroll around during the day?” Buffy turned to Giles, expecting her watcher to have all the answers as he always did, but even Giles was stumped, fidgeting with his glasses as if a clear lens would make answers simply appear.

“this ring, i think.” Aurelia explained, holding it up for the pair to inspect. “He was being super weird about it, and the second I pulled it off of him he started burning.” Giles took it from her hand, turning it over in his hand as it all slid into place.

“Did you say he looked like Billy Idol?” Giles asked, looking at her intently.

“Yeah, tall, thin, blonde and covered in leather.” Buffy and the watcher looked at each other as realisation dawned upon them both.

”Spike.” They said in unison, and Buffy was already pulling out her cellphone.

A short while later the other two had arrived, as well as Willow's boyfriend and the gang had assembled. The “scoobies”, Aurelia learnt they called themselves, were pouring over books about the gem of Amara, while Aurelia acquainted herself with Spike, or William the bloody as he was also known. She shuddered as she continued to read, learning about a century’s worth of torture and murder, including that of two slayers. She was lucky to be sitting in her own living room right now, with consciousness and pumping blood. Spike had become her wake-up call, her realisation that she was in over her head, that she needed to train, to be stronger, no matter what Giles said.

“I should give it to Angel.” Buffy said finally, tearing her eyes away from the green gem. Giles looked up in surprise, as did xander.

“I have a gig in L.A soon, I can give it to him then.” Oz, Willow’s boyfriend, stated. Buffy smiled appreciatively, nodding as she drew back into the couch. Aurelia’s mind was racing, now that it was able to fully process information. Who the hell is Angel? She thought, but the tension that had blanketed the room kept her quiet and guessing.