Buffy gratefully accepted the glass of orange juice that Drusilla gave her. “Thanks Princess.”

“Sunshine takes care of Princess, Princess takes care of Sunshine.” Drusilla said as she started to twirl. “My tummy feels all tingly now!”

Buffy laughed as she watched Drusilla twirl about the room. “Do you want to go see Lorne tonight sweetie?”

“Oh, yes please! Maybe there will be funny people singing funny songs there tonight. Princess can see if the Vision Seeker sees what Princess sees.” Drusilla stopped spinning and fixed a devilishly devious smile on Buffy. “And maybe Sunshine will sing for Princess?”

“Maybe Dru, maybe. Nevertheless, don’t get your hopes up. Buffy and singing, not so mixy.” Buffy said as she rinsed out the glass.

Drusilla smiled to herself as she waited for Buffy to finish getting ready. Her Knight would be there tonight, and it was time for Sunshine and the Knight to meet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun had set about an hour ago, beckoning the denizens of the darkness out to frolic in the moonlit streets and alleyways. One such denizen was currently pacing back and forth in front of a recessed door, over which a sign that simply read “Caritas” was hung.

“Nope, not going in there. I can’t believe that lil twit sent me to a bleeding karaoke bar!” Spike half shouted, half muttered to himself. “I have a reputation to maintain! I’m a bloody Master Vampire. I’ve killed two slayers. I do not do karaoke!” Spike paused in his pacing and glared at the door. “But this guy Lorne, supposedly can help me find m’girl.” Spike sighed heavily. “Right then, looks like it’s into the lions den, so to speak.” Looking for all the world as if he was about to be executed, Spike yanked open the door to Caritas and passed through the dimly lit entrance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having spent a rather harrowing day at work, dealing with the principal and his ideas about maximizing student usage of the library, Giles was more than happy to hear the bell that signaled the end of the school day. Shortly after the bell had rung, he heard the sounds of voices approaching.

“C’mon Wills, we can at least tell Giles my idea. You never know, it could be just the thing to crack the mystery of this letter.” Xander loudly defended his idea.

“I don’t know Xander, it seems a little…” Willow started to say, but was interrupted.

“Childish. That’s the word you are looking for Willow. Childish. But what can you expect from someone who spends his time reading comic books.” Cordelia haughtily stated as she shoved past the two bickering teens and into the library.

“What is childish?” Giles inquired, hoping to forestall the argument he could sense brewing in the air around the three teens.

Xander turned to Giles, practically bouncing as he told Giles his idea. “I was thinking about the letter you got. You know the one that looks kind of like a puzzle. Well I was watching this show, and it made me wonder if what they did to hide their message was what whoever wrote this did.”

“Oh come on Harris. Just because some idiot actor did it on a TV show doesn’t mean that it’s even remotely possible. Grow up and enter reality.” Cordelia snapped.

“Please Miss Chase; I want to hear what Xander has to say. Yes Xander? Do go on, what did these people do on the show?” Giles gently encouraged Xander.

“Well, they wrote the word down, and then erased part of it. You know? Like this.” Xander ripped a page out of his notebook and demonstrated by writing the word “school” and then erasing part of it, on the diagonal, and drew a line to connect some of the letters together. “Makes it look like it’s complete, but doesn’t mean anything unless you know what’s been done.”

Giles looked at Xander in astonishment, but before he could say anything Willow piped up. “See Xander, he doesn’t think it’s possible. I mean they probably didn’t even have to hide things like this back then.”

“On the contrary Willow. I think Xander has hit the proverbial nail on the head.” Giles said. “This means that I might be able to figure out at least the first word of this blasted letter, if not the entire line.” Giles eagerly placed the letter on the table and sat down. “Who is up for helping me?”

“Not me,” Cordelia snapped. “I have better things to do than hang around all night in the school library.” This said, she picked up her books and stormed out of the library.

“Sure G-man, I’ll help. After all, it was my idea and you might need my expertise to help you through the process.” Xander said with some pride.

“Count me in Giles; I want to see how this works.” Willow sat down across from Giles and looked over at the paper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town, in the darkened interior of an abandoned factory, Angel was waiting for someone. He hoped they got there soon, as he had to make an appearance of protecting the innocents so that the watcher would continue to trust him.

“You are always were prompt, weren’t you Angel.” A feminine voice spoke from the shadows. “Do you have anything to report?”

“Not much, just that the watcher got a letter the other day, and is having trouble deciphering the language it’s written in.” Angel said, trying to catch a glimpse of his companion.

“Do you think this letter has any bearing on our plans?” The voice asked.

“Not unless it contains information as to where the slayer is.” Angel answered. “Which I doubt. Even the Watcher’s Council can’t seem to locate the girl.”

“Good. Keep us informed of any developments,’ the figure moved slightly. “Oh, and there are a few minions in Shady Hill cemetery. They’ve been sent there to help you keep up appearances.” With this said, the figure disappeared into the shadows and was gone.