Resurrecting Ravana by Ray Garton Read Free Book Online Page B

being supernatural.”
    “Waiting for these things to show other traits means people start getting eaten to the bone,” Buffy reminded him.
    He lifted the open book from his lap and placed it on top of the others on his desk, then wheeled his chair back from the desk and turned it toward Buffy.
    “I’ve thought of that, and needless to say, I find that possibility . . . well, unpleasant at best,” he said. “There is nothing we can do now, because we have absolutely no idea what this thing is. Or, of course . . . things.”
    Buffy pushed away from the desk and leaned heavily against the wall. “This isn’t any local wildlife, Giles. It’s something we’re unfamiliar with, but it’s not coyotes or a bear or a pack of ravenous possums.”
    “I’m inclined to agree with you, Buffy,” Giles said. “But for now, our hands are tied.”
    “I could patrol cow pastures tonight,” Buffy suggested.
    Giles carefully closed the three books on his desk. “I suspect that would be a waste of time. So far, this has only happened twice, and in different locations. For all we know, it may not happen again, and if it does, we haven’t a clue where it will be. I’d like you to confine your patrol to the usual locales, Buffy. Tomorrow, we’ll see what happens.”
    Buffy said nothing, but she thought about how easy it would be to just go ahead and do it, anyway. She could call Oz, and he could pick her up in his van. They could find a pasture somewhere around Sunnydale, and she could wait . . . just wander and wait for something, or things, to show up.
    That was what Buffy would do under different circumstances, but not these. Deep down, she knew Giles was right. They knew so little — nothing really — about what they were dealing with, it would be a waste of time. And any night Buffy spent not patrolling her usual route was an invitation to trouble.
    Both girls stood silently in the office, their faces thoughtful and a little tense. Giles looked back and forth between them, waiting for one of them to do or say something. When neither of them did, he spoke:
    “I believe you have a number of tests coming up, correct?”
    They both flinched, as if slapped out of their own thoughts. “Yeah,” Buffy and Willow said simultaneously.
    “Then I suggest you go study for them while things are quiet and uneventful.” He smiled a friendly but dismissive smile, letting them know it was time for them to go.
    Outside the library, the hall was dark and their footsteps echoed in the empty silence.
    Willow felt tense. She’d been up and down these halls a million times, even at night when they were kind of creepy, as they were now. It wasn’t that. It was the way she’d been feeling lately, neglected by her friends, especially her best friend, and it was making her uncomfortable around Buffy. It was the knowledge that something was still out there eating whole cows, something she might have brought to Sunnydale with her uncertain magic, with that ancient, moldy old spell that might not even have been intact.
    “So,” Willow said hesitantly, glancing at Buffy, whose eyes were directed straight ahead, “are you really, um, going to go study now?”
    “I’ll probably patrol for a while. I’ll study later.”
    Willow chewed her lower lip as she silently debated whether or not to ask the next question, then: “I could help if you’d like.”
    Without turning to look at Willow, Buffy said, “Nah. Slayer’s hours. Some midnight oil-burning. That kinda thing. You’ll be asleep.”
    That hasn’t been a problem in the past, Willow thought. Her feet felt very heavy as she took the remaining steps to the door. She stiffened as they turned to face one another.
    “Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Willow said, forcing as much of a smile as she could muster.
    “Yeah, tomorrow.” Buffy nodded once, then pushed out the door. Outside, she opened her umbrella and went down the steps.
    Willow hadn’t brought an umbrella because it