Rosebud

Air Date: 30/10/2000

15 Aug 2000, Tuesday

Leda recovers. The sense of hatred from the knife is very draining for her and she is still weak from the attack. She says the knife is very strange, something not quite right about it. It is present in both the physical and spirit worlds, polluting both worlds but like an anchor. It is unusual in that way. There are places which are like it’s opposite, very light and happy places, but it is not normal for objects to be present in both worlds. The group discuss it – could it be affected by time where more recent events present stronger sensations? Faith says the knife has been used to kill vampires and she thought she felt it tingle once. Alex returns, talks to Faith about borrowing the knife for a few days and leaves again.

Cam and Ken do eerie things in the other room

Over the next week or so....

Leda disappears but pops back in and out regularly. She is feeling much stronger and heals fast – being in the house and part of a family again seems to be very good for her.

Faith spends a few more days mooching around the house and drinking, then starts going for walks. At first she goes for only a few hours at a time but this soon turns into whole days.

No-one tells Conrad about the knife or file.

The twins do party planning things.

Alex gets busy with the knife. She discovers that it is extremely sharp and is having trouble dulling or marking the blade. She thinks it may have been forged with magic but it is not magical in itself.

Jayde patrols. She finds mostly individual vampires and no further evidence of an organised group, nor does she find the leader or newbie vampire.

There is no evidence of surveillance at the sharehouse, including a magical scan done by Conrad. Mary moves Casey back in and emails Glitch and Neo. They say they’ll wait it out a little longer.

16 Aug 2000, Wednesday

Gemma discovers that her eerie mystic powers come from her link with Leda who resides in the spirit world and has the powers as a result. When Gemma does eerie things she draws on Leda’s perception, calls the two worlds closer together and brings Leda to the physical location (which is why Leda saw much of the events of the past few weeks with Gemma doing aura-type things a lot). However, Gemma using the power saps Leda’s energy and makes her weak.

David calls. DMS is OK and will be out of hospital on Sunday. He will be coming to stay with Stella for a while once he’s out. They will be home on Monday evening. Do the girls want anything from LA given they have their 18^th birthday coming up next Saturday?

Gemma repeats the reading of the knife when Leda is feeling strong enough. Initial sensations are hatred and anger again but images follow:-

• Buffy looks into your eyes as you feel the blade of the knife slide into your side (surprise);

• You watch from above as Buffy brandishes the knife at you and you chase her along a school corridor (rage);

• Faith pins you to a table as others look on, the knife slicing through the cords in your neck (fear of death);

• You are running through a dark room with the sound of following footsteps behind you and the knife hitting you in the centre of the back (suspense; "It’s after me!");

• Again the knife saws into your neck as Faith decapitates you;

• The knife pierces your heart as your body turns to dust;

• Faith swings her arm in a long arc as the knife slices open your gut and travels up into your chest

Leda says "I think I’ve seen enough!" Every scene was presented from the perspective of the victim.

17 Aug 2000, Thursday

Jayde gets a call from Conrad telling her that Glitch and Neo have left a thankyou note and disappeared to fend for themselves. He doesn’t sound too happy about it. He asks after Faith and Jayde tells her she is a bit down but what can you expect after everything she’s been through lately. Conrad wants to start coming along on patrol and doesn’t want Jayde talking to Faith about slaying as it would set her in a bad direction. He also indicates that he is moving residence again.

Cam and Rachel do eerie things in the other room

Cam and Richard do eerie things in the other room

18 Aug 2000, Friday

Faith, Mary Gemma and Casey get videos and pizza at the sharehouse. Faith and Casey get along reasonably well but Mary is careful to keep them on opposite sides of the room. Faith decides to walk home alone.

Thinking about it a bit more, Gemma realises that the final impression from the knife, of being sliced through the gut, was a warm and wet sensation that is inconsistent with the victim being a vampire.

19 Aug 2000, Saturday

Faith has new clothes (a tight fitting top and black vinyl pants). She also gets the knife back from Alex who has warned her that the knife is more than it seems but Faith is not convinced.

Jayde patrols the Peoples Park with Conrad in tow, and spots Faith wandering through the Park. She goes up to say hello and Faith says she got bored. She’s not sure she really ants to be out patrolling but it was something she was good at. Jayde warns her that Conrad is around and Faith heads off in the direction of the volleyball courts. Jayde watches her go and notices that Faith seems to hear something, pulls something form her belt (a stake?) and heads toward some bushes. Jayde follows, Faith spots her and gestures for her to go around the back. Faith leaps into the bushes, stake at the ready, and discovers a junkie and dealer mid-transaction. Faith quickly hides her stake, the junkie runs off and the dealer yells at Faith for costing him a customer. Faith looks a bit far away and Jayde pretends to leave but stays and listens as the dealer offers Faith some of what he has to offer "the first one’s free", there’s a "biff" sound and the dealer falls to the ground unconscious. Jayde peeks through the foliage and sees Faith standing over him, pulling the stake from her belt and starts in toward him with it raised in her hand. Jayde leaps at her and catches her arm in its down swing.

"Stop! He’s not a vampire!"

"He’s a monster!"

"It’s not our work! He has a soul!"

"It should be! This guy has no soul."

"Call the police if you like. Just don’t kill him."

Faith looks at her for a moment. "Fine!" She pulls him up by his collar, punches him again in the face, drops him to the ground, pats him down and pulls out his wallet.

"What are you doing?"

"Seeing what he’s got." She grabs the cash out of his wallet and stuffs it into her pocket.

"You are not welcome in my home any longer."

Jayde spins on her heel and heads back toward Conrad. Faith chases after her and grabs her arm.

"That guy, his kind are worse than vampires some of them. They feed on the weak. Have you ever known anyone on drugs?"

"No."

"They are a waste of humanity. All I have is this knife, nothing else. I have no identity. What else am I good for? Me living off other people, it just doesn’t work."

"You could try flipping burgers instead of killing people."

"Yeah well that kinda requires a social security number doesn’t it."

They talk about the whole Sunnydale experience and how Faith living through Buffy didn’t work out.

"Look, you’ve been really nice. I don’t want to piss you off."

Conrad approaches looking less than pleased to see Faith.

"What are you doing here?"

She ignores him and stalks off, deliberately bumping him hard in the shoulder as she goes.

"If she’s going to patrol I think we should coordinate to make sure our paths don’t cross."

Jayde agrees.

20 Aug 2000, Sunday

The group convinces Neo to look into why Faith’s account was closed and he discovers that is was closed as per a condition in her will. Faith reveals that her money and property was left to Angel but he may be hesitant to return it to her as her money wasn’t from entirely honourable enterprises.

Alex becomes Giles’s proxy to the council. Through him she discovers that Angel has returned. Apparently he heard that Faith was dead and was suspicious so his investigations led him to Boston. He forgot to take his phone or leave details with his associates. Wolfram and Hart were after him so he was forced to lay low for a while but he has fixed that problem and is now back in LA and wants to visit Faith soon.

The council begins setting up a new identity for Faith but it will take a few weeks for them to complete filling in backgrounds and so-on.

Faith is mopey and unconvinced that Angel will return her money.

21 Aug 2000, Monday

David, Stella and DMS arrive home. Gemma and Jayde tell them that Faith’s parents are fighting and she’s staying with them temporarily.

Lawyers take note: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel and all characters related belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and fox.