Hotel fun

Air Date: 23/11/2001

10 Sep 2000, Sunday 2:01am

Casey gets back to the hotel and settles in for some nachos and late night tv.

There is a knock at the door and looking through the peephole its mary.

"Er, yes...?"

"Umm, Casey?"

"This may sound a bit paranoid, but what movies did we watch last night?"

Mary answers the question as if by magic! :)

Ok, let Mary in (kicking anything particularly weird under the bed :)... "What's up? Hangon, how did you know to come here?"

"Jayde rang for me to get her and Faith some weapons... ...whats been happening. *pause* I mean with you not knowing for sure who I was.."

The room is a mess of clothes, and dirty room service trays. Its the penthouse level, so its a full suite, with living room, seperate mast bedroom, office/spare bedroom, kitchenette and nice big balcony. Plus spa etc etc.

"Oh, ok. Um, they're in here." Casey heads into the bedroom. "Nothing really - there was just this weird chick around before, wasn't sure if it might have been her messing with me, cos I wasn't sure how you knew I was here."

"Weird chick? Do Jayde and Faith know?"

Mary has a quick look around. (underwear on the roof, that sort of thing) Casey is dressed, but isnt in shoes.

"Er, don't think so - I /think/ its someone Faith knows, but I'm not sure." Casey picks up a bowl of nachos from the bed "Wnat some?"

"okay." *quiet* "So what are all her weapons?"

Casey hauls out a trunk. "Er, want a hand carrying them and stuff?"

"Thanks."

Casey stands up and picks up the case. "So whatcha been up to?"

"A bunch of people came over to your place last night. Oh, and Andy thinks you owe him $50. He did the physics on Faith jumping onto the roof, It does show just how strong she is."

"Bunch of people? Wuffor?... Oh, yeah, he was rabbiting on about it. If he keeps it up, I'll up the bet to $500 and let her do it. That'll learn him."

Then he'll be following her arround trying to figure out her "Quantum Powers"

"Maybe I'll make that part of the bet or something. 'And you're not allowed to ask any questions once you're satisfied its not faked'" Casey sighs. "Ok, so what have /you/ been up to, rather than what's been happening?"

"I've been trying not to think about this demon we have living under Berkeley, Even though Faith and Jayde think they can take Orme, I'm worried."

"Oh, he's underground? I'm only getting partial intel, its a bit annoying... what's worrying you about it?"

"Well the giant, evil, city-killer spirit about sums it up. Do you think Faith is up to fighting at the moment?"

"Oh. Ok... Hmmm. Seriously, she's keen, and thinks she can do it. But she's a bit distracted about the whole watchers thing and all. Oh, reminds me, did you speak to Gemma about maybe getting the Watchers to look for Hope?"

"Yup, we spoke about it. The new head watcher really wants Jayde on his side. So well that means him helping out Faith if he can."

"Well, he's got a lot of ground to cover. Did you ask him in front of everyone?"

"No, I saw him at the watcher cave."

"doh. Mary, that was kinda important."

"You, wanted me to ask him in front of everyone? Why didn't you say so?"

"I thought I did. You know how Faith is all paranoid about the council and stuff - its just that if she's right and they capture Hope and use her to blackmail faith into doing stuff, then.... well, it would be bad. Um... damage control - can you bring it up next time you're scoobying and Faith isn't there?"

"Sure, If they mess with faith, they lose Jayde. I wouldn't have thought it, But Faith has actually been a good influence on Jayde."

"Yeah, but if they surreptiously mess with Faith, and tell her it was all our idea, we lose oxygen priviledges. Really. Faith is real borderline about this whole good/bad thing...." Pausing to take in mary's last comment, "How's that?"

"Jayde spends more time kill monsters and hanging with Faith, then she does with popular people and shopping. Does that sound like the normal Jayde to you?"

Casey stares at Mary as the lift stops. "And this is good, right?"

"Well, in Jaydes case yes. Given the sample of Jayde, Buffy and Faith, I don't think stability is a major Slayer trait. That or anger management."

"Haven't met this Buffy chick - she's like Jayde, right? Anyway, as far as I know, Jayde never pulled the arms and legs off a sales person for offering her something with stripes, so suddenly getting all big & bad is better?"

"Eww. ..... Well Buffy showed up here and started breaking Konrads bones, then got around to telling us thast she was here to kill Faith."

"Great. I take it she changed her mind?"

"Well, eventually." going back to buffy, Mary continues, "She said she had a vision of Faith going beserk."

"Hmmm." Casey looks around for Jonothan in the foyer (figuring we go threre by now). "So what's your opinion on faith?"

*Shrugs* "I'm really trying to be nice. and I know how horrible her life has been, but she still scares me. And somtimes she acts really weird."

Casey nods. "Fair enough... um. She seemed to think you were going through her stuff...."

*jumps* "What gave her that idea?"

"I dunno. Probably just paranoia, but I wanted to check. Figured you wouldn't usually do that sort of thing." Casey pauses. "Er... you didn't, right?"

"Well, a bit. That morning I found blood in the shower, and stuff kept moving arround behind me. And when she gets that creepy blank look, I almost freak." *BREATHES*

"Hmmm. Up to you, but.... you might wanna apologise..."

"Umm. yeah, I think I will."

10 Sep 2000, Sunday 3:01am

Faith comes back trailing the weird lady from the other room and smelling of sewer. She tells the weird lady to wait in the living room and then comes into the bedroom, stripping off.

"Unf. You stink"

"Err, yeah, sewer crawl. Sorry. Im gunna hit the spa, 'K?"

"'s fine. Who's your friend? She was lurking about when I left before."

"Yeah, J and I found her while we were patroling. She's the demon friend of the Mayor I mentioned last time. I put her up in the room nextdoor. Jayde's in there currently washing sewer off herself too."

"ahhhh, righto. Should buy her some sunnies."

"Why, so she's cool?" She smiles and throws her clothes into the bath and turns the water on. "Ewww!"

"The whole blinking thing. 's freaky."

"Oh yeah, that. Its pretty cool, innit?" She comes out with all her clothes and dumps them out on the balcony. "Ah, for the Mayor's sake, I think I just ruined a pair of my leather pants." She comes back in and opens a bag of clothes and starts to rip the stuff out, looking for something and dumping the clothes on the already messy floor. "Ah, screw it. Spa first. Oh yeah, gotta go out again later. Jayde wants to meet with the Watchers and get some plans on Orme's lair. Woohoo. More sewer diving for us. Yay."

"Can probably get the hotel to clean them or something... Busy night then?"

"Hey, great idea. Be a doll and call room service and arrange it would you? Yeah, we followed some henchmen back to Orme's lair and then tried to vote from the roof tops but the guy has some metal armor or somethin', the arrows bounced right off."

"Orme or the henchthing?"

"Orme. He was standing in this fire preachin' to his vampie followers about burnin' flame and stuff. We figured we'd take him then, so Jayde and I arrowed up and fired at the heart. Right on too, but no dustin', just a tink and runnin' for our sweet little lives."

"Yoiks. Disturbing at best. What was it that he was meant to be not immune to?"

"The vamp killin' methods I know are: decapitation, flame, stake, sunlight. Apparently cutting the heart out works too. So, Orme dont seem to be fussed about fire, and he's got the anti stake heart thing goin' too. Guess that leaves decapitation or sunlight... oorrrr maybe, na. Na, decapitation it is."

"If decapitation works, then chopping him up ought to work too. So, we need a combine harvester...."

"Oh here, just fall into this. Aughhhh. Not gunna cut it. Im gunna have to throw down with him and go man ta man. Well so to speak." Wet sinking into spa sound. "Ahhh."

Casey yawns widely "Full auto on an uzi likely to chop his head off? I guess he's probably rescinded his 'peace in our time' offer now."

"Yeah, people tryin' to kill me tends to take me of a peace footing."

"So what's the plan?"

"Well last we talked, I was gunna do Orme while Jayde saves the day. Figure I got a better chance at it. Anyway it happens in the dream, so why fight it, huh? Yeah, Ill take orme out, Jayde takes care of the pesky demon thing and makes sure it dont get out."

"Pesky demon thing? Is Orme the demon in question?" Casey ignores 'the dream' reference...

"Na, apparently there is this fire demon thing that gunna burn the world pure. Its gunna get out which would be really bad, but Orme wants to get control of it which is really bad too. Hence the split up thing, we each get our end of level baddie. I stop Orme and Jayde and the scoobies figure out how to stop us all bein' toasted."

"Something for all the family. Mary was talking about this Buffy chick earlier, she be in for the extra fun? I figure the more the merrier, right?"

"Yeah, unless she kills me then you're back to two. Anyway, apparently she's fighting some Hell God back in SunnyD, so she's probably busy."

"Yeah, that was the other thing Mary said. Although there was an indication that she no longer wanted your head for a trophy at the moment."

"Well excuse me if I dont exactly wanna push it. If she does want my head then Im dead, either at her hands or Jaydes or the councils. So Ill just avoid her if thats cool with you, General C."

Casey shrugs and kicks back on the bed.

"Anyway, Jayde wants to go get a map of the sewers to find Orme. Thats a good idea I guess. We'll go see what bright ideas at the council can think up, too, I guess.."

Casey nods. "You want somethin' to eat?"

"Yeah, sure." pause. "Look, sorry this has sorta become a work weekend. Guess I gotta go save the world and crap. Im cool if you wanna go back to your little geek girl."

Casey rolls to his feet off the bed, still yawning. "'s ok - can make you a holiday weekend once world isn't going to be destroyed. I think room service is down to pizza - that and some drinks about the place."

"Yeah, sure." She doesnt sound convinced.

Casey's mind: Ok... i figure casey is just a bit tired of being left behind. Its occured to me that if faith's dream had someone she trusted coming to kill her at the end of it, then it wasn't buffy, cos she doesn't trust her... so maybe should look into contacting B... He's a bit peeved with mary about talkng to henry alone - I'm sure that i told her not to mention it except in a group.

10 Sep 2000, Sunday 6:44am

Casey awakes to the room to the door being opened. Faith comes into the bedroom while he shakes himself awake and looks at the 6:44am on the clock. Without a word, she walks into the bathroom and slams the door.

Casey considers finding out what's up, but hasn't had enough sleep, and has had enough of moody women, and tries to go back to sleep.

Almost falling into blessed asleep, Casey is cruely deprived as the blankets are pulled off and Faith none too gently grabs him and drags him into the center of the bed, before climbing on top of him and staring down. She is idly running one hand up the length of his chest, but she doesnt say anything.

Casey looks a bit pained without opening his eys. "Min if i slp fr bit?"

Faith irritatedly slaps her hand down on Casey's chest (enough to hurt) and climbs off. Casey's midsection where Faith was sitting is damp. She climbs off and starts pacing round the room. She finds a bag bends over and starts roughly packing stuff into the bag.

Casey is too exhausted to deal with tantrums. He pulls the blankets up and pulls a pillow over his head.

Faith pulls the blankets down "No..." and then rolls Casey over "not..." and slides a hand round his throat "at... all...". Suddenly the pressure starts to increase. "Yeah... go ahead... some #@*$&ing use you are."

Casey opens his eyes and just looks Faith in the eye.

Casey justs lays there and eventually Faith lets go and instead starts raining slaps down on him. They arnt punches, its more like a tantrum type blows, but they are forcefull.

"Ow. Normally I want a dinner and a movie first."

"Out! Go on! Get out! I dont need you any more. Just get lost before... Just go!"

"Cut it the fuck out!" Casey's voice is raised for the first time when interacting with Faith. "Sit down and just say 'Casey, I'm pissed off and upset about something, can I chat to you about it'!" Casey struggles to sit up agains the bedhead.

She grabs Casey and drags him roughly back against the headboard "Dont @#*ing raise your voice to me." She lets you go and backs off and the anger seems to melt away. "I killed someone."

"Fuck... what happened?"

"Actually a couple of people. Orme, you know with the armor. The knife, it can cut through stuff but it takes juice. I tested it on Henry's car, but then I... I... needed to recharge it, if you get my drift."

Casey takes a deep breath and grabs a glass of water chugging it. "Details...."

"Jayde and I were both pretty freaked by not bein' able to spike Orme. I told her about the knife and we went off and it punched a big hole in the engine to Henry's car. When it does funky stuff, it drains it. It sorta needs to be recharged by takin' life. I said I had to go recharge it and so I went out hunting. I grabbed a guy in this park over by the woods and dragged him off and did him. I guess I did this girl too. But the blood sorta went everywhere and..." She blinks a couple of times. ".. yeah, anyway, I sorta got rid of the bodies and then I thought I heard someone coming, and I thought it was... I.. well its mostly recharged."

Casey puts his hands in his face. "oh"

"Well, they were dead anyway. We all are if we dont stop this ritual thing, and Orme. Now we got a chance."

Casey doesn't look up, but does shake his head.

"So, what happens now, huh? I know I said Id try, but Ive never been very good at... err, just sorry, I guess."

Casey looks up "Randomly picking people off the street is trying? Shit, couldn't you have at least found someone who you could point at and say "total scumbag"? What the fuck were you thinking?" Casey's voice isn't raised, just... disappointed.

Faith just looks away and starts to cry. "Its tomorrow Case. Big world goes boom if we dont stop it. Everybody dies. It wasnt like last time, like Id lost it back then, I _want_ to stop Orme, thats why I did it." She curls up. "Thats so #@*$ed up, isnt it?"

"Tomorrow? hell... " Casey looks at Faith and sighs and moves closer. "Yes. Yes, its fucked up. Shit. Ok, fuck it - can't do anything about it right now, and you need to concentrate, right? But dammit, you owe them big time."

"Im sorry about it. That counts right? I wasnt sorry last time, you know they all screwed with me and I just wanted to hurt 'em back, but this time I needed... Doesnt that make a difference? You know if you're sorry for what you've done. They dont send you to Hell then, right? If ya repent or whatever?"

"I... I dunno... man, I could deal when you realised that you'd stuffed up and you were trying to fix it... but this is different. I mean, if you'd gone Rush Limbaugh or smething, that would be one thing." Casey punches Faith lightly in the arm. "If we survive the next couple of days, I'm going to kick yo in the butt so hard."

"Yeah, well I dont, remember. Orme sticks me with the sword and someone finishes me off. I just wanted to make sure that you win. You know that I take Orme with me. I mean Im already screwed right, I just thought that if I could be Evil Faith for just one more day, Id be able to do it. You know, to save the world and be the big dead hero and that everyone 'd sorta know that I tried to make up for stuff. I sorta flaked though. After the girl I mean. There was all this blood and it was just like back with Wesley, only I'd actually killed again."

"Look, I don't think you're fated to die ok? So I'm going to save screaming at you until afterwards - it can be something for both of us to look forward to. But... I think I'd like to get going from here - it doesn't feel right to be lounging about in luxury right now."

"Mmm. I guess. So, what do we do now, huh?"

"I dunno. What can we do to work out the best way to get everyone through this alive? I mean, an ounce of planning beats a tonne of prevention, right?"

"Do I look I plan stuff? My plan till 5 minutes ago was kick you out, weapon up and go face off with Orme now. Get it all over now and give Jayde a clear run later. Thats still the best one Im comin' up with. You dont get it Casey, I know I die, but if you want to pretend I dont, thats cool."

"I just don't get the fatalism..."

"Well fine." she snaps, "What the #*@& do I do then, huh? I felt Orme run me through, I felt myself die, how do I convince you that that feels real to me?! As in spooky slayer dream real? Great. So Im imagining things, and Im killin' people again. Gee, lets see, so Im dead if I'm right and just an insane psycho killer again if I life. Gee things are lookin' up in Faith land, huh? Anyway, fatalism suits slayers, C. We only get to live for a couple of years and Im guessin' my times about up. I mean it was ace while it was fun, but its really sucked this past year or two, so @#*&$ it. Im @*#$&ed if Im gunna make a happy face while waiting for some big ugly to snap my neck. Its not fun any more, I hate it, and I wanna go out with a bang. Fine, so im a fatalist. You go be perky, and just remember me tellin' you I told you so on on monday, ok?"

Casey grinds his teeth. "You said that the others had these vivid dreams too, right?" He gets up and starts kicking stuff towards bags. "Did they all come out exactly as they'd dreamt them?"

"I dunno. Buffy usually gets the gee whizz dreams. I just got the skanky slayer powers. Fine. I dont die. Lets just drop it. Lets get packed and go."

"Plan." Casey thinks, 'See, if Faith is right and someone she trusts is coming to kill her, then its not Buffy. And maybe the more the merrier will stop her from getting killed. I think bargaining for a phone number. If only I could be there after the battle... but I'd be someone she trusts... oh.'

As Faith and Casey take their bags to the door, with the help of Faith's silent friend, Faith stops. "Stop. Back." The lady turns and carries the bags back in. "Ya know what Casey, Im stayin' here. Yeah, so so Ive killed again. Well its wasnt for fun this time and I guess I figure that we need to take down Orme, whatever the cost. The guy's scary and smart and plannin' to roast us all. Jayde too. Figures that, I mean, not need to take her down. I told her my plan and she was OK with it, so I guess two slayers preventin' everyone being killed outvotes you. Look, I _am_ sorry 'bout what I did, but its done now, 'K? Im not goin' to go all psycho on everyone again. I know what I did and, well, I cant change it now, can I? Anyway, Im stayin' here. I not sure Im exactly a people person right now, so Im just gunna stay here and wait 'till its time for me and Orme to duke it out. SO maybe the best thing you can do is just go off back to the scoobies and see if you can help 'em stop this fire thing from rollin' up. I mean Ill be plenty pissed if I stop Orme and then we all get crispy. So you run along and Ill just be here, thinkin' about, you know, stuff."

Casey looks at Faith for a long moment, and then nods. "Ok. Let me know if you need anything. You know where I am"

Casey walks off thinking 'Definately not going to ask Jayde now, if she backed up Faith's call on killing two randoms. Might try and speak to Alex about talking to Buffy.'

Casey rings Alex around 9am. "Um, snort, er. Hi. Dr Grey." Casey introduces himself. "Oh yeah, sure. Um, drop round. To the uni I mean. Ive been pulling an all nighter. Harkens back to my Cambridge days." *sigh*

"Yeah, I gathered things were sort of coming to a head. That's what I'd like to talk to you about. 20 minutes ok? I'll bring donuts."

"Oh, yes. Things are looking a little grim in that department. 20 minuts is fine."

Cool, Casey will drop 'round with donuts and oranges. Alex has fresh boiling water for tee and coffee. She pops a tea bag into her cup and cuts up an orange.

"So, you're a friend of Mary's, right? And I hear that you're hanging round with Faith a bit recently, too."

"er, yeah, something like that." Casey leans on a desk rather than sitting down. "Um, Faith said that everything is coming to a head in the next day or two - Orme and some sort of elemental?"

"Yes. Yes. Apparently a Tophet fire elemental is going to get loose soon. I gather Orme wants to gain control of it and use it to burn the 'impure' which I gather means us. Apparently there is going to be some sort of sacrifice of a Chosen one or something. We're piecing it together slowly. I gather its going to happen today or early tomorrow morning. As Orme is a vampire Im assuming we're safe now during the day and its action stations tonight."

Casey nods slowly. "'Us' means everyone, right, and not just the Slayers or something?"

"Yes. Yes. I gather the elemental is due to break free of some binding gone wrong, but that Orme intends to bind the spirit and use it for his own uses, which I gather would be detrimental to those of us not sharing his vision. Alas, vampires tend to have this fetish for ending the world, or atleast bringing their Hellish friends here."

"Its going to break free anyway? Er. Faith also mentioned she and the other slayers sometimes have these dreams which are prophetic - you know anything about them?"

"Well I have researched the required ritual to rebind the elemental. Im hoping that the Slayers can buy us time to complete the ritual and bind the spirit. Hopefully the Slayers can deal with Orme or any other resitance we meet. Yes. Yes. Slayers have prophetic dreams sometimes. It varies from Slayer to Slayer though. Some get actual visions, others get vague dreamlike refereneces, others have almost none, yet others have the ability to walk the dreams of others. Is there anything specific you want to know? Or is there anything you know that might help us tonight?"

"Sorry, I'll only hold you up a bit more, and then, well, if you need help with anything, I'm available. I know I've got a lot of questions." Casey sighs. "Do you have contact info for Buffy you'd be willing to give me?"

Alex blinks. "Buffy? Er, I have a contact number for Mr Giles, her Watcher, but I gather they are having their own little crisis too. Can I help you with anything? Ive read all of Mr Giles diaries on Buffy and we have spoken at length since Jayde's activation. I should add that Im extreamly gratefull for the help of yourself and your friends. Buffy is the longest lived Slayer in Council history and I think that's mostly thanks to the help of her friends, and I hope the same applies for Jayde."

"Oh. Well, that might put a kibosh on that then..." Casey looks around a bit. "Yeah, I'm with you on the friend thing, but for different reasons - sort of a negative example." He gets up a moves around a bit. "Look, er, this is a bit awkward, but I've sort of got this situation where I can't, um, trust people I guess. Faith is kinda down on the Watchers and I can see her point, but right at the moment she's being more than a bit... self-destructive, so I can't really trust her. And Jayde is, well, that's complicated in and of itself." Casey stops dribbling on. "I sound like Mary."

"Ah. Well, I fully understand Faith's distrust of Watchers. What happened to her was a repulsive betrayal of everything the Council.. of just morally repulsive. Ive been trying to leave her alone, hoping that time heals it a little, but she has always had a self destructive streak from the what I can gather. I can understand your distrust of the Watchers and I think of anyway to convince you that I do want to help, but I do. If Faith is starting to trust you, then you should be very careful not to associate yourself with authority figures, such as myself. If she links you to anyone trying to control her, then she will likley shut you out. At best. At worst, she may, err, something to you, err, if you know what I mean."

Casey nods. "Yeah, sort of gathered that. Um, given that its probably relevant - has she told you about her dream? I'm guessing not, and she probably doesn't want me to tell you, but -" Casey shrugs.

"I cant help you make this decision. You are in a unique position that none of us are in. I gather you have Faith's ear and that she will atleast listen to you. Its been quite a while since anyone has been in that position. I will say that given her past history and profile, I think staying there will be a difficult task. You have to do what you think is right here, but if there is any way I can help, know that Im here for both Faith and yourself."

Casey grumbles to himself. "Do you think Faith doesn't trust you? Like, is she nervous and unlikely to relax in your presence?"

"I think she doesnt trust me, partially because Im a Watcher and an authority figure, but also because I wrote a report on potential Slayer candidates and I think she blames me for Henry's decision to bring her ritual forward. She's made her mistrust of me evident at every interaction we've had and I dont think that situation is going to improve, alas. I think that she's probably bordering on paranoid about Watchers and I will always be that to her."

Casey nods again. "Yeah, I figured... Ok, well, thats actually a good thing, believe it or not. Its why I wanted to chat to this Buffy chick. Y'see, Faith had this dream, and without getting all personal about it, she dreamt that she beat Orme, but got beaten up, and then someone that she trusted came and finished her off... her words. See, I was figuring from what people said that Buffy and Faith don't get on too well, and some extra firepower that won't play that part of the dream would be a good idea."

"Ah. Well Im sad to say that Buffy will be otherwise occupied. She's dealing with a rogue Hell God and things arnt looking too good, so I dont think she can spare the time. Are you sure this is a prophetic dream? Faith has been through a lot. Some people, err, how sould I put this. Err, sometimes subconcious paranoia can manifest in dreams. I think Faith would be extreamly worried about betrayal by people she trusts. In some ways, I think that the council and Buffy would both represent that sort of betrayal to her. Maybe she fears that from you or Jayde and that's causing the dream, or nightmare as the case maybe."

Casey shrugs. "I dunno. I'd like to hope so, cos I'd rather she didn't get whacked. But I asked her and she seemed pretty sure about it all. On the other hand ... er, nah, sorry, private stuff. Yeah, it could be paranoia - but if its not... ha. I don't even know that she trusts Jayde." Casey sits down again and looks at the floor for a bit.

"I mean Id rather she didnt die either, but sadly, fortelling tends to be an inaccurate science at best and is really a 20/20 hindsight sport most of the time. I do know that Jayde and Faith have been getting quite close in recent weeks and their patrols have become more and more common. Last night Faith even came here when Jayde needed some details from Henry and the Council, and noone was hit. Quite an improvement really. I would havt thought that the list of people she trusts is rather small. Yourself and maybe Jayde? Can you think of anyone else she would trust? Err, not that Im saying its only Jayde or you that could do this. I was just trying to think that the person would need to be a reason to want to kill her. If we could work who or why, it might help."

"Yeah, I hadn't thought about that - I guess they have been seeking each other out. Great." Casey's voice is fairly flat and unemotional. "Well, I'm telling you cos it won't be you, and maybe you can keep an eye out. Probably best not to tell Jayde. Self fulfilling and all that." Casey takes a deep breath and then looks at Alex. "Anyway, can I help? Is there any bulk research stuff where you're just looking for easily described stuff?"

Alex is still thinking along previous lines. "Now, people usually kill to protect themselves, something they own or other people. Maybe someone see's Faith as a threat to themselves, or maybe to other people. I dont think thats Jayde, I mean Faith is a helping Jayde with the Slayer activities and that helps keep both of them alive. Faith doesnt seem to be a threat to anyone, well other than the Watchers and I guess that's our problem. Maybe Jayde would fight her to protect me, but I doubt that Jayde would just kill Faith in cold blood like that. She'd need a reason. Faith has had a couple of opportunities to kill me and she hasnt, so I doubt she'd suddenly decide to do anything like that. I mean that would just ruin what she has here. It just doesnt make sense."

"So.... this elemental then? Big bucket of water won't be enough?"

"Hmm? Eh? Oh, no. We dont know. An elemental is more a pure essence than a demon. Demons tend to be set shapes and sizes, but Elementals are aspects of things and can vary in size. This once, a hell fire elemental could be anything from the size of a match light, to a forrest fire. We believe its bound currently and trying to break free, so a forrest fire seems unlikely, and we have an upper size of about err, 100 feet because of a dream that Jayde had a few weeks back. Sadly that didnt actually include the fire, but it did seem to be the area where the binding ritual was taking place."

"Well, can I help with trying to work this stuff out? The Orme part seems to be a bit beyond anything I can help with."

"Err, yeah, sure." Alex hands Casey a hand illuminated book. "We are looking for anything on the sacrifices." Alex fills Casey in on the weird dream stuff that people have been having.

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