Visitors

by Laura Anne Gilman; Josepha Sherman

• ISBN13: 9780671026288
• ISBN10: 0671026283
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Pocket

Summary

The paranormal forces centered in Sunnydale attract the vilest kinds of evil: vamps, demons...and student teachers? An invasion of collegians testing their teaching prowess on Buffy and her peers coincides with the arrival of a supernatural stal

Excerpts

CHAPTER 1 "Good heavens." Rupert Giles, a folded airmail letter still clutched in one hand, stopped short in the doorway of his sanctuary -- Sunnydale High School's library -- so suddenly that Buffy nearly crashed into him."Giles -- "He was looking about him in dismay. "The library is full of people.""Itisa library," Buffy pointed out. "People are allowed in here. If they want.""Well, yes, of course. But normally, it is, uh, strikingly empty."Which, Buffy suspected, was how Giles liked it. Empty meant that he didn't have to go through the motions of being a high school librarian and could instead focus on his true reason for being in Sunnydale. That reason, of course, was to be the Watcher to the current Slayer of vampires, and to keep an eye on anything else that happened to come visiting the Hellmouth.Said Slayer being, duh, herself.But today, the long low table at which the Slayer and her Slayerettes -- Will, Xander, and Cordelia -- usually sat, was filled with strangers: five chattering, gesturing fems and one guy, all a little on the old side to be your typical Sunnydale students.Then again,Buffy thought,what's typical around here? Werewolves, witches, invisible girls, Cordelia...The strangers' books and belongings were spread out across the table's polished surface as though they owned it. Not exactlyfullof people, but she saw Giles's point. They had definitely made themselves at home. A sight which did not give her warm and fuzzy feelings.Herlibrary.Herlibrarian."Ah, may I help you?" Giles asked them all, shoving the letter he was still clutching into his pocket and doing a pretty good impersonation of a stuffy British librarian.He doesn't have to act real hard."No, we're cool."The young woman who'd spoken was striking, Buffy admitted, if one liked the snooty sort. A brunette, with a real I-am-the-leader 'tude. But natural, like she was used to taking charge, and people were used to letting her do it."Student teachers," Giles said suddenly, oblivious to the fact that he was standing there in front of them. "Of course. Principal Snyder was muttering about them all last week."Buffy remembered now. Some new program from the local community college. One of those "real-life experiences" her mom was always so hot on, that usually involved extra credit and weekends.Great. Just what we all need, more teachers.At least the invasion would only be for a few weeks."Hey Giles, Buffy says -- "Willow Rosenberg burst through the library doors and skidded to a stop as she took in the sight of the other occupants. Her face raced through surprise, dismay, calculation, and then a pleasant blandness settled over it like a mask.Buffy had to give her redheaded bud credit -- Willow was really getting the hang of that expression. Much more, and she'd be recruited by the CIA, as well as one of those take-over-the-world software companies.Making an obvious effort to ignore the strangers, Willow added in a quieter voice, "Buffy says -- oh. Hi, Buffy. You're there. I mean, here. Okay. I guess you can tell him yourself.""I told you I was going to stop by and see him before seventh. You just forgot. She," Buffy said to Giles, "is obsessed.""I am not!""Are.""Not! Maybe...a little.""Could someone perhaps, ah, clue me in?" Giles asked."The Battle of the Bands, you know?" No, the man clearly didn't, so Buffy tried the brief version. "Oz's band is going to be in a contest -- lots of bands from all over the area -- and that's all she's thinking about.""I am not!" Willow protested again, more feebly this time."Are too. Trust me on this, Will. Your brain has turned into happy gray mush. And what I was going to tell you," Buffy continued to Giles, "is that I won't be able to make it this afternoon. It's, you know, Quality Time with Mom Day."Once Joyce Summers had gotten over the understa