A Different Halloween Night

The Park and the Bronze

Previously..

"So where're we meeting?" Dawn asked a bit excitedly.

"The park. That's where all the monsters gather on Halloween," Janice replied in her best fake spooky voice. The two girls grinned at each other, and then headed off.

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Soon they came to Sunnydale Park, which happened to be empty. An owl took the opportunity to fill the night air with its hooting music, and also caused Dawn to shiver all over, both with fear and excitement. She knew this was going to be one great Halloween — one she hoped she would never forget. She looked at Janice and noticed that she also felt the same way.

Then, it happened.

"Hello, ladies."

The voice was deep and very cool with a New England accent in it, making it dark and sensual.

Dawn and Janice spun around, wondering where the voice had come from, as well as who its owner was. Then the owner of said voice stepped out from behind the tree that had been in back of them, and Dawn sighed in relief.

It was Yami Bakura. He wore the outfit she had seen him wearing twice before — a blue-and-white-striped shirt with short sleeves, blue jeans, and his long black trenchcoat over the shirt, and white sneakers on his feet.

Dawn then recalled Buffy telling her about meeting Yami Bakura quite often whenever she went out patrolling for vampires. Well, "meeting" wasn't exactly the right word. Buffy preferred to call it "running into" him.

Yami Bakura had an air of being cryptic and enigmatic. Sometimes all too often, whenever a vampire ran into him, Buffy also showed up, only to find Yami Bakura showing off some pretty cool martial arts moves — almost like the same ones she sometimes used — on the vampire before tearing its head from its body. Then with a snap of the fingers, he made the vampire disappear, leaving no trace of it behind.

Buffy had to admit, that was kind of cool.

"Yami Bakura!" said Dawn, grinning. "Where have you been? We were looking for someone to chat with."

"Oh, I've been around," said Yami Bakura with a casual wave of his hand. To Dawn, Yami Bakura was the pinnacle of cool, and that casual dismissal just made him even cooler.

"And," Yami Bakura added, "I've sensed that since it's Halloween, the vampires and demons are taking the night off. In my opinion, that's pretty awesome."

Dawn blinked. "Really?"

"Of course," Yami Bakura replied. He then reached up and caressed Dawn's cheek, causing her to blush and Janice to grin, intrigued.

"Oh, Yami Bakura," Dawn remembered, "this is Janice Penshaw, a friend of mine."

"Hello, Yami Bakura," said Janice. She blushed as he took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

"Hello, Janice," replied Yami Bakura. "And I take it you're a great friend to Dawn, and that you're into the supernatural and the occult."

Janice nodded; she was. Apparently, she had long since heard Dawn's stories of her older sister Buffy's being the Slayer and hunting for vampires every night (except Halloween). Dawn even told her Buffy's stories of the adventures she had had when she herself was in high school.

Yami Bakura smiled, then turned to Dawn and offered his arm.

"Shall we, Dawn?" he asked. As Janice looked on, intrigued still, Dawn blushed and slipped her arm through his, grinning.

"Of course, Yami Bakura," she replied.

With that, the trio then headed off to the Bronze. Dawn and Janice had picked out the Bronze as the backup place they would go to if there wasn't any excitement or adventure going on anywhere else.

As soon as they got there, Yami Bakura then gently pulled Dawn by the hand over to a red couch with a table a few inches away, where they sat down. Janice had headed over to the bar, where she ordered a Coke.

When she got back to where Dawn and Yami Bakura were sitting, the scene that greeted Janice almost caused her to burst out laughing, but she managed to keep a good hold on her can of Coke anyway.