The Watcher Academy

Part 5

“Please don’t put that there!” Mrs. Jenson was absolutely frantic. Orientation day had her quite rattled indeed. “Please don’t put those boxes there; you’ll block the side entrance!”

Singer had appointed Mrs. Jenson as his assistant of sorts, although she was much more than that really. She would also most likely be in charge of the girls’ dormitory as well as teach Herbology, although she hadn’t decided as yet. For now, she’d assist Mr. Singer as needed. She was definitely on board with the idea of the school. Orientation had her a bit flustered, however.

If you can picture Gwendolyn Post, rogue Watcher, then you can picture Mrs. Jenson. They look incredibly similar, although Mrs. Jenson isn’t the least bit evil. She actually probably couldn’t be evil even if she tried (not that she would try). The main difference between Gwendolyn Post’s looks and Mrs. Jenson’s was that Mrs. Jenson had a very distinct birthmark on her right temple. It was shaped like a pentacle. Apart from that, they could be twins.

As Singer entered the girls’ dormitory, Mrs. Jenson waved him down. “Mr. Singer!! Oh, Mr. Singer! Could you please be of some assistance.” Some nearby girls started giggling and mocking her English accent, which didn’t bother her a bit, as she thought the way Americans spoke was atrocious as well, so they were quite even in that respect.

“What can I be of assistance with, Mrs. Jenson?” Singer was awfully busy, but as he had a bit of a crush on Mrs. Jenson (no worries; she’s widowed), he was happy to help her.

“Can you please tell the gentlemen you hired to clean out the basement of this dormitory not to stack those boxes in front of the side entrance? I have girls coming in from every which way, and I absolutely must have this entrance open!” Mrs. Jenson brought out a handkerchief and dabbed her brow, although Mr. Singer saw no perspiration whatsoever.

“Gentlemen? Could we move those boxes just to the side of that door for now? Great. Cheers.” He looked at Mrs. Jenson with a big smile. “Does that help?”

“OH, yes.” Mrs. Jenson looked quite exhausted, but no exhausted enough to notice how handsome Mr. Singer looked in his new tweed jacket. Very handsome indeed. It brought out his blonde hair and blue eyes quite nicely.

What neither of them knew what that one Alastair James had specifically sent in his people to clear out that basement and have it wired so that he could listen in on the girls’ dorm. He was wiring the whole school in this manner, with video and sound equipment, but he may have been spending a bit more time on the girls’ dorm than elsewhere. He may be evil, but he is still a boy.

Thanks to Mr. Singer opening the side entrance to be used now, Alastair’s men would be unable to pass the wiring there for the video feed, as they’d be too easily detected with people coming and going through the side entrance, which was indeed good news for the unsuspecting girls who’d reside there. Unfortunately, he’d already begun receiving sound from this building.

“Mrs. Jenson, I wonder if you’d accompany me to my office for some tea?” Singer knew Mrs. Jenson was in need of a break. It was quite obvious.

“That sounds lovely, thank you.” Before she turned to follow Singer out, she waved at Jennifer Andrews, a lovely girl from Texas who was rumored to have quite the green thumb; thus, Mrs. Jenson had already decided she was her favorite. “Jennifer? Oh, Jennifer! Would you make sure that side entrance stays open until I get back. Thank you, dear.”

The two left the dorm, and as they did, they passed Alastair James leaning against the door jamb of the front entrance to  the girls’ dorm.

“You go on, now.” Mrs. Jenson pushed Alastair aside ever so slightly, which he didn’t like one bit. “No boys allowed.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alastair said politely. He’d decided to play the part. He’d be the perfect student in every way visible. That way, nobody would ever suspect him.

Alastair turned to make his way back to the boys’ dorm, and as he turned, he bumped smack into Colleen Baske, who promptly dropped her little baby cauldron, which happened to be precariously balanced on top of two boxes and a hot pink pillow. It’s not clear how she managed this, but she didn’t drop the boxes or the pillow, but rather she caught them before they hit the ground.

“Oh, crud!” Colleen was miffed to say the least. She hated moving. But then she caught a glimpse of Alastair. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and then they both looked away embarrassingly.

“Here, let me help you, Miss?” He obviously wanted her name. He balanced the little cauldron back on top of the hot pink pillow for her.

“Colleen,” she said quite shyly.

“Colleen. Lovely. I’m Alastair. Alastair James.”

“Wow. Great accent. An import,” Colleen giggled a little.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true. Can I help you with your boxes.” Alastair started to try and take the boxes from Colleen.

“Oh, I’d love it, but Mrs. Jenson is very strict that no boys are allowed, not even on moving day.” Colleen was annoyed at that.

“Ah, yes. I was shooed away just a few seconds ago actually.” Alastair grinned with his perfect teeth gleaming. He knew his smile was one of his greatest weapons, and it worked quite well on Colleen. It was obvious she was enamored of him.

Colleen blushed a bit and started walking into the dorm. She turned to thank Alastair, and as she did, she tripped a bit over the only step at the entrance. Alastair found this a bit charming.

Colleen entered the dorm as Alastair checked her out from behind. Under his breath he said, “Well, Miss Colleen, you’ll do nicely.”

location: Texas

mood: crazy

music: None right now

Part 3

Alastair James was a good-looking young man. It really wasn’t a matter of opinion. Anyone could look at him and see how good looking he was. Anyone who said differently was likely jealous. He was tall, at 6 feet even, and he had dark black hair and light green eyes. He had a strong chin and broad shoulders. Women often looked at him as they would a pudding, as if they were hungry for him.

His looks were an important part of how he was able to lie, cheat and steal his way through life. People are much more ready to trust someone good looking than someone, well, ugly.

Alastair’s father had been a Watcher for 25 years. After so many years of faithful service, he was pushed out of the Council when he disagreed with its leader, Quentin Travers, regarding certain “outdated” methods the Council still employed.

After Alastair’s father was removed from his position on the Council and stripped of his credentials as a Watcher, things in Alastair’s life took quite a downward direction. His father began to drink heavily. One night, after a few snogs too many, Alastair’s father ate the business end of a pistol, but not before killing his wife and trying to kill Alastair. Alastair was shot in the head, but after quite a lengthy recovery period, he was back to his normal self. Well, almost normal.

He was then living with an aunt he barely knew existed before his parents died. He was 17 and angry at the world. Wouldn’t you be? He started out with pick-pocketing and the occasional shoplifting, and then he moved up to small cons here and there. He had actually pulled off quite a large con when he somehow convinced his aunt to turn over his entire inheritance to him at once so he could have emergency surgery on a nonexistent injury sustained when his father shot him. She gave him approximately $500,000, and he disappeared into the world.

He started studying and practicing magic. After 2 years of gathering as much knowledge and skill as he could, he was finally an accomplished witch.

When Alastair heard that Mr. Giles was opening a new Watcher’s Academy in the US to deal with all the new slayers, he knew this was his opportunity for revenge on the Watcher’s. Yes, he knew the Council had been blown up by the First, but he wanted revenge on all Watchers and the Watcher legacy.  He began following Mr. Giles around and gaining as much knowledge as he could about him, about the new school, and about the nexus on which the school was located.

Alastair’s plan was simple, if there are no Watcher’s to train Slayers and put them on the path of good, then he and others like him would be able to train Slayers and put them on the path of evil. In other words, he’d have an army of rogue Slayers at his disposal.

How would he do this? It’s quite simple really. He cannot attack the school with his minions, as the nexus and the spells cast by Willow and Giles prevent such an attack, and he can’t cast his own spells to bring down the school, as the nexus protects against this as well. The only way to bring down the school is from the inside; he must become a student.

It’s actually quite genius if you think about it, as the nexus and the spells cast by Willow and Giles are designed to protect the students, which means they will protect Alastair as a student, whether he’s up to no good or not. Things will begin falling apart, and the school administrators will have no idea what’s going on until it’s too late.

Part 4

“Mother, please don’t pack too much. I don’t want to lug a bunch of stuff on my first day,” said Colleen. “If I’m missing anything, you can send it to me later.”

Colleen Baske was a petite girl with a lot of confidence. She had long brown hair and absolutely huge blue eyes. You’d think a girl named Colleen would have red hair, wouldn’t you? It’s no matter. Colleen was a very pretty girl, and she was quite happy to boot. She was starting on a new adventure, training to become a Watcher.

“Dear, lugging a few things on your first day won’t kill you. I don’t want you to be without anything. You’ll need all this stuff,” said Colleen’s mother, Susan, as she packed.

Susan was actually the reason her daughter was becoming a Watcher. To make a long story short, Susan was in a coven with a girl who used to be in a coven with Willow. Willow had started spreading the word that Mr. Giles was looking for interested students to become a part of the new school.

Susan knew her daughter fit this profile perfectly. Colleen had always been interested in the occult (she took after her mother in his way), and she was a straight-A student. On top of that, she loved adventure, which a Watcher will almost certainly find along the way.

“Should I bring a cauldron?” Colleen saw her mother was packing quite a lot of “witch” stuff. “I don’t think I’ll need a cauldron, Mother.”

“It’s only a little one. A baby cauldron. You won’t even know it’s there.”

“Oh, geez. I bet nobody else is gonna have a cauldron. Everyone will laugh at me!” Colleen whined.

Susan laughed. “Are you serious? Think of it as ‘school supplies.’ You’re going to be learning a lot about magic and spellcasting. You’ll need a cauldron for potions. Oh, wait. I think I have a mortar and pestle you can take with you. Let me go look.”

As Susan ran out of Colleen’s room to look for a mortar and pestle, Colleen sat on her bed and realized that she was going to miss her mother quite a bit. For just a second she was even a little scared at the prospect of leaving home to learn how to fight the terrible evils that lurk in the night, vampires, demons, and other various meanies.

Then she realized that she’d be protecting the world from these nasty things, and that made her swell up with confidence. Being a hero (even when nobody knows you’re a hero) is what Colleen always wanted to be.

Susan came back in carrying a mortar and pestle and some empty potion bottles. “You’ll need these, too,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom.” Colleen decided to stop protesting and enjoy these last moments with her mother before she left for school.

“Oh, baby girl, you’re going to be a great Watcher,” Susan said as she hugged her daughter.

“I hope you’re right, Mom. I don’t want to disappoint you.” Colleen said as she folded her jammies and placed them neatly in the suitcase.

“You couldn’t disappoint even if you tried,” Susan said with pride. “I have a little gift for you.” Susan handed Colleen a small black box.

“A present!? Sweet!” Colleen took the box excitedly.

As she opened the small box, she saw a silver cross on a silver chain.

“It’s to ward off vampires, should you meet any,” said Susan.

“Oh, Mom. Thank you so much! I love it!” Colleen hugged her mother as she started to tear up. “I’m going to miss you so much!”

location: Texas

mood: creative

music: Requiem for a Tower

I'm putting a call out to any and all people who may be interested in volunteering to put together a Podcast based on the Buffyverse. It's called The Watcher Academy, and the premise is the start of a Watcher Academy in the US to train new Watchers to help deal with all the new Slayers. It's sort of like Harry Potter meets BtVS. We'll have strange classes they have to take and lots of fun bad guys.

I need tech help, as I've never done a Podcast before. I also will eventually need actors once we get up and running. I may also need some writers. If you are interested in being part of this adventure, please let me know! We strive to be as awesome as Buffy Between the Lines if this works out (one can only hope).

In case you can't tell, I'm new to Live Journal as well. Tabz from BBTL mentioned this may be a good way to find help so I can do the Podcast. 

I hope to have my first story posted soon, so please keep an eye out.