i'm sorry. that was impressive. the.  tumbling.
i'm looking for you, actually.
not at all. my name is merrick. i was sent to find you some time ago. i should have found you much sooner but there were.  complications. you should have been taught, prepared.
i've searched the entire world for you, buffy.
to bring you.  your birthright.
you must come with me. it's much too late already. you must come with me to the graveyard.
wait!
you don't understand. you have been chosen.
you must believe me. you must come with me while there's still time.
to stop the killing. to stop the vampires.
yes.
i don't have time for your prattling. i have proof. you bear the mark.
the mark of the coven! the -- where's the mark?
the mark of the -- wait a minute.
did you ever dream that you were someone else?
in the past. a girl. maybe.  a magyar peasant. an indian princess. a slave.
in virginia.
china.
lothos.
i have to show you.
why didn't you ever tell anybody about your dreams?
cramps?
this is it.
robert berman was killed three days ago. the body was found in the bushes out by the canal. extensive tissue damage -- tearing -- at the neck and shoulders. coroner thinks it's a dog. you sit her.
just for protection. you won't have to do anything. i just need you to watch.
we wait for robert to wake up.
where's the other one?
go to school tomorrow. try to act normal. don't let anyone know what's happening. this is important. when the vampires find out who you are.  you won't be hunting them anymore.
meet me at this address after school.
skip it.
it's true.
it's not pretty, but it does suit our purposes.
there's a great deal i have to show you, i'm not even sure where to start there's so little time.
do you know what a vampire-king is?
oh, yes. and the man from your dreams. lothos.
yes. they travel about, usually with one or two of their followers to lay the groundwork. the vampires find a community and they feed on it, make it their own. you were difficult to trace, and i think the process has gone a lot further than i'd anticipated. usually this goads a community into some kind of paranoid frenzy. but for some reason, nobody here seems to be paying any attention.
we'll cover it later.
in a way, yes. your fate is inexorably connected to them.
we're going to have the work hard. you'll need some excuse for staying out. for your parents.
i tell you, the best thing i can do right now is find out more about you. what your strengths are, your likes.  everything. what's your best subject?
yes, you used to do gymnastics. but you stopped. why?
but you enjoyed it, yes?
cheerleading. for.  sporting events, yes?
all right. why don't you show me a cheer?
yes, yes. it would be interesting. a nice cheer.
who we gonna beat?
oh. i thought.  you lead me --
oh. good.
i had to test you.
and you caught it! only the chosen one could have done that.
it was necessary.
i don't think you understand the full implications of --
don't you see what's happening? you're changing. you've got powers you've only just begun to tap. physical, mental prowess you've never dreamed of. god, this hurts. i've administered a few shocks to your system to start the adrenaline working. i'm sorry i have to take so many shortcuts in the training process.
two days ago, would you have even hit me? let alone so powerfully?
exactly. you're changing. you're becoming something extraordinarily powerful.
your turn.
no. no bats, no flying. they.  float, occasionally. not really flying.
oh, several. lucretia borgia, joseph mengele, franklin pangborn.  are any of those names familiar?
good lord. what do you study in history?
all right. you've heard of the emperor caligula, perhaps? or jack the ripper?
same one.
 lothos was probably born in the eleventh or twelfth century; he's been difficult to trace. his power has increased with age. it will be a long while before you are ready to face him. we'll be lucky if we can get him to leave the area, to lie low for awhile. that will scatter the rest of them. lothos is.
 is extremely powerful, but he is still a vampire, and vulnerable to the same.
daylight is still his enemy. the stake can still find his heart.
i have huge antlers growing out of my buttocks.
try to pay attention.
he was slow. very simple. they won't all be that easy.
and the alley was a mistake. never corner yourself like that. if they'd come at you in force you'd be dead now. one vampire is a lot easier to kill then ten.
you felt a little sick, didn't you? the cramps.
it's natural. a reaction to their presence, to the.  unnaturalness of it. it's part of how you are able to track them.
you'll get used to it. i'm more worried about your tactical mistakes.
a what?
don't start with me again.
buffy.
what do you want? encouragement? 'gosh, buffy, you're so special, i just want to give you a great big hug, oh i'm just having a warm fuzzy.'
do you know how many girls i've trained to be slayers? five. five properly prepared girls, girls who faced their responsibilities, who worked hard to become women overnight -- harder than you've ever worked in your life -- and i saw them ripped apart. do you want to live? do you?
what did you think, that being able to jump about and hit people makes you a slayer?
five.
not if you're careful.
it's what i was raised to do. there aren't many of us left, the watchers.
there's a small village in hampshire, near stonehenge.  .  near a bunch of big rocks. that's where i was born. my father taught me about the training, about finding the slayers, reading the signs. there's a small cluster of us, a few families, really.  most of the neighboring villagers think we're just a bunch of harmless old loonies. i thought so myself for a time, when i was younger.  i'm sorry. i'm not supposed to.  i shouldn't go on like this.
it isn't important.
buffy, don't.  don't start thinking of me as your friend. it interferes with the work, and it.
as for example, what?
vampires of the world, beware.
i can't work this.
but it's in the back. why are we wasting time with this, anyway?
my clothes have always been perfectly serviceable.
i want to die.
interesting.
there isn't time.
another distraction. it's not right.
sooner or later you're going to have to accept it. your fate.
all right.
oh, i'll be there all right. i'm not letting you out of my sight. not till you're ready.
football is my life.
none of the other girls ever gave me this much trouble.
no.
what about her?
knows what about her?
i'm on the wrong bloody side.
wait!
did you see a girl come by here?
yes.
wheels?
which way did she go?
idiot girl. can't watch over her. how long ago did --
oh, my god.
this one may surprise you.
perhaps.
i don't think so.