Although it had fooled her twice before -- once with Derek and once with Drusilla -- the mental manipulation was tougher to believe, this time around. It still made her blood curdle and her heart stop; it shivered her down to her core. But it didn't distract her.

There was that insistent sliver of her brain, though, that had to wonder whether she'd been too late. Whether Drusilla had indeed managed to take her housemate and turn her. For a moment, Buffy glanced back at the darkened house.

No. If it had happened, it would have to be dealt with later. Priorities. And right now, hers was the vampire she knew and not the vampire that might only potentially be.

So she struck. Fast and hard, the red blade cut the air and sought her foe's gut.