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*There's an Andrew in the bar.*

*He's reading. No, actually, he's been reading, but right now he's rubbing his closed eyes with two fingers and contemplating getting some more caffeine and an Advil.*

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Wesley is just coming down from a productive evening in the library, and his eyes have a blurred cast to that not much different from Andrew's. After a quick diversion at the bar, Wesley walks over to take a nearby seat.

"Hullo, Andrew. I must say, you look how I feel."

Oh god, that bad?

*Andrew closes the book in front of him, leaving his notebook inside it as a placeholder.*

Been hitting the books pretty hard. You too?

A trace of smile flashes across Wesley's face, and leaves behind a look of satisfaction.

"Ye-es. And I have something to show for it."

"I found a reference to Elie in--well, I suppose I should call it an 'ancient text' because it was nearly three hundred years old when it found its way to Asar-Suti's library. But given that the book was actually written in 2036--well, best not to think about that part too closely."

"In any case, it mentions a young woman named Elie who was said to have been a witch somewhere in the Bay Area during the 1920s. She apparently dropped out of sight in 1929, only to resurface in 1967 in the neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury, where she made a name for herself as a kind of fortune teller."

...That's interesting.

*Andrew's gaze sharpens.*

A witch, though? Not a vampire?

"Well, that's where the story gets interesting. Apparently, some time after that she came to the attention of a man named Russell Winters."

"I know for a fact Winters was a vampire, because Angel dispensed with him shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles."

Uh huh.

Go on?

"Descriptions of Elie in the 1960s describe her exactly as she was said to have looked in the 1920s. Quite beautiful, with raven-black hair, and a fierce expression. Her eyes, it was said, could hold any victim in place, fascinated by her beauty and forceful will."

"For his part, Winters had a reputation as a sadist and a misogynist, but it's entirely possible he found his match in Elie. And if she had been relying on youth-preserving spells up to that point, she might have preferred relative immortality as a vampire."

Speculation, but ... compelling.

*Andrew raises an eyebrow.*

Any mention of her after that?

"Not directly. But when I checked Winters' biography, I discovered several references to a 'dark beauty' in his company. That would have been sometime after the mid-1990s, and in Los Angeles. But not long after Winters was staked--'by a vampire with a soul', no less--she turns up in the records again, this time in Greenwich Village in New York."

"Andrew, I strongly suspect this is the vampire they encountered. And if it is, she possesses not only the powers of the undead, but of a witch as well. Which may account for her ability to resist staking. Perhaps she relies on a spell of some kind."

...Yeah. Yeah, that'd make a lot of sense.

*Andrew frowns thoughtfully.*

What kind of spell could do that, though? I mean, I could see a shield spell that makes her impervious to stakes, but that takes a metric buttload of power to maintain -- and what we saw her do doesn't match that. The stake penetrated, it just didn't dust her.

"Perhaps a spell that merely deflects the stake as it penetrates?"

"But, no, that presents the same problem. Even if it would require less power. sustaining even that much over a long period...." Wesley shakes his head. "Doesn't seem likely."

*He scratches his chin.*

Could it be something as simple as putting her heart in a box? I mean, not the vampire procedure, but a spell?

Wesley considers that for a moment. "Possibly...."

Then he slowly begins to nod. "Ye-es, I think, perhaps, you might be on to something with that."

"Not a simple spell by any means. It would take exceptional talent and skill ... but Elie certainly seems a likely candidate for both...."

I've been hunting examples of Spells That Make You Invulnerable, though, and I haven't found any actual documented cases of that one being used.

"I can't say I've heard of one either."

"Perhaps we might have better luck trying to find the witch who might have taught it to her?"

"Though, I must admit, even if that was possible, I doubt I would be much help in doing it."

And there's Wesley's first regret of the day about being Bound.

Mmm. *Andrew's fingers drum on the tabletop for a moment.*

I don't suppose there was any mention in your text about the early Elie's companions? Anything we could cross-reference?

"There was mention of a woman named Madelyn, whom Elie served, or at least associated with, for several years."

"The author of the text was careful about what he wrote about her--careful enough to suggest she was someone he dared not insult, even many decades later."

Or else he just didn't have any real information about her.

Either suggests someone pretty powerful.

"Yes. Unfortunately, it does seem she may be our best lead, short of capturing Elie herself."

"Of course, now we're left to wonder which would be the more dangerous."

Might be moot, if we can't find this Madelyn. But we've got a name now -- I'll start looking into it back home.

"Good luck with that, Andrew. And let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."

Wesley finishes his drink and gets ready to head back up to the library.

I will. And thanks.

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