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Ancient shades by Kur
 
8
 
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Thanks: To Melissa, my wonderful, patient beta!!!

CHAPTER 8

The only sound that filled the Mayor’s office was a beating one as if somebody had forgotten an opened tap. Three pair of eyes were fixed to a monitor as the security camera tape showed Buffy and Spike skulking through Allan Finch’s office. The image made a leapt and showed them walking out of it only to step backwards. Wilkins cursed and knocked the monitor. It buzzed like a dying bee.

“Damn thing! It’s not funny if you can’t listen to what they are saying!”

“The chat is not important. They have seen us and now they know…” Angelus stopped his fingers dance on the desk.

“They knew it before that.” The Mayor shook his head and sighed as if the whole thing was extremely boring. “You didn’t pay attention to the witch part, did you? She knows… Had followed the traces of the Vessel. They all lead to this place. I think it’s time for our next plan. I really want that sceptre…”

“What plan? And may I add what sceptre now that I’m at it?” Faith’s eyes never left the frozen image in the monitor. That damned bitch! Always snooping around. Bet she had gone there to look for something she could use to incriminate her. A proof… She rewind the tape and stopped it just when Buffy was straddling Spike’s lap. His face had a seductive gleam that made all the lights in the office looked opaque and dreary. What in hell a hottie like that was doing with and obvious dull, killjoy creature like Buffy? Faith’s fingertips outlined Spike’s frozen picture. She should have known how to gallop that one… He looked like one who would really enjoy some of the games, no… all the games she would have liked to play with him. “What…? Sorry, you’re saying?”

“Why don’t you brief her while I talk to my… advisors?” The Mayor spat Angelus’ shoulder. The vampire didn’t notice it. He had seen Faith drawing her hand from the screen as if she had been caught stealing something. Spike’s smirk slapped him from the screen. “We are going to have an extraordinary party! I can’t wait!” Wilkins sang before disappearing into the hall.”




Buffy limped towards Giles’s door dreaming of a hot bath and a pair of strong, big hands to ease the stiffness in her right leg. A bubble bath was out of the question. She hadn’t time for that luxury. Fantasies sucked sometimes. What was the point in having them if you couldn’t put them in action? The disgusting, sticky and stinking splodges of her ruined coat begged for a trashcan. A rush of insults and a too loud TV set welcomed her as soon as she opened the door. She walked towards the sofa where Spike was half sitting; half crouched yelling as a madman at the screen.

“You could have come…” She screamed just for him to advert his eyes from the TV.

“Where?” Only one blue eye left the monitor.

“Patrolling with me.” Stupid attempt that of hers. As if a drenched girl could possibly compete with a football match.

“And watch you while you dust my mates? No thanks.”

She nearly sat on the couch but leapt to her feet when she realized about the horrible mess her jeans would probably made if that smelly grey slime got in touch with the velvet surface. Giles would shout till next summer or he would make her rubbed it over and over again just to get rid of the gummy stains. “It’s my job…”

“Well, yeah.” He was merciful enough to turn the TV down. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit in the first row and clap. Now, shut that pretty mouth of you, ah pet?”

“I’m taking a bath…” And bye, bye fantasies. Of any kind. It wouldn’t hurt if she tried, though. “Want to help me?”

“Ah?… What?… Later…” A caveman could have probably known how to speak better.

She was getting really angry now. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to wait at her own house as Giles had asked. Her mother wouldn’t have let him watch that… Who was she kidding? Of course she would have let him. And maybe she’d have even bought a six-pack only for him.
Standing in front of the TV she made her last attempt.

“I can’t understand where is the fun in watching twelve guys running after a ball.”

Spike swayed from side to side trying to catch a glimpse of the match. He looked at those stupid dog toys with a spring in their necks. “They are not twelve. They are twenty-two. Now please move.” He jumped from his seat, his hands on her shoulders and her chin on her entangled hair. “YES!!!”

Buffy flinched and squeezed her eyelids shut. Boy, he had destroyed her ears! But he had said yes… With a quick flick of her wrist she grabbed the remote control, turned the TV off and threw it away. The plastic device landed on the table with a not too pleasant thump.

“NO!!! Bloody hell, woman! Why have you done that!?” Spike lunged to the table, jumping over the sofa. “We’re under by two and we’re about to kick a soddin’ penalty. Bollocks! I’m going to rip your throat out!” He yelled from the floor where he had fallen after his boot had got stuck in the carpet.

“That means you’re going to take a bath with me?” Buffy looked at him, leaning over the back of the couch. He was really pissed off. A louring look. Dark, threatening clouds running in his eyes. “They are black. Lace, actually. With these beautiful red silk ribbons tying them up at the sides…” She teased backing towards the bathroom as he crawled on the carpet. Grunts rumbled on his chest and she couldn’t tell if he was playing or he was really going to kill her. “But, if you don’t want them… Ahhh!” She cried when he leapt from the floor and raised her to one of his shoulders, kicking the bathroom door.




“Willow, are you done?” Giles locked the padlock that kept his special and forbidden books out of inexpert hands. Willow had learnt quite a lot since last year… He shut out the reasons. Too painful. Yet, he had a new chance now. An opportunity to take… He shut out that thought as well. A resounding explosion made him whirled around. A bright white light blinded him for a moment.

“Wow!” That was Willow’s voice. She was fine, then. Giles’s heart didn’t take notice of it. It continued trotting for quite five minutes. “Have you seen that? Giles! Have you seen…? Are you all right?” Willow helped him to get to a chair.

“I saw it before it blinded me.” Giles rubbed his forehead with his handkerchief. “What was that?”

“Well, as you know I’ve been searching some other traces of energy. They are so helpful to understand the hidden meaning of spells! Remember the one that lead us to the woods? It taught us something really interesting…”

“Willow… To the point, please. Buffy and Spike are waiting in MY house and I still have to live there.” It never stopped to wonder him how he could sound so casual about that particular topic. He hadn’t forgotten his last confrontation with that unbearable demon. He still had nightmares where he woke up with fangs and big ridges over his forehead.

“Okay!” Willow bent over the table. A big Sunnydale map was spread on it. It had a little hole in one section. A thin line of smoke still waved from it. Willow blew it and smiled foolishly at Giles, hoping the light hadn’t burnt a matching hole on the table. “The warlock they summoned for the Vessel… he is back. But he’s not alone. They have performed a terrible spell there.” She pointed at the map hole. “Maybe right now.”

“What?” Giles pushed up his glasses and leant over the table. “Right now? What have they done? Do you have any clues?”

“Well, not sure about it. Maybe not right now but this morning or yesterday night. The energy is still buzzing in there. I can tell you. And for the what they have done… Maybe a portal. It needs a huge amount of energy to open one. I know.” She nodded proudly. “But I have this feeling it was something else… It’s in the docks… We could… check?” A gleaming spark shone in her green eyes. She had worked so hard in getting better and better in this strange, powerful and mysterious subject. It wasn’t as Maths or History where all you have to do was use your brains and study hard for the next day. She liked that. But she liked this even more. It gave her some sort of power she had never had. Made her special. Open new doors full of surprises and wonders. And, in a way, it was like studying History. Every single king had had a witch or a wizard to consult before each battle. They didn’t even move a finger if the stars didn’t say so. And who read the stars? People like her…

“Have you found anything about the Vessel? How it works? Because these books you have asked for are very powerful and I don’t want to…”

“Oh, yes!” She grabbed some papers and an old book. “I’m not going to tell you the whole tale ‘cause I know you want us to be all together but… I’ve been chatting with this friendly girl from Bulgaria… Have I mention she is from a coven? I wonder if I… Yes, yes. I know. She told me some Greek monks kept the Vessel in a temple somewhere near Turkey. Yes, - she explained when Giles frowned, - ‘cause it’s said that it was Hermes Vessel. The flask was the container in which he carried the souls to the Underworld.”

“The monks gave it to… No, of course, - he sighed at her mocking look, - it was stolen. But if it was used to… Then Angel soul is trapped in it!”

Willow nodded cheerfully. She was so good at this! “All we have to do is destroy it. Well, find it and destroy it. Well, not only destroy it… There’s this spell… more like a ritual… But first I think we should check this hole?”

Giles gathered the books and walked out of the library. A ritual… It didn’t sound that simple. Looking at a more than eager Willow didn’t help to ease his doubts. She was so young… He didn’t want her to be harm in anyway. Her skills had improved in ways he had never expected, though. And that mere fact filled him with a primal fear he didn’t understand. He took mental note of watching her closer. Put some limits. Some boundaries. She shut the door of the car with a strange smile dancing on her lips. Yes. Limits. Before it could be too late.




Fantasies had their own way to get real. Bubbles weren’t sailing on the water but inside her veins. Million of bubbles, small, big, crashing around in her blood while Spike’s tongue traced her inner thighs, his teeth nibbling them like a delicious snack, his fingertips running like tickling fairies along her waist. Buffy was a puddle of bubbles spread on the sofa. She knew she had to do something. Important. Something that had to do with the clock or the fact that it was late. Her wet hair shed little drops of water on the green velvet. On her forearms stretched over her head just for her hands to clutch the arm of the couch. Something flew over her head like a teasing mosquito. An elusive thought. Something she should be worried about. Something… he did know how to make her forget about everything… His tongue suddenly plunged into her hot core and the thought scurried from her mind like a mouse looking for shelter. She pushed herself downwards, moaning and wriggling and a piercing sound was filling her ears; his big palms lifted her round ass and the noise started to knock the walls as if the mouse had turned into a shrilling big rat. Her back arched with every circle his tongue drew inside her. Her fingers sank in the sofa while he lapped her with urgent strokes and his fangs scratched one of her thighs. His mouth sucked deeply and she exploded in shaking, trembling spasms that left her limped on the couch.

“The bell is ringing, honey.” He said among giggles and she tried so hard to understand the words. They seemed to float by her like the thought that had return to tease her… Buffy sat with a jerk and ran to the bathroom flinging her stained clothes on. Giles… How on earth could she have forgotten about him? She went back to the living room, a little flushed, a quick glimpse at the clock said it was twelve thirty and Spike was lolling about as if his legs weren’t made of rubber as hers were and where were Giles and Willow?

“We thought they were here. I went to the library to pick her up but there was nothing there…” Oz sounded really worried.

“Only a map with a hole.” Xander avoided Spike and opened a door cabinet. He found a cookies bag and was about to crunch one when he caught Spike’s raised eyebrow. Turning round he leapt on the sofa scowling at the vampire with extreme disgust. Spike’s smirk grew wider when Xander fidgeted on the damp spot Buffy’s hair had left on the velvet.

Buffy frowned; a question sketched on her forehead. What was so important about a map and a hole? Sometimes she couldn’t get Xander’s remarks.

“Yes, the docks.” Oz asked to Spike’s question. Obviously, he had made sense of that insignificant issue. “I wanted to go there first ‘cause I know Willow…”

“We should go then.” She looked at Spike. No further words. He put his coat on and stomped outside to get his car.

“I’ll follow you in the van.” Oz hurried after Spike.

“Xander… why don’t you stay here in case they come back?” Buffy disguised her order behind a begging voice. Last thing they needed right then was an annoying friend and an annoying vampire darting insults and male ego to each other. So different from Oz… Maybe it was some sort of demon bonding… Vampires, werewolves… A matter of skin. As distorted as it might sound.




A big rat dashed between Buffy’s boots making her jump with a shriek. God, how in hell could she possibly be so frightened about those little creatures when she had seen tons of different and dreadful beings in the last years? Getting closer to Spike she looked at the next warehouse. A lamp covered in dust lighted dimly the narrow street filled with dustbins, pissed old newspapers and card boxes. The bulbs of the street lamps had been smashed long ago. One of the posts was bent to the ground as if a lorry had hit it.

“Sure this is it?” Buffy asked peeping through a hole in the wooden door. After finding Giles’s car, they had checked three warehouses with no results. Spike’s smelling powers were not at full tilt. Strange and scary. She didn’t even want to consider what could possibly be the cause of it. Had him in an uneasy, jumpy mood.

“I can’t be bloody sure, can I?” He raised his head; his nostrils quivering as he tried to tell apart the mingled scents of old dog and human urine, piles of rubbish and something that underlie… deadly nightshade and myrrh. Water, stagnant water. As though they were all standing at the edge of a filthy moat filled with rotten meat and putrid fish. Deeper, there was blood and fear. And underneath he could still pick up his grandsire’s scent but faded as a bad memory. Above all, the humming chimes of malignant power that had his skin twitching with sickness. This wasn’t good. He had never felt this way when it came to sodding spells. But the whole warehouse seemed to be expecting them to enter just to phagocyte them as a huge carnivorous plant from hell. As though behind that same ordinary, scraped door he could find hell itself waiting to hang him from a hook and torture him for all eternity. He was damned sure that Angelus’ torturing sessions would have been a walk in the park compared to those who waited inside that house of horrors. He was about to beg, yes, beg Buffy to turn round and run as fast as she could when a strident screech cut the air better than a cleaver. She opened the door and jumped inside before he could stop her. “Oh, fuck, woman. I only wanted you to be safe. To let me confirm this horrible hunch and let you now.” Instead of shouting it aloud, Spike stopped Oz with a sharp movement of his hand.

“Stay here, mate. Whatever you hear just stay here, okay?” If he could have sweat he would have been a fountain by then. “And if we don’t go out in one hour… get a torch and set the whole docks on fire.” He commanded before rushing after Buffy with his undead heart stuck in his mouth.

tbc...
 
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