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Before the Madness Begun by Nemo
 
Chapter Three – Insanity
 
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Buffy was lying restless on her bed when she heard the sound of glass breaking. She sat up. None of the other girls in her room seemed to have noticed. There were three of them, their beds hidden behind curtains, but since Buffy couldn’t hear any signs of activity, she assumed the girls were sleeping peacefully.

The noises outside in the corridor continued, and Buffy listened, highly alert: there were footsteps just on the other side of the door. She got out of bed and walked as quietly as she could through the room. She was still dizzy from the drugs but chose to ignore it. There was a small window on the door. She looked through it, trying to see who was sneaking around outside, but the corridor was covered in darkness.

That was when she heard it. A loud thud and someone swearing:

”Bugger.”

That was not one of the nurses. She was sure. She tried to open the door before her. It was locked. Of course. She was not at home now, not like she could come and go as she liked. She hated it. She gave the door an extra push with all of her strength. It clicked open. *Hah! So much for trying to lock me up.*

She tiptoed out into the corridor. She couldn’t see much, but as she turned left, a small window gave enough light from the street lamp outside, to let her see the intruder. It turned out to be the person she had least expected to see:

”Spike.”

Could it really be him? No, this must be her mind playing tricks on her. All the drugs they were forcing her to take, this had to be a hallucination.

He turned around, and looked at her as if he had seen a ghost.

”Buffy? What in the bleedin’ hell are you doing here?”

She didn’t very much like to answer that question, even if he was only in her imagination. She was ashamed. So she did what she’d done the first time they’d met: asked him back.

”What are you doing here?”

”I’m…what do you think?”

”Right. Creature of the night. Thieving?

”Exactly.”

”So what are you stealing?”

”Meds mostly. My girlfriend is having one of her worse days. Nights.”

”Oh.”

”Right.” This was absurd. How do you small talk in a hospital corridor at 3 o’clock at night? And should he kill her this time? He was shocked to have company on this little mission of his, so it wasn’t until now his senses had told him that she was a happy meal on legs. No, killing her would mean too much trouble, probably a lot of screaming and commotion. It was better to just get the stuff and leave. Dru was waiting.

”So why are you here then, pet?

”I…They say I’m crazy.” She tried to make it sound like a joke.

”Really?” He raised an eyebrow. ”Are you?”

That was the question she had tried to answer all week. In the beginning she had been so sure. She was right - they were wrong. But now? She didn’t know. That was the worst part. The way they had made her question her own mind, her own eyes. The things they said, it was so reasonable: that she made everything up, traumatized after her parents’ divorce, trying to keep them together by making herself into some kind of a super hero. It was just…

”I don’t know,” she said quietly, looking down at her bare feet. It was the truth. She shivered in the chilly corridor, the hospital gown she was wearing wasn’t exactly warm.

”Why did they put you here then?”

”I saw things.”

”Things as in?”

”You wouldn’t believe me.”

”Probably not. Well, gotta go. Girl waiting an’ all.” Spike continued to walk down the corridor.

”Vampires.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. Was she talking about him? Did she know? Somehow Spike didn’t want her to know that he was one of them. That he was a vampire. He turned around.

”Vampires?” He played it cool.

A human would at this point feel guilty. Spike knew that, and that was about as far as his non-existent conscience got him. He had not once in his unlife thought about what happened to the victims that he did not manage to kill, the ones he left behind still bleeding or the ones who had witnessed his reign of terror. This girl had ended up in a mental institution because of some vampires. It could as well have been him. Of course it wasn’t his fault that she was here, since she didn’t even know what he was, but Spike still got that feeling that he should feel guilty. He used to love that feeling, since he didn’t feel the guilt itself, but this time he couldn’t help but wonder: how many girls like her had he left behind?

”I know how it sounds. But I saw them. Whole bunch of them. And…and I think they were real.”

”Well, you were lucky to get away alive then, pet.” Oh no, now he was nice to her too? She was gonna be the end of him, making him a soddin’ nancy-boy!

”That’s it? No ’it must have been your imagination’ or ’I believe you think they’re real’?

”No,” he said, opening what turned out to be what he was looking for: a storeroom. He started to rummage through the supplies.

”You…you believe me?” There were tears in her eyes now. She was so relieved. She wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t crazy.

”Sure, met a couple myself over the years. Nasty buggers.” He came out of the storeroom with his hands full of various syringes and drugs. He had a hard time trying to keep himself from laughing. Him – playing the good guy! He almost dropped all of his stolen goods when he saw the look on her face.

She was standing there wearing nothing but the thin hospital gown that reached just below her knees. Her nipples were poking through the material in the chilly air and her hair was cascading over her shoulders. Her face wore a look of pure salvation. There were tears running down her cheeks but she was silent.

What Spike did next surprised them both. He would refer to it later as a moment of insanity, probably affected by the place he was in, but this was what he did: he leaned down and kissed her.

Buffy’s eyes grew big in surprise but she soon gave in to the kiss. His lips were cold but comforting, his hand on her cheek the only thing holding her up. She let out a small moan before he broke the kiss and stepped back.

”Fool them, luv,” he said so quietly, she barely could hear it. And before she knew it, he had disappeared down the hall.

Buffy was left standing there believing she’d seen an angel. That was what he must have been. If there were vampires, there must be angels. She was sure. She wasn’t crazy, but she could fool them just like he’d said. As the alarm went off, Buffy slowly began walking back towards her room, oblivious to the noise, caressing her lips with her fingers where his cool touch had been just a moment ago.

”I’m not crazy,” she said to herself.







A/N: Since I know nothing about hospitals or mental institutions I apologize for the lack of credibility in this chapter. Hope you'll like it it anyway

I also want to thank my beta, Luxferi, and all of you who has left me a review. Thank you guys!
 
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