Thanks to my beta, Melissa.

CHAPTER 24


So the boxes were still there and the jumbled pieces of marble that looked like the Parthenon… Had found the exit all by himself. Not bad for a nearly blind, weak-enough-to-crawl-on-my-knees-for-the-rest-of-my-existence vampire! Not enough time to mull over which strategy would be better to kick that door opened. Or to think how he could use some of those ropes to hang his grandsire from the ceiling, the rope firmly wrapped around his balls while he enjoyed an extraordinary nosh-up, same to say, Slayer’s neck. He had to run away as far as he could from Captain Morgan and his twisted wife Mabel and found something left of himself first. And then, after feeding for two days long, having a long hot shower, three bottles and a packet of fags, in that strict order, he’d come back. With a crossbow and a barrel of Holy water and a shotgun. Or maybe an Uzi if he’d find one. He was about to move when two menacing growls sounded at his back.

“Oh, the puppies from hell! Have forgotten you, mates!” He giggled, blinking furiously. His knees weren’t made of bones and flesh anymore. Apparently. He snarled in response but they didn’t seem to be a bit impressed. “Oh, just great!” He vamped out when one of the dogs lunged at him, missing his neck by inches. A quick swirl of his body and the beast crashed against a big box, falling to the ground. Spike wished it’d have broken at least one leg. It leapt to his four feet again and aimed for his face. He barely stopped it. His hands grabbed the short ears, tossing the beast’s head to the side. Weakness meant he would never be able to break its neck as easy as that of a chicken. Lack of blood had him in a dizzy… His fangs sank in the dog’s muzzle without waiting for his conscious order. The shrilling scream that filled his mouth had nothing to do with the size of that monster that was kicking and raking his chest with long nails in a furious attempt to get free. Its partner came to rescue him, viciously biting Spike’s leg.

His head still muzzy, Spike could feel his muscles coming to life as he gorged up the odd and salty liquid that ooze from the wounds. His first attempt of lashing out the grip of the fangs deeply sank in his calf didn’t work. But the second… he caught a flying dark shape by the corner of his eye while his grip on the dog’s head became steady and stronger. His thighs were not shaking branches anymore but young trunks capable of facing a storm. The dog stopped fighting, exhaling a last high-pitched note that made him flinch. With a deep victorious howl he whirled round to face the other beast. It laid on its side with its four eyes fixed on the splodge of fresh blood printed on the wall. A man was standing near it with a transfixed look on his pale face.


A leg bleeding profusely, gashes and welts all over a naked body, the face smeared with a deep purple substance that dripped on his chest. An undeniable hard-on. He was still holding the dog’s dead body with one wounded hand. His blue eyes held such a crazy look… Giles stepped back slowly. He didn’t remember how or when he had entered into that place but last thing he wanted was staying there watching that sight from hell that summoned all the horrible images of that future that vampire had promised him. In only one second, if he could command his knees, he was going to start running as far away as he could from that fiend.

Spike tossed the corpse aside, trying to focus his rambling thoughts. That man…that… Gil… Gil… Giles! The name seemed to explode inside his head along with a myriad of images that fought against those he had considered true after being in that place for so long. But the name and his silhouette carried such powerful certainty that were like pieces of a puzzle, as teeth of a wheel meshing perfectly. All those memories of another Watcher… Spike shook his head and looked at Giles taking two, four steps in the wrong direction.

“For all the bleeding demons in hell! Where the fuck are you going, Watcher? The exit is bloody there!” He pointed at the temple front. Its straight lines wavered and pulsated as if it were shrinking.

The two birds above the columns spread their wings and started off straight to an immobile Watcher. He looked like a stony knight with a stony axe firmly held in both hands. Spike ran to his side, grabbing the weapon with a hasted flick. One of the strange eagles fell on the floor, beheaded as the other one made an incredible roll in the air just to attack them again.

“Duck, damn it!” The axe barely hit one wing, unbalancing the bird’s flight. “Look, mate! I’m not at my full strength here so a little help would be extremely welcome!” The axe whizzed in the air, cutting a piece of fur. “Time to open the fucking door! Buggering idiot! Move!”

A powerful vibration filled the air when the doors suddenly slammed opened, tearing a few slivers of sharp marble from the columns. A strong gust brought a rush of dead leaves and rolls of papers. To his shocking surprise the bird he had beheaded rose in the air with its claws threw out to clutch anything at hand. Limping, Spike pushed Giles to the entrance, watching in horror when the two birds turned hastily to chase them, one beak tapping and zinging like an electrical peeled wire. One of the long nails opened a deep gush on Giles’s skull. They both jumped outside at the same time while the birds seemed to hit an invisible wall, bouncing against it like acrobats on a safety net. They didn’t stop but ran for five blocks till Spike fell to the floor. His glazed eyes looked at Giles from behind a haze. All the strength had flowed away from him as though he had never drunk a single blood drop.

“Wait here” Giles’s voice quivered. “My car must be…” He didn’t finish but stayed there, spinning on his heels as a carrousel. “I don’t remember…”

“Bloody hell, Watcher!” Raising his head had become a titan task. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to snitch one!” He barked, not recalling his own car should be nearby.

After a quick glare, Giles nodded and came back soon nearly jumping from a blue vehicle without even braking.

“That place we were in… What was that?” He asked while he put the limp vampire on the front seat.

“Hell, mate.”

“Where’s Buffy?” Fear and worry had him in a trembling knot. “Willow!” He was about to run back to the warehouse when Spike’s hand stopped him.

“Buffy is not there… I don’t know where she’s but… Forget Willow, Watcher. There’s nothing we can do for her…” Spike averted his eyes as if he’d be blamed for that thing.

Giles’s glasses blotted with tears as he got into the car and flew away, the wheels leaving dark prints on the pavement.


Oz tried the front door of Buffy’s house and, to his surprise, the doorknob turned in his hand, showing a dark lounge. Why had they left the doors unlocked? He felt so tired that the slightest movement brought a painful gasp to his lips. The dried crusts of blood on his arms itched and pulled like hot blisters.

The sky was dark with a distant reddish glow but, so far, those strange balls of fire had stopped falling. Yet, the air was rancid and heavy. In suspense. He crossed the living room to turn on the lamp and went back to the porch. Still confused. Still shaking. Those dogs hadn’t followed him after he’d defeated Willow. Never thought he was going to be able to hit her. Never thought such a painful and hard task was going to be so easy. Only one slap. Strong and sharp. Had sent that horrible red flake stuck on her forehead to fly like a dreadful eye, leaving a limp Willow on the floor with three deep scratches on her face. His palm still tickled. It had hurt him more that it had probably hurt her. All he had to do was carry her out in his still strong arms and throw her in the back of the van. The werewolf had howled sadly among the fire bolts and the piles of debris. And suddenly it had disappeared, leaving only a quivering human frame, half fainted on the front seat. Under which he found some spare clothes he always kept at hand. How had he been able to control that ravenous and wild creature that lived inside him was still a mystery. A shocking one. He had never done such thing before… He always forgot its deeds. As if it were another being and not some evil part of him. Perhaps the tearing reality had made it… Perhaps in the realm of werewolves they were in command of any transformation… Didn’t want to know, really. If it were up to him, he’d rip that horrible part of him out of his system… But it had helped. Amazingly.

And now Willow was resting on the couch while he watched over her fighting the dizziness and the heaviness of his eyelids. Waiting for her to awake. To slap him if she was in the mood. Praying for her to be his sweet and innocent Willow and not that dark monster that wouldn’t have hesitated in killing her friends. He doubted he’d be capable of bringing his own dark-self back again if that happened. He couldn’t move one finger. Not even to fetch a welcomed glass of water to alleviate his swollen and dry throat.

Willow shifted on the sofa, a whisper coming from her lips. “Buffy… Buffy… She’s here…”

Oz looked at the door. His heart pounding as if, at any minute, the blond Slayer would appeared claiming she had set everything in order again. No more demons, no more stripes of bright light opening like veins oozing festering creatures. No fireballs or stinky pets trying to devour humans like quick snacks. But the door remained shut and his eyes finally lost the battle against exhaustion. He fell asleep, holding Willow’s hand.



After gnawing at his nails for three hours, Xander couldn’t stand one minute more of being locked in his basement and had jumped onto his car, dragging two restless girls behind him. He had to find out what Oz had done to his friend. Yes, that werewolf had helped them to escape. But… could he trust a demon not to break Willow’s neck if there was a fight? He should have stayed instead of running away as a terrified rabbit. If something happened to Willow… Turning round a corner at full speed he didn’t see the approaching car that wavered along the pavement as if it were driven by a drunken man. The three of them screeched in tune with the wheels when he frantically stomped on the brake pedal. The car hit the other one making it spun three times before it stopped against a hydrant.

“Are you okay?” Xander whirled around on his seat, still clutching the steering wheel.

“You idiot!” Cordelia raised her cast arm as if she were going to break it on his skull. Xander shrunk a little. “That bitch couldn’t kill me but I’m sure that if I stay one minute longer around you, you will!”

“It was an accident, okay?” Xander got off the car with a quick leap. His knees were still shaking and he had to lean on the hook to find a steady pace. For his heart as well. He shortened the distance to the other car. A white column of smoke swirled from its bonnet and one of the doors was opened as a mouth in shock. “Besides, it wasn’t my fault!” He yelled, stopping in the middle of the street with both hands on his hips. Murmuring, he resumed his path. “I’m sure he’s fucking drunk… Last thing I needed in this awful… Wait a minute… Spike! That fucking fiend! I knew it! I knew he was drunk!” He started to shout again when something smacked his head. “Why have you done that?” He faced a furious Cordelia while rubbing his head.

“And I bet he’s so drunk that he could drive a car sat on the wrong side of it?”

“He’s British! They drive on the wrong side of the road!”

“Yes, but I bet they are not fainted while they are at it! And they’ve a steering wheel in front of them as well!” She was about to kneel beside the unconscious vampire when Anya screamed from the other door. “What now?”

“There’s a man here… I think I stepped on his… glasses.” She picked them up, holding them by one arm. “I think I know him… Don’t you think you know him?”

The three of them leant forward as a bunch of anthropologists who had found a rare specimen. Flashes of an unknown man digging among piles of books passed through their minds as snapshots in a dark tunnel. Faster and faster till they were nothing but a blurring line they couldn’t see anymore. They all jumped backwards when the man sat and leant his back on the car. His hand rubbed his right temple before looking at them in awe.

“Xander! Oh, goodness! Thanks God you’re…”

“You know me? How do you know me?”

“Can you give me a hand? I think I…” Giles frowned as the young man hesitated for a long minute. “Some idiot hit us… I couldn’t avoid…” He stopped at the guilty look in Xander’s eyes. Looking around he spotted Xander’s car in the middle of the street.

“I guess he was the idiot…” Anya put in while she looked inside the car to the other occupant. Her eyes widened in surprise. “This is the vampire? Well, I can’t blame her…”

“Anya!” Since when he was jealous about the ex-demon? He didn’t want to have anything to do with her! So exasperating she was! But looking at her, with that shinning delight on her face, her hands almost touching the naked body lying on the seat… A twitch of pure jealousy attacked his guts. He could have masked the feeling putting some other label to it. Disgust, sickness… But he couldn’t just cheat himself… “What are you doing with that monster? And naked? Wait a minute… I don’t want to know…”

“It seems that the thump turned out to be more serious than I thought…” Giles nearly yanked Anya from the car and got his glasses from her hand. “And it also seems that this car is useless. That leaves your car, Xander. If you can give me a hand…”

“My car! I don’t know you! And if you think that I’m going to put that… thing in my car you’re beyond crazy!”

“Xander, enough.” Cordelia sounded as tired as she looked. “He obviously knows you and you made this mess so I think we have to help him. And I’m sure Buffy wouldn’t like us to leave her… vampire in the middle of nowhere. So…”

“I can help!” Anya was already around the car when Xander ran to her side and shoved her aside.

“I’ll help. You open the door for us. Couldn’t you just put your coat on him at least?” He grimaced when they both lifted a body that he had bet it should have been heavier. And this was a powerful demon? One with the weight of a kid? He himself could have knocked him out with one slap. “It’s not that we all want to know what you’ve been doing…” He went on while they put Spike on the front seat, in spite of Anya’s complains.

“Can you just shut your mouth, Xander? Just shut up and drive. We have to find Buffy…” Giles squeezed his eyes to erase a sudden headache. Everything had become odder and odder since the first moment he had found himself standing in that warehouse. Spike, those horrid dogs, the hellish birds, the sky, red and black with the strangest lights he had ever seen. Walls scratched by some sort of devilish rake that had left bright prints from where he could see mountains and lakes, rivers and valleys, of impossible colours, crowded with the most sinister and strangest creatures in the universe. As images frozen in a huge TV screen with an annoying buzz piercing his ears as if he could really hear it. The obvious lack of memory of these teens he more than knew… And those things were nothing compared to the sizzling hole in his stomach every time Spike’s words came to tease his ears. Willow… He had failed to her and to his Slayer. Again.

If he had been in his own house he would have been crying by now. Or shouting and smashing things. And drinking. But maybe after he had cried all the tears he had. All he could do there, while the car passed through streets that seemed to have been hit by a hurricane or an earthquake, was to gaze out of the window, shivering a little now that his coat was covering Spike’s body. And most surprisingly, begging for him to recover. Not because of a real concern about that aggravating pest but because he knew that Buffy would never be the same if she lost him. He even didn’t want to understand that. It was more than beyond his comprehension. He had failed in saving Willow. He wasn’t going to fail in saving Spike as well. Even if that meant he had to cut a gash in his own wrist to feed him. As revolting as it sounded. He had once seen in her eyes what his betrayal had done. He never wanted to see those feelings stabbing his heart as icy darts. Buffy. Think of Buffy, he kept on singing in a mute voice.
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tbc...