SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT

Chp 11 Alone.

Spike stared at the door that clicked shut behind Buffy and kicked it, hard! “Bloody woman!” he yelled. “What does it take to get you to be sensible?”

Then he froze. From the other side of the solid oak came the unmistakeable sounds of a fight and he heard his wife call out, “Spike! Help!”

“Buffy!” he roared and battered at the door, but the lock held fast. “Buffy!”
He flung himself desperately against the wood, pressing his ear to the panels, trying to hear her voice. But there was nothing now but silence.

Buffy had dispatched four of the black hooded figures, yelling to Spike for help, not realising that the door had locked when she slammed it in his face. As her foot broke the neck of the fifth attacker, she realised with a shudder that she was out-numbered and that Spike wasn‘t coming to help.

Then something hit her hard on the side of her head and, as she sank into oblivion, she realised with despair that she had finally driven him away – just when she needed him the most.

She came round fast, blinking awake with Slayer instincts and powers in full flow. She was lying on a dirty wooden floor, staring sideways at several pairs of sandaled feet. Buffy didn’t move a muscle; she didn’t want her captors to know she was conscious. Any little advantage she could get would be needed.

She wasn’t tied up in any way, which was odd. Apart from a thumping headache, she didn’t seem to have been injured at all. That was mega weird. Why hadn’t they finished her off when they had the chance? Then, with a cold shudder she realised that, of course, what they wanted was the baby Key she was carrying. They would do nothing to endanger that.

She strained to hear what was going on. There was a lot of chanting, she could smell smoke and incense, someone was making a speech, but she was too far away to hear the words clearly. One thing she did know it was Ben speaking. All her memories of the young intern came flooding back. How she’d actually liked him before realising, as Spike had done before her, that Ben and Glory were the same person inside different bodies.

She wondered where Ben’s other body was in this reality. Was there a stunningly beautiful girl walking around this Sunnydale, working at the hospital, perhaps, knowing that her body was taken over periodically by a hell god?

Suddenly, before Buffy could move, there was a rush of feet and hands grabbed her arms and jerked her to her feet.

“My great fantasticus, this human is awake,” someone muttered and dragging her forwards, threw her down again on the floor.

A foot, shod in a shiny red trainer, reached out and kicked her in the ribs. She tried not to wince, rolled over and got to her feet, shaking off the hands holding her for a second, until two more pairs grabbed her and held her fast.

“Cute shoes, Ben. Reminds me of Dorothy from Oz. Why don’t you click the heels and vanish back to your own stinky hell dimension?”

Draped in heavily decorated robes, Ben lounged back in a huge, carved chair, a cruel smile creasing his pleasant, good-looking face. “You’re a Slayer, aren’t you? How amusing.”

“Oh, I’m full of jokes. It’ll be really funny when I kill you.”

The red shod foot lashed out again, but Buffy dodged, swearing under her breath. That last kick had been aimed at her stomach. If Ben wasn’t careful, there wouldn’t be any baby Key to unlock his way home.

“So you think you are capable of killing me?”

Buffy hesitated. It was tempting to say she had defeated him before, but she didn’t want to give anything away. “You don’t belong in this world. And I’m not going to let you destroy it.”

“Slayers. So predictable.” Ben yawned. “Well, nice as it would be to sit and chat, I have a very urgent meeting to arrange. I am going home!” He clicked his fingers and the grip around her arms tightened. “Secure her somewhere – ” he smiled and for a second or two his eyes glowed – “somewhere she can see what’s going on! Anticipation is always half the fun in these affairs and, as the Slayer has already said, she enjoys a good laugh.”

Buffy was dragged back across the great hall. She managed to send one of her captors flying but another two took his place. Struggling, she was chained to the wall, her hands high above her head.

As she watched, the minions carried in a long trestle table, covered with a snowy white cloth, heavily embroidered in gold silk. It would have looked lovely, except for the thick leather straps attached to each side. Obviously something – or, she was under no illusions – someone, someone whose name was Buffy – was about to be strapped to it.

More flaming torches and scones of candles were marched in. More chanting and dancing; the black hooded demons were working themselves up into a frenzy of bloodlust.

Buffy tugged at the chains and grinned silently as she felt one of them move slightly in the stone wall. The rivets holding the ring were set in something that was crumbling a little every time she tugged on it. If she could just get one hand free, then perhaps –

“Hurry you fools! Daylight will be breaking soon! I want to get the ceremony started just as the sun comes up. Then the denizens of this blighted world will be able to see exactly what is coming for them! I wouldn’t want them to miss a second of the death and bloodshed. So hurry! The Slayer awaits. Or some of you will be the first course before the main meal of the day!” Ben leapt up from his chair and strode up and down the vast hall, lashing out at his followers with words and fists.

And if it was nearly daylight, that meant she must have been unconscious for far longer than she had thought. So where was Spike?

Buffy tugged at the chains again, cursing under her breath. How could she have been so stubborn, so bone stupid as to have told him she could manage without him? She’d turned her back on him, told him she’d trusted Angel, that she was the Slayer and needed to do her own thing. Why? Of course she trusted him. Even now, with all that had happened, she was waiting, looking, expecting him to help her.

If that wasn’t trust, what was? Why didn’t she believe that he’d gone back to the other Sunnydale through the portal? It would have been the obvious thing for him to have done. But she knew he hadn’t. Knew, without a doubt, that he was somewhere, trying, fighting….

“Slayer!”

“Spike!” Buffy stared round wildly. She could have sworn she’d heard him speak her name, but there was no one there. Maybe she was going mad. So much had happened to her recently that she wouldn’t have been at all surprised.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be chained up, pet. You should have told me. Always pleased to oblige a lady with her sexual fantasies!”

“Spike!” Buffy hissed. “Where the hell are you?”

“Just look to your right, sweetheart. No, slowly, don’t make it so bloody obvious. See where that curtain is hanging crooked against the wall, just the other side of where the ring for the chain is set in the stone.”

“Yes.”

“Behind it there’s a window. I’m standing on a sodding ledge, half way up the outside wall, hanging on by my nails and balls. I can just see you through the space between the curtain and the wall.”

“Well, crawl in. Join the fun.”

“Bit difficult to do, pet. There’s a ruddy great iron bar across the window. I could bend it back if I was standing on the ground, but not while I’m perched on this ledge like a bloody canary!”

Buffy bit her lip. “Spike, I’m sorry – ”

“Frigging hell, Slayer! Don’t start apologizing without giving me some warning first. Almost fell off.” His voice changed, became softer, warmer. “There’s no need to say sorry, pet. You’re my wife in this Sunnydale. We’re allowed to have rows. It’s part of being married.”

“I said I didn’t trust you. I was lying. I just wanted to hurt you.”

“Why?’

Buffy stopped tugging at the chains. It was odd just talking to a voice, but in a strange way it was also easier than having those brilliant blue eyes staring into hers. “Because – because I love you and I think I know deep down that however much I hurt you, it won’t make any difference, you’ll still be on my side.” There was a silence and she went on, “Are you still there? Does that make any sense?”

“Sure. I know how you think. I shouldn’t have lost my temper but you offered the bait and I took it. I snapped, you yelled, slammed the door and bam, here we are, but still alive, still talking – ”

“ – and still no closer to killing Ben,” Buffy finished, feeling her heart lift.

“Of course, if you still want to do it all on your own, I’m quite happy to go home,” Spike teased.

Buffy shut her eyes briefly. Being the Slayer gave her all sorts of benefits, skills and talents. Being wise wasn’t one of them.

Suddenly the chanting and singing stopped. Buffy’s eyes flashed open and she gazed across the wide expanse of the hall. There was a lot of movement in a far doorway. The hooded demons were lining up, forming a passageway from the door to the table with the leather straps – a passageway for someone to pass along.

The chanting began again, but this time it was just two notes, one deep, the next high, on and on and on. And as they chanted, they stamped on the floor, a slow and menacing sound.

“What’s going on, pet?” Spike’s voice was urgent.

She tugged violently at the chains and felt the bolt ring move again. “Don’t know. But it won’t be good for me and Baby Key, that’s for sure.”

“Hate to add to your problems, sweetheart, but we’ve got another little difficulty to cope with.”

“What?”

“Daylight’s coming and I’m stuck up a wall facing the sun.”

“Go back down!” Buffy yelled, then froze as the demon closest to her, turned his black hooded head and she saw two red yes gleaming at her.
She screamed and struggled and he turned away, obviously convinced that she was fighting for her life.

“Buffy!”

“It’s OK. I’m OK. Don’t panic. I was just doing my King Kong heroine act. Look, Spike, get under cover. Find another way in here. Just don’t die on me.”

She tried to sound callous and cheerful, but her voice broke at the end. Oh God, if she lost him. What would she do? How could she go on without him?

“Stay where you are, pet. I’ll find another way.” There was a scrabbling noise, then silence.

Buffy blinked back the tears. Even the sound of his voice had given her hope. But at least he wasn’t sizzling to dust – something would be saved from this awful place and –

“Eeeek!” The exclamation broke from her lips as the curtain next to her swung open and her husband stood there, smiling. “Spike! You said you couldn’t get in the window! You said there was a bar. You lied!”

“What can I say, pet? Still evil,” he purred and with one swift step was at her side, putting his weight on the chain holding her to the wall. “Thought I’d just make sure I was welcome before I arrived on the scene. You might have had another plan.”

He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth as the ringbolt came out of the wall with a screech. Buffy glared at him in loving exasperation, then hastily pulled the other chain free. “We’ll talk about this later. We’ve got a hell-god to kill.”

Spike felt a wave of pleasure engulf him. “Like the sound of ‘we‘ve’, a lot.” He stared across the room at the demons. “Where is our Mr Ben, then? Getting ready to make a grand entrance, I suppose. God, I hate all these dramatics. Why didn’t he just kill you when he had the chance? Not that I’m complaining, mind! Just that all this show and flummery reminds me too much of my grand-sire, your dear departed ex.”

Buffy pushed him back into the shadows. “He’ll be here. He told me he was going home. That means one thing. He’ll try and take Baby Key for its blood.”

Spike vamped out for a second, and then shook himself back into human face. “Like to see him try,” he growled, then hesitated before saying, “Slayer, this is a bloody odd set-up. Why haven’t they attacked us? You’d think if he was so obsessed with the baby, he’d have put a couple of guards on you all the time, chained up or not. And they must have seen me by now.”

Buffy frowned and winced as she forced the metal cuffs off her wrists. “Well, he knew I couldn’t escape – what with being all chained up, you know!” Then a slow understanding began to creep over her. “Hey, you’re right. No one’s looked in this direction for ages. It’s as if they don’t care what happens to me. They’re all far too interested – ”

“In who’s coming through that door,” Spike broke in and jabbed a finger towards the chanting crowd lining the route to the table set out in front of Ben’s carved throne.

And as she looked, Buffy suddenly realised with a cold rush of horror, how wrong she had been about everything. She wasn’t pregnant; she wasn’t carrying the Key Baby for Ben to kill! Because being dragged screaming and cursing into the room by the black hooded demons, was a beautiful girl, black haired, dark-eyed. She was wearing a long, white robe, embroidered with gold that matched the linen covering on the table.

Her feet were bare and she was fighting every inch of the way - but it was no contest because although she was a Slayer, Faith was also heavily pregnant.

To be continued.