Dark Reflection
Chapter Seven: Hollow

Author’s Note: In case anyone was offended by the gruesome attack that Isaiah reveled in Chapter 6, I apologize. I write to provide readers the same satisfaction that other authors gave me when I read their works. Most likely, that will be the most gruesome chapter, but there will be lots and lots of violence still. If you’re not into that, stop reading as of now so I don’t get pestered with annoying reviews. The disclaimers are there for a reason. Thanks to my awesome beta Spikez_tart for helping me out alot.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Buffy, sadly Joss Whedon does. I just use them and make them play with friends of mine.



Sunnydale, Hospital

Warren closed his eyes in anticipation of the bullet that would blow his brains into oblivion. He heard the distinct click of the trigger being squeezed, the sound so horrifying, it made him piss himself. Urine covered his pale, blue jeans and his bowels opened up.

He opened up his eyes and saw the hooded, green eyes that belonged to the Slayer.

She laughed harshly and pulled the gun out of his mouth.

Warren saw that the safety was still on. He hung his head in shame, realizing that he had shat himself.

“Didn’t think it’d be that easy did ya?” Buffy asked, grabbing Warren’s hair and lifting him up off the ground.

His lips quivered. His teary eyes begged for forgiveness, but there was none. Her distant, vacant eyes forming a black hole, sucking the very life out of him. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, her anger burning so brightly, it darkened her eyes. Her gaze was a bottomless abyss, and he was lost in it.

There was no escaping…

Buffy lowered the gun to Warren’s left kneecap and shot him twice. Warren’s leg buckled and he stumbled to the floor in a flood of tears and blood. “Jesus!” he cried out tearfully, clutching his destroyed knee. She brought her leg back and snapped a harsh kick to his bloody face, knocking him backwards, Warren nearly unconscious.

*It’s only fitting. Dawn was unconscious when she died.*

The crazed Slayer pulled a stake out of her waistband. *He’s just as evil and sick as any vampire I’ve staked.*

Just as she was about to stake his prone form, a blur of black and platinum charged into her, knocking her into one of the sofas in the waiting room. As she fell back, she saw Xander grab Warren’s body. She jumped back to her feet, snapping her elbow into Spike’s face. The bruised vampire slumped to the floor.

Buffy grabbed her stake and aimed it at Xander’s face. Her dark eyes shined with malevolence, her lip curling up into a sneer.

As she raised the stake, Spike swept her legs out from underneath her, knocking Buffy on her back. He slid into his demonic features, and like the lithe cat he was, he pounced.

He savagely punched her in the face, unable to wipe off her smirk. “Maybe I’ll get my third Slayer yet, kitten.”

Using his weight as advantage, she flipped him over her shoulders, and he sprawled out. She straddled him, pressing her stake against his chest. “I don’t think so, Spikey.”

He scowled, sliding out of his demonic face and peering at her with ice blue eyes. “If shagging was what you wanted, you should have told me earlier.” he said, but Buffy laughed in contempt. “What else could I want from you?” Buffy replied sharply, her words watering his eyes in newfound shame.

“The beating of a lifetime,” he responded, his anger getting the best of him. “Bitch!”

Xander stretched Warren out on the floor. He knew Spike might need his help so he looked for something to hit her with. His eyes wandered around the room until he saw the fire extinguisher behind the glass cabinet. He rushed over to it, and punched through the glass, yanking the fire extinguisher out. His hand painfully throbbed, and blood oozed out from where the glass cut it.

Buffy raised her arm in the air, clutching her stake, and as she brought it down to Spike’s undead heart, Xander pitched the fire extinguisher as hard as he could.

It cracked into the back of her head, giving Spike the momentary advantage. Spike grabbed the metallic cylinder and swung it into her face, knocking her off of him. He rolled over and jumped to his feet and kicked her across her ribs as she bent over. The ferocity of his kick sent her spinning and crashing into the wall.

“Don’t kill her for real. She’s still Buffy.” Xander snapped.

“She’s the love of my bloody life. I don’t plan on killing her, you insufferable git.”

“Funny way of showing it.”

Spike turned around and walked right into the Slayer’s fist. He landed hard on the tiled floor and didn’t stir.

She swiveled her head and turned to Xander. “Buddy,” she said. “You know I love you so much, I can’t live without you.” She strutted over to him and calmly placed her hand on his chest.

He shivered uncontrollably, staring at her, then at Spike and Warren, both of them unconscious. He didn’t know how to react, she was deceptively calm, and he gauged her reactions, wondering what she’d do next. He knew he couldn’t take her on physically, so maybe he’d calm her down by giving her love. He’d show her how much he loved her.

“Buffy. I’m sorry about Dawn. You know I loved her, too. She was a special kid, all bright and full of life. I know Warren deserves to die, he should, but if you kill him, his blood will be on your hands, and you’ll never wash them clean. I know you’re all Marine like with the ‘kill, kill, kill’, but what’s going to happen when you calm down and you realize you just killed a man? Do you want that?” Xander asked.

“What do you want Xander?” She spoke seductively, pushing him against a wall, pressing her breasts against his chest.

“Buffy, stop. This is insane. This isn’t you.” Although he begged her to stop, her closeness sent a wave of heat to his groin. His jean-clad erection rubbed against the crotch of her jeans.

“You’ve wanted me for years, haven’t you? You thought that if you could love Anya, you’d forget about me. I’m going to have to punish you Xander.” She lowered her hand to his straining cock, squeezing gently through his jeans.

He let out an involuntary moan. His wildest dreams were coming true. And, speaking of coming, if Buffy didn’t stop, he’d be there pretty fast.

“You took my heaven, Xander. Now, I’m going to take yours.” She grabbed his crotch harshly in an unrelenting grip, and Xander howled in pain.

“We brought you back because we loved you. We thought you were in hell, and we wanted you out.” Xander begged, and she released him.

“ If I told you I’ve been sleeping with Spike for the last couple months, would you love me then?”

“What? You’ve been boning Resident Evil? That son of a bitch!”

“Didn’t think so.” Buffy shifted to Xander’s left side and landed an uppercut to his chin.

Xander fell flat on his face, and he too, passed out.

***

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

Rupert Giles sat in his seat on the plane and wiped off his glasses out of habit. He feared what he’d see in Sunnydale, the sad destruction of what used to be his Slayer. The worst part was that it was his fault. He abandoned her when she needed him the most, leaving her behind to fend for herself.

He’d never forgive himself for that.

If he had stayed in Sunnydale, he might have been there to support her in her time of crisis. He might have taken out those geeks before they shot Dawn.

*The only good thing to come out of this misguided return to England was meeting Lydia.*

Lydia, was sleeping peacefully, her face buried in the crook of his neck, her soft breath cooling, yet tantalizing him at the same time.

*God, she’s beautiful.*

***

Buffy strode over to Warren’s prone body and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt. He was near death, the bullet wound had caused him to lose a lot of blood. If she was going to deliver the killing blow, she needed to do it now.

Warren stirred, his mouth opening into a blood curdling scream.

Buffy covered his mouth with her hands. “Shhh.”

His muffled cries meant nothing to her. Whenever she felt like letting him go, she saw her little sister, lying in the grass, bleeding to death. Poor Dawn, bubbly personality, tall, and lanky, the best sister a girl could ask for. Rivulets of bright red blood spilled down her neck, the life leaving her eyes, eyes glazing over. And, Warren wanted to live.

She tossed Warren across the room. Warren flew headfirst through the receptionist’s glass window, his head stuck and a large glass shard penetrated his throat. Blood gushed down the window.
Buffy knew she had little time to do what she needed. She needed to make this as brutal as possible. She needed to make him bleed, she needed to make him pay.

She entered the receptionist’s office and strode over to Warren and grabbed his thick mane of hair.

“No, he pleaded. His words gurgled in his torn throat.

With a disgusted laugh, she yanked his head down, decapitating him on the glass. His separated head fell to her feet and she picked it up, her hard-earned trophy. She left the office carrying the head and dropped it on Xander’s lap and she walked off. She still had two remaining geeks to kill.

“Ssslayer,” Spike said, groaning in pain.

“Baby. I thought you liked it rough.” She headed over to Spike and lifted him to his feet by his throat.

“Sometimes, pet.” Spike stared into the black depths of her eyes and shuddered. She was soulless, hollow. “No matter what kitten, I still love you.”

Her green eyes sparkled with life. “Spike…” Her green eyes flickered from green to black and void. “I got work to do. Join me and I won’t hurt you.” Buffy said, her tone gentle.

“What about your friends, Buffy?”

“I’m not Buffy. I’m the Slayer. There is no Buffy here. She died when Dawn did and there’s nothing you or anyone can do to bring her back.” She let go of Spike’s throat and rammed her knee into his gut.

She turned and walked away.

Like she always did.

Spike faded in and out of consciousness. He could have sworn he heard her whisper, “I love you, too.”

Darkness overtook him, and the pain stopped and he felt nothing.

Sunnydale Jail

“Ow.” Jonathan cried out angrily after Andrew kicked him in the shins.

“Warren will come to get us out of here. You just need to have faith.” Andrew said, as if he was trying to convince himself rather than Jonathan.

“What, with his powers of great escape? Or, maybe he’ll fly here in his little chicken wings and get us out? Oh wait. Chickens can’t fly. Doesn’t that suck?” Jonathan replied, shoving Andrew up against the wall. “He’s not coming to get us, not him, not anyone.”

“I called my aunt and left her a message.” Tears blurred Andrew’s vision. He was too young to go to jail; he’d be eaten alive in this place.

“That was last night. She isn’t calling back, you idiot. She doesn’t care either. We’re going to pay for our crimes.” Jonathan pitied Andrew, but he had to face the cold hard facts. They had to suffer the consequences of being criminals.

“Warren’s just testing us. If we pass his tests, he’ll get us out of here. He’s probably placed a locator chip on us so he can arrive in the nick of time, just like in the movies.” Andrew said.

“Get it into your thick head. Warren isn’t coming.”

“Yes, he is, and I’ll search every part of your body to find that chip.” Andrew grabbed Jonathan and began speaking into his chest, “Can you hear me, Warren?”

“Get off me.” Jonathan shoved Andrew off him, sending him backwards into the wall.

Andrew broke down and began sobbing, tears streamed down his face. “He’s not coming… but he said he loved me.”

“Well, he loved his ex-girlfriend, too, and look what that got her. You should wish that he didn’t.”

“I wish we weren’t in jail.” Andrew cried out to no one in particular.

There was a whoosh of air and Anya appeared before them. “Dammit, you sad little monkey. Wish granted.”

Andrew and Jonathan disappeared. The only evidence left behind was Andrew’s tears on the cell floor.

Magic Box

Tara knew there would be a fight coming. She didn’t know what she’d be facing, but she felt it in the air, her instincts had fired up. She rushed to the Magic Box after her fight with Willow, in search of Anya. Just as Tara got there, Anya disappeared in flash of light, so Tara sat down at table, twitching nervously as she waited for the ex-demon.

She researched all the powerful spells she’d be able to use in the upcoming fight; she knew she’d need them. She searched for powerful shielding spells, as well as a few offensive ones. She read every spell that she could find, absorbing it all like a sponge, because she needed to.

Suddenly, she felt she was choking in darkness, her breath caught in her throat, the room surrounded by an impending doom. Something was headed here now, something ancient and primal and vastly powerful. The door of the Magic Box was kicked inwards, sending it crashing against some books.

“Hey sweetie.”

Buffy walked in, and Tara’s mouth opened up and she screamed.