Chapter 12: Confronting Demons

When Buffy returned to the Magic Box with Dawn, she was surprised to find Susan and Spike ready to drag her back out the door.

“I heard them call in a third victim on my police scanner,” Susan explained, as she, Buffy, and Spike made their way to the hospital.

“You have a police scanner?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Susan replied, as though it were the most normal thing in the world. “Sounds like the same M.O. as the other two. I thought maybe I could get there, talk to the victim this time before she…”

“Yeah.” Buffy felt sick. Even though she dealt with death on a regular basis, the thought of suicide made her stomach churn. Maybe because it wasn’t too long ago that she’d been so close to it herself.

Spike’s reassuring hand on her back steadied her as they headed through the hospital to the ICU. They had to dodge a couple of orderlies who tried to tell them visiting hours were over, but finally they managed to find the victim of the demon attack.

“Maybe you guys should just go in…” Buffy said hesitantly, gesturing toward the room. “Someone should distract the nurse. I can stay out here.”

Spike took her by the shoulders and pulled her around to face him. “Buffy, are you all right?”

She looked away from his face, not meeting his eyes. “I just… don’t like hospitals…”

“I’m right here, Buffy,” Spike reassured her. “I’ll be right here with you.”

“Come on,” Susan said softly. “While no one’s looking.” She held the door open, and the three of them snuck into the patient’s room.

Once faced with the victim, Buffy’s slayer instinct took over and she regained her confidence. “Hi,” she said, approaching the young woman in the bed. “I’m Buffy.” The girl’s hollow eyes followed her as she moved. “Listen, I – I want to help you – with what happened to you.”

“Are you with the police?” she croaked.

Buffy shook her head. “The police wouldn’t believe you if you told them what attacked you – would they?”

Now, it was the young woman’s turn to shake her head.

“I will,” Buffy said. “Can you – can you tell me what –”

She was suddenly cut off when the girl started shrieking. “No! I won’t go back there! You can’t make me!” She struggled against the restraints that Buffy had only just noticed were strapping her arms and legs to the bed.

“It’s all right…” Buffy tried to soothe the girl. “I want to help you.”

The girl stared at her, eyes wide with terror, and yet not seeming to see Buffy at all. “You can’t let him touch me! You can’t let him touch me!”

“Who?” Buffy asked. “Who hurt you?”

“Please,” she begged, beginning to cry quietly as she squirmed in her bed. “Please don’t do this… please…”

Buffy exchanged helpless, concerned glances with Spike and Susan. “It’s the poison,” Spike said. “She’s hallucinating.”

“What do I do? We have to make it stop.”

“Maybe we should call the nurse,” Susan suggested. “She probably needs a sedative or something.”

“No!” Buffy shook her head. “They’ll kick us out. We have to – we have to do this… Hey,” she said gently, turning back to the girl, trying to pull her out of the hallucination. “Hey, can you hear me?”

“Please, Daddy, don’t,” the girl sobbed, and Buffy felt her stomach take a sickening turn. She was used to the horrors of the demon world, but the cruel acts of humans never ceased to repulse her. She felt paralyzed by human violence, unable to mete out the vengeance those acts deserved, even as they shattered her black and white morality, harshly challenging her faith in the redeeming power of a soul.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” The girl’s voice was plaintive, pleading with a villain the rest of them could not see.

Buffy just stood there, frozen, unable to speak or act as the girl suffered in front of her, reliving some unspeakable trauma from her past, the demon’s poison making her a victim all over again. She wanted to hit something, to do what she did best. She wanted to break bones to save this broken girl. But no amount of violence would erase what had already happened to her, and even killing the demon wouldn’t save her from experiencing it again in her mind.

“She’s hallucinating,” Spike said again, as Buffy’s horrified expression indicated that she was taking the girl’s torment personally. His reminder didn’t make it any easier for Buffy to accept; whether it was real or not, the girl still felt it just the same.

Buffy reached out a tentative hand, but Susan gently pulled her away from the bed before she could touch the writhing, weeping girl. “Come on, let’s go. She can’t tell us anything.”

“I should’ve saved her,” Buffy said quietly, once they were out in the hall. “I should’ve stopped this.”

“Not your fault, Buffy,” Spike replied, his hand on the small of her back again as he directed her through the corridors. He didn’t know what else to say – he was sure “you can’t save everyone” wouldn’t be helpful to her. But he didn’t know what more Buffy could have done. “Not at all your fault, pet.”

“It’s my job to slay demons.”

“So, we’ll find it, and we’ll kill it.” His hand slid up her spine and came to rest on her shoulder. “You’re doing the best you can.”

Buffy nodded silently and leaned into his comforting touch.

“I’m sorry that wasn’t more helpful,” Susan said, as they made their way out of the hospital and found themselves back on the street.

“Sure it was,” Spike replied. When Buffy and Susan looked at him curiously, he tapped his nose and explained, “Got a scent on the demon. Could smell it on the girl.” He looked at Buffy. “I could probably track it from the place it attacked.”

“Good,” Buffy replied, her shakiness vanishing as her all-business attitude returned. “Susan?”

“The warehouse district. I can take you there.”

Buffy stared at her. “There is no freaking way I’m letting you come. I don’t care how big a story you think it is. You’re not a part of this.”

“Yes, I am!” said Susan. “This isn’t just about a story. I’m invested in this – I have to see it through.”

“You’re not coming. Get over it. Go back, tell the others what’s going on.” She turned to Spike. “Your crypt is closest. We can stop there for weapons.”

*****

“Okay, Spike?” Buffy said, peering suspiciously at the gnarled tree she was pretty sure they’d passed twice already. “Please tell me you have some sense of where we’re going, and that we’re not, you know, spending the night here.” She shoved a mess of brambles out of her path as she trudged along behind the vampire. “That we’re not making camp.”

“Know where I’m going, Slayer,” Spike insisted. “Trail’s faint, but it’s clear. Demon came this way.”

“What’s it doing out here in the woods? All the attacks were in town.”

“Anya said it didn’t really like people, yeah? Maybe it got tired of ’em and came out here where there weren’t any.”

“Swell,” Buffy grumbled, ducking under a low-hanging branch. Just then, a rustling noise from behind them caught their attention, and the two of them whirled to face whatever it was, weapons raised.

“Susan?” the Slayer said with disbelief, lowering her axe as the determined reporter emerged from the shadows of the trees. “I told you to go back to the Magic Box.”

“Funny, I don’t remember signing on to be one of your indentured servants,” Susan snapped back. “I go wherever I want to.”

“You’re going to get hurt.” Buffy tried to stare her down, but the older woman refused to relent. “I don’t have time to be your babysitter.”

“That’s the same thing your vampire said,” Susan replied, with a nod toward Spike. “But he didn’t seem to mind it so much.”

Buffy raised her eyebrows at Susan’s smirk, and when she turned to Spike, he had a startled, but also slightly embarrassed, look on his face. Suddenly, Buffy didn’t mind so much if the reporter got herself killed.

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, she whirled around and gestured angrily at Spike to get him moving again.

After several long minutes of walking silently in single file, Spike slowed until Buffy was at his side. “We’re close,” he said softly. “Scent’s strong.”

Buffy nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Spike caught her arm. “Buffy, about…”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Buffy,” he said, his voice barely a whisper so that Susan wouldn’t hear. “I didn’t – you know I wouldn’t – she was just… flirting, is all.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Buffy said flatly.

Spike turned his head and eyed her carefully as she strode along beside him. “Seems like it matters to you.” Buffy turned her head to the side, away from him, so that he couldn’t see her reaction. “What’s going on, Buffy?”

She whipped her head around to face him. “Can we please not have the relationship talk right now? God, what is it with vampires? You can’t just do this over coffee like normal people?”

Unable to find a response, Spike just said, “Demon’s this way,” and started walking in the direction his nose was telling him. He wasn’t exactly sure where her mini-rant had come from, but his brain was pretty much fixated on her jump from being told she was jealous to “the relationship talk.” Did that mean she wanted to have the talk some other time… over coffee, apparently? Was that an indication she was finally ready to take things to the next level? After all, she had kissed him earlier, in the cemetery, before they were interrupted by the vampire.

Before he could get any further in that train of thought, they heard a crashing sound up ahead as something came tearing through the brush. They stumbled backwards at the sight of the bald, waxy-skinned demon. It had red marble-like eyes and wore a black leather cloak that snagged on the bushes as it came toward them.

“Well, looks like it’s got your fashion sense,” Buffy said, with a wry glance at Spike.

“What are those black things comin’ out of its neck?” Spike asked. “Accessories? Or tentacles?”

Buffy hoisted her axe. “Chop ’em off, we’ll find out.”

“Oh, my God…” Susan murmured from behind them. As Buffy and Spike prepared to strike, Susan fumbled in her purse for a disposable camera. She was pretty sure her editor would want this documented on film.

Buffy swung her weapon at the demon, but it ducked swiftly and the axe embedded itself in a tree trunk. Using the handle for leverage, she propelled herself upwards, managing a mid-air kick to the demon’s head before she landed back on the ground.

While the Glarghk guhl kashma’nik was still stunned from Buffy’s kick, Spike attacked from the other side, slicing his katana through the leather and managing to take a chunk out of the demon’s midsection before it flung both fists into Spike’s chest, sending him flying backwards into a tangle of bushes.

“That girl is definitely not normal,” Susan muttered, snapping pictures as Buffy switched to hand-to-hand combat, executing a series of kicks and punches that seemed to have little effect on the demon.

“What, is this thing indestructible?” she cried, after being slammed to the ground by a fierce blow.

“Hardly,” Spike replied, swinging his curved blade in a downward arc toward the demon’s shoulder. He missed, only slicing off a few of the black tentacle-like things as it dodged out of the way. “Bloody hell!”

Buffy ran back to the tree where her axe was still stuck, tugging on the handle to dislodge it from the wood. As she struggled, another blow to the head knocked Spike to the ground, and he lay there for a moment until the stars cleared from his vision.

No sooner had Buffy liberated her weapon than she heard a high-pitched scream. The demon was bearing down on Susan, who had dropped her camera and was backing away fearfully. There was a loud crunching sound as the demon stepped on the camera, before catching Susan in a one-armed headlock. A long, thin, bony spike suddenly shot out of the knuckle of its free hand.

Spike pushed himself up on his hands and knees with a groan. Before he could get to his feet, Buffy was hurtling past him, slamming into the demon and causing it to lose its grip on Susan.

“Run!” Buffy screamed, even as her vision started to blur. She glanced down and saw a bleeding scrape along her arm where the demon had scratched her with its stinger. “Get out of here now!”

Susan didn’t need to be told twice. She turned and fled, back in the direction she had come. The Glarghk guhl kashma’nik broke into a run, too, in the opposite direction, escaping through the forest while its attackers were preoccupied.

Buffy pulled herself to her feet, dizzy and disoriented from the slight exposure to the demon’s poison. She looked around, but couldn’t find her weapon. “Spike?”

“Right here.” He suddenly appeared in front of her, his sword flashing at his side. “You all right, pet?”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again, hoping to clear her vision. “We have to go after it.”

“What about the reporter? All manner of beasties between here and town.”

“She followed us out here all by herself,” Buffy snapped. “She can find her way back that way, too.”

Spike took a startled step backward, nodding hesitantly. “All right, pet.”

Buffy sighed. “Sorry, I’m…” She waved her hand vaguely to demonstrate her confusion. “You’re right. You should go catch up to her, make sure she gets back okay. I’ll go after the Gargle thingy.”

“Not leavin’ you here alone, love,” Spike insisted. “You’re hurt.”

“Fine… I’m fine,” Buffy replied, glancing around, clearly puzzled by something, but Spike couldn’t tell what. “I think I lost your axe,” she said ruefully.

“It doesn’t matter. Buffy, are you sure you’re –”

“I’m fine.” She willed her brain to clear and managed to meet Spike’s gaze long enough to convince him she was all right. “Demon. Let’s go.”

Spike shot her one last worried glance before starting off on the trail, following the demon. They caught up to it quickly, and Buffy jumped on its back, holding its arms and giving Spike the opportunity to take a few swings at it. With a swift turn and a jerk of its shoulders, the Glarghk guhl kashma’nik dislodged Buffy and sent her sprawling onto the ground.

She kipped unsteadily back to her feet, still off-balance from the first dose of poison, when the demon’s stinger came out of nowhere, thrusting into her belly and skewering God-knows-what internal organs. Buffy barely had time to shove her fist against the bleeding wound when everything went hazy. Then, everything was gone – the forest, the demon, Spike, all had disappeared.

In place of the woods was the living room of her old house in L.A. Everything was just the way she remembered it, exactly as it had been before her parents had split up and she, Joyce, and Dawn had moved to Sunnydale. Turning around, she realized she wasn’t alone in the room.

“Dad?”