Chapter 7

"Here. I want to show you something." Buffy held a book out to Tina. "This is Drusilla. I just want you to get a good look at her, so you’ll recognize her if you see her."

Tina looked through the old book on vampire lore, which Buffy had dredged up from the boxes of Giles’ books still unpacked in her spare room. There was also a photo of a particularly bloodthirsty-looking Spike, bearing the caption, ‘William the Bloody’. Angelus was there too, part of that legendary family of vampires, but who was this pretty blonde girl, with the ringlets and lace dress? Oh, this was Darla, Angelus’ sire.

"I’ve met her." Tina said.

"Who? Drusilla?"

"No. This one called Darla." Tina showed the page to Buffy. "She was the vamp who came up to me in the train station the other night, pretending to be from a homeless shelter. She offered me meatloaf."

"Darla? Are you sure it was her?"

"Totally. It’s not like she looks any different then she did then, except for her hair and clothes."

Drusilla and Darla both in New York! It couldn’t be a coincidence. They had to be working together. This was so not good. Each of them was dangerous in her own right, but together they were a scourge. Strangely enough, Buffy felt a little better. When it was just Drusilla, Buffy had harbored a secret fear that William had gone off with her of his own free will. She had a mental picture of him tossing away the FAO Schwartz shopping bag and setting off with Drusilla into the moonlight. But with Darla in the picture, it was much more likely that he had been abducted. Small comfort though, since she still had no idea where he had been taken.

Over the past few hours, she and Tina had hunted in vain. They had gone back out and searched the area around the toy store again and had even gone into the park, but they had found no other evidence. They had phoned several cab companies, but Tina had been correct; they wouldn’t give out that information to non-police types. If Buffy had been a licensed detective, it would have been a different story. But Buffy didn’t really think that William had taken a cab. If Dru and Darla had spirited him off someplace, it was probably somewhere close enough to Fifth Avenue that they could get him there, perhaps unconscious, without causing undue attention. Well, that narrowed it down to about 50,000 places.

Dawn wanted to take Emily outside to their little neighborhood park to play. Buffy was apprehensive, but realized that it was probably safe enough in the broad daylight. It was good to get Emily out of her hair for a little while so she could think. What could have happened? How did Dru and Darla get William to go with them? She thought of Drusilla and that cattle prod, and shuddered. The telephone rang. Buffy leapt for it, hoping for some news.

"Hey, Buff."

"Oh, Hi Xander!"

"Willow said that you were missing the sound of our voices. So I just figured I’d call and give you a good dose of Xander speak."

"Oh, Xander. It is so good to hear your voice."

"Buffy, what’s wrong? You don’t sound like the happy Buffster we’ve grown so accustomed to lately."

"Oh, Xander. William is missing."

"Missing? Old Spike? Uh... how long has he been gone?"

"He was supposed to come ho…over last night and he never showed. I think he’s been abducted."

"Whoa, Buff! Just because a vampire stays out all night, that’s not exactly milk carton time!"

"Xander, you don’t really know him. Not since he’s changed. I swear, this is not typical behavior from him. I’m really worried."

"Well, he and I did have few laughs at Giles’ funeral. Well, not laughs exactly. I mean... we got along pretty well. It took me a while, but I could see that he had changed. And, I know how you feel about him. If you’re worried, well then there is probably something to worry about."

"Oh Xander... it’s even worse than that. Drusilla and Darla are in town!"

"In New York? Okay Buffy. You now have my official permission to be worried as hell."

"Thanks. But what can I do? I really wish you guys were here. We’d comb this city until we found him."

"I know, Buff. Can you call that new Slayer kid to help you?"

"I did. She’s here." Buffy lowered her voice. "But she doesn’t understand about William. To her he’s just another vampire, a subspecies. The other night we were in this restaurant and she was asking him all these questions. But it was as if he was a talking dog, and she was asking him why dogs chase cars and chew up sofas. She wasn’t trying to get to know him as a person. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah... it seems to me we all pretty much felt that way about vampires."

"Oh, I know. I’m not blaming her; I’m just not getting a whole lot of emotional support here. Plus, let’s face it, she’s 15 years old. I wasn’t exactly as deep as the ocean when I was that age. Thank goodness for Dawn. But I need her to watch Emily, so it’s only Tina and I to find William."

"Well, maybe I could have Willow and Tara fax over a locator spell. I don’t think it really works that way though."

"A locator spell. Boy, I really could use Willow right now... or any witch for that matter. Wait!"

"Buffy, are you still there?"

"Xander, you are a genius, even long distance. We have a witch. Winnie the Witless! Our secretary!"

"Uh, Buff… Why doesn’t the name Winnie the Witless give me feelings of confidence?"

"Oh, she’s the world’s worst witch. But maybe with adequate supervision, she could do a simple locator spell. Xander, I’ve got to go. Thank you so much. Love to Anya, Alex and little what’s ‘er name."

"Okay, Buffy. And don’t worry, you’ll find him. One way or another. Let us know what happens, okay? We love you."

Buffy phoned Winnie at the office. Buffy had long suspected that Winnie had a major crush on William, and her suspicions were confirmed when she heard how distraught Winnie was over William’s disappearance. She was pathetically eager to help, and said that she could indeed do a locator spell, and that she would be right over if Buffy could provide a large map of New York City.

Buffy sent Tina down to the gas station on the corner to get a map. It was probably stupid to pin her hopes on a witch who had once set William’s office on fire, while trying to produce a light spell, the kind of thing that Willow could do without batting an eyelash but Buffy was now officially out of better ideas.

Dawn came back with Emily. It was getting close to dinnertime, and Buffy ordered some pizza for all of them, though she herself couldn’t eat any of it. Emily had asked about William, and Buffy told the child that he was working and would be home when he could. Emily understood working, though William didn’t usually work in the daytime. Buffy hated lying to her, but she didn’t really know what else to do at this point.

Winnie came to the door with William’s signature black duster draped over her arm and a shopping bag full of ingredients for her spell. She indicated the coat. "I needed an item of his clothing for the spell."

"Come in Winnie." Winnie waddled in. She was short and stout with hair of an improbable shade of purple, Winnie looked as though she had just graduated from Hogwarts Academy. Or flunked out, which was more likely. She was only 19 years old, but seemed much older, because, as she put it, she had previously lived many lifetimes and had a very old soul. She also claimed to be psychic, though Buffy had yet to see any evidence of this. Her bedraggled cat, Fluffy, followed behind her. Emily took one look at Fluffy and picked her up and carried her off to her bedroom to play with. Poor Fluffy knew Emily, and was very patient with her. The cat also obviously had a very old soul.

Winnie handed her spell book to Buffy, who read the directions, while Winnie and Tina spread the map out on the living room carpet. Winnie carefully mixed the ingredients in her large copper bowl, which she placed upon the black duster that was on the floor next to the map.

"Wait!" Buffy said. "This involves fire! Dawn get the extinguisher!"

"Oh, ye of little faith," pronounced Winnie solemnly.

Dawn produced the extinguisher, and Winnie intoned a little Latin, lit a match and tossed it into the bowl. The powder in the bowl briefly flared up, and a small spark rose up out of the bowl. It hovered over the bowl, and the women watched in fascination as it floated over the map. It hovered over Fifth Avenue and began to move. Finally it came to a stop, and went out. They looked at the map. Disappointment flooded their faces.

"It’s the middle of the lake!" Exclaimed Dawn.

"How could he be in the middle of the lake?" Buffy moaned. It was hopeless.

"Okay... perhaps I was a little off… maybe he’s just near the lake."

Buffy studied the map. There were plenty of places to hide out in Central Park. She and William had hunted vampires there. In fact they had routed a nest of vampires from an abandoned boathouse right near the lake.

"That’s it!" Winnie exclaimed suddenly making Buffy jump. "It’s the boat house!"

"How did you do that?" Buffy demanded.

"Do what?" Winnie asked.

Buffy got to her feet. "Tina, do you want to come check out the boathouse with me?"

Tina had been reaching for a slice of pizza, so she grabbed a handful of napkins and plopped her pizza slice down on them. She took her weapons bag and was ready to go. Buffy had to smile at Tina’s enthusiasm.

"Winnie. Would you please stay here with Dawn and Emily? We’ll call you if we have any luck."

Buffy and Tina took a subway to the park, Tina munching pizza along the way. Flashlights in hand, they ran to the boathouse. It looked dark and deserted, the windows boarded over. Tina tried the doorknob; it turned in her hand. Tina quickly pulled open the door and Buffy rushed in stake in hand, but came to a halt when she realized that the boathouse was empty. With the flashlights, Buffy and Tina scanned the small room, looking for clues. Rowboats leaned against the walls, but only a few rats were hiding there. An ordinary kitchen chair stood in a corner. Near one leg was what looked like a puddle. It was sticky and Buffy knew that it was dried blood.

"They’ve been here," Buffy announced, her voice filled with despair. But where were they now?

Chapter 8

William turned his head away from the girl in his lap and closed his eyes. He could still feel her there, though, and smell the blood in her veins summoning him like a dinner bell. He tried to think of something else - something good. A happy memory. That was easy. That night in the club when he had first danced with Buffy, first kissed her. No. That was no good. Thinking about Buffy was making him want to cry and that was not the effect he was going for here. Song lyrics. That was a good one. Goodness knows he’d used them a few times to take his mind off what his body was doing. He tried to think of a song. Bloody hell! His mind was always full of some stupid song or other and now he couldn’t think of a sodding one. Ah. Okay, this would do. Twenty- twenty- twenty- four hours to go, I wanna be sedated. No place to go, no way to go home, I wanna be sedated. That wasn’t quite right. Put me on a something, put me on a plane… put me in a wheelchair, before I go insane. Can’t control my fingers, I can’t control my brain…"

"What is he doing?" demanded Dru. "Why isn’t he eating the girl? His mind is all full of spinning wheels."

"He’s resisting. That’s what he’s doing. I must say, I’m impressed, Spike. I didn’t think you had it in you."

Darla reached over and pulled the girl off William’s lap. "No point in torturing you or this poor girl any longer. I think we’ll just let you both go."

At this, William looked up at Darla, just in time to see her sink her fangs into the neck of the girl. The rich coppery smell of her blood filled the small boathouse, and William’s mouth began to water. It was beyond his control. He couldn’t tear his eyes away as Darla drank from the girl. She fed sloppily, letting blood drip on the floor, wasting it, in front of his starving eyes. When the girl was almost drained, Darla tossed her to Dru. "Here, Dru, you finish her, and then dump her in the lake. Put rocks in her pockets or something so she doesn’t float. Okay?"

Dru looked at the girl, all drawn and white, hanging on to life by the merest thread. She smiled gaily at her. "Oh, are we having a pool party? Let’s go see the turtles at the bottom of the lake. They lie there day after day, just waiting… poor lonely little turtles." She dragged the girl out the door.

"Oh, but we’ve been selfish, haven’t we, hogging that whole girl to ourselves. Here." Darla took her blood stained finger and ran it across Williams’ lips. "Just a little reminder of what you’ve been missing."

William tried not to lick his lips but it was impossible. He could taste the girl’s blood anyway, so what did it matter? The sweet, rich taste filled his mouth and he closed his eyes in agony. He didn’t care about the bloody girl. Hell, he didn’t even know her. But she was Dawn’s age. She reminded him of Dawn. That’s probably why his eyes were filling with tears and why he felt sick to his stomach. He’d seen plenty of death, caused plenty of it too. No reason why this girl should affect him like this. He must be weaker than he thought.

"Well, this is a problem," Darla said, considering. "I really never dreamed that you would be so stubborn. I should have remembered. Unfortunately, we can’t stay here. It will be morning soon, and this park is full of people in the daytime. I feel too vulnerable here."

"Well, untie me then, Darla. I’ll be on my way, and you can find yourself someplace cozy… with a view."

Darla laughed. "Always the joker, Spike. You didn’t really think we would let you go, did you?"

"I’m not stupid, Darla. But, I can’t walk to the new place like this; you’ll have to untie me. At least my legs."

"Oh… did I say anything about walking? " Darla took the Initiative device out of her pocket and aimed it at him once again. "You get to ride." She pushed the button. William’s head was flooded with intense pain and he lost consciousness.

"Oh, Spike, you’ve been sleeping for ever so long. Are you ready for tea? I’ve arranged a tea party."

William had been awakening slowly for some time. His head hurt too much to even open his eyes. He knew where they were, though, from the smell of dampness and urine, and the rumblings of distant trains. The subway. Very clever. This place was a rabbit warren. They could hide out here forever. The chair was gone, and he was tied to a cement column sitting down, thank goodness, his legs stretched out in front of him. William rather missed the chair. It had felt like a sodding throne, compared to this filthy, hard, cold cement floor. He opened his eyes painfully; Dru was playing with a couple of Victorian dolls he hadn’t noticed at the boathouse. One had red hair, and the other was blonde. She was pretending to serve them tea, pantomiming so skillfully that William could almost see the tiny china teapot and cups. Undoubtedly, she did see them. Lovely, thought William, a Slayer tea party. What day was it, he wondered? Buffy must be frantic by now. Or was she? Did she even realize that he would never just take off? Was she even looking for him? He was very hungry, but that was nothing. Hunger wouldn’t kill him, though a starving vampire wasn’t a pretty sight. No. What bothered him more was the craving, the lust for human blood that Darla’s actions had awakened in him. It was so much more than mere hunger. How much longer could he resist? And really, what was the point? He was a vampire after all, not a human. He had been living in an unnatural state for 9 years. Living a human life. Was it all just an illusion, the whole family bit? How could he even think about being a husband to Buffy or a father to Emily? It was ridiculous, when all he really wanted, all he could think about, was blood.

William could see by the approaching shadows that Darla was coming back with another victim. This girl couldn’t have been more than 17. She had long blonde hair, and she was stumbling in front of Darla, with her hands tied behind her back. Darla had obviously been shopping around, choosing victims that he would find the most appealing. No drunks or bag ladies for him.

"Spike. I see that you have finally woken up. Dru and I were I little worried. I certainly hope that this isn’t going to cause you any permanent brain damage. That would be a shame. "

"Get stuffed, Darla."

Dru looked up from her tea party, "Ooh… William is angry with us, Darla. He has lightening flashes ‘round his head."

"I do hope that you’ve worked up an appetite, Spike. I really don’t have time for all these moral quibbles of yours. "

"What day is it, Darla?" William asked wearily.

"Saturday night, well, Sunday morning actually. What difference does it make? Do you really think she misses you? Do you really think she is even looking for you? Please."

William didn’t answer her. His eyes were on the girl. She was clearly terrified. The veins were throbbing in her neck. The craving was overwhelming him again.

"If Spike is naughty, we could tie him to the train tracks," Dru interjected. "I saw that in a movie once. Or was it in a dream? Sometimes I dream about movies."

"Dru, dear, you’re the one who wanted Spike to join our little party. He won’t be much fun, all chopped up in little pieces will he?" She looked back at William. "Though it might be interesting at that."

William looked from Dru to Darla. Why was he even considering spending the rest of his unlife with these creatures? Dru’s insanity was no longer appealing. For the last year he’d had a girlfriend that he could actually talk to without having to consult the Rosetta stone. And face it, despite her pretty face, Darla was just a sarcastic bitch.

Of course now that he could feed again, he didn’t have to stay with them; he could set off on his own. He could go somewhere far away, be his own man again. It was what he had wanted for so long, wasn’t it? Why keep fighting? He would be fighting his own nature. How easy just to give in and slip back into his old life. It all seemed to be moving out of his control. He looked at the girl, in despair, tears running down his face unchecked. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he looked up at Darla, who was busy propping the girl against the tiled wall of the tunnel.

"Now that you mention it… I am feeling peckish." He said.

Buffy and Tina ran back to Buffy’s house from the subway station. They found Winnie, Dawn, Jason and Emily watching a movie on television.

"Dawn! Do you really think that Emily should be watching Reservoir Dogs?"

"Oh, sorry, Buffy, I didn’t think. Did you find him?"

"No. I think they had been there, but we missed them. Winnie, can you do another locator spell?"

"Oh no." Winnie was close to tears. "I can’t."

She reached into her shopping bag and took out a large glass jar. It was empty except for a few purple crystals clinging to the bottom. "We used the last of the myrtle essence."

"Well, can we get some more? We have to find them before they get too far away."

"I buy it on line from MagicBox.com. I’m expecting some more in a couple of days. There are other Magic shops, but it’s late Saturday night. I don’t know where we could get any at this hour."

Magicbox.com… Anya’s site. I guess magic is a small world, thought Buffy. But that wasn’t going to help us now.

"That is a very large bottle of, what? Myrtle essence?" Tina observed. "We only used a little tonight. Do you do that many locator spells?"

"Oh, n-no," Winnie stammered. "It’s used for lots of things."

"Like what?" asked Tina, curious now.

Winnie blushed, "Hair dye, mostly."

"Oh, well. That explains a lot."

"Winnie," said Buffy. "You claim to be psychic, right?"

"I am psychic," Winnie said proudly.

"Well, then come with us. We are going back out there and we are going to find them. Tina, are you game?"

"I’m game, Buffy. Just let me call Priscilla and let her know what I’m up to."

"Good idea. I have to go put my delinquent daughter to bed."

Dawn came up to Buffy. "I’m sorry. She refused to go to bed until you and William came home. I figured the movie would be over her head."

"I know Dawn. And I appreciate you giving up your plans to watch her for me. You’re a good sister." She gave her a hug.

"You’ll find him, Buffy. I know you will."

"Yes, Dawn, but what will I find?"

The three women marched with determination into the subway station. They were heading back to Central Park to start their search from the boathouse. They were an odd sight… the very tall red headed youngster, the medium sized blonde and the short, fat purple haired sprite, loaded with weapons and flashlights. The subway was almost empty, but the people who were there paid them no mind. ‘That’s what I love about New York’, thought Buffy.

As they emerged from the train at the stop closest to the boathouse, Winnie stopped short, and turned pale. "They’re here," she whispered, "here in the subway."

"Of course!" exclaimed Buffy. "It is the perfect place to hide, with all these tunnels, and nooks and crannies. There are whole populations of people living down here. We’ve had a lot of trouble with vampires and demons here also."

Winnie was shivering with fear. "I’m not sure I w-want to go d-down these tunnels and n-nooks and crannies."

"Winnie we need you to lead us. Tina and I don’t have a drop of psychic-ness. Well, except for prophetic dreams, and I haven’t had one of those in years, and well, with this kind of thing... we’re counting on you."

Winnie bravely set off deep into the bowels of the subway system, Buffy and Tina following her. Tina whispered to Buffy, " You think she really knows where she’s going?"

"It’s the only lead we’ve got. I say, go for it."

Darla looked at William, suspicion gleaming in her eyes.

"You’re right... Darla," William said sadly, "I’ve been living in a bloody fool’s paradise, not seeing what was right in front of my eyes. I am a vampire, a creature of the night. Human blood is my natural food. Anything else is just… pretense."

Darla brought the girl over to him, but William shook his head. "Not this way, Darla."

Drusilla was watching him, fascinated. "He’s Spike. He wants to eat like Spike, not all tied up like Miss Edith when she won’t eat her spinach."

"That’s right Dru. Let me up, Darla. I won’t fight you any more."

Reluctantly, Darla untied the ropes that bound William to the column. He tried to get up, but was weak and his muscles were cramped from sitting for so long. Darla and Dru helped him up. He stretched, feeling a little better. The girl turned white with fear. He was in no hurry to make a move. Anticipation was almost as sweet as fulfillment. Drusilla was saying something under her breath. It had such a familiar cadence that William strained to hear it. "Will you eat her on a train? Will you eat her in the rain? Will you eat her here or there? Will you eat her anywhere? "

He looked at Dru in shock. How would she know Dr. Seuss? He looked at Darla. Darla was watching him, not paying any attention to Dru’s ramblings. He looked at Dru again and she met his eyes. Directly. Sanely. These moments of sanity had happened occasionally over the years like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, and they didn’t last long, but right now, for the moment, she was as sane as he was.

He reached for the girl, and bent to untie her ropes. "What are you doing!" demanded Darla, whipping out the device and pointing it at his head.

William looked at her scornfully. "Darla, as long as you have known me, have you ever known me to eat a helpless victim like this?"

"He likes a bit of a struggle, he does," sang Dru, coming closer to watch.

The girl was free but too frightened to move. William brushed the hair back from her eyes, and away from her neck. He held her tightly by the shoulders and bent his head to the sweet flesh of her neck, where the vein throbbed invitingly. At the sight of that vein, his face changed into the vampire Spike, and as his fangs grazed her neck, he whispered in her ear, "Run! Now!" and pushed her away. At that moment Dru grabbed Darla from behind and deftly wrestled the device from her grip. The girl was galvanized into action and took off. William turned back to Dru and Darla, Darla’s face a mask of fury and outrage. Dru tossed him the Initiative device, and William looked into her eyes once more. He wanted to ask her why? Why had she plucked ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ from his subconscious, to remind him of what he was fighting for, to remind him of the love he had for a little girl and her mother? Why had she tacitly agreed to help him? But there was no time. The sanity was already fading from her eyes, and Darla would escape, and be on him. He ran.

As he ran, he could hear Darla coming behind him. He was weak from hunger, but he pressed on, up towards civilization and home. The sounds of trains and screeching brakes were much louder here. He tossed the Initiative device on to the tracks. Soon it would be splintered into a million bits. There was somebody up ahead around the bend. He could see all sorts of strange shadows. Was it the girl coming back here for some reason? He couldn’t stop; Darla was catching him up. He turned the corner and ran smack into his secretary, Winnie. Buffy and Tina right behind. With them was the girl he had saved, sobbing hysterically on Buffy’s shoulder. "Darla!" he warned them, and not a moment too soon.

Darla came around the bend and stopped short at the sight of William and the two slayers. These were not Darla’s kind of odds, especially when the slayers pulled out stakes and advanced toward her. She backed up and they came towards her. The tunnel was suddenly filled with the squeak and squeal of an oncoming train, the whistle, almost deafening. Buffy and Tina continued their advance, Darla her retreat, until she could back up no further. She was at the edge of the track. The slayers raised their stakes, and Darla took a frightened step backwards, and fell screaming onto the tracks into the path of the coming train. There was an earsplitting screech of brakes and the train was gone. Buffy and Tina looked onto the tracks, afraid to see a mangled but undead body, but there was none. The train had severed Darla’s neck, dusting her. William turned and looked back into the darkness, and thought he saw Dru flitting behind the columns. He turned his back on her, not mentioning her presence to the slayers. If she were foolish enough to stay in New York, he and Buffy would have to hunt her down and kill her. But not tonight. Tonight she had been sane, if only for a moment, and had saved him. He and Buffy looked at each other. The girl had obviously told her story, and Buffy looked at him questioningly, "Dru?"

He shook his head. "I’ll explain later, love." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "Buffy. Listen to me. The chip is gone. Deactivated. You don’t have to worry about it, or me, any more. I think I’m going to be all right. It was awful, Buffy, but it was my love for you and Emily that saved me."

Buffy held William tightly in relief. "Come, we’ve got to get you home. Emily has been crying for you. I want to show her that her William is home. And you can give her our first clue."

"What do you mean?"

"The big fat frog we found on Fifth Avenue." He smiled, feeling like a frog himself, who somehow, by some miracle, had turned into a prince.

William and his friends headed for home.

The End

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