Hell on Earth: Signum - Series 1: 103: The Seal – Act 3
by Timan
. . Belle lashed out with a series of hits to the torso and head of the first vamp in front of her finishing quickly by sinning around quickly and sweeping his legs out from under him. Quickly getting to her feet she straddles him and plunged the stake through his heart. Belle got up and waited for him to explode into dust. To her horror the vamp simply stood up, pulled out the stake and laughed as the wound healed instantly. The two vamps behind her grabbed Belle quickly.
“Hey boss!” the first vamp yelled, “looks like we got ourselves a slayer!”
“A slayer?” Snake replied,”looks like you people have been holding out on me. Bring her down here!”
The vamps drag Belle onto the stage and hand her over to Snake. He grabs her roughly by the throat.
“Well slayer,” he said menacingly, “looks like you get to be number one.”
Belle shut her eyes tightly as Snake bared his fangs and moved for her neck. Just as she felt the sharp points of the Amarra vamps teeth there was a loud swirly sound. Snake turned sharply to see a portal hovering a few inches off the stage.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed
Suddenly two energy balls flew out striking Snake in the head and ribs. The vamp flew off the stage and landed hard on the ground. From the portal Rebecca walked out flanked by Willow and Angel. Snake looked at the goddess in intense anger.
“You!” he yelled
“He doesn’t seem happy to see me.” Willow remarked
“Maybe he hasn’t taken the time to get to know you yet.” Angel replied
“How the hell did you know I was here?” Snake asked
“Yeah about that,” Nolan said from the doorway, “That was kinda my fault.”
~ Raleighfield High School library, Raleighfield California – 10 minutes ago ~
“You okay Will?” Angel asked
The goddess looked up from the magic books she was surrounded by. She had an expression of disappointment on her face.
“Yeah,” Willow replied, “I just got this horrible feeling I’ve forgotten something really important.”
“Do you think it has something to do with the virus?”
“No it was something else.”
“I’m sure it will come back to you,” Angel replied, “how’s the research going?”
Willow shrugged dejectedly
“Okay so far nothing really tangible yet. I’m gonna have to consult by books back at the coven.”
Rebecca walked back into the library. Both willow and Angel saw the sad look on her face.
“Did you get hold Alex?” Willow asked
Rebecca shook her head as she leaned against one of the tables.
“I tried at home, I tried his cell and I tried his work. No answer.”
Willow pouted. She stood up and hugged the Divine One tightly.
“He’ll come round sweetie. I think he just needs time to absorb.”
“Yeah,” Rebecca replied in an unbelieving tone
Willow pulled back and rubbed Rebecca’s arms caringly.
“Why didn’t you try and contact me directly?” Willow asked curiously
“I didn’t know how.”
“Well, what about the talisman I gave you?”
Rebecca looked up at Willow in confusion.
“What talisman?”
“The one you’re wearing around your neck.”
Rebecca looked down at the hexagonal shaped charm she wore. Rebecca always thought it was a good luck gift for when they moved.
“Angel did explain it to you didn’t he?”
Behind them Angel slapped himself on the forehead.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, “that’s what I was supposed to do! That’s been bugging me for two years.”
He noticed the stares he was getting from both the women. He shrugged defensively.
“Everyone was busy back then with the moving to new towns and setting up coven.”
Suddenly the library doors burst open. Nolan rushed in panicked. Rebecca looked at Nolan curiously
“Nolan? Aren’t you supposed to be at the school meeting?”
It took Nolan a moment to get his breath back.
“I was,” Nolan replied panting, “before it was taken over by vampires.”
The group looked at each other anxiously.
“You sure they were vampires?”
“Well they had the weird faces and the long teeth and that lead guy said something about eating people. It was weird though they walked in right out of the sun.”
Angel put on his serious face as he looked at the other two.
“Invulnerables” He stated
“Sounds like,” Rebecca replied, “Is everyone still in the auditorium?”
“Yeah Belle was fighting some when I left.”
This made the Divine One extremely anxious. She turned to Angel and Willow
“We have to move fast. By now I’m guessing Belle has found out how unkillable they are.”
Rebecca raised her hand and a portal opened in the middle of the library. Rebecca, Willow and Angel stood in front of it.
“Just like old times.” Angel remarked
Snake collected himself off the ground. Rebecca jumped down off the stage and grabbed him by the collar.
“You’re leave now,” she said forcefully
“What are you gonna do kill me?” Snake smirked
Rebecca smiled at him menacingly.
“If I have to.”
Snake looked at the woman closely. Suddenly a broad smile crossed his face.
“Wait . . . I know you.” he said, “Yeah the lawyer guy told me to watch out for you.”
Rebecca look became fierce.
“What lawyer?” she asked dragging him off the floor
“Sorry no can tell.”
Rebecca swung Snake around sharply. He flew across the air and collided with the side wall. Rebecca turned and looked at Willow seriously
“Keep him safe.” she ordered
Willow nodded and before Snake could get to his feet a force field appeared around him trapping him to the ground. Snake just smiled at the group
“I might not be the best at math but, all of us against you three; it doesn’t look good for you.”
Snake looked over to his gang.
“Dinner time boys” he yelled to them
Suddenly there was a flurry of activity. Vampires and students scurried everywhere. Rebecca looked over to Willow who nodded again. Willow moved to the center of the stage and raised her palm. Saying a few brief words in Latin a ball of light materialised in her hand. It lifted up and hovered over to the center of the room. Suddenly it exploded sending energy in all directions. All the vampires, excluding Angel, started to glow. Their auras shone brightly for a moment then suddenly they fizzled into nothing. Belle looked at the display in confusion.
“What just happened?” she asked Rebecca
Rebecca formed a fireball in her left hand and threw it at the nearest vamp. He screamed in pain as the flames enveloped him then he exploded into dust.
“That,” Rebecca replied
Rebecca bent down and picked up a broken piece of podium and handed it to Belle.
“Remember; keep your eyes open and your mind clear. There’s a lot more then your used to but I have every confidence in you.”
Belle smiled lightly at the Divine One. She hopped down off the stage and charged up to the first vamp that had his back to her. She pounded him in the kidneys a couple of times before she kicked him into a wall. Angel plunged the stake into the vamp his was fighting and looked over to Belle.
“That’s the slayer huh?” he asked Rebecca who was fighting nearby.
“Yep.” Rebecca replied
Angel continued to watch as Belle pounded into two of the vamps coming down the isle.
“Not bad,” he replied, “A little rusty maybe.”
Rebecca kicked the feet out from under one of the vamps and plunged a stake through his chest. She stood up and shoot Angel a look
“Oh come one Angel,” Rebecca stated, “She’s just been activated.”
Angel smirked at Rebecca. For the briefest moment he saw a gimps of the Summers women stubbornness he knew so well.
“I don’t know why you’re taking so long to think this over Alex,” Darrel commented calmly, “Personally, the decision is obvious.”
Alex walked over to the wolf seal and examined it closely. This think was definitely old and he could feel the power coming off it from where he was standing.
“What if I say no?” Alex asked
“Then you’re wife dies,” Darrel explained, “and we take the tablet by force which means, unfortunately, that this entire building is going to be destroyed.”
Alex turned and looked at the lawyer.
“That’s a little extreme don’t you think.”
“Yes it is as well as being unnecessary. All you have to do is say yes and you wont have to explained to the dean why a good portion of his university ended up in smoke.”
Alex folded his arms and looked at the tablet. Something was very off about it but he didn’t know what. Alex already knew what Rebecca would say about this situation but she wasn’t here at the moment. Behind him Darrel felt Alex’s resolve weakening and decided to put the final nail in. from his briefcase he pulled out the photo that was sitting on Alex’s desk. He gazed down at the picture of the happy looking brunette and sighed.
“Look at her.” Darrel said softly, “look how beautiful she is.”
Alex turned and saw Darrel gazing at Rebecca photo. He walked over with the intention to snatch it from the lawyers hand but seeing the photo made something stir inside of him. Darrel saw Alex staring at the photo and hands it to him.
“She’s a rare gift. Beauty and power all in one.” Darrel continued, “She save the world more then once and never asked anybody for help, well, except you.”
Alex leaned against one of the work benches and just stares at the photo. Darrel stares the scientist straight in the eye.
“You’re her world Alex like she’s your’s. You love her so deeply I can see it in your eyes.”
Alex parsed his lips tightly. He was trying to hold back the flood of emotions he had been trying to hold down all day.
“I remember when this photo was taken,” Alex said, “We had only been dating for a month and there was this party at a friend of mine was throwing. It was in this huge house that his uncle owned in Beverly Hills. Rebecca had to patrol that night but blew it off to go with me. God, she looked so beautiful that night. One of the servants living at the house accidentally invited a feeding party and they began to tear the place apart. Everybody freaked out of course but not Rebecca. She got everybody out but stayed inside to fight them. That’s when I saw her strength, not because of her slayer power, but because of who she was.”
Darrel smiled. He had Alex exactly where he wanted him.
”And you really want to risk that over some piece of rock?” Darrel asked
Alex thought about this. Darrel was right it was a risk but sometimes a risk needs to be taken to do what’s right. He slowly looked up to the lawyer.
“Take it.” he said
Darrel reached into his suit case and handed Alex the syringe.
“You made the right choice,” he replied handing it over to Alex, “Okay boys you can extract the package.”
Two large looking demons materialised in front of both of them. They grabbed the tablet and promptly disappeared. Darrel colleted his things
“Good doing business with you Mr. Whitfield.” Darrel said before he exited the room. Alex sat quietly for a moment and stared at the syringe. Before he when anywhere near his wife he had to make absolutely sure what was in this thing.
Alex entered the chemistry department a few minutes later. Inside Frank Gilliam was preparing his lesson. He looked up at Alex and smiled.
“Hi Alex,” he said warmly, “Thought you weren’t working today.”
“It’s a long story. I need a favour.” Alex replied
The chemist stood up.
“Sure what do you need?”
Alex hands over the syringe.
“I need you to tell me exactly what that it.”
Fran lifted the syringe to the light and examined in closely. He then squeezed a small amount onto his finger and tasted it.
“Mmm grape.” He said
Frank became worried by the shocked expression on Alex’s face.
“It’s one of those candy pops that you squeeze out like toothpaste,” Frank explained
Alex leaned against the bench to stop himself from falling. Frank moved in next to him.
“You alright?” he asked
Alex shook his head.
“No,” he replied, “I think I just made a horrible mistake.”
Rebecca slammed Snaked roughly against the wall. The group had made short work of the vampires and the entire auditorium was cleared out.”
“Which lawyer sent you?” she growled
“I aint sayin’ nothing!” Snake snapped back
Rebecca grabbed Snakes arm and forced it into the sunlight. Snake screamed as it slowly began to burn.
“You know Will removed your invulnerability,” Rebecca replied, “I could kill you in a second if I wanted.”
The pain became too intense for the vampire. He leaned his head back and wince.
“Alright! I’ll tell you!” he screamed
Rebecca let him go and Snake rubbed his arm painfully.
“Yeah it was Darrel who sent us.”
“Why?” Rebecca asked
“He said he was going after something and needed a distraction.”
“What thing?”
“I don’t know it was some kind of stone thing.”
“What did it look like?”
Snake took a moment to remember the conversation with Darrel.
“He said it was some kind of . . .”
A crossbow bolt hit snake straight in the chest. Everybody dropped to the floor defensively as Snake exploded into dust. Rebecca looked up to see a masked bowman standing at the top of the stairs she flew up onto her feet and chased after him. But as soon as she left the building he had vanished.
An hour later the group sat in the library upset. They had the biggest clue right in their hands and it was snatched away from them.
“Alore & Struts are definitely up to something.” Rebecca commented
“It would be helpful if we knew what that was.” Nigel replied
“In my experience,” Angel commented, “You don’t put on this much of a show unless there’s something big behind it.”
“Well let’s look at what we do know,” Rebecca commented, “We know that Alore & Struts has a connection to Wolfram and Hart, We also know that there’s a seal out there than can bring back the senior partners.”
“Stands to reason that both are not mutually exclusive.” Nigel replied
“Didn’t you say that nobody knows where the Signum pieces are?” Willow asked
“Not yet but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to look for them.”
While this conversation was going on Belle was casually writing on a piece of paper. She absent mindedly wrote down ‘Alore & Struts’ down and looked at it for a moment. Suddenly her eyes opened wide.
“Last resort.” She exclaimed
“What?” Rebecca asked
Belle showed the writing to the Divine One.
“Last English class we were working on anagrams, I think it got kinda stuck in my head,” she explained, “Alore & Struts is an anagram of last resort if we don’t use the ‘and’.”
Rebecca looked up at the rest of the group. Each of them had the same expression.
“I think we’re all thinking the same thing,” she said, “Alore & Struts are going to try and bring back the senior partners.”
“Oh dear lord.” Nigel exclaimed
Just then the all heard the sound of the library door closing. Rebecca turned to see Alex standing seriously in the doorway.
“Alex.” She exclaimed in surprise
“We need to talk.” Alex said seriously
Alex led Rebecca out into the hall. He stared at her intensely which made he nervous.
“Look I know how angry you are,” Rebecca said in a guilty tone, “I should have told you about the virus straight away but the truth is I didn’t want you to worry. It was stupid of me I know but I didn’t want to ruin it with my mess.”
Alex didn’t say anything he just stood and stared. As much as Rebecca hated to think this she knew it had to be done.
“If you want to stay somewhere else I understand. I know my life has . . .”
Rebecca's sentence was cut short when Alex moved in and kissed her passionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her in closer to him. Rebecca was stunned at first but soon relaxed into the moment. After what felt like and hour they separated.
“What ever you need to do baby do it,” Alex said, “If you need to start fighting demons again, or need to help the slayer with something I’ll be behind you one hundred percent.”
Rebecca looked at him confused.
“What’s with the change of heart?”
Alex sighed as he remembered the conversation.
“I had a visitor today who reminded me how special you were,” Alex replied, “We’ll find a cure for this virus together.”
Rebecca smiled broadly. She leaned in and kissed him again.
“Who was the visitor?” she asked, “I need to send them a thankyou card.”
“It was some lawyer named Darrel.”
Rebecca's face dropped.
“What? What did he want?”
“Some kind of stone tablet they found in the graveyard.”
Rebecca looked shocked. She took Alex by the hand and dragged him back into the library. Rebecca picked up the sketch of the Signum and showed it to him.
“Did it look like this?”
Alex studied the image. He pointed to one of the sections.
“Actually it looked like that piece.” He remarked
Rebecca shared a worried look with the rest of the group.
“Rebecca?” Nigel prompted
“The diversion was to keep me away from Raleighfield U,” Rebecca replied, “Alore & Struts has the first piece of the Signum.”
Darrel stood proudly in the white room. On the wall hung the wolf seal. The first piece of the Signum.
“Excellent work Darrel.” Mr. White said
“Well you know what they say about fools in love.” Darrel replied
“Indeed. We took the first piece from right under their noses.”
Darrel walked up and stroked the wolf seal.
“It wont be long now before the partners are returned to us. Then the world will pay for what it did.” Darrel said triumphantly
Angel and Willow walked through the center of Raleighfield. If they didn’t know there was a Hellmouth sitting under it they would say it’s a pretty peaceful town.
“So how did the school react when you explained the vampires to them?” Angel asked
“Didn’t need to,” Willow replied, “I cast a simple memory charm on them. They think it was a bike gang on PCP that was arrested by the police.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“It’ll make the slayers job a lot easier if nobody knows.”
Angel nodded. They stopped by a news stand and looked out over the crown. Willow frowned.
“This is still bugging me,” Willow said, “I swear I’ve forgotten something and I know it was important.”
A light wind blew open the pages of one of the news papers. Angel looked down lazily at the open page. His look quickly switched to alarmed after what he read. He grabbed the paper and thrusted it at Willow.
“Would this be it?” Angel said insistently
Willow took the paper and started to read.
. . . A young woman was taken yesterday during a daring daylight kidnapping. Witnesses report that the woman, Penny Whitfield, aged 25 was seen talking to four men outside the studios of WNHK in phoenix Arizona. She was then drugged and thrown into the back of a waiting black van. Witness describe the main assailant as large with a thick English accent . . .
Willow looked over to Angel in shock
“Oh god Penny!” Willow exclaimed
“Do you think we can still make it?” Angel asked
“I could teleport us there but there’s no way of knowing where they went. And a locater would only tell me where they were.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Willow pondered this as she re-read the article.
“I’ll send one of the girls. If they find anything I’ll let you know.”
Angel nodded. He knew how guilty Willow was feeling but in this line of work hard choices need to be made.
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