Say Goodbye: Chapter 10 - Afterglow
by 8SimpleRules
Chapter 10 - Afterglow

This was the second time Buffy blacked out. She didn’t like it very much and it was getting tiring. Last time she’d collapsed, at least she’d woken up in a bed. The cold stone floor’s rough surface scraped against her cheek and she could feel small blood droplets run along her skin. The taste of metallic hit her tongue and she realised she was also bleeding from the gum. She must have hit something really hard without even noticing, which could be explained by her blacking out. You didn’t feel much in that state.

Wait a minute…I didn’t collapse. Buffy rubbed her head and sat up, tried to adapt her eyes to the dim light. I disappeared.

She was in a rectangular room without any real furniture except a single bed in the corner. No windows, the only possible way out was from the door in the right corner of the room, but when Buffy tried to push it open it wouldn’t cave. She was trapped.

She remembered sitting in the car with Liz on her way out of L.A…then…the glowing bit! This had to have some connection to that. She looked down at her hands, but they seemed normal. Not very look-through-able anymore.
Which was probably good, right?

Buffy scanned the walls, spending a good ten minutes in trying to find a loose brick, but she came up with nothing. The dim light didn’t help as it stopped her from seeing the cracks and faults in the walls clearly. Buffy let out a frustrated sigh. Why couldn’t she just leave town like a normal person?

Simple; she wasn’t normal.

A distant clicking sound echoed in Buffy’s head and she put her ear against the door to hear better. Whatever made the sound it was approaching and Buffy leaped back when the door was slammed opened.

“I see you’re up…Sleep well?” The intruder was a female, medium height with hair a few shades darker than Buffy’s own. The woman had let in some light when she opened the door, but when she saw how Buffy was inspecting the outside world she snapped it shut. “ Nuh-huh” she teased cruelly.

“Who the hell are you!? And what am I doing here?!” Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, kidnapping? Illegal. Very.”

The other woman casually placed a hand on her hip, “We don’t really see this as a kidnapping, but more of an… experiment.”

“So now I’m E.T? It was you wasn’t it? With the glowy thingy?”

“The ‘glowy thing’ is a transportation/fixation spell. And yes, it was partly us.” The woman begun circling around Buffy and at the same time watching her closely so she wouldn’t try to get the door.

Buffy didn’t like getting kidnapped. In fact, she hated it. She grabbed the other woman’s wrist and yanked her towards the door.

“Open. The. Door.”

“Well, this was expected. I’ve heard you’re not the friendliest person in the world.”

Buffy turned the other woman so they were facing each other. “Want to exchange pleasantries? Okay, then. I’m Buffy. 23 years old. Live in Rome. Like to return there. And you?”

The other woman grinned.

“I’m Eve.”


***

“See? I told you! All you need is a good kill - stake something - and ta-daa, all better!” Spike whistled as he casually put his hands in his pockets.

“But did the good kill have to be me?” Angel was walking behind him, a sword sticking out of his stomach and through the back.

“Oh, please. Not my fault, you got in the way.”

“Spike, I was at least ten feet away from the demon!”

Spike raised his eyebrows in a mocking gesture, “What’s your point?”

The two vampires were interrupted as they entered the lobby by a green demon with red eyes. Wearing a dreadful purple ensemble that made Spike’s eyes burn.

“Hey, Angelcakes, just need to run a few things by you. The party on Saturday…the one for our clients and their significant others; I need the check to the caters signed.”

“Not now, Lorne. Kind of busy.” Angel turned in profile, which gave the other demon a better view of the sword.

“Nasty.” Lorne’s nose wrinkled. “Who did that?” His gaze wandered from Angel and the sword to Spike. Spike looked rather pleased and grinned sheepishly before reaching for the cigarette case and silver lighter in his pockets.

Lorne gasped. “You didn’t!”

“Bloody well did.” Spike lit his cigarette and put it in the corners of his mouth. The vampire laughed a little at Lorne’s expression. “Oh, C’mon. Not like it was on purpose. Besides, not like ‘s gonna kill him.”

Lorne just shook his head and turned back to Angel; “So when you have taken care of” Lorne eyed the sword “…that, go see me. It’s just a few days left to sort things out.”

Angel nodded. “Sure.”

“Oh, just one more thing…have you seen Eve lately?”

The both vampires shook their heads.

“Me neither. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Eve not being here to annoy us?” Lorne asked.

“Either that, or she have more important, evil-doing to do.”

“Wouldn’t be a first.”

“So long she’s not off making experiments on innocent bunnies…” Lorne muttered.

***

“Explain this experiment thingy again?”

“Oh, guessing that was a mistake. Let’s not call it that, it sounds…wrong, you know?”

“Even more so if I’m gonna be the friggin’ guinea-pig.” Buffy leaned against the wall, still eyeing Eve suspiciously. “Okay, so no experiment. Yippee yay. Now let’s get to the releasing Buffy part, huh?”

“I can’t.”

This chick was really starting to piss Buffy off. How could someone you’d never met before do this to you? Seriously, it wasn’t like Buffy had done anything that would justify this…Well, if this Eve person didn’t happen to be the offspring of some demon Buffy had killed. At this point, it didn’t seem unlikely.

“Why?”

“The senior partner won’t allow it. Plus, thanks to the spell, you can’t leave L.A for quite a while.” Eve inspected her nails with a bored look before turning her attention back to Buffy. “Will you just accept it and get over it so we can get this party started?”

“Accept it!? Do you even know what your asking? To give up my life so your bosses can have a little control the BuffyDoll fun? Don’t think so. Now, I’ve had enough. Get out of my way.”

Buffy strode the few steps to the door, shoved Eve out of the way, who gasped at the unexpected attack, and slammed the door open. Buffy stopped once outside, blinking and trying to adjust her eyes to the harsh light.
After a few seconds, it all cleared and the surroundings she found herself in seemed oddly familiar. She had definitely been here before. There was people…scratch that, demons walking around, not noticing the puzzled slayer whatsoever.

“Hey, who do you think you are?” Eve’s annoyed voice sounded behind her, but Buffy didn’t notice. She was to busy eyeing a blast from the past.

“Buffy?” The British Giles-like voice was unmistakable.

“Hey Wesley. Wow. You look good.”

*A/N; Thanks for all the great reviews :-) ...and oh, before I forget - sorry about the lame chapter title.

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