If I should die before I wake - Novel version: Join Me
by Gaius Petronius
"If I Should Die Before I Wake"
by Gaius Petronius
DISCLAIMER:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on
the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox
and Mutant Enemy, Inc. I only borrow them, mess with their heads,
make them cry and, every once in a while, torture them. I do lay
claim to the character of Johannes Martel since he is the central
character in an original novel I've been working on now for too
many years.
Spoilers: BtVS season two. Originally written in script format
during the spring of 1998, "If I should die before I wake"
is the sequel to my first Buffy novel, "Carpe Diem."
Rating: PG for violence and language."
* * * * * * * *
"But in the grey of the morning,
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose."
The Moody Blues, "Question," 1970
* * * * * * * *
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."
Anonymous child's prayer
* * * * * * * *
Chapter 11 - Join Me.
Behind the Library check out desk, Giles was still pouring
over his pile of books from that morning. The light from a single
green glass desk lamp shown across his work. The faint illumination
from the street lamps outside cast shadows from the book shelves
onto the floor and walls. Giles turned page after page, rapidly
scanning each one but after twelve hours of research he was now
reduced to running his finger down each page in order to help
his tired eyes focus on the contents.
Willow suddenly burst in with Xander and Cordelia close behind.
"Giles!"
The Watcher jumped in his seat with surprise as if he had just
sat down on one of Xander's secretly planted whoopee cushions.
"What! What is it?"
"Buffy and I just saw Drusilla and a whole gang of vampires
parading down the street like it was July 4th!" Willow exclaimed
in a rush, barely able to catch her breath, "They must have
gotten hold of Jonathan's powers! Drusilla was smashing things
and blowing up cars just by waving her hands at them!"
"Where's Buffy?" Xander asked, now understanding
the gravity of the situation.
"She was going to check out where they were headed but
she figures it's the Master's Chamber. She said to wait for her
here."
"So it's finally come to this," Giles said, shaking
his head in resignation. He stood up and walked over to a specific
locked cabinet in the library wall. Fumbling with a set of keys,
he thrust a large brass one into the lock and opened the cabinet
door. In a moment more, he had pulled out a small but particularly
lethal looking crossbow.
"We'll have to destroy Jonathan's notebook with a flaming
dart. We'll never be able to get close enough to Drusilla to.
. ."
Xander interrupted him.
"But I don't get why we have to destroy the book!"
he exclaimed, "Can't we steal it back and use the spells
to restore Jonathan?"
"That's what I've been trying to say!" Willow howled
in frustration, "Nobody'll listen!"
"Why stop with Jonathan?" Cordelia chimed in as her
brain produced one of its rare moments of rational thought, "With
the book, we could bring back Angel. We could change Spike and
Drusilla! Giles, we could end this Hellmouth thing right now!
For good!"
For a moment, everyone in the Library was silent as the impact
of Cordelia's idea sank in. Giles paced back and forth, pondering
her words as he ran his hand through is disheveled curly hair.
"Wow, no more Hellmouth," Willow said softly in amazement,
"Buffy could be, like, . . . normal."
"Yeah, and have two cute guys chasing after her,"
Cordelia continued.
"Giles?" Willow asked, her voice trembling with hope,
"Could it . . . could it . . . work?"
"This might be the real knock out punch, big guy,"
Xander said forcefully, "I say it's worth the risk!"
Giles turned to face the assembled Scoobies and answered them
slowly.
"I know how much all of you want this to end. But during
my training as a Watcher, I was warned . . . specifically about
this. Through out history, the spells for reanimation, especially
that for soul restoration, have only brought evil. No matter how
good the intentions of those involved, the results have been catastrophic
to say the least."
"But, Giles, this is not the past!" Xander argued.
"Right!" Willow added, "This is the present,
and we are trying to write the future!"
"They are evil, Willow, not a blessing!" Giles answered
back, his voice trembling with fear, "Why do you think the
Gypsies only used them as a curse. The last time a reanimation
spell was used was in Egypt sixty years ago. A Book of the Dead
containing a reanimation spell was discovered by a British expedition.
It disappeared within hours of its unearthing but not before something
had risen. The expedition assistant translating the scroll was
found screaming in the newly opened tomb and two guards were dead
outside!"
"What happened?" Cordelia asked nervously, "Did
they ever find the scroll again?"
"The Senior expedition leader was rumored to be a Watcher.
It's generally believed he destroyed the scroll and put back down
whatever it was, but he denied it to his dying day. He hinted
that . . . something else . . . even more powerful, reached out
from beyond, seized the being that had risen and dragged it back
into the aether. And he warned all Watchers if ever a reanimation
spell resurfaced . . . to destroy it immediately . . . without
even reading it!"
"But that's still the past, Giles!" Willow protested.
"Too often, Willow, the past is what writes the future,"
Giles answered ominously.
"Unless the present steps in, says 'enough!' and changes
it!" Xander countered.
"No good can come of this!" Giles snarled at all
three Scoobies. Willow in particular was shocked by the furious
tone of the Watcher's voice.
"I forbid it!" Giles declared, closing the door on
any further debate.
"Then if that's the way you see it," Xander sighed
as he turned to the open cabinet and withdrew a short handled
ax, "I guess it's blunt trauma time."
"Uh, I'm kinda late for cheerleading practice!" Cordelia
stammered as she caught sight of Xander hefting the weapon. She
quickly slipped out of the room and made a bee line for the gym.
"What are you proposing?" Giles asked Xander.
"G-Man, this is not the time for waiting," Xander
answered as he tested the sharpness of the ax blade with his thumb,
"You think Buffy is gonna come back here? Fat chance! She's
heading into the Master's Chamber by herself right now. Somebody's
gotta stand with her." He then strode towards the Library
doors. Giles followed in silent agreement.
"Wait, I'm coming, too!" Willow called out.
"No way, Will," Xander said firmly as he faced her.
"What!?" she exclaimed with mounting frustration.
"You stay here in case Buffy shows up," Giles said
as if dismissing Willow to another tedious research task.
He and Xander, armed with the crossbow and a pair of axes,
ran out of the Library. In disgust, Willow plopped back down in
front of her computer. She muttered at the blank screen in front
of her.
"What is it about you Willow?" she complained sarcastically
to the empty room, "Is it your breath? Your hair? . . . It's
your mind! That's it! They're afraid of your mind!"
* * * * * *
Giles and Xander raced down the wide concrete steps of Sunnydale
High, across the night enshrouded street and off towards the cemetery.
Within minutes, they entered the West gate and plunged into the
darkness surrounding the tombstones.
"Perhaps we should proceed with more caution," Giles
suggested panting.
"It's too late for that now," Xander shouted over
his shoulder.
Before the echo of Xander's response dissipated in the night,
Spike, flanked by Drusilla and a half dozen vampires, had rolled
out from behind a tombstone. All instantly blocked Xander and
Giles' path and quickly surrounded them.
"That it is Watcher and Boy Wonder!" Spike announced,
his face morphing at the same time.
Giles and Xander whirled about to defend themselves but before
Giles could raise his crossbow, Drusilla waved her arm in a swaying
motion. An invisible wave of force stuck both Xander and Giles,
knocking them to the ground and sending their weapons flying out
of their hands. Several vampires jumped on them and, with little
struggle, yanked Giles and Xander to their feet.
"Take them to the Chamber!" Drusilla proclaimed,
her voice again laced with Command, "Their blood along with
the Wizard's power will bless the opening of the Hellmouth!"
Quickly the vampires forced Giles and Xander to march off into
the darkness.
"See how easy it all is," Drusilla grinned at Spike.
Her copper eyes glowed brightly and the yellowish tinge of her
fangs shimmered in the night.
"That's what I don't like about it, Dru," Spike mused
as he stared down the path leading towards the entrance to the
Master's Chamber.
* * * * *
Buffy finally began to stir. Lying behind a row of hedges where
Drusilla's wave of force had thrown her, she was dazed and bruised
but otherwise unhurt. In the distance, the blaze from the flaming
car and the emergency lights of the fire trucks pierced the darkness.
She suddenly jumped to her feet and raised her fists in defense.
Angelus stood only yards away smiling at her.
"What? You aren't glad to see me?" he grinned, holding
his arms out in mock innocence.
"What's Drusilla done with Jonathan?" Buffy snarled.
"Easy, Buffy!" Angelus answered, his voice dripping
sarcasm, "Your lover boy is safe in the Master's Chamber.
For now. And I guess Dru has probably got your Watcher and Xander
there as well."
"I swear! If you hurt them . . . !"
"And what are you going to do to stop us?" Angelus
answered, his eyes radiating evil, "You can't stand up to
Drusilla. It's over, Buffy. Jonathan, Giles, Xander, pretty soon
Willow. They're all finished. And you will be, too. The way I
see it, there's only one way out."
Buffy glared at Angelus, her face a mixture of fury and panic.
"Join me," he whispered.
"WHAT?!"
"Give it up and cross over," the vampire said with
a cold and perverse logic, "Join up with me. You and me,
we can be together again. Maybe not the way we originally thought,
but we'll be together. That's what you've always wanted. And we
can save them; Willow, Giles, Xander. Maybe even Jonathan."
Buffy shook her head in disbelief.
"It doesn't hurt," Angelus smiled, his whispering
voice floating through the night like the hypnotic hiss of a rattlesnake,
"Only takes a minute. Imagine, we could finally be in each
other's arms again."
Angelus' face suddenly morphed as he stepped towards the Slayer.
For the first time in her years of battling the undead, Buffy's
soul trembled in terror at the sight. Her eyes widened in horror.
She turned and fled into the night towards Sunnydale High.
"Oh, well, I gave you your chance," Angelus shrugged
nonchalantly.
* * * * *
This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=6674