Disclaimer: I own none, as usual, of the charaters or locatiions mentioned in my writing. They belong to the ever powerful Joss.
Chapter 33
The staccato sound of her foot tapping against the tiled floor of the kitchen was slowly driving the waiting Slayer crazy. Where is he? If Angel had left when he had told Willow he was leaving, he should have been here over half an hour ago. Angel was never late.
Something was wrong. No, don’t think that. Maybe he;d changed his mind. He’d have called you, dummy. She paced her room anxiously, throwing quick glances at the clock on her bedside table as she turned. Forty-five minutes late. Something was definitely wrong. He should be here by now. Where is he? Visions of her nightmare from the night before flittered across her mind, increasing her worry.
‘Stuff this,’ she muttered and left her room quickly, heading down to the lounge where she knew Giles would be. He always had a cup of tea in there at around this time.
Giles wasn’t in the room as she’d thought but a quick scan found Willow sitting by the fire, some kind of folder in her hands. Oh God. ‘No!’ Buffy lunged towards her, catching the redhead off guard and snatched the file from her loose grip.
It was too late and Buffy knew it. Willow had read if not all, a great deal of the contents of that file. How could she have been so stupid as to leave it sitting there like that? Her gaze was glued to her silent friend. Willow hadn’t moved and Buffy was beginning to get afraid. No one was supposed to see those pages; no one beside herself and her parents anyway. It was bad enough that Giles had seen them.
Buffy knew there was to be no more hiding. Willow knew. She’d seen the evidence and there was no way it could be denied. Buffy’s own stupidity had let out the one thing she’d truly wanted to keep hidden; her past.
**********************
‘Oi, vampire,’ something wet landed on Angel’s face and he screwed his nose in disgust. Whatever it was, it smelt foul and felt far from pleasant.
Buffy’s face floated across the back of his eyelids and his eyes immediately opened. He had to get to her. He didn’t know if they already had her or not, or if they were even after her, but it seemed entirely likely. He groaned as what felt like fire exploded in his stomach as the vampire above him, tired of waiting, kicked him again.
He felt Angelus in the back of his mind, growling in frustration. This is something he never wanted Buffy to truly know about. Sure, she knew Angelus was in him all the time, but if she knew how close he actually was to the fore, well, he hated to think what she’d do. Even with his soul glued to his body, the demon refused to fade into the background.
‘Get up, damn it,’ his attacker growled as he jerked his leg back, ready for another kick.
Angel steeled himself and rolled as the leg came towards him. He let his vamp take over and growled as his teeth lengthened. He shot up from the floor and lunged at the vampire but immediately he was on his back once more, a pain suddenly developing in his back and head.
A woman stood above him, clad in a black flowing gown, with a thigh high split, reminiscent of a kimono. Long black hair fell down her bare back, black stilettos encased her feet. He face held no expression and it seemed as though she was looking though the vampire with a soul a though he weren’t even there. No, she’s blind, he realized in shock. She can’t even see me. How did she, if it was her, take me down so easily?
‘You are not to be leaving this room, One with the Angelic face. We do not wish to harm you, but we will if you leave us no other course of action. We are not after you, when we have what we want, you will be set free,’ she spoke softly and slowly. She was not American, but neither was she Chinese. She spoke with the same grace with which she held herself. She had been well tutored.
‘Why am I here?’ he knew why, but he wanted it confirmed all the same.
‘I suspect you already know the answer to that, Angelus. It is the Slayer, Miss Summers, who we are after.’
He growled instinctively and the woman smiled. ‘I see the legendary vampire has fallen for a mere mortal girl. This is most disappointing. I must say I expected much more from you.’
‘Who are you? What do you have to do with Buffy?’ Angel held himself back from just attacking her. Not only would it do him no good, he wanted to hear what she had to say about Buffy. If it was useful, he’d go straight to Giles when he was freed; along with Buffy of course.
‘My name is Inakra. I am part of what you know as Slayerfest. I plan to kill the current Slayer but it is not for the glory of winning such a childish contest. I did not enter for that purpose. I have my own agenda.’
Of course you do, Angel thought to himself. Doesn’t everyone? ‘I won’t let you hurt her. I won’t let you near her. Neither will the others.’
‘I am aware of that and am already taking the necessary steps to alleviate those problems.’
Angel turned as the scraping of metal reached his sensitive ears. He winced at the volume and blinked rapidly as the room he was in was flooded with light. Two men entered through the doorway carrying something between them. Someone, Angel realized. Xander. Damn.
The two men dropped Xander unceremoniously in the corner opposite Angel. The boy didn’t make a sound. Angel strained his ears and listened for the boy’s steady heartbeat. He would be fine.
‘If we can’t get to her because of her friends, we will simply deprive her of them until she surrenders.’
‘Buffy would never surrender,’ Angel said with more certainty in his voice than he actually felt. He knew Buffy probably would, in fact, give herself up to save her friends. She was just that kind of person; loyal to the end to those she loved.
‘We shall see,’ she said mysteriously as she flowed out the door.
Angel glared at her back as she left then turned to watch Xander. He hoped the boy wouldn’t wake up. He hoped Buffy wouldn’t come for them. He hoped no one got hurt in whatever was coming but most of all; he hoped there was something he could do, to save them all.
******************
Buffy wiped the tears from her face as she turned into Main St. Willow had started asking questions and she hadn’t been able to handle it. Escaping had been the only option. She’d felt suffocated while standing there and had had to leave. Now, here she was, wandering the streets of Sunnydale to avoid going home to face one of her closest friends. It was ridiculous.
She stopped in frustration. Half turning, she made to go back the way she came but hesitated. Hating herself for her cowardice, she turned back and continued on the way she’d been going. She wasn’t ready to face anyone yet.
As she left Main, Buffy noticed something odd out of the corner of her eye. A car sat in the middle of the road, doors ajar. Concerned for the occupants, she started jogging towards the stopped car. It was then that she realized where she’d seen the car previously. The car belonged to Angel.
‘Oh, God.’
She ran towards the vehicle, already knowing she was too late; he wasn’t there. Angel’s belongings were all where he left them. His overnight bag was sitting on the back seat, his phone lay on the front seat, where it had most likely fallen from his pocket and there was a file lying on the floor on the passenger side. Even the keys were still in the ignition. Why someone hadn’t stolen the car, she would never know.
Deciding on the only course of action, she climbed behind the wheel and closed the door. Running her hands over the steering wheel, she then reached out and turned the key, starting the ignition. The car purred to life under her hands. She smiled. Under any other circumstances, she knew Angel would never let her behind the wheel of his car.
Putting the car in gear, Buffy winced as it made a loud grinding noise; she pressed her foot on the accelerator and squealed as the car shot backwards. She wrenched her foot back and jerked as the car stalled. Taking a deep breath, she started the car up once more, and tentatively tried to put the car in gear again.
The car bunny hopped forwards a few times before Buffy got a hang of the clutch. She drove the vehicle to the mansion. Her face off with her past could wait. Angel was missing.
**************
Angel sat with his back against the cold stone wall as he had or the past five hours. Xander still hadn’t woken, although about half an hour earlier, he’d let loose a loud snort and rolled over. The idiot boy was asleep.
Angel was going out of his mind with worry for Buffy. He had no way of telling whether or not she was okay. As a vampire, Angel was used to waiting; his patience level was high after years of perfecting it; if only he knew how she was, what she was doing.
No one had been to see him since Inakra had left. That had given him a long time to mull things over. She was the last one. If Buffy defeated her, she was free from Slayerfest.
Spike. The name rose unbidden to his mind. There was still his childe to deal with. The blonde had been a thorn in his side for far too long. It was time he, and his girlfriend, were taken out of the picture. It would hurt him to stake them, but Angel would, for Buffy.
A groan came from the corner and Angel lifted his head to watch as Xander finally rolled over. The boy rubbed his eyes slowly then sat up. ‘Anyone catch the number of that bus?’ he asked the room, clearly not expecting an answer.
‘Probably the same on that hit me,’ he replied, watching with a small amount of satisfaction as the boy jumped then plastered himself against the far wall.
‘Oh, this is just super,’ the teen grumbled. ‘Stuck, God knows where, with a pretty boy blood sucker. Who’s idea of a joke is this?’
‘You think I’m pretty?’ Angel asked him innocently. His satisfaction deepened as Xander scowled. This was going to be slightly more fun that he’d originally thought.
***************
Back at the mansion, Buffy walked into the lounge, stopping as both Giles and Willow turned towards her. Before either one could say anything Buffy spoke. ‘Angel’s missing. I found his car abandoned downtown. We have to find him.’
Willow and Giles exchanged meaningful glances which Buffy didn’t miss. ‘What? What is it?’
‘It seems Xander is also missing,’ Giles began to polish his glasses. Willow continued to stare at Buffy.
‘What?’ Buffy’s eyes went wide with fear for her friends. Angel and Xander both missing? Coincidence ? Not likely. She looked to Giles. ‘What do we do?’
‘I’m afraid I’m not sure at this juncture. The best thing, well, really, the only thing we can do right now is search the area. Talk, find out what you can from whoever you can.’
Buffy nodded. ‘I think a trip to Willie’s is in order.’
‘Take Willow,’ Giles said dismissively. ‘I don’t want you going alone. Willow can provide back up.’
‘She can?’ Buffy asked. ‘How? I think she’s more likely to get herself killed.’ Buffy knew she was being harsh, but her self-preservation instincts were kicking in and she selfishly didn’t want the redhead around. It meant answering questions that she really didn’t want to answer.
‘Willow can hold her own,’ Giles assured her in a tone that brooked no argument. ‘She goes with you.’
Buffy gritted her teeth and nodded. Thanks a lot, Giles. She all but stormed over to the weapons chest and pulled out the item she was looking for. The double edged axe was one of Angel’s favourites and Buffy had a particular liking for it also. It was a deadly weapon; accurate and damaging.
‘Let’s go.’
Hi everyone.
Hope you like this update. I've been out of inspiration lately but am trying to write more to finish off this story. It just seems to keep going, huh? I started another one but haven't written anymore on it because i keep trying to write this one... It's not fun.
And now i'm back at school. It's a pain. I've actually been sick lately form being "overworked" at least that's what people are telling me. I hope to spend less time "overworking" and more time writing.
Bye for now. Sorry if you didn't want to know any of that.
Review!!
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