Disclaimer: Unfortunately i do not own anything affiliated with Buffy or Angel or anything else Joss owns. He is lord and master of the Slayer queendom.
Chapter 35
Buffy’s plan was a simple one. Willow, using whatever magic she had, would try to thin out the demon ranks as much as possible. Giles, along with his award winning aim, would assist her using his crossbow. Buffy would deal with the woman alone. There were a few things they needed to discuss… such as the location of Angel and Xander.
Giles returned from the lounge wielding his trusty crossbow, bolts already knocked into place, many more in his hand. Willow turned away for a moment then turned back, resolve face firmly fixed in place. The outsiders never stood a chance.
Giles was the first to make contact. His bolt lodged in one demon’s neck and the game was on. Another bolt knocked, another demon felled. For an old guy, he’s pretty quick, Buffy thought with pride. The demons charged the building, another taken down by Giles as they hurtled forward. They closer they got, the more Buffy tensed. It was almost her turn.
Willow straightened herself out and held her hands out in front of her. Energy crackled through the room, Buffy could feel the tendrils of magic caressing her skin as it flowed around them. She shivered. Her and magic still weren’t the best of friends and they never would be, not after everything that had happened, but if it managed to help them some, Buffy was willing to call a truce.
Two demons at the front of the mob fell, seemingly haven tripped and fallen over but Buffy knew better. Magic had snuck upon them, wielded by the still redhead. Buffy watched as the demons reached the front door. Buffy hefted her shortsword and grimaced. It was her time to shine.
Raising the sword above her shoulder, she charged “willy nilly” as Giles would say, at the approaching demons. They all faltered for a mere second, confusion written on their ugly faces and Buffy took full advantage. She decapitated the first she met and plunged the sword into the next ones stomach. Both fell and Buffy spared a second to search for the woman. Cassie, she thought, naming her villain. Every villain had a name and until Buffy found out this woman’s, Cassie was it.
Cassie stood calmly further away from the house, seemingly content to watch. Buffy had the feeling this was more to wear her out than anything else. The bitch didn’t want to fight her at full strength. She probably knows she wouldn’t stand a chance against me, she thought, disregarding the fight the night before when she’d had her ass handed to her on a silver platter.
Buffy stumbled as she was hit from behind. ‘Ow…’ she grimaced as she pivoted, swinging the sword round to cleave off the demons head. It stuck some as it passed through bone but Buffy took no notice. A couple of demons had gotten past her, heading to the mansion doors. Willow and Giles, now stationed in front of the doors, defended the keep.
Too soon Buffy felt herself growing weary. Sweat beaded her brow and her limbs felt heavy. Something wasn’t right. She shouldn’t have been tiring this quickly. How long had she been fighting? She spared a glance to see if the other two were okay. Willow sat cross-legged on the grass, eyes closed, hands folded in her lap. Buffy frowned, wondering what she was doing.
Willow’s eyes snapped open and Buffy noticed the redhead was looking at a point behind her. She turned and saw Cassie standing stock still, arms outspread. Buffy realised belatedly what was going on. Cassie was chanting, putting a spell on her. That’s why she was so worn out already. The bitch was a witch! Take her skanky ass down, Wills…
Another demon came upon Buffy and she had to divert her attention from the battling females. Instead, the Slayer found herself facing a spiked demon, a light pink in colour. ‘What are you supposed to be?’ Buffy asked skeptically. ‘Cotton Candy?’
The demon growled. Buffy, already over the battle, just rolled her eyes. ‘Growl to you too. Are we gonna fight or are you gonna continue to scare me with pink?’
The demon threw its arms wide and a two foot spike shot out from the base of each palm, not unlike the demon she met when she first came to Sunnydale. For a split second she froze, not knowing what to do. The memories it brought back were not pleasurable ones. It brought back nightmares she’d rather have never again thought about.
The demon used her distraction and lunged at her. She brought her arm up to block the blow but she was to slow to stop it and only managed to deflect it. Instead of hitting her in the midsection, where it was aimed, the blow glanced off her side, spiked knuckles grazing the skin there. Buffy hissed in pain. That had really hurt.
She threw the sword she still held to the ground beside her. It wasn’t going to help her here. Bending down, dodging a blow to her temple, she pulled a wicked looking dagger from her boot, fingertips brushing against the stake she also hid there.
She straightened, just as one of the two-foot spikes came towards her head. She threw an arm out, deflecting the blow and it missed. Before she could take advantage of its position, its other arm appeared out of nowhere. Too slow to stop it, the tip of the spike cut a gaping wound that reached from under her right breast to her left hip. She grunted in pain, tears springing to her eyes.
The wound burned, feeling like nothing she’d ever felt before. The demon saw her distraction and used it, coming at her again. She tried to block her pain, but it refused to recede. Fire shot through her as she tried to hold the demon off. She pulled its arm back, keeping the spike away from her, finding the opening she wanted.
Taking the knife she clutched painfully in her hand, she rammed it into the demons chest, aiming for where the heart should be. It stumbled, spikes retracting back into its flesh. Buffy turned away, satisfied it was dieing. Willow and Cassie were still locked in a silent battle. Buffy couldn’t tell who was winning. Giles stood behind Willow now, carefully watching every move the redhead made- not that she was making any- crossbow long forgotten in his hand. Buffy hoped he was there in case it became too much for her friend. Magic was unpredictable at the best of times and Willow was still a novice.
Buffy began to cautiously approach Willow, nervous of upsetting the balance. The redhead’s eyes were closed tightly, strain showing on her face. Buffy hated what was happening. Willow shouldn’t be fighting her battles for her. She was a Slayer. She should be able to handle anything.
She looked to her silent Watcher, but he just shook his head. There was nothing they could do. Willow had to come out of it on her own. Buffy glanced at the area surrounding them. The grass was covered with blood and bodies littered the ground. Buffy grimaced. A bonfire was needed. No way was she going to bury them.
Leaving Giles to watch over her friend, Buffy set about cleaning off the lawn. She grabbed the legs of one demon and began to drag it to the center of the lawn. The movement pulled at her side and a fresh burst of pain racked her body. She collapsed to her knees, face twisted into a grimace, hand pressed against the large wound. Her hand came away covered in blood.
‘That’s not good,’ she murmured to herself as she studied her red hand. Pushing herself to her feet, she struggled to resume her task. Taking care not to pull the wound and further aggravate it, she took hold of another demon and dragged it to the pile.
She continued until they were one large stack on the lawn. She patted down her pockets then limped over to her Watcher who was still watching the unmoving twosome. Feeling inside his breast pocket, she pulled out a packet of matches.
‘How did-?’ Giles questioned but Buffy just raised an eyebrow.
‘I’ve seen you smoke a pipe, Watcher-mine. I’m not blind and I’m not stupid.’
‘I never implied that you were, Buffy. I was just… unaware… that my actions were being so closely monitored,’ Giles took his glasses off and felt around his pockets for the polishing cloth.
‘They weren’t… until you began to sneak around. We got curious,’ she shrugged. ‘It’s fire time,’ she said happily as she turned back to the pile of carcasses. Using the matches, she set the surprisingly fast burning blood on fire, jumping back as it spread quickly across the grass, burning all the blood away. ‘Nifty.’
The pile became a towering inferno and Buffy hoped the fire authorities didn’t come out to check on them. It would be way too difficult to explain. She watched the flames for a moment before beginning to cough from the acid fumes that blew her way as the wind changed. Fast burning, sure… but it sure reeked really badly.
She made her way back to her Watcher and he glanced at her briefly, returning his gaze to the prone a witch. He swung his gaze back to Buffy. ‘Good Lord,’ he peered at her stomach. ‘Buffy, we need to get you to a hospital, now. Why didn’t you tell me?’
Buffy shook her head, the fire warming her chilled skin. ‘I’m not going anywhere. Not until this is over,’ she said nodding her head in Willow’s direction.
At that moment, Willow slumped where she sat and Cassie, further back, fell to the ground. Both were unconscious. ‘Willow!’ Buffy flew to her side. ‘Willow. Willow,’ she called, trying to get a response.
So intent was she on her friend, she failed to notice Cassie rising from the ground behind her. The dark haired woman brushed herself off and looked around at her surroundings. Her eyes lighted on the burning forms and fire flashed in her eyes.
Buffy smoothed some hair from Willow’s face. ‘Will?’ Willow began to stir, her fists clutching as she strived to return to consciousness.
Buffy, concentrating on Willow, barely heard the swooshing sound and she threw herself to the ground as a throwing knife sailed though the spot where her head had just been. She flipped to her feet, swinging round to face an already attacking Cassie. Buffy’s head rang as Cassie’s fist connected with her jaw, sending stars across her eyes.
Willow, murmured something but Buffy missed it. She spared a glance to see Giles helping her sit up. She blocked another blow from her opponent, one that was aimed at her temple and threw the arm away from her. Throwing a punch of her own, she caught the woman in the chest, sending her back a few feet. Cassie recovered quickly but not as quickly as she had previously done.
Buffy cocked her head, studying the woman as she charged forward. Something was definitely off. She moved slower, less graceful than she had before, though Buffy was sure she could still kick her ass as she’d one outside Willy’s.
The traded blows, neither getting the upper hand. Buffy hit, Cassie blocked; Cassie hit, Buffy blocked and so it went on. Buffy could feel herself tiring again and she knew she couldn’t win. The woman was too strong and this hadn’t been a fair fight
Buffy’s legs were swept from under her and she hit the ground with a thud. The wound on her midsection was long forgotten as she lay on the soft grass of the mansion’s front lawn. Cassie stood over her, her hand behind her back. She pulled a dagger from her back. The blade was long and curved with sapphires set into the handle and one in the blade itself. She twisted it, mockingly, holding it so it caught the light.
Buffy and the others had taken the demons down disgustingly easy and it was no wonder. This woman didn’t need strong allies.
Buffy heard what sounded like an engine and frowned. No one ever came up here. Where was the noise coming from?
A car came racing up the drive, horn blaring as it sped towards the mansion and at Cassie and herself. Buffy’s eyes widened as it continued at its speed, not slowing down. They’re gonna run us down.
Buffy rolled out of the way but Cassie was too slow. The car crashed into her, going too fast for a normal person to survive. Cassie flew up and over the car, denting the metalwork and shattering the windscreen. The car braked, coming to a stop an inch from the wall.
The driver’s door opened and Oz fell out, his face expressionless as usual but grimmer than she’d ever seen it. Buffy sighed in relief. She’d never been so happy to see him. He glanced quizzically at Buffy and she nodded to say she was okay. He turned his attention to his girlfriend. Willow was looking at Buffy.
‘You okay?’ she asked seriously.
Buffy nodded. She glanced at Oz. ‘How-?’
‘I called him,’ Willow said, smiling adoringly at her man. ‘While I was fighting against her.’ She turned back to Buffy. ‘She’s not dead.’
Buffy shook her head. They rarely were. Forcing herself to her feet, she ambled over to Cassie’s prone form just as she began to stir. Buffy noticed something around the woman’s neck. A gold C hung from a fragile gold chain. Buffy’s eyes widened. She’d seen a necklace like that one not that long ago.
It all suddenly made sense. Everything. She knew who was behind all this. She nudged the mangled woman with her leather boot clad foot. ‘Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Rise and shine. You have some splainin’ to do.’
Cassie moaned and opened her eyes. She turned over and went to get up when she saw who was towering over her but Buffy placed her foot none too gently on her chest, pinning her to the ground.
‘I have loads of questions to ask you. You will listen and you will answer every single one because I am tired of playing.’
‘But games are so much fun,’ Cassie laughed painfully. Buffy pressed harder on her chest and she flinched.
‘The one I have for you won’t be,’ Buffy threatened. ‘I’m done. As I said: I have a load of questions to ask you but it’s gonna take longer than I have right now. So we’ll get to the really important ones first.’
Cassie laughed. ‘I’m not telling you anything. You and all your little friends can go to hell.’
‘Been there, done that,’ Buffy said breezily. ‘Crap place to visit, so want you to live there. Now tell me… Why are you here?’
Cassie rolled her eyes. ‘For Slayerfest, of course… Geez. Don’t you know anything? How have you survived this long… really?’
Buffy’s eyes darkened as painful memories threatened to overwhelm her. ‘At least I’m going to live a little longer than you,’ she gritted. ‘Who are you?’
‘You may call me Arya.’
‘And?’
‘And what?”
‘Anything else?’
‘There is nothing of importance that you need know,’ she said pompously and that’s when Buffy realized she’d been speaking normally since she’d shown up at the mansion. It was all an act.
‘Okay Cassie. Can I call you Cassie? Great. I’m running out of patience. I have one last question and it’s the big one… the one that decides quick-and-painless death or slow-and-painful death. So answer me this one. For two hundred, Alex… what the hell have you done with my men?’
Okay, I need help. I’m not happy with this chapter but I can’t put my finger on what is wrong. Can you pick it? I know something is… ugh… you know what I mean. I can’t find what is wrong but I know something is. Please help.
I think it just needs some minor tweaking. Reviews will help. Many reviews.
I’m getting closer to the end… YAY!! Thanks to all those who have been reviewing. You guys rock. And yes, I love you all. ; )
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