I would like to thank Spikes Bint for taking the time to beta me... God knows I need it.
Angel left the witch’s room. “Helping” them to bed also coincided with helping himself to their blood. Strange thing was that he had expected to get more of a buzz from their blood. A different kind of rush of power when he drank it down. It tasted very normal, mundane even. He almost laughed aloud at what a snob he was becoming. A week ago, he would have been swilling down pig’s blood.
He really didn’t have time to be pondering his tastes in blood or his former lack thereof. This is where his timing became even more crucial. He took out as many of the witches as he could. They were pretty much helpless as a side effect from the summoning spell he had cast. Adding their blood to his store was making him that much stronger.
He had already “helped” eight of the coven and two slayerettes that had been stupid enough to offer to help him. Some of these girls had been just too bold for their own good. They thought him harmless until they felt his fangs in their neck. The sight of that was usually enough to get the weakened witch up and running to the door. Her fear flooded the room with a delicious scent. He had denied himself for too long. This is what he was here for. This is why he still existed. The blood. The fear.
Then he found out that Buffy was getting all of the slayerettes rounded up so they could go and kill his pet. Just what he predicted she would do. This would leave him free reign with the remaining Coven, whatever Scoobies were left behind and his darlings from Angel Investigations. The final link to his old dreams and hopes. To kill them would finally make him free.
He imagined Buffy’s face as she returned and found everyone that she left behind was slaughtered. Oh, she would suffer. He would wait for nightfall and fade away. Maybe a few days later she would piece everything together, then she would come looking for him, bringing her lap dog Spike in tow, and he would be waiting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cards went flying in the air. Dawn looked over to where Spike had been and saw only empty space. She heard a low growl coming from the other side of the bed. Spike had materialized across from her on the other side of Andrew’s bed.
Leaning over him he asked, “Are you sure of that, mate?”
Andrew tried to clear the fogginess from his brain. Mentally reviewing the events of the previous night, he reaffirmed it with a nod of his head. The room tilted wildly and he let go of Dawn’s wrist to gingerly feel the wound that should have been there. Ah... it was good to have witchy friends. His tongue felt thick and he desperately wanted that drink of water Dawn had been about to offer him.
Dawn saw the longing in his eyes and poured a big glass for him. Helping him to sit up a little, she tried to encourage him to say more. He gulped down swallow after swallow only stopping when he reached the bottom of the glass. Letting out a satisfied, “Ahhh...”
Andrew was stunned when Dawn grabbed him by the shoulder and snapped, “C’mon Andrew we need to know what you saw!”
Andrew winced. “All I remember was that I went to the other building to get a different view of the battlefield and I was looking for Spike.”
His gaze travelled over to the obviously pissed off vampire. Spike had slipped into game face and was almost snarling. Andrew took a deep breath before he continued with his account of events.
“I saw him and the others fighting back up against the wall...then I noticed something strange. Angel was off fighting the dragon. He took his sword and stabbed it. In its death throes it managed to throw him, and the dragon sent out a huge fireball that engulfed him. I thought that he was dead. I searched the surrounding area to see if anyone else friendly was around and that’s when I saw Rona. She must have been separated from Buffy’s group. She had seen Angel go down and was trying to see if she could help him. Several of the demons that had been spared from the dragon fire attacked her. Then... I... saw this thing attack her. The last thing that Rona did was to try and help someone that she thought was a friend and Angel drained her...”
Dawn had a horrified look on her face. The thought that Angel could have done that to anyone was chilling. He was still roaming about here.
She stuttered, “B-but... h-he...h-has a soul.”
Spike snorted. That simple statement, the catch phrase of all the Scoobies, had been stuffed down his throat for years now.
“Don’t think that matters now. Does it, pet? I’m pretty sure that we’re not dealin’ with Angelus here. No happy means all soulful Angel. It’s always a matter of choice pet. I researched up on his curse when I realized that I was in for the long haul at Wolfram & Hart.”
Dawn and Andrew looked at him strangely.
“What? I can’t open a book? Well I originally was looking up this Shanshu thing, but I got sidetracked by the files Wolfram & Hart had on Angel. We’re talkin’ reams here. It seems like this, curse doesn’t have anything in it that actually keeps him from feeding on anyone, except for the feeling of guilt that accompanies it. Guess Peaches doesn’t feel enough guilt to keep off the sauce.”
Dawn looked at him a speck of fear showing in her eyes. “Does that mean you can do it too?”
Spike raked his hand through his hair frustrated. “I went to get my soul. I didn’t have it forced on me, or tied to me by the thinnest of curses. It’s a part of me pet. Do y’know what that means? The difference between us is that my soul couldn’t go anywhere even if I wanted it too. I feel it all the time. I couldn’t feed off of a human now...”
Dawn looked at Spike, “What about what happened with Buffy. Y’know at the battle site?”
“That was nothing like feeding off of someone. She was helping me heal. She was never in any danger. I didn’t even ask her. Never mind.”
“I understand, Spike. I know that you would never do anything in the world to hurt her. I just needed to hear you say it.”
“Right then.” His reply was clipped.
He didn’t have time for all of these questions. Angel was out there doing what Angelus used to do best. He had to find him
and stop him. He absentmindedly reached for what he thought was a cross on the wall. Picking it up he noticed that the familiar pain from a cross was distinctly missing. “Bloody hell! Don’t these bleedin’ witches even have a cross lying around here?” He looked disgustedly at the ankh in his palm.
Dawn had the nerve to grin up at him. Grabbing the ankh from his hand, she took out the dagger that she had in her belt. “At least it is wooden...” She started making a stake out of it.
Andrew was rummaging in the bedside table. Finding a small vial of holy water, he held it up triumphantly. “Hey, look what I found...”
Dawn saw the look on Spike’s face. “Oh no! You aren’t going to do it. You can’t go out there looking for him. Just wait. Buffy should be back soon.”
“I can’t wait, bit. This is something that I have to do. What if he is out there killing...Xander? Oh, wait maybe I can do that...” He was shrugging on his duster completely making his last statement false.
“What if he comes to get us? You promised Buffy to take care of me!” said Dawn
That was a low blow. He knew that she would go there so he was ready for it.
“I know that you aren’t such a little bit anymore. I was the only one who ever believed in you. That you could take care of yourself, and that is how you are going to act. You have your stake and holy water. I pray to God that you won’t have to use it. I have to go and find him pet. I can’t let anyone else die. Just shut this door behind me and do not let anything in after me.” His hand came up to cradle her chin. “Be safe. Stay strong. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Andrew had watched the two of them for moments and whispered, “I wish I had my video camera...”
Then in a flash of black leather, Spike was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The red haze before his eyes just wouldn’t go away. He leaned against the door he’d just closed until he heard the sound of heavy furniture being dragged across the floor and placed in front of it. He sighed in relief. At least it looked like the bit was going to do the sensible thing for once.
Angel had really done it now. There was no coming back from this. No grey area where he could claim that it wasn’t he. That it was his alter ego, Angelus. Spike wanted to punch something so bad that it hurt. He should have known that Angel was up to something. Not one word had come out of his mouth when he saw Buffy being claimed. He had originally thought that Angel was going to have the good grace to bow out quietly and to let Buffy choose whom she wanted. Figures that the ponce wouldn’t let her go that easily. He had been planning ways for revenge ever since. When he found him, he was going to wish that he had died in the fireball.
He tested the air for Angel’s scent. He had been around here not that long ago. He checked in on the first room that he came too. The scent of old blood hung in the air mixed with the acrid smell of the black blood the witches had been chucking for the last three hours. He focused on the sound of heartbeats...actually the lack of them. Three doors down he opened the door and wasn’t truly surprised at what he saw. A crumpled form of a slayer lying at the foot of the bed and one of the witches with her throat torn out, sprawled on the floor face down a few feet from the door. It was a bad sign that Angel hadn’t even taken the time to disguise his actions. It meant that he was his usual arrogant self or that he was kicking his plan into overdrive.
Five rooms later Spike had a sick feeling in his stomach. The bastard had drained every one of them and most of them brutally. He had to find him soon. Fear for the bit flooded him. In this last room, the scent had been stronger. Either Angel had lingered there over his kill or it had been recent. Four more rooms later, the scent was overpowering, where He found him, fang deep in Gunn’s throat.
A/N: please review...
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
