~prologue - somewhere in LA~
Taking a deep breath, the blond man pulled the thick, red curtain aside, revealing the door hidden behind it. Fumbling with the key for a moment, he finally managed to unlock it and slipped inside. Quietly making his way downstairs, he stopped in front of another, much larger door at the bottom of the stairs.
He put his ear to the door, trying to hear any sounds coming from the other side, although he already knew it was pointless. Down here in the basement, they were not playing by his rules because no rules of the living meant anything in Hell. He had learned that lesson the hard way.
The large stone door wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he pushed it. It too was locked. Only this door didn’t have a key hole. He put his sweaty palm against the cold surface of the stone, closing his eyes for a moment. “I’m here. Let me in.”
As if hit by an invisible force, the door silently swung open, and he found himself stepping through, although every fibre in his body was screaming at him to run. Of course, he never did. How could he? It wasn’t like he had any say in the matter.
Stopping in the middle of the dark, seemingly empty room, he kept his eyes on the floor resisting the urge to look around. He didn’t jump when he felt its presence behind him; he had been expecting it. It was always the same. The room was always empty when he entered, and still, it would always approach him from behind, without making a sound.
He still wasn’t sure if it had the ability to materialize out of thin air, or if it simply walked through the walls. It had never occurred to him to ask, but then again, he supposed it didn’t really matter. What mattered was the fact that he was no longer alone in the room. He slowly turned around.
The thing standing in front of him may look like a man, but he wasn’t fooled by its appearance. He swallowed. “You wanted to see me?”
It nodded, its black eyes shifting into red as it spoke in a low, guttural voice. “Morou needs new toy.” It was not a request; it was a demand. The blond man had never figured out why the creature kept referring to himself in the third person, and he found it creepy.
The fact that the room was dark was a relief, since the man didn’t want to see the blood covering the walls and the floor. “What happened to the last one?” He realized he was in no position to ask any questions, but he just couldn’t help himself.
“Broken.” Morou stepped aside, revealing a pile of dust on the floor, a blood-soaked piece of fabric of some kind, and a small, white object that looked suspiciously like a fang. The blond had to struggle to keep from vomiting, suddenly aware of the sickening smell of burnt flesh. “Need new toy,” it repeated, firmly.
“But...” He cast a glance over his shoulder, knowing that he had to return to bed before Andrea woke up and realized he was gone. Or was her name Amanda? Angela? He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. But he still couldn’t remember. “It’s two o clock in the morning.”
“Morou must rest now.” The creature completely ignored his statement. “You have twelve hours.” Before he got the chance to object, it disappeared back into the shadows and he was once again alone. For a moment, he considered picking up the tooth, using his power to find out what had really happened. But he quickly decided against it, knowing he was not allowed to use his gift just to still his curiosity.
And besides, some things were better off not being known.
~ ~ ~
Quickly running a brush through her long hair, Buffy grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. Just as she was about to leave the hotel room that had been her home for the last two weeks, there was a knock on the door. She opened it and held back a sigh when she saw who was on the other side. “Angel?”
“Hi, Buffy.” The dark-haired vampire hesitated for a moment. “Just stopped by to remind you of the meeting.” Seeing how she opened her mouth, he quickly went on; “I know you said you’d be there, but I just thought...” He stopped as he spotted the large bouquet of red roses in the vase on the night stand, and his eyes darkened. “Nice. Mind telling me who...?” His voice trailed off as he saw the look on her face.
Ignoring his comment, Buffy stepped past him into the hallway. “Let’s go. Don’t wanna keep the others waiting.” Angel sighed in defeat, but followed her without objection.
Twenty minutes later, she followed her former lover into his large office at Wolfram and Hart and realized the two of them were the last to arrive. Gunn was standing over by the window, arms crossed over his chest. Fred and Wesley were sitting close together on the couch, talking quietly. Angel cleared his throat, immediately slipped behind his desk and sat in the office chair. “Okay, guys, here’s the situation...”
Buffy suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Straight to business, as usual; that was Angel’s motto. Why waste precious time to make with the small talk? She had already stopped listening, instead made her way over to the couch and sat down next to Fred. The brunette gave her a soft smile, which she returned.
Looking around the room, Buffy tried not to appear as bored as she felt. Her eyes landed on Spike, leaning against the wall with a nonchalant expression on his face. She smiled at him, frowning when he immediately looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. Then she remembered that she had entered the office with Angel.
Great! Now I’ve hurt his feelings without even realizing it, she thought, torn between guilt and frustration. Spike was the reason why she had decided to stick around in the first place, but things had been tense between them ever since she had agreed to stay at the Hyperion Hotel instead of moving in with him in his small apartment.
A part of her just wanted to say to hell with it and take the chance. To jump into Spike’s willing arms and give him not just the crumb he kept hoping for, but her heart, body and soul. She no longer doubted her feelings for him, but at the same time, she was afraid. She had lost him once, what if she would allow herself to relax and think it would last this time, only to be forced to give him up again?
Buffy honestly didn’t think she would survive should that turn out to be the case. But she also knew the mixed signals she kept sending out would eventually drive him away for good. She wondered – and not for the first time – why everything had to be so damn complicated.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she realized Angel had stopped talking; a flush heated her cheeks when she noticed that everybody was watching her. Angel looked annoyed. Fred curious. Gunn and Wesley appeared to be slightly confused. Spike raised a brow, but remained silent.
A somewhat nervous laugh escaped her. “Am I supposed to say something now? Or do I just have something on my face?”
Un-amused, Angel said, “I was just filling you in on the latest information about the case. But if there’s something else you’d rather be doing...” He left the rest of the sentence hanging, looking at her expectantly.
Forcing back a sigh, Buffy reluctantly pushed all thoughts about Spike to the back of her mind. “I’m sorry, go on. Another mysterious disappearance?”
Angel just stared at her for a moment, then clearly decided to let it go and nodded. “Oscar never showed up at work this morning. No one has seen or heard from him since he left his office last night.”
“Oscar...?” Buffy quickly searched her mind but came up with nothing. “Right. He’s the one who... um...”
“Xargo demon. Tall bloke with yellow skin. Works down in the lab.” Spike spoke up for the first time.
“Oh. I knew that.” Buffy glanced at him, but when he didn’t say anything more, she turned her attention back to Angel. “So, Oscar’s missing. That’s... bad. Want us to ask around? Go to his place and look for clues?”
Angel seemed to be thinking for a moment. “Gunn, you have to meet up with the Zeenoc demons when they teleport in; they’ll be here at one thirty and they’ll be expecting a fancy lunch. Wesley, I need you to be there as well, helping with the translation.” The two men nodded in understanding.
He went on; “Fred, you’ll go to Oscar’s house, talk to his wife and see what she has to say. Buffy, I need you to check the demon bars downtown, see what information you can get. Take Lorne. And Spike...” He paused, turning to the other vampire. “Just stay out of my way.” Not waiting for a response, he picked up the phone and pushed a button. “Harmony, send Rowan in here. I need him to take a look at something.”
A chipper ”Got it, boss!” could be heard from the speaker system, followed by a clicking sound as the connection broke.
Buffy hurriedly left the office a moment later, almost running into Spike who had been waiting just outside, most likely for her. She took a deep breath. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Spike watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. For a moment, they just stood there, neither of them knowing what to say, then he tilted his head to the side. “You okay, luv?”
“Sure.” Buffy answered quickly, maybe a little too quickly, judging by the way his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Eager to change the subject, she bit her lip, thoughtfully. “So, what do you think happened to Oscar?”
Spike shrugged. “Dunno.” A pause. “You, um, got any plans for tonight?”
“Why?” She found herself smiling. “Are you asking me out?” Then she frowned. Was she flirting with him?
He seemed to be just as surprised as her, but quickly covered up, a smirk played on his handsome face. “Just figured you might be a bit peckish after running Angel’s little errands.”
Her smile disappeared and she glared at him. “I don’t take orders, Spike. Angel’s not the boss of me. I just want to help. It’s what I do.”
Spike had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. “Right. Sorry.”
“Forget it.” Buffy waved her hand in dismissal, her face softening a little. “By the way, thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
“You’re welcome, pet.” He gave her a hopeful look. “So, ‘bout tonight...?” Buffy opened her mouth, but he beat her to it; “Just come to dinner with me, yeah? Don’t have to call it a bloody date if it makes you uncomfortable. Just wanna spend some time with you.”
Buffy melted inside, wondering how she could possibly turn him down when he looked at her like that? And more importantly, she really wanted to spend time with him as well. She was still afraid of letting him back into her life. But as she found herself staring into those blue eyes, she suddenly couldn’t remember why.
She glanced at him, almost shyly. “What if I want it to be a date?”
TBC
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!