Chapter 1
Dawn stood outside the crypt, debating about whether or not she should go in. She wasn’t scared. It was just that…Spike might be sleeping. Yeah. The sun was still out, even if it was afternoon. She didn’t want to bother him if he was tired. But she could at least say hi. Be polite. ‘Hey Spike, I was just passing by your crypt. Thought we could hang out for a while.’ Ugh. Her inner voice sounded like a desperate teenager. And since she was actually a mature several thousand years old, she’d just go in and say hello.
She pushed the rusty crypt door open slowly, gritting her teeth at the annoying squeaky sound. She stepped in through the opening and shut the door immediately. She didn’t want her favorite vampire dusted by sunlight coming through an open doorway. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she looked around the open room. So. Spike’s crypt. She’d been here first when Glory showed up at their house. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it had the basics, like a mini-fridge and cable. Kinda cozy in a creepy way. Just right for a stylish vampire like Spike.
Speaking of. She spotted his hair over the top of his favorite arm chair. He must be asleep if he didn’t hear her come in. She set her back pack down on one of the slabs next to a brown leather jacket. Spike wore the coolest coats. Wait a second, this was a tomb…eww, she wondered if the slabs still had bodies under them. And Spike slept up there, too. Gross. She picked her back pack back up and set it on the back of the sofa. Spike still hadn’t woken up.
She walked around the far side of the sofa, not wanting to get too close to him in case he woke up and thought she was an intruder. He had his eyes open. That was weird. Maybe all vampires slept with their eyes open. But she didn’t think they slept while sitting straight up in a chair. He wasn’t even leaning against the back of the chair. His right arm rested by his side and his left was stretched out over the arm of the recliner. A bottle of whiskey was dangling from his left hand.
“Spike?” This was really starting to freak her out. She didn’t think he was drunk, because the bottle was mostly full. Did vampires do drugs? She’d seen a couple of kids at school that were high and they were a lot more relaxed looking. Dawn walked slowly closer to him. She spoke a little louder. “Spike, this isn’t funny. Wake up.” She was standing right next to him now. He looked so…dead. Duh, vampire, but still. He wasn’t even breathing. Spike always breathed. When she was at the crypt last time he even breathed during his sleep.
Nervously, she put a hand in front of his eyes and waved it up and down. Nothing happened. It was like he was staring at the far wall of the crypt. Dawn pulled her hand back, thinking. She leaned forward and prodded his right arm with her index finger. Nothing happened. She poked him in the ribs. Still nothing, and that one always worked on Buffy. She moved her hand up to his shoulder shook him.
The whiskey bottle slipped out of his left hand and shattered on the floor. Dawn screeched in shock and jumped back. Spike didn’t move.
Dawn grabbed her book bag and ran out of the crypt. She needed to get Buffy. Spike needed help.
_____________________________________________________________________
Books carefully balanced, Buffy pushed the door open with her hip and clutched her keys in her right hand. She pushed the door closed with her foot and walked toward the dining room. “Hey!”
“Dawn?” Joyce hurried out of the kitchen.
Buffy frowned. “No, it’s me.” She set her books down on the table.
“Is Dawn with you?”
Buffy stiffened. Dawn got out of school an hour ago. It only took fifteen minutes to get home. “Isn’t she here?”
Joyce shook her head nervously. “No, she didn't come home from school today.” She was getting worried. Dawn hadn’t said that she was going anywhere after school. She always called if her friends wanted to go somewhere. “Oh Buffy, the news said something about people murdered - ”
Buffy shook her head. Her mom had been really anxious since Glory made it into the house two weeks ago. And Dawn cutting herself and setting fire to her diaries hadn’t helped with the post-op relaxation her mom was supposed to be getting. “It's not Glory. It has nothing to do with Dawn, I promise. Look, she probably-” the front door opened with a bang and Dawn rushed inside, “is here.”
Joyce sighed, a sound that managed to mingle both relief and frustration. She crossed her arms and fixed her younger daughter with a determined stare. “Dawn Isabelle Summers, where have you been?”
Dawn panted, out of breath from running. “I went by Spike’s crypt - ”
Buffy’s mouth fell open in shock. “You went to a vampire’s crypt? In a cemetery? Without telling anyone?” She crossed her arms in an unconscious imitation of her mother. “Were you carrying a sign that said ‘Vamp Bait’ too? Because that totally would’ve made the look.”
Dawn glowered at Buffy. “It was the middle of the day! Hello, sun light plus vamps equals dust?”
Buffy furrowed her brow in mock surprise. “Since when did you learn math?” Dawn persisted in shooting daggers at her. Buffy continued, “And that doesn’t mean Spike couldn’t have done something while you were in his crypt.”
Dawn huffed. “Oh come on! You took us there so he could protect us!” In a quieter voice she added, “I feel safe with him.”
“He protected you because I threatened to stake him if he didn’t.”
Joyce rubbed her temples. She and her sisters bickered when they were teens, but Buffy and Dawn managed to take sibling rivalry to ever expanding levels. Beneath the shouting, she knew that Buffy loved her sister and had been genuinely concerned for her safety. The fact that Dawn was ‘the key’ didn’t enter into it. But it genuinely surprised her that Buffy thought so little of William. Ah but then, he didn’t exactly show Buffy the more sensitive side of his personality.
Spike had to be the only person she knew with less self-confidence than Buffy. And they both attempted to hide their fears with biting sarcasm. Joyce knew that Buffy had endured torment while being a slayer that would have broken most other teenagers. If she was self-conscious, no one could blame her. Also, Buffy’s history with men made her naturally distrustful of them. Her father, that vampire Angel, and Riley had all managed to leave her. It wasn’t easy for Buffy to open up to others because she was afraid of being hurt again.
Joyce could see the same symptoms in Spike. He was kind and polite to her whenever he stopped by in the evenings, but around other people the nice boy inside withdrew. He was especially cautious around Buffy. He behaved as though she could crush him with one word. Him, a master vampire that had, heaven help them, killed two slayers previously, was frightened to his second death by Buffy. Joyce had begun to suspect that he might hold her daughter in higher regard than anyone else realized.
Buffy obviously saw nothing but the disdain for her that William worked so hard to project. It came naturally; he had tried to kill her, after all, something Joyce was surprised that she – Buffy’s mother - could overlook so easily. She supposed it was because, somehow, she knew that he wouldn’t try again in the future. Even with their history and that façade in place, Joyce would have thought Buffy was a bit more observant of Spike. Vampire or not, with or without that chip that kept him from harming humans, William would never allow anything to happen to Joyce, or Dawn, or even Buffy.
During their short stay with the vampire, he’d been cordial to her and friendly to Dawn. They even played cards for a while. And then the other night he’d taken care of Dawn when she ran away without ever being asked. Joyce couldn’t bear to think of what would have happened if Dawn had been out there alone. In private, he was hardly the vicious killer the history books declared him to be.
From what Joyce could tell, William was lonely. She suspected that he had a lady-friend that stopped by at least occasionally, if the lady’s sweater she’d seen at his mausoleum was any indication, but he wasn’t close to her. He never mentioned her when he stopped by. He mentioned a demon name Clem from time to time. Rarely, other names came up in the conversation. His bookie’s name was Teeth. Yet, with the exception of Clem, herself, and maybe Dawn, he had no one he really cared about. Or, more importantly, no one who really cared about him. Joyce tried to make him feel accepted in their occasional chats, but conversations about art and history could only accomplish so much.
William was alone, but he was afraid to reach out to anyone else. Joyce often wondered what it was in his past that made him so frightened of letting others near him. It wasn’t just that awful woman Drusilla’s leaving. Oh well. If Buffy really knew anything about the blonde vampire, she wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss him. “Really Buffy, William has never done anything to threaten either myself or Dawn. He wouldn’t hurt any of us, as you well know. As your sister said, you wouldn’t have left us with him if you in any way believed he would.”
Dawn smiled, triumphant. “See?”
Joyce turned to Dawn. “That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, young lady. You shouldn’t be running around loose with Glory around, and you are supposed to call if you’re going over to a friend’s house.”
Dawn nodded. “I’m sorry Mom, I won’t do it again, but - ”
“I sincerely hope not.”
Dawn was getting irritated. “Mom, listen. Something’s wrong with Spike.”
Joyce frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I went to the crypt, and…he was just sitting there. He wasn’t asleep, at least I don’t think he was, because I couldn’t wake him up. It’s like he’s in some kind of coma with his eyes open.” Dawn swallowed nervously. She felt a few tears burning in her eyes. “He needs help and I didn’t know what to do.”
Joyce went to Dawn and pulled her into a hug. She stroked Dawn’s hair lightly. “You did the right thing Dawn by coming to get us. Buffy will go get Mr. Giles and they’ll find out what’s wrong with William.”
Buffy was aghast. “Mo-om! Spike can take care of himself.”
“Buffy Anne Summers. That man - ”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “He’s not a man, he’s a vampire!”
Joyce leveled her eyes at Buffy. “That person has done a lot for us lately. And didn’t he help you save the world a couple of years ago?”
Buffy fidgeted. “It was for selfish reasons.”
“Well I, for one, am glad that William is that selfish, because none of us would be here if he weren’t. So no more arguments. You can call Mr. Giles from the living room. You might invite Willow and her friend Tara to go with you, in case he’s under a spell of some kind.”
*****
Please let me know what you think! Thanks Linda!
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