Chapter 17
“For a moment your eyes open and you know
All the things I ever wanted you to know”
-Keane
Buffy knocked softly on the door. There was no answer, but she opened it and walked into the dark room anyway. The figure on the bed rolled over on its side, away from her.
“I know that you’re hurting, but you can’t lock yourself away in here forever,” she said softly.
“Go away, Buffy,” Angel answered. “You don’t know how I feel.”
Buffy felt a surge of anger at the response, “I don’t presume to tell you how to feel, and I’ll thank you for not presuming to tell me that I don’t understand how you feel.”
“You still have your mate! I lost mine!” Angel roared sitting up to face her.
“Yes, and you still have your child but I’ve lost mine,” Buffy countered, closing her eyes against the tears that instantly welled up at the thought of Madison.
Angel stared at her a moment before curling back up on the bed. Buffy sat on the bed next to his back. Slowly she lay down next to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. He stiffened a moment before relaxing against her. Her arms were different then Cordelia’s, smaller, paler, and so much stronger.
“You can let it go, Angel. You don’t have to be strong. Let me be strong for you,” she whispered.
Angel felt the tears that had been burning in his throat begin to fall. He didn’t sob, didn’t shake, just let the tears roll down his face while Buffy whispered soothing words in his ear.
After a while, he sensed Spike walk into the room. To his surprise Spike sat on the bed next to him and handed him a handkerchief.
“Here to gloat, William?” Angel asked.
“Nothing to gloat about, mate. She was a lovely woman and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Why are you here? Why can’t you two just leave me alone? You will never know the pain I feel.” He sat up and tried to move off the bed, but Spike held him back.
“Like it or not, we’re your family and we care about you. Yer hurting and it’s goin’ to hurt for a long time. Let us help you.” Spike cocked his head to one side and looked at Buffy over Angel’s shoulder.
“Let us take you away from here, Angel,” Buffy said softly. “There’s a place, we went there after Madison. It helped us, it can help you.”
“Fine,” Angel conceded. “Fine, take me there but leave me alone.” He flinched as Buffy kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“We’ll always help you. I promise.”
XXX
Spike woke up to find himself chained to a cavern wall. Buffy was next to him, although she was still unconscious. There were two other women chained directly across from him, awake and looking terrified.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Sssh, don’t talk. He’ll come back,” the younger looking one said.
“Hope he does, want to give him a piece of my mind, bloody bastard,” Spike muttered.
“He’s a monster,” the other woman said. “He’s not human, threw my…friend, a good two blocks…and the woman he’s with…she’s a monster too.”
“Someone’s being naughty,” Drusilla said in a sing song voice as she entered the room. “Talking, talking, talking like she knows.”
“Drusilla, what are we doing here?” Spike growled.
Drusilla grinned and sashayed over to him. “We’re going to be a family again, my William. You and me and daddy and baby.”
“What about the two birds?” he jerked his head to the two woman.
“Need them for the sacrifice. We’re going to raise an army,” she grinned.
Buffy moaned and Spike turned his attention away from Drusilla.
“You with me, luv?”
“Spike? What happened?”
“Still trying to figure that out.”
“Baby’s awake!” Drusilla clapped her hands. “We can start the ceremony. Aren’t you excited, precious?” Drusilla asked the ring on her finger.
“Stop talking to the ring, Dru,” Angelus said as he entered the room.
“But it talks to me, daddy. It says such naughty things.”
The younger girl began to cry and Angelus silenced her with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, did I give you permission to cry?”
Both Spike and Buffy pulled at their chains in a vain attempt to break free.
“I hate to break it to you two, but you won’t be free until after our little ritual,” Angelus said. “So don’t even bother trying to free yourselves. Dru’s ring is handy for certain things like, oh, reinforcing chains.” He turned to Drusilla. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”
XXX
“I don’t like the look of this place,” Anya whispered.
Xander stared at the entrance to the cave and silently agreed.
“Do you think they’re even here?” Anya asked.
“It’s the place Dawn described in the book, so…”
A single scream cut him off.
“Yep, must be the place,” Xander finished. “I think…I think if we follow Dawn’s instructions, we should be okay.”
“Should be?”
“Well, it’s not like she ever tried it out.”
“Are you sure that you read it right?” Anya asked.
”Have I ever read anything wrong?” Xander retorted. “Come on, let’s go.” He reached out and grabbed Anya’s hand, dragging her into the cave behind him.
XXX
Buffy’s eyes were stinging as she tried to see through the fog that filled the cave. Somewhere in front of her, Drusilla was chanting in another language. The two other girls were crying loudly and Buffy tried to pull against the chains again.
“You able to get free, luv?” Spike yelled against the wind that swirled around them.
“No, you?”
“Not yet.”
“Spike, I can’t see anything, can you?”
Spike squinted his eyes and was able to make out Angelus’ figure in the mist. He watched as Angelus plunged a sculpted knife into the younger girl’s chest and captured the blood in a goblet. “No, not a thing,” he lied.
“Blood of a virgin to make it all pure,” Drusilla sang. “Blood of a whore to taint it again.” She took the goblet of virgin blood from Angelus and danced over to Spike and Buffy. “Blood of an immortal so that the spell lasts forever and blood of family to bind us together.” She slashed Spike’s wrist and caught his blood in the same cup as the virgin blood before doing the same to Buffy. “One more part left and everything will be as it should-“ she was cut off by an arrow that imbedded itself in her shoulder.
Angelus growled. “Who the hell is interrupting my ceremony?”
“That would be us, you evil soulless vampire, you,” Anya yelled.
“Well, aren’t I insulted,” Angelus smirked. “I’m going to be stopped by a librarian and a vengeance demon. Be still my non-beating heart.”
“I don’t think so,” Drusilla said, stepping in front of Xander. He had been trying to pick the lock of Buffy’s chains.
Xander grinned sheepishly and then kicked her square in the stomach, causing Drusilla to fall backwards. He muttered a few words in Latin and both Buffy and Spike’s chains released.
“Thanks, mate. Owe you one,” Spike muttered.
“We have to destroy the ring,” Xander said.
“And quickly because the ceremony has already started,” Anya added.
“Buffy and I will take care of Angelus and Drusilla, you two get the two girls out of here,” Spike said.
“Wait, I need to perform a spell to close the portal that’s opening,” Xander said.
“What portal?” Buffy asked as she turned around to see a portal opening in the floor. “Oh, that portal.”
“Okay, then Xander performs the spell, Anya gets the girls, Buffy and I kick arse, got it?”
“Who gets the devil looking guy?” Anya asked.
“What devil guy?” Spike asked.
Buffy tapped him on the shoulder, “I think she means the one rising out of the portal.”
“Er, right then. Buffy and I will get the devil guy and Angelus and Drusilla while Xander chants and Anya saves the two girls.”
“Or, I kick your ass while you’re not paying attention,” Angelus said as he punched Spike in the face. “I like this plan.”
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