Chapter 3
If the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too
-Death Cab for Cutie
Anya surveyed the scene before her. The entire living room was in shambles and the kitchen looked like a war zone.
“Buffy! Spike!” she called, picking her way carefully through the mess. “Are you home? I would have knocked but Angel’s out there with some strange vampiress and she looked a little off her sanity if you get my meaning.”
Anya stood up the bottom of the stairs and chewed her lip. “I’m coming up. Just so you know, okay. I hope that you’re not having boisterous sex or anything. Although I’m sure I would have heard you by now, so I’m thinking you’re not home…or maybe you were robbed. Were you robbed?”
She continued talking as she made her way up the stairs and down the hallway. She paused to look into each room noting that the guest rooms still looked in proper order as did the guest bathroom. The hallway, however, had a trail of Spike’s clothes that lead straight toward the master bedroom.
“Buffy, did you and Spike have a fight? Did you throw him out of the house or something?” It made her feel better to hear her own voice in the silence. The house was never silent, if Buffy and Spike were home there was always some sort of noise, music or laughing or talking or the vidscreen. Hmm, that reminded her. She promised Xander she would see if Spike would let them borrow his copy of Super Beyond Man. The thought made her smile, Xander still loved his comic books and was always trying to get her to bring home the latest from comic to big screen copies of them.
Finally Anya made it to the doorway of the master bedroom, and a gasp escaped her lips. Of all the rooms in the house, this one had seen the most devastation. There was dried blood covering the bed sheets, and the floor was covered in piles of clothing. The closet had been ripped apart, the shelves lying on the floor. Storage tubs lay on their sides, the contents strewn across the floor.
There was a moan from underneath one of the piles and Anya flew into the room, pulling at clothes and pictures and such and throwing them over her shoulder. Blonde hair started to emerge from underneath the rubble and finally she revealed Buff’s face.
“Buffy! Buffy! Open your eyes and look at me!” Anya demanded. “Pulse, pulse, pulse, gotta check for a pulse….wait a minute, you’re immortal. Wake up, Buffy! You have to tell me what happened.”
Anya grasped Buffy underneath her arms and pulled her out from the pile before kneeling next to her and slapping her across the face.
“I said, wake up! Buffy, you need to tell me what happened. Where’s Spike? How long have you been trapped here? Who did this?”
Buffy opened her eyes slowly and looked at Anya. “Anya?” she asked.
“Where’s Spike? What happened?” Anya repeated.
Buffy’s eyes filled with tears and she threw herself at Anya, buring her face in the girl’s lap. “He’s gone! Oh, Anya he’s gone and I can’t go with him. Gone, gone, gone, gone, left me alone. He’s left me all-all alone and they won’t let me go with him,” she sobbed.
Anya froze, “What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Buffy sobbed. “Dust to dust, dust to dust, dust to dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, dust in the jar.”
Anya wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl. “Sssh, it’s okay Buffy. It’ll be okay. I’m gonna take you home with me.”
“NO! No, no, no, no, no. This is all I have left. Can’t leave here. If I leave here, alone, then he’s really gone. See, if I stay here he might come back.” Buffy pushed away from Anya in fear.
“Buffy, honey, Spike’s not coming back.”
“Don’t you say that! Don’t s-say that! I’m a good Slayer and the Powers will give him back. They have to. Okay? They have to. See, I kept him so that he can come back.” Buffy stood on wobbling legs and walked over to the nightstand by the bed. She opened the cabinet drawer to reveal an urn and a box.
“Oh, Buffy. Those are just his ashes.”
“Look Anya, I found his present to me.” She pulled out the box and opened it, revealing a red ring.
Anya’s eyes widened. “Buffy, don’t you remember what that is? That’s the red ring of power you gave to Dawn after you first became immortal. It’s powerful, you don’t want to be messing around with that. Buffy, you need to come with me. Xander and I will take care of you.”
“NO!” Buffy stood up and shoved Anya backwards.
“Buffy! What are you doing? I’m trying to help you. I’m your friend.”
“Not my friend. Want me to leave here, leave Spike. I’m not going!”
“Buffy, Spikes d-“ her words were cut off by Buffy’s fist hitting her chin.
“OW! What the hell did you do that for? Fine. Fine, you don’t want me here then I’m leaving.” Anya yelled, rubbing her cheek. She was gone in a puff of smoke leaving Buffy in the room alone.
XXX
Buffy ducked under the punch from the demon, and managed to get a hit of her own directly in his fleshy stomach. The demon winced and took a few steps backwards.
“You doin’ okay, luv?” Spike called from where he was engaged in his own battle.
“Just fine. Me and ugly here are just finishing up,” she responded as she cut off the demon’s head. “See, finished.”
“Same here,” Spike said, stepping beside her. “Where’d the other one go though?”
They both turned to see demon number three trying to make his way over to the alter of the temple. He held a ceremonial knife above his head. The young girl tied to the table began to double her efforts in an attempt to get free.
Without speaking, both began to run after the demon.
“Spike, get the girl. I’ll get the knife,” Buffy yelled.
“I’ve already got a girl, so I’ll just rescue this one if that’s all right with you, pet.”
Buffy tried not to roll her eyes at him, but a small smile did creep onto her face. She tackled the demon from behind and they rolled on the floor, each trying to get the upper hand. The knife slid into her should and she let out a scream.
“Buffy!”
She heard Spike yelling, but couldn’t answer. The poison from the knife burned into her blood, making her eyes water.
“I guess you’ll make a fine sacrifice as well. Not a virgin, but the Slayer has to count for something,” the demon hissed at her.
“You dumbass, I can’t die,” she retorted.
“Don’t need death,” the demon answered. “Just blood.” He pushed down on her injured should squeezing the blood from the wound. “Thanks, Slayer.”
Buffy couldn’t move. The poison was making her way through her bloodstream and paralyzing her. The demon grabbed her by her hair and began dragging her toward the new free alter. She was dropped suddenly, and she could hear the sounds of a fight directly behind her.
“Come on, Buffy. Shake off the poison now. You can do it,” Spike was yelling.
She concentrated on moving her fingers. “Work with me body.” She thought to herself. “Move your finger. Move your finger.”
There was a squishing sound behind her, and then Spike was kneeling at her side.
“Come on, luv. Need you to start moving for me, kay? Grasp my hand.”
Time seemed to stand still as Buffy struggled to make her hand do her bidding. Finally she was able to wrap her hand around Spike’s.
“There you go. That’s my girl. Gonna get you home now, get you fixed up.”
She felt him slid his arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, as he lifted her off the ground. He nuzzled her neck affectionately. “Gonna be a long night, luv. Gotta get you movin’. Don’t recon you like the idea of being paralyzed for the rest of eternity. But don’t you worry, we won. Stopped the bitty bad in his tracks, and now ‘m gonna fix you all up.”
Buffy felt the corners of her lips start to twitch in an effort to smile. Yeah, everything would always be alright as long as she had Spike by her side.
XXX
“Drusilla, when did you get here? How did you get here?” Angel backed away from her slightly.
She pouted, “Daddy isn’t happy to see his princess?”
“Just wondering why you’re here.”
Drusilla smiled and sashayed her way closer to him. “Mummy’s here to fix the baby. Her sadness called to me, the grief stripping away my flesh bit by bit until it lay all red and dripping. She calls for her knight to save her, but he’s flown away beyond where her light can reach him.”
“And how are you going to help her?” Angel asked, ignoring the hand that was exploring his chest.
“Shhh, it’s a secret,” she whispered in his ear. “The stars told me how. Lots of red, lots of pain…a little soul for a Champion.”
“What do you mean?” his voice hardened.
“Sssh, can’t tell you. Told too much already. Shhh, secrets, secrets, secrets housed inside my head for too many years, longing to be let out into the world. Open the box let it all out. Poor Pandora didn’t know.”
“What didn’t Pandora know, Dru? What are you going to do to Buffy?”
“Mummy’s don’t hurt babies, not their own at least. Never hurt baby. Bring back the knight, bring back the…night,” she replied and smiled. “Come, let us inside to help her.”
Angel shook his head. “We’re not invited.”
Drusilla opened the door to the house and stepped in. “Maybe you’re not, but she’s calling to me. I must see her.”
A/N: The two different spellings of knight and night were done intentionally.
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