Midnight in the Garden of Evil
Chapter 3
~*~*~*~*~
While I nodded, nearly
napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."
Edgar Allen Poe
The Raven
~*~*~*~*~
Buffy
heard a crash emanating from within Giles’ condo. Hurrying across the courtyard, she listened intently to see
if she could make out anything else. For
a moment, there was silence, and Buffy thought that the noise must have just
been her imagination. Then, she
heard a slight groan followed by a high-pitched scream.
‘Definitely something
wrong inside.’
She
pounded on the door, hollering Giles’ and Jenny’s name.
More crashing and more screams erupted from within, and not wasting a
second, kicked the front door in.
When
she stepped over the fallen barrier, Buffy’s froze wide-eyed.
She shook her head for a moment, uncomprehending of the scene she was
witnessing.
Her
watcher – Giles – had Jenny slammed up against a wall, his arm across her
throat, causing her feet to dangle slightly in the air.
The evil look on his face was something she had never imagined to see
coming from him.
“Let
her go, Giles,” she commanded him.
“Ahhhh…Buffy.
So glad you could join us.”
Jenny’s
eyes pleaded with the slayer to do something, and fast.
“I
said let her go, Giles. Now,” she
repeated firmly.
Sighing,
Ripper loosened his grip around Jenny’s throat just enough to let her feet
touch the floor. She didn’t get
off completely unscathed; as she was slowly lowered to the ground, Ripper
pressed his aroused body against her, forcing her parted thighs to rub against
his straining erection. Delighting in the woman’s fear and abhorrence, he took
his time releasing her, only removing his hand once he sensed his slayer about
to interfere. Jenny collapsed to
the carpeted floor in front of him when he finally let go, curling into a fetal
position and coughing spasmodically as her hands wrapped protectively around her
throat.
“Now,
move away from her and into the kitchen. I
don’t want to hurt you, Giles, but I will. So don’t try anything,” Buffy told him.
He
raised his arms in the air in an imitation of innocence, but his sadistic smirk
belied his actions. He backed away,
mindful of keeping the slayer in his sights.
Her moral code would keep her from harming him because he was her watcher
and because he was human; but he didn’t want to take any chances.
After she left, he’d set in motion his plan to get rid of her, but for
now…now he would just play along and let her think that she was in charge.
Buffy
rushed to Jenny’s side, knelt beside her and checked to see that she was okay,
as Giles retreated into the kitchen.
“Come
on, Jenny. Let’s get out of
here,” she told the older woman. Jenny
just nodded, her throat aching too much to speak.
Buffy slipped her hands beneath the older woman’s arms and helped her
to her feet. Keeping an eye on
Giles – who hadn’t moved from his spot in the kitchen – she backed them
out of the room and out over the broken down front door.
Once outside, she urged Jenny into a jog, eager to put as much distance
between themselves and her watcher as possible.
Something
must have taken possession of Giles for him to be acting this way.
She’d have to get back to her friends as soon as possible to get them
researching…
~*~
Ripper
glared at his slayer, his anger over her interference causing his eyes to flash
yellow. His mind played over
possible scenarios for getting rid of her.
He chuckled as it came to him - the perfect solution to his
problem…and, it would gain him a useful ally.
Whistling,
he picked up the fallen front door and leaned it against the doorjamb.
He’d see about fixing that later.
But right now he had a date with a certain peroxide-blond vampire.
~*~*~*~*~
Ripper
stepped inside the warehouse and looked around with disgust.
Apparently, Spike needed to work on his security measures…couldn’t
have just anyone
walking in unannounced, now could he?
He
walked among the sleeping minions, resting so trustingly on the various pieces
of furniture scattered about the place. A
quick jab and a majority would be dust before they knew what had hit them.
He
made his way into the middle of the room and stopped. He turned in a circle, his arms held wide as he surveyed his
surroundings. Then, in a loud voice
he announced, “What kind of place are you running here, Spike, humans walking
in unannounced?”
The
click of a lighter broke the silence just moments before the groans of sleepy
minions sounded in his ears. He
looked up and saw Spike step into the room and lean against a pillar, his
cheekbones becoming more pronounced as he inhaled deeply on the cigarette
dangling from his lips.
Spike
raised a hand to pull the cigarette from his mouth.
“I
was wondering the same thing,” he answered, blowing smoke out between his
lips, his eyes flaring yellow in annoyance as the minions slowly came awake.
“You got a lot of balls showing up alone, here, in my lair, watcher.”
Ripper
just smirked. Spike liked to think
he was the Big Bad, but he was an amateur.
Ripper could show the vampire things that would make his head spin.
He started towards his soon-to-be partner, for there was no doubt in his
mind that Spike would agree to his plan.
As he
moved through the throng of vampires that had surrounded him, Ripper paused to
kick one that didn’t move out of his way fast enough. Spike apparently thought it was funny, throwing back his head
and laughing.
“So,
watcher, what brings you to my humble abode,” he asked as he gestured around
him.
“The
name’s Ripper…and, I have a proposition for you. A business deal, if you will,” he announced; his eyes
gleamed yellow. The maniacal grin
had even Spike taking a moment’s pause.
“What
makes you think I’d listen to anything you have to say?” he questioned, his
human features sliding away as he looked eagerly upon his next meal – delivery
was just fine with him.
Before
he had a chance to lunge at the man, Drusilla’s words halted his actions.
“Wait,
my Spike,” she murmured softly from her position in the shadows.
She had sensed the evil aura enveloping the man as he made his way across
the room, and she wanted to hear what he had to say.
~*~*~*~*~
Now
that his alliance with Spike was set, it was time for him to make “amends”
with his slayer by blaming his actions on some evil demon possession.
Sniggering at the irony of that statement, he let himself out of the
warehouse and into the warm afternoon sun.
He was pleased with himself, how smoothly he’d set his plans in motion
with the vampire and guessed he had the dark-haired vampiress to thank for that.
He
slid behind the driver’s seat, his nose turning up in distaste over the
two-seater relic he’d inherited. He
drove back to the school and parked in the faculty parking lot. The slayer and her friends were so predictable; at the first
sign of trouble they’d rally around the table and pore through volumes of
ancient texts searching in vain for the answer to all evil.
Tilting
the rear view mirror so that he could see his reflection, Ripper loosened his
tie and pulled his button-down shirt halfway out of his pants.
He ruffled his hair to adopt a frazzled appearance then practiced a few
facial expressions, shooting for a look between frantic, sorrowful, and
contrite. Smirking because he knew
how easy it was going to be, he calmly stepped out of the car and made his way
up the steps.
Mindful
of the noise his shoes might make in the deserted hallway, he stealthily made
his way to the library. He wanted
to see what theories the children had managed to come up regarding his recent
behavior – little did they know that he was just reverting true to form.
“…should
have seen him, Willow. It was like
he was possessed or something. I
couldn’t believe it was Giles,” Buffy told the small group.
Ripper
paused to listen, just outside the double doors.
“Well,
Giles keeps all of his books about demons and stuff locked in his office,”
Willow replied. “I won’t be
able to figure out what it might be unless I can get in there.”
“Ok,
I’ll just break the lock off…”
Buffy
moved towards Giles’ office and was about to break in when there was a
commotion at the library entrance. She
swung round just as her disheveled watcher lurched through the doors.
~*~
Ripper
didn’t want the slayer and her friends nosing around in his books before it
was time to work on the potential witch, so he figured now was a good time to
interrupt them. Straightening away
from the wall, he pushed his way through the doors, stopping just inside to lean
his hands against his knees, appearing as if he was trying to catch his breath.
“Buffy,”
he gasped as he raised one hand towards her, still breathing heavily.
“Giles!”
She
started towards him, but then suddenly stopped, unsure if it was wise to get any
closer.
“Are
you okay?” he managed to choke out. “I…I…is
Miss Calendar okay?”
“Giles,
what happened to you?”
Ripper
lowered his hand back to his knee, still breathing heavily.
“I…just…sorry…need
to catch my breath…”
“Sit
down before you fall down, Giles,” Buffy told him.
“Thanks.
I’m sorry about before…some kind of demon…thing…felt it
just…jump inside me as we went inside my apartment.
All I could do…” he began as he sat down heavily in a chair.
The gang came forward to hear his tale, apparently convinced he was now
demon-free.
“…all
I could do was watch helplessly as that thing manipulated my body, it was
dreadful!” he told the group.
“So,
it’s like you were there but you weren’t there…well, you were…you just
had no control over anything…” Willow asked him, trailing off as she began
repeating herself.
“Yes…yes,
that’s it exactly, Willow, like a puppet.
Jenny, what have I done? I’m
so sorry…can you ever forgive me?” he asked as he turned towards the older
woman, his eyes looking beseechingly towards hers.
At his
sincere expression, Jenny melted, assuring him that she’d be fine and she knew
he’d never have treated her like that willingly.
Inwardly,
Ripper was gloating over how easy it was to fool the simpletons.
Idiot slayer. She hadn’t a clue who he really was…what he’d
done…and what he was capable of. He
was Ripper…he was evil.