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Shadows of the Heart (Part 4)
By Erana Zeitler
Erana5128(at)aol.com

Disclaimer: Characters used in this story don't belong to me. Shocking, huh? They belong instead to Joss Whedon. Sad, but true.

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Chapter 4

"Cordelia?" Giles asked, surprised when the girl stormed back into the library. "I thought you were keeping an eye on Buffy."

"I've had more than enough of keeping an eye on Buffy," Cordelia retorted, reaching for her coat. "Let her go to the damn mansion by herself, I really don't care anymore."

Xander and Willow exchanged looks, then Xander rose to walk over to the actresses side. "Cordy? What happened?" he asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "I've had enough," she answered honestly. "More than enough. WAY more than enough. I was never that . . . that . . . argumentative. She's not even bitchy, it's just . . . forget it." She reached for her jacket. "I'm going home."

"Cordy . . . " Xander began.

"I saved her life tonight, Xander," Cordelia said to him flatly. "But if you ask me, she didn't have any dream, she doesn't suspect Angel's being HELD in the mansion . . . she made the whole thing up so she could have the perfect excuse to march to her death. Well, she can have fun. I'm not going with her." She turned and stormed out of the library as fast as she'd entered.

"Let her go, Xander," Willow said calmly. "She'll be back before morning, I'm sure."

"Yeah," Xander agreed with a soft sigh. "She does have a point though," he added. "I don't think she's suicidal, but . . . She hasn't exactly been herself these past few months."

Willow shook her head. "More like these past two years, Xand. Actually, more like the past four. I truly can't remember the last conversation I had with her just . . . relaxed. I mean she's gotten worse, but, it started a long time ago."

Xander looked thoughtfully out the door Cordelia had just left through. "Well, maybe . . . maybe Angel really is at the mansion," he said quietly. "Maybe he'll be able to help her."

"He's not there, Xander," Willow replied, shaking her head. "I'm sure Buffy firmly believes he is, but he's not. Angel is dead. He has been for a long time now. As far as I'm concerned living a minute doesn't count, he's been dead . . . well, dead dead, not un-dead, for four years. And Buffy's been dead just as long." The hacker sighed and returned her attention to the computer.

"What do you think it's gonna do to her?" Xander wondered. "When she goes there, and . . . ya know, he's not there."

"She'll say he's actually dead," Willow answered. "And a few months later she'll have a whole new theory on how he's really alive and out there, just avoiding her. Or he escaped from Spike and Drusilla and he's on the run . . . God knows what she'll come up with. Basically, until she sees his dead body, he is alive."

"But what if the spell didn't work?" Xander queried. "Or it did, but he didn't become human, ya know, then there's no body, just dust."

"Then she will eternally believe he's out there somewhere," Willow said flatly. Xander looked at her with some concern, she seemed very . . . tired. Tired of Buffy, tired of them, just . . . tired. The more he considered it, the more he thought it might actually be a good thing for her to go away to school next semester.

"Ahem." The two Slayerettes and Giles, who'd been reading a book of prophecies, all looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Buffy stood in the doorway, staring at Willow with a somewhat hurt expression on her face. "It's good to know how much I'm respected," she said flatly.

"I'm sorry you heard that," Willow answered, "but it is the truth, and I'm not going to lie to you. I never could."

"You also used to be a sweet person," Buffy retorted. "Guess that tendency just drifted away." She glared at the hacker a moment longer, then turned her attention to Giles. "The sun's rising in ten minutes. I'm going. You guys can come, you guys can stay, I really don't care."

"Count me in," a voice said from behind Buffy. The Slayer turned to see Cordelia standing there, her arms crossed over her chest and a tight expression on her face.

"Me too," Xander agreed.

"Absolutely," Giles confirmed.

Buffy turned to look at Willow. The hacker sighed and stood, pushing her chair underneath the table and walking towards the door. "Do I really need to say anything?" she asked Buffy as she pushed her way outside. Buffy rolled her eyes and followed, the others falling into step behind her.

. . .

Her steps were filled with purpose as she stalked towards the mansion she'd found out several months ago was the current hide-out of Spike and Drusilla. The others followed behind her, still doubtful of their mission. "Now where?" Buffy asked quietly, looking towards Willow.

Willow frowned, not happy with how whenever she was needed Buffy managed to forget all about their fights, but with a sigh finally answered, "If we go around back, there's a cellar. We go all the way down there, then inside the cellar there'll be a set of stairs going into the main house."

Buffy nodded, then suddenly stopped and shrugged out of her coat. Inside the coat were several compartments designed for holding stakes, created by her when she'd been having a very boring day. There were eight in all, she gave one to everyone, and kept the other four for herself. "Then let's go," Buffy said softly.

The others followed as she crept around the mansion quietly, half expecting some state of the art security system. What she got, however, was an eerrie silence surrounding the house of vampires, there were no birds, no animals, no wild-life of any kind. Shivering slightly she stopped when she was in back of the house and looked behind her, relieved to see the others there. "Keep close," she informed them quietly, then waited for nods from each before continuing. All arguments were being left aside, at least for the moment, as everyone knew just how very dangerous this particular mission was.

"There's the cellar," Willow whispered, pointing towards it. Buffy looked and sure enough the sun was glinting off the metal handle of the cellar. With a brief smile in Willow's direction, one she hoped Willow understood was meant as an apology, Buffy pulled on the handle. The cellar creaked open, and Buffy jumped down, then waited and helped the others down as well, no longer worried about their belief in her or her dream, this was business, and when it came to business Buffy knew any fights or slip-ups could get all of them killed.

The dust almost caused her to sneeze, but Buffy managed to stop herself, though it was hard. It also didn't help that she couldn't see anything, it was pitch black. Willow moved towards her slightly. "Buffy," she whispered, "your lighter."

Buffy smiled to herself, unable to believe she hadn't thought of that. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the lighter and pressed down, glad she'd bought an automatic instead of the pretty zippo one she'd wanted. She could barely see the out-line of the stair-well leading upwards, but barely was enough, she slowly moved towards it, and when she had her foot on the bottom step handed the lighter to Willow as she climbed upwards in complete stealth mood.

Out of the cellar, she realized she was standing in a hallway. There were four doors, and at the end of the hallway a large screen door leading outside. The Slayer bit her lip slightly, wondering where to begin, and feeling strangely like one of the characters in 'Lost Boys' . . . get them while their sleeping. She extended her mental senses, but they told her nothing she didn't already know . . . she was surrounded by vampires.

Buffy moved out of the way as the others climbed up to join her; Cordelia came up last and handed the lighter back to Buffy. At least in the hallway there were small lights in the ceiling. She didn't know where to begin. Behind each door there were vampires, and for the first time Buffy began to wonder if this had been a good idea. Five against a whole houseful of slumbering vampires . . . the odds definitely weren't in their favor.

This had been a really stupid idea. The reality of it was far different from the idea, and Buffy could not believe she'd allowed, no, asked, her friends to accompany her. With a deep breath Buffy opened one door and peered inside, but saw no one. Suddenly she grinned as she realized there were windows in the bedroom, windows in almost all the bedrooms, certainly . . . maybe they didn't sleep in the house . . . or at least, maybe all of them didn't.

"What is it?" Giles asked quietly.

Buffy glared at him and didn't reply, terrified of making a sound and alerting the house as to her presence. Instead she continued to tip-toe . . . and winced when she realized where she'd stumbled into. Spike and Drusilla . . . lying in bed together, both sound asleep. Next to their bed was another door . . . and that still gave her no clue as to where security was.

There had to be an easier way to do this. Buffy stared at the lighter she still had clutched in her hands thoughtfully. It would work so well . . . yet at the same time it would kill Angel just as easily as the other vampires. The Slayer had never been so grateful her thoughts were her own, she knew with certainty the Slayerettes would have all stated how insane and crazy she was, driven by grief and thinking unclearly.

It seemed this room was the only one in the house without windows, Buffy noted. She tried desperately not to give up hope, her dreams wouldn't have led her astray, she knew they wouldn't have, she trusted them impeccably. So she could creep up to Spike and Dru, stake them both, then open the door and hope Angel was inside, then somehow get him out, assuming he was well enough to walk, of course . . . It took all her self control not to curse in frustration towards her own stupidity. She'd wanted to rush head-long into the house and rescue Angel . . . see he was still alive, hold him, know that the past four years had a chance of being repaired . . . but at the rate she was going she wondered if she wouldn't end up the one dead, and probably kill him and the others in the process.

Suddenly a thought came to mind, a riddle, almost. What would hurt a vampire, and protect a human? Only one answer . . . sunlight. If she created a window in this room . . . even if they couldn't kill Spike and Dru . . . they'd have to leave. No choice about it. She turned towards the others. "Find a way to get some sun in this room," she whispered to them, hoping that what she knew of Angel's sleeping habits from when he'd been a vampire held true for all vampires. When Angel had slept he'd slept . . . nothing short of an earthquake could wake him. "Don't do it yet though, just figure out how. I'm gonna check out upstairs."

Willow's eyes widened. "Buffy, be careful," she said intently.

"I will," she replied with a nod. The others watched her go, creeping back down the hallway stealthily. Once she was gone the Slayerettes and watcher stared around the room, trying to find a way to let the sunlight through. There seemed to be none, short of knocking down the wall.

"We could always do what they did in 'From Dusk Till Dawn'," Xander suggested with a smirk. The others glared at him, both for the stupidity of the comment and the loud way he'd said it. "Sorry," he muttered. "But it would work, we need a gun, just shoot the walls, lots of sunlight."

"Yeah, that's quiet," Willow whispered. Drusilla moved and murmured something while wrapping an arm around Spike and the hacker, along with everyone else in the room, all kneeled on the ground.

. . .

Buffy crept up the stairs, conscious of every single creak the floor boards made under her weight, well aware of the fact that if Angel were here he was downstairs. That did not mean that Spike's security guards weren't upstairs. Obviously he hadn't expected an attack during the day, but then again, he hadn't known she knew about the location, either.

Once she made it to the top level of the house she almost collapsed from relief. Fingering the cross on her neck she reached into her coat pocket for a vile of holy water, in the same motion replacing her lighter in her jeans pocket. Slowly she opened one of the doors and peered inside . . . more windows. A thorough examination of every room revealed the same . . . windows. She couldn't help but wonder what idiot vampire picked this mansion as a good location for a haven . . . windows were everywhere and un-covered. That left only one place where the other vampires could be.

Buffy looked up and sure enough there were stairs leading up to the attic in a corner. Climbing up, she saw the door was shut, and she had no intentions of opening it. What she needed was a way to ensure that the vamps stayed up there. There was no way she could be certain there weren't more lurking somewhere, but somehow she doubted it. Then she remembered . . . it was the same thing Willow had done when they'd performed the spell to make Angel human and give him back his soul . . . if the holy water was surrounding the outside of the door . . . they couldn't get through. It created a barrier that was unbreakable by a vampire, and the barrier stayed in place for quite some time.

Smiling, glad she finally seemed to be getting somewhere, Buffy took the holy water vial and poured some of the water on her fingers, then stood on tip-toes to apply the holy liquid to the top of the door, then the wall surrounding it. 'That ought to work', Buffy thought to herself, but, just to be on the safe side, she removed her coat and took out a cross/stake. Using extra-strong tape she found in one of the other rooms of the house, one of the rooms with windows, that is, she taped the cross to the door.

With a soft sigh Buffy headed back downstairs to see if the others had managed to accomplish their own mission. Arriving in Spike and Drusilla's domain, she saw the others were on the floor, while the two vampires were sound asleep in each other's arms . . . if Buffy hadn't hated them both so deeply she would have thought it sweet. A slight gesture of her head and the Slayerettes and Watcher rose from their hiding locations, seeming slightly embarrassed. "I take it you didn't find anything," Buffy said with a smirk.

"Buffy," Willow hissed, shocked at how loudly Buffy was speaking.

"Relax," Buffy replied with a shrug. "I found out where the vamps are, sealed off the exit so they can't get out, and just to be on the safe side opened every single door so that lots of sun can shine through." She gestured behind her and the others turned to see each door had been opened, causing the sun to filter through the hallway. "See?" she retorted with a smirk. Then she looked towards the sleeping vampires and bit her lip thoughtfully, wondering what to do. For some reason she was having a hard time picturing herself staking them in their sleep . . . it just didn't seem honorable. She knew with certainty that had their positions been reversed neither one of the vamps would have hesitated one second . . . but it was those small differences that kept the Slayer from becoming like those she hunted.

"Buffy?" Xander asked quietly, seeing the troubled look in her eyes.

The Slayer turned to him and gestured for him to shut up. He did so as she once again fixed her eyes on Spike and Drusilla. For a long moment she just stood there, debating, wondering, uncertain what to do. Then with a quick movement she held a stake in her hand. The others watched with wide eyes as she stalked purposefully towards the bed, then looked up at her audience. "Get in the sunlight," she ordered them flatly. The look in her eyes made protest impossible, and they obeyed her.

Once they were gone out into the hallway Buffy yanked Drusilla out of the bed and positioned the stake over her heart, moving her towards the right so she couldn't perform a counter-attack. "Oh, Spike-dear, wake up," Buffy ordered loudly.

Spike grunted. "Love, go back to sleep," he muttered, turning over.

"Spike . . . " Drusilla whispered, feeling helpless, as she'd been for so long before the ritual that had restored her five years ago.

"Yo, hello, wake up," Buffy shouted.

Spike groaned and sat up, then his eyes widened as he stared at the Slayer. "Well . . . " he said finally, quickly recovering his wit, "fancy meeting you here."

"You have two options, Spike," Buffy informed him, "either you take your little Princess here and get the hell out, or I kill her. What's it gonna be?"

"How did you find us?" Spike asked. "And . .. why are you here?"

"Answer to question one, none of your damn business. Answer to question two, guess what, also none of your damn business. Pick an option."

"Well, gee, like I have so much choice," Spike murmured sarcastically.

"Good answer," Buffy confirmed with a nod.

"Not quite," Spike replied. "Seems your forgetting something my dear. We're in a mansion . . . there's no sewer access around. So either you kill her, then deal with me, or you let her go, and we'll deal with you."

"Hmm, wonder what I'll choose?" Buffy pretended to think about it, then suddenly and without warning inserted the stake into Drusilla's heart. The insane vampire's eyes widened in shock as she stared up at the Slayer, then her gaze turned to Spike as she fell to the ground and collapsed into a pile of dust. "One down," Buffy muttered.

Spike was beyond hearing her. He lunged towards her, and she skillfully avoided every punch, kick, and maneuver he attempted to make to end her life. With a slight gesture towards the others suddenly Spike was out numbered, as the Slayerettes jumped into the battle. Surprisingly, it was Cordelia who ended up finally managing to stake him, and he died an instant later. "Hey, go me!" Cordelia congratulated herself with a wide smile.

Buffy didn't seem at all pleased by defeating her enemies of five years. Instead she looked towards the door by Spike and Drusilla's bed. With one hesitant glance at the others, who stared back at her with expressions of pity for what they presumed to be her insanity, Buffy reached her hand out to touch the knob, and slowly turned it in her hands. Two deep breaths, and the Slayer opened the door.

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