The pale cloud of smoke spiralled around him, blurring his view of the house in front of him but before it could fade away, the cigarette was already back in his mouth for another long drag. He stood, motionless, under the old tree, staring blindly up at the window on the first floor; a stupid, dreamy look on his face.
He remembered the first time he had done it. Standing outside her house, fantasizing about being inside, in her room, with her. Though it had been little over a year ago, that night seemed so far away, filed in the back of his mind, along with the memories of his wild and savage days with his Dark Princess.
A lot had happen that last year. He had come to win her trust, to be her ally against a goddess, her confident after her resurrection and ultimately her lover and now he was back here, where he had started – standing under a tree, gawking at her window like a nerdy teenage boy with a crush on the head cheerleader, patiently awaiting for his crumb.
“Hey…” a soft feminine whisper brought him back to reality.
He whirled around to see a tall, slender, young girl; her hands nervously hidden behind her.
“Hey.” He greeted with an unenthusiastic smile on his face as he grounded the cigarette on the wet grass with the heel of his heavy boot.
“She’ll kill you if she finds out you’re spying on her.” The girl gave him a sympathetic snicker.
“I’m not spying on her.” He immediately replied defensively, but seeing her cock her eyebrow at him he bowed his head, his gaze planted over the crushed cigarette. “Ok, so I’m lurking. It’s what I do, remember…” he pointed at himself and added: “Vampire, evil crawling…”
“… creature of the night.” She completed his sentence for him. “I know.”
“I just miss your big sis, nibblet.” He admitted, looking up at her with huge puppy dog eyes as he shoved his hands deep into the side pockets of his duster.
Her reply was a soft smile as she leaned in to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her fragile form, bringing her as close to him as he possibly could without hurting her. The embrace lasted for a couple of minutes before he gently pushed away.
“I better get going. Don’t want the Slayer to know I’ve been around.” He explained, starting to walk away.
“Hey!” she called out.
He came to a halt. Without turning around to face her, he twisted his head to his left, giving her a clear view of his profile.
“She might not want to see you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accidentally be at the same place she is. Say… tomorrow… ten pm, at the Bronze. Anya is having a pre-bachelor-party party, or something…”
She could hear him smile before he spoke. “A pre-bachelor-party party, huh?”
“Yeah, you know Anya. She’ll make up all the excuses she can to get more gifts out of this wedding thing. Even make up a new tradition.” Dawn smiled as she heard him chuckle back a laugh.
“Thanks, pet.”
“You’re welcome.” She said softly. She was sure he hadn’t heard her as he walked down the road.
***************************************************
Buffy let out a deep groan, tapping her nails on the kitchen counter.
“Dawn! Will you just get on with it? Anya will be pissed if we’re late.” Buffy protested as she watched her little sister walk into the kitchen. “I can understand Willow taking an eternity to get dressed, but you… Why?”
“Hey, it’s not every night I get to go to the Bronze.” Dawn smiled gingerly as she hopped onto the kitchen stool.
Buffy dismissed her little sister’s sudden burst of joy and concentrated on getting the other girl out of the house. She was about to shout when Willow finally walked into the room.
“D-Do I look ok?” the Wicca stuttered nervously as she whirled around to give both girls a 360 degree view of her long emerald green dress.
“You look amazing.” Buffy finally surrendered to the contagious good-mood everyone seemed to be in and smiled lovingly at her best friend.
“It-it’s green. It’s Tara’s favourite. Think she’ll like it?” Willow asked unsure of herself.
“She’ll love it, Will.” Dawn assured her. “Now let’s go. It’s almost 10.” She warned, looking up at the kitchen clock as she opened the door and walked out, closely followed by Willow.
“Oh, now you’re in a hurry…” Buffy sighed as she locked up the door behind her.
~**********************************************~
The incessant drumbeat seemed to dig into his skull as the overly cheerful, bubble-gum, pop music filled the room. A multitude of young, energetic teenage kids banged their heads to the newest hit by the most recent copycat, corporately manufactured boyband to top the billboard charts.
“Hey, mate.” Spike called out to one of the many people that crowded the place.
A tall, skinny boy turned around to face the vampire, revealing his pimpled face. Spike twisted his mouth in disgust at the sight of it. He didn’t really remember his teen years, but he was pretty sure his skin complexion didn’t look like a vast wasteland, covered with a massive amount of volcanoes just about to burst. Nevertheless, he swallowed down and asked:
“What time is it?”
The boy pulled up his sleeve, glancing at his watch before answering: “Ten thirty.” and walked away.
The vampire let out an unneeded sigh and turned his head as he scanned the crowd. A sly smirk settled over his lips as his eyes found his target – a petite young blond girl.
She looked amazing. She wore a glittery, black, sleeveless top, which clung tightly against her skin, revealing her praised assets. Dropping from her waist to hover just over her knees was an equally black wrap around skirt. He watched her intensely as she strode towards a table in her ten-inch heels, which served to fool a stranger about her actual short stature.
He remained in the shadows, watching her surrounded by her girlfriends, occasionally laughing and he felt a sting in his heart. Maybe she didn’t belong in the darkness. She belonged out there, with them, centre stage, bright lights gleaming over every perfect curve of her body. His mind wandered as he stared through the crowd at a group he had tried so hard to fit into, but couldn’t. He didn’t belong with them, he-
Suddenly, lights went out; total darkness and silence engulfing them. Instinctively, he morphed into his demon visage in order to see better. He was relieved to find the group was safe. They remained seated, Buffy had her arms around Dawn and was saying something to her, while the two Wiccas and the ex-vengeance demon held hands.
Within seconds a loud voice was heard in the room over the incessant buzzing of the crowd:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing a minor technical problem, which will be fixed in just a few minutes. Please remain seated and don’t panic.”
Well, that was all he had to say. Immediately, the buzzing grew and an occasional squeal was heard from the middle of the crowd. People began to blindly try to find their way out of there, bumping into each other, pushing and pulling until someone screamed and that was it – total pandemonium.
Spike remained calm, feet firmly planted on the floor, his gaze frozen over the small group, which had held his attention throughout the entire night.
~************************************~
“Buffy? What do we do now?” Dawn asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“Don’t worry, we’ll just sit here until the lights go back on.” Buffy reassured her.
But the buzzing was getting louder and an instinctive anxiety took over her so she turned to Willow.
“Will, I think we better make our way out of here.”
The witch nodded but, realising the lack of lighting in the place, she quickly added:
“Sure.”
“We’re pretty close to the door. Let’s try it. Everybody, hold hands and don’t let do.”
Dawn and Anya’s hands found each other as they stood up and began to push their way towards the nearest exit. Eventually, they made it.
“Uf.” Anya took a deep breath as she stepped out. “I was getting a little out of breath in there.”
“Me too.” Tara quickly agreed. “Is everyone ok?” she asked tenderly, but her gaze fell over one particular person.
Willow smiled and nodded along with everyone else.
“Well, I better get back in there.” Buffy noted.
“You’re going back?” Dawn asked a little alarmed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” She assured, then, turning to face Willow, she added: “Get everyone home safe.” Quickly, she weaselled her way back into the club against the tide as everyone rushed out.
~*********************************************~
Relief washed over him as he saw her exit the place safely, but it soon dried up when he saw her walk in once more. Without another thought, he began to push through the crowd careful not to lose her from his sight, but it was impossible. Soon, he found himself engulfed in a throng of limbs and sweaty bodies, tripping over hands and feet. Accidentally, he stepped on somebody and a sharp pain dilacerated its way from the back of his skull through his entire brain. He clutched the back of his head as he tried to bite back the howl that threatened to escape his o-shaped mouth. Losing his balance, he tumbled and waited for the pain of falling face down on a floor, probably covered with broken glasses. But it never came. As he opened his eyes two large ebony globes stared back at him.
As the chaos of people drifted hurriedly around them, it took a while for his brain to register the slender curves of the body laying under his, but he soon identified it as belonging to a member of the female gender. The woman gasped as she tried to breathe, but the burden of his heavy weight made it almost impossible to move her ribcage. Realising her shortness of breath, he prompted himself on his forearms, hissing as he felt a sharp piece of glass cut into his hand. As his gaze drifted back to the person beneath him he found her missing. She was gone. He didn’t even have time to question how that had happen as the light flickered and lit up the entire place.
As the confusion ceased, he found himself being pulled up, off the floor. Looking up, he gasped as he realised - it was she.
~**********************************************~
Buffy drifted through the crowd, looking for anyone who might be in trouble. A room filled with people, in the dark, one never knew what kind of creature might be taking advantage of that. They might-
Her trail of thought stopped as the room suddenly lit up and the same voice, which had been heard a few minutes before, spoke once again:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad to announce that we have fixed the electrical problem. We are very sorry for the occurrence and, as such, the next round of drinks is on the house. Once more, we apologise for your inconvenience and hope you enjoy your evening.”
She was about to leave when she noticed a small crowd that gathered in the middle of the dance floor. Skilfully pushing her way, she reached it and found him, laying face down on the floor.
“Spike…” she sighed as her strong hand reached down and yanked him up by his trademark duster.
He stared wide-eyed at her.
“Should have know you had something to do with this.” She hissed.
He didn’t answer, he seemed a bit fazed out and he was bleeding from his right hand.
“Were you responsible for this?” she asked with a hint of superiority in her voice, but deep inside small butterflies crawled in her stomach from the anxiety that always seemed to find its way to her every time she saw him.
He shook his head, as if trying to get a grip on his mind and mumbled:
“Hum.. no, I was just…”
“Spike, stop following me around. I told you, it’s over.” She said, turning on her heels and leaving him there, in the middle of the crowd.
~*******************************************~
“Stupid twit.” He grumbled to himself as he dragged his feet across the wet grass of the graveyard. “Always thinks I’m after her… I wasn’t there because- Oh, who am I kidding-“
He stopped in mid sentence as a high pitch scream nearly pierced his eardrums. In seconds, he stood on the exact spot where he thought the sound had come from and found – nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only sound that reached him now was the light rustle of leafs and the distinct calling of dozens of crickets that hid motionless amidst the greenery, nothing more, nothing less. There was no sign of a struggle, as the grass remained unmarred, untouched. Everything was where it should be.
After a while, he gave up, shrugged and with slumped shoulders found his way back home.
~*******************************************~
She sat in front of the mirror, her hands blindly hovering over the desk to find the old comb. With a featherlike touch, she made it brush along the back of her scalp, aligning millions of thin golden strings into place. Her eyes remained glued of the reflected image in the mirror.
“I don’t belong in the darkness. I don’t belong in the darkness.” The incessant mantra echoed in her mind as she went through her nightly routine. The sound of a door being pushed open snapped her out of her daze.
“Hey…” Willow greeted as her head peeked in. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” Buffy answered with a soft smile, putting down the comb and turning in her seat to face the Wicca who now sat at the edge of the bed.
“Are you ok?” the redhead asked with unease.
“Of course I’m ok. Why wouldn’t I be?” Was the blond girl’s immediate response.
“It’s just that when you came back from the Bronze you were kind of… cranky. A-Actually you’ve been kind of cranky a lot lately. Ever since Riley left. Is this about him?”
Buffy stared at her friend and was amazed how, in the midst of all the trouble, she still had time to notice her mood changes.
“It’s nothing. I’m just tired; from work and slaying, all that stuff.” She lied.
“Are you sure?”
Buffy nodded. Slowly, Willow stood up and walked towards the door.
“Ok, if you say so. Good night, Buffy.” She said before closing the door.
As she heard the lock click, she returned her gaze to the mirror in front of her, suddenly she heard the door open again and the same head, which had popped in a second ago, showed itself once more.
“Hey… Can I come in?”
“Sure…” Buffy said with a frown.
“Are you ok?”
Buffy stared at the girl sitting on her bed.
“Yes, Willow. I’ve told you, I’m fine.” She sighed.
“It’s just that when you came back from the Bronze you were kind of… cranky. A-Actually-“
“Look, Willow, I’m sorry that I’ve been cranky!” Buffy snapped at her, but seeing the hurt on her friend’s face she added in a softer tone: “I’ve told you, I’m just tired. I’ll try to get some rest, ok?”
Willow stood up and walked towards the door, much in the same way she had just minutes before.
“Ok, if you say so. Good night, Buffy.” And she was gone.
“Gee… what’s up with Willow?” she asked herself as she walked over to her bed and opened the sheets.
~****************************************~
“Welcome to the Magic Box!” Anya greeted with an automatic grin as she heard the delicious ringing sound which announced the arrival of a potential buyer to her humble store. It soon faded away as she recognised the familiar brunette. “Oh… it’s you.” She said with disdain as her gaze returned to the mass of papers she held in her hands.
“Glad to see you too.” Dawn replied with fake enthusiasm, walking towards the table in the middle of the shop and dropping her backpack before asking: “Is Buffy in the back?”
“No… She’s not here yet.” Anya answered, not bothering to look up from the sheets of paper.
“Heya slugger. Whatcha doin’?” Xander’s overly animated voice was heard just as he showed up from behind the bookshelves.
“Hey, yourself.” Dawn smiled as he sat down beside her. “Just finished classes, Buffy told me to meet up with her here. We’re going out on a shopping spree. Well, it’s more of a 'going to the mall to stare intensely at beautiful things that we can’t afford' sorta spree. It’s almost the same thing, except we don’t get to come home with pretty new clothes and with maxed out credit cards.” The young girl grinned as she finished her sentence.
“But you still get the plus of spending quality time with your big sis, don’t ya?”
“Yep!”
~****************************************~
Spike mumbled in his sleep, tossing and turning as the Slayer plagued his dreams as usual. In shock, he found himself sitting up, his fingers tightly clenching the black silk sheets he lay on.
He violently shook his head, pushing back the images of her struggling and screaming under an attacker. Someone had been pushing and pulling at her, tearing the fragile fabric of her robe off of her as she scrambled away from her aggressor, clawing at the cold tiled floor.
Hurriedly, he jogged up the stairs, practically throwing the refrigerator door open as he looked for something to clear the dry and acid taste in his mouth. As he gulped down a glass of freezing water he found the fear pool away and turn into something else. A strange, sinking feeling of guilt, gut-wrenching guilt and shame.
~**********************************************~
“Did you see that woman’s face when you told her you weren’t going to take any of those clothes with you?” Dawn asked as she remembered the angered expression on the shopkeeper’s face.
“I know. I actually felt bad about her. She had been helping us for hours, she deserved her commission.” Buffy said with a hint of guilt as the two walked home from the mall.
Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, not too far away. In seconds, Buffy’s mind raced, wondering what to do with her little sister.
“Hum… stay here.” She ordered starting to walk off to where the sound had come from.
“Stay here? In the middle of the night? Alone? Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Dawn shouted at her.
Buffy stopped dead in her tracks and, rethinking her choice, she signalled her sister to join her. Cautiously, they neared their destination.
“That’s Spike’s car!” Dawn announced as she saw the old DeSoto. “I thought he’d finally gotten rid of that old thing?”
“Yeah… well, apparently he now uses it for crash testing into the Sunnyvale welcoming sign.” Buffy sighed as she saw the completely destroyed wooden plaque under the wheels of the old car. A groan escaped her lips when she saw the familiar vampire stroll out of his car, cigarette in hand and a smug look on his face.
“Well, are you going over to talk to him?” Dawn asked.
Buffy turned to face her, blocking the young girl’s view of the wrecked car and its driver.
“I don’t think so.” She grumbled.
“Oh, come on.” The younger girl insisted, walking past her to meet up with the familiar vampire, only to find that he was gone. And so was the car. The two sisters gasped as they saw that in its place stood a perfectly built sign.
~*********************************************~
“What do you mean he was gone?” Willow asked confused.
“I mean gone, puff… gone. Like… magic.” Dawn described.
“I-I haven’t done anything.” The witch immediately defended herself.
“We know you didn’t. But I think maybe Spike did. He must be doing something and I’m going to find out about it…” Buffy started and looking up at the watch she added strutting out the door, stake in hand: “And it’s gonna be now.”
Spike gasped for unneeded air as the monster tightened its grip around his neck.
“H—“ he tried to speak, but it was no use. His eyes widened as he saw the piece of wood in the demon’s hand. “I…” cough “I…”
“You want to say something before you’re dust, vampire?” the tall, slender monster asked.
The vampire nodded and felt the grip around his neck loosen just enough so he could get the words out.
“I told you… I’ll get you the money when I get it. I-“ he gasped as the sharp claws dug into the back of his scalp. “I had this egg deal going, but it fell through, but I’ll get you the-“
“No more excuses, you’re history.”
A painful groan escaped his parted lips as he wondered what an ungrateful way to go this was – at the hands of a class A bully. His eyes squeezed shut as he waited for the final blow, but it never came. Instead, he felt himself fall to the floor as he was released from the demon’s grasp. After a few seconds he was finally able to focused his eyesight; all he could see was the carcass of the monster at his feet - its neck clearly having been snapped as its head slouched over its shoulders. Spike quickly looked around but found nothing. Whatever had saved him was gone, leaving only the clear scent of jasmine behind him. He tried to follow the trail, but it was no use as it mingled with all sorts of other aromas of the night. The vampire made a mental note to memorize that clear scent before it faded away completely.
His hand instinctively went for his throat, rubbing it as he made his way back home, his mind still tangled in the events of that night. Who had been his saviour? And why hadn’t he stuck around afterwards?
With a heavy hand, he pushed the wooden door open and immediately felt an intruder in his lair. He frowned as he noticed that he had only picked up on the trespasser as he passed the threshold to his own home. This was very strange. Vampires usually picked up intruders in their lairs a mile away. Ok, maybe not a mile away, but it was pretty close. Was he losing his touch?
“You’re not losing your touch, fang boy.” A female voice reassured him.
Spike immediately jumped up to attention and looked around in the dark corners of the crypt to find her, but he didn’t have to go to all of that trouble – there she sat, legs crossed, on his sarcophagus. As he looked into her raven black eyes he immediately recognized them. They belonged to the woman that had laid beneath him the night before, at the Bronze, during the black out.
“Good memory.” She said with, what looked like… a smile? It was more of a smirk.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want?” His eyes dropped to the box of cookies she held in her hands. “And why are you eating my food?” he growled angrily.
“Help. Help…” she looked up as if trying to remember something and then added: “Help you and hungry.” She widened her eyes as she finished, taking a large bite off the cookie she held in her hand and munching on it as another one of those ‘smiles’ curled her pale lips.
“What?!” he asked confused, frowning and bringing his index finger and thumb to press over the bridge of his nose.
“The answers to your question, I believe.” She quipped, looking into the box. Finding it empty, she dropped it to the floor, jumped off the sarcophagus and started pacing around the room as she mumbled to herself. “Why do I always get the slow ones?”
“Hey, I heard that.” Spike protested, but all he got was a smirk as she continued analysing every crack in the walls with peculiar interest.
“You really should get these fixed. I can’t stand the cold.” She announced as she shoved her hands into the front pockets of her worn out jeans. She wore a baggy, two sizes too big red shirt over scruffy blue denims. The colour of her shirt brought out the blood-shaded threads of her auburn hair. She had it caught up in a bundle on the back of her head but, the two strands that fell in loops on each side of her face, framing it, gave away its long length. She wasn’t very tall, maybe 5’2… 5’3? He couldn’t really tell as she walked around the crypt and, to be honest, he really didn’t care. All he wanted was for her to leave… Now!
“Ok! Backtrack a little here. Why are you here? Actually… no. Why aren’t I throwing you out of here?” Spike roared threateningly, but it seemed to have little, if any, effect on her as she simply continued her private tour of his crypt.
“Because you can’t… And, even if you could, it wouldn’t be in your best interest.”
“And, pray tell, why is that?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Why you can’t or why it’s not in your best interest?” Finally, she dignified him with a look.
Spike hissed as he narrowed his eyes, the anger building inside of him.
“You’re not a very pleasant person, are you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in a mocking imitation.
“Will you just stop poncing around and tell me what the fuck you are doing here?” he bellowed, the anger spilling out.
“You know? You really should take some anger management classes. I hear they are very helpful.” The answer she got was an even deadlier look from the vampire. “Alright, alright, you’re no fun. I love doing the cryptic act on you guys.” She rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning against the sarcophagus and crossing her arms over her chest.
“I’m help. Basically, I was sent here to help you.” As he was about to interrupt her, she quickly added, shaking her head: “Sorry, can’t tell you who sent me.”
“And I’m supposed to accept this? Just like that?” he asked, waving his hands.
“Pretty much.” She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a silly smile.
“Well, missy, you can just go back to loonyvile. It was nice meeting you and all, but I’m kinda busy.” He started as he moved towards her and his hand came to encircle her forearm. “What the bloody fuc-?” he jumped back as he saw his hand go straight through her.
“Neat trick, huh?” she said with a smile as she waved her now semi-transparent hand in front of his face.
“What kind of ghost are you?” he asked.
“Not a ghost.” She answered truthfully as her lips pressed together in a tight smile. “And what I am is just way too complicated for you.” She added, moving away from him and shoving her hands back in her pockets.
“Look, I don’t like this one bit. You better-“ only then did the distinct scent of jasmine seep into his brain. “You? You were the one who saved me back there?”
“Dling, dling, dling, dling. You have just won tonight’s lucky prize.” She shouted over enthusiastically, waving her hands around.
“You helped me? You’re protecting me?”
“Oh. My. God! You catch on quickly, don’t ya?” she asked sarcastically.
“Why?” he asked confused, sitting on the sarcophagus.
“My job.” She answered promptly. “Now, can we leave the chinwag for later? You’re girlfriend’s coming.” She announced.
“What girl-“ he was cut off by the distinct sound of a door being slammed open. “Slayer.” He immediately hopped off the tomb, leaning on it.
“Spike.” His name came out dryly as she cut the distance between them and came to stand in front of him. “What have you been doing?”
“Hello to you too, Slayer.” He said with half a smirk, his eyes drifting from the small form in front of him to the not much taller woman standing behind Buffy.
“What. Have. You. Been. Doing?” she said each word with more contempt that the last.
“I. Haven’t. Been. Doing. Anything.” He answered her as if he was talking with someone with hearing disability.
“Don’t play games.” She snapped.
Spike’s mind was trapped between her and the woman that now stood next to him, leaning on the sarcophagus, with her arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face as she analysed the blond girl that spat fire from her eyes.
“I’m not playing games. And I’m busy now.”
“Really? With what?” she spat the words out.
“What do you mean with what?” he asked confused, tilting his head towards the woman at his side.
Buffy frowned.
“What? What’s that thing?” she imitated his head-tilting as it became more obvious.
A small laugh escaped the woman’s lips and she finally spoke, her eyes never leaving Buffy:
“She can’t see me.” Noticing the vampire frown from the corner of her eye, she added: “And she can’t hear me either.” Then her gaze drifted from the petite blond to him and he felt a strange pang in his stomach as he stared into the purest black he had ever seen.
It took a while for his mind to register the voice that called his name.
“Spike, hello? Spike!”
“Hum… sorry Slayer… It’s just…” his gaze drifted back to Buffy to find her pissed.
“Spike, are you on something?” ‘Can vampire’s get high?’ she asked herself. She made a mental note to phone Giles and ask him about it.
“No.”
She shook her head and got back on the subject.
“Have you been doing magic?”
“What? No!” he replied promptly.
“Then why are you driving into Sunnydale’s welcoming sign one minute and disappearing into thin air the next?” She questioned annoyed.
“Look, Slayer, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She was about to say something, but decided it was best not to. She was too tired to fight, it was too late and she had an early shift the next day.
“Don’t try anything funny.” She said before she disappeared into the graveyard, slamming the door behind her.
“What was that all about?” it was more of a thought than an actual question.
“Don’t ask me.” The woman next to him shrugged walking over to the refrigerator and opening in.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Looking for food. Don’t you have anything other that blood.” She asked, her eyes wandered through the contents of the fridge.
“Yeah. I had cookies. You ate them.”
“Cookies and blood, no chocolate, oh great…” she mumbled to herself as she paced around the room and finally flopped onto the wing chair, stretching her legs to their full length and crossing her fingers over her chest as her elbows remained positioned on each arm of the chair.
“So…” she sighed.
“So…” the vampire mimicked with an annoyed look.
“What are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?” she asked as her eyes drifted from the walls up to the ceiling and her facial muscles contracted to make a disgusted cringe.
“Excuse me? Sleeping arrangements?” the vampire asked narrowing his eyes, leaning his head towards her as if he hadn’t heard her correctly.
“Yes. You do sleep, don’t you? I know I do and usually in a very, very comfortable bed. Unfortunately, it took one look at this place to realise I’m not getting that, am I? By the way, did you know that the downstairs is completely trashed? It looks like someone dropped a bomb in there.” She said as her eyes finally met his.
“Someone DID drop a bomb in there.” He replied annoyed.
“Ouch!” she made a painful face. “Who’d you piss off?” she paused for a split second, never even giving him a chance to answer, before another one of her smiles took over her lips. “Was it her?” she tilted her head towards the door. “Did you cheat on her? Or maybe she cheated on you… well, no… it wouldn’t make sense that you would destroy your own home… except if you found her with him, in your bed and the pain was so great that you just couldn’t take it anymore and decided to burn down all the memories you both had. Is that it? Or maybe-“
“You watch a lot of Mexican soap operas, don’t you?” the vampire interrupted with a grin as he saw the annoyance in her face.
“No, I don’t!” she immediately answered, but not very convincingly.
“You do. You’re the kind of person that watches those cheesy soap operas.”
“You’re one to talk, 'Passion' addict.” She snorted back. It was her turn to grin.
“How did you-“
“The ten thousand tapes of the show you have back there were a dead give away.” She replied before he had a chance to ask. Suddenly, she jumped off the armchair and walked over to the sarcophagus. Her hands pressed on it testing its hard consistency. “Well, that’s it then. I get the armchair tonight. Tomorrow we get a bed for me.” She said matter-of-factly with a satisfied smile as if she had just figured out how to end the war in the middle east.
“What do you mean tonight? You’re staying?” the vampire asked in disbelief.
“Well… yeah. Gotta stay with you 24/7, till they say otherwise.” She explained pointing towards the ceiling.
“Who’s they?” he imitated her gesture as his index finger stuck out skywards.
“They. Just…” she hesitated. “They.” And with that, she gave him a quick shrug and walked towards the chair, throwing her entire weight on it and sprawling her tired body.
“You can’t just come into my house and…” his hands waved erratically, pointing to the area surrounding her. “And just lounge.”
“Goodnight, fangy.” She said as she curled up into a little ball.
“No, no goodnight and don’t call me that!!” the anger boiled up inside him.
She sighed, her head coming out of her cocoon to look at him with annoyance.
“Look, I saved your life… or unlife, right?” she asked and he nodded. “Now it’s time to return the favour. I’m staying, goodnight.” And her head was back in her cocoon.
“Hey, you can’t just st-“ he started to protest. Suddenly, her hand was raised in front of him even tough the rest of her body remained undisturbed, and his voice was gone. Spike’s eyes widened as he tried to speak but failed. As he came towards her, to try and grab her, he felt his face bump into an invisible barrier, much like the ones he encountered when he tried to enter a household without being invited.
Spike gasped and panic took over. As if she had sensed his fear, she craned up her head and faced his wide eyes. Her hand came up again and in an instant the barrier was gone and his voice was restored.
“Just go to sleep, fang boy.” She said with a tired face and pleading eyes. “We can talk for as long as you want tomorrow.”
~****************************************************************~
“Hey, fang boy.” The voice was distant, but as his ear recognized it, a strange gut-wrenching feeling started to turn in his stomach. “Vampy…” She called out once more, this time he felt someone touching his arm, pushing him into awareness.
“Hum…” he mumbled turning away from the annoying voice.
“Hey… Rise and shine, we’ve got a lot of stuff to do today.” She insisted but got no result.
Annoyed, she decided to resort to more practical measures. Her small hands clasped the sheet that spread out under his sleeping form and, with one swift movement of her wrists, pulled it out from under him, successfully bringing him tumbling off the sarcophagus and onto the hard concrete floor.
“Hey!” he protested. “What was that-“ he stopped in mid sentence as he looked up and saw her.
There she was, standing in front of him, towering over him, her arms crossed over her chest as she incessantly tapped her foot on the floor.
“Oh, God… it wasn’t a dream.” He mumbled in disgust to himself.
“No, it wasn’t. Now get off your sorry ass. We have things to do.”
“What? You’re nuts. It’s not even sundown yet. I’m sleeping.” And with that he snatched the sheet from her hands and rolled himself up with it as he threw himself on the sarcophagus.
“Oh, no you’re not.” She warned him.
“Watch me.” Was his short answer as he wrapped the sheet tighter around his form.
“You don’t get up this instant I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” he looked up at her with a daring gaze in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, the sheet twist around him, suffocating him to painful extent. The vampire was about to surrender when all of a sudden the woman standing next to him fell to the floor unconscious, the sheet falling limply in a similar way, releasing him from its grip.
Spike jumped up and came to kneel next to the woman.
“Oi… You ok?”
Slowly, she began to stir as consciousness returned. Eventually, she opened her eyelids to reveal her infamous raven coloured eyes.
“You ok?” he repeated the question and as she nodded he continued: “What just happened?”
She immediately jumped to her feet and tried to sound nonchalant as she spoke:
“Nothing. I probably didn’t get enough sleep in that ridiculous armchair of yours. We really need to get a bed, so we better just get going...”
Either she was a really bad liar or she was really, really nervous about what had just happen. Suddenly, realisation struck him and an annoying, overconfident grin took over his lips.
“You can’t hurt me, can you?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I can.” She failed miserably at her attempt to sound cool and calm.
“No, you can’t. That’s why you fainted.” His index finger came to point skywards as he continued: “They… won’t let you. You’re here to protect me.”
She was beginning to get really annoyed at that smug grin. All she could think about was wiping it from his lips by ripping them off. Oh, that was just the perfect picture in her head. She swallowed hard before speaking:
“Ok, so I can’t hurt you… but I can make your life very difficult.” She narrowed her eyes and twisted her mouth. Whirling her head as she turned on her heels, she headed for the door, opening it. Noticing the vampire wasn’t following, she quipped: “You’re just gonna stand there?”
Spike cleared his throat in a triumphant way and pointed towards the sunlight that cast down over her feet as she stood by the door.
“Sunlight…” his finger drifted back to himself. “Vampire. Bad combo.” Then he gave her a smirk.
“Ha, ha… You’re just hilarious.”
“I am, aren’t I? Come on, there is another way to get around town in the daytime.” He said walking over to the trapdoor and slipping to the lower level of the crypt.
Moments later…
“Iuuuuu…” she protested, her face twisting in disgust as she lifted her foot to see something greasy and shiny dripping off it. “I just stepped in something extremely slimy and in such an advanced state of deterioration I can’t even tell if it was animal or vegetable derived.” She shook her foot and added to herself. “Maybe it’s both…” her eyes drifted off the walls of the large cylinder-shaped corridor she had been travelling in for almost an hour. “Why couldn’t I get Drouglar demon, or even an Argentous one…? No! I had to get a vampire.” She gasped as she heard a strange sound coming from under her foot. “Uhhhh… Mushing! I just stepped on something that made a mushing sound. God, I hate vampires!” she breathed between clenched teeth.
“Will you just shut up and walk?”
“I’m in a sewer… tube… thingy… T-this is just… ah.” Her hands came to cover her face as she took another step. “More slimy, mushy stuff. Why couldn’t I get a…” she paused as an image assaulted her mind. “Chaos demon?”
Spike stopped in his tracks, turning around to face her.
“What?” she asked with a grin that screamed in a taunting, childlike singsong ‘I know something you don’t know’. Suddenly, her face lit up as if something had just come to her; her grin turned into a full-blown smile accompanied by a loud laugh. “A Chaos demon? You got dumped for a Chaos demon?”
At the vampire’s frustrated expression a new wave of laughter took over her and she had to lean on one of the drain’s walls to keep from falling. When she looked back up at him, she chuckled back her laughs and tried to recompose herself, biting on her bottom lip to stop from cracking up once more.
“Sorry…” her fingers came to cover her mouth as it seemed impossible to contain her giggles. She stood up straight and pressed her hands over her shirt, pulling it down.
He gave her a forced smile and then immediately asked: “How’d you now?”
She just stood there and smiled almost shyly at him.
“How’d you know? You can read my mind? Why you little…” he started walking up to her, the anger boiling inside of him.
She immediately backed up, her hands coming up to keep the distance between them.
“Hey, hey…” she breathed less heavily as she saw him stop and wait for her explanation. “I can’t *read* minds. I-I get… flashes.” She tried to explain, but at his confused look she realised she would have to be a little more specific. “The pictures… in your head… when you think?” He nodded. “I can see them. That’s all. If you just think with words, concepts… you know, abstract thought?” Her index finger was now resting on her temple. “In my head…I don’t get a thing. But if you think with pics? About things that really get to you? Emotional stuff? Oh, that’s a whole new story. I get a Technicolor, widescreen action movie of it, only without the special sound effects. So, basically it’s a very good Charlie Chaplin sort of silent film.” From the look on his face she realised she was rambling, as usual, and decided to get back on track: “It’s just the way it works.” She shrugged. “So basically, if you want to keep things private, lose the imagery on the thinking.” And with that she walked past the stunned vampire. Abruptly, she came to a halt. “Why is it that every time I say ‘don’t think in pictures’ all you guys can do is think in pictures.” An image appeared in her mind and her tone changed to utter disgust: “Oh, now that’s just nasty!” She turned to face him. “Could you please quit it? It’s not my fault that you have a very depraved and twisted sexual life.” She continued to walk on and suddenly another image flashed before her eyes. Instinctively, she pushed her eyelids closed, even though she knew it wouldn’t work to erase it. Coming to a full stop, she squealed without ever turning to face him. “Ok, now… I’m scared for life! Will you just quit thinking, already? Grrrrr….”
She growled making her way through the slime and dirt, which all of a sudden didn’t look all that slimy and dirty if she compared them to the images that were rolling through her mind. Behind her, the vampire walked after her with a huge, satisfied grin plastered on his face.