Summary: Very AU. Everyone is human. Every town has a house with a story, with a past. Sunnydale was no different. But Crawford Manor was much more than just a house. It's alive and events that were set in motion over a decade ago are finally come to ahead. And it's all because of one platinum blonde wannabe bad boy, William Giles.
Author's Notes: Hello, everyone. I'm back with a new story. I'm taking a break from 'A Different World' for awhile, as I've lost all inspiration for that story. I hope that people will enjoy this one as it will be much shorter than that. And will most definitely have an ending. This story includes a lot of Riley and Darla bashing, even though I do like Darla. This is also very loosely inspired by me watching 'Rose Red' one too many times.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Never have and never will. No matter how hard I try.
Spoilers: None.
Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, Wes/Fred, Cordelia/Riley with hints of past Darla/Angel, and future Buffy/Spike. It will be a Spuffy story eventually, just fair warning to all those that aren't Spuffy fans.
Chapter One: So It Begins…
"I still think this is a stupid idea."
Xander Harris glanced over at his companion who had thus far remained immune to his persistent grumbling. The only indication Xander even had that he was being heard was the tense jaw and increasing twitch in the other teen's eye. He sighed as his friend continued to work on opening the lock.
"Those things are there for a reason, you know? It's to keep people like us from getting in," he tried again. Once more, his logic and pleading fell on deaf ears. He had to give his best friend credit though. When William 'Spike' Giles said he was going to do something, he went through with it. No matter how stupid and utterly wrong the whole idea was.
And nothing could be more stupid and wrong than breaking into Sunnydale's very own haunted mansion. Every year the house attracted thrill seekers, ghost chasers, fraternities and all manner of idiotic teenagers looking to prove their manhood. Spending just an hour in the house was considered the ultimate test of courage. Just one hour, and a person was considered to be one of the best, bravest and toughest.
And this is where Xander's problem started. Of all the qualities Xander hated about his best friend, his bull headed determination to prove that he was someone was definitely high on that list. Spike was one of a kind in a small town like Sunnydale. He was one of the only, okay, he was the only person who could steadily pull off his ripped from the 80s bleached blonde hair and not be mocked mercilessly. However, underneath all that bravado and swagger, Xander knew there was a vulnerable, sensitive soul that longed for acceptance and approval.
"Whelp, if you don't stop your griping, I'm going to shove this flashlight down your throat!"
Yeah, real sensitive bleeding heart that Spike. Used to threats like that, however, Xander only crossed his arms over his chest glared at the platinum blonde. "I'll stop my griping when you stop this insane idea of going into that house."
"Oh come, Harris. Not you too. You don't really believe the stories are true, do you?"
"I believe that people have died in this house," Xander countered. "Even you in your great cynicism can't change that. Every year some stupid group of people sneak into this place just to show off and every year Sunnydale's finest have to clean up the bodies. And those are just the ones they find. There are still the ones that just go missing."
Spike sighed heavily, finally turning away from his unsuccessful attempts at picking the lock to look at Xander. "Are you going to let rumors and ghost stories scare you away? We're about to prove our manhood here. Are you going to back down now and show them that you're the whelp they think you are? Or are you going to grow a pair and come in with me?"
Xander's glare intensified. "I fail to see what going into that house has to do with me 'growing a pair'. I just want you to think this through, Spike."
"Already have, Xander. Look if you don't want to go in that's fine. I only asked you because you're my best mate. I still don't know that many people in town and I figured this would be a good bonding experience."
Xander scoffed. "One, you've been in town almost half a year now and most of the female population is in love with you, not to mention some of the guys too. Two, I was not the first person you asked. I was just the one stupid enough to say yes, but that was because I didn't think you were actually going to go through with this mess. And three," he pushed Spike over and grabbed the lock. "You're doing this all wrong. Turn more with your wrist."
Spike grinned as the lock finally popped open. He arched an eyebrow and glanced over Xander. "So does this mean you're going in with me?"
"Don't look so happy," Xander retorted, failing to hold back a smile of his own. "I'm only going in because if I don't bring you home in one piece your father will probably kill me. Call me crazy but going up against a guy that used to be called Ripper just doesn't seem wise."
Spike didn't reply. The smile on his face spoke volumes to Xander of what the blonde was thinking. Despite having known each other barely six months, a bond had formed between the two boys that defied logic and rational explanation. This was just as well as most of the things they did defied rational explanation and was definitely devoid of any logic.
At the moment, Xander was pretty sure that Spike was contemplating whether or not this was worth it. Was potentially risking not only your life, but the life of your best friend, really worth it just to impress one girl? And he didn't need to look at him to know what Spike had decided.
"All this for some stupid girl," Xander groaned.
"She's not stupid," Spike protested. "She's just lacking many redeemable character qualities and is a bit on the pleasantly vacant shallow side."
"Exactly how is that any different than what I said?"
The grin grew impossibly wider. "All the big words could probably confuse her long enough for us to get away before she knew she was insulted." Xander couldn't help but laugh at that. His friend rolled his shoulders and sighed, staring up at the house with a pensive look on his face. "But it's not just her or even the rest of those Fang Gang losers. There is something about this place. It's been calling to me like bloody siren since I got here."
Xander's smile instantly melted into a frown. "Have you ever though about telling it to leave a message?" Spike just rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, you just said it's like a siren. You know how well that worked out in the Odyssey."
Again Spike raised that infuriating eyebrow coupled with a look of awed confusion. "I know how it worked out but how do you know? I thought you didn't pay attention in English."
"That was before Ms. Huffington took over."
"Very true."
The two teens continued to stand on the steps just outside the doors staring up at the imposing building. To say that the Garden House had seen its better days was a huge understatement. Despite its name, the house lacked any of the gardens that had once earned the Crawford Street House its beautiful name. The Gothic architecture it boasted made it the most unique house in the neighborhood. But its reputation as a haunted house kept the real estate agents from marketing the house. The last family to live in the house had also died in the house a decade ago. Ever since then the house had been boarded up and otherwise abandoned. And yet for some reason he and Spike were still standing there staring up at the dark forbidding windows actually preparing to go inside. Go away.
"What did you say?"
Spike gave him a blank look. "I didn't say anything."
"I really just thought you said go away."
"Why would I say that when I've finally convinced you to go in?"
"You suddenly developed some common sense?" Xander suggested, earning a dark glare in the process. "My mistake. You must have been busy dying your hair when they were handing out common sense and self preservation." Spike smacked him on the arm but said nothing more. His eyes were locked on the house. A frown pulled at the corners of Xander's mouth. He didn't like the look on Spike's face at the moment. It was almost as if he were in a trance.
He belongs to us. Go away. He's belongs to us.
"Okay seriously are you not hearing that?"
"Hearing what, whelp?"
"The really creepy whispering voice that keeps telling us to go away."
Spike sighed. "It's just your imagination playing tricks on you. There are no creepy voices. There is just you and me. There is no one else out here."
"So is this what you guys meant by spend an hour in the house? Because I'm pretty sure the steps don't count."
Both boys froze at the sound of the new voice behind him. This time Xander knew that his friend had heard it by the slight slump of his shoulders and eye roll. He shot Spike a look. "You were saying?"
"I've been known to be wrong occasionally."
"Occasionally he says," Xander muttered as the pair turned around to face the Fang Gang. No one was entirely sure how the group had managed to acquire their moniker, but there was no argument that it was it fit them well. Led by the deceptively named Angelus Liam O'Connor, the group had been a thorn in Xander's side since junior high. They saw him as an irritating geek, while he saw them as shallow, pathetic creatures that didn't deserve or warrant any of the attention that was lavished on them by the entire town.
However, it wasn't until they met a certain tough talking platinum blonde that the Fang Gang had finally met their match. From the minute the teen had arrived at Sunnydale he was a subject of appreciative stares and flirty smiles. He was a perfect candidate for the Fang Gang but in a surprising move he committed "social suicide" by choosing to hang out Xander and his motley crew of friends, the Scoobies thus making himself a constant target of ridicule by the Fang Gang. And of course, this was where things got even more complicated. Because then Spike made his second biggest social faux pax since his arrival at Sunnydale High. He fell in love, or at least in lust, with one Buffy Summers.
The petite blonde has turned more than a few heads during her two year run at Sunnydale High. However, spent the past year and a half as the trophy girlfriend of Angel. They were Sunnydale's Golden Couple. The star football player with the looks and brains to match and the gorgeous, charming head cheerleader. It was enough to make anyone slightly sick to the stomach. But Spike took one look at her and saw something more than just that. And Buffy knew that he saw it, and it didn't seem to make her too happy.
This would probably explain the look of victory in her hazel eyes as she and the rest of the group reached the steps the two Scoobies were standing on. Angel had his arm draped over Buffy's petite shoulders watching Spike and Xander with a curious, almost hesitant, look in his eye.
"You're not chickening out, are you Spike?" Riley Finn taunted with a slight grin on his face.
"Oh, its okay, you guys," Cordelia Chase added in a teasing tone. Her grin widening as she leaned against her boyfriend. "There's really no shame in being a coward. It was what we expected from you two anyway."
Spike growled under his breath and fixed the group with an icy glare. "I said I'd go in and I meant that I'll go in. Don't you losers have anything better to do?"
"Just making sure you don't wuss out on us, Spiky," Darla Mares retorted. Her lips curved in a smile and she cocked her head to the side. "Looks like we were just in time for the show, guys."
"This is boring," Buffy huffed, rolling her eyes in exaggerated boredom. "Obviously they're too scared to go in. Let's just go home."
Again the British import growled, but this time stepped forward approaching the group. Despite being inches shorter than both Riley and Angel, both found themselves stepping back from the blonde. Only Buffy stood her ground, glaring at him as he dared to approach them.
"You think I won't go in?"
She pursed her lips together. "I know it."
Spike leaned in closer until their lips were mere inches from hers. "Watch me." With that, he spun on his heels, stormed up the steps past Xander and into the house. A moment of tense silence passed as the group of teens all stood in shock. As Xander was about to follow his friend, the door slammed shut, seemingly on its own accord.
"The hell?" he mumbled. He pulled on the knob and found that it was once more locked. "Spike, open the door. The stupid thing is stuck or something."
There was no response. Fear started to prick at the edges of Xander's consciousness. Something wasn't right here. Why was Spike not responding? He should have been responding. Xander slammed one hand against the locked door while still pulling futilely with the other. "Spike, come on, open the damn door! This isn't funny."
"Is he okay in there?" Cordelia asked. Her earlier scornful tone now gone replaced by fear and something that sounded a lot like concern. "Maybe we should call for help or something."
Riley dismissed her concern with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "He's just being dramatic. I'm sure he's fine."
No sooner had the words left his mouth did a scream shred the night air startling them all. There was a heavy thud from inside the house followed by the sound of footsteps running. Xander turned around to see if he was the only one who had heard that. The wide eyed looks of terror on the others' faces let him know that he wasn't. If he wasn't so worried about his friend, he might have had a good laugh at the sight of the great Angelus shaking like a baby. But he was more concerned with what was going on with his still missing best friend.
"Okay, that was definitely not Spike," Buffy shook head, pointing at the house. "What the hell was that?"
"Who the hell cares?" Xander retorted. "Spike, open the door. Spike!" he kept pulling uselessly on the door. Finally he turned around once more to face the others who were still visibly shaken by what had just happened. "Are you all just going to stand there or are you going to help me?"
Angel was the first to shake off his shock. He was still faintly trembling as approached Xander. He pressed an ear to the door and listened closely. Beside him, Xander frowned and was about to ask just what the football player thought he was doing when Angel moved a little to the left. "The footsteps are moving this way. Come on," Angel said, speaking for the first time that night. Xander nodded his head in gratitude as the older boy led him along the side of the house following the sounds of the footsteps towards the courtyard.
They rounded the corner of the house that opened into the courtyard just in time to see something crash through one of the many windows of the mansion. The moonlight shed its light on the figure illuminating the too familiar hair. The pit of dread that had been building in his stomach tightened as Xander recognized the figure as Spike. He watched paralyzed by shock as his friend's body landed on the ground and rolled to a stop against a stone bench with a sickening thud.
"Oh my god."
He heard the horrified whispers behind him, but his brain wouldn't allow him to register anything other than the unmoving body of his friend. Never should have let him go in there alone, he mentally berated himself. Never should have let him go in there period. Xander moved on autopilot to Spike's side. He knelt beside his friend, turning him gently onto his back. He brushed the glass from his hair and frowned at the lack of response.
"Spike? Be okay, please. Spike?" Xander shook Spike's shoulder light and let out a sigh of relief as his friend moaned softly. "Spike, come on, you have to sit up." By the time everyone else reached the three teens, Xander had managed to get Spike to stay sitting up with the help of Angel.
"What the hell just happened?" Cordelia wondered aloud to no one in particular. She saw the shaken look on Spike's face and unconsciously put her hand on his leg offering silent comfort. Xander saw the move and smiled fleetingly. So Queen C was human after all, who knew? He filed that away in the mental rolodex of 'Other Interesting Things That Happened While My Best Friend Was Being Tortured by a House' and turned his attention back to his injured best friend.
"Spike, what happened in there? What did you see?" Angel asked him quietly. Xander arched an eyebrow at the concern that Angel was showing. There was something going on with him. Out of all of the Fang Gang he was the only one that didn't seem to be surprised by the night's events. Angel knew something, but at the moment none of that mattered. "Spike, what happened to you in there?
Spike turned his haunted gaze briefly towards the older boy and then to Xander. "It," he started before shuddering. Xander squeezed his shoulder and shifted closer to his friend. "It wants me back."
"What wants you back?" Buffy asked, hearing the hushed comment.
His pale blue eyes focused on something behind them that only he could see. The trembles in his body intensified prompting Xander to remove his hoodie and drape it around Spike's shoulders.
"Spike, what wants you back?"
"Hell," he whispered hoarsely. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head and Xander barely caught him as he slumped forward into his arms.
The brunette groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "Oh man, your dad is so going to kill me!"
Let me know what you all think. Should I continue? Should I just take it down from the site and pretend like it never happened? Anyway let me know.