Chapter Two - Control
Second chapter, same warnings and disclaimers apply, I hope you all enjoy!
The video store was decked out in orange and black, little pumpkin and witch stickers were plastered to every somewhat flat surface. The counter was manned by a very disgruntled looking bumblebee. Someone wasn't in the Halloween spirit...the night before Halloween. I wandered through the racks of empty VHS cases trying to find the horror section, tracing my finger across the glossy, bright pictures. Eventually those bright, pretty pictures started to turn dark, and a bit more like something I'd seen in the sewer below Sunnydale. P, P, Phantom Spirit, Phantom in the Attic, no Phantasm. Maybe I could bring back The Shining or something? No, Xander had his heart set on Phantasm.
The disgruntled bumblebee was still there, frowning at a pile of receipts, "Hi," I said, placing my hands on the counter.
"What can I do for you?" She asked, not sounding particularly sincere.
"I was looking for a copy of Phantasm."
"Yeah. Yeah we got one," She said, not really looking at me, but the screamer playing on the TV hooked up to the back wall.
"Could I...rent it? Please?" I asked, wait why was I asking this? It's a video store of course I could rent it. She hadn't responded yet, her eyes were still glued to the television in the back. I couldn't see what was happening, but it sounded rather gruesome. Should I say something? That vacant stare, coupled with viciously winged eyeliner, and her slow methodical way of chewing gum that some how came across as aggressive; were all kind intimidating, fluffy bee suit or not.
Just as I was about to open my mouth she answered, "Yeah. One minute," and disappeared into the back, stinger swaying. From the sound of it someone was being brutally murdered behind me, God knew how long it would be while I waited for my movie, I might as well watch this - fucking hell.
William the fucking Bloody had his mouth wrapped around some poor guy's neck. With one last violent shake that knocked a few cases off the shelf, he dropped his victim and turned to look at me. He slowly licked his lips, and walked towards me.
"Spike," I warned, "Don't come any closer. I have a stake, and I'm not afraid to use it." I lied, I was at least moderately afraid. I'm guessing he knew, because he laughed a moderately evil laugh in return. Could I perhaps get slow working bumblebee girl back as villain of the evening? I felt far less confident about my chances of surviving in Spike's general vicinity without Buffy.
"Oh like you could if you tried." He said, with an asinine sneer. Oh what I would give to glow his ass into the next dimension, if I actually knew how to perform said glowing.
"I could!" I argued, reaching into my bag for the stake that I apparently had lied about as well, "But I'm not going to."
"Just like I'm not going to kill you."
"You're not?" I sounded more surprised than I had meant to.
"Not here for that Bird. Popped out for a midnight snack and a video, no intention of getting the slayer and her scoobies on my arse," he said, standing behind me to form a line, what the actual hell? "What? You think I'd know where to find this," he quickly flashed a case in front of me, "in that hell hole? Anyways, I was thinking of taking the bee home for a movie snack."
I blinked, "Why would you tell me that?" He cocked his head to the side, "You already killed that guy, you think another is going to make Buffy want to stick a stake in you less?"
"No, no, he's not dead. I'm not going to kill her either, well technically."
"Not dead? Look at you, tiptoeing around the slayer like all the other vampires, someone's finally -" He grabbed my wrist and squeezed, as much as I hate to say it I couldn't suppress a yelp.
"I'm not tiptoeing, you stupid bint, I'm being smart," he snarled, and then pushed me back into the counter, before straightening back up and letting his face shift back to the human mask, "I don't need you off tattling to your precious slayer right now," he said a bit more calmly.
I nodded, not really sure what to say. Maybe I should leave, let bumblebee girl call nine-one-one. No, that wouldn't work, Spike would just take her and leave captain misfortune over there to bleed out. I glanced at the vampire, he had turned his attention to the movie, apparently bored by threatening me. Glad to know I'm appreciated. Out of curiosity more than anything I looked to the case in his hand, Passions: Season Three, Tape Two.
"Passions?" Oh my God, this was the funniest thing I'd seen all day. If I wasn't slightly worried he would change his mind about killing me, I would have laughed.
"Yeah, my girl wants to -"
"Spike, you staked Harmony last month, and honestly even Drusilla wouldn't watch that."
"Fine, it's mine," he said, avoiding eye contact. Don't laugh Marley, don't laugh. For the love of God, don't laugh. I choked on a giggle, and it came out as a snort. Fuck. My stomach dropped a bit as I met his glare, and I took as much of a step back as I could considering the counter behind me.
"You know what? I'm too tired for this!" He snapped, throwing the box on the ground and practically storming out of the store.
"Here's your movie." The monotone voice of bumblebee girl droned from behind the counter, "That'll be seven ninety five."
"What about -" I looked at the unconscious man a few feet away.
"I'll deal with it," she said, "seven ninety five." I started digging through my purse, there had to be money somewhere.
"You're not going to ask what happened?"
"It's Sunnydale, kid. Enjoy the movie."
The crickets weren't dead yet, not that I minded, I always thought they sounded pretty. It was pretty late by the time I managed to get back to Xander's basement. I could hear music from inside, nothing horribly loud (Xander's mom would yell at us), but loud enough that they probably didn't hear my knock. So I lifted my hand and rapped on the screen door again, I didn't mind the dark, but my encounter with average height, pasty, and gruesome had left me a bit unnerved. I knocked again, a bit harder.
"There's our southern bell!" Xander grinned, and pulled me into the basement. Oz, Willow, and Buffy were all there as well as a couple degutted pumpkins.
"I'm not a southern bell Xander," I said smacking the VHS against his chest as I passed, going to take a seat next to Willow.
"You have a southern accent," he countered.
"Hardly."
"You're from Georgia!"
"And you're from Sunny Hell. Just put in the movie, Xander. I want to be scared by something that doesn't exist for once," I said, crossing my arms and throwing my feet up onto the table. At least tomorrow was Halloween. Halloween was quiet, and peaceful, and only spooky in a corny way. My eyes felt droopy, maybe I could just sleep here. No need to go all the way across town in the middle of the night while vicious vampires roam the streets. Not that they don't normally roam the streets at night.
"All right, popping in the movie." Xander narrated, I just leaned my head back and listened. Oz and Willow were flirting quietly through the previews, Xander was making idle (and completely ignored) chit chat, Buffy was oddly quiet. Actually, she'd been oddly quiet since our run in with Spike a few weeks ago.
"Marley, what the hell?" Xander said, and I heard something rustling on the coffee table.
"What?" I mumbled.
"This isn't Phantasm, It's Fantasia." He said, and I sat up grabbing the box from him. He was right, Mickey was staring up at me decked out in wizard robes and starry hat.
"How are we supposed to reach full scareage off of Fantasia?" Xander asked, hitting the eject button with a little more force than necessary.
"I don't know, the big demon thingy is kind of creepy," Willow said, smiling at me. I could always count on Willow.
"I'm sorry Xander, I forgot to check if she gave me the right movie. I was preoccupied." I said, leaning back again and letting my eyes fall shut.
"Everything okay?" Oz asked, I could hear him shift on the couch, leaning forward to see me around Willow.
"Yeah, no, it was just a little run in with Spike. He didn't give me a rough time," I sighed, "He was just there to rent Passions." I added, hoping to keep them from questioning me further. Buffy had been so out of it lately, I didn't need her going after Spike just for him to add a third slayer to his belt. It worked, the others erupted into giggles, even Buffy. After much merriment at Spike's expense, the giggles died down.
"You're okay though?" Willow asked, "You seemed a bit, spooked."
"I'm okay, he just hassled me a bit. I think you might have him whipped Buffy," I said, leaning forward to look at her where she was sitting on the end of the couch, "he was afraid of incurring your wrath." Buffy smiled, and laughed.
We ended up watching Fantasia anyway, talking quietly amongst ourselves while Hippos danced in tutus on screen. I spent half of it asleep, the other half listening to my friends with my eyes closed. They were talking about some party or something, I wasn't sure, not that I particularly cared at the moment. I decided that Xander didn't have a choice as to whether I stayed or not. I just drifted off to sleep.
Why the hell was Anya in my room? No, this wasn't my room, why the hell was Anya in Xander's room? A quiet yawn forced its way from my throat, and I smacked my tongue against the roof of my mouth, trying to shake the fuzzy feeling that seemed to blanket everything. What time was it? I really must have fallen asleep, the futon hadn't even been pulled out. I was just curled in the corner of the couch, using the headrest as a pillow, and pillows as blankets.
Did I really want to deal with Anya right now? It sounded like it was a relatively serious conversation, and quite frankly I wasn't in the mood for overly honest comments about the current state of my hair. She hadn't seen me yet, I could just go back to sleep, sleep sounded nice.
My head felt heavy, sinking further into the cushy pillow top of the couch. I think I had had weird dreams last night, that or I was getting dreams confused with centaurs and little baby pegasi. Either way, they were too blurry to really remember anything. Maybe if I fell asleep I could dream them ag - I yelped as I suddenly found myself in midair, quickly followed by the floor, with a short pit stop in between that was my ribcage on the coffee table.
Well I was at least some what awake now.
"Marley?" I heard Anya's voice from somewhere beyond the Futon.
I sat up, "Yup? What can I do for ya?"
"Maybe you could convince Xander that the night that he and I copulated was pleasant enough to continue our relations." She sounded completely serious. I choked, oh my god she was completely serious.
"What?" I said, the word getting mangled by surprise.
"I said -" Anya started, but Xander quickly grabbed her shoulder
"Oh I think she heard you Anya." Xander was turning pink, "You know what Anya, we'll go to the party tonight. Just get a costume ready, it'll be a date, just don't tell all my friends that we... copulate."
"Are you ashamed that we -"
"No, just don't use the word copulate," Xander said, turning redder. Anya nodded, and turned to leave. Xander just stood there in his spiderman boxers looking to be somewhere between embarrassed and mortified.
"So there's a party?" I started.
"You can come too. Just get out." He said, pointing at the door.
"Okay! Calm down, spiderman."
"Out!"
I needed to go home and figure out something for a costume. I didn't really want to spend fifty bucks on something from the store. There were enough crosses in the house that I could go as an angry preacher, all I needed was some black clothes. It was kind of chilly out, for southern california that is, it was probably like sixty degrees. Anya had decided to drop by pretty early, the sun had only just risen a little while ago, and everything was painted with orange and gold. I enjoyed biking in the morning, it was cool, and quiet, and everything had that fresh morning smell.
Xander's wasn't too far from Ravello, it took me only a couple minutes to ride up to the house. I felt the need for a shower, and coffee, I could kill someone for coffee right now. I came to a stop and swung off, leaving my bike against the side of the house and headed for the door, which was slightly open. My heart started to beat a little quicker, what if a demon had wandered in, or Spike, or...oh god what if it was just some douchebag with a knife? I didn't know what I was supposed to do with douchebags, you're not allowed to stake them. I stood there, staring at the two inches of space between the door and frame, should I go in? Should I bike back to Xander's?
Letting my keys slide through my fingers to form metal claws, I gently pushed the door open, cringing as it squeaked. Nothing looked disturbed, that crossed out douchebag with a knife, and I didn't know a lot of demons who were up for casual entering without breaking. That left...Spike. Oh you stupid, stupid girl, don't laugh at evil vampires for their preference in soap operas. It'll just come back to bite you in the ass, or neck. I knew I should have asked Willow to do the uninviting mojo, but no, I had to procrastinate everything.
I had decided I was just going to slide out the door, get back on my bike, and leave in a quick and somewhat terrified manner. Except, then I heard someone yelp from upstairs. Had he decided to bring a snack while he waited? Scare me with a body - no that was more of an Angelus thing. I couldn't just leave the poor person, what if they were dead before I could get Buffy here?
Trying to make as little noise as possible I crept over to the cabinet and started shuffling through piles of junk looking for an extra stake. My heart was practically in my throat as I closed my fingers around the rough wood. Alright Marley, just don't get yourself killed. At least if I did I would end up taking Spike with me, vamps don't do too well when in close proximity to a blast of dying demon light. I slunk up the stairs, each time a step creaked I stopped in a breathless silence. I could hear the sound of someone going through Buffy's room. Finally I made it to the top of the stairs, and tiptoed to Buffy's room.
I was expecting a murder scene, or a soon to be murder scene, but instead I got, "Buffy?"
"Hey, Marley. Help." Buffy was crouched next to her dresser, her earring was snagged on one of the handles. I let out a breath and quietly put the stake on her bedside table, she wouldn't question how it got there, stakes practically made themselves in this house. So I wasn't going to die, but I decided it was time to call Willow about locking Spike out. The earring had managed to wedge itself into the grooves of the metal handles rather effectively, so much so that I just pushed her head down a bit so I could take the dangly offender out.
"I don't think you're getting the earring back," I said, "You might be able to get Xander to fiddle with it, he has a lot of free time."
"Nah, I didn't like them much anyway," she said, standing up and heading to her closet.
"What'cha doing?" I asked, leaning against her dresser.
"Looking for a costume. I've got a party tonight." She said, from the depths of her clothes.
"Oh I think Xander invited me to that. So, what are you going to wear?" I asked, my heart hadn't stopped beating in doubletime. I think Buffy showing up was the biggest relief of the day, of course it was only eight.
"I don't know. I was thinking Little Red Riding Hood again, but the costume doesn't fit anymore," she said.
"Get me your mom's sewing kit and the costume, I'll let it out a bit if you find me something to wear."
"Deal," she said, and ran down stairs. A few minutes later she was handing me the supplies, I took them and shifted to get a bit more comfortable against the dresser while she went back into the closet to look for her costume.
"You've been okay, right?" I asked, absentmindedly pulling out the stuff I would need.
"What?" Buffy asked, coming out of the closet with an armful of red cloth.
"You've been okay? I don't know, you've seemed kind of out of it lately," I said, as she handed me her costume, "You know you can talk to me, right?" Her face fell slightly, and she sat next to me.
"I had sex with Parker."
"Congratulations!" I lifted my hand for a high five, earning a dirty look, "...not congratulations...what happened?"
"He was so nice, and he was funny, and I thought he liked me - but now he doesn't even notice me, he's not even avoiding me. He just doesn't care!" She said, getting that lost puppy look she had when she was feeling upset.
"I'm sorry. That really sucks." Wow, what a douchebag. Sleep around all you like, but it's a dick move to lead someone on like that. She'd been so excited too, and she was getting over Angel, and now she was moping almost as much as when he was around.
"I feel like an idiot," she said and leaned against me.
"You're not an idiot. He's an idiot, and a...stinky face." I'm not particularly verbose in the realm of insults. She gave a half hearted laugh for my efforts.
"Yeah...a stinky face." She didn't sound all that convinced.
"Get me a costume and I'll buy you ice cream? Yummy, fattening, soul cleansing ice cream," I said, and she smiled.
"Alright, you better be prepared to pay for a lot of toppings," she stood up, "I think I have something perfect for you in my dorm. Be back in an hour or so," she said, and ran out the door. I listened to her jog down the stairs, maybe I'd try to make us some waffles too. I sighed and put the cape and sewing kit aside to stand up, except something kept me from getting up, namely my hair yanking against my scalp. I tried to move again, nothing. I glanced down at the earring, still dangling in the handle. Oh no.
"Buffy! Buffy don't leave me!" The front door had already closed.
"Marley, what are you supposed to be exactly?" Xander asked, staring at me with a barely suppressed smirk. I could hear Buffy giggling behind me, this was her fault. I bought her ice cream, and in return she gave me a pot.
"C'mon Marley, what are you?" I glared at Buffy, and lifted the pot to rest over the high bun I'd used to keep it from falling off.
"I'm a pothead," I said, sighing heavily. Everyone started giggling, Buffy was practically cracking up, "This is my first frat party, and I'm a pothead."
"Don't worry, Marley, they're frat boys. They'll be all over you," Oz said, and another round of giggles passed through the group. We kept walking, chatting about the party, and remarking on the costumes of people that we passed. I was glad it was Halloween, that meant a nice quiet fun night, free from real monsters.
"So Xander, where's Anya?" I said, a little revenge for kicking me out this morning. The other's looked at him, eyebrows raised, but before anyone could say anything we were interrupted. My pot was nearly jolted from my head as a group of guys dressed like commandos and brandishing rifles ran past, you're never safe from douche bags.
"What the hell was that?" Xander asked, watching the place where they dissappeared into the bushes.
"NATO?" Oz suggested.
The house was surprisingly, empty. Decorated to the nines, but not a single person was near the entrance. We filed in and looked around at the work they'd done, it was really quite good. The whole place had a dusty, abandoned feel to it: Cobwebs filled with surprisingly realistic fake spiders, junk and scrap wood piled in the corners, it looked like they'd actually broken one of the windows in the back. The whole place smelled like mildew, and something a bit idiots had too much time on their hands.
I jumped at a surprisingly realistic scream from behind me. Willow was swatting at something on her back, I supposed that's why it was realistic. Something large, dark, and fuzzy flew off her shoulder and skittered away. Oh god was that a real tarantula?
"I think they tried a little too hard." I was staring back up at the cobwebs, where I could now see the spiders moving here and there. I hate spiders.
"Come on," Oz started walking, "The party's upstairs."
"Hey guys," Buffy hadn't moved, "I think that's real blood." I turned around, and sure enough there was a puddle of thick red liquid. Which would explain the metallic smell. I can't say I wouldn't put frat boys past murder, the ones in this town were kind of fucked up. Maybe it wasn't human? I knelt next to the puddle, not really sure how looking at it would tell me if they'd killed Tommy or Babe. The others had come over to stare at the blood, yes we have saved the world, though sometimes I wonder how.
There was a high pitched squeaking from somewhere above us, did spiders squeak? The first flap of wings against my neck barely registered, but suddenly there was a hell of a lot more of them. I screamed, flailing my arms above my head, trying to get free of whatever demon spawn had been unleashed upon us. Almost as quickly as they'd come, they were gone, leaving one of their fuzzy - no, rubber - brethren on the floor with us. It was a bat, but it was rubber, but it attacked us. What the hell was happening?
"So, call me a party-pooper, but I say we get Giles," I said, trying to let the fluttering in my stomach pass.
"I'm going to have to second that," Willow piped up.
"Alrighty let's move -" Xander stopped abruptly, "...out. Guys there was a door here, right?"
"Well it's gone now," Buffy said, touching the place where the door had been.
"Release me!" Someone yelled, based on the deep growling tone it had to be Oz. I didn't think Xander was capable of it.
"Yeah, what he said!" I said defiantly.
"Marley, that wasn't one of us," Xander said.
"Wait, what?"
"I don't know Buffy, she has a point," I said trying to sound as un-aggressive as possible, "A spell could be useful right now."
"No," Buffy argued, "What we need to do is split up, and whoever gets out is going to go get Giles."
"I dunno," Oz said, "Whatever is here, I don't think it really wants us to leave." The atmosphere had been tense before, but now it was kind of like everyone had been tied together with a live wire.
"And I don't know if you've watched any horror movies recently, but splitting up isn't usually the best idea." Xander added.
"I think magic would be worth a shot," Willow said, not really looking at Buffy.
"Willow, your spells don't even work half the time!" Buffy snapped, "You're just as likely to get us killed as you are to get us out."
"Yeah, and if we don't try something, we're all going to be killed by plastic skeletons!" Willow yelled.
"You know what," Buffy raised her hands, "Do what you want, I'm going to get Giles." With that she stormed off, and Willow practically in tears went the other way Oz close behind.
"So, Xandman, just you and me against the -" I looked around, where the hell was Xander? Great, they'd all left me.
The halls were endless, it was like a labyrinth in here, every damn door I went through lead to another hallway and the door that I'd come through was gone. There was an odd hollow feeling in my gut, some combination of nerves and the surrealness of it all. I honestly no longer cared about what I found, I just wanted to get out of these fucking gloomy little hallways. I sighed, reaching out for another door, I really didn't care it could lead to - Vampires! They weren't the standard, or they were the standard, widow's peaks and the whole shebang. The three of them hissed dramatically, and spread their capes before running at me.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I was tearing down hallway after hallway, the vamps hard on my tail. I would almost prefer the normal vamps we dealt with, at least if they got me it wouldn't feel so cliche. I threw open another door, and slammed it shut behind me, they couldn't have possibly followed. I sighed, patting the now blank wall and turned around. The vamps were, there banging on the door I had just gone through, and I was in a dead end. They all turned in unison, giving me perfectly fanged smiles before advancing. I had no stakes, and no weapons save the pot from my head.
This was it.
They loomed over me, capes spread, fangs bared, and then whoosh. There was an actual sound to the golden light that rushed out in waves, burning them to a crisp before they could even touch me, and then racing down the hall before disappearing around the corner. What was that? That wasn't supposed to happen, I'd only ever done the glow thing when I was threatened. And by threatened I mean either a large TV fell on me, or there was a sword in my stomach. A handful of vampires didn't trigger it, at least not before.
Oh god I was getting stronger wasn't I? I didn't know how to use it, much less control it, or even what it could hurt. The first time it happened, back in Georgia, it killed my goldfish. The second time it dusted a couple vamps, but now it was happening again and they hadn't even touched me. What if I hurt someone? What if I hurt Buffy? Or Xander? I staggered to my feet and started running, I needed to get out of here. There was too much that could go wrong.
I threw open another door, with a bit too much gusto. The edge clipped my nose and suddenly the light was coming off of me again, this time in piercing rays shooting off in different directions. Why was it loud? The noise was piercing, and it was getting brighter. It was a fucking door! It might have made my nose bleed, but I didn't need to go nuclear over it. There was nothing but noise and light now, I couldn't even hear my heart, but I could feel it pounding against my chest. My head was in my hands, I didn't know where I was if I was sitting or standing, if I was screaming, and then it was dark.
"Hello?" I whispered, I couldn't see anything, what light there was was rendered useless by the blinding sun spots that danced on the back of my eyes. God my head hurt.
"Stay away," a voice growled from a few feet to my left, "Stay away from me." I knew that voice, Oz. Oh god, Oz! I could still feel the glow, prickling beneath my skin. He was muttering something, again, and again. I couldn't make it out, the ringing hadn't left my ears yet. My vision was coming back slowly, and I could see light reflected in the dark black of his eyes. He was changing. That wasn't right, it wasn't a full moon. Of course nothing seemed to be working right in here.
"Shit, shit I gotta get out of here." I stood carefully, afraid that I would blow the whole town out if I so much as broke a nail.
"I don't want to hurt you," Oz said, from his spot in what appeared to be a tub.
"Not what I'm worried about, bud." I started to feel my way towards the wall. I don't know how I ended up in here, with them, but I needed out. There had to be a door somewhere they had to be.
"I don't want to hurt you." There was more strain in his voice, the gravelly undertones stronger. Ceramic cracked under pressure, he must have been gripping the tub, "Leave!"
"I'm trying!" The prickle was getting stronger, oh god I was going to kill Oz.
I pounded my hand against the wall, pain seared through my hand. It wasn't the wall, it was a mirror. My eyes lit up, reflecting back at me, bright and golden. The cracked glass bathed the room in little gold lights that spun and twirled as I moved, the glow got brighter and brighter. No, no, no, no. Control it, don't do this. You can't kill Oz. I whirled around, and the room returned to darkness, I had to find some sort of way out. I could still see my eyes, the light from them staring back at me. Wait! Glass.
There was a window across the room from me. I lunged across the room and without a thought, I jumped. The glass shattered around me, and by all means I expected to be enveloped in searing light and sound again as I plummeted to the ground, but it was quiet.
"How did you do that?" Giles' voice had never sounded so pleasant.
"What?" I replied shakily, I hadn't jumped outside, I had jumped into a room.
"You just broke through a wall," Xander said.
"Oh, that," I brought myself to my feet. The prickle was gone, I was fine. No one was dead. There was a rustling behind me, Oz was picking his way through the hole I had left. Everyone was here, Buffy, Willow, even Anya in a fluffy bunny suit. I looked over to Giles, "How did you -"
"Chain saw." Anya said matter of factly.
"Oh, okay," I wobbled my way over to a chair and sat down, "So what's happening?"
Xander held up an old leather bound book, "Gachnar."
"Fear demon," Giles explained, "He feeds off of terror, he was manifesting himself here."
"Is he -"I started, and Giles stepped aside, revealing a demon that couldn't have been taller than a couple inches.
"He did all of this?" I nearly killed Oz, and jumped out a window, at the hands of something so small it could almost be considered cute.
"Yup," Buffy said, slamming her foot down on it despite the little bastard's defiant and diminutive screams, "And now, we're going home."
