Disclaimer: The work contained within is merely my playtime with the characters created by Joss Whedon and I in no way own any of them, or anything like that. Unfortunately. It sucks. But I'll just continue my plot to kidnap and clone James Marsters for myself.
Rated NC-17. Just in case.


In Medio Ignis


Caution Killed The Cat


Buffy swung the basket in her hands as she waited on the front porch for Spike. She'd swung by to see her mom, who'd dug out her old Red Riding Hood costume. They'd reminisced a little, and her mom had reassured her about things and now she was waiting to see what sort of outfit Spike had chosen to wear for the night. After lengthy discussion, the group had decided on characters that would be able to look after themselves, after the fiasco from Halloween two years previous. Spike hadn't been around for that, but he'd chuckled plenty when he'd been told about it.

'What's in the basket little girl?' A husky voice came from behind her and she turned, finding Spike and Xander stood there, wearing identical suits.

'Weapons.' Buffy smiled innocently.

'Oh.' Xander grinned sheepishly.

'Just in case. Like the tuxes.'

'We thought Reservoir Dogs was a good bet. And Spike makes a pretty good Mr Blond.' Xander chuckled as Spike shrugged.

'It was his idea. Although, I think the original Mr Blond was a bit bigger.'

'It's insurance in case we turn into our costumes again. We can be awesome and scary.'

'Or you could be waiters.' Buffy pointed out and her best friend's posture shrunk a little. Spike smirked and moved to put his arm around Buffy as they began to walk down the street.

'There's Willow and Oz.' Xander pointed out with a smile. The red head and her werewolf boyfriend approached with smiles of their own. Willow was dressed in a suit of armour and chainmail, but Oz didn't look like he had a costume on.

'Will. Medieval Will.'

'Hail, ye olde, vareletty, thou.'

'I'm Joan of Arc. I figured we had a lot in common, seeing as how, I was almost burned at the stake, and plus she had, that close relationship with God.' Willow gushed a little. Her best friend nodded and turned his gaze to Oz who was dressed in his usual jeans, t-shirt and overshirt.

'And you are?' The guitarist's expression didn't change as he pulled his shirt to the side and exposed his name tag that simply said "God". Xander nodded and made a face. 'Of course. I wish I'd thought of that before I put down my deposit. I could have been God.'

'Blasphemer.' Oz said with his usual stoic tone.

The bushes in front of the fivesomerustled and a couple of commando guys slipped into sight, their faces covered and guns in their hands. They looked like they were on the prowl as they moved past.

'Nice costumes. Very stealthy.' Buffy pointed out, smiling up at Spike with his arm draped around her shoulders.

Willow frowned. 'What are they supposed to be?'

'NATO?' Oz suggested as Xander cleared his throat.

'Oh, yeah, I, ah, invited Anya to join us, but she's having some trouble finding a scary costume, so she's just going to meet us there.' He missed the red head rolling her eyes at the mention of the former vengeance demon. Buffy reached over and squeezed her best friends hand.

'We're going to have the best time.'


As the group approached the house, kids ran past screeching. Spike winced from the loud noises, and Buffy smiled at him as he eyed the house apprehensively. She knew he was only doing this for her. If he had his way, they'd be indulging in her plan of bed, snacks and The Great Pumpkin. But upon entering the house, he smiled back at her and embraced her a bit tighter.

'The joint's not jumping.' Xander grimaced. 'Where is everybody?'

Mechanical laughter echoed throughout the hall, and a head with one eye hanging from its socket was on a table in a punch bowl. Oz pointed at it and looked back at the others. 'Follow the signs.'

Buffy looked down at the head. Spike chuckled. 'Terrifying. If I were Abbott and Costello, this would be fairly traumatic.'

Willow laughed a little as she walked through a doorway and straight into a cobweb. She shrieked and grabbed at it. 'Uh, ah!' The web came off with several frantic pats. 'Okay, that part was realistic.'

'Frat boys aren't too obsessive with their cleaning. Might not be decoration per se.' Oz commented dryly. A cupboard burst open and a plastic skeleton with a knife swung out, making Xander jump backwards a couple of feet. He panted as he looked at the others with embarrassment.

'I wasn't scared. I was in the spirit.'

'And we back you up on that. Even if they question us separately.' Willow smiled, as Oz glanced over at her. She followed his gaze and the slight widening of his eyes to her shoulder, and screamed as she saw the tarantula on her shoulder, moving slowly towards her face.

'Get it off!' Oz jumped forward, removing the spider and Buffy shivered in sympathy for her friend.

'It's gone.' Oz said, pulling Willow into a hug.

'Okay, that is not sanitary.'

'Yeah. How about we get to the party part of the party?' Spike said, looking over at Buffy. His hackles were rising, and he wasn't sure of this place. Everything in him, including his demon, was screaming that he should have stayed home. Willow was still panicking about the spider, even though Oz was reassuring her, but the group moved on. Buffy stopped when they reached the next room, bending down to poke at a spot on the carpet.

'I thought this led to...' Oz trailed off, looking around with confusion written across his normally unemotional face.

'What is it?' Xander asked Buffy.

'Blood.' She said, holding out her hand to Spike who sniffed and nodding in confirmation. 'Real blood.'

'Okay, actual creeps have been given.' Xander said, then cupped his hands around his mouth. 'Bravo, frat boys!'

'Shh! Do you hear something?' Spike asked. Buffy frowned.

'Like a squeaking noise?'

'Oh, it's these rented shoes, patent leather. I asked the guy to...' Xander was interrupted as Willow raised a hand.

'No, no, I – wait. It's something else. I hear it, too. Something like...'

All five of them looked up as the noise got louder. The ceiling was covered with bats. Live bats. Willow screamed, and the whole group dropped to the floor as the bats left the ceiling and flew through the corridor. When they were gone, Spike picked up a bat that was left on the floor and threw it to Oz. Willow shrieked a little.

'No, Oz, don't it might be-'

'Rubber. It's made of rubber.' Oz turned the fake bat over in his hands.

'What the hell is going on here?' Buffy muttered.

'Look, maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just a neat trick. You know, something done with wires or...' Xander paused as a voice rumbled through the house.

Release me.

Xander paled. 'Or it might be something else.'


The creepy screams and sound effects were becoming irritating and over the top as they moved through the house. Eventually the group came full circle back to the stairs at the front of the house. But the stairs were gone and so was the door.

'Where is the stairs?' Xander asked, quickly followed by Willow asking the same question of the missing door.

'This is the way we came in, right? We just went in a circle?' The noises went off suddenly as Oz flicked a switch. Spike sighed heavily.

'Thank the lord.' He threw Oz a grateful smile and the werewolf nodded.

'You're welcome.'

'Hey, I have a neat idea,' Willow nodded enthusiastically. 'Let's get out of here.'

'And you were so anxious for us to come.' The Slayer said with a hint of tease.

'I'm serious Buffy, we don't know what we're dealing with.' Willow said, panic lacing her tone.

'My turn. Does anyone hear that?' Xander said, raising his hand.

No one replied to him as Buffy frowned. 'As soon as we start dealing with it, I'll know what it is we're dealing with. Do you hear something?'

'Like I said. Sounds like a hissing.' Xander confirmed.

'It's like a "sssss" noise.' Buffy said and Xander looked at her with a frown.

'I thought the word hissing kind of covered that nicely.'

Buffy didn't reply as she moved along the corridor, her senses on alert and Spike close to her back. It was odd, she thought then, that she could still kinda feel him; as if her tinglies were still picking up a vampire but they were almost dumbed down. But what usually had her on edge around regular demons, only made her feel comforted in this instant. He always had her back.

The hissing noise sounded again and she moved towards a closet door, fully prepared for anything that might jump out. But the only thing inside the closet, was a terrified looking guy, rocking back and forth, his hands covering his head as he muttered to himself.

'I'm sorry, I didn't know. I'm sorry.' His voice was desperate and plaintive as he keened

Oz pushed past her then, moving to the guy in the closet, crouching down in front of him. 'Chaz?'

'I didn't know.' The guy said, barely acknowledging the werewolf.

'What's happening?' Oz's voice was gentle as he reached out to his friend. Chaz rocked back and forth, back and forth, the intensity growing with every repetition.

'It ah...' He gasped and Buffy frowned.

'What is it?'

His breath was coming heavier as he finally looked up and saw them, his eyes wide with terror. 'It's alive. It's alive!'

Her frown only deepened at his words, and all eyes were on the terrified guy in the closet. 'What's alive?' The Slayer questioned, as Chaz's eyes went even wider as he seemed to look beyond them.

'He's in shock.' Xander commented, but no one replied.

'Chaz, what happened here?' Buffy asked again, and then jumped slightly as Chaz let rip an agonized scream. Everyone turned as the previously plastic skeleton from down the hall came at them, slashing it's knife downwards towards Buffy. Spike yelled, and she dodged just in time, sending a punch in it's direction and aiming a kick to the midsection. The skeleton fell to the ground, plastic again. Everyone stared at it, until Buffy turned her head to check her shoulder. The knife had slashed a hole in her cape and gone through to her shoulder, leaving a thin trail of blood behind. 'I think the cape took most of it.' She said, smiling up at Spike reassuringly. He ghosted his hand over her shoulder, his concern visible on his face.

'Let me see.' Xander said, reached for his friend, but she turned as Oz peered at the injury.

'Could need stitches. You should at least get a bandage or something.' A female scream echoed through the house, and everyone looked up, except for Chaz, who squirrelled back into the closet and shut the door. 'Cowering in a closet is starting to seem like a reasonable plan.' Oz surmised.

Buffy looked over to where the closet was, seeing the wall sealed and the door gone. 'What closet?' She noted. 'I'm gonna make my way upstairs and see if there are any people there.' She decided, turning to the others with a grim look of determination on her face. 'You guys find a way out of the house and use it.'

'You're telling us to run away and leave you behind?' Willow said, an edge of panic to her voice. Spike shook his head.

'She won't be alone, Red.'

'And I have my basket of fun.' She pulled a crossbow free from said basket. 'We need help. We need the only person that can make sense of what's happening.' Willow frowned and Buffy stared at her. 'You know, Giles? Yay tall, usually has his nose in a book, panics in a very British way?'

'We can't just leave you and Spike. We don't know what's going on here.'

Buffy sighed. 'Will, I'm telling you...'

'You're telling me? You're telling me?' The witch's voice got higher with every second.

'I can't do my job if I have to worry about each of your safety.'

'It's not your decision.' Willow argued and Buffy put one hand on her hip in annoyance. Spike and Oz backed up, wary of intervening.

'Got to disagree with you there.'

'Oh of course you do.'

Xander stepped forward, holding his hands up. 'Let's all take a breath. Buffy, maybe -' He was cut off by Willow scowling.

'Being the Slayer doesn't automatically make you boss. You're as lost as the rest of us.'

'What are we talking about?' Oz asked, confused as to where the argument had sprung from. He knew Buffy was right; finding Giles was the best course of action, but Willow seemed angrier than usual about Buffy's need to protect them.

'It's a simple incantation, a guiding spell for travellers when they become lost or disorientated.' Willow said slowly.

'And how does it work?' Buffy asked, her worry about magic increasing. Willow's mouth set in a thin line as she regarded her best friend.

'Conjuring.' The Slayer stated. 'Will, let's be realistic here. Okay, your basic spells are usually only fifty-fifty.'

'Oh yeah? Well, so is you face.' Buffy blinked at the retort, as Willow turned on her heels and began to storm off.

'What?' She blinked again and then chased after her friend. 'What does that mean?' Willow whirled on her, her face screwed up in indignation.

'I'm not your sidekick!' The redhead stomped off, and Oz moved past Buffy, thundering after his girlfriend. Buffy sighed heavily and turned to Spike, who shrugged in confusion.

'Well, that was a bunch of laughs.' Xander quipped, as the Slayer walked past him and back to the basket of weapons she'd set on the floor. Spike picked it up for her, ever the gentleman. She gave him a grateful smile as Xander moved closer. 'Look Buffy, we are all tired and a little edgy. Maybe Willow is over reacting. I'm sure part of it is because of how you've been all involved girl lately.' Buffy picked up the crossbow, nether her or Spike acknowledging him. 'But not is not the time to let that stuff tear us apart.' She turned, brushing past him. 'What I'm saying is, I'm right with you. You and Spike. Right by your side. I'm -'

Buffy frowned, looking around and then to Spike.

'Where's Xander?' She asked.

'Funny how you still haven't lost your sense of inappropriate humour.' Xander quipped, looking to Spike for backup. Spike shrugged and looked around.

'He was here a minute ago.' The blonde said and Buffy frowned again.

'Knock it off. Skit's over. I'm right here.'

Buffy made a noise similar to a growl under her breath and began to stomp off, Spike following her. 'This is so typical of him!'

Xander paused, his brain trying to catch up to the situation. 'Typical?'

'Xander!' Spike called, followed by Buffy calling again. Their voices were getting quieter and Xander frowned.

'Buffy!' He yelled, running to catch up.


Xander had disappeared and Buffy was fuming. Spike didn't dare say a word to her as he followed her through the house, which had somehow become a giant maze. He'd never felt a house so creepy, but it didn't feel haunted. There was heavy magic in the air, making his hackles rise on end. Buffy didn't seem to notice it, but she was getting more and more pissed by the second.

Willow's voice echoed through the halls, and Buffy took off into a dead run, silently cursing her friend for being so stubborn all of a sudden. She bolted through a door, and Spike, a couple of seconds behind her, made to follow her through, but the door slammed shut and he hit it with force, cursing as his nose encountered the wood and he felt something split. He fell backwards onto the carpet with a thud, feeling the trickle of blood on his chin.

Another busted nose.

This was just fantastic.

'Buffy?' He called, holding one hand to his nose as he used the other to push himself up off of the floor. She didn't answer. 'Buffy!' He called again, feeling panic rise inside him. He didn't like this feeling; being alone, unable to get to her.

Her scream sounded through the wood and then the door disappeared, leaving a brick wall in it's place. Spike's eyes widened at her pained cry and he threw himself against the blockade, pounding his fists against the door until they were bleeding. 'Buffy!' He shouted, desperate to get to her. The wall shifted, and a shelf popped out from nowhere, throwing him backwards. He fell beyond the floor and landed with a grunt, banging his head on compacted earth.

Opening his eyes he looked up, seeing that he'd landed in a rectangular hole, sheer walls of earth on either side. A rain of dirt began over his head as he began to gasp for air, panicking beyond anything he'd felt before, nausea rising in his stomach as he struggled to get to his feet under the onslaught of dirt. He jumped, the sides of the grave were just out of his reach, and it was filling quickly, threatening to bury him alive. He cried out as the earth tried to swallow him, grasping the side tightly, using all his strength to pull himself from the grave.

He landed back on the carpet, gasping for air as he blinked dirt from his eyelashes. He turned, seeing that the grave was gone and the carpet was all that was left.

What the hell was that? Spike had always hated graves. He'd hated waking up in the dark when he was a kid, and he'd always been terrified of not being able to breath. The worst sensation about this humanity crap was that he had to use his damn lungs. Drowning, suffocating, things of nightmares.

Is that what the house wanted? To literally scare them to death?

Buffy screamed again, distracting him from his own panic, only for worry and concern to take its place. 'Buffy!' He yelled, but her scream was coming from all around him. He ran back down the corridor, everything a blur as he tried to follow the sound of her screams, her scent anything, but nothing was working right and he couldn't pinpoint her, and he was panicking again, his breath coming in short spurts as he desperately traversed the corridors looking for his Slayer.

'Buffy!' His voice was pure desperation now, and he turned again, seeing her, finally, running towards him. But as she ran, a whizzing noise passed him and something hit her, in the chest, directly in the heart. She hit the ground like a ton of bricks and he raced to her, gathering her up in his arms, crying out her name. He turned her over, running his hands over her face, her open eyes, finally down to the crossbow bolt lodged in her chest. Blood soaked through the little red riding hood outfit and she stared up at the ceiling, unseeing, unmoving, not breathing.

He'd failed her.

He wasn't fast enough.

Not good enough.

He'd killed his Slayer.


To Be Continued...


I'm so mean. I apologise.