Chapter 10 - Nightmares Come True Too

Angelus had not been so afraid for his existence for a very long time.He could feel the wood pushing closer to his heart with every step. He made for the factory, considering who should be given the job of removing the bolt. There were those he knew were fanatically loyal to him, but none of them had the skill required. There was one minion who had been a surgeon, so he definitely had the skill, but he wasn't particularly loyal. That was how it went with minions. The more intelligent they were, the less their loyalty. But there were ways to improve loyalty. There would have to be a reward for him if he succeeded, but there also had to be a suitable punishment threatened in case it was unsuccessful.

Once at the factory, the whole establishment was thrown into chaos at the sight of their master's brush with finality. A makeshift operating table was set up and the minion chosen to perform the operation entered the room shaking visibly. The result of his failure had been made clear. His reward would be permitting him to become a childe. Angelus had never made a childe other than at the point of death, but the reward for the service of saving him had to be significant. David had always seemed intelligent, and he had shown himself quite devious on a number of occasions. Although reluctant to spend the time training him, Angelus knew he needed support from someone who shared his blood. In any case, he would make loyalty a thing that earned positive results in the short term for his new childe.

Despite his shaking hands, David knew he was Angelus' best bet. He was an experienced surgeon when Angelus had changed him in a fit of aggression just after Spike had gone. At that time, Angelus had gone to great lengths to make sure that his family of vampires held sway in Sunnydale. He needed to increase his numbers quickly, but had little patience with stupid fledglings. For that reason he had intentionally gone after those who appeared to be intelligent and educated. The fact that David had been into bodybuilding was probably an added asset.

The operation was over in half an hour. Angelus had roared through the pain of having the wound enlarged, but he had come out of the ordeal apparently unharmed. David was elated. He was given a room next to Angelus' own and told to wait until his master was ready to take the next step.

Immediately after the pellet was removed from his chest, Angelus had gone to feed from one of the humans who were kept in the factory. After that, he knew he needed to rest. He knew he would need to feed again before he could cope with the blood loss inherent in making a childe. He lay on his bed missing Dru. She had been at his beck and call for so long, but he was still surprised by his reaction. He had started to drift off to sleep, when there was a timid knock at his door.

Angelus roared his annoyance as a minion entered.

"Quentin and Joanna are here. They said you wanted to see them."

"Tell them to amuse themselves until I'm ready," he shouted back.

At about eleven that evening, Stephen returned from patrolling with the Slayer. He assembled everyone in Alasdair's room. Spike still lay immobile on the bed.

"There's news," he started. "But it affects him," he added, pointing over his shoulder at the vampire. "Grainne, do you feel up to another attempt?"

The witch nodded, going to the table where her things were still laid out. She placed Spike's ring in the centre of a new ring of sand, and sprinkled a variety of other powders over it. Muttering rapidly to herself, she held her hands over the ring. The ring started to glow slightly, and after a few seconds, Grianne's chin dropped to her chest. Because everyone had been looking at her so closely, no one noticed Spike opening his eyes.

"Bloody hell," he groaned at them. "Why did you have to do that? She was there. I was with her. We were together."

They all turned to look at the vampire, his face a picture of frustration and sadness. To everyone's surprise, including his own, it was Giles who spoke.

"Stephen's got some news he thought you should hear. Don't worry, we're going to get her back."

The vampire blinked a couple of times as he heard the steel in Giles' voice. He nodded, and swung his legs off the bed, pleased they hadn't decided to tie him up again.

"So, what's happening?"

Spike wasn't the only one keen to hear the news.

"We - the Slayer and I met Angelus tonight," he started.

"Is she ?" John asked what everyone else had in mind.

"She's fine. I had my crossbow with me. And as an afterthought I took a tranquilliser gun with me too. Angelus was so busy with Emily, he didn't notice me. Drusilla was feeding, and he let her continue. I managed to get a shot at Angelus. I must have missed his heart, but I managed to get a tranquilliser dart into Dru. He ran, and we've got Drusilla. We've taken her to a secure location."

There was stunned silence for several moments while they took in this fact. It was Spike who spoke first. "Where is she?"

"It's just outside town. We're to go there first thing. I suggest we all get some sleep if we can. We'll be off before dawn."

Alasdair looked from Stephen to Spike. "All of us?"

"Yes, all of us. How do you feel Spike? Is the bond to Dru a problem just now? Should we tie you up?"

"It's ok just now," Spike told them. "Not sure how it'll be when I see her. But, Angelus will find her. He's got dozens of minions at the factory. He'll find her."

"No," Stephen reassured all of them. "The reason the location is secure is because it's been hidden with a variety of spells. Quentin may be able to get through them in time, but we've certainly got a day or two."

Spike had been unable to sleep. His body hadn't done anything lately, and he was worried about Dru. He knew how dependent she was. When Angelus first left them alone, she had clung to Spike for days before she even felt able to be in a different room from him. He wasn't sure how he felt about seeing his Sire again. He had missed her during the past five years or more, but his life had been so full, the pain had been minimised. In some ways, he dreaded seeing her again. He dreaded seeing the expression on her face which told him that he had deserted her. He dreaded feeling the bond between them forcing him to do things he didn't want to do.

As they approached their destination, Spike felt the bond to Dru trying to reassert itself. It was all he could do not to jump out of the car and run straight to her. He couldn't remember ever feeling it as strongly as he did. He assumed that was because she was afraid. She had been taken from her Sire against both their wills, and that was something that had never happened before.

They had driven out of Sunnydale and continued inland. The road was narrow and dusty with little traffic of any kind. When they eventually reached the place, Spike had to admit that it looked pretty unprepossessing. It had probably been a home at one time, but little remained of home comfort from its outside appearance. The building was intact, but windows had been boarded up. Whether that was because there was no glass or because of one of the current residents, Spike didn't know.

There was no sign of a vehicle parked outside, and Stephen continued on past the house, driving down a steep slope until he reached a well covered area. It was surrounded by trees, and completely invisible from the road. There was a van parked there already. Adding their own, Spike was glad of the shade from trees around the car. He had a blanket, but it was further to the house than he was comfortable with.

They went into the entrance hall, and from there, through a doorway on the right. Spike could feel the bond with Dru more clearly than he could before. She was off to the left, somewhere, but when he started to move in that direction, Stephen insisted that he stay with the others. He started to remonstrate, but found himself with Alasdair on one side and Giles on the other, each holding an arm and firmly pulling him along with them. Spike knew he would have had no difficulty in getting past them if he had tried, but he forced himself to wait.

The room they entered was spacious, and furnished with a large table and some chairs. They were all invited to sit, joining the two already there. Several of their party obviously recognised the man who was seated at one end of the table, judging by the nods which were directed towards him. The other, a slight, dark-haired girl in her mid teens, Spike assumed to be the Slayer.

The man stood and formally introduced himself.

"Good evening, I'm Michael Barrat, and this is the Slayer - Emily Stevenson. I know all of you from London, of course, except, .."

He looked rather suspiciously at Spike. Michael didn't look as though he wanted to shake hands, and Spike decided that was ok with him. All he wanted to do was see Dru.

Giles spoke up. "This is Spike, also known as William the Bloody. I can't say he's safe to be around, but I can say he hasn't made any attempt to hurt anyone in the past few days."

Spike put into words what was on his mind. "Where's Dru? I've got to see her, see what he's done to her."

Michael looked at the vampire. "All in good time, first, we need to talk."

"No," Spike replied.

Michael was obviously not used to being thwarted in this way.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I said no. I'm not talking until I see her."

"Well, maybe you should sit and listen. If need be, I'm sure we could tie you up."

Alasdair jumped to try to calm Spike. He could see by the set of the vampire's body that he was struggling for control.

"Spike, please, just sit for a while. You'll see her soon, I promise."

Reluctantly, Spike did as he was asked.

"Now, we have been questioning the prisoner for some time, but I regret we haven't really obtained anything of use. She claims not to have any information on Angelus' plans. I find that rather hard to believe, so we have to consider encouraging her to talk. We have a selection of crosses and other implements which will, hopefully, loosen her tongue."

"Bloody hell, man. You really don't know anything, do you? Angelus won't tell Dru what he's planning. She's a toy. She has visions, and passes the information to him, but he doesn't tell her what he's planning. And if you hurt her, then you're no better than he is. Last time I saw her, she was a mass of bruises and scabs because of him. You're not going to hurt her."

"Well, really," Michael began.

"Wait," Emily spoke for the first time. "He's right. There's hardly a part of her body that hasn't been hurt. Maybe, she'll talk to him, though." As she spoke, she looked at Spike. It was obvious she didn't trust him, and that didn't really surprise him.

"I told you, she won't know anything," Spike reminded them. "But I'll ask, if you want. Just don't hurt her, please."

Michael looked at the others. "Well, what do you think? Can we trust him?"

"I do," Alasdair told him.

"Well," Giles added, "perhaps trust is too strong a word, but I think we should let him talk to her."

On hearing that none of the others had anything to add, Michael shrugged his shoulders and motioned towards the door. "She's this way."

They walked back into the hallway, and down some stairs. The basement had been converted into a prison. There were several cells, and in one of them, Drusilla was chained.

As soon as he saw her, Spike knew she was in one of her lucid periods. There had been a lot of those while Angelus was absent. With her Sire close, there were almost none. When they were all assembled, Spike saw Dru bite her lip as she concentrated on something. All eyes were upon her, and after a few moments, she sighed in relief. It was then that Spike noticed that he couldn't move his legs. It was as if they were glued to the floor. Looking around at the others, it was apparent that they were in the same predicament.

He looked in awe at Dru and realised she was responsible. He had always known that when she was lucid, when the madness was temporarily banished, that she could use some sort of a thrall. She hadn't done it often, and never before had she used it on him. Then, he heard her voice, but he knew no one else had. Her voice was sounding directly into his mind.

"William, my love. Unlock me. The Watcher has the keys."

It was a simple command, and he found his legs moving to obey without conscious effort on his part. He walked to Michael and put his hand into the Watcher's pocket. Michael seemed unable to speak, but his expression clearly warned Spike not to release the other vampire. Keys in hand, Spike unlocked Dru's cell and approached. Taking another key from the ring, he unchained her. She held on to him tightly as she led him out of the cell.

Once out in the main part of the room, an overwhelming feeling of dread overcame Spike as he realised he recognised his surroundings from his recurring nightmare. There was only one thing wrong. In his dream, Buffy was there too. He moved away from his Sire and tried to picture the scene in his head from memory, and then he realised. Although he was quite certain that Buffy was present in the dream, he couldn't remember actually seeing her. He just knew she was there.

Dru was watching him. "What's wrong, my love?"

Spike found he couldn't explain what he was feeling. He tried, but words failed him.

"It's ok, my love, I know. I'll call her, and she'll come. I told her I would call her, and she promised to come."

Dru looked momentarily as though she was far away, and the next thing Spike knew was that Buffy was there. He could feel her presence surrounding him, and he relaxed slightly as she brought comfort to him. Then he felt her mood change, and he knew she had felt his unease.

Dru broke the silence. "Come to me, my William," she crooned.

Knowing that this was his nightmare coming true, Spike still could not resist her call. He took reluctant steps towards her. When he was close enough, she put out her arms to him. She held him close and he put his arms around her. Her head rested on his chest, and they stood together like that for several minutes. At last, she took half a step back so that she could look at his face.

"Do you remember, my love, that night? The night when I gave you this gift?"

Arms still around her waist he answered, "I remember."

"It's time, my William. I said I would ask you to return my gift. It's time now."

Spike found he had tears on his cheeks. He could feel Buffy's rising panic and knew that she recognised what was happening from his descriptions of his nightmare.

Dru's hand moved up, and Spike felt the stake in her hand poking into his chest as she held it between them. He had no idea where the stake had come from. There was no sign of it when she was chained to the wall, and he could only assume she had it hidden in her clothing somewhere.

Unbidden, Spike's own hand joined Dru's on the stake, surrounding her smaller hand with his. The only sound he was able to make were the sobs which he could hear coming from his mouth. He couldn't form a thought coherent enough to dissuade her from what she was going to do.

Then he realised something was wrong. He was holding her hand with his right hand. The stake was towards the right side of his chest - and towards the left side of hers. Light dawned in his mind when he realised that what she intended was her own end, rather than his. The explanation of his response to the dream was now clear.

Understanding freed his tongue.

"Dru, don't do this. Don't make me do this. Please." His voice was a whisper.

"You have to, my love. While I live, you can never be free of him. And I know I will never have you again. You belong to her."

Spike started to remonstrate with her, but she interrupted immediately by placing a finger of her free hand on his lips.

"You know how it is. He owns me. I can't defy him. He hurts me, and I can do nothing about it. Without you, I can't bear it any longer. It's the only way, my love. This is how I want it. I want my life to end here and now, in your arms. You promised you would return my gift. Do it now."

Spike realised that he was shaking. Dru was using the bond between them to weaken his resolve. It felt as if the muscles in his hand were trying to move in two directions at once. He tried to stop the movement towards her heart, but couldn't. Horrified, he felt his hand move, pushing the stake slowly into her.

As the wood pierced her skin, Dru pulled Spike's head closer to her, capturing his mouth in a kiss. He felt her silent thanks in his mind as she turned to dust in front of him, and denied the support her body had given, Spike fell to his knees among the dust which had been his Sire. Sobs wracked his body as he knelt there. Suddenly there was a cacophony of sound in the background as the others were released from the thrall which had held them immobile and silent. None of them approached the distraught vampire.