Flowers for a Ghost
"Wonder what you do and where it is you stay, these questions like a whirlwind, they carry me away. Who will bring me flowers when it's over? And who will give me comfort when it's cold? Who will I belong to when the day just won't give in? And who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins."
'Flowers for a Ghost' – Thriving Ivory
A groan left Giles' mouth as the pounding in his head worsened as he woke up, his entire body aching from the earlier beating. Evan's quite sobs reached his ears, giving him all the motivation he needed to fully come back to consciousness. The Watcher lunged forward once he was able to focus properly, only to feel metal cut into his wrists and force him back against the support beam.
"Don't you touch them!" he growled as Stephen forced Evan's head to the side.
"Ah, I see you've finally decided to join us!" the vampire let go of the 13 year old's hair.
"It's about time too," one of the other vampires spoke up, eyeing Buffy. "I'm starving."
Giles struggled against the handcuffs as he watched his family be eyed by the demons. His mind wasn't registering what Stephen was saying; all he knew was that he needed to figure out how to get out of the handcuffs. While his half-brother taunted Evan and Dakota, the Watcher took a deep breath and forced his mind to register exactly what the situation was. He quickly picked up on the binding spell that held his wife captive and began formulating a plan.
"Ya know I had no plans on hurting any of you lot?" Stephen asked as he kneeled in front of Evan, running his hands through the boy's hair. "I told yer dad the things I was gonna do to ya if he didn't stake me, and do ya know what happened? He just told me to leave town, so I 'ad to show Rupert that I was being quite serious. Yer brother crashed cos yer dad is a bloody coward,"
Dakota and Evan looked at their father over the vampire's head, disappointment flashing in their eyes as they were told of all the cowardly things Giles had done. The metal of the handcuffs cut into Giles' skin as he twisted his hands out of them, the pain he was in not showing on his face. The more he worked his hands out of the cuffs, the more blood he felt flow down his hands and down the support beam at his back.
"Rupert's such a coward that he's not even gonna try and work things out with yer mum." Stephen continued, his dark eyes locking on to the Slayer.
"He's not a coward." Buffy stated, glaring at the threat to her family. "Giles may not have made the greatest choices at times, but he's always done the right thing. And I'm pretty sure cowards don't do that,"
"Really now?" the demon smirked as he made his way over to Buffy, placing his right hand on her abdomen. "Is that why my baby brother is leaving a pregnant wife all alone with three boys who 'ave their own problems?"
Giles' eyes snapped to Buffy when Stephen's words registered. Buffy was pregnant and from the look on her face, she had known before now. Why didn't she tell him they were having another child?
"You're more of a coward then he is," Dakota looked him straight in the eye as he continued. "You had to hit his head when he wasn't paying attention, not to mention that you had to hurt and kidnap his family to get him close enough to hurt him. You could have attacked him at any time, but you were too much of a coward to even approach him."
"I'm the coward?" Stephen made his way over to the 16 year old, kneeling in front of him. "I did approach yer father and gave 'im the chance ta stake me. And I'm pretty sure that I told ya 'ow that meeting ended,"
"Fuck you." The 16 year old smirked as he spit in the vampire's face.
"So much like yer father. Too bad yer only good enough to be like Ripper," he vamped out as his hand shot out and gripped Dakota's throat. "Such a shame you lot have ta pay fer yer dad's lack of action."
"That's something I intend to correct," Stephen looked over his shoulder, smirking at the sight of his brother standing in the middle of the room. "Leave them alone, Stephen."
The Watcher was completely aware of the looks he was receiving from the four vampires, the amount of blood dripping from his wrists filling the area with the coppery smell. Stephen slowly approached his brother, holding his hand out as the other three made to move closer.
"Do ya really believe that ya can take on four vamps and walk away from it?" the vampire asked, taking a deep breath before giving his younger brother a hungry look. "Smells delicious."
"Can you just hurry up and kill him?" one of the others asked, licking his fangs as he rubbed his stomach. "All this blood isn't helping my hunger problem."
"Are you prepared to watch as ya lose yer family, Ru?"
Instead of answering, Giles shouted a few words in a language other than English and threw himself at Stephen. As soon as the two hit the ground, the two teenagers felt the handcuffs release and Buffy knew she was free to move around. With no hesitation, the Slayer brought her foot down on the wooden chair and picked up one of the broken legs before taking off as two of the other vampires chased after her. Dakota launched himself at the remaining vampire before Evan was hurt, his attack cut short as the vampire wrapped his hand around the 16 year old's throat.
Evan ran over to the broken chair, picking up the sharpest piece of the chair he could find. Making sure he had a good grip, the 13 year old ran towards his brother. His intentions of staking the vampire were cut short as the demon's hands the boy's arm, twisting the limb until the makeshift stake dropped to the ground. Evan scream in pain as a loud snapped sounded throughout the building.
"I wonder if all that magic makes your blood taste better," the creature growled as he forced Evan's head to the side.
"You aren't finding out," Dakota picked up the stake and shoved it into the vampire's heart, catching his brother before he collapsed to the floor. "You okay, Evan?"
"We need to help Dad," he mumbled as he motioned towards the general area their father was.
"After Mum," he gently grabbed Evan's good arm and began leading him in the direction their mother had run off.
The siblings had just reached their mother in time as she dusted one of the vampires, only to be sent to the ground by a punch from the other. Buffy quickly got back to her feet, rolling her eyes at the smug look on the demon's face.
"Why does every vampire that knocks me down get so smug?" she sighed as she adjusted her hold on the stake. "Congratulations, you made me fall. That's nothing to get smug about. Now if you killed me that would be different."
"I'm just thinking about all the fun I'm gonna have with once…" the vampire began.
"Hey, Ugly!" Dakota shouted, smirking once he got the creature's attention. "You wanna know a way to make sure you'll beat the Slayer?"
"Use us against her," Evan added as him and his brother waked towards the vampire, small sniffles coming from Evan as he held his broken arm to his chest.
There was a small thud before the demon exploded into a pile of dust, Buffy wasting no time in running towards her sons. She pulled both to her, careful about her youngest son's arm. Evan clung to Buffy as she ran a hand through Dakota's hair.
"You boys okay?" she asked them.
"As okay as we can be," Dakota shrugged, wincing when his hand ran over the vampire bite.
Buffy opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by an agonizing scream and a painful sounding snapping. The three took off to the main area of the building as Giles pushed himself backwards away from Stephen, holding his left knee close to him. With all the bruises and drying blood that covered him, Buffy was amazed that he hadn't passed out from the pain she knew he was in.
"Now, now, now Rupert," Stephen hauled Giles to his feet, causing the Watcher to whimper in pain. "I can't have you missin' a single moment of this."
"Stephen, please." Giles gasped, willing himself to stay awake through the pain that was coursing through his body. "Don't do this,"
"Ya really think I'm just gonna let ya go?" Stephen laughed in his face, his fingers digging into Giles's shoulders and causing Giles to yelp in pain as pressure was applied to his collarbone. "I lost my family the moment you came into the picture. Dad ignored me, acted like I didn't even exist…"
"I understand, truly I do Stephen. But this has nothing to do with them, let them go." Giles pled, his eyes wide with terror at the thought of Stephen murdering his family. "I'm begging you, Stephen. Take out whatever anger you have on me, not on them."
Stephen stared at the Watcher, tears swimming in the green eyes he had inherited from their father.
"You lot better get out before I change my mind and make 'im watch as I turn each of you." The vampire called over his shoulder, grinning at the pure fear on his brother's face. "I'm gonna enjoy this, Rupert."
Giles locked eyes with his wife as Stephen sunk his fangs into the Watcher's neck, a painful yell tearing through Giles.
"Daddy!" Evan screamed, making a run for his father only to be pulled back by Buffy.
The 13 year old struggled against his mother as he tried to reach his father, tears streaming down his face. Buffy just held him tighter to her, her own tears falling from her eyes. Dakota stood and watched the vampire drain his father, his fingers tightening one the chair leg. With no warning, the 16 year old darted towards the feeding demon and plunged the chair leg into Stephen. Giles fell to the ground as Stephen turned around, his yellow eyes focused on Dakota.
"You little shit!" he hissed as he made a grab for the teenager.
Dakota ducked under his grabbing hands and threw himself at the vampire's torso, pushing him back into a support beam. He coughed as he breathed in some of the dust before ripping off one of his sleeves and rushing back to his bleeding father, holding the cloth against Giles' neck. Dakota looked up as his mother dropped to her knees next to him, fishing through his father's jacket for his mobile phone.
"Call an ambulance, Kota." She tossed him the phone before applying pressure to her husband's neck.
"Mum?" Evan whispered as he slowly made his way over to them, his bottom lip held between his teeth in worry.
"Everything's…everything's gonna be…alright, Bug." Giles gasped, his right hand inching towards his youngest son just as he gave into unconsciousness.
"You can't leave us, Rupert." Buffy whispered just as Dakota came back saying the ambulance was on their way. "You are not allow to leave us, do you understand me?"
Evan wrapped his arms around his brother as Buffy ran her fingers through Giles' hair. There was nothing they could do but wait.
And none of them were exactly known for their patience.