Buffy Goes to Stars Hollow
Chapter 13 A Night Like ThisDisclaimer: I claim no ownership from either shows- Gilmore Girls/ Buffy or the characters.
Warning: There is some serious hanky panky in this chapter, though I am not revealing the pairings, as that gives it all away. (And we all know my characters are the only ones who give anything away…haha)
This chapter was going to be split in two because it's almost double my normal entry, but I wanted to get the Kate flashback out there as other characters are prodding me at this moment for a turn. haha And I don't want people bored of Kate…cause I love her! haha
Again, I listened to Hurt a lot. I also listened to "Don't Speak" by No doubt and "Calling All Angels" by Jane Sibbery. Pretty much, any sad song works. haha
Italics indicated Flashbacks
Later, once Dawn had returned home, they sat down once again to talk about the past. They found themselves, pretty much, in the same position, as they were the other night. Only Kate didn't seem as shy and unsure of herself. From the glares she gave Spike, Buffy guessed she was pissed.
"Ok, so I am guessing that you didn't turn her that night?" Buffy said, getting things on a roll.
"No, I didn't." Spike said.
"Why?" Dawn asked.
Spike looked at Kate, a look of reminiscence on his chiseled features. "Because I fell in love with her."
"Oh." Dawn whispered.
Spike stared at the curve of her neck, his face changing on instinct. He traced the soft line of her neck with the tip of her fingers, imagining what it would be like to taste her. He wandered what it would be like to hear her soft cry of surprise, before it turned to tears of shock as he devoured her. He thought about devouring her until her heart came to a stop. He would lay in wait and watch the reactions of her family and friends when they found her naked body drained of life.
And as he lowered to take the first taste, she moaned in her sleep before turning over and snuggling against his bare chest. The gesture stunned him. He could feel the warmth of her breathe against his chest, and watched the soft rise and fall of her chest as she returned back to the deep embrace of sleep.
He lowered his face, again, to her neck and realized that his face had returned back to his human face. He placed his lips against the curve of her neck and sucked gently, tasting her on his tongue. Still he did not bite her. He caressed her skin under his calloused hand and planted kisses over her shoulder. Still he could not bring himself to bite her. With a shock he hadn't expected, he realized he had feelings for her.
The thought of her dying brought a weird sensation to his dead heart. Unless he could turn her into a vampire. Then he could have her forever. He shook his head, trying to erase the thoughts. She had bewitched him somehow, put a spell on him or something.
Getting to his feet, he left behind her warm embrace, and ran out into the night. This couldn't be happening to him. He was going soft. He ran as fast as he could, trees flying past him in a blur until he couldn't feel the ground underneath his feet anymore.
He knew what would cure him. He needed a good kill before sunrise and the cold embrace of his dead lover.
With the taste of an innocent victims still on his lips, he entered the room that he shared with Dru. She was lying on the velvet cover, her dark hair splayed over the pillows, her hand curled under her chin like she was a sleeping child.
Spike pulled off all his clothing and crawled towards her. He hovered above her, planting kisses along her jaw line, leaving tiny blood prints along her alabaster skin. He grabbed at both sides of her corset and with a grunt ripped the bodice in half.
Dru's mouth curled up into a smile, but her eyes remained closed. "Did you bring me something to eat?" she whispered.
The satisfaction lasted only a few blissful moments, and then all he could do was think of Katya, and what she would do when she woke tomorrow morning. Alone.
" You left her alone?" Dawn said in disgust.
" Hello, vampire." Spike said.
"Ok, but you can't use that as an excuse forever," Xander said.
"Leave anyone else at the altar lately Harris?" Spike snapped back.
Xander frowned. " Touché."
"Yep, I woke up alone," Kate, said, finally piping up. Until now Spike had been telling the story.
" He left me in the night."
"So guys were just as piggish back then?" Buffy said, more to herself than to the room.
"So then what happened?" Dawn asked. " Did you ever see Spike again?"
Kate nodded. " Once."
Spike stared down at the cigarette he held in his hand. " He came to find me a couple of days later," Kate said.
Katya walked along the line of the forest and the meadow, weaving in and out of the trees every few steps. It had been a couple of days since she had been with William. That morning after, she had dressed herself and hid the remains of the night. It had been heartbreaking to gather the candles and flowers and hide them, erasing all physical evidence of their time together.
The part that hurt the worst, was not knowing what she had done wrong. Had she been terrible? Did he just want to have her for one night? He had never said that he loved her, now that she thought back.
Katya wiped away the tears that ran down her cheeks as she kicked at the fallen leaves on the forest floor. The sun was setting rapidly and she knew she should head back to the caravan, but being surrounded by family who didn't know what was going on in her head was too much work. Keeping up the façade was exhausting her.
The sky was red as the sun retreated behind the mountains. Katya watched as the darkness swept over the land towards her, in a perfect metaphor of how she felt.
At last, she was completely surrounded by the dark as she walked further and further from the caravan. Just then, ahead of her, a figure stepped out from the cover of the trees. Katya's heart jumped into her throat as the clutches of fear began to take hold. She had been foolish to assume that the vampire threat had passed.
As the figure stepped into the path of the moonlight, she caught a brief glimpse of his face. Her heart picked up it's pace and a huge smile spread across her face at the sight of him. And then, it all came flooding back.
Katya was torn. Her pride made her want to turn in her tracks and ran from him, but her heart made her want to listen to what he said. So she stood. Frozen.
"Hi," Spike said.
"Hi?!" Katya repeated. " Well, now I feel a lot better thank you."
"Wait," Spike said, stopping her from leaving by grabbing her arm. "I want to explain."
"Alright," Katya said as she pulled out of his grasp, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I am sorry that I left," Spike said. " I thought you were in danger." That was true enough.
"And a great way for keeping me safe is to leave me in a dark cave," Katya replied.
Spike opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it. He'd been practicing this all day. " Because of what I do, I thought that you might be a target. So I stayed away from you, but I was always around watching."
That part was true as well. He wasn't lying, exactly, just picking around the truth. Katya took a deep breath. " In danger from whom?" she asked.
"Vampires," Spike answered.
"So," Katya began, feeling self-conscious. " You didn't leave because you didn't like me?"
Spike's eyes widened in surprise. " I like you Katya," he said.
"I wasn't bad?" she whispered.
Spike put his finger under her chin and tilted her face back so that he could look at her. " You were bloody great."
Katya smiled, as her cheeks flamed red. " I missed you so much," she said, throwing herself into Spike's arms. Spike tensed for a moment and then wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"Come away with me," Spike whispered against her hair. He had to get her away from Dru and Darla. Dru had questioned him about where he had been for all those nights when he had been away from her. When he'd come to her the night he'd been with Katya, Dru could smell her on him.
With Dru and Darla attacking him, he had finally admitted that he was baiting a human into loving him before he killed her. The girls were delighted by the idea and were further delighted by the idea of the three of them killing her. Spike hadn't thought that far. He went along with it, saying that was his plan. Love made the kill all that much better.
Spike had to get her away from them before they came for her. Katya put her hands against his chest and pushed away so that she could look up at him. "Go where?"
"I don't know," Spike said with some urgency. "How do you fancy England? Or Italy? Anywhere you name it and we'll go."
Katya shook her head, laughing. " We can't just go."
"Yes we can," Spike insisted. " There is nothing stopping us. Let's just go. You said yourself that you feel like your family doesn't care. So what do you have holding you here?"
"I….I don't know," Katya muttered. " Romania is all I've ever known."
"Katya," Spike said, pulling her close to him. " I love you." There, he said it. And it didn't feel as forced as he thought it would. He realized in that second that it was true. He loved her.
Katya's eyes widened. " You love me?"
"Yes. Now will you bloody well follow me luv or do I have to carry you?" Spike said with a grin.
"You love me," Katya repeated in wonder.
"We covered that already luv," Spike said, " I need to know if you will come with me?"
"I will come with you," Katya replied. Spike kissed her hard, crushing her against his body.
Katya cried out against his lips, as his lips moved fiercely over hers, his mouth crushing her lips against her teeth. Katya clawed at his shirt as she tried to bring herself closer to him. Her knees buckled as Spike pulled her to the ground with him in a tangle of limbs.
Katya laughed. "William not here," she giggled against his lips.
"Here is perfect," Spike said, as he began undoing the laces on her corset as fast as possible.
"You were the one who was in such a hurry to leave a moment ago," Katya protested, as Spike tugged on her corset.
"We have a few moments," Spike muttered. "Is this thing wielded on?"
Later, they lay wrapped together in a pile of fallen leaves. Katya smiled against his chest as she raised her head to face him. Spike turned and looked at her. "What?" he asked softly.
"Just checking that you are still here," she said with a smile.
Spike kissed her softly. "Still here."
"When will we leave?" She asked.
"Right now sounds about right," Spike said, as he got to his feet.
"Now? Shouldn't we wait until morning?" Katya asked.
Yeah, if you want to run away with a giant pile of dust, Spike thought bitterly. He would have to tell her the truth.
"Katya, there's something I should tell you," He said, pulling her to her feet.
Katya frowned. "That doesn't sound good."
"There's something you need to know about me before we leave," Spike said.
Katya smiled nervously. "What is it William?"
"I'm not who you think I am," He said.
Katya turned away from him. " I don't think I want to hear this." Her bare foot hit a rock sticking out of the ground and she cried out in pain as she bent to grab her throbbing foot.
"What happened?" Spike asked.
"I cut myself," Katya said, holding up her blood stained hand. The metallic smell of blood wafted through the air.
"It's not too bad," she said, laughing at her clumsiness. " I…" She brought her head up and looked into Spike's face. Her smiled faded, and her eyes widened in shock.
"Katya?" He asked.
Katya stumbled over her dress as she jumped away from him. Spike frowned, reaching out for her. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, as she fell over herself as she struggled to her feet.
"Bloody hell," Spike said, reaching for her again. " What is wrong with you?"
Katya struggled with the words as the shock gripped her heart. Her mouth opened and closed in a futile attempt to form the words. And then finally, it ripped out of her throat in a shriek. "V…Vampire!!!"
Spike jumped back as if he'd been scolded. He reached up to touch his face, and sure enough he found that his face had changed into the monster he had hid from her. The smell of blood must have triggered it.
"Katya please. That is what I was trying to tell you."
"Vampire!!!!!!!!" She screamed again and she began to run as fast as she could towards her family. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, ignoring the pain the shot through her injured foot.
"Katya!" Spike screamed as he ran after her. His vampire instincts were stronger than his mortal ones, and the fact that she ran from him only added to the hunger he'd denied for too long. How a relationship between the two of them could ever work, he wasn't sure. He knew that he loved her as much as possible, and that love would be enough to keep her safe from him. If she would only stop and listen for a bloody second.
Her lungs felt like they would burst, but she pumped her legs as hard and as fast as they would go. Her first instinct was to run into the trees and hide herself, but she couldn't see in the forest. She knew the forest by heart, but she wouldn't risk it.
Up ahead she saw more figures move into the clearing, and with a cry of relief she recognized her brothers and uncles. Spike was still yelling her name and a couple of times she felt his fingers brush her back as he closed in on her. With one last cry of panic she pushed herself through the group of clan members and into the arms of one of her cousins.
The group held up crosses and Spike jumped backwards. More group members came from behind Spike and threw a rope around him, wrestling him to the ground. Spike cried out in pain as they threw holy water on him.
"Katya!" he screamed in pain, as they hauled him to his feet.
"Shut up vampire," her brother sneered.
"Katya, please just listen to me for a minute."
Katya looked into his eyes then, tears running down her cheeks, into his human face. He looked so sincere.
He pushed and fought like a man desperate to escape. Katya couldn't see him through her family. One moment she saw them struggling, and then in a blur, Spike was standing in front of her. He'd moved so fast that it took a moment for her to realize what was happening. His hands cupped her face as his eyes bore intensely into hers. "Remember that I love you. No matter what happens."
Before Katya could respond, Spike had been dragged away again. Her cousin put his arm around her shoulders and led her away. " What are you going to do with him?" she whispered.
"They will put the curse on him," her cousin informed her. Katya looked at Spike over her shoulder, feeling her heart break for the second time.
Katya was led back to her caravan in a stupor. She sat now, staring at her reflection, her mind a blur. All she kept wondering, over and over again, was how it could have fallen apart so fast. For the past month she had been the happiest she had ever been in her life. When she thought she couldn't be happier, happier came. She felt new all over and hopeful for the future. In a matter of moments it had shattered. It had shattered around her feet in pieces, and before she could attempt to put it back together she had to find the pieces that fit. Nothing fit together. Nothing would ever fit again.
She had loved him with an intensity that scared her. The love had been replaced with disgust, and then turned to numbness where she didn't know how she felt. The energy radiating off her in waves made the room hum with magic. She wasn't as skilled in magic yet, but when anger struck, the air crackled with the spark of it.
William had made her feel things she couldn't put into words. When she'd been with him, she had felt loved. When she was with him she forgot about the pain of her sister's death, the pain of knowing her family didn't love her enough and the pain of not knowing where she belonged. For the briefest of moments she had belonged to him. He had told her such beautiful lies and the promise of taking her away with him.
Katya stumbled to her feet and fell onto her bed. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as sobs racked her body. If she held on tight enough, maybe it would keep her insides from falling out.
The feeling of emptiness was too much to bare. Would the pain ever end? And so she lay there, feeling her heart break. She remembered what her cousin had told her.
William would be cursed tonight. It wouldn't be the curse that was inflicted on her sister's killer. Her family was constantly using vampires to practice their curses on.
William was about to have one of the cruelest curses put on him. They would burn him from the inside, prolonging his life for maximum pain. They would watch him scream in pain until there was nothing left but dust.
This is what she would have wished for any vampire, and part of her wished, that she wished him dead. Only the thought of him dying was like someone punching her in the stomach. The panic of that left her breathless.
Without really thinking about it, she jumped to her feet and fled from the confines of her room. Katya found William sitting outside the elder's camp. He was tied and chained to a tree. The moon was bright tonight, and it shone enough light on William's face, for Katya to see the extent of the damage.
He looked up then, as she drew closer, and surprise flickered across his face. One of his eyes was almost completely swollen shut, dark bruises covered a side of his face and a long gash ran across his face from cheekbone to temple.
"K...Katya?" he whispered through swollen lips.
Katya dropped to her knees in front of him. She studied him for a moment and then brought her hand back and slapped him across the face, careful not to further injure him too much more. Spike grunted in pain.
" That's for lying to me!" she said in the loudest whisper she could manage as she crossed her hands over her chest. " Now that that is out of the way." She stared a moment and then her demeanor softened as she touched his face gently. " Did I hurt you?"
The corner of Spike's lips lifted in a half smile. "It certainly didn't help luv."
"Well…good," Katya said with conviction. " You look horrible."
Spike choked on a laugh. " I don't feel too great either pet."
Spike stared at her face trying to read her expression. "You come to off me yourself, luv?"
"No," Katya answered. " I hadn't thought of that."
Spike smiled again. " I should kill you," Katya said. "You are a vampire. And although I find this hard to believe, I am here to let you go."
"Come again? I think I have taken too many blows to the head because I think you just said you were here to let me go?" Spike said.
"I am letting you go."
"Well, I'll be buggered," Spike, whispered, shaking his head.
"The last thing you said to me was that you wanted me to believe you. Believe that you loved me. You didn't ask me to let you go. And I am guessing you could have fought a lot harder than you did. Considering how your kind usually operates, you didn't have to leave me any piece of hope, did you? But you did." Katya was looking at him seriously now, daring him to tell her that she was wrong.
Spike hung his head. " Yeah. Do you believe me Katya?" he asked as he raised his head. There
was an air of intimacy between them now; it hung heavily in the air between them.
"I don't know what to believe. I know that I want to believe. For my sanity, I think I have to," Katya said, with a sad laugh.
"Fair enough," Spike said.
Katya leaned forward as if to kiss him, but moved beyond, as she began to work the chains around his arms. She had to use magic and this took a lot of concentration. Sweat began to bead on her forehand as she held her hands above the chains. Not only did she have to unlock them, but also had to make it look like he'd broken out himself.
Katya was leaning over him, giving him a tantalizing view of her breasts that threatened to spill over at any minute. Katya could feel his breath (vampires could breathe, they just didn't need to that is why they could smoke-as she'd learned) against her neck, which sent goose bumps up her arms.
He could see the vein in her neck pulsating so close to his parted lips, smell her arousal and hear the rapid beat of her heart. When the chains were tossed aside, Katya sat back on her heels. He was a free man now. If he really was a monster, he could kill her now.
Katya pushed a brown curl off his forehead and ran her fingers once more through his silky curls. Gently she stroked the planes of his face from his high cheekbones to the line of his jaw as if every movement would somehow ingrain the memory of his face clearer in her head.
Her green eyes filled with tears, until the sight of his face began to blur and her heart became heavy in her chest. Leaning forward she pressed her lips gently against his, almost as a sigh instead of kiss. Her hormones were running rampant; she had yet to explore this new adventure she had begun a couple of nights ago. She longed to explore his body, as he had done with hers. She wanted to be filled again and again as she had in the forest this very night. Most of all she wanted time. More time.
Spike groaned against her lips, as his fingers thread themselves through her hair, holding her closer. "Promise me," she whispered, as she pressed her forehead against his. "Promise me that you will come back for me."
Surprise flickered across his face as he grabbed her upper arms, forcing her to raise her head and look at him. " You can't stay here."
"I have to," Katya replied. "Only for a short time."
Spike got to his feet and pulled her up to hers. " Are you off your rocker luv? Come with me."
"If I go with you they will assume you have taken me. To do their curse they will have already taken some of your hair or anything else they needed. That is all they need to curse you wherever you go. They only kept you here because they wanted to watch."
Katya shuddered at that last thought. Apparently the idea wasn't the worst thing Spike had ever heard of, or done, because he seemed unfazed by it.
"Staying here is a bad idea luv," Spike said again. "It's crazy."
"Crazier than being in love with a vampire?" Katya asked her mouth turned up at the corners in a half smile.
Spike chuckled. " I still can't believe that you are letting me go, after everything."
Katya sighed. " I know. But something about me changed since I met you. I felt like my own person for once. And if you die here tonight then I'm afraid that part of me will die right along with you, whether or not this is real, doesn't seem to matter right now. It doesn't really make any sense, but having you alive is like being able to believe in something again. I've never had that. And I like who this new girl is turning out to be," she said with a smile.
"I like her too."
Spike grabbed her around the waist and crushed her against the solid wall of flesh that was his chest as his mouth came down on hers. Katya allowed a moment to wrap herself around this moment and tried to commit it to memory.
Katya pulled back. " Go," she said in a ragged whisper.
Spike seemed to hesitant and then with a nod, he took off towards the woods. She watched the spot where he'd disappeared for a long time.
She was alone again but this time she was hopeful. She had no idea if William loved her as he had claimed. Could someone love without a soul? She knew the humans with a soul could do horrible things and could hate like a monster that had no soul. So which was more pure? Which was a greater to achieve? What was more rare? Hating with a soul, or loving without one?
Whether he did or not, Katya loved him and that was enough for now. Soon she would be away from here and be only with him. She would probably love him until they day she died.
It wasn't until the sky showed the first signs that dawn was coming before she headed to the elders camp to finish one last thing before she could rest.
Katya had only been asleep for a couple of hours when she was rudely shaken awake. Fingers dug painfully into her upper arms, as she was shaken so hard she felt like her neck would snap. Her vision cleared quickly. It was her father that shook her.
"Father!" Katya screamed as she tried to free herself from his grasp.
Her struggles were futile as his grip felt like iron. "You stupid, stupid girl!" he yelled again and again. He let go of her finally, rising to his feet. Before Katya could react he struck her with the back of his hand.
A red-hot pain exploded along her cheek as the force of it knocked her right off the bed and into the opposite wall. Tears sprung immediately to her eyes as she hit the wall. It had all happened so fast that Katya was breathless from the pain.
She huddled in the corner cupping a hand over her, rapidly swelling, cheek. She noticed now that her mother was standing in the doorway, her face buried in a rag as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. She looked pleadingly at her mother, who just turned her back on her.
"What did you do with the potion?" her father bellowed.
Katya jumped in response, as a whimper of fear escaped from her lips. She had never seen her father so angry, not since the night her sister had been killed.
"I…I didn't…" she whimpered.
"Don't lie to me! You set him free. The elders saw it!" he screamed. The scream seemed to reverberate off the walls, causing it to shake around her.
Katya felt the fingers of fear grip her heart as she remembered that the elders could have had visions about it. She was so wrapped up in setting him free and destroying the potion that she hadn't thought about creating a mind block. How could she have been so completely and irreversibly stupid?
There was no point lying now. " He didn't hurt me father," Katya whispered, unable to meet his eyes as she lived up to his disappointment.
"You let go a vampire Katya!" her father said, his voice more of a shout than a scream.
"He didn't hurt me father," Katya repeated. " He didn't deserve to die."
Her father looked as though he'd just been punched in the gut. His face was bright red, as he clenched his fingers into fists. He was too angry to speak, she thought, as the anger trembled off him in waves. "Every vampire deserves to die!" he screamed. The energy coming off him made the caravan begin to rock, as her belongings flew from their selves, and the ceiling began to crack. Her mother cried out in fear as a piece of ceiling nearly hit her. "Especially that one!"
Katya pulled her knees to her chest, and she stared at her father in terror. " His sire is the one that killed your beloved sister!" The mention of her sister brought tears to her father's eyes and a lump to his throat as his voice trembled.
Katya's eyes widened. No, it couldn't be true. " He was playing you, you stupid girl and you fell for it like a whore!"
Katya jumped, her face giving her away. " The elders saw that too," he said, his voice cracking with the disgust. " We were after him next Katya. "
"It's not true," she whispered. " He loved me."
Her father laughed cruelly. " He wanted to bed you Katya. He can't love you." The disgust in his voice made her blood ran cold in her veins. "We came to find you that night Katya. We knew then."
Katya buried her head in her knees as the tears began to flow. They hadn't heard her cries and came to save her. She was nothing but bait.
"His women came to us Katya," her father said. "The two women vampires were the ones who lead us to you both. It was them that turned you in."
William had women? Katya's heart twisted in her chest, making it impossible for her to breathe. Had this been his plan? No, he loved her. He loves me, he loves me, he loves me, he loves me, she kept repeating in her head as she rocked back and forth.
Her father grabbed her by the arm and forced her to her feet nearly pulling her arm from the socket. Katya cried out in pain, her knees buckling under her.
"You will be punished for this Katya." Her father said, with no emotion in his voice.
"How?" Katya asked, her voice trembling.
"The same punishment as anyone else," her father replied as he tossed the door open and pushed her through it. She stumbled and fell, hitting the ground hard, pain shooting up her arms. A crowd had formed around her now. She rose onto her elbows and looked up at her father who hovered over her. " The punishment is death."
Katya refused to cry. Which wasn't hard, considering her body felt drained of tears. She'd been kept in this room for hours now. They were waiting until night, and then she would be hanged. If she had any remaining hope that her family loved her, it was gone now.
She didn't understand anything anymore, if she had at all. The pain was too much to bare. And William. If what her father said was true, he had lied to her again, and again she had believed him. The emptiness was oddly comforting now. There wasn't pain where she was now, because she knew she wouldn't have to endure it for much longer. She was dead already.
William wouldn't be coming back for her. No one would. Tonight she would die. Tonight she could rest her tired body and lay in the cool earth. She wouldn't let them see her cry or beg. She would walk with her head held high towards the noose, and she would walk strong to her end. She would hold all the pain, fear and anger deep inside her tonight and then when the box was pulled from beneath her feet she would unleash it upon them all. She would die, but she would make them suffer. She wasn't as good as her sister, she had been told that enough. So tonight, would be her night. Killing a gypsy from a powerful family would have its consequences, and they would all feel it.
The door opened, a sliver of light falling across her stone like face. Without expression she stood, as if pulled by string, to her feet and walked towards the door. The coven had lined up on either side, giving her a path towards the large oak. The large oak where she used to sit in its branches and read would be where her life would end; she would have laughed at the twist of fate if they hadn't been watching.
She felt aware of all of them in that moment. Their hopes and dreams and their disappointment. Each one was waiting to see if she would run, or scream, or beg. Katya raised her chin, and began to walk down the pathway. Each member held a candle and bowed their heads as she walked.
She had been dressed in the ceremonial robes of black and crimson. The only time she'd worn such fine fabrics would be at her funeral.
The grass was cool beneath her feet as she made her way to the platform. Her father stood at the front (wanting a perfect view no less) with her mother. Katya felt the grain of wood under her feet as she began to climb.
The rites were read as she turned to face the meadow. The meadow. A pain tugged at her chest as she felt her façade starting to fade. She bit her lip to keep from crying as she stared past the bright light of the candles to the blurry darkness on the outskirts. It was so close, yet so far away.
And then she saw him. William. Hidden just behind the forest. His eyes landed on hers just as hers landed on his.
He wasn't moving to stop them, and this caused a swell of pain to rise in her. He was just another member of the crowd waiting for her end. The murmur of rites still sounded in her ear. She would let him be the last to see her. With all the strength she possessed, she stared at him, her face unreadable.
Let him be forever be cursed to feel unrequited love, she thought with a vengeance. Let him know how it feels to love someone that could never love him. She had loved a vampire. He was someone who was supposed to be beneath her. Let him be cursed to feel beneath someone else. Let him feel the agony and torment, she thought again, her eyes searing into his.
She felt the rough rope put around her neck and didn't flinch or break her gaze on William's face. He looked in pain, she remembered thinking ironically as the light played tricks on her eyes. The knot tightened. Was he saying something? Breathing was harder. Was he sorry? And with a deep breath she then exhaled slowly. She held her arms to the sides as waves of magic flowed off her. She looked once into the night air, feeling the cool breeze against her skin. Then she lowered her head and looked back at her beloved William. The platform gave way. Everything went black.
It was quick, her death, but the backlash of her pain that unleashed on her clan -wasn't.
Kate sat for moment in the silence that filled the room and then she raised her head. " That's all I remember."
Buffy took a breath. " So you died."
"I think that was the moral of the story," Xander said.
Dawn shot Xander a look before turning to Spike. " She died?"
"That was the last I ever saw her," Spike said.
"You died?!" Buffy repeated. Well, that didn't make much sense.
" She died," Willow said.
Kate got to her feet slowly. " That's all I remember. I was killed for loving a vampire. I was killed for letting him go. I hung that night. I remember that part clearly," she said with a bitter laugh. "And that's all she wrote."
Buffy shook her head. " I just don't understand this. How are you back then?"
"Ooh ,ooh! Maybe she's an great, great, great something or other?" Xander offered.
"I didn't have children," Kate reminded him.
"Right," Xander said sheepishly.
"I am going to go now," Kate said as she headed for the door. Buffy opened her mouth to say something, but Kate had already turned to speak. " I won't go anywhere Buffy. You know where I live."
"Maybe we can do a spell to help you unlock how you are alive," Willow said.
"Can you do that?" Buffy asked.
Willow shrugged. "We would have to get someone more powerful to do it."
"Will you come back then?" Buffy asked.
Kate nodded and then she turned for the door. Spike got to his feet to follow her but Buffy stopped him. " Not tonight Spike. Just leave her alone."
"I don't fancy another round of kick the Spike," he said, " but I have to talk to her."
"Not tonight," Buffy said again. " If you care at all for her, you will just let her be alone."
"I feel so bad for her," Dawn said as she watched Kate's retreating form out the window. " She looks so alone."
"I think she is stronger than she thinks," Willow said, hugging Dawn around the shoulders.
Dawn nodded, but wasn't so sure.
Kate stripped off her clothes and slipped beneath the cool sheets of her comforter. As she curled into the fetal position, hugging her pillow she thought back to that night. She could almost feel the rope around her neck. This night had been a lot like that one. With a moon so full it almost didn't seem real, a coolish breeze that brought with it the smell of snow. Her thoughts had been the same as it was then.
She had been so stoic that night. As she had told the story she had remained that way. Never faltering, never crying. But here, in this room, she was alone again. The nights had been similar in many ways. The pain was still the same all these years later, but on a night like this, she cried.
To Be Continued…