HELLO. GILES SHAN'T BE LEAVING FOR ENGLAND OR ANYTHING BECAUSE OF VICKY'S RECENT..GIFT. HE STILL HAS TO STICK AROUND TO TRAIN HER UP AND HELP HER WITH ALL THE THINGS SHE SEES. BECAUSE HES AN EXPERIENCED WATCHER, HES PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN HELP HER OUT ON THIS. Also keep in mind that some of this chapter is written with her under the thrall of Dracula.
It was break time for the ol' college students. We decided to head down to the beach, for grilling out and such. I hadn't heard from Spike or his 'gifts' after I burned the flowers, and cards, put them in a brown paper bag and left it on his front door in the middle of the day. I did burn most of them but I made sure to leave enough for him to know what exactly the ashes were. I was actually quite happy with it, sorta. I may have missed him from time to time, but at least the death rate in Sunnydale hadn't been rising. Which was slightly odd since he could freely feed now. Oh well, at least no ones died or gone missing.
Graham had gotten well again, and he hadn't called me since that night at the initiative. I felt like we had parted on rather good terms. If I ever needed someone or something I'd definitely call him. He'd forever be special to me, just not enough that I'd want to do more than date him.
As for the 'gift' I'd been given, nothing really surfaced recently except a few odd dreams that centered around Buffy and I in the grave yard at night and a hand coming up out of a box that strangled a man, it was raining so theres that. Giles told me to keep him updated on my dreams as he thought they could be 'visions' I scoffed at him but accepted it none the less.
Buffy and Riley were tossing around a foot ball, I had been with them untill I kinda tumbled into the ocean and decided I liked sun bathing better. My towel was next to the couple's and right in front of Anya. She never let me forget that anyways.
"You know Vicky." She started, I propped my head to look at her.
"If you don't pull your hair all the way up, you'll have a tan line in the shape of your hair. It would look quite strange." Anya remarked smiling. I wasn't sure if this was her being nice and giving me helpful tips so I slowly moved to pull all of my hair up. Her smile never changed so I assumed it really was just friendly advice.
"Thanks Anya." I said softly, giving her a small smile. She nodded, and continued to read. I put my head back down, now with hair up.
"I'm exhausted just looking at those two. All the splashing and jumping and running... Shouldn't relaxing involve less exertion? " Xander remarked, sounding a mixture of smartassery and admiration.
"Absolutely. Exertion can lead to sweatiness." Anya replied to her boyfriend's comment.
"Which can cause the pain and heartbreak of stinkiness. Better to just stay put." Tara added in with her own special thing. Tara and I had been off to a rocky start with the shit that Spike started back with Adam and all, but once we got over that she was a charming girl.
"I think we've just put our finger on why we're the sidekicks." Willow said sounding amused but content. I snorted at that.
"Football isn't all that bad...just is if you fall into the ocean by accident." I said as I propped my head back up looking at all of them. Something bounced off my ass at this point. I turned my head looking at what just invaded my personal space, and who the fuck threw it. A tall, blonde, surfy looking guy came running up. I grabbed the ball and stood up to hand it to him. He was kinda cute..In a surfer-boy way...I guess. Good enough for a one night stand anyways.
"Hi..um I think you threw this a little too far." I said in the most innocent and flirty way possible. He grinned, showing teeth. They were all white and shiny. I had gotten over guy's first allure after Graham. That was a freakin' train wreck. I handed him the football, sliding my fingers across his own.
"Yeah I guess so. So um..how long are you here for?" He asked me, still grinning. I smiled, it was totally working. I changed feet, I knew everyone that was sitting was looking at us.
"Mmm...Few days." When I said mmm I put my finger to my lips and crossed my arms, pronouncing the cleavage I had. I saw his eyes go down to it, then snap back up to mine.
"Well my buddies and I are having a party tonight. You a-and your friends should totally come." He said, I leaned a little closer causing him to stutter and my ego went through the roof. I giggled and nodded. He blushed and almost ran the other way.
"You incubus, you." Xander said sounding mildly impressed. I shrugged and laid back down.
"I think you mean, succubus." Willow corrected, sounding like a walking textbook. I rolled my eyes.
"Incubus is a male version of the succubus." Anya joined in and I sighed.
"Yeah, you're totally welcome for the party invitations guys." I said sarcastically. My statement was responded to with a chorus' of thank yous. Buffy and Riley ran up at this point.
"Game over?" I heard Willow ask.
"Uh, Buffy slayed the football." Riley responded, I guessed he had tossed it to the side. My side. It to bounced off my ass. Apparently everything that was sporty was attracted to my ass. I propped myself up and glared up at Riley. He held his hands up, in surrender. I huffed and back down.
"Where's my burger?" Buffy asked, sounding almost like a kid.
"Yeah, man, I'm starving. Cow me." Riley chimed in, I almost shuddered. I was a vegetarian and for some reason I enjoyed not seeing animals being slaughtered and eaten. I was soft-hearted that way I suppose.
"The, uh, fire's not cooperating. It's comforting to know that I lack the culinary finesse of a caveman." Xander replied sounding mildly put down. I propped my head up again and watched him try to light it and fail.
"Ignis incende." Willow said, motioning to the fire. It suddenly grew and was very much there. I sat up to look at it in wonder.
"Will, you've gotta teach me some stuff. Seriously." I said quietly as I watched the flames.
"It's no big. You just have to balance the elements so when you affect one, you don't wind up causing..." Willow started but she was cut off by a huge clap of thunder, suddenly and very much abruptly it began to downpour. It was hard and cold. We all got up, the girls shrieking and grabbed our stuff, running for the hotel.
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" Willow was yelling behind me. I grinned, so much for that party.
The days passed quickly, Buffy and I quickly found ourselves back at the Summer's home unloading everything. It was sometime, later at night and I was digging around in the back of the car. Buffy had already headed in to unpack.
Willow had taught me some basic things about magic and such. She taught me that the earth was energy and we could pull from it, harnessing it. However no matter what we pulled, we had to give back in some way. To balance things out. That came with practice, she told me. I caught onto things rather easily and seemed to be a fast learner. The though made me giddy, I could become a wonderful witch some day!
I grabbed the last bag and backed up to close the trunk, when I heard the click of a Zippo being opened or closed. I slowly turned and looked in that general direction. The only illumination outside right now came from the windows of the Summer's house, and the light didn't quite reach where I was looking. I heard a spark going and then the light illuminated a face, holding a cigarette to the flame.
"Spike?" I asked hesitantly. The light went back out and there was no response for a few seconds. All I could hear was someone taking in a deep breath and letting it out. The only light left was the small cigarette butt.
"You know...loves a funny thing." I heard him drawl. It was Spike, at this I let out a bated breath. I might have been slightly relieved.
"Someone could rip up your heart into little pieces, bloody stomp on it, set it on fire, and leave it outside your door. But you still love them. Funny init?" He continued, I shut the trunk of the car and turned towards him. It seemed like he was pretty much carrying a conversation on with himself. I was still holding a beach bag and truly all I could see of him was the glowing end of the cigarette move closer as he took steps forward.
"These are for you." He said quietly, as he walked closer. I looked down at the darkness and raised a brow.
"Spike, sweetie. I can't see in the dark." I said softly in response. I really hoped it wasn't a dead, maggoty baby. I shivered. That was just a gross dream.
"Oh right. Well...can I come inside then? I can carry things for you if you'd like." He replied, just as quiet. I thought about it for a second, one little step inside couldn't hurt right? I could use that moment to tell him to stop leaving messages and gifts anyways. I nodded and quickly remembered that he probably couldn't see in the dark either.
"I'll need a little more than a nod to get inside, love." He said softly. I could feel his eyes on me, I guess he actually could see in the dark. Wonderful.
"You may come inside." I said formally, turning away from him and headed towards the front door. God I hoped Buffy wouldn't kill me.
We walked through the front door and I put down the bag near the door, next to the pile of bags.
"Victoria? Is that you?" Auntie Joyce asked from what sounded to be the kitchen. I sighed, forgot about the other Summers woman.
"Yeah its me, I brought a friend. Is that okay?" I asked her hesitantly from the foyer. I heard some foot steps and saw her head pop around the frame, appraising Spike.
"Hello. I'm Joyce Summers, Vicky's aunt." She said with a friendly smile and stuck her hand out to greet Spike. I groaned, I knew this was coming though. She always does this, shes like a constant mothering hen.
"Have we met before?" She asked Spike looking at him closer. Spike grimaced and nodded.
"Yeah. I was around for the whole 'end of the world' Angel deal." Spike responded, shaking her hand easily. The word Angel came out with his lips curling back. I forgot the two weren't fond of each other. Whoopsies. She nodded, remembering.
"Oh that's right. Lovely flowers you have there, Tiger lilies are her favorite. Well nice to see you again Spike." Auntie Joyce said quickly, letting go of his hand and motioning to me about the flowers before she high tailed it out of the room. I sighed, shaking my head.
"So you wanted to talk to me about something or another?" I asked him turning around to look at him, crossing my arms. Buffy hadn't shown up yet so maybe she was taking a shower or something. I could totally get him out of here before she came back down. He nodded, and stiffly held out his arm. I looked down to see an actual bouquet of flowers. It was mostly Tiger lilies, but there were some orchids, hydrangeas, and one iris. Purples, blues, and orange came out from the bouquet flowers, it was even wrapped and tied. My mouth popped open before I could stop it. I was maybe, slightly impressed.
"U-um. Thank you. How'd you even get these?" I said softly, looking up at him. I took the flowers out of his hand and leaned down to smell them. They were fresh and all bursting with smells, none of that stupid greenhouse stuff.
"I was running myself silly being a bloody errand boy for your watcher friend. He might have also hinted at you liking Tiger lilies." Spike replied, looking all around the room.
I looked down at the flowers again. There was a card on the flowers, taped to the inside of the card under a poem was a ring, it looked to be silver and seemed to have some sort of cojoined infinity signs. There appeared to be a diamond in the center of the conjoined infinity signs. I read the poem, for once. I figured he'd gone through obviously huge amounts of effort.
"If forgiveness would be thy vice,
I would be forever beholden as
nothing could compare
to the sentiment that it would be to
only wake up to such a pulchritudinous gaze
every day."
"Is pulchritudinous actually a word?" I asked Spike grinning, he was most definitely forgiven but I'd still embarass him if I possibly could.
"I-it is! It means beautiful, beyond breath-taking. It's on the level of a goddess." He sputtered indignantly. I let out a giggle and kissed him on the cheek. If Spike were human, I swear he'd blush. The look on his face was on a new level of bashful.
"Just...ugh. Just bloody try on the ring and tell me if I need to get a different size." He said gruffly, trying to take back some form of dignity I supposed. He took the card and roughly tore the tape.
"Heeyy. Watch the poem. I want to keep that, you know?" I said, quickly taking it back and carefully pulling the ring out. I knew he was watching me but I refused to look him in the eye. He hadn't said anything since I had and as I pulled out the ring I quickly slid it on my middle finger on my left hand. It seemed to fit best there anyways.
"Does it fit?" He asked me softly, I nodded. I didn't particularly want to say anything as this moment was sappy enough to kill me.
"Vicky I can't find my bl-" I heard Buffy start from up the stairs, I looked up at her. She was clad in a towel and looked a mixture of embarrassed and pissed. I looked back at Spike just to see him slap a hand over his eyes.
"SPIKE? GET OUT! OUT, OUT, OUT!" She shrieked as she ran around the landing to hide. I looked back at him to see him spin around to the other direction.
"Oh calm down, I don't want to see your bloody Slayer parts anyways." Spike yelled up the stairs as he faced the wall, I started to laugh. It was quiet but they both heard it.
"VICKY, GET UP HERE. NOW." Buffy yelled from upstairs, I grinned a little. She was flustered. Auntie Joyce came around the corner and looked at the two of us.
"Whats going on?" She asked, concerned. I shrugged.
"Buffy forgot something down here and she just got out the shower." Auntie Joyce let out a noise that was mixture of a snort and a 'aaaahh' sound. Nodding she turned around and went back into the kitchen, presumably going for dinner.
"VICTORIA NEILY!" Buffy yelled down, sounding strict. I tried to stop grinning but I couldn't help it. I started to tromp up the stairs to lean over the railing as I talked to her.
"Whats up?" I said casually, looking at the crouched towel-clad Buffy. She glared at me.
"Him! Hes whats up. Make him leave! Aren't you mad at him or something?" She was whispering, sounding incredibly pissed. I shrugged again.
"Weeeellll...not exactly. Not anymore. I mean I'm still mad but I'm willing to be friendly." I said quietly as I looked everywhere but at her face. She almost growled out of annoyance.
"Then you guys can go be friendly some other night. Make him leave!" She said sounding incredibly annoyed now, but she was still whispering. Like Spike couldn't hear us.
"Fine, fine. Have it your way woman, he'll be out of here soon. And what were you looking for?" I stated then asked her, motioning to the pile of bags downstairs. I could hear Auntie Joyce downstairs, talking to Spike again.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" She asked him. There was a moment of silence as Buffy and I looked at each other, slightly panicked. She quickly yelled down right as he spoke.
"NO MOM, HE HAS TO GO. HE HAS THINGS TO DO." Buffy yelled down over Spike's 'sure'.
"Alright then, I'll set an extra place at the table." She said happily, completely ignoring Buffy. I looked back at Buffy to see her slap a hand over her face, covering her eye and part of her mouth as she groaned.
"What did you need again?" I asked innocently. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Nevermind. Just go entertain him while I get ready for a dinner with a guy that wants to eat people." She said as she stood up, grumbling to herself. I nodded and turned back down to go downstairs. I tromped down the stairs and jumped the last step, landing next to Spike.
"So what were we talking about again?" I asked him casually as I could. Completely ignoring the latest events, and continuing on.
"The ring fitting." He said softly, motioning to my hand. I looked back down at the ring, it winked at me in the light.
"Yeah. It fits fine. Good job on your pickings." I said grinning. I took the flowers to the kitchen, the smell of dinner was everywhere. It smelled like Auntie Joyce was making her 'secret chicken' recipe. I was incredibly sure that it was just bruchetta chicken with a spicy twist but hey, she was cooking.
It was nice to have home cooked meals and honestly Auntie Joyce was more of my mother than my actual mother. She had left when I was about seven years old to go after her dream job as a doctor, my dad was military and we just constantly moved around.
There were many times when I was younger that she'd buy up school supplies and clothes to send over to my father, he appreciated the gestures and I appreciated the clothes and her looking out for me. It honestly continues on to this day, when she buys Buffy something at a store, she comes up with something for me too.
I had no idea why she decided to adopt me since I was her niece and her sister hadn't spoken to her in at least 12 or 13 years. About a year after she left my dad, she and Joyce got into a big argument that resulted in the two not speaking for a very long time.
First boyfriend that I had that actually broke up with me, she and Buffy comforted me. It ended up being in the middle of the summer, in the middle of my visit. I was about 16, Buffy the same age, and he decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. Called me up and told me so, I bawled for a few minutes then Buffy and I went out to stake some vamps. Good times.
I shook myself out of thought and pulled down a vase to put the flowers in. Afterwards I took out a knife to cut the ribbon off of them and end up cutting into my finger. My eyes grew five sizes and I swiveled around to Spike, awaiting the sudden attack where I'd have to stab him and yell for Buffy. He came up behind me and took my hand, inspecting the finger. I stared at him, slightly terrified.
"I can bloody control myself, you know." He stated quietly while looking at the finger. He sounded annoyed and exasperated, basically a 'how dare you' tone. I nodded, not trusting my voice.
He took my finger and leaned down, putting his mouth over the finger. He sucked gently for a second then pulled away, licking it clean. It was the oddest and probably most erotic moment I'd ever have in this kitchen. He looked back up at me and I quickly switched my view to looking at the finger. It almost looked like the wound was now just skin that had been sliced instead of an actual cut. Odd. I turned back around to the vase not saying anything and put the flowers in. God this was going to be an awkward dinner.
The four of us sat at the table, Buffy and I on one side and Spike with Auntie Joyce on the other. Buffy was gripping the knife incredibly tight while I answered all of Auntie Joyce's small talk. Spike was doing a mixture of talking and avoiding looking at Buffy.
"So you come from England? And you're over 200 years old, must have seen some great things in your time." Auntie Joyce continued, and Spike nodded.
"I'm from London actually and I have traveled a bit I suppose." Spike said grinning. He was enjoying the spotlight, but there were some times that I had to lean over to whisper to Buffy to 'calm the fuck down before you slice through the plate'. Dinner continued on without anymore strange or amazing things happening, well. Sorta.
Auntie Joyce told Spike to come around again soon. Buffy was biting through her lips, trying not to snap at him or her mum. I walked him to the door and he ended up hesitantly kissing me on the cheek, Buffy wouldn't allow anymore than that to go on. After a few seconds she pulled open the door specifically to just glare at him. He rolled his eyes and sauntered off, lighting a cigarette.
We went upstairs, to bed. I went in the spare bedroom while Buffy went to her own room. I wasn't sure why but the Summer's house was always a good place for me. It felt like home, with warm hot chocolate, and hugs, and just all good things. I fell asleep quickly, it seemed like the insomnia was gone.
The dream with the man being strangled has decided to show up again. This time there were two men talking in the rain, about what exactly I couldn't tell, it was muffled. They were unloading a cart from the back of a truck in the rain, one was dressed in a blue jumpsuit looking thing. I didn't really know where they were though, it was too dark and rainy.
We were at Giles's house as I laid on the couch, telling him about the dream I'd had. He nodded, not saying and just watching me with his brows furrowed. The gang was all here, listening to my story.
"So I woke up when the hand just came out of the crate, it looked like it was attached to a man but I couldn't really tell. I woke up with a jump though." I said nodding to myself. He stood up and began to ruffle around.
"I think perhaps, if you meditate on it or maybe focused on heightening your ability, it would become clearer. Also it would be best if we began to train you again, as it seems you'll become quite crucial." Giles said mostly to himself as he seemed to have found the set of books he wanted.
"Alrighty, I'll totally get right on that."
"I'll help with the training, we can start tonight!" Buffy said excitedly, clapping her hands together. I smiled at her antics, she was probably just excited over the idea of having someone to patrol with again. It'd be just like old times, honestly. Willow as on the computer behind the couch and I flipped over to look at her.
"Whatcha doin?" I asked her as I sat up, looking over at her. She looked up at me and grinned, clearly in her element.
"I'm archiving things, we're making a virtual library!" Willow replied excitedly. I grinned and nodded. Buffy stood up and walked to the door. I took that as my que to get up and go.
"Well, Vicky and I have to go shopping for dinner. Bye!" I shuffled over the to door as Buffy exited, and gave a finger wave as we went.
Buffy and I were now sitting at the table, eating dinner with Auntie Joyce. We had just finished.
"Thanks Auntie Joyce!" I said as I got up, clearing the table. Buffy decided I needed hands-on experience to train up again. This meant she was throwing me in the fight and watching my form as I went.
"Yeah, thanks Mom. Everything was yummy." Buffy said as she too got up to clear the table.
"Hey, you girls up for dessert? We could, uh, take a drive, get some ice cream." Auntie Joyce said while she sat. I paused and looked at Buffy, I loved ice cream. I was silently begging her, but she shook her head no.
"You know, we, we would, but I kinda have to get out on patrol and show the rookie the steps." Buffy said grinning, I sighed. I was defeated, no ice cream would be had by me.
"Now? It's just 8:30." Auntie Joyce said as she looked at the clock behind her and back at us. I shrugged, they didn't really care if it was 8:30 or not, well they did but they only really cared if it was close to feeding time or close to the run rising. I wonder if Vampire's move to Alaska a lot for the months of darkness..
"Well, vamps don't really care what time it is. You know, dark equals dinner bell." Buffy explained as she went into the kitchen, carrying plates.
"Right, of course. You know, I'm gonna have to get used to this place without you two again. It gets so quiet." She sounded sad and I frowned as I walked into the kitchen. I hated making her sad. Buffy passed by me as I put the dishes into the sink to be washed.
"You know, maybe we should make a regular date of this, when school starts." Buffy said as a compromise. I came back in the room as she kissed Auntie Joyce on the cheek.
"I'm sorry. Duty calls. It's a total drag." She turned around to leave and headed towards the door. I followed when I heard a throat clear behind me.
"Don't think you're getting out of here without giving me kiss do you?" Auntie Joyce said as she put a finger on her cheek, I grinned and went back to kiss her on the cheek.
"Sorry, thought it might be weird. " I said awkwardly afterwards, she smiled and shook her head.
"You're just as much a part of this family as Buffy is, sweetheart." She stood up, taking her plate with her and headed towards the kitchen. I shuffled back over to the door and grabbed a jacket, following Buffy out.
I threw a punch and the vampire countered with a kick, serious pain the ribs.
"FORM VICKY. DON'T THROW THE PUNCH UNLESS YOU KNOW YOU'LL HIT HIM., YOU'LL WASTE ENERGY THAT WAY." Buffy yelled from her spot on a headstone. She had been yelling out similar comments all night as each vampire came awake. This was maybe the second or third one and it was kinda pissing me off.
The vampire and I were pacing with each other, waiting for one to throw the first hit. He got impatient and did, I caught his fist and slide my leg under him. He fell to the ground and I leapt down to stake him, he rolled and we ended up rolling around on the ground for dominance.
"Good grief, lady. Why are you even doing in a grave yard at night?" The vampire muttered to me as we rolled, grabbing fists, punching, and kicking. I now understood why Buffy usually talked to her vamps before she staked them. It made things a lot more fun.
"Funny story actually." I grunted as he hit me in the stomach and I broke his nose when I knocked my head into his face.
"We sorta do this as a living." I explained after I caught my breath again from the punch to the stomach. He jumped up and I threw a kick, he grabbed the leg and picked me up, throwing me to the side. I looked up at the vase, and back to the vampire, he had started to run at me. I threw the vase into his face and began to scramble away. He fell over from the force and I almost wanted to congratulate myself on the good throw.
A thought hit me, it was a beginnerish spell Willow had been teaching me that relied mostly on telekinectics, if I found something to knock down I could do it. I jumped up abruptly and kicked him in the face as I looked around for something to shatter or crush. I found a vase on the head stone next to Buffy, that would work just fine. I grabbed it and quickly threw it on the ground, shattering it. Spinning around I yelled out the Spell waving my arm in his general direction.
"Protego!" The glass pieces along with a few other vases suddenly came together, forming a sharp wall of sorts in front of me, I could hear him growl on the other side. I took a step back when I heard him start to run again and stuck out my arm to clothesline the vamp.
As the vampire ran at me, breaking through the wall as I side stepped I braced my arm for when he'd hit it. He ran straight into my extended arm as I thought he would, he ricocheted back and when he fell I jumped on him, staking him. He fell to dust and I heard slow clapping from the side, I took a bow in front of Buffy and collapsed on the ground. Vampires sucked.
"Good job. You included magic and everything." She said softly, I nodded from the ground.
"Yeah and I didn't cause a rain storm or have the glass attack me or anything... I mumbled, I was tired as hell.
"Home?" She asked and I stumbled to stand up. We giggled as I tried to find my balance and shrugged out of my coat from all the heat I built up. We started to walk out of the cemetary when I heard an accented, almost Transylvanian voice sound from behind us.
"Very impressive hunt. Such Power." I turned around at the voice, why was he congradulating me on a hunt? An incredibly pale looking man with long hair had stepped out of the dark, he was dressed up to the nines, classic dracula look.
"Uh.. I don't hunt. I'm a vegetarian, we tend to avoid things that hurt animals. But um... thanks anyways I guess?" I said completely confused. I looked at Buffy and she shrugged, might just be a crazy guy in the cemetary.
"You're quite welcome." He said and walked closer, Buffy and I just sort of looked at him. He was kinda weird but reminded me of a movie character.
"Such a beautiful woman, to be fighting such creatures. I am pleased to have your acquaintance, Miss?" He bowed and took my hand, I raised a brow.
"Um, how about you let go of my hand now?" I meant to say it as a command but the look in his eyes made me form a question. I could feel Buffy looking at me all funny.
"But I must have your name." His eyes were incredibly commanding and as I started to notice things, it all reminded me of my dreams. Maybe Giles was right, and they're my 'gift'. The lighting, the sounds, the temperature and Buffy and I being here...it all reminded me of my dreams.
"Victoria. Victoria Neily." I said softly as I stared into his eyes. He nodded and kissed my hand, it was almost romantic. I could hear Buffy sputtering next to me, and then logic washed over me like a bucket of ice water dumped on my head. I ripped my hand out of his grip and stuck them both on my hips.
"And excuse me, but who are you exactly?" I said haughtily, I could hear Buffy's yeah! next to me. I could see that he was slightly insulted I had done that just from the look in his eyes, but he stood up elegantly.
"I apologize Miss Neily, I assumed you knew. I am, of course, Dracula." He finished with a bow of sorts and my mouth popped open.
"Get out!" Buffy sounded aboslutely delighted.
"And you must be the slayer, yes?" He turned to her and asked silkily. She nodded vigirously, I cracked a grin.
"The one and only! Well not the only, but I'm technically in charge right now." She said, starting to ramble.
"Then why has Miss Neily been engaging in such battles?" Dracula questioned.
"I'm training her up for reasons that you don't need to know." Buffy responded at first sounding friendly, but then stand-offish. I supposed she remembered that he wasn't that great of a guy in history. Wait a second how do we even know this is actually Dracula?
"Woa-woooa. Woa there guy. How do we even know you're actually the one and only Dracula? Theres been a lot of fakers in our time." I said as I inspected him, either he really was Dracula or he had a realllly good costume going on.
"I am Dracula." He said, showing us his fangs. Fangs didn't mean much, all vampires can have fangs, in fact ANYBODY could have fangs if they wanted.
"And you're sure this isn't just some fanboy thing? Cause ... I've fought more than a couple of pimply overweight vamps that called themselves Lestat." Buffy sounded off from beside me, sounding less convinced now than she did before.
"You know who I am. As I would know without question that you are Buffy Summers." Dracula said sounding a wee bit annoyed now. He took a few steps forward and stood over Buffy and I, it wasn't that hard to do considering we're both under 5'5.
"You're heard of me?" Buffy said sounding bashful. I giggled a little, she was becoming star struck by her...killer fans?
"Naturally. You're known throughout the world, although I must admit. I didn't know that such a beauty would be with you." Dracula said, adding on the last part seemingly as an after thought. I decided to ignore it.
"Naw. Really?" Buffy asked him.
"Why else would I come here? For the sun? I came to meet the renowned ... killer." Dracula was quieter now, starting to worry me.
"Yeah, I prefer the term slayer. You know, killer just sounds so..." Buffy trailed off, thinking about what her title should be.
"Naked?" Dracula suggested.
"Like I ... paint clowns or something. I'm the good guy, remember?" Buffy said expectantly, I nodded. She was the good guy in my book, eventually I'd be up there with her, maybe not quite as good and a lot more breakable but hey. I was something to fall back on.
"Perhaps, but your power is rooted in darkness. You must feel it." Dracula countered. I frowned.
"Why does everyone say that? Its always darkness with you guys." I muttered, feeling a bit annoyed.
"No. You know what I feel? Bored." Buffy had pondered it for a second and it was go time. She grabbed a stake, and I grabbed mine while she went after him. Hey, I was just going to be a little slower than her... I looked back up as Dracula disappeared in to a puff of smoke. My mouth dropped open.
"Thats totally unfair!" I said, exasperated. Buffy nodded.
"That's totally cheating." She said sullenly. I nodded my agreement to her statment.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Xander and Willow had walked up, my mouth dropped open again and I began to vigiriously shake my head at them.
"Wow vicky, you look like you just-" Willow started as I began to make stop and 'get out of here' motions with my hands. They obviously weren't getting it.
"Get out of here. Now." Buffy said darkly. She meant business. I got into a defensive crouch again, tuning into the the surroundings for when Dracula would pop up.
"Fine, but I was gonna give you a sip of my double-mint mocha, but.." Xander started. I paled as I watched Dracula form behind him.
"Behind you." Buffy let out a warning, that of course they didn't heed. She sounded a bit exasperated.
"Hi." Willow said, sounding mildly surprised.
"Nice. Look who's got a bad case of dark prince envy." Xander sassed the literal dark prince. Buffy and I looked at each other, beginning to get worried for them.
"I have no interest in you. Leave us." Dracula ordered, Xander of course ignored it. Being his good self.
"No, we're not going to "leave you." And where'd you get that accent, Sesame Street? Vun, two, three - three victims. Mwa ha ha!" Xander was making fun of him now, recounting the count on sesame street. Dracula was definitely not appreciating the humor.
"Xander, I'm pretty sure that's Dracula." Buffy inched closer and whispered to them.
"Wow, really? Hey, sorry, man, I was ... just jokin' around." Xander said as he hurried to run behind Buffy and I. I rolled my eyes but accepted being his human shield anyways.
"This is not the time. I will see you soon, my ladies. " Dracula seemed to sigh as he spread out his cape and poofed into a bat. I cringed in horror, I hate bats.
" Bat! Ooh, bat!" The bat had flown first around Buffy, then came back around to fly at me.
"EW EW EW NO. NO BATS FOR ME! GO AWAY!" I ran off away from it, as I shrieked. I could hear Buffy laughing and I flipped her the bird. The bat sqeaked in such a way that it actually reminded me of laughing.
We were at Giles's house, Buffy and I shuffled there with Willow and Xander. I say shuffled becaue everytime I moved, my muscles hurt. God I'm out of shape. I was laid out on Giles's couch, never had a couch felt more comfortable as this couch did in that moment.
"I told you he'd heard of me, right? I mean, can you believe that? (Shot of Giles nodding patiently) Count Famous heard of me. I tuned into the conversation at Buffy's retelling of how Dracula heard about her.
"I couldn't believe it the first twenty times you told us, but it's starting to sink in now." Riley said, sounding a mixture of sarcastic and amused by her. The boy loved her, and even though he was kinda nutso at times and I don't think she really trusted him, she still loved him just as much.
"I'm sorry. Am I repeat-o-girl? I was just ... blown away." Buffy said, sounding slightly like a fangirl whose idol knew her name. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, you're repeat-o-girl." I said jokingly, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes at me and moved my legs to sit at the opposite end of the couch.
"It's not that surprising that he's heard of you, Buffy. You are the slayer." Riley said 'matter of factly'.
"I guess. Just - the way he said it, you know, I mean, he made it sound so..." Buffy trailed off, probably remembering the moment.
"Sexy? I bet he made it sound sexy." Willow said dreamily. I giggled.
"Hot?" I supplied looking over at Buffy. She nodded.
"Kinda. He of the dark penetrating eyes and lilty accent." Buffy said still thinking about him. I nodded to that.
"Well he's definitely hot, although his accent is kinda off-putting.." I trailed off, in thought. I kept thinking of Spike's accent and comparing them. I really needed to stop thinking about him like that.
"Oh I know, especially when he comes out of the dark like that." Buffy said in agreement to my off-putting statement, she was nodding and looking at me.
"You thought Dracula was sexy?" Tara asked Willow softly. I watch as Willows face turned from dreamy to panic.
"Oh! No. He, he was ... yuck." Willow said, trying to back track. I grinned, couples. They'll all now assure their signifigant other that Dracula really isn't all that hes cracked up to be. I had started playing with the ring on my finger and my thoughts drifted back to Spike.
He was dark and kinda mysterious...okay not really mysterious. Though he did the weirdest things sometimes. When we left the house in the morning, I noticed a pile of cigarette butts, and had come to the conclusion that either Auntie Joyce had taken up chain-smoking or Spike had been hanging around a lot.
"Please. He was no big whoop." I came back to Xander scoffing at whatever someone said. He was getting jeaalous.
"No big whoop? What about that thing where he turned himself into a bat? That was awesome!" Willow remarked, sounding like the dreamy girl all over again.
"It was kinda gross actually." I said remembering the moment that he flew at me.
"Yeaaah, a little. But the whole m'lady thing totally makes up for it." Buffy remarked. I shrugged, or tried to since I was laying down and in slight pain.
"It must have been, yes. I must admit, I'm sorry I missed that." Giles said, sounding a little regretful. I frowned.
"Me too! The whole time I was thinking, 'Gosh, I wish Giles were here, he'd know what to do!'" Willow said suddenly, I stared at her for a few seconds.
"Didn't you guys ... think that?" Willow asked everyone slowly. I stared at her for a few more seconds before it dawned on me that she was trying to include him. I wasn't sure why but it worked for me.
"Oh yeah...totally. We really missed you there Giles. You could have seen Buffy 'train' me." I said with air quotes, mostly because she shouted advice from the side.
"I did train you! I...gave you helpful advice from a place that I could have intervened." She said as she lightly smacked my leg.
"Uh huh..So glad you intervened when I threw that vase at his head." I said sounding incredibly unconvinced, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"Well you obviously had it covered. You did your whole magical wall of glass thingy!" She said quickly. I nodded my head while making sounds like 'mmmhm.' or 'mmm'
"Vicky, you tried magic? Did it work? What spell?" Willow leaned forward, looking incredibly interested.
"Yeah, I broke a vase though and it kinda gathered up some by itself. I said protego, I think." I said remembering the moment.
"Thats odd. Its actually Tego, maybe the difference made it gather up more stuff?" Willow leaned back into her seat beginning to think on it. She got up at one point and began to go through a few books.
"Getting back to our main point, there's a great deal of myth about Dracula. I imagine the trick to defeating him lies in separating the fact from the fiction." Giles said, trying to bring us back on subject.
"So we should take things slow with Dracula. I mean, he said that we would meet again, but I would like to avoid that until we do some serious homework." Buffy remarked, getting down to business.
"I don't know. I mean, he may have a bunch of swell party tricks, but he's still just a vampire. I say we load up with stakes and crossbows and go after him now." Riley put in his two cents. I rolled my eyes, he had no idea what he was dealing with. Still the stereotypical army guy.
"Second." Xander said as he raised his hand. I let out a sigh. Idiots.
"No, Buffy's right. Dracula's too slick to fall for the usual stuff." Anya determined, good. Theres atleast one smart one.
"So we hold off. No killing until we know exactly what we're dealing with." Buffy said as a game plan. I thought about that and decided it might actually be the best plan.
"All right. Willow, you and Tara find out everything you can about the actual legend of Vlad the Impaler on the Internet, and, uh, I'll check the library. Also, everyone do not discuss Victoria's dreaming abilities with anyone outside of this group. A seer on your side is an impeccable advantage over the enemy." Giles said, giving everyone their plans and motioning for me to go over there. I started to get up off the couch slowly.
"If the Initiative was still around, we'd be able to find everything on this guy in a few hours." Riley said almost sounding like a child that lost his favorite toy. I rolled my eyes and got off the couch.
"If the Initiative was still around, they'd try to capture him to 'learn' all about him." I said grumpily moving past him to Giles. I still hadn't gotten over the monster the Initiative had created and everything that it had messed with that just wasn't in their boundries.
"We might not be as fast, but we'll find him. You guys, we'll reconvene here in the morning." Buffy said and we all went off to our places. We started towards the door, hopefully to go home as I was now totally feeling the effects of a few hours ago. Buffy stopped to say good night to Riley, giving him a few suggestions that I didn't care to listen too. She kissed him and gave him a hug, then started towards the door where I was standing, waiting on her.
"Riley's not coming?" I asked frowning as he put on her coat. She shook her head.
"Nah, hes wired and I'm kinda wiped out." She explained. I nodded, I was pretty wiped out too.
"Alright. Well...if theres a store on the way..can we get ice cream?" I asked, jumping up and down at the ice cream suggestion. I had a craving for ice cream and I wasn't sure why. She grinned and nodded. I did a little victory dance as we left the apartment complex.
I was asleep in what was basically my room, I had begun to decorate it to make it more.. me-like.
Auntie Joyce had no issue with it, she showed me the bedspreads and asked if I wanted something different. I said no because I had my eye on a purple and black set. She thought I'd like that one.
For some reason I woke up, the room felt...cooler? I didn't open my eyes, just listened. There wasn't really any noise that was out of the ordinary and I wasn't sure why but the hair stood up on my arm. My dream so far had just been a random selection of images. First there was a hand grabbing a yellowish brown spider on a table, then Xander putting Anya in a closet and I woke up right as I saw a building of some sort.
"I know you are..awake." An accented voice sounded in the corner of my room. I jumped up, attempting to shield my body with a pillow. Like the pillow would stop a vampire.
"Em...Nice to see you again?" I said hesitantly. I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to say to a dead-looking man who decided to show up in the middle of the night.
"A minion of mine...he informed of something most interesting." He started to look around the room. I had just put up some band posters and other little things that seemed to make the room more like me. He'd pick something up, inspect it, then put it back down. It was like he was cataloging my room.
"Is that so?" I said slowly. Watching him, mess with just about everything in sight. It was kind of starting to annoying me.
"Yes. I was informed that you are infact a seer Miss Neily." He said turning around to me, done fiddle-fucking with everything in sight. I froze up for a second...who would tell him that? Or how did he find out? Who was his minion exactly? I knew it had to be one of the scooby gang because literally no one, outside of the group knew. Not even Auntie Joyce knew.
"Rumors am I right?" I said with a wheezing laugh. I didn't think he quite bought it but I was definitely getting better at the whole lying thing.
"So you are in fact telling me that you are not?" He asked me darkly, looking deep into my eyes.
"Not what?" I replied quickly, doing my evasive tactic that never worked. A voice told me to tell him the truth but I could sorta fight it. It wasn't that overwhelming.
"Miss Neily, you are testing my patience. Are you or are you not a seer?" He said coming closer with his sweeping cloak. I almost let out a croak that would have been a mix between nervous giggles and a yelp. I clapped my hands over my mouth just in time.
"Whats a seer?" I asked vying for stupidity. He glared at me and the hand came up to press against my forehead.
"WOA BRO. Whatcha doin' there?" I said as I attempted to scooch back in the bed. This was highly unorthodox, even in my book, and my book was pretty short in that kinda list. The more I moved back, the more he moved forwards.
"Be quiet." He commanded. I felt the indignation take over.
"Excuse you, I am not ordered around." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Oh..you are a seer. You have not yet see your potential my dear." He said smirking, all the annoyance was gone apparently. Although I didn't like the look of that smirk. I pulled back a little and took his hand away from my head, his nails looked pointy.
"You need a manicure." I said plainly, looking at the nails. He pulled his hand back from my own and forced me to look him in the eyes.
"Pull your hair back." He requested after a few minutes. I raised a brow at this request, it was quite odd.
"Erm why?" I asked, moving my hair back. It was on the opposite side of Spike's bite. I didn't particularly want him to see that either.
"It is quite odd. A human seer and yet you smell almost immortal." He said softly as he stared into my eyes. Slowly I lost sight of the room around me, all I could see was Dracula in all his magnificence.
I nodded slowly. He moved out of my eyesight as he leaned forward but I could feel his hands sliding past my neck and down my chest. It was a wonderful feeling, like silk falling off my body. He was quite wonderful for a vampire.
"You will enjoy this, my seer." He said softly into my ear. Slowly I felt two pinches in my neck, it was the most wonderful feeling I could have imagined. I never wanted it to end, I just wanted this prince to stay forever by my side.
"Come to me tomorrow at night fall." He commanded as he pulled back, dizzily I nodded. I looked back to where he had been and there was nothing but fog. I had a sudden onslaught of pain almost everywhere on my body but especially on the other side of my neck. I laid back down on my bed, almost passing out as I tried to ignore the burning.
My dreams started back up where they'd been interrupted. The building was a castle looking thing over an edge. Xander, Buffy and I were walking up the stairs of it, then a female vampire in a red dress in a dark place.
I'd woken up sometime later, again by something other than my actual body clock. There was someone in the room, someone who was breathing but not making any other kind of noise. I opened an eye partly, scoping out the enemy. I saw a doc marten dangling off my dresser, then part of a leather duster.
"God fucking dammit, Spike." I sat up as I said this. He was sitting on the dresser looking at me calmly, like he hadn't invaded my personal space whatsoever. I didn't want the stupid vampire here.
"Good day to you too, Tic Tac." Spike replied quietly. He looked down at his hands and then back up to me.
"What do you want?" I asked exasperated and tried to subtlety brush my hair over Dracula's mark. He watched me and let out a sound that was a short burst of air, almost like a sarcastic laugh that yelled 'I can't believe you just did that.'
"I know he's been in here. Don't bother trying to hide it." He said sounding a little pissed off. I shrugged and appraised him, he had a slight ring around his eye, I got out of bed and walked over towards him.
"Spike, is that a black eye?" I asked him as I softly touched the skin above his eyebrow. He pushed my hand away roughly and hopped off the dresser, walking away.
"Since when did you care if I had a black eye? Hm?" He asked angrily as he started to pace around my room, going back and forth.
"Didn't bloody care before. All you cared about was Dracula right? Is that why you let him bite you?" He was pacing back and forth still and was getting a little louder each time.
"Spike, its night-time for humans. Quiet down." I said crossly. He stopped and looked at me. I raised a brow as he started to come closer. He came right up to me and pulled my hair back before I realized what he was doing, I slapped the hair back down over my neck.
"Knew I should have bloody come up here first...shouldn't have fought that stupid..." He was muttering to himself now and all I could catch was the first bit and some in the middle. I slowly raised my hand, not really knowing why I was, and placed it on his cheek. He abruptly stopped muttering and was watching what I was doing now.
"Spike..." I started softly, I didn't have the words fully mapped out. The voice in my head was still thinking of what to say, filtering through my thoughts.
"I...I think we should see other people." I finished. The voice in my head thought that was about right. It was time I moved on from him. Spike watched me as I was thinking, analyzing me.
"Hes in your head isn't he? Hes feeding you all of that to say." He said slowly, letting out a long fake chuckle. I frowned at this, how could Spike know that a voice was telling me what were the right things to say or do.
"Wonderful. Now I'll have to stay with you bloody night and day, till they dust the prick." He said sounding incredibly annoyed. He walked away from me shaking his head and sat down on my bed. He began to take off his shoes.
"What are you doing!" I asked him quickly, as he had finished with his shoes and started on his pants. He stood up suddenly and went to the window, letting down the blinds and shutting the curtains. When he did I shielded my eyes from seeing him and blindly felt to my bed.
"Honestly, you've seen everything. Just like I've seen everything. Get used to it. You'll be seeing it for a while, pet." He said snootily still muttering about some 'ponce that owed him 11 pounds and now his girl's sanity'. I wasn't sure who his girl was or if he should be sleeping here if his girl's around.
"Should you really be sleeping here, if your girl's around?" I asked him hesitantly, maintaining eye contact to let him know I wasn't looking at him indecently. The voice wouldn't like that very much anyways. He stared at me for a few seconds.
"I'm going to dust that blighter, myself." He stated grimly as he laid down and pulled the covers over himself. I frowned at this, hopefully Dracula wouldn't be to mad I wasn't sleeping alone tonight.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW YOU PEOPLE SUCK.
TERRIBLE READERS.
TERRRRRIBLE.
I'M ALL REVIEWLESS AND I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE YOU'RE INTO WHERE THE STORIES GOING.