Okay I just want to start off with, I really do love Joyce and I know her death helps out a bit in terms of plot but I dont know entirely if I'm killing her or what just yet. I personally have not lost my mother and the thought terrifies me.
We shall see!
Also, this chapter isn't technically over but I must away to bed and I wanted to get it out before I went so its PT 1!
I awoke to the smell of burning hair and girly humming drifting softly from upstairs. Rolling over, trying to get away from the smell, I rolled right into the nose of Spike. I jumped right as he did and both hands immediately came up to feel the parts that had been smacked. I was still drowsy from the sleepless night of sleep I had gotten. It felt like there was something I needed to remember.
"Sorry, Pet." Spike mumbled. I could see one eye glinting back at me in the darkness that was essentially his basement. I turned and rolled onto my back, sighing at the sound of a lyrically challenged Harmony singing upstairs. I could hear Spike take in a few sniffs as I listened. It seemed she'd attempted to be quiet up until she heard us headbutt each other and was now just belting out the words like she was Madonna.
"Is she burning her sodding hair off?" Spike questioned the smell incredulously as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I shrugged limply on the bed, I didn't feel like moving the dream had me a little off-kelter. I felt like I needed to tell Buffy right away. I popped up off the bed and stopped only from Spike holding my wrist from the bed.
"Where are you off too so early in a sunny day?" He asked me curiously if not sounding a little accusatory that I was being so withdrawn. I shrugged in the darkness trying to shake my wrist out of his grasp. I needed to tell Buffy now. There was something wrong with Auntie Joyce. The dream I had was just her passing out but she was in the kitchen and she shouldn't even be passing out anyways.
"Spike, something's wrong with Joyce. Get up or let go." I ordered nervously. The sense of urgency was hitting me hard as I started to try and shake his grip even harder now. I could feel his eyes on me as felt him let go, swiftly standing up and tucking his arms under my back and knees. He jumped and I felt the world shake as we landed on the first floor of the crypt, looking at Harmony with a straightener in her hand.
"Oh thats cute, you guys always move around like that?" Her voice bounced off the walls and into my ears. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a leather jacket off of the only brown chair in the room. He seemed to have about a million of these just laying around.
I speed walked my way to the door, opening it and ignoring the shrieks of the girl as I shut it behind me. Spike couldn't come with me, it was far too sunny for him and we both knew it. Instead he'd have to keep the blonde company.
Without any sense of true direction I took off running through the graveyard, marble busts and low stones passed me by like a breeze.
All I could think was about her disappearing from my view. Why would Auntie Joyce pass out? What was wrong? I felt ill in my stomach as I hit the street the Summer's home was on. I'd forgone Giles's place or the Magick Shop or even the dorms. I was so panicked that she'd hit her head, she could be bleeding out right now, what if she was seriously hu-
"AUNTIE JOYCE? ARE YOU IN HERE?" I busted through the door carelessly. I was in a straight up panic right now, my breathing was ragged and I was sweaty as hell.
"JOYCE?" I paused only for a second as I shouted again. I wasn't even sure what time it was or if she was in here. Hell she could be at her job or something right now and I was yelling into an empty house.
"Victoria? Sweetie, whats wrong?" I looked up the stairs to see her standing there in a fluffy blue bathrobe looking tired. She was fine. Wow. That made me feel silly. I wonder if I hurt the door on my way in.
"Oh. Uh um. I'm fine, how are you?" I sucked in a breath deeply trying to still the blood rushing to my face and pooling in my cheeks. I looked behind me to make sure I hadn't actually damaged the door when I barged in. It was okay...ish. I spun back around to see her looking worriedly at me, coming down the stairs.
"Are you sure?" She reached out and put a hand on my cheek, bringing me closer. She sounded concerned as she turned my face to the side, inspecting it then taking a step back. I laughed awkwardly and rubbed my other forearm.
"Oh yeah. Just...wanted to see you!" I let my arms drop and swing down as she raised a brow and slowly nodded.
"Wheres Buffy then?" She peered around me, looking for my counterpart with these things. I shrugged robotically, I had no idea. I was just really glad Auntie Joyce was okay, for once I had been wrong and I was loving it.
"Probably saving the world." I suggested slowly. She sighed and nodded, walking past me to the kitchen. I sat at the counter as she made coffee and handed me a cup filled with hot water. She was telling me about the new job she'd gotten as a substitute teacher, she was excited.
"What grade do you think you'll be teaching then?" I asked with a smile looking at her back. She was currently whisking eggs together for breakfast.
"Oh I don't know. Probabl- O-oh." She spoke softly, reaching up for her head. I raised a brow as she turned around from the counter, still holding the red bowl of eggs and a whisk. Her brow was furrowed deeply, like she was in pain as she gripped her head.
"Are you okay?" I peered at her warily, a feeling of doom and worry and fear coming over me. My stomach was bubbling up making me ill again. This wasn't good. I thought she was supposed to be okay. I stood as she stared at me oddly for a second.
"You-you're so bright, Victoria. Wh-why are you out here all alone?" She dropped the bowl, reaching out to me. I took a step and watched as her eyes rolled up inside her head and her body went limp.
It all felt like slow motion afterwards, me trying to get around the island and watching her body give away from the legs up. Like an old picture passing by my eye, scene by scene as the emotions swelled in the audience. I slipped on the egg and fell into a white cabinet as I looked at her head bounce off the floor. The force of my shoulder hitting wood and metal woke me up.
"Joyce? JOYCE?" I scrambled to get over to her and set her head softly in my lap. I looked down at her and felt my lip quiver as I tried to wake her up and hastily reached for the phone. It slipped and slid in my hands as they shook.
I called 911 first, telling them the address and the situation. When I waited on the ambulance, I called Giles and informed him. Buffy was just now getting back from some factory. I didn't pay him much attention and hung up.
I was waiting on the sounds of a siren as I sat there, trying to prop her body up against mine. Eventually I started to check for some kind of bruising, it felt like time was just slowly ticking by. Maybe she just fainted, maybe it was all okay. I nodded to myself as I thought about it. People faint for all kinds of reasons, it might not be that bad.
I sat mutely in the lobby, breathing in deeply but quietly. It felt like the smell of death and decay was then sanitized and shoved up into my nose. Ben had come along and tried to explain things would be okay to me but I couldn't shake the feeling they wouldn't.
It felt like she was close to gone, like we'd almost lost her but she could still leave at any point. He'd asked if she had a history, I said no. This was pretty much the first time ever. Then he told me it was probably just low blood sugar. Buffy and crew busted through the doors of the waiting room with a loud bang and the sound of sets of feet quickly approaching.
I looked up at Buffy with red, puffy eyes. I knew I'd been crying at some point but I couldn't quite place when or where. I was just sitting there, twiddling my thumbs. I should be doing something.
"What happened?" She went to me with open arms. Riley, Giles, Willow and co all followed behind her. They choose to sit near us as I laid my head on her chest, it felt like we'd almost lost her.
"I-I had a dream and it wasn't good so I went to the house in case it was real. A-and she was totally fine at first, just all dressed up and tired in her fluffy bathrobe you know?" I sniffled as I felt my body shake. She started to rub my back, nodding at me to continue. I knew she was just as worried as me but I felt like she didn't know what it could all come up to and I didn't want to tell.
"But then bang, right in the middle of her sentence, she just grabs her head and falls over." I snapped my fingers at the bang, my sniffles calming down as I was comforted by Buffy. I couldn't remember if she'd said something, I was too consumed with her falling over and all.
"Ms Summers?" I heard Ben's voice quiet in the background. I looked up at his frowning face, he looked like he pitied me. The thought was infuriating as hell. He had no idea what the hell I was going through.
He couldn't see fucking dreams of the god damn future. All last night was Joyce and some curly haired blonde bitch talking to a demon. It's skin was really the only thing that stuck with me. It was all gray broken up only by red bloody-looking sores, and dark sunken eyes with a forked tongue. It honestly grossed me out, the blondie seemed to have some sort of power.
Buffy stood as he asked her the same questions and explained the same thing. She stood defensively but her face betrayed the worry and tiredness. She'd had a rough night apparently. She sat back down with an omph and looked at me with dark circles under her eyes.
"Hey...Vicky? Just so you know...Mom really does consider you her daughter." She paused part way and seemed to have changed her mind, choosing to take my hand and squeeze it. I nodded back feeling the hospital take it's toll on me. Hospitals always made me feel more tired that I was before, but the gang being here made it better.
After an hour or so Giles wound up talking to Buffy privately. They spoke in hushed tones, I knew I was just being paranoid but it kept feeling like I was being looked at. It was distracting me from the two of them chatting. I picked my head up off of Willow's shoulder and looked around at all the people inside the lobby, I made eye contact with a shaking woman with black hair. She seemed to be wandering around the room itself, talking to herself. She started to hobble to me, shaking still.
Oh shit. Why did I have to look up? I froze as she got closer, mumbling something about a key. Why did it feel like there was just more crazy in Sunnydale than usual? Or a better question is why did I attract it? I thought Buffy was supposed to attract it al- oh god. Shes touching me now. Shes holding my hand. I looked down at my pale hand, a few green veins showing to her's so bony and gnarled, lined with a multitude of blue veins that it felt as if she was reaching for me from the grave.
"Uh...I'm sorry?" I looked back at Willow then at Buffy for help.
"Hide. Hide. Need to hide. Can't get me in here. You. You need to come in." Her words were short and choppy as she held my hand and pointed to her head. She tugged at my hand as she got to the end, like I was supposed to jump in there with her. I started to feel panic spread as she tugged a second time, harder now. A pale hand settled on her shoulder, distracting her from pulling on my arm like a child and it's doll.