Chapter 48: Frustration
Magic Box, Monday 11 am
Buffy sat in the Magic Box surrounded by books. Anya glanced over at her wondering how she was doing but she was so swamped due to the few clearance items she had marked down due to overstock, that she hadn't had a chance to even see what the Slayer was researching much less how she was doing.
Buffy was doing ok though. She had found what they had actually summoned wasn't what they thought it was but instead a creature of the night who devoured corpses. Unfortunately it also sought revenge. From what she had read, they devoured corpses until they devoured the corpses of those who had cursed them. Why it was hunting the trio, she was unsure unless the trio had managed to kill someone other than Katrina.
She had marked those facts off on a piece of paper but still hadn't figured out how to fix it. She found herself wishing Spike were here to give advice. She was tempted to call Giles but knew Giles still probably wasn't talking to her since their fall out at Anya and Xander's wedding. She let out a sigh as she picked up a book watching a note fall from it. The note was written in Spike's handwriting and she found herself tracing his words.
It was the research he had done about the claims and he was making notes of possible things to try to see if it would work. There was a tracing spell that used the mate's blood to find the exact location of the mate. There was also a teleportation spell that allowed the mates to teleport to the other mate automatically. There was a telepathy skill, which she already knew worked as well as a sensing skill, which again she knew worked. There were also a few rumors about what a claim would do with a human/vampire relationship that seemed to interest Spike.
She got up off her chair and pulled down the books that Spike had listed as sources and spread them out on the table. One by one she opened the books to the pages and lost herself in reading. A human watcher who had lost his slayer to a vampire wrote the first book she opened and he was actively seeking her still hoping she wouldn't be killed. He never did find her but instead a new slayer had been called so he knew his slayer was lost forever.
Buffy sighed closing the book as she picked up another watcher diary. She opened it to the pages Spike had listed and began to read. This story was more horrific. They found the vampire who had claimed the slayer and they dusted him therefore killing the human. The watcher had been so upset by the ordeal he had left the council and moved to the mountains turning in his items including the diary.
Buffy closed the journal diary opening up the first page, which read "1952." Buffy frowned putting that diary aside thinking the watcher might indeed still be alive. If the council ever came after her, he might prove useful. She picked up the third book, which wasn't written in English and she sighed. She had three choices for translation and they all sucked. Giles could translate it of course since it was in Latin, Spike could in a heartbeat or Dawn.
She hated the idea of having Dawn translate it not knowing what it might say. It might talk about something in graphic detail for all she knew. She set it aside and picked up the last book. It was an ancient demon text that had a slip of paper in it where Spike had been actively translating it. She glanced at the pictures of the book and shuddered. It was an image of a human being sliced open but she wasn't sure why. She flipped the page and saw both the human and vampire lying side by side on stone tables and both were being kept alive while they were being actively dissected.
She let out a gasp that had Anya moving towards her in curiosity. Anya let out a sigh as she watched her last customer leave before she volunteered, "I know that case."
Buffy blinked, "You do?"
Anya nodded, "I helped Spike to find that book actually. It was from my collection but I had never bothered to translate it so Spike was translating parts of it for me. This part had to do with what he was interested in anyway, claims."
Buffy nodded holding up the piece of paper Spike had been writing on. Anya clicked her tongue, "This is interesting."
Buffy glanced up at her lost as Anya continued to flip through the notes. She sat the notes down and looked down at Buffy who was still sitting. She pulled up a chair next to Buffy asking, "Did you know what that was about? Did you read Spike's notes yet?"
Buffy shook her head as Anya continued, "It's an old legend that states sometimes when a claim is formed, unique things happen. I was interested in such things when I was dating a vampire back in the 1900s and I wanted to know what would happen if I decided he was the one but he wasn't. He cheated on me with another vampire who was a bimbo. They managed to get themselves dusted though by a local farmer when they decided it was a great idea to steal the farmers' daughter to be their eternal kid. It's never a good idea to turn a kid into a vampire. They are kids forever. Imagine having to care for a 4 year old until you are dusted. It isn't pretty. Anyway what was I talking about?"
Buffy smiled as she reminded her gently, "claims."
Anya beamed happy that Buffy seemed to be paying attention. Anya was still feeling left out of the group a lot and often was ignored even when she knew what they were looking for.
Anya continued looking as though she was just proposed to again, "Well the legend was describing things like vampires turning human or humans turning vampires. I wouldn't put too much stock in it. I think it was done with spells, which are not practiced by good witches. I'm thinking more than likely it's a curse. This book described some agency that tested on a human that was claimed by a vampire and tested her vampire right along with her. It was horrible because both were kept alive while they were determining if any changes had been made. There's a prophecy about it though somewhere in the ancient languages. I only saw it once back in the 1800s but I know it should still exist. It's probably in that evil law firm. They kept everything ancient because they were so powerful that when the world changed centuries ago, they were able to collect things. They claimed it was free for all to use but I don't see them offering their assistance to you? Do you?"
She shook her head in disgust as she patted Buffy on the arm as another customer entered her shop, "I'll be right with you."
The customer smiled as Anya turned to Buffy, "I wouldn't worry too much about that. I think it's BS and I'd much rather play with the fun parts of being claimed such as telepathy."
Buffy nodded not closing the book but instead whispered a quiet, "Thanks" as she turned back to the book.
Anya noticing the conversation was done turned to her customer to help her with her long list of items needed. Buffy put the books aside carefully folding up Spike's notes and replacing them in the book for him to finish later. She dismissed the legends as just legends that were created probably by humans to have them avoid mating with vampires. Parents were always making up things to have children not do things. The famous thing about worms being in brown sugar was true in the olden days but now a days it's just told to children so that they don't get fat eating brown sugar.
Although Pinworms have been known to grow if they eat sugar, the sugar itself does not cause worms. Buffy hesitated to quote any other ancient legends because in her world and life, they seemed to come true. She grinned as she felt Spike wake up. She tried to talk to him but realized he was just too weak for that. She closed her eyes sensing his location and realized that he was somewhere in the lower part of Africa. The claim was weakened so she couldn't tell exactly where.
She sighed as she glanced up seeing Xander enter the room. He had three subs that he had brought for Anya, Xander and Buffy. He had been told by Buffy that she might be at the Magic Box and he had wanted to make sure she was fed. He hadn't gotten to spend much time with her lately so was glad they would get to eat lunch together.
Xander watched the customer pay for the items and as he left, Xander flipped the sign over with a grin, "Lunch is ready! You girls as hungry as I am?" Buffy felt her stomach growl and then heard Spike's voice, 'Spike!'
She was so excited to hear from him she didn't notice that she had spoken out loud as much as in her head. She smiled sheepishly as Spike whispered to her, 'Buffy luv, I'm so weak and…'
He trailed off as the claim closed. Buffy yelled out, "No come back Spike."
She felt the tears behind her eyes as she realized he was passed out. She wanted to cry but as Anya and Xander looked on, she couldn't. Instead she got up packing the books in a pile and went into the work out room to beat something up because she was so frustrated she could scream. All she wanted was to sense Spike for a few lousy moments but instead she couldn't even get a word out and it had been this way for days. Usually though the result wasn't him passing out.
Angola, Africa, Monday 9 pm (Southern African time, 12 pm Sunnydale)
Spike woke up to the sound of villagers around him. He could just about make out what they were saying. They were discussing him and their plans to kill him. He growled feeling weak and not wanting to deal with such things. He had just filled up his jeep in the last village before parking it in the woods nearby so they wouldn't be tempted to steal it. He tried to sneak out the back of the tent but failed as a spear came out of nowhere piercing his right leg. He howled in pain as he kept on running. He heard some wolf like dogs following closely behind him barking up a storm. 'So much for a quick get away!'
He growled as he saw the wooden area up ahead. He sensed Buffy for a slight second, which distracted him enough not to notice the man standing in a grass hut along side the path he was taken. Before he could stop himself, he found himself hit over the head with a large object and felt himself being dragged. He cursed in his head unable to make the sounds out loud as he realized he had gotten himself into a bad situation that he couldn't even get himself out of. As darkness overcame him, his last thoughts were of Buffy and how she was still waiting for his return in Sunnydale.
