Chapter 3
~ Heaven's Key ~
London
For the last few years, now, a basement in a small building in Windsor, not too far from the famous Castle had been home to one of the most fierce Vampires of all time. Stephen Ashcroft, or 'Fang' as he liked to be called, had three shelves of books dedicated to him at the library at the Council Headquarters. Even the Master would try to avoid confrontations with this Vampire.
Fang, his birth name was unknown, had been sired in Athens, it was believed, at about the same time Jesus Christ was born. He had stayed alive through the years by keeping a small army of Vampires and demons close at hand at all given times. Killer of 15 slayers, he proudly displayed their skulls around his "throne."
Back in 1991, right after the Gulf War, Fang moved his small army from the battlefields of Iraq, where they fed on the starving Iraqi soldiers and avoided the Coalition Forces, to London. The move was meant to show other rival Vamps that he was not scared of the Counsel. However, try as he might to hide it, he was scared of the Council. He kept out of their reach by hiding and avoiding contact with humans.
His home, besides the skull-adorned throne, was actually quite pleasant. Rich tapestries adorned his walls, and gold and riches collected through the centuries lined cases on the walls.
Numerous Vampires lay all over the room, living in splendor under Fang, and their only price for this luxury was to give their lives for their master, should they be called upon to do so.
Fang sat, slumped upon his throne, bored to tears. "Have I mentioned how many times I hate England?" Fang asked.
"Yes, m'lord, numerous times," a lady vampire sitting on the floor, leaning against the throne replied.
"The food is awful, the people are boring, and the music is awful…" Fang continued. "And the Council…well, the Council was better at finding me when I was away then when I sit under their noses."
The lady Vampire let out a slight scoff, knowing that Fang did not want to be found. Still, he bragged to his soldiers that he wanted a fight. The soldiers throughout the room knew better, though. They didn't want to take on the Council, either. But the riches in the room, and the life of splendor were worth the slight chance of being caught by the Council.
"…The traffic is always backed up, the American tourists are all over the place, and they're worse than these stiff Brits," Fang complained. The Vampires stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "What is that smell? Is that you?"
The lady Vampire looked up. "Don't look at me, m'lord. I bathed two days ago."
"Well, then, what is that?" Fang asked, looking over the room. All of his soldiers began looking around, noticing the awful smell, themselves.
A loud metallic clang rang through the room, hurting the sensitive vamp ears all around. The Vampire army looked up at the door, and watched as a man wearing a brown leather jacket walked in. The giant metallic door behind him had been smashed inward, keeping anything from getting out.
"What the hell are you?" one of the soldiers asked. "And how did you get past the guards?"
The man looked up and smiled. He slowly drew a broadsword out from his coat and looked up at Fang. "Ashbury?" he asked, his voice gentle and soothing. "Or should I call you Aurelius?"
Fang's eyes widened. "How dare…"
"Where is the key?" the man inturrupted.
"Key?" Fang asked. "Even if I had it, do you think I would tell a puny runt like you where it was?"
The man smiled. "Please, maybe I haven't made myself clear…"
The man arched over slightly, a slightly painful look on his face. The back of his jacket began to tear and rip. Slowly, at first, then, the jacket ripped to shreds, as enormous white wings rose out and above the man. The wings were slightly bent, then unfolded to their full 15 foot span.
The man looked back up at Fang, his eyes glowing bright blue, now. "Now, maybe you'll answer a little more quickly."
The Vampires all around looked to their master for guidance, not understanding their predicament. Fang stood nervously up. "K–Kill it!" he yelled.
Three Vampires let out vicious growls and charged at the Angel from behind. They quickly found themselves slammed against the wall by his wings, though. The Angel stepped forward and brought his blade around, slicing through the advancing Vamps, clean cuts through their necks. Their dust scattered through the room.
The Angel zipped through the room, slicing the Vampires apart one by one. Some he made clean kills, separating their heads immediately, while others, he sliced apart piece by piece.
The Vampire Army fought back, but none could even reach him. The wings guarded his back side, swinging around and extending, knocking them away long enough for the Angel to turn and come after them with his sword.
As the Angel finished off the last of the small army, Fang tried to weasel his way out through the smashed door, but couldn't budge it. The Angel turned and focused his attention on the Ancient Vampire.
"N–No, you can't–I–I won't die like this!" Fang cried.
The Angel quickly moved in and grabbed the Vampire by the back of his shirt. He dragged him across the floor, held him up against the wall, and stabbed his blade through the vampire's chest, pinning him to the wall.
"As many people as you caused suffering to, you should understand, my dear Fang," The Angel started, "Dying by hands should be a great honor. You certainly don't deserve the death your army received. They fought for you and you betray their honor, now."
"Please–Please, just let me live a while longer!" Fang cried.
"Isn't that what you asked the Vampire who sired you?" the Angel asked. "Now look at you. Pathetic."
The Vampire openly wept, now, tears streaming down his face.
"I'll ask you again, Aurelius, and I want you to answer me. Maybe I'll let you live, who knows?"
"Yes, yes, anything," Fang replied.
"The key–where is it? Your lackeys only had a fake copy of it."
"A–America. The hellmouth," Fang spit out.
"Which one?" the Angel asked.
"The–the big one. The main one, in Sunnydale, California," cried Fang. "I sent it with a powerful Vamp of mine called Voight. She was to take out the Slayer."
The Angel raised his head and let out a sigh. "Very well," the Angel sighed. I won't kill you now. But, if I go to the Hellmouth, and it's not there, I'll make you suffer like never before."
The Angel turned and walked to the door, leaving Fang hanging on the sword. He pulled back and let his fist fly through the door, knocking it out into the street, scattering several people and causing cars to squeal their tires. Sunlight poured into the room, but none directly on Fang.
As the Angel walked through the door, the wings seemed to tuck up and hide back in his jacket, and the splits that had been torn out when he shred his jacket disappeared.
***
"All he wanted was the key," Buffy whispered, holding onto a steaming cup of coffee. "Did Glory send it, maybe?"
The Slayer sat in a chair in her kitchen, talking with her watcher, Rupert Giles. It was very early in the morning, and Xander, Willow, Tara, and Anya all slept in the living room, close to the Slayer in case of more attacks. Upstairs, Joyce and Dawn slept comfortably, unaware of the evenings happenings. *(Ed. Note: This is before the traumatic events of the Feb. 27th episode)
"Did you get any look at all at what it may have looked like? A tusk, maybe?" Giles asked, sipping at his tea.
"No, nothing," replied Buffy. "It was human-form, though. When Will hit it with her magic, the burning figure was that of a man. But, other than that I couldn't tell you anything."
"Is it possible her magic finished him off?" Giles asked. "Maybe he was nothing more than human?"
Buffy scoffed and set her cup down. "You have no idea at the power this thing had, Giles. It flung Sidewalks up like toys. It threw Xander, Willow, and Spike like rag dolls. I hit it with my hardest hits, but nothing happened. It didn't even budge."
"Yes, well, until I have any idea at all what its color, or form may be, I can't even begin to look it up," Giles responded. "Maybe I can call the Counsel and ask them what they may be able to find. It's just that–well, invisible men aren't a real common thing. Demons don't like the idea of being invisible…They find no honor in it. Often, they find once they become invisible, they can't undo it, either."
"You know, there is something else…" Buffy said, thinking hard. "There was an awful smell. Like a mixture of sewage, b.o., and any Calvin Klein Perfume."
"A pungent odor, you say?" Giles asked, putting his glasses back on his head, and turning to his books. "Most interesting."
"However," Buffy started, "Spike…and maybe this is just nothing…but Spike said it smelled very good. He meant it, too, not joking around."
Giles looked very hard at Buffy. "I have no idea what it could be. Many demons give off odors, some even poisonous, but none I know have the effect of being pungent and good smelling at the same time. What about Xander and Willow?"
"Yeah, same thing as me: Grossness."
"Hmm. Well, I suggest getting some sleep and not worrying about it too much. If it doesn't know where the key is, then it doesn't know what the key is. I think we'll be safe here, tonight."
"Okay," Buffy said with a quick smile. "Good night, 'Dad'."
Buffy kissed Giles on the forehead and staggered off up to her room, while Giles, barely acknowledging the kiss or the joke, continued looking through the few books on the table. "Good lord, this is indeed a mystery, isn't it?"
***
London
Torn clothes littered the room. Dust piles lay everywhere. A body of a barely breathing Vampire hung from the wall. Ms. Victoria Falding carefully looked around the room, trying to find every clue she could as to who, exactly did this. Around her, dozens of workers photographed and catalogued the dust remains, and worked on trying to bring the Vampire down before the sun reached him, but without letting him loose.
"Most perplexing, Ms. Falding, isn't it?" The brown-haired man asked. "By my counts 35 piles of dust, and one ancient Vampire, believed to be more powerful than the Slayer herself, hanging on the wall."
"Your first time cleaning up after an Angel, Mr. Brimely?" Victoria asked.
"Angels aren't my specialty, Vick," Brimely responded. "Hell, until now, I didn't even think they existed."
"I'm surprised you doubt anything in this line of work," Victoria responded.
"I like to keep a sound mind," answered Brimely. "And to keep a sound mind, I refuse to believe in anything until I see it firsthand."
"And what about God?" Victoria asked. "Do you believe in him?"
Brimely smiled. "I'm surprised at you, Vick. You've read the reports. There is no God. At least not a God that the Christian, Judea, and Muslim faith believe in."
Victoria couldn't contain a laugh.
"What's so funny," Brimely asked.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," Victoria responded. "It's just that the next time I speak with him, I'll pass what you said along."
"You, uh, you speak with God?" Brimely asked.
"Every day," Victoria responded.
"Do you know who I am!" the Vampire screeched at the watchers trying to lower him into the cage. "I will drink your blood and eat your bones, you pathetic weaklings!"
"Come, come, now, Ashbury," Victoria smiled, walking up to the Vampire. "You should be happy. We're going to save your life. At least, for a while."
Fang looked down at the Watcher. He pulled his head back and spat into the air. It landed perfectly on her face.
Brimely calmly walked around the cage to the hanging Vampire and slugged him in the stomach.
"Roger! Get away from him until he's secure!" Victoria yelled.
"Nothing to worry about, lass, he's just–"
Roger's head was snagged by the Vampire's hands. "Let me down!" Fang yelled.
The other workers charged in to try to beat him, but Fang held on tight. "Let me down or I swear I'll rip his head right off!"
"NO! Stop!" Victoria yelled. "Stop, now! Let him go!"
The worker walked over and pulled out the sword, dropping the Vampire to the ground. He had a firm grip and dragged Roger to the ground, too.
The Vampire pulled itself up and staggered around to the door, covering itself with a cloak from the wall. "Stay away, or I'll kill him!"
Tears began to fall from Victoria's eyes, as she pleaded with the Vampire to stop. "Please!" she cried. "Let him go! Let him go!"
"You…You chase after me, when that…that monster is out there! If you want to make a difference, go after it! It's going to the hellmouth!"
"I don't care about that! Just…Just let him go!" Victoria yelled.
Fang looked down at Roger, seemingly forgetting that he still had him. A smile spread across Fang's lips, and an evil look came to his eyes. Fang reached up with his other hand and snapped Roger Brimely's neck, ending his life.
"NO!" Victoria Falding yelled. It was too late. As Roger's body fell to the ground, the Vampire escaped. Several Council soldiers ran after Fang, but he was gone. Victoria ran over to Roger's body, and, holding his head in her lap screamed out for help.
Finally after several minutes of crying out, she laid him down, resigned to his passing. All else around blurred out. Nothing could be seen or thought about in Victoria's eyes. Carefully, she pulled the small golden ring from her finger and tucked it in Roger's pocket. "Goodbye, my love. May God welcome you."