Part 3
A colourful splash struck the dusty ground sending up a small cloud. The grey dust stirred amongst the red without mixing. It settled for a moment before another splash dispersed the coagulating specks. Less than an inch away the table leg had punched a hole in the thin blanket of powder. A trickle of blood slid down the wood, bobbing and weaving it's way into and out of the grain. It reached the bottom of the leg and collected at the base forming a crimson crescent shape. The continuous flow forced it to spread across the divide and join up with the splashes forming an irregular pattern on the floor.
"Careful love, you're spilling it."
Spike wheeled across the room toward the waist high oak table crossing the parallel tracks he had created 'pacing' the room all evening. Druscilla was feeding. A fresh corpse lay uncomfortably upon the table with the ghost white vampire hanging over it like the first scavenger on a newly mauled beast. She was queen of this fallen animal. Instinctively her head snapped toward Spike as she heard his approach. Her yellow eyes glared as she smacked her blood-smeared lips. Her predatory instinct subsided. She pulled her draping hair out of the spattered blood on the dead man's neck.
"Do you want to join me for dinner."
Dru's voice was soft and angelic. She would exhale her words rather than speak them. Spike smiled, "Dinner for two. Just like old times." Druscilla smiled wickedly as she pushed the blood-spattered torso across to Spike as he moved closer. His wheelchair wedged itself just under the tabletop and he tried in vain to lunge across to the body without pushing the chair backward from under him. It was beyond his reach and he let out a frustrated sigh. Dru's smile dropped.
"Don't worry Spikey. I'll mush some blood up in a cup for you later and spoon feed it to you."
Angel had glided into the room in his usual stealthy manner. Only the footprints behind him attested to the fact that he had walked in rather than been dropped from the sky. "Cheers mate." Spike retorted sarcastically, gritting his teeth. Angel loved to dig at Spike whenever he could. The wheelchair and Spike's disability were not the catalyst for the constant harassing but rather the fuel. Angel didn't really bear Spike any grudge. It was just a case of 'too many cooks' spoiling the broth that he wanted to keep all to himself. He moved over to Druscilla easily and wiped a spot of blood from her face with his finger. He licked his fingers groaning in subtle pleasure and made sure Spike was paying attention.
Spike did bear a grudge against Angel however. He wanted shot of him. When Angelus first reappeared he was ecstatic. Not only was the sickeningly sweet Angel out of the way but the odds had become stacked against the Slayer. But then he started to move in on his fair sire. Slowly but surely he was winning her over. Spike could see it in her face. It was vintage Angelus. When he saw a weakness he exploited it, and Spike's 'temporary' disability was a definite weakness. He had suffered from his broken back ever since part of that church had collapsed on he and Dru after the ritual to restore her to health. That was more of the Slayer's handy work he thought. But vampires had regenerative powers. His strength grew from day to day, as did his resolve to dispatch of Angelus. How he longed for the whiney pining brooding Angel of old.
"Where have you been?" Spike asked as he spun his chair and began 'pacing' again. Angel turned.
"Why were you worried?"
"Yeah, thought you might accidentally have stepped into direct sunlight."
Then under his breath Spike uttered "Kind of hoped actually."
"No I wouldn't do that. After all… couldn't leave Dru here alone."
"She's not alone, mate!"
"Well I just meant someone she could take her out… upstairs… over curbs etc. No I just went down to the papers shop and picked up a copy of the 'Reporter'."
Angel pulled a finger across his lips "Along with the paper boy."
He grabbed the corpse by the once tidy starched shirt collar and dragged it off of the tabletop landing it in an unnatural looking heap. He threw the paper onto the table. The back pages absorbed some of the blood instantly, sticking them to the table. But the front page was what caught the attention of Druscilla who had returned to her more human looking form. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I can see it. It brings death, and fear. Oodles of fear." Angel loved it when Dru did this. He could almost feel the energy from her visions.
"What else do you see?"
"A foe! He dances with the fear. He controls it… with a ring. Ring ring. Ring ring." She spun and danced away. "Ring ring." Spike began to pace again. "Great! So what does this do for us? Can we go dancing with fear too?" Angel scoffed "Poor uneducated Spike. I recognised this tomb from a picture I seen over a hundred years ago. The picture was attached to the arm of a man who was looking for it. He was a nice man actually. A little hard to digest though. He told me, well screamed at me that the tomb contained some powerful magical artefacts. One of them was ring. A ring that could induce crippling fear on others if used right." He turned away from the others. "And I have a pretty good idea about how to use it."