Broken Heartstrings
Rating - PG-13/R
Ownership - Joss (lucky sod) Whedon owns all the characters from B:tVs
Distribution - Take what you like, but please ask first.
Feedback - Much appreciated. Flames will be met with hysterical laughter.
Author's Notes - Few things you need to know before reading this. Riley never happened and Anya has broken up with Xander and left Sunnyhell. Spike never got that chip, Dawn is not the key and Glory doesn't exist. Joyce is still alive and Buffy and Xander are a couple. Oh, and for some reason Willow owns a silver locket and Spike is the Big Bad... ish. There, I've said it. Now go read.
Dedications: Dedicated once again to all of my closest friends on FF.net and otherwise. Love you all ^_~
She moaned softly as virgin fangs sank into tender flesh, her tongue sweeping over the puncture wounds where the blood flowed freely. She felt its warmth spreading throughout her body while it filled her senses to the full and she became lost in the bloodlust. But amidst the pleasure and her increasing sense of power, something was screaming inside her. Eyes widening, she sharply withdrew, throwing her victim to the floor, a mixture of fear, disgust and pleasure shining in her feral eyes. Her gaze roamed the body of the mutilated girl on the ground before her and she felt her stomach clench when she realised what she had done.
Eyes snapping open, Willow sat up abruptly, cold beads of sweat strung across her forehead. Her lungs hardly allowing her to breathe, she panicked as the images of the savaged girl invaded her mind. Her stomach clenched harder and she scrambled out of bed to the bathroom. Feeling the bed jerk as Willow left it, Tara awoke, glancing to her right to check for her girlfriend's presence. She sat up and switched on the lamp as the red-head returned.
"You okay?"
Will stared at her partner for a moment, a look of complete confusion occupying her features,
"Oh ... yeah. I'm good."
"N-nightmares?"
Noting the concern and sympathy Tara displayed, Willow smiled half-heartedly at her girlfriend,
"Yeah. Just a nightmare. Not ... real."
Their eyes meeting, Tara smiled and took the girl's hand,
"Coming back to - to bed?"
" ...no."
Saddened at the rejected air that Tara tried to hide, she sighed and looked out of the window.
"I can't sleep. Not after - not after that. I was gonna go see Buffy on patrol ... wanna come?"
The blonde shook her head slowly, an apologetic smile forming on her lips.
"Tara didn't wanna come?"
"No, I left her playing with Miss. Kitty."
Buffy wandered along the gravel path beside her best friend, her stake hidden from site in the sleeve of her jacket. Willow's makeshift stake hung loosely from her fingers as her arms swung carelessly at her sides. Both women had their eyes to the ground, both were buried deep in heir own thoughts and the conversation ended there.
Quietly stepping through the gap in the fence, Buffy's senses heightened as a "couple" wandered down the road to her left. Recognising the guy to be one of Spike's lackeys, Buffy adopted her heartbroken-teen role and approached them stopping infront of the vampire, almost in tears, "Who's she? What're you doing with her? You promised you'd never be with anyone else!"
Climbing back into bed, Willow cuddled up next to Tara, craving her warmth. She closed her eyes, smiling as Tara turned to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her. With a deep sigh Willow relaxed in the security of her lover's embrace and dozed off.
Gasping softly, she closed her eyes as his hands found a firm grip round her waist. He pulled her closer, deliberately allowing the scent of her blood to fill his nostrils, fueling both his hunger and his lust. She struggled to think straight as her mind was flooded with thoughts of him and what was about to happen and she tooks deep breaths as his hands worked their way up her body to her throat. Arms falling limp by her sides, she moaned as his fingers traced a line down her back and he buried his face in her neck. The intimacy between them grew as he parted his lips and his fangs scraped across her skin then sank through the flesh, extinguishing his thirst.
The Scooby Gang stood in the Espresso Pump, waiting for Giles. When they'd all paid for their exotic coffees, they found themselves a booth and sat down, Buffy and Willow on one side, and Xander and Tara on the other.
"W - Will?" Tara watched her girlfriend carefully, she knew the red-head too well to miss the signs, "You okay?"
"Fine." The other three exchanged glances. The tone in her monosyllabic said she didn't want to talk about it. They fell silent, slowly picking up their coffees and sipping them almost in unison, all gazing out of the window at the night-sky.
Buffy sipped on her mocha, one hand holding Xander's across the table "So," she said, her tone automatically moving the conversation forward from its stalled position, "if Giles doesn't come you guys wanna go see a movie? There's a Dracula movie showing this week and I figured we could go laugh at its completely unrealistic vampires and lack of a meaningful storyline." Both Tara and Xander nodded in agreement, but Willow stared at her cappuccino, all colour drained from her face. "Uh ... guys, does it have to be about vampires? I'm feeling a little ... anti-vamp." She took a slow sip from her drink, avoiding eye-contact with the others. "Sure, we can see what else's on. Still up for it, you guys?" Again Tara and Xander agreed but the red-headed wiccan was still uncomfortable with the proposal, "Actually, you guys go on. I'll just ... go back to the dorm. I need - I need to lie down."
The ground seemed to move from beneath her, throwing her to the ground as she attempted to escape. The adrenalin surged through her veins, her heart beating faster as he closed in. Struggling to stand, she scrambled across the path, grazing her knees on the gravel. Her breathing became hoarse and shallow, the panic tensing her muscles and freezing her joints. Using the nearest tree as support, she pulled herself to her feet and chanced a look behind her. He was gone. Pressing her back against the solid trunk of the tree, she took a deep breath and cast her eyes over her surroundings. She was alone again, no-one to torment her now. Then breaking the silence, his taunts reached her from the shadows. His voice low and almost seductive. Unable to move, she pressed herself harder against the tree, trying to get away from the creature that appeared infront of her.
Swallowing hard, Willow glanced around the room nervously. Tara was still out, and the clock on the bedside table told her she had only been asleep for half an hour. Still, she couldn't bare to be alone. Grabbing the clothes she discarded earlier, she dressed, and headed off to find the others.
Tara and Xander stood back-to-back on Buffy's instructions, refusing to let the approaching pack of vampires seperate and corner them. Brandishing their crosses and lashing out with their stakes, they were holding them off successfully while the Slayer battled it out with the big-guys round the next corner. "Can't you lot do anything right?" The two humans froze as Spike's cocky English accent was heard nearby. "Never ask a boy to do a man's job." He gave the apparent ring-leader a fleeting glance and smiled seductively at Tara, his forehead contorting into a series of pronounced ridges and his teeth elongating as he did so. A feral light shone from his golden orbed eyes as he crossed the road and Tara's knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on the cross, her thoughts with her sleeping girlfriend.
Buffy ducked as the demon kicked out, aiming for her head. Grabbing his ankle, she pushed up, twisting his foot hard at the same time. Her action was greeted by a loud crack as his leg broke. Pushing him away from her, Buffy was knocked to the floor as the vampire's partner lunged at her. "Ignis incende." The vampire burst into flames as it stood over the Slayer, fangs bared. Screaming, it writhed in agony, then exploded in a cloud of ash. Watching while Buffy finished off the casualty, Willow crossed her arms over her chest and tried to stay warm. Tara's scream cut through the night silence, and the red-head bolted, running ahead of the Slayer to reach her girlfriend before anything happened.
"Tara! Don't let them corner you!" Xander's voice was filled with urgency and desperation as he struggled to return to his friend's side. Thrusting her cross in every direction, Tara scrambled back to her feet, panic taking over her actions. She backed away towards the sidewalk, cross held at arms length while her eyes searched the road around her for Buffy.
Leaping over the cemetery wall, Buffy landed directly on Tara's main attacker, her stake finding it's target and sending the creature into oblivion. The blonde witch screamed as she tripped over the curb and several vampires piled on top of her, their eyes glazed with bloodlust. Willow ran to Xander's aid, flaming the nearest vampire and scattering his ashes with her foot. She advanced on a youngster, her eyes flaring as she thought of what might have happened had she not helped Buffy get here sooner. "Not so fast, Red." She felt Spike's hand wrap round her wrist, pulling her round to face him. Struggling to free herself, she slapped him, raking her long nails across his cheek. He snarled and stepping backwards, pulling her along. she kicked out and called for help, her fear and desperation increasing when she saw the others fighting for their lives. Summoning all her energy for one last tug, she pulled free, using the short cut through the cemetery to get back to the dorm. She stumbled past headstones as she fled, her knees weakening as fear took over. Her heart beating faster, her lungs screamed for air as her breaths came short and shallow and silent tears ran down her face while she prayed she might live to see her friends again. Her legs finally gave way and she tripped, bodyslamming the tree infront of her. Holding onto the tree for support, she straightened up and glanced back over her shoulder. Gone were the sounds of the fight in the distance. There was no-one following her. Taking deeps breaths, she turned around, pressing her back into the solid trunk of the tree. The moonlight cast an eerie glow over the graveyard before her, and it illuminated the deathly pale skin of the creature approaching.
Buffy gently helped Xander to his feet, wincing with sympathy pains when she saw the bite marks down his arms. He smiled sadly as she placed a tender kiss on his forehead, "Don't they usually go for the neck? Y'know, like 'carpe jugulum' and ... stuff ..." Tara sat on the cemetery wall, staring at the many piles of ash that stood out against the black tarmac of the road. "She's g-gone." The sudden realisation hit Buffy like a fist in her gut. She tensed, her jaw clenched and fists balling at her sides. Tara's face was now streaked with tears, her voice coming in violent sobs that shook her body as she struggled to stay on the wall, "Willow - Spike - he took her. He got - he got Willow." Xander rushed to comfort her, but could not hide his own distress as images of Willow's fate ran through his mind. Snatching her stake from Xander, Buffy leapt back over the wall and ran towards the dorm in the desperate hope she would find her friend.
She froze, unable to move as he came closer, his eyes shining at the prospect of what was coming next. His feet dragged across the gravel path, the noise slicing through the night like a knife. She held her breath, in a few minutes it would all be over. She knew it, the dreams had told her. The Wiccan closed her eyes as she felt the firm grip of his hands round her waist and he pulled her closer, Tilting his head back, he savoured her scent and, opening her eyes again, Willow watched as he ran his tongue over his fangs, revelling in her fear. She closed her eyes again, and tried to focus everything on Tara but her mind wandered to the demon holding her - how his hands slid up her back, stroking the soft skin of her throat. Almost unwilling to resist, she let her body go limp as his hand supported her head while the other pulled her even closer. Lowering his head, he placed butterfly kisses down her throat, coming to a halt at the crook of her neck. Taking a deep breath, Willow gripped the bark of the tree behind her, her fingernails scraping through the wood underneath as a seering pain shot through her body.
The Slayer hurtled through the cemetery, calling the Wiccan's name. The further she got from Spike's haunts, the less likely she thought Willow still lived. Focussing every Slayer sense on finding Spike, she stopped and glanced around her. The graveyard was very quiet considering it was almost the Witching Hour and she could plainly see a teenage couple in the bushes to her right - something that wouldn't happen if the resident vamps were on their usual hunt. Ignoring them, she turned a full circle, her eyes fixing on a small piece of jewellry on the floor by the Oak. She slowly walked in that direction, breaking into a run when she recognised it.
"I'm sure Willow is alright. Buffy would never let anything happen to her - to any of us. You should have more faith in her." Xander looked up at the Englishman, searching his face for an ounce of confidence. Turning away, Giles blinked back the tears that threatened to fall and offered them something to eat. Harris declined, and watched Tara as she fiddled with the zipper on her jacket. The TV was playing the end credits of some mindless show but it was comforting, somehow. Xander found himself praying for the first time since he found out about the Hellmouth and hoped to God that his prayers would reach Buffy and Willow before the worst happened. Tara stared at the TV, her eyes glazed over as she said, "I never got to say goodbye..." His knees weakening, Giles supported himself on the unit as he accepted the truth and the tears fell. Xander crossed the room to him and placed an understanding hand on the Watcher's shoulder just as Buffy came through the door, her face expressionless. Their eyes followed Willow's locket as it fell from the Slayer's hand onto the sofa beside Tara.
The room was almost silent, the only audible sound being Lucius as he tapped the end of his pen against the table top. Recieving a warning glare from Spike, he stopped, dropped the pen into an open drawer infront on him and left for his favourite hunting ground. The Bronze. The blonde vampire watched him leave, then turned his gaze to his bedroom door where he could see his latest pet stretched out on the bed as if in sleep. Turning his attention back to the corpse infront of him, he continued to carve "I'm dead" into it's torso with his penknife. He had considered carving it into the back of the girl on his bed, but realised she wouldn't be happy when she came round. He didn't care, there were plenty more where she came from. Slowly getting to his feet, Spike crossed the room to his bedroom door and looked in on the girl occupying it. He stepped towards her, vampiric senses searching for any presence of the human she once was. Satisfied it had been completely destroyed when fangs met flesh, he gently shook her shoulders, whispering for her to wake up and allowed himself a brief smile when he was greeted with a sparkle of reverence in her eyes. Running her tongue over her new set of teeth, Willow sat up, slowly adjusting to the new range of senses that had been made available to her. Spike offered his hand and she accepted, using him for support while she slid off the bed and onto her feet. She looked up at him, studying his face, then gently ran her fingers over the faint scars where her nails had sliced through his skin. Watching his lips slowly curve upwards into a smile, she stepped away, and wandered over to the corpse laid out on the table. She picked up the open penknife, rolled the dead man over onto his stomach and proceeded to carve "fang fodder" across his shoulders. An expression of mild satisfaction spreading across her features, Willow moved back slightly, licking the knife clean and putting back on the table. Spike approved. He joined her at the table and took her hand, leading her outside to hunt.
"So that's it? You're just gonna run down there and kill her?" Buffy gave Xander a warning glance and turned her attention back to the pair of vampires at the cemetery gates. She wasn't entirely sure she could do that. She couldn't just approach them and ram her stake through the red-head's heart. It didn't seem ... right. Eyes narrowing, she put duty before emotion and took the stake from her jacket sleeve. "You've known Will along time, and I know how you must be fee--" Xander glared at her, "Y'know what? I don't think you do. You couldn't possibly know how I'm feeling.", "I gotta do this, Xan. You should know that. Will's gone and that bitch has taken what's left." She watched her friend turn away and make his way back to Giles' house in the dark. It suddenly occured to her that there was two vamps down there. Willow may have been a Newly-Risen, but in life she wasn't just a computer nerd. She was a fairly powerful witch. If those magicks were still in her possession, that demon could incinerate Buffy within seconds. Then there was Spike. He had come close to ending her life on several occasions, with Willow's aid he would have no problem ending it now. As far as she could see, neither of them were armed. But then they didn't really need to be if what the Slayer feared was true. Washing these thoughts from her mind, Buffy stood up and followed the vampires as they began to move away in the direction of the Bronze.
She followed them all the way to the bar, where they parted, and Spike headed back to the cemetery. The red-head took a seat at the bar and it wasn't long before she'd pulled her first meal for the night. Her new wardrobe must have helped aswell, Buffy observed. The tight black pants and even tighter dark red top looked like something from Faith's closet. Not Will's. Intending to distract the vampire before she got hungry enough to finish the boy off, Buffy took the seat next to her, "Hey, Will." Her head snapped round and she looked the Slayer in the eye, unsure of what to do about her. "...Buffy." Willow nodded in acknowledgement and took a long mouthful of her Bailey's, the confidence fading from her eyes. The boy beside her moved closer and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. Agreeing, Willow took his hand and smiled at the Slayer, daring her to do something about it. Satisfied they were outside, Buffy went in the opposite direction, meaning to cut them off at the curb. The red-headed vampire wasn't far away, she could hear them talking and she would have carried on around the corner hif the hand on her shoulder hadn't been holding her back. Removing his hand and walking past her towards his childe, Spike smirked. "Keep out of her way, Slayer. I don't want to be the one to pick up the pieces afterwards." She watched him leave, knowing she could have killed him there and then and she'd done nothing about it. Blocking the pleads of Willow's first victim from her mind, she turned away and cut through the cemetery to Giles' house.
Willow sat on the roof of the house opposite Giles' house. She looked in through the windows at the blonde witch on the sofa. She hadn't moved for the last hour. The red-head found it confusing that the girl should be mourning for her. After all, she was feeling better now than she ever had and it wasn't like she was dead or anything. Not quite anyway. She thought back to before her transition, when she had been trying to help Xander. She had done that out of friendship. Friendship. If she had learnt anything important from her Sire in the last few hours, it was never reveal your humanities - that is, of course, if you were unfortunate enough to be left with any. Watching Tara closer, she cocked her head to one side. The Slayer was pleading with her to talk. She wouldn't. She was in a state of shock, Willow decided. Buffy held Tara by the shoulders and shook her gently then hugged her tightly as the Wiccan began sobbing again. Willow frowned. Tara was hers to hold, no-one else was allowed to touch her but Willow. Her mind wandered to the night she first started having those nightmares, the way Tara had seemed o crestfallen when she didn't want to come back to bed. Standing up, the vampire scowled at the Slayer and hissed as the demon within took advantage of her jealousy and her face contorted. She ran up to the chimney and stood there, staring up at the night sky. A thousand memories crossed her mind, every one involving the blonde witch she had once loved. Listening to the sudden panic of the humans in the house beneath her as they heard the clatter of her heeled boots on the roof, she smiled. She could hear the rapid beating of their hearts as the adrenalin surged through their bodies, generating a new fear. Skipping across the roof of every house to her right, she slid off the roof of a house further down the road and approached the front door. She delivered several sharp knocks and the man of the house greeted her with a welcoming smile. "Excuse me, but could I use your phone?"
"Two houses down the road, three behind and another four down the other end of the road." Xander handed Buffy the morning newspaper. "Police believe it's the works of a twisted serial killer who gets a kick out of draining their victims of every drop of blood they own... whatever." It was three days since Willow was seen in the Bronze yet she had made her presence clear to them in her actions. She'd sent a child to Giles' front door the night before with the message, "In loving memory of Willow Rosenburg.". Giles pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, "The number of houses increases every time. She testing you, Buffy." Buffy scowled, "Gee, and here's me thinking it was a coincidence." Xander turned away from the computer, "Several have been found with railroad spikes rammed into their forehead. That's either Willow's idea of a sick joke, or Spike wanted to play aswell." Giles frowned, "I'd have considered this whole fiasco to be Willow's idea of a sick joke, Xander." Catching the growing light of anger in their eyes, Tara stepped inbetween Xander and Giles and offered to help Xander find Willow's files on witchcraft to see if any of them helped. "No thanks, Tara. Will was teaching me all she knew about computers. I think I can handle it." Giving Giles a fleeting glance, he smiled briefly at the witch and returned to the computer. Buffy looked her Watcher in the eye, reminding him to keep his cool. She dropped the newspaper on the table and picked up the crossbow beside her, testing the sharp edge of the bolt with her finger. "She gets anywhere inside my range of fire," She aimed the weapon at the target on the wall then fired, "and sayounara vamp-girl." The Ripper watched the arrow bury itself in the wall and quiver slightly before Buffy pulled it out, discontent with her aim.
"Okay. Xander, you take the cemetery. Giles, the Bronze. I'll patrol around this neighbourhood, that way Tara is relatively safe and so are the rest of the houses."
"Relatively? I had rather hoped they would all be safe, not just 'relatively'." Buffy huffed and folded her arms over her chest, "I can't protect everyone at the same time, Giles. You of all people should know that." The englishman quickly tried to back-pedal, stuttering along the way, "Yes - yes I do, but - um - I... " Ignoring his feeble excuses, the Slayer cocked the bow and rested in one her shoulder, aimed at the ceiling. "Shall we?" Tara watched them leave not a single word exchanged between them. She kept watching as they wished eachother good luck before seperating on the driveway. Turning back to face the TV, she sighed deeply, praying they would return safely.
Rating - PG-13/R
Ownership - Joss (lucky sod) Whedon owns all the characters from B:tVs
Distribution - Take what you like, but please ask first.
Feedback - Much appreciated. Flames will be met with hysterical laughter.
Author's Notes - Few things you need to know before reading this. Riley never happened and Anya has broken up with Xander and left Sunnyhell. Spike never got that chip, Dawn is not the key and Glory doesn't exist. Joyce is still alive and Buffy and Xander are a couple. Oh, and for some reason Willow owns a silver locket and Spike is the Big Bad... ish. There, I've said it. Now go read.
Dedications: Dedicated once again to all of my closest friends on FF.net and otherwise. Love you all ^_~
She moaned softly as virgin fangs sank into tender flesh, her tongue sweeping over the puncture wounds where the blood flowed freely. She felt its warmth spreading throughout her body while it filled her senses to the full and she became lost in the bloodlust. But amidst the pleasure and her increasing sense of power, something was screaming inside her. Eyes widening, she sharply withdrew, throwing her victim to the floor, a mixture of fear, disgust and pleasure shining in her feral eyes. Her gaze roamed the body of the mutilated girl on the ground before her and she felt her stomach clench when she realised what she had done.
Eyes snapping open, Willow sat up abruptly, cold beads of sweat strung across her forehead. Her lungs hardly allowing her to breathe, she panicked as the images of the savaged girl invaded her mind. Her stomach clenched harder and she scrambled out of bed to the bathroom. Feeling the bed jerk as Willow left it, Tara awoke, glancing to her right to check for her girlfriend's presence. She sat up and switched on the lamp as the red-head returned.
"You okay?"
Will stared at her partner for a moment, a look of complete confusion occupying her features,
"Oh ... yeah. I'm good."
"N-nightmares?"
Noting the concern and sympathy Tara displayed, Willow smiled half-heartedly at her girlfriend,
"Yeah. Just a nightmare. Not ... real."
Their eyes meeting, Tara smiled and took the girl's hand,
"Coming back to - to bed?"
" ...no."
Saddened at the rejected air that Tara tried to hide, she sighed and looked out of the window.
"I can't sleep. Not after - not after that. I was gonna go see Buffy on patrol ... wanna come?"
The blonde shook her head slowly, an apologetic smile forming on her lips.
"Tara didn't wanna come?"
"No, I left her playing with Miss. Kitty."
Buffy wandered along the gravel path beside her best friend, her stake hidden from site in the sleeve of her jacket. Willow's makeshift stake hung loosely from her fingers as her arms swung carelessly at her sides. Both women had their eyes to the ground, both were buried deep in heir own thoughts and the conversation ended there.
Quietly stepping through the gap in the fence, Buffy's senses heightened as a "couple" wandered down the road to her left. Recognising the guy to be one of Spike's lackeys, Buffy adopted her heartbroken-teen role and approached them stopping infront of the vampire, almost in tears, "Who's she? What're you doing with her? You promised you'd never be with anyone else!"
Climbing back into bed, Willow cuddled up next to Tara, craving her warmth. She closed her eyes, smiling as Tara turned to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her. With a deep sigh Willow relaxed in the security of her lover's embrace and dozed off.
Gasping softly, she closed her eyes as his hands found a firm grip round her waist. He pulled her closer, deliberately allowing the scent of her blood to fill his nostrils, fueling both his hunger and his lust. She struggled to think straight as her mind was flooded with thoughts of him and what was about to happen and she tooks deep breaths as his hands worked their way up her body to her throat. Arms falling limp by her sides, she moaned as his fingers traced a line down her back and he buried his face in her neck. The intimacy between them grew as he parted his lips and his fangs scraped across her skin then sank through the flesh, extinguishing his thirst.
The Scooby Gang stood in the Espresso Pump, waiting for Giles. When they'd all paid for their exotic coffees, they found themselves a booth and sat down, Buffy and Willow on one side, and Xander and Tara on the other.
"W - Will?" Tara watched her girlfriend carefully, she knew the red-head too well to miss the signs, "You okay?"
"Fine." The other three exchanged glances. The tone in her monosyllabic said she didn't want to talk about it. They fell silent, slowly picking up their coffees and sipping them almost in unison, all gazing out of the window at the night-sky.
Buffy sipped on her mocha, one hand holding Xander's across the table "So," she said, her tone automatically moving the conversation forward from its stalled position, "if Giles doesn't come you guys wanna go see a movie? There's a Dracula movie showing this week and I figured we could go laugh at its completely unrealistic vampires and lack of a meaningful storyline." Both Tara and Xander nodded in agreement, but Willow stared at her cappuccino, all colour drained from her face. "Uh ... guys, does it have to be about vampires? I'm feeling a little ... anti-vamp." She took a slow sip from her drink, avoiding eye-contact with the others. "Sure, we can see what else's on. Still up for it, you guys?" Again Tara and Xander agreed but the red-headed wiccan was still uncomfortable with the proposal, "Actually, you guys go on. I'll just ... go back to the dorm. I need - I need to lie down."
The ground seemed to move from beneath her, throwing her to the ground as she attempted to escape. The adrenalin surged through her veins, her heart beating faster as he closed in. Struggling to stand, she scrambled across the path, grazing her knees on the gravel. Her breathing became hoarse and shallow, the panic tensing her muscles and freezing her joints. Using the nearest tree as support, she pulled herself to her feet and chanced a look behind her. He was gone. Pressing her back against the solid trunk of the tree, she took a deep breath and cast her eyes over her surroundings. She was alone again, no-one to torment her now. Then breaking the silence, his taunts reached her from the shadows. His voice low and almost seductive. Unable to move, she pressed herself harder against the tree, trying to get away from the creature that appeared infront of her.
Swallowing hard, Willow glanced around the room nervously. Tara was still out, and the clock on the bedside table told her she had only been asleep for half an hour. Still, she couldn't bare to be alone. Grabbing the clothes she discarded earlier, she dressed, and headed off to find the others.
Tara and Xander stood back-to-back on Buffy's instructions, refusing to let the approaching pack of vampires seperate and corner them. Brandishing their crosses and lashing out with their stakes, they were holding them off successfully while the Slayer battled it out with the big-guys round the next corner. "Can't you lot do anything right?" The two humans froze as Spike's cocky English accent was heard nearby. "Never ask a boy to do a man's job." He gave the apparent ring-leader a fleeting glance and smiled seductively at Tara, his forehead contorting into a series of pronounced ridges and his teeth elongating as he did so. A feral light shone from his golden orbed eyes as he crossed the road and Tara's knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on the cross, her thoughts with her sleeping girlfriend.
Buffy ducked as the demon kicked out, aiming for her head. Grabbing his ankle, she pushed up, twisting his foot hard at the same time. Her action was greeted by a loud crack as his leg broke. Pushing him away from her, Buffy was knocked to the floor as the vampire's partner lunged at her. "Ignis incende." The vampire burst into flames as it stood over the Slayer, fangs bared. Screaming, it writhed in agony, then exploded in a cloud of ash. Watching while Buffy finished off the casualty, Willow crossed her arms over her chest and tried to stay warm. Tara's scream cut through the night silence, and the red-head bolted, running ahead of the Slayer to reach her girlfriend before anything happened.
"Tara! Don't let them corner you!" Xander's voice was filled with urgency and desperation as he struggled to return to his friend's side. Thrusting her cross in every direction, Tara scrambled back to her feet, panic taking over her actions. She backed away towards the sidewalk, cross held at arms length while her eyes searched the road around her for Buffy.
Leaping over the cemetery wall, Buffy landed directly on Tara's main attacker, her stake finding it's target and sending the creature into oblivion. The blonde witch screamed as she tripped over the curb and several vampires piled on top of her, their eyes glazed with bloodlust. Willow ran to Xander's aid, flaming the nearest vampire and scattering his ashes with her foot. She advanced on a youngster, her eyes flaring as she thought of what might have happened had she not helped Buffy get here sooner. "Not so fast, Red." She felt Spike's hand wrap round her wrist, pulling her round to face him. Struggling to free herself, she slapped him, raking her long nails across his cheek. He snarled and stepping backwards, pulling her along. she kicked out and called for help, her fear and desperation increasing when she saw the others fighting for their lives. Summoning all her energy for one last tug, she pulled free, using the short cut through the cemetery to get back to the dorm. She stumbled past headstones as she fled, her knees weakening as fear took over. Her heart beating faster, her lungs screamed for air as her breaths came short and shallow and silent tears ran down her face while she prayed she might live to see her friends again. Her legs finally gave way and she tripped, bodyslamming the tree infront of her. Holding onto the tree for support, she straightened up and glanced back over her shoulder. Gone were the sounds of the fight in the distance. There was no-one following her. Taking deeps breaths, she turned around, pressing her back into the solid trunk of the tree. The moonlight cast an eerie glow over the graveyard before her, and it illuminated the deathly pale skin of the creature approaching.
Buffy gently helped Xander to his feet, wincing with sympathy pains when she saw the bite marks down his arms. He smiled sadly as she placed a tender kiss on his forehead, "Don't they usually go for the neck? Y'know, like 'carpe jugulum' and ... stuff ..." Tara sat on the cemetery wall, staring at the many piles of ash that stood out against the black tarmac of the road. "She's g-gone." The sudden realisation hit Buffy like a fist in her gut. She tensed, her jaw clenched and fists balling at her sides. Tara's face was now streaked with tears, her voice coming in violent sobs that shook her body as she struggled to stay on the wall, "Willow - Spike - he took her. He got - he got Willow." Xander rushed to comfort her, but could not hide his own distress as images of Willow's fate ran through his mind. Snatching her stake from Xander, Buffy leapt back over the wall and ran towards the dorm in the desperate hope she would find her friend.
She froze, unable to move as he came closer, his eyes shining at the prospect of what was coming next. His feet dragged across the gravel path, the noise slicing through the night like a knife. She held her breath, in a few minutes it would all be over. She knew it, the dreams had told her. The Wiccan closed her eyes as she felt the firm grip of his hands round her waist and he pulled her closer, Tilting his head back, he savoured her scent and, opening her eyes again, Willow watched as he ran his tongue over his fangs, revelling in her fear. She closed her eyes again, and tried to focus everything on Tara but her mind wandered to the demon holding her - how his hands slid up her back, stroking the soft skin of her throat. Almost unwilling to resist, she let her body go limp as his hand supported her head while the other pulled her even closer. Lowering his head, he placed butterfly kisses down her throat, coming to a halt at the crook of her neck. Taking a deep breath, Willow gripped the bark of the tree behind her, her fingernails scraping through the wood underneath as a seering pain shot through her body.
The Slayer hurtled through the cemetery, calling the Wiccan's name. The further she got from Spike's haunts, the less likely she thought Willow still lived. Focussing every Slayer sense on finding Spike, she stopped and glanced around her. The graveyard was very quiet considering it was almost the Witching Hour and she could plainly see a teenage couple in the bushes to her right - something that wouldn't happen if the resident vamps were on their usual hunt. Ignoring them, she turned a full circle, her eyes fixing on a small piece of jewellry on the floor by the Oak. She slowly walked in that direction, breaking into a run when she recognised it.
"I'm sure Willow is alright. Buffy would never let anything happen to her - to any of us. You should have more faith in her." Xander looked up at the Englishman, searching his face for an ounce of confidence. Turning away, Giles blinked back the tears that threatened to fall and offered them something to eat. Harris declined, and watched Tara as she fiddled with the zipper on her jacket. The TV was playing the end credits of some mindless show but it was comforting, somehow. Xander found himself praying for the first time since he found out about the Hellmouth and hoped to God that his prayers would reach Buffy and Willow before the worst happened. Tara stared at the TV, her eyes glazed over as she said, "I never got to say goodbye..." His knees weakening, Giles supported himself on the unit as he accepted the truth and the tears fell. Xander crossed the room to him and placed an understanding hand on the Watcher's shoulder just as Buffy came through the door, her face expressionless. Their eyes followed Willow's locket as it fell from the Slayer's hand onto the sofa beside Tara.
The room was almost silent, the only audible sound being Lucius as he tapped the end of his pen against the table top. Recieving a warning glare from Spike, he stopped, dropped the pen into an open drawer infront on him and left for his favourite hunting ground. The Bronze. The blonde vampire watched him leave, then turned his gaze to his bedroom door where he could see his latest pet stretched out on the bed as if in sleep. Turning his attention back to the corpse infront of him, he continued to carve "I'm dead" into it's torso with his penknife. He had considered carving it into the back of the girl on his bed, but realised she wouldn't be happy when she came round. He didn't care, there were plenty more where she came from. Slowly getting to his feet, Spike crossed the room to his bedroom door and looked in on the girl occupying it. He stepped towards her, vampiric senses searching for any presence of the human she once was. Satisfied it had been completely destroyed when fangs met flesh, he gently shook her shoulders, whispering for her to wake up and allowed himself a brief smile when he was greeted with a sparkle of reverence in her eyes. Running her tongue over her new set of teeth, Willow sat up, slowly adjusting to the new range of senses that had been made available to her. Spike offered his hand and she accepted, using him for support while she slid off the bed and onto her feet. She looked up at him, studying his face, then gently ran her fingers over the faint scars where her nails had sliced through his skin. Watching his lips slowly curve upwards into a smile, she stepped away, and wandered over to the corpse laid out on the table. She picked up the open penknife, rolled the dead man over onto his stomach and proceeded to carve "fang fodder" across his shoulders. An expression of mild satisfaction spreading across her features, Willow moved back slightly, licking the knife clean and putting back on the table. Spike approved. He joined her at the table and took her hand, leading her outside to hunt.
"So that's it? You're just gonna run down there and kill her?" Buffy gave Xander a warning glance and turned her attention back to the pair of vampires at the cemetery gates. She wasn't entirely sure she could do that. She couldn't just approach them and ram her stake through the red-head's heart. It didn't seem ... right. Eyes narrowing, she put duty before emotion and took the stake from her jacket sleeve. "You've known Will along time, and I know how you must be fee--" Xander glared at her, "Y'know what? I don't think you do. You couldn't possibly know how I'm feeling.", "I gotta do this, Xan. You should know that. Will's gone and that bitch has taken what's left." She watched her friend turn away and make his way back to Giles' house in the dark. It suddenly occured to her that there was two vamps down there. Willow may have been a Newly-Risen, but in life she wasn't just a computer nerd. She was a fairly powerful witch. If those magicks were still in her possession, that demon could incinerate Buffy within seconds. Then there was Spike. He had come close to ending her life on several occasions, with Willow's aid he would have no problem ending it now. As far as she could see, neither of them were armed. But then they didn't really need to be if what the Slayer feared was true. Washing these thoughts from her mind, Buffy stood up and followed the vampires as they began to move away in the direction of the Bronze.
She followed them all the way to the bar, where they parted, and Spike headed back to the cemetery. The red-head took a seat at the bar and it wasn't long before she'd pulled her first meal for the night. Her new wardrobe must have helped aswell, Buffy observed. The tight black pants and even tighter dark red top looked like something from Faith's closet. Not Will's. Intending to distract the vampire before she got hungry enough to finish the boy off, Buffy took the seat next to her, "Hey, Will." Her head snapped round and she looked the Slayer in the eye, unsure of what to do about her. "...Buffy." Willow nodded in acknowledgement and took a long mouthful of her Bailey's, the confidence fading from her eyes. The boy beside her moved closer and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. Agreeing, Willow took his hand and smiled at the Slayer, daring her to do something about it. Satisfied they were outside, Buffy went in the opposite direction, meaning to cut them off at the curb. The red-headed vampire wasn't far away, she could hear them talking and she would have carried on around the corner hif the hand on her shoulder hadn't been holding her back. Removing his hand and walking past her towards his childe, Spike smirked. "Keep out of her way, Slayer. I don't want to be the one to pick up the pieces afterwards." She watched him leave, knowing she could have killed him there and then and she'd done nothing about it. Blocking the pleads of Willow's first victim from her mind, she turned away and cut through the cemetery to Giles' house.
Willow sat on the roof of the house opposite Giles' house. She looked in through the windows at the blonde witch on the sofa. She hadn't moved for the last hour. The red-head found it confusing that the girl should be mourning for her. After all, she was feeling better now than she ever had and it wasn't like she was dead or anything. Not quite anyway. She thought back to before her transition, when she had been trying to help Xander. She had done that out of friendship. Friendship. If she had learnt anything important from her Sire in the last few hours, it was never reveal your humanities - that is, of course, if you were unfortunate enough to be left with any. Watching Tara closer, she cocked her head to one side. The Slayer was pleading with her to talk. She wouldn't. She was in a state of shock, Willow decided. Buffy held Tara by the shoulders and shook her gently then hugged her tightly as the Wiccan began sobbing again. Willow frowned. Tara was hers to hold, no-one else was allowed to touch her but Willow. Her mind wandered to the night she first started having those nightmares, the way Tara had seemed o crestfallen when she didn't want to come back to bed. Standing up, the vampire scowled at the Slayer and hissed as the demon within took advantage of her jealousy and her face contorted. She ran up to the chimney and stood there, staring up at the night sky. A thousand memories crossed her mind, every one involving the blonde witch she had once loved. Listening to the sudden panic of the humans in the house beneath her as they heard the clatter of her heeled boots on the roof, she smiled. She could hear the rapid beating of their hearts as the adrenalin surged through their bodies, generating a new fear. Skipping across the roof of every house to her right, she slid off the roof of a house further down the road and approached the front door. She delivered several sharp knocks and the man of the house greeted her with a welcoming smile. "Excuse me, but could I use your phone?"
"Two houses down the road, three behind and another four down the other end of the road." Xander handed Buffy the morning newspaper. "Police believe it's the works of a twisted serial killer who gets a kick out of draining their victims of every drop of blood they own... whatever." It was three days since Willow was seen in the Bronze yet she had made her presence clear to them in her actions. She'd sent a child to Giles' front door the night before with the message, "In loving memory of Willow Rosenburg.". Giles pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, "The number of houses increases every time. She testing you, Buffy." Buffy scowled, "Gee, and here's me thinking it was a coincidence." Xander turned away from the computer, "Several have been found with railroad spikes rammed into their forehead. That's either Willow's idea of a sick joke, or Spike wanted to play aswell." Giles frowned, "I'd have considered this whole fiasco to be Willow's idea of a sick joke, Xander." Catching the growing light of anger in their eyes, Tara stepped inbetween Xander and Giles and offered to help Xander find Willow's files on witchcraft to see if any of them helped. "No thanks, Tara. Will was teaching me all she knew about computers. I think I can handle it." Giving Giles a fleeting glance, he smiled briefly at the witch and returned to the computer. Buffy looked her Watcher in the eye, reminding him to keep his cool. She dropped the newspaper on the table and picked up the crossbow beside her, testing the sharp edge of the bolt with her finger. "She gets anywhere inside my range of fire," She aimed the weapon at the target on the wall then fired, "and sayounara vamp-girl." The Ripper watched the arrow bury itself in the wall and quiver slightly before Buffy pulled it out, discontent with her aim.
"Okay. Xander, you take the cemetery. Giles, the Bronze. I'll patrol around this neighbourhood, that way Tara is relatively safe and so are the rest of the houses."
"Relatively? I had rather hoped they would all be safe, not just 'relatively'." Buffy huffed and folded her arms over her chest, "I can't protect everyone at the same time, Giles. You of all people should know that." The englishman quickly tried to back-pedal, stuttering along the way, "Yes - yes I do, but - um - I... " Ignoring his feeble excuses, the Slayer cocked the bow and rested in one her shoulder, aimed at the ceiling. "Shall we?" Tara watched them leave not a single word exchanged between them. She kept watching as they wished eachother good luck before seperating on the driveway. Turning back to face the TV, she sighed deeply, praying they would return safely.