The Night Remembers - Part 34
"Oh God, what's going on?" Dawn sobbed. "What's happening?"
Giles reached out and took the teenager's arm. "It's going to be okay."
"No, don't do that," she pulled her arm free and looked at him. "Don't treat
me like a child. Riley!" her attention turned towards the commando. "Was
this your friends as well?"
"I don't know. If they did this, I had no knowledge," confused he gazed
around. They had heard a detonation, but this time the tunnels hadn't come
down again. But what was more frightening was the low growling noise they
could still hear. "Does this come from the hellmouth?"
"I'd say it's safe bet," Wesley replied dryly, getting quickly fed up with
Riley. He and his troupes came to Sunnydale to help, but at the moment they
were causing even more problems.
"Ri."
They all turned when a figure came running straight towards them. "Graham,"
Riley stepped forward to meet his friend halfway. "What's going on over
there?" he demanded.
Graham had to catch his breath before he was able to answer. He'd ran the
whole distance and although he was in good shape he had only now realized
how wide spread the Sunnydale sewer tunnels were. No wonder all the vampires
wanted to live here. It was like a town underneath the real town. Sun proof
and all. "Vampires," he choked, "Demons, more than I've ever seen," he told
them, leaning heavily against the wall. "They're all coming from this big
hole. God, it's like Stephen Kind was writing the screenplay."
"Have you seen anyone besides us?" Gunn asked.
"You mean your friends?" Graham replied, then shook his head, "No, nobody.
But one of the tunnels leading to the main cavern under the high school is
closed up. Damn Brookridge," he muttered.
"Excuse me?" Giles looked at him quizzically.
"General Brookridge," Riley explained in his friend's stead. "He obviously
arrived two hours ago and took over the whole thing. He's even superior to
General Markham. The first detonation was his idea."
"I see," Wesley said, desperately trying to figure out what to do now.
"Which tunnel is closed up?"
"The southern one," Graham answered. "Where are the slayers? We really need
help, we can't go on like this anymore."
"Wait a second," Giles looked at him sharply. "Do you want to tell me you're
at the hellmouth already? Good God, are you mad?! We said you should wait.
How on earth are Willow and Tara going to cast their spell... No, forget
about it. Our first plan died the moment the bomb went up. This so bloody
brilliant," he shouted.
"As I said," Wesley sighed. "Bring the military into something and you can
be sure it will sink into chaos."
"All very interesting, English," Gunn joined them after instructing his
friends to wait until everyone was ready, "but it doesn't help. Okay, so
plan A is down the river. What I want to know is, is there a plan B?"
****
"Tara," Willow called frantically for her lover and relief flooded her when
the blond answered.
"Willow." Tara's voice was weak, but at least she was conscious again. "Wh-
What happened?"
"There were two explosions," the redhead explained, squeezing her lover's
hand. "Something's wrong. We don't know what but something's happening."
"I really hate to interrupt," Buffy found her way towards them by walking
along the wall, "but I need to know if you're able to cast the spell. Angel
and I have no idea what's going on, but whatever is happening right now, I
think a power-decreasing spell for the hellmouth is always a good idea."
"Tara?" Willow asked into the darkness.
"I- I'm fine," the blond witch said, bringing her upper body into an upright
position. "We have memorized the spell. We don't need the text or a
flashlight," she said, her voice sounding firmer now.
"Good." This came from Angel who was desperately trying to see the exit of
the tunnel they were in. "It seems we're closed up from the rest. I can't
see the end of the tunnel which probably means we're trapped somehow."
"Trapped," the redhead gulped. "Oh no."
"Willow," Buffy searched in the darkness for her girlfriend's hand and
squeezed it. "There is no time for that. Cast the spell now."
"Alright," she said her voice quivering. "But what will happen if we don't
find a way to help them."
Angel turned towards them, "You and Tara will stay here and cast the spell
and do whatever else is needed. Buffy and I will go back and try to find
another way inside."
"But-," Willow wanted to protest only to be cut off by the vampire.
"No buts. We need to do this. You're the witches. I know you want to help,
but this is more important. Okay?"
"Okay," the replied unison.
Angel looked at his lover and when he saw her nod, he said, "We're leaving."
He reached into the pocket of his duster, and then Willow felt something in
her hand. "It's Holy Water," he explained quickly. "I suppose you're safe
here... at least as safe as possible, but this will help."
"Thanks," she gave him a smile, knowing that he was able to see it despite
the darkness. "Take care."
"We will," Buffy promised and then they both were gone.
"All right, Tara," Willow took charge of the situation, knowing that they
had to do this that the world was depending on them. "Let's do it."
Her lover squeezed her hand again and then the two witches began to chant.
***
"This is just bloody great," Spike shouted, turning towards Faith who was
trying to see something in the pale light that filtered into the tunnel
after this second eruption. "And if I may add, our schedule isn't even worth
the paper it's written on."
"We never wrote it down," Xander muttered. "But anyways. We need to get
going."
"He's right," Kate agreed immediately. "From what I understand we can't
afford to lose more time."
"Oh right, now she's telling us what to do," Anya rolled her eyes and
crossed her arms in front of her chest. "God, why didn't I take that plan?
No wonder vengeance demons are needed. Women do strange things out of love."
Xander had to smile at that. She sounded so upset, but he knew it had been
her way to declare her love again. He held her hand in his and could feel
her tremble. She was scared to death, but she came back and was staying -
for him. If he hadn't been in love with her already he would've fallen for
her now.
"Oh please spare me your mouth," Faith snarled, running a nervous hand
through her hair. "Alright, let's go. I suppose the hellmouth is where the
light is coming from. Maybe we will find out what has been going on here as
soon as we meet the others."
"Assuming they're still alive."
"What?" Faith's head snapped around, her eyes piercing into Anya's.
"Well, we all knew this was a mission of no return," she slightly tilted her
head and seemed to think about something. "Wasn't that a movie we were
watching just recently," she looked at Xander.
"God, give me patience," the brunette slayer threw her hands in the air and
suppressed the urge to scream - really loud. The former demon could test the
patience of a saint and Faith was far from it. "Why do you think they might
not be alive anymore?"
"For one, there was that... that explosion and I think we're lucky not to
have been buried under some boulder and then, the hellmouth might be open
and I think you don't have the slightest idea what that means. So let me
tell you-"
"Shut up," the slayer's voice was like a whip. "Spare me that. We will see
that soon enough. So you have no idea if they're dead or alive. I for one
like to think positive. We *will* meet them over there," she nodded towards
the light. "So let's-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence, when suddenly they heard someone
approaching them, then Spike's shout, "Bloody Hell" and then they came face
to face with about 20 vampires.
****
"Left," Angel shouted, giving Buffy who was running before him, directions.
He was following the smell that his sensitive nose had no problem
identifying.
"Can you smell anything besides sulfur?" she asked not slowing down.
"No," he replied. "It's too strong, it covers anything else."
"I just hope Tara and Willow are able to do the spell and that it helps -
somehow."
"I think we'll know soon," he said, and then shouted, "Right."
Buffy took the right turn and followed a wider sewer tunnel. The smell of
sulfur was so strong now that even she was able to follow it. "This stinks."
"Yes, it does," Angel, agreed. "Like rotten eggs."
"Oh thanks, really needing the visual," she shouted back.
He had to grin at that, and then suddenly shouted, "Stop."
She halted instantly and turned to look at him, "What?"
"Can't you feel it?" he asked closing his eyes, trying to concentrate.
"Feel, what? I-," she broke off. "Yeah," she said, her voice almost in awe.
"The energy is humming around us."
"Yes," he confirmed. "It's the hellmouth. Very powerful," he swallowed
hard, not sure if he should say it, but did it nevertheless, "The demon
inside of me is raging, urging me to go there, to follow this powerful
shift."
"What a good thing we know he can't come out again."
"Yeah," he flashed her a quick smile. It was good Angelus was safely bound,
but that didn't mean he couldn't hear him screaming inside his head, the
struggle bordering on physical pain, his blood pounding through his veins.
Angel had never experienced something like this before, had never felt his
demon raging like this. Buffy would never understand how it felt and he was
glad she wouldn't, but it also meant there were some things they could never
share. He took a deep breath. "We need to be careful, because we have no way
of knowing what's going on. I tried to get in contact with Cordelia before,
but my cell phone is broken."
"Oh, great," she replied sarcastically. "Tonight it seems that nothing goes
like planned."
"Let's just hope we aren't the only ones with the bad-" the words died on
his lips when Buffy suddenly grabbed his arm and squeezed it - hard. Without
a warning they were suddenly face to face with at least 10 Morah demons.
... to be continued
"Oh God, what's going on?" Dawn sobbed. "What's happening?"
Giles reached out and took the teenager's arm. "It's going to be okay."
"No, don't do that," she pulled her arm free and looked at him. "Don't treat
me like a child. Riley!" her attention turned towards the commando. "Was
this your friends as well?"
"I don't know. If they did this, I had no knowledge," confused he gazed
around. They had heard a detonation, but this time the tunnels hadn't come
down again. But what was more frightening was the low growling noise they
could still hear. "Does this come from the hellmouth?"
"I'd say it's safe bet," Wesley replied dryly, getting quickly fed up with
Riley. He and his troupes came to Sunnydale to help, but at the moment they
were causing even more problems.
"Ri."
They all turned when a figure came running straight towards them. "Graham,"
Riley stepped forward to meet his friend halfway. "What's going on over
there?" he demanded.
Graham had to catch his breath before he was able to answer. He'd ran the
whole distance and although he was in good shape he had only now realized
how wide spread the Sunnydale sewer tunnels were. No wonder all the vampires
wanted to live here. It was like a town underneath the real town. Sun proof
and all. "Vampires," he choked, "Demons, more than I've ever seen," he told
them, leaning heavily against the wall. "They're all coming from this big
hole. God, it's like Stephen Kind was writing the screenplay."
"Have you seen anyone besides us?" Gunn asked.
"You mean your friends?" Graham replied, then shook his head, "No, nobody.
But one of the tunnels leading to the main cavern under the high school is
closed up. Damn Brookridge," he muttered.
"Excuse me?" Giles looked at him quizzically.
"General Brookridge," Riley explained in his friend's stead. "He obviously
arrived two hours ago and took over the whole thing. He's even superior to
General Markham. The first detonation was his idea."
"I see," Wesley said, desperately trying to figure out what to do now.
"Which tunnel is closed up?"
"The southern one," Graham answered. "Where are the slayers? We really need
help, we can't go on like this anymore."
"Wait a second," Giles looked at him sharply. "Do you want to tell me you're
at the hellmouth already? Good God, are you mad?! We said you should wait.
How on earth are Willow and Tara going to cast their spell... No, forget
about it. Our first plan died the moment the bomb went up. This so bloody
brilliant," he shouted.
"As I said," Wesley sighed. "Bring the military into something and you can
be sure it will sink into chaos."
"All very interesting, English," Gunn joined them after instructing his
friends to wait until everyone was ready, "but it doesn't help. Okay, so
plan A is down the river. What I want to know is, is there a plan B?"
****
"Tara," Willow called frantically for her lover and relief flooded her when
the blond answered.
"Willow." Tara's voice was weak, but at least she was conscious again. "Wh-
What happened?"
"There were two explosions," the redhead explained, squeezing her lover's
hand. "Something's wrong. We don't know what but something's happening."
"I really hate to interrupt," Buffy found her way towards them by walking
along the wall, "but I need to know if you're able to cast the spell. Angel
and I have no idea what's going on, but whatever is happening right now, I
think a power-decreasing spell for the hellmouth is always a good idea."
"Tara?" Willow asked into the darkness.
"I- I'm fine," the blond witch said, bringing her upper body into an upright
position. "We have memorized the spell. We don't need the text or a
flashlight," she said, her voice sounding firmer now.
"Good." This came from Angel who was desperately trying to see the exit of
the tunnel they were in. "It seems we're closed up from the rest. I can't
see the end of the tunnel which probably means we're trapped somehow."
"Trapped," the redhead gulped. "Oh no."
"Willow," Buffy searched in the darkness for her girlfriend's hand and
squeezed it. "There is no time for that. Cast the spell now."
"Alright," she said her voice quivering. "But what will happen if we don't
find a way to help them."
Angel turned towards them, "You and Tara will stay here and cast the spell
and do whatever else is needed. Buffy and I will go back and try to find
another way inside."
"But-," Willow wanted to protest only to be cut off by the vampire.
"No buts. We need to do this. You're the witches. I know you want to help,
but this is more important. Okay?"
"Okay," the replied unison.
Angel looked at his lover and when he saw her nod, he said, "We're leaving."
He reached into the pocket of his duster, and then Willow felt something in
her hand. "It's Holy Water," he explained quickly. "I suppose you're safe
here... at least as safe as possible, but this will help."
"Thanks," she gave him a smile, knowing that he was able to see it despite
the darkness. "Take care."
"We will," Buffy promised and then they both were gone.
"All right, Tara," Willow took charge of the situation, knowing that they
had to do this that the world was depending on them. "Let's do it."
Her lover squeezed her hand again and then the two witches began to chant.
***
"This is just bloody great," Spike shouted, turning towards Faith who was
trying to see something in the pale light that filtered into the tunnel
after this second eruption. "And if I may add, our schedule isn't even worth
the paper it's written on."
"We never wrote it down," Xander muttered. "But anyways. We need to get
going."
"He's right," Kate agreed immediately. "From what I understand we can't
afford to lose more time."
"Oh right, now she's telling us what to do," Anya rolled her eyes and
crossed her arms in front of her chest. "God, why didn't I take that plan?
No wonder vengeance demons are needed. Women do strange things out of love."
Xander had to smile at that. She sounded so upset, but he knew it had been
her way to declare her love again. He held her hand in his and could feel
her tremble. She was scared to death, but she came back and was staying -
for him. If he hadn't been in love with her already he would've fallen for
her now.
"Oh please spare me your mouth," Faith snarled, running a nervous hand
through her hair. "Alright, let's go. I suppose the hellmouth is where the
light is coming from. Maybe we will find out what has been going on here as
soon as we meet the others."
"Assuming they're still alive."
"What?" Faith's head snapped around, her eyes piercing into Anya's.
"Well, we all knew this was a mission of no return," she slightly tilted her
head and seemed to think about something. "Wasn't that a movie we were
watching just recently," she looked at Xander.
"God, give me patience," the brunette slayer threw her hands in the air and
suppressed the urge to scream - really loud. The former demon could test the
patience of a saint and Faith was far from it. "Why do you think they might
not be alive anymore?"
"For one, there was that... that explosion and I think we're lucky not to
have been buried under some boulder and then, the hellmouth might be open
and I think you don't have the slightest idea what that means. So let me
tell you-"
"Shut up," the slayer's voice was like a whip. "Spare me that. We will see
that soon enough. So you have no idea if they're dead or alive. I for one
like to think positive. We *will* meet them over there," she nodded towards
the light. "So let's-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence, when suddenly they heard someone
approaching them, then Spike's shout, "Bloody Hell" and then they came face
to face with about 20 vampires.
****
"Left," Angel shouted, giving Buffy who was running before him, directions.
He was following the smell that his sensitive nose had no problem
identifying.
"Can you smell anything besides sulfur?" she asked not slowing down.
"No," he replied. "It's too strong, it covers anything else."
"I just hope Tara and Willow are able to do the spell and that it helps -
somehow."
"I think we'll know soon," he said, and then shouted, "Right."
Buffy took the right turn and followed a wider sewer tunnel. The smell of
sulfur was so strong now that even she was able to follow it. "This stinks."
"Yes, it does," Angel, agreed. "Like rotten eggs."
"Oh thanks, really needing the visual," she shouted back.
He had to grin at that, and then suddenly shouted, "Stop."
She halted instantly and turned to look at him, "What?"
"Can't you feel it?" he asked closing his eyes, trying to concentrate.
"Feel, what? I-," she broke off. "Yeah," she said, her voice almost in awe.
"The energy is humming around us."
"Yes," he confirmed. "It's the hellmouth. Very powerful," he swallowed
hard, not sure if he should say it, but did it nevertheless, "The demon
inside of me is raging, urging me to go there, to follow this powerful
shift."
"What a good thing we know he can't come out again."
"Yeah," he flashed her a quick smile. It was good Angelus was safely bound,
but that didn't mean he couldn't hear him screaming inside his head, the
struggle bordering on physical pain, his blood pounding through his veins.
Angel had never experienced something like this before, had never felt his
demon raging like this. Buffy would never understand how it felt and he was
glad she wouldn't, but it also meant there were some things they could never
share. He took a deep breath. "We need to be careful, because we have no way
of knowing what's going on. I tried to get in contact with Cordelia before,
but my cell phone is broken."
"Oh, great," she replied sarcastically. "Tonight it seems that nothing goes
like planned."
"Let's just hope we aren't the only ones with the bad-" the words died on
his lips when Buffy suddenly grabbed his arm and squeezed it - hard. Without
a warning they were suddenly face to face with at least 10 Morah demons.
... to be continued