Part 15
Stepping
into Darkness
Part 15
~~~~~*****~~~~~
The door banged shut as the group
collapsed onto Giles' floor. No one spoke, a stunned silence
filling the room, punctuated only by heavy breathing.
Fliq looked around the room from
face to face. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. She turned
to Cordelia, who was sitting to her right. She was in shock, her
face holding the same wide-eyed look it had since she had first
realised that Angel had lost his soul, yet again. Fliq pulled her
into an embrace and she finally let herself cry.
Willow stood up from her position
next to Spike and walked over to Xander, who had stood up and was
leaning onto the worktop that looked into the kitchen, his head
hanging low.
"Xander?" Willow placed a
timid hand onto his shoulder but jumped back as he shrugged her
away. "Xander, there was nothing you could've done."
Xander whirled around to face her,
"Really? Well, I think there was. For a start, I could've
NOT argued with her so much, I could have kept her away from your
psycho lover...and next, I could've kept her away from Angel."
"Xander, we were all there..."
"No, don't you get it?" He
walked forward causing Willow to step back. "Every time we
trust him he turns on us and one of us dies! First there was Miss
Calendar, and this time there was Anya. How many times are we
gonna give this guy a chance to kill the people we love?"
By this time Xander's shouting had
caused Buffy to cry as Willow put more distance between her and
Xander. Spike, however, walked straight up to him, "Look
mate, none of us are all that happy with the poof at the moment,
but there's no need to take this out on everyone else."
"Like you care," Xander
spat out. "Why are you still here, Spike? Did someone give
you a soul too?"
"Hey," Spike growled,
"I might not be the big bad at the moment but I could...ahhhh"
he stepped back clutching his head as the chip stopped him from
grabbing Xander by the collar.
"You could what?"
"Stop it!" Everyone turned
to look at Amy as she stood up. "Look this is getting us
nowhere. We have to stop them. Fighting amongst ourselves won't
make this go away."
"Amy's right," Fliq stood
up as Cordelia wiped her eyes. "We have to stop this."
"It seems to me that all of
this started when you arrived," Xander challenged her.
"Oh, for goodness sakes, Xander,"
Cordelia stood up, "We're here because I had a vision. I saw
this starting. That's why we're here. This isn't Fliq's fault."
Fliq flashed Cordelia a small smile, which the ex-cheerleader
returned.
The anger left his face in a sudden
movement as his features crumbled, "Why?" he whisperedm,
"Why did they give her her powers back and then kill her...it
doesn't make any sense."
"She said they needed her help,"
Willow said softly, trying to figure it out, "she was a
vengeance demon...maybe they had hoped they could make her one of
them and when they couldn't..." she trailed off. Looking up,
she watched as tears began to fall from Xander's clenched face.
"I think the first thing we can
do is try to find out where they're hiding," Giles said
trying to break the tension threatening to engulf the room.
"The sewers?" Fliq asked.
"No," Buffy answered,
standing up. "They're at the old mansion."
"How can you be so sure?"
Willow asked.
"It's Angelus' style...besides,
he was wearing a ring that I know was left at the mansion when he
left."
Spike nodded, "She's right,
that's where they'll be."
Giles moved behind him and picked up
the book that held the prophecy, "Well it would seem that
almost everything from the prophecy has come to pass. The town is
shrouded in darkness, our most recent experience tells us that
the undead have gathered together... Angelus has turned and is
with the vampire Willow and all that is left is for them to rise...
'and the darkness will engulf us all.'" There was a silence
as everyone exchanged glances. Buffy walked to Giles and closed
the book.
"No, no it won't. Because
we're going to stop this thing. We're going to end it once and
for all."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Cordelia gasped as the tears hit her
all at once, the pain resonating through her noiseless breathing.
*No, no, no* the words echoed through her head, taunting her with
the truth.
She had lost him.
After everything she had faced since
leaving Sunnydale, since leaving behind the 'old her', this was
the worst thing that could have happened to her. She had lost
Doyle, had faced countless dangers from being pregnant with demon
spawn (twice) to facing her own personal demons.
She had lost him.
She felt numb. It didn't matter what
happened now, she had to get him back, she couldn't do this
without himshe needed himshe loved him
She would find him
she had to.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
There was a snap and Angelus'
laughter echoed through the mansion as he watched another of
their minions collapsed into a pile of ashes.
"Ah, death is a wonderful thing,"
he grinned as Vampire Willow smiled at him seductively. "Of
course, sex is better," he laughed. "Just ask my soul."
Angelus walked across the room to her and tried to pull her into
his arms, but she walked behind him, her fingers digging a path
into his chest as she moved.
Tara entered the room, followed
closely by five vampires and two hunched figures, "Willow,
Angelus, I've got a present for you." She smiled as both
vampires turned and looked at her. She signalled for the minions
to drag the hunched figures to the wall where they chained them
tightly, "I must say, Angelus, I love the decour in this
place."
Angelus wandered over to the blonde
witch and pulled her roughly into his arms, "Maybe we could
try it out sometime." He smiled at her, "The three of
us could have a lot of fun,"
"I'm sure we could," she
sent a shock through his body and rubbed his crotch as he jumped
back. He growled at her and smiled. She smiled back and signalled
for the minions to follow her out of the room.
"One day witch," he smiled
to himself.
"Puppy, I wanna play."
"Sure," Angelus grinned,
swinging around and pinning her under him on the floor in one
fluid motion. "I love games."
She wiggled underneath him and he
groaned, "I wanna play with Fluffy and the Slayers."
He laughed, "You read my mind.
That's my favourite kinda game." He leaned down and kissed
her hungrily then pulled back. "And I know just how to start
it," he grinned evilly and nodded his head to the figures
chained to the wall.
Vampire Willow smiled, "You
mean we get to play with our presents?" Angelus nodded and
she smiled and kissed him again as the two men pulled hopelessly
at their chains.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"OK. Does everyone know what
they've got to do?" Buffy asked one last time as the gang
prepared to leave for the mansion. There was a consensus of nods.
Buffy gave a brisk nod of her head and the two Slayers headed for
the door only to stop.
Buffy gasped as she saw the manilla
envelope, the writing scrawled across the front made her breath
catch in her throat. Slowly she walked towards the open door and,
checking that the deliverer was gone, she lifted it from the
ground.
The gang watched as she cautiously
opened the envelope with shaking hands and pulled out the folded
piece of paper. Tentatively, she opened out the paper.
"Oh God," she clutched one
hand to her stomach and the other over her mouth as the paper
floated to the ground.
Fliq walked forward and picked them
up. She read the scrawl on the envelope, "Hello lover,
think you or your Slayer friends can stake me now?" She
glanced at Cordelia, reolising that it was meant for her. She
glanced at the paper and sucked in a breath.
"Oh Goddess, no." She
gasped looking at the perfectly drawn figures chained to a wall,
"Wesley." She whispered as Buffy continued to look at
the figure next to him
"Riley."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
END OF PART 15