Part 19
Stepping
into Darkness
Part 19
~~~~~*****~~~~~
The group made their way through the
darkness, back towards the mansion. If it weren't for the two
Slayers and the Vampire present they would have been lost. Willow,
Amy and Fliq had all tried to cast spells to increase the
brightness, but nothing would work and short of casting what was
quickly becoming Willows trademark spell and dusting both Fliq
and Spike, there was nothing they could do but trust the
heightened senses.
Sunnydale's usual eerie surroundings
were magnified as the perpetual darkness encompassed them. Not
even the creatures of the night were daring into the empty
streets. The group walked in silence, no one daring to speak for
fear of breaking the fragile hope they were carrying with them.
And the time came
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Wesley groaned as consciousness
ripped him from the gentle freedom of slumber. Still not wanting
to open his eyes, he allowed himself a few minutes to pretend he
was in his bed, in LA, about to get up for work. Unfortunately,
his current position, chained to the wall, didn't allow him the
pleasure for long as he awoke to the bitter pain encompassing his
body.
Pain ebbed through his every fiber
as he shifted to take some of the weight from his, no doubt
dislocated, wrists. Still refusing to let Angelus' sensitive ears
hear him cry out in agony, he resorted to biting the inside of
his mouth, hoping to distract him from his bruised ribs.
He opened his eyes and glanced
around the large room. He was alone. He knew that the vampires
hearing had no doubt alerted them to his awakened state, but he
forced himself to stay calm. To his right, he saw the dead form
of Riley Finn, and had to stop himself from gagging at the blood
and gut stained floor, guiltily thankful that the man was lying
face down, hiding most of his injuries.
Wesley sighed to himself, *Angel
will never forgive himself for this* He looked down at his
scarred body and winced as he realized that his trousers were
still bunched around his ankles. He closed his eyes, refusing to
let his tears betray his cool exterior as a noise in the hallway
prepared him for their imminent arrival.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Angelus watched as the man writhed
in silent agony. Vampire Willow and Tara wandered aimlessly
around the room, smiling at the whirlwind of pain tormenting
their captor. Angelus growled and Tara frowned, annoyed that her
play was being brought to an end, and the man fell to his knees.
"I told you, Wes, I want to
hear you scream, I want to hear you yelling my name by the end of
the night," Angelus grabbed Wesley's hair and yanked his
head back roughly, "And your life will belong with pain,
agony and suffering until you do." Angelus kissed him
roughly before dropping his head to hang lifelessly against his
chest.
"Ah, it's good to be back."
He laughed as he pulled Vampire Willow into him and growled as
she began grinding her hips into him.
"But you're not really back,
are you?"
"Wesley," he turned,
"finally growing some balls, are we?"
"You heard what Fliq said, this
is just a spell, and spells can be undone," Wesley laughed,
coughing up blood, "That's why you're trying to get all the
pleasure you can, now. But I can guarantee you, none of it will
be coming from me."
"Wesley," Angelus laughed,
"You've already given me lots of pleasure," he grinned,
dropping to whisper in the man's ear, "And remember, no
matter what, I'm always here, always a part of the man you
consider family,"
Wesley laughed, "What can I say,
we all have our demons, but I can take pleasure in knowing that
mine knows the difference between his knob and his elbow."
Angelus growled, smacking his hand roughly against Wesley's head,
snapping the watcher's neck backwards. He reached to strike again
when a hand wrapped around his arm.
"Angelus,"
"What do you want, witch?"
"I think we have guests,"
Angelus laughed and leaned down to
the almost unconscious man, "Oh, don't worry, Wes, I'll be
back,"
~~~~~*****~~~~~
The group faced them down as Angelus
played with the girl's hair. The darkness had been his blessing
and he had her before anyone had had a chance to react. Whirling
Cordelia around in his arms he pulled her close, grinding into
her.
"Well, lover, how does it feel
to finally be in my arms?" he leered, tracing a finger down
her face, "How's about we leave our guests to their own
devices and get horizontal? No curse, remember." He noted
the glint in her eye a little too late before he crumpled to the
ground clutching at his groin.
"I think I'll wait for the real
thing," she said running back towards the group, staking a
vampire as she passed, mumbling to herself, "I just hope the
equipment still works later."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
The vampires surrounded the group
and they shrank back. Fliq slipped into game face and nodded to
Spike who did the same before they exchanged a glance with Buffy.
The trio struck quickly, fighting their opponents in a deadly
symphony of dust as the others prepared themselves for any
unwelcome guests that might get through their main line of
defense.
*We have to break the spell, Red*
Willow raised her head, looking at Spike as he and Fliq
flawlessly fought off their opponents. *We can hold them off for
a while but not forever. We need to break the hold on Angel's
soul. That's the only thing that'll keep us alive*
Willow nodded to him as their gazes
met and she quickly turned to Amy, "We have to start with
the spell now, Spike says it's our only chance of winning."
"Spike can speak to you as well?"
"Giles, this is not the time."
"Of course,"
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Angelus glanced across the room at
the fight. The group in the center was doing well, fighting off
their attackers, but that would only last so long, there were
simply too many. He laughed as Vampire Willow walked towards him.
Kicking Riley's rotting corpse, they walked over to Wesley and
began to suckle at either side of his neck.
Tara stiffened as she felt her hold
on Angel's soul weaken. Angelus tore his mouth from Wesley's neck,
receiving a small grunt of pain, and looked at her, his eyes
widening. She looked at the room before them and spotted Willow
and the brunette standing in a blue circle of light. She pointed
to them and Vampire Willow sent three minions towards the circle
as Angelus collapsed in pain. Tara set about casting her own
circle and began to call upon the watchtowers as the magickal
battle began.
The three minions made their way
cautiously towards the circle of magick. Looking at each other,
they nodded and stepped into the circle only to be thrown
backwards across the room in a storm of dust. Suddenly, the two
girls raised their arms and the room erupted in blue light.
Lightning thrashed outwards from their stretched fingertips,
turning a select amount of vampires to dust.
Vampire Willow watched as Tara was
raised into the air, the red lightning from her fingers doing
little to halt her progress as the river of magick that connected
her to Spike began to flow in reverse. Soon, there was only a
thin layer left surrounding the witch, who was dropped
unceremoniously to the ground. Vampire Willow turned to Angelus
as he, too, was raised into the air, the green aura slowly being
stripped away.
"Puppy," she watched as
the green aura was replaced by a shining blue light and growled.
"This world really is no fun." She smiled at the people
in the center of the room, "But I love a challenge."
She grabbed Tara by the leg and hauled her up, she turned and
walked out the open doors, cracking Tara's head off the stone
fountain as she passed, "See you soon, Fluffy."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
END OF PART 19
Well, one part to go!!!
:biggrin: