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: