Oz froze in place as he heard the main doors open behind him. "I thought you were out there." He said without turning around.
"You know me." Xander said closing the door behind him as he spoke. "I crave to be where the action is."
"True." Oz said, turning around. Xander was obscured by shadow, and Oz could only make out the vaguest of details. But something was very wrong, he could almost smell it. "But I'm wondering how much you've been changed by recent events." He said backing off.
"You have no idea." Xander said, moving forward to close the distance.
"Y'know, I think I might take a guess." Oz said, edging back further to keep the distance.
As Xander advanced further he came out of the shadows, grinning as his vampiric features became visible. Were you right?" He asked mockingly as he quickened his pace further.
"Yeah, pretty much..." Oz said quietly, turning to run. "BUFFY!" He shouted as he started running.
With alarming speed Xander closed the gap, lifting Oz off his feet and throwing him to the side. Oz groaned as he slid down to the floor, a large indentation in the plaster attested to the force of his impact with the wall. He looked up defiantly as Xander stood over him.
"Would you look at what you made me do..." Xander gestured to the wall above Oz. "And it did nothing for you, Buffy isn't going to save you."
"I beg to differ." Buffy called from down the hall.
Xander turned away from Oz and advanced down the hall towards Buffy. "Sure about that?" He called back. "Last I saw you weren't exactly at your best."
"Come over here and find out how sure." Buffy responded.
As Xander advanced toward Buffy Willow and Giles rounded the corner and took up flanking positions next to Buffy.
"Oz!" Willow shouted, seeing him slumped on the floor. Her eyes widened as she took in the full enormity of the situation. "Xander!... no..." Her voice trailed off as she slumped to her knees.
"I was going to leave him on your doorstep over the next week, but you've gone and ruined the suprise now."
Giles produced a stake from one pocket of his tweed jacket and handed it to Buffy, he then pulled out a cross for himself. "You would do well to leave now." He said, his voice full of anger and sorrow even through his normally stoic demeanour.
Xander looked over to Oz, then back at Giles and Buffy. " I'll finish this some other time my love." He called to Willow, then he turned and ran outside, the doors providing scant resistance to his strength. Buffy ran after him and was just in time to see the car pull away and out of the car park.
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Spike looked across at Xander as he drove. "So I take it you were unsuccessful." He said, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"The slayer happened." Xander sighed. "And friends too."
"I thought that might happen." Spike said. "That was your learning experience. From now on it gets done my way."
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Buffy traipsed back in through the door to find Giles helping Oz to his feet.
"You okay?" She asked as she moved in to help support Oz.
"I think I'll live." Oz answered. "It's Willow I'm worried about."
"Where is she?" Buffy asked as she realised Willow wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"I'm not entirely sure, but the library or the computer room would be my first guess." Giles said.
"You're library bound right?" Buffy enquired.
Giles nodded in response.
"Okay then, I'll check the computer room and get back to you." She said, deftly detaching herself from Oz and Giles and starting after Willow as fast as she could.
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Buffy arrived just in time to se Willow kick the door open.
"Dammit!" Willow shouted. "Dammit!"
"Willow..." Buffy started.
"This wasn't meant to happen." Willow turned to face Buffy, revealing her tear streaked face as she looked through bleary eyes at her friend. "Do you know how much it hurt when I lost Jesse this same way?"
Buffy nodded sagely. "I know it hurts."
"But it was so right..." Willow cried, moving into the room. "Why did it have to happen this way?"
"We'll find something." Buffy tried to reassure Willow. "There has to be something that can be done."
Willow shook her head. "You know there's nothing we can do..." Without warning she exploded into movement. Screaming in frustration she planted her hands underneath the nearest computer desk, flipping it into the air as if the desk and everything on it weighed practically nothing.
"It just isn't fair." She sobbed quietly as she sank down to the floor.
"No, it isn't." Buffy said as she knelt down next to Willow, cautiously eyeing the smoking remains of the computer monitor where it had landed. "Now we should get back to the library, Giles and....." Buffy paused as she caught sight of something on the floor that shouldn't have been there.
"What is it?" Willow asked, looking up at Buffy.
"Will, you didn't keep any floppy disks in that desk, do you?" Buffy asked.
"No. Why?" Willow responded.
"What about that one?" Buffy said pointing to the yellow disk that lay on the floor.
"I don't know. I'll take a look." Willow said, sniffling as she pulled herself to her feet.
Willow retrieved the disk and went to the closest working computer as Buffy took a fire extinguisher from a holder on the wall and proceeded to deal with the smouldering computer monitor that lay amidst the remains of the desk.
"So, what's on the disk then?" Buffy asked as she finished extinguishing the remains of the teacher's desk.
Willow sat speechless, eyes wide in disbelief as she read the text scrolling across her monitor.
"Uh, Willow?" Buffy looked across at Willow to make sure she was okay.
"You might want to take a look at this." Willow managed after a few seconds.
Buffy gingerly stepped over the clutter on the floor and made her way over to the computer that Willow was sitting at.
"Ritual of restoration..." Willow said as Buffy moved round to look at the screen. "It's the original curse."
"Miss Calendar must have been working on it before she was killed." Buffy commented.
"Do you think that's why Angel killed her?" Willow suggested.
Buffy considered that for a moment. "Probably." She replied. "We have to show this to Giles."
Willow simply nodded in agreement.
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Robert Sherman sighed as he fished in his pocket for the keys to what was laughingly called his apartment. Pausing to gingerly test the big purple bruise forming on the side of his ribs he pushed the door open. As soon as he entered the apartment he knew something was wrong, the flow of energy through the room was too different. Someone else was in there, and whoever it was made a fairly large magickal impact.
"You can show yourself. I know you're there." Robert called into the gloom.
A small man stepped out of the darkness, dressed in the most repugnant suit known to mankind. Complete with bowler hat.
"You know you don't even have any drinks in here?" He commented. "How do you expect to entertain guests?"
"I don't get any guests." Robert replied. "Which begs the question. "Who are you, and why are you here?"
"The name's Whistler. And I'm here because things ain't goin' down the way they're supposed to."
"With dress sense like that you'd have to be a Verrach demon." Robert commented. "I didn't think there were any of you left anymore."
"Word on the street would say the same about your order." Whistler replied.
"But I'm still here on my own merits." Robert pointed out. "I'm
Guessing you've got servitude to higher beings to thank for your continued existence."
"The kid's got smarts." Whistler said with mock surprise. "I do hands on work for the powers that be, help keep the balance. They let me stick around on this plane. Which brings me to why I'm here. Events are moving faster than foreseen and there was some concern over your preparedness."
"I don't understand." Robert said.
"Figures..." Whistler said before clearing his throat. "I know all about your prophecy, about how your order's going to blink out of existence. Very sad. And I know about the one. How the one will be the rebirth of the order, and how you're supposed to protect the one until your time."
"That doesn't happen yet." Robert pointed out. "Soon yes, but I still have some time. And you know I have something to resolve in that time."
"That's where you're wrong." Whistler said. "Events have been set in motion. The one has been jolted awake."
"This was never prophesied."
"They never tell you the whole truth." Whistler replied. "It starts going down tonight. Sunnydale high school library, in about an hour. You need to be there."
"If I'm not?" Robert asked.
"Just trust me on this." Whistler replied. "Now it's going to take you a good 45 minutes to get there so I suggest you go now. I'll be here when you get back, you'll probably have even more questions by then."
"You're not coming?"
Whistler shook his head. "Not my place." Whistler tossed a backpack to Robert. "Anti vampire hamper, you might need it." He explained.
"So, I guess I should thank you for this." Robert said, turning and walking out into the night.
Whistler waited until he heard the door click shut. "Not yet..." He said quietly to himself. "Not yet."
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The Library was a hive of activity. Willow and Giles sat reading over various books and computer printouts, whilst Buffy and the recently arrived Cordelia searched through Giles' more "unconventional" office supplies. Oz sat painfully in the most heavily padded chair available.
"One set of runic tablets." Buffy said, emerging from the office with a small wooden box. "Anything else we need?"
"Just an Orb of Thessulah, Whatever that is." Willow replied.
"It's the dodgy looking crystal ball on the desk." Oz piped in.
"Oh, the paperweight." Buffy said. "I can get that."
Giles tried his best to hide the pained expression on his face. A moment later Buffy emerged from the office bearing the orb.
Cordelia came out shortly later with several candles and a bowl of something that looked remarkably like pot pourri. "One set of stinky herbs." She said setting them down on the table.
"I think that's everything." Willow said.
"Hmmm." Giles made a sound indicative of deep, pensive thought.
"It is everything isn't it?" Willow asked worriedly.
"Oh, yes." Giles said as he was startled out of his reverie. "I was just trying to ascertain just how I'm going to manage this ritual. I didn't want to worry you, but I don't believe I can lay claim to enough expertise to successfully perform this ritual."
"I thought I was going to do the ritual." Willow complained.
"You're in pain,.... emotionally." Giles managed. "It's not good for you to do magic while you're distracted like this.
"This is a curse." Buffy pointed out. "Spell of vengeance, level head optional."
"Even so, channelling such powerful magic may open a doorway that you aren't able to close. Are sure you want to do this?"
Willow nodded. "We need to do this soon, before Xander has anything else to feel guilty about."
"I take it we're ready to start?" Cordelia asked.
"Almost." Willow replied. "I need five, maybe ten minutes to make sure of everything. Then we can start."
"Good because...." Cordelia stopped mid sentence as the library doors swung open to admit the lone figure that marched in.
Giles, along with everybody else looked up at the new arrival.
"You know, you might want to think about relocating." Robert Sherman said. "I don't think you could be any closer to the hellmouth if you wanted to be."
"No I don't believe we could." Giles answered curtly. "Now, who are you and why are you here?"
Robert's eyes flicked across the room to Giles, then around the room in search of Buffy as soon as he caught the English accent. Certainty forming in his mind as he located her.
"You're her watcher aren't you?" He asked.
All eyes in the room instantly turned to Buffy.
"He's good." She responded. "On our side."
"That's all very well, but my questions still stand." Giles said.
"Robert Sherman." Robert said.
"And you fight vampires?" Giles asked.
"He kills vampires." Buffy verified.
"Alone? And you're human?" Giles made no attempt to hide his growing scepticism.
"Yes. And as human as anyone in this room." Robert replied.
"I'm sure you can understand the relative nature of that answer." Giles said, passing back and forth between his hands an ornate cross that he had picked up off the table. Without warning he tossed the cross almost carelessly in Robert's direction. Robert plucked the cross out of the air with no difficulty, smiling as he looked at the object in his hands.
"For a moment I thought you weren't going to test that." Robert confessed.
"Couldn't have that." Giles responded. "Of course you've yet to tell us why you're here."
"The short version is that I'm here to protect you. There'll be time for the long version later. Robert answered.
"Nice of you to worry..." Buffy said with mock innocence. "But I can take care of myself, really."
"It's not you." Robert said to Buffy. "This close to the hellmouth I can't tell which of you is the one. But it isn't you."
"Oh." Buffy said in a subdued voice.
"Don't let me stop you doing your ritual though." Robert continued.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Giles said with dry sarcasm. "In fact you can help. You wouldn't happen by any chance to know Latin would you?"
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Xander sat in the gloom, poring over the ancient texts on the table. He looked up as the door opened to admit Spike.
"Well?" Spike asked without waiting for a greeting.
"That bloody slayer!" Xander cursed. "That stupid little dog boy would be dead now, and Willow would be crying her eyes out into my arms right now if not for her."
Spike sighed. "What about my armageddon?" He said deliberately slowly.
"I have about half the ritual down." Xander replied. "The other half will take longer though. Could be a long time.
"Then we'll have to see if we can't find someone with actual brains." Spike said. "Anyway Dru brought some food back. And if I feed you, whatever's in your head besides brains might work a little harder."
Spike led Xander up the stairs to the main hall. Inside Dru reclined on the table whilst a quite terrified young man sat tied to one of the chairs, blood dribbling from a bite-hole on the side of his neck.
"Dru love, you weren't supposed to start without us." Spike Admonished.
"I got peckish." She replied, hopping off the table and running over to embrace Spike.
"Let's chow down then." Xander said, starting towards the boy.
"Ahem. Us first, then you mate." Spike interrupted Xander before he had taken two steps.
Xander was just about to reply when the visions hit him.
Time and space swirled into one, and suddenly he was in the library. Willow was there, and Buffy, Giles and Cordelia. Oz was there too, still suffering from the injury inflicted upon him. Someone he didn't know was there also, and Xander could see a great power emanating from him like light from a flame. He looked back at Willow and saw the same power, albeit in lesser magnitude. Suddenly his attention was drawn to the orb on the table, it glowed with a strange yellow light as Willow recited ancient, unintelligible words over it. As the orb pulsed he felt an invisible force pulling him towards it. He felt himself entering the orb, and everything turned to black.
He opened his eyes to see Spike and Dru looking down at him as he lay on the floor.
"Whoa!" He gasped.
"Good trip?" Spike asked sarcastically.
"No." Xander replied, hauling himself into a sitting position. "They're doin' something at the library."
"They're always up to something dodgy, DETAILS!" Spike shouted down at him.
"Some kind of weird blue orb, candles, some language I don't know." Xander said as he got unsteadily to his feet.
Spike and Dru exchanged glances.
"They can't take him from us." Dru said shaking her head. "Not like they did our Angel."
"Then we'd better stop them." Spike said in a deadpan tone. "They're trying to give you your soul back. Are you gonna stand for that.?" He said to Xander.
"No way." Xander said adamantly.
"Right then." Spike replied. "let's get the boys together. We're going to have a scrap."
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Willow sat at the table, the orb before her. To one side Robert held a commuter printout, and to the other Giles filled the air with incense. Buffy, Oz and Cordelia stood to the side in quiet awe. The whole room was filled with a silence that was oddly comforting.
"Are you ready?" Giles asked quietly.
Willow simply nodded her head.
"Quod perditum est invenietur." Robert read from the paper.
"You're not dead. You're not of the living. Spirits of the interegnim I call." Willow recited.
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Spike and Xander leapt from the back of the transit van even before it came to a halt. Five other vampires followed behind as Spike and Xander together barged the main doors open in one fluid motion. As soon as the van stopped another two got out of the front and started making their way around to the entrance to the stacks.
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Giles reached over and calmly lit the last candle as Willow spoke the words.
"Let him know the pain of humanity gods. Reach your wizened hands to me. Give me the soul." As she spoke the orb took on a radiant glow and started humming softly.
"Gods bind him. Cast his heart from the evil realm......."
Willow was interrupted by Spike as he kicked the library doors open.
"Oh dear, I'm interrupting something aren't I." He said menacingly.
In a heartbeat all eyes in the room were on Spike. Buffy and Giles had already started reaching for their weapons.
"You are so dead." Buffy said calmly, glaring at Spike.
"I beg to differ." Xander said, stepping in through the doors. Several other vampires could be seen behind him.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this isn't good." Oz said, scanning the library for a useable weapon within reach. By now Willow and Robert had assumed fighting stances and even Cordelia had picked up the nearest heavy book she could find.
"Kid's got a point" Spike noted sarcastically.
"Y'know let's not have all the small talk." Buffy sighed. "It's late and I want to kill you so I can go home. Can we please start with the fighting already."
"Fine by me." Spike shrugged. As if on cue, two vampires charged out of the stacks. The vampires waiting outside the doors charged in on the same signal.
"Now this is the real fun." Spike said to Xander as they strode confidently onto the fray.
Buffy Deftly sidestepped the first vampire, delivering with alarming speed a kick that connected squarely with the groin of her second assailant. As the vampire doubled over in agony Buffy stepped past it and thrust her stake through it's back straight to the heart. Coming face to face with Spike Buffy ducked under his blow before stepping in and jabbing upwards to connect with his chin. Spike staggered back a couple of paces but surprisingly didn't go down. Raising his guard he shook his head to regain his composure.
"Come on! You're not even trying!" He shouted as Buffy launched her next wave of attacks.
Giles stepped backwards, holding his cross out towards the first vampire to target him. The vampire stopped in it's tracks and stood snarling for a moment before the book in Cordelia's hands connected with the back of it's head with frightening force. Giles smiled as the vampire dropped to the ground like a sack of beans. That smile however faded from his face when he caught sight of the book Cordelia had used. He was just about to stake the vampire when another tackled him, knocking him off his feet.
Robert gracefully evaded the blow of the oncoming vampire. Throwing it by it's outstretched arm he sent it careening through the air with an almost balletic grace. Something was different than it should be though. He had precious little time to devote to thought however as the next two vampires rushed at him.
Xander snarled as he batted Oz out of the way like a rag doll, and advanced on Willow. Willow pulled herself into the best defensive posture she could muster, shaking as she did so.
"Relax. This won't hurt.... Much." He called to her.
Xander recoiled under the force of Willow's kick, barely retaining his footing as it connected solidly with his chest.
"Or maybe it will." He said, surprise registering in his voice "That's good too." He shrugged as he assumed a combat stance of his own.
As the fight evolved around them Buffy and Spike traded blows, neither one with the luxury of devoting attention elsewhere than on their opponent. Buffy swung Spike round, slamming him into the reception counter. Spike responded in kind by flinging Buffy over the top of it.
Giles pressed the cross against the vampire with all the strength he had as it bore down on him. White smoke drifted up in tendrils from the point of contact, and the sickly smell of burning flesh filled his nose. Fumbling in his pocket with his left hand, Giles retrieved the small phial of holy water. Holding it in his hand he shattered it against the vampire's head, Ignoring the shards of glass cutting into his hand as the vampire scrambled away hissing frantically.
Cordelia ran over to where Oz lay. Thankfully between the others all of the vampires seemed to be occupied. Oz groggily started to pick himself up, groaning as he did so.
Xander moved purposefully toward Willow. Twisting to the side so that Willow's attack landed with only a portion of the force it should have. He raised his arm to block another attack, and this time delivered a backhanded blow to her face as response. Willow fell to one side, and looked up, wells of pure fury in her eyes. Xander smiled, baring fangs. However she'd got as strong as she had, she still had to learn the difference between fighting someone and standing up to them.
Robert knew another vampire had joined his fight even before it entered his vision. He spun around, ducking as the vampire's punch sailed over his left shoulder. A crackling, blue bow wave of energy formed itself around his hand as he punched straight for the heart. Flesh and bone parted before the blow and the vampire stopped in it's tracks, slack jawed as it felt the disintegration begin. Robert jerked his arm free, tearing away chunks of rapidly disintegrating vampire, and launched himself from the ground to escape the footsweep of another vampire. Twisting around in the air he retaliated with a kick to the head, sending the vampire sprawling onto it's back. Almost subconsciously he arched his back to evade yet another attack, backhanding the vampire across the face as he landed. He was fighting at the best he had ever done, but deep down at the back of his mind he knew it couldn't last. Something had to give.
Spike vaulted over the reception counter in pursuit of Buffy, fully shifted into game face now. From her crouching position Buffy jinked to one side, evading the downward blow. Launching herself upwards she struck out first with her knee, connecting solidly to his face. Then as he staggered back, she used leverage to flip him backwards over the counter.
As Giles got to his knees, he saw the Vampire Cordelia had incapacitated was starting to come around. Giles reached over and picked up the stake he had dropped with half an eye on his previous assailant as it fled through the doors, clutching it's face. Grimacing with pain, he grasped the stake in both hands, and lunged forward, plunging it into the heart of the prone vampire. Then with grim resolve on his face he looked up to survey the rest of the fight.
The three vampires circled around Robert, looking for an weakness they could exploit. His recent demonstration left them unwilling to close, despite his apparent lack of weapons. Robert cautiously surveyed the situation, devoting all of his attention to his three assailants, knowing that even as he was now, a co-ordinated assault would overwhelm him.
Xander looked down at Willow as he prepared to move in for the kill. Mentally defeated already, she didn't get up from the floor. Out of the corner of his eye Xander caught sight of the orb sitting on the table, humming quietly.
"No! That's....." Willow started as she tracked his attention back to the orb.
"My soul?" Xander cut Willow off mid sentence. "Somehow I thought it would be larger."
Willow looked on, horrified as Xander scooped the orb off the table and held it up in front of him.
The whole room seemed to dim for Xander as he looked into the orb. As if the only source of illumination in the world was a golden yellow light that emanated from the heart of the orb. The light seemed as if it was reflected in his eyes. And to move, even to move his attention elsewhere seemed an impossible task. The light in the orb seemed to glow brighter and brighter.
Then Xander crushed the orb in his hand.
As the shards of crystal spiralled away and down to the ground Xander wondered for the barest of moments why the light hadn't subsided with the destruction of the orb. All thoughts were lost to him as the light raged at and assaulted him, driving him almost instantly into the surrender of unconsciousness. All fading to black as he collapsed to the ground.
This part is actually the end of this story. I know I warned you about the cliffhanger, but I thought I should put another note here. Of course the story is far from over, and a story to continue where this one left off is already in the works. I should be in a position to start posting the other story shortly. But in the meantime, feedback will help, as it will help to shape what is yet to come.
I look forward to hearing from you.