Chapter 6- The Promise
In the shadows his face was disfigured with a look of pure rage. A rage that began in his heart and surrounded him body and soul. Oh, God...how could you be so cruel? He agonized. Just a few minutes before, his heart was soaring to the heavens. She was alive! By either divine intervention or a sweet twist of fate, she was alive! She was right there only a few yards away from him. He started to call out to her, wanting to run to her, wanting to hold her in his arms, but he couldn't. She had been running so fast and hard, he couldn't keep up. He followed her and waited for her to stop. Before words could escape his stunned lips , he saw her go to him...Spike!
His heart felt as if it were breaking into a million bits as she sat next to him and sought his embrace. The embrace of a monster, a demon without a soul. His Buffy would have never seek out the embrace of Spike - a monster she despised. She would not give herself to a creature she was called to destroy...unless...unless that creature had already destroyed her. An evil force that robbed her of her goodness, snatched away her soul, made her one of them.
He watched as Spike gathered her up in his arms and followed in the shadows as he carried her off to his lair. His heart was broken, his spirit crushed along with all the hopes that had welled to the surface as he watched her running in the cemetery.
His eyes scanned the earth surrounding her grave. Oh, God... he cried silently, her grave...What should have been her final resting-place, a place for her to seek refuge, a place to find peace ...a peace so cruelly denied her in life. He bent over and touched the mound of soil that had been pushed away from grave.
It was subtle, as there was evidence of re-growth, anyone could have overlooked it; Anyone who hadn't had the benefit of seeing a vampire rise. He had seen them rise, plenty of them, leaving behind disturbed soil. Soil pushed up from under the ground by the birth of a demon, the rising of a vampire.
Now here he stood, a broken man, at the foot of her empty grave.
His fingers traced her name, Buffy Ann Summers. She did save the world, a lot . But the world could not save her. He could not save her. He slumped to the ground and sobbed as he pummeled the earth beneath him. Tears stung his eyes. He thought about Dawn, Giles and the rest of Buffy's friends. He was sure they didn't know. They would have tried to contact him again if they had. Oh, God in heaven... They would be devastated if they found out about her. They can never find out. Slowly, he pulled out a wooden stake from his jacket pocket. It is going to kill me, my love, but I will free you from the demon who has stolen your soul. I will destroy it, and your soul will finally be able to rest in peace... Tomorrow... I swear to you Buffy, you will rest in peace tomorrow.