Part 13: We Have a Jacuzzi?
"Oh my." Wesley gasped from his place standing in front of one of the large bookcases in the library.
Giles looked up from his own book. "What?"
"Look at this." The younger watcher handed him the book he'd been holding and pointed to a paragraph.
Giles read the words Wesley had indicated and gasped as the other watcher had. "Oh my. This is a rather unexpected turn of events."
"You know what this means? She's already met him…or she has a very small window of time left to meet him if this prophecy is to be fulfilled."
"I think we should better tell her."
"Most definitely."
Giles sighed, scanning the throng of dancing teenagers. The loud noise they called music thumped in his ears and he frowned, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. He spotted Buffy sitting at a table, Willow, Xander, Oz, and Angel around her. But Bri was no where to be seen.
The watcher set off, squeezing his way past teenagers to reach the slayer. He passed the bar and bumped accidentally into a leather clad figure, causing him to almost spill his drink.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, poof!"
"I'm dreadfully sor- Spike?" Giles exclaimed when he saw who it was he'd slammed into.
"Watcher! What the bloody hell are you doing here? Didn't think you were the type to hang about a place like this."
"I'm looking for B-…Buffy." The watcher inhaled, hoping the vampire hadn't noticed his slip. He wasn't about to alert Spike to the presence of another slayer on the Hellmouth, given his history with them. "What are you doing back in Sunnydale?" He glanced at the beer bottle in the vampire's hand, remembering with a cringe the story the Scoobies had recounted of his last visit. Poor Willow still had trouble with glass bottles and Xander and Cordelia's relationship would never be the same. Although in all fairness, not all of that was Spike's fault.
Spike rolled his eyes. "None of your business what I'm doing here. But don't worry, I'm not here to stir up trouble."
"Right." Giles said, eyeing the bleached blonde vampire suspiciously. "Well I'd love to stay and chat…OK I really wouldn't. But I have some business to attend to."
Giles hurried through the crowd to Buffy's table, sighing with relief when he reached it. All the teens looked at him oddly as he sank into a chair. "Giles? Is everything all right? Why are you here?"
"Thank you ever so for the welcome." He said dryly. "I'm looking for Bri. I have a matter of some import to discuss with her."
"Well, I think she's around here somewhere. But she said she was gonna meet a friend and then she was gonna sleep over at her house." Buffy said.
"Oh. Well…I suppose it could wait until tomorrow morning." The watcher remembered who he'd just bumped into. "Did you know that Spike was back in town?"
Willow gasped, Xander frowned, Buffy rolled her eyes, and Angel looked a bit uncomfortable. "No I didn't know that." The slayer said. She glanced over at the vampire who had his arm around her, noting his expression. "Did you know?"
Angel nodded. "Yea. I knew. I saw him. But don't worry. I don't think he'll be a problem." The group looked at him skeptically but remained silent.
"Why was Giles talking to you?" Bri asked as she came up behind Spike. She moved beside him and leaned against the bar, just out of sight of the Scoobies.
"Oh just catching up on old times. You know, discussing the latest football scores, world news, all that." Bri rolled her eyes and Spike chuckled. "He was looking for you actually when he bumped into me. And then the whole 'Why are you back? What trouble are you here to cause?' thing ensued."
"He was looking for me? Maybe I should-"
Spike's arm shot out to catch her before she could move. "Not now, pet. I'm sure whatever he wants can wait until later. Right now, I have a surprise for you." He took her hand, leading her out of the club.
"Can I look yet?" Bri asked again, fidgeting in her seat in the Desoto.
"No." Spike responded firmly, glancing over at her. "Hey! No peeking! Keep those eyes closed!"
"Fine! Fine!" The slayer squeezed her eyes shut and sighed impatiently. They drove on for a while until Bri felt the Desoto finally slow and come to a stop.
"OK, you can look now."
Bri opened her eyes and peered around at her surroundings. They were on a residential street with small houses lining each side. Directly beside them was a white house with black shutters and a wooden wrap-around porch. The slayer glanced questioningly at the vampire in the seat beside her. "Is this…" Spike nodded. "This is your house!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"This is our house."
"What?"
"Well I figured you'll be spending enough time over here anyway, might as well be partly yours."
Bri squealed in excitement, throwing her arms around the vampires neck. "Wow! This is so cool! Can we look inside?"
Spike nodded. "Of course. It ours. One thing about this town- real estate's cheap and quickly accessible." He tossed her a key. "That's yours." He said as he climbed out of the car. Bri studied the key chain with a smile. It was a big smiley face with a pair of vampire fangs drawn on it.
She leapt out of the car, running up the walk past Spike. Racing up the steps and across the porch, she anxiously unlocked the door and hurried inside. She found herself in the living room, which was painted a light gray with white carpet. A long black sofa sat against one wall and a fireplace was on the other. Spike came up behind the young slayer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I still have to get some things for the house…decorate it a bit. But I was figuring you might like to do that. Just…don't be putting bloody flowers or pastels around here."
Bri laughed. "Don't worry."
"I have to get a TV, too. I was thinking about a big entertainment center in the corner over there. DVD, VCR, CD player, surround sound…the works." He slipped his arms around her waist. "But until then I guess we'll just have to make our own fun." He said, kissing her neck.
He took her hand, leading her into the kitchen. It was small, but adequate for their needs. Everything was white- the walls, the tile, the cabinets, and the appliances- all but a border near the ceiling of green wines and leaves with a clump of purple grapes every few feet. "How adorable is this kitchen?" Bri gushed.
"Too bloody adorable. We're remodeling." Spike grumbled.
"No way!" Bri exclaimed. She glanced at the vampire, realizing this could get ugly fast. "We can discuss it later. Right now I wanna see the rest of the house!"
The slayer headed through another door into a study with dark green walls and a desk and chair sitting in the corner. There was a closet for storage, a door leading to the basement where the washer and dryer were, a small half-bath, and a short staircase leading upstairs. But what caught the young girl's attention was the door leading out to a screened in room.
She gasped when she saw what was in the middle of the room. "We have a pool!" she cried, jumping up and down like an excited child on Christmas morning. Turning, she pounced on Spike who stood in the doorway chuckling at her display, knocking him to the ground and showering kisses on his face. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" She pulled back, sitting on his chest. "And not just for this."
"So…are you trying to tell me you like it?"
Playfully she smacked his chest, hopping up and bounding up the stairs. "I wanna see upstairs."
The second level consisted only of the large bedroom and master bath. The bedroom was an awful purple color and Bri made a face when she saw it. "I know." Spike said, coming up behind her. "It's a horrible color. We're definitely painting this room."
"How about a dark red?" the slayer suggested with a coy smile.
Spike grinned. "That's my girl."
"I love the bed, though." She walked around it, studying the beautiful four poster made of mahogany wood.
"I thought you would. Picked it out especially." Bri plopped down on the soft mattress, laying back against the fluffy black pillows. She bounced slightly, testing out the springiness of the mattress. "Wanna take it for a test drive, love?" Spike grinned wickedly.
Bri laughed as the vampire climbed over her, kissing her long and deep. "Then maybe we can test out the Jacuzzi in the bathroom."
"We have a Jacuzzi?" she cried, pulling out of his grasp and dashing to the bathroom. Spike groaned in frustration, rolling over onto his back and putting a hand over his face. A few seconds later he heard a loud "Sweet!" echoing off the tiles in the bathroom. Bri's head appeared in the door. "It has jets! Adjustable jets!" The vampire chuckled when he heard the water turn on and an excited yelp. "How cool!" There was a few minutes of silence and the vampire began to grow impatient.
"OK, pet, it's a great bathtub. Now get your sweet ass back in here!"
"No way, I'm in love with this bathtub. I think I'll just stay in here forever. Bring my food up and I'll be happy."
"That's it." Spike jumped off the bed, heading into the bathroom. What he found dumbfounded him and if he'd had breath, it would've caught in his throat. Bri sat on the edge of the large white tub, wearing nothing but an impish grin, her clothes in a pile at her feet.
"Took you long enough."
"You're wicked, you know that?" She giggled, splashing him with a handful of hot water.
"Whatcha gonna do about it?"
"I'm gonna ravish you- that's what." The vampire switched off the water and picked the slayer up deftly, carrying her into the bedroom.
Spike awoke to the soft whimpering of the slayer beside him. He yawned and raised up on his elbows to look at her. She was sound asleep, yet her face was scrunched into a grimace and she was murmuring and whimpering periodically. Her breath came in short gasps as if she were physically straining herself. Suddenly she began to kick frantically and she tossed and turned on the bed. "Let me go." He heard her cry, her breathing becoming more and more ragged.
The vampire's mind flashed to the dream he'd had the night Bri left and immediately he knew that's what she was experiencing now. He grabbed her arms, shaking her in a futile attempt to wake her up. "Bri! Come on, love! Wake up!" he shouted.
But she remained in her nightmare. Suddenly her body convulsed and went deathly still and she gasped out "Spike." before her eyes shot open and she bolted up in bed. She was trembling and gasping for breath and she clutched her chest where he remembered the knife would have entered.
"It was just a dream. Just a dream." Spike cooed, taking her into his arms. "Shh. It's all right now. Just a dream."
"Spike…something's wrong…" Bri pulled away, looking down at her chest as she removed her trembling hand, finding it blood stained. Spike found that her T-shirt was also crimson with blood.
"Bloody hell." Spike leaned over, inspecting the large red area. There was no tear in the shirt and he lifted the fabric gently, finding that there was no wound over her heart or any other apparent reason for the blood.
"It hurts." She whimpered.
"We need to get you to a hospital."
"No." Bri insisted weakly, falling back against the pillows. "Giles…we need to go see Giles. He'll know… This…this isn't something a doctor can fix. We need to get to the library. Everyone's there researching tonight."
"Right then." Spike grabbed a T-shirt and jeans and pulled them on quickly as the slayer tried to get up from the bed. When she winced, clutching her chest painfully, Spike was immediately at her side. "You're not walking." He said, picking her up gently. He carried her downstairs and out to the car. Placing her carefully in the passenger side, he jumped into the driver's seat and they sped off to Sunnydale High School.
Author's Note: I hope you're enjoying the story. I'll be wrapping it up in a few chapters (I hope.) I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna be exactly. But it might be a few days before I can get the next chapter up. School's wrapping up and I have exams and then I'll be gone to Colorado but I'll try to get at least two more chapters up before I leave. Keep reviewing! I love reading your comments!