Part 5
"Giles, it was just weird. Three guys walking around in some kind of army gear. I thought that it was a Halloween costume, but it's mid-November, Giles. I think that we should try to find out who these guys are."
"Agreed. Where should we start?" Giles asked Buffy.
"I don't know. That's kindayour ex-job." The blond teen cringed at her words.
Giles scowled at her until the door burst open. Xander was holding a limp figure in his arms, which he carefully put on Giles' couch.
Faith.
"Good lord Xander. What have you" Giles began.
"I had too. I was at the hospital and a gang of vampire's came into the ward asking for Faith's room number. I took her and hide her in the next room. They said that 'capturing both Slayer's should be easy...Especially this one.' That's when they realized that she was gone. They said that 'Fernando wasn't going to like this,' so I decided had to take her out of there."
Buffy looked at Faith. She looked peaceful and beautiful. "Good decision Xander."
Giles and Xander looked at Buffy in utter shock.
"Thanks, Buffy." Xander said uncertainly.
"Move her up to my bedroom then, Xander." Giles instructed as he took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. Buffy could see the worry on Giles' face.
"Who's this Fernando?" Buffy asked when Xander left. Giles went to his bookshelf and selected a volume. He paged through rapidly, and then stopped. He shuddered as he read.
"He's a Master vampire over 600 years old. He's killed three slayers, and three of those in this century. Two in Europe, and one in Osaka. He is a vicious killer. Most of the slayers were tortured and" Giles stopped.
"And what?" Buffy asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"They were tortured, raped and mutilated. And their bodies were puton display. And from what I remember from my studies, he is a collector."
Buffy shivered, "A collector?"
"Their bodies were put on display normally in the center of town back in those days and he delivered their heads to their Watchers and kept one of their hands. Always their staking hand."
"And he's here?" Buffy said nervously, looking at her right hand.
"Buffy, he has fought against other Slayers beside those three," Giles tried to encourage her.
"And they beat him? But not good enough. He is still around." The Slayer scoffed.
"Well, they didn't beat him. Theyran for their lives ," Giles finished.
Nina and Ava helped Spike pack. He was leaving on a plane to Sunnydale tonight. It had been five days since Fernando had made his offer.
"But I still don't understand how could you read his mind without the eye contact," Nina asked.
"Could be more than one reason. Like he is an old vampire, therefore he has no reason in his mind to block out anyone. Or Spike can sense immediate danger to himself and others around him," Ava hypothesised.
"Remember, your plane leaves in one hour, Senor Spike." Nina left the room.
"I might not make it back," the vampire whispered to his lover.
"Whatever, Spike. If you don't, it's because you want to stay with her."
"What? Who her?"
"The Slayer! Buffy! When you tell me stories about her, you should see the look in your eyes. Almost nostalgic. You love her and you don't even know it."
"Ava, you're crazy. I love you." Spike grabbed her shoulders and planted a soft kiss on her lips.
Ava smiled, "Lying doesn't become you. You might lust after me, but you don't love me. What we have is fun, but I know that you don't love me."
Spike looked down at the ground. On some level she was right. He looked up at her . "Why can't I read your mind, Ava? What are you exactly?"
"Two questions to be asked and answered at a later date , Spike. But now, there is something that I must give you." Ava pulled her strawberry blond hair back to reveal her neck.
"What?" Spike gasped as he looked into her eyes. "Why?"
"You will need superior strength to fight Fernando. He is that good. And you know that I have something in my blood that is different."
Ava moved toward Spike and kissed him passionately. Then she stood on the tip of her toes and leaned more into Spike. The demon inside of Spike began to growl. Ava nipped at his neck and earlobe. Spike's demon took over grabbed her roughly; its teeth tore into her skin. It drank hungrily and Spike felt a new energy rush through him. It was intoxicating and frightening. Her blood was powerful, the blood of an immortal, and non-demon. Spike pulled away, realizing how long he had been drinking. She looked pale , but her heart was beating steadily. He looked at her. She wiped the blood off of his chin and smiled at him.
A sudden insight hit him, "Did he feed off of you?"
"YesOn the ship to England. He waited for me in the passageway near my room and grabbed me from behind and fed from me for a few seconds. I grabbed a stake and staked him good before he could doanything else."
Spike knew exactly what the anything else meant when it came to Fernando. He looked at her neck which was already healed.
"What does your blood do?"
"You'll find out. You better go. The jet needs to make Sunnydale before dawn. Bye." Ava kissed him one last time.
TBC