Title: Hurricane, Chapter 6: Against the Tide
Author: Sandy S.
E-mail: ssoennin@juno.com
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to Joss and UPN.
Spoilers: Set a few years after season 6
Dedication: For Thia...who is a new and dear friend and whose creativity
inspires me! :o)
Summary: Dawn, a lot of blood, a disappearance, a search. Buffy's worst
nightmare comes true. Dawn's POV. Dawn is being held and abused by
Garrek. Takes place in Beaumont, Texas. Okay, a little bit of violence
against Dawn in this chapter.
Against the Tide
"Yet, Freedom! Yet thy banner, torn, but flying,/Streams like the thunder- storm against the wind." -From "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron
"What's that horrible smell?" I asked boldly, determined not to show my captors the heightened fear I felt. I was only eighteen-years-old, but being the sister of the Slayer and being partially raised by a vampire was sort of conducive to growing up faster than most teenagers my age. Therefore, I could hide my emotions with ease.
Garrek's minions were busily chaining me to a wall in a charred dorm building on a local university campus. The dorm, which I learned had been burnt beyond repair during a construction accident, was the perfect place to hold prisoners because the building was completely abandoned and was surrounded by a large chain fence. The manacles the vamps were using on me were cold and hard against my wrists and ankles. Garrek observed a safe distance away, smiling through the dark beard on his face. All the vampires continued to wear the ebony-colored clothing and the silver charms.
"That, my dear, is the smell of industry...the intoxicating perfume of pollution." Garrek spoke each syllable deliberately as he approached my now inert form.
"Why is that good?" I wondered aloud. I bit my lip. I could use the magic that Willow had taught me to free myself, but what could I possibly do if I got loose...except get killed?
Garrek's foul breath swept over my cheeks, and I valiantly kept myself from shuddering. "Because industry means money...and power." He stepped back, gesturing with his arms toward his minions. "And isn't attaining money and power the whole reason for existing here on this planet?" The vampires grunted in agreement and flashed pointed teeth at me.
Retorting quickly, I did my best to imitate Buffy's confident quips. "Nope. Sorry, but I don't agree. I guess I missed that class. Maybe you missed the one on developing a conscience and having empathy for others so that you could develop healthy relationships." Well, my little speech was probably not exactly what Buffy would have said.
I was rewarded with a sound slap to my cheekbone and eye. Wincing and blowing the long hair out of my mouth, I stared into Garrek's glaring eyes. I blinked rapidly in attempt to wash the fresh blood out of my eye.
"Well, missy, you're in my classroom now." With that statement, the vampire leader extended his thick red tongue, pressing the saliva-laden muscle to my face and licking up the blood that exuded from my injuries.
Gleeful at my horrified expression, he moved away again, snapping his fingers. "Bring Daniel out here."
Two more vampires dragged Daniel from the next room. His appearance was one of someone who had been beaten within inches of permanent death. His bare back and chest were lacerated with whip and holy water burns, blood encrusted knife carvings, and indigo bruises. His eyes were squinted and swollen. One side of his rib cage appeared partially concave. He wore nothing but a torn pair of jeans. He couldn't stand on his own, so the vampires held him on his feet.
"Now, in this classroom, Dawn, what do you think happens when pupils disobey the rules?"
I didn't move a muscle and watched silently as a vampire from the shadows slipped a crudely carved wooden stake into Garrek's hand.
"You get punished," Garrek continued as he paced back and forth in front of Daniel, slapping the stake against his palm. "But, first..." He paused in front of Daniel. "To be a fair teacher, I have to ask you to say you're sorry for attempting to escape with Dawn and let you say what you have to say."
Light in his eyes for the first time since entering the room, Daniel met my gaze. "Dawn, the part of me that's human loved you and cherished the friendship. He knows he hurt you, and he's sorry."
My heart sank as the gravity of what Daniel said registered. My relationship with Daniel hadn't been the same since he began dating Amalia, my fellow classmate and ex-friend, six months ago. Before I could decide if Daniel meant the words or if the demon inside him was just playing games, Garrek punched the damaged portion of his ribs. Daniel bent at the waist and groaned like a wounded animal.
"To the teacher...to me! Apologize to *me*, you imbecile!" Garrek shouted, black eyes sparking. I could hardly make out Daniel's next words. "*Never*. I would never apologize to you. I didn't ask for this. *I* deserve some respect. I'm smarter than your whole lot here." He nodded at the glowering minions.
Garrek rolled his eyes. "Well, look where it got you."
Before Daniel could form a comeback, Garrek plunged the stake into his heart. Daniel crumbled into ashes before me. The sight of the vampire, who was once one of my best friends and my secret crush, dying overwhelmed my thoughts and feelings. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and as Garrek came for me, I fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
* * *
Music found its way to my ears as my mind stirred to life. I tried to reach out a hand to hit the snooze button on the alarm next to my bed, but my arm wouldn't move. For some reason, sunlight did not filter through my eyelids. Maybe the sky was cloudy. My eyes resisted opening and seemed crusted over. As I became more aware, pain throbbed through my arms, legs, and especially my neck.
Then, I remembered where I was. Leaning my head to my shoulder, I wiped away what I now knew was blood on my eye from when Garrek hit me earlier. When my vision focused, I noted the hundreds of long white candles glowing eerily in the fire-scarred room. The vampire minions remained cloaked in the shadows, but I could tell they were the ones singing. What had Garrek done? Had he turned a bunch of opera singers? More likely he had done a spell to make them sing so precisely and beautifully.
Garrek himself was seated in what appeared to be a very bizarre yoga position in the middle of a huge charcoal circle that had been drawn on the floor. Garrek wore a solid black robe that covered his entire body except for his hands and bare feet. Charcoal drawn symbols that matched the circle were drawn on his face. An ancient book lay open before him.
He glanced up when he detected my movements. His eyes were indistinguishable from the darkness around him. "Welcome." The word sounded hollow in my mind, and I realized he hadn't opened his mouth to speak.
Lifting his arms slowly above his head in defiance of the more rapid tempo of the music, he flung his head back and began chanting in an indeterminable tongue. The volume of the chanting pressed against the inside of my skull. As the chanting grew faster, a wind began blowing. I noted that the vampire singers staggered and braced themselves against the wall under the force of the gale, but the candle flames did not even flicker. My hair flew into my face, and my body strained against the chains that bound me. I didn't scream but held my breath.
Abruptly, everything...the chanting, the singing, the wind...ceased. The candles snuffed out. I heard the vampire minions collapse to the ground. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw Garrek bowed low to the ground within the circle. Slowly, I let myself attempt to breathe. When the situation seemed calm, I began to feel a strange sucking sensation deep in my abdomen. At first, I compared the feeling to cramps. The pressure built as the seconds passed until I thought that my intestines were going to burst out of my gut. Staring down at my stomach, I witnessed a effervescent neon green light flowed hesitatingly out of me. Somehow, I was resisting without even trying.
The tide of the gossamer luminance...my essence...the core of the mystical key inside me...appeared compelled to extend toward Garrek. When the glow reached Garrek's prone form, I concentrated, willing that part of me to return. I managed to slow the advance, but the pull was too strong. When the magic entered Garrek, he rose to his feet effortlessly and stood with arms raised.
I was failing, and the more of me he ingested and drained from me, the weaker I became. I was so tired. My muscles went limp and my eyes shut. With a curiously calm clarity, I realized I was dying.
* * *
All at once, the force in my body completely relented. With a whoosh, everything I'd lost came rushing back into me. As my energy returned, I gasped aloud at the change.
Something slammed against the wall of the building, and a voice spoke.
"So, you wanna tell me what you were doing to my sister?"
Buffy! Buffy was here! I spotted the lanterns she and Willow carried, and saw that Buffy had Garrek pinned against the wall plaster. She held a stake to his heart.
Willow blocked the only exit to the room, gripping the handle of her ax and eyeing the minion vamps closely. Weakened by the intensity of the spell, the vampires were reluctant to challenge her...at least for the moment.
"Buffy! Willow!" I called.
"Hey, Dawnie!" Willow responded. "You okay?"
"Yea. Sort of."
"Talk!" Buffy jammed the stake into Garrek's chest so that blood flowed over her hand.
"What do you think I was doing?" His eyes still black, Garrek grinned at my sister.
"I don't think you're in a position to be smiling...much less, asking questions."
"What does it look like?" he goaded, licking his lips. Willow knew. "He was doing a spell." While keeping her ax raised, she inched toward the still open book on the floor. "An ancient spell!...For extracting powerful energies from whatever...or whoever holds them."
Holding Garrek firmly, Buffy took a chance and glanced back at me. "Dawnie, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Just my eye and the spots where the chains are." I felt a bit safer, so I cast a simple spell to release myself. Landing lightly on my feet, I strode across the floor and picked up the forgotten stake that Garrek had used on Daniel. "I'm ready to fight."
Noting Buffy's distraction, Garrek wrested the stake from her hand and leapt toward his minions. Bad move. He was trapped in the room. Frantic, he acted hastily and grabbed Willow, flinging the ax away and holding the stake to her chest.
"One movement, girl, and your little friend is dead," he growled.
"So, you wanna fight." Buffy closed in on the vampire. I didn't comprehend why he wasn't using his magic on her. Buffy noticed, too. "What's wrong, mojo boy? Too weak from your attempt to kill my sister to cast a spell?"
"How did you find me?" Garrek's eyes were wild as he tried to buy himself some time.
"Willow used to be a witch. She sensed it a mile away. And we got a tip from a vamp you left behind in New Orleans. Kinda sloppy if you ask me."
"You don't know what you're caught in the middle of, do you?"
Without warning, Buffy kicked the stake out of Garrek's hand, shoved Willow away from the vampire, and followed up with a second kick to Garrek's head. Willow used the momentum from Buffy's push to fall into a roll, ending up right next to her ax. Whipping up, she and I launched ourselves at the recuperating minions who were ambling our direction.
I counted six vampires, three for Willow and three for me. The first vampire was clumsy and practically fell on my stake, bursting into a satisfying cloud of dust. Barely aware of Willow's easy swings on my left, I dropped to the ground and slid between my next vampire's legs when he attempted to knock me to the ground. I never fought so well but knew that the vamps were weaker than normal. With more battle experience and an ax, Willow made short work of her vampires and killed my third just as he reached for my neck.
Coughing in the flying dust, I said, "Thanks, Willow."
She smiled. "No prob." Studying me, she was confused. "Dawnie, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm mostly fine. Why do you keep asking me that?" The lines that normally appeared on Willow's forehead when she was concerned were readily visible. "Because your room at home was covered in blood when you went missing. Spike was gone, too, with his clothes and car."
"Really?" Then, I recalled something. The detail hadn't seemed important at the time but now made total sense. "Daniel...Daniel was at the blood drive. Y-you know the one at the school?" I explained excitedly, waving my hands at her.
Willow frowned.
"Y-you know the one Spike told me about...that the whole school went to because of the kid that needed a bone marrow transplant? Daniel was there. I saw him but didn't talk to him at the blood drive."
"Huh?"
"Daniel's a new vampire. He probably came up with the plan to kidnap me for Garrek. Daniel really wanted to be respected by him. He told me. I bet he took the blood I donated and spread it all over the room to confuse you. Hey, what'd you say about Spike?"
"Guys!" Buffy shouted. "Help needed here!"
We spun around to see Buffy being overpowered by Garrek. As we ran to her aid, Garrek motioned his arm at us. An invisible force flung us to the ground and held us. Garrek was slowly regaining his magick power. Willow and I were helpless. Buffy was striving to gain a foothold when he lifted her up by the neck.
"Garrek!"
Garrek's head snapped toward the doorway. My eyes followed his. Towering in the doorway, Angel, my sister's vampire ex-boyfriend who now ran "Angel's Investigations" in Los Angeles, was staring Garrek down.
"Put her down!"
To my amazement, Garrek obeyed, and Buffy collapsed, gasping.
Angel hurried to Buffy's side, his dark leather coat flapping. He touched her arm gently. "Are you okay?"
She granted him a small smile. "Yea, just hurt in another fight is all. Made this one harder."
Garrek tried to slip by Angel. Angel reached up and clasped his arm. "I don't think so. This time you've gone too far."
Garrek's expression was appropriately terrified.
"Release them," Angel commanded in reference to Willow and me.
With a flick of Garrek's wrist, we were free. Less energetically now, I stood slowly, groaning at the pain in my ankle. Probably sprained the muscle when I fell.
Willow was baffled. "I don't understand."
Garrek was staring at Angel.
"He's my childe," Angel admitted.
Buffy moved next to me. "Oh, really?"
"Sadly, yes. But, he does have to do what I say," Angel confirmed.
"Cool," I said brightly. "Make him bark like a dog...or cluck like a chicken!"
The corner of Angel's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. He turned to Garrek. "So, where's Spike?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Angel punched him in the nose.
"Where?" Buffy demanded.
Garrek floundered.
"There's more where that came from," Angel warned, eyes flashing yellow.
"Up north."
"Exactly where up north?" Angel asked, relaxing his hold a bit.
"Alaska." Garrek took advantage of Angel's looser grip and tore away, running toward the door.
Buffy snatched the stake out of my hand and threw the wood at Garrek's retreating back. He burst into dust.
Angel watched the dust settle. "Buffy, there's something I have to tell you."
Crossing her arms, Buffy nodded. "You sure do."
Bampf!
Startling everyone, Anya teleported into the middle of the room. "Am I too late to help out? Are all the bad guys dead? I just got done helping a couple of customers before I closed the Magic Shop."
The end of chapter 6
**Note: The full story behind Daniel, Amalia, and Dawn can be found in one of my other stories, "The Admirer." However, you don't have to read the other story to understand this one. :o) Also, the sucking feeling that Dawn feels during the ritual is symbolic of the effect a sociopath can have on a person. A dorm building really did burn up during construction at a local university in Beaumont, Texas a few years ago, but they reconstructed the building.**
Against the Tide
"Yet, Freedom! Yet thy banner, torn, but flying,/Streams like the thunder- storm against the wind." -From "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron
"What's that horrible smell?" I asked boldly, determined not to show my captors the heightened fear I felt. I was only eighteen-years-old, but being the sister of the Slayer and being partially raised by a vampire was sort of conducive to growing up faster than most teenagers my age. Therefore, I could hide my emotions with ease.
Garrek's minions were busily chaining me to a wall in a charred dorm building on a local university campus. The dorm, which I learned had been burnt beyond repair during a construction accident, was the perfect place to hold prisoners because the building was completely abandoned and was surrounded by a large chain fence. The manacles the vamps were using on me were cold and hard against my wrists and ankles. Garrek observed a safe distance away, smiling through the dark beard on his face. All the vampires continued to wear the ebony-colored clothing and the silver charms.
"That, my dear, is the smell of industry...the intoxicating perfume of pollution." Garrek spoke each syllable deliberately as he approached my now inert form.
"Why is that good?" I wondered aloud. I bit my lip. I could use the magic that Willow had taught me to free myself, but what could I possibly do if I got loose...except get killed?
Garrek's foul breath swept over my cheeks, and I valiantly kept myself from shuddering. "Because industry means money...and power." He stepped back, gesturing with his arms toward his minions. "And isn't attaining money and power the whole reason for existing here on this planet?" The vampires grunted in agreement and flashed pointed teeth at me.
Retorting quickly, I did my best to imitate Buffy's confident quips. "Nope. Sorry, but I don't agree. I guess I missed that class. Maybe you missed the one on developing a conscience and having empathy for others so that you could develop healthy relationships." Well, my little speech was probably not exactly what Buffy would have said.
I was rewarded with a sound slap to my cheekbone and eye. Wincing and blowing the long hair out of my mouth, I stared into Garrek's glaring eyes. I blinked rapidly in attempt to wash the fresh blood out of my eye.
"Well, missy, you're in my classroom now." With that statement, the vampire leader extended his thick red tongue, pressing the saliva-laden muscle to my face and licking up the blood that exuded from my injuries.
Gleeful at my horrified expression, he moved away again, snapping his fingers. "Bring Daniel out here."
Two more vampires dragged Daniel from the next room. His appearance was one of someone who had been beaten within inches of permanent death. His bare back and chest were lacerated with whip and holy water burns, blood encrusted knife carvings, and indigo bruises. His eyes were squinted and swollen. One side of his rib cage appeared partially concave. He wore nothing but a torn pair of jeans. He couldn't stand on his own, so the vampires held him on his feet.
"Now, in this classroom, Dawn, what do you think happens when pupils disobey the rules?"
I didn't move a muscle and watched silently as a vampire from the shadows slipped a crudely carved wooden stake into Garrek's hand.
"You get punished," Garrek continued as he paced back and forth in front of Daniel, slapping the stake against his palm. "But, first..." He paused in front of Daniel. "To be a fair teacher, I have to ask you to say you're sorry for attempting to escape with Dawn and let you say what you have to say."
Light in his eyes for the first time since entering the room, Daniel met my gaze. "Dawn, the part of me that's human loved you and cherished the friendship. He knows he hurt you, and he's sorry."
My heart sank as the gravity of what Daniel said registered. My relationship with Daniel hadn't been the same since he began dating Amalia, my fellow classmate and ex-friend, six months ago. Before I could decide if Daniel meant the words or if the demon inside him was just playing games, Garrek punched the damaged portion of his ribs. Daniel bent at the waist and groaned like a wounded animal.
"To the teacher...to me! Apologize to *me*, you imbecile!" Garrek shouted, black eyes sparking. I could hardly make out Daniel's next words. "*Never*. I would never apologize to you. I didn't ask for this. *I* deserve some respect. I'm smarter than your whole lot here." He nodded at the glowering minions.
Garrek rolled his eyes. "Well, look where it got you."
Before Daniel could form a comeback, Garrek plunged the stake into his heart. Daniel crumbled into ashes before me. The sight of the vampire, who was once one of my best friends and my secret crush, dying overwhelmed my thoughts and feelings. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and as Garrek came for me, I fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
* * *
Music found its way to my ears as my mind stirred to life. I tried to reach out a hand to hit the snooze button on the alarm next to my bed, but my arm wouldn't move. For some reason, sunlight did not filter through my eyelids. Maybe the sky was cloudy. My eyes resisted opening and seemed crusted over. As I became more aware, pain throbbed through my arms, legs, and especially my neck.
Then, I remembered where I was. Leaning my head to my shoulder, I wiped away what I now knew was blood on my eye from when Garrek hit me earlier. When my vision focused, I noted the hundreds of long white candles glowing eerily in the fire-scarred room. The vampire minions remained cloaked in the shadows, but I could tell they were the ones singing. What had Garrek done? Had he turned a bunch of opera singers? More likely he had done a spell to make them sing so precisely and beautifully.
Garrek himself was seated in what appeared to be a very bizarre yoga position in the middle of a huge charcoal circle that had been drawn on the floor. Garrek wore a solid black robe that covered his entire body except for his hands and bare feet. Charcoal drawn symbols that matched the circle were drawn on his face. An ancient book lay open before him.
He glanced up when he detected my movements. His eyes were indistinguishable from the darkness around him. "Welcome." The word sounded hollow in my mind, and I realized he hadn't opened his mouth to speak.
Lifting his arms slowly above his head in defiance of the more rapid tempo of the music, he flung his head back and began chanting in an indeterminable tongue. The volume of the chanting pressed against the inside of my skull. As the chanting grew faster, a wind began blowing. I noted that the vampire singers staggered and braced themselves against the wall under the force of the gale, but the candle flames did not even flicker. My hair flew into my face, and my body strained against the chains that bound me. I didn't scream but held my breath.
Abruptly, everything...the chanting, the singing, the wind...ceased. The candles snuffed out. I heard the vampire minions collapse to the ground. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw Garrek bowed low to the ground within the circle. Slowly, I let myself attempt to breathe. When the situation seemed calm, I began to feel a strange sucking sensation deep in my abdomen. At first, I compared the feeling to cramps. The pressure built as the seconds passed until I thought that my intestines were going to burst out of my gut. Staring down at my stomach, I witnessed a effervescent neon green light flowed hesitatingly out of me. Somehow, I was resisting without even trying.
The tide of the gossamer luminance...my essence...the core of the mystical key inside me...appeared compelled to extend toward Garrek. When the glow reached Garrek's prone form, I concentrated, willing that part of me to return. I managed to slow the advance, but the pull was too strong. When the magic entered Garrek, he rose to his feet effortlessly and stood with arms raised.
I was failing, and the more of me he ingested and drained from me, the weaker I became. I was so tired. My muscles went limp and my eyes shut. With a curiously calm clarity, I realized I was dying.
* * *
All at once, the force in my body completely relented. With a whoosh, everything I'd lost came rushing back into me. As my energy returned, I gasped aloud at the change.
Something slammed against the wall of the building, and a voice spoke.
"So, you wanna tell me what you were doing to my sister?"
Buffy! Buffy was here! I spotted the lanterns she and Willow carried, and saw that Buffy had Garrek pinned against the wall plaster. She held a stake to his heart.
Willow blocked the only exit to the room, gripping the handle of her ax and eyeing the minion vamps closely. Weakened by the intensity of the spell, the vampires were reluctant to challenge her...at least for the moment.
"Buffy! Willow!" I called.
"Hey, Dawnie!" Willow responded. "You okay?"
"Yea. Sort of."
"Talk!" Buffy jammed the stake into Garrek's chest so that blood flowed over her hand.
"What do you think I was doing?" His eyes still black, Garrek grinned at my sister.
"I don't think you're in a position to be smiling...much less, asking questions."
"What does it look like?" he goaded, licking his lips. Willow knew. "He was doing a spell." While keeping her ax raised, she inched toward the still open book on the floor. "An ancient spell!...For extracting powerful energies from whatever...or whoever holds them."
Holding Garrek firmly, Buffy took a chance and glanced back at me. "Dawnie, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Just my eye and the spots where the chains are." I felt a bit safer, so I cast a simple spell to release myself. Landing lightly on my feet, I strode across the floor and picked up the forgotten stake that Garrek had used on Daniel. "I'm ready to fight."
Noting Buffy's distraction, Garrek wrested the stake from her hand and leapt toward his minions. Bad move. He was trapped in the room. Frantic, he acted hastily and grabbed Willow, flinging the ax away and holding the stake to her chest.
"One movement, girl, and your little friend is dead," he growled.
"So, you wanna fight." Buffy closed in on the vampire. I didn't comprehend why he wasn't using his magic on her. Buffy noticed, too. "What's wrong, mojo boy? Too weak from your attempt to kill my sister to cast a spell?"
"How did you find me?" Garrek's eyes were wild as he tried to buy himself some time.
"Willow used to be a witch. She sensed it a mile away. And we got a tip from a vamp you left behind in New Orleans. Kinda sloppy if you ask me."
"You don't know what you're caught in the middle of, do you?"
Without warning, Buffy kicked the stake out of Garrek's hand, shoved Willow away from the vampire, and followed up with a second kick to Garrek's head. Willow used the momentum from Buffy's push to fall into a roll, ending up right next to her ax. Whipping up, she and I launched ourselves at the recuperating minions who were ambling our direction.
I counted six vampires, three for Willow and three for me. The first vampire was clumsy and practically fell on my stake, bursting into a satisfying cloud of dust. Barely aware of Willow's easy swings on my left, I dropped to the ground and slid between my next vampire's legs when he attempted to knock me to the ground. I never fought so well but knew that the vamps were weaker than normal. With more battle experience and an ax, Willow made short work of her vampires and killed my third just as he reached for my neck.
Coughing in the flying dust, I said, "Thanks, Willow."
She smiled. "No prob." Studying me, she was confused. "Dawnie, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm mostly fine. Why do you keep asking me that?" The lines that normally appeared on Willow's forehead when she was concerned were readily visible. "Because your room at home was covered in blood when you went missing. Spike was gone, too, with his clothes and car."
"Really?" Then, I recalled something. The detail hadn't seemed important at the time but now made total sense. "Daniel...Daniel was at the blood drive. Y-you know the one at the school?" I explained excitedly, waving my hands at her.
Willow frowned.
"Y-you know the one Spike told me about...that the whole school went to because of the kid that needed a bone marrow transplant? Daniel was there. I saw him but didn't talk to him at the blood drive."
"Huh?"
"Daniel's a new vampire. He probably came up with the plan to kidnap me for Garrek. Daniel really wanted to be respected by him. He told me. I bet he took the blood I donated and spread it all over the room to confuse you. Hey, what'd you say about Spike?"
"Guys!" Buffy shouted. "Help needed here!"
We spun around to see Buffy being overpowered by Garrek. As we ran to her aid, Garrek motioned his arm at us. An invisible force flung us to the ground and held us. Garrek was slowly regaining his magick power. Willow and I were helpless. Buffy was striving to gain a foothold when he lifted her up by the neck.
"Garrek!"
Garrek's head snapped toward the doorway. My eyes followed his. Towering in the doorway, Angel, my sister's vampire ex-boyfriend who now ran "Angel's Investigations" in Los Angeles, was staring Garrek down.
"Put her down!"
To my amazement, Garrek obeyed, and Buffy collapsed, gasping.
Angel hurried to Buffy's side, his dark leather coat flapping. He touched her arm gently. "Are you okay?"
She granted him a small smile. "Yea, just hurt in another fight is all. Made this one harder."
Garrek tried to slip by Angel. Angel reached up and clasped his arm. "I don't think so. This time you've gone too far."
Garrek's expression was appropriately terrified.
"Release them," Angel commanded in reference to Willow and me.
With a flick of Garrek's wrist, we were free. Less energetically now, I stood slowly, groaning at the pain in my ankle. Probably sprained the muscle when I fell.
Willow was baffled. "I don't understand."
Garrek was staring at Angel.
"He's my childe," Angel admitted.
Buffy moved next to me. "Oh, really?"
"Sadly, yes. But, he does have to do what I say," Angel confirmed.
"Cool," I said brightly. "Make him bark like a dog...or cluck like a chicken!"
The corner of Angel's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. He turned to Garrek. "So, where's Spike?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Angel punched him in the nose.
"Where?" Buffy demanded.
Garrek floundered.
"There's more where that came from," Angel warned, eyes flashing yellow.
"Up north."
"Exactly where up north?" Angel asked, relaxing his hold a bit.
"Alaska." Garrek took advantage of Angel's looser grip and tore away, running toward the door.
Buffy snatched the stake out of my hand and threw the wood at Garrek's retreating back. He burst into dust.
Angel watched the dust settle. "Buffy, there's something I have to tell you."
Crossing her arms, Buffy nodded. "You sure do."
Bampf!
Startling everyone, Anya teleported into the middle of the room. "Am I too late to help out? Are all the bad guys dead? I just got done helping a couple of customers before I closed the Magic Shop."
The end of chapter 6
**Note: The full story behind Daniel, Amalia, and Dawn can be found in one of my other stories, "The Admirer." However, you don't have to read the other story to understand this one. :o) Also, the sucking feeling that Dawn feels during the ritual is symbolic of the effect a sociopath can have on a person. A dorm building really did burn up during construction at a local university in Beaumont, Texas a few years ago, but they reconstructed the building.**