Shadowed Soul
Part 3: Encounter
Note: PLEASE review, it lets me know people are actually reading the story. Don't be discouraged by this plot, I said it would be B/S eventually so just be patient and let the story play out. All will be explained in due time. Oh and I just finished watching some recordings of eps from FX to refresh more content, so don't be surprised if you see a small reference to a season 5 ep. Please enjoy.
"Can we go home yet Buffy?" complained Dawn.
"Hey you are the one who said she wanted to come along on patrols."
"I know I SAID that but I didn't mean just walking around for hours doing nothing."
Xander chimed in, "Yeah Buff, it does seem a bit slow with the slayage tonight."
"Fine!" Buffy huffed, "just a bit longer though guys? I have a feeling something bad is gonna happen."
They reluctantly continued to follow Buffy through the cemetery, casually strolling like there couldn't be anything to harm them out in the darkness. Buffy suddenly realized they had ended up in a cemetery that had more than its fair share of memories. Memories both good and bad fluttered through her mind at the sight of that once special crypt.
She was torn from her reverie by a screaming sister. She was about to say something when she followed Dawn's line of sight and saw a large group of demons storming into Spike's old crypt. Buffy and her companions slowly and cautiously approached the crypt but stopped dead in their tracks when they heard sounds of a struggle from inside. Mere moments later, a figured came running out of the entrance to the tomb. He looked fairly calm for just being in a brawl and even calmer when he started to walk away from the door. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small box and then pushed a button on it.
Buffy, Xander and Dawn were toppled over from the shockwave of the explosion, but the shadow just kept walking away like nothing had happened. Buffy was instantly on her feet and running to confront him for blowing up a place containing so many of her past memories. "Hey, stop right there!" she exclaimed. He just kept walking toward his now visible motorcycle, completely ignoring her presence. She ran around in front of him and blocked his path. "I said, stop right there you stupid 'shadow'" He immediately stopped in his tracks when she put her hand to his chest effectively holding him in place with her strength.
"Out of my way, slayer" he said muffled through his mask. She was taken aback by his comment. "Oh, so I see you know who I am. I guess its your turn to reveal who you are and why you just blew up that crypt over there."
"Who I am is no matter to anyone. And that crypt over there? I just killed about half a dozen or so demons with that blast, so you should be THANKING me and not getting in my way.
"Who said you could come to my town and start blowing up crypts that don't even belong to you." She said, stepping closer and getting more aggressive with him.
"Didn't seem occupied to me, Slayer. I knew it would be vacant so I decided to use it for my little barbeque there." He glanced over his shoulder at his work with a slight feeling of accomplishment.
"How do you know the resident isn't going to come back and find his place in ruins, huh?"
"I am fairly sure of that one. Met that soulless monster a while back and he suffered the same fate as all the others."
"You what?!?!" She yelled.
"You heard me slayer." He was about to say something else but was interrupted when she came flying at him with a powerful kick. He narrowly dodged it and stepped away from her to prevent any close combat. She was still furious and continued her assault by throwing a flurry of punches toward him. He seemed to be just as fast as her if not faster as he dodged punches and kicks with smooth, graceful movements. He continued to block and dodge her attacks, often pushing her off balance when she left an opening.
Xander and Dawn were slowly regaining their bearings and looked up to see Buffy engaged in combat with a dark dressed figure. "We gotta help her!" exclaimed Xander as he rushed for his fallen sword and then ran towards the fight ready to swing. He yelled for Buffy to duck as he swung the sword in a wide sweeping arc towards her opponent. The shadow easily ducked under the blade and quickly raised his arm, slamming it across Xander's neck and chest in a strong clothesline. Xander was knocked out cold as his head slammed to the ground in a loud thud.
"Xander!" Dawn yelled as she also rushed into combat. The shadow turned to employ the same tactic on his newest assailant but stopped in mid-swing as he saw her rushing towards him. She swung the sword with all her might at the dark man but was completely taken by surprise when his hand reached out and grabbed her sword by the blade in mid-air. Gripping tightly with his hand, he yanked the sword out of her hands and threw it out into the darkness of the nearby trees.
"Go away little one, this is between me and the slayer. No need for anyone else to get hurt."
She thought about continuing to fight but decided against it when she realized how much stronger he was than her. She slowly backed away and started to tend to Xander as the verbal barrage from her sister resumed.
"So you just go around hunting and killing demons for the hell of it? With no regard to whether they are even evil?"
"Are you still hung up on this vampire that used to stay in this crypt here? Past actions always come back to haunt the evil. Even if they believe that they are no longer evil, no demon can ever atone for the sins they have committed against this world. It's not like anyone would miss that THING anyways."
"THING?!? That 'thing' that you keep referring to has saved many lives in the past few years, including mine. He didn't deserve the same fate as the rest of these demons you are killing."
He paused for a moment, looking straight at her, though she didn't know why. "Well then slayer, what are you gonna do about it?"
She resumed her attack with increased vigor. He resumed his game of block and dodge, never going in for a hit of his own. This only served to enrage her more. Buffy then decided to go for the kill and reached quickly for her stake in the back of her pants. As she was pulling it out, he swiftly moved close to her and wrapped her in a strong hug, effectively trapping her arm that was going for the stake behind her. The sudden closeness startled Buffy as she struggled to free herself. But his grip was like a vice holding her in a very awkward position. He pulled her closer and tighter than she thought possible and breathed into her ear. "You lose, slayer. You forgot the first lesson."
With that, he left a stunned slayer and hopped on his bike and rode away into the night.
"What the hell just happened?" she whispered to herself as she watched him ride away.
Anya was disturbed from her slumber by an overwhelming feeling of vengeance radiating from somewhere near Spike's old crypt. Spike…..wow that was someone she hadn't thought about in a while. She had mixed feelings about how things had ended up between them, but she understood his pain somewhat from her own experience. She couldn't concentrate on her memories at the moment though because there was someone or something out there in Sunnydale who was experiencing such strong feelings of vengeance that she started to consider helping. She hadn't been using her demon powers for a while but she at least had to find out where these feelings were coming from. Anya stood up and got dressed quickly because the strong aura she was sensing was beginning to fade. When ready to go, she concentrated on the center of the aura and disappeared.
The shadow was satisfied with his kill tonight even though he ended up in a verbal and physical battle with the slayer. He knew it was coming though since there was no way to hunt demons in Sunydale without her finding him eventually. He just hadn't expected the meeting so soon. Now far from the cemetery, he entered his self-made shelter to rest for the next night of hunting. The structure was an old abandoned motel he had found down the highway a bit from the town. He moved into the most habitable room in the place but it was far from comfortable. It didn't matter though, since comfort is not what he was here for.
He removed his coat and gear and began to remove his mask when he barely noticed a new presence in his room. He looked up to find Anya standing right in front of him.
She looked at his clothing first and then moved her eyes upwards to see his face. "When did you…." She started. "You're the shadow?"
"Bloody hell." He muttered.
TBC……