A/N: So, I promised to update quickly after the last cliffhanger, and here it is! **Evil grin** Hope that was an intriguing enough twist for ya!
Disclaimer: All Buffy stuff is property of Joss 'I'm evil and enjoy making everyone suffer' Whedon, whilst all the original stuff is mine!
Dedication: To all those who run this website because if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here now, would we?
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Gracia couldn't control the weight of her breathing as she stared, completely stunned, at Cecelia picking herself angrily off of the floor. Her stomach held a feeling not unlike plunging down a cliff.
Her Watcher. Her Watcher, her mentor, her teacher; Cecelia had planned to kill her for these vampires. To sacrifice her for evil.
"Cecelia..." she began shakily. The vampires were also staring at the woman as though they'd never seen her face before- which, Gracia realised, they might not have done.
"Oh, this is rich!" Zachary laughed. "All along, Ambulo Mortuus was the Watcher." Eyes glimmering evily at Cecelia, he added, "Well, you did indeed tell us you had access to the girl. How original!"
Cecelia had re-entered the ring of candles, the swish of her cloaks causing the flames to flicker slightly. She bent close to Gracia again, preparing the book in her right hand and her silver dagger in her left.
"Cecelia..." Gracia whispered hoarsely, shaking her head slightly. "Why?"
Cecelia smirked icily. "What is the point in telling you, girl?" she spat. "Very soon, you won't remember anything...because you'll be dead."
Gracia felt the hope drain out of her body.
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"It's gonna be around here somewhere." Luke said.
The alleyways between the factories were heavily shadowed from the tall buildings surrounding and occasionally lit by murky lamps. It took the four humans in the group great control not to trip up on the scattered trash cluttering up the route.
"So the Watcher didn't give any directions?" Spike questioned.
Keisha shook her head. "Not that we heard. Only Gracia was around at the time."
Suddenly, Angel stopped dead, every sense alert and a worried expression crossing his face.
"What is it Angel?" Willow asked. When he didn't reply, she prompted, "Angel?"
"I smell something." His voice was low, but they all caught his words.
"Yeah, well this whole place reeks." Spike said, as though he were stating the obvious to a small child.
Something was obviously very wrong, because Angel didn't even acknowledge the insult. Instead, he carried on, ducking past Spike and Keisha to carry on in front alone. The others continued after him, struggling to keep pace with him. He lead them into a right turn into a wide causeway between two abandoned factories filled with more muck and rubbish. Angel went straight to the factory on the left, and bent down to pick up something lying near the doors, were it had been carelessly tossed aside.
"Angel, what is it?" Keisha asked, beginning to worry. He turned to face them, face grim and probably even paler than usual. In his hands was a long metal pole with a smooth surface that reflected the nearest dim lamplight dully.
"This was used as a weapon against Gracey."
"How can you tell?" Tara asked. Keisha anticipated the reply even before Angel gave it, her heart thudding painfully against her ribs.
"I can smell her blood on it."
"How'd you know if it was hers?" Spike's tone was disbelieving and slightly goading at best.
Angel glared at his grandchilde. "Because I've tasted it before, alright?" He really didn't want to be discussing this, especially not with the bleached Cockney. "Trust me on this one."
"But that means..." Willow trailed off, gesturing towards the factory doors. Luke glanced closely at them.
"No locks." he observed.
"Look." Keisha said grimly, pointing up at something. They all glanced to where she indicated and saw a wide kind of balcony, as well as several windows, each one blocked or boarded.
"Seems like this is the party house." Angel said, moving towards a pile of ancient delivery crates to his left. In a series of swift, violent movements, he snapped of chunks of the wood and handed them to each person...just as Tara picked up a previously undiscovered object.
"I've found something." That caught their attention and they turned to find her holding a long wooden stick, sharpened at one end. Luke's eyes widened as he realised, "That's Gracia's."
Tara handed the stake to Angel, who knew he'd have to get it to Gracia as soon as he could. If she was still alive.
Pushing that nasty idea from his head, he tried to maintain his cool as they all took their places behind him near the door.
"On my count." he said, voice quiet. "Three...two..."
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Help me, someone, anyone, please...
Gracia watched Cecelia intoning in alternating Unknown Language and English passages. The Watcher had a glimmer of joyful malice in her eyes that Gracia knew was burned into her memory probably forever. Her wrists worked at the bindings, ignoring the sharp pains shooting through them at every movement.
"Cecelia, you don't have to do this." she said, in a voice only the woman could hear. "Please, listen to me!"
Cecelia's only response was a quick, flickering glance that gave Gracia an even clearer impression of the blazing certainty held within the silver depths of those eyes. If at all possible, Gracia's soul sagged lower.
So she's decided what to then, Gracia thought, summoning as much confidence as she could. Guess I'll have to do what I have to do and ignore my feelings.
She started on this resolution by quenching the rising disbelief and moving her wrists all the more within the ropes. Her ankles struggled as Cecelia began the latest English translation, a horrible finality to her tone.
"I call upon the strength of those before me. I call upon the power of the greater forces of darkness. I call upon you to Ressurect your fallen son, to reinstate him to his rightful power! Restore your obsolete child, your agent of murderousness upon this plain of existence!"
One thin hand shot out to push Gracia's head towards her left shoulder, exposing her neck in a movement so fast Gracia couldn't prevent it. The other hand came out towards the flesh just between her neck and her collarbone. As a small, sharp pain burned there suddenly, Gracia saw one of the instructed vampires picking up the first of the black candles. He brought it forward as Cecelia released her grip on Gracia, and Gracia saw the dagger in Cecelia's hand. The blade was glistening with the small amount of blood drawn from the dagger scratch, and Cecelia held it out, the dagger over the flickering flame...
A drop of dark ruby slid to the very tip of the blade and dropped into the shallow melted around the wick.
There was a loud hiss as the flame flared tall and black. The vampire, carrying the candle almost reverantly, took it over to the base of the throne and set it down.
Gracia shut her eyes against the bright flash of light that followed.
"One down," Zachary said gleefully. "Twelve to g-"
BAM!
Everybody turned to see six figures appearing in the doorway...just as the stationed guards dissolved into useless piles of ash. Two were in full vamp face. Two were teenagers, nervous but composed. Two were women in their late twenties, with looks that told of the many battles they'd been involved in before.
Gracia's heart rose with hope as she recognised who they were...just as her strains finally paid off and part of the rope around her arms came loose.
The vampire in front was tall with dark hair and feral yellow eyes. He looked straight at Zachary and the shrouded witch and said, simply, "Get the hell away from my sister."
The battle had begun.
********************************************************************************
Alright! Another chapter up! Go me! Anyways, review please and tell me exactly what you think! Thank you!
Disclaimer: All Buffy stuff is property of Joss 'I'm evil and enjoy making everyone suffer' Whedon, whilst all the original stuff is mine!
Dedication: To all those who run this website because if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here now, would we?
********************************************************************************
Gracia couldn't control the weight of her breathing as she stared, completely stunned, at Cecelia picking herself angrily off of the floor. Her stomach held a feeling not unlike plunging down a cliff.
Her Watcher. Her Watcher, her mentor, her teacher; Cecelia had planned to kill her for these vampires. To sacrifice her for evil.
"Cecelia..." she began shakily. The vampires were also staring at the woman as though they'd never seen her face before- which, Gracia realised, they might not have done.
"Oh, this is rich!" Zachary laughed. "All along, Ambulo Mortuus was the Watcher." Eyes glimmering evily at Cecelia, he added, "Well, you did indeed tell us you had access to the girl. How original!"
Cecelia had re-entered the ring of candles, the swish of her cloaks causing the flames to flicker slightly. She bent close to Gracia again, preparing the book in her right hand and her silver dagger in her left.
"Cecelia..." Gracia whispered hoarsely, shaking her head slightly. "Why?"
Cecelia smirked icily. "What is the point in telling you, girl?" she spat. "Very soon, you won't remember anything...because you'll be dead."
Gracia felt the hope drain out of her body.
********************************************************************************
"It's gonna be around here somewhere." Luke said.
The alleyways between the factories were heavily shadowed from the tall buildings surrounding and occasionally lit by murky lamps. It took the four humans in the group great control not to trip up on the scattered trash cluttering up the route.
"So the Watcher didn't give any directions?" Spike questioned.
Keisha shook her head. "Not that we heard. Only Gracia was around at the time."
Suddenly, Angel stopped dead, every sense alert and a worried expression crossing his face.
"What is it Angel?" Willow asked. When he didn't reply, she prompted, "Angel?"
"I smell something." His voice was low, but they all caught his words.
"Yeah, well this whole place reeks." Spike said, as though he were stating the obvious to a small child.
Something was obviously very wrong, because Angel didn't even acknowledge the insult. Instead, he carried on, ducking past Spike and Keisha to carry on in front alone. The others continued after him, struggling to keep pace with him. He lead them into a right turn into a wide causeway between two abandoned factories filled with more muck and rubbish. Angel went straight to the factory on the left, and bent down to pick up something lying near the doors, were it had been carelessly tossed aside.
"Angel, what is it?" Keisha asked, beginning to worry. He turned to face them, face grim and probably even paler than usual. In his hands was a long metal pole with a smooth surface that reflected the nearest dim lamplight dully.
"This was used as a weapon against Gracey."
"How can you tell?" Tara asked. Keisha anticipated the reply even before Angel gave it, her heart thudding painfully against her ribs.
"I can smell her blood on it."
"How'd you know if it was hers?" Spike's tone was disbelieving and slightly goading at best.
Angel glared at his grandchilde. "Because I've tasted it before, alright?" He really didn't want to be discussing this, especially not with the bleached Cockney. "Trust me on this one."
"But that means..." Willow trailed off, gesturing towards the factory doors. Luke glanced closely at them.
"No locks." he observed.
"Look." Keisha said grimly, pointing up at something. They all glanced to where she indicated and saw a wide kind of balcony, as well as several windows, each one blocked or boarded.
"Seems like this is the party house." Angel said, moving towards a pile of ancient delivery crates to his left. In a series of swift, violent movements, he snapped of chunks of the wood and handed them to each person...just as Tara picked up a previously undiscovered object.
"I've found something." That caught their attention and they turned to find her holding a long wooden stick, sharpened at one end. Luke's eyes widened as he realised, "That's Gracia's."
Tara handed the stake to Angel, who knew he'd have to get it to Gracia as soon as he could. If she was still alive.
Pushing that nasty idea from his head, he tried to maintain his cool as they all took their places behind him near the door.
"On my count." he said, voice quiet. "Three...two..."
********************************************************************************
Help me, someone, anyone, please...
Gracia watched Cecelia intoning in alternating Unknown Language and English passages. The Watcher had a glimmer of joyful malice in her eyes that Gracia knew was burned into her memory probably forever. Her wrists worked at the bindings, ignoring the sharp pains shooting through them at every movement.
"Cecelia, you don't have to do this." she said, in a voice only the woman could hear. "Please, listen to me!"
Cecelia's only response was a quick, flickering glance that gave Gracia an even clearer impression of the blazing certainty held within the silver depths of those eyes. If at all possible, Gracia's soul sagged lower.
So she's decided what to then, Gracia thought, summoning as much confidence as she could. Guess I'll have to do what I have to do and ignore my feelings.
She started on this resolution by quenching the rising disbelief and moving her wrists all the more within the ropes. Her ankles struggled as Cecelia began the latest English translation, a horrible finality to her tone.
"I call upon the strength of those before me. I call upon the power of the greater forces of darkness. I call upon you to Ressurect your fallen son, to reinstate him to his rightful power! Restore your obsolete child, your agent of murderousness upon this plain of existence!"
One thin hand shot out to push Gracia's head towards her left shoulder, exposing her neck in a movement so fast Gracia couldn't prevent it. The other hand came out towards the flesh just between her neck and her collarbone. As a small, sharp pain burned there suddenly, Gracia saw one of the instructed vampires picking up the first of the black candles. He brought it forward as Cecelia released her grip on Gracia, and Gracia saw the dagger in Cecelia's hand. The blade was glistening with the small amount of blood drawn from the dagger scratch, and Cecelia held it out, the dagger over the flickering flame...
A drop of dark ruby slid to the very tip of the blade and dropped into the shallow melted around the wick.
There was a loud hiss as the flame flared tall and black. The vampire, carrying the candle almost reverantly, took it over to the base of the throne and set it down.
Gracia shut her eyes against the bright flash of light that followed.
"One down," Zachary said gleefully. "Twelve to g-"
BAM!
Everybody turned to see six figures appearing in the doorway...just as the stationed guards dissolved into useless piles of ash. Two were in full vamp face. Two were teenagers, nervous but composed. Two were women in their late twenties, with looks that told of the many battles they'd been involved in before.
Gracia's heart rose with hope as she recognised who they were...just as her strains finally paid off and part of the rope around her arms came loose.
The vampire in front was tall with dark hair and feral yellow eyes. He looked straight at Zachary and the shrouded witch and said, simply, "Get the hell away from my sister."
The battle had begun.
********************************************************************************
Alright! Another chapter up! Go me! Anyways, review please and tell me exactly what you think! Thank you!
