Loving Eternally: Chapter 11
by Lisette
Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.
By this point, Riley didn't even bother to waste his strength by struggling against Drusilla's pincer-like grip. He now understood what a useless battle it would be and worked on keeping his footing instead as he was dragged down the dark tunnel, his scuffed shoes sliding over the loose stone that dotted the steeply downward slanting tunnel. And then they were through it as they stepped once more into light - this time a bright light that completely illuminated a large domed cavern that stretched up in a large crescent and dipped down to end a few hundred yards opposite him. But this cavern, unlike the last, was not a natural creation, and instead the walls that sloped up were so smooth that they were glassy and reflected the torchlight. He didn't think that man could have made something like this, something so smooth and symmetrical, but he hated to guess what else was responsible.
But then his musings were cut short as Drusilla finally stopped a few yards into the entrance to the cavern. Tearing his eyes away from the walls, Riley had only a second to notice that here the floor ended in a sheer edge that stretched from one end of the dome to the other, dropping a good ten feet into darkness, before he himself was shoved over this precipice. Crying out, Riley felt his feet fold beneath the jarring impact with the hard cavern floor as he tumbled forward, sliding against the unnaturally smooth stone. Wincing, he slowly began to pick his bruised body from the ground when Drusilla was at his side once more, hauling him to his feet and propelling him forward until they stopped in the very center of the dome, hundreds of feet below the pinnacle of the ceiling with darkness lying to either side in these lower regions.
Gasping, Riley was roughly switched in Drusilla's hold until he was now standing before her, one thin, muscled arm wrapped tightly around his neck as the other wound itself in his hair and yanked viciously to the side, baring his neck to her blood-red lips. Closing his eyes, Riley thought of his mother and father as he waited for the pain to come - waited for the vampire to bite him with the sharp fangs he knew were hidden behind those innocent-looking lips. But the pain never came.
Confused, Riley hesitantly opened one eye and then the other, noting that he was in fact still alive and that his captor seemed to be waiting for something.. or someone. "What... what are you doing?" he asked, hating the waver that he heard in his voice but unable to mask his fear.
"Waiting," was the almost musical reply as Drusilla's eyes darted lazily over her captor's taught muscles, eyeing the throbbing vein in his neck almost hungrily.
"For what?" Riley choked out, wincing as her hold tightened, cutting into his airflow.
"For your sister," Drusilla hummed with a small smile full of gleaming fangs.
"My.. my sister?" Riley wheezed, barely believing that he had heard correctly. "But she's dead! You said so yourself!"
"No, I said that she had apparently died," Drusilla corrected as the silence of the domed cavern was broken by the tapping of heeled boots on the stone floor. "They were, apparently, wrong," she continued as the Slayer dropped over the edge of the ledge and landed effortlessly before them, stake in hand. "Buffy," she hissed, her face rapidly altering until her fangs glinted in the dim light.
Instantly, all of the pieces that had been missing, that had really been there all along, snapped into place as Riley felt his eyes lock on the young woman that stood before them, back against the smooth stone wall.
Forcing a smile, the girl slowly nodded. "I'm B... Anne!" she countered, catching herself quickly.
"And they lost someone close to them," Riley interrupted, finally driven out of his silence as he looked deep into Buffy's eyes. "My sister."
"You... you had a sister?" Buffy whispered, her face an expressionless mask.
"Yeah - she died before I was born," Riley sighed, the spell breaking as he shared a smile with his friends. "My parents never mention her, but her tomb says that she was our age when she was killed. Her name was Buffy."
Buffy. Buffy Anne Summers. His sister. His sister was alive and standing before him. And they had already met... cursing himself, Riley realized that he had already met her the previous night, not knowing who she was. And then she had saved his life. She had saved all of their lives as she moved with a grace and an effortless rhythm that defied everything mortal and human. Because she wasn't human. She was the Slayer.
"Let him go, Dru," Buffy stated quietly, seeing the fear on Riley's face change to that of stupefied realization. He knew who she was. Well, that's okay because she knew who he was as well: he was Giles' son and her mother's only child - he was her brother and to hell if she'd let Dru take that away from them. "Let my brother go," she whispered, this time looking into his dark brown eyes and seeing everything in him that she couldn't give to either Giles or her mom. She wouldn't let him die.
To her demand, Drusilla only laughed - until that laughter was cut short as another person joined their drama, dropping down to land effortlessly beside the Slayer. "Spike," she pouted, her good humor instantly disappearing as a frown pulled at her lips. "What are you doing here?"
"You heard the Slayer, luv," Spike said quietly, calmly as he and Buffy slowly parted company, edging in a circle around Drusilla, parting her attention as she quickly tightened her hold on the boy's throat, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Don't," Dru quickly ordered, watching as Spike and Buffy met up once again, this time before the darkness that stood opposite of where they came down. "You come near me and I eat your brother," she hissed, inching her fangs ever closer to the boy's exposed jugular.
Quickly, Buffy fought back her fear and forced herself to hold onto the steel-like calm that she had built and nurtured over the past twenty-five years. She was the Slayer. Buffy Summers was dead. There was no pain here in this empty shell of a killer. No hurt. No love. There was nothing but the Slayer. But then, as Drusilla gently scraped her sharp fangs along her brother's neck, drawing a thin trail of blood, Buffy felt that calm vanish like a trail of smoke in a fierce wind.
"Stop!" she cried out, her voice catching in her throat as her emotion betrayed her. Yes. Emotion. Swallowing past the hurt, Buffy felt tears sting her eyes as she threw her stake aside. She couldn't lie to herself any longer. Buffy Summers, try as hard as she may, never died when Riley died. A part of her had died that night, yes, when she watched yet another of her loved ones die at her hands, but she had mistaken that part for all of her. She had wanted to be dead. She wanted to be dead and not feel the pain of what she had done, but she had been unable to make it completely real. No, she needed to pay for her sins. She had needed to atone for her crimes and damnit, she had needed to suffer. She had to suffer for all of the pain that she had caused her family, her friends. Her love. She had forced herself to suffer and to atone for her mistakes, wanting to believe that it would kill her in the end - kill all hurt, feelings and emotions.
But it hadn't. Giles had once told her that the thing he admired most about her was that she always followed her heart and let that rule her decisions. That was who she was. Try as she might, Buffy Summers wasn't the Slayer. The Slayer was Buffy Summers. They weren't two separate entities that lived exclusively, one without the other, but were so closely tied that they had become one. When Buffy had been called when she was only sixteen, her life had forever become merged with that of the Slayer. She was the Slayer. And now her brother was about to die because he was the Slayer's brother - and to hell if Buffy would allow that to happen. Not again.
Closing her eyes, Buffy willed back her tears as she thought back on all that she had loved and lost. Angel, Riley, everyone. She had lost them all because she was the Slayer. She wouldn't lose another - especially not her brother. She owed that much to the others. To her friends and family.
Sighing, Buffy felt a soothing calm settle over her limbs as she opened her eyes and smiled at her brother's fear-filled eyes. She didn't know this boy - would never get the opportunity to know him, but in a way, she already did. He was her. He was everything that she wasn't. "I know about the spell," Buffy finally whispered, watching as Dru's eyes danced from herself to Spike who stood slightly behind her. "I know what you're trying to do," she continued, watching as Drusilla tightened her hold around Riley's neck. "I know that you're standing below where the high school library once stood - above where the door to hell once stood... I know that you're trying to reopen the Hellmouth using Riley's blood," she whispered, careful not to move any closer towards the vampire, staying back with the dark shadows at her back. "But he's not a Slayer."
"But he's the Slayer's brother," Drusilla bit back, an innocent and beguiling smile lifting her lips. "He shall have to do."
"He doesn't have to," Buffy whispered, feeling Spike tense behind her. Closing her eyes again briefly, Buffy tried to steel herself, looking for strength. But finding none in that empty, hollow place she had lived in for so many years, she instead opened her eyes and turned to what had always been her source of power. Love. Locking eyes with Riley, Buffy smiled gently at her brother before turning to Drusilla. "Take mine instead."
Eyes widening, Drusilla loosened her hold on the young man slightly as she locked eyes with the Slayer. "You," she began, choosing her words carefully, "offer your blood to him willingly, in order to save your brother?"
Slightly puzzled at Drusilla's wording, Buffy quickly nodded her head. "Yes," she whispered, her eyes fierce as she spoke from her heart. But then, before Drusilla could respond to her words, Buffy sensed sudden movement behind her. Before she could turn, she felt a warm breath fan her hair as Spike leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"Just the words I've been waitin' to hear, luv."
Confused, Buffy turned quickly, seeing that Spike wore his game face as the darkness erupted around them. Gasping, she could do nothing as she was suddenly overwhelmed by rushing vampires, all snagging her limbs in iron grips. They had been lying in wait for her in the darkness, waiting for her to speak the magic words. "Spike," she gasped, struggling uselessly as she was drug into the center of the domed room, watching as Dru gleefully drug her struggling brother away. "Spike, help me!" she cried out, not wanting to believe her eyes as Spike calmly followed her captors' movements until he was once more standing before her, his grin one that was all too familiar, but one that she never thought that she'd see again. The grin of a monster. "The chip," she whispered, shaking her head slowly.
"Gone," Spike whispered sensuously as he reached a hand forward as though to gently stroke her chin, and then changing it mid-move and curling it into a fist that slammed ruthlessly into her midsection, as though trying to show her the truth in his words, needing to demonstrate that the real him was indeed back and badder than ever.
Instantly, Buffy felt the air expel from her lungs in one painful burst as she heard Riley cry out in anger. Gasping, trying to regain what she had lost, Buffy sagged in her captors' arms, thinking back on all that had come to pass to bring her there. All of it relating back to Spike.
"So.. haven't you found Dru yet?"
Instantly the smile disappeared from Spike's face as he turned solemn. "Yeah, and she's still as bloody batty as ever - tried to stake me last week," he muttered crossly, absently rubbing his chest as the Slayer's smile began to grow. "Hey, I wouldn't be smiling if I were you!" he quickly cut in. "After all, I was just on my way to Sunnydale-"
"Via Baux de Provence?" Buffy interrupted skeptically, arching a slim eyebrow at the vampire.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am," Spike said, his tone deadly serious.
"You set me up," she whispered in disbelief, raising her weary eyes to meet Spike's smug countenance. "But.. how did you know-"
"That you weren't dead?" Spike interrupted, his grin chilling her to the bone. "A few years back Dru and I saw you in Africa - beat the rest of the truth out of some no-name Watcher. We used him to track your movements."
"Marseilles," Buffy breathed, wanting to kick something - especially herself.
It was as good as a place as any to wait for the tourists to leave and for the ruins to close for the night - for the real fun to begin - or so it should if her source in Marseilles had been telling the truth. Then again, seeing as how the vampire had been staring down the point of her stake, she was pretty sure that he was reliable. She had just been lucky that while cleaning out Marseilles' unwanted night life, she had stumbled across the one vampire who wanted to cut a deal - his life for information.
"You planned it all," she continued, her mind skipping back to the fact that it was he who had first told them about Drusilla's plan to reopen the Hellmouth.
"Spike?" she asked, surprise filling her voice once more as the shape slowly moved, stepping forward into the light to reveal the bleached vampire. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come!"
"And miss the party?" Spike replied, arching his eyebrow at the girl. "I bloody well don't think so," he laughed shortly, straightening his long, leather jacket as all eyes turned towards him. "And besides," he added quietly, his expression turning serious, "I think that I found out some more information that might be helpful - may explain why Dru grabbed the little ones."
"You sat there and told us your plan... and we didn't even see it."
"A few months back Dru and I found a spell that could recreate the Hellmouth here in Sunnyhell," he explained, knowing that now he had everyone's full attention. "All that was needed was the blood of a Slayer."
"The only part that I left out was the fact that the Slayer needed to willingly give her blood for the Hellmouth to be reopened," Spike grinned as he licked his fangs as he eyed her slowly. "And we all know how bloody likely that would be... without help," he added wickedly as he threw a glance at Riley, who had been listening to everything with rapt attention. It didn't take a genius to see exactly when the kid realized that all along he had been bait for his sister - for her death warrant.
Groaning, Buffy thought back to all of the times that Spike had 'unknowingly' dropped a vital clue - they never suspecting a thing.
"The vampire said last night that they were at the doorway-"
"What doorway?" Willow asked, puzzled.
"The door to the old Hellmouth makes the most sense," Spike cut in as a light bulb seemed to snap on for everyone in the room.
"Thank you for playin'," Spike whispered, his voice turning low and breathless as he slowly stepped forward until his cold body was pressed against hers.
Grunting, Buffy glared at the vampire, her head barely reaching his chest as she jutted out her chin defiantly, struggling uselessly against her many captors. There were just too many for her to take - too many that were just too strong. After so many years, Buffy had finally met her match, and her stomach churned at the thought that out of all of the worthy opponents that she had faced during her many years, her death would have to come at his hands. "Bite me," she hissed, her eyes flaring with defiance.
"Gladly," Spike purred, taking that as his cue as he reached a pale hand forward and tangled it in her long, blonde masses. Grinning, he yanked his hand roughly to the right, loving her whimper of pained anger as her lovely neck was exposed to the dim light. He had waited too long for this. Flicking a slick tongue over sharpened fangs, Spike tightened his grip on her hair before slowly inching forward, inhaling her sweet Slayer scent as his tongue flicked over baby soft skin, tasting her salty sweat. Smiling, he felt her body tense against his as he gently raked his sharpened fangs over the soft skin that hid her sweet juices. Instantly, small lines of blood followed his teeth, marring her skin as he gently licked it away. But then, as her blood filled his mouth, Spike felt himself burn with something that he had felt only twice before - the rush of a Slayer's blood.
Quickly, Spike reared back and then struck with savage force, sinking his fangs deep into her tender neck and piercing the thick jugular vein, hot blood instantly spilling out and filling his mouth. Even as the Slayer arched against him, her mouth twisted in a silent scream of pain, bright light shot down from directly above and enveloped them both, sending her vampire captors scattering in either direction.
Moving instinctively, Spike quickly his other arm out and wrapped it tightly around the Slayer's thin waist, pulling her, rutting her against his hard form as his other hand tightened in her hair, holding her to him as her life force filled him with searing heat.
"Buffy!" Riley screamed, struggling with renewed strength against Drusilla. Red, hellish light had formed in a column of wailing, screaming, agonized voices from both below and above his sister and the vampire, blurring them in a column of light that connected the stone floor beneath them to the stone ceiling so high above. The doorway to hell. And throughout it all the vampire drank from his sister, her dark blood trailing past his thin, bloodless lips and down her pale neck. "Buffy!" he screamed again. His sister was dying.