Loving Eternally: Chapter 12
by Lisette
Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.
Wincing as every step seemed to reopen a new wound, Angel hurried down the darkened tunnel, his mind locked on the sight of Buffy and Spike disappearing into darkness together. Buried deep down in the back of his mind, a single thought vibrated there, never leaving him in peace as he fought with the others in the main cavern: something wasn't right. And then, as he heard Riley's screams for his sister, Angel felt his worse fears confirmed.
Growling, Angel's speed doubled as he poured out of the dark tunnel and into a brightly lit domed cavern. Without even giving the massive room a cursory glance, Angel instead felt his eyes lock on a column of hellish red light that poured out from the ceiling and disappear into darkness in the center of the room. Bolting across the room, the nearer he got to the crevice the more his eyes were able to follow the column of light down, down until they locked on Buffy's still form, encased in Spike's arms with his lips locked against her neck. Instantly, Angel felt as though he had been slugged, weakness seeming to steal over his limbs as he watched his grand-childe locked in an embrace with the Slayer that no one was meant to share - not even himself.
Eyes flaring in anger, game face changing his smooth countenance into a mountain of ridges and fangs, Angel dove off of the lip of the precipice and flew to the ground below. Snarling, he was about to charge to Buffy's rescue when he belatedly became aware of another. Turning, he barely had a chance to lift his hands in defense as Drusilla erupted from the darkness, her claws aimed at his throat.
And then Riley's words, his pleas of mercy for the sister that he had never known were cut short as the air was cut around him by another, another that landed effortlessly on the stone beside him. He only had a chance to let out a strangled gasp of surprise before he was tossed aside like yesterday's garbage, once more rebounding off of the unnaturally smooth stone floor. Grimacing in pain, Riley slowly lifted his head, one hand reaching up to straighten his glasses as he haltingly pulled himself to his feet. "Angel?" he muttered, watching in muted wonder as the strange guy that he had met only the night before struggled with the dark-haired vampire that had been his captor.
It wasn't the fact that this man had appeared out of nowhere to fight against Drusilla that so startled him, but rather the fact that this man seemed to be an even match for the crazy vampire. And in a few seconds, Riley quickly saw why. Somehow, Drusilla managed to get in a raking swipe with her long fingernails that left a red furrow across Angel's shoulder, slicing through the thick duster to reveal dark blood. And in that instant, Angel's face shifted until Riley was looking into the glowing yellow eyes of a monster.
Yelping, Riley scuttled back on the smooth floor, moving away from the creatures and more towards the center of the chamber, only stopping when the world around him turned red. Gasping, he quickly swiveled and stared in horror at the red light that emanated from just a few feet behind him - from the spot where this vampire, this Spike, was killing his sister.
His sister.
Buffy was his sister and she was dying. Strangely, it was the sight of the petite blonde, now completely supported in the blond man's arms as his face was pressed tightly to her neck, that finally broke him from his shocked reverie. In that instant, cold fury unlike any he had ever known before began to replace the blinding fear that had filled him for so long. His eyes narrowing, Riley realized that he could pick out the obscene sound of slurping from the other demonic screams that rebounded off of the large cavern - almost like the sound of a dog lapping from a bowl of water. And that dog was this vampire that was drinking from his sister.
"Buffy!"
Shaken from his reverie, Riley turned to see Angel's face twisted into something like horrified agony - like he was watching the love of his life fade away before his very eyes. And then, as Angel struggled with Drusilla, his eyes tore away from Buffy and locked on Riley, seeming to peer much further and into his very soul.
"Help her," he grunted before jerking his head sharply to the right.
Turning slightly, Riley felt his eyes narrow and lock on a small shaft of wood that lay alone and forgotten a few feet away from him. Puzzled, he turned back to Angel to ask how in the hell he expected him to help his sister with a toothpick, when he saw that the vampire, now fighting against two other demons, was too busy to reply. Which left him to puzzle.
Lap. Lap. Gasp. Pant.
Willing his ears to turn off, to turn away from the sound of the monster that fed from his sister, Riley realized that he didn't have time to puzzle. And in that instant, his fear-turned-hate found direction as he pulled himself off of his aching fanny and scrambled across the smooth stone floor until his hand seized the wooden shaft. Strangely enough, it seemed to fit comfortably in his hand, the wood smoothed down and sharpened as though it was made for... stabbing, gouging, killing.
Blinking dully, Riley turned and found himself once more looking at the red, garish hell that marked where his sister once stood. He almost fancied that he could see her eyes through the hellish light, slowly going dull and unseeing as her blood was drained from her body. Numbly, Riley half climbed, half staggered to his feet and slowly shuffled forward into the bright light, praying that somehow he'd find the strength to face what every child's worst fear seemed to be made of.
And then he was in the light, everything becoming clear as Angel's struggles faded away. Instead, he saw that this vampire, this Spike as Buffy had called him, had his back towards him... meaning that his sister's pale and drawn face was facing him. Her limp body. Her unmoving countenance. Slowly, Riley felt his anger begin to build as he dimly realized that she had to be dead. This monster couldn't drink from her veins this long and she still be living. She couldn't be that deathly pale, so still in his grubby arms... so still like a sleeping angel and still be living.
He was too late.
"Buffy!"
Once more Angel's agonized yell was enough to break through Riley's hazy thoughts. As time once more returned to full speed and as sound once more returned to his ears, Riley quickly looked down at the wood, looking more and more like a stake from Will's vampire movies, that he held in his tightly fisted hand. He knew what he had to do.
"Leave her alone!" Riley screamed as he suddenly rushed forward, burying the wood to the hilt in the man's fleshy back with a savagery that he had never before known.
Crying out, Spike twisted away as pain flared from his shoulder, erasing all other thought as he staggered away from the vortex he had created. And as his lips parted from the Slayer's neck, the column of red light flickered and then died as though someone had thumbed a light switch. "Bloody 'ell!" Spike cursed into the sudden silence, his hand coming away red and pale, his lips still smeared red with the Slayer's blood. And then Drusilla was by his side, supporting him as he sagged against her, sudden weakness striking his limbs. "Bloody hell, the little imp staked me!" he cursed again, this time his glare settling on Riley's defiant face as the boy cradled his unconscious and dying sister.
But that was the last tirade that Spike was able to manage as the tide quickly swung in the other direction. By now it was apparent that while Riley had indeed spiked.. Spike, he had missed the heart. But the damage was done and Spike knew that he was out of the fight until he healed - and by the sounds of the pounding feet in the tunnel outside, it sounded as though the fight was over for his side anyway as the cavalry was about to arrive.
"Spike, they come for us!" Drusilla whimpered, confirming his fears as she began to drag him back into the darkness that stood opposite of where the Slayer's little Scooby Gang would enter, the darkness that hid their getaway tunnel.
Growling, Spike shook with everything that had been so within his grip... and now shattered because of a human who didn't even know what Spike was. Who he was. But then, as his eyes locked on the Slayer's pale, unmoving form, Spike felt a grimaced smile lift his thin lips. "This ain't over, Angelus," he hissed, his eyes locking on his grand-sire as Angel knelt beside the Slayer's brother who now cradled his sister in his arms.
Instantly, Angel felt a feral snarl escape his lips as he pressed his hand tightly over the warm, oozing gashes that marred Buffy's throat. They were cutting it close. Too close. Buffy needed help. Now.
Smiling smugly, Spike licked his lips obscenely as Drusilla pulled him away. "I've tasted her now, just as you 'ave," he called out, knowing his words were digging into his sire, "deeper than you have. I've marked her and I will have her again!" he vowed before disappearing into darkness, leaving Angel and Riley alone in the darkened cavern.
"Over my dead body," Angel vowed, gritting his teeth angrily as he fought his desire to chase after them - to hunt them down and destroy them for even daring to think of touching Buffy.
"Or hers," Riley countered grimly as he felt her cool skin, finding dim relief to be facing a normal human face again instead of the face of a monster. As the sound of his friends and family entering the cavern filled his ears, calling for him and Buffy, Riley felt his fears of his own death die away to be replaced by a new fear - this time for his sister. "We need to get her to a hospital now or else I'm an only child all over again."
Nodding grimly, Angel quickly reached forward and lifted the slight Slayer effortlessly into his arms, her head lolling against him. Grimacing, the vampire found himself reminded too easily of Buffy's senior year in high school, those many years ago, when he had carried her like this to the hospital for the same reason. Oddly enough, both times that Buffy had willingly given her blood, she had done it for love and to save another. Only this time, he wasn't going anywhere and he wasn't going to lose her again.