Lost

Portalkeeper87

A/N: Okay, I fixed the thing about Giles in Chapter One. Thanks for pointing that out! And the stars (*) signify a change in POV. By the way, Dru is the coolest! R & R, please!

Chapter 7—Scoobies to the Rescue

I was dreaming about flying around eating clouds that tasted like cotton candy. So soft and puffy…and then I realized that they weren't clouds. I had an overabundance of gelled brown hair in my mouth.

Eww! The hair stuck straight up. And boy, was it disgusting. Then I heard laughter, only to see a doll when I looked up. It was a very old porcelain doll, body and clothing half-rotted away. Half the hair had been torn out and one of its eyes was missing.

And it was laughing, in its faded blue silk dress and worn leather slippers. It laughed and laughed and laughed, louder and louder and louder.

Finally I woke up, not due to the sounds of laughter, but instead to the sound of screams. Irony, anyone?

It was light out. I could tell because of the ray of sunshine in the hall, just outside my darkened chamber. Creeping out slowly, I could see that something had smashed a darkened window. And there were piles of ashes in the path of light. And there were no vampires on guard at all.

The shrieks and yells came from further down, with occasional sounds like furniture smashing and bodies dropping. What now?

As I made my way to where the disturbing sounds came from, something tore down the hall, almost running me down in the process. It was Spike! Clutched in his arms was a hysterical Drusilla, struggling and rambling on about Miss Edith. Didn't quite catch it in the excitement. Immediately following them were a few remnants of the once-populous group of minions.

Moments later Buffy and friends followed, armed with stakes and crossbows. Buffy was in the lead, everyone else struggling to catch up.

"Hey! Wait a sec! What are you guys doing?"

Buffy skidded to a stop. "Where were you?" she asked.

"Um, taking a nap? What happened here?"

"We were looking for you," the Watcher explained.

"Trying to save your butt," Xander clarified.

"Actually…" I began, but then noticed an item strewn in the hallway. I picked up the doll, now with a newly scorched face. "What the hell did you guys do?"

Without waiting for an answer, I ran down the hall, in the direction Spike had gone.

Okay, where could they be headed? Especially in daylight?

The sewers. Okay, time to think, before the scoobies caught up. There was some sort of underground entrance to the sewers…somewhere in this building…

And then I saw it, on the bottom of some stairs to the left. A manhole cover, lying a few feet away from a dark hole.

"Alexis, wait!" They were just rounding the bend. No way I could make it down there in time. Praying that I hadn't forgotten how to judge distances and aim from all those archery lessons two summers ago, I aimed carefully and tossed. The doll hit a dusty broken chair nearby, bounced off, and finally fell into the dark hole. Hope I didn't break the head.

"Why did you take off like that?" Buffy's voice demanded.

I turned back to face the very annoyed group of Slayer and Slayerettes.

"Um…a side affect of being abducted by vampires?" I suggested. Pathetic. "Post-trauma issues?"

"Explain later. For now, we're going back to the library."

Again, I was dragged unwilling to Scooby Central.

Hope Drusilla got her doll.

***

Drusilla cried silently in the corner, Spike pacing back and forth, about to be driven out of his mind.

"Bloody Slayer…storming into my lair in soddin' daylight…the next time I get my hands on you…"

He was interrupted by a slightly battered minion, holding something in his hands.

"Th-this was f-found near the en-entrance," he stammered, handing the tattered doll to Spike.

Spike looked down at the scorched mess and almost tossed it away. "Why'd you give this junk to me for?" he muttered in disgust. But Dru's sobs suddenly changed to a shriek of delight.

"Miss Edith!" She reached her arms out for the doll.

"Well, what d'you know?" he smirked, handing her the beloved prophetic doll.

Drusilla cuddled the doll gently in her arms and swayed, rocking Miss Edith. "There, there now. We'll see her again. And next time she won't throw Miss Edith so hard. Mummy promises."

TBC