A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. You know who you are. *Blows
kisses* /mell
Chapter 10 The eyes followed her everywhere. She couldn't see them, but she felt them, like a burn slowly spreading all over her back. Everywhere she went, there they where, staring at her. She felt like she'd go crazy if she couldn't make them go away. She ran.
Soon she reached what looked like a lake, but there was no water. Slowly the cold dry mud was covered in snow and ice. The ice was so blank she could see her own reflection, but underneath it was only darkness. The wind grew stronger, and she started freezing. She quickly ran to stand behind a tree to get some shielding from the wind, and then she saw it. Well, not really saw it, but she could see, and feel, that something was on the ice. It didn't really have shape; it was more like a big cloud of darkness and death that almost floated in the air. She could hear it sniffing in the air for something, wheezing. No, not something, her. The fear gripped her and she backed away, not wanting to be anywhere near the thing that was now getting closer to her. But then she couldn't move. She fought as heard as she could to lift her foot and take a step, but it was like was paralyzed. And the thing kept getting closer. When she saw it's red, glowing eyes, she screamed.
~*~
"Buffy," someone said loudly while shaking her quite violently in the arms. "Wake up!"
She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the blond vampire sitting on the bed beside her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked confusedly, breaking her arms free from his grasp to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"You where screaming," he said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "I thought something was wrong."
She shrugged and pulled her blanket tighter around her. The room suddenly felt awfully chilly.
"Just a bad dream," she murmured. "It was nothing. Nothing at all."
He looked at her, unsure what to think.
"You certain that was all it was? You seemed really scared. Did you have one of your slayer dreams?" Concern for her was written all over his face.
"No, I don't think so, just a bad dream," she said, sounding far more convinced then she actually was.
He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked her deeply into her eyes.
"You really sure?"
She swallowed and nodded. 'Yeah, perfectly fine', she thought shakily. 'Just scared half to death.' But Spike seemed to be convinced. He got up slowly, reluctant to leave her alone, and then walked out of her room.
With a groan she lay back down in the bed and tried to fall asleep again, even though she knew it would be pointless.
~*~
"There was this thing, and it followed me. It-- It sniffed in the air for me. I've never been so scared in my whole life." She shuddered at the memory of the creature.
Giles put a comforting hand on her arm, almost as if to protect her from her own thoughts.
"Maybe it was just a dream," he said calmly.
She shook her head violently.
"No, it wasn't just a dream. It was way too--way too real for that."
He nodded absently. Letting go of her arm he got up and took down a book from a shelf. Slowly he started looking through it.
"So, research mode?" Buffy asked tiredly.
He nodded again. 'Way with the nodding', Buffy thought. She wasn't really comfortable around Giles anymore, not since that weird phone call and his obvious lies about it afterwards. Maybe it was just Anna's visions wigging her out.
"You mind if I go grab some breakfast?" she asked, trying to sound like everything was okay between them.
Again with the nodding. Buffy sighed and got up from the comfortable armchair she'd been sitting in for the past twenty minutes. He barely even noticed when she walked out through the door.
~*~
"Yeah, that was like SO cool!" Willow said enthusiastically. "The look on his face when he saw it was you, it was priceless."
Alex laughed and took another peace of chocolate from the bag they where sharing.
"Yes, I noticed. Nils and I have never gotten along that well."
Willow glanced at her curiously.
"Why? Did you turn his mom into a frog or something?" Another laugh.
Alex hit her playfully on the arm, but couldn't help but laugh to.
"No! We just. Never gotten along that well, no reason." Willow kept looking at her. "All tight, all right!" she caved. "I'll tell you, but promise me not to laugh." Willow quickly got herself together and gave her new friend a humorless face. "Okay. Once, in third grade, I pushed him into a garbage can 'cause he'd been teasing me about my aunt, and he got garbage all over him. All the other kids laughed and he was teased about it for days. You know, he lost a fight with a girl. Not good for the reputation. Especially not when the girl is three years younger. Since then we've fought every time we've met."
The red-haired girl really tried to keep herself together, but soon she was laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh laugh all you want!" Alex said, trying to sound mad, but having trouble not laughing too. "It was really traumatic."
That did it, they both doubled over, laughing so much it felt like they couldn't get any air.
"Ladies, ladies, what have we here?" someone all of a sudden said behind them.
They both looked up, shocked at seeing the blond Swedish man standing there.
"Nils," Alex said with a hint of steel in her voice. "I could ask you the same thing."
He shrugged and gave Willow his most charming smile.
"How do you do, miss? I don't believe we've met."
She smiled back hesitantly, not sure what to think of the man. Her first impression from the night before hadn't been very good, but Anya had said lots of positive things about him. But since when had she listened to Anya anyway?
"Yeah, we have. Last night, remember? I was helping Alex with that spell that kept you and your pals frozen."
An expression of recognition passed over his face, but he showed no emotions.
"Yes, now I remember you. You didn't say anything then, though. Must be boring being in the background like that, huh?" His smile didn't reach his eyes. A sudden chill went down her spine.
"Oh, background suits me fine," she said coldly. "You know what. I see a trash can over there, you feel like taking a bath?" After a quick look around to make sure no one was watching them, she whispered some words in a strange languages and the trashcan slowly started flying towards them.
Nils backed away and shot Alex a deadly glare.
"That is not very funny, witch."
She smiled at him, but not in any way a friendly smile.
"It wasn't supposed to be either."
Nils then hurried out from the room, going to search for the slayer and her watcher.
~*~
Spike hesitated only for a second before knocking on the door. He held the blanket over his head, protecting his skin from the dangerous sunbeams. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened.
"Hi," he said in relief, before stepping inside, away from the sun. "Mind if I come in?" The last thing was said after she'd closed the door behind him.
"I don't think I have any choice," Anna responded in fake annoyance. "What brings you here?"
Spike shrugged and dropped the blanket on the floor.
"Nothing, much. Just thought I'd pop in, look what you're doing."
The seer chuckled and reached down to grab the blanker. After neatly folding it and putting it on a chair, she walked into the kitchen.
"You and I both no that isn't true, William," she said seriously. "Something is bothering you."
Slowly he nodded before sitting down as well.
"Yeah. The Slayer's had a strange dream last night," he said with a concerned voice.
"A dream, huh? Everyone has dreams. And most of them are just dreams, nothing else."
He shrugged and gave Anna a pensive look.
"Yeah, but I don't think this was one of them," he said sternly. "I'm thinking that something big is coming, and the Slayers picking up on it."
Anna nodded absently and sighed.
"You know I can't tell you anymore about that then I already have," she said, almost apologetically.
Spike snorted and got up.
"Yes, I know that. But isn't there any way to go around that, to bend the rules a bit?" he said while pacing back and forth.
She shook her head.
"No, I'm sorry," she said. After a moment of hesitation she continued. "But there is some other things I can tell you, if you want. Things that are more personal."
Spike shot her a surprised look. That wasn't what he'd come to her for. Or maybe it was, because why else would he have gone her in the middle of the day, when all of the Scooby's thought he was asleep, nicking the car and not tell them where he was going? But quite frankly, he was afraid of what she would say. Afraid that she would tell him that he wouldn't have a chance with Buffy, that he'd messed it up forever that night in her bathroom. But at the same time he couldn't wait to hear what the future had in store for him and his Slayer.
Anna saw his mixed emotions, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Come and sit down," she said, leading him back to his chair. "Ask me anything."
He sighed and thought about it for a moment. His head had been filled with questions for months, but at that exact second he had a hard time coming up with one.
"Will she ever love me?" he finally asked. Hope and fear filled his eyes as he waited for Anna's response.
She smiled sweetly at him, and squeezed his hand gently.
"What makes you think she doesn't now?" she asked softly.
The vampire took a deep breath and stared at her in shock. Not the answer he would have expected.
"What you mean? She loves me now, at this minute? But why. Why won't she tell me then? If she loves me, everything could work out fine between us."
He couldn't believe what he'd just been told, it was too good to be true.
Anna sighed and gave him a secretive smile.
"She maybe doesn't know herself yet," she suggested. "I should wait if I were you, wait and let her come to terms with her own emotions."
"Will she be with me then?" he asked, hope now in his whole expression.
"That hasn't been decided yet, or it's just being concealed from me for some reason."
Spike slouched in his chair, not wanting to hope too much, but he couldn't help it.
"Maybe I should go back," he mumbled and got up, quickly unfolding his blanket and wrapping it around him. "I see you soon, okay?"
Anna smiled, happy to have been able to cheer the vampire up a bit.
"Yes, you will. Good bye, William."
She watched him leave with the rented car down the road, his bleached hair gleaming in the stray sunbeams that had gotten through the covers keeping the light out of the car. Smiling to herself she walked back into the house.
~*~
Nils was going around without any real destination in the hotel. He knew he should try to find the Slayer and her Watcher, but he couldn't work up the nerve just yet. He'd heard rumours and stories about her for months, about her strength and how she'd battled demons for years with the aid of her friends, but he had always shrugged it of, saying that whatever she and her friends could do, he and his men could do it better. But the night before had changed things. He had been truly impressed with how she and the others fought, and the fact that she had both a vampire and Alexandra helping didn't make matters any better.
He felt a sudden rise of anger at the thought of Alexandra. She and her family had been feared for ages in the town, and no one had really had the guts to say anything bad about them. But there had still been talking. Gossip about her aunt not aging, and her mother being a witch. When Nils was younger he didn't believe it, but now he knew it was true. His hatred for Alexandra had no real reasons, it had just grown in the back of his head since he was a little boy. Both Nils and his brother Marcus had been thought not to get close to her--or her family. They only meant trouble.
Suddenly someone walking into him interrupted his thoughts.
"Vad fan håller du på me'? Kan du inte se dig for, eller?" ("What the hell are you doing? Are you blind or something?") he said aggressively, before noticing who it was. It was the vampire that had been helping the Slayer.
Spike frowned at the man, and had to look up slightly to meet his gaze.
"What's up with you? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed or somethin'?" Then also he noticed who he was talking to. "Ah, so it's you. How's the sudden freedom to move working for ya, hard to get used to?" Big smirk.
Doing his best to look confident and not at all frightened by the vampire, Nils shrugged.
"Working just fine thank you." He stretched out his right hand, making sure it wasn't shaking. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Nils, and you are?"
Spike seemed genuinely amused by the man, and he dragged it out before answering, ignoring the outstretched hand.
"Spike."
Nils nodded apprehensively and backed away slightly against his own will. No matter how hard he tried to look fearless, something about the vampire made him want to run away and not look back. Maybe it was the hair.
"Okay, Spike. Where's the Slayer?" he asked shakily.
Spike chuckled and walked up the stairs, motioning Nils to follow. Soon they where standing outside a plain, dark-brown hotel room door with the number 25 written over it. Nils was expecting Spike to just burst in without caring what anyone thought, but to his surprised the blond raised his hand and knocked softly on the door.
"Pet, you in there?" he called out.
A series of sounds could be heard through the door, and soon a woman said.
"Come in, it's unlocked."
They both walked in, Spike now looking much less intimidating, a little unsure of himself. He shot Buffy a quick glance before turning his eyes away from her completely. He looked almost shy.
Suddenly Nils got other things to think about then the way the vampire was acting. The Slayer had just noticed him.
"So it's you," she said, her voice bordering on a threat. "I was just about to gather up the Scoobies and go look for you."
"The Scoobies?" he asked confused.
She ignored him. Buffy pulled out two chairs from the small table below the window and pointed one out to him, while taking the other one herself. Spike looked unsure of what to do for a moment, before sighing heavily and leaving the room.
"You two had a fight or something? Ah, that's what happens when you ally with vampires." He kept up his self-confident attitude even though he was truly frightened by the small blond woman sitting opposite him. She didn't look very dangerous, but he knew better then to underestimate her.
She scowled at him.
"If I were you I would be quiet and listen from now on. I'm gonna go call Giles and Willow, and then the four of us are going to have a talk, mister."
~*~
The voice in the telephone sighed deeply. He seemed to be disappointed.
"You can't expect me to be able to do this any faster then I already am. I think Buffy's suspecting something and maybe also Willow. I can't take any risks," Giles said pleadingly. This wasn't a good time to get the voice's disapproval.
"Yesss," the voice said, sounding almost like a snake. "The Ssslayer ssuspects, but if you hurry, ssshe wont figure it out in time. There isss no more time for your gamesss."
Giles couldn't help but shudder at the sounds coming out of the phone. No matter how many times he spoke with the thing-- he didn't have a better word for it -- he still couldn't get used to it. More then once he'd wondered if he'd taken on more then he could handle when he established contact with it.
"I will do as you ask," he said with a sigh. He knew better then to argue with it for too long. Things could go very wrong if he did. "Give me a few days."
He could hear it's wheezing breath.
"A few daysss? I've given you that before. But as you wisssh. You got three daysss, after that I want what you agreed to give me. Or elssse I might change my mind. "
Giles swallowed painfully and nodded. Remembering it couldn't see him he cleared his throat.
"Yes, yes," he whispered shakily.
A soft, evil laugh was heard and then the line went dead.
TBC
Chapter 10 The eyes followed her everywhere. She couldn't see them, but she felt them, like a burn slowly spreading all over her back. Everywhere she went, there they where, staring at her. She felt like she'd go crazy if she couldn't make them go away. She ran.
Soon she reached what looked like a lake, but there was no water. Slowly the cold dry mud was covered in snow and ice. The ice was so blank she could see her own reflection, but underneath it was only darkness. The wind grew stronger, and she started freezing. She quickly ran to stand behind a tree to get some shielding from the wind, and then she saw it. Well, not really saw it, but she could see, and feel, that something was on the ice. It didn't really have shape; it was more like a big cloud of darkness and death that almost floated in the air. She could hear it sniffing in the air for something, wheezing. No, not something, her. The fear gripped her and she backed away, not wanting to be anywhere near the thing that was now getting closer to her. But then she couldn't move. She fought as heard as she could to lift her foot and take a step, but it was like was paralyzed. And the thing kept getting closer. When she saw it's red, glowing eyes, she screamed.
~*~
"Buffy," someone said loudly while shaking her quite violently in the arms. "Wake up!"
She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the blond vampire sitting on the bed beside her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked confusedly, breaking her arms free from his grasp to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"You where screaming," he said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "I thought something was wrong."
She shrugged and pulled her blanket tighter around her. The room suddenly felt awfully chilly.
"Just a bad dream," she murmured. "It was nothing. Nothing at all."
He looked at her, unsure what to think.
"You certain that was all it was? You seemed really scared. Did you have one of your slayer dreams?" Concern for her was written all over his face.
"No, I don't think so, just a bad dream," she said, sounding far more convinced then she actually was.
He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked her deeply into her eyes.
"You really sure?"
She swallowed and nodded. 'Yeah, perfectly fine', she thought shakily. 'Just scared half to death.' But Spike seemed to be convinced. He got up slowly, reluctant to leave her alone, and then walked out of her room.
With a groan she lay back down in the bed and tried to fall asleep again, even though she knew it would be pointless.
~*~
"There was this thing, and it followed me. It-- It sniffed in the air for me. I've never been so scared in my whole life." She shuddered at the memory of the creature.
Giles put a comforting hand on her arm, almost as if to protect her from her own thoughts.
"Maybe it was just a dream," he said calmly.
She shook her head violently.
"No, it wasn't just a dream. It was way too--way too real for that."
He nodded absently. Letting go of her arm he got up and took down a book from a shelf. Slowly he started looking through it.
"So, research mode?" Buffy asked tiredly.
He nodded again. 'Way with the nodding', Buffy thought. She wasn't really comfortable around Giles anymore, not since that weird phone call and his obvious lies about it afterwards. Maybe it was just Anna's visions wigging her out.
"You mind if I go grab some breakfast?" she asked, trying to sound like everything was okay between them.
Again with the nodding. Buffy sighed and got up from the comfortable armchair she'd been sitting in for the past twenty minutes. He barely even noticed when she walked out through the door.
~*~
"Yeah, that was like SO cool!" Willow said enthusiastically. "The look on his face when he saw it was you, it was priceless."
Alex laughed and took another peace of chocolate from the bag they where sharing.
"Yes, I noticed. Nils and I have never gotten along that well."
Willow glanced at her curiously.
"Why? Did you turn his mom into a frog or something?" Another laugh.
Alex hit her playfully on the arm, but couldn't help but laugh to.
"No! We just. Never gotten along that well, no reason." Willow kept looking at her. "All tight, all right!" she caved. "I'll tell you, but promise me not to laugh." Willow quickly got herself together and gave her new friend a humorless face. "Okay. Once, in third grade, I pushed him into a garbage can 'cause he'd been teasing me about my aunt, and he got garbage all over him. All the other kids laughed and he was teased about it for days. You know, he lost a fight with a girl. Not good for the reputation. Especially not when the girl is three years younger. Since then we've fought every time we've met."
The red-haired girl really tried to keep herself together, but soon she was laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh laugh all you want!" Alex said, trying to sound mad, but having trouble not laughing too. "It was really traumatic."
That did it, they both doubled over, laughing so much it felt like they couldn't get any air.
"Ladies, ladies, what have we here?" someone all of a sudden said behind them.
They both looked up, shocked at seeing the blond Swedish man standing there.
"Nils," Alex said with a hint of steel in her voice. "I could ask you the same thing."
He shrugged and gave Willow his most charming smile.
"How do you do, miss? I don't believe we've met."
She smiled back hesitantly, not sure what to think of the man. Her first impression from the night before hadn't been very good, but Anya had said lots of positive things about him. But since when had she listened to Anya anyway?
"Yeah, we have. Last night, remember? I was helping Alex with that spell that kept you and your pals frozen."
An expression of recognition passed over his face, but he showed no emotions.
"Yes, now I remember you. You didn't say anything then, though. Must be boring being in the background like that, huh?" His smile didn't reach his eyes. A sudden chill went down her spine.
"Oh, background suits me fine," she said coldly. "You know what. I see a trash can over there, you feel like taking a bath?" After a quick look around to make sure no one was watching them, she whispered some words in a strange languages and the trashcan slowly started flying towards them.
Nils backed away and shot Alex a deadly glare.
"That is not very funny, witch."
She smiled at him, but not in any way a friendly smile.
"It wasn't supposed to be either."
Nils then hurried out from the room, going to search for the slayer and her watcher.
~*~
Spike hesitated only for a second before knocking on the door. He held the blanket over his head, protecting his skin from the dangerous sunbeams. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened.
"Hi," he said in relief, before stepping inside, away from the sun. "Mind if I come in?" The last thing was said after she'd closed the door behind him.
"I don't think I have any choice," Anna responded in fake annoyance. "What brings you here?"
Spike shrugged and dropped the blanket on the floor.
"Nothing, much. Just thought I'd pop in, look what you're doing."
The seer chuckled and reached down to grab the blanker. After neatly folding it and putting it on a chair, she walked into the kitchen.
"You and I both no that isn't true, William," she said seriously. "Something is bothering you."
Slowly he nodded before sitting down as well.
"Yeah. The Slayer's had a strange dream last night," he said with a concerned voice.
"A dream, huh? Everyone has dreams. And most of them are just dreams, nothing else."
He shrugged and gave Anna a pensive look.
"Yeah, but I don't think this was one of them," he said sternly. "I'm thinking that something big is coming, and the Slayers picking up on it."
Anna nodded absently and sighed.
"You know I can't tell you anymore about that then I already have," she said, almost apologetically.
Spike snorted and got up.
"Yes, I know that. But isn't there any way to go around that, to bend the rules a bit?" he said while pacing back and forth.
She shook her head.
"No, I'm sorry," she said. After a moment of hesitation she continued. "But there is some other things I can tell you, if you want. Things that are more personal."
Spike shot her a surprised look. That wasn't what he'd come to her for. Or maybe it was, because why else would he have gone her in the middle of the day, when all of the Scooby's thought he was asleep, nicking the car and not tell them where he was going? But quite frankly, he was afraid of what she would say. Afraid that she would tell him that he wouldn't have a chance with Buffy, that he'd messed it up forever that night in her bathroom. But at the same time he couldn't wait to hear what the future had in store for him and his Slayer.
Anna saw his mixed emotions, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Come and sit down," she said, leading him back to his chair. "Ask me anything."
He sighed and thought about it for a moment. His head had been filled with questions for months, but at that exact second he had a hard time coming up with one.
"Will she ever love me?" he finally asked. Hope and fear filled his eyes as he waited for Anna's response.
She smiled sweetly at him, and squeezed his hand gently.
"What makes you think she doesn't now?" she asked softly.
The vampire took a deep breath and stared at her in shock. Not the answer he would have expected.
"What you mean? She loves me now, at this minute? But why. Why won't she tell me then? If she loves me, everything could work out fine between us."
He couldn't believe what he'd just been told, it was too good to be true.
Anna sighed and gave him a secretive smile.
"She maybe doesn't know herself yet," she suggested. "I should wait if I were you, wait and let her come to terms with her own emotions."
"Will she be with me then?" he asked, hope now in his whole expression.
"That hasn't been decided yet, or it's just being concealed from me for some reason."
Spike slouched in his chair, not wanting to hope too much, but he couldn't help it.
"Maybe I should go back," he mumbled and got up, quickly unfolding his blanket and wrapping it around him. "I see you soon, okay?"
Anna smiled, happy to have been able to cheer the vampire up a bit.
"Yes, you will. Good bye, William."
She watched him leave with the rented car down the road, his bleached hair gleaming in the stray sunbeams that had gotten through the covers keeping the light out of the car. Smiling to herself she walked back into the house.
~*~
Nils was going around without any real destination in the hotel. He knew he should try to find the Slayer and her Watcher, but he couldn't work up the nerve just yet. He'd heard rumours and stories about her for months, about her strength and how she'd battled demons for years with the aid of her friends, but he had always shrugged it of, saying that whatever she and her friends could do, he and his men could do it better. But the night before had changed things. He had been truly impressed with how she and the others fought, and the fact that she had both a vampire and Alexandra helping didn't make matters any better.
He felt a sudden rise of anger at the thought of Alexandra. She and her family had been feared for ages in the town, and no one had really had the guts to say anything bad about them. But there had still been talking. Gossip about her aunt not aging, and her mother being a witch. When Nils was younger he didn't believe it, but now he knew it was true. His hatred for Alexandra had no real reasons, it had just grown in the back of his head since he was a little boy. Both Nils and his brother Marcus had been thought not to get close to her--or her family. They only meant trouble.
Suddenly someone walking into him interrupted his thoughts.
"Vad fan håller du på me'? Kan du inte se dig for, eller?" ("What the hell are you doing? Are you blind or something?") he said aggressively, before noticing who it was. It was the vampire that had been helping the Slayer.
Spike frowned at the man, and had to look up slightly to meet his gaze.
"What's up with you? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed or somethin'?" Then also he noticed who he was talking to. "Ah, so it's you. How's the sudden freedom to move working for ya, hard to get used to?" Big smirk.
Doing his best to look confident and not at all frightened by the vampire, Nils shrugged.
"Working just fine thank you." He stretched out his right hand, making sure it wasn't shaking. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Nils, and you are?"
Spike seemed genuinely amused by the man, and he dragged it out before answering, ignoring the outstretched hand.
"Spike."
Nils nodded apprehensively and backed away slightly against his own will. No matter how hard he tried to look fearless, something about the vampire made him want to run away and not look back. Maybe it was the hair.
"Okay, Spike. Where's the Slayer?" he asked shakily.
Spike chuckled and walked up the stairs, motioning Nils to follow. Soon they where standing outside a plain, dark-brown hotel room door with the number 25 written over it. Nils was expecting Spike to just burst in without caring what anyone thought, but to his surprised the blond raised his hand and knocked softly on the door.
"Pet, you in there?" he called out.
A series of sounds could be heard through the door, and soon a woman said.
"Come in, it's unlocked."
They both walked in, Spike now looking much less intimidating, a little unsure of himself. He shot Buffy a quick glance before turning his eyes away from her completely. He looked almost shy.
Suddenly Nils got other things to think about then the way the vampire was acting. The Slayer had just noticed him.
"So it's you," she said, her voice bordering on a threat. "I was just about to gather up the Scoobies and go look for you."
"The Scoobies?" he asked confused.
She ignored him. Buffy pulled out two chairs from the small table below the window and pointed one out to him, while taking the other one herself. Spike looked unsure of what to do for a moment, before sighing heavily and leaving the room.
"You two had a fight or something? Ah, that's what happens when you ally with vampires." He kept up his self-confident attitude even though he was truly frightened by the small blond woman sitting opposite him. She didn't look very dangerous, but he knew better then to underestimate her.
She scowled at him.
"If I were you I would be quiet and listen from now on. I'm gonna go call Giles and Willow, and then the four of us are going to have a talk, mister."
~*~
The voice in the telephone sighed deeply. He seemed to be disappointed.
"You can't expect me to be able to do this any faster then I already am. I think Buffy's suspecting something and maybe also Willow. I can't take any risks," Giles said pleadingly. This wasn't a good time to get the voice's disapproval.
"Yesss," the voice said, sounding almost like a snake. "The Ssslayer ssuspects, but if you hurry, ssshe wont figure it out in time. There isss no more time for your gamesss."
Giles couldn't help but shudder at the sounds coming out of the phone. No matter how many times he spoke with the thing-- he didn't have a better word for it -- he still couldn't get used to it. More then once he'd wondered if he'd taken on more then he could handle when he established contact with it.
"I will do as you ask," he said with a sigh. He knew better then to argue with it for too long. Things could go very wrong if he did. "Give me a few days."
He could hear it's wheezing breath.
"A few daysss? I've given you that before. But as you wisssh. You got three daysss, after that I want what you agreed to give me. Or elssse I might change my mind. "
Giles swallowed painfully and nodded. Remembering it couldn't see him he cleared his throat.
"Yes, yes," he whispered shakily.
A soft, evil laugh was heard and then the line went dead.
TBC