3007, a heartbeat later
"Do I know you?" Spike face betrays the innocence of his question as my thoughts whirl with the possibilities of demons on the Earth once more.
"You don't remember me? My poor Spike. You surely remember the love we shared. The stars still sing of it. Our song is never ending," Drusilla replies, slipping pale and wraithlike from the shadows into the light filtering onto the street from Aimée's home. Spike flinches only slightly when she places an open palm on his chest.
"No, I don't." Spike is being matter-of-fact, but Drusilla must hear and feel his heart pounding against his ribs.
"They sang me here. . . now." Drusilla is being strangely calm. "Why would they do that unless you were meant to be mine again?. . . Meant to be with me once again?"
I clear my throat. "Umm. In case you haven't noticed, Spike doesn't remember you."
She turns flashing eyes on me for an instant before returning to Spike. "Perhaps the stars have sent me here to help you remember, my Spike."
"Remember what?" Spike removes her hand from his chest, and she allows the motion.
"You may be human now, but you need to remember who you really are, love." Almost methodically, she transforms before him into full vampire face, fangs and golden eyes glinting. Spike's eyes widen, but I think I catch a glimpse of recognition deep inside.
With a roar, Drusilla lunges at me, slicing at me with razor sharp fingernails. Barely registered pain shoots daggers across my cheek as Drusilla's palm connects with my flesh. Without slayer or vampire strength, I tumble to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and Aimée screams my name. Blinking hard to combat the unexpected stars in my eyes, I refocus to view three perplexed creatures. Spike has a restraining hand on Drusilla's forearm. . . not that he could stop her.
"Buffy? Where did you go?" Aimée calls. Her eyes seem to pass right over me as she scans the shadows.
Stunned, I reach my fingers up to my cheek, drawing back blood- saturated fingers. Somehow, I find my voice, "I-I'm here."
"Where?" Spike calls, worry etching his features.
Bracing myself on the wall behind me, I struggle to bring myself to a standing position. "Here. I'm right here."
Their faces are painted with confusion. Only Drusilla is unconcerned.
Drusilla twines long fingers through Spike's and makes little clicking noises with her lips. She licks the forefinger and thumb of her free hand and raises them to the air as if she can find me with some sort of psychic power. Spike jerks his hand away as if concentrating on locating me. As Aimée inches toward the doorway, I start moving behind the vampiress in hopes of getting close enough to Spike to pull him away before she realizes what is happening.
"She is here. . . . She just disappeared. Where did she go? Where did she go?" Drusilla weaves her head from side to side, sing-songing, "Nobody knows. Nobody knows." She suddenly forces Spike's face an inch from her own. "Alas, the poor girl is gone. And that means, you're to go. . . with me." With her final words, her expression becomes unexpectedly cogent.
The truth breaks across Spike's face just as I make the same realization. "Buffy's invisible. . . . The ring!" He stares down at the band on his finger.
Like a raccoon that is attracted to shiny objects, Drusilla focuses intently on Spike's ring. "Pretty circlet." She daintily touches the metal and yanks her hand back as if burned, never removing her eyes from the object of psychic pain. "A powerful circlet. But what are the attributes of that power? We will find out. My Spike and I. And we shall harness its power for our own."
Once I'm certain that Aimée is safely within the walls of her home, I make my move and sweep my legs against Drusilla's, causing the vampiress to stagger back and brace herself against the wall behind her.
Swiftly, I land several hard kicks to her face and mid-section, severely overestimating my human strength in hopes of knocking her unconscious. Because of my mistake, Drusilla fluidly grabs my foot by the ankle, flinging me away from her. I flip backwards and land neatly upright.
While Drusilla is distracted by invisible me, Spike readies himself to lunge at her, palming a makeshift stake that Aimée must have passed him. As soon as he hears my feet hitting the pavement, he rushes her. For a brief moment, I'm jealous as I watch Spike spar, almost dance, with his ex- lover. Instinctually, they know each others' fighting styles, but Spike quickly tires because of the immense human effort required to maintain the equilibrium of a fight with someone with preternatural strength.
The battle ends abruptly with Drusilla pinning her former lover against the wall with the misappropriated stake to his heart. . . a stake that will kill a human just as easily as a vampire. Spike's chest is heaving against her arm as they stare each other down.
"The moon is irate and says you must come with me now," she whispers, her lips hovering close to his. Without moving her head, she lifts a hand and snaps her fingers sharply. . . once, twice.
Seven vampire minions seemingly detach themselves from the darkness. Two approach Drusilla and roughly take hold of Spike. Drusilla hands another minion the wood. "Dispose of that for me and ready the portable transport."
The vampire nods, and Drusilla turns back to Spike. "Come, Spike. We will be on our way. We have to follow the moon home. She's inviting us to the bear house for a window dressing party."
* * *
3007, after Drusilla's departure
"Aimée?"
Squinting into the night, Aimée pokes her head around her door. "Buffy?"
"They're gone, and they took Spike." I step toward her.
Her eyes find me. "And you're visible again." She takes me by the hand and pulls me inside.
"I'm not exactly sure how to trigger it." At her questioning look, I hold up my left hand and explain, "The ring has powers; one of them is the ability to turn invisible. And I'm not sure how to control it."
"Ah. Buffy, I haven't seen a vampire in five years, and that was a whole passel of them. What are they doing back?"
"I honestly don't know. But we need to find the slayer right away. Do you know where to find her?"
"She's moved quite a bit in the last few years, but I think. . . ." Aimée searches through her wrist computer. "Yep, I've got her latest."
"The slayer's still Reyni?" My heart jolts with hope at seeing the young girl. . . woman with dark curls and a spunky laugh again.
"Yep."
"I think we need her help."
* * *
3007, twelve minutes later
A small girl with huge chocolate-colored eyes and a mass of light brown curls meets Aimée and I at the entrance to Reyni's most recent address. She smiles widely, asking politely, "May I help you?"
I squat to the ground on her level. She has to be around four- or five-years-old and clutches a teddy bear to her chest. "Yes, we're looking for Reyni. . . Reyni Zaiman."
"That's my mommy. I'm Aydin. I'm this many years." She holds up five fingers.
"You're five?" I ask brightly. Reyni has a daughter. . . a beautiful daughter, and Reyni used a variation of Ayledan's name. I beam with pride at her as if she is my own.
Aydin nods. "Five. I'll go get Mommy. Wait right here?"
"Yes, we'll wait."
I rise and survey the entranceway to Reyni's apartment. . . neat and tidy hallway with pictures of flowers and light decorating the walls. A stray stuffed bunny lies to one side in a forgotten heap, and for some weird reason, the thought of Anya brings a small smile to my face.
Aydin pops around the corner again. "Who are you?"
Aimée and I exchange glances. I make a quick decision. "Buffy. Tell her it's Buffy."
Obediently, Aydin nods. "Buffy."
She scampers away only to return rather quickly, dragging her mother by the hand. In five years, Reyni hasn't changed much. She is dressed in a loose, multi-colored dress with brown sandals. Her hair is much longer, and her face and gait are still youthful. However, she possesses tightness around her eyes that I've never seen.
Her eyes light with disbelief and hope when she recognizes me. "B- buffy?" Before I have a chance to react, I'm engulfed in her arms. "It's you. Aydin told me who it was, but I didn't believe her. Oh my g. . . , is it really you?" She draws back but keeps her hands on my shoulders.
"Yes, Reyni, it's me." I grin at her.
"But how? I don't understand. You've been dead and gone for five years. And. . . ." She touches my cheek, and I note that we wear matching tears. "You're a-alive."
"Yes, yes I am. It's a long story. But right now, I need your help. Something's happened."
She becomes immediately serious. "What?"
"How long have the vampires been back?"
* * *
3007, thirty-three minutes later
Turns out that Bear Moon is an abandoned nightclub in a deteriorating area of the city. . . a place where vampires would naturally have gravitated in the past. Reyni knew exactly where to go when I told her the details of Drusilla's ramblings. Insane though she is, Drusilla is excellent at dropping clues, and she's definitely not in the slow group. She wants us here for some reason.
The place smells of old sneakers that have been worn too many times without being cleaned by a computer system. Since being closed to the public, the former club has been transformed into a storage warehouse. Judging from the amount of dust and cobwebs in the corners and on surfaces, the place is used to house objects and products that no one wants to claim. No windows adorn the walls, so I'm not sure if Drusilla's "window dressing" comment is insignificant or if it is something I am yet to understand.
The only bright spot in a nightclub is generally the bathroom, which is also probably the only place not currently being used for storage. Sure enough the lights are on in the restroom, and voices filter to us from that direction.
Crouching with Reyni and Aimée behind some poly-synthetic crates reminds me of the many nights Spike and I spent training the now full-grown slayer beside me. Reyni smiles knowingly at me.
"Ready?" Reyni asks with authority. She's definitely grown into her role, but I wonder just how much she's been through since Spike and I were sent into the sun.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Aimée offers, holding up her weapon, a neat black projectile device she invented that shoots bullets that release and inject wood upon impact with flesh.
If I were still the slayer, I would have preferred the stake that Reyni carries, but since I'm virtually human, I bear the same tool as Aimée. Together, the three of us are sure to make short work of the vamps. I only hope none of us ends up getting killed in the process.
"You sure you want to take the lead, Buffy?" Reyni wants to make sure that I'm okay to face a throng of vampires in my weaker human form.
I've confronted enough demons in my day. "Yeah. Let's go."
We charge the bathroom as strategically as we can through the single entrance and narrow doorway. The vampires are automatically alert to our presence and stare with glaring yellow eyes at our gall.
"Buffy," Drusilla drawls. "Welcome, my dear."
"I'm here because you wanted me here. Isn't that right?" I ask the question, so I can use the short delay to quickly survey the room. Expertly, I take in the location of everything in the room.
"Yes, I did," I vaguely hear. Spike is on her right, gagged and tied to the stall post, and nine-fanged minions line the two adjacent walls of the triangular-shaped room. "The muses said you would come if I said the right things."
"So, show me what you wanted to show me."
"After you lower your weapon." She eyes the device in my hand, which is pointed straight at her heart.
"Why should I lower my weapon in a roomful of vampires? Are you crazy? Oh, wait, you *are* crazy."
Hissing, Drusilla brings a long knife to Spike's throat. To his credit, he doesn't move or appear panicked. "Lower your weapon."
My arm moves slowly to my side. At least, Aimée and Reyni still have their weapons trained. I feel better with a slayer and a weapons tech at my back. "Show me."
Drusilla bows slightly with the regality of a princess in a royal court. I'll never have that kind of grace. "As you wish."
She turns her back on me in a display of disdain for our party's strength and walks deliberately the triangular corner of the smooth bathroom walls. She raises her right arm with her index finger and one sharp, scarlet-tipped fingernail extended. Growling deep in the back of her throat, she draws her arm rapidly to the ground as if sketching a line in the air.
Nothing happens for a few seconds.
Then, a small tear forms near the center of the air tracing Drusilla made. Winds begin blowing, and the vortex blossoms outward in a huge whirling circle. Drusilla staggers to Spike's side and raises the knife.
As she lowers the knife, I launch myself at her, knowing that Aimée's device won't fire properly against the gale-like force. I squint against the abrading force of the winds as a minion crashes into me. Barely glimpsing Drusilla bring the knife to Spike, I fall to the ground on my back but manage to fire a bullet into the vampire's chest.
He explodes into dust over me, and I clamor up to view Reyni wrestling with Drusilla. The vampiress had apparently been cutting Spike loose from his restraints because he is struggling to shrug them off his upper body. I momentarily note Reyni's grace and ease before joining Aimée in her battle with the remaining minions in the attempt to reach Spike.
Aimée and I manage to dust five more minions when Drusilla flings Reyni aside. She slumps to the ground unconscious near the vortex. The power from the swirling dimensional tear laps at her ankles and draws her body closer. Fearfully, I rush to her side and bend to grip her shoulders, pulling her away from harm.
"Buffy! Look out!"
Spike's voice startles me, and instinctually I jump just as Drusilla grabs my torso and rips me away from the now shrinking vortex. She hefts my body as if I'm weightless and hurls me into the wall.
Her whisper is harsh above the loud winds that are beating against my ears, "We will be coming. That's the message the muses wanted me to give you." She rakes her long nails down my back, drawing a cry of pain from me as I feel warm, wet blood pouring over my ribs.
A few sharp clicks of her heels later, she and her remaining minions are gone.
The wind ceases.
I want to move, but I can't. My body is screaming in a pain I haven't felt since before I became a slayer.
A gentle hand touches my upper arm and brushes the hair out of my eyes. "Buffy? Sweetheart, are you okay? Can you stand? We have to get you some help. Does this hurt?"
Strong arms reach under and across the front of my body in an effort to turn me over. In response, I groan and lift my head.
"S-spike? Which question do you want me to answer first?"
He winks at me, relief evident in the depths of his eyes. "Give me a crumb, at least, pet."
My stomach drops as he references what's now an amusing moment from our past. Our past? The pain is momentarily forgotten, and I struggle to sit up. Spike's arm slips around my waist to hold me up. "Y-you remember?"
He brushes his lips over mine. . . tender, affectionate, hungry, inviting. I lean in to deepen the kiss, but he pulls away.
His blue eyes are so close to my green ones that my breath catches in my throat. "Yes, love, I remember. . . . I remember every moment."
I reach up to caress his cheek. "That's wonderful news! The best news all day!"
We exchange smiles, and he nuzzles my neck.
"I love you." His words are so simple yet so needed.
"I love you, too. You don't know how much."
"Want the bad news now, pet?" His expression is serious.
"Bad news?" I glance around and gratefully view a very much alive Aimée assisting Reyni.
"Dru took my ring."
TBC. . . 3007 still, Who are the muses Dru is speaking of? How did Dru get here? And what's new with Reyni? Stay tuned!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Hope you had a wonderful time with your families if you got to see them! I'm grateful for many things, including my family and dear friends! I'm also thankful for you, my dear readers, who have given me such encouragement! :o) Thanks bunches!
Sandy http://darkprophecies.net/eternaldevotion
"Do I know you?" Spike face betrays the innocence of his question as my thoughts whirl with the possibilities of demons on the Earth once more.
"You don't remember me? My poor Spike. You surely remember the love we shared. The stars still sing of it. Our song is never ending," Drusilla replies, slipping pale and wraithlike from the shadows into the light filtering onto the street from Aimée's home. Spike flinches only slightly when she places an open palm on his chest.
"No, I don't." Spike is being matter-of-fact, but Drusilla must hear and feel his heart pounding against his ribs.
"They sang me here. . . now." Drusilla is being strangely calm. "Why would they do that unless you were meant to be mine again?. . . Meant to be with me once again?"
I clear my throat. "Umm. In case you haven't noticed, Spike doesn't remember you."
She turns flashing eyes on me for an instant before returning to Spike. "Perhaps the stars have sent me here to help you remember, my Spike."
"Remember what?" Spike removes her hand from his chest, and she allows the motion.
"You may be human now, but you need to remember who you really are, love." Almost methodically, she transforms before him into full vampire face, fangs and golden eyes glinting. Spike's eyes widen, but I think I catch a glimpse of recognition deep inside.
With a roar, Drusilla lunges at me, slicing at me with razor sharp fingernails. Barely registered pain shoots daggers across my cheek as Drusilla's palm connects with my flesh. Without slayer or vampire strength, I tumble to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and Aimée screams my name. Blinking hard to combat the unexpected stars in my eyes, I refocus to view three perplexed creatures. Spike has a restraining hand on Drusilla's forearm. . . not that he could stop her.
"Buffy? Where did you go?" Aimée calls. Her eyes seem to pass right over me as she scans the shadows.
Stunned, I reach my fingers up to my cheek, drawing back blood- saturated fingers. Somehow, I find my voice, "I-I'm here."
"Where?" Spike calls, worry etching his features.
Bracing myself on the wall behind me, I struggle to bring myself to a standing position. "Here. I'm right here."
Their faces are painted with confusion. Only Drusilla is unconcerned.
Drusilla twines long fingers through Spike's and makes little clicking noises with her lips. She licks the forefinger and thumb of her free hand and raises them to the air as if she can find me with some sort of psychic power. Spike jerks his hand away as if concentrating on locating me. As Aimée inches toward the doorway, I start moving behind the vampiress in hopes of getting close enough to Spike to pull him away before she realizes what is happening.
"She is here. . . . She just disappeared. Where did she go? Where did she go?" Drusilla weaves her head from side to side, sing-songing, "Nobody knows. Nobody knows." She suddenly forces Spike's face an inch from her own. "Alas, the poor girl is gone. And that means, you're to go. . . with me." With her final words, her expression becomes unexpectedly cogent.
The truth breaks across Spike's face just as I make the same realization. "Buffy's invisible. . . . The ring!" He stares down at the band on his finger.
Like a raccoon that is attracted to shiny objects, Drusilla focuses intently on Spike's ring. "Pretty circlet." She daintily touches the metal and yanks her hand back as if burned, never removing her eyes from the object of psychic pain. "A powerful circlet. But what are the attributes of that power? We will find out. My Spike and I. And we shall harness its power for our own."
Once I'm certain that Aimée is safely within the walls of her home, I make my move and sweep my legs against Drusilla's, causing the vampiress to stagger back and brace herself against the wall behind her.
Swiftly, I land several hard kicks to her face and mid-section, severely overestimating my human strength in hopes of knocking her unconscious. Because of my mistake, Drusilla fluidly grabs my foot by the ankle, flinging me away from her. I flip backwards and land neatly upright.
While Drusilla is distracted by invisible me, Spike readies himself to lunge at her, palming a makeshift stake that Aimée must have passed him. As soon as he hears my feet hitting the pavement, he rushes her. For a brief moment, I'm jealous as I watch Spike spar, almost dance, with his ex- lover. Instinctually, they know each others' fighting styles, but Spike quickly tires because of the immense human effort required to maintain the equilibrium of a fight with someone with preternatural strength.
The battle ends abruptly with Drusilla pinning her former lover against the wall with the misappropriated stake to his heart. . . a stake that will kill a human just as easily as a vampire. Spike's chest is heaving against her arm as they stare each other down.
"The moon is irate and says you must come with me now," she whispers, her lips hovering close to his. Without moving her head, she lifts a hand and snaps her fingers sharply. . . once, twice.
Seven vampire minions seemingly detach themselves from the darkness. Two approach Drusilla and roughly take hold of Spike. Drusilla hands another minion the wood. "Dispose of that for me and ready the portable transport."
The vampire nods, and Drusilla turns back to Spike. "Come, Spike. We will be on our way. We have to follow the moon home. She's inviting us to the bear house for a window dressing party."
* * *
3007, after Drusilla's departure
"Aimée?"
Squinting into the night, Aimée pokes her head around her door. "Buffy?"
"They're gone, and they took Spike." I step toward her.
Her eyes find me. "And you're visible again." She takes me by the hand and pulls me inside.
"I'm not exactly sure how to trigger it." At her questioning look, I hold up my left hand and explain, "The ring has powers; one of them is the ability to turn invisible. And I'm not sure how to control it."
"Ah. Buffy, I haven't seen a vampire in five years, and that was a whole passel of them. What are they doing back?"
"I honestly don't know. But we need to find the slayer right away. Do you know where to find her?"
"She's moved quite a bit in the last few years, but I think. . . ." Aimée searches through her wrist computer. "Yep, I've got her latest."
"The slayer's still Reyni?" My heart jolts with hope at seeing the young girl. . . woman with dark curls and a spunky laugh again.
"Yep."
"I think we need her help."
* * *
3007, twelve minutes later
A small girl with huge chocolate-colored eyes and a mass of light brown curls meets Aimée and I at the entrance to Reyni's most recent address. She smiles widely, asking politely, "May I help you?"
I squat to the ground on her level. She has to be around four- or five-years-old and clutches a teddy bear to her chest. "Yes, we're looking for Reyni. . . Reyni Zaiman."
"That's my mommy. I'm Aydin. I'm this many years." She holds up five fingers.
"You're five?" I ask brightly. Reyni has a daughter. . . a beautiful daughter, and Reyni used a variation of Ayledan's name. I beam with pride at her as if she is my own.
Aydin nods. "Five. I'll go get Mommy. Wait right here?"
"Yes, we'll wait."
I rise and survey the entranceway to Reyni's apartment. . . neat and tidy hallway with pictures of flowers and light decorating the walls. A stray stuffed bunny lies to one side in a forgotten heap, and for some weird reason, the thought of Anya brings a small smile to my face.
Aydin pops around the corner again. "Who are you?"
Aimée and I exchange glances. I make a quick decision. "Buffy. Tell her it's Buffy."
Obediently, Aydin nods. "Buffy."
She scampers away only to return rather quickly, dragging her mother by the hand. In five years, Reyni hasn't changed much. She is dressed in a loose, multi-colored dress with brown sandals. Her hair is much longer, and her face and gait are still youthful. However, she possesses tightness around her eyes that I've never seen.
Her eyes light with disbelief and hope when she recognizes me. "B- buffy?" Before I have a chance to react, I'm engulfed in her arms. "It's you. Aydin told me who it was, but I didn't believe her. Oh my g. . . , is it really you?" She draws back but keeps her hands on my shoulders.
"Yes, Reyni, it's me." I grin at her.
"But how? I don't understand. You've been dead and gone for five years. And. . . ." She touches my cheek, and I note that we wear matching tears. "You're a-alive."
"Yes, yes I am. It's a long story. But right now, I need your help. Something's happened."
She becomes immediately serious. "What?"
"How long have the vampires been back?"
* * *
3007, thirty-three minutes later
Turns out that Bear Moon is an abandoned nightclub in a deteriorating area of the city. . . a place where vampires would naturally have gravitated in the past. Reyni knew exactly where to go when I told her the details of Drusilla's ramblings. Insane though she is, Drusilla is excellent at dropping clues, and she's definitely not in the slow group. She wants us here for some reason.
The place smells of old sneakers that have been worn too many times without being cleaned by a computer system. Since being closed to the public, the former club has been transformed into a storage warehouse. Judging from the amount of dust and cobwebs in the corners and on surfaces, the place is used to house objects and products that no one wants to claim. No windows adorn the walls, so I'm not sure if Drusilla's "window dressing" comment is insignificant or if it is something I am yet to understand.
The only bright spot in a nightclub is generally the bathroom, which is also probably the only place not currently being used for storage. Sure enough the lights are on in the restroom, and voices filter to us from that direction.
Crouching with Reyni and Aimée behind some poly-synthetic crates reminds me of the many nights Spike and I spent training the now full-grown slayer beside me. Reyni smiles knowingly at me.
"Ready?" Reyni asks with authority. She's definitely grown into her role, but I wonder just how much she's been through since Spike and I were sent into the sun.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Aimée offers, holding up her weapon, a neat black projectile device she invented that shoots bullets that release and inject wood upon impact with flesh.
If I were still the slayer, I would have preferred the stake that Reyni carries, but since I'm virtually human, I bear the same tool as Aimée. Together, the three of us are sure to make short work of the vamps. I only hope none of us ends up getting killed in the process.
"You sure you want to take the lead, Buffy?" Reyni wants to make sure that I'm okay to face a throng of vampires in my weaker human form.
I've confronted enough demons in my day. "Yeah. Let's go."
We charge the bathroom as strategically as we can through the single entrance and narrow doorway. The vampires are automatically alert to our presence and stare with glaring yellow eyes at our gall.
"Buffy," Drusilla drawls. "Welcome, my dear."
"I'm here because you wanted me here. Isn't that right?" I ask the question, so I can use the short delay to quickly survey the room. Expertly, I take in the location of everything in the room.
"Yes, I did," I vaguely hear. Spike is on her right, gagged and tied to the stall post, and nine-fanged minions line the two adjacent walls of the triangular-shaped room. "The muses said you would come if I said the right things."
"So, show me what you wanted to show me."
"After you lower your weapon." She eyes the device in my hand, which is pointed straight at her heart.
"Why should I lower my weapon in a roomful of vampires? Are you crazy? Oh, wait, you *are* crazy."
Hissing, Drusilla brings a long knife to Spike's throat. To his credit, he doesn't move or appear panicked. "Lower your weapon."
My arm moves slowly to my side. At least, Aimée and Reyni still have their weapons trained. I feel better with a slayer and a weapons tech at my back. "Show me."
Drusilla bows slightly with the regality of a princess in a royal court. I'll never have that kind of grace. "As you wish."
She turns her back on me in a display of disdain for our party's strength and walks deliberately the triangular corner of the smooth bathroom walls. She raises her right arm with her index finger and one sharp, scarlet-tipped fingernail extended. Growling deep in the back of her throat, she draws her arm rapidly to the ground as if sketching a line in the air.
Nothing happens for a few seconds.
Then, a small tear forms near the center of the air tracing Drusilla made. Winds begin blowing, and the vortex blossoms outward in a huge whirling circle. Drusilla staggers to Spike's side and raises the knife.
As she lowers the knife, I launch myself at her, knowing that Aimée's device won't fire properly against the gale-like force. I squint against the abrading force of the winds as a minion crashes into me. Barely glimpsing Drusilla bring the knife to Spike, I fall to the ground on my back but manage to fire a bullet into the vampire's chest.
He explodes into dust over me, and I clamor up to view Reyni wrestling with Drusilla. The vampiress had apparently been cutting Spike loose from his restraints because he is struggling to shrug them off his upper body. I momentarily note Reyni's grace and ease before joining Aimée in her battle with the remaining minions in the attempt to reach Spike.
Aimée and I manage to dust five more minions when Drusilla flings Reyni aside. She slumps to the ground unconscious near the vortex. The power from the swirling dimensional tear laps at her ankles and draws her body closer. Fearfully, I rush to her side and bend to grip her shoulders, pulling her away from harm.
"Buffy! Look out!"
Spike's voice startles me, and instinctually I jump just as Drusilla grabs my torso and rips me away from the now shrinking vortex. She hefts my body as if I'm weightless and hurls me into the wall.
Her whisper is harsh above the loud winds that are beating against my ears, "We will be coming. That's the message the muses wanted me to give you." She rakes her long nails down my back, drawing a cry of pain from me as I feel warm, wet blood pouring over my ribs.
A few sharp clicks of her heels later, she and her remaining minions are gone.
The wind ceases.
I want to move, but I can't. My body is screaming in a pain I haven't felt since before I became a slayer.
A gentle hand touches my upper arm and brushes the hair out of my eyes. "Buffy? Sweetheart, are you okay? Can you stand? We have to get you some help. Does this hurt?"
Strong arms reach under and across the front of my body in an effort to turn me over. In response, I groan and lift my head.
"S-spike? Which question do you want me to answer first?"
He winks at me, relief evident in the depths of his eyes. "Give me a crumb, at least, pet."
My stomach drops as he references what's now an amusing moment from our past. Our past? The pain is momentarily forgotten, and I struggle to sit up. Spike's arm slips around my waist to hold me up. "Y-you remember?"
He brushes his lips over mine. . . tender, affectionate, hungry, inviting. I lean in to deepen the kiss, but he pulls away.
His blue eyes are so close to my green ones that my breath catches in my throat. "Yes, love, I remember. . . . I remember every moment."
I reach up to caress his cheek. "That's wonderful news! The best news all day!"
We exchange smiles, and he nuzzles my neck.
"I love you." His words are so simple yet so needed.
"I love you, too. You don't know how much."
"Want the bad news now, pet?" His expression is serious.
"Bad news?" I glance around and gratefully view a very much alive Aimée assisting Reyni.
"Dru took my ring."
TBC. . . 3007 still, Who are the muses Dru is speaking of? How did Dru get here? And what's new with Reyni? Stay tuned!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Hope you had a wonderful time with your families if you got to see them! I'm grateful for many things, including my family and dear friends! I'm also thankful for you, my dear readers, who have given me such encouragement! :o) Thanks bunches!
Sandy http://darkprophecies.net/eternaldevotion