Part 9: Faith
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Angel and that Spike guy finally found a way to get inside this ... whatever it is. For a moment there I thought we would all die as we scrambled through that halfway collapsed tunnel with the ceiling just inches above our heads and I'm quite sure it trembled. I saw it trembling.
B is walking ahead of me and I can't help but keep a bit of a distance. There is something ... I don't know. Something is off about her. Back when, when everything was still good between us, I could always feel her. Slayer sense to Slayer sense or something. I knew when she was close and sometimes I could even tell what she was thinking.
Now that connection is dead. Or maybe not dead, but off. All I get from her is a chill and some jumbled images. Like shadows. I don't know, maybe it's because of the coma. Or because B almost died in that explosion. Or maybe because I fucked up everything by trying to steal her boyfriend and kill her friends. Yeah, I guess that's it.
Something has changed. Not only with B, but with me. Before ... before everything happened I always felt so ... angry. I felt like the world owed me something. A better life maybe. It was supposed to treat me like a queen for being the Slayer, I guess. Looking back now I simply can't understand what I was thinking. Why did I do all that? Just because some old demon- worshipping guy made like the loving father I never had and I bought it?
I feel different now. Ever since I had that dream that woke me up, I feel different.
I feel whole for the first time in my life.
"We are getting close." Spike says. He was in my dream and I can't figure out why. I never met the guy before, so why did I go all prophetic dreamy with him? I never had these prophetic things before, why do they start now?
We arrive at what seems to have been some kind of intersection in a former life and Spike looks at the three possible ways we can go, none of them looking very inviting. Whatever these corridors once looked like, now they are melted into so much slag and it's a miracle the entire thing didn't collapse in on itself.
Of course it might still do that.
"There ... there should be some kind of large central chamber around here somewhere," Spike says, sounding uncertain. "That's where they did all the experiments and stuff."
"The central laboratory pit didn't survive the cave-in," B adds matter-of- factly. "We need to go that way." She points at a corridor.
Everyone is staring at her, including myself.
"What?" she asks.
"Buffy, I thought you didn't remember anything from down here," Angel says softly. He always speaks that way when he speaks to her. His voice is like a velvet feather. Fuck, listen to me! It sounds as if I still have the hots for him.
Maybe I do.
"I don't remember," B whispers, sounding ... scared? "I just ... I know. I can't explain it, but I know."
Angel and Giles, who insisted on accompanying us, are exchanging more of those worried glance things. Can't really blame them right now. B is in a bad way. On the way here she constantly murmured under her breath, repeatedly telling someone or something to shut up. There is a strange kind of look in her eyes sometimes, as if someone else is looking out from there. Someone not B.
"Okay, then let's go that way," Spike says more or less merrily. He is clearly not very happy about being here. Giles gave me the short version of Spike 101. Vicious Vampire, Angel's Childe, got caught by these same military types that messed up B, got a chip in his head that prevents him from harming anyone. Tough shit for a blood-sucking creature of the night, I guess. Could care less, but not much.
Spike certainly has no incentive to help B and her friends. Except for the fact that Angel looks like he will kill him the moment he steps out of line. Giles hinted that something bad happened between these two just very recently and with Spike not able to fight back ... I wouldn't want to piss off the big A, either.
We have walked through the corridor Buffy indicated for five minutes or so when Giles coughs, looking at the map he carries with him.
"Ah, Buffy. I fear we are going the wrong way."
"No, we're not," B says with absolute certainty in her voice.
"But we are already outside the college grounds and heading further away with every step. The military base ..."
"There isn't much left of the base," B interrupts him. "But something more important is going on down there." She motions at something on the wall.
Only now do I see a huge cable or something trailing along the side of the corridor we walk through. We must be some way away from the source of that explosion already because most of the damage done here is superficial. I can see the markings on the cable surface.
"Runes?" I wonder out loud.
Giles leans down, holding his flashlight closer to inspect the cable.
"It seems that way," he says. "I know some of these symbols. Black magic, used for the channeling of, of demonic forces."
"What?" Spike yells. "You're telling me these army boys also messed with magic? This thing I have in my head could be cursed in some way besides keeping me from eating?"
""Shut up, Spike," Angel growls, touching the cable with his hand. "There is some kind of power still running through this. It feels ... weird. Familiar somehow."
B doesn't look at the cable, she just stares ahead into the dark corridor. I can see her lips move, she is talking to someone again. What is going on inside her head?
"No," she whispers suddenly.
"What?" Angel rises to his feet.
"Giles, where does this tunnel lead?" She moves closer to her Watcher.
"Well, if it just goes on in a straight line it will lead us right to ... dear Lord."
Suddenly I have a flashback to my dream. Angel singing something about the end of the world and how I wanted to be part of it. I look at the map Giles is holding out, his finger having trailed the line of this corridor further along until it came to rest on a spot I am familiar with.
Sunnydale High School.
Angel crouches beside the cable again, resting his hand against it. For a moment he closes his eyes, like he's listening to something. A second later he surges to his feet, growling.
"The Hellmouth," he snarls. "Those idiots are channeling the energies of the Hellmouth!"
Without another word we take off running down the corridor. Somewhere inside my head Angel is singing about everything being on fire in the city that never sleeps.
"You sure about this?" B is asking someone I can't see.
TO BE CONTINUED
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Angel and that Spike guy finally found a way to get inside this ... whatever it is. For a moment there I thought we would all die as we scrambled through that halfway collapsed tunnel with the ceiling just inches above our heads and I'm quite sure it trembled. I saw it trembling.
B is walking ahead of me and I can't help but keep a bit of a distance. There is something ... I don't know. Something is off about her. Back when, when everything was still good between us, I could always feel her. Slayer sense to Slayer sense or something. I knew when she was close and sometimes I could even tell what she was thinking.
Now that connection is dead. Or maybe not dead, but off. All I get from her is a chill and some jumbled images. Like shadows. I don't know, maybe it's because of the coma. Or because B almost died in that explosion. Or maybe because I fucked up everything by trying to steal her boyfriend and kill her friends. Yeah, I guess that's it.
Something has changed. Not only with B, but with me. Before ... before everything happened I always felt so ... angry. I felt like the world owed me something. A better life maybe. It was supposed to treat me like a queen for being the Slayer, I guess. Looking back now I simply can't understand what I was thinking. Why did I do all that? Just because some old demon- worshipping guy made like the loving father I never had and I bought it?
I feel different now. Ever since I had that dream that woke me up, I feel different.
I feel whole for the first time in my life.
"We are getting close." Spike says. He was in my dream and I can't figure out why. I never met the guy before, so why did I go all prophetic dreamy with him? I never had these prophetic things before, why do they start now?
We arrive at what seems to have been some kind of intersection in a former life and Spike looks at the three possible ways we can go, none of them looking very inviting. Whatever these corridors once looked like, now they are melted into so much slag and it's a miracle the entire thing didn't collapse in on itself.
Of course it might still do that.
"There ... there should be some kind of large central chamber around here somewhere," Spike says, sounding uncertain. "That's where they did all the experiments and stuff."
"The central laboratory pit didn't survive the cave-in," B adds matter-of- factly. "We need to go that way." She points at a corridor.
Everyone is staring at her, including myself.
"What?" she asks.
"Buffy, I thought you didn't remember anything from down here," Angel says softly. He always speaks that way when he speaks to her. His voice is like a velvet feather. Fuck, listen to me! It sounds as if I still have the hots for him.
Maybe I do.
"I don't remember," B whispers, sounding ... scared? "I just ... I know. I can't explain it, but I know."
Angel and Giles, who insisted on accompanying us, are exchanging more of those worried glance things. Can't really blame them right now. B is in a bad way. On the way here she constantly murmured under her breath, repeatedly telling someone or something to shut up. There is a strange kind of look in her eyes sometimes, as if someone else is looking out from there. Someone not B.
"Okay, then let's go that way," Spike says more or less merrily. He is clearly not very happy about being here. Giles gave me the short version of Spike 101. Vicious Vampire, Angel's Childe, got caught by these same military types that messed up B, got a chip in his head that prevents him from harming anyone. Tough shit for a blood-sucking creature of the night, I guess. Could care less, but not much.
Spike certainly has no incentive to help B and her friends. Except for the fact that Angel looks like he will kill him the moment he steps out of line. Giles hinted that something bad happened between these two just very recently and with Spike not able to fight back ... I wouldn't want to piss off the big A, either.
We have walked through the corridor Buffy indicated for five minutes or so when Giles coughs, looking at the map he carries with him.
"Ah, Buffy. I fear we are going the wrong way."
"No, we're not," B says with absolute certainty in her voice.
"But we are already outside the college grounds and heading further away with every step. The military base ..."
"There isn't much left of the base," B interrupts him. "But something more important is going on down there." She motions at something on the wall.
Only now do I see a huge cable or something trailing along the side of the corridor we walk through. We must be some way away from the source of that explosion already because most of the damage done here is superficial. I can see the markings on the cable surface.
"Runes?" I wonder out loud.
Giles leans down, holding his flashlight closer to inspect the cable.
"It seems that way," he says. "I know some of these symbols. Black magic, used for the channeling of, of demonic forces."
"What?" Spike yells. "You're telling me these army boys also messed with magic? This thing I have in my head could be cursed in some way besides keeping me from eating?"
""Shut up, Spike," Angel growls, touching the cable with his hand. "There is some kind of power still running through this. It feels ... weird. Familiar somehow."
B doesn't look at the cable, she just stares ahead into the dark corridor. I can see her lips move, she is talking to someone again. What is going on inside her head?
"No," she whispers suddenly.
"What?" Angel rises to his feet.
"Giles, where does this tunnel lead?" She moves closer to her Watcher.
"Well, if it just goes on in a straight line it will lead us right to ... dear Lord."
Suddenly I have a flashback to my dream. Angel singing something about the end of the world and how I wanted to be part of it. I look at the map Giles is holding out, his finger having trailed the line of this corridor further along until it came to rest on a spot I am familiar with.
Sunnydale High School.
Angel crouches beside the cable again, resting his hand against it. For a moment he closes his eyes, like he's listening to something. A second later he surges to his feet, growling.
"The Hellmouth," he snarls. "Those idiots are channeling the energies of the Hellmouth!"
Without another word we take off running down the corridor. Somewhere inside my head Angel is singing about everything being on fire in the city that never sleeps.
"You sure about this?" B is asking someone I can't see.
TO BE CONTINUED