The Game by SLynn
Chapter 8: The Encounter
Buffy parked a block or two from the school and walked the rest of the way. From the outside, it looked completely deserted, but she knew it wasn't. There were at least two people in there waiting for her.
After several lengthy discussions with Giles on the subject, prior to her leaving, it had been decided that the most probable place Constance could be keeping Xander was the west wing. The eastern side of the school had been nearly obliterated. The western half was at least still standing. Actually, it was pretty well intact. It would take Buffy awhile, but if she had to turn over every rock on the campus, she was going to find Xander.
They had also concluded that Constance was flying solo. She seemed to self-sure to need a gang. Except for maybe to have some one around to listen to her talk. But, then again, they also assumed she was doing most of her talking to Xander.
Buffy walked through what was left of the quad and made her way inside her former school. First, she'd check all of the still viable ground floor rooms before moving upstairs.
As quietly as she could, Buffy opened the first door and stepped inside.
From the other side of the quad she couldn't see Constance watching her in the dark.
'Not long now,' the woman thought, smiling at the notion of what was to come.
XXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXX
"This is interesting," Willow said, not nearly loud enough for anyone to hear.
Tara had fallen asleep beside her, head resting on to of the book she had been studying.
"Tara," Willow nudged, "look at this."
Slowly the girl came awake, comprehended what was said, and took the book to see for herself.
"What have you found?" Anya said, rushing over. She was on her forth cup of coffee this hour and was at least four times as jumpy as usual.
"Zothos – Triad of Sacrifice, Torment and Wrath," Tara read out loud, "doesn't sound good."
"No," Willow said, pointing to the next passage, "keep reading."
"With righteous wrath can He of the Triad be summoned. Only the rules will do. Failure of the rules and the soul is forfeited. The game never ends. Once bound, always."
"So," Anya began, paused and began again, "so, if she did call Zothos with the rules, she's still playing the game with him?"
"Seems that way," Giles said, startling them a bit. They hadn't been aware he was listening.
"So if Constance were to break the rules…" Tara started.
"… Zothos would be expelled…" Willow supplied.
"… and then Buffy could kick her ass." Anya finished.
Each of them turned to her, some what surprised.
"Well," she said, a bit defensively, "she could."
"Right then," Giles said, "I'll give her a ring and let her know. Let's look more into these rules, see if we can give Buffy some insight into how to get Constance to break them."
XXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXX
Xander lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling. He couldn't make out much of it, but trying to at least gave him something to do. Lying there was pretty much all there was for him.
After he managed to turn himself over, he had tried to relocate his arm with his shoulder. When he found that bringing the other arm around to do this caused excruciating pain in and across his chest, he gave up.
So he was just going to lay there. Lay there and wait for Constance to come kill him. He was beginning to think he wouldn't even get a chance to accept her offer. He would right now if she was here with him. But she had told him he had to wait. And he was.
'It couldn't be worse then this,' he thought, 'nothing could.'
He knew that wasn't entirely true. She had shown him how much worse it could be.
Xander closed his eyes, trying hard to block it all out. Still, it came.
It had been just like reliving it. Worse. When she had shown him all of those things, terrible things he'd done, said, or had been done to him, he hadn't had time to think about it. Now, time was all he had and he couldn't stop himself from dwelling.
"Such a waste," he said aloud, not realizing or hearing that he had.
Not now. He knew he was going to do the right thing this time. He knew that this time would be different.
'Whatever it takes, I'm not disappointing her again.'
With that thought still running across his brain, banishing the more intrusive ones, Xander drifted off.
XXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXX
Buffy slid out of the last room on the first floor. Still nothing. What Giles had told her had improved her spirits, some, but she was still having no luck. Checking her watch she found it was nearly two o'clock. The sun would rise in just over four hours. This was taking entirely too long. She had to find him and quick.
The thought crossed her mind to just start yelling for him.
'No, Constance would be on top of me in a half a second.'
She knew it was best to try and sneak up, if she could.
As Buffy made her way up to the second story, she was a bit let down. She couldn't remember there being so many rooms and hallways here before. It seemed unreal. Half the place was destroyed, and it still rivaled the size of the mall.
She opened the first door and had a quick look around. It was like most of the others. Each of the rooms she came to had about the same thing in them: desks, books, dirt and debris. Not much for variety. Some were missing windows, others, parts of the floor, but all in all, it was very mundane.
After about six rooms, she came to an intersection in the hallway. Without giving it much thought, she turned right.
She made her way in and out of five more rooms when she came up to what looked like a utility closet.
Buffy paused briefly in front of it. She didn't really think Constance would stuff him in a closet, but she couldn't be sure.
'Better just take a look,' she thought, 'just in case.'
Buffy opened the door. Turns out, the room was more spacious then she would imagine, and largely empty. The only thing she saw, upon first looking around, was a bucket, a window and a pile of blankets.
Just as she got ready to turn and leave, she froze.
Xander. Xander was there, in the corner on top of the blankets. It being so dark, she hadn't really seen him at first. But now that she did, she almost wished she hadn't.
Buffy was positive that it was too late. Looking at him, she knew he had to be dead.
It took her several minutes to find the strength to go over to him. As she did, she felt the knot in her stomach grow tighter and tighter.
She kneeled down next to him, angry at herself for not getting here sooner. But any anger she felt toward herself was insignificant next to the anger she felt towards Constance.
He looked so pale, at least the parts of him that weren't bruised did. There was blood matted in his hair and his left eye was swollen nearly to the size of an orange. His lips were split and she could see that his nose, if not broken, had been bleeding. Buffy wanted to cry, but knew she had other things to do right now. There would be too much time for crying later. Now she wanted revenge.
She stood up and started for the door, when something pulled her back. She turned back around and looked at him and thought about what Anya had said.
Slowly, she made her way back over to him.
"This is my fault," she whispered to him, "if you had never…"
She couldn't finish. She felt tears slide down her face, but didn't bother to wipe them away.
"Xander," she said, a bit louder as she ran her hand over his right cheek.
Xander flinched.
XXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXX
He wasn't sure what had woken him, likely the pain in his shoulder, but not long after he had, the door opened. Xander had seen her silhouette as she stood in the doorway. He was a bit surprised, Constance wasn't one to linger, but he watched her just the same.
'Maybe Buffy is here,' he thought, 'so she thinks she has to stand guard or something.'
It was pointless, he wasn't going anywhere. He didn't think he could the way his chest burned when he moved.
After a minute or two, she started moving towards him so he shut his eyes. He knew that if she wanted to hurt him she would, whether or not he was asleep, but he might as well try to deter her.
Xander lay as still as he could for what seemed like an eternity. It was amazing, but what he had heard about was true. When you lose one sense, the others try to compensate. He could nearly sense where she was. He could feel that she was kneeling next to him.
Xander mentally braced himself for whatever she might do, but made no movements. And then, oddly enough, she just walked away. Positive she wasn't near him any more, he began to open his eyes, only to see her return.
'Don't react. Don't react. Don't react,' he chanted in his head.
But he did anyway. It was a reflex really. She touched his face. It was the thing he hated most and he knew that was why she was constantly doing it.
A moment passed with nothing and then she shaking him. She had grabbed his shoulder, the dislocated one, and was shaking him.
He sat part way up, crying out in pain. To his surprise, she let go, and he saw her, out of the corner of his eye, fall back.
He turned and partially faced the wall, leaning into it. He was panting. To Xander, it felt like his chest was on fire.
"Just kill me already," he said loudly, unable to control the volume of his voice, and gasping between pauses, "just get it over. You've won, alright. You've won."
Nothing. Just that horrible quiet.
Xander slowly turned his head from the wall he had been leaning it against. Looking back he saw her. He finally saw her.
"Buffy?" he asked, still not believing it.
She was saying something to him, but he couldn't make it out. He couldn't hear her. And she was crying. He had made her cry.
"Oh God," he said again, "Buffy? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Suddenly, Buffy was on her feet and facing the door. Xander's eyes followed a half second later, but he knew what he'd see even before that.
This time, she really was there.