Chapter 13 - At the End of the Corridor
Grianne called early the next morning, asking Buffy, Spike and Alasdair to come over as soon as possible. Giles was relieved to be able to stay, as he had spent a good part of the previous night reading the documents provided by Grianne. He had covered the parts which were already understood, but was concerned about another part of the information, which he believed had been wrongly translated. Unwilling to go to the Council library, he instead planned to go to one of the local University libraries, where he might find a particular text on translating ancient Sumerian. He called some friends, and was eventually offered the chance to go into the library at Imperial College. After a quick shower, he headed off.
The others convened at Maria's flat. Since it was daytime, the shop was open, but Maria had left the shop in the hands of her assistant for the day so that she could help Grianne.
Grianne started by explaining what she had in mind. "We tried a number of things last night, but only one yielded anything out of the ordinary. I decided to concentrate on the building. We don't know where Emily is, but we know where she last was. Now, the spell that interested me, was one I only thought of doing as a last resort. It's a sort of structural integrity thing - and, to be honest, it tends to be considered rather more as a party trick than a useful spell. Rather than describing what I saw, I thought I'd reproduce the spell now."
At these words, Maria started to assemble a number of ingredients, a burner and, curiously enough, a map. She laid the objects on a small table in front of Grianne, who arranged them to her satisfaction.
"I use the map to indicate the location of the building which is our subject - in this case, the headquarters of the Council of Watchers. As I perform the spell, you will see an image of the building form in the air. There won't be a great deal of detail, but I still think you'll be surprised at what you see."
She began the incantation, sprinkling powders in the small fire contained in the miniature burner. As smoke began to rise, it took on the shape of the Council Headquarters. The smoke was grey in colour, but shaded to green where an entrance or window happened to be. That much was obvious quickly. What was more surprising was the way the building continued below ground level. They knew, of course, that the building had a basement, but were surprised to see a single shaft delving considerably deeper than any other part of the building. It went down, then levelled off, and there was a largish area there, which led to a long, narrow passage. About two-thirds of the way along its length, there was an exit, delineated in green as all the other exits had been. This exit was several hundred yards south of building itself. The corridor continued even further, showing something even more surprising. At the furthest part, the smoke became an inky black. There was nothing like it anywhere else on the likeness of the building.
Those who knew the building in any way studied the model, mentally linking the shaft and lower area with known landmarks. Gradually, the smoke dissipated, leaving nothing to show for its having existed at all.
Spike jumped up, excitedly, saying, "I knew it! That door we couldn't get through, that would have taken us into that shaft. I wish we'd had time, or maybe something to blow the door."
Buffy was more thoughtful. "Grianne, what was the meaning of the black area? I mean, the green, that was obvious, windows and doors. But what did the black mean?"
"That, my dear, is the biggest clue of all," Grianne replied. "As far as I can tell, the black denotes, quite simply, nothing. I don't mean nothing as in a dead end, I mean nothing as in an absence of matter. There is, quite literally, nothing at the end of that corridor. I take that to mean, a portal."
"So," Alasdair said, his enthusiasm building with every second. "Emily could be alive, but she could have been taken through that portal. But where? Where does it lead?"
"I'm afraid I can't help with that. You see, the spell can only help with things of this world. The only way we can find out is to go and look."
Alasdair got up, pulling on his jacket. "Come on, then" he urged the others.
"Wait," Spike intervened. "How do we get in there? Even if we could get into the building with enough explosive to take out that door, we're not going to get out again without someone trying to stop us. And, I know some of you will want to minimise the human casualties. That corridor, it had an underground entrance. Buffy and I had a look underground the day we tried to rescue Emily. We didn't find anything, but it looks like we were looking too far north. The place we're looking for isn't under the Council building at all."
"I've got a tube map," Alasdair offered. "Maybe we can work out where the entrance might be from there."
A quick glance showed that that would not be possible. "The map's stylised. It doesn't actually represent distances too well. We need a better map. Where would we get that?" Spike asked.
"Library?" Buffy suggested. "I mean, research, library? They seem to go together. At least they did when I was in Sunnydale with Giles."
The others agreed with the suggestion, and Alasdair volunteered to go and find out. He had the advantage of not having to avoid sunlight, and Grianne wanted to be prepared with some spells for when they got to the portal.
While Alasdair was gone, the two witches consulted and assembled what they thought might be needed. Grianne also arranged for some food and blood to be delivered as she reasoned, "You don't know how long it'll take. We know nothing about the world through that portal. We need to be prepared."
When Alasdair returned with a copy of the map, they studied it in detail, and decided the most likely possibility seemed to be a link from the Victoria line, somewhere under St. James' Park.
When they had pulled together the best plan they could, they called Giles. Jenny reported that he had returned half an hour earlier, but was still to acknowledge her presence in any way. He had headed straight for his notes, and had been scribbling feverishly ever since. She agreed to call him to the phone, but judging by the delay, he was reluctant to come.
"Grianne," he started, "I really have to get back to work. I've translated most of the part I was concerned about, and I really want to finish it."
"Giles, we think we know where Emily is."
"You do? That's splendid. Where?"
"Well, 'where' is perhaps too precise. We think there's a portal under St. James' Park. There's an underground link between the Council building and this portal."
There was a stunned silence on the other end. "You mean she's actually been taken to another world? Another reality?"
"Well, we're not sure exactly what it is, except it's not this world. What have you found?"
"Well, as I said, I haven't finished, yet, but it seems that the New has been guarded by … something. I suspect there is no direct translation of whatever it is. This thing has been guarding the New for a long time. It was predicted that something would threaten the New, and that, if that came to pass, the New would be taken from this world. The original translation said the New would die. Your information certainly corroborates my feeling about the use of the words. The thing is, that, if this happens, if the New is removed from the world, someone from this world must win her back. We must prove ourselves worthy of such a gift. Since someone from this world wanted to destroy the gift, the balance must be redressed. There's more, but, as I said, I haven't finished. I get the impression that the clock's ticking, though. It implies the New can only survive for a certain amount of time once she has been taken."
Grianne started to explain what Giles had told her to the others clustered around her. When she had, Alasdair was on his feet again. "Then what're we waiting for?"
In fact, they were waiting for Grianne to agree they were ready. She insisted they all eat and rest before she allowed them to leave the flat. She also used a spell on Buffy and Spike to allow them to see beyond a magical shield. It seemed likely that, if there was an exit from the corridor to the Council building, then it would be shielded. By the time she decreed them ready, the sun was down, so the vampires were no longer at a disadvantage. They headed for Green Park and took the tube to St. James' Park. Part of the logic of that was to allow the vampires to watch for anything unusual in the tunnels. Of course, the tunnels were pitch black, but that was not a handicap to them.
They both spotted it, just a hundred yards outside of St. James' Park station. There was definitely a door, but it was above floor level, and there were no steps. That tended to imply that it wasn't part of the official tunnel system.
The four friends alighted from the train, and waited for the platform to clear. Grianne threw a handful of sand towards the security cameras, a spell she had explained would cause a temporary loss of signal, and they carefully climbed down off the platform onto the track. Taking care to keep clear of the electrified rail, they made their way to the doorway. They knew time was of the essence, as there was bound to be another train due soon.
Grianne wasted no time, unlocking the door magically, and the vampires hoisted the two humans through the doorway before climbing in themselves. They pulled the door shut behind them, and heard the unmistakable sound of a train a few seconds later.
The corridor was dimly lit. There was something about it that was ageless. It didn't seem modern, but it didn't seem old either. The material of the floor seemed to be stone, but it was smooth, almost like plastic. The walls were made of a similar material, but these had a roughened texture. The colour was a golden brown.
Maria had been left at home, but Grianne maintained a mental communication with her throughout. She in turn, was in contact with the rest of the Coven, and could provide a power boost if it was necessary.
A short discussion was held regarding direction. It seemed likely that the portal would be to the left, but Grianne insisted that they check out the opposite direction first. She didn't want any surprises creeping up behind them.
Accordingly, they made their way along the corridor, finally reaching another door. They opened it, surprised that it didn't seem locked in any way. When they were all through, the door swung shut of its own volition. When he turned around to look at it, Alasdair was surprised to find that the door had disappeared. He shouted out in alarm, and was met with consternation from the other three.
"It's gone!" he told them. "The door, it's gone."
"No, mate," Spike replied, putting out a hand and pulling it open again. As soon as it was open, Alasdair could see it quite clearly. "Just hidden, I reckon."
Alasdair nodded nervously. He was on edge. He just wanted to get through the portal and bring Emily back. Anything else was simply wasting time.
They found themselves in another corridor. There were several doors off it, but the rooms beyond appeared to be empty. The smell assaulted Spike's nostrils almost immediately, and he increased his pace, closely followed by Buffy. When Alasdair held out a hand to question their sudden interest, Buffy uttered a single word. "Blood."
The sight that met them at the end of the corridor left the two humans feeling distinctly unwell. That it had been human was obvious, but little else was. The clothing had been shredded, and the face was damaged beyond recognition. "Lucien Spencer?" Spike asked.
"Could be," Grianne replied.
To Alasdair's surprise, Spike knelt down beside the body, and started to rummage through what was left of the clothes. A few seconds later, he pulled out a small, black box. It looked like a remote control. Spike examined it for a few seconds before handing it to Alasdair. He continued his search, and found a wallet, the contents of which confirmed the identity of the body.
Alasdair had experimented with pressing a few buttons on the remote, and was surprised when the metal doors beside the body opened. He was relieved when they closed again. "Looks like the lift's controlled from here," he told the others, putting the control into his own pocket.
Spike stood up again, and looked at the others. "What do you say we head for the portal?"
They retraced their steps, passing the doorway through which they had entered the corridor. They hadn't gone far when a greenish glow became visible. They walked towards it slowly, taking in every nuance of its appearance.
Distance was difficult to estimate, the glow seemed to be right in front of them, and yet they knew they hadn't reached it yet. The four friends were silent, but as they got closer, the two vampires pushed themselves to the front, motioning the two humans to follow.
Giles stood up suddenly. He had just pulled together another part of the text, and he ran to the phone. He had to speak to Grianne immediately. He found he couldn't get through to Grianne or any of the others, so he tried Maria's flat. Maria answered, and he explained his need to her. She started to pass the information to the other witch, but stopped suddenly. She lifted the receiver she had put down and spoke to Giles again. "It's too late."
Suddenly, they were gone. Grianne and Alasdair had been following the two vampires, just a couple of steps behind them, and suddenly they were gone, and what was worse, the green glow was gone. The portal had closed, an almost deafening noise like thunder accompanying its disappearance.
Grianne's head jerked up as Maria's message came into her head. She paled at the information, her hand seeking Alasdair's. He was looking stunned, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to put into words the disbelief he was feeling. He felt Grianne's hand reaching for his, and held onto it, looking at her, begging her for an explanation.
Grianne started to speak, instinctively raising her voice to allow for her still reverberating eardrums. "Giles has just translated more of the text. It says that only two can go through the portal." She paused then. That news was bad enough. The rest was worse. "And one of them will have to be a sacrifice."
They stood, wordless, unable to believe that their efforts to retrieve Emily were over. The combination of shock and the temporary loss of hearing was such that they didn't hear the door from the tube line close. They didn't see the vampire approaching. He grinned to himself as he saw his prey.
Alasdair saw him coming, just an instant before he reached Grianne. He could do nothing to stop him as he swung his arm, knocking the witch off her feet and sending her into the wall of the corridor with a resounding thump.
Grianne lost consciousness as her head hit the wall, so she didn't see the vampire turn his attention to Alasdair. The Highlander lifted an arm to fight back, but his opponent grabbed it and used it to lift him off the floor. He swung him at the wall without letting go. Alasdair blacked out, and the vampire dropped him to the ground, following him down and sinking his fangs into his neck.
Grianne's first thought was that she was going to be sick. She fought off the nausea and opened her eyes carefully. As soon as she saw her surroundings, she remembered. She glanced over to where she had been standing with Alasdair, and saw him, lying on the floor, with a vampire drinking from his neck.
She tried not to move, not to give any indication that she had regained consciousness. A mental inventory of her back pack revealed only one possible weapon. She concentrated on the pencil she knew was in the front pocket of her bag. She willed the popper to open, and the pencil to exit. She mentally held it in front of her, willing her energy into it before sending it unerringly towards the vampire's heart.
As he exploded in a cloud of dust, she saw Alasdair's crumpled body, and got to her knees carefully. She wasn't sure she could trust herself on her feet yet.
She reached out a hand to Alasdair's wrist, but couldn't find a pulse. She put a finger to his throat, willing herself to feel something, and at last she knew she could. She pulled her reading glasses out of her pack and put them to his mouth, relieved when they steamed slightly.
She heard it then, the scream in her head that was Maria trying to reach her. She quickly explained the situation. There was no way she could trust herself to leave the way they came in, and she certainly couldn't get Alasdair out that way. It was just too dangerous. She remembered the remote control and checked Alasdair's pocket. With relief she found it.
"I'll get him to the lift," she told Maria. "I may need some help, though. I'm feeling a bit woozy myself. Make sure there's an ambulance waiting. From what Eleanor told me, there's a private entrance to the Council building, and I'm hoping this lift will take me there. Be ready to give me a power boost if I need it. I may have to put someone to sleep."
Gathering her strength for a few seconds, she concentrated on Alasdair's prone body. She felt the surge as Maria lent her strength, and Alasdair gently floated a few inches off the ground. Grianne carefully got to her feet, and, holding onto the wall for support, made her way back to the lift. She had to raise Alasdair further to get him over the bloody mess that was all that remained of Lucien Spencer, and into the lift. Once there, she checked the remote, finding the button that would take them to the exit. She pressed it, and the doors closed.
It took a surprising time, but at last the doors opened. She stayed in the lift, waiting to see is someone would come. No one did, so she walked out, cautiously. The area outside was dark, and just ahead was a door. She walked towards it, bringing Alasdair with her. She opened the door and found herself in a deserted alleyway between two buildings.
She managed to get both herself and Alasdair outside before the efforts of the last few moments became too much and she passed out.
The paramedics found them there a short while later. They loaded the two casualties onto an ambulance, and blue lights flashing, rushed them both to hospital.