Chapter Five - "Déjà vu All Over Again."
-
"Buffy. Buuuuuuffy ... "
The Slayer groaned, rolled over onto her side while squinting her already closed eyes. [Shut up,] she thought. She was on the border between deep sleep and consciousness, aware of the world around her but no so much as she would've been if she were fully awake. [Go away.]
"Buffy ... do not give up hope," the voice continued. It sounded disembodied, reverberating from somewhere beyond the mortal plane. "It is all you have left."
Buffy's eyes flicked open when she heard a clanking noise from outside of her cell. She sat up suddenly, her muscles tense now with anticipation of what was to come. Was that where the voice had come from? Was it someone outside? She listened intently but nothing more followed. Her eyes scanned the cell then went up to the barred window. Muted sunlight greeted her - it was day. Or what passed for "day" in Mordor.
[Vamps would love this place,] she thought with a humorless laugh. She then pushed herself onto her knees and sat back on her heels. [I'd give my right arm for a vampire about now, that's certain. Stupid company is better than no company.]
For nearly three weeks - it could've been more, she'd lost track of the days anyway - she'd been alone in this dank cell. She never saw anyone, not even a guard. She never heard another voice - Orc or human or whatever - either. She thought they'd forgotten about her. The plates of something that passed for food that appeared in her cell on a daily basis told her otherwise.
She rubbed her upper arms with her hands in an attempt to warm herself. The rather skimpy nightgown she'd been wearing the night of her kidnapping did nothing in the way of retaining what body heat she had. The thing was an utter mess, filthy and one of the spaghetti straps had frayed to the point it was no longer attached. The garment sagged at a downward angle from her left shoulder.
Another clanking noise.
She froze; her hands gripped her upper arms as she sat quietly, listening. The she heard a voice. Male, from what she gathered. She strained to hear what was being said. She caught a few words: "Slayer", "fire maiden", "Elves" and "Rivendell", but without the rest of the discussion, it meant rather little to her.
As footsteps neared her cell door, she rose to her feet. [This might be your chance to get the hell out of here,] she thought. Her eyes darted from the door to the window a few times. [Anything's worth a shot at this point.]
She jerked slightly when the cell door rattled. Someone was coming in. Quickly, she bounded across the small room, positioned herself by the door so whoever came in couldn't see her until it was too late.
The locks turned, the door creaked loudly on its hinges as it swung open and a tall, bulky human shaped shadow was cast into the cell as a result of the candlelit passageway. Buffy watched the shadow draw further into the room; she kept her cool until the person was totally inside.
[NOW!]
She leaped onto the back of the black clad figure, threw one arm around his neck and put him into a Slayer-strength backed headlock. Gritting her teeth, she secured her legs around him, refusing to let go and her grip around his neck tightened when he pried at her arm.
"You jerks aren't keeping me here any longer!" she hissed into the ear of her struggling captor. She fought to stay on his back as he whipped around violently, still working to free himself from her arm. "Give up! I'm getting out of here. Don't make me do something I don't want to!"
She hoped he wouldn't call her bluff. As much as she wanted to escape Mordor and Sauron, she refused to take a human life in order to do so. Buffy gasped as the man backpedaled like crazy. She tried to stop what he intended to do but it was too late. She was smashed between the wall and the body mass of her opponent. The wind was sufficiently knocked out of her, her arms loosened their grip and she groaned as she slipped down from his back.
[Stupid move,] she scolded herself.
She leaned against the wall for support then felt her body jerked away from it. It took her a moment to realize the man had thrown her onto the cold, hard floor. She lay there, taking short breaths, and then she pushed herself up from the floor and blinked a few times.
"Bastard," she grumbled, putting her hand to her left side. She winced as a sharp pain stabbed through her. [Great - broken rib. Or fractured, at the very least.] Her head lifted, her eyes narrowed to slits at the man who loomed a few feet in front of her. "You didn't have enough fun kidnapping me, so now you have to break my ribs too?"
The figure stepped forward, the light shifting so it vaguely illuminated his face. "You, Slayer," growled the human in an icy tone. "Brought this agony upon yourself. But it is the fate of your accursed kind - to bring pain to yourself and those around you. Isn't it?"
"I'm about to bring you some freakin' pain -" Buffy angrily began as she tilted her head back to look the man in the eye. She stopped mid-sentence and a look of horrified surprise crossed her features. Her jaw slowly dropped open and chills shivered down her spine. "I ... I ... "
Everything single thing about him was identical - the dark hair, the pale complexion and even the eyes - eyes filled with such anger and pain. But his eyes held another emotion within them - one of unadulterated hatred.
[It can't be ... there's no way!] She shook her head slowly then sat back, unable to process it. [It just can't be. There's no way he's -]
"Angel?" she asked in a whisper. She never took her eyes off of him, even as he came closer, glaring at her with that loathing stare. He was ... so similar. "Is ... is that you?"
She didn't know what possessed her to ask such a stupid question. Maybe it was the shock of the man's appearance and resemblance to Angel or the fact she'd been slowly losing her mind since she was thrown into that cell and pretty much abandoned. Or, maybe, it was because of that voice she sometimes heard - the one that urged her to never give up hope.
"Angel?" he repeated. An amused expression replaced his one of annoyance as he gently massaged his neck where Buffy nearly strangled him to death. He crouched down in front of her, his face so much more clear to her now, and a small smile crossed his lips. "You'll find none of their kind in this place, Slayer."
Buffy swallowed, her physical ailments temporarily forgotten, and she managed to find her voice once more. "I didn't mean that -" she began, her tone very subdued now.
[God, Buffy, why are you talking like you're friends with this jerk? This isn't Angel!]
"Well, then, Slayer -" The word 'Slayer' rolled off the man's tongue as though it bore a bad taste. " - what did you mean?" He raised an eyebrow, curious for her response.
She cleared her throat then looked away. "It's ... nothing. I didn't anything by it," she quietly told him. "It was somebody I used to know. He's not around anymore."
The man snorted softly. "No doubt this ... Angel is no longer around because of what you are." He paused when Buffy's head snapped up and she glared at him. "So it is true then? It doesn't come as a surprise to me. You cause only misery in the lives you touch."
"Hey, look here, buddy, you don't know the first thing about what happened with Angel, so you can just shut your trap about that," Buffy snarled. She pushed herself to her knees, wincing momentarily at the pain. "And what the hell would you know about my being a Slayer anyway? Do I know you? Do you know me? NO."
He rose, slowly, to his feet but did not take his eyes off of Buffy. Something in them had changed, she noticed, after she'd said that. If it were even possible, they'd become even more hate full than before. "I possess all the knowledge I need about you and your kind, Slayer," he said. He sounded as though he worked to retain his control.
"I'll tell you what you need, jerk," she replied as she, too, stood up. It was a chore. She had to pause on the way up until a wave of pain passed then she was upright. "You need to find yourself a new bad guy to work for. Because your beloved Sauron?" She smirked. "He's going to get his ass kicked, metaphorically speaking, and none of you pathetic creeps can stop it."
He stared at Buffy for a long minute, a brief flash of what she would've called 'pity' crossed his face then he said, softly, "That was her mistake as well."
Buffy's brow furrowed. [Her mistake? Whose mistake? What the hell is he talking about?] "Mistake? It's not a mistake, moron. I know for a fact that this little world domination scheme doesn't pan out for ol' One Eye. Don't you idiots remember WHERE you kidnapped me from?" She rolled her eyes.
The small smile returned to his face. "Yes, I do remember. And you must know this, Slayer, you are no longer in your present ... but in your past." He began to circle the small blonde, looking her over as if sizing her up. "Your present is OUR future." His smile turned wicked and his resemblance to Angelus had increased. "Our future, woman, is not etched in stone. Our future can be altered and that is what my Lord intends to do."
Buffy eyed him suspiciously as he came to a stop in front of her. "What does he 'intend' to do by kidnapping me?" she asked, gesturing to herself. "I'm failing to see the intention here. What can he change in my 'present' - " She made air quotes with her fingers " - by bringing me to yours?"
The evil grin remained on his lips. "You should give this matter more thought, Slayer. Perhaps then you will have your answer." He turned a bit then called out something in a foreign tongue and two Orc bearing shackles and chains entered the cell. He faced Buffy. "I regret the arrangement has come to this," he said as the two Orcs snapped the shackles around her wrists and ankles. "However, you brought it upon yourself."
Buffy pushed one of the Orcs back when he finished securing her wrists. She shot the man a glare. "Pardon me for wanting to escape," she snapped. She watched as the chains were fastened to metal loops in the walls. Once that was finished, the two Orcs left.
"You shouldn't waste your energy," he said as Buffy tugged at the chains. He chuckled lightly when she finally gave up then he closed the distance between himself and Buffy. His voice was a whisper now. "I am very familiar with the Slayer." He glanced down at her then met her angry gaze again. "And where would you go if you did manage to free yourself?"
"Well, first, I'd go find the local supermarket and buy you some Tic Tacs," she replied. She rolled her eyes and made a face. "I don't know what's worse - your breath or being stuck in here. At this point, I'm leaning towards the former."
"You conceal your fear very well," he said after a few moments of gazing at Buffy. He leaned closer, a glimmer in his eyes. "Soon, you will be unable to do anything but scream, Slayer."
Buffy exaggerated a yawn as she rolled her eyes. "Heard it," she replied in a bored tone. "You guys threaten a lot but I never see any action. And I have a name. It's not 'Slayer'; it's Buffy. What should I call you besides a plethora of colorful metaphors?"
The man stepped closer, half of his face in shadow, the other half in light. A hand rested gently on Buffy's cheek and he leaned in even closer to her. For a brief moment, she thought he intended to kiss her. Not so.
"Melek. In time, it will be a name you'll wish you'd never heard ... Buffy," he softly said.
For the first time since she'd laid eyes on this Melek, she was truly rattled by him. She swallowed hard and kept her cool the best she could. She knew that hatred in his eyes - she'd seen it before. One who'd been wronged and sought a violent revenge. Wisely, she kept her mouth shut as Melek backed away, eyes still on her with that creepy gaze. After a few seconds, he turned, left the cell and slammed the door closed behind him.
"God ..." she sighed as she leaned back against the wall, sagging a bit as she closed her eyes. [You're in a real fix, Buffy.] she thought as she opened her eyes and looked up at her chained wrists. [A real fix, indeed.]
-
End Chapter Five.
To Be Continued ...
-
"Buffy. Buuuuuuffy ... "
The Slayer groaned, rolled over onto her side while squinting her already closed eyes. [Shut up,] she thought. She was on the border between deep sleep and consciousness, aware of the world around her but no so much as she would've been if she were fully awake. [Go away.]
"Buffy ... do not give up hope," the voice continued. It sounded disembodied, reverberating from somewhere beyond the mortal plane. "It is all you have left."
Buffy's eyes flicked open when she heard a clanking noise from outside of her cell. She sat up suddenly, her muscles tense now with anticipation of what was to come. Was that where the voice had come from? Was it someone outside? She listened intently but nothing more followed. Her eyes scanned the cell then went up to the barred window. Muted sunlight greeted her - it was day. Or what passed for "day" in Mordor.
[Vamps would love this place,] she thought with a humorless laugh. She then pushed herself onto her knees and sat back on her heels. [I'd give my right arm for a vampire about now, that's certain. Stupid company is better than no company.]
For nearly three weeks - it could've been more, she'd lost track of the days anyway - she'd been alone in this dank cell. She never saw anyone, not even a guard. She never heard another voice - Orc or human or whatever - either. She thought they'd forgotten about her. The plates of something that passed for food that appeared in her cell on a daily basis told her otherwise.
She rubbed her upper arms with her hands in an attempt to warm herself. The rather skimpy nightgown she'd been wearing the night of her kidnapping did nothing in the way of retaining what body heat she had. The thing was an utter mess, filthy and one of the spaghetti straps had frayed to the point it was no longer attached. The garment sagged at a downward angle from her left shoulder.
Another clanking noise.
She froze; her hands gripped her upper arms as she sat quietly, listening. The she heard a voice. Male, from what she gathered. She strained to hear what was being said. She caught a few words: "Slayer", "fire maiden", "Elves" and "Rivendell", but without the rest of the discussion, it meant rather little to her.
As footsteps neared her cell door, she rose to her feet. [This might be your chance to get the hell out of here,] she thought. Her eyes darted from the door to the window a few times. [Anything's worth a shot at this point.]
She jerked slightly when the cell door rattled. Someone was coming in. Quickly, she bounded across the small room, positioned herself by the door so whoever came in couldn't see her until it was too late.
The locks turned, the door creaked loudly on its hinges as it swung open and a tall, bulky human shaped shadow was cast into the cell as a result of the candlelit passageway. Buffy watched the shadow draw further into the room; she kept her cool until the person was totally inside.
[NOW!]
She leaped onto the back of the black clad figure, threw one arm around his neck and put him into a Slayer-strength backed headlock. Gritting her teeth, she secured her legs around him, refusing to let go and her grip around his neck tightened when he pried at her arm.
"You jerks aren't keeping me here any longer!" she hissed into the ear of her struggling captor. She fought to stay on his back as he whipped around violently, still working to free himself from her arm. "Give up! I'm getting out of here. Don't make me do something I don't want to!"
She hoped he wouldn't call her bluff. As much as she wanted to escape Mordor and Sauron, she refused to take a human life in order to do so. Buffy gasped as the man backpedaled like crazy. She tried to stop what he intended to do but it was too late. She was smashed between the wall and the body mass of her opponent. The wind was sufficiently knocked out of her, her arms loosened their grip and she groaned as she slipped down from his back.
[Stupid move,] she scolded herself.
She leaned against the wall for support then felt her body jerked away from it. It took her a moment to realize the man had thrown her onto the cold, hard floor. She lay there, taking short breaths, and then she pushed herself up from the floor and blinked a few times.
"Bastard," she grumbled, putting her hand to her left side. She winced as a sharp pain stabbed through her. [Great - broken rib. Or fractured, at the very least.] Her head lifted, her eyes narrowed to slits at the man who loomed a few feet in front of her. "You didn't have enough fun kidnapping me, so now you have to break my ribs too?"
The figure stepped forward, the light shifting so it vaguely illuminated his face. "You, Slayer," growled the human in an icy tone. "Brought this agony upon yourself. But it is the fate of your accursed kind - to bring pain to yourself and those around you. Isn't it?"
"I'm about to bring you some freakin' pain -" Buffy angrily began as she tilted her head back to look the man in the eye. She stopped mid-sentence and a look of horrified surprise crossed her features. Her jaw slowly dropped open and chills shivered down her spine. "I ... I ... "
Everything single thing about him was identical - the dark hair, the pale complexion and even the eyes - eyes filled with such anger and pain. But his eyes held another emotion within them - one of unadulterated hatred.
[It can't be ... there's no way!] She shook her head slowly then sat back, unable to process it. [It just can't be. There's no way he's -]
"Angel?" she asked in a whisper. She never took her eyes off of him, even as he came closer, glaring at her with that loathing stare. He was ... so similar. "Is ... is that you?"
She didn't know what possessed her to ask such a stupid question. Maybe it was the shock of the man's appearance and resemblance to Angel or the fact she'd been slowly losing her mind since she was thrown into that cell and pretty much abandoned. Or, maybe, it was because of that voice she sometimes heard - the one that urged her to never give up hope.
"Angel?" he repeated. An amused expression replaced his one of annoyance as he gently massaged his neck where Buffy nearly strangled him to death. He crouched down in front of her, his face so much more clear to her now, and a small smile crossed his lips. "You'll find none of their kind in this place, Slayer."
Buffy swallowed, her physical ailments temporarily forgotten, and she managed to find her voice once more. "I didn't mean that -" she began, her tone very subdued now.
[God, Buffy, why are you talking like you're friends with this jerk? This isn't Angel!]
"Well, then, Slayer -" The word 'Slayer' rolled off the man's tongue as though it bore a bad taste. " - what did you mean?" He raised an eyebrow, curious for her response.
She cleared her throat then looked away. "It's ... nothing. I didn't anything by it," she quietly told him. "It was somebody I used to know. He's not around anymore."
The man snorted softly. "No doubt this ... Angel is no longer around because of what you are." He paused when Buffy's head snapped up and she glared at him. "So it is true then? It doesn't come as a surprise to me. You cause only misery in the lives you touch."
"Hey, look here, buddy, you don't know the first thing about what happened with Angel, so you can just shut your trap about that," Buffy snarled. She pushed herself to her knees, wincing momentarily at the pain. "And what the hell would you know about my being a Slayer anyway? Do I know you? Do you know me? NO."
He rose, slowly, to his feet but did not take his eyes off of Buffy. Something in them had changed, she noticed, after she'd said that. If it were even possible, they'd become even more hate full than before. "I possess all the knowledge I need about you and your kind, Slayer," he said. He sounded as though he worked to retain his control.
"I'll tell you what you need, jerk," she replied as she, too, stood up. It was a chore. She had to pause on the way up until a wave of pain passed then she was upright. "You need to find yourself a new bad guy to work for. Because your beloved Sauron?" She smirked. "He's going to get his ass kicked, metaphorically speaking, and none of you pathetic creeps can stop it."
He stared at Buffy for a long minute, a brief flash of what she would've called 'pity' crossed his face then he said, softly, "That was her mistake as well."
Buffy's brow furrowed. [Her mistake? Whose mistake? What the hell is he talking about?] "Mistake? It's not a mistake, moron. I know for a fact that this little world domination scheme doesn't pan out for ol' One Eye. Don't you idiots remember WHERE you kidnapped me from?" She rolled her eyes.
The small smile returned to his face. "Yes, I do remember. And you must know this, Slayer, you are no longer in your present ... but in your past." He began to circle the small blonde, looking her over as if sizing her up. "Your present is OUR future." His smile turned wicked and his resemblance to Angelus had increased. "Our future, woman, is not etched in stone. Our future can be altered and that is what my Lord intends to do."
Buffy eyed him suspiciously as he came to a stop in front of her. "What does he 'intend' to do by kidnapping me?" she asked, gesturing to herself. "I'm failing to see the intention here. What can he change in my 'present' - " She made air quotes with her fingers " - by bringing me to yours?"
The evil grin remained on his lips. "You should give this matter more thought, Slayer. Perhaps then you will have your answer." He turned a bit then called out something in a foreign tongue and two Orc bearing shackles and chains entered the cell. He faced Buffy. "I regret the arrangement has come to this," he said as the two Orcs snapped the shackles around her wrists and ankles. "However, you brought it upon yourself."
Buffy pushed one of the Orcs back when he finished securing her wrists. She shot the man a glare. "Pardon me for wanting to escape," she snapped. She watched as the chains were fastened to metal loops in the walls. Once that was finished, the two Orcs left.
"You shouldn't waste your energy," he said as Buffy tugged at the chains. He chuckled lightly when she finally gave up then he closed the distance between himself and Buffy. His voice was a whisper now. "I am very familiar with the Slayer." He glanced down at her then met her angry gaze again. "And where would you go if you did manage to free yourself?"
"Well, first, I'd go find the local supermarket and buy you some Tic Tacs," she replied. She rolled her eyes and made a face. "I don't know what's worse - your breath or being stuck in here. At this point, I'm leaning towards the former."
"You conceal your fear very well," he said after a few moments of gazing at Buffy. He leaned closer, a glimmer in his eyes. "Soon, you will be unable to do anything but scream, Slayer."
Buffy exaggerated a yawn as she rolled her eyes. "Heard it," she replied in a bored tone. "You guys threaten a lot but I never see any action. And I have a name. It's not 'Slayer'; it's Buffy. What should I call you besides a plethora of colorful metaphors?"
The man stepped closer, half of his face in shadow, the other half in light. A hand rested gently on Buffy's cheek and he leaned in even closer to her. For a brief moment, she thought he intended to kiss her. Not so.
"Melek. In time, it will be a name you'll wish you'd never heard ... Buffy," he softly said.
For the first time since she'd laid eyes on this Melek, she was truly rattled by him. She swallowed hard and kept her cool the best she could. She knew that hatred in his eyes - she'd seen it before. One who'd been wronged and sought a violent revenge. Wisely, she kept her mouth shut as Melek backed away, eyes still on her with that creepy gaze. After a few seconds, he turned, left the cell and slammed the door closed behind him.
"God ..." she sighed as she leaned back against the wall, sagging a bit as she closed her eyes. [You're in a real fix, Buffy.] she thought as she opened her eyes and looked up at her chained wrists. [A real fix, indeed.]
-
End Chapter Five.
To Be Continued ...
