Chapter 8

Spike's senses tingled as he made his way through the familiar wood. If his dream was any indication, then there should be some sort of path that would lead to a clearing in the dense woods. There would be a hut there and Katerina would be inside. Or there would be at least a clue to her whereabouts.

But he had been wandering these woods for hours now with no progress. He could feel her near. He could taste her on the air- feel the crackle of the electricity that was distinctly her. But he couldn't find her.

By the growing lightness in the sky, he judged that dawn was approaching. He'd have to find shelter and start his search again at night. But as he turned around, listening and looking for any sign of a cave or some other shelter, he was almost knocked down by a rush of wind from above him. Looking up, he just caught a glimpse of a winged demon with a bundle in its arms and on the air was a familiar scent. Peanut butter and glue. Rebecca.

"What the hell?" He dashed off in the direction the creature had flown, dodging trees and crashing through brush but the demon was too fast and Spike soon lost its trail. Panicked and frustrated, he punched a tree trunk and it gave under his powerful fist, cracking but not falling. His hand was bloody with little bits of bark in the red abrasions but he ignored it.

Feeling utterly helpless for possibly the first time in his unlife, Spike merely stood in the midst of the towering trees, clenching and unclenching his fists. Never before had the stakes been this high- not to him, at least. And never before had he been this scared of losing.

*****

It was the sensation of being unceremoniously dropped on a cold concrete floor that awoke Rebecca. She'd fallen asleep in the demon's arms as it'd flown her across the world at a speed so fast that the ground below them was indistinguishable from the sky above them.

Now, still groggy with sleep, she watched apathetically as a large robed demon bound her hands and feet with twine. It was scratchy against her baby-soft skin and she let out a small whimper. The demon only laughed and tightened the holds.

"I'll be back. Enjoy these last minutes, creature," he called as he ducked out of the hut.

"It's OK, sweetie," a soft, refined voice came from across the room.

"Mummy?"

"Yes. It's me." Rebecca stared wide-eyed at the battered and bloody figure of her mother. It would've frightened her if it weren't for the comforting smile on Katerina's face. "I'm all right. But we have to hurry. We've got to find a way to get out of here."

"Daddy will come and get us."

"Spike? Spike's coming?"

"He sent me with Buffy and Dawn to see Grandpa Angel but then the big bird came and took me away. I hope Buffy's not worried."

"He's coming here to rescue us?"

Rebecca nodded and her mother's eyes went heavenward. "Oh, Goddess! Let him be swift!"

"Don't worry, mummy. Daddy will come. He's very brave and strong. He taught me how to fight!" Rebecca exclaimed excitedly.

"He what?"

"He taught me to fight! And he bought me new clothes- well, Buffy and Dawn and Anya and Willow helped too."

Katerina listened to her daughter ramble, marvelling internally at her ability to remain perfectly calm when her feet and hands were bound and the threat of death was so close. In fact, the little girl was even soothing Katerina's nerves.

"…and then he let me taste a little blood and it was nasty!" Rebecca's face screwed up in disgust.

"Spike let you have blood. If I get out of here, I'm going to kill him."

"I like Dawn. She plays with me. And Willow's nice, too. She used to be a witch like you. And Buffy's the slayer. She kills vampires, but not the good ones like daddy."

"So you like living with your da?"

Rebecca nodded. "Except…I miss you. Daddy misses you too."

"What?"

"He has bad dreams sometimes."

Katerina thought of those weeks of trying desperately to contact Spike through his subconscious. "Yea…I know."

A shadow fell across the room and Katerina's heart sank as Enuji appeared in the doorway with a glistening blade in his clawed hands. "Now, let's get to business. Destroying the creature," he looked at Rebecca. "And then leaving the witch to rot in her shackles." He stepped close to the beaten woman. "My foolish counterpart may have given you eternity, but you will spend it alone," Enuji whispered in her ear.

The large demon began moving toward the little girl with slow, measured steps. Behind him, Katerina began to thrash in her shackles, opening closed wounds and making them bleed anew. She screamed and cried, warned him to stay away from her daughter. But he only laughed.

Katerina watched in horror- the world seeming to slow as it turned on its axis. Enuji drew closer and closer to Rebecca. Each of his heavy footfalls echoed in the tiny hut. The witch filled her lungs with air and let out the loudest scream she could muster- calling her only hope of saving her daughter. "Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!"

{ A/N: I began this story with the specific intent of being original- i.e. not redoing the Buffy-and-Spike-have-a-baby-story. There are literally hundreds of these out already. I'm not criticizing them. Some are incredibly good and cute and funny and creative. But it's been done to death. I wanted something different for myself and for anyone else who's tired of the same old B/S.

I'd just like to say that writing Buffy stories that feature original characters as the main focus of the plot is incredibly hard. To even create a character and throw them into the Buffy mix is a challenge. Not a lot of people respect and understand this challenge and therefore, most of your work will never get the full attention of the fanfic community. People who write original characters are gutsy. You'll get flames. You'll get shunned by sites and awards and ignorant people unwilling to give you a chance once the popular, expected ship is pushed out of the picture.

So I'd like to dedicate this story to all writers of original characters. (Mary-Sue or no, cause you've always got to start somewhere.) Thank you. Keep reviewing! And if you're interested in more quality O/C stories by many talented authors, check out my site at www.geocities.com/saffire457 }