CHAPTER 4

The next morning, Buffy was already up when Willow came down the stairs.

"Hey, Wills," she greeted.

"Buffy," the redhead returned. "How was patrol?"

"Quiet. Neither web nor fang of the big uglies." Changing her tone, Buffy asked offhandedly, "What time is your class today?"

"Which one?"

Buffy just looked at her.

"Oh," Willow said. "3:00, why?"

"I was thinking that I should probably come and observe," the blonde responded causally. "You know, as the Slayer and all?"

"Sure, as the Slayer," Willow agreed, trying not to smile. "It's killing you, isn't it? To not know?"

Buffy avoided Willow's gaze and focused on her breakfast. "Well, I just think that we should find out anything we can about Spike." She finally looked up at her friend and admitted, "And I'm curious as a cat detective."

"A cat detective?"

"Well, I figured they're more curious than the normal cat."

"Okay," Willow responded laughing. "I have a break before that class. How about I swing by the Magic Box and get you?"

"Great!" Buffy paused before continuing. "I should probably read the, um, reading. You know, so I'm prepared?"

"Here. It's a good thing I made a copy for Spike because I don't think I'm getting it back from him." Willow pulled the reading out of her bag and handed it to Buffy as she laughed. "This has got to be a first! You want to do my homework!"

* * * * *

That afternoon, Willow and Buffy arrived at class early. They took their seats and chatted about inconsequential matters. They had agreed beforehand to keep their discussion light in order not to betray their knowledge of vampires, and Spike in specific.

The instructor walked in and began sorting though his notes for that day's discussion. Just as he was about to begin, someone slipped into the empty seat next to Willow. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who it was.

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Buffy leaned across the redhead and hissed at the vampire next to her.

"Thought I'd see if everything I've heard about American schools is true," he replied. "And don't call me that. Don't want to give anything away."

Rolling her eyes, Buffy responded in a whisper. "And what should we call you?"

"Hello, pet," Spike stuck his hand out. "Name's William. And you are?"

Buffy ignored his offered hand and slumped back in her seat. Spike chuckled to himself.

"You two behave!" Willow whispered sternly as the professor began to talk.

"Does anyone want to review the reading for us?" Gage asked.

A girl in the back of the room spoke up. "The narrator, William the Bloody, was a vampire. He was part of a family of four vampires, called The Scourge of Europe. Together they killed lots of people. It was pretty bloody."

"Bloody right it was!" Spike mumbled proudly under his breath.

"Yes," Gage said, smiling. "But it was more than bloody. I know you couldn't get everything from the sections I gave you to read, because I left out some of the more gratuitous violence. But other stories about the Scourge tell of them cutting a swath through Europe for many years, leaving a trail of unexplained death and destruction behind them."

When the girl had spoken, Spike sat up a little straighter in his seat. During the professor's words, Willow swore she saw his chest puff out. She gently elbowed him in the side.

"Your head's going to explode if it swells any further," she warned quietly.

"The idea of vampires, creatures that only exist in a fictional world of shadow and death, is a common one throughout history. What can we determine from the mythic idea of vampires itself?" Gage continued.

"They could be a reflection of the wildness and untamable qualities of nature," a blonde girl sitting in front of Buffy said.

"Or a reflection of the inner desires hidden in everyone," another student said. "You know, sort of a Jekyll and Hyde thing?"

"That's good," the professor said, "Vampires lead a very pleasure- oriented life. Much of the vampire lore portrays them as violent, elegant, sensual creatures. They live for blood and sex. They're very much about instant gratification. Who wouldn't want a life where you were strong, forever young, and could have whatever you wanted whenever you want it? Plus, in the case of our main character, he had a beautiful, mysterious vampire lover by his side for all eternity."

"Yeah, but it sounds like this girlfriend was a grade-A psycho!" the jock who had joked about being the thing that goes bump in the night during the previous class called out.

Spike growled softly, until another elbow in the ribs stopped him.

"Be that as it may," the professor said, "it gives the character of Drusilla, well, character. She's more interesting for being slightly crazy and having visions. What does Drusilla's mental state tell us about the time in which this story was written?" Gage asked.

"Don't let Angel drive you crazy before turning you?" Buffy whispered under her breath so low that only Willow and Spike, with his enhanced vampire hearing, could hear.

Willow barely contained the snort that threatened to escape. Seeing her reaction, the professor called on her.

"Miss Rosenberg?"

Willow briefly toyed with the idea of repeating Buffy's remark before answering. "Um, it could be a comment on the understanding of mental health and the lack of understanding of the mentally ill during the Victorian era."

"Very good. Let's go back to the main character. What about the change from the name 'William the Bloody' to 'Spike?'"

"I got the impression he was called William the Bloody before he became a vampire," a boy in the back said. "It's too bad the author didn't tell us why."

"Actually, he was called that when he was human. And the author did tell us why," Gage admitted. "I just didn't include it in your packets. Any guesses?"

Spike's eyes got wide and his body went stiff. Both Buffy and Willow noticed the change in his posture and looked at one another quizzically as the class shouted out guesses.

"He was a murderer when he was human."

"He was in a gang."

"He was a criminal."

"All wrong," Gage said. "And I don't think they had gangs, as such, in Victorian England. Would you believe he was a poet?"

Buffy and Willow's heads both whipped to look at Spike who had closed his eyes and sunk down in his seat. If he could have blushed, he would have.

"William, the man, was a poet. Although not a very good one, from what I gather. Others mocked him and called him 'William the Bloody' for his 'bloody awful' poetry. How does that change your opinion of him?"

Buffy and Willow sat in shock as the class continued, both too surprised to laugh. Seeing Spike's obvious discomfort, and remembering how he had lied about his past saying he'd always been bad, Buffy reached across Willow and grabbed one of his hands, giving it a squeeze of support.

Spike opened his eyes and seeing that neither girl was laughing, he relaxed a little. *If it wasn't for the chip…* Spike thought, more wistfully than seriously.

"So, then, why Spike?" a student asked. "I mean it sounds like a biker or something."

Willow wondered why no one volunteered the correct answer, before remembering that Spike's penchant for railroad spikes hadn't been mentioned anywhere in the assigned reading.

"It certainly does sound tough," Gage agreed. "Do you think that's what he was going for?"

"Yeah," the blonde in front of Buffy answered again. "I mean, think about it. He was ridiculed as a human and then he's the youngest member of his vampire family. The oldest two of which don't sound very nice at all-"

"That's an understatement," Buffy muttered.

"And the other one's nuts. He has to prove himself. He has to prove he's bad enough to be part of their group."

"Okay, let's talk about the other two vampires, Angelus and Darla," Gage said. "What do they tell us about the culture this story was created in?"

Spike relaxed visibly now that the discussion was directed away from himself.

"Darla seemed like a right bitch to me," he spoke up.

"Um, yes," Gage said, looking at the strange young man in black leather that he was sure he'd never seen in class before. "William tells us that she had a very, er, forceful personality."

"Forceful, bitchy whore," Buffy whispered to Willow in a tone one might use to say "Poe-tate-toe, Poe-tot-toe."

"Didn't really like Angelus, either," Spike responded, knowing Buffy and Willow were both rolling their eyes even though he wasn't looking at them. "Seemed like a bit of a prat to me."

"William tells us about Angelus' love of stalking a victim and torturing him or her psychologically," Gage said. "Can you imagine the terror of being stalked by a creature of evil, never knowing when or where he will appear? Never knowing what dark 'present' he might leave you? Not knowing why you've been chosen as a target?"

"Nope, not a clue," Buffy whispered sarcastically.

"Miss?" Gage asked, seeing Buffy speak, but not hearing what she said.

"I, uh, I said I think I can imagine," Buffy said. "I had a boyfriend like that once. One day he just turned all stalkery, following me around leaving creepy little presents."

"Sounds a lot like this Angelus bloke," Spike spoke up from Willow's other side.

"Yeah, he was," Buffy said tightly, mentally giving the vampire the evil eye.

"Okay, so that's a similar situation," Gage agreed. "What else about the story speaks to cultural archetypes?"

"How about the story about the Slayer?" the blonde in front of Buffy volunteered. "When Angelus tells William about the Slayer, the one person in all the world who can fight vampires, all I could think was how cool would it be to be her?"

"Right!" Gage praised the girl. "The idea of a hero, or in this case, heroine, who's strong enough and smart enough to fight these dangerous creatures on her own is very appealing. Possibly even more so because we, as readers, are expected to sympathize with the narrator, William. But he's the incarnation of darkness, of evil. He's the villain. The Slayer is the incarnation of the forces of good. It's a very attractive idea."

"Yeah," Buffy spoke up before she realized what she was doing. "Unless you're her."

"How's that?" Gage asked.

"Think about it. One day, you're minding your own business and some stranger comes up to you and tells you you're chosen to fight the forces of darkness. Not only is your future planned out, but it's not even a long one and you might as well give up on any dreams right now."

"How do you know it's not a long future?" Gage asked, puzzled. "It didn't say that anywhere in the reading."

"Well, I'm thinking fighting monsters as a hobby doesn't exactly equal a long life span," Buffy replied, attempting to explain her outburst. "It's a neat idea, as long as it's someone else."

This time it was Willow who reached out and squeezed Buffy's hand.

"Okay," Gage addressed the class in general. "Unfortunately the story ends a year or so after it begins. There are many small stories, but no overriding plot to the narrative, indicating that this was possibly the first draft of a larger work. Using what you know of these characters and what you know about cultural myths, what would you have happen to these characters?"

"I liked William," the blond girl in the front row spoke up. "Sure, he's a vampire, and therefore a bad guy, but I'd like to see him have a chance for redemption."

"How would you give him that redemption?" Gage asked.

Buffy couldn't resist the opening. "Give him a soul."

Next to Willow, Spike chocked and began coughing. "I don't bloody well think so!" he exclaimed.

"A soul?" Gage asked.

"Sure." Buffy said. "Vampires are soulless. It's part of the whole evil thing. So, giving him a soul would make him good."

"Interesting," Gage nodded, then looked at Spike. "Do you have a different opinion?"

"A soul doesn't make someone good," Spike argued, staring straight at Buffy. "How many fully souled humans do you know that do evil things? Besides, it's much more interesting if he becomes good without a soul."

"And how would you do that?" the professor asked.

Spike smiled smugly, "I don't know…love?"

"Vampires can't love," Buffy responded hotly. "It's part of the no- soul package."

"I don't know about that," Gage said.

"I think Sp-William loved Drusilla," Willow said, trying to diffuse the tension between the blondes on either side of her.

"I think so too, pet," Spike said. "And I think he loved her all the more because of what Angelus had put her through. Not saying it was right, but it made her who she was."

"What are you talking about?" the girl in front of Buffy turned around and asked.

"When Angelus stalked and tormented her and drove her crazy before he turned her," Buffy answered for him, forgetting that the information about Dru's past had not appeared in the instructor prepared reading packet.

"I don't remember reading anything about that," the girl insisted.

Realizing Buffy's mistake, Spike shrugged and smiled charmingly. "We've read other stories about the Scourge. Must have gotten that from somewhere else."

"Okay," said Gage, almost seeing the air thicken between the bickering pair, and desperate to keep the discussion under control. "Now that we've covered the main characters, let's talk about some of the specific incidents."

* * * * *

After dismissing the class, Gage started to gather his materials, and then quickly looked up, remembering that he wanted to catch Willow Rosenberg and her friends before they left. Their nearly constant whispering and the indefinable subtext behind their comments had not gone unnoticed by Gage. Neither had the blondes' knowledge about Drusilla's past, something Gage had never come across in any research besides this book. Clearly, they knew something more than they were telling.

However, by the time he looked up, the three were gone.

tbc

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A/N: I suspect, from some of the comments I've been getting in reviews, some of you were hoping for more specific stories about the Four and the swath they cut through Europe in this chapter. Sorry if I disappointed, but I'm rather proud of the chapter as it is. However, I am giving serious consideration to Eledhwen's request for excerpts from this mysterious diary. I hate to start before I get the rest of this story nailed down, because I don't want to leave you hanging. But the ideas are brewing – fire burn and cauldron bubble and all that– we'll see what comes out. Thanks for continuing to read and for the kind words on the review page! I appreciate your patronage. ht