Title: Drip, Drip, Drip Pt. B
Author: Goldy
Email: thegoldoneb_a@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Joss. Not me. No suey.
Synopsis: Buffy. Angel. Water. You know, the usual.
Timeline: Right after Drip, Drip, Drip pt A.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this out. I had it ready in June. It's just, my beta readers have been a little busy lately. So. I've made a uniform decision. As much as I love them, which is a lot of love by the way, I'm posting this without them looking at it. I had a friend go over it for me instead.
A/N: Again! Sorry! For the delay. I feel bad, I know how long this has taken. The next, I hope, will be coming out more frequently.
Feedback: Errr… is anyone even still reading this?
Angel was still staring at the water that was dripping down from the pipe. The others had moved slowly away from him and began conversing amongst themselves. Angel, though they had tried to talk to him, was still staring at the water pounding against the desk. He was transfixed, maybe even hypnotized by the motion.
Drip
Drip
Drip
Cordelia, once the school bitch of Sunnydale High School, was, quite frankly, getting tired of it. She wasn't sure whether Angel was staring at the water in fear, or in anger, or in helplessness. Or whatever. It didn't matter. What did matter, though, was that the vampire hadn't moved an inch in the past 10 minutes. Cordelia thought that wasn't a good sign. Of course, when it came to Angel, most things that had to do with Buffy weren't good.
And Cordelia was left to pick up the pieces. Again.
Walking up to him, she put a hand on his arm. "Angel… maybe you shouldn't… look at the water like that. You could go cross-eyed or something."
Angel didn't say anything.
"Oh, for The Powers That Be sakes," Cordelia muttered under her breath. "Uh, hello? Freaky water dude there? Do you really think that you're going to help Buffy staring at the water that way?"
Angel made no reply.
Cordy sighed. "Angel, you help people," Cordelia said slowly, in a patronizing voice, "that's your job. You can't help people if you stare at water. The only way to help people would be to look—"
"She's beyond my reach," Angel interrupted, not looking up from the dripping water.
The ex-cheerleader sniffed. "Well, that's nice. I never really liked her anyway."
Angel finally turned to stare at her with a horrified expression.
Cordelia let out a little chuckle. "Just kidding!" When Angel glared at her, she grinned. "I got you to stop looking at the water, didn't I?"
"I think the water's the key," Angel mused.
Cordelia watched the water drip from the ceiling and bounce off the desk. "Or we have leaking problems…"
"No… it means… something." Angel looked as if he might turn and stare at it again, so Cordelia quickly grabbed his arm.
"What do you mean she's beyond your reach?"
Angel frowned. "I mean, I can't help her."
Cordelia gave him her best shocked look. "Okay, Mr. Downer Guy, what have you done with Mr. Positive Guy and where can I get him back?" Angel pulled his arm out of her grasp and turned back to the water. "So that… was not the best thing to say," Cordelia admitted grudgingly. "You were never really Mr. Positive Guy, but… we are talking about Buffy right? B-U-F-F-Y?"
"Cordelia," Angel said her name in a tight voice, "go away."
"No, I will not go away! You just think I'm going to stand here and listen to this? Obviously, Buffy needs your help. So what are you doing? Nothing! I won't stand for it! Did it ever occur to you that *you* might be getting farther away from her?"
When Angel turned back to look at her, his face was twisted into a grimace of barely controlled anger. "You don't know anything about Buffy and me, so don't even assume to tell me what's going on."
She scoffed. "You're right. I don't know anything."
Angel didn't say anything.
"I thought you loved her!" she cried fiercely, "Don't say you can't help her when you haven't even tried!"
"I had a prophetic dream…"
"Where Darla was pregnant. Right, cause that world sounds so real. Angel, snap out of it! Order us around! Don't just stand there!"
Angel opened his mouth, presumably to argue, when he realized that he and Cordelia had an audience. Dawn stood, staring at them. Her mouth hung partially open, and tears welled in her eyes.
"What do you mean you're not going to help her?" she whispered in a soft, small voice.
Angel blinked in surprise and guilt. "I didn't say that I wasn't going…"
Dawn shook her head. Giving Angel one last hurt look, she turned and fled from the room. Angel stared after her, clear helplessness stamped on his features.
Cordelia resisted the urge, however strong, to smack him.
"Angel," she said, trying her best to sound calm and dignified. "Go talk to Dawn. Tell her that Buffy is going to be okay. Tell her that you have everything under control."
Angel didn't say anything, just stared at the place where Dawn used to be, looking like he was contemplating jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
So… Cordy smacked him. Hard.
Angel turned to look at her, confused. "What was that for?"
"You acting like a little child that doesn't know how to help himself!"
"Cordy… this is complicated."
She bared her teeth at him. "I'll smack you again."
Angel finally gave a little smirk. "Well, if it's as painful as that last one…"
"Watch it, buddy," Cordy threatened, standing on the balls of her feet.
Sighing, Angel's frown marred his face again. "I don't know how to do this, Cordy," he admitted painfully.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You only think you don't know how to help her."
"No, I really don't…"
Cordelia stuck her fingers in her ears. "I'm not listening to you! Lalalala!"
Angel scowled at her. "Fine," he snapped. "Fine." He directed a piercing gaze at the rest of the AI team gathered around the lobby, now staring at him and Cordelia with wide eyes. "No one sleeps until we find her, understand?"
They gulped. "You sure you're okay, man?" Gunn asked after a beat of silence.
Angel stared at him for a moment. "When it comes to Buffy," he answered slowly, "things are never okay. I don't know what's going on, I don't know how to help her, but I want answers."
Cordelia resisted the urge to take a bow. Leaning forward she whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I knew that your will to help Whiny Buffy was in there somewhere."
Angel didn't even look at her. "Cordelia, shut up."
Cordelia pouted, deciding that it would be wise, now that she got the big soulful idiot to talk, to actually listen to that advice. So as painful and degrading as it was, Cordy shut up.
After sticking out her tongue at him.
Angel didn't comment. "Fred and Gunn, I want you to check obvious places…"
Fred raised her hand.
Angel graced her with a look. "What?" he asked, voice tight.
"Well… I..." she trailed off, looking guilty.
Angel sighed. "I'm sorry, it's not you. I'm just worried."
She nodded. "I know." Eyes filling with tears, she sniffled a few times. "We're all worried."
The vampire
didn't think it would be wise to say that there was no way anyone could
understand what he was feeling. They didn't understand what it was like to have
her back, only to be the one to lose her. Knowing they didn't, couldn't,
wouldn't understand, he smiled and nodded sympathetically. "We'll get her
back," he stated firmly, even as his mind screamed his lie.
Looking a little better, Fred raised her hand again.
Angel smothered the urge to groan. "Yes?"
"When you say you want us to check the usual places… what do you mean by usual?"
Angel didn't even have to think about. "Graveyards, dark alleys… places Buffy likes to be when she's hurt or angry." He didn't add that was where she was likely to go when she was mad at *him*.
Gunn shook his head. "Usual… that girl looks so normal…" he sighed, as if trying to clear out Buffy's image. "I still have trouble believing that a chick like that could be the Slayer."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "We know that," she sneered, "every time you see her you do a double take because you can't believe a woman could beat the shit out of you."
"Hey! Not just anyone can beat the shit out of me."
Cordelia snorted, "Plus, you're like, totally in love with her."
Gunn's eyes widened in surprise. Gaping, he took one look at Angel's hard, angry face and defensively threw his hands up in the air. "I don't… I never… it's not like…"
Angel glared and glanced pointedly at the water dripping down on the front desk. "Look," he said in a clipped tone, "if you're not going to do what I say, get the hell out of here. I don't know how much time I have, I don't know what's happened to her, and I will *NOT* let her die again without me."
The others regarded him in silence, seemingly put out by his tirade. "Okay," they finally answered in unison, staring guiltily at the ground.
Angel gave a barely perceptible nod. "Cordelia, I want you to check beaches, piers, malls… places a normal girl would go after having a fight with her boyfriend."
"Well," she argued, paying no heed to his obvious state of weariness. "You and Buffy didn't really have a fight… and you're not really her boyfriend."
Angel closed his eyes. Took a deep, calming breath. Opened them. "Just… go."
"So, ahh… what are we going to do with a girl that can beat the shit out of me if we find her?" Gunn asked gently, knowing that the big vampire boss wasn't in the sanest of moods.
Angel looked pained. "I don't know, Gunn," he said harshly, "apparently you're the one in love with her."
Gunn grabbed a stake and stomped towards the door. "You're not the only one who's worried about her," he called over his shoulder, "but at least the rest of us are willing to keep the friends we still have."
Fred gave Angel a wounded look that he refused to feel bad for, but she hurried out after the black man. Cordelia hovered after Fred had left, looking like she wanted to say something important but not sure how. "Angel…"
He closed his eyes. "I'm okay, Cordy."
"Don't lie to me."
"Cordelia, please… just go… help find her."
She sighed, giving him a sympathetic glance before hurrying out of the hotel.
Wesley, who had
been silent the whole time, watched just as quietly as the others left. He
looked at Angel. "I suppose you'll want me to keep researching?"
Angel gave a tiny smile, shrugged. "You're the boss."
Wesley let out a sound that may have passed as a laugh. "Research it is."
The vampire nodded, and Wesley wondered if he had actually heard him. "Will you…" Angel began with difficulty, "will you phone…" he stopped again, gulped and continued in a shaky voice, "hospitals? Health care centers?"
Wesley watched his friend through sympathetic eyes. "Of course."
Angel looked towards the stairs. "I'm going to go talk to Dawn."
"And after?"
"I'll do whatever I have to."
***
Buffy walked down the road. Or was it a road? It could have been a sidewalk, she figured. She wasn't really sure. Didn't really care. Wasn't sure about anything, really. Things were blurred, places were bleeding into one another, and nothing seemed to matter.
She was free. She felt free at last. She could walk in the road if she wanted. Fly in the sky. Swim in the ocean.
She laughed.
Then choked.
She knew, *knew*, something was wrong. She could feel it. Drugs, the idiot who had banged into her while she was having ice cream drugged her. That was the only explanation.
She laughed again. Did it really matter?
Stumbling, she fell and threw her arms out in front to protect herself. Stone, tar, and dirt clung and stung her fingers and palms, mixing with little trails of blood that the hard ground had caused.
Something was most definitely wrong.
She just needed to concentrate. Think for a moment. Even though all she wanted was to let go… be free. Close her eyes, take that final step, and oblivion would rush up. None of this would matter. She wouldn't have to think. Just *be*.
Be happy. No hurt, no pain, no fear.
No, she tried to hold on, stumbled again and lay breathing hard on someone's lawn. Where was she trying to go? Home? Home…. She tried to conjure a picture in her head, but it was hard to think of anything. Hard to remember who she was… where she lived.
Buffy bit her lip, frowned, twisted her features as if that might help her think easier. It couldn't have been drugs, she hadn't actually swallowed anything. Magic then. Someone had put a spell on her. That was okay. Soon it would wear off.
If only she could remember where she was going.
Oblivion!
Her mind screamed, urging her to close her eyes… take that step. There was no pain, no fear nor doubt… till they pulled me out…
She shuddered. She wanted to be here. It wasn't hell. There were things, things on this world…
People she loved…
Angel.
She hung on to his name, managed to whisper it aloud as if that would save her.
Was he home?
***
"It's not that I'm not going to try and save her, Dawn," Angel tried to explain, "it's just… things are complicated, you know?"
Dawn shook her head, not looking up at him. Angel sighed, she wasn't going to come around soon. Angel vaguely thought of how Liam had been as a teenager—drunken, a womanizer, a pathetic man who hadn't lived long. He glanced at Dawn, felt his heart grow more filled with regrets. So young, yet she had to endure so much.
And she could be so very annoying when she was mad.
Heavily, he sat down next to her. She was curled up in the corner of one of the spare rooms in the hotel. It was sparsely decorated, the only furniture an old bed that had been there for over fifty years.
"I love her so much, Dawn," Angel said slowly, trying to get through to her. "So much it hurts. So much that sometimes actions speak louder than words."
Dawn finally turned a tear-stained face to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean the way she looks sad all the time. Her eyes are always far away, always with a look that wonders why she's here. I see her drift off sometimes, close in on herself. She'll stare straight ahead for ten minutes, not blinking, not saying anything, and I wonder where she really is. I don't know… I don't know if she wants to be saved."
"I can't lose her again, Angel," Dawn pleaded softly.
Angel smiled, patting her shoulder. "I can't either," he admitted. "But I wonder… will she let me save her?"
Dawn blinked, bit her lip. A small trickle of blood trailed down her chin. "I used to think that you could get her to do anything but…" Dawn trailed off, shifting her eyes to a point in the room so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Since she came back… she's been different. I don't even know if she's in there anymore."
"She'll never be the same, Dawn."
"But she is, in a way. She's still Buffy."
"Buffy," Angel repeated, saying her name almost in worship. Then, chuckling softly to himself he repeated, "Buffy."
"Save her," she pleaded, eyes wide and bursting with the pain of a child that has been forced to see too much.
Angel gulped, hating the way she looked at him. Because she reminded him of Buffy at that age. Already seen too much, but still bursting with certain innocence. "I can only promise to try."
***
Angel was walking almost like an old man after he left Dawn to try and seek out Wesley. He was suddenly so tired. All he wanted was to take Buffy, shelter her, move somewhere safe and warm where no one would ever bother them again. He wanted to see her happy, and he wanted that light in her eyes to come back.
He met the ex-watcher on the stairs. Wesley was staring at him, book in hand, face contorted in thought. "The Powers," he said upon seeing Angel, "sometimes use signals, or patterns if you will, to warn their champions. In this case, I'm assuming that's the dripping noise that you heard, both in the dream and out of the dream."
"Why water?" Angel snapped. "Why the noise, why the drip, why all the cryptic?"
Wesley considered his friend for a moment. He seemed to be losing it quite a bit, his worry for Buffy obviously draining all rational thought. Finally, he just shrugged. "Who knows? These are the Powers, they're allowed to be as obscure as they choose." Wesley smiled, "Perhaps they have a sense of humor."
Angel just stared at him, less than impressed. "Fine, the dripping water was a warning. I'm assuming that means Buffy's in trouble. Or, perhaps," he said in a mimicking tone, "you could tell me more about how ambiguous everything is."
Wesley flushed, and resisted the urge to tell Angel where to shove it. He was worried and Wesley was going to try and be as patient as possible. Still, he couldn't help but sound a little miffed. "Since your dream was about Buffy, and not Darla, yes, she would be in trouble."
Angel shook his head. "It still doesn't make any sense!" he cried, annoyance dripping from his words. "Why not just send Cordelia a vision?"
Wesley paused hearing a noise. His lips quirked into a tiny smile. "Never ask."
Angel sighed, managed to look a little amused. "Right," he mumbled at the same time that there was a huge crash from the downstairs of the hotel followed by a wail.
"ANGEL!!!! I HAD A VISION!!!"
Cordelia was somewhat surprised at how fast Angel responded to her call. He came crashing down the stairs with Wesley right on his heels. She clutched her head and continued whining. "My god! Thank you for that pain of *urgency*. It's not like I'm HUMAN or anything!"
The two men just looked at each other. "Tylenol?" Wesley finally offered in a sheepish voice.
Cordelia glared at him. "Yes, Wesley. Preferably one that will make me never have to feel anything ever again!"
Wesley went to get Tylenol.
"What did you see?" Angel asked as soon as he was sure she would live.
"Sure, let's not worry about *my* pain," Cordy snapped. "Let's worry about Little Miss Slayer."
"Cordy!"
She rolled her eyes. "Seriously though," she said, almost kindly, "it's almost like you're developing a dependency on her. You know what they say, space can be good…"
"What did you *SEE*?"
"Well, it wasn't about Buffy, so I don't know why you're so worried…" Cordelia moaned, clutched her head, barely managing to fall into Angel's arms before hitting the ground. Wesley came back with two Tylenols, took one look at Cordelia, and went back for two more. Gasping, Cordelia gripped onto Angel, too woozy to stand on her feet, "Okay, that one was about Buffy."
Angel thought that he might explode. Or kill Cordelia. One of the two. "The first one wasn't about Buffy?"
She rolled her eyes… and nearly passed out from the effort. "No," she wheezed, "it was just fun to see you squirm."
Angel scowled darkly.
Wesley came back with the painkillers. Angel managed to wait patiently while his seer took them. He only growled once or twice… possibly three times.
Once Cordy could stand normally, she shook her fist at the sky. "Twice in a few minutes? Overkill, much?"
"Cordelia!" Angel nearly shrieked.
She almost looked guilty. "Yes?"
Angel looked so pained that Cordelia felt her heart contract. "Is Buffy okay?"
Resigned, Cordelia managed a small shrug. "I didn't see Buffy," she whispered. "I saw who did this to her."
"Did what to her?" Angel asked, almost afraid.
Finally, Cordelia let the horror show in her eyes. "She's in so much pain, Angel. I felt it. I felt her pain. She doesn't know where she is, barely knows her name, doesn't know whether she's alive or dead."
Angel looked down at his feet. He knew it. He failed. Buffy was getting farther and farther away from him. Soon… she wouldn't even know who he was.
"No," Cordy said, as if hearing his thoughts, "she's still hanging on to you, Angel."
The anger started. That inevitable fury that he felt, his demon felt, and his soul felt when someone he cared about was put in danger. This time it was Buffy who was hurting and Angel was going to torture, maim, and kill the people who did this to her.
Cordelia gave a little jump when Angel looked back up. In that moment he reminded her more of Angelus than the tortured vampire with a soul. "Who did this to her?" he roared.
She couldn't
help it, Cordy almost felt bad for the object of Angel's anger. "Wolfram
& Hart."
***
Lilah was pouring herself a glass of wine. She tried not to concentrate on the fact that her hands were shaking, or the way her breathing would hitch every few seconds, or even the way she kept looking behind herself, making sure nothing dark and ominous lurked ready to strike.
She downed her glass in one greedy gulp. Taking the time to look around her place cautiously, she poured herself another one, content to sip this one slower. Sitting down on her big, plush, perfect couch, Lilah tried to relax.
This day was no different then all other days. Her law firm had committed many atrocities in the past. Murders of children, families, torture… the list went on and on. Lilah *never* felt bad. Never felt the way that sniveling Lindsay would feel. Lilah knew that she had sold her soul a long time ago and she was never going to get it back. And that had never bothered her before.
But Lilah was capable of feeling fear. And she was almost certain that she could feel Angel's fury, feel it surrounding her, ready to pounce and choke her. Lilah remembered the last time when she had struck out at the seer. His anger at her for hurting one he cared for was dangerous… yet exciting. But now, now that Lilah had struck the one he loved best, now Lilah felt terrified.
So she stayed on the couch, sipped her red wine, and willed her hands to stop shaking because she kept spilling the alcohol all over her white couch and red wine *stained*.
Lilah hated mess.
***
Fred hurried along the streets of LA, busily looking everywhere one might for a blonde slayer who had gotten into a fight with her sort-of boyfriend who was the only vampire on the Earth with a soul. Fred didn't want to give up, but she was starting to feel a little uneasy. She *knew* that it hadn't been a good idea to let Buffy run off earlier on her own.
She glanced at Gunn who was deep in thought next to her. "I really like Buffy," Fred said, the first words that she had spoken in over 10 minutes.
Gunn whistled. "She is something."
She gave him a funny look but didn't comment. "So sad," the brunette sighed. "I have a feeling that whatever she's been through was a lot worse than being stuck in Pylea for a few years."
He shrugged.
"Think Angel will be able to keep it together?"
"I don't know," Fred admitted, frowning. "Did you see the pain in his eyes earlier?"
Gunn frowned. "Man, I thought we lost him there for a moment when he was watching that dripping water."
Nodding, Fred said, "I've never seen him so… distant."
"Obviously, you don't know what last year was like."
"This is different, Charles. He loves her so much, and he's so afraid of not doing the right thing." She sighed. "It just doesn't seem fair."
Gunn stopped and
looked at Fred suspiciously. "Do you still…?"
"What?"
"Well, you know… have feelings for Angel?"
She shook her head. "Kind of hard to after seeing the tension between the two whenever they're within a mile of each other." She smiled. "Besides, I'm not the only one who's developed a little crush on a warrior."
Gunn stared at a spot above Fred's head. "Yeah."
Her eyes filled with tears. "And I really, really like Buffy. She's so strong, so devoted to little Dawny, still goes out to save the world every night even after everything. She's a champion."
"No, she's not."
Surprise filled Fred's eyes. "I don't know…" she stumbled, "I just thought that…"
"She's not a
champion," Gunn interrupted, "she's more than that. She's a hero."
Fred smiled. "You're right."
"And we have to find her."
***
Buffy threw up. She couldn't help it. She wanted to keep it down, but she was so dizzy.
So lost.
So she lay on her back, not knowing where she was, how she got there. The sky was blue, so very blue, shapes and colours seemed to melt into each other. They were getting faster, faster… it was so pretty, so calm.
All she had to do was close her eyes. Bliss… bliss… if only…
She opened her eyes, tried to focus on the sky. She knew that it wasn't many colours. It was only one colour, and it shouldn't be this blurry, shouldn't be melting with other colours.
And there was something she was supposed to be remembering, something important. There was a reason she couldn't go blissfully away, some important thing that she had known a moment before but couldn't seem to remember.
There was Dawny, she had to take care of Dawn. But Dawn was alive, thanks to her, and Dawny was well loved.
She scratched her head, trying to remember. If only things would stop spinning. Maybe if everything slowed down for a little while she could remember things. Like her name.
Bunny?
Buffy.
"Buffy," she tried to yell, but the only sound that came out was a hoarse whisper. Still, it was there. And it was her name. Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.
If she could only remember where she had been going.
She stood up, noticing that things were darker. Warning bells went off in her head. Nighttime wasn't good. Not a good place for her to be. Not good, not good, not good…
If only she could remember why it wasn't good.
And where she was going.
'What's my name?' she thought again right before collapsing in an unconscious heap.
***
"Angel…" Wesley started, wanting to say that maybe it wasn't the best thing to go rushing off on a kamikaze mission. But then Angel opened his weapons cabinet, shoved a few nasty looking weapons in a bag, and held out a long sword toward Wesley.
"Yes?" He asked sweetly.
"Well, uh," he fumbled, "I was merely going to suggest that you… uh…."
"Oh screw it," Cordelia muttered under her breath. "We think you're crazy," she snapped interrupting Wesley's poor attempts at trying to say precisely that. "What you're doing is suicide and probably won't do anything to help Buffy."
Angel opened his mouth to argue.
Cordelia waved a hand. "See you in an hour!" she chirped, "We'll just take care of that little other vision I had."
Angel stared at her suspiciously. "What?"
She sighed dramatically. "It doesn't matter what we say, you'll still go on your crazy mission. I just had to put the warning out there first."
"Oh."
Cordelia's features hardened. "Besides, I want you to burn the asses of the people that did this to her."
Angel's retreating back was her only answer. Wesley groaned. "What was in that other vision?"
"Really big monster. Slime. You know, the usual."
Grabbing an axe that Angel left behind, Wes headed to the door. "Sounds great. Let's do it."
***
It was getting dark. There was no escaping that, Fred decided. It was getting dark, she and Gunn had checked graveyards, busy streets, and abandoned alleys, and so far, there was no slayer. Fred had seen plenty of other things, drug dealers, winos, pedophiles, and knew that what came out after dark was a lot worse.
And Buffy was out in it.
Unconsciously, Fred shifted nearer to the man next to her. "I hope you remembered to bring a stake… or ten."
"Never leave home without one up my sleeve, leg, and boot," Gunn answered.
Fred resisted the strong urge she had to start trembling. "Good."
"I don't get it," he said, "I've seen this girl in action. Why, suddenly, are we so worried about her safety?"
"We don't even know if it's her anymore, Charles," she whimpered. "She could be so gone that some creep could have gotten to her. She's defenseless, alone, and scared." Fred paused, stared ahead, "I know what that feels like."
Gunn was quiet. "I don't know, I just don't know…"
"We keep looking," Fred decided firmly, "take the roads back to AI, hope that's the direction she was going in."
***
When Buffy awoke, she was aware of two things, she was cold and it was dark. She tried to call up her memory, but ended up shivering.
Where was she?
HELL!
Her mind screamed, her body insisted, she was in hell. She must get out, must end it all, must get out, must end it all, mustgetout, mustenditall…
No!
She had a will to live, and it fought. Not as hard as it once did, not as true as it once was. Buffy was no longer afraid of death. Sometimes she even craved it. Where it was always warm and never dark.
Because she was afraid of the dark.
She heard a cold, mirthless laugh behind her. Buffy found the strength to look over her shoulder. It took her mind a few seconds to realize what it was.
A vampire. A hell creature.
She knew she had to fight. Knew that it was her job. *Her* job to fight vampires. But she was so dizzy, and she wanted it to end so *bad*.
When the vampire lifted her up, Buffy didn't fight too much. The vampire's hair was slicked back with too much gel, and a Metallica tee shirt made him look out of place. He was young, hungry, and untrained. Didn't even recognize that she was the slayer. Wouldn't even know that he would kill the most feared killer of their kind.
The vampire's breath was putrid, his teeth seemed too wide, almost like he was laughing at her, mocking her helplessness. And Buffy blanked out for another second. When she opened her eyes she looked right up into his face. Dark ridges protruded from his forehead. His face kept getting larger, scarier, and Buffy shivered when she felt his breath against her neck.
Vampire.
Angel…
That thought in mind, Buffy renewed her futile struggles. Opening her mouth she let out a scream, "No! I'm not ready!"
There was a chuckle, but it was so far away… almost like it was coming from underwater. "No one ever is, sweetheart."
And the whole world went black.
TBC
