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Chapter 28: Going Schitzo
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"That's it, Jill. I can't take it anymore." Her cat just stared at her. She couldn't sit around and worry about Spike for one second longer. The bastard had overreacted and now he was being downright inconsiderate. She had to go fond him and kick his ass.
Andrea ripped a piece of paper off the pad next to her phone and scribbled a note on it, incase April, Ben and Cody got back before she did. Then she slid on a jacket and yanked open the door.
"You gunna help me find him?" she asked Jill. The cat hesitated before bounding out the door ahead of her. "Okay, babe, where'd he go?"
Jill ran to the intersection of Revello and Elm, Andrea not too far behind, then across and north a few blocks to the downtown part of Sunnydale. Her feline sense of smell almost led Jill into Spike's apartment building, but she caught a fresher scent in the alley behind them.
"What the hell?"
There was a hypodermic needle lying on the ground. And it was cleaner than the alley would suggest of something older. Andrea carefully picked it up and sniffed it. The clear liquid it had once held had left a sweet smell on the hypo.
"This can't be good."
Jill scratched at her foot to get her attention, then ran out of the alley. She hopped a fence and they found themselves in Restfield Cemetery. On the other side of the cemetery was a large building that looked like an abandoned warehouse. And Andrea was fairly certain it hadn't been there last time she'd patrolled. She took off toward it at full speed.
"Once her journey was halted by a heavy steel door, the likes of which she could not kick open, Andrea stared at it and felt heat collect in her fingertips as she muttered a charm. The door flew open when a bolt of electricity left her finger and zapped the lock.
She rushed inside the warehouse, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw April, Cody, a whimpering Sydney, Ben and Spike all tied, gagged and propped against the wall.
"Took you long enough. I firgured you'd have been here hours ago," came a feminine voice from behind her. She whirled around.
The woman was tall and thin. Pretty enough, with dark hair and eyes.
"Who the fuck are you?" Andrea asked with a frown.
"Who am I? Who am I?" She paced annoyingly back and forth.
"Is there an echo in here? Answer the damn question before I lose my patience."
"I don't think so, blondie. I'm makin' the rules here." Andrea was grudgingly silent for a moment.
"What do you want from me?"
"Revenge," the woman admitted.
"I haven't ever met you before. How can I have done anything that constitutes revenge?" She ignored her question.
"Do you love your brother, Andrea? Do you love your family?" She opened her mouth to ask what the hell that had to do with anything, but was cut off when the woman continued. "Do you know what it's like to have everything you care about ripped away from you by someone you've never met?" Andrea shook her head. "Imagine what it would feel like. Like you've had a vital part of you torn from your body and you'll never get it back. Like there isn't a reason for you to keep living. Now multiply that feeling by a thousand and you can imagine what it's like to lose a twin."
A twin. Shit.
"James never told me he had a sister," she said softly.
"Of course not. He was afraid you'd want to meet me and Dad would find out about you. He never intended to tell anyone about you. Wanted to keep you all to himself. I only found out because I followed him one night when he went to see you. He loved you. And you killed him." James's sister pulled a gun out of the waistband of her jeans. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike jerk against his bonds. At least he didn't hate her enough to want her dead.
"The only person James ever loved was himself. And I hate to take you back to grade school, but he tried to kill me first." James's sister pretended not to hear her.
"Not I'm going to kill you." She raised the gun and aimed it between Andrea's eyes. Again Spike jerked against the ropes, trying to say something, his speech impaired by the gag. "What now?" She moved to Spike, gun still trained on Andrea, and removed his gag.
"She didn't kill your ponce of a brother. I did." Her eyes flashed dangerously. Andrea's eyes widened.
"No, he didn't. I did. Don't listen to him." She replaced the gag.
"No matter. Back to my original plan. Have you watch while I kill everyone you love. Now, who should we start with?" Andrea glared at her. "I just can't decide. Oh, I know." She pointed at Cody. "Eeny." Sydney. "Meeny." April. "Miney." Spike. "Moe." Ben. "Catch a-" Back to Cody. "-tiger-" Sydney. "-by the-" April. "-toe." Spike. "If he-" Ben again. "-hollers-" Cody. "-let him-" Sydney. Poor girl was still crying softly. "-go." April. "Eeny." Then Spike. "Meeny." Next Ben. "Miney." And finally Cody. "Moe."
"No!" Andrea screamed at the same time the gun fired. Sydney's cryng intensified and April whimpered. She started toward Cody's bleeding body, but James's sister pointed the gun at her again.
"One more step and lover boy over there gets it next," she threatened, nodding toward Spike.
"Alright. I've had enough of you," Andrea sighed. The other woman dew the trigger on the gun back. She knew that Andrea wasn't nearly fast enough to knock the gun away before she'd had a chance to fire off another shot.
Andrea's eyes turned from their beautiful hazel to a dangerous blood red. She raised her hand toward James's sister and the gun fell from her grasp. Her hands flew to her neck as she was lifted into the air. Andrea kept her hand toward the woman, effectively cutting off her air supply by magic. With her free hand, she gestured toward Cody, magically pulling the bullet from his body and healing the wound.
Spike watched, wide-eyed, as Cody coughed against the gag and slowly regained consciousness. April whimpered again, this time in relief. But Spike wasn't paying attention to them. His eyes were on Andrea.
She'd gone totally schitzo on this bint.
Just before she lost consciousness, Andrea used her magic to throw the woman back against the warehouse wall. She growled and made a slashing movement with her hand, red welts appearing on her enemy's face.
"You gunna kill me without even knowing my name?" She grinned weakly.
"I was planning on it, yeah."
"It's Sarah. My name is Sarah."
"Congratulations. Can I kill you now?" Without waiting for a reply, Andrea gave a flick of her wrist and broke Sarah's arm. She walked slowly toward her. "I'm not going to let magic cheat me out of this." Then she leaned in close and slowly, placing her hands on either side of Sarah's face, whispered, "I'm sorry about James," and gave a vicious twist. She heard a sickening *snap* and watched her slump to the floor.
"That's it, Jill. I can't take it anymore." Her cat just stared at her. She couldn't sit around and worry about Spike for one second longer. The bastard had overreacted and now he was being downright inconsiderate. She had to go fond him and kick his ass.
Andrea ripped a piece of paper off the pad next to her phone and scribbled a note on it, incase April, Ben and Cody got back before she did. Then she slid on a jacket and yanked open the door.
"You gunna help me find him?" she asked Jill. The cat hesitated before bounding out the door ahead of her. "Okay, babe, where'd he go?"
Jill ran to the intersection of Revello and Elm, Andrea not too far behind, then across and north a few blocks to the downtown part of Sunnydale. Her feline sense of smell almost led Jill into Spike's apartment building, but she caught a fresher scent in the alley behind them.
"What the hell?"
There was a hypodermic needle lying on the ground. And it was cleaner than the alley would suggest of something older. Andrea carefully picked it up and sniffed it. The clear liquid it had once held had left a sweet smell on the hypo.
"This can't be good."
Jill scratched at her foot to get her attention, then ran out of the alley. She hopped a fence and they found themselves in Restfield Cemetery. On the other side of the cemetery was a large building that looked like an abandoned warehouse. And Andrea was fairly certain it hadn't been there last time she'd patrolled. She took off toward it at full speed.
"Once her journey was halted by a heavy steel door, the likes of which she could not kick open, Andrea stared at it and felt heat collect in her fingertips as she muttered a charm. The door flew open when a bolt of electricity left her finger and zapped the lock.
She rushed inside the warehouse, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw April, Cody, a whimpering Sydney, Ben and Spike all tied, gagged and propped against the wall.
"Took you long enough. I firgured you'd have been here hours ago," came a feminine voice from behind her. She whirled around.
The woman was tall and thin. Pretty enough, with dark hair and eyes.
"Who the fuck are you?" Andrea asked with a frown.
"Who am I? Who am I?" She paced annoyingly back and forth.
"Is there an echo in here? Answer the damn question before I lose my patience."
"I don't think so, blondie. I'm makin' the rules here." Andrea was grudgingly silent for a moment.
"What do you want from me?"
"Revenge," the woman admitted.
"I haven't ever met you before. How can I have done anything that constitutes revenge?" She ignored her question.
"Do you love your brother, Andrea? Do you love your family?" She opened her mouth to ask what the hell that had to do with anything, but was cut off when the woman continued. "Do you know what it's like to have everything you care about ripped away from you by someone you've never met?" Andrea shook her head. "Imagine what it would feel like. Like you've had a vital part of you torn from your body and you'll never get it back. Like there isn't a reason for you to keep living. Now multiply that feeling by a thousand and you can imagine what it's like to lose a twin."
A twin. Shit.
"James never told me he had a sister," she said softly.
"Of course not. He was afraid you'd want to meet me and Dad would find out about you. He never intended to tell anyone about you. Wanted to keep you all to himself. I only found out because I followed him one night when he went to see you. He loved you. And you killed him." James's sister pulled a gun out of the waistband of her jeans. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike jerk against his bonds. At least he didn't hate her enough to want her dead.
"The only person James ever loved was himself. And I hate to take you back to grade school, but he tried to kill me first." James's sister pretended not to hear her.
"Not I'm going to kill you." She raised the gun and aimed it between Andrea's eyes. Again Spike jerked against the ropes, trying to say something, his speech impaired by the gag. "What now?" She moved to Spike, gun still trained on Andrea, and removed his gag.
"She didn't kill your ponce of a brother. I did." Her eyes flashed dangerously. Andrea's eyes widened.
"No, he didn't. I did. Don't listen to him." She replaced the gag.
"No matter. Back to my original plan. Have you watch while I kill everyone you love. Now, who should we start with?" Andrea glared at her. "I just can't decide. Oh, I know." She pointed at Cody. "Eeny." Sydney. "Meeny." April. "Miney." Spike. "Moe." Ben. "Catch a-" Back to Cody. "-tiger-" Sydney. "-by the-" April. "-toe." Spike. "If he-" Ben again. "-hollers-" Cody. "-let him-" Sydney. Poor girl was still crying softly. "-go." April. "Eeny." Then Spike. "Meeny." Next Ben. "Miney." And finally Cody. "Moe."
"No!" Andrea screamed at the same time the gun fired. Sydney's cryng intensified and April whimpered. She started toward Cody's bleeding body, but James's sister pointed the gun at her again.
"One more step and lover boy over there gets it next," she threatened, nodding toward Spike.
"Alright. I've had enough of you," Andrea sighed. The other woman dew the trigger on the gun back. She knew that Andrea wasn't nearly fast enough to knock the gun away before she'd had a chance to fire off another shot.
Andrea's eyes turned from their beautiful hazel to a dangerous blood red. She raised her hand toward James's sister and the gun fell from her grasp. Her hands flew to her neck as she was lifted into the air. Andrea kept her hand toward the woman, effectively cutting off her air supply by magic. With her free hand, she gestured toward Cody, magically pulling the bullet from his body and healing the wound.
Spike watched, wide-eyed, as Cody coughed against the gag and slowly regained consciousness. April whimpered again, this time in relief. But Spike wasn't paying attention to them. His eyes were on Andrea.
She'd gone totally schitzo on this bint.
Just before she lost consciousness, Andrea used her magic to throw the woman back against the warehouse wall. She growled and made a slashing movement with her hand, red welts appearing on her enemy's face.
"You gunna kill me without even knowing my name?" She grinned weakly.
"I was planning on it, yeah."
"It's Sarah. My name is Sarah."
"Congratulations. Can I kill you now?" Without waiting for a reply, Andrea gave a flick of her wrist and broke Sarah's arm. She walked slowly toward her. "I'm not going to let magic cheat me out of this." Then she leaned in close and slowly, placing her hands on either side of Sarah's face, whispered, "I'm sorry about James," and gave a vicious twist. She heard a sickening *snap* and watched her slump to the floor.