ON A DARK & STORMY NIGHT
CHAPTER 2: VISITATIONS
** * *
"Do go on, tell us all about how 'bad' you are. You seem to revel in it."
Spike's face started to vamp out. "Look mate, I don't know what your bloody game is here but I'm not amused!"
"Spike! No!" Buffy said as she moved to stop his advance on his look-alike. "Giles told me to expect weird things to happen in the last few hours before the amulet appears. Things get wonky in places where the amulet is about to pop up. The books were sketchy but.."
"Pardon me, dear Lady...Summers, I believe," the man said. "I am terribly sorry you are here to witness this, since a ruffian such as himself should not even be allowed to touch the ground that your shadow has previously blessed, but.."
"Uh, yeah, great, sorry to interrupt...uh, 'Spike'..?" She raised here eyebrows questioningly.
The man straightened his glasses with a slight gesture not entirely free of indignation. "No, milady, that would not be my name! I am W."
"William!" Buffy said, before he could finish himself. "Oh my god. Spike this IS you. Is this..who..how you were? I mean how you used to be before..."
Spike didn't answer. He had been standing there, glaring at his counterpart. He had stopped because Buffy asked, but he was not about to take much more of this. Someone or something was playing with him. Maybe reading his memories and throwing illusions around or something, but...damned if he was just going to stand there and take it.
"That'll do mate. Show who you really are or things will get ugly..."
'William' walked towards him, slowly. He looked Spike over with a disappointed look. "I'd say, my friend, things got 'ugly' a long time ago."
Spike fully vamped out now and moved forward with a snarl. Buffy caught him and pushed him back by his shoulders, moving herself in between them.
"No, Spike! We don't know what's going on." She turned to the other man. "Look, 'William' if that's your name, what exactly is going on here? What do you want with us?"
William straightened his cuffs and said, "The question is, milady, what does HE want? Or you perhaps...?"
"What? We don't...we didn't.." She looked at Spike. "Did we? Did we call up something?"
Spike kept his eyes on William. "I know I bloody didn't."
"Oh really," William said to him. "Goodness, is this what I've become?? This monster? This barbaric beast? It wasn't your fault you got turned into this, perhaps, but..you could have kept SOME semblance of our dignity and refinement! We were of a high social circle! We were well versed in opera, theater, literature and poetry. Especially poetry! And now what are you? Some lowlife who gambles, drinks and fights...and kills."
He said the last word with considerable distaste. "How many have you butchered throughout the years?"
"That's enough!" Spike snarled. He didn't know what was worse to him, to be confronted with his old, poncy self, to have Buffy watching it, or to have the many crimes of his past listed in front of her. Not after he'd come this far, made all those changes for her, to prove he could be a man as much as a monster could be.
Buffy looked back and forth between them, not sure what to do.
"Were those other vampire beasts who 'adopted' you that great and inspiring as role models? No, then again, even Angelus had a higher sense of class than..."
"ENOUGH!" Spike roared and jumped his counterpart, moving with vampire speed past Buffy, ramming into the thing that wore his face. And though that was his intention, part of him was actually surprised when he found his prey to be as solid as he was himself. He had half expected it to be like a ghost.
They flew through the room, out the door and into the dark corridor outside the main living room. He heard Buffy scream his name and expected her hands on him any second, to pull him off. So he decided to get as much damage done as possible before she did! He smashed into what was essentially his own face as fast as he could, lifted the man up by his jacket and rammed his head into the wall. Then he turned and threw him across the corridor, seeing him crash into what was left of a small cabinet.
He turned for a split second to see where Buffy was and saw...a wall. The door he'd just flew out of was gone. It was a wall, and it looked like it had been for decades. For a second he was disoriented, wondering if he looked at the wrong direction. But he hadn't. The corridor was simple enough. Left, right, wall in front, wall behind, staircase beginning at the far end.
The wall behind him should have a door.
"Buffy!" he yelled, hitting the wall. He got no reply. Not even some muffled sounds from behind it or something. "DAMN!" he cursed, knowing he got played like a fool and allowed them to get separated.
He turned and looked at the place where 'Willlam' fell. He was still there, trying to get up. No. That wasn't it. He was bent over, but..not because he was hurt. He held someone in his arms.
A woman. And he was feeding on her.
Spike stood for a second, realizing what he saw now. He heard gulps and smacks and the figure in front of him stood up completely. He thought the victim was going to fall to the ground when the man released her from his grip, but he still had her by her hair in his one hand. Her hands just touched the ground and her face was hanging against his leg.
The figure turned to him and once again he saw his own face. A vampire face now, but still from long ago. He still looked like William, just rougher and unkempt. This is what he was like shortly after Dru turned him.
"Ahhh, that's the stuff," the figure said, wiping his mouth with the back of his free hand. Then he turned to Spike. "Not that YOU'd know, would ya? Not for a while anyway. You're the eunuch vamp now ain't you, mate? Neutered. Drinking pig's blood from glasses. Pretty pathetic, really."
Spike's surprise had worn off now and his face turned grim as he gave a soft threatening growl. "Not against the likes of YOU, you git. Demons I can kill just fine. And since I can touch you, let me demonstrate!"
** **
When Spike had flown through the door, it had shut immediately. Buffy had reacted as fast as lightning and opened it almost the same second it closed. But when she did, she didn't see two Spikes rolling on the floor, but an empty corridor. She walked into it and look left and right.
Nothing. Nowhere. Not a sound either. Impossible.
"Spike!" she yelled out without much hope. "Damn!" she cursed. "Stupid, hot- headed vamp! And now the house starts getting weird on me! What is this, Halloween in Sunnydale?"
She went back inside the room to get the documents Giles had given her. Maybe there was something she hadn't read yet. Still an hour and a half to go before they had to get chanty, but...
"Oh boy, you've changed!" Buffy turned around and in the other chair, she saw herself. Not quite as she was now, but like Spike, this was a former incarnation of her. Dressed in pastels and sucking on a lollipop. High school, pre-Slayer Buffy. The one more interested in commenting on people's fashions and boys in the classroom than the fate of the world.
"Gawd, you're like, so lame now. Became this total social spaz, completely forgot all your..."
"Great!" Buffy interrupted. "That it? We get confronted with our old selves who tell us we suck seven ways from Sunday and we're supposed to fall to the ground and cry?? First the 'Charles Dickens' version of Spike, which by the way, was actually kind of interesting to see, and now me? And I'm supposed to crumble because I'm not the illegitimate child of Cordelia and Harmony anymore?"
Her counterpart just looked at her.
"No really let me know. Should I now lose all hope because I'm not on the cheerleader team anymore? This is the best you can do? Please!"
"Maybe it's not about that," a voice behind her said. She looked around and saw Giles. She looked back into the chair and the 'Buffy' was gone. 'Giles' moved forward slowly.
"Maybe it's not being done TO you...maybe this is just the magic here reacting to your own mind. Maybe YOU are doing this....." he said in that oh so familiar voice.
He took off his glasses and cleaned them. "And maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe you need to see certain things."
"Oh, shut up, 'Rupert'! I've done this okay? I've had the prophetic dreams, the meaningful visions, the spirit guide desert tours, the poetic artsy- fartsy predictions, got the t-shirt and wrote home about it! If you're going to do something or attack me, then DO it. If not, then go spook somewhere else and leave me alone. I have work to do!"
'Giles' looked at her and frowned. "Maybe this is necessary for your work. Do you know what happens when the amulet comes?"
Buffy sighed and picked up her documents again. "No, and I'm certainly not going to listen to you! I'm sure evil apparitions that like to play Freud are very trustworthy, but to quote Spike, why don't you just BUGGER OFF!"
She looked around and she found herself alone again.
"Huh, that was easy. Guess they don't make poltergeists like they used to." She stuffed the documents in her coat, put it back on and walked out of the room. "Well, let's see if we can find that pigheaded vampire. I swear, next time I'll keep him on a leash!"
She grinned at that visual. "Hm, that would work. One like those big mean dogs in the cartoons always wear, with *spikes*. Only fitting. What's he gonna do, say 'no' to me?"
She walked out of the room, feeling a teensy bit bad for that last remark, knowing his devotion to her.
And realizing she had been enjoying that devotion lately.
And sort of come to expect it.
** **
TBC!
CHAPTER 2: VISITATIONS
** * *
"Do go on, tell us all about how 'bad' you are. You seem to revel in it."
Spike's face started to vamp out. "Look mate, I don't know what your bloody game is here but I'm not amused!"
"Spike! No!" Buffy said as she moved to stop his advance on his look-alike. "Giles told me to expect weird things to happen in the last few hours before the amulet appears. Things get wonky in places where the amulet is about to pop up. The books were sketchy but.."
"Pardon me, dear Lady...Summers, I believe," the man said. "I am terribly sorry you are here to witness this, since a ruffian such as himself should not even be allowed to touch the ground that your shadow has previously blessed, but.."
"Uh, yeah, great, sorry to interrupt...uh, 'Spike'..?" She raised here eyebrows questioningly.
The man straightened his glasses with a slight gesture not entirely free of indignation. "No, milady, that would not be my name! I am W."
"William!" Buffy said, before he could finish himself. "Oh my god. Spike this IS you. Is this..who..how you were? I mean how you used to be before..."
Spike didn't answer. He had been standing there, glaring at his counterpart. He had stopped because Buffy asked, but he was not about to take much more of this. Someone or something was playing with him. Maybe reading his memories and throwing illusions around or something, but...damned if he was just going to stand there and take it.
"That'll do mate. Show who you really are or things will get ugly..."
'William' walked towards him, slowly. He looked Spike over with a disappointed look. "I'd say, my friend, things got 'ugly' a long time ago."
Spike fully vamped out now and moved forward with a snarl. Buffy caught him and pushed him back by his shoulders, moving herself in between them.
"No, Spike! We don't know what's going on." She turned to the other man. "Look, 'William' if that's your name, what exactly is going on here? What do you want with us?"
William straightened his cuffs and said, "The question is, milady, what does HE want? Or you perhaps...?"
"What? We don't...we didn't.." She looked at Spike. "Did we? Did we call up something?"
Spike kept his eyes on William. "I know I bloody didn't."
"Oh really," William said to him. "Goodness, is this what I've become?? This monster? This barbaric beast? It wasn't your fault you got turned into this, perhaps, but..you could have kept SOME semblance of our dignity and refinement! We were of a high social circle! We were well versed in opera, theater, literature and poetry. Especially poetry! And now what are you? Some lowlife who gambles, drinks and fights...and kills."
He said the last word with considerable distaste. "How many have you butchered throughout the years?"
"That's enough!" Spike snarled. He didn't know what was worse to him, to be confronted with his old, poncy self, to have Buffy watching it, or to have the many crimes of his past listed in front of her. Not after he'd come this far, made all those changes for her, to prove he could be a man as much as a monster could be.
Buffy looked back and forth between them, not sure what to do.
"Were those other vampire beasts who 'adopted' you that great and inspiring as role models? No, then again, even Angelus had a higher sense of class than..."
"ENOUGH!" Spike roared and jumped his counterpart, moving with vampire speed past Buffy, ramming into the thing that wore his face. And though that was his intention, part of him was actually surprised when he found his prey to be as solid as he was himself. He had half expected it to be like a ghost.
They flew through the room, out the door and into the dark corridor outside the main living room. He heard Buffy scream his name and expected her hands on him any second, to pull him off. So he decided to get as much damage done as possible before she did! He smashed into what was essentially his own face as fast as he could, lifted the man up by his jacket and rammed his head into the wall. Then he turned and threw him across the corridor, seeing him crash into what was left of a small cabinet.
He turned for a split second to see where Buffy was and saw...a wall. The door he'd just flew out of was gone. It was a wall, and it looked like it had been for decades. For a second he was disoriented, wondering if he looked at the wrong direction. But he hadn't. The corridor was simple enough. Left, right, wall in front, wall behind, staircase beginning at the far end.
The wall behind him should have a door.
"Buffy!" he yelled, hitting the wall. He got no reply. Not even some muffled sounds from behind it or something. "DAMN!" he cursed, knowing he got played like a fool and allowed them to get separated.
He turned and looked at the place where 'Willlam' fell. He was still there, trying to get up. No. That wasn't it. He was bent over, but..not because he was hurt. He held someone in his arms.
A woman. And he was feeding on her.
Spike stood for a second, realizing what he saw now. He heard gulps and smacks and the figure in front of him stood up completely. He thought the victim was going to fall to the ground when the man released her from his grip, but he still had her by her hair in his one hand. Her hands just touched the ground and her face was hanging against his leg.
The figure turned to him and once again he saw his own face. A vampire face now, but still from long ago. He still looked like William, just rougher and unkempt. This is what he was like shortly after Dru turned him.
"Ahhh, that's the stuff," the figure said, wiping his mouth with the back of his free hand. Then he turned to Spike. "Not that YOU'd know, would ya? Not for a while anyway. You're the eunuch vamp now ain't you, mate? Neutered. Drinking pig's blood from glasses. Pretty pathetic, really."
Spike's surprise had worn off now and his face turned grim as he gave a soft threatening growl. "Not against the likes of YOU, you git. Demons I can kill just fine. And since I can touch you, let me demonstrate!"
** **
When Spike had flown through the door, it had shut immediately. Buffy had reacted as fast as lightning and opened it almost the same second it closed. But when she did, she didn't see two Spikes rolling on the floor, but an empty corridor. She walked into it and look left and right.
Nothing. Nowhere. Not a sound either. Impossible.
"Spike!" she yelled out without much hope. "Damn!" she cursed. "Stupid, hot- headed vamp! And now the house starts getting weird on me! What is this, Halloween in Sunnydale?"
She went back inside the room to get the documents Giles had given her. Maybe there was something she hadn't read yet. Still an hour and a half to go before they had to get chanty, but...
"Oh boy, you've changed!" Buffy turned around and in the other chair, she saw herself. Not quite as she was now, but like Spike, this was a former incarnation of her. Dressed in pastels and sucking on a lollipop. High school, pre-Slayer Buffy. The one more interested in commenting on people's fashions and boys in the classroom than the fate of the world.
"Gawd, you're like, so lame now. Became this total social spaz, completely forgot all your..."
"Great!" Buffy interrupted. "That it? We get confronted with our old selves who tell us we suck seven ways from Sunday and we're supposed to fall to the ground and cry?? First the 'Charles Dickens' version of Spike, which by the way, was actually kind of interesting to see, and now me? And I'm supposed to crumble because I'm not the illegitimate child of Cordelia and Harmony anymore?"
Her counterpart just looked at her.
"No really let me know. Should I now lose all hope because I'm not on the cheerleader team anymore? This is the best you can do? Please!"
"Maybe it's not about that," a voice behind her said. She looked around and saw Giles. She looked back into the chair and the 'Buffy' was gone. 'Giles' moved forward slowly.
"Maybe it's not being done TO you...maybe this is just the magic here reacting to your own mind. Maybe YOU are doing this....." he said in that oh so familiar voice.
He took off his glasses and cleaned them. "And maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe you need to see certain things."
"Oh, shut up, 'Rupert'! I've done this okay? I've had the prophetic dreams, the meaningful visions, the spirit guide desert tours, the poetic artsy- fartsy predictions, got the t-shirt and wrote home about it! If you're going to do something or attack me, then DO it. If not, then go spook somewhere else and leave me alone. I have work to do!"
'Giles' looked at her and frowned. "Maybe this is necessary for your work. Do you know what happens when the amulet comes?"
Buffy sighed and picked up her documents again. "No, and I'm certainly not going to listen to you! I'm sure evil apparitions that like to play Freud are very trustworthy, but to quote Spike, why don't you just BUGGER OFF!"
She looked around and she found herself alone again.
"Huh, that was easy. Guess they don't make poltergeists like they used to." She stuffed the documents in her coat, put it back on and walked out of the room. "Well, let's see if we can find that pigheaded vampire. I swear, next time I'll keep him on a leash!"
She grinned at that visual. "Hm, that would work. One like those big mean dogs in the cartoons always wear, with *spikes*. Only fitting. What's he gonna do, say 'no' to me?"
She walked out of the room, feeling a teensy bit bad for that last remark, knowing his devotion to her.
And realizing she had been enjoying that devotion lately.
And sort of come to expect it.
** **
TBC!