Chapter 4
"Crystal, stop worrying! You stopped her from fighting, we got 'er. You did your job, and well!" Spike counted five hundred dollars into the witch's hand.
"I hope everything goes well for you. If you need any more spells cast, you know where to find me." She turned and left the tumbledown factory, opening and closing the rotting wooden door with magic. The door slammed shut.
* * * * *
"So," Willow surmised, "the spell could kill Buffy. Then we have to break it."
"Actually, given enough time, the spell will definitely kill Buffy if it remains unbroken," Giles corrected.
"Then we break the spell," Xander echoed. "How?"
"I think our first step should be to find Spike and Drusilla; being as they're the biggest threat to Buffy at present, it is fairly safe to assume it is they who are behind this."
"And then what?" Willow frowned, worried about her best friend.
"I should know when we've comple-" Giles began.
"We get Buffy away from them."
Everyone turned to the double swing doors of the library. Angel stood there, a frown upon his face.
"Spike and Dru have Buffy. They came to her place and snatched her from her bed. I couldn't stop them.
"They probably took her to the old factory, but I had to explain things to her mother. By the time we'd both finished, they'd long gone."
"She had finished what, exactly?" Xander asked.
"She was upset, wanted someone to blame. Otherwise she'll blame herself forever. She doesn't want to feel like that."
"So.What did she finish?" Cordelia double-checked the answer Angel had given to Xander's inquiry.
"She almost killed me." Angel knew the rest of the 'Scoobies' had a right to know what had happened, but he couldn't help but be frustrated. They should be helping Buffy, not worrying about what had happened between him and the Chosen One's divorced mother.
"What happened to your face?" Willow's curiosity interrupted Angel's train of thought.
"Spike had a knife or a dagger or something." Angel's response was more long-winded than usual, a sure sign that he was desperately worried. "I only hope I'm right about where they went."
* * * * * *
Buffy struggled to sit up. She could just make out the wrought-iron bars of her prison, which had been hollowed out of the rock. She grimaced as the pains in her abdomen increased in intensity, and flopped back down.
Drusilla appeared from behind one of many natural pillars in the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites almost converted the rocky vampire haven into a maze.
"Don't worry, Missy, here, she was very naughty." She held up a blue- haired, blonde-eyed, chubby little doll. "She only got." Drusilla made stabbing motions at the doll's eyes with her index and middle fingers simultaneously.
Buffy shivered, remembering how she'd found Kendra - the Slayer who'd been called during Buffy's brief death - dead. Drusilla had slit the coloured girl with her long nails, having hypnotised her to keep her still.
"Where are they, Sssslayer? Your little bouncing bunny friends?" Drusilla walked her fingers up Buffy's leather-clad leg.
"Rabbits are too cute. You wouldn't like them." Buffy's voice dripped with an icy coldness.
"Oh, but I'd love to watch them tremble. Polly died last night. She stopped singing. I want a new pet!" The vampire started 'sobbing' tearlessly.
"Come now, Dru. You'll have your bunnies. Another bird, if you like." iSo that's who Polly is/i, Buffy thought.i Drusilla's latest dead pet./i
Spike put his arms around Drusilla, coddling her, unaware of her adultery. For Drusilla was seeing a chaos demon - seriously. If Spike found out he'd be more than angry. He might even kill her in his fury, even though it was a serious crime to kill amongst vampires to kill one of your bloodline, especially your sire.
So Drusilla pretended to take comfort in his affections, imagining he was her chaos demon, despite the difference in smell.
And Buffy groaned, felt her womb tense; suffered pain so sharp and so severe that it caused her to lose consciousness.
"Crystal, stop worrying! You stopped her from fighting, we got 'er. You did your job, and well!" Spike counted five hundred dollars into the witch's hand.
"I hope everything goes well for you. If you need any more spells cast, you know where to find me." She turned and left the tumbledown factory, opening and closing the rotting wooden door with magic. The door slammed shut.
* * * * *
"So," Willow surmised, "the spell could kill Buffy. Then we have to break it."
"Actually, given enough time, the spell will definitely kill Buffy if it remains unbroken," Giles corrected.
"Then we break the spell," Xander echoed. "How?"
"I think our first step should be to find Spike and Drusilla; being as they're the biggest threat to Buffy at present, it is fairly safe to assume it is they who are behind this."
"And then what?" Willow frowned, worried about her best friend.
"I should know when we've comple-" Giles began.
"We get Buffy away from them."
Everyone turned to the double swing doors of the library. Angel stood there, a frown upon his face.
"Spike and Dru have Buffy. They came to her place and snatched her from her bed. I couldn't stop them.
"They probably took her to the old factory, but I had to explain things to her mother. By the time we'd both finished, they'd long gone."
"She had finished what, exactly?" Xander asked.
"She was upset, wanted someone to blame. Otherwise she'll blame herself forever. She doesn't want to feel like that."
"So.What did she finish?" Cordelia double-checked the answer Angel had given to Xander's inquiry.
"She almost killed me." Angel knew the rest of the 'Scoobies' had a right to know what had happened, but he couldn't help but be frustrated. They should be helping Buffy, not worrying about what had happened between him and the Chosen One's divorced mother.
"What happened to your face?" Willow's curiosity interrupted Angel's train of thought.
"Spike had a knife or a dagger or something." Angel's response was more long-winded than usual, a sure sign that he was desperately worried. "I only hope I'm right about where they went."
* * * * * *
Buffy struggled to sit up. She could just make out the wrought-iron bars of her prison, which had been hollowed out of the rock. She grimaced as the pains in her abdomen increased in intensity, and flopped back down.
Drusilla appeared from behind one of many natural pillars in the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites almost converted the rocky vampire haven into a maze.
"Don't worry, Missy, here, she was very naughty." She held up a blue- haired, blonde-eyed, chubby little doll. "She only got." Drusilla made stabbing motions at the doll's eyes with her index and middle fingers simultaneously.
Buffy shivered, remembering how she'd found Kendra - the Slayer who'd been called during Buffy's brief death - dead. Drusilla had slit the coloured girl with her long nails, having hypnotised her to keep her still.
"Where are they, Sssslayer? Your little bouncing bunny friends?" Drusilla walked her fingers up Buffy's leather-clad leg.
"Rabbits are too cute. You wouldn't like them." Buffy's voice dripped with an icy coldness.
"Oh, but I'd love to watch them tremble. Polly died last night. She stopped singing. I want a new pet!" The vampire started 'sobbing' tearlessly.
"Come now, Dru. You'll have your bunnies. Another bird, if you like." iSo that's who Polly is/i, Buffy thought.i Drusilla's latest dead pet./i
Spike put his arms around Drusilla, coddling her, unaware of her adultery. For Drusilla was seeing a chaos demon - seriously. If Spike found out he'd be more than angry. He might even kill her in his fury, even though it was a serious crime to kill amongst vampires to kill one of your bloodline, especially your sire.
So Drusilla pretended to take comfort in his affections, imagining he was her chaos demon, despite the difference in smell.
And Buffy groaned, felt her womb tense; suffered pain so sharp and so severe that it caused her to lose consciousness.