Fairy Tale Chapter Four.

Same disclaimers as stated previously.

Angel's POV.

                        I'm walking on a deserted cliffside.  Wind howls through the trees, and they bend almost to the ground.  My short hair isn't really affected, but my clothing whips around me, and I almost trip over my own coat.  I'm looking for something.  Not sure what, but I know it's around here somewhere.  She needs me.  I need to find her.  But although I can feel her presence in this place, it illudes me. 

            A great scream fills the air, and I turn quickly in a 180 degree arc, and see a large castle behind me, and a figure on the battlements, her hair almost standing on end from the wind.

            An immense black cloud is hanging behind her, and I race toward the castle, knowing that only ill can come of it.

            She waves at me frantically, and I see her arms are bound to the stone wall with chains.

            "Buffy!"  I yell, and sprint faster.

            As I near the wall, it begins to collapse in on itself, and a huge fount of what can only be blood pours out of the black cloud, drenching her in it.  She struggles to free herself from her bonds, but isn't managing it very well, due to being slick and covered in viscous material.

            "Hang on, I'm almost there!" I yell again, and as I reach for handholds in the rapidly decomposing wall, I hear her plaintative cry, and look up.

            "Angel, the sun!"

            I can only throw my arms up before it's too late, and the last thing I hear is her scream.

            "Nooooooooooo-"

            I jerk awake, gasping and writhing in my spartan bed, sweat beaded all over my chest and face.

            I shudder involuntarily, and lurch out from under the covers, still in the grips of the dream.

            I still can smell her fear, hear her shriek my name as the sun takes me.

            I enter the bathroom, and turn on the taps as hot as they'll go.

            Splashing my face, I wince at the heat, but it doesn't burn.

            The phone chooses to ring at that moment.

            I cock my head, still stuck in the dreamy drowsy sleep world, and listen.

            No, that is the phone.  It's 5 in the morning.  Who would be calling…

            "Hello?"  I ask and I know it's her.

            "Angel?" she asks tentatively, and I can tell she's been crying.

            "Buffy, what is it?  Who's hurt?" I say, and she sniffles a little, and answers.  "N-no one.  I had this dream…well I've actually been having a lot of dreams lately, and they're totally creeping me out.  You were in this one, and you we trying to get to me, and I was on this wall, and there was a lot of blood, and then the sun was suddenly there, and then you were…gone," she finishes the last word in a whisper, and I am beyond weirded out.

            "Buffy, have you told anyone else about this?"

            "No.  Just you.  I meant to tell you earlier, but with the wiggyness lately, and the stupid snake demon, and the beach, and then last night, well, I wasn't sure when a good time was.  I didn't want to scare you away.  It seems to be going kinda- nicely."

            I white knuckle the receiver, but stop when it makes an ominous cracking sound.

            "Buffy, I had the same dream.  Tonight.  I just woke up as a matter of fact."

            Silence.  Speaking of wigging…

            "I've gotta tell Giles.  This has gotta mean something."

            "I don't know, Buffy.  He might not think you should be seeing so much of me.  Maybe we're just, I don't know, in synch tonight or something?" I say, not wanting her watcher to think of a reason for me to stay away from her.  Not when we've just gotten closer.

            But maybe she should.  How many times have a vampire and a vampire slayer shared the same dream?  And what the hell could it mean?

            "Angel…he is of the research mind.  This could mean something important.  And me being the slayer, I do have the prophecy dreams.  I don't want to ignore this.  I don't want what happened with the master to happen again.  In any sort of capacity," she says, and I do understand.

            I just want her to myself.

            I sigh.  "Yeah, I think you're right.  But let me meet you there later tonight.  I can fill in my side of the dream."

            "Okay.  See you then, I guess."

            She sounds tentative, as if afraid to hang up the phone.

            "Buffy?" I query softly.  "You okay?"

            "I…I think so.  You're just…you're important to me, Angel.  I don't want to blow this.  I don't want anything to happen to you.  If you and I are sharing dreams…that's gotta mean major badness or major mojo cooking from somewhere.  And I don't mean the good kind of cooking, like brownies or lasagne."

            I smile to myself, falling a little deeper.  Does she know what she makes me feel?

            "I'll be there.  Okay?  No worries today.  I promise it will work out."

            "…okay.  Just be there.  We'll be waiting."

            We are quiet then, just listening to each other's presence on the phone line, as if it was a living connection that tied us together.  I can literally almost see her sitting on her bed in the dark, frown lines in between her eyes, twirling her hair around her finger nervously. 

            "I'll see you tonight," I say, and she replies.  "I…please be careful, Angel.  Okay?"

            "I will.  I promise."

            "Alright.  Bye."  And she's gone with a click.

            But I can still see her sitting there, and I can faintly still smell her, feel her hands on my face, her lips on mine, her hair falling around us like a curtain.  I put the receiver back on the cradle, and sink back onto my bed, staring at the curtains, and sensing the approaching dawn.

            Only 12 hours, and I can see her again.

            Only 12 hours, and we can figure this out.

            My head is buzzing, and I close my eyes, if only for a short rest.  The dream wore me out more than I had expected.

            I drift off to visions of Buffy as she had been last night, cradled in my arms, kissing me as passionately as I had been kissing her.

            Her heart blazing before me, beating for the both of us.

            12 hours.

            I can wait.

TBC.