Chapter Four
+Death Waits+
Willow sat on the porch steps, her head in her hands. She didn't know what to do. For once in many years, Willow had no clue as to what to do. Her mind was blank with a strange numbness. She still hadn't contemplated the notion, much less the thought, of Dawn being dead.
Headlights flashed through red hair and Willow looked up. Xander pulled into the driveway with a squeal of his tires. He parked the car and jumped out, stomping furiously up tm Willow.
"I did what you ordered." He mocks angrily. "Now, tell me what the hell is going on."
Willow said nothing as she slowly stood up, taking Xander's hand and leading him into the quiet house. Both of them trekked slowly through the rooms and up the stairs. Willow stops right outside Dawn's room and lets go of Xander's hand.
Slowly, she opens the door and lets Xander walk in.
"What the…" Xander trails off. "Dawn?" He asks slowly.
He touches the girls' cheek and is shocked to feel cold, clammy skin. There is no warmth in this body. There is nothing of what used to be the girl he'd known close to forever. A harsh sob escapes his throat before he pushes every emotion he is feeling, down.
"What happened?" He asks Willow.
"I don't know." Willow answers him. "When I got here…she was like this."
Xander looks closely and can't see blood staining Dawns' pink night gown. There's too much blood. It's dried and caked on. It sticks to her hair and stains her beautiful face. Xander swallows acidic bile that rises up within him. He strokes Dawn's cold hair and then forces himself to turn away. He hurts terribly as he looks at his friend.
"Where is Buffy?" He asks.
Willow looked at him, her doe eyes tearing up. "I don't know, Xander." She whispers. "I don't know."
*
Warren can't breathe as he looks at the emotionally dead Slayer. His hands start to shake uncontrollably. Fear rises within him in heavy gusts. He's frozen in terror as he watches the girl smile coldly.
"You killed her." She whispers in a low voice that tells him he will die tonight. "Shot her like she was nothing but fair game."
"I-I didn't mean too!" Warren cries helplessly as she walks forward.
She laughs low in her throat. "Maybe. But, you did. My sister is dead! She is cold! She is lost! And it's your fault!" Her voice has turned into a hysterical scream. "And now you have to pay." She says this with such calm, that it seems to reverberate in the room.
She raises her weapon and brings it down. Warren closes his eyes and is grabbed by Jonathan.
"You idiot, move!" He yells as they start to run.
Warren jerks out of his reverie of fear and runs with his friends. He can hear the Slayer screaming and running behind them. They have to get out of here, or she will slaughter them all.
The three friends run through dirty tunnels and can hear the Slayer sloshing behind them. By now, they've entered the sewers. There are enough twists and turns where they can lose her fast. But, there are also enough which could lead them right back to her.
Andrew is leading the three. He finds a ladder and rushes to it, pulling it down and climbing up t. Warren and Andrew follow closely. They push the manhole up and escape into the street.
Buffy's climbing madly behind them, her angry grunts drifting up to the street. The three wait anxiously. There's no where to go. All open fields. If they run, she will catch them. If they don't, they will surely die tonight.
No one breathes as they hear a scream and a thud below them.
She has fallen.
They have enough time to get away.
There's only one place they can go for safety.
One place and one place only.
The magic shop.
*
Giles watched the two girls whom he knew so well with wary eyes. They were talking quietly amongst themselves, glancing his way every so often. He had not an idea of what was going on. Xander had dropped off Anya and Tara with instructions that they don't leave this place until he and Willow return. The tone of Xander's voice had been terrified and furious at the same time. His eyes had been dark and his mouth twisted into a grimace.
Giles was restless.
He only knew what little he had been told.
"Something's going on at Buffys'." Anya had snapped.
"Willow's taking care of it." Tara had shyly offered.
That made Giles ever more weary. He knew the way Willow had 'taken care of things'. The newly resurrected Buffy was proof enough of how Willow 'took care of things'.
Sighing, Giles went back to his book when the combined sound of panting, the door jingle, and the slam of the door filled his ears. Giles jumped to his feet, as did Tara, who was mumbling chants as their guests paled.
Jonathon, Warren, and Andrew.
"What the in the bloody hell are you doing here?" Giles growled at the three menaces.
"We're… She's… I-I…" Andrew stumbled over his words as he fought to catch his breath.
"The Slayer's after us!" Jonathon wheezed out.
"What?" Giles asked incredulously.
"She's trying to kill me!" Warren cried.
"What'd you do to piss her off?" Anya asked bluntly.
"I-It was an accident!" Warren screamed.
Giles calmly stepped forward. "What have you done?" He asked in a deadly calm voice.
Warren stood defiantly for a few seconds before crumbling to a sobbing mess of the floor. "I didn't mean too! I didn't!" He wailed pitifully.
Giles was fuming now as he grabbing the pathetic excuse for a man on his feet and against the wall. "Answer me, boy!"
"She shot her sister, the idiot." Jonathon scoffed angrily.
"What?" Tara gasped unbelievingly.
"It was an accident, damn it, isn't anyone listening?" Warren screeched.
"You shot Dawn?!" Giles raged, slamming the boy against the cabinets.
"Stop!" Andrew screamed, causing everyone to look at him.
"Look, it doesn't matter who did what. She's coming after us! She'll be here any minute!"
Lightening flashed brightly, causing the power to flicker. Thunder boomed and everyone looked at the shadow of a drenched girl in the store window. The girl breathed heavily, raising her gleaming knife into the air.
"Too late." Tara breathed into the darkness as shattering glass filed the room.
Indeed it was, too late.
*
Cordelia is quiet now. She sits in a chair, holding her legs to her chest. She's cold and a blanket does nothing for her. She isn't cold from the air, she's cold from the darkness. At this moment, it swallows her like a bottomless pit. She sees nothing except the horror of a girl she never liked. She feels the pain of a girl she never bothered to know. She smells the blood-stained vengeance that runs in the veins of a girl she thought she hated.
Cordelia now knows she could never hate this girl. She's knows her in every way, now. She knows her pain, her suffering, and her fight. In a way, Cordelia has turned into that girl.
She hates it.
She hates herself.
She hates the world.
This girl was born to save the world, and she has, many a time. In return, she gets nothing except pain and suffering every way she turns. And, tonight was that last straw.
"It's not fair…" She whispers to herself.
She is alone on the terrace. She wanted to be by herself, with no one around her now. Emotions that were not hers swirled in her mind. She stood up and looked at the dark sky. Heavy clouds loomed in the distance. A storm was coming. In the figure of the weather and a girl.
"It's not fair!" Cordelia screamed up to the heavens, knowing they, whoever they were, could hear her. "Do you hear me?! It's not FAIR!" Tears streamed down the angry seers face. "She did everything for you! Gave up everything! Do you know what you've done?!" She shrieked as she slumped against the railing, hating it all.
The clouds drew closer and so did the girl.
Cordelia looked far into the distance, out of the city, past the highway, two hours away.
"It's just a matter of time, now…"
*
Angel watched his long time friend break apart. It pained him to no end to see her go through this. What 'this' was, he didn't exactly know, though he had an idea. Cordelia wouldn't tell him the rest. He knew what Spike…did to Buffy. Thinking about it made him want to kill everything in sight. It took every momentum of his will power not to rush to Sunnydale and show the good-for-nothing vampire what happened to those who hurt who Angel loved. But, now was not the time. Soon, but not now.
Angel knew there was more to come and he needed to be here.
But soon…
William the Bloody would know what hell is really like.
TBC