During the episode "Touched"
Chapter 16
You know you're sick when you sleep for almost twenty-four hours and no one bothers to wake you up. It wasn't like I slept the hole time, I got up every few hours and Alucard told me to go back to sleep. Literally. I'd wake up, try to go downstairs, and he'd always just show up and send me back up. When I tried to get one of the girls to take my side they'd listen to Alucard. You'd think being a Slayer would give me extra privileges.
So I missed the whole day's activities. Here's what I know:
Faith took charge, she came up with a rather smart plan to capture a bringer, since they are the weak link in the bad guy chain. You have Caleb, and the First, and the umber vamps, all of which we can't do anything about. Then we have the bringers, who we've killed on several occasions so why not capture one to question it?
So Kennedy's used as bait to pick the guy up. Giles and a couple potentials go as back up, they kill a few bringers and bring the remaining one back. He's now in the basement, hanging out in chains. I was awake to see him show up. The problem is he doesn't have a tongue. Someone must have ripped it out. Sounds painful doesn't it?
Then we have Dawn with a bright idea. She's reading some Turkish book that has a spell to talk to dead people. At first I thought we were going to kill the bringer, but no, instead we're just going to use it on him while he's alive. We'll see if he has anything to tell us.
That brings us to right now. Everyone's in the kitchen chatting. Someone made chicken noodle soup. I'd glare at them but I don't know who it was, that and it tasted good. The good news is that I'm not sick anymore. Much sleeping cured everything, I feel fit as a fiddle or however the saying goes.
I watched as Faith agreed with the plan. "Well, alright, cool," she said, "While Willow's doing that, why don't the rest of us-"
"We're ba-ack!"
We all looked towards the front door as Andrew and Spike walked in.
"Hey," Spike said to us all.
Then Andrew kept talking. "Hi, everybody. I missed you guys a lot. Sorry we took so long getting back from our mission, but we had to wait out the sun and hey," he got a good look at Xander, "oh, cool. Very Col. Nick Fury. You're lookin' good!"
"Seeing slightly less good. But thanks," Xander said.
"Well, I think we had a very successful trip.. We rode on Spike's "hog", which was very cool and played some amusing games and, oh yeah, we've got some information-but do you know what? I really need to urinate," and with that Andrew dashed off towards the bathroom.
My eyes followed him for a moment before I turned to Spike.
"He's a breath of fresh air, isn't he?" Spike muttered. "Thank god I don't breath."
"Played some amusing games?" I asked as everyone else avoided looking at him.
He frowned at me. "Don't ask." Then to the others. "So I think we got a lead. Where's Buffy?"
"She's not here right now," said Dawn.
Spike shrugged, not bothered by that. "When's she getting back?" Still no one said anything. I ate a spoonful of soup, chewing on the noodles so that it would look like I had an excuse not to talk. "What? She finally ran off and joined the circus? Always thought she'd be a genius at the old knife throw--" he paused, seeing everyone's uncomfortable looks. "Where is she?"
Willow started talking a little hesitantly as I took another spoonful of soup. "While you were gone we all got together and talked out the disagreements we'd been having. And eventually, after some discussion, Buffy decided that it would be best for all of us if she took a little time off. A little breather," Willow stated. It might have sounded better if she sounded like she believed it.
Spike obviously didn't. "I see. Uh-huh," he paused, looking at all of us. I ate another bite. "Been practicing that lit'l speech long, have you? So Buffy took some time off, right in the middle of an apocalypse. And it was her decision?"
"Well, we all decided," Xander said.
"Yeah, you all decided," Spike snapped at him. He paced for a moment before turning to me. "What'd you do about this? Did you help kick her out?"
I stared into his accusing eyes and decided to just be blunt. "I didn't say a thing. Well, I said that Faith hadn't done a bad job keeping the group together, but you can blame that on the fact that I was sick. But basically, yeah, I just sat back and watched it all." He glared at me, then at all of us.
"You sad, sad, ungrateful traitors," he growled. "Who do you think you are?"
"We're her friends," Willow said quietly. "We only want--"
"That's ballsy of you," Spike cut in, "You're her friend and you betray her like this?"
"You don't understand--" Giles started.
Again Spike cut in. "You know, I think I do, Rupert. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher all full of wisdom. And now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it." He looked at all of us. "She's saved your lives, again and again. She's died for you. And this is how you thank her? This is how you-"
"Hey, why don't you take it down a notch or two?" Faith said, stepping in. "The time for giving speeches is over, bat-boy."
"Is that right?" Spike said sarcastically.
Faith nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Save your lack of breath."
"Alright," Spike snapped. Then he punched her in the jaw.
Faith was caught off guard and fell back against the counter, I jumped out of the way, not wanting to get caught in the middle of whatever fight was starting. Faith touched her jaw, a smile spread slowly across her face.
"You're pretty sweet on her, aren't you?" She said. Then using the counter, Faith kicked up both legs at once, cracking Spike in the face. "Well, I think it's cute." Spike hit her hard, and she took the blow, but then quickly hit him back. "The way she's got you whipped." She kicked him hard, hitting him back into the dinning room where he fell onto his back. Faith jumped on him, hitting him in the face again and again.
Spike kicked back, throwing Faith off him. Having the upper hand he pushed her up against the wall, right in her face. "Finally got what you always wanted, didn't you?" He asked angrily. She stared into his eyes, just as angry. Spike grabbed her head and slammed it into the wall. "Where is she?" he demanded.
"I don't know," Faith growled back. She wrenched out of his grasp and kicked him in the gut. Readying for his returning blow she backed up a little.
Spike didn't attack though. He just threw up his hands as if to say "screw it" and turned away, heading back to the kitchen doorway. None of us met his eyes, I guess you could say we all felt a little guilty. Me not so much, but for the rest he was just rubbing it in. They had kicked their friend out. Buffy wasn't really my friend, but she had saved the world a few times.
Without saying another word Spike turned to the door and left.
I stared after for a moment then looked at everyone else. "So, how're we planning on doing the spell?" I asked.
They all looked at my like I was speaking a foreign language, I just stared back patiently. Finally Giles nodded and set about getting everyone in order. Before I knew it we were all downstairs in the basement with the bringer with Willow preparing to cast the spell.
Willow started talking in Turkish. I couldn't understand a word she was saying but the direct translation that Giles told me was basically, "You are getting very sleepy. Very, very sleepy. I do not have a pocket watch but then again, you do not have eyes. Speak to us." Personally, I liked the spell.
When she finished Willow closed the book and we all waited for a long moment. Nothing happened.
"Maybe you should let me rough him up a little," Andrew whispered loudly.
Xander and Kennedy glared at him, "Andrew, Quiet!" They said almost at the same time.
The bringer still wasn't moving.
"I don't know, you guys; that should have worked," Willow murmured.
Giles shrugged. "Perhaps you should try again. Sometimes your conjugations are a little unusual," he pointed out.
"I am a drone in the mind of evil-" Andrew said, low and serious. I turned to stair at him.
"Could you just shut up?" Xander snapped.
"What're you talking about?" I said.
"I say, I am a part of the Great Darkness-" Andrew continued.
"Somebody needs a reality check-" Kennedy muttered.
I nodded. "No kidding."
"And a muzzle," Xander added.
"Wait," Giles murmured, studying Andrew. We all looked at him, then at Andrew.
Andrew just sat there, staring blankly ahead. There was something odd about him. For one thing, he had sounded serious, for another he wasn't saying anything stupid. If I didn't know any better I'd say he wasn't the one talking. Which, in this house, meant he probably wasn't. I glanced at the bringer, then back to Andrew. He was serving as a conduit or something, a way for the bringer to talk to us.
"I am only a fragment of The We," Andrew/Bringer continued. "We work as one to serve The First."
"Okay, well, what are you, "The We", doing for The First?" Willow asked.
"We work to prepare for the inevitable battle," Andrew/Bringer said in monotone.
Kennedy got right up into the actual bringer's face. She pulled out the bringer's own knife from her belt and pointed it at him threateningly, just touching the point to the bringer's neck. Willow stood next to Kennedy, looking somewhat uncomfortable about Kennedy's aggression.
"How? Tell me exactly what the bringers are doing," Kennedy demanded.
"Kennedy, he can't see the knife," Giles pointed out.
"We can feel the knife," said the bringer calmly.
Giles held out his hand to Kennedy, asking for the knife. "Kennedy?" he said, the question obvious. She handed the knife over.
"We attend to the needs of infinite evil. We exterminate girls and destroy the legacy of Slayer. We build an arsenal beneath the dirt. We obey the commands of our teacher Caleb. We protect-"
"Wait, go back to that dirt thing," Xander said, cutting off Andrew/the bringer.
"We build weapons for the coming war," he said.
"Can you do better specificity-wise than "under the dirt"?" Anya asked.
"At the farthest edge of town," The bringer answered. Then he starred at all of us almost threateningly. "We are everywhere. We are like the ocean's waves. We watch your efforts and are not scared. We will laugh at you as you die.-"
Suddenly Giles slashed the knife across the bringers throat. The bringer gasped, sucking air through the wound, and then he died. At the same time Andrew jerked in his seat, suddenly free of the bringer's control.
"What the bananas!" Andrew shouted, we all turned to see him clutching his throat. He glared at Giles. "Okay, it is so lucky for you that didn't just magically decapitate me."
Giles ignored him. "We got something here. Let's get Faith in on this." Then he turned to head up the stairs, the rest of the gang following him up. I followed right after Anya, heading up with the rest of them.
At the top of the stairs Giles continued giving out instructions. "Xander, if you'll grab some maps we can start narrowing this down. We need subterranean space with an area large enough for an armory."
"Ug! I feel used and violated and I need a lozenge," Andrew wined as Xander went off to find the map and Anya followed her out.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, be quiet. Nothing big happened."
He turned to me. "You're not the one who was possessed by an evil bringer, what would you know."
I shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. But you're alive right? That's a good sign."
"Well, yes, but. . ." He started.
"Andrew be quiet," Giles said, shutting him up before he could find a new complaint. "I'm going to find Faith, the rest of you get some rest." He started walking away.
"Wait, what're we going to do about the body?" I asked, suddenly thinking about it.
Giles turned around a little, thinking. "Why don't you get Alucard to take care of it?" he asked, seeming pleased with his decision.
I shrugged. "Sounds good," I said and went looking for Alucard. I found him in the kitchen heating up a pack of blood.
He glanced as me as I walked in and took a seat. "Hey, I heard I missed a little skirmish between Faith and your bro."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't that big a deal."
"I think some furniture got broken," Alucard pointed out.
"I think you're right."
He pulled the blood out of the microwave and took a sip. "That's not a big deal?"
"I think it's kind of normal around here," I explained.
He shrugged. "Probably right." He took another sip before continuing. "So, did you meet the bringer?" he asked.
I nodded. "Giles killed it."
"Already? Well, that's a let down."
"Why? What do you need a bringer for?" I asked.
Alucard shrugged. "Dunno, could be fun to beat on. I'm not allowed to touch anyone else in the house. Who knows, maybe he's edible."
I made a face. "That just sounds nasty."
He chuckled. "Yeah, it does." He took a seat across the table. "So why'd you come chatting? I'm not that entertaining and the girl's couldn't have pissed you off yet. You just woke up a few hours ago."
Shrugging I leaned back. "Blame it on Giles."
"Blame what on Giles? You talking to me?"
"Nah, you have to clean up the bringer mess," I said happily. "He assigned it to you."
"Wait a sec," Alucard said, his eyes narrowing. "What?"
"You have to dispose of the dead bringer," I explained, making it even more obvious.
"Says Giles?"
"Yep."
Alucard sighed and leaned back. "Whatever happened to Faith being in charge? Didn't we just impeach Buffy? I didn't support Faith to have to clean up dead villains."
"You didn't support Faith, you sat back and watched," I pointed out.
He frowned at me. "Fine, but you're coming with, needed to talk to you anyway."
"What do you call what we're doing now?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Away from the prying ears of the potentials and the naggingness of all vampire haters who happen to live here."
Well, I suppose that made sense. He was right, there were a lot of people here, and most of the potentials didn't like the fact that he was a vampire. It didn't help that he had been inlisted to help train them and now everyone knows that he actually can fight pretty damn well. It scarred the kiddies a little, but for the most part they got over it. Besides, he's working for the good guys, so thing are good.
"That's fine. You finish that up and grab the body, I'll be right back," I stated, getting to my feet.
"Where're you going?" Alucard asked.
I didn't stop walking as I talked. "To change, I'm not going out in pajamas," I stated, pointing out that I was wearing flannel pjs. Very comfortable, but not the best for late night walks. Alucard didn't say anything else as I found my stash of clothes. Quickly I changed into loose fitting jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt then I threw on some nikes and put my hair up. Ta-da, ready to go.
When I got back downstairs Alucard was dragging the bringer in a big plastic bag outside. I watched him carry it then followed behind him, shutting the door. "So where're we taking it to?" I asked.
Alucard shrugged. "You know this town better than me. Where can we drop off a body?"
I shrugged, looking down the street both ways. "Well, the place is mostly abandoned. No electricity anywhere. I'm thinking as long as we don't smell it we're doing good."
"Okay, we'll go about a block then I'm throwing it in someone's back yard," he suggested.
Nodding I answered, "That works."
We walked in silence down the street. Sure enough at the first corner he dragged the bag over to some person's fence and tossed it into their yard. He brushed his hands off then walked back to me. We stood for a few seconds then he nodded forward and we both went on.
"So, you said you wanted to talk about something?" I prompted.
Alucard nodded, but didn't answer. We kept walking in silence. I glanced at him, trying to read what he was thinking. His face was carefully blank, though. He could be contemplating an upcoming battle or next week's TV show. Sighing I looked away. Maybe he'd start talking or maybe we'd just walk a ways. Eventually we'd go back to the house, though, so if he hadn't said anything by then it was his problem.
"So you've been having bad dreams?" He said at last.
My eyes flickered to him, then I looked down at the sidewalk. "Dunno, maybe."
"You don't remember," he said it as a statement. I nodded.
We were nearing a park, a small place with swings and a slide. Alucard stopped walking right next to a bench inside of it. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, still thinking about whatever, but seeming frustrated.
"Just to speed things up, what's the point of this conversation?" I asked, literally to save time.
Alucard threw me a quick smile. "Well, that's the problem. I'm not sure."
"Ah, so we just stand here completely bored until you figure it out?" I asked.
"Something like that."
"Lovely," I muttered.
He sighed, then turned to me, as if something suddenly hit him. "You have any idea what the dreams are about?"
I shook my head. "Not a clue."
He nodded, still thinking, but thinking faster. "I think. . . well, when you figure it out, I need to talk to you."
My eyes narrowed. "Okay, as much as I've implied I haven't directly accused you of leaving out some huge overly important fact in this whole thing. But there is a big important fact, and I think whatever that fact is has something to do with your problem right now. So why don't you just spit it out and we can have some sort of conversation."
He blinked. "You're mad."
I glared. "No, but if you push the point I will be."
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it's not important."
"Yes it is," I insisted.
"How would you know?" He asked.
How would I know? Well, he had left out a few things, and he wasn't being very clear now so. . . "It's kind of obvious."
He frowned. "Look, I don't really know how to talk about it. You're not. . ." he paused as if he wasn't sure of what to say. "You're not remembering everything. It just wouldn't seem. . . right I guess, I don't know," he probably did the smart thing and stopped talking. He turned away from me and glared at the playground for awhile.
"What am I not remembering?" I asked. "Maybe if you told me it would trigger things and-"
"I doubt it," he butted in.
I frowned. "How can you be so sure."
"I just don't think it would work," he said, quieter.
"What makes you the expert?" I asked, getting angry. Just because he knew my past self and some big secret he wasn't telling me didn't mean he could leave out all the information. Or maybe it did, but I still wanted to know.
He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing," he muttered. He turned, as if to walk away, then turned back. He looked like he was about to say something then he shook his head and turned away again. I just stood there, wondering how many times this was going to happen.
"You know, for being almost 2,000 you still act like a teenager," I pointed out. He stopped walking and turned back around to glare at me.
He didn't have a chance to say anything though, someone else butted in. "Really, Alucard, I have to agree with Liz on this one. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to talk to the wrong girl."
We both turned towards the swing set. Leaning against one of the polls was Zeke, wearing his stylish sunglasses as he grinned at us. He was dressed in all black, something that was actually unusual for him.
"What the," Alucard murmured as he quickly checked the area for other vampires. He hadn't felt Zeke show up, and that was worrying him. Zeke just stood and watched him, a happy little smirk on his face. Alucard took a step back, putting himself halfway in front of me and in a defensive position.
"What's the matter, Al, surprised?" Zeke asked, pushing off the bar, slowly walking towards us. "Hey, what can I do? I mean, we could fight, I could win, boss would like that, you know. He's really pissed at you, says something about how you could make a difference," Zeke shrugged. "Who knows, he could be right." There was something almost bitter in his voice. I think he was angry. Not at us, but just in general. The fact that he could take it out on us was something he was looking forward to.
"Zeke, what're you doing here?" I asked, keeping my voice even.
He grinned at me. It wasn't a nice grin. "Just went out for a walk, heard some talking, didn't expect to see you two," he stated. "Then Alucard starts flipping out," he looked at Alucard, smirking. "So what all does she know now? Obviously some things. Probably knows a bit about Airaei, you've filled in a few holes, right? Does she know about the arena? How about-"
"Shut up," Alucard growled, cutting him off.
Zeke chuckled. "Oh, come now Alucard. There shouldn't be any secrets here. I know what's going on, and you know what's going one. Why shouldn't Liz know?"
Okay, that was tempting. I could probably ask Zeke and he would tell me simply to piss of Alucard. The question was did I want Zeke to tell me. It depended on what he was saying. Maybe the secret was something that didn't really matter, or maybe it wasn't.
Zeke just shook his head. "Quit thinkin' so hard, Liz, you ain't going to ask about it. You'll play things safe for now," he stated, as if reading my mind. I would have argued but he was right. "Doesn't matter, anyway. I'm supposed to get rid of Zeke, then deal with cranky Mr. Boss, who keeps yelling about wanting his Slayer. You know that's really getting annoying."
"I'm not his Slayer, I don't belong to anyone," I pointed out.
Zeke shrugged. "Use to think you did, but I changed my mind. If you ever belonged to anyone it was whoever you choose, and you keep changing your mind on that."
Alucard smirked. "Just like a woman."
I glared at both of them. "Careful now or you'll sound like Caleb."
"Caleb?" Zeke asked, then he recognized the name. "Oh, one of the First's guys."
Alucard and I exchanged a look.
I turned back to Zeke. "What're you here for? I'm sure it's not to exchange small chat."
"Nah, I'm actually here for Alucard," Zeke stated.
Alucard frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Boss wants you dead," he said with a shrug, not seeming to mind too much. "Just doing my job."
"Why am I thinking that maybe that's not the only reason you're trying to kill me?" Alucard drawled, never taking his eyes off Zeke's movements.
Tension was building between the two of them, and I was feeling out of the loop on this one. Who had ticked off who at what point? What had I missed. Okay, probably everything, but I wanted to know why my friend's were trying to kill each other. Probably had something to do with them being on opposite sides of a war, but I got the impression this was personal.
"Look guys, before we start killing each other, someone want to tell me why?" They ignored me.
Both of them were staring at each other intently, almost waiting for the other to move first. I took a step away from Alucard in case anything happened. Rotating my gaze from Zeke to Alucard I tried again, "Wait, maybe we-"
It was too late, I didn't even see them move. At one point I was talking, then suddenly Alucard was flying through the air. Zeke had thrown him so hard he was barely more than a blur. He crashed hard onto a swing set, hitting one of the polls and leaving a dent. Zeke watched, waiting, only a few feet away from me as Alucard got to his feet.
"Screw this," I muttered. "Zeke, stop it!"
I hadn't meant to distract him, that just sort of happened. Zeke had glanced at me, probably to answer, and Alucard had taken the chance to attack. I saw him move this time, my eyes flickered towards him at the last minute. Zeke had noticed and tried to do something but Alucard was on him.
Following the fight was hard. I had never actually watched anyone fight that quickly. Most vampires couldn't. I wasn't sure if it was their age of if they just picked up the ability but they moved like lightning. Every few seconds I would see one of them hit the other, or be able to see them crash into something. A few times I jumped out of the way to avoid collision.
Finally I got fed up. The fight was coming towards me and instead of moving away I did the opposite. I walked right between them.
Things froze for a fraction of a second, just long enough for the to realize what happened, and then they both jumped back, putting distance between all of us. Neither of them stared at me long, their attention stayed on each other. The brawl had been paused though, so maybe I could do something about it.
"Listen," I said calmly, trying to get both of them focused on me. It didn't work. "Guys, look at me," neither of them did. I sighed, shaking my head. "Fine, you want to fight? Who am I to stop you. Go ahead, get all bloodied up. For all the good it's going to do either of you."
Alucard looked a little tired, and he had been listening, but his eyes were still on Zeke. "Liz, get outta here. Go back to the house or something," he sounded serious.
"Ri-ight. That's really gonna happen," I said. Zeke grinned a little, mostly to make fun of Alucard. "Zeke, cut it out. I understand that you're pissed at the world. That's nice and all, but why don't you go pick on someone else? Maybe the person who pissed you off?"
Zeke shrugged. "I like this fight better," was all he said.
I nodded carefully. "Yeah, you might win it. My guess is the Boss would slaughter you. I know this, but at the moment I don't care. I'm trying to have a conversation and you're trying to have a brawl. These things kind of clash."
Zeke risked looking at me for a moment. Emotions were coming and going in waves, if I didn't know him as well as I did I wouldn't have been able to make out any of it. From what I could tell he was both mad at me and extremely amused.
"Your conversation wasn't going well," he pointed out.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm working on that."
Zeke grinned slowly, looking back at Alucard. "I can answer any and all of your questions Beth. It'd make things a lot easier."
Damn temptation, it got annoying. Unfortunately I couldn't take him up on the offer. If nothing else it wasn't right to owe anything tot he bad guys. "Sorry, Zeke. I think I'll manage on my own."
Zeke shrugged. "Yeah, you will, but maybe I can speed things up a bit." His gaze was focused entirely on Alucard, he was talking to me almost as a side note.
"What're you planning, Zeke?" Alucard growled.
Zeke looked too please with himself about something. "You remember Saedi, don't you Alucard? She's a nice little witch, isn't she? All good at different types of spells."
Alucard didn't move, but something in him shifted, he looked almost as if he was ready to run if he had to. This Saedi character must be someone scary to scar him off that quickly. "Sure, she can do plenty," he said, perfectly calm.
Zeke nodded. "I got her to whip up a spell for me the other day, just in case it could come in handy, you know?" Alucard nodded, very slowly, watching Zeke carefully. I almost stepped back, out of the way, but I was afraid they'd start fighting again. "Well, it's designed just for you. Or maybe for Liz,
depends how you look at it. If nothing else it should clear up a couple questions, shouldn't it?"
"What did you do?" Alucard asked. There was a threat in his voice, something very dangerous and deadly. I hadn't heard that voice in quite some time, it was almost odd having Alucard sound like that. He sounded like one of the bad guys.
Zeke wasn't amused. He looked just as serious as Alucard. "Don't worry," he murmured. "It shouldn't do anything if you don't love her."
Alucard's eyes widened for just a second, then his whole body lurched forward. He almost fell, but caught himself on the same bench he had stopped by earlier.
"What the. . ." I murmured, turning to Zeke. "What's going on?"
Zeke shrugged. "Why don't you ask him," he said with no emotion.
I turned to Alucard who was staring fixedly at the ground. He paid no attention to me or even Zeke as he just tried to remain standing and in control.
"Hmm, this won't work," Zeke murmured, and suddenly he was next to Alucard. Alucard didn't fight at all as Zeke grabbed his head and smashed it against the bench. Quickly Zeke lifted him into the air and let go, kicking him before he could hit the ground.
This time he crashed near me, hitting the ground hard and throwing up dust. I ducked out of the way, avoiding anything that might have been tossed my way when Alucard landed.
"Are you okay?" I asked as things started to settle down. I knew it wasn't a smart question, he wouldn't be okay, but I didn't know what else to ask.
Quickly I got to my feet to check on Alucard. He was just lying there, staring at me. "Are you okay?" I repeated, but he didn't answer.
Turning around I looked for Zeke, but he wasn't here. I went in circles to make sure, but I didn't see anything. I stopped turning and face Alucard, who had gotten back to his feet. He was still silent, and still staring at me.
"Alucard, did you see Zeke go? I want to make sure he's gone," I asked.
There was no response, for a moment I was worried he couldn't talk, then I was pissed that he wasn't saying anything.
"Alucard--"
He grabbed my shoulder, gripping it hard. Frowning, I wasn't sure what was going on. "Let go," I said firmly, trying to pull away. Something was wrong and until I found out what I didn't want him touching me.
But his grip was like iron. I tired to pull, he grabbed my other shoulder as well.
"Alucard--"
"Shut up," he said, barely above a whisper. I stopped pulling and just stared at him, he stared back. For a second things seemed to click. There was something there that I could see in his face as he stared at me so intently. And then. . .
He kissed me.
His lips pushed against mine hard as one of his hands drifted to support my neck. Everything seemed to freeze. I could feel him against me but my mind wasn't processing. The only thing I could feel was surprise.
I tried to pull back, he didn't let me. Instead he pulled me closer. My mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth.
That was the time that I sort of started thinking again. I believe the first thought was "What the hell, I'm French kissing a vampire." That was followed up by something along the lines of "This is kinda nice." The second thought surprised and worried me.
I wasn't romantically interested in Alucard. This was wrong, I should pull away, make him let me go.
I didn't want to, though. This did feel nice. It was more than that. It felt. . .right. He was kissing me, and I was kissing him back.
Then he let go, looking almost as shocked as I must have.
"Holy crap," he whispered, still staring at me, but now completely different. He looked worried, confused, flustered. Basically how I was feeling.
Nodding to his comment I asked. "What was that?"
"A spell," Alucard said nervously, he didn't sound completely sure, but almost completely.. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Why was that? I should be happy it was a spell. I think he noticed the disappointment, and quickly he added. "Kind of a spell. . . It, well, it was. . . Fuck. . ."
"What?" I asked, confused.
Alucard shook his head, resigned. "Look, it wasn't a spell. Not really," he finished. I was about to ask another question but he went on. "Liz, just go home. Go back to the house, you should be safe there. Just go."
He didn't give me a chance to say anything to that. The moment I tried he was gone. Poof! Disappeared. He had used that nifty ability to go quicker than the eye could see to get away, leaving me alone.
We had kissed. Just like that. They had been fighting, Zeke had done some spell thing, then we had kissed. Some how the spell had been involved. Maybe it was a lust spell? That would make sense, but then what about what he had said afterwards? It wasn't the spell. What did that mean? What did any of this mean? Why the hell was I obsessing over this?
That thought gave me enough anger to turn around and stomp out of what was left of the park. There wasn't anything I could do here, anyway. I let the anger carry me all the way back to the house. It was late, and things were quiet. not surprisingly the girls were all sleeping.
That was good because I didn't want to talk. I walked upstairs and into Dawn's room, where I found Dawn sleeping in her bed, and about half a dozen girls scattered on the floor. I frowned at the mess, but it made sense. Dawn wasn't going to lend her room out forever and I hadn't been here. Still I was frustrated, though. So I marched back downstairs and into the basement, where, thanks to Spike's blow out, no one was staying.
It felt empty, the basement. I stood in the middle of it, just staring, and everything felt empty. I wasn't tired, but I didn't want to do anything. So I just stood there, until I was too tired to stand any more, then I went to sleep.
~
I woke up feeling better than I had in a long time. There hadn't been any dreams, just nice nothingness. It made me wish for more nights like that.
After the initial rolling out of bed and making sure I looked half way decent I went upstairs, to find the house in an uproar. Everyone was up and ready for action, which didn't make much sense because it was still early. Normal people weren't up until ten or eleven. They were all gathering in the living room so I joined them in there, where Andrew was giving a little speech.
"So it turned out that all these stone tablets basically said the same thing. The First and Caleb are trying to protect something. We don't know exactly what, but it's something powerful and they don't want the Slayers to get it. I'm thinking it could be a weapon and if we are looking for an arsena-"
"You're not coming," Faith pointed out.
"If one is looking for an arsenal," he corrected himself, "well, what better place to find a-"
"Weapon. Okay, got it," Faith stepped in again. "Good thinking, Andrew."
Andrew nodded. "It's a pleasure, Faith. Back to you."
"Enough. Okay, I need you four to suss out the low-down on B," Faith said, turning to Giles, Willow, Dawn and Xander. "I don't want you talking to her, getting in her way, or, for that matter, letting her know you're there. Just do a little recon."
"Where do you want me, Faith?" Wood asked from the couch.
Faith barely glanced at him. "By your phone. I'll call you when I need you."
"What are we looking for, I mean, is there some reason we should. . . spy on Buffy?" Dawn asked Faith.
"We're just making sure she's okay," Faith explained.
"Those of you who are coming with me to the arsenal, you know who you are," Faith glanced at some of the girls. "Everybody ready?" They nodded and stood up. "Then let's do this thing." Faith turned to the door, I kind of got in her way.
"Faith, sorry, but what's going on?" I asked.
She glanced at me for a moment. "We're looking into that arsenal thing the bringer was talking about," she explained in a hurry.
I nodded. "Any chance you need another Slayer tagging along?" I asked.
Faith shook her head. "I'd take you , but your watchers were pretty pushy about you staying here long enough to talk to you about a few things," she said with a shrug.
"My watchers?" I asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"Over here," I heard Todd say. He was standing with the potentials, carrying an ax and a couple of stakes.
I frowned at him. "Oh, you're here. Well, tell her I can go and talk to you later."
"Actually, you'll be talking with me." Lloyd stepped out from the living room. "Todd will be going with Faith, it's all planned out."
"Wait a sec," I said, "What if he gets hurt or-"
"Chill Beth," Faith said. "He'll be fine. Besides, from what I've seen he's one of the best fighters here. Todd's a big boy, he'll take care of himself." With that parting note she nodded towards the door and the potentials followed her out. Todd waved good bye to me, then left as well.
After they left I turned back to Lloyd. "Okay, you show up last minute, and then hold me back from a fight, sending Todd in my place," I started, somewhat accusingly, "you better have a good reason for all of this."
Lloyd walked past me, heading for the dinning room, he nodded for me to follow. There really wasn't anything else for me to do, so I followed him. We walked in at about the same time Chris did, carrying a box with him.
Taking a seat at the head of the table Lloyd folded his hands together and stared at me. "I've been doing some research on your little curse, letting Chris handle the diary. It is a diary, by the way," he said.
"Back to the curse?" I asked, somewhat surprised. "Isn't that over with? I mean, I'm alive again."
Lloyd nodded. "Indeed. I do believe it's over with, but I want to know exactly why. I feel it's important for some reason, so I looked into it, with Jordan's help of course," Lloyd explain, nodding to Chris as he did so. Chris opened the box and pulled out a file which he handed to me. I carefully opened it, flipping through a couple of pages. Mostly it was just facts, dates, a couple timelines. I let Lloyd explain it all as I moved onto the pictures.
"This is a list of every known occurrence of your particular curse. As you can see it was used quite often," he pointed out. I nodded agreement, it was a long list of events. "Finding the people was quite simple after we identified the curse, which is actually simple to do, and isn't always a curse."
I glanced up at him. "So what kind of spell is it?"
"One based on patterns. It's a spell of threes," he stated. "the caster can be almost anyone with a magical gift. They need someone to channel the spell though, most often it's a vampire. Whoever it is, they have to have drunk some of the victims blood. Obviously that wasn't a problem with you. Brekken was the obvious channel, and he had some witch helping him.
"The witch needed to decide on how she would punish you. Brekken told her to strip you of her powers, which it did, but the spell has draw backs. It can't take something without giving something else in return. In your case you lost your strength, but you gained internal life.
"Then there's the way to get rid of the spell. As I said it works in patterns of three. The caster has to set certain rules, and when those rules are broken, so is the spell. All rules revolve around the number three. In your case it probably had something to do with being the third Slayer."
I nodded, flipping through a few more pages. "And all these people, they had this done to them?" I asked as I pulled up a chair.
Lloyd nodded. "In a matter of speaking. The important thing is that some suffered after effects. Sometimes days afterwards, sometimes years. I just want you to be careful," he said.
Nodding I put the file down. "So it might not be over. Great," I muttered with a sigh. "So, what else do you got for me?"
Lloyd sighed and looked at the table, trying to think of anything he might have forgotten. Finally he shrugged. "There's how the spell works, but that's simple. It's influenced by the magic around you. Whatever magic's in effect was basically what kept you alive."
I blinked. "Simple?" Well, I suppose the basic idea was simple. Lloyd was giving me a look that meant 'stop and think about it.' So I did. "So I ran off other magic, but what happened when the other magic wasn't there? I mean, sometimes I wasn't near any spells at all."
He nodded. "Yes, I considered that. After consulting Giles though, I realized that there's magic everywhere. The trees, the ground, the Earth itself all contains some energy that this spell can draw upon and use for whatever it was summoned to do."
While being cheesy that made sense. Actually, Willow had been learning just that on her trip to England over the summer. Jordan and her would sometimes go over different theories on magic and that one came up a few times. All the good magic came from the ground. It was usually peaceful and all that kind of thing.
A thought occurred to me. "What happens if you're around bad magic?"
"You mean like vampires?" Lloyd asked, I could tell he had already had that thought. I nodded for him to explain and he went on. "I considered that fact, because you spent a great deal of time around that particular group of undead. After more research I learned that since they're people, in one way or another, you don't necessarily take on their traits as a race, but perhaps their personality. You might experience lack of conscious or perhaps a lack of caring for anything alive. Or even just a general feeling from your friends."
He was right on cue with that. It made sense even. Not to mention it explained a lot. At least we had now discovered the reason for lack of caring towards humans. Imagine what would have happened if I had been around really bad vampires who liked to torture people. I shuddered at the thought. That would have just been really bad.
"Other than that there's been nothing worth talking about yet," Lloyd stated with a shrug. "We were hoping you'd have something to tell us," he said
I raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Have you read the book yet? I mean actually read it, just like you'd read a novel," Lloyd asked.
I shook my head. "No, not yet."
"Then I suggest you get started. Then we'll talk." Lloyd leaned back, just staring at me. For the moment he was done talking. Now that he had said his bit he was waiting for me to do my part of everything. If only I knew what I was supposed to do.
Shrugging I turned to go to Dawn's room. "I left it upstairs. I'll be back down in a minute." I skipped up the stairs, grabbing the diary from where I had stashed it on one of the shelves. There was something important in the book, and Lloyd wanted me to figure out what it was. So I would try reading it.
Who knows, maybe it would tell me something.
~
. . . yeah, I have no comments. . .
FallenStar: glad you're liking it! I try to be original, that and I can't really write the original characters so I'm forced to come up with new stuff. . . ^.^ but thanks!
Ninii the Lucil33t: Here's another chapter, no visits from Airaei, I think next chapter there will be, though. Maybe. I have it all planned out somewhere. . . who knows what happened to that. I think my dog ate it, literally. The question wasn't stupid, and yeah, it would only be Xander.
Beyond the silence: eck! Don't fail! I don't mean to be distracting! Eck, well, yes I do, but still, hope you did just peachy like on the test. Yeah, I've given up on spelling. I figure I'll go back and fix it all later. Hmm. . . a prequel. . . actually, I haven't thought about it. I'm hoping to finish this story before Friday the 13th, cause I'm leaving the day after and I won't be back for six weeks, during that time I'll start on my next story, but I think I'm going back to Gundam Wing to finish up a different series I have going. Don't worry, I have no problem with long reviews ^.~
Maude: hmm. . . Well, what to tell you. . . you already kinda know the ending. . . I'll stick with thanks for the review!
That's all for now fokes!
~Rave
Chapter 16
You know you're sick when you sleep for almost twenty-four hours and no one bothers to wake you up. It wasn't like I slept the hole time, I got up every few hours and Alucard told me to go back to sleep. Literally. I'd wake up, try to go downstairs, and he'd always just show up and send me back up. When I tried to get one of the girls to take my side they'd listen to Alucard. You'd think being a Slayer would give me extra privileges.
So I missed the whole day's activities. Here's what I know:
Faith took charge, she came up with a rather smart plan to capture a bringer, since they are the weak link in the bad guy chain. You have Caleb, and the First, and the umber vamps, all of which we can't do anything about. Then we have the bringers, who we've killed on several occasions so why not capture one to question it?
So Kennedy's used as bait to pick the guy up. Giles and a couple potentials go as back up, they kill a few bringers and bring the remaining one back. He's now in the basement, hanging out in chains. I was awake to see him show up. The problem is he doesn't have a tongue. Someone must have ripped it out. Sounds painful doesn't it?
Then we have Dawn with a bright idea. She's reading some Turkish book that has a spell to talk to dead people. At first I thought we were going to kill the bringer, but no, instead we're just going to use it on him while he's alive. We'll see if he has anything to tell us.
That brings us to right now. Everyone's in the kitchen chatting. Someone made chicken noodle soup. I'd glare at them but I don't know who it was, that and it tasted good. The good news is that I'm not sick anymore. Much sleeping cured everything, I feel fit as a fiddle or however the saying goes.
I watched as Faith agreed with the plan. "Well, alright, cool," she said, "While Willow's doing that, why don't the rest of us-"
"We're ba-ack!"
We all looked towards the front door as Andrew and Spike walked in.
"Hey," Spike said to us all.
Then Andrew kept talking. "Hi, everybody. I missed you guys a lot. Sorry we took so long getting back from our mission, but we had to wait out the sun and hey," he got a good look at Xander, "oh, cool. Very Col. Nick Fury. You're lookin' good!"
"Seeing slightly less good. But thanks," Xander said.
"Well, I think we had a very successful trip.. We rode on Spike's "hog", which was very cool and played some amusing games and, oh yeah, we've got some information-but do you know what? I really need to urinate," and with that Andrew dashed off towards the bathroom.
My eyes followed him for a moment before I turned to Spike.
"He's a breath of fresh air, isn't he?" Spike muttered. "Thank god I don't breath."
"Played some amusing games?" I asked as everyone else avoided looking at him.
He frowned at me. "Don't ask." Then to the others. "So I think we got a lead. Where's Buffy?"
"She's not here right now," said Dawn.
Spike shrugged, not bothered by that. "When's she getting back?" Still no one said anything. I ate a spoonful of soup, chewing on the noodles so that it would look like I had an excuse not to talk. "What? She finally ran off and joined the circus? Always thought she'd be a genius at the old knife throw--" he paused, seeing everyone's uncomfortable looks. "Where is she?"
Willow started talking a little hesitantly as I took another spoonful of soup. "While you were gone we all got together and talked out the disagreements we'd been having. And eventually, after some discussion, Buffy decided that it would be best for all of us if she took a little time off. A little breather," Willow stated. It might have sounded better if she sounded like she believed it.
Spike obviously didn't. "I see. Uh-huh," he paused, looking at all of us. I ate another bite. "Been practicing that lit'l speech long, have you? So Buffy took some time off, right in the middle of an apocalypse. And it was her decision?"
"Well, we all decided," Xander said.
"Yeah, you all decided," Spike snapped at him. He paced for a moment before turning to me. "What'd you do about this? Did you help kick her out?"
I stared into his accusing eyes and decided to just be blunt. "I didn't say a thing. Well, I said that Faith hadn't done a bad job keeping the group together, but you can blame that on the fact that I was sick. But basically, yeah, I just sat back and watched it all." He glared at me, then at all of us.
"You sad, sad, ungrateful traitors," he growled. "Who do you think you are?"
"We're her friends," Willow said quietly. "We only want--"
"That's ballsy of you," Spike cut in, "You're her friend and you betray her like this?"
"You don't understand--" Giles started.
Again Spike cut in. "You know, I think I do, Rupert. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher all full of wisdom. And now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it." He looked at all of us. "She's saved your lives, again and again. She's died for you. And this is how you thank her? This is how you-"
"Hey, why don't you take it down a notch or two?" Faith said, stepping in. "The time for giving speeches is over, bat-boy."
"Is that right?" Spike said sarcastically.
Faith nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Save your lack of breath."
"Alright," Spike snapped. Then he punched her in the jaw.
Faith was caught off guard and fell back against the counter, I jumped out of the way, not wanting to get caught in the middle of whatever fight was starting. Faith touched her jaw, a smile spread slowly across her face.
"You're pretty sweet on her, aren't you?" She said. Then using the counter, Faith kicked up both legs at once, cracking Spike in the face. "Well, I think it's cute." Spike hit her hard, and she took the blow, but then quickly hit him back. "The way she's got you whipped." She kicked him hard, hitting him back into the dinning room where he fell onto his back. Faith jumped on him, hitting him in the face again and again.
Spike kicked back, throwing Faith off him. Having the upper hand he pushed her up against the wall, right in her face. "Finally got what you always wanted, didn't you?" He asked angrily. She stared into his eyes, just as angry. Spike grabbed her head and slammed it into the wall. "Where is she?" he demanded.
"I don't know," Faith growled back. She wrenched out of his grasp and kicked him in the gut. Readying for his returning blow she backed up a little.
Spike didn't attack though. He just threw up his hands as if to say "screw it" and turned away, heading back to the kitchen doorway. None of us met his eyes, I guess you could say we all felt a little guilty. Me not so much, but for the rest he was just rubbing it in. They had kicked their friend out. Buffy wasn't really my friend, but she had saved the world a few times.
Without saying another word Spike turned to the door and left.
I stared after for a moment then looked at everyone else. "So, how're we planning on doing the spell?" I asked.
They all looked at my like I was speaking a foreign language, I just stared back patiently. Finally Giles nodded and set about getting everyone in order. Before I knew it we were all downstairs in the basement with the bringer with Willow preparing to cast the spell.
Willow started talking in Turkish. I couldn't understand a word she was saying but the direct translation that Giles told me was basically, "You are getting very sleepy. Very, very sleepy. I do not have a pocket watch but then again, you do not have eyes. Speak to us." Personally, I liked the spell.
When she finished Willow closed the book and we all waited for a long moment. Nothing happened.
"Maybe you should let me rough him up a little," Andrew whispered loudly.
Xander and Kennedy glared at him, "Andrew, Quiet!" They said almost at the same time.
The bringer still wasn't moving.
"I don't know, you guys; that should have worked," Willow murmured.
Giles shrugged. "Perhaps you should try again. Sometimes your conjugations are a little unusual," he pointed out.
"I am a drone in the mind of evil-" Andrew said, low and serious. I turned to stair at him.
"Could you just shut up?" Xander snapped.
"What're you talking about?" I said.
"I say, I am a part of the Great Darkness-" Andrew continued.
"Somebody needs a reality check-" Kennedy muttered.
I nodded. "No kidding."
"And a muzzle," Xander added.
"Wait," Giles murmured, studying Andrew. We all looked at him, then at Andrew.
Andrew just sat there, staring blankly ahead. There was something odd about him. For one thing, he had sounded serious, for another he wasn't saying anything stupid. If I didn't know any better I'd say he wasn't the one talking. Which, in this house, meant he probably wasn't. I glanced at the bringer, then back to Andrew. He was serving as a conduit or something, a way for the bringer to talk to us.
"I am only a fragment of The We," Andrew/Bringer continued. "We work as one to serve The First."
"Okay, well, what are you, "The We", doing for The First?" Willow asked.
"We work to prepare for the inevitable battle," Andrew/Bringer said in monotone.
Kennedy got right up into the actual bringer's face. She pulled out the bringer's own knife from her belt and pointed it at him threateningly, just touching the point to the bringer's neck. Willow stood next to Kennedy, looking somewhat uncomfortable about Kennedy's aggression.
"How? Tell me exactly what the bringers are doing," Kennedy demanded.
"Kennedy, he can't see the knife," Giles pointed out.
"We can feel the knife," said the bringer calmly.
Giles held out his hand to Kennedy, asking for the knife. "Kennedy?" he said, the question obvious. She handed the knife over.
"We attend to the needs of infinite evil. We exterminate girls and destroy the legacy of Slayer. We build an arsenal beneath the dirt. We obey the commands of our teacher Caleb. We protect-"
"Wait, go back to that dirt thing," Xander said, cutting off Andrew/the bringer.
"We build weapons for the coming war," he said.
"Can you do better specificity-wise than "under the dirt"?" Anya asked.
"At the farthest edge of town," The bringer answered. Then he starred at all of us almost threateningly. "We are everywhere. We are like the ocean's waves. We watch your efforts and are not scared. We will laugh at you as you die.-"
Suddenly Giles slashed the knife across the bringers throat. The bringer gasped, sucking air through the wound, and then he died. At the same time Andrew jerked in his seat, suddenly free of the bringer's control.
"What the bananas!" Andrew shouted, we all turned to see him clutching his throat. He glared at Giles. "Okay, it is so lucky for you that didn't just magically decapitate me."
Giles ignored him. "We got something here. Let's get Faith in on this." Then he turned to head up the stairs, the rest of the gang following him up. I followed right after Anya, heading up with the rest of them.
At the top of the stairs Giles continued giving out instructions. "Xander, if you'll grab some maps we can start narrowing this down. We need subterranean space with an area large enough for an armory."
"Ug! I feel used and violated and I need a lozenge," Andrew wined as Xander went off to find the map and Anya followed her out.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, be quiet. Nothing big happened."
He turned to me. "You're not the one who was possessed by an evil bringer, what would you know."
I shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. But you're alive right? That's a good sign."
"Well, yes, but. . ." He started.
"Andrew be quiet," Giles said, shutting him up before he could find a new complaint. "I'm going to find Faith, the rest of you get some rest." He started walking away.
"Wait, what're we going to do about the body?" I asked, suddenly thinking about it.
Giles turned around a little, thinking. "Why don't you get Alucard to take care of it?" he asked, seeming pleased with his decision.
I shrugged. "Sounds good," I said and went looking for Alucard. I found him in the kitchen heating up a pack of blood.
He glanced as me as I walked in and took a seat. "Hey, I heard I missed a little skirmish between Faith and your bro."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't that big a deal."
"I think some furniture got broken," Alucard pointed out.
"I think you're right."
He pulled the blood out of the microwave and took a sip. "That's not a big deal?"
"I think it's kind of normal around here," I explained.
He shrugged. "Probably right." He took another sip before continuing. "So, did you meet the bringer?" he asked.
I nodded. "Giles killed it."
"Already? Well, that's a let down."
"Why? What do you need a bringer for?" I asked.
Alucard shrugged. "Dunno, could be fun to beat on. I'm not allowed to touch anyone else in the house. Who knows, maybe he's edible."
I made a face. "That just sounds nasty."
He chuckled. "Yeah, it does." He took a seat across the table. "So why'd you come chatting? I'm not that entertaining and the girl's couldn't have pissed you off yet. You just woke up a few hours ago."
Shrugging I leaned back. "Blame it on Giles."
"Blame what on Giles? You talking to me?"
"Nah, you have to clean up the bringer mess," I said happily. "He assigned it to you."
"Wait a sec," Alucard said, his eyes narrowing. "What?"
"You have to dispose of the dead bringer," I explained, making it even more obvious.
"Says Giles?"
"Yep."
Alucard sighed and leaned back. "Whatever happened to Faith being in charge? Didn't we just impeach Buffy? I didn't support Faith to have to clean up dead villains."
"You didn't support Faith, you sat back and watched," I pointed out.
He frowned at me. "Fine, but you're coming with, needed to talk to you anyway."
"What do you call what we're doing now?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Away from the prying ears of the potentials and the naggingness of all vampire haters who happen to live here."
Well, I suppose that made sense. He was right, there were a lot of people here, and most of the potentials didn't like the fact that he was a vampire. It didn't help that he had been inlisted to help train them and now everyone knows that he actually can fight pretty damn well. It scarred the kiddies a little, but for the most part they got over it. Besides, he's working for the good guys, so thing are good.
"That's fine. You finish that up and grab the body, I'll be right back," I stated, getting to my feet.
"Where're you going?" Alucard asked.
I didn't stop walking as I talked. "To change, I'm not going out in pajamas," I stated, pointing out that I was wearing flannel pjs. Very comfortable, but not the best for late night walks. Alucard didn't say anything else as I found my stash of clothes. Quickly I changed into loose fitting jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt then I threw on some nikes and put my hair up. Ta-da, ready to go.
When I got back downstairs Alucard was dragging the bringer in a big plastic bag outside. I watched him carry it then followed behind him, shutting the door. "So where're we taking it to?" I asked.
Alucard shrugged. "You know this town better than me. Where can we drop off a body?"
I shrugged, looking down the street both ways. "Well, the place is mostly abandoned. No electricity anywhere. I'm thinking as long as we don't smell it we're doing good."
"Okay, we'll go about a block then I'm throwing it in someone's back yard," he suggested.
Nodding I answered, "That works."
We walked in silence down the street. Sure enough at the first corner he dragged the bag over to some person's fence and tossed it into their yard. He brushed his hands off then walked back to me. We stood for a few seconds then he nodded forward and we both went on.
"So, you said you wanted to talk about something?" I prompted.
Alucard nodded, but didn't answer. We kept walking in silence. I glanced at him, trying to read what he was thinking. His face was carefully blank, though. He could be contemplating an upcoming battle or next week's TV show. Sighing I looked away. Maybe he'd start talking or maybe we'd just walk a ways. Eventually we'd go back to the house, though, so if he hadn't said anything by then it was his problem.
"So you've been having bad dreams?" He said at last.
My eyes flickered to him, then I looked down at the sidewalk. "Dunno, maybe."
"You don't remember," he said it as a statement. I nodded.
We were nearing a park, a small place with swings and a slide. Alucard stopped walking right next to a bench inside of it. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, still thinking about whatever, but seeming frustrated.
"Just to speed things up, what's the point of this conversation?" I asked, literally to save time.
Alucard threw me a quick smile. "Well, that's the problem. I'm not sure."
"Ah, so we just stand here completely bored until you figure it out?" I asked.
"Something like that."
"Lovely," I muttered.
He sighed, then turned to me, as if something suddenly hit him. "You have any idea what the dreams are about?"
I shook my head. "Not a clue."
He nodded, still thinking, but thinking faster. "I think. . . well, when you figure it out, I need to talk to you."
My eyes narrowed. "Okay, as much as I've implied I haven't directly accused you of leaving out some huge overly important fact in this whole thing. But there is a big important fact, and I think whatever that fact is has something to do with your problem right now. So why don't you just spit it out and we can have some sort of conversation."
He blinked. "You're mad."
I glared. "No, but if you push the point I will be."
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it's not important."
"Yes it is," I insisted.
"How would you know?" He asked.
How would I know? Well, he had left out a few things, and he wasn't being very clear now so. . . "It's kind of obvious."
He frowned. "Look, I don't really know how to talk about it. You're not. . ." he paused as if he wasn't sure of what to say. "You're not remembering everything. It just wouldn't seem. . . right I guess, I don't know," he probably did the smart thing and stopped talking. He turned away from me and glared at the playground for awhile.
"What am I not remembering?" I asked. "Maybe if you told me it would trigger things and-"
"I doubt it," he butted in.
I frowned. "How can you be so sure."
"I just don't think it would work," he said, quieter.
"What makes you the expert?" I asked, getting angry. Just because he knew my past self and some big secret he wasn't telling me didn't mean he could leave out all the information. Or maybe it did, but I still wanted to know.
He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing," he muttered. He turned, as if to walk away, then turned back. He looked like he was about to say something then he shook his head and turned away again. I just stood there, wondering how many times this was going to happen.
"You know, for being almost 2,000 you still act like a teenager," I pointed out. He stopped walking and turned back around to glare at me.
He didn't have a chance to say anything though, someone else butted in. "Really, Alucard, I have to agree with Liz on this one. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to talk to the wrong girl."
We both turned towards the swing set. Leaning against one of the polls was Zeke, wearing his stylish sunglasses as he grinned at us. He was dressed in all black, something that was actually unusual for him.
"What the," Alucard murmured as he quickly checked the area for other vampires. He hadn't felt Zeke show up, and that was worrying him. Zeke just stood and watched him, a happy little smirk on his face. Alucard took a step back, putting himself halfway in front of me and in a defensive position.
"What's the matter, Al, surprised?" Zeke asked, pushing off the bar, slowly walking towards us. "Hey, what can I do? I mean, we could fight, I could win, boss would like that, you know. He's really pissed at you, says something about how you could make a difference," Zeke shrugged. "Who knows, he could be right." There was something almost bitter in his voice. I think he was angry. Not at us, but just in general. The fact that he could take it out on us was something he was looking forward to.
"Zeke, what're you doing here?" I asked, keeping my voice even.
He grinned at me. It wasn't a nice grin. "Just went out for a walk, heard some talking, didn't expect to see you two," he stated. "Then Alucard starts flipping out," he looked at Alucard, smirking. "So what all does she know now? Obviously some things. Probably knows a bit about Airaei, you've filled in a few holes, right? Does she know about the arena? How about-"
"Shut up," Alucard growled, cutting him off.
Zeke chuckled. "Oh, come now Alucard. There shouldn't be any secrets here. I know what's going on, and you know what's going one. Why shouldn't Liz know?"
Okay, that was tempting. I could probably ask Zeke and he would tell me simply to piss of Alucard. The question was did I want Zeke to tell me. It depended on what he was saying. Maybe the secret was something that didn't really matter, or maybe it wasn't.
Zeke just shook his head. "Quit thinkin' so hard, Liz, you ain't going to ask about it. You'll play things safe for now," he stated, as if reading my mind. I would have argued but he was right. "Doesn't matter, anyway. I'm supposed to get rid of Zeke, then deal with cranky Mr. Boss, who keeps yelling about wanting his Slayer. You know that's really getting annoying."
"I'm not his Slayer, I don't belong to anyone," I pointed out.
Zeke shrugged. "Use to think you did, but I changed my mind. If you ever belonged to anyone it was whoever you choose, and you keep changing your mind on that."
Alucard smirked. "Just like a woman."
I glared at both of them. "Careful now or you'll sound like Caleb."
"Caleb?" Zeke asked, then he recognized the name. "Oh, one of the First's guys."
Alucard and I exchanged a look.
I turned back to Zeke. "What're you here for? I'm sure it's not to exchange small chat."
"Nah, I'm actually here for Alucard," Zeke stated.
Alucard frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Boss wants you dead," he said with a shrug, not seeming to mind too much. "Just doing my job."
"Why am I thinking that maybe that's not the only reason you're trying to kill me?" Alucard drawled, never taking his eyes off Zeke's movements.
Tension was building between the two of them, and I was feeling out of the loop on this one. Who had ticked off who at what point? What had I missed. Okay, probably everything, but I wanted to know why my friend's were trying to kill each other. Probably had something to do with them being on opposite sides of a war, but I got the impression this was personal.
"Look guys, before we start killing each other, someone want to tell me why?" They ignored me.
Both of them were staring at each other intently, almost waiting for the other to move first. I took a step away from Alucard in case anything happened. Rotating my gaze from Zeke to Alucard I tried again, "Wait, maybe we-"
It was too late, I didn't even see them move. At one point I was talking, then suddenly Alucard was flying through the air. Zeke had thrown him so hard he was barely more than a blur. He crashed hard onto a swing set, hitting one of the polls and leaving a dent. Zeke watched, waiting, only a few feet away from me as Alucard got to his feet.
"Screw this," I muttered. "Zeke, stop it!"
I hadn't meant to distract him, that just sort of happened. Zeke had glanced at me, probably to answer, and Alucard had taken the chance to attack. I saw him move this time, my eyes flickered towards him at the last minute. Zeke had noticed and tried to do something but Alucard was on him.
Following the fight was hard. I had never actually watched anyone fight that quickly. Most vampires couldn't. I wasn't sure if it was their age of if they just picked up the ability but they moved like lightning. Every few seconds I would see one of them hit the other, or be able to see them crash into something. A few times I jumped out of the way to avoid collision.
Finally I got fed up. The fight was coming towards me and instead of moving away I did the opposite. I walked right between them.
Things froze for a fraction of a second, just long enough for the to realize what happened, and then they both jumped back, putting distance between all of us. Neither of them stared at me long, their attention stayed on each other. The brawl had been paused though, so maybe I could do something about it.
"Listen," I said calmly, trying to get both of them focused on me. It didn't work. "Guys, look at me," neither of them did. I sighed, shaking my head. "Fine, you want to fight? Who am I to stop you. Go ahead, get all bloodied up. For all the good it's going to do either of you."
Alucard looked a little tired, and he had been listening, but his eyes were still on Zeke. "Liz, get outta here. Go back to the house or something," he sounded serious.
"Ri-ight. That's really gonna happen," I said. Zeke grinned a little, mostly to make fun of Alucard. "Zeke, cut it out. I understand that you're pissed at the world. That's nice and all, but why don't you go pick on someone else? Maybe the person who pissed you off?"
Zeke shrugged. "I like this fight better," was all he said.
I nodded carefully. "Yeah, you might win it. My guess is the Boss would slaughter you. I know this, but at the moment I don't care. I'm trying to have a conversation and you're trying to have a brawl. These things kind of clash."
Zeke risked looking at me for a moment. Emotions were coming and going in waves, if I didn't know him as well as I did I wouldn't have been able to make out any of it. From what I could tell he was both mad at me and extremely amused.
"Your conversation wasn't going well," he pointed out.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm working on that."
Zeke grinned slowly, looking back at Alucard. "I can answer any and all of your questions Beth. It'd make things a lot easier."
Damn temptation, it got annoying. Unfortunately I couldn't take him up on the offer. If nothing else it wasn't right to owe anything tot he bad guys. "Sorry, Zeke. I think I'll manage on my own."
Zeke shrugged. "Yeah, you will, but maybe I can speed things up a bit." His gaze was focused entirely on Alucard, he was talking to me almost as a side note.
"What're you planning, Zeke?" Alucard growled.
Zeke looked too please with himself about something. "You remember Saedi, don't you Alucard? She's a nice little witch, isn't she? All good at different types of spells."
Alucard didn't move, but something in him shifted, he looked almost as if he was ready to run if he had to. This Saedi character must be someone scary to scar him off that quickly. "Sure, she can do plenty," he said, perfectly calm.
Zeke nodded. "I got her to whip up a spell for me the other day, just in case it could come in handy, you know?" Alucard nodded, very slowly, watching Zeke carefully. I almost stepped back, out of the way, but I was afraid they'd start fighting again. "Well, it's designed just for you. Or maybe for Liz,
depends how you look at it. If nothing else it should clear up a couple questions, shouldn't it?"
"What did you do?" Alucard asked. There was a threat in his voice, something very dangerous and deadly. I hadn't heard that voice in quite some time, it was almost odd having Alucard sound like that. He sounded like one of the bad guys.
Zeke wasn't amused. He looked just as serious as Alucard. "Don't worry," he murmured. "It shouldn't do anything if you don't love her."
Alucard's eyes widened for just a second, then his whole body lurched forward. He almost fell, but caught himself on the same bench he had stopped by earlier.
"What the. . ." I murmured, turning to Zeke. "What's going on?"
Zeke shrugged. "Why don't you ask him," he said with no emotion.
I turned to Alucard who was staring fixedly at the ground. He paid no attention to me or even Zeke as he just tried to remain standing and in control.
"Hmm, this won't work," Zeke murmured, and suddenly he was next to Alucard. Alucard didn't fight at all as Zeke grabbed his head and smashed it against the bench. Quickly Zeke lifted him into the air and let go, kicking him before he could hit the ground.
This time he crashed near me, hitting the ground hard and throwing up dust. I ducked out of the way, avoiding anything that might have been tossed my way when Alucard landed.
"Are you okay?" I asked as things started to settle down. I knew it wasn't a smart question, he wouldn't be okay, but I didn't know what else to ask.
Quickly I got to my feet to check on Alucard. He was just lying there, staring at me. "Are you okay?" I repeated, but he didn't answer.
Turning around I looked for Zeke, but he wasn't here. I went in circles to make sure, but I didn't see anything. I stopped turning and face Alucard, who had gotten back to his feet. He was still silent, and still staring at me.
"Alucard, did you see Zeke go? I want to make sure he's gone," I asked.
There was no response, for a moment I was worried he couldn't talk, then I was pissed that he wasn't saying anything.
"Alucard--"
He grabbed my shoulder, gripping it hard. Frowning, I wasn't sure what was going on. "Let go," I said firmly, trying to pull away. Something was wrong and until I found out what I didn't want him touching me.
But his grip was like iron. I tired to pull, he grabbed my other shoulder as well.
"Alucard--"
"Shut up," he said, barely above a whisper. I stopped pulling and just stared at him, he stared back. For a second things seemed to click. There was something there that I could see in his face as he stared at me so intently. And then. . .
He kissed me.
His lips pushed against mine hard as one of his hands drifted to support my neck. Everything seemed to freeze. I could feel him against me but my mind wasn't processing. The only thing I could feel was surprise.
I tried to pull back, he didn't let me. Instead he pulled me closer. My mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth.
That was the time that I sort of started thinking again. I believe the first thought was "What the hell, I'm French kissing a vampire." That was followed up by something along the lines of "This is kinda nice." The second thought surprised and worried me.
I wasn't romantically interested in Alucard. This was wrong, I should pull away, make him let me go.
I didn't want to, though. This did feel nice. It was more than that. It felt. . .right. He was kissing me, and I was kissing him back.
Then he let go, looking almost as shocked as I must have.
"Holy crap," he whispered, still staring at me, but now completely different. He looked worried, confused, flustered. Basically how I was feeling.
Nodding to his comment I asked. "What was that?"
"A spell," Alucard said nervously, he didn't sound completely sure, but almost completely.. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Why was that? I should be happy it was a spell. I think he noticed the disappointment, and quickly he added. "Kind of a spell. . . It, well, it was. . . Fuck. . ."
"What?" I asked, confused.
Alucard shook his head, resigned. "Look, it wasn't a spell. Not really," he finished. I was about to ask another question but he went on. "Liz, just go home. Go back to the house, you should be safe there. Just go."
He didn't give me a chance to say anything to that. The moment I tried he was gone. Poof! Disappeared. He had used that nifty ability to go quicker than the eye could see to get away, leaving me alone.
We had kissed. Just like that. They had been fighting, Zeke had done some spell thing, then we had kissed. Some how the spell had been involved. Maybe it was a lust spell? That would make sense, but then what about what he had said afterwards? It wasn't the spell. What did that mean? What did any of this mean? Why the hell was I obsessing over this?
That thought gave me enough anger to turn around and stomp out of what was left of the park. There wasn't anything I could do here, anyway. I let the anger carry me all the way back to the house. It was late, and things were quiet. not surprisingly the girls were all sleeping.
That was good because I didn't want to talk. I walked upstairs and into Dawn's room, where I found Dawn sleeping in her bed, and about half a dozen girls scattered on the floor. I frowned at the mess, but it made sense. Dawn wasn't going to lend her room out forever and I hadn't been here. Still I was frustrated, though. So I marched back downstairs and into the basement, where, thanks to Spike's blow out, no one was staying.
It felt empty, the basement. I stood in the middle of it, just staring, and everything felt empty. I wasn't tired, but I didn't want to do anything. So I just stood there, until I was too tired to stand any more, then I went to sleep.
~
I woke up feeling better than I had in a long time. There hadn't been any dreams, just nice nothingness. It made me wish for more nights like that.
After the initial rolling out of bed and making sure I looked half way decent I went upstairs, to find the house in an uproar. Everyone was up and ready for action, which didn't make much sense because it was still early. Normal people weren't up until ten or eleven. They were all gathering in the living room so I joined them in there, where Andrew was giving a little speech.
"So it turned out that all these stone tablets basically said the same thing. The First and Caleb are trying to protect something. We don't know exactly what, but it's something powerful and they don't want the Slayers to get it. I'm thinking it could be a weapon and if we are looking for an arsena-"
"You're not coming," Faith pointed out.
"If one is looking for an arsenal," he corrected himself, "well, what better place to find a-"
"Weapon. Okay, got it," Faith stepped in again. "Good thinking, Andrew."
Andrew nodded. "It's a pleasure, Faith. Back to you."
"Enough. Okay, I need you four to suss out the low-down on B," Faith said, turning to Giles, Willow, Dawn and Xander. "I don't want you talking to her, getting in her way, or, for that matter, letting her know you're there. Just do a little recon."
"Where do you want me, Faith?" Wood asked from the couch.
Faith barely glanced at him. "By your phone. I'll call you when I need you."
"What are we looking for, I mean, is there some reason we should. . . spy on Buffy?" Dawn asked Faith.
"We're just making sure she's okay," Faith explained.
"Those of you who are coming with me to the arsenal, you know who you are," Faith glanced at some of the girls. "Everybody ready?" They nodded and stood up. "Then let's do this thing." Faith turned to the door, I kind of got in her way.
"Faith, sorry, but what's going on?" I asked.
She glanced at me for a moment. "We're looking into that arsenal thing the bringer was talking about," she explained in a hurry.
I nodded. "Any chance you need another Slayer tagging along?" I asked.
Faith shook her head. "I'd take you , but your watchers were pretty pushy about you staying here long enough to talk to you about a few things," she said with a shrug.
"My watchers?" I asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"Over here," I heard Todd say. He was standing with the potentials, carrying an ax and a couple of stakes.
I frowned at him. "Oh, you're here. Well, tell her I can go and talk to you later."
"Actually, you'll be talking with me." Lloyd stepped out from the living room. "Todd will be going with Faith, it's all planned out."
"Wait a sec," I said, "What if he gets hurt or-"
"Chill Beth," Faith said. "He'll be fine. Besides, from what I've seen he's one of the best fighters here. Todd's a big boy, he'll take care of himself." With that parting note she nodded towards the door and the potentials followed her out. Todd waved good bye to me, then left as well.
After they left I turned back to Lloyd. "Okay, you show up last minute, and then hold me back from a fight, sending Todd in my place," I started, somewhat accusingly, "you better have a good reason for all of this."
Lloyd walked past me, heading for the dinning room, he nodded for me to follow. There really wasn't anything else for me to do, so I followed him. We walked in at about the same time Chris did, carrying a box with him.
Taking a seat at the head of the table Lloyd folded his hands together and stared at me. "I've been doing some research on your little curse, letting Chris handle the diary. It is a diary, by the way," he said.
"Back to the curse?" I asked, somewhat surprised. "Isn't that over with? I mean, I'm alive again."
Lloyd nodded. "Indeed. I do believe it's over with, but I want to know exactly why. I feel it's important for some reason, so I looked into it, with Jordan's help of course," Lloyd explain, nodding to Chris as he did so. Chris opened the box and pulled out a file which he handed to me. I carefully opened it, flipping through a couple of pages. Mostly it was just facts, dates, a couple timelines. I let Lloyd explain it all as I moved onto the pictures.
"This is a list of every known occurrence of your particular curse. As you can see it was used quite often," he pointed out. I nodded agreement, it was a long list of events. "Finding the people was quite simple after we identified the curse, which is actually simple to do, and isn't always a curse."
I glanced up at him. "So what kind of spell is it?"
"One based on patterns. It's a spell of threes," he stated. "the caster can be almost anyone with a magical gift. They need someone to channel the spell though, most often it's a vampire. Whoever it is, they have to have drunk some of the victims blood. Obviously that wasn't a problem with you. Brekken was the obvious channel, and he had some witch helping him.
"The witch needed to decide on how she would punish you. Brekken told her to strip you of her powers, which it did, but the spell has draw backs. It can't take something without giving something else in return. In your case you lost your strength, but you gained internal life.
"Then there's the way to get rid of the spell. As I said it works in patterns of three. The caster has to set certain rules, and when those rules are broken, so is the spell. All rules revolve around the number three. In your case it probably had something to do with being the third Slayer."
I nodded, flipping through a few more pages. "And all these people, they had this done to them?" I asked as I pulled up a chair.
Lloyd nodded. "In a matter of speaking. The important thing is that some suffered after effects. Sometimes days afterwards, sometimes years. I just want you to be careful," he said.
Nodding I put the file down. "So it might not be over. Great," I muttered with a sigh. "So, what else do you got for me?"
Lloyd sighed and looked at the table, trying to think of anything he might have forgotten. Finally he shrugged. "There's how the spell works, but that's simple. It's influenced by the magic around you. Whatever magic's in effect was basically what kept you alive."
I blinked. "Simple?" Well, I suppose the basic idea was simple. Lloyd was giving me a look that meant 'stop and think about it.' So I did. "So I ran off other magic, but what happened when the other magic wasn't there? I mean, sometimes I wasn't near any spells at all."
He nodded. "Yes, I considered that. After consulting Giles though, I realized that there's magic everywhere. The trees, the ground, the Earth itself all contains some energy that this spell can draw upon and use for whatever it was summoned to do."
While being cheesy that made sense. Actually, Willow had been learning just that on her trip to England over the summer. Jordan and her would sometimes go over different theories on magic and that one came up a few times. All the good magic came from the ground. It was usually peaceful and all that kind of thing.
A thought occurred to me. "What happens if you're around bad magic?"
"You mean like vampires?" Lloyd asked, I could tell he had already had that thought. I nodded for him to explain and he went on. "I considered that fact, because you spent a great deal of time around that particular group of undead. After more research I learned that since they're people, in one way or another, you don't necessarily take on their traits as a race, but perhaps their personality. You might experience lack of conscious or perhaps a lack of caring for anything alive. Or even just a general feeling from your friends."
He was right on cue with that. It made sense even. Not to mention it explained a lot. At least we had now discovered the reason for lack of caring towards humans. Imagine what would have happened if I had been around really bad vampires who liked to torture people. I shuddered at the thought. That would have just been really bad.
"Other than that there's been nothing worth talking about yet," Lloyd stated with a shrug. "We were hoping you'd have something to tell us," he said
I raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Have you read the book yet? I mean actually read it, just like you'd read a novel," Lloyd asked.
I shook my head. "No, not yet."
"Then I suggest you get started. Then we'll talk." Lloyd leaned back, just staring at me. For the moment he was done talking. Now that he had said his bit he was waiting for me to do my part of everything. If only I knew what I was supposed to do.
Shrugging I turned to go to Dawn's room. "I left it upstairs. I'll be back down in a minute." I skipped up the stairs, grabbing the diary from where I had stashed it on one of the shelves. There was something important in the book, and Lloyd wanted me to figure out what it was. So I would try reading it.
Who knows, maybe it would tell me something.
~
. . . yeah, I have no comments. . .
FallenStar: glad you're liking it! I try to be original, that and I can't really write the original characters so I'm forced to come up with new stuff. . . ^.^ but thanks!
Ninii the Lucil33t: Here's another chapter, no visits from Airaei, I think next chapter there will be, though. Maybe. I have it all planned out somewhere. . . who knows what happened to that. I think my dog ate it, literally. The question wasn't stupid, and yeah, it would only be Xander.
Beyond the silence: eck! Don't fail! I don't mean to be distracting! Eck, well, yes I do, but still, hope you did just peachy like on the test. Yeah, I've given up on spelling. I figure I'll go back and fix it all later. Hmm. . . a prequel. . . actually, I haven't thought about it. I'm hoping to finish this story before Friday the 13th, cause I'm leaving the day after and I won't be back for six weeks, during that time I'll start on my next story, but I think I'm going back to Gundam Wing to finish up a different series I have going. Don't worry, I have no problem with long reviews ^.~
Maude: hmm. . . Well, what to tell you. . . you already kinda know the ending. . . I'll stick with thanks for the review!
That's all for now fokes!
~Rave