One More Time

by Rave Luki

OMG I FINISHED! Buffy died once, we have Kendra, Kendra died and we get Faith. And when Buffy died again? We get the last person we'd ever suspect. Heads into season 7, but let's just say there's a new twist to things... . Please R&R

20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

There was a crash. Followed by a curse. Then footsteps. Something had broken, waking me up. My eyes didn't open, I didn't breath, there was no heartbeat in my body. I was as motionless and silent as a corpse. I wasn't cold though.

Oh no, there was no chill to my body. If it were at all possible I'd say it'd be a risk to touch me. I could feel fire traveling through my veins in the place of blood, a heat thrust in and out of my lungs, pretending to be air. My eyelids flickered as waves of heat gathered in my chest, building up for something. I could feel my breath quicken, my body begin to shake. I was out of control and I didn't care to stop myself. Something was coming. I could feel it inside of me, controlling me. A million thoughts exploded into my mind and I gasped, my eyes snapping open.

Then everything stopped.

I was on a table. A small, rectangular table. I wasn't shaking, I wasn't burning, I was just gasping for air that wouldn't come because I no longer needed to breath. Then I did start shaking. I rolled over to curl into a ball, but the table was too small and I fell off and onto the floor, where a broken glace hadn't been picked up yet.

In an effort to avoid injury I reached out to stop myself. My left hand hit glass at the same time my left knee banged into the ground. My hand slid with the glass as the rest of my body slammed equally hard into the ground. Something snapped.

Normally I think I would have cursed. Several profanities would have been shouted for all to hear. At this particular moment I didn't. I didn't do much of anything. I lied head down on the floor, feeling my knee already begin to fix itself while my hand stung. The larger injuries were always healed first. That I remembered.

I didn't remember being so god damn hungry though. Biting my lip I took a shaky breath before realizing it was pointless. No amount of trying to breath would calm my nerves. Groaning I rolled over, crushing glass beneath me. I cuddled my cut hand waiting for it to mend itself. It was a moment before I noticed nothing was happening.

Slowly I raised my hand to examine it. There had to be a good reason it still hurt. Sure enough there was. A rather large piece of glass had lodged itself into my palm. The thought that blood should be gushing out of the wound didn't have time to register. The moment I saw the blood beneath the glass I sort of froze.

I was hungry, and it smelt like food. My eyes fluttered for a moment and my vision blurred. I wanted it. I needed that blood. My lack of breath quickened as my chest began to rise and fall. It was a habit, I know, my brain lying to me, telling me this should happen. But my brain was also lying about the blood lust that was flowing through me. After all, it couldn't be real. I wasn't a vampire, I knew I wasn't. Vampires bled. I didn't bleed. I smelt human. But I also heard my heartbeat and my pulse.

It was all lies. I knew that. Most of me believed that.

It's just. . . I don't know. The rest of me, that little voice in the back of my head, was telling me it wasn't. I knew it was wrong, that I should ignore it, but the more I stared at my palm and saw the blood just sitting there, waiting to be taken. . .

My head snapped forward, towards my hand. Teeth sunk around the cut fast and hard, my jaw clenched as my tongue searched for any drop of blood that might leak out. For a moment I had it. A pure, salty, coppery taste, but then it was gone. There was nothing. I felt the shard of glass cutting at my tongue but I ignored it. I wanted that taste back. That beautiful, wonderful taste. Where did it go? Why did it go? With a wine I shuddered, almost being in tears. It had to come back. I needed it.

I felt a hand clench my jaw and a finger prying my mouth open. A second hand grabbed my wrist, forcing my second hand off of it while pulling back on my hand. Intruding hands wrestled against me until at last my teeth let go and my hand pulled away. Within seconds it was healed. I fought back a sob as someone gently opened my mouth again and removed the glass that was still cutting at it.

And then it was gone. Every trace that I had been bleeding. My body shuddered again and I curled up, ignoring the hands that were checking me over for further injury. My mind wasn't registering anything. I couldn't even see who was checking me over. They could be cutting me into little pieces and I'd never notice.

"Drink this," a voice demanded. A cup of steaming liquid was shoved in front of my face. I barely shook my head as I scooted backwards. Whoever it was grabbed me by the hair. "Come now, don't be difficult." The voice sounded like a scolding teacher. I didn't take the cup, but I couldn't fight it off when my mouth was forced open and the liquid was poured inside. At first I gagged, spitting it out, but the liquid kept coming until I had to swallow. After all I couldn't choke.

Something settled in my stomach and I had a vivid memory of the burning sensation, but this was different. There was nothing compelling about this feeling. It drove out all thoughts and demands that were circling my mind. For a moment I could think clearly. My eyes opened and I could see the room I was in. Then my stomach realized it couldn't do anything with that drink. The next few seconds were filled with unpleasant vomiting.

When it was all done and over with though I was doing quite well. I stood up, wiped my mouth and looked around all at the same time. Three minutes ago I couldn't even move. This was a good improvement.

"Good. You're awake," The voice was harsh and thickly accented, I was thinking Australian. The woman who had spoke was a good three of four inches taller than me. She had thick black hair pulled bag in what looked like a loose knot that left it hanging loosely around an extraordinarily pale white face. She wore a loose long sleeved shirt and baggy sweats. I watched her bare feet eagerly, but she didn't once step on a piece of glass.

"Who're you?" I asked gruffly, wiping my mouth again. The woman shrugged. I didn't know what to say to that. Things were too quite in my mind and I was beginning to miss the voices. God that made me sound schizo. I didn't think I was crazy, though it would be ironic if I were.

A sudden breeze fluttered through the room. A heard a jars that were hanging from the ceiling clink together. I shivered, not because I was cold. "We're underground," I murmured, staring carefully at that woman. "Why is there wind?"

She glanced up at me, still cleaning up the glass. "He's waiting for you," was her answer. Then she turned back to the glass. I stared for a moment before turning to the room. She was ignoring me, so I'd ignore her.

We were in a room that reminded me vaguely of a voodoo shop I had visited once. Jars of varying contents were everywhere. Herbs and other plants were pinned to boards that were lying around. I half expected a few dolls with pins in them to be hanging over a fire. There were no caldrons though. No voodoo dolls or ritual knives. There was a fridge in the corner though, that was a better investment.

I turned back to the woman as a little voice that belonged to me for a change whispered the word 'witch' before running away. I smirked at myself. That was obvious. As if to prove itself the voice returned to yell one other word at me before vanishing. I had to think a moment before recognizing it.

"Saedi?" I murmured questioningly.

The women looked up. "Are we acquainted?" she drawled, knowing we weren't.

I shook my head anyway and found a seat. Leaning back on the cold medal chair I realized something. "Why aren't I wearing a shirt?" I wondered out loud.

Smirking Saedi got to her feet. All the glass was successfully swept into a dustbin. "It was torn."

I nodded, remembering it being cut open. "It was holding up just fine last time I was awake," I pointed out.

Saedi shrugged. "Maybe one of your friends got a little friendly?" She suggested with an unfriendly smile. I just stared at her, not sure as to whether she was serious. She continued though, saving me from deciding. "The Boss wants the best. You can choose another."

"Do you have something with lots of holes?"

Saedi looked amused. "I like you," was her response. She motioned me to follow her as she set the dustbin on the table I had been on not long ago. Then she opened the one door in the room and walked out. I followed her.

We had hardly gone past three doors when she entered another room. This one was much smaller with no leg room. There was a dresser, a bed and an exceptionally small desk. Plus about two square feet to stand in.

Saedi pushed me past her towards the bed and shut the door. She stood for a moment then knocked on the door twice. When she opened it again it didn't lead to the hallway but to a walk in closet.

"Nice trick," I murmured as I followed her into it. Shrugging Saedi looked around. I followed suit.

Mostly it was like what she was wearing now. Baggy old clothes with holes and stains. She had two rows of the hand-me-downs. It wasn't until she pushed one of the rows aside that I saw she had a large collection of new, non-faded completely goth outfits. Black clothes, chains, sculls and the number 13 etched into clothes, it all seemed a bit too over done.

"Tell me you this isn't your hobby," I said with a raised eyebrow.

Saedi rolled her eyes. "No worries. The Boss likes us all to be what he thinks we should be. In my case that means a gothic witch. I do what he wants me to and I don't get fed to his pets." She shrugged again. "Chose anything from here." She motioned to the better outfits.

My eyes wondered to her normal everyday grunge. The Boss probably didn't want me to come as a goth, after all he'd dressed me up fancy last time. Then again this is the best Saedi could do at the moment, and he'd be pissed if I came completely out of it. I sighed as I checked over the clothes. It's not that I didn't like any of it, I just didn't want to play into the bad guy's hands.

"You might want to change your pants, too. They're filthy," said Saedi as she left the closet to sit down on her bed. She kicked the door closed and I watched as it swung shut. I didn't open it. I wasn't sure where it would lead me.

Taking a breath I set about finding an outfit. I wanted to be able to move quickly, which knocked out skirts because I always managed to embarrass myself when fighting in them. Looking the pants over I realized it wasn't necessarily better.

They all had chains and straps on them. They were nice and showy, but incredibly baggy for me. Sighing I considered a short skirt. That wasn't really my style though so I looked again. I found one pair of pants that were like extremely baggy cargo pants that you'd never want to wear through airport security because of all the added rings and hoops. The good thing about them was that they could unzip and become shorts. On me that meant almost to my ankles, but still not too restricting. That plus the fact that they were tight enough at the waste that I didn't need a belt. I ditched one of two red straps and hooked the other so that it came around my back. Finding a shirt was easy. The pants were accented in red so I looked for the same color. I grabbed the first tank top that matched and threw it on. I grabbed a ribbon and tied my hair up and then was ready to go.

I began to take a breath before turning towards the door. Then I stopped myself and frowned. It was nerves. That's the only reason it was bugging me. Shaking my head I grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door almost opened by itself and I walked out into a hallway. I heard the door shut behind me. The door wasn't there when I glanced behind me to look for it.

Shaking my head again I walked forward. I was in an ancient hallway. The walls were made from stone, carved into it I think. Spaces for window had been carved, also. Each window was filled with stained glass. Every picture held some gruesome scene, all with two figures. One of the figures would be shown clearly. It was always a girl, her features drawn out be the design. Each girl was different but one thing was the same. She was always dying. Her killer would be a shadow shaped like a man, but with no features at all.

Carefully I studied each picture. I felt no emotions sparking when I saw them. One girl had her head torn off. Another was stabbed in the heart with her own stake. One's throat had been torn out. I paused a moment at a seen where the girl was burning. It was the last picture in the hallway, and the picture seemed alive. The flame was almost dancing off the glass. My eyes flickered to a candle on the opposite wall that was reflecting its light. It was a good trick, set up just right. That was the only thought I had for the picture. There was one last window that stood empty. It was a hole in the wall that ended in dirt. I barely glanced at it as I walked by.

Then the hallway widened. It grew in size until it was three times my height. That was when I came to the door. It was as tall and wide as the hallway I was in. It was made of a dark wood and a lot of medal keeping it all together. I doubted if I could have opened it myself. Lucky for me I didn't have to. The door opened on its own.

My first thought was that the door opening hadn't been lucky. Oh no, far from it.

I had blinked once or twice, staring into almost darkness. The dim lights hadn't been the problem. Neither was the fact that everything was sudden blurry. My eyes couldn't focus, but that was only because my brain couldn't. There was too much. Thoughts flooded through my mind non-stop. They were all so loud. I didn't know how to pick one out from another. Blinking again I fell to my knees. Vaguely I was aware that my head was drooping and I was slowly falling over to the side.

I was hungry again. And I was tired. Then I was scarred, so scarred. Excitement shot through me then was plunged out by depression that came in galleons before being driven away by anger. So many people were mad. Mad at me. Mad at him. Just angry. Then more were scarred. He was hurting them. He was starving them. They were hungry. I smelt so good.

I stifled a shout of pain, a cry of anger, sobs of fear. I was choking back so many emotions I felt like I was strangling. Finally I shouted for it to stop. I screamed and cried and I know I was heard but no one helped me. Finally I just laid there, sobbing on the cold floor. Only then did the feelings fade away.

Still shaking I pushed myself up so that I was sitting. I was trying to breath again, taking what should have been jagged breaths. Anger flashed for a second before it was pushed away. What did it matter? So what, I wanted to breath. I wanted to be alive again. I hated this. It was so out of control. I didn't even know what was happening to me. Stopping myself from drawing in more air I forced myself to refocus.

Closing my eyes I carefully got to my feet, stumbling a little as I did so. While I didn't open my eyes to look around I had a nagging feeling that someone was watching me. Several someones in fact. The more I thought about it the more I felt it. There were people everywhere. It was as if they made a perfect circle surrounding me. No, it was more like an oval, and they weren't just surrounding me. Someone else was the focus, too, I just hadn't noticed him at first. When I thought I had control of my self I opened my eyes.

At first glance the room looked like a giant cavern. At second you saw that it was more than a cavern, it was a throne room. The floor wasn't the dirt I had expected, but something else. It wasn't anything I recognized, but some semi clear surface which reflected torch light from around the room.

After the floor I noticed the tables, and chairs, and tapestries, and vampires. There were a lot of vampires, everyone of them a weight in my mind. I could count them if I wanted, but I could tell now there were hundreds. But back to the tables. They were as ancient as the rest of this place, but superiorly crafted, all stacked high with dishes, mostly bowls, all filled, I'm sure you could guess what with. Bones, meat, blood. . . yeah, the norm.

Tapestries lined the walls. Some pictures were clear, you could see what horror it was displaying without having to think about it. Others were complex. You stared at it for a moment, not quite seeing what it was, then suddenly you knew exactly what image you were looking at, and couldn't see it the other way. All of the pictures were sickening, nothing was left to the imagination. If you saw some demon eating a person it was shown from a view were you could see everything.

Then there were the chairs. No two chairs matched, just like no two vampires in them seemed to fit in with the rest. There were styles from every time and place I knew of. From ancient Greece, to China, to early America, to mid 1800s England. I recognized a few outfits I would have liked back then. All of the outfits seemed to be a different color, and all colors seemed muted by the cavern itself. There just didn't seem to be enough light to let anything shine or stand out. The vampires were here for the same purpose as the tapestries. They were a decoration.

I didn't care about the vampire decorations. Honestly I didn't care about the tapestries or gory pictures. The remarkable floor and fancy light trick failed to impress me. Besides, nothing stood out like the vampire sitting directly in front of me. He put all of his decorations to shame.

You knew he was the Boss. There really wasn't anything else he could have been. No one else here sat on a throne. It wasn't the throne I had expected, though I had imagined some. I had painted pictures in my head of large seats with bones and blood covered with human skin. You know, stuff like that. This one was much simpler, yet at the same time just as unnerving.

His throne was made out of the same materials as the floor. It was in the center of the room, raised up above the ground on a platform. He looked like he was floating on air. That was how well the stone matched its surroundings. The place was so dark it added to the illusion. I might have been convinced if it weren't for the flicker of fire light that told me differently every time it reflected off the chair.

The Boss was actually the last thing in the room I looked at. I had planned it that way, actually. The image of him from my dream was nothing compared to him here and now, and I had known it would be that way. I had just wanted to know what the rest of the place looked like before I got caught up in staring at him.

He hadn't changed much from the dream in appearance, he was just. . . more. More of everything. He was the one thing in the room that was vivid, that stood out. He sat cross legged, his hands resting on his legs as he stared at me, his face emotionless. He wore a long crimson tunic that had two thin black strips running down either side. The tunic was held at his waist with a solid black belt before it ended near his knees. He wore black pants that blended into his surrounding, but his feet were the same yellowish tint as the rest of his skin.

It was a sickly yellow, like you sometimes see with old people, but his skin wasn't wrinkled or thin. It was perfectly clear, with the exception of his forehead which was like any other vampire's. The forehead's bumps were the starting place and main focus of the many tattoos on his body. They led back to his bald head, then down his neck and shoulders and onto his arms. Even his feet had a few tattoos on them. All of the markings were for some ritual or another, I didn't recognize most, but those that I did weren't happy runes. They were more the chaos evil power summoning ones.

Three horns came out of his head, two in front and one in back. All three curled up and inwards like spikes on a crown. It looked as if he was ruler by fate, not just because of age. Two more spikes came out of his shoulders. They started thick and curled outwards, ending about the height of his ears. Another two came out of his elbows. One arm was strait and I could see that the horn was more of a spike that fit into the arm. It didn't go inside it, just lined with it perfectly. The other was bent and you could see that if he elbowed anyone it would be an easy skewer. The last two horns were out of hands. They were more of bumps that ended in a point, but it would still hurt to be hit across the face with one.

My inspection ended with his face. Other than the wrinkles and tattoos he looked fairly normal. Well, kind of. You didn't see anything wrong with him. You felt it. It was there. Pure evil right in front of me. You didn't have to see it in his face to know it. His eyes were black pits, holding nothing in them, no spark of light, kindness, or even hatred. Just emptiness. They were eyes you could get sucked into. Or at least it felt that way. If I looked into them too long I swore he could just swallow me in them and I'd drown in their depths before I even knew what happened.

Quickly I adverted my eyes as butterflies whipped through my stomach. If that were true. . . I resisted the urge to shake my head and instead turned in a slow circle, once again taking in the room. I saw no end to it. The wall we had come in from didn't have enough torches on it to see farther than thirty feet in either direction. Torches were in rows about ten feet away from the tables. There was one thing missing from this room though.

The door I had come in through. It was gone and in its place were more tables with more vampires over thirty feet away. I was trapped. Something told me this cavern would go on forever, and it wouldn't be safe to go exploring.

"Do you like it?" His voice was deep, very deep and somewhat melodic. I looked back at him. His voice was smooth and almost cultured. He sounded like nobility almost, with that air of importance about him. It was such a contrast from his barbaric appearance that I wasn't sure if he had been the one speaking. Then he spoke again. "No? That is too bad," now he sounded like he was talking to a child. He had that note you might use with small dogs and kittens. It seemed a bit more demonic in that tone. Like some demon trying to trick you into thinking he wasn't dangerous. The trick wasn't working.

"Why the crowd?" I asked as I gazed around again.

The Boss shrugged in a movement that was both painfully slow and completely casual. "There should be people when you are having a celebration," he murmured.

I turned back to him, once again staring into his empty eyes. "What are you celebrating?" I asked carefully as I waited for all of this to be made clear.

This time he smiled. The smile matched the rest of his appearance. Yellow skin stretched as he let his long, snake like fangs show. For a moment his eyes gained some sense of life as they twinkled happily. Then he laughed, tilting his head back a little so that the sound could bellow out of him, filling the entire cavern with a deep, dangerously threatening noise.

As if this was some cue the other vampires took up the laughter. Instead of just one sound we had hundreds. I heard snorts and giggles, high squeaks and throaty chuckling. Every evil cackle you could think of rang in the air. Then the Boss stopped, as suddenly as he started, and not even a second later we were in silence.

"Creepy," I murmured. "Just like all those B-rated horror flicks, right?" No one answered my question.

The Boss answered the first one though. "I wonder, what are we celebrating?" he asked the crowd. No one answered him as he rested an elbow on the armrest of his chair. All of his moves were slow and drawn out as he rested his chin on his hand. "I suppose there are two things," he stated. "First, we have our friend Dexion back." I blinked as he stretched out the hand he wasn't leaning on and motioned for someone to come.

The crowd began to murmur as I heard a door open behind me. I turned just in time to see two vampires closing a large wooden door from the inside. The next time I blinked the door was gone. The only sign that it had been here at all was the bloody form lying on the ground.

I knew before he moved that it was Alucard. Isn't that what the Boss had just said? Even knowing that it was hard to picture the body in front of me as my friend. What was left of his clothes were hanging off him in scrapes. Everywhere that they could add another bruise, cut or scrape they had.

With a grunt he pushed himself off the ground a little. Pulling forward an oddly bent knee he found some support to help him. I was reminded vaguely of my own efforts to stand earlier. When Alucard finally got some control over the situation he looked up, past me, strait at the Boss. I could see he was already healing. The cuts on his face were receding rapidly until I could see none at all. When they were gone there was only one thing left behind. Pure hate, directed at the Boss alone. I don't think he saw anything else.

The Boss ignored it. He hadn't looked away from me even while I was focusing on Alucard. When I returned my attention to him he continued. "We have been missing him for quite awhile now. Every time someone tells me we had him back he would go missing again. It was really quite sad," he said this all in a mourning tone, as if the information saddened him. Then he grinned. "Ironic that you are the reason he had escaped before, and then you bring him back to us."

"Technically he followed me," I pointed out.

I think that was when Alucard noticed I was here. "Liz!" he shouted, I turned back to him to find him on his feet and completely healed, even though his clothes were in a state. He looked shocked to see me. His attention must really have been focused.

Staring at him I wasn't sure what I was feeling. For a moment I was glad to see him-and then I didn't care. He was there. He was alive, or as close to alive as a vampire could get, and it really didn't matter. Actually, I didn't think I would mind seeing him dead.

That was about the time I realized that something was wrong.

And then I realized that I didn't give a damn. Those words exactly.

Alucard was walking towards me now and I was just starring at him, my hands shoved into my pockets and my face perfectly blank. He must have felt something wrong because he stopped walking to stare at me. Then he turned to the Boss.

"What the hell did you do to her?" he demanded.

My gaze shifted to the Boss while I was still facing Alucard. I had the same question, just without the anger Alucard was caught up in. The Boss just smiled at both of us. He had that same look as before where he was looking at us as if we were children. Maybe he thought we'd told an amusing joke. Perhaps he'd let us in on it. Or not.

For a moment I thought the Boss would laugh again. He had that evil twinkling thing going on in his eyes, but no laughter sounded. Maybe it was something he didn't do often. If I had a chorus of people laughing whenever I did I think I'd have to stop running into funny things.

"Oh, Dexion, I would not dream of doing anything to her," the Boss said. again he wasn't staring at Alucard. He was still studying me. At the moment I think he was taking in every detail as his eyes wondered up and down my body. "I think she looks tasty just the way she is." I heard Alucard growling but the Boss took no notice of it.

"If I look so good why don't you just bite me already?" I asked as I pulled my hands out of my pockets, crossing them over my chest. The Boss's expression didn't change. I raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting.

Lifting his chin from his hand his arm moved once again to rest in his lap. As always the moves were drawn out. I was beginning to think he was doing it just to waste time. Then the thought came to me, what time were we losing? We were all going to live forever why shouldn't he take his sweet time with things.

He tilted his head slightly as if he were thinking. Then he answered me. "Elisabeth, dear, you do not honestly think that I do not know what is happening inside that body of yours, do you?" His voice held a more serious note then it had previously.

I shrugged, mimicking his slowness. "It appears you do," I stated. "But that would be obvious. You had your witch examine me, after all."

"We would not want you hurt." His voice remained serious. "Not yet anyway."

I glanced at Alucard for a moment. He was looking furious, but also confused. I turned back to the Boss. "Now that I understand the threat, can we get on to why I'm here? You can't kill me. You're plan's got a glitch in it. What, are we all just going to stand around as you parade him about?" I asked, pointing to Alucard for a moment. "If that's all this is about why bother having me here?"

The Boss's smile slowly spread across his face again, but he still looked serious about it. "You are being. . . rebellious. I wonder who you get that from," he drawled, leaning back on his throne. "I find it quite entertaining. And here I thought all my pets were tame." There was a rustling around us, a reminder that others were in the room.

Ignoring the peanut gallery I gave my full attention to the Boss. The look I was giving him was a mix between a glare and pure confusion. He ignored it. Questioning his comment would be pointless, I knew that. So I went back to my question. "And I'm here why? To keep you entertained?"

"That is part of it," he murmured. "But you are also here to kill him." For the first time he looked away from me, to Alucard. My gaze shifted too, but only for a moment. Just long enough to see Alucard angry, and just a tad scarred.

Not thinking I replied, "Why would I want to kill him?"

Ever so slowly the Boss's gaze drifted back to me. He wasn't smiling anymore. There were no expressions at all. Meeting his eyes I saw that they were once again lifeless and deadly. They looked like they were ready to suck your soul out. This time I didn't look away. For a moment we just stared at each other. I didn't know if he was thinking or if he was actually trying to do some trick with his eyes. One way or another it wasn't working. He wasn't sucking out my soul or stealing my mind. In the end his answer was simple and blunt.

"Because I want you to." I rolled my eyes before I thought. One would think that him wanting me to do something shouldn't mean much. He had wanted me dead and I hadn't died for him. He had wanted Alucard and I had taken him away. What made this moment so special? Why should I just give in and do what he wanted me to?

Why indeed. There was a simple answer, too simple. Because him wanting to was a good enough reason for me.

I literally took a step back at the realization. It made no sense. There wasn't a logical reason for it. I didn't like the Boss, I didn't want to listen to him and I sure as hell didn't trust him. He wanted me to kill Alucard, that didn't bother me. I didn't want to listen to him but I knew I would do it anyway.

"What the hell did you do to me?" I murmured.

My eyes were wide in confusion and surprise, but I wasn't really looking at anyone. Because I was facing the Boss I could see his cruel smile, but he didn't answer me. He didn't have to, I knew it wasn't his fault. He couldn't be behind this, and besides, he didn't have to be. However he had known that this would work. He had known that he could use me to do whatever he wanted. That worried me.

'how the spell works. . . influenced by the magic around you. . . kept you alive'

I flinched, rubbing my head. For a moment I was worried, waiting for another thought to attack me, as they had done before. Then I realized this one was my own, my own memory. For a moment I just stood there, confused, then I flinched again.

'Why is she just standing there. . . why can't this be faster?'

I blinked, taking another step back.

'Who am I?'

'hungry. . . why is she. . . only a taste'

No, that wasn't me. These weren't my thoughts. I was hungry again, but it wasn't me. I felt myself waiver, almost falling, before I caught myself.

'Liz!' had that been out load? Was that a real voice? I recognized it.

'Stop him'

'Liz! Liz are you okay?'

No, they were only thoughts. People were speaking, someone was shouting. I could only stand there, my hands on my ears trying to block out the voices that were loader than the shouts around me.

'Airaei, Learian human. Elisabeth, human, Slayer.'

'She's only human. . . why does he bother?'

'. . . killed him already. . . want a fight'

'look at her. . . she can't. . . so pathetic'

Again the emotions were rushing through me. I couldn't stop it, I couldn't stop any of it. these weren't my thoughts. I didn't want this. I was so angry, so bored. The Boss was playing out his scene, his little drama. Dexion-or was it Alucard-was performing as expected. The Boss would be happy once I killed him. I didn't care if he was happy. It didn't matter. No one here cared. I could feel it. No one gave a damn so neither could I.

The thoughts were swarming together, becoming one large buzz in my head. There were too many, too many emotions. This couldn't be right. This never happened the first time. Granted I had never been around so many magical creatures at once, but this. . . this was madness. This was torture. Is that what the Boss wanted, to torture me?

No. He didn't. He didn't care what happened to me right now, but this amused him. That was good, it stopped him from hurting me. From hurting us. Everyone here. Didn't this hurt though? Yes, but the others? I didn't care about them. No one cared about the others. What mattered was how they would stay alive. How they would stop the Boss from hurting them.

Angry and bored. The two emotions circled. That's all they ever felt. sometimes there was pain, sometimes pleasure, sometimes amusement, but what it came down to was being angry or bored. The Boss did this to them. He kept them trapped. They didn't want to be here, I didn't wan to be here. They at least could think strait. They had their own thoughts, their own minds. There were already two people in my head, I didn't need anymore.

'Who am I?'

I don't know.

'Why must she just stand there'

I don't know.

'What will he do about this. . . she's clearly not controlled'

What would he do about this? The question made me laugh, harsh and frantic. Which of these vampires had wondered that question? None of them cared enough to ask the question out load. No, they didn't care about me. I was an 'other'. An other who was suffering to keep them safe, to keep the Boss amused.

"Stop!" I sobbed. I was crying, I hadn't known.

'pathetic-sad-what is she-at least he's-taking too long-pathetic'

All the thoughts were molding together. I didn't have a chance to separate one from the other to tell them apart. "Stop," I said again. I couldn't tell if I was still crying. I couldn't tell much of anything. I was clutching my head and it hurt.

For just a moment I was back at the table. There was a crash. . . something was burning. I could feel heat inside me. I heard the heart beat in my mind, felt it pounding as warm air forced it's way in and out. It wasn't real. I knew that. That heat. . . it woke me up. It wasn't here, it had been a spell, a spell to force me awake. Someone. . . someone here knew that. It was just a memory.

A vivid memory. One that flushed all the thoughts from my mind for just a second, just one moment of emptiness. It was my only chance to escape this, but there was nowhere to escape to. I needed help, and no one here would help me. No one would help someone without reward, and what reward could I give? I had nothing but the thoughts. I could remember fire burning through my veins, but I didn't even know my name.

'Liz?' the first thought to come to me. He was asking a question, asking if I was okay. I frowned at the idea. Why would he care if I was okay?

Suddenly the other thoughts were back. It was like something hit me from every side. I couldn't fight them. There was nothing I could do to protect myself. I felt helpless. Even while I hated that feeling it was their. It wasn't their's. No, the voices had nothing to do with that. I felt helpless.

'Who am I?'

'Airaei, Learian human. Elisabeth, human, Slayer.'

"Oh," I whispered softly as I forced my eyes open. The voices were still there, still running through me. It was just. . . there was still me.

A smile slowly formed as my body finally gave out. I couldn't stand any longer. All my effort had been put into keeping some part of me alive, some part of me separate from all of them. I had done it though, I had done it so this didn't matter anymore. Let them storm my mind. At least then the Boss couldn't get what he wanted. He couldn't force me to kill anyone.

Arms caught me while I was just beginning to fall. He had waited for me to give out. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was worried. I tried to look up, to force myself to see beyond blurriness, but I was seeing from too many sets of eyes, I couldn't focus on just one.

I gave up trying to look at him when he pulled me against him. A calm settled over me and slowly the voices trailed away. As more of the thoughts went away I was able to see and think for myself. I was crying, my face against his chest, and at the same time I saw through his eyes what was happening around us. He didn't care though, he had known what would happen. I could hear his thoughts as clearly as I had the others, but he knew that, he didn't care. He was helping me and he knew that too.

"Thank you, Zeke" I murmured quietly, perfectly aware that everyone in the room could hear me.

'hush' "Hush." The thought came right before the actual words. Zeke was quiet too, pretending that all the vampires around us couldn't hear what we were saying.

Ignoring his comment, knowing that he didn't really care if I talked, I asked a question. "What's going on?"

There was a hesitation. All the carefully guarded thoughts that Zeke had began to slip out. Realizing this before he slipped up too much Zeke forced his mind blank. He closed his eyes to try to block everything else out, giving him a moment to reform walls. Even when he did that he pulled away, limiting the bond between us. With the bond went his protection. Thoughts started pressing against me, but they could only press. For now at least they didn't enter my mind again.

"Perhaps we should explain this to her," Zeke said without the thoughts explaining the statement. His eyes were staring into mine, but he wasn't talking to me.

I could almost feel the Boss moving in his chair, just shifting position. "Yes, I think that is a marvelous idea. Shall you tell her?" He asked, sounding curious.

"You tell the tale so much better than I," Zeke murmured softly. "It would be better if you explained." He sounded polite, but it was a mask, and everyone here knew it. Zeke liked the Boss as little as everyone else, he just displayed his dislike clearly.

It seemed the Boss was use to such meaningless talk, because he ignored it. Instead he considered Zeke's suggestion. Again I almost felt him move and my eyes shifted to watch him. He was looking at Zeke thoughtfully. "Yes, I agree. I should explain." For some reason those words carried a threat, not towards me, but for Zeke. Zeke nodded, recognizing both the Boss's decision and his threat. I didn't understand any of it.

"Where can we start?" the Boss asked himself. He took a moment to think of it before discussing his ideas aloud. "Elisabeth needs to know everything, and I wonder how much she knows now? I am told Airaei was taken care of. She knows all of that, but what else?" No one answered his question.

The Boss continued, "What it all comes back to is your curse," now he was talking to me. "It seems odd, that one curse could control all of our choices. It seems almost a mistake to ever have used it, then I think of the alternatives, and I think not. The curse, the reason for it, reasons, actually, they begin this tale."

"The curse," I stated evenly, "was Brekken's doing."

The Boss nodded slowly. "Yes, but he was answering to me." The Boss paused a moment, as if to see if I would say anything. I had nothing to say. I didn't understand, but he would explain this. "As expected there were three causes. First: Brekken wanted you powerless. Second: I didn't want you dead. Third: I wanted you alive now.

"The last was perhaps the most important reason. While similar to the second, it meant much more. Everything, all of my plans, were all set so that you could live tonight. So that you could die tonight. It would insure my throne, my rule, my empire. Your death would give me limitless power. Tonight the Slayer line would end with you.

"But no, that did not happen. Every prophecy on the matter was proven wrong. I do not know why. Something caused a change, things went wrong. A Slayer had her witch cast a spell, one my witch had no power to stop, and then their were hundreds of you. Hundreds of Slayers. They defeated the First's minions, destroying an alliance I made many years ago."

"Airaei," I murmured, "Airaei said she caused the change. She said I was doing things wrong."

The Boss shrugged. "Does it matter? What matters is that there are no longer three Slayers. Therefore, there is no longer the third Slayer. No, you are once again trapped, the internal Slayer." The Boss finished with a grim smirk, angry and amused. "I, however, need you alive."

I could only stare at him for a moment. Why did it matter? And how could he know all of this? How could he have control over Brekken? None of this. . . none of this made sense. "I don't think I understand."

'don't be daft girl'

I leaned into Zeke, trapping myself again in his mind before the rest of the thoughts could return. The voice had sounded familiar, but it wasn't my thought, and I didn't want it. Zeke allowed me to stay near him, but he nodded towards the Boss, telling me to listen to him.

"What don't you understand?" The Boss asked, sounding bored. "Brekken? He was young, younger than Zeke even. His past time was killing Slayers. He could handle himself around them, so I told him to watch you, to bite but not kill you. Brekken had never had much brains though, he got carried away. He was obsessed with killing you. So I lied, told him you were not the one I needed, gave him a spell to rid you of your powers, knowing exactly what the spell would do. He cast it and you were stuck, for the time being. Then you went on with your existence. Brekken died, you came to America."

I blinked. "Younger than Zeke?" It didn't sound right, but I could feel he wasn't lying. He didn't need to answer the question. Unsteadily I continued. "Fine. Brekken was yours to command, you knew the spell, the curse. You set everything up. Two things left. How'd you know how to break the curse, and why now? Why kill me now?"

The Boss was still looking bored, but he went on with his explanation anyway. "How do I know how to break the curse? Brekken knew. He was the channel, all conditions were told to him. He in turn told me.

"As for why now," the Boss paused for a small smile. "A much harder question, and a much longer story. To keep it simple, and to save time for story telling can get dull, I will skip most of the story itself. Yet without some of the details, you will be asking more questions. To the point: There are what I call marked Slayers. Slayers with a certain. . . essence about them. There is nothing special to them, other than they have a power that does nothing for their kind. It runs deeper then what the human knows. It is in the blood itself. This power can be stolen and used by others who know how to spot it. I have always seen these marked Slayers, and I have made effort to learn how they can help me.

"Like many rituals and spells you must kill the Slayer, drain the blood, to assume the power you must consume the blood, not all, but some. You must continue to kill Slayers at certain times in accordance to certain signs and symbols and all of the rules that magic has. In this case, to assume complete power from the marked, I must kill thirteen Slayers. I have killed twelve, you're the one left. I must kill you soon, tonight would be best. Only then will-"

"You have complete power," I finished for him. "So this is all some power trip?" I asked, and then before he could answer I continued, "I've been cursed, dragged all over America, had to put up with vampires and watchers and a very long, boring 120 years of not being alive or dead, just so you could kill me right now."

The Boss smiled, once again amused. I wanted to hit him. That feeling wasn't only my own.

"And what then? I'm dead. It's over. Just like that? You bask in your new found power which you'll use for what? To look spooky in front of your rows of peons who mean nothing to you?" I was close to shouting now, taking full advantage of the anger that hovered in the room. "Hell, I'm here putting up with them," I gestured about the room, "and every damn thought in their head, because of You! Damn, it's probably even your fault that it's happening now. The first time I just woke up with a headache, now it's with other people's voice in my head!"

The Boss was still smiling at me. I glared back. His smile widened and he spoke again. "Elisabeth, dear, it is my fault. Entirely. Be pleased this will end soon. The voices? You are just sensitive now. The sleep is to get you passed this part. They will fade. You will be alive before that."

"How?" I demanded. "Are you going to kill every damn Slayer in the world?"

He chuckled, there was no echo. "I have no need. There are other ways to make you mortal."

"Are there?" I growled through clenched teeth. "Please, by all means share them with us. We're just dying to know."

The Boss's grin had settled into a small smirk. His eyes flashed, showing us signs of life. The peanut gallery was pleased with that. I had the feeling it wasn't a very common thing to happen here. Perhaps he had to be having a good day. Whatever the cause he was amused, he was happy, so life, or the afterlife, was good.

"There are three ways to break the curse. There are always three ways," he stated happily, using the talking-to-a-child tone with me. I remained glaring. "The first you know. Three Slayers. Old news. The second, well, I do not like this one, and it will not work anyway. You must kill your three worst enemies. Obviously, I would have to die. That would not work for me. I must say it would be rather bad. Besides, Brekken is dead, you can't kill him anymore." I didn't argue with him, it was true. I had always considered Brekken to be my worst enemy, the only one who had beaten him was the Boss. Who the third enemy was I didn't know. Zeke? Alucard? I wasn't up to guessing.

"The third?" I prompted.

His eyes flashed again. "Yes, the third," he took a dramatic pause. "This has always been my favorite, but also the least convenient. I would have to have you in a position where I could control you. You would have to bend to my influence, just like all my other servants," he paused again. I understood the implication. I was only another servant to him, if a useful one. "Yet here you are, of your own free will. Surrounded by those who would kill themselves for me, if asked to. Surrounded by those who would kill those who they loved for me, if asked to. What better way to control you?"

"What's the third way?" I asked again, trying to force him to a point, I was beginning to get scared.

His face didn't change, but I could feel him grinning at me. His voice sent a shiver down my spine when he began to talk. It was cold and heartless, and deathly excited. "You, my dear, have to kill three people. The three you care for most, your three best friends."

"Somehow I knew you would say that," I murmured. Maybe it was the fact that Zeke had known the answer. He knew what would be asked of me. I couldn't tell what he felt about it. His thoughts were blocked off from me completely now. He wouldn't even look at me. "Zeke and Alucard," I stated, "but there's no third."

This time the laughter sounded from the entire room. I flinched at the first few giggles then waited it out as the Boss took his time finishing. When he was done he just stared at me for a moment, as if he couldn't bring himself to move past the laughter yet. When he did he was grinning widely.

"That is the wonder of it!" he exclaimed. "There is no third. You did not and will not have killed him."

I didn't bother trying to hide my confusion. "But I have to have killed him. . ."

"Well, you have to cause his death," the Boss stated.

Frowning I nodded. "Yes, but, I didn't cause it." I think I knew who we were talking about.

"But you think you did," he said, holding back his chuckling.

No I don't. The thought came before I actually considered the idea. I knew who he was talking about. There was only one person he could be talking about. I didn't kill Todd. I didn't cause his death. It wasn't my fault.

As many times as I said that, it didn't change the gut feeling inside me. He was right. It doesn't matter that I knew that I had nothing to do with Todd's death, it was the bringers and the first's fault, but I still blamed it on myself. Surely that couldn't be enough? My thoughts alone couldn't determine whether or not I was alive? The Boss seemed to think it would, and he knew more about all of this than I did. Heck, he was the cause of all this.

"I didn't kill him," I stated one last time just to be defiant.

The Boss shrugged, obviously not caring what I said. His thoughts had turned to different things. "But who cares about that friend? He's already dead. We're here to celebrate, after all."

I just stared at him for a moment. What was he getting at? He smiled at me cruelly. He honestly had everything under control. I knew it, and I could do nothing about it. He was going to tell me to kill someone, probably Alucard. And I'd do it. I'd do it because I had no control over how I was thinking. All he had to do was get the voices back in my head, just not too forceful that I couldn't think, and I'd listen to anything he said. I'd hate what I was doing, but I'd do it anyway.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," I muttered under my breath.

Someone laughed, Zeke, not the Boss. "Why's that."

"You all listen to him and you're bringing me down with you," I stated.

Zeke nodded. "Yeah, it's not fair. Life's not fair."

"I'm not alive. Things should be fair for me," I said. Zeke only smiled.

"Touching conversation," the Boss said, "but you have a job to do, Elisabeth."

Frowning I turned back to the Boss. I wanted to say some snide remark, tell him I wouldn't do it, but I would, and the remark wouldn't matter. Instead I turned away from him, looking back at the room to the forgotten Alucard. I hadn't even noticed them getting him under control. At the time I had been too out of it to see them pin him to the ground. Now there were six vamps holding him down, his head forced against the ground. Slowly they were letting him up now so he could once again see the room.

He was glaring at me. No, he was glaring behind me. The Boss had been forgotten as he focused on Zeke. I followed the emotions that showed clearly on his face. Anger, jealousy, hate, every negative thought you could think of. Zeke noticed it too, and wrapped an arm over my shoulder, pulling me against him. Alucard's eyes narrowed as Zeke smirked. Why was Alucard worried? I didn't feel for Zeke the same way I did for him. Well, right now I didn't feel anything for Alucard, but before that. If Alucard had been like a boyfriend, Zeke had been like a brother.

Alucard knew that, he just wasn't thinking strait right now. "Get off her," he growled at Zeke.

Zeke grinned, but didn't move anymore to antagonize him. Instead he said in an all to casual voice, "Alucard, why're you feeling insecure about your position here? I thought you and Liz were close, why all the worry?"

Alucard had settled on a look somewhere between hate and anger while Zeke talked. Now he was trying to come up with a fitting reply. The words weren't coming easily. Finally he just shook his head, or tried to, a vampire still held onto his hair, limiting his motion. "You're in the same boat I am. She's going to kill you too. I'm just happy knowing that if she didn't have the spell on her right now, she'd be with me. You'd still be sucking up to the Boss here for all eternity, with no chance of ever getting free of him."

There was utter silence. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but it was very uncomfortable just standing here, waiting to see what would happen next. Alucard and I both were waiting to see what Zeke would say. "You're wrong," he said finally, offering no explanation.

"I doubt it," Alucard said with a smirk.

Zeke's eyes narrowed. "You're wrong," he said again.

Alucard shook his head. "I'm not, and you know it. You'd be stuck here forever, serving him," he nodded towards the Boss. "Not at least your friend there will save you from that. You're just going to stand there and let her kill you, knowing that she no longer cares about you, or anything else for that matter. You're nothing to her, you're-"

In an instant I felt Zeke leave. One moment he had been holding me, the next I was left to myself, almost stumbling from the sudden change. I stopped myself when I saw where Zeke popped up. In the blink of an eye he went from helping me, to holding Alucard by the throat, looking as angry as Al did.

"Shut up or I'll kill you," Zeke growled.

Smirking Alucard didn't listen, "Try, go on, do it." Zeke didn't move. "Thought you wouldn't. No, you're mad at everyone and you want to take it out on me, but you're the Boss's boy, and he can't have you screwing up his trip to power."

"I would if I wanted to," Zeke lied. Alucard laughed in his face. For a moment Zeke tensed, I thought he might actually kill him. A voice stopped him.

"I need him alive," the Boss said softly. Even quietly the voice carried itself throughout the room. Zeke froze, his hands still on Alucard's throat. Then ever so slowly he began to pull away, forcing his fingers to let go of their death grip. It took several minutes before Zeke was once again standing strait, attempting to regain whatever dignity he could.

Alucard smirked, then glanced at me for just a moment. I thought he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't decipher the message. He knew I wouldn't be able to, and didn't try very hard to get me to understand, it was more like just to make sure he told me anyway. Why it would matter. . . I didn't know.

Then I did. Right after he turned away from me he did something very, very stupid. It took him about two seconds to break away from all the guards on him and throw himself at Zeke. Zeke hadn't expected an attack, surprise alone let Alucard knock him to the ground with his first hit. Zeke was still almost stunned, but that faded before Alucard could hit him again.

I had the feeling nothing the Boss said could stop them now.

~

Okay, it's not over! *cries* I want to finish, I really do. Sad thing is though, I was planning it out, and I realized I still had a lot to go and it will take me forever to finish it so it'll be easier to just split it in two. Sad day. *Big sigh* So I end it here. Chapter 19, unfinished. But I'll just have a chapter 20 and no epilogue. There, that'll be cool, kinda. But yeah. . . I wasn't supposed to separate chapters so I say nothing about this one. Now I guess it's time for thank yous.

Ninii the lucil337: well, they are kinda sweet, but not anymore. . . ^.^ and I'm happy you're happy I updated. I'm happy I updated again. Yeah, I was thinking "Wouldn't it be cool if time, like, all of a sudden stopped?" I like that kinda thing, too. Zeke. . . is being Zeke. You kinda get inside his head here. More so next chapter I think, but I'm not sure what all will happen. I'm just happy I finally figured out an ending. Yeah, they're both going to get punched a little (lot). I did take awhile with this chapter, too long I think, stupid writers block, hope ya liked it!

Maude: Fun Fun when I don't tell you things. And I'm not telling you how it ends! I changed the ending again, so it's not how I told you earlier it will end. Nope, it's all different *dances happily* and I'm not telling you anything!

Vivi's pin-up: Holy crap, you're alive! *looks shocked* You missed two parties, I was beginning to think they lied to me and had you hidden in a closet. It's your fault though, you can't blame it on Goliath, not his fault. Besides, you didn't come to my b-day party and he had nothing to do with that. Anywho, of course I can't spell! And your teachings will never change that. What the hell's a jujubee? (that question's for everyone). Last, but not least, you can hurt Goliath if you want to, I won't e-mail you till you review again, and you can't poke me cause you never see me.

JenCarpeDiem: new person I believe, welcome welcome, thanks for the review! I'm glad you like Liz, I can't write the real characters without screwing them up, so I've gotten use to making up my own. Glad you're liking the story!

beyond the silence: Hiya again! Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow. . . just copying you ^.~ BTW lol! I've run my ink cartridge out too! Not his time, last story I printed out. This story I printed out completely, but I still have some ink left. Yay! I hope your friend likes the story, say thank you to her for me. Interactions were a bit mushy last chapter, but not bad, I think I'm happy with it. I'm really happy with this chapter, let's hope I'm just as happy with the next chapter, which I'll try to get up soon but I have to finish summer homework that I've been putting off and that might get in my way. O.o anywho, thanks for the reviews!

Thanks again everyone!

~Rave