I'm updating pretty quickly but not sure how many people are still reading. I'll try to update again soon if I can. I think this chapter will shed some light on what's going on, but there are more surprises to come!

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Chapter 14 Sleeping Beauty

Buffy and Spike were silent in their quest. Neither one was talking and the air was so thick between them it could have been cut with a knife. Spike couldn't help but think of how close he was to the slayer this morning and how he was finally breaking down the barrier that she seemed to be putting up between them. He hoped he hadn't pushed her too far and brought the barrier back down. She was being quiet. Too quiet.

"Anything yet love?" He decided some idle chat might be just the thing to bring things back around his way.

"No, nothing. Her bedroom has to be around here somewhere. We have already searched most of the downstairs. She's definitely not in the locked basement. Her room has to be on this floor somewhere." Buffy was getting frustrated now. There wasn't much time before they had to be at breakfast with Julian.

Just then a ghostly figure appeared before them. It was the same figure that had appeared on the stairs the previous night. It was floating at the end of the hallway.

"Spike, look. It's the girl from last night. It looks as if she wants us to follow her." Buffy began to walk toward the ghostly figure.

"Slayer, wait. We don't know who she is or what she wants. It could be a trap." Spike was walking quickly behind Buffy trying to convince her to slow down and think things out.

"She has a beautiful face. I think she wants us to help her Spike. That's what she said last night. I don't think she means us any harm." Buffy wasn't going to stop. She continued to follow the girl down the hallway and around the corner. Spike continued to look around as he followed Buffy, making sure no one else was around.

Soon they were at the entrance of a bedroom. One they hadn't come across before now. It had a huge double door with intricate design. No dragon head, so that had to be a good thing.

"She wants us to follow her in here. It's our chance to find out something about this place Spike. Are you in or out?" Buffy wasn't asking permission. She was going in and she had her resolve face on. Spike didn't like it but decided he might be needed.

"Right, well, let's get on with it then." They were surprised to find that the door was unlocked. They entered the room quietly, looking for anyone who would be angry to find them there.

"This is a beautiful room. Much larger and more girly than ours." Buffy was mesmerized by the size and nature of the room. It was gorgeous and very imperial looking. It was fit for a princess.

"Yeh, well it looks like casper decided to take a hike." Spike wasn't sure about this and he was still worried that they had been led into a trap. The ghostly girl was now nowhere to be found.

They continued to cautiously walk around the room. Buffy noticed a bed in the far corner. It was a four poster bed with lightweight curtains hanging around it. She nudged Spike to follow her to the bed.

They approached the bed and Buffy was the first to pull back the curtain. They were both amazed at what they saw. She was beautiful. She couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 with golden blonde hair and the face of an angel.

"This must be her Spike. This is Anne, Julian's sister. She looks just like the ghost girl that led us here." Buffy was whispering now. She wasn't sure why except that the girl seemed to be sleeping and she didn't want to startle her.

"Right, so what do we do now slayer? Wake her up and interrogate her?" Spike was uneasy about this whole thing. Something didn't seem right. She was sleeping awfully sound. Too sound by his account. And why was she appearing to them in the form of a ghost?

"No, of course not. We are not here to scare her Spike." Then Buffy cleared her throat as if to try and wake her up. Then she carefully layed her hand on the girls arm and tried to gently wake her up. Nothing was working.

"Great, sleeping beauty it is then. Maybe we need the handsome prince to kiss her." Spike was getting impatient now and really getting an uneasy feeling.

Just then they heard voices at the bedroom door. Someone was coming and they needed to hide…quickly. Spike grabbed Buffy's hand and dragged her behind the dressing screen just a few feet from the bed.

Two girls entered the room. Buffy and Spike hunched down behind the screen trying not to be discovered. They couldn't explain why they were in Anne's bedroom and frankly they didn't want to have to come up with an excuse.

The two girls pulled back the curtains around the bed and tied them to the posters. One girl seemed to be checking Anne's pulse while the other retrieved some supplies from a nearby cupboard. Buffy tried watching them through the bends in the dressing screen. The slits were just big enough that she could put her eye up to it and see what was going on.

"Miss Anne isn't looking any better is she? I am afraid that Prince Julian's efforts to keep her alive until he finds a cure aren't going well." One of the servant girls was folding up the arm of Anne's nightgown while the other prepared what looked like materials for a blood transfusion.

"No, she isn't looking any better. We give her these blood transfusions every morning but all they do is keep her alive. She still hasn't stirred from this sleep." The girls continued with their tasks. One of the girls removed a bottle containing what looked like blood from a bag she had been carrying and hung it at the bedside.

"It's a shame really; she's such a beautiful girl. I would rather die than have to lay there like that forever. He is never going to find the cure. The girls keep arriving, but they are never the one he is looking for. He isn't going to find the right one in time." The other girl was shushing her now to be quiet.

"Don't let the prince hear you talking like that. You know we aren't to speak of it. If someone were to hear us and tell the prince, it would be the gallows for us." The girls hurriedly finished the task and returned the supplies to the cupboard. It looked as if they were still talking but Buffy was having a hard time hearing them now. They had lowered their voices.

Just as Buffy was straining to put her ear to the opening in the screen she lost her balance and began to fall. Spike had been carefully listening as well but didn't require the effort that the slayer had put forth, since he had the vampire hearing and all. He noticed Buffy losing her balance and put out his arms to catch her.

Luckily he had reacted quickly and they didn't make much noise. The servant girls were already across the room and soon had left the bedroom, shutting the doors behind them.

Buffy realized that Spike was now holding her and he had kept her from falling and pushing the screen over to the floor. She breathed a sign of relief. She looked up at him and he was looking at her again with those eyes. Those endless pools of blue that caused a knot in her stomach every time she looked into them.

"I don't think they heard us love. I think they've gone." His voice was low and he was looking right at her. She always looked so beautiful to him; angelic like. He felt how she was looking at him and it moved him a little. Was she really looking into his eyes?

Buffy reacted to his voice. "Right, they're gone. Did you catch what they were saying about Anne?" Buffy was trying to compose herself now and get back to what they came here for….information.

"Yeh, I caught most of it. You?" Spike let go of Buffy and allowed her to stand up. He stood up himself and searched his pocket for a cigarette.

"Yes, I got most of it too. Looks like Anne is very ill and Julian is trying to find some kind of cure. The blood must be keeping her alive until he finds it. I'm guessing that she has been asleep like this for some time. I'm not sure what they meant about the other girls though." Buffy noticed him removing a cigarette and slapped at his hand and shook her head.

Damn. Spike was agitated and needed a smoke. He put the cigarettes back in his pocket. "Just like I said; Sleeping Beauty. Gotta love a good fairy tale. Unless of course, you're stuck in it."

"I don't think we are going to find anything else here and we need to be getting back. Julian is expecting us at breakfast. Besides, I am sure the servants will be back soon to check on Anne." Buffy was walking to the door with Spike now following.

She turned around to look at the bed one last time before leaving. "We'll help you Anne. I don't know how yet, but we will." They left the room without another word.

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Giles was spitting and picking bugs from his hair. The grass was very high here and he couldn't see anything. They muddy ground from the rain wasn't exactly a treasure either.

"Do you think we are getting close Willow? I am not all together sure how much longer I can continue through this bug infested grass." His mood had changed considerably since they had left the stable that morning.

"I don't think it is much farther Giles. We have been walking for awhile now and I know we are going in the right direction. Just hang on for a little bit longer." Willow was leading this expedition and she wasn't really sure how that had happened. They had started out fine but the grass kept getting higher and more difficult to walk through. She had taken the lead like she had some magical radar or something. The problem was she wasn't using any magic at all.

"I think I see a clearing up ahead. It's just a little bit farther." Willow was trying to keep her spirits up but the longer they went without seeing anyone or getting any information on Buffy the more she worried. She hadn't been able to remember much about the book and it bothered her. She was sure if she had the chance to look it over longer she could have discovered something to help them.

The tall grass soon became an open meadow and they could see a bridge. Beyond the bridge stood the castle that they had seen from a distance the night before.

"This is it Giles. This is the castle I saw through the rain last night. Someone must live here and hopefully they can help us." Willow let herself feel a little hope at that moment. This was progress.

"Yes, a little help. We are certainly in need of that." Giles was brushing himself off now.

They crossed the bridge together and walked up the long path to the large door at the entrance to the castle. They stood at the door for a few seconds contemplating their next step. Giles started to use the knocker on the door when Willow suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Giles, wait." Willow looked frightened now and Giles let go of the knocker gently so it didn't cause any noise.

"What's wrong Willow? We have walked all this way and now you don't want to find out who lives here?" Giles was confused and very tired from all the walking. His patience was running a little thin.

"I don't need to knock on the door Giles. I already know who lives here." She was being very serious and Giles knew it. Why in the world didn't she say so in the first place if she knew who lived here? How was that even possible?

She didn't say another word but pointed at the door knocker. Giles carefully removed his glasses from his pocket and put them on. He leaned in closer and then realization came. He remembered as well.

"Oh my." It was the only words that came. They were both silent. Oh my indeed.