Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I am glad that you are all enjoying the story. More twists and turns to come! (and more spuffy too!) This chapter is a little short so with some encouragement I will update again on Friday!
Chapter 17 Love Sick Fool
Buffy had managed to get Spike back to the room. He was barely walking on his own now and she knew that he was very ill. The problem was she didn't know why. Vampires didn't get sick.
She helped him to the bed and he flopped down without care. He was exhausted and looking more pale than usual. Buffy couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. The plan had been for him to pretend to be sick, not actually get sick.
Just as she was going to say something there was a knock at the bedroom door. She quickly answered it and soon servants were bringing in food trays along with a large tub and pitchers of water. They quickly did their work as she watched. The girl from earlier that morning was there. This was her chance to question her again.
"Miss, may I have a word with you please." Buffy was sure this was the girl from Sunnydale and she needed to find out more about her.
The girl seemed hesitant to answer Buffy but knew the prince wouldn't like it if she was rude. "I am sorry Madam, is there a problem?" The girl was nervous and not sure what to say.
"No, no….everything is fine. I just wanted to speak to you again. You seem so familiar to me and I am sure that I know you from somewhere."
The girl shuffled her feet and little and looked at the floor. "I am afraid madam that I have one of those faces. People often mistake me for someone else." Just then the servants were finishing the bath water and an older woman called to the girl. "Beatrice, we must go. We have duties to attend to in the kitchen." The woman yelling looked at a little upset with the girl.
The girl bowed her head and then looked Buffy straight in the eye. There was something she wasn't telling her and Buffy was sure if she could talk to her alone she could find out what that was.
In a minute the room was silent again. They were all gone but Buffy and Spike and he was now moaning a little. He wasn't looking any better.
Buffy put her hand on his face and he was hot. Vampires were not supposed to be hot. Well, at least not hot in the sense of temperature. Spike could certainly be considered hot if you meant pleasant to look at. Had she just said that? She tried to talk to him.
"Spike, what's going on? Why are you so sick?" She was shaking him a little now, trying to get him to open his eyes.
Spike moaned again and then opened his eyes. He was having trouble focusing but he knew Buffy was there and talking to him. "Something is very wrong love. I feel as if I have been bloody poisoned."
Buffy froze. Poisoned; how was that possible? Spike hadn't even eaten breakfast. Could vampires be poisoned? Then she remembered what had happened to Angel and knew that poisoning could be very bad. He was fine this morning when they got up. Then it dawned on her that he drank the blood that the servants brought this morning. There must have been something wrong with the blood.
Buffy searched the room for the container but it was missing. The room must have been cleaned after they left for breakfast. Why would anyone want to poison Spike? It didn't make any sense.
"It's going to be alright Spike. I am going to take care of you. You are burning up with fever and we need to get your temperature down." Buffy walked over to the bath that the servants had prepared. She reached in and touched the water. It was temped. Cool enough she thought.
"I am going to need your help Spike. We need to get you into the bath to bring down your fever. Can you get undressed?" With that last sentence she knew the answer already. Spike was passed out cold.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xander arrived at the library with no clue what to do next. He stood in the middle of the room trying to decide what his next move should be. He noticed a woman at the information desk and decided to try to talk to her.
"Excuse me miss, but I was wondering if you could help me. I am looking for my friends and I was wondering if you might have seen them." It was worth a shot.
"Unless you need help finding a book sir I don't think I can help you. I just came on duty this morning and I haven't seen anyone here yet except you." The woman was older with grey hair. She didn't seem to know anything.
"Can you tell me who was on duty last night? Maybe they know something." Xander needed help and needed it fast. He needed to talk to someone who was at the library last night.
"I am not allowed to give out that information sir." The woman was not being helpful. Just then a girl came out of the employee break room and was putting on her sweater. She looked like she was leaving. Maybe she could help him.
He hurried over to the girl just before she reached the front door. "I am sorry to bother you miss, but were you working here last night?" The girl looked up at Xander with worry in her eyes. Not again. She couldn't take this anymore.
"Why do you need to know?" She was tired of this deception. She knew he was probably here looking for his missing friends. He looked frantic. Mr. Hargis had been harsh with her this morning when she came to get her check. Threatening even. She was tired of being bullied.
"My friends are missing and I think they came here last night. I thought maybe if you were working you would remember seeing them. Can you help me?" He was desperate and she knew it. How many more people would get hurt before she stopped this madness?
"Look, I know what happened to your friends. I can't talk here though. Would you like to get a cup of coffee?" The girl was looking around to see that no one was overhearing their conversation.
A cup of coffee? It was obvious that this girl knew something. "Yes, of course, a cup of coffee. Lead the way."
They left the library quickly. Mr. Hargis was standing at the top of the stairway. He hoped that the King was moving fast with his plan for the slayer. He wasn't sure that he could keep Mary quiet much longer. He hated to be forced to violence but he wasn't afraid to kill. He just didn't like it much.