Chapter 4
"Oh no you don't," Spike grumbled to a green-skinned Kavirrash demon, grabbing hold of its neck as it tried to flee, and threw the creature back onto the ground.
"Now start talkin'" the vampire added while he slammed the demon's head into the pavement a couple of times. It squealed, but looked back at Spike and Gunn defiantly.
"Never! You'll have to cut out my heart first!" he spat. Gunn looked at him, disgruntled.
"Oh... Well, if you insist," he said with a shrug. He took his pocket knife out of his jacket and tossed it to Spike, who flicked it open with obvious delight. The green demon turned slightly pale at the sight of Spike's patented smirk and winced.
"Okay, I'll talk, I'll talk! What do you want? I'll tell you everything I know!" the Kavirrash cowered. Spike looked slightly disappointed, but he reluctantly closed the pocket knife again anyway.
"Alright then. Angelus, Dru and Fred. What are they up to mate?" the vampire said. The Kavirrash turned even paler, glanced at Gunn and then back at Spike.
"What? Who? I-I have no idea who you're talking about. Never heard of 'em - sorry!" the creature stammered and tried to clamber back onto his feet. Spike rolled his eyes and threw the demon hard into the nearest wall.
"Now, let's try this again, shall we?" The blonde vampire said as he forcefully pulled the Kavirrash's head back. Thick black blood oozing from a large cut on its forehead. "The vampires. We know they're up to something. What is it?"
"They're looking for the Sigil," the demon said trembling. "It's all over town. Th-they need to find it, and soon." Spike looked at Gunn, who was looking just as confused as he was.
"That Sigil -what is it, and what's it do?" Gunn asked the demon. The Kavirrash looked at him as if he'd just asked what the purpose of a spoon was.
"It's a ring, of course. To unlock..." The creature coughed, spitting out some blood. "... Perinfamis pyxagathi..." He coughed again. Spike shook him in frustration.
"And what's that in English? Huh?" Gunn said angrily. "Stupid-ass demons, always with the Latin," he muttered.
Suddenly, a whistling sound passed by his left ear, and the next second he saw that an axe had split the Kavirrash's head clean in half. Its body fell limply to the ground.
Spike and Gunn's head snapped round. On the rooftop across the street, they could clearly make out Angelus' face, smirking down at them. Without a word, he jumped down, landed softly on his feet and disappeared into the darkness. Gunn scratched his head, still a bit overtaken.
"That was unexpected. I think he's actually even scarier when he's not making with the snide comments," he said. "C'mon, let's get back to the hotel and tell them what we found out."
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Angelus slammed the door shut and stalked into the mansion. Both women looked up at the same time and smiled at him.
"Well, they know we're after the Sigil, which means our good buddy Wes is gonna figure out what it's for by the end of the day. Girls, we can't waste any more time." He told them, still showing his anger though his vampire face. Drusilla just gave him a beaming smile. "What, Dru?" he snapped.
"We got you a present," she cooed, and turned to Fred. "Shall we give it to him? It's not his birthday, but it would make him so happy, my sweet little Angel..." Fred just nodded.
"Yeah, I think we should, Dru. It would put him in a better mood. I don't like him when he's all cranky," she said with a smile. Drusilla giggled and walked up to Angelus, placing her closed fist in front of his face. When she opened it slowly, a large bronze ring appeared in the palm of her pale hand.
"Does this make you happy my sweet?" she said, her dark eyes looking up at him. He slowly took the ring out of her hand and turned it around in front of his eyes. A smile crept onto his lips.
"The Sigil... Where did you girls get this?" Angelus said, shifting back into his human appearance. "There's blood on the inside..." he muttered, mostly to himself as he examined the ring more closely. Fred and Dru giggled, and his patented smirk appeared on Angelus's face. "Well, my girls can have their own fun... The important thing is that we've got the Sigil. Now all we need is the Scroll with Seven Seals, and we can let the good times roll... How's the reconstruction going?" he asked Fred. The young vampire breathed a sigh.
"I'm close. I've managed to translate the text, but without the seals we might as well whistle a jaunty tune for all the good it will do. On the plus side..." she said. Then, she looked back up into Angelus's eyes, and a glint appeared in her eyes. "I remember where it's kept."
"Where is that?" Angelus replied with a frown. Then, he saw the devilish look in Fred's eyes, and a smile tugged at his lips.
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"What did you mean before?" Wesley said, suddenly looking up from his book.
"What now?" Faith mumbled, concentrated on a passage in the Carmelian Codex. Suddenly, she blinked and shut the book, looking up at Wesley with a grin. "Hey, check it out, I was engrossed in a book! What were you saying?"
"Before, you were saying that I don't know everything about you. What did you mean?" the Englishman said.
"Hah! Wouldn't you like to know!" Faith said with a grin. Her former Watcher just lifted his eyebrows and looked at her. For a moment, both were quiet. Then, she became uncomfortable and shrugged casually. "Long story. Not half as interesting as you'd think. Plus, there's stuff I don't know about you, too. I mean, you seemed to be pretty close with Fred..." Wesley didn't say anything, but a hurt look appeared on his face, and Faith immediately felt guilty for bringing her up. "Oh, sorry, Wes, I didn't mean to..."
"No, that's alright," he interrupted a little too quickly. He looked at her and smiled reassuringly. Had she always had these magnificent eyes, he found himself wondering...But before he could say anything else, Gunn and Spike came running in.
"Sigil..." Gunn said, a bit out of breath. "They're looking for something called the Sigil. It's a ring that unlocks something, that's all we were able to find out."
"Yeah, we had a surprise guest who thought it was amusing to cut our source's head in half," Spike muttered, kicking a chair to vent his frustration.
"The Sigil? Are you sure?" Wesley said in a hushed voice, looking from Spike to Gunn.
"Pretty damn sure. Plus, he said something else. Uhm, perinferus something?" Gunn said, frowning uncertainly. Wesley nodded and quickly started leafing through one of the books.
"Yes that would make sense..." the Englishman mumbled, pausing at a page that showed a medieval engraving. "I know what they're after," he suddenly said, looking up at the others. He started pacing around for a few seconds, then turned and faced Gunn.
"This is very important. Do you know if they already have the Sigil?" he said, sounding increasingly nervous. Gunn glanced at Spike and they both shrugged. "Right... Well, we need to know if they have everything they need for their ritual. Uhm, they would also need the Sacred Scroll, yes..." he continued, mostly talking to himself by now. Faith, Gunn and Spike exchanged some nervous glances, but kept quiet until he would explain what was going on. After what seemed like forever, Wesley took a deep breath and turned to the others.
"Right. They need the Scroll with Seven Seals. Some time ago, Fred and I unearthed it from a hidden crypt and hid it, which means she knows where it is," he said. Faith frowned.
"Which is... where exactly?" she asked tentatively.
"A niche in a small room in the city archives. It's a public building so they won't need an invitation. We need to get there as soon as possible, and find out if they have already taken the Scroll. If they get both the Sigil and the Scroll, they can do the ritual at any given time, so we must make sure we beat them to it..." he rambled on, grabbing his coat. As he started to walk outside, the others quickly followed.
"So, any plans on filling us in any time soon?" Spike said.
"Oh," Wesley said with a sigh, "it's the end of the world." The vampire rolled his eyes and muttered something about clichés.
"And the Latin thing? Perinferius something-or-other?" Gunn asked as he caught up with Wes.
"Perinfamis pyxagathi. It means 'the most infamous and skilled warriors'," the Englishman explained. "They're summoning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse..."
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TBC