Spike
was in a particularly good mood as he neared the mansion with Buffy
unconscious in his arms. So it hadn't gone quite as he had planned
but what had he expected. If Buffy was anything like Lizzy, she'd
fight him until the end. He had a hunch that Buffy was exactly like
Elizabeth. He wouldn't have it any other bloody way. As he entered
the mansion he could smell that Angelus had finished playing with his
dinner and had gone out for seconds. Thank bloody god. That was one
thing Spike had never thought of. There wasn't a bloody snow ball's
chance in hell that Angelus was just gonna roll of and let Spike have
a prize like Buffy for nothing. He exhaled a deep unneeded breath and
sighed. He'd bloody well stake the poofer if it came down to it.
Spike shook his head of all thought and gently brushed a stray lock
of golden hair out of Buffy's face before he started to descend up
the stairs.
When he entered his bedroom, he carefully lied Buffy
down on his bed. He then pulled open the chest at the end of the bed,
pulling out a set of chains. Soon enough, he'd be able to let her out
of these and they'd live happily evilly ever after.
Ruby
stared blankly at Willow, Mr. Giles, uhhh Giles and Xander. Silence,
"Um okay, let me get this straight. You all aren't a bunch of
super freaks but super heroes?"
"Well I wouldn't say
super heroes," Xander shrugged.
"Okay fine, not super
heroes but a group of people that kill the things that go bump in the
night?" Ruby asked, still skeptical, "Faith is the slayer
and Giles is her watcher? Willow is a witch that does spells and all
that shit and Xander is along for the ride, helping Faith with the
slayage along the way?"
Willow and Xander nodded. Giles was
to busy cleaning his glasses, "Yes, well quite. I know this all
might seem a big odd but entirely true. I must ask of you to not
speak of this to anyone. The identity of a slayer is supposed to be a
secret."
Ruby nodded, "Not a problem Mr. G. My lips are
sealed. Hey, anyone wanna hear my version of the song?"
"That's
entirely not necessary," Giles sighed, putting his glasses back
on, "Now, please do tell me about this vampire that kidnapped
Buffy."
Ruby sighed and nodded, "Okay well he was a total
hottie for a vamp. Platinum blonde, not tall but not short, built
like a freakin Greek god and had a thing for the color black. I guess
you're standard gorgeous Goth. All I know is that if Buffy hadn't
got to him and he wasn't a vampire, I'd of f..." She spared a
glance at Giles who looked uncomfortable at her word choice;"...I
mean I would had relations with him."
"Did you possibly get a
name from him?" Giles asked, a bad feeling growing in the pit of
his stomach.
"Uhhh, uhhh," Ruby thought hard, "Oh! Spike! I
heard him say his name was Spike."
Giles almost fainted, "Bloody
hell."
Ruby bit her lip, "Is that a bad thing?"
"Yeah
G-Man," Xander prompted, "Who is Spike?"
Giles took a deep
breath and started to explain, "Spike, also known as William the
Bloody. The scrounge of Europe. He's known for torturing his
victims with railroad spikes, ergo the name Spike."
Willow
paled, "Railroad spikes?"
"Railroad spikes," Giles nodded,
taking off his glasses and cleaning them again.
Ruby shot up,
"Okay, time to get Buffy back! I don't think she'll like a
being tortured with railroad spikes one little bit!"
Xander
sighed and but a calming hand on Ruby's shoulder, "It's okay
Ruby. We'll help you find Buffy with out her being tortured by
railroad spikes first."
"This is all my fault," Ruby finally
concluded, "If I wasn't such a slutty influence then she would
have never been tempted to go off with him. It's my fault that
Buffy's getting tortured with railroad spikes by William the
Bloody,"
"Come on now Ruby," Willow tried to sooth, "Buffy's
a big girl and going off with Spike was her own decision."
Ruby
hung her head, "You're right. It's not my fault." It's so my
fault.
Just then, Faith came through the door, "Hey
all."
"Faith," Giles greeted, "Any news?"
Faith
sighed and plopped down on the couch next to Ruby, "Yup. Caught up
with them a few blocks up. He was going into the old mansion. Didn't
want to get too close. He was a master vamp."
"Yes," Giles
sighed, "William the Bloody to be exact."
"Ooh goodie,"
Faith said sarcastically, "Didn't he kill two slayers?"
Ruby
let out a cry of distress, "Oh fucking great! I just don't want
Buffy to get hurt. I couldn't give a flying fuck if he's killed
slayers before! Let's go!"
"Please do calm down Ruby,"
Giles sighed, "We'll get Buffy back safe."
"Promise me,"
Ruby said solemnly, knowing he wouldn't but only hoping.
"You
know I can't do that," Giles said quietly,
Silence.
Pain.
Intense pain. Her head felt like it was going to burst. She slowly
tried to open her eyes but no luck. Everything was black and fuzzy.
She was blindfolded. Well shit. What the hell was going on? Then
things started to come back to her. Spike, Dancing. Alley. Vampire.
Blackness. She started to sit up when she realized that she couldn't.
She was chained. Double shit. Tears formed in her eyes.
"There's
my girl," she heard a hauntingly familiar British accent drawl,
"Thought you were gonna sleep the night away."
"Please,"
she whispered, tears flowing now "What do you want?"
"Come
on now kitten," he soothed, "None of that now. 'M not going to
hurt you. I love you."
"You can't love me!" Buffy exclaimed,
suddenly finding her voice, "You don't even know me!"
"But
I do pet," he said silkily. He sat down on the bed next to her and
gently stroked her face, "Not Buffy maybe but I do know my
Elizabeth. You're exactly like her. From every curve to every quirk.
I love you and I love Elizabeth."
She flinched at his touch at
first but slowly started to enjoy it. Hell no! Come on now Buffy! Get
it together! He's an evil vampire that's going to kill you. Make
you into a monster. Besides, he loves this Elizabeth.
"No,"
Buffy whispered, "My name is Buffy, not Elizabeth. I've never
even met an Elizabeth. Now please, let me go."
He planted a
chaste kiss on her lips and shook his head, "I don't know how it
happened kitten but I've found you again and I'll be damned if I
let you go again. You're mine."
Buffy's eye tear filled eyes
bulged under the blindfold, "Okay dude let's get some things
straight! I do not belong to you! I belong to myself as in me,
property of Buffy! Not Spike! I repeat, not Spike!"
He let out a
deep, rich chuckle, "Oh luv. If you only knew. You belong to me and
you bloody well get used to it. Never gonna let you go."
Buffy
let out a loud sob, "Please Spike. I'll help you find this
Elizabeth chick. Just don't kill me. Please..."
Spike sighed
an pulled Buffy into his eyes as best as her chains would allow,
"Come on now kitten. No tears. There's no reason to cry. 'M
never gonna hurt you. Gonna take care of you and love you until the
end of time." He then started to nuzzle her neck.
As time
passed, with him holding her and nuzzling her she realized that he
wasn't going to let her go. Maybe eternity isn't so long
right?
Ruby
was sitting at Giles's kitchen table searching for The Bloody,
William. The more she read the more scared for her best friend's
life she became. This vampire was brutal. She absent mindedly flipped
the page, her elbow knocking a thin, journal sized book off the
table. At Giles's disapproving glance, she offered a, "Oopsies,"
and bent down to pick it up. She stopped to glance at the page, it
had flipped open too. There was a piece of folded paper wedged in the
middle. She set the book down of the table and pulled out the paper.
As she unfolded it and looked at what it was, her eyes bulged and she
almost fainted, "Giles..."
There in her hands was a sketch of
Buffy but she was dressed in an old Victorian dress.
Giles looked
up from his book, "Yes Ruby."
"Oh my god Giles. Look at
this."
"Ruby, I know some of the pictures of what Spike's
done are gruesome but..." Giles stopped mid sentence when Ruby
shoved the drawing in his face, "Dear lord."
"Giles that's
Buffy but that isn't Buffy," Ruby stated.
Just then, Willow,
Faith and Xander entered the kitchen, both stopping when they were
greeted with a "dear lord."
"What's that matter?" Willow
asked.
"This," Giles explained, handing Willow the
sketch.
"It, it say's My Dearest Elizabeth, Giles," Willow
pointed out, "Ruby, is Buffy's name Elizabeth?"
Ruby numbly
shook her head, "N...no. Giles what the hell..." Ruby was cut
short when out of the picture rose a red mist that went right into
Ruby's open mouth. She fell limp to the ground. Xander went to grab
her but before he could, her eyes flashed scarlet and she stood,
"Hello all. I'm Scarlet Winters, Elizabeth's sister and I'm
here to help
you."
Silence.
Angelus
entered the mansion and was greeted with a new, a new and delicious
scent. It was still strong and alive. Possibly Spike was finally
understanding the joys of being evil and playing with his dinner a
little? Not likely. Angelus followed the scent up the stairs, to
Spike's bedroom. He quietly pushed open the cracked door to reveal
a nauseatingly sweet scene. Spike had his arms wrapped around some
human girl, his face buried in her neck but in his human form. Well,
well, well. What was this? Spike had always been soft but this was
sick. He was a vampire. What was so special about this one girl to
spare her? He smirked and shook his head. He'd find out. Till then,
he'd let Spike live in the fantasy that the girl was safe from him.
What was Spike's, was always his first. He wasn't going to make
an exception, ever.
"E-excuse
me but c-come again?" Giles stuttered.
Scarlet sighed and sat
down, "Scarlet Winters, Elizabeth's sister now would you all sit
down let me explain what's going on please?"
Willow, Faith and
Xander nodded, stunned and took a seat.
"Okay let me start of
by saying, I know this all must be so weird to you all but I've
been sent by the Powers That Be to explain to you the situation,"
Scarlet sighed, "Also, I should inform you that Buffy is alive and
well. William would never let anything to happen to Elizabeth
ever."
"You knew Spike before her was turned?" Willow asked,
stunned.
A small smile graced Scarlet's lips, "Yes, quite
well actually. He was in love with my sister Elizabeth."
"So,
he wants Buffy because she looks like Elizabeth?" Faith enquired.
Scarlet sighed and shook her head, "No, no, no. Elizabeth and
Buffy are the same soul and body. The only thing they don't share
is a lifetime. I suspect that Buffy will start to have shot
flashbacks of her times with William. How much he loved her, how much
he does love her."
"Will he hurt her?" Willow asked softly.
Scarlet frowned slightly, "Not for the sake of hurting Buffy no
but he will turn her."
"We gotta stop him then!" Xander
insisted.
Scarlet sighed heavily once more, "William and
Elizabeth, Spike and Buffy, they're soul mates. Destined to
be."
"They can't be soul mates," Faith frowned, "He
doesn't have a soul."
That was it for Scarlet. She was trying
to be patient with the insolent people but it was no use. She slapped
her hand down onto the table, "But he does! She is his soul you
bloody twits!" She took a deep calming breath and continued, "I've
already told you all too much. The girl, Ruby. Keep her safe. She's
needed in the future. That's all I can say. This has been pleasant
enough. Farewell all." With that, the mist seeped out of Ruby's
mouth and she went limp in the chair once more. Not even a second
later her eyes shot open and she started to gasp for air, "Fuck!
What the hell was that!?!"
"Are you okay?" Willow was at her
side in a moments notice.
Ruby took a deep breath and nodded, "I
think so. One moment, I was me and then the next, everything
was...blank. What happened?"
"You were possessed by
Elizabeth's sister who explained that Buffy's safe to us,"
Faith shrugged.
"Buffy's safe?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Didn't I just say that?" Faith smiled.
A wide grin
broke out on Ruby's face, "Oh thank god." Oh thank god.
