Disclaimer: I don't own anything. And the last part of the story where I used conversations from the actual episode.

A/N: Thanks SO much to everyone who reviewed!

Chapter Five: Something's Coming

The next day, the Summers sisters went back to school. Classes for Dawn, and work for Buffy. But right now, Buffy was in no mood for guidance counseling. And it wasn't like she had any troubled and depressed students to attend to anyway. That was why she was now making her way down the steps that led to the basement.

She circled around the basement for a while, looking for anything suspicious. She went into the storage room and stared at the un-cemented ground for a few seconds, lost in memories of her past.

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of incoherent mumbling. Slayer senses kicking in, and her curiosity building up a notch, she followed the sound of the noise. It seemed to be coming from another one of the storage rooms. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the newly-painted red door.

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dimness, and when it did, she could only stop and stare at the figure seated against the wall. Although his hands covered his face, there was no doubting who it was.

"Spike?" she whispered, moving closer towards him.

The vampire's disjointed murmurs stopped, and slowly, he turned to look at her.

Buffy gasped. Scars trailed down from his face down to his chest, closely followed by black and blue bruises. His usually gelled hair now stood wildly on his head in a tangled mess, and it no longer was the peroxide blonde that it used to be.

Spike stood up and walked over to her, until they were standing face to face. She looked straight into his blue eyes and was unnerved to see a tinge of insanity flickering around them. It was evident that the vampire was currently not in his right mind. But he seemed to recognize her, because his expression transformed to one of utter sadness, and gently, he caressed her cheek.

Slowly, she reached out to touch the deep gashes in his chest. He immediately pulled his shirt closed. "What did you do, Spike?" she asked, unease lacing her voice.

Spike refused to meet her gaze. "I tried….I tried to cut it out."

But before she could question him further, her cell phone rung. "Hello? Oh hey Giles."

The creatures wandering around the school aren't ghosts, Buffy. Neither are they zombies. They're called Manifest Spirits. They're raised to seek vengeance, and they're usually controlled by a talisman. I'm guessing it's the one Wood found earlier today.

"Wood found a talisman?" Buffy asked, surprised. "How come I didn't know that?"

Maybe because you were too busy worrying over Dawn. But don't worry, he already destroyed the talisman.

"Does that mean all the spirit-thingies are gone?" she asked, relieved.

Yes…Anyway, I was wondering if you could stop by the Magic Box later?

"No problem." Buffy said. "Bye Giles."

She closed her cell phone and turned to look at Spike.

Only -- he was gone.

…

Night had fallen, and after checking into their five-star hotel, Harry and Draco had made the decision to do a little reconnaissance around the infamous Sunnydale, or should they say – Sunnyhell? It was half past seven in the evening, and the two wizards made their way down an empty street. Dilapidated buildings and seedy motels lined either side of the road, and they knew that they had entered the "bad part" of town.

Dressed from head to toe in designer Muggle clothing, Draco severely looked out of place among the others who wandered around in shabby clothes clutching half-empty beer bottles in hand. But Draco being the devil-may-care person that he was, didn't mind the suspicious looks people were throwing at him.

Harry had to repeatedly remind himself of the truce he and Draco had agreed to yesterday, or else he would've gotten into another nasty verbal fight with the other wizard.

"Where are we going again?" Harry asked.

"We're going to a bar called Willy's." Draco replied.

Harry frowned. "A bar? You've got to be kidding me. We're here to work, Malfoy. Not go and have ourselves a bloody happy hour."

Draco rolled his eyes. "We are going there to work. It's a demon's bar, Potter. And it's the perfect place to ask some questions."

Harry gave him a look. "And you expect us to just saunter in? We'd be digging our own graves!"

The blonde sighed. "It's not even eight yet Potter. The bar would be empty at this hour. Plus the place is owned by a mere human. And don't forget that we are highly-trained wizards capable of doing anything. Or did you forget that you killed Voldemort?"

Harry shrugged. He was right. But he'd wait for hell to freeze over before he'd ever admit that out loud. "Fine, let's go. How do you know about all this, anyway?"

"I have my sources, Potter." Draco smirked, just as they came to a stop in front of a shabby-looking two-story building. Graffiti blanketed the outer walls, and a rusted sign that said 'Please Come In' hung pathetically on the entrance door. Without hesitation, Draco pulled open the door and went in with Harry close behind him.

Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust the minute they were exposed to the bar's atmosphere. The whole place was a mix of smoke and alcohol. And the smell was so strong, it made his head slightly dizzy.

Aside from two people in gothic attire lurking near the back of the bar, the place was empty. Harry took one glance at them and knew that they were vampires. It was pretty evident from the mugs they were drinking from. The transparent containers revealed a ruby-red liquid that could only be – blood. Human blood.

Harry felt sick to his stomach. He glanced at Draco and saw that this didn't bother him one bit. He's a demon hunter. Harry reminded himself. He's probably used to this kind of stuff. They made their way over to the counter were a short brown-haired man stood wiping several glasses.

"Evening gents, what can I do for you?" he greeted them brightly. This must be Willy. Harry thought. "You guys new or something? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah, we're tourists from England." Draco said smoothly. "We're here to take care of some – business matters."

At the word 'business', Willy's grin faltered. And although it didn't disappear, they could see the faint trace of suspicion in his eyes. "What do you guys want?"

Draco smiled. "Some answers."

…

Somewhere underneath Sunnydale High…

Spike wrapped his arms around his legs as he leaned against the cool cement wall of the school's basement. Rocking himself slowly, he watched the shadows dance around him. His head was spinning. He could feel the coming of something big. Something dangerous. Something – evil.

And it sent him on an edge.

Thoughts of his precarious quest in Africa clouded his head, thoughts of the Slayer reminded him of what he had done, and thoughts of the demon returning his soul burned him. Every single inch of him. He had never remembered how painful guilt and regret was. They were like sprinkles of holy water on his skin.

And suddenly, Warren appeared before him, a deceitful smile on his face. Spike looked up slowly, head still in between his hands, clutching his overgrown locks.

"She won't understand, Sparky, won't she? I'm beyond her understanding. She's a girl. Sugar and spice and everything…

useless. Unless you're baking. I'm more than that. More than flesh."

Spike shivered involuntarily.

Then Warren rapidly morphed into Glory – the hell-goddess. "More than blood. I'm… you know, I honestly don't think

there's a human word fabulous enough for me. Oh, my name will be on everyone's lips… assuming their lips haven't been torn off. But not just yet. That's all right, though."

There was another shift, and Glory became the demon-cyborg – Adam. "I can be patient. Everything is well within parameters. She's exactly where I want her to be. And so are you, Number 17. You're right where you belong."

And again he morphed into another – Mayor Richard Wilkins. He grinned devilishly as he crouched beside Spike. The vampire turned to look at him. "So what'd you think? You'd get your soul back and everything would be Jim Dandy? A soul's slipperier than a greased weasel. Why do you think I sold mine?" He laughed callously. " Well, you probably thought that you'd be your own man and I respect that. But you never will."

The Mayor then faded into Drusilla. Spike's former vampire-lover. She smiled coldly, reaching out to caress his cheek. Unlike the real Drusilla, there was not a trace of insanity in her eyes. "You'll always be mine. You'll always be in the dark with me,

singing our little songs. You like our little songs, don't you? You've always liked them, right from the beginning. And that's

where we're going."

She stood up, and became the Master. "Right back to the beginning. Not the Bang, not the Word. Thetrue beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride and I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You'll learn you're a pathetic schmuck… if it hasn't sunk in already. Look at you. Tried to do what's right. Just like her. You still don't get it. It's not about right."

And if Spike's heart would've been beating, it would've stopped right now just as the Master transformed into the Slayer – into Buffy. Her eyes gleamed in the darkness. "It's not even about wrong."

"It's about power."

…

A/N: Review! Or I won't update:-)