Malik returned back to the church with the book Spike had asked for. He stood in front of Spike and bowed with the book in his hands. Spike snatched it up and flipped through it. Malik and Scylla set up the candles, and Spike arranged Drusilla on the alter. He found the passage. And began to read.
"Right. Let's give this a whirl. 'Oh eternal and all powerful Lord, to whom the darkness itself bows down, from whom flows the damnation of all human kind…'" he turned to Malik.
"Who writes this dross?" he asked. Malik stared back at him impatiently. Spike sighed
No bloody sense of humor.
He continued reading
"'I call forth, Laibach of the abyss, as you have commanded. Come to me, your most loyal servant beseeches thee.'"
Drusilla's body suddenly animated. Her limbs twitched back and forth and her body rose off the alter, suspended in the air.
"Dru! Let her down you wanker! You got me doing your dirty work long as you got a hold on Dru. But don't push me, old man." Spike scowled.
Laibach spoke in ancient tongue, within Drusilla's body.
"At your urging, I have come, William. Behold my glory."
Spike was familiar with the language. He studied it back in England before his vampire days.
"Oh yeah. Like I had any bloody choice in the matter. I've been a good little errand boy O great and powerful one. Came back to the Hellmouth, reclaimed the Master's old church digs in your name, and regrouped what was left of the Order of Aurelius. Even summoned that Matereani fella - although the necromancer seems to be running a little behind schedule. Maybe he's caught in traffic or something." Spike rambled.
"Keep thy caustic tongue in cheek, vampire. Displease me, and your beloved Drusilla's already fragile mind will be crushed, leaving behind nothing but a pale, pretty shell." Laibach warned. Spike was enraged.
"Bad form to rub it in when you're holding all the cards. But I can't afford to fold. What next, dark lord? How may I serve you further?" Spike asked sarcastically.
"Certain items must be acquired for the coming ceremony. First there must be fresh sacrifices of the flesh." Laibach said. Spike knew just the place.
"Oh I don't see that being too much of a problem. Got a wonderful little flesh palace down the street."
Spike summoned Scylla and told her the plan. She nodded and gathered up a huge group of vampires. They were going to go get a quick drink at The Bronze.
---
Buffy sat at a small table by the steps at The Bronze with Xander and Cordelia. Willow was at the bar, talking to a girl from their physics class.
Buffy's thoughts were interrupted by Cordelia. She was glaring at a couple by the bar. A blonde girl and a cute looking guy Buffy recognized from the football team.
"Just look at that tramp. Some of my sources? They tell me skanky Heather there was throwing herself at Steve Phillips, one of our hunkier linebackers, after football practice yesterday. Shocking coincidence? It just so happens Steve hasn't been heard from since. Now here she is working her tight end on one of our tight ends. You know what I think? I think she's some kind of vampire slut on a mission to kill the precious few remaining hotties at Sunnydale High. She must be stopped. Sick her Buffy!" Cordelia ranted. Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Listen, Miss Kitty. I can't stake every girl who blocks your spotlight. When you saw her yesterday, wasn't it broad daylight? Hello? Vamps have that pesky allergic reaction to the sun." Cordelia just shook her head.
"Okay, maybe she lathered up with the whole econo-tub of ninety sunscreen. Whatever she is, she must be stopped!"
Buffy watched as Heather and Steve walked out.
"Sorry, Cordelia. Looks like another jock fell prey to her trampy wiles. Maybe now we can start enjoying the evening." Buffy said. Xander cut in.
"Jeez, Buff. Jinx us why don't you? That's a cue for something evil to crash in if I ever heard one."
A loud crash sounded in the room. Broken shards of glass fell and shattered on the ground and two vampires landed on their feet. Screams echoed through the room as everyone began rushing out the door. Buffy got up immediately at the sight by the bar. A leather-clad vampire chick rushed in and grabbed Willow forcefully by the arm. She pulled Willow away and pushed her towards the exit.
"Buffy!" Willow screamed. The vampire spoke in a weird, snaky voice.
"Noooo. I want my Sssslayer back." The vampire left the room, pulling Willow along forcefully. Another vampire suddenly jumped in front of her.
"Where do you think your going, Slayer?" with that, the vampire ran towards her. Buffy back flipped in the air and landed on top of the red pool table. She picked up a pool stick and twirled it between her fingers.
The vampire continued to run towards her, but was stopped short as Buffy rammed the stick straight through her heart. She dusted instantly.
"Hey! I've got a bit of vampire problem here!" Xander cried. Buffy turned around to see Xander and Cordelia cowering in a corner with two vampires facing them. Buffy leaped off the table and landed between the two vamps. She took the pool stick and jabbed it in both directions, dusting both vampires successfully.
Buffy dropped the pool stick and ran towards the exit. She had to rescue Willow before anything happened to her.
"Buffy, wait!" Xander called out. Just then, a huge figure crashed through the exit door. Buffy nearly ran into it. She stopped abruptly and looked up at it. It had to be the biggest vampire she had ever seen. It had a thick neck, supporting a huge, bald, solid head that looked like he could knock a person's head off with a quick head butt. He wore a metal chest plate over his broad chest, much similar to a suit of armor. But the scariest part of the creature was his eyes. His eyes glowed bright yellow, leaving Buffy in a trance as he glared at her.
Buffy stared helplessly into the vampire's gaze. The vampire grabbed her by her waist and hoisted her into the air. She heard Xander and Cordelia scream as the vampire lifted her behind his back and tossed her across the room. A chair splintered into pieces as Buffy landed hard on top of it. Buffy winced from the pain but got up quickly. She quickly snapped out of the trance. She knew she couldn't fight this thing. She had another problem to worry about. She looked towards Xander and Cordelia's direction. They were fighting their own war. Another group of vamps had come in and attacked them. Buffy hated to leave them alone, but she had to save Willow. They looked like they were okay on their own. Cordelia had managed to dust one of them, and Xander had another one under control. Buffy turned to see Big Baldy lumbering towards her, careful not to look into his glowing eyes.
"Know what? It's been fun, but I've got a Willow to save." she ran towards the vamp and flipped over him. She landed on her feet behind him and continued running, towards the exit. She looked back to see Big Baldy turn around and start to give chase. Buffy was glad her plan was working, he took the bait.
"Want a piece of me? C'mon, kick my ass." Buffy ran down the steps. She turned around in time to see Big Baldy leap into the air. He landed on the steps, and crashed to the floor as the stairs gave in under his weight. He fell flat on his face among the splinters, and did not move. Buffy smiled, she couldn't help herself.
"Watch that last step, it's a humdinger!" She walked up to the fallen vamp and saw that he was still unmoving.
"Well, the coyote always got up. " She knew he wasn't going to stay like that for long, but it would keep him down for awhile. She just hoped that the next time he came after her, she was ready.
---
Cordelia backed up against the wall, stake in hand. Xander found a couple of legs from a broken wooden chair by the stage and tossed one of them to her. She wasn't into the whole vampire dusting thing, that was supposed to be Buffy's gig. But here she was.
A few feet away from her, Xander was holding back a vampire with a bad, spiked haircut.
It's amazing how vampires look. It's like, being undead means you don't have to care about your appearance or anything.
A girl vampire kept her backed against the wall. The vampire leaned against her and opened its mouth, reaching for her neck. Cordelia felt a drop of saliva fall onto her blouse. That was it, payback time.
"That's it, you drooled on my blouse! You are so dead!"
Cordelia kneed her in the gut. The vampire doubled over in pain. Cordelia advanced on her and brought the stake down on her back, dusting her.
Xander walked up to Cordelia, breathing heavily.
"Man, I need to learn how to keep my mouth shut sometimes. One day I'm gonna say something that's gonna get us all killed." he said.
"For once, Xander, you learned something I've been trying to teach you for the past year." Xander wore an angry look on his face.
"I'm just mad that Buffy just decided to leave us behind like that. We handled those vamps but I don't think I can hold out for too much longer." he said, angrily.
"Well, she had to go save Willow. But it would've been nice if she would have left us some sort of fighting chance."
"Well, we might be alright. Let's just hope nothing else come crashing in." Just then, another group of vampires rushed in through the window. Xander sighed.
"There goes me and my big mouth again."
---
Buffy opened the door into the cool night. A strong smell like burning rubber rushed through in the breeze, Buffy coughed back. She held her nose and ran up the small steps into an open area behind The Bronze.
"Buffy!" She looked up to see Willow looking down at her from the patio above as the vampress dragged her along.
"Willow! I'm on my way!" she called back. Just then, a dark figure appeared out of nowhere and dropped down from the patio, to the ground beside her. Buffy recognized the white-haired vampire instantly.
"Evenin' Slayer. Lovely night for the old mayhem, isn't it." Spike said casually.
"Spike."
"I knew you'd miss me." Spike grinned.
"What are you doing back in Sunnydale, Spike? We had a deal." Spike shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry, love. Business is business. Guess there's just no honor among us children of the night."
"You shouldn't of come back." Buffy warned.
"Is Buffy sad cuz the Big Bad broke his promise?" Spike asked teasingly.
"Wake up, moron. I'm ecstatic to see you. You shouldn't have come back cuz I've been saving up a big, honkin', serving of whupass just for you." Spike got into vamp face. Buffy got into her Slayer stance.
"Glad you're here. It was getting a bit heavy to carry around."
"Gonna make you bleed, Slayer." Spike charged.
---
Xander was tired. He and Cordelia had managed to put down a couple of vampires, but more kept coming in through the windows. He almost felt ready to give up, to throw his body into the pile of hungry bloodsuckers. Then he thought about Willow. She was in trouble right now, but he knew that if he gave up, Willow would never be able to go on if she survived tonight.
A dark haired vampire jumped in through the windows and instantly advanced on them. Xander charged at her and tried to stake her before she got to them first. Man, she was fast. The vampire grabbed Xander's hand and knocked his stake to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?" the vampire called out. Xander looked at her and instantly felt sorry for the mistake.
"Faith?" Faith smiled at him.
"That's the name, babe. No time for talk though, pick up your stake and let's show these bitches they screwed with the wrong town." Faith drew out her stake and ran past him to help Cordelia.
Faith came in fast with a flurry of kicks and punches. The two vamps didn't stand a chance against her. She dusted them quickly and turned around to see four more come rushing in.
Damn, where are they all coming from?
She ran quickly over to help Xander, Cordelia behind her. The three of them took on the small group of vampires. Xander crippled one of them and dusted him on the floor. Cordelia struggled to fight one of them, and cried out as it grabbed her jacket, tearing the fabric. She looked like she was in tears.
God, how did she manage to survive for so long?
Faith made quick work of her vamp and ran to help Cordelia, leaving Xander to handle the other one. She tore the vampire away from her and back kicked it in the chest. She came back in and staked it in the heart. Through the falling ashes, she could see as Xander successfully planted his stake into the heart of the last one.
Faith turned around to see another batch of vampires come flying in through the window. She grabbed Cordelia by the arm and rushed towards the stage.
"C'mon, Xand. Let's get the hell outta here." she pushed Cordelia towards him and he grabbed her and ran to the stage. They both climbed up and Faith followed behind. She jumped up to the window sill and grabbed hold. She let go with one hand, and punched through the glass. It hurt like a bitch, but she would survive. She hoisted herself up and climbed through the broken window. She landed on a stack of crates and turned around to face the window.
"C'mon, guys." she called down to them and extended her arm out. Xander grabbed Cordelia by the waist and lifted her up. Faith grabbed her arms and lifted her through the window, onto the crates. She leaned over the window again and stretched her arm out. The vampires drew nearer. Xander jumped up and grabbed Faith's arm. A few vamps climbed the stage and grabbed at his legs. Xander kicked at them and backed them off. Faith lifted him quickly through the sill, and onto the crates.
Faith and Xander climbed off the crates onto the pavement.
"What now?" Xander asked breathlessly. Faith shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Go back to the library I guess and see what's up with B."
"Great. The library is fine with me. I couldn't think of a better place I'd rather be." Cordelia said sarcastically. Faith and Xander ignored her and ran towards the library.
---
Spike charged on her in full vamp mode. Buffy sidestepped out of the way and slammed her fist into the side of his head. Spike yelled out in pain and swung at her. Buffy wasn't quick enough and his arm smashed into her throat. Buffy gagged and backed off. She knelt down, coughing furiously.
"Right then, Slayer. It's to be fisticuffs. Try not to get your blood on my jacket." Spike charged at her again. Buffy threw herself down to the ground quickly and grabbed his legs. Buffy twisted her body on the ground and Spike fell over. Buffy heard the sickening thump as his head connected to the pavement. Buffy jumped up.
"I've missed hurting you, Spike." Spike got up to his feet and came at her again, anger burning in his eyes. He threw a series of punches and swings, Buffy managed to block each one. Buffy grinned to herself as Spike attacked.
It definitely has been awhile since Spike was in a good fight. This is pathetic.
Buffy grabbed both of his arms and pulled him forward, meeting him with a head butt. Spike fell back and Buffy jumped back in on him, throwing a parry of counter punches, each one connecting. Spike managed to block on of her moves and grabbed her arm. He swung at her with his free hand and knocked her in the side of the head. Light flashed in Buffy's eyes and she fell to the ground. She shook her head and looked up at him. Spike turned around and jumped onto the patio above, next to his vampire lackeys.
"That's alright boys. A little game we indulge in, the Slayer n' me. A bit of foreplay before the grand seduction. Courtship rituals, you get the picture. Yeah. One thing I can say about my relationship with the little miss down there…its got fire." He pulled out a glass vile filled with a glowing, orange liquid. Buffy knew what it was. She remembered Giles telling her about it before, but she never actually saw one.
Hellfire
It was supposed to be stronger than a Molotov cocktail, kind of like napalm. Buffy jumped out of the way quickly as Spike tossed it down. The vile shattered and flames shot out instantly. The flames disappeared almost as quick as they appeared, leaving a gaping hole where part of the fence once stood. Buffy stood up and jogged through the fence. She hopped onto a stack of old tires and climbed up to the walkway above. She looked down at the fence from the walkway and saw a pile of burning tires.
Ugh. That's where that smell is coming from
A vampire chick suddenly jumped in front of her.
"Look, its uptight suburban girl!" The vamp said.
"Sorry, but you must have me confused with Cordelia." Buffy said. The vampire stared at her in confusion. Buffy grabbed her by her shoulder and flipped over her head. She side kicked her in the back and sent her flying. The vampire crashed threw the fence and landed in the burning tires. Buffy heard an agonizing scream followed by the sound of her reducing her dust.
---
Giles sat at the checkout counter, sipping his tea. He felt a little better after taking a Tylenol.
Well, the room stopped spinning anyways.
The double doors burst open, and Faith came in, with Xander and Cordelia closely behind.
"Yo Giles." Faith greeted. Xander and Cordelia nodded their heads tiredly.
"Where's Buffy and Willow?" he asked worriedly. Faith sat at the table and propped her feet up.
"I dunno. When I got to The Bronze, B was already gone."
"Buffy went out to save Willow. A bunch of vamps raided the place and took Willow…I hope she's alright." Xander drifted off into thought on the last part of his sentence. Giles sat up.
"A bunch of vamps did what!"
"God, Giles, are you deaf? He said they took Willow." Cordelia said. Giles closed his eyes and counted to ten. He knew he would have to be patient with her.
"I know what he said, Cordelia. I'm just worried about her." Cordelia waved him off and sat down next to Xander.
"Well that's all you had to say. No need to get all huffy." Faith sat up and faced Giles.
"Are you guys gonna argue all night are we gonna do something about this? All this boring talk stuff isn't my type of thing. I need to go out and get sweaty."
Xander coughed. Cordelia punched him in the arm.
"Xander, Cordelia, please. Now, Faith, by all means I do think you're right. You should go back to the area by The Bronze and go find Buffy and help her rescue Willow if she needs help. I don't doubt her skills but I would feel a lot better if the both of you were out there."
"Alright. It's not like I had anything to do tonight anyways. The Fish Tank is closed tonight." Faith said as she rose up from her spot. Xander rose up with her.
"Good, I'm going too. Willow needs me."
"Whoa, Xander. Let's not get too defensive, I'm the girlfriend here, remember?" Cordelia said.
"Sorry, Xand. Three's a crowd." Faith said.
"No. I'm going. I'm not going to sit here and wait while my best friend is out there getting dragged across town by a bunch of leeches."
"Yes you are." Giles said. "As long as I have both Slayers out there, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If you really want to be some help, you can help me and Cordelia look up on that vampire that ran by here earlier. If you don't want to do research, feel free to sit right here and huff and puff all you like, but you are to stay right here. I don't want to hear a word from it."
Xander shook his head and sat down. Faith came out of the weapons closet, crossbow in hand.
"Later. I got some ass-kicking to attend to." Faith said as she walked out the swinging doors.
---
Buffy landed on her back. The four-legged creature grabbed her foot in its jaws and shook vigorously. She kicked the hound in the jaw with her free foot and it quickly let go. Buffy leaped up standing on her hands and kicked it a few more times in the mouth. The beast fell backwards. Buffy leaped to her feet and staked it on the ground. A burst of flame emitted from the Hellhound and it disintegrated.
Okay, what the hell was that?
After her one-on-one with Spike, Buffy followed through the dark alleys behind The Bronze. Upon coming here, she had encountered three vampires, and the four-legged beast she just killed. Just as she had finished dusting a smart ass vampire with a bad haircut, the Hellhound burst through a boarded up wall and charged at her. It looked like a bulldog from hell. The beast had claws the size of pencils, and when it opened its huge maws, it displayed rows and rows of huge, sharp, teeth.
Buffy turned towards the wall where the Hellhound came in from. She noticed a narrow passage which turned towards the left. Figuring it was where Spike and the vampress who had Willow were headed, she followed it.
The short passage led to a vast, open area. A huge water tower loomed over a pool of water, and right behind it, was Willow. She was still being pulled along by the vampress. She was trying her best to put up a fight, but the vampire chick was too strong. Willow turned her head and noticed Buffy.
"Buffy!" she yelled. The vampress looked back and yanked Willow in front of her.
"Maybe you didn't hear me you skanky, blood-sucking ho. Thinking you'd put me down before the Slayer kicked your ass." Willow said indignantly. Buffy smiled. Willow was pretty brave for talking to her like that.
"The Sssslayer. Tell me another one. They all sssay they know the Sssslayer." the vampress said as she pulled Willow along. She pressed something on the wall and disappeared through a brick building.
Buffy leaped up onto a crate and jumped onto the walkway above. She jogged over to the water tower and walked along it towards the building.
"Time to spill your guts, honey." A vampire said as he appeared from behind the tower. Buffy leaped over the rail to her left, knowing that the vamp could easily knock her off. The vampire leaped over to her and punched her in the chin. Buffy kicked out at the vamp, but he quickly dodged it. Her foot smashed into the wooden rail and it broke in pieces. Buffy quickly swooped up a jagged piece.
"Beauty of a sharp stake, no batteries." With that, she stepped forward and stabbed the vamp in the heart, dusting him.
Buffy pressed the switch on the brick wall and the metallic door opened up. Inside was a secret, emptied out room with another huge metal door on the other side. She walked to the door and pushed it open. The door led to the roof of a building, behind a billboard. She walked past the billboard, but stopped short as something hurtled towards her and landed on the wall by her, emitting a burst of flames. The flames licked at her arms, missing her by bare inches.
As soon as the flames dissipated, a vampire jumped up and lunged for her. Buffy made short work of him and jumped of the building, onto the ground below. She ran up the small steps and found a door on the side of the building. Using her Slayer strength, she kicked open the door and entered into a dank, cold hallway. The rest of the hallway was blocked off by wooden planks. She was just about to investigate it further when suddenly the planks burst into splinters and flew at her face. Buffy covered her eyes from the tiny splinters. When she uncovered her eyes, she was staring into the face of Big Baldy.
He's awake from his nap and he doesn't look all that excited to see me again, better scat.
Buffy turned around and ran down the long hallway. She could hear the vamp's heavy footsteps behind her as he came rushing. She picked up the pace.
Buffy finally saw the door and felt a sudden burst of salvation. She ran for the door and busted it open, slamming it behind her. She slammed down the heavy bolt and backed from the door. The vampire pounded against the door, attempting to get in.
I don't know how long that's gonna hold, but I don't want to stay and take notes.
---
Spike was getting irritated. Scylla wasn't moving fast enough for his taste, and Buffy was right behind him.
Apparently that huge, bald fella isn't doing his job well enough or we would be scraping the Slayer's remains off the pavement with a shovel by now.
"Come on, you lot. Pick up the pace. Slayer'll be on our asses in a minute... Just because you don't see her doesn't mean she isn't there." Spike said, as he pushed Scylla and the witch ahead.
Buffy crossed the railroad track and ran down the ramp behind the fence, and onto the dark alley underneath the railroad.
"Buffy!" Willow screamed as she broke free from the vampire slut's grasp. She ran down the dark alley, and disappeared around the corner. The vampress ran after her. Buffy ran behind her, but was stopped short as a body landed on the pavement in front of her. Spike emerged from the darkened corner, blood trickled from his lips.
"Don't you ever give up Slayer? Bloody hell, feel free to tire out at some point. Or die, if you like. No tears there."
Spike turned around and chased after Scylla and Willow. Scylla snatched Willow up before she got any further. Willow struggled but was unable to break free.
"Help! Buffy's gonna whoop you good, Spike. You're gonna regret bringing your new girlfriend to your old stomping grounds." the witch spat.
"Shut you gob, witch. And she ain't my sodding girlfriend. Luckily for you the ritual requires live sacrifices or I'd shut you up permanent like." Scylla opened up the electronic door and pulled the smart ass redhead through the alley, towards the cemetery. Spike followed behind and the door shut behind them.
---
Jonathan Torres finished his meal, a skinny blonde kid with glasses and a letterman jacket. He wasn't a particularly satisfying meal, he just killed him simply because he didn't like him, plus he was hungry. He was sitting in the alley, waiting for the Slayer when this kid just came up to him and started talking his ass off. His stomach just happened to start growling at the right moment.
Jon sat in an alley behind The Bronze, leaning casually against a dumpster and licking the blood off his fingers. His cohorts were off goofing around, laughing and pushing around some helpless woman they found walking around. They circled around her and kicked and slashed at her, laughing and mocking before they would eventually kill her. Jon felt no remorse. She had no reason walking around a place like this at this time of night.
Jon was sired by Kakistos a few years back. Kakistos was an old vampire, so old that he had hooves for hands. He had seen it all. Kakistos took him up after murdering his parents. He had taught him everything he knew.
But Kakistos was dead now. The Slayer murdered him a couple of months ago shortly after his arrival to Sunnydale. Kakistos, and his other partner, Mr. Trick, went to Sunnydale to chase after her, leaving him behind. Trick informed him of his master's death shortly after. He gathered up the rest of Kakisto's cohorts and went off to Sunnydale to avenge his death. Now they were outside The Bronze, waiting for the Slayer to show up so they could dance in her blood.
Jon heard footsteps in front of The Bronze. He peered around the corner and saw the dark-haired Slayer walk around to the other side of the building. Jon snapped his fingers and the vampires stopped. The woman dropped to the ground, blood oozing out of her mouth. The vampires ran up behind him and prepared for battle. Jon smiled as he anticipated the fear in the Slayer's eyes as Jon watched her slowly die.
---
Faith walked down Downtown Sunnydale, looking around for Buffy. Even though she didn't want to admit it to the others, she hated being out here. She had better things to do than search for Blondie in the middle of the night, like watch TV…okay, she didn't have cable but she could suffice.
Most of the reason she didn't feel like being out here tonight was because she felt like she didn't owe Buffy a goddamn thing. Buffy was the one shutting her out of her life, handling business on her own and having meetings with the gang and not bothering to tell her about it.
Hell, she would've probably tried to handle this problem alone if I wasn't out patrolling tonight and stumbled in on all this.
Faith felt shut from the group, like they didn't want her around, like she wasn't needed because they had Buffy.
If Buffy doesn't want me around, then what the hell am I doing out here looking for her?
Part of her knew it was because she wanted to be recognized. If the group didn't want her around, she would have to prove to them that they were making a dumb mistake.
Faith walked up to the front of The Bronze. The door was left open, and as Faith peered inside, she realized it was empty. She stepped back out and walked around the side towards the alley in the back.
"Faith."
Faith froze at the sound of her name. She turned around slowly, and faced an army of vampires. One vampire stood in front of them. He had tan skin, black, spiky hair, and sideburns running down the sides of his face. He wore blue, denim jeans, and a matching denim jacket. His jacket was stained with blood from his apparent last meal.
"I've been looking for you."