Night Falls

Notes: Yeah, maybe I do get a kick out of torturing my characters…probably not healthy, huh?

Previously:

"Do you want me to get Willow for you?" Spike asked.

Hailey sighed, closing her eyes. "No," she replied after several moments. "I don't want to see her right now."

"She's worried sick about you," Spike replied. "She hasn't left your side."

"I can't deal with her, or Kennedy, or any of that mess right now," Hailey said softly. "Tell her not to come back."

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

"I heard you were awake," Faith said, lingering in the doorway of Hailey's hospital room. She was afraid to walk in and see her friend suffering.

"Word travels fast," Hailey muttered.

"Want me to open the curtains?" Faith asked.

"Get some of that California sunshine, right? Makes everything all better again?" Hailey replied, smiling lopsidedly, even though it hurt like hell to do.

Faith laughed and nodded, finally working up the courage to walk into the room. She stopped at the windowsill and threw open the heavy curtains. "Where'd Spike run off to?" She asked.

"He went back to the house through the sewers," Hailey answered.

"Blood run," Faith commented.

"Something like that," Hailey said. "I prefer not to know the specifics."

"He told me what you said," Faith stated. "About Willow."

Hailey sighed and looked out of the window, letting the sun burn her eyes. The sky was clear and blue. "I meant what I said," she finally said, after several moments of silence.

Faith nodded and sat down in the chair by the window. "Have you really thought it through?" She asked.

"Yes," Hailey replied.

"She loves you," Faith said.

"Sometimes love isn't enough," Hailey murmured.

"Love is always enough," Faith stated emphatically.

"Was it enough for you and Buffy back in the day?" Hailey shot back, even though she knew it would hurt Faith. Faith shook her head and rose to her feet angrily.

"Don't bring that shit up," she said. "It was different then."

"I shouldn't have said that," Hailey admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Why can't you give her another chance?" Faith questioned.

"It's not that I can't eternally," Hailey sighed. "It's just that I can't right now."

"It hurts too much," Faith stated.

"I fell hard for her, Faith," Hailey said softly. "Harder than I've ever fallen for anyone. I haven't been the monogamous type for a long time. But she changed that. She made me want to settle down and be with someone in a forever kind of way," she continued. "But to see her with someone else…. it just shattered all of that. I don't care if Kennedy started it. I don't care if it caught Willow by surprise and that's the only reason why she kissed her back. I just can't get that image out of my mind."

"I understand," Faith said. "I was never really the monogamous type either."

"Until Buffy," Hailey said smiling.

"Until Buffy," Faith concurred. "She blew into my life like a hurricane and ripped everything apart. It took a long time for me to put it all back together again. I know that if I saw her with another person I would lose it too, despite the circumstances."

"Relationships are fucked up things," Hailey said wearily.

"They are," Faith agreed. "But now that I'm in one, I can't see myself not being in one. I tried so hard not to need anything from anyone. I wanted to be self-sufficient. Never owe anyone anything so that I could never be disappointed."

"Or disappoint anyone," Hailey said, thinking of her father.

"Yeah," Faith replied. "But it's just so tiring living like that. Waking up with Buffy every morning, it beats the shit out of waking up cold and alone."

"I thought I was going to die," Hailey said softly. "I really thought he was going to kill me." Faith leaned back in her chair. A shadow fell across the room. The sun was starting to make its descent through the sky. "But when I thought about what I would do if I could get away, I couldn't feel anything. I didn't have any grand plan to forgive Willow and live happily ever after. Or hate Willow and gun for Kennedy. I felt nothing," she stressed. "It was almost as if being tortured was better than being home."

"You're going to have to face them both eventually," Faith said.

"I know," Hailey dismissed her. "I know what I'm going to say to Willow…eventually. But I have no idea what to say to Kennedy."

"Are you angry with her?" Faith asked.

"I don't even know," Hailey replied in confusion. "When I think back on it, I feel like it was all happening to someone else. But I think when I see her again, I'll be able to make my mind up about that question."

"I know that I'd be pissed," Faith said. "And I know what I do when I'm pissed. You can't attack her. You're so much stronger than her. It wouldn't be fair."

"Fuck fair," Hailey said angrily. "If the world was fair, it would be a much better place."

"I'm just saying, you're a Slayer now. There's some responsibility in that," Faith added. "We can't do things other people would do."

"I know that," Hailey muttered angrily. "Okay, so maybe I am pissed at Kennedy."

"I knew it," Faith said, smiling crookedly.

"And maybe I want to beat the shit out of her the next time I see her. I get that I can't though," Hailey continued. "Do you think Willow enjoyed it?" She asked softly.

"The kiss?" Faith questioned.

"Yeah," Hailey responded.

"I honestly don't know," Faith sighed. "Maybe she did. All I know is that she feels horrible for it. Whether or not she enjoyed it at the time, that has to count for something."

"I miss her," Hailey said, closing her eyes.

"I know," Faith replied, rising to her feet and moving over to the bed. She leaned over and gently kissed Hailey's forehead. "Get some rest, okay? Don't worry about anything else but getting better."

Hailey nodded as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Faith watched her for several long minutes before she quietly exited the room, gingerly closing the door behind her. "How is she?" Willow asked, standing nervously in the hospital corridor with her arms folded across her chest.

"She's pissed at you," Faith replied candidly. "And she's pissed at Kennedy. I think she may want to inflict bodily harm on the bitch." Willow nodded and looked down at the ground. "Hey," Faith said sympathetically, placing her finger underneath Willow's chin and gently lifting her head. "You know what the last thing Hailey said was?"

"What?" Willow asked hopefully.

"She said that she missed you," Faith replied. Willow smiled tentatively.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Faith affirmed. "I know this is hard. But you just have to give her some time. She'll let you see her soon."

"Okay," Willow nodded.

"Go home and get some rest, Red," Faith suggested. "I can stay here and look after her."

"What if Caleb comes back?" Willow asked fearfully.

"He won't touch her," Faith said. "I promise."

……………………………

Hailey fell into a restless, anxious sleep filled with dark images of death and suffering. The smell of the dank vineyard invaded her nostrils, a smell that was a mix of age, mold, and blood. Behind her eyelids played the story of her capture over and over again. She watched it with a certain detachment, examining the events as they repeated through her mind. She was a Slayer; she never should have allowed herself to be captured by the enemy. Her father had taught her better; yet, she was unprepared. After all of her training and studying, she found that she did not possess any knowledge to benefit her in her calling. She felt like a novice, careening through her destiny without control or certainty.

The images slowly began to change form, leaving the vineyard and entering the charred remains of the high school. She felt as though she was moving down the main hallway, propelled by some force that she could not see, even though part of her mind understood that she was simply dreaming. The stale smell of smoke overpowered the lingering smell of blood. She could taste ashes in her mouth. She reached the basement door and opened it. Suddenly, she found herself standing on a rocky ledge, overlooking a deep precipice. Below, she could hear chanting. She looked down and saw the light of hundreds of torches illuminating a downward trail crudely craved from stone.

At the bottom, with their backs to her, stood hundreds of the most disgusting, vile vampires she had ever seen. They had their fists raised in the air, chanting in some ancient, forgotten language. It sounded like a war chant. Hailey looked up and saw that the precipice was a valley between two rocky hills. On the other side, Buffy stood; Hailey knew that it was not the Slayer standing there, only the First Evil wearing the Slayer's face. The First smiled cruelly and raised its hand, silencing the vampires. "Soon," it whispered. "Soon."

Hailey's eyes flashed open. Without thinking, she tried to sit up in her hospital bed, but gasped and fell back against her pillow as pain crashed through her stomach. "Bloody hell," she muttered, gritting her teeth. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to ride out the pain, and tears escaped from the corners of her eyes. Finally, the pain subsided.

"Ah, you're awake," a doctor said, walking briskly into the room. Hailey opened her eyes and attempted to rub away her tears, only to scratch herself with the stiff bandages covering her fingers.

"Unfortunately," Hailey muttered in response.

The doctor laughed and casually sat down in the chair beside her bed. He held a clipboard and pen in his hands. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts," Hailey acknowledged.

"Well, I must say, we've all been quite astonished at your progress. Your wounds are already starting to heal; some already have. It's quite remarkable," the doctor stated. "Your hands seem to be healing the slowest, however. Unfortunately, there's nothing that we can do for your pain without giving you drugs, which your family has specifically instructed us not to administer to you."

Hailey looked down at her bandaged hands and grimaced. She could clearly remembered Caleb wrenching her fingernails out with pliers. "Fingernails do grow back, right?" She asked hesitatingly.

"Yes," the doctor said, smiling. "Fingernails grow back. I wouldn't worry about that. But on another matter, the police are here. They want to ask you some questions about your kidnapper."

"The police?" Hailey asked in surprise. "Okay, that's fine," she said slowly. "Is there anyone else here for me?" She asked, fearing that the police would discover Faith in the hospital.

"Not at the moment," the doctor said. "I believe your sister was here earlier, but she left about twenty minutes ago."

"My sister?" Hailey asked.

"Yes, the dark haired girl," the doctor stated.

"Thanks," Hailey said, smiling a little. The doctor stood and prepared to leave. "You can send them in now if you want," she added. The doctor nodded and left the room. Moments later, two police officers entered the room.

"I can only imagine what you're going through right now," the first said, pulling out a pad and pen. "I'm sure your experiences are the last thing you want to talk about. But if you could give us some information about your kidnapper, it would help expedite the investigation immensely."

"Have you talked to anyone else?" Hailey inquired. The officer shook his head.

"Is there anyone else that we should talk to?" He returned. Hailey smiled and shook her head.

"No," she said. "So what is it that you want to know?"

…………………………………

Faith had ducked into the third floor stairwell moments after she saw the two police officers heading towards Hailey's room. She assumed that the police would want to talk to the other Slayer, but Faith had hoped that she would get lost in the shuffle. The police in Sunnydale seemed less than adept at their jobs. Often, Buffy and Faith would find the body of someone who had been killed by a vampire, but would never hear about it in the news, or read about it in the paper. Faith often wondered what the police did with those bodies – if they ever investigated the deaths, or if some other power was paying them to keep quiet about the supernatural things that occurred in town.

Faith sighed and rested her head against the wall. She could see Hailey's room through the window of the stairwell door. The officers had entered her room nearly twenty minutes prior. Faith wondered what the other girl was telling them. Would Hailey tell them the truth – that a preacher named Caleb had kidnapped and tortured her? Or would she invent some story to lead the cops on a wild goose chase for a fabricated kidnapper? Faith did not care which story Hailey settled on, so long as her story did not conflict with their ability to kill the sadistic preacher.

The sound of a door banging shut echoed through the stairwell. Faith would have ignored it, if not for the sudden silence that followed it. She had expected to hear footsteps. Cautiously creeping forward, she gripped the cool, metal handrail of the stairs, and peeked over the edge. Three Bringers were silently advancing up the stairs with their knives drawn. Faith bit her lip and glanced back the door. If Caleb was as smart as he liked to think, he would not send just three Bringers to finish off Hailey. He would have sent many more. Faith knew that she needed to go back to her friend, perhaps barricade herself in Hailey's room, and fight off the wave of attackers. But the police would certainly recognize her as the wanted inmate that had escaped from prison in Los Angeles. She would do no one any good back in jail. The Bringers were creeping closer. Faith's Slayer senses were spiking to near panic levels. She had to make her move.