Night Falls
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming.
Previously:
"What about the vineyard?" Faith asked.
"What about it?" Hailey said.
"Shouldn't we check it out, now that Caleb is dead?" She furthered. "There might be something useful there."
"After we're done burying him," Hailey replied, "we'll go to the vineyard and see if our crazy preacher was hiding anything important."
Chapter Forty-Four:
The moon had ridden high in the sky by the time Faith, Hailey, and Spike finished digging the hole in which they planned to bury Caleb. They had driven several miles outside of Sunnydale and pulled off of the main road, riding out into the wilderness until they could no longer see any signs of civilization. Underneath a tree with broad branches that spread over the ground like great arms, they set to digging the hole in the dim light of the headlights of Giles' car. "I think it's deep enough," Hailey said, looking up at the grass above her head from where she stood at least seven feet below the ground.
They each threw their shovels out of the hole in turn. Faith easily jumped and grabbed the edge of the hole, hoisting herself out. "Your turn," Spike said, offering his aid to Hailey, who was still too sore to perform the jump herself. She set her foot in Spike's cradled hands and pushed upwards, allowing Faith to drag her out and onto the cold ground. Spike climbed up after them. They lay in the grass for a long time, in the silence of the night, looking up at the stars that twinkled above them.
"I've seen a lot of stars in my time," Spike said suddenly. "And all of them were dead."
"They're still beautiful though," Hailey murmured.
"It's funny how the light lingers on ages after it should have been extinguished," Spike said thoughtfully. "I think there's a lesson in that somewhere."
"Anybody else feel like getting this over with?" Faith asked, looking over at her two companions. Hailey nodded and pulled herself to her feet as the others followed. Spike and Faith lifted Caleb out of the trunk of Giles' car and carried him over to the hole. Hesitating a moment, they carefully swung him into it, dropping his body over the opening. It fell silently until it hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Should we say something?" Spike asked.
"Like what?" Hailey questioned.
"He wasn't exactly a good guy," Faith said. "The only reason I wanted to bury him is because the last time I tried dumping a body into the sea the cops found it right away."
"I just would have felt bad throwing him out of the car on the side of the road," Hailey said shrugging.
"Oh, come on," Spike argued. "He must have been a good man once. He was a priest and all."
"Once," Faith conceded. "Maybe."
"We buried him, isn't that enough?" Hailey said. "Let's just cover up the hole and get out of here."
"I know I could use a drink. I don't know about you guys…" Faith said.
"Definitely," Hailey agreed.
"Alright, so we cover him up, head to the pub, and then the vineyard," Spike planned.
"Maybe we should hit the vineyard first," Hailey suggested. "When we're less drunk."
"We're losing night here, folks," Spike reminded them. "You can go visiting the vineyard during the day anytime you like, but I've got a limited time span in which to drink myself into a stupor."
"Okay, so pub and then vineyard," Faith confirmed.
"Something tells me that the three of us really shouldn't be left alone to our own devices," Hailey muttered as they began to shovel dirt into the hole.
"Just think," Spike offered, "if we royally fuck it up this time, they're never gonna leave us alone again."
"Thank God," Faith muttered.
"I know," Hailey agreed heartily.
"I really hate having to do my own blood runs," Spike commented. "I can't wait until that twerp Andrew gets back. He's always so quick about it. He warms it up for me too."
"I think he likes you," Hailey teased.
"Stop," Spike said, glaring over at her.
"Andrew and Spike sitting in a tree…" Faith crooned.
"I will throw you in that hole," Spike warned.
"Yeah?" Faith said laughingly. "Bring it on."
"I thought you were going to throw her in the hole," Hailey commented, nudging Spike's shoulder with her own when he failed to act.
"I'm working up to it," Spike said defensively.
"Afraid?" Hailey teased.
"Wouldn't you be?" He argued. "I go throwing Buffy's mate in that hole and I'm gonna get my ass beat when she comes home."
"Good point," Faith agreed. The moon slowly began its descent through the sky and the stars began to fade. Finally, the hole was covered. The ground looked undisturbed, as if they had not been there at all. The earth had swallowed Caleb.
"Dust to dust," Hailey muttered.
"Watch yourself, speaking about dust around a vampire," Spike said, throwing his shovel in the trunk. "Likely to make a man paranoid."
"You know we'd never dust you, Spike," Faith replied, closing the trunk lid after all of the shovels had been deposited.
"You keep things interesting around here," Hailey added.
"Pub?" Spike asked, sliding into the driver's seat. Hailey climbed into the back as Faith slipped into the passenger's seat
"Pub," the girls replied in unison.
……………………………
Spike, Faith, and Hailey stumbled out of the pub without much time to spare before dawn. The air was still chilled from the departing night. Main Street was dark and quiet. Walking down the sidewalk to where they had parked the car, they slowly became aware that the object of their final destination was nowhere to be found. "What happened to the car, guys?" Hailey asked, squinting away a headache as she glanced up and down the street.
"I thought I parked it here," Spike said, pointing to an empty parking space.
"Did you lock it?" Faith asked.
"I don't bloody well remember," Spike said defensively.
"Seriously," Hailey said again. "What happened to the car?"
"Giles is going to kill us," Faith muttered. "That's it. We're all dead."
"I really thought I locked it," Spike said. "It's that little button under the door handle, right? Has the picture of a padlock on it?"
"I don't feel so good," Hailey muttered, leaning against the wall of the pawnshop behind her.
"Little Slayer can't handle her drinks?" Spike teased.
"Shut up," Hailey retorted, punching his shoulder.
"Ow," Spike commented, rubbing the spot. "Slayer strength, remember?"
Faith scratched her head and looked down at the empty parking place. "I think the car's really gone."
"We've established that," Spike replied.
"I guess we should walk home," Faith offered.
"Not like it's very far, really," Spike agreed.
"So," Hailey said as they began to walk, weaving in several different directions at once, "who's gonna tell Giles?" Turning quickly, they each pointed to another.
"Maybe it should be a collective effort," Spike offered. Turning off of Main Street, they slowly began walking down one of the side streets that connected to Revello Drive. They walked on in silence for several blocks until Hailey heard the sound of a car pulling up behind them. Peering over her shoulder, she saw a police car crawling to a stop.
"Shit," she muttered.
"Stop right there," a police officer said, climbing out of the car. The driver did the same.
"What's wrong, officers?" Spike said cheerily, flashing them an obviously fake smile.
"Where are you three heading this early in the morning?" The officer asked, shining his flashlight in their faces.
"Home," Hailey answered diplomatically. "Just walking home."
"From where?" The officer prodded.
"The pub?" Spike offered uncertainly.
"You do realize that public drunkenness is crime?" The officer asked. "Now I saw the three of you stumbling down this street, very obviously intoxicated. But that's not really quite my interest."
"What is your interest?" Hailey asked warily.
"Her," the officer said, pointing his flashlight into Faith's face. "I recognize you," he said, stepping forward.
"Do you?" Faith asked, not quite liking how the officers had begun to circle them.
"You're the murderer that escaped from prison in Los Angeles," the officer continued. "Brining you in, well, that'd be a hell of a arrest for us."
"Damn straight," the other officer chimed in. "We may even get medals."
"I think you're wrong about this, boys," Hailey said. The officer closest to her lowered his free hand to the butt of his gun.
"Are we?" He asked.
"Look, we're not bothering anyone, okay?" Spike said. "We're just walking home and this girl isn't who you think she is."
"How about we take you all in anyway?" The officer said. "Just to be sure."
"What're we gonna do?" Faith whispered to Hailey, her voice low enough that the officers could not hear her, but that Hailey could due to her heightened senses.
"We can't let them arrest us," Hailey whispered back.
"You want to pick a fight with some police officers?" Faith whispered in shock.
"We outnumber them," Hailey shot back.
"So just go ahead and put your hands behind your backs, okay?" The officer said smugly, moving his hand to his handcuffs.
"I've got a better idea," Hailey said. She and Faith moved forward before either officer knew that they had moved. Kneeing the officers in the midsection, they brought their elbows down on the men's heads as they doubled over in pain. The officers fell unconscious to the ground.
"I can't believe that you just did that," Spike said in shock.
"Did you really want them to haul your ass down to the police station? Hello…windows and sunlight," Faith replied.
"You just knocked out two police officers," Spike retorted.
"They'll be alright," Hailey said, glancing at them.
"What if they remember what we look like, huh?" Spike argued.
"We'll knock them out again?" Faith offered weakly.
"This has been one hell of a night," Spike said, shaking his head as they began walking back to the house. They had all sobered considerably and could walk much faster. Finally, they saw Buffy's house loom into view. "Hailey killed a guy, we buried his body out in the wilderness, we got drunk, Giles' car was stolen, and you two got in a fight with the police."
"And this is why they should never leave us alone," Faith said emphatically.
"What about the vineyard?" Spike asked.
"Sleep, coffee, then vineyard," Hailey muttered. Entering the house, they paused and surveyed the damage in the living room again.
Faith shook her head and muttered, "Buffy's gonna kill us."