Chapter Sixty-Seven: It's A Story
Spike tightened his arms around Buffy and Dawn, as he watched in horror. A figure rose out of the Hellmouth. He was about 10 feet tall. He was dressed in a black hooded robe. All that was visible was his face. His face was a human skull with green glowing eyes. His hand that clutched a staff was also a skeleton hand. He hovered over the Hellmouth, laughing triumphantly. Then he glided over to where Drusilla and Warren were standing.
"What's happening?" Buffy asked.
Spike didn't answer her. He was too shocked and horrified to say anything. This was something that even in his wildest nightmares he'd never considered. He didn't even know how Drusilla knew about.She couldn't have...
The laughter stopped and the robed figure looked down at Drusilla and Warren. He was silent for a moment then said in a terrible voice, "Who released me?"
Drusilla didn't answer. She just twirled around in ecasty. The figure looked at Warren. He raised his hand and said, "It.it.it. was me."
The figure nodded and said, "Thank you." Then he raised his staff and pointed it at Warren. A beam of light shot out of it and hit Warren in the chest. Warren screamed as flesh, muscles and bones melted away into a pile of dust.
Spike ignored the screams coming from Andrew and Jonathan. If that creature was who Spike thought it was then he had to get Buffy and Dawn out of there before he turned that staff on them. "Come on," He yelled, pulling Buffy and Dawn to the feet. "Move!" He called out to the stunned Scoobies.
They ran as fast as they could out of the high school, leaving Drusilla alone with the creature she'd raised. Everyone stopped for breath once they were on the front lawn of the school.
"What," Gasped Willow. "Was that?"
Spike shook his head, "Later, keep moving." He looked around for a vehicle. They had to move fast or they would be the first to die. "There," He pointed to the Tri, now Duo's van.
"You can't hijack our van!" Andrew protested. He and Jonathan had followed them out of the school. "Not without us."
Spike looked at them and made a quick decision, "Fine, let's go."
Everyone jumped into the van. As Xander crawled into the back he asked Spike, "Who put you in charge?"
Spike turned from the driver's seat to look at Xander, "Because I'm the only one who knows what we're dealing with."
"Spike," Giles asked, climbing into the passenger's seat next to Spike. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
Spike turned on the van and drove as fast as he could away from the school, "Not now," Spike told them. "Where's a good place to hide?"
"We're not running away," Buffy protested from the back of the van.
"We are," Spike said, not taking his eyes off the road. "Because once he gets his full strength back you're the first one he's coming after, luv." Spike made a sharp turn and parked in front of the Magic Box. "Everyone out."
"What are we doing here?" Giles asked.
"Magic supplies," Spike said, jumping out of the van and helping Buffy out. Everyone followed her out. "The witches need to do their best protection and blocking spell."
Once inside the store Willow and Tara quickly cast their spells. The store was now protected by their strongest spells but Spike didn't know how long they had.
Now that they were safe for the time being the full weight of what had just happened sunk in.
"He killed Warren," Jonathan said, tearfully.
Spike, who had been making sure that Buffy and the baby were alright, suddenly turned, grabbed Jonathan and threw him up against the wall. Spike yelled as his chip went off, but didn't let go of Jonathan.
"How?" Spike growled. "How the bloody hell did she know about him?"
"I don't know," Jonathan whimpered. "I barely remember the last few months. It's all a blur."
"Well you'd better remember," Spike growled. "Because if you don't..."
Jonathan tried to think. He finally said, "I don't know how she knew about him. All she said was that she heard about him one night when she was naughty and supposed to be asleep."
Spike stared at Jonathan for a moment and then let him drop to the ground. Spike stepped away from Jonathan and began to pace around the room, "No," He muttered. "She couldn't have.she was asleep. they both were. we were sure of it.. and if she was awake how did she remember.bloody hell who forgets something like that.I know we didn't..." Spike began to mutter in a language Buffy had never heard before.
"What's he saying?" Buffy asked.
Anya looked at Spike and then at Buffy, "Words that I wouldn't even say, in several demon languages."
Buffy stood up, grabbed Spike and shook him, "Spike, what is going on? Who is that?"
Spike pulled away from Buffy and leaned against the counter, looking shaken, "His name, in this dimension anyway, is Dante."
"Like the poet?" Tara asked.
"No," Spike said. "This Dante is a demon beyond terror, beyond horror. All record of him was wiped out of the Watcher's Council record and all other written word. He's only know in legend and even the legend is know by few."
"Like you?" Dawn said.
"Right," Spike said. "And I only know because Angelus told me about him one night when we were beyond drunk."
"Angel knows about Dante?" Buffy asked.
"It wasn't Angel who told me about Dante," Spike corrected. "It was Angelus. He told me after one of the most." He trailed off. He wasn't going to tell anyone the details of that night. They wouldn't understand.
"What did he tell you?" Giles asked.
"We were all so drunk," Spike said. "We'd killed an entire tavern that night." He looked around. "All those people, all of them drunk.And when we feed off of them we got drunk and the more we fed.." Spike didn't finish the sentence. They got the picture. "After we finished them all we went back to the hotel we were staying at. At the hotel we." Spike stopped. He glanced around the room, suddenly remembering who he was talking to. None of these people would understand what had happened that night between him, Drusilla, Darla and Angelus. To vampires the whole night had been natural, almost expected but to humans it would be wrong. Spike couldn't tell them that part of. There were children in the room, of course two weren't born but still. plus he couldn't bare the look of disgust on Buffy's face when she realized what he had done.
"What happened at the hotel?" Buffy asked. Spike had stopped talking and a glazed look had appeared on his face.
Spike spoke carefully, "The women were sleeping and Angelus and I were talking. We were both still drunk and getting drunker. Angelus said that he had a story to tell but that no one else could know. We were sure that the women were asleep and couldn't hear. That's when he told me about Dante."
"And Drusilla heard all of this?" Giles asked. "Even though you thought that she was sleeping."
"She must have. That's the only time I ever heard Angelus talk about Dante." Spike didn't add that Drusilla had been curled up right between him and Angelus. She was in the perfect position to hear everything.
"What did Angel tell you about Dante?" Buffy asked.
"Dante was evil that existed long before anything else did," Spike said, trying to remember every detail of the legend that Angel had told him. The legend had scared them both and Spike had tried to forget. "He's not even from this dimension. It was just here where they finally stopped him."
"How?" Buffy asked.
Spike shook his head and continued with his tale, "Dante went from dimension to dimension, devouring everyone and everything that wasn't exactly evil in its purest form."
"Like the Judge?" Buffy asked.
"No," Spike said. "Worse. You saw what he did to Warren." Spike ignored Andrew and Jonathan's wimpers. "He'd do that and worse to all of his victims. He finally wound up here and they managed to stop him." Spike thought hard. His memories were clouded by the alcohol and fear from that night. "Some were able to escape Dante's purges. They knew he was coming here so they got here first. They found the Slayer."
"The first Slayer," Buffy asked.
"No, the second Slayer." Spike glanced at Giles, "Ever wonder why there's hardly anything on the Second Slayer. She was the one who finally defeated Dante. All the others that escaped him combined their powers with the Slayer and channeled it through her. She put him in the darkest, deepest part of the Hellmouth where he was supposed to stay forever."
"Until you and Angel decided to get drunk and blab all," Xander said.
Buffy shot Xander a look and he shut up, "How do we defeat him now?"
"When the Slayer finished off Dante all of her new powers were taken from her and.." This part of the legend had confused him and Angelus hadn't been up to explaining it fully. "I think it was put into a stone. That's the only thing that could defeat him if he ever raises again."
"So where is the stone?" Willow asked.
"I don't know," Spike said.
"Why did you say that Dante would come after me?" Buffy asked.
"It was the Slayer that defeated him," Spike pointed out. "He senses anyone with the blood of a Slayer. That's you, the Nibblet, and the baby."
"So he'll come here first," Anya said, looking at Buffy. "He'll come here because of you."
"Back off," Willow said.
"It's true," Anya snapped. "He's going to kill the entire world, starting here. All of us are going to die."
"Not if we can stop him," Buffy said, pacing around the store, her hands rubbing her back. Her back had been aching more than usual ever since they'd gotten to the Magic Box. She must have injured it when Drusilla had pushed her.
"How do we do that?" Anya asked, angrily. "The only way to defeat him has been lost since practically the beginning of time."
"There has to be something," Giles said, picking up one of his books. "Even if all record of Dante was erased there has to be some mention of him." He looked at Spike, "How did Angelus know about Dante?"
"The Master," Spike explained. "He told Angelus about Dante one time when he and Darla were visiting."
"If the Master and Angel knew about Dante then other vampires had to know," Willow said.
"It's not a commonly known legend," Spike pointed out. "The only way to pry it out of a vampire is with lots of booze and great." Spike stopped just in time. He had to be careful or he was going to reveal all that had happened that night. "It even scares vampires."
"Why is this legend kept a secret?" Dawn asked, paging through a book, looking for a reference to Dante."
"Because not even vampires like Angelus and the Master want some crazy with delusions of grandeur to raise Dante up again. That's why we wanted to be sure that Dru couldn't hear what we were saying."
"Well she did," Buffy said, staring out the window. Spike joined her. Far off in the direction of the old high school smoke was rising. Dante's powers were already starting to return. It was only a matter of time before he found them. They just had to make sure that they could stop him when he did.
Spike tightened his arms around Buffy and Dawn, as he watched in horror. A figure rose out of the Hellmouth. He was about 10 feet tall. He was dressed in a black hooded robe. All that was visible was his face. His face was a human skull with green glowing eyes. His hand that clutched a staff was also a skeleton hand. He hovered over the Hellmouth, laughing triumphantly. Then he glided over to where Drusilla and Warren were standing.
"What's happening?" Buffy asked.
Spike didn't answer her. He was too shocked and horrified to say anything. This was something that even in his wildest nightmares he'd never considered. He didn't even know how Drusilla knew about.She couldn't have...
The laughter stopped and the robed figure looked down at Drusilla and Warren. He was silent for a moment then said in a terrible voice, "Who released me?"
Drusilla didn't answer. She just twirled around in ecasty. The figure looked at Warren. He raised his hand and said, "It.it.it. was me."
The figure nodded and said, "Thank you." Then he raised his staff and pointed it at Warren. A beam of light shot out of it and hit Warren in the chest. Warren screamed as flesh, muscles and bones melted away into a pile of dust.
Spike ignored the screams coming from Andrew and Jonathan. If that creature was who Spike thought it was then he had to get Buffy and Dawn out of there before he turned that staff on them. "Come on," He yelled, pulling Buffy and Dawn to the feet. "Move!" He called out to the stunned Scoobies.
They ran as fast as they could out of the high school, leaving Drusilla alone with the creature she'd raised. Everyone stopped for breath once they were on the front lawn of the school.
"What," Gasped Willow. "Was that?"
Spike shook his head, "Later, keep moving." He looked around for a vehicle. They had to move fast or they would be the first to die. "There," He pointed to the Tri, now Duo's van.
"You can't hijack our van!" Andrew protested. He and Jonathan had followed them out of the school. "Not without us."
Spike looked at them and made a quick decision, "Fine, let's go."
Everyone jumped into the van. As Xander crawled into the back he asked Spike, "Who put you in charge?"
Spike turned from the driver's seat to look at Xander, "Because I'm the only one who knows what we're dealing with."
"Spike," Giles asked, climbing into the passenger's seat next to Spike. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
Spike turned on the van and drove as fast as he could away from the school, "Not now," Spike told them. "Where's a good place to hide?"
"We're not running away," Buffy protested from the back of the van.
"We are," Spike said, not taking his eyes off the road. "Because once he gets his full strength back you're the first one he's coming after, luv." Spike made a sharp turn and parked in front of the Magic Box. "Everyone out."
"What are we doing here?" Giles asked.
"Magic supplies," Spike said, jumping out of the van and helping Buffy out. Everyone followed her out. "The witches need to do their best protection and blocking spell."
Once inside the store Willow and Tara quickly cast their spells. The store was now protected by their strongest spells but Spike didn't know how long they had.
Now that they were safe for the time being the full weight of what had just happened sunk in.
"He killed Warren," Jonathan said, tearfully.
Spike, who had been making sure that Buffy and the baby were alright, suddenly turned, grabbed Jonathan and threw him up against the wall. Spike yelled as his chip went off, but didn't let go of Jonathan.
"How?" Spike growled. "How the bloody hell did she know about him?"
"I don't know," Jonathan whimpered. "I barely remember the last few months. It's all a blur."
"Well you'd better remember," Spike growled. "Because if you don't..."
Jonathan tried to think. He finally said, "I don't know how she knew about him. All she said was that she heard about him one night when she was naughty and supposed to be asleep."
Spike stared at Jonathan for a moment and then let him drop to the ground. Spike stepped away from Jonathan and began to pace around the room, "No," He muttered. "She couldn't have.she was asleep. they both were. we were sure of it.. and if she was awake how did she remember.bloody hell who forgets something like that.I know we didn't..." Spike began to mutter in a language Buffy had never heard before.
"What's he saying?" Buffy asked.
Anya looked at Spike and then at Buffy, "Words that I wouldn't even say, in several demon languages."
Buffy stood up, grabbed Spike and shook him, "Spike, what is going on? Who is that?"
Spike pulled away from Buffy and leaned against the counter, looking shaken, "His name, in this dimension anyway, is Dante."
"Like the poet?" Tara asked.
"No," Spike said. "This Dante is a demon beyond terror, beyond horror. All record of him was wiped out of the Watcher's Council record and all other written word. He's only know in legend and even the legend is know by few."
"Like you?" Dawn said.
"Right," Spike said. "And I only know because Angelus told me about him one night when we were beyond drunk."
"Angel knows about Dante?" Buffy asked.
"It wasn't Angel who told me about Dante," Spike corrected. "It was Angelus. He told me after one of the most." He trailed off. He wasn't going to tell anyone the details of that night. They wouldn't understand.
"What did he tell you?" Giles asked.
"We were all so drunk," Spike said. "We'd killed an entire tavern that night." He looked around. "All those people, all of them drunk.And when we feed off of them we got drunk and the more we fed.." Spike didn't finish the sentence. They got the picture. "After we finished them all we went back to the hotel we were staying at. At the hotel we." Spike stopped. He glanced around the room, suddenly remembering who he was talking to. None of these people would understand what had happened that night between him, Drusilla, Darla and Angelus. To vampires the whole night had been natural, almost expected but to humans it would be wrong. Spike couldn't tell them that part of. There were children in the room, of course two weren't born but still. plus he couldn't bare the look of disgust on Buffy's face when she realized what he had done.
"What happened at the hotel?" Buffy asked. Spike had stopped talking and a glazed look had appeared on his face.
Spike spoke carefully, "The women were sleeping and Angelus and I were talking. We were both still drunk and getting drunker. Angelus said that he had a story to tell but that no one else could know. We were sure that the women were asleep and couldn't hear. That's when he told me about Dante."
"And Drusilla heard all of this?" Giles asked. "Even though you thought that she was sleeping."
"She must have. That's the only time I ever heard Angelus talk about Dante." Spike didn't add that Drusilla had been curled up right between him and Angelus. She was in the perfect position to hear everything.
"What did Angel tell you about Dante?" Buffy asked.
"Dante was evil that existed long before anything else did," Spike said, trying to remember every detail of the legend that Angel had told him. The legend had scared them both and Spike had tried to forget. "He's not even from this dimension. It was just here where they finally stopped him."
"How?" Buffy asked.
Spike shook his head and continued with his tale, "Dante went from dimension to dimension, devouring everyone and everything that wasn't exactly evil in its purest form."
"Like the Judge?" Buffy asked.
"No," Spike said. "Worse. You saw what he did to Warren." Spike ignored Andrew and Jonathan's wimpers. "He'd do that and worse to all of his victims. He finally wound up here and they managed to stop him." Spike thought hard. His memories were clouded by the alcohol and fear from that night. "Some were able to escape Dante's purges. They knew he was coming here so they got here first. They found the Slayer."
"The first Slayer," Buffy asked.
"No, the second Slayer." Spike glanced at Giles, "Ever wonder why there's hardly anything on the Second Slayer. She was the one who finally defeated Dante. All the others that escaped him combined their powers with the Slayer and channeled it through her. She put him in the darkest, deepest part of the Hellmouth where he was supposed to stay forever."
"Until you and Angel decided to get drunk and blab all," Xander said.
Buffy shot Xander a look and he shut up, "How do we defeat him now?"
"When the Slayer finished off Dante all of her new powers were taken from her and.." This part of the legend had confused him and Angelus hadn't been up to explaining it fully. "I think it was put into a stone. That's the only thing that could defeat him if he ever raises again."
"So where is the stone?" Willow asked.
"I don't know," Spike said.
"Why did you say that Dante would come after me?" Buffy asked.
"It was the Slayer that defeated him," Spike pointed out. "He senses anyone with the blood of a Slayer. That's you, the Nibblet, and the baby."
"So he'll come here first," Anya said, looking at Buffy. "He'll come here because of you."
"Back off," Willow said.
"It's true," Anya snapped. "He's going to kill the entire world, starting here. All of us are going to die."
"Not if we can stop him," Buffy said, pacing around the store, her hands rubbing her back. Her back had been aching more than usual ever since they'd gotten to the Magic Box. She must have injured it when Drusilla had pushed her.
"How do we do that?" Anya asked, angrily. "The only way to defeat him has been lost since practically the beginning of time."
"There has to be something," Giles said, picking up one of his books. "Even if all record of Dante was erased there has to be some mention of him." He looked at Spike, "How did Angelus know about Dante?"
"The Master," Spike explained. "He told Angelus about Dante one time when he and Darla were visiting."
"If the Master and Angel knew about Dante then other vampires had to know," Willow said.
"It's not a commonly known legend," Spike pointed out. "The only way to pry it out of a vampire is with lots of booze and great." Spike stopped just in time. He had to be careful or he was going to reveal all that had happened that night. "It even scares vampires."
"Why is this legend kept a secret?" Dawn asked, paging through a book, looking for a reference to Dante."
"Because not even vampires like Angelus and the Master want some crazy with delusions of grandeur to raise Dante up again. That's why we wanted to be sure that Dru couldn't hear what we were saying."
"Well she did," Buffy said, staring out the window. Spike joined her. Far off in the direction of the old high school smoke was rising. Dante's powers were already starting to return. It was only a matter of time before he found them. They just had to make sure that they could stop him when he did.