Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Don't worry guys, I haven't forgotten about this fic. Things just got a little busy for the past few months. So anyway…here's an update. Hope you guys still hang on. More will be coming. Promise. Oh, and by the way. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! )

Fire and Blood

By: human28

Chapter Thirteen

The entrance hall of the mental asylum was eerily empty. No guards. No surveillance cameras. No furnishings of any sort. The walls were a dull gray, and a grimy light-bulb flickered dimly above them. It was almost as if it had been abandoned. That last thought instantly evaporated when hysteric laughter reverberated somewhere above them. This was shortly followed by gloomy, dismal weeping.

She shivered.

She had to remind herself that they were inside a mental hospital. The refuge of those who had been driven into madness. The whole place was doubtless crawling with them. And appending to that, a breed of people totally unknown to them…

Her thoughts snapped back to Dawn. Fortunately, they had not seen any portals opening in the skies – yet. And almost immediately, images of the past came rushing into her head.

Opening portals.

Dawn's blood.

Her blood.

Death.

Death is my gift…

She froze in her tracks, suddenly realizing that if Dawn's captors succeeded in opening the portals before she and her friends could get to her in time, she may just have to die – again.

For the third time.

"Death is your gift…"

Death wasn't a gift.

It was a curse.

Because if death was supposed to bring you straight to heaven – to sanctuary, how come she was still standing here? Alive. Fighting. Never resting.

Ah, because her friends loved her so much that they decided to take her away from her peace and pull her back into the land of the living. Where she could not avoid her destiny. Her destiny to fight evil.

If she died again – would they do that to her for a second time?

She didn't think so.

She had a feeling that if she did die again, they wouldn't haul her out of heaven. They'd leave her for dead.

And somehow, Buffy found that very soothing.

Death is my gift.

…

A few minutes ago, the sky had been a blanket of black, adorned by shooting specks of gold and silver. But as the last of the ceremony's haunting chants was carried away by the wind, the sky once again retreated to its dismal darkness, thus concluding the fact to those who took time to look up at the heavens that something utterly bizarre was happening.

Ames White watched in silence as the circle of Familiars disbanded. The priestesses vanished into a slightly smaller building beside the institution – where the Key was being held imprisoned. He clenched his teeth as flashes of the conversation he held with the Cult's leaders earlier that night echoed through his head.

…

'Hell will break lose once her blood will be spilled.'

…

'Eradication of the human race is our primary motive.'

…

'We are protected by the gods. No amount of harm shall come upon our family.'

…

'The ritual will take place at midnight.'

…

'…And impurity shall no longer exist in this world.'

…

No amount of harm shall come upon our family. White mocked in his head. We are protected by the gods. An angry scowl marred his sharp features. Fuck the gods. This was swiftly followed by a string of obscenities. He found it impossible to believe that their race would survive such an apocalypse. Exactly how many dimensions were there? And what exactly will be coming out of those hell dimensions?

Hell gods, supernatural beings, evil forces, creatures of the night…

As far as he was concerned, there was no possible way that the ritual will take place tonight.

He valued his life too damned much.

…

Eleven o'clock.

One more hour till midnight. Buffy thought with a shiver as she peered through the dusty blinds that curtained the window. The chanting had ceased, and the assemblage of robed figures had seated themselves on the ground, maintaining their perfect circle, heads bowed. Everything was silent. All that could be heard was the sharp crackling of the fire and the faint echo of voices from above – from the residents of the mental asylum.

She wondered what was going on inside the little shack where her younger sister was held captive. She had seen the priestesses walk into the small building and prayed that she was okay.

"Remind me why we can't just jump into the action, kill them all, and get Dawn?" Faith asked impatiently. She hadn't stopped pacing since they had stumbled upon the unused storage room that proved to be the perfect hiding place, given they had a good view of everything happening outside and they could avoid the risk of being seen – while waiting.

"There's too many of them," Sam replied. "And we don't know if their armed or not."

"Oh come on, we can take them! We've got two slayers, one witch, one vampire, and three killing machines. What's a bunch of snake-loving freaks gonna do to us?"

"Well for one thing, the second they see us, they're gonna alert the priestesses. And since they have already taken some of Dawn's blood. They won't need her anymore. So they'll kill her." Max answered bluntly.

The brunette Slayer sighed and plopped down on a dusty armchair. "Good point. I'm just getting restless from sitting around and waiting."

"Waiting's over" Buffy said. "They're leaving."

Faith went to stand next to her and look out the window, watching the cloaked figures stand up and make their way into a slightly larger building than the one Dawn was being kept in. "Finally. Let's go get Dawn 'the-awesome-mystical-key' and get the hell out of here."

They slid out of the building soundlessly, moving as swiftly as they could across the grounds and towards the shack that was Dawn's prison. Amazingly, the door was unlocked. Apparently, they weren't expecting any visitors that night. Buffy was about to enter when a hand stopped her.

It was Alec. His hazel-green eyes shone brightly in the darkness – like a cat's. "Someone's watching."

And indeed, the back of her neck started to tingle.

Spike cursed under his breath, and motioned towards the rooftop of the building where a lone figure stood. Even with their enhanced eyesight, they couldn't make out the face of their observer. It was covered by the darkness.

"Why isn't he setting off the alarms?" Willow asked, confused.

"I don't know. But we're already here and there's no use backing out now." Max said and kicked the door open, surprising the occupants inside. There were three women and five armed guards. But Buffy barely took heed of them, her gaze was locked on the far side of the room where her baby sister was slumped on the floor unconscious.

"Dawn!" She shouted and pushed through the sudden fight that had erupted.

The transgenics had successfully disarmed the guards and had proceeded to beat the shit out of them with a little help from Faith and Spike while the three priestesses stared at Willow with unabashed scrutiny. It was evident that they could sense the magic radiating off of her, and were intrigued, if not frightened.

"Witch," One of them muttered under her breath, glaring at Willow.

"A descendant of Merlin perhaps?" The leader mocked, unperturbed by the sudden change in Willow's beautiful green eyes. "You think you can match the magic that runs through our veins? Our bloodline has been around for centuries, and we have honed our powers well. You are no match for us."

And with that, Willow was flung against the wall.

Seeing this, Buffy charged towards the priestess, face set in an angry scowl. But she too was flung against the wall. The others, could only watch helplessly. The guards weren't showing any sign of backing down, and they barely stumbled from the powerful kicks and punches that the five of them were throwing. And you know how hard those five could hit. Especially Max.

The priestesses saw this and they smiled. "May I introduce to you the Phalanx. They are the best of the best – the elite of our warrior breeding line, the tip of the spear. There is no use in fighting against them."

"Yes there is," Max bit back, pulling out her pistol. And without further ado, terminated her opponent. Alec followed suit, while the rest pinned their enemies to the ground and allowed the two X5s to kill them.

The priestesses, overwhelmed with shock, failed to notice Willow walking slowly towards them, her eyes as black as the night, mouth murmuring Latin under her breath. And before the priestesses knew it, they were surrounded by a ring of fire, and found themselves unable to move.

Willow whispered another incantation, and they all watched as the vial filled with Dawn's blood floated out of the priestess' pocket and towards Buffy. She took it immediately and pocketed it. Looking away, she gave the two X5s a brief nod. Despite the fact that these were evil people about to destroy the world, they were still humans.

"Time to end this." Max said, aiming her gun at them. Alec stood next to her in a similar position. And everyone caught a glimpse of the soldiers that they were.

…

The sound of gunshots pierced the night.

Ames White smiled with mild amusement as he watched the flames from within the shack die out, along with eight of its former occupants. The Key's rescuers emerged from the doors and soon disappeared into the mental institution and shortly exited it, quickly escaping the foreboding place.

As a loyal member of the Cult, White knew that he should've sounded the alarms, informing their fellow brothers and sisters that their beloved priestesses were currently being murdered. But as a sneaky, conniving Familiar, he preferred to watch them die.

Now he was free to do as he wished.

…

To be continued…

…

A/N: Please Review.