(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 15 - If I Could Just Forget About You
"It's quite clear from the book" Dalton, the vampire with the pointless spectacles told Spike, "Translation is impossible without the Cross"
"The Cross of Du Lac" the bleached blond echoed the name that Dalton had said before, as he looked down at the picture in the book. The mausoleum where it might be found was just a couple of miles from the factory, he could have the thing in his hands before sun up. Then Dru's cure could be found, his Dark Goddess would be restored and Little Miss SlayGal, Buffy Summers, would be struck from his mind and his heart. Spike didn't know how she'd crawled in there and set up home, but she'd be swiftly evicted in no time at all he was sure. When Dru was back to full strength they would travel the world, cutting a swath of destruction across continents like they used to, leaving a trail of blood red damage behind them.
"Oi, you!" Spike called to one of his larger followers, a burly fellow who's name escaped him, but whom he was fairly certain could probably bounce your average opponent down the street with one hand when he was human, so now he had vampire strength... "Take Dalton here, fetch the cross from the mausoleum, and do it fast"
"Yes, sir" the large vampire nodded, dragging the smaller and complaining demon-man behind him. Dalton really was quite a nancy for a vampire, Spike observed as they left together and he returned to Drusilla. She was still in bed, spent most of her time sleeping and refused to eat almost every time Spike offered her anyone to bite on. He hoped the pretty young blonde girl he'd had the boys catch would whet her appetite, after all she could always make pretend it was the Slayer, he was sure she'd like that.
"How're you doin', ducks?" he asked his princess as he returned to her side, "Feelin' any better?"
"Baby wants to play" she pouted, "but her energy escapes without her"
"'S cos you're not eating, luv" he told her, hand going to her cheek in an affectionate gesture, "Gotta eat to keep your strength up. Here, look what I got for you" he said, snapping his fingers so that the minion should bring the meal forward, a little pretty blonde, not more than sixteen, as specified, a gag keeping her quiet and rope tying her hands behind her back in case she tried to escape.
"She's a pretty one" Dru observed, "Like the other who would harm me" she growled.
"Have us a nice game of let's pretend shall we, luv?" Spike smirked, "Can keep her for a pet, call her Slayer if you want to"
"Yes" Drusilla smiled evilly, getting hold of the girl and pulling her closer as Spike moved away, "I like that game very much" she said, eyes locking onto to the innocent girl's own, putting her in a kind of trance as she pulled her closer still. As her fangs went to the girl's neck, Spike forced himself to watch at first, but it became impossible and he turned away, feeling physically sick.
From the back, she was a dead ringer for the Slayer, and in moments she would most likely just be dead. As much as he'd like to say he hated Buffy Summers and wanted to kill her like he'd originally planned he knew it was not going to be so simple. He couldn't bear witness to her death anymore than he could bring her down himself. There had to be another way to get rid of her and he was going to find it, before it was too late.
"You must at least be a little interested in what job you could get" Willow implored her friend, but Buffy was adamant she didn't care as they walked across the school grounds, together with Xander.
"What use is there in finding out what I might be good at when I already know I never can?" the blonde sighed, "Slayer destiny kinda doesn't leave room for a day job, and that's assuming I live beyond twenty-five, most Slayer's don't" she said sadly.
"Oh come on, Buff" Xander said, trying to sound chipper, "With us on your side, you'll be here way into little old lady-hood" he assured her with such confidence it made her smile.
"I hope so" she nodded, as they walked over to where the lists of aptitude test results had been posted. Xander did the honours of looking for the Slayer's name and reading her results aloud.
"Okay, Buffy... or should that be Inspector Buffy" he smirked as he read the job title next to her name, "Apparently you're cut out for the world of jelly donuts and guns"
"The police?" the Slayer's eyes went wide as she leaned in to see where Xander was pointing to her name on the list - she did not looked at all thrilled by the result.
"Don't laugh yet, Xander" Willow smiled, showing him where she'd found his name on the list.
"Prison Guard?" he gasped, "No way, no, they got my test mixed up with somebody else's!" he protested as the girls looked for Willow's name. Strangely it didn't appear to be there.
"But I did the test" the red-head explained, "I used a number two pencil!"
"Me too" said a voice behind her and her frowned turned to smile when she spun around and found Oz there, "And yet, also not listed" he told her, finding it strange.
"I guess we must be special or something" Willow smiled giddily at the guy she liked so much and who seemed to be at least a little interested in her so far too.
"Well, I know you are" he said, barely glancing at her, then carrying on with the conversation like neither the compliment or the little moment they shared had actually occurred, "So I'm thinking maybe its some kind of conspiracy, against people with naturally red hair, or something..." he said, making Willow giggle as Buffy got a hold of Xander's arm and moved him away from the scene.
"Hey, am I missing something there?" the brunette checked, craning his neck to keep an eye on Willow and Oz, until Buffy spoke and brought his attention back to her.
"They like each other" she explained, "And since Oz seems like a nice guy, I'm happy for Will. She deserves a nice guy" she said, eyes flitting to the ground as she thought of the man she thought had been so nice and had turned out to be something else entirely.
"You deserve that too, Buff" Xander told her, "And you'll find it, I promise"
"I kinda thought I already had, especially with William... Spike" she amended bitterly, "God, how could I have been so stupid" she cursed herself as she and Xander headed toward the library.
"We all make mistakes, Buffy" he reminded her, "Not that I like to mention it too much but Praying Mantis Lady, not my best romantic move"
Buffy smiled at that, grateful to her friend for trying to make her feel better, but in all honesty it didn't help much. Since finding out that William was in fact a vampire, research had begun on him and his female counterpart, Drusilla.
It seemed they were a formidable pair, having caused much pain and destruction for over a century. Tales of death and mayhem, torture and blood had been found by Giles as he dug deeper into the histories of both the vampires. Buffy hated Spike for what he'd done to her, making her fall in love with him had been such a cruel trick and beyond evil in her eyes. He'd caused her much more pain by damaging her emotionally than he ever could have physically, she was sure, despite the stories she'd read of the injuries he'd inflicted on people in the past.
"So I'll see you later, 'kay?" Xander was saying as Buffy tuned back into his voice, finding she'd walked as far as the library doors on autopilot.
"Yeah, sure" she said absently before going inside and finding Giles, surrounded by books as usual and hurrying around the room in quite a state.
"Are we under attack?" Buffy asked, only half joking as she approached the table in the middle of the room, "Or at least, are we expecting to be?"
"Oh, um, well, no, not exactly" her Watcher explained, as he put don the book in his hands, removed his spectacles and polished them with his handkerchief, "Although I must say I am concerned about how far this situation might go"
"There's a situation?" Buffy checked as she took a seat at the table, "Cos I'm kinda having one of those too" she admitted, "Vampires, last night" she explained succinctly, "Breaking into a mausoleum"
"Did they take anything?" Giles asked, brow creasing as he replaced his glasses on his nose and looked almost afraid of what Buffy's answer might be.
"I dunno" the Slayer shrugged, "Is it a big?"
"It may well be, depending on whether or not you slayed these vampires and of course which mausoleum they were breaking into" he told Buffy, referencing another book on the table, "During my research I have found many references to Drusilla having some kind of illness. Though it is unusual for vampires it is not unheard of for them to weaken over time until they can no longer find the strength to even feed themselves and crumble to dust"
"So what does Spike's skank dying have to do with the break-and-enterish vamps?" Buffy asked, still not getting it. An open book was quickly deposited on the table in front of her with a thud.
"The Cross of Du Lac" Giles said simply, as if it should be explanation enough. Of course it wasn't and Buffy looked blankly at him, "It would seem that there may be a cure for Drusilla's condition, the key to which may only be uncovered by the Cross of Du Lac. If the vampire's you encountered last night were at Du Lac's tomb, stealing the cross..."
"Then Spike could be one step away from curing Drusilla and wreaking havoc in my home town" Buffy completed her Watcher's sentence for him as she closed the book in front of her with a thump, "And since I only managed to slay one out of two vamps last night, our survey says - road trip to the cemetery"
She was up from the chair and half way to the library door when Principal Snyder came barrelling in from the opposite direction.
"Miss Summers, how did I know I'd find you here?" he asked her with a look.
Though Giles tried to defend the blonde, Snyder wouldn't here a word as he lectured Buffy about loitering and how she should be taking advantage of the greatness of career day, assuming she ever made it to an age where she might get a job, without ending up dead or in jail. Buffy nodded along like a good girl, though inside she was severely aggravated by the Principal and planning various ways she might slay him if he ever turned out to be a demon in disguise.
By the time Buffy managed to escape from school and make a decent excuse to her mother it was dark when she headed to the cemetery to check out the mausoleum from the night before.
"Congratulations, Giles, you win again in the fabulous 'name that mausoleum' game" Buffy said to herself as she looked up at the name carved on the side of them tomb - it read 'Du Lac' as he'd expected it to and inside she found a place where she guessed some kind of treasure ought to be. It seemed the vampires had the cross, meaning Spike could cure Drusilla, and that could only lead to badness.
What bothered Buffy more than the evil the pair might do, was how she would cope with knowing that 'William' had a woman he liked better than her. It was pathetic and proved entirely that she was still a 'silly schoolgirl' at heart, or so Giles would say she was sure. She ought to be congratulating herself on escaping from the clutches of such a nasty creature as Spike, but she couldn't quite manage it. He'd been so kind to her, and she liked him so much, the man behind the monster or the man he appeared to be in spite of his true nature, was entirely charming and very attractive, even now Buffy couldn't fully hate him, but she was trying to.
What really confused Buffy more than anything else was the way Spike had attempted to execute his plan. Presumably he had meant to kill her, that was the point of getting close to her. Getting into her life, gaining her trust, so her death would be all the sweeter, even easier in some ways. The Slayer winced at those particular thoughts before moving on, as she exited Du Lacs tomb and patrolled around the graveyard for a while. If Spike had planned only to make her fall for him and then kill her, why the confession? He had her right where he wanted her that night, or so it seemed as Buffy looked back on it. In her bedroom, wanting him so much, practically inviting him to do whatever he wanted to. It would have been so easy for him to sink his fangs into her throat and drain the life from her, but he hadn't.Instead he had told her how horrible he felt for doing this to her, wished he didn't have to confess at all, that they were two young crazy kids in love. Even when she was battle ready with stake in hand he was begging her to listen, to forgive him for what he was doing to her. Why would he do that if it was all a game and just a way to kill her. It didn't make any sense, but then neither did believing that a soulless vampire who already had a long-term lover could ever feel the way it seemed William had about the Slayer.
Buffy had no more time to wonder about her situation with William or Spike, who rightly or wrongly she tended to see as two different people these days, believing neither one to be capable of what the other had apparently done. From out of the bushes a demon ran at her. He was mostly human though very large and muscular and with one eye missing, still Buffy's Slayer sense was tingling, and she knew he was more than just a man. He had strength beyond any human she'd ever met and he seemed hell-bent on killing Buffy, as one of his large hands closed around her throat and he lifted her off the floor, til her feet were dangling.
In a blur, a second demon-man ran out of the darkness, attacking the first from behind., Buffy had never been so glad to see this particular vampire as she lay gasping on the ground for a moment, watching Angel fend off her attacker. It wasn't long before she'd regained her breath and grabbing the knife from the sheath at the leg she caught the demon off guard, slitting his throat. He fell to the ground dead and Angel rushed at Buffy hugging her tight.
"Thanks, but I'm fine" she assured him, wishing that his arms around her meant as much as it used to. Right now all she could think about was the other vampire who's arms she had happily been in just a couple of weeks ago. The souled vampire who'd helped her in battle more than once could never be anything more than a friend now.
"Buffy, don't you understand what this means?" Angel asked her, stepping back to look her in the eye. She didn't seem as bothered by this situation as she ought to be.
"We killed a demon, and you're over-reacting?" she said with a slight frown, "What's up, Angel?"
"That demon, he's one of an Order" he explained, bending down briefly to pull the ring that the creature wore on it's finger, "This symbol means Taraka, the name of the Order. They're bounty hunters, Buffy, highly dangerous, and I'll bet I know who's called them out to deal with you" he said angrily, not really noticing his game face was still showing as he moved back to the Slayer and held her in his arms once again, explaining to her the danger she was in.
From the bushes another person watched with fascination as the Slayer and vampire looked very cosy together, first hugging and then kissing. This was very interesting, the girl thought before running off into the darkness with such stealth and grace that nobody ever noticed she was there, not even Buffy who was too busy pushing Angel away.
"Stop it" she said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, "Angel, just don't" she told him firmly. His game face had since slipped away and now he only looked sorry for himself as he stared at her.
"I'm sorry, I just thought..." he began, only for Buffy to interrupt him.
"Well, don't" she said with a look, "I told you, we can't be... what you want us to be. We just can't"
With that the Slayer ran, tears forming in her eyes as she headed for home, wishing her life were as simple as all the other kids at school. It was useful enough to be strong and resilient physically, but even Slayers had vulnerable hearts. Nobody had noticed yet just how much Buffy's own was breaking.
To Be Continued...