Title: Torn part 7
Author: Neamh1
Disclaimer: Not mine
Feedback: Please?
"Don't look so glum Buff, this is good news." Angelus said as he walked into the room. When he had returned he sensed that she was upstairs with the vampiresses and rage had overtaken him that she would have gone into their bedroom. He had been relieved to find that she had taken them into their sitting area and they were simply talking battle plans. He had to admit that it would be worth suffering for a week with Layla and Olufemi living in their home if it brought about an alliance whilst battling with the new slayer. You could never have too many master vampires in one place when there was a threat; the slayer stood no chance now.
"She's just worried that someone is going to get hurt." Layla replied before Buffy could say anything and give away her fear to him, and then he would know that something was wrong and that they hadn't been talking about the slayer and the council of watchers. "We have someone tracking the slayer and they are going to notify us the minute she heads for L.A. I believe our informant told us that at the moment she is with your childe William." Layla said.
"No doubt torturing the whelp for information, wonder how long before he cracks, he never could hold out when the pain got too much." Angelus replied thoughtfully, wondering whether he should send Penn to rescue Spike.
"On the contrary. It seems that your wayward childe was displeased with the attention you had been paying Buffy and took matters into his own hands. He informed the council that you had found Buffy as soon as he returned from the elders meeting, he then informed them of when you were arriving back in Sunnydale, told them that Buffy was taking her position as your mate and even gave them addresses and pictures of each and everyone of Buffy's kin. It was lucky that we were looking out for you my dear otherwise your friends and mother would be dead by now." Layla said, she saw Angelus' anger raising a notch at a time as she listed Williams numerous traitorous acts towards his sire. "To think that he was at your right hand for the elders meeting and betrayed you so soon after, it's such a pain when the ranks turn against you isn't it?" She was enjoying this way too much. "My friends?" she heard Buffy whisper, looking down she noticed how pale she was.
"You don't need to worry, I have had them escorted to a safe location and they are all quite cared for." Layla said and turned her attention back to Angelus but where he had stood was void of his presence.
Layla and Olufemi left Buffy alone for the rest of the night to think through her decision, they could hear her mind working on the pros and cons of such an act and it was driving them to despair. Angelus didn't return that morning and Buffy's worry brought her into their room for some much needed comfort. . "What do you think she will choose to do?" Olufemi asked her sire as they lay awake, unable to fall asleep straight away.
"I think she'll take up our offer and agree, I just hope that everything goes to plan because if something goes wrong then Angelus will be out of control." On that final note they lay awake worrying for a few more hours.
The next evening Angelus was still missing from the Hyperion, Buffy rose before both the other women and asked one of the guards where he was and was simply told that 'the master will be back in no time mistress, he said that if there was anything you need I should get it straight away so just let me know.' She nodded and walked off back to see if Layla had risen yet, she didn't manage to get to the bedroom before she spotted Olufemi walking along the hall.
"Layla has sent me to find out your decision, do you want to go ahead?" she saw the determination in her eyes and knew instantly that Layla had been correct in her prediction.
"I do. You're both sure that you can do this? I mean…really bring him back?" Buffy whispered in case anyone was listening. "We can, but we need to prepare. You'll have to give us the next few hours in peace so that we can get everything ready. We'll need some room to perform the spell and I don't think that any of these rooms are going to cut it. The only place big enough is the lobby but we'll need the sofa moving from the centre of the room. Do you think that you can make up an excuse and get it moved for us"
"Sure, I'll do some training down there; It'll give me a chance to get rid of some tension. I haven't really worked out since I got back from Egypt plus it will take my mind off things. What time will you be ready?" Buffy asked, her muscles were so tense that someone would have been able to use them as guitar strings if they stretched them far enough.
"We'll be ready just before midnight, where's Angelus? He needs to be in the lobby when we start." Olufemi asked, she hadn't sensed his presence in the hotel and hoped that he would be back in time.
"Not sure, I did ask but they just said he would be back as soon as possible, I guess he's still sorting things out with the lawyers." Buffy replied getting worried.
"It's alright; if he doesn't come back in time tonight then we can try tomorrow. Get things ready, I'll be down at just turned eleven to put the markings on the floor." Olufemi said and she turned back towards the bedroom.
"What will we tell the guards?" Buffy asked but the only reply she received was to 'relax' before Olufemi disappeared into the bedroom leaving Buffy alone.
Before heading into the lobby she changed into some training clothes and put on some trainers which she had managed to bring from her house without Angelus knowing. As she walked into the living the guards paid her little attention until she started rearranging the furniture, then one of them approached her.
"Mistress is there something that I can do for you, why are you moving things around?" he asked.
"I'm bored, Angelus has been out all day and I want to ease some tension so I'm going to train and I need the room. Wanna be my sparing partner?" she asked suggestively and the guard instantly took a step back. "Alright then, go guard outside the door whilst I'm training, I wouldn't want to get carried away and end up hurting someone." She said and continued to push the other chairs to the edge of the room. Doing some stretches to ease her muscles she worked her body throughout the room using every bit of space available to practice flips and routines. Feigning mock battles she moved around building up a sweat and unaware of the time that passed until she did an extremely impressive flip and someone clapped. She turned to see Olufemi standing at the bottom of the stairs smiling and clapping and she blushed slightly at being caught unaware.
"You've been training hard Buffy, now it's time for you to have a short rest whilst I get this put down." She said and held up a clear jar of powder, as she began making a circle and symbols on the lobby floor of the Hyperion she explained to Buffy what she was doing. "The inner circle sets the pinpoint for the spell, Angelus will need to be inside it for us to start, the symbols inside the outer circle will allow only four beings to stand on the lobby floor, anyone else who steps inside will disintegrate immediately. It will allow us to finish the spell without any problems from interference. Once I've finished the symbols they will disappear until they are activated by Angelus stepping inside the inner circle." she finished the last one and the symbols glowed for a second before disappearing.
"Who's the fourth person? I'm assuming it will be me, you and Layla…so who's the fourth?" Buffy asked.
"Someone very close to Layla, someone with great power who will perform the spell, we will all aid him by allowing our essence to flow through him as an energy source and a link to Angelus. The spell calls for the mate and two vampires bonded to both Angelus and his mate. That would be me and Layla. Of course if we had more vampires then the spell would be stronger but we'll have to make do with what we have. Don't worry though, Layla is confident that this will work and that there will be no problems. Now that this is done I'd best go up and get Layla so that we can wait here until Angelus arrives. You carry on training sweet, it will provide a good distraction for when he arrives." She left Buffy in the lobby and headed upstairs to get Layla, they would not call for their aid, Aerias until the spell was in motion by Angelus' arrival within the sacred circle. Then once Aerias arrived they would be begin the transformation and bring back to Buffy her soul mate.
Time seemed to drag as she waited in the lobby with Layla and Olufemi for Angelus to arrive; they had twenty minutes left before they would have to give up and try the next night. The spell could only be performed in the hour after midnight when the veils that separated the living from the spirit world where at their weakest.
Buffy had spent the whole night training and still she couldn't shake then tension that coursed through her body. She felt as though she had an endless supply of energy which would never deplete.
The doors to the Hyperion swung open and Angelus walked in stopping short of the main floor when he saw Buffy standing in the centre of the room with the furniture moved to the edges of the room.
"What's going on? Why is everything moved?" he asked, taking a few steps forward to where she stood but not quite far enough to be inside the centre circle.
"I was bored when you didn't come back so I moved everything to do some training, where have you been? You were out all night, I thought something might have happened." He voice wavered as she said the last words, voicing her concern for him.
"Lover I'm touched…" he said as he closed the distance between them, stepping inside the circle. Black beams of magic rose from the floor in the shape of each marking and Angelus attempted to cross the threshold of the circle he was standing in only to find himself blocked by a barrier. "What the hell is going on!" he growled out and a number of guards rushed inside the room at the noise. Layla and Olufemi took their places on either side of Buffy and took hold of each of her hands as a third figure materialised on the opposite side of the circle.
One of Angelus' guards stepped down onto the main lobby floor and instantly disintegrated, after watching the display the others stayed back knowing they were unable to help their boss.
Aerias started to chant in an ancient long forgotten language, his words filling the air with a crackling electrifying power that hummed as he continued and the power grew stronger.
Angelus' curses from inside the inner circle were barely recognisable as a wind picked up inside the room swirling around them. Buffy felt the power being slowly drained from her and going into the magic that circled the room, it took all her willpower not to turn and run as she felt the life being drained from her. It didn't hurt but she felt weak, as though she was floating and surrounded by warmth and light.
Angelus watched enraged as Buffy and the others stood around him, the amount of magic was making him sick to his stomach but the betrayal he felt from Buffy topped anything he'd ever experienced. After ten minutes of chanting he felt something stir in the air and white hot pain ripped through him, tearing him into pieces and brining him to his knees. He screamed in agony as he felt himself being torn apart, and prayed to hell that his earlier arrangements had not been in vain.
Aerias finished the last words of the chant and opened his eyes as the spell took effect on Angelus. The soul he had called forth weaved its way through him, then through Layla and her childe and finally through Buffy then shot into the inner circle and into the captured vampire, all left to do now was let the magic take its course.
Buffy opened her eyes when Aerias stopped chanting and watched as Angelus fell to his knees in pain, she was so weak that she too fell to the floor, Layla and Olufemi lowering themselves when they felt her body go limp and sink to the ground.
Buffy struggled to keep conscious as she watched the soul fighting the demon; she was surprised when she saw Angel's body torn into two separate entities, lying huddled in a ball next to each other on the floor. Confusion took over in her mind, what was happening? This wasn't what was supposed to happen. She looked at Layla in question but the vampire simply shook her head, her own confusion on the out comings evident on her face.
Aerias was confused for but a minute before he realised that his spell must have counteracted against one already set on the demon Angelus. The mixture of powerful magic had gone awry and instead of banishing the demon and bringing forth the soul in human form it had separated them making them two separate entities. He knew that Layla hadn't known about the magic which surrounded the demon otherwise she would have informed him and they might have tackled the problem. Either way he had done what he promised and there was little he could do now that the spell was complete. Looking at Layla he nodded and then disappeared.
Everyone waited to see which one would move first, the vampire guards still dared not to step down in case they would be destroyed and Buffy didn't have the energy to walk forward to see what had happened. Layla and Olufemi took it upon themselves to approach the two figures, they got within a meter before one of the figures moved and quickly darted up from the floor. Looking around the room his demon face snarling he settled his eyes on Buffy and before anyone knew what had happened he had hauled her from the floor and held her arms tightly as he supported her weight against his chest. "You bitch!" he roared at her and instantly Layla made to move towards them, "One more step Layla and I swear I'll break her neck like a twig." Angelus snarled then turned his attention back to Buffy. "I trusted you; I should have known better, you were going to sacrifice me for him, that weak, pathetic excuse for a vampire. I thought we had an understanding Buff, did I not give you everything you wanted, did you not find pleasure in my arms? Did I not protect your friends and family and do my best to protect you!" he was shouting so loud now that her ears were ringing.
"He's human…everything I ever wanted…normal life." She managed to get out of her confused and tired mind. "I could be truly happy." Were her last words, hoping to make Angelus understand why she had done it.
"I told you Buff, I warned you that I would never let you go, that you would always be mine and mine alone. You forced me to do this." He said and let go of her turning back toward where Layla and Olufemi stood on either side of Angel who was still lying on the floor in a heap unconscious. Angelus eyes showed bloody murder as he prowled forward ready to rip apart the soul version of himself.
Buffy's body fell to the floor in exhaustion, "Layla, get him out of here…NOW!" she shouted and watched as Layla and Olufemi held on to Angel and then disappeared.
Angelus roared in anger and quickly turned back to Buffy, he knew they would not leave her there to his wrath and there was no way he would allow them to take her from him. He stood behind Buffy and waited with a patience that eluded him, Olufemi appeared before him between himself and Buffy and before Buffy could utter her warning he ripped Olufemi's head from her body in one swift motion, the ashes falling to the floor blanketed Buffy's sobbing form.
Barking out his orders to the minions surrounding the lobby, he dragged Buffy's now unconscious form from the floor and down into the hotel basement and chained her to the wall. He knew that if he stayed in that room with her he would likely loose control and kill her within minutes, she deserved more than that, she deserved hours of pain for her treachery. He backhanded her viciously across the face and stormed from the room, he needed a few hours to get his rage under control before he could begin teaching his traitorous little bitch a well deserved lesson.
