Animatus
Notes: Thanks for the reviews, I love the inspiration. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, but I've been incredibly busy. I'll do my best to get these chapters out though.
Previously:
"Riley?" Buffy asked, capturing the man's attention.
"Yeah?" He asked, looking over at her.
"What happened to your leg?" She questioned warily.
Riley looked down at his bloodied limb, his face paling. Glancing back up at his ex-girlfriend, he shakily replied, "I…I don't know."
Chapter Nineteen: Waiting for Death:
Faith felt as though she had been walking forever. Her eyelids drooped and she found herself trailing behind her Watcher, who strode briskly down the street. Faith had watched with awe as the city changed drastically before her. They had left the cemetery shortly before the sun began to ride over the horizon. When they returned to Faith's motel room, the young Slayer had quickly packed her belongings while Kate had paid her remaining bill. They left the motel room when the sun was just peeking over the edge of the world; its smiling face lighting up the sky in a brilliant display of orange and gold. Faith had paused momentarily, closing her eyes and allowing the warmth of the sun to caress her cheeks. Then they had started walking.
The sun was swiftly crawling up in the sky. When they had first started walking, Faith had felt at home. The city was a landscape of sprawling industry. Smoke stacks dotted the skyline and a murky haze seemed to hang over the world in a protective, polluted bubble. However, as they walked, the haze lifted. The streets became wider. The spaces between the buildings grew. Trees dotted the sidewalks. The trash that Faith had been accustomed to seeing playfully rolling down the streets disappeared. Faith watched wide eyed as the houses grew in size. For her whole life, she had lived in a two bedroom apartment in a neighborhood most people in the city of Boston never dared to tread. But that place had been her home. She had grown comfortable with it; she recognized every piece of trash, every smokestack on the skyline, and every dirty face that wandered by on the sidewalks.
"This is where you live?" Faith asked as she glanced around at the mansions dotting the tree lined road. They had walked the length of the city until everything that Faith had recognized had vanished and she was traveling through an unknown land.
"This is where we live," Kate corrected her, smiling over at the awestricken young girl. "The Council has been around for centuries," Kate explained. "In that time, it's managed to amass quite a lot of money."
"I can see that," Faith nodded. "I should be in school," she added as an afterthought.
"You're school is quite far from here, isn't it?" Kate asked.
"You could say that," Faith replied.
Kate smiled at Faith's vaguely sarcastic tone. "You won't need to go back to that school anymore," the older woman said. "I can teach you all that you'll need to know."
"Really?" Faith asked in surprise.
"Really," Kate nodded. "I'm quite qualified. That is, unless you'd like to continue attending your high school."
"No," Faith shook her head rapidly, "I don't want to go back there." She could not imagine walking down the halls of her old high school without Christy by her side. Her girlfriend had been her rock, but her rock was gone. She would have to be her own rock.
"Faith," Kate said, slowing her pace, and turning to face the girl, "I know that life hasn't been easy for you." Faith smirked and Kate smiled softly. "But it will only get better from here." Faith smiled, though she doubted her Watcher's words. Kate had been right; life never had been easy for her. Though she found herself transported out of her old life and into a new one, which had all of the prospects of being much better, she could not ignore the scratching claws of doubt that scraped at the back of her mind. Finally, they reached a sprawling two story house that stood behind massive, wrought iron gates. Trees lined the drive leading up to the front door. "Welcome home," Kate pronounced, pulling a ring of keys out from her pocket. Selecting one, she shoved it into the lock on the gate, turned it, and swung the gate inward. Faith found herself holding her breath as she walked through the gate and into the front yard of the estate.
"Nice place," she muttered, nodding approvingly.
"This used to be the summer home of some wealthy merchants, back in the day," Kate chuckled. "It will do nicely for our purposes, however."
"What do you mean?" Faith asked, glancing over at the older woman.
"Follow me," Kate replied, walking up the drive. They reached the front door and Kate followed the same procedure with the lock as she had at the gate, except that she used another of the numerous keys hanging off of the ring. Swinging the front door open, she stepped inside, motioning for Faith to follow. Faith stepped into the house rather reluctantly. She felt as though by crossing the threshold, she was abandoning fully her old life. Her boots fell on a wooden floor that was polished to shine in the light of the chandelier hanging in the foyer. A broad staircase opened before her, leading to the second floor and a railed overlook that peered down onto the foyer.
"Our bedrooms are upstairs," Kate announced. "I'll show you to yours in a minute. The library is this way," she continued, moving to a set of opened double doors to the left. The library was filled with books from wall to wall. Two antique desks sat facing each other in the center of the room. The air inside of the library smelled of old, yellowed paper; a smell that Faith would never forget. The red, black, and gold spines lined the walls with an ancient luster. Faith felt as though all of the knowledge in the world could be housed on those bookshelves. "The training room is over there," Kate said, pointing to another set of opened double doors across the foyer. "That is where you'll learn to fight." Faith could see the glittering edges of weapons shimmering in the light morning sun spilling in through the windows. "I'm sure all of this is quite overwhelming," Kate said softly. "I think I know what will make everything better."
"What's that?" Faith asked.
"Are you hungry?" Kate inquired. Faith's eyes lit up and she nodded.
"Yeah," she replied enthusiastically.
"Chocolate chip pancakes it is then," Kate smiled, leading Faith out of the library, through the house, and to the kitchen. Though her Slayer was young and inexperienced, Kate knew that she would grow to be one of the greatest warriors the world had ever known. However, she knew that the life of a Slayer was difficult and she wanted to ease the transition as much as possible. Faith had much of life yet to witness and Kate wanted to be there to witness all of it at her side as both a mentor and friend.
…………………………….
"What happened to your leg?" Buffy questioned warily.
Riley looked down at his bloodied limb, his face paling. Glancing back up at his ex-girlfriend, he shakily replied, "I…I don't know."
"It could be a bullet wound," one of the soldiers suggested nervously.
"Or not," Faith added, her mouth set in a grim frown.
"No," Riley said, shaking his head rapidly. "No, it's not what you think it is."
"How do you know that?" Faith asked, moving away from the railing on the second floor. She quickly descended the staircase, joining Buffy on the first floor.
"There's no way," Riley added to himself. "I didn't come this far..."
"Riley," Buffy said gently. "We need to figure out what happened."
"If you're infected…" Faith began.
"This is mistake," Riley interrupted. "I'm not infected."
"You could have been bitten when we were trying to block the door," Buffy reasoned. "The zombies were right at our feet."
"So, what?" Riley asked angrily. "We don't know for sure what happened."
"Let's just inspect the wound," Giles suggested, joining the conversation. Most of the people housed in the Bronze had, by this time, realized that the zombies were no longer a threat to them at the present moment. Having regained their courage, they moved from the second floor back down to the first in order to witness more closely the conversation between Buffy and Riley.
"That's not a good idea," Faith interjected.
"Why not?" Giles asked exasperatedly.
"We don't know how the infection spreads. Obviously, when you're bitten you're turned. But what about if you're just scratched? Or what if you get some of their blood in your mouth or eyes? Or a cut on your hand?" She stressed. "If you touch that wound and some of the blood gets into your system, for all that we know, you could turn as well."
"So what should we do then?" Buffy asked, looking over at the younger girl for guidance.
Faith sighed. She did not like Riley, but she knew that he could be useful in their eventual escape from the Bronze. Though she felt wary of him, not only because he was a soldier, but because he had been a former love of Buffy's, she pitied him. She sensed how frightened he was at the prospect of being infected by whatever it was that caused people to turn into walking corpses with a lust for human flesh. "We wait," she replied.
"Wait?" Riley asked.
"Yes," Faith nodded. "We lock you in the backroom and see what happens. If you don't turn by the time morning rolls around, we'll just assume that you cut yourself on a piece of the door, or that you were shot, or that something else happened. But if you do turn, we'll know what to do."
"And what's that?" Riley shuddered, though he already knew the answer to his question.
"We'll have to kill you," Buffy replied softly.
"Great," Riley shook his head, looking down at the floor. "I don't like my odds."
"Would you rather stay one of them?" Faith asked.
"No," he answered, shaking his head solemnly.
"Alright," Faith said. "Give me your gun."
"I don't think so," one of the soldiers stepped forward.
"It's okay," another said. Faith recognized him as the man who had been guarding the stairs. "She knows what she's doing."
"What's your name?" Buffy asked as Faith smiled slightly.
"Jay," he replied. "I can guard you, sir, if you'd like," he offered to Riley.
"That's okay," Riley shook his head. Turning to Buffy, he smiled softly, "would you mind?"
"I can do it," Buffy nodded. Riley stepped forward and hesitatingly handed his gun to Faith, who shoved it into the back of her jeans.
"Buffy," she whispered, grabbing her girlfriend by the elbow as she and Riley walked past, heading to the backroom. "Are you sure that you're okay with this?" She asked.
"I don't want him to die alone," Buffy nodded. "Or with people he doesn't know."
"But if he turns," Faith warned, "you'll have to kill him."
"I know," Buffy smiled grimly. "I think it's better this way. I think he'd rather have someone that he cares about do it than someone he doesn't."
"But are you okay with it?" Faith emphasized.
"Yeah," Buffy nodded slowly, sniffling slightly. "I'm okay." Moving away from Faith, Buffy walked towards the room in which Riley had already situated himself. She accepted a flashlight from Giles, entered the room, and closed the door behind them.
"I don't like this," Faith muttered, turning to the Watcher.
"Neither do I," Giles admitted. "But Buffy won't listen to anyone once she's made up her mind."
"What if something happens in there?" Faith asked. "What if he turns her too?"
"She's strong," Giles replied, laying a comforting hand on the dark haired Slayer's shoulder, "she can handle this."
"Doesn't matter how strong you are," Faith mumbled, walking away. "The bad things in this world can still get you."
Buffy clicked on the flashlight and sat down on a packing crate across the room from Riley. "How do you feel?" She asked.
"Fine," Riley replied. "I feel fine."
"Well," Buffy sighed, "we'll just have to wait. See what happens."
"Buffy," Riley said, looking down at his hands, "I don't think that I cut myself. Or that I was shot."
"No?" Buffy asked, a sense of dread overcoming her.
"I mean, I don't remember getting shot. I know what that feels like. This was different," Riley explained. "But maybe I wasn't bitten though. Maybe one of them just scratched me. We don't know if that means anything. I could be fine."
"You could be," Buffy nodded. "But you could also turn."
"Just, promise me one thing," Riley said pleadingly. "If I do…turn…kill me quickly. I don't want the last thing I remember before meeting my maker to be the desire to eat someone."
"I promise," Buffy said sadly. She surveyed the man sitting in front of her. His face looked pale, though that could have been a result of the blood loss. Small beads of sweat dotted his forehead and his lips looked cracked and broken. Glancing down at his hands, she saw that they were shaking. Tightening her grip on her gun, she realized that it was only a matter of time before he would die. What happened after that, she would have to wait to see.