Illusions

(Spike)

Blinking…

Blinking…

Tick…tick…twitch…blinking…blur…

STATIC…STATIC…NOTHING…blinking…blinking…

Blurry haze... spinning… spinning…

His shattered mind failed to process the odd shininess that graced his wrists. It held his blank gaze like a fascinated child finding awe in something that they knew not name or use.

Shiver…twitch…tick… NOTHING…

Blinking… shiny…blur… spinning...nausea…

STATIC…NOISE…ringing bells sounding in his ears. NOTHING…blinking…blinking…

Dead muscles seized weakly, sending hot spikes of pain bursting over him. The static noise exploded within his mind. Knives pierced his skull and sent the muscles in his face into a flurry of random ticking spasms. His stomach lurched and vile vomit burst from around the cloth gag. The acid opened the blisters in his mouth and throat, spreading the poison further into his already tainted system. Dark, blood polluted with yellow-green fluid trickled steadily from his nose expanding the puddle of bodily fluid that created a sticky bed beneath his paralyzed body.

Blinking…blinking…gurgle…vomit…twitch…

RINGING…STATIC…RINGING…blur…NOTHING…tick…tick…

Blurry haze faded into liquid blackness. Inflammation created by the broken capillaries in his eyes and the continued pollution of his system from the poison interfered with his vision.

Blinking…

Black…shiny…blur…black…shiny…white haze…NOTHING…

Twitch…twitch…tick…seize…PAIN...gurgle…choke… vomit….

Red-hot spikes surged up his spine to pierce the base of his skull. His body shivered then began to seize as the gouging needles invaded his head like an angry swarm of hornets. Sweat beaded over his skin and his ruptured lips began to leech fluid as the swelling in his face increased.

PAIN…seize…choke... vomit…blur…NOTHING…faint…spinning…

His vision blurred then suddenly tunneled…PAIN…

…BLACKOUT…

(The Library)

Willow followed Giles back into the library proper. The silence from him was enough to set her nerves even more on edge, if that was even possible. "Please tell me that phone call was productive, I mean, there has to be news, good or bad."

"It was enlightening to say the least," He admitted as they joined the others once more. He retook his seat and placed the pad that he had taken notes on during the phone conversation down on the table in front of him. His gaze swept the room.

Anya and Oz both focused to his presence almost immediately. Cordelia and Xander, however were once again up to their usual banter and general annoyance of each other. So much so that the piercing whistle from Oz and Giles clearing his throat startled them. Xander levitated from his seat, the chair screeching against the hard-wood floor and nearly toppling over backward.

"Geez, was there a need to burst …!" Cordelia rolled her eyes and was about to scold those who had made the ear-splitting racket when her gaze settled upon Giles. "Oh—well.—still was that really necessary?"

He waited patiently for her to finish, his gaze settled upon her from above the rim of his glasses. "To some extent, yes, as the need to gather information is growing more important by the hour and foolish horseplay can easily wait until a time when the situation is not so dire." There came an abrupt pause and his calm rebuke hung stale in the air like a wet blanket.

"So what is the latest on Buffy and the others, or do I want to know? Considering, the possibility of this situation coming to a positive conclusion sort of hangs upon having the Slayer, Angel and their child still living and more or less able to help." Oz turned the conversation back to the quest for pertinent information before Cordelia could further any sort of argument with Giles.

"It would seem that Kale has found no use for Buffy or Angel and has cast them back through one of the portals. They were both injured and luckily were cast back at a location that found them in the yard of a coven of Vampire led by one Carlisle Cullen. Both have been taken in and are being treated, by Dr. Cullen, for injuries sustained. Carlisle is also head of hospital in Forks Washington and also at Seattle Regional. According to his son, Edward, they are both safe and will be taken care of until such a time as they are well enough to continue this endeavor to defeat Kale. Unfortunately, Angelica was not with them which means she is likely still in Kale's clutches."

"Holy shit, Kale's opened more than one portal." Anya shook her head, her expression moving from worry over the well-being of Buffy and her family to shocked concern as to the situation with Kale. "He's gaining power and by the way it sounds, he's moving between portals with no opposition. He'll use Angelica sooner than you think."

"Uhm—Kale can't open the gates without some long, drawn out ritual right? I mean, that's what you were saying earlier, before… And how do we get Angelica back without the help of Buffy? That's like sending Tweety Bird to fight Superman on Water World." Willow's string of Pop Culture references seemed to shatter the dark overtone that had shadowed the room to the point that even Anya smiled.

"There are certain rituals that must be performed before main gates to the underworld can be opened. Kale, as far as I can tell, has yet to even begin those particular sets of rituals. The fact that he has Angelica however puts him a step closer to having the items necessary to begin such rituals." Giles studied the group before him, his mind hard at work formulating the best plan for moving forward. "Willow, continue the search for the name Cullen in regards to the Olympic Coven. Edward revealed that the name was synonymous with an old family crest. Also, we need to begin looking for information on the Coven of the Volturi."

"Why? What do they have to do with Kale, or do I want to know?" Cordelia shuddered as just the sound of the name gave her the creeps. "Sounds like a flock of hell spawned vultures rather than fanged corpses."

"It was likely members of these Volturi that showed up at the magic shop earlier. It is the only Coven that Edward was familiar with that is distinguishable by their dark black robes lined in crimson fabric." Giles revealed, "We will continue the search for information on Kale as it pertains to the likelihood that he carried a different name before being consumed."

"Actually those two made vultures spawned of hell look lame," Anya moved to try and help Willow with the research being done via the web. "Certainly hope they didn't make off with Spike. As much as he gets on my nerves at times, I am a bit selfish. If his existence is going to end, I want to be the one to end him rather than two creeps that rose from an ancient coffin somewhere."

"If anyone is going to end him, it should be one of us," Willow's fingers clicked across the laptop keyboard. She then shifted over to log the other unused laptop in for Anya. "Buffy would be pissed if some unknown wacko ended Spike's existence without her permission."

"Thing is, if they did make off with him, how would we know? How would we get him back? I mean, it's not like we can just demand his release and get results. It's always far more complicated than that." Xander fiddled with the page of the tome he'd been perusing.

"Without Buffy, the odds of getting him back aren't very good. Unless there's some earth shattering revelation, finding him if those creeps did make off with him is going to be near impossible."

"We will cross that bridge when it presents itself." Giles' gaze lifted to focus then upon Willow whose furious typing had stopped. There ensued a few moments of heavy silence followed by a flurry clicking and the sound of the printer as it came to life.

"Considering how often Spike just appears out of the clear blue, I'd say we'll know when he doesn't show again for a week or two." Oz watched Willow as she retrieved the pages from the printer. She scanned them. Her body language told him everything he needed to know without asking the pertinent question that sat idling on the tip of his tongue.

"Yeah no kidding," Willow set the pages down on the table. "According to town lore and it's likely that some of it is purely based on hearsay and creepy tales, but there was a bookstore on the square at one time by the name of Page 4 Page. It went up in flames under mysterious circumstances. No official cause could be determined. The owner was never found, either in ashes or anywhere else. Like poof, he totally disappeared off the face of the planet, never existed, or maybe—." She gave a reflexive shudder. Just the story itself sent a spike of cold fire down her spine and engulfed her body in a rash of goosebumps. "The owner's name was said to be one Kyle J. Brookston. The store dealt in "rare" books."

"Kyle to Kale-," Oz tapped the desk with a finger, "The progression of the name fits." His gaze focused then on Cordelia who had a look of morbid confusion plastered on her face. "Before you ask, a Grimoire would be considered a rare book."

Cordelia rolled her eyes but didn't further the insinuation surrounding his comment.

Giles skimmed through the information. "Hmm, the name Page 4 Page-," His mind began trying to fit what information they currently had into the proper place in the current ever-changing puzzle.

"Wasn't there, at one time, a little bookstore that sat caddy-corner to the old cemetery?" Anya's question startled Giles from his concentrated thought. "Not that I can say I'd ever been in it, but I seem to remember reading about it at some point in some old newspaper clipping." She jiggled the mouse on the laptop she had been previously only barely using and begin trying to jog her own memory. "If I remember right, it had some odd name such as that." Of course, demons were well known for their nearly photographic memories at times and Anya was no exception.

"I do believe there was," Giles skimmed the information once more, "What is there now is a vacant, over-grown lot and has been for years-."

"No, but if that's this place we're trying to locate and it ties into this Kale character then he could have opened a portal there. Didn't you say that he had likely opened multiple portals and that's how he was moving in between?" Xander reached for another of the many tomes that filled the center of the table.

"Actually I said it, but I'm sure he was thinking it, "Anya continued her work on the laptop.

Giles gave a nod. He pulled the notepad and pen that he had brought from the office and began to jot down notes as the path necessary to find pertinent information became clearer. "Willow, see what you can find on the Olympic Coven and also the Coven of the Volturi. I expect that information to be more likely available via the web rather than any book we might have here. We will keep looking for information on Kale and also on the link between him and the Page 4 Page bookstore."

"How are we going to get to Buffy and Angel if they ended up in Washington State? I mean that's not exactly a bike ride around the block as far as trips go."

"Planes, trains or automobiles, we will manage," Oz let the sarcasm drip from his tone like blood dripping from the blade of a knife. He returned Cordelia's roll of the eyes with a thumbs up and a wolfish grin.

"I can confirm the information that was given to you about one Carlisle Cullen working as head of hospital and Lead Physician at Seattle Regional and also Lead Physician at Forks General, that's no lie. Also looks as though his son, one Edward Cullen is also a physician at both places while also having certification in clinical psychology and is Lead at Forks Mental Health Facility. Now as for the name Cullen as it pertains to the Olympic Coven and the Coven of the Volturi—." Willow's fingers began once again flying over the laptop keyboard. The up-tempo clicking seemed to provide an odd rhythmic background to Anya's less than furious typing speed.

"Volturi, as in a coven created by three brothers: Aro, Marcus and Caius; of an elder race of Vampire," Anya scrolled through the information before her on the screen. "They get an A for intimidation factor, other than that-," She clicked the proper series of menus to print the information.

"Well, they certainly aren't hiding anything suspicious." Xander brought up the loaded point that nobody else had even wanted to consider.

"We could still be walking into a trap if these two covens were somehow linked. However, considering what we currently know about this Carlisle Cullen, that is highly unlikely." Willow paused her own research to watch as Anya skimmed through the information she'd printed before handing the pages to Giles.

"This mentions no recent correlation between the two covens other than to say that Carlisle Cullen was a former member of the Coven of the Volturi. He severed ties with them centuries ago due to a difference of opinion in regards to Vampiric lifestyle."

"Hence the beginning of the Olympic Coven. It's made up of those whom Carlisle saved from mortal death by changing them as a last resort. They are his family of sorts and have formed the Olympic Coven." Willow read from information she'd pulled from the web. "As for the name Cullen-."

"Definitely puts a positive spin on the idea of Vampires." Oz spoofed more to himself than aloud.

"So this Carlisle Cullen and one of his sons works in the medical field around mortal humans' day in and day out without any sort of bloodbath type carnage?" Cordelia's train of thought stalled as she worked through the deeper meaning behind what she'd just said.

"Yep, tame aren't they?" Willow glanced over at her, a bemused smirk momentarily lighting up her expression.

"Makes for an interesting cover." Oz agreed. "It means they aren't actively feeding on humans."

"Means Buffy won't feel such a need to go all slay on them." The bemusement turned sour as her current thread of research dead-ended. "Be nice to not have to worry so much about random puncture wounds when you least expect it."

"Still doesn't change the fact that more crazies have been added to the creep show." Cordelia sighed then shivered reflexively at just the mere thought.

"Remember the troll," The room paused as if frozen in a fleeting moment of time. Willow's gaze lifted from the laptop, over her shoulder, to land upon Cordelia. "You were asked to keep the troll in its cage." She let the insinuation hang stale in the air before returning to her work.

"Kale, people, Kale," Xander clicked his pencil against the table. "This is a timed event. If we don't have a plan before the clock strikes zero -."

"We will just have to get creative," Giles interrupted the banter pointedly, his tone expressing only the slightest hint of irritation. "Tomorrow will be less about information and more about exploration. The vacant lot across from the old cemetery may provide further clues. It will be far safer to explore it now rather than wait until Kale has strengthened enough to be able to begin the rituals necessary to open the gates." It wasn't a matter that required any sort of committee or discussion and nobody could find a reason to argue the point even if the result meant walking into what might actually be the lion's den.