Summary: Very AU. Everyone is human. Every town has a house with a story, with a past. Sunnydale was no different. But Crawford Manor was much more than just a house. It's alive and events that were set in motion over a decade ago are finally come to ahead. And its all because of one platinum blonde bad boy, William Giles.

Spoilers: None.

Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, Wes/Fred, Cordelia/Riley with hints of past Darla/Angel, and future Buffy/Spike. It will be a Spuffy story eventually, just fair warning to all those that aren't Spuffy fans.

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who replied. And if I haven't gotten back to you personally, don't worry I will. I'm just amazingly slow at things like that. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

"What do you mean you don't remember?"

Willow Rosenberg repeated her question as she stood staring in disbelief at the young man before her. Xander had just finished recanting the previous night's adventures for the benefit of those that who weren't woken up at two in the morning to pick up an unconscious Spike and rambling Xander. No sooner had he finished, did Willow ask the very same question that had been haunting him the whole morning. What happened while Spike was in that house? However, their friend was clearly not in a caring, sharing mood and had clammed immediately, focusing intensely on his locker combination.

Willow tapped her foot on the ground still waiting for an answer. Xander and the two remaining members of their little group of friends, Wesley Wyndham Pryce and Winifred Burkle watched waiting to see who would crack first in the Battle of the Wills. A tense silence hung over the quintet before Spike finally lifted his head to glance in the redhead's direction. He frowned at the sight of the resolve face. There was not a man alive that had gone up against the resolve face and won. Why start now?

"I don't remember, okay? All I really remember is the fang gang losers showing up and me going into the house," he raked a hand through his hair, wincing at the movements the action caused. "Next thing I know I'm crashing through a window and passing out in front of the girl I've had a bloody crush on since I got to this sodden school. So all in all I'd say last night was a disaster."

"Sounds like," Fred said, sympathetically rubbing his back. He grimaced as her hand brushed against a particularly sore spot. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Spike! Are you sure you should be in school today? You don't look so hot."

"I'm okay, love," he sighed. "Just feeling a bit sore. But I couldn't very well tell my dad what happened last night. It was bad enough telling Dad Jr. over here."

Wesley frowned. "See if I ever pick you up in the middle of the night because you're unconscious and Xander's babbling incoherently about not wanting to face the Ripper, again."

Spike blinked in his direction. "I wasn't really planning on making a habit out of that, Wes." The older boy did not seem amused, which of course helped to bring some of the light back to Spike's eyes. But just as suddenly as it had reappeared, the light dimmed and the frown on his face deepened. "But you know what the worst part of last night was?"

"Besides the apparent blank spots in your memory, power dive through a window and loss of consciousness, no idea."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Red," Spike hissed, earning a wink and a grin from his friend. That served to put a tiny smile on his face. Satisfied that she had at least accomplished that much, she leaned against her locker to better see his face.

"Okay, Will," she grinned wider. "What was the worst part of last night?"

"That I had to make an ass out of myself like that in front of the Fang Gang."

Almost as if they had heard their name, the group appeared behind the Scoobies suddenly. Spike groaned and slammed his head against the door of his locker. Wesley and Xander took a step forward blocking Spike from the newcomers for the most part. Wesley crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "What do you gits want?"

"We were just filling Dru here on how Spike freaked out last night," Riley laughed at the red flush that was slowly creeping up Spike's neck which was the only visible part of his skin at the moment. The missing member of the bane of Spike's high school existence leaned on Riley's arm, swaying to and fro somewhat. Long dark hair hung past frail shoulders and stood as a sharp contrast to her pale face. It was said that Drusilla Mares was either psychic, insane or both. At any rate the girl was very strange. The only reason she was allowed near the group was because she was Darla's cousin and Angel had taken a liking to her insane ramblings. Somehow from them he gleamed whether the team was going to win or lose.

At the moment, though, the girl's almost hypnotic gaze was focused on a certain platinum blonde, who had yet to turn and face the teasing teens behind him. "It's alright, Spike," she drawled, her voice lilting, calming and disturbing all at the same time. "They just want you home to stop the circle and fill the void."

Spike's head shot up from its resting place and whirled around to face Drusilla. "What did you say?"

But Drusilla's attention was gone. Her mind had retreated to wherever it resided when she wasn't predicting sports scores or the announcing the somewhat damning fates of her fellow students. "She said that they want you back," Darla's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Probably to see if you choke like you did last night. I thought you said that you could handle it, Spike." His shoulders slumped and once again he found his locker combination to be utterly fascinating.

"Why don't ya'll just leave him alone?" Fred asked, stepping in front of him as well. "Don't you have anything better to do? Like knock over a liquor store or rob old ladies in a park?"

"Relax," Angel said, cutting through the tension. It wasn't clear who exactly he was talking to as all of them looked ready to fight. He stepped closer to the Scoobies with his hands held up signaling his peaceful intentions. "I just came to see how Spike was feeling."

"Like a bloody loser," Spike's voice was muffled by the locker his head was resting against.

"Do you mind me asking just what happened in there?"

Apparently he did mind, as Spike lifted his head once again with anger blazing in his eyes. "What? You want another laugh? Okay, go ahead and laugh. I screamed, ran, the whole lot because I got spooked by nothing. Nothing happened in that house. Nothing at all. Now if you'll excuse me, some of us actually plan on going to classes today."

He pushed himself off the lockers and stormed away from the others. His friends and those decidedly less friendly, watched him walk away. Xander turned to the two groups with an eyebrow raised. "Okay. Show of hands. Who actually believes nothing happened in that house?"

Darla and Riley were the only two that raised a hand.

Throughout the day Spike had the nagging feeling he was missing something. In truth it had started once he crossed the threshold of Crawford manor. He had been wrong. There definitely was something very wrong in that that house and he knew that he had something to do with that wrongness. He felt it ever since he and his father drove past the house on their way into Sunnydale and last night's foray into the house had only confirmed it. He couldn't ignore it anymore. The house was calling to him even now.

He woke something up when he went inside and that something wanted him badly. How he wished he had just listened to Xander and left it alone. "Ignorance really is bliss," he muttered as he pushed through the double doors leading to the school's library. "Too bloody true."

"Do you always talk to yourself or did I just get lucky to see the show?"

The sound of the familiar lilting Irish tone sent a chill down his back. He froze glaring at the young man sitting on one of the tables in the center of the library. He wondered idly how long he had been sitting there and why his father hadn't kicked him out for desecrating his precious library. It was then that he realized he had been staring at Angel for quite some time.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I'm in a library, Spike. I think it's painfully obvious that I'm not in here for my health, fun or grades. So I think it's clear why I'm here."

Spike sighed, running a hand through his hair absently noting it was time for a touch up and hair cut. "Can we just not do this today, Peaches?"

"Peaches?" Angel looked puzzled before remembering just what had earned him that particular nickname. It was one of the many reasons he and Darla were no longer a couple. The girl was extremely chatty about her boyfriend's grooming patterns. A guy uses peach scented shampoo once and he's branded a poof for the rest of his life. "I'm going to kill Darla."

"You'll get no arguments here. But care to do it somewhere far from here and me?" Spike retorted, slinging his bag down on the table opposite Angel's and sitting on the table as well. He noticed the older boy wasn't going anywhere. "So what is it that you want, again?"

"I came here because you didn't seem to be in a talkative mood this morning which given the way Darla and Riley were running their mouths is completely understandable. They have a tendency to let their mouths run when they should be scoping out a situation."

Spike shifted uncomfortably. "And what situation should they have been scoping?"

"Something happened in that house."

"Not this again. Listen to me very carefully," he said as if talking to a very slow child. "Nothing happened! You lot were right. I'm a bloody coward, that's all."

Angel shook his head. "No, I heard that scream. We all heard it and that definitely wasn't you. You were running from whatever made that scream. So that makes me wonder what happened and why does that house want you so badly."

A scarred eyebrow rose slightly. "It's a house, poof. What makes you think an inanimate object wants me?"

"Because nothing even remotely like whatever went down in that house last night happened before. Crawford Manor likes more than one victim. But it didn't want any of the rest of us. It wanted to keep us out and away from you," Angel explained. His eyes were serious which made Spike even more nervous. "Not to mention before you passed out you said hell wanted you back and Dru pretty much said the same thing."

"So that's what you got from that, huh? And here I was thinking she was talking about the weather," he shot back sarcastically. He sighed when he saw that Angel wasn't rising to the bait. He was serious about this and he wasn't giving up. "No offense and sorry to break your whole X Files vibe, but Dru doesn't seem to be playing with a full deck. Neither are you it you believe half the crap that just came out of your mouth."

Angel rolled his eyes and continued to stare at him. "Spike, I know we don't get along. I know that you really don't like me but I also know something did happen to you in that house. You are one of the bravest people in this school, probably this whole damn town. If it spooked you that badly it must have been huge."

Spike chose to ignore the inadvertent compliment and instead chose to continue his denial. It was a nice place. He felt comfortable there. So why were so many people determined to rip him away from the only security he had left at the moment?

"For the last time, nothing happened and nothing will happen. Got it yet, poof? Go back to your friends and leave me the hell alone."

"Spike," Angel's tone changed. There was almost a hint of pleading there. It made him stop to think prompting Angel to continue. "You're the key to this whole thing. I don't know how or why but you're the answer."

The blonde raked a hand through his hair once again. It was soothing and gave him enough time to think. "Why are you so gung ho on playing bloody Hardy Boys anyway?"

"Because I need to know what happened to someone I love," he said simply. He pulled out his wallet producing a small photo which he handed to Spike. The younger teen took it hesitantly. It was an older photo as Angel was clearly much younger, not to mention chubbier. A small part of him noted that with mild amusement. Standing next to him with an arm around him was a dark haired girl smiling brightly at the camera.

"My sister, Faith. Well rather, my stepsister but I loved her like she was really my sister, you know?"

Spike knew how he felt. That was similar to the relationship between him and Wesley. They had known each their whole lives. While he would never tell him, he thought of Wesley as an older brother. But if he wasn't going to tell Wesley, like hell he was going to tell Angel.

"As nice as this has been, what's the point?"

"Two years ago, she and two of her friend snuck into that house. I never saw her again. They found the bodies of her friends but never Faith. There was no sign of her anywhere."

Spike felt a chill race down his spine. He looked down at the photo once more. He stared at the dark haired beauty and for a moment he could hear her screaming. The picture changed before his very eyes into a grotesque mask of fear and death. A face he recognized from his journey inside the house. Spike inwardly gasped and shoved the picture back into Angel's hand. He jumped off the table and started pacing nervously.

"I'm sorry for your loss, mate, but I still don't get what this has to do with me."

"Spike, I'm not as dumb as you think. I know something is wrong with that house. That was my real reason for being there last night. I was going to try and talk you out of going in. I knew you would do it. But then I heard that scream." He paused swallowing. "It was Faith. She's still in that house somehow. I need to know what happened to her. And I need you to help me."

Spike stopped pacing to stare at the football player in shock. "You hit your head a little too hard during practice today, didn't you? You want me to help you? You want me to go back in there after what happened last night?"

"So you're admitting something happened?"

"Of course something happened!" he ground out. "I remember every bloody thing that happened, which is why I'm not going back in there!"

"It will be different this time," Angel replied, standing up as well. "There has to be something about you that makes you special. Maybe if we figure that out, we can get to the bottom of this."

"Maybe they just like my stellar personality," Spike hissed. "Look good luck with your vengeance quest and all. But there is no way in hell I'm going back to that house…."

"Without more information."

Both young men turned away from their heated discussion to the redhead who emerged from the stacks behind them. Spike sat down heavily as his father and Wesley joined her scarcely a second later. The older Giles had a pensive look on his face as he stared his child down. He removed his glasses, rubbing them on his shirt. Spike sighed at the familiar gesture.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad!"

Alright. Hope you guys are still interested. I promise I will get back to everysingle one of you wonderful people who reviewed. Thanks everyone. Next chapter should be up in a few days, Thursday the latest. Bye for now.