Chapter Seven
Buffy stood motionless in shock and with a pained look on her face. Surrounding the few fighters left, were a sea of dead and injured bodies. She knew these were once the people that she had worked with and trained. Many of them had survived the battle with the first while many others were new slayers. Her stomach flinched as she looked over the group of people and allowed a tear to escape down her cheek. "Damn you Kennedy!" Buffy howled in a rage, as she threw herself into the midst of the battle between demons, Watchers and slayers. When it was all said and done, Buffy, Faith, Dani, Kennedy, Sarah, Rona, Xander, Giles, Robin and two slayers who had lost their powers were all that were left. "How could you all come out here like this? What in god's name possessed this hair brained stunt?" Buffy hissed, as Dawn and Andrew came running up to the group.
"Willow has been captured! Harmony went chasing after them and we tried to help but there were to many!" Andrew stopped speaking abruptly having noticed the carnage that lay before the group. His mouth twitched and quivered until the tears fell. "Oh my god," he said in a whispered tone. "We tried to tell them to wait," he lowered his head in his own personal grief. He somehow felt as though he had let Buffy down. Granted, he wasn't the most important part of her group but she respected him enough to bring him along and he was unable to come through when it really counted.
"You all deal with this," Dani said and turned towards Dawn. "Do you have any idea in the direction they took Miss Willow?"
"No," Dawn said as she surveyed the blood flow and bruises that was evident on the few survivors. She wanted to breakdown, scream, cry and throw things like she did when she was a child. She didn't do any of that however, "we have to make arrangements for our friends and find out who is doing this pronto! We don't have time to grieve because every second we waste is a chance that someone else will die!" Dawn shouted and got out her cellphone, as Dani raced off in hopes of finding Willow.
"This was not Kennedy's fault," Robin added, as the despondent group got back to the headquarters. "Phil said that he got word of a situation that could break this case and they all ran out. My guess is that Phil was on their side, whomever they is." Robin was never one to show his grief outwardly but this was too much for even him to hold in. He lowered his head in his hands and wept. He wept for all those who had died tonight, in the battle of the first and his mother. Faith couldn't help but notice how visibly shaken the strong-willed man was, she had never witnessed him in this bad of shape. She wanted to go over and comfort him but her pride would not let her.
"You could have made sure most of those people didn't go with her. I understand Kennedy leading a group in, but everyone? That is the stupidest thing I ever witnessed!" Buffy barked in anger and to have something else other than cry to do.
"We need to close down one of the buildings for the time being so that we can all be in a closer proximity to each other." Dawn added, as she finished talking with the funeral home. "I'm going to go into Willow's office, pull the files and start notifying families." She, like everyone else, needed something to do. Sleep was not going to come tonight for the tattered band of Scoobies most assuredly.
"If Will doesn't get her powers back soon," Xander began speaking slowly, "we've got to find a witch. The only one I know of with half the abilities that we may need is Amy."
"Have you gone stark raving mad?" Giles turned to Xander with a look of disbelief on his face. "She is probably working for them as we speak."
"Amy's big problem was not being needed," Xander replied curtly. "I think if she sees that she really is needed for such a big thing as saving the world, she will come around."
"All right," Andrew stood up from his task of bandaging one of the surviving powerless slayers. "I am no longer king moron around here! Does anyone know where Kennedy went?"
- - - - - - -
Harmony raced after the vampire that was carrying Willow. The back streets were cold and muddy thus the blonde was not happy at the current state of her new $200 pair of shoes. As he went through a gate and closed it, the blonde vampire picked up speed and jumped the fence. She watched him take Willow into a small tunnel that sloped downward. Harmony stood for a moment, deep in thought, she couldn't figure out why the door was placed on a small hill and why it slanted downward. "Damn it," she wiped off her jeans and went through the doorway after the vampire.
She quickly realized that the path inside the door must have recently been dug out. Upon coming to a fork in the path, she listened carefully to try and get the right direction and got it with Willow's scream. She loaded up a crossbow and began firing as she went down the path.
Willow tried unsuccessfully to break free, she knew someone was on their trail and had to work hard to hold off whatever her fate was until the help arrived. She kicked out at the vampire who slapped her hard in the face. "Is that all you got? I've been slapped enough in the face for the last two days and so that does nothing to me!" Willow shouted and kicked him again.
As his fangs protruded and he leaned down promising that he needed to just cut open the skin, he disappeared. "Oh thank the Goddess!" Willow shouted and tried to stand. Her body was bruised and slightly aching from the assault of the now dusted creature.
"I staked four vampires and ruined my clothes for your ass! You'd better be doing something more than thanking some being that doesn't even live here!" The irritated vampire shouted as she helped Willow to stand.
"We've got to keep going." Willow said, as she tried to put weight on her leg. "I don't think I can stand up on my own but we have to find out what is down here."
"Are you nuts?" Harmony made a face that indicated Willow had lost her brains along with her powers. "What did he do to your leg?"
"He twisted it really hard after I kicked him," Willow said, as the vampire hoisted her up in her arms. "We're not leaving Harmony. This is probably the best lead we have." Willow said in a low voice.
"My manicure is ruined, my shoes, I'm muddy, this is not my style Willow." Harmony replied in just as low a voice as Willow had used. "I am an upscale vampire, one who doesn't crawl around in dirt."
"Do you think you could lead someone back here?" Willow asked as harmony started back up the path.
"Sure," Harmony muttered in a frustrated tone. She wondered what she had done so wrong that she got stuck with this undead life. In the vampire monthly magazine, there were stories of creatures with great wealth and power but Harmony was stuck with this life.
"Harmony, why did you come after me?" Willow asked, curious as to what made the soulless creature tick. By nature, Willow was a curious person and that obviously wasn't going to change any time soon.
"Another time Willow," the vampire answered with irritation in her voice. As she came back to the fork, a stake whizzed through the air and caught her in the shoulder. "Fuck!" The vampire roared and sat Willow down. She fired her crossbow in the direction the stake came from, as someone grabbed Willow.
"Dani what are you doing?" Willow asked, as Dani began a hasty exit from the tunnels.
"Willow don't you see? This is a set up, she's trying to get you on her side and we figured it out." Dani offered, as another stake hit the vampire in the stomach. "If it would have been these people who killed most of the slayers tonight, they would have got Dawn too. They only wanted you."
Willow looked back at the vampire who had helped her out several times in the last few days. What Dani said made perfect sense but Willow just couldn't go like this. She nodded her head in agreement with Dani who released her hold on the redhead. She could barely stand and knew Dani was quicker. "Look out!" She shouted and Dani turned around. This gave Willow enough time to reach the vampire who was struggling to stand. "Dani, leave us now!"
"Miss Willow," Dani started. "With all do respect, it's our job to protect you." Kennedy stepped out from the shadows with a concerned look etched on her face. "I spoke to Buffy and she knows what we figured out. She is in agreement with us Miss Willow." Dani continued with as much warmth in her voice as she could muster.
"Leave or I'll let her drink," Willow stated and garnered shocked looks from the slayers. "Dani I understand that you're trying to help me but I want you out of my site Kennedy and I mean it!"
Harmony could no longer attempt to control the demon that lived within her soulless shell. She was losing blood fast and the demon was in a fight for survival. Her eyes went yellow and fangs came out, as she stood. "Harmony get down!" Willow yelled, as Kennedy fired another stake. This time, the vampire caught it and tossed it back at the slayer. Before Kennedy could react, the stake imbedded itself in her arm.
The smell of blood fueled the demon's hunger and she went after Kennedy who seemed to be out of stakes. "Oh my god!" Dani shouted with a confused look on her face. "You see Willow, this is what Buffy was trying to warn you of. No matter what, the bottom line is she has no soul. When it comes right down to it, she doesn't care. That's not your high school tormentor there, that's a very dangerous demon!" Dani didn't mean to sound harsh but her fear for Kennedy's life, the stress of the night's prior events added to her emotional state over Willow, caused it to come out in such a manner.
Dani launched a stake in the direction of the vampire and it barely hit her arm. It was enough of a distraction however, to give Kennedy time to get up. Also, it gave Willow added time to reach the vampire in her slowed state. "Harmony, it's ok. I'll get you some help. Just try to relax for a minute, please." Willow begged, as the demon grabbed her up and ran down the other path.
"She's lost a lot of blood," the more experienced slayer said. "We've got to follow them or she will kill Willow."
"She can't have much time left," Dani said and helped Kennedy to stand. 'Buffy said that was the dumbest vamp around, well I think she miscalculated a few things."
As the two slayers gave chase, Harmony ran through the tunnels with Willow. The demon side of her, which was seemingly smarter than her non-vamped self, figured that these tunnels had to lead to a building of sorts. Her speed was considerably slowed due to massive blood loss and she knew that her time was running out. As she removed a metallic cover and pushed Willow through, she almost fell back to the ground below. "This is a furniture warehouse harmony." Willow called out in a fearful voice. She was beginning to wonder what possessed her to help Harmony and feared for her life. Finally, the vampire made it out of the tunnel and placed the cover back over the hole.
Harmony sank to the floor quickly with black blood flowing from her stomach. In her weakened state, she removed something from her jacket and began putting it on her wound though it wouldn't help much. She then looked at Willow and pulled the redhead towards her.
Willow looked down at the demon with a certainty that her life would be ended about now. Without a soul, Harmony would not be able to use restraint as Angel did when he drank from Buffy years ago. Everything that was moral within Willow screamed for her to try to break free because once the vampire began to feed, she would not stop and Willow's life would be ended. "Please don't kill me Harmony," Willow said in the most frightened voice that she had probably ever used. As regret-filled tears fell down Willow's face, the vampire shoved her on her back and moved close to Willow's neck. As Willow closed her eyes and gripped the vampire's arm, Harmony sank her fangs in and began to drink. She knew now that she should have listened to Buffy and not helped the vampire. She couldn't figure out what possessed her to continue helping her when she saw that she was dying. She should have let the slayers kill her but something compelled her not to do it.
- - - - - -
Kennedy and Dani burst into the warehouse having followed the blood trail and found that it was empty. "Where the hell are they!" Kennedy screamed in a frantic rage and kicked over an expensive table. "Willow!" She shouted in a high-pitched tone that matched the worry on Danis face.
"We should have just killed her!" Dani shouted and kicked over a piece of furniture as well. "Damn it, why didn't we act faster! We're the best two slayers besides Faith and Buffy and look what we allowed to happen!" Dani chastised herself as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "If I would have acted like a slayer more than some inexperienced slayer, she would be with us now and that bitch would be gone!"
Kennedy turned and saw a few spots of blood on the floor. She sank to her knees and wept uncontrollably. "I wasn't perfect Dani but I loved her. I tried to protect her."
"I know you did Kennedy, this is my fault." Dani said and urged the slayer to get up. "We've got to go tell the others what we've done and hope Buffy or Faith don't decide to kill us where we stand."
"It wasn't your fault Dani," Kennedy offered as they walked out the door. "We were taken aback by Willow's adamant behavior towards helping that bitch. If she's the last vampire I slay, I will get her."
- - - - - -
At half past 5 in the morning, Faith went into the sitting room of the housing building. She saw Kennedy and Dani there fast asleep in full dress. They had a patch of luck after the two slayers had gone off after Willow in that two more slayers and another three who had lost powers were found. The girls had got smart during the battle and headed home to get help and were very glad that they did. Though a large number of girls were lost, having a few more then expected was great news. Being assured that the two slayers would catch up with Willow, the crew had drifted off to a much-needed sleep. "Hey," Faith said softly and Dani opened her eyes. "Where's Red?"
Dani's features foretold the answer and Faith tightened her grip on her emotions. "We couldn't save her," Dani said as the tears began to flow again. "Faith, she was hell bent on helping that damn vampire and then it got crazy and the vampire ran off with her. When we caught up to them, or the place they should have been rather, we found Willow's blood on the floor and they were missing."
Faith kept her anger hid deep inside her and knelt down to Dani. "Red is tough," she said and pulled the sobbing slayer into her arms. "You can't count her out till we find a body."
"Harmony is a soulless vampire and quite a bit smarter than Buffy gave her credit for. You don't have to tell me what's happened Faith. Kennedy put a few stakes into Harmony and she was dying and therefore she was hell bent on living." Dani's sobs subsided slightly, as Faith tried to comfort her. The fact was that Faith was pretty certain that they had lost Willow but wanted to be hopeful.
A/n Thanks for reviewing and I hope this one gets a few more reviews!