Underneath the Grief - Part 7
"The Camaro," said Charlie, and Angel got this pained look on his face, which I found quite entertaining.
"Not the Camero?" Angel winced when Gunn nodded. "Can't these people ever leave well enough alone?" His obsession with those cars was bordering on unhealthy. Hmm. I tucked that piece of info away for later.
We piled into the car, Angel shoving me in the back seat as always, the git. As soon as he put the keys in the ignition and started her, the car began rolling forward.
"Whoa!" yelled Angel, stomping on the break. But nothing happened, the car kept moving forward.
"Relax, man," said Gunn. "That's what's s'posed to happen."
The car drove itself out of the garage and through the dark city streets, heading north. "Isn't anyone else freaked out by the car that drives itself?" asked Angel, hovering his hands over the steering wheel as it turned.
"In your long-ass life," asked Gunn, "haven't you ever watched TV?"
"What? What does this have to do with TV?"
"You know," I said incredulous, "Kitt!"
"What kit? They have a kit to do this now?"
"No, you moron. It's the name of a car on TV. Talks, drives itself and fights crime."
"Egh. I still don't like this. Nothing good has come from TV since the sixties."
"Oh," I said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I forgot that you spent the eighties and the better part of the nineties living in sewers and alleys. No wonder you missed out on one of the best shows of all time."
"Thanks so much for bringing that up, Spike."
"No thanks necessary, Peaches."
The car made another turn into a tunnel, and everything got darker. The lamps flew by, an almost continuous line of light. Then there was a bright light at the end of the tunnel and we shot out into the daylight. Looking around, I noticed there were big houses, all pretty much the same, lining the streets we now drove down. "Oh, great," I said. "The suburbs. The worst kind of hell."
The car stopped in front of one of the houses, which was identical to all the others on the block. "This must be where they're keepin' Lindsey," said Gunn. He opened the door, letting the sunlight stream into the car. Angel and I both flinched and yelled.
I wasn't burning! Why wasn't I burning?
"Guys," said Gunn, leaning over to look at us through the open door. "Different dimension. Sun's of the non-burning variety."
"Right," Angel recovered, "I knew that." It made me feel a little better that Angel looked as stupid as I felt.
We went up to the front door and Angel knocked. A few moments later, a pretty woman with long blonde hair answered the door.
"Can I help you?" She smiled at us warily.
"Uh," stammered Angel, clearly not expecting such a friendly or pretty greeting in hell. "Is Lindsey home?"
"Um," she said, looking back into the house. "Yeah, sure. Come on in." Her smile brightened as she led us to the living room at the front of the house. "Would anyone like something to drink? There's coffee."
We all declined and the woman retreated to the back of the house, presumably the kitchen. The living room was nice, very American Heartland in its decor. Though I had the strongest urge to just start smashing things, I had to remind myself that I was a good guy now, and do-gooders can't go around destroying people's houses. Even if the house was in a hell dimension and even if it did sound like a lot of fun.
Lindsey came out from the back of the house. "Can I help you gentlemen?"
Angel stepped toward him, curiously. "Lindsey? You don't remember us?"
"No, I've never met you before in my life. Who did you say you are?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Angel, this is Spike and that's Gunn. We're here about Wolfram and Hart. Where you used to work, as a lawyer? None of this ringing a bell?"
"Sorry, man. The only lawyer I know is the one who fixes my speeding tickets for me. You've got the wrong guy."
Angel reached out to Lindsey. "Maybe this'll help you remember," he said as he ripped the amulet Lindsey was wearing from the man's neck. Lindsey immediately collapsed to one knee, catching himself with a hand on the arm of one of the overstuffed lounge chairs and gasping as he remembered.
"What?" he breathed, looking up at us. "Angel? What are you doing here?"
"We need some information, Lindsey. We're getting you outta here."
"There's no way out," he said, oddly nihilistic.
The woman came out from the back of the house, smiling as she lifted a really big gun from her side. "Oh, bollocks." I dove, taking Gunn down with me, as she started firing. We took shelter behind the sofa, Angel crashing down beside us. After a moment, we realized Lindsey was still standing stupidly in the line of fire. Angel grabbed him, pulling Lindsey behind the couch. He shoved the lawyer at me, saying, "Get him back to the car."
I nodded at the order, pushing the two humans ahead of me as Angel rushed the woman. I heard the sound of bullets hitting flesh and winced for Angel as Gunn, Lindsey, and I stumbled from the house, only to find that our car had disappeared from the street where we had left it. It felt strange walking around with the sun high overhead and no protection to speak of. Gunn looked up and down the street frantically looking for the Camaro.
"Give it up, Charlie," I yelled to him. He jogged back to us as an ice cream truck pulled up at breakneck speed. The driver pulled out a machine gun and started firing. Cursing, I pushed the humans back into the house, taking several bullets in the back to protect them. "Fucking ow!" I cried as I slammed the door behind us.
Inside, Angel was standing over the woman's body, her neck obviously broken. He looked up and I said, "No exit that way."
Angel's eyes widened as he looked past me, so I whipped around. A small blond boy had come into the room, wielding, surprise, surprise, a machine gun. I took a few more bullets as we got the humans behind another couch.
"How're we gonna get outta here?" asked Angel, grabbing Lindsey's arm like he was expecting the lawyer would try to get away.
"What about back there? The door in the kitchen," said Gunn, pointing. "There could be a way out through the cellar."
"No!" Lindsey insisted. "There's nothing good past that door."
"Sorry, mate," I said, readying myself for a mad dash to that door. "It's the only way out."
I nodded to Angel, who nodded back, pulling Lindsey with him toward the door. I pushed the couch we were hiding behind at the boy, knocking him off his feet as Gunn and I crossed the room.
The cellar was dark and creepy and as I descended the stairs I saw the shadowed outlines of a dungeon. A real dungeon, all medieval and meant for torturin'. "Somebody has fun down here," I mumbled sarcastically.
We spread out, looking for an exit. In the center of the room was a table that looked like a butcher's block, seeped with blood and everything.
Beside the table was a pile of organs, hearts on closer inspection. I picked one up, "I wonder who these belong to?"
"They're mine," spoke up Lindsey, his voice raspy with what I assumed was remembered pain. Realizing he might not want me handling the merchandise, I dropped the heart back with its fellows and it landed with a satisfyingly squishy plop. At the far side of the room was a furnace, its faceplate as big as a door. Angry yellow flames licked the slats in the plate. Crap, I knew there was going to be fire. It's not hell until you find the burning fires of torment.
From the darkness in the corner of the room, I heard a chain rattle and heavy footsteps approaching us. For purely tactical resions, I retreated to Angel's side, picking up a mace and making sure the humans were behind us. Angel armed himself with a heavy iron sword. The footsteps belonged to a heavy-looking executioner of a demon. His face was hidden behind a spiked and rusty helmet, but his chest was bare all gray skin and white scars.
Angel attacked the demon first, swinging his sword at the beast. It landed with a thud at the demon's shoulder, but the blow didn't seem to faze it one bit. The demon sent Angel flying as I moved in for my attack, which was no more successful than Angel's. Soon I was across the room, landing on a pile of chains and shackles. I jumped up again, flinging myself onto the creature's back. As Angel distracted the beast with a new weapon, I tried to get a good enough grip on the thing's neck so I could snap it. Unfortunately, the demon didn't have much of a neck, and what he did have was protected by that spiky helmet. The beast whipped me from his back by one of my ankles, throwing me into one of the stone walls.
Okay, that hurt! It took me a minute to recover and when I looked up, Angel wasn't doing much better. The demon had Angel's sword by the blade, trying to tug it away from him.
And then, all of a sudden, the demon let go and backed off, stepping back into the shadows. "What the--?" I started, but was cut off when the furnace faceplate opened, revealing a black abyss past the flames.
"That's the way out," said Angel, pointing. We both looked back to the humans. Lindsey made his way toward us, but Gunn was standing at the foot of the stairs, wearing Lindsey's amulet.
"No!" Angel yelled at him. "We're not leaving you here!"
"It's the only way," he said, standing his ground. "I have to atone for my part in Wesley's death. Angel, I have to stay."
"You can't be serious, Charlie-boy!" I said, taking a step toward him. "That brute will cut your heart out every day!"
"It's what I deserve. Get goin', the door will close when I forget."
I looked over at Angel in disbelief. His jaw was set, clenched, but he nodded and grabbed Lindsey by the arm, moving toward the furnace door.
"We can't do this, Angel," I cried, wondering what possible reasons he could have for leaving a friend here.
His face was twisted now into a mask of fury as he stalked toward me, grabbing me by the arm. "C'mon," he growled, pulling me with him.
"But, we can't leave a man behind!"
"Spike," said Gunn, "I knew this would happen. I knew there would be a price. If one goes, one has to stay."
"Bollocks!" I yelled, but I let Angel drag me to the furnace.
"There's no choice, Spike," he growled at me. "We have to leave now! I'm not fucking leaving you behind, too!"
Self-preservation winning out, I let Angel drag me through the door, which was starting to swing shut, and hazarded a glance back at Gunn before we left. He was already facing the stairs up into the house, already forgetting us. Angel, Lindsey, and I all jumped through the fire between that cellar and the black abyss beyond. And then we were falling for at least a minute, maybe longer. You don't think a minute is that long until you're in free-fall, fearing for your life. Then, it becomes infinite.
A/N: I hope you're enjoying this one so far. I've got two more chapters after this one, and then I'll be moving on to the next episode 'Origin of the Lies', so keep an eye out for that one in a few days. I'm still working on the episode after that, but hopefully it will be done in time to follow directly after Origin. Please let me know what you think, I really love hearing from you! ~Ptera