Chapter nine
She stood frozen between the intersection of Main Street and the North South Road. It was as though she were set in amber at a particular moment. The trickle of Sunnydale's waste still flowed, however, and it took the torn pieces of paper and Willow's location with it.
Buffy saw Merrick attack the vampire and fall before her. She saw a young girl introduce herself to Giles in his library and then drag him to the ground in grief over Jenny's death. She drove the sword into Angel and the blade into Faith. "Buffy!" Shouted Merrick. "Buffy!" Giles screamed in anguish. "Buffy?" Angel mouthed in shock. Faith's fall from the ledge was wordless but spoke louder than the others. "Buffy!" Spike yelled into her face.
"Buffy!" Spike yelled again, this time shaking the Slayer by her shoulders.
She emerged from her trance. "Willow!" She screamed into the tunnels all around her.
Spike held her close to his body. Her legs gave way under her and he lowered her to a ledge that ran around the large atrium created for the merging of the sewers.
"What're you doing here?" Buffy asked eventually; her tone more ungracious than she meant it to be.
"Giles called me, I killed a few lowlifes until another revealed where you would be and I'm here."
"Cool…if not too inspired."
"That's not all of it; I tortured the location of Red from it as well."
Buffy grabbed the bleach-haired figure beside her. "Willow?…Where?"
"Would you believe Sunnydale High?" As if on cue, thunder clapped above them.
Buffy reached over to embrace Spike, but he pulled away. "No, don't. I'd rather get drunk on alcohol than a memory…besides, you smell." Buffy smiled. "Unless of course you want to have sex," he added.
"You're an enigma, Spike," Buffy stated matter of factly as she attempted to stand. She was hit by shooting pain that seemed to course her veins and made her stumble backwards again.
"You should rest."
"No time."
"Nonsense, I've saved you an hour, at least. I'll drive you there."
"No! He said come alone or….anyway, thank you but no." She braced her rib cage with one arm and used the other to push herself up and away from the wall. She met a wall of nausea and pain, but brushed it aside as though planning to deal with it later.
"I'll miss you, Slayer," Spike uttered.
"Fuck you," she laughed. "I'm not dead yet!" She took toddler steps forward testing her strength. "Don't skirt round the issue will you."
"You'd hate me more if I sympathised and patronised…hey that rhymed." The vampire rejoiced.
"I think I'll try extra hard to stay alive just to spite you. Don't worry Spike, we'll get that fight to the death we've been meaning to have."
A bombed out building, a blackened doorway, a rat scampering across a broken corridor: Sunnydale High resembled a twisted memory; a Gothic decay lit by the flashes of lightening from outside that hit metal lockers and puddles of rain water. Buffy made slow progress over fallen debris and furniture and from veering alarmingly in a haze of pain; every step stabbing her sides, pounding her head, catching her breath.
A tall muscular vampire blocked her way. She raised one leg and drove her foot into its kneecap. The demon crumpled to its knees and Buffy swung a knife left to right, cutting its throat in one smooth waste-free moment. She then drove a stake through its back as it lay face down. This was the fifth such meeting since she had entered the school grounds. Her heart raced to pump the adrenaline the hunt was creating, but it also laboured to keep her alive; being pushed to the limits it was not meant to reach.
In between flashes of lightening Buffy caught the sudden spark of light from a class room at the end of the corridor. The light remained alive and flickered from the broken doorway giving away its origin. She stood in the doorway and saw a burning torch crudely tied to a wall light. Its aura showed two figures; a man holding tightly a young woman.
"You took your time getting here," the man's voice emerged from the dim light ahead. "I thought you'd be here sooner after receiving help from your pet vampire. What's up, not feeling too good? You don't look too healthy. Is the clock ticking away, the sand running out – I'm sorry, but I'm enjoying this."
Buffy approached closer but stopped short when the man tightened his grip on Willow and she caught sight of the knife he held to her stomach.
"And you know what is so sublime? I'm not a demon! I'm as human as you…..well in so far as a freak of nature like you is human. I'm a man with no powers and yet I've forced you here and weakened you. When you're dead, and you're taking a damn long time about it, I might add, when you're dead a younger fitter model will come along. Hopefully she'll be more cooperative than you or that bitch in Los Angeles."
The Slayer wanted to lunge with the remaining strength she had but knew that she wouldn't reach him in time; Willow would be dead before she made two steps, just like the girl in the alley the night before. He noticed her indecision.
"What to do? Do you attack me or not? If you do I'll kill your friend and you die from the effort. If you don't you'll die from the effort of getting here anyway, not knowing what I'll do afterwards. Ain't life a bitch?"
"Why?"
"Why what?" He countered taken off guard by the question.
"Why all this effort to get me to burn out?"
"The answer is in the question, my dear. The fight must go on against the nightmares from Hell. To fight the war we need the best weapons, the fittest warriors. You are yesterday's model who would rather settle down and make friends with the enemy than slay." Buffy fell to her knees. "Time to die," he said. "You were a worthy weapon, but time to die…"
"I'm a human being, damn you!" Buffy screamed in anguish, her arms wrapped round her body.
"Buffy," Willow spoke up for the first time. The Slayer looked up and into her friend's eyes. The Wicca moved forward into the point of the blade held at her side. She made a faint sound as it pierced her dress and the flesh underneath.
"No!" Buffy screamed out.
The Watcher pulled the knife out and stepped back in shock. Willow crumpled to the floor "I didn't do it…..she….it wasn't me," he stammered. "I wouldn't have harmed her. It was you I wanted." He stepped away from the girl lying near him.
Buffy ignore him. She found the strength to drag herself to her feet and walk to Willow's side. She lowered herself back to the floor and dragged her friend's still breathing form to her. Willow's eyes opened and she smiled weakly. Buffy hugged her tightly.
"Hey! Knife wound in the side," the redhead complained. Buffy laughed; the sound coming in short gasps of air as though she were struggling to breathe.
The Watcher backed away from the two girls, all his resolve gone, yet not able to run.
"Did you act alone?" Buffy asked looking up at him.
"Yes. I told you before, the Council couldn't pick up the…" He didn't get time to finish his sentence. He slammed back into the wall of the classroom, a six inch knife protruding from his chest. He grabbed the hilt and made to pull it out, but the pain it caused made him stop.
Buffy watched as drops of blood flowed down the still visible part of the blade and fell to the ground. The droplets hit a puddle of water. The red bloomed into a rose-like creation before it spread in tendrils and merged into the clear to create a blend of pink.
"But….I'm human," the victim barely uttered. Buffy ignored him, instead tending to her friend. The rogue Watcher collapsed unnoticed to the ground, dead before he hit the floor.
"Are you OK?" Willow asked the blonde girl holding her.
"No. Can we go home now?"
"Yes, of course. How exactly?"
"Perhaps we can catch a cab." Buffy offered.
"I'm not exactly looking my best….and you smell." Willow felt her friend's body go heavy on her. "Hey, Buffy," she nudged her back to consciousness. "I'll do you a deal, OK? You don't die, I don't die. The first one to recover buys the other a new dress…..deal?"
"That's not fair. You're likely to recover sooner."
"Hey! I've have been stabbed, you know."
"Well, to be totally accurate, you stabbed yourself." Buffy warmed to the topic.
"Yea? Well you're the Slayer, so heal… Buffy…...?"