Previously: Though she still couldn't help but wish that she were wrong. She hated to walk out on friends like that, but it was for a good cause. And she was sure that Lorne, being Lorne, would understand completely.

The three of them strode on into the night and the dark streets that awaited them. Faith hoping to god that Robin was alright, Giles thinking he was too old for this sort of thing and Buffy just wanting to be back in the club.

Chapter 58

I sat there in the bar with Willow and Xander, listening to Lorne sing his third song of the night. Buffy and the others had been gone for about fifteen minutes, something which wasn't out of the ordinary, but I could help but not shake the uneasy feeling in my undead gut.

Willow and the Whelp seemed to be enjoying the music and not really paying much attention to me, so I decided this was my chance to slip out and help the rest of the gang outside. I had just risen a few inches out of my seat when Red stuck her arm out and grabbed mine. I turned and she gave me the fiercest look imaginable.

"Going to look for Buffy" I mouthed to her, but she only shook her head and tugged me back into my seat.

"Think of Lorne! Buffy will be fine" Willow hissed. I wasn't going to give up, but for now I nodded my head and stayed put.

Willow threw a glance at Xander, but he was oblivious to the whole exchange that had just occurred. Good thing too in my opinion.

I leaned back in my chair and bided my time. I knew it wouldn't be long before Red started to worry.

~**~

Angelina and Angelus kicked and punched ducked and dodged and pretty much tried to kill each other with each blow.

Angelus knew he was wearing the slayer out, and that she would soon make a mistake and therefore end her life.

Angelina knew that she was probably going to lose the battle, the one where she had stupidly agreed to a 'no rules' policy. They could fight as dirty as they liked, fortunately Angelus hadn't resorted to that just yet.

"Won't be long now, until you trip and stumble" Angelus cackled as he tried to land a punch to Angelina's jaw. She swiped his hand away and returned the attempt with a roundhouse kick to the gut. It sent him stumbling back a few paces.

"I'm not going to stumble yet" she spat.

Angelus could only grin. It took balls for a slayer to take him on, and not be afraid of losing. He shook his head, grinning and then launched into an attack again.

Angelina had been a little thrown off because Angelus had actually stopped fighting to what appeared to be 'catching his breath'.

Angelus crashed into her side, sending her flying into a nearby wall. Angelina gasped as pain exploded just above her eyebrow. The wall had managed to wound her, and she could feel the blood trickling down her face. "Ouch" was all she managed to say before she was grabbed around the wrists and hoisted to her feet.

"A deal's a deal," Angelus purred from behind. Angelina gulped; she had lost.

~**~

Willow was throwing worried glances towards the door every minute or so. Buffy and the rest of them hadn't been back for a half hour, to Willow that mean that something must've happened. I'd been watching her, but now I decided to act. Slowly I stood and watched and waited for Willow to react. When she saw me rise, she rose too.

We made eye contact and she nodded, signalling that it was ok to leave now.

Red bent over towards Xander and whispered some words. At first the Whelp didn't look pleased, but a wave of understanding washed over his face and he nodded.

Lorne was watching us out of the corner of his eye and could see that we were all leaving. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. I signalled with my head that I was leaving and Lorne inconspicuously nodded back his understanding. He continued to sing and Willow came up and grabbed my arm.

"Ready?" She whispered. I nodded and quickly waved to the green demon on stage. Red turned and waved to Xander who waved back, though didn't look at all pleased that he was being left here.

We left Zoe's in a slight rush. We were kinda worried about what could have happened. "What did you tell the Whelp?" I asked as we began pacing the streets, looking for any clues as to the gang's whereabouts.

"That we were going after Buffy and the others…" Willow explained. "And that when Lorne finishes, they should meet us back at the magic store if we're not back" I nodded. It seemed like a good idea.

"Now if I were a slayer, where would I be?" Willow mused.

I sniffed the air and pointed straight ahead. "That way."

~**~

Every nerve in Angelina's body was telling her to scream, to kick, to punch, to fight her way out and then run. To hell with Robin. He could lie there and die for all she cared. As long as she was alive, it didn't matter.

Angelina shook those particular thoughts form her mind. Not only did she not want Robin to die, she also knew there was no point in trying to get away. Running into the alley previously, she had recognised the graffiti on the walls, the garbage in the street, the distinct smell of oil and possible urine. It was all so familiar. And now she knew why. This was the way she was going to die; she had dreamt about it every night, never being able to escape her attacker; the one with the chuckle. The one she had heard while trying to beat the shit out of Angelus. Angelus was going to kill her.

It wasn't just the dream that told her this. When her mother had rung, she had instructed Angelina to go get her fortune read and she had. She had gone to Bonnie, who had done some readings for her in the past. The tarot cards had revealed the exact same thing her dream had; she was going to die.

Angelina had been trying so hard not to show any emotion towards the current situation, but couldn't help but let a tear silently fall and mingle with the blood on her face.

"Aww. It's ok Angel Face…" Angelus placed a bit of flyaway hair behind her ear as he placed his face closer to her neck. "I'll let you scream" and with that he plunged his fangs into her vein.

Angelina shrieked in pain. It felt like Angelus was trying to rip her throat apart.

~**~

Buffy, Faith and Giles had been sweeping the streets and looking in stray alleyways. They hadn't found anything as of yet and had ventured a little distance from the comfort of their seats in the karaoke bar.

A scream pierced the air and slayer mode took total control of both Faith and Buffy. "This way!" Buffy called over her shoulder as they took off at a run.

Faith was hoping that Robin and Angelina were ok, but knew that they were probably going to be too late.

Giles was wishing that he had younger legs, or that slayers weren't so fast and Buffy, knowing that Angelus liked to tae his time in torturing his victims, hoped that they would get there in time.

~**~

Willow and I had done a patrol of the street, without seeing a vamp or part of the gang in sight. Where the bloody hell were they?

Worry was etched into Willow's face and I knew she was thinking the worst.

"Don't worry pet. We'll find em" I was trying to be reassuring. It didn't really work, but it was the though that counted. Red nodded and we continued on.

Now being a vampire does have its benefits. For one, we have a great sense of smell. Can smell fresh blood a mile away. Another benefit is that we have astonishing hearing.

A scream found its way to my ears and I froze in the street. Willow having sensed my lack of movement turned around. "What's wrong Spike?"

I started at a run. "This way!" I yelled.

Willow ran after me, struggling, but just managing to keep up with me.

~**~

Faith was a tiny bit faster than the other two and she arrived first on the scene.

"Robin!" Faith saw the body before she saw anything else. She rushed towards the man lying on the ground fearing the worst. Robin himself, was finally able to see things, though they were fuzzy, they were slowly coming into focus. He, with the help of Faith, pulled himself into a siting position. "Robin, are you all right?" Faith's face was full of concern. He nodded as he internally searched himself for any real damage. Just a bruise or two he was sure.

"C'mon let's get you outta here" she began to help him stand when Buffy and Giles ran into the alley.

"Uh uh uh. Put the good man down." A voice sounded from the shadows of the alleyway.

"Angelus" Buffy spat out his name with enough venom it could kill a cobra.

"How'd you guess?" Angelus asked as he stepped out of the shadows. Angelina's limp body crushed against his chest. To passers-by it would have looked as though he was hugging her protectively, but Buffy knew better. She gasped in horror and Giles turned a couple shades paler.

"Put the man down Faith" Angelus instructed, but Faith would have none of that. She proceeded to lift Robin from the ground.

"Put him down or I snap her neck!" Angelus placed his hands on either side of Angelina's head, showing that he meant what he said.

"Put him down Faith" Buffy instructed and Faith, begrudgingly obliged.

"Thank you" Angelus grinned evilly. "Though I'm afraid you're too late. She already drank"

"She…she… drank?" Giles was astounded a slayer would do such a thing. Angelus shrugged.

"Well not at first, but hey, I can be persuasive. Just ask Buffy over there. I can be persuasive can't I lover?" he was enjoying this way too much.

Buffy was fuming "Don't you dare call me that"

Angel put his hands up in mock self-defence, allowing Angelina's body to fall to the ground with a bone crunching thump. "Oooh. Someone's got their panties in a twist" he laughed.

Buffy had nothing to say, so she just stuck her tongue at out at him. Childish, but she didn't care.

"What do you want Angelus?" Giles was the only one with a voice at the moment.

Angelus rubbed his hands together "Well you see Rupert. I'm in a bit of a pickle now…" He threw his arms out and twirled in a circle before lowering them. "I have one dead slayer, but two slayers and a Watcher before me. I cant take you all" he was being sarcastic and everyone knew. Angelus could take them all if he really felt like it.

"And now you need a way out" Faith humoured him.

Angelus nodded. "Exact-ly"

"So what's the deal Angelus? We let you go and don't come back?" Buffy knew better than that. He would always come back. He always had.

Angelus shrugged. "Eh. More or less."

"I'll take the less please" Buffy feigned happiness. She was far from it right now.

"Put it this way. Let me go and I don't take the undead Angel Cake with me" he stomped on one of Angelina's limp legs and Buffy could've sworn she heard it snap. She internally cringed. "Ok" she said.

~**~

We had just reached the mouth of the alleyway when we heard Buffy shouting orders. Faith was pulling Robin to his feet and helping him stand. Turns out his injuries were worse than he had originally thought.

"Oh my god." Willow looked as though she was about to be sick. I followed her eyes and found Buffy and Giles standing over what seemed to be a body. Angelina. Lorne was going to kill someone.

"Spike! Oh good Spike you're here!" Buffy strode over towards us. "Angelus got them. Angelina drank from him."

"What!" Red squeaked and Buffy nodded.

"We're going to hunt for him…" she motioned to Giles and herself. "And we could do with another set of hands"

I quickly took into consideration that Faith was no doubt going to take Robin to a hospital. Willow wasn't going to put up much of a fight if Angelus showed up for his prize, and as for Lorne and Xander, well they would be back at the magic store.

"Sorry love, but I'm gonna stay here" I knew Buffy would understand.

She did and she nodded and departed, stake in hand with Giles.

Faith had disappeared with Robin and now, the only people who remained were Red and myself and a dead looking Angelina.

"Is she really dead?" Willow whispered.

I shrugged and together we walked over to inspect the girl.

She looked dead enough; there was dried blood all over the right side of her face, which had meshed with bits of her hair. Her hair itself was matted and wet. Her make up had run giving the impression that she had been crying though Willow and I knew it had been because of the rain, which continued to fall. Her clothing was torn and her skin a deathly white. There was dried blood in the corner of her mouth, which by the smell, was Angelus'. She was dead.

We had been sheltering underneath a nearby ledge, both if us too afraid to move the girl, when Xander and Lorne came into view. They nearly ran past the alleyway, but when Lorne came to a sudden stop, they both knew they had found the place.

Lorne's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "No" he whispered as Xander saw what he was looking at and then noticed Willow and myself. Lorne ran towards the body. "No, no, no, no, no" he was on his knees and bringing her head to rest in his lap. "No!" he cried to the heavens. The rest of us stood behind him as he sobbed. "Buffy and Giles went to find him. He got away" Willow spoke so quietly we all thought she hadn't spoken at all.

Lorne still sobbing, bundled Angelina into his arms and turned towards us. "He's going to pay this time," he threatened and then he stormed off, towards the one place that was close to here. Angelina's apartment.

The rest of us quickly following.

Along the way, an odd noise made itself known. It was like a heartbeat, only faster. No one else seemed to notice it so I thought it was only me, but it kept going and was getting faster and faster. It was coming from Angelina.

Her heartbeat had been non-existent in the alleyway and now she all of a sudden had one?

"Bloody hell" I whispered, Red being the only one that caught it.

"What?" she had tears running down her face.

"Her heart. It's working over time. Like twenty-thousand beats a second overtime," I explained. Willow cocked her head to the side.

"I know. It doesn't make sense. But it is" I insisted. The all of a sudden, it stopped. It dawned on me what had happened. She had been turned. The venom, etc in Angelus' blood and done that.

"Bloody hell" I said again. Again, only Willow heard it.

"What now?"

I turned to her, worry etched into every line of my face. "I think we have a problem"

~**~

I know!

I'm such a bad person for not updating sooner!

I'm so sorry about that. I just kinda got sidetracked with my Harry Potter fic.

Well, you finally got a chapter to read. Which I'm hoping will get me a review or two. -fingers crossed-

Just so you know, I only think there are 1 or 2 chapters til the end of this story. I plan on writing a sequel, but who knows when I'll start that. Possibly after I finish my Dramione fic and that other Buffy one.

Also, The Left Hand of God is currently on hold. I'm sorry if I've disappointed anyone, but I have found that I can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

~Barn~