Chapter Seven

Faith sat on the couch and watched Kate as she slept in the chair, still magically bound to it. Her head was lolled to the side, her mouth slightly open and from the way her body would twitch, it showed she was dreaming of something likely unpleasant. Faith had been the one that got stuck on the duty of watching her while the others followed up on some of the information that Kate had told them.

The spell that Willow performed on Kate that was supposed to retrieve any and all memories she was having trouble recalling had backfired and knocked Kate unconscious. Any and all attempts to wake her up had failed and it was ultimately decided they would wait for her to wake on her own.

At least they had one thing confirmed that Faith already knew was true. The demon wasn't actually Buffy and that Buffy herself was somewhere else, locked away and alone, just as Buffy had told her in that dream. Faith wasn't sure what to think about it, how to feel that she had been right and that the dream was now confirmed that it was real and that Buffy herself had been there with her. Nobody else had said a word to her about it, yet the look on their faces had said it all.

"Is she awake yet?" Willow asked quietly as she walked into the room with a cup of tea in her hand. "I didn't think the spell would knock her out like that. I think there's something blocking her."

"You think it's something she's done to herself?"

"I don't know. Kate is-she's very complicated. Our talk back in Scotland, she spoke in circles until she gave in and agreed to help us."

"I don't trust her," Faith said as she glanced over at Kate. "Something just feels off about her, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, she agreed to cooperate with us, but does that mean we trust what she said to us is true?"

"I don't trust her either," Willow said softly. "But what she told us is more than we already knew about these demons and about what happened to Buffy."

Faith sighed loudly and stood up from the couch. She started pacing the floor, occasionally looking over at Kate and then at Willow. Faith couldn't shake the nagging feeling that they were wasting time there. She could fight the demon, both of them, but they still had to find Buffy. She had no idea where to even start looking. Buffy could be anywhere in the world and if she didn't get even just a small lead, they might never be able to find her.

"Can you tell me about the dream you had?"

"Which one?"

"The last one," Willow replied quietly as she stood up and walked over to where Faith was standing by the window. "The one you only told Giles about."

"You mean that nightmare that really freaked me out?" Faith muttered and she took a deep breath. "I think Buffy was trying to show me where she is, but something went wrong. At least I think it did."

"Where did she show you?"

"The castle, I'm pretty sure. Saw Xander rushing past and some of the girls," Faith replied and she shrugged. "There was an old woman too. I think she was cleansing the castle of some evil spirit."

"Oh Goddess," Willow whispered, eyes wide. "Was she really old, kind of hunched over and spoke of evil and how we shouldn't have gone in there before a proper cleansing?" Upon Faith's surprised nod, Willow gasped. "I think you saw the day we had Marjorie do the cleansing. She's an old witch who came to us, told us we had something evil lurking inside the castle and that she could help us."

"Now that's just not some coincidence, is it?"

"Now that you've pointed it out, no it wasn't just a coincidence. This happened in March, right around the same time that Kate said that the incubus came to her."

"So, what are you thinking here, Wil?" Faith asked and she could just see the wheels turning in Willow's head. "You think maybe this woman released the incubus? That maybe it was trapped in the castle, bound there by some kind of force or spell and this woman purposely released it."

"Ah, ah, so she is a lot smarter than she appears to be. Not just all brawn, but a little bit of a brain in there after all," Kate cackled as she snapped her head up and looked right at them. It wasn't Kate's voice at all that spoke, but something deeper, evil sounding. The low growl that rumbled beyond each word sent chills down Faith's spine.

"Wil-"

Willow was already moving, her hand raised as she strengthened the magical barrier around Kate. But she wasn't quick enough and Kate broke free, the barrier shattering and dissipating around her as she leapt from the chair. The room quickly filled with blinding white light and after a few seconds it disappeared, revealing that Kate was gone and Willow lay on the floor unconscious.

"Willow?" Faith asked as she knelt beside her and gently shook her. "Willow, wake up!"

"What on earth happened in here?" Giles asked as he rushed into the room, the others trailing behind him. "What happened to Willow?"

"Where's Kate?" Dawn asked as she looked around the room.

"Wil?" Kennedy asked worriedly as she knelt beside Willow and gently took her hand in hers. "Wil? Honey, wake up."

"What happened to Kate, Faith?" Giles asked as Faith rose to her feet, leaving Kennedy to tend to Willow. "Faith?"

"Willow and I were just talking and then Kate woke up and shit kind of hit the fan and she just disappeared."

"What do you mean she just disappeared?"

"What I said," Faith replied and she took a deep breath. She was seeing spots due to the bright light that had filled the room in the seconds before Kate had disappeared. "She disappeared. Broke through the barrier Willow had cast on her and poof, gone."

"Oh," Willow moaned as Kennedy helped her to sit up. "My head. Feels like it went kablooey on me. What-what happened? Where's Kate?"

"Do you remember what happened, Wil?" Kennedy asked and she thought for a moment before nodding her head slowly, moaning again as she held her head with both hands. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Just feeling a bit woozy. That sure was a doozy," Willow replied and she giggled. "Woozy doozy and all kablooey."

"Is she all right?" Giles asked, trying hard to keep from laughing at the silliness that Willow was projecting. "Willow? Do you need a moment?"

Willow mumbled as Kennedy helped her get up on the couch. Faith knew this wasn't normal for her, especially judging the looks on the other's faces that showed how worried and concerned they were at the state that Willow was in at the moment.

What did just happen? Was Kate possessed as well? Or was it something else, something bigger, something worse?

"Did we get enough information from her, G?" Faith asked as she stood by Giles and watched as Kennedy tried to get Willow to stop mumbling nonsense. "We didn't, did we?"

"Unfortunately no, we didn't get nearly enough information from her. We did though have her confirm what you insisted was true, that the demon you saw was not in fact Buffy, but a copy, an illusion."

Motioning Giles to step out of the room and into the narrow hallway. "I think Buffy is in the castle."

"Why would you think that? They searched the entire castle and the grounds extensively and turned up nothing."

"She's in there, Giles. I know she is."

"What makes you so certain?" Giles asked quietly.

"Willow and I were talking before Kate disappeared. She asked about the dream and I told her what I saw. Turns out an old woman, a witch, came to the castle to do a cleansing back in March, right around the time that Kate said the incubus first came to her. It's possible that this woman released the demon. I'm guessing it was bound inside the castle and this woman purposely freed it."

"This is interesting."

"Not only that, when "Kate" woke up, she spoke to me, said I was a lot smarter than I appeared. I'd just finished saying the same thing I just told you to Willow when she woke up. But, G, the voice that came out? It wasn't hers, it was-"

"Demonic in nature," Giles finished for her. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly, looking around her at Willow and Kennedy in the living room. "It turns out that our priorities have shifted."

"Drastically."

"We have to deal with the demons here before we leave, you do realize that, don't you?"

"Giles, these demons aren't going anywhere. They-"

"They'll hurt innocent people if we leave without dealing with them first."

"What about Buffy? She's fading, G."

"Fading? What do you-"

"Guys?" Andrew yelled from the kitchen and a slight panic rumbled through Faith's body at the shrillness of his voice. "Um, guys? Little problem here! There's a demon in the kitchen!"

Faith was the first to run into the kitchen with Giles following immediately behind her. Andrew was on top of the counter, back up against the wall and a spatula in one hand. On the stove, pancakes were cooking and slowly burning. Faith looked around the kitchen, not seeing anything else in there with Andrew. Yet, before she could call him on him hallucinating from the entire lack of sleep, she saw it, just a shadow of it, skittering past her and to the darkest corner in the room.

Looking around the counters for a weapon of sorts, she spotted a butcher knife that was in the sink. Grabbing it, she motioned to Giles to get Andrew out of there. Whatever this demon was, a shadow or not, she was going to kill it.

Moving slowly, she approached the spot she last saw the shadow of the demon. Gripping the knife tight in her hand, it raised at the ready, she came to a stop, trying to get her eyes to focus on the darkest part of the dimly lit kitchen. She could hear it breathing even though she couldn't see it and she tried to focus, to use the slayer senses as Giles had taught her how to use.

She could hear laughter, sinister sounding laughter as she got closer to the corner of the kitchen. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel out the demon, feeling it so close that it made her whole body feel cold. She opened her eyes just as she felt a change in the air around her. The demon hit her full force, covering her whole body in the same black slime-like substance as she had experienced during that nightmare.

Only this time it was real. Wasn't it?

Faith didn't know. All she could do was fight it, fight it from entering inside of her. The sheer strength of it was almost too much and it felt like it was crushing her completely.

"Faith!" Giles yelled, but the sound of his voice was muffled.

Faith struggled on the floor, hands grasping at the demon and failing to grab a hold of it, her fingers slipping through every time. Fighting not just the demon, but the fear and panic that filled her, she tried to hold on, tried to stop the demon, but the weight of it crushing her was making it harder and harder to breathe with every second that passed by.

"Faith!" Willow yelled out and Faith could barely turn her head enough to look at her. "Fight it! I can help you, but I need you to fight it!"

I'm trying.

"Hold on, Faith!" Willow said and she approached her quickly, hand raised, white light emanating from her fingertips as she began to chant in Latin.

Finding one last ounce of strength, she continued to fight, to hold on, to keep conscious as Willow chanted quickly, the white light moving from her fingertips and slowly surrounding Faith's body. She could feel the electricity of the spell coursing through her body as it got brighter. Slowly she could feel the demon being forced off of her, the weight gradually getting less and less. With a gasp, she sat up and grabbed at her throat and her chest as she took a few big breaths, filling her lungs with air again.

"Jesus," Faith groaned as she tried to get to her feet and she reached for Willow's outstretched hand. "What the fuck was that?"

"An aspect of a demon," Willow replied quietly. "It tried to possess you, Faith."

"If you'd been one second longer, it'd probably would've. How are ya feeling, Wil?"

"You're asking me how I'm feeling when you were the one who was nearly possessed?" Willow laughed dryly. "Faith, I'm fine. How are you feeling?"

"Lightheaded, but give me a few and a cigarette and I'll be five by five."

"Andrew?" Giles called out and the three waited. "Andrew, get back in here, it's safe and your pancakes are burning." No answer. No Andrew. "Bloody hell, boy, get back in here!"

"He's gone!" Kennedy said as she ran in, breathless, her lip cut open and blood trickling out. "Something came in when Willow rushed into the kitchen and I tried to fight it, but I couldn't touch it. It clocked me and took Andrew."

"Took him?"

"Vanished into thin air."

"What did this something look like?" Willow asked as she checked over Kennedy to make sure she didn't have any other injuries. "Kennedy, what did this thing look like?"

"Like Buffy."

Faith tried to still her shaky hand as she lit a cigarette, her near possession have frayed her nerves a little too much. It happened so fast, just a few minutes, but it felt like it had been longer than that. She didn't even want to think of what would've happened if Willow had still been in the state she'd been in after Kate had disappeared. If it wasn't for Willow, she'd have been possessed by whatever demon it was that had been there.

"Fuck, get it together, Lehane. You're safe and not possessed," Faith muttered to herself in an attempt to regain her cool.

"Talking to yourself? Are you sure you're not possessed?" Willow asked as she walked out onto the patio to join her. When Faith didn't respond, Willow just laughed quietly and sat down at the table across from her. "I tried to use the program Andrew has, the one that can pick up the tracker you planted the other day, but it's been stationary since you were beaten. I'm thinking the demon found it and left it behind."

"So we've got jack shit, huh? How the hell are we gonna find Andrew? These tracking skills I got? Don't work when someone literally vanishes into thin air."

"I have a bad feeling we're going to need more slayer power and soon, so I already sent out a memo back to Scotland and Satsu is rounding up a group of girls for us. As soon as I get the call, I can teleport them in and we'll figure this out."

"Is Sushi coming along too?" Faith asked, surprised at how bitter she sounded.

"No, she has responsibilities there she needs to take care of. She's the most experienced slayer we have, aside from Buffy, Kennedy and you. Rona and Vi? They refuse to come to Scotland, so all we have left is Satsu."

"Why her?"

"Buffy called Satsu her best slayer, so…" Willow trailed off and ended with a shrug. "She's proven herself to all of us. We can trust her."

"Nah, Wil. And right now, I wouldn't trust anyone if I were you. I know I sure as hell don't."

"You really don't like her, do you?"

"I don't even know her."

Willow raised an eyebrow and thankfully she didn't press on Faith more about how she felt about Satsu. It was simple. She just didn't like the girl. From the moment she met her, even said her name, she got a vibe from her she definitely didn't like. Knowing that this girl had a thing for Buffy didn't help either and Faith wasn't sure if what she felt was jealousy or something else when it came to that.

"We should be out there looking for him," Dawn said from just inside the doorway and it pulled Faith's attention over to her and Giles. "Why are we just sitting around here? That demon posing as my sister took him!"

"Dawn-"

"No, Giles, we need to go out there and find him before something happens to him! Faith," Dawn said and she stormed out the door. "You're a tracker. You got us this far. Why aren't you out there looking for Andrew?"

Faith had needed some time to clear her head after the mysterious demon attack. It'd rattled her nerves and if she stormed off out of the house in search of Andrew, she knew she was putting herself at risk, especially immediately following the attack.

"Oh my god, you guys don't care about him, do you?" Dawn said loudly, the shrillness of her voice drilling through Faith's head. "If that was me, would you all just be sitting around too and allowing that demon to do whatever the hell it's doing to Andrew right now?"

"Dawn, please calm down," Giles said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and slapped him, shocking not just Giles, but Faith too that she'd pulled a move like that on him. "Please, we all understand the severity of the situation, but Faith was attacked-"

"Andrew was taken and they vanished into thin air!"

"Exactly," Faith spoke up as she stood up from the chair. "They vanished into thin air which means there's no trail to follow, no clue as to where they are right now. We need to stop and think about how we're gonna deal with this."

"Stop and think? Since when are you the one who wants to stop and think? I thought you were all about getting the job done, no matter what it takes?"

"Cos getting the job means making sure we're all safe. Yeah, Andrew is gone, but from the things you guys have told me and the things I've seen in the last week, Andrew is capable of taking care of himself. I wouldn't even be surprised if he annoyed the hell out of the demon so much that he is let go before we even find him."

Giles nodded in agreement while he rubbed his cheek where Dawn had slapped him. "Faith is right, Dawn. Right now we need to take a moment and think about why the demon would want him, why it would take him. We also need to figure out what kind of demon attacked Faith in the kitchen and why it hadn't attacked Andrew as it had been seen by him first."

"It was the demon, the succubus," Faith said under her breath.

"What makes you think that?" Willow asked her. "I mean, I though the succubus had taken solid form, you know, in shape of Buffy. How could it have been all non-corporeal when it attacked you?"

"Just this feeling. Felt the same thing when it came to me in my dreams. And I don't know how or why, but that's what you guys are good at, cracking open the books and finding the answers," Faith replied and she shrugged. "Look, you guys figure this out and I'll go out and start looking around for either of the demons. It's pretty obvious they work together, so I'm thinking wherever one is, the other is close by and so is Andrew."

"Faith, I'd prefer if you did not go alone," Giles said. "Bring Kennedy along with you, would you?"

"Sure."

After a few hours of wandering around a ten block radius from the house, checking out the house Lucian owned and the abandoned building Faith had fallen into before "Buffy" nearly beat her to death, they checked the popular cafés and boutiques where she'd spotted both demons before. But it all had come up empty with absolutely no sign of either demon anywhere. Even the abandoned building had been empty, the man they had captive there gone and the only evidence that anyone had been in there was the broken glass on the ground from where Faith had fallen through the skylight.

"What now?" Kennedy asked as they walked across the street and took a seat at the café Faith had seen Buffy and Lucian at before. "Do we just give up, head back to the house and hope the others have found something?"

"No, not yet, Kennedy. We're just gonna take a little break and-"

"Drink wine?" Kennedy asked as the waitress approached the table with two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Half," Faith said to the waitress, indicating on the glass where to fill it.

"No, thank you," Kennedy said and she quickly put her hand over the glass in front of her and the waitress let out a small huff before walking off. "Faith, I really don't think it's a good time to be sitting out here in the open drinking wine when we've got to-"

"We're taking a break," Faith cut her off. "Every place we've checked, we've come up empty. If they have other places they go to in this city, well we both know that the possibilities of them being anywhere is endless."

Kennedy let out an exasperated sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. Faith looked around the patio at the people sitting around them. Tourists, mostly and just a few locals, obvious from their conversation spoken in rapid Italian. Faith casually took a sip of her wine and that's when she spotted the two women who she'd seen with Buffy and Lucian before. They were exiting the café, talking quietly to each other. Faith motioned to Kennedy to follow and she got up, making it look casual as she slipped out some money from her back pocket and placed it under the barely touched glass of wine.

She was almost certain the two women were the ones she'd seen before even though she never got a good look at their faces. The hair, the way they walked and even dressed had her believing that they were. Kennedy looked like she was desperate to ask Faith what she was up to, but she kept quiet and followed Faith. The two women, oblivious to the fact that they had two Slayers following them, crossed the street and headed around the corner.

"Why are we following them?" Kennedy asked quietly as Faith rounded the corner and spotted them already halfway up the street. "Faith?"

"I saw them with Buffy and Lucian the first day I was here. Got a feeling they might lead us to them, or close to wherever they are."

"What if they're just two innocent people you just happened to see with them? What if they're not connected to them at all?"

"Shut up, Kennedy."

The two women, clearly related, sisters or cousins, walked up to a narrow row house near the end of the street and they walked inside, shutting the red door quickly behind them. Faith kept her distance, not wanting to be caught following them. She looked around the narrow street, all the houses almost identical aside from the different colored doors and the various plants in the odd window planter box.

"What are we going to do now, Faith?"

"What part of shut up don't you understand?"

"Faith-"

"Go back to the house," Faith cut her off and she rolled her eyes when Kennedy shook her head no. "I'm going to do some recon, check out the house, see if I can see anything."

"You're going to get caught."

"I will if you and your big mouth stick around. Go back to the house. Now. This is not a discussion."

"Giles doesn't want you out here alone."

"I don't give a fuck what he wants right now."

"That's not true," Kennedy replied with a knowing smirk. "I'll keep watch while you check things out."

Faith sighed heavily and looked up at the roof. "I need to find a way up there."

"Why up there?"

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, we knock on the front door."

Faith laughed loudly and shook her head no. "That's got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard. And I've heard a lot of stupid ones in my time."

"Not stupid, unexpected. They don't know who we are, right?"

"No, but-"

"So, we can just pretend we're lost and just so happened to randomly pick their door to knock on."

"And if they do know who we are, then what, Kennedy? Got any more idiotic ideas up that sleeve of yours?"

"One, I'm wearing a tank top, it doesn't have sleeves, and two, even if they do know who we are, we'll deal with it."

Smartass. Faith shook her head and followed Kennedy as she briskly walked to the front door and knocked three times. They waited for a few minutes and when nobody came to the door, Kennedy knocked again. This time, the door creaked open a crack and with a shrug, Kennedy pushed it open and stepped inside.

Not wanting Kennedy to risk entering the house alone when they had no idea what could be waiting for them inside, Faith followed her and the door slammed shut loudly behind them, startling both of them. The house was dark, all the drapes on the windows drawn shut allowing none of the sunlight outside to shine in. There was a dim light at the end of the narrow hallway they were in and with Kennedy in the lead, they walked towards it.

"We're idiots," Kennedy said quietly and she came to a stop.

"Huh?"

"This isn't just a house. It's an apartment, see?" Kennedy said as she motioned to the door they were walking towards. It had a letter and a number hanging near the peephole. "Wonder which one those two live in? You think they're sisters?"

"Right now, I could care less. Let's just figure out where they went."

"What if they're demons?"

"Kennedy, shut up," Faith snapped at her and she walked over to the only door in the hallway and listened. Beyond the door she could just faintly hear the sounds of an older man and woman conversing in Italian and it almost sounded like they were arguing. "Let's go up to the next floor."

Kennedy groaned and followed Faith over to the narrow stairs that led up to the second floor. Up there, there were four doors and there was a little more light. Two bare lightbulbs hung on either end of the hallway, casting a soft and almost eerie glow. Of the four doors, only one was slightly open and deciding to take a chance, Faith headed towards it.

Faith unsheathed her small dagger from the inside of her boot and used the tip of the blade to push the door open. The hinges creaked and she pushed it open a little more and peered inside the dark apartment. Something felt different about it from the moment she stepped inside. Something dark, something powerful. Something evil. Without looking back to see if Kennedy was following her, she walked further into the dark apartment and came to a stop in the middle of the empty living room.

"Where are they?" Faith asked as a candle was lit and one of the women stepped forward.

"Who?"

"The demons."

"Not here," she said quietly. "Neither is that foolish man or the one you've been looking for all along."

"What are you?"

The woman laughed and several more candles lit up around the room as if done by magic. "I'm human," she said simply.

"You're a witch."

"That too," she sneered and she stepped closer to Faith. "A very powerful one. An old one too. Let's just say, I look really good for my age."

"And the other one?"

"You're asking a lot of questions. Too many questions and unfortunately, Slayer, they are not the right ones."

"Calais, what do you want me to do with this one?" The other woman said as she walked in the room, holding Kennedy by her arms. "She's…squirmy."

"They are not a threat to us."

"They're-"

"Not a threat. Let her go, Sabine."

Sabine rolled her eyes and let go of Kennedy with a huff. Kennedy looked just as confused as Faith felt. These two were witches and if they weren't on the demons' side. Whose side were they on? The side of the good or somewhere in between? Faith didn't know, but she wasn't going to leave without some answers.

"I am Calais," the woman closest to Faith said. "And this is my sister, Sabine."

"Faith," she replied and pointed over to Kennedy. "That's Kennedy."

"We know who you are," Sabine said as she stood at her sister's side. "What are you doing here?"

"Sabine-"

"I saw you two with them, the demons," Faith said as she looked at both of them, not trusting them for a second. "One of them took a friend of ours."

"And I suppose you believed that if you found us, we'd lead you to your friend or to the demons you seek?" Sabine asked and she laughed cruelly. "I thought you were the smart one, Faith."

Defensively, Faith took a step forward and glared at Sabine. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Sabine, please," Calais said softly. "They are worried about him. They want to find him just as they want to find the Slayer."

"What do you know about Buffy?"

"Again, you are asking the wrong questions," Calais replied and she shook her head as she stared at Faith. "You saw us with them because we have falsified an alliance with them. It keeps the balance and it protects us from the demons themselves. They cannot inhibit us nor can they control us."

"But, you had to do something for them in return, didn't you?"

"Yes," Calais nodded. "Kate was another pawn in the game they like to play. She was key in order for them to get what they wanted and that was Buffy Summers. You, on the other hand, were their first choice, but something blocked them from finding you. That something, was us."

"Why?"

"Because you are the only one who can fight them. You are the only one capable of killing them, putting them back where they belong in their own Hell dimension. You are the only one who can prevent them and their kind from ever returning here to this world."

"I'm sensing there's a catch," Faith replied and she cast a glance over at Kennedy. "So, what's the catch?"

"There is no catch," Calais replied. "You must find them and kill them. Only you."

"There's just one problem with that," Faith said. "Last time I came up on my own against the one wearing Buffy's skin, I ended up nearly dead. How the hell am I gonna fight both of them?"

Calais and Sabine looked at each other and they laughed. The tone of their laughter almost chilled Faith to the core. Something didn't feel right. Something was wrong. Something big was going to happen and she knew she wouldn't have a choice but to go along for whatever ride she was about to be thrust upon.

Kennedy looked at her anxiously, a hint of fear lingering in her worried eyes. Faith shook her head and looked at the two witches as they continued to laugh. Slowly their laughter died down and it was Sabine who stepped forward and placed a hand gingerly on Faith's cheek.

"We protected you because we knew you'd be strong enough to fight them. Sometimes even a slayer needs a little help, a little bit of extra strength and drive, just a little more desire to find and destroy evil. Power lies inside of you, great power, Slayer. It is I and Calais who can help you unleash the true slayer inside of you. We can give you the power to fight them, to destroy them, to find your annoying little friend and to find Buffy and release her from the mystical prison she is trapped inside."

Faith gasped as she felt something surge inside of her. Blinding, white-hot pain filled her and she yelled out into the room. As quickly as the pain had filled her, it disappeared and she felt something inside of her, something different, something stronger and more powerful than ever.

"Knew there was gonna be a catch," she growled and she charged at Sabine.