Thank you to a lovely reader for pointing out a significant mistake, this chapter required a quick adjustment. Enjoy x

This is so not how I wanted to spend my night.' Buffy complained, 'Do you realise how long we've been walking?' The fog was faint, thin wisps brushed their ankles. She still couldn't see well without the flashlight.

'I feel it. We're close.' Spike murmured.

'I'm starting to believe you're full of it and have gotten us lost.' She hit the base of her flickering torch.

'Do you remember what I said when you roped me into finding Rack's little haunt? Just let the Big Bad do his work, girl.'

'Oh?... The Big Bad is here?'

Spike stopped but Buffy kept walking. He glared at her strutting away from him into the fog. He tilted his head as he perved on her backside. He couldn't help but let a smirk tug at the corner of his mouth. She was such a sassy little bitch. Buffy Summers was the most infuriating woman he had ever met and it excited him.

'You might want to slow down, pet. I can't smell you very well in this fog.'

'I'll find my own way out!' she called back.

Spike jogged to keep up with her.

'Let me tell you something, Slayer.' He stepped in front of her. Buffy almost ran into him and she exhaled heavily. 'You keep walking... and you'll miss what we've been looking for.' He nodded his head to something behind her. She glanced behind her shoulder and to her surprise, she saw a detailed carved door inserted into one of the trees.

Buffy responded by turning the rest of the way around and approached the door cautiously. She took a deep breath, reached out and placed her hand on the cold brass handle. She looked back at Spike who was watching her closely. Buffy tried to turn the knob slowly, one way, then the other. The knob wouldn't budge. She sighed. Of course. That would have been too easy. Buffy felt Spike approach, closing the gap between them from behind her. Her breath hitched. With his body pressed against hers, he reached around her and opened the door with ease. She looked up at him, and him down at her as he pushed passed her into the door way. Buffy's lips formed a straight line at the smug look on his face.

Standing before them was a narrow dark hallway. Buffy peered behind the tree only to see the rest of the forest then back to face the long dark corridor. 'So there's definitely something you're not telling me.' She murmured 'How do you know about this?'

'Come, stick close behind me.' Spike ignored her question.

Their foot steps echoed off the cold stone walls. The air was so stale, it made Buffy shudder to think what she might be breathing in. Further along, dry debris crunched under their shoes; only for Buffy to realise they were walking on the remains of individuals long since devoured. The darkness of the corridor began to lift as they passed sconces of burning blue flame protruding out of the walls. The tunnel ended through a stone arch way and the couple found themselves in a large circular crypt. The crypt was littered with broken coffins, cobwebs and bones. A large iron chandelier hung above casting a blue circular light. It illuminated just the centre portion of the crypt and Buffy saw that the light blended out into a complete and unnatural darkness around the edges of the room. Suddenly they heard a cracking noise, like joints being popped from their sockets. Raspy breathing rattled from somewhere in the darkness. A chill ran down Buffy's spine as she felt the temperature drop a couple of degrees. Spike and Buffy whipped around to see a figure in the darkness. It was difficult to make out the detail, but the figure had what looked like long skinny limbs and a slender, hunched torso. The figure had wild hair which stood on end. The joints of this figure cracked and snapped as it began to creep forward in a mild erratic fashion. Buffy readied her defensive position, stake in hand. Just as the figure moved into the light, a woman stepped out of the shadows in its place. Though stunned, Buffy kept the stake raised. The woman was tall and lean. A flowy satin dressed hung loosely from her frame. Her long silver hair draped over her shoulders, framing a pale, vein kissed face. Buffy couldn't help but notice the intense eye contact the woman held despite her cloudy, cataract filled eyes. A look of recognition flashed across her face when she looked at Spike.

'William!' The woman's face instantly brightened. 'You've returned! What news do you bring?' she paused, 'You brought a friend.' Her voice was like a heavenly choir. The woman inhaled deeply.

'...the Slayer?' she exclaimed in surprised. Buffy looked incredulously up at Spike.

'Buffy, this is the Mother.' Spike introduced. Buffy looked back to the Mother and lowered the stake. She felt the Mother's eyes bore into her soul and suddenly Buffy felt the air getting thicker. Her breath caught in her throat. Her airways felt as narrow as a drinking straw. Panic began to rise in her chest when suddenly, just as quickly as it had come on, a weight was lifted. 'What the hell...' she gasped.

'Interesting. ' The Mother took a step forward. 'This one has died yet she stands here all nice and perfused in front of us.'

Buffy held her ground as the Mother took another step forward. 'You smell so familiar' she purred before asking in a low tone, 'What are you?.' The Mother showed such an interest that it made Buffy uncomfortable. Buffy squared her shoulders. 'I'm Buffy Summers. Vampire Slayer...' she took a step forward to meet the Mother. 'and demon hunter.'

'Well,' the ghoulish woman began, grinning wide and diverting her eyes to Spike. 'it's a good thing I'm neither of those.' She looked back down at Buffy after pause. 'Not anymore at least. You see, the ironic thing about immortality Buffy – after two thousand years your mind remains the same but your vessel slowly deteriorates. I no longer feel the need to feed. And if I'm exposed to just a glimmer of natural sunlight or fire... "POOF".' she snapped her fragile fingers.

'That's a real shame.' Buffy said curtly, 'Why drag your misery to Sunnydale?'

The Mother continued to hold Buffy's gaze then let out a deep sigh. 'I'm looking for my progeny. The only being I have ever sired. I haven't felt him in 200 years and I fear the worst.'

'So you believe your progeny is in Sunnydale? How do you know if he's here or not?'

'I don't know for certain. I thought I was close, i could finally feel him. But, I'm weak.' She paused. 'I just want to rest, Buffy. I can't without knowing where Typhon is or what has become of him. Sunnydale is the only Hellmouth left. I've spent the last the last decades of my life traveling the world, visiting each one.'

Buffy felt a pang of sympathy, but remembered this Temptress and her progeny probably caused a lot more pain in their centuries together than what the Mother appeared to be expressing right now.

'So what is it that you need from me?' Buffy asked. Confused frustration buzzed in her head.

'You said it yourself, Slayer. You're a demon hunter.' She paused and her face darkened with a sly grin. 'I want you to hunt my demon.'

Buffy crossed her arms. 'Or I could just end you now. You literally just told me your weakness.'

A glint of amusement danced in the Mother's milky eyes. The sly grin spread wider across her face. 'The curse doesn't break upon my death, stupid girl. You kill me now and you can watch your world crumble. And it won't be instant. The fog will get thicker. The flora is always first to die, then all the cute little animals.' She tilted her head and slowly continued, 'Then every person that you love. One... by... one until there is you, the only one left breathing.'

Buffy was speechless as she processed this threat and how quickly the Mother's demeanour changed. Before she could ask any questions, the Mother's current image began to falter. Her face flashed an image of rotting flesh and exposed teeth. The Mother began drifting backwards into the darkness, her limbs slowly turning spindly and the sound of cracking joints returned.

''Forgive me Buffy, the length of my enchantments aren't what they used to be .' She rasped a chuckle that made Buffy's skin crawl. From that point on, try as Buffy might, her questions were answered by silence. She felt Spike approach and touch her arm but she snatched it away. She turned on her heel and began tracing her steps back through the tunnel.

-'-;-

Buffy stormed through the cemetery, her fists clenched and heart racing.

'Buffy! Slow down!' Spike hurried behind her.

'What is wrong with you?' Buffy yelled, spinning around. 'You can't just hire me out to ancient demons like I'm some sort of contract mercenary!'

'Oh come on, Slayer. You needed to know who was responsible for the fog and plus the sooner she's reunited with Typhon, the sooner she'll piss off.'

'Why don't you find him then?' Buffy snapped.

Spike screwed up his face. 'I can't, alright?' He said defeated, shrugging his shoulders. 'I mean, not yet. Either the git has a bloody good cloaking spell or he's already dust in the bloody wind.'

'Just how long have you known about this?' Buffy said in disbelief.

'Do you want to get out of this fog at some point? Or shall we wait to see if it kills us, you think?' Spike responded looking around. Buffy shook her head and started walking again. She deliberately dropped her shoulder into him as she flounced past.

Neither of them spoke on the way back to the Magic Box. The main lights to the shop front were off and the crew all sat around the table at the back of the store. Buffy was slightly annoyed to see Dawn still awake, sitting between Xander and Willow but decided not to comment yet. She was still coming to terms with having been forcefully assigned this wild demonic goose chase and wondering how she was going to explain it to her friends.

'You're back!' Willow exclaimed, excitedly. 'What did you find?'

'Not much. Only just the being who's directing this freak show.' Buffy went on to explain the fog had not cleared like they thought, about the entrance to a hidden crypt behind an enchanted tree door deep within the forest, the horrific ghoul who "is best buddies with William over there", and what she was required to do to break the curse.

'Oh! Spike is partially behind all this? Why am I not surprised?' Xander oozed with sarcasm.

'Spike introduced her to me as "The Mother".' She turned to face her Watcher. 'You were right Giles, this fog is caused by her grief. Unfortunately, simply slaying her will not lift the curse.'

'Yes. I've heard of her indeed. Mother Sabbat or simply "The Mother". Her real name has long been forgotten. Apparently she's said to be over 2000 years old.' Giles began, 'From memory, she was sired by an ancient cluster of vampires – associated with the direct progenies of Lilith.' Giles crossed his arms and leant against the loft stairs. He removed his glasses as he continued. 'In her 2000 years, she has only sired one progeny. A fledgling renamed Typhon. Now, I've read his name elsewhere but I can't for the life of me recall where.' He turned and started walking up the stairs to the loft.

'So this bag of dust and bones wants you to find a demon that's been missing for 200 years?' Xander piped up.

'I guess 200 years feels like 2 years when you're over 2 millennia old.' Willow reasoned.

'Regardless, what is this "Mother",' he gestured quotations to mother. 'going to do for you if you find her demon?'

'Aside from not killing the whole town, including you miserable Muppets?' Spike interjected.

'I was talking to Buffy, you peroxide pimp.' Xander snapped.

'Does Typhon even want to be found?' Giles called down. He trailed a finger along the restricted books 'He is seldom mentioned in any Vampire texts from the last 200 years. His true death would have been recorded at least somewhere...wait.' He picked out a heavy tome, with the text "Vampyr" stamped in the leather cover. He brought down the book and placed it on the table. He began flicking through the fragile pages, passing over detailed profiles of ancient vampires until he reached the page that read, "SABBAT". He scanned and translated the odd language,

'In 1758, the Mother was accused of killing a warlock named Acheros. Typhon was alerted to an attack being planned against Sabbat by the Coven of Acheros' remaining followers. He planned to defend his sire but was betrayed by a trusted ally who allowed the Coven to intercept Typhon first. When he refused to betray Sabbat, the warlocks...removed his eyes.'

'They plucked out his eyes?' Willow gasped.

' I guess that's a new keyword or theme we can search for. How many other eyeless demons are out there?' Xander asked, bending down behind Willow's shoulder to look at her computer search.

'Does it say who the false ally was?' Buffy pressed.

A look of concern flashed across Giles' face. 'Well... yes, actually.' He hesitated. 'Typhon was betrayed by Angelus'