City Lights - VI
'This city is what it is because our citizens are what they are' - Plato
Los Angeles
Buffy had barely stepped over the borderline into the city when Willow had begun reciting the tracking spell she had tailored to locate Angel. The Slayer's sense of balance was still reeling from the cloaking charm, and the sudden pulling sensation that the next spell ignited in the pit of her stomach knocked Buffy clean off her feet. It was several moments before her vision finally cleared and the overwhelming feeling of nausea subsided. Buffy blinked and rubbed her eyes with balled up fists. Climbing unsteadily to her feet and gripping Willow's hand in her own, Buffy turned full circle in order to survey the remnants of downtown L.A. Her mouth dropped open in astonishment and horror.
"Whoa…" was all that Willow managed.
The sidewalks were deserted and the once majestic buildings that lined the streets were veritable ruins. Shards of glass, pools of crimson, and even bones littered the ground. Massive craters marred the surface of the road, which was devoid of any working vehicles. Only the charred shells of abandoned cars and delivery vans remained, some with the rear doors hanging open and goods paused on the upper platforms as though their drivers had been disturbed in the midst of unloading.
"It's so…" Willow tried but faltered, unable to find adequate words to describe the scene of devastation before them.
"Empty," Buffy offered after a beat, just needing to fill the silence yet painfully aware of how insufficient the word seemed.
Willow nodded a response. Her eyes were trained upon a dirty object that lay on the tarmac at her feet. Using the toe of her boot, Willow gingerly rolled the thing over in order to examine it better. She felt the vomit rising in her throat as the realisation dawned upon her; a severed human hand, possibly that of a child.
"Oh God," Willow yelped as she leapt backwards, wide eyes affixed on the limb.
"We got bigger problems right now, Will," Buffy mumbled, her nails digging into Willow's forearm as a deafening rumbling sound resounded throughout the streets. The two women clung to each other for support as the ground began to tremor and they were almost thrown off balance again.
Willow and Buffy turned their faces in perfect unison to the sky, which seemed to be darkening in hue with each passing second. The clouds rolled by at an impossible speed, and the Slayer and the witch watched as all traces of bright blue were replaced by a foreboding gray that leaked across the sky like spilt ink.
"The energy field…" Willow shouted, her tone betraying the panic that had seized her, "Buffy, it's a trap. They're putting the field back up."
Buffy heard her friend but only barely. She was too busy gazing into the atmosphere at a large object hurtling towards the spot where they stood. Buffy pushed Willow to the ground, grunting in slight pain as her elbow slammed against the ledge of the curb. The air around them was filled by a whistling sound akin to nothing that Buffy had ever experienced before. Realisation finally dawned upon the pair as a flaming piece of rock struck the ground to the side of them, fracturing the sidewalk slightly upon impact.
"Fire and brimstone," Buffy said darkly. She was on her feet in less than a second, her hand outstretched to Willow, whom she wasted no time in shepherding under the cover of a nearby shop awning. The women huddled together, watching in hushed awe as the rain of flaming debris fell from the sky.
"I think we made a mistake," Willow whispered. At her side, she felt Buffy squeeze her hand in reassurance. That was when the second voice interrupted their reverie.
"I think you're right, witch."
Buffy spun on her heel, both fists already raised and poised in defensive manner. Willow instinctively dropped back a step behind the Slayer, already beginning to mutter under her breath to formulate a helpful spell. Six vampires stood framed in the broken window of the store that Buffy and Willow had fled to. The creatures grinned, some already chuckling softly, as Buffy whipped a stake from her back pocket and raised it aloft.
That was when the screaming began.
An unearthly shrieking that rose up around the group in a cacophonous din. The noise was excruciating and Buffy gritted her teeth against the pain that filled her head. Behind her Willow had ceased chanting and was writhing on the ground with both hands clapped against her ears to block out the sound. Only the vampires seemed unperturbed.
The stake clattered from Buffy's fingers as the shrieking rose in both intensity and pitch. The Slayer felt as though her entire head would explode, and began clawing at her face with her nails, not caring that she was raking bloody lines down her cheeks. When the sound had reached fever pitch and Buffy had sunk to her knees, her vision obscured by involuntary tears, the first vampire struck.
A single, vicious backhand blow was all it took to knock Buffy to the floor in her disorientated state. The vampire straddled Buffy and leaned in so close to her face that she could smell the must on his clothes and the staleness of his breath. She would have been full of witty quips regarding personal hygiene and the undead had she been able to form a coherent thought. Still, the screaming continued, rendering both Slayer and witch helpless against their attackers.
Buffy could not discern what the vampire hissed as it lowered it's open maw to her throat, but she was so close to the brink of unconsciousness that she hardly cared. She simply found herself longing for the inhuman screaming to end. The vampire's kiss would almost be welcome.
Suddenly, despite the wailing and the painful pounding of blood in her temples, there came a clarity. Buffy's eyes snapped open and she was shocked to see the vampire who had been poised to taste her sailing through the air like a rag doll.
A voice pierced the haze, measured but irrefutably dangerous.
"Get away from her."
For just a moment, Buffy's heart ceased beating. Angel.