Until It Sleeps: Chapter 5

Just like the curse, just like the stray
You feed it once, and now it stays
So tear me open, but beware
There's things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me, until I'm clean

- Metallica

In a terrific insult by the powers that be, there was absolutely nothing for Faith to kill, maim, or otherwise cause harm to. Not even a rat. And to top it off the Bronze was closed for renovations. Not that anyone was out at night these days. Although there had been no official word of `demons preying on the living', the town had responded as such and seemingly initiated a self-imposed curfew.

There was nothing. No slaying, no dancing, no sex, nothing.

So that's how she ended up where she was, pacing back and forth between crypts, nursing her bloody right hand.

She did say a wall would put up a better fight than Xander.

Angel found her, not surprisingly, within an hour of her storming out of the house. Wordlessly he approached her and reached out, and Faith held her right hand towards him so he could look at it.

"Have you broken anything?" He asked softly.

"Nah."

He let her hand go, and stood, just looking at her for a few seconds.

Faith caught the question before it had even left his mouth. "Having the time of my life, buddy." She said, lightly punching his arm with her other hand. "Couldn't be happier back in Sunny-Dale."

"You could cut them some slack, you know." He said. "Be less. antagonistic."

She shrugged. "Why, when I can give them exactly what they're expecting? Easier on everyone."

"It's not you."

"How do you know?" She countered, eyes flashing just slightly. Angel shook his head.

"Don't play that game with me Faith. I know you better than that."

"The second this thing is over, I'm leaving." She said, crossing her arms.

Angel nodded. "I think that's the idea." He glanced back at the Graveyard behind them. "It's not safe here. We need to get back."

"Hah.. and sleep in Buffy's room?" Faith snorted. "I'd rather take my chances out-"

Any further comment was silenced when an arc of light cut through the air above them and exploded into the side of one of the crypt, sending rocks pelting away in the opposite direction.

"SHIT" Faith hissed.

Faith and Angel both ducked, then leapt away from the path as a shadow swept past them, disappearing beyond the border of the graveyard itself.

"What was that!?"

Angel stared into the darkness, wiping some dust from the explosion off his cheek. "I don't know."

Gritting her teeth, Faith started walking in the direction it had disappeared to. "I'm going after it."

"Faith.."

Faith spun. "Come on, Angel, think about it! No-one's seen this fucker so hasn't got a clue what to do about it! Let's at least get a look." She turned back around. "Just a look. Promise."

Begrudgingly, Angel agreed. Perhaps he felt, at the very least, that if something went wrong he'd be there to help. Faith had always been better kept in sight than out of it, after all.

"Just a look. Then we're gone."

They'd barely taken ten steps along the path when a crackle swept across the space above their heads.

Faith jumped to the side, gritting her teeth as the force of her body's impact with the ground drove the air from her lungs. She gathered herself up and lunged forward, her eyes searching out the source of the attack, but all she could see were the shadows created by the Graveyard lights.

"Where the hell are you?" She whispered.

Out of nowhere, a second one came, this time slicing past her right shoulder. It missed her, but she was caught off-balance in an attempt to dodge it and ended up face-down on the concrete.

"Bastard!" She cursed. "What the hell is this thing!?" She pushed herself onto her hands and knees and ducking behind another gravestone. "It's like it's not even here!"

"I don't know!" Angel yelled back. A purple flash exploded overhead and Faith heard the grunt as he too went flying, rolling at the end and jumping back to his feet. "It hasn't materialised yet!"

"Materialised!?"

Another crackle. "We can't touch it!" Angel cursed. "This isn't doing any good Faith! Let's get back to the house."

"Not a chance!"

"Faith? What are you doing..?" The last comment was question that turned mid-sentence into a warning as Angel watched Faith sprinting from behind her hiding spot, through the opening in the hedge into the larger, more open section of the graveyard. "Faith!"

"Getting my pound of shadow!"

"FAITH!"

"Angel!" The cry came from behind him and he spun around, seeing Buffy sprinting towards him. Her eyes were darting from left to right as she ran, as if looking for a trap.

"Buffy? What-"

She didn't slow when she reached him - instead grabbing his arm and yanking him back into the trees. Still with her hand on his arm she bent over, drawing in deep gulps of air.

"Angel.." She puffed. Another crackle sounded somewhere to the left of them - almost like the air itself was being crumpled like a noisy ball of paper. Buffy let go of Angel, ducked and covered her head, immediately turning towards the sound. "It's out there?"

"Faith's trying to kill it." Buffy detected a slight resigned tone to the latter part of his comment. A part of her was intensely relieved however. Faith was very good at looking after herself, and as long as it didn't have Angel, then the world could breathe for a few more days. Suddenly she felt Angel's hand clamp down on her arm, and when she looked up she was greeted with an intense stare. "What are you doing out here?"

"We know what it is. It's after you. You have to get out of here. Get back to the house now - I'll get Faith."

"What?" Angel hissed, but grip on her arm didn't lessen. Somewhere in the back of Buffy's mind she remembered to a time when they knew each other's physical limits completely. Angel was using that knowledge now - anyone else would be in pain with the strength he was holding on. "Why me?"

"I don't have time to explain.. you. you need to get out!" She pushed at his chest with her other arm. Another explosion, and this time it was accompanied by the sound of stone shattering to their right and Faith's taunting voice. Buffy shook her head. "I'm sorry. I brought you here. I asked you to come down here."

"What the hell are you talking about Buffy!?"

"It feeds on souls, Angel!" She cried, looking up at him desperately as she tried to wrench herself free. "The tortured ones. It feeds on them - gives people nightmares until they die terrified and alone. That's why it's been hunting you! If it gets yours then it'll have enough to come to life and destroy everything!" She glanced to the graveyard where she knew Faith would be fighting to within an inch of her life. probably more. "Let me go and get her. I'll meet you back at the house. You have to go."

Angel's eyes widened. "No." He murmured. "NO!" He lunged forward, out of the shadows. Shocked, Buffy jumped after him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back.

"Angel!"

But Angel shook himself free and continued running, his long dark coat billowing out behind him, truly casting a fearful picture. He jumped over the low hedge surrounding the Graveyard's path and crashed head-long through the second, higher one. The thick brush gave way under the force of his weight hurtling towards it, and left a man-sized hole that Buffy easily leaped through.

"Where are you going!?" She yelled at him, now fearful they'd be found. "You don't understand, it-"

"No you don't understand!" Angel stopped, turned on Buffy and she gasped at his Vampiric features. They only came out when he was angry, or desperate. I don't have what it wants!"

Buffy shook her head. "What do you mean?"

Angel turned around and kept running, Buffy following close behind. "I have no burden in my past!" She heard him shout. "I came to terms with it! It won't get what it wants from me!"

Buffy stopped. "Then why-" Her lips parted. "No." She breathed. "Oh no."

Faith pressed herself up against another gravestone, and peered over the top. The demon was nowhere in sight. She took a calming breath and checked the upper part of her left arm - a victim of the last exploding gravestone. She'd been able to pull most of the stone fragments out of the muscle, but doubted she got them all. She could feel the sticky warmth of her own blood travelling down, dripping off her fingers.

Now she was wishing she hadn't attacked the damn door.

"Fuck this." She spat. "I don't have time for this."

Gingerly, she stripped off her jacket and pulled her t-shirt over her head, leaving the tank-top underneath. Part of her wondered where Angel had gone, but it wasn't a big enough part to give her any concern. She was used to being alone, and she was definitely used to fighting alone. Bracing it under her feet and using her good arm, Faith ripped the material up the middle, then ripped it across, creating a very crude tourniquet. She positioned it just above her elbow, tied it loosely, then grabbing one end between her teeth and the other in her other hand, she pulled. Hard.

"Shhiiiiiitt." She hissed, her mouth full of cotton. Pushing the pain out of her mind she arranged another knot and pulled again.

The rest of the gang wanted to sit in their little Brady Bunch house and discuss the thing? Let them! It was obvious she had little to contribute to their pow-wow session. Talking bored her. Fighting was what she did - what she was here to do.

Bracing herself against the stone at her back Faith slipped her arms back into her jacket, stood up, and began walking casually, brazenly between the graves, daring the demon to come and find her.

And find her it did.

At first, it seemed like the shadows of the trees were simply extending, as if the moon had just rapidly descended behind them. A quick glance upwards and Faith could tell this wasn't the case. The shadow flowed, pulsed, found form and then lost it again until suddenly it detached from the trees and moved forward - a disjointed black hole. Faith stared directly in front of her and bared her teeth in a menacing smile.

"There you are, you bastard."

When it finally gained shape, it was like light itself had no bearing with this creature, like it was simply bending the stuff around itself. Faith didn't pay much attention in school, but what little she remembered of science was that that was impossible.

"Come on you fucker." She breathed, then raised her voice. "Fight me, damnit!"

The demon stopped.

Unfazed, Faith cocked her head, sneering. "What, not used to someone fighting back?"

The shadow towering above her shifted, and Faith gasped as a face appeared. She took a step back.

It was as if she had looked into fear itself. At any one time the demon held the expression of a thousand people, all caught in the throes of some horrifying torture. Pain, desolation and terror distorted their features in a way that sent chills all the way up and down her spine. She heard a rumble, barely detectable at first but as it became louder she recognised it as a very low laugh.

Then it spoke, and the voice chilled Faith to the core.

"Ssslllayer.."

The demon's voice, like it's face, wasn't distinct. Instead, it was a jumble of hundreds of different tortured screams at different pitches. This demon didn't have vocal chords. It had chords of a different kind. It paused, as if regarding his prize. Faith swore, and ducked to the left, ready to run.

At least, that was her plan. But where she thought she'd moved, she clearly hadn't. The demon still loomed overhead.

"Yesss.."

Somewhere in the distance, Faith could hear someone calling her name.

Angel, hurry the fuck up

It distracted her for barely a moment, but the second her attention returned she watched in horror as streams of purple flame darted out towards her. She tried to shout, to run, to fight, but nothing happened. Nothing moved.

And for an instant, she saw her mother's face.

Suddenly it surrounded her, and Faith screamed as a white hot fire pulsed through her body. Tiny tendrils of light bit into her, and unable to move, unable to breathe she felt herself lift off the ground. The crackling was so loud and the pain so great she wondered momentarily if it were her atoms tumbling apart, piece by piece.

Let me die She begged nothing in particular, Please just let me die

The pain inverted, and she was no longer burning, but terrifyingly cold. The purple changed to white, and Faith felt as if her very life-force was leaving her.

"Ohh.. God!" She yelled, but her mouth barely made a sound.

And then the intensity dropped, and she felt her feet touch the ground. The vortex surrounding her had lessened, but she still couldn't move. Her whole body shook , and as the cold faded with the light, a voice resonated deep within her - deeper than her mind, her soul. deeper than time itself.

You are mine.

It disconnected, and, like a rag-doll Faith crumpled to the ground.