Chapter 16: Drac
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Breathe… I need to breathe…
Dracula. Yeah, sure, Spike and Giles and Riley had argued and harangued over stupid moot points and then argued some more over others for the entire day. It had taken me a while to actually get used to seeing them all in the same room having what could be considered a civilized discussion. After Riley had initially erupted over Spike being there in the first place, he eventually calmed down enough to start the arguing. Finally, they came up with something none of them agreed on to give to me. A full list of Dracula dos and don’ts. And a little character study of him too. Yay.
But actually seeing the guy?
Breathing. Breathing good. Breathing means I’m alive.
Yeah, with the whole dark, penetrating eyes… I don’t think I lied very convincingly. Poor Riley. Mind you, he didn’t need to get a big case of the jealousies… right? I’m surprised Spike stayed silent. He of the running mouth and getting into trouble and me having to punch him thing. Of course, he did arch his eyebrow, and that in itself spoke volumes. It felt like he knew exactly what I’d felt. And those blue eyes of his did some penetrating of their own…
No! Dammit! Why am I thinking about Spike! And with the penetrating… eww…
Damn, I am tired, though. It’s funny, the last couple of nights, I haven’t been able to sleep. Even with Riley. I don’t know… but it’s like I’m… not… fulfilled? Like I’m a part…
Oh, right. The spell.
Anyway, for some reason, I believe I’m actually falling asleep now. It’s strange. Why can I sleep better without Riley? No… that’s not it. It’s just I’m so…
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“You are magnificent…”
Oh god.
I cleared my throat. Bit my tongue. “I bet you say that before you bite all the girls.”
He shook his head, those dark penetrating eyes driving into my very soul. But what would he know of a soul? “No, you are different. Kindred.”
”Kindred?” I snorted. “Hardly, I…“
”Pull your hair back.”
The rest of it passed in a blur. I don’t know what I was doing. Yes, now I know I was under thrall, but it felt strange.
Everyone knows my will has always been my own, right? I listen to Giles politely, and then do what I want anyway? Well… that’s only partly true. I respect them. And I love them like hell. My friends… if it matters to them enough, I will change. Really.
But my will has never been subverted before. And it was wrong. It screamed inside me that it was wrong. Every muscle fibre wanted to stake the hell out of Dracula, no matter his stupid eyes.
Words drifted out at me.
”I have searched the world…”
Yeah, well, stupid idiot, I’ve been here all the while. Stop controlling me!
“I have yearned for you…”
And you don’t even know me. Sicko.
Hey, even I cringe at my thoughts sometimes. I know, I know… that just wasn’t funny…
“For a creature whose darkness rivals my own.”
What?!
“You have been tasted.”
He traced the scars that the Master and Angel had left. I always wondered why they tingled like that. The memories of the pain…
I finally got my mouth working. ”He was…“
”Unworthy... ”
And then the strongest compulsion of all. Do not fight. I think I knew somewhere that he’d said it out loud, but I heard it, reverberating in my head.
And then he bit me.
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Being under thrall isn’t really all it’s cracked out to be. For the first time since the spell, I felt completely alone. Yeah, fine, I was in this floaty and generally comfortable place while I did weird things like cover up the bite when I wanted to go out and scream at Giles, Spike and Riley that all of their information and failed to protect me. I still didn’t understand why Spike was helping, but I wasn’t really complaining at that point. Not when he was the only one who noticed something was up with me and ripped the scarf off my neck two seconds after I stepped through the door.
“Well Slayer?” his eyes glittered dangerously. “What’s this all about?”
Riley immediately leapt up and glared accusingly at me. “That’s it! You’re under the thrall of the Dark Prince!”
“I am not under the thrall of the Dark Prince!” I protested.
“The hell you are,” Spike snorted before anyone could say anything else. “Let me guess, the bastard paid you a little visit last night and said some crap about how he yearned for you and then told you not to fight him because he knew that you wanted it?”
How does he do that?
“Something like that,” I muttered, before my mouth took on a will of its own. “It seemed a little more romantic.”
“Romantic?” Riley almost had a heart attack. “She’s really under his thrall, isn’t he?”
“No, I’m fine, Riley,” I took his hand, looking up earnestly at him. “Really, I’m your girl.”
He looked away from me. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be jealous. I mean, after that thing with Angel, how could I expect it not to transfer to…?”
“No! It is not a transferry thing!” I cried out. “It’s not that at all! I’m your girl, and I’m going to stay that way.””
Looking back at it now, I think we were both trying too hard at that point. Of course, I didn’t see it then. Xander made his offer, and then he took me to Dracula.
Then I tasted his blood.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was a silent scream in time to the heartbeat and the blood. The First Slayer… the… the hunting that Dracula and Spike had both called it. The… killing.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
And unbidden, words came to me.
Flying through the darkness with the staid unearthly grace,
Wrapped in pale nightfall and surmounted with cold lace,
Primeval in its hunting and primordial in strength,
Blood sprayed through the gleaming blade to run down metal length...
And my heartbeat kept drumming. Fell into the words and mixed like a rhythm to a beat.
Quintessential fire from the depths of demon spirit,
Exultation surging forth from all who fight and fear it,
Joined from one then rent inside to parley different sides,
Two leaders of two armies to forever fight in pride
Yet then the rules are broken in the hidden, priceless soul,
That single one that blazes bright though others burn to coal,
Proven once and then again past he they thought would be,
Never knowing what his worth until too late to see
Fire burning fire burning life and warmthandblood,
Fire burning fire to riseloyalty above,
Fire burning fire for the crimson sea of mud,
Fire burning fire most of all in deeper love
Crimson river, crimson tide,
Crimson love to those confide,
Crimson life and crimson soul,
Crimson blood and crimson fall
And with that, I felt everything return to me. And more. With a rush, I felt power so strong that I grasped at it hungrily with another gulp of blood.
And then, I sent him flying halfway across the room.
“That was gross,” I declared. “But thanks. Kinda broke the hold.”
He glared at me disbelievingly. “What is this!”
“My true nature,” I grinned. “Want a taste?”
“Come,” he hissed. “Come to me.”
“Look, I really think the thrall has gone out of our relationship,”
I moved towards him, but I hadn’t expected him to be so goddamned fast. He moved like lightning, punching me. I retaliated.
Left kick, swipe. Block. Punch, drive, spin kick, headbutt…
He battered into me, and my eyes rolled involuntarily from the pain. Why the hell hadn’t they warned me Drac could actually fight?
Oh wait. Spike had. Repeatedly.
He lunged at me again with an exultant, insane look in his eyes. I scissor-kicked him away and then leapt up, my blood rushing. I attacked as well as I could, landing at least eight stinging blows before he pushed me off balance again. The fierce energy lancing through me distracted me, and then I was crashed on the table, looking to see his fangs descending on me… and then promptly hauled away.
Spike.
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Spike pulled Dracula off Buffy just as he was about to sink his fangs into her throat. He hissed, and spun around to face this new attacker. Spike merely smirked cockily.
“Well, well ,well. Old Draccy boy. Long time. No fight. Let’s correct that, shall we?”
“Spike,” Dracula looked surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Laughing at your accent.”
Spike threw a punch, but Dracula blocked and kicked him hard in the gut. In a whirl of leather, Spike rolled and took the Transylvanian vampire down with him, ending up on top. Gleefully, he began hitting him.
“Remember” Punch. “That” Punch. “Eleven” Punch. “Pounds” Punch. “You” Punch. “Still” Punch. “Owe” Punch. “Me?”
Punch.
“Well guess what?”
Pu…
This time, Dracula regained his senses and clawed Spike in the face and threw him off. Spike sailed halfway across the room to crash into the wall. But Buffy had long recovered. Before Dracula could do anything, she grabbed him by the collar of his blood-red shirt and threw him into the opposite wall, finishing Spike’s sentence sweetly.
“I charge interest.”
Spike and Buffy’s eyes met across the room and they nodded. Together, they ran after Dracula as he leapt up, prepared to meet them. They tagged him mercilessly, one distracting him with a punch, and then the other sailing in with a flying kick, and both melting backwards out of reach before Dracula could retaliate. Slowly, they forced Dracula past the flickering torches to the fire that he had lounged by.
And that was how Riley and Giles found them. Moving in partnership to bring down one of the most legendary vampires the world had ever seen.
In desperation, Dracula faded into mist. Spike and Buffy’s eyes followed it as snaked through the air, almost invisible. Simultaneously, they broke into a run. Buffy detoured across to snatch up the stake on the table, so Spike got their first. As Buffy leapt, Dracula coalesced, only to find himself pinned down by his old enemy. Open for Buffy…
And then Buffy’s stake drove home.
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Cassandra knew Dawn had come the instant all of the memories appeared. It was confusing mixed up with her own knowledge of what was happening. She wondered whether anything would change now that she knew…
“Hey Cassandra,” Dawn grinned. “When did you come?”
“Just felt like coming,” Cassandra shrugged. The memories lent her everything she needed to know. The first time she had stepped into Buffy’s house, Dawn had hidden wide-eyed on the stairs while listening to Kendra and Whistler’s exposition. She had stayed there as they’d all rushed out for research, but their eyes had met.
Later, after visiting Spike and somewhat subdued, they had unconsciously meandered their way back to Revello Drive, and were bombarded by a million questions. Daniel had groaned aloud and vanished as the two began enthusing about the latest boy bands. Cassandra suspected that he had gone to bash his head quietly in the basement. After they had gone down to check on him, the three had instantly struck up a fast friendship.
And all of those memories… fabricated.
“Wanna hang out?” Dawn gestured expansively to her room.
“Okay.” Anything to take her mind off what might have happened at Dracula’s estate.
They collapsed on the bed with a sigh.
“How are you? I haven’t seen you for a day.”
“Worried, as usual,” Cassandra laughed. “Dracula’s after Buffy.”
“Dracula?” Dawn’s eyes widened. “As in, the Dracula? All long hair and pale face and totally hot Dracula with the cool accent?”
“Just about,” she agreed. “Although I’m not so sure about the hot part… y’know, with the lack of body temperature and all,” she tried for a laugh.
“You know what I mean,” Dawn replied. “Damn, why do the hot guys always go for Buffy?”
Cassandra laughed. “Don’t stress Dawn. You’re really pretty.”
“You think?” Dawn asked hopefully, pushing herself off the bed and moving to the mirror.
“Yeah.”
“I wonder…”
“What are you doing here?” Buffy looked at them.
From downstairs, they heard Joyce’s voice clearly. “Buffy, if you’re going out, why don’t you take Dawn and Cassandra with you?”
Cassandra could only smile in amusement as they turned and at exactly the same time, let out a whiny. “Mum!”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
By the way, people, because my fic is set in an Alternate Universe that kind of skews majorly off before Primeval, Faith also has not yet woken from her coma and done the body-swapping. You’ll see why later… :).