[Reviews - 121]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3961 times

- Text Size +




Chapter 8: Breathe

The sun was high and bright as it shined over Sunnydale. The town looked completely different during the day. During the day the town looked deserted, there were no vampires or demons to be seen or heard. However, living on the Hellmouth didn’t mean that if you heard nothing that nothing was there, there was always something unseen by the naked eye.

In the shadows vampires hide away from Mr. Sunshine and waited till sunset. Even though Spike thought he was better than the other demons and vampires in the town didn’t mean he couldn’t avoid the sunshine, so like the others he had to hide in the dark too. Just before dawn Spike traveled back to the graveyard to his old crypt, it was the only place he knew that was a guaranteed save place to stay.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Spike asked Clem. Spike was sitting in the comfortable chair looking down at the ground with his hand rubbing the top of his head, moving his curly bleached hair.

“You didn’t give me a chance.” Clem shrugged. Clem sat opposite of Spike on a coffin watching the vampire’s actions.

Spike moved his head to look up at the ceiling and shut his eyes, “God…” he mumbled.

“Do you know where she went?” Clem asked.

”No…she ran off before I could…” Spike looked straight ahead into space.

“I’ll help you look for her when night falls.” Clem suggested trying to get an actually emotion out of Spike. At the moment Clem couldn’t read what Spike was feeling. Spike’s hurt, anger, joy, sadness just wasn’t coming to surface, “Are you okay?” Clem asked.

Spike eyes were glossy and he blinked back tears, “She was there…” Spike whispered, “Right in front of me, she was there…” Spike shook his head and continued to stare off, “I touched her…and she was real…”

Clem looked down at his lap.

“…but…her eyes…they were different…” Spike looked down at his lap, “Like she lost her fire… like she was angry, afraid, and hopeless all at the same time.” Spike said and sunk his head down. “I’ve never seen her like that.” He whispered quietly.

“She came back from the grave, man…that’s not something you can get over in a snap.” Clem said.

Spike looked up at Clem, “I got to find her.”

“I don’t think Mr. Sunshine will let you right now.” Clem nodded towards a window in the crypt that showed a little sunlight.

”Then I’ll take sewers or the alleys…” Spike got up from his seat and started to the bottom level.

“What are you going to do when you find her?” Clem asked.

”I don’t know.” Spike said and went down the ladder to the bottom level that was connected to the sewers, “But I can’t stay here while she’s out there.”

-------------------

After going through every dirty and smelly sewer, and looking in all the potential dark alley’s that someone would hide Spike was still unsuccessful at finding Buffy. By the time he was done searching the last tunnel in the sewer it was dark outside again and he could now venture the streets and cover more ground.

While walking down the sidewalk towards the old shopping area Spike heard a sound. The noise sounded like pieces of metal hitting each other. Spike looked to his left and saw a huge fence blocking the area where the noise was coming from. He continued to walk forward when he spotted a hole in the fence that he could walk through.

Once Spike got through the other side of the fence he saw her…Buffy. She was sitting on a large piece of debris that once was the tower that she swan dived into the portal that killed her eighty years ago. The pieces of the tower looked rusted and shrubs were starting to grow in-between the spaces of the tower. Buffy continued to sit and look down at her healing knuckles, oblivious that Spike had entered the scene, and Spike looked at Buffy as he did the night before, shocked and in disbelief. However, in a few moments he was over it and slowly and quietly walked forward towards her until he was standing in front of her.

Buffy sat staring at the two heavy black boots that entered her view for a minute until she let her eyes wonder up and meet the blue eyes. Buffy sat like a child looking up at a grown up while staring back at her old nemesis that fell in love with her and became her allied so many years ago.

Spike crouched down to be eye to eye with her green sparking eyes that looked like they were about to burst into tears. It took every ounce he had in him to not lift his hand and touch her face.

“Nothing seems to feel right anymore…” Buffy said while looking at Spike.

Spike looked a little shock that she talked.

“I…I know.” Spike said to her.

They didn’t say anything the rest of the night. Spike later sat on iron beam watching Buffy look up at the sky and into space. He analyzed her breath and the way her hair danced when a gust of wind came out of no where.

About an hour before dawn he looked over at Buffy and saw she had laid her head down and fell asleep. Spike walked over to her and wrapped his coat around her body to keep her warm and picked her limp body in his arms. Once he lifted her up he could see her face up close, he got the sudden memory of the way Buffy looked when she lied dead on the pieces of rubble, the way her face looked then and now was exactly the same with only one small difference…Spike could see and feel her breathe.

*~*~*~*~*~

Both Spike and Buffy were asleep on the bottom level of the crypt at the moment. Buffy was laid out on an old bed and covered with a small blanket and Spike’s coat on top of that. Spike sat on the chair next to her, sleeping with his cheek resting on his propped up hand that leaned on the arm rest.

Spike arrived back at Clem’s crypt just as the sun was starting to come up. Buffy didn’t stir at all as Spike carried her the whole way, and once they were inside Spike took her to Clem’s bed and laid her down to watch her rest. He watched her until he couldn’t hold his eyes open anymore.

As Spike rested he had mixed up dreams that made him shift in his seat.

“…One…good…day.”

”… I've always been bad...”

“You're all covered with her. I look at you... all I see is the Slayer.”

“I don’t smell a soul anywhere on you…why do you even care…?”

“…I’m counting on you…”

“…I made a promise to a lady…”

“…to protect her…”

”Till the end of the world…world…world…world…”

The echo of the word ‘world’ in Spike’s dream made him jolt out of his sleep and look around his surroundings to find out where he was. He instantly laid eyes on the sleeping form of Buffy on the bed next to him, and when seeing her peaceful face, Spike sighed in relief. He slowly got up out of the comfy chair, making sure he didn’t make a sound, and went up the ladder to the upper level of the crypt.

Once Spike got to the top of the ladder he saw that Clem was watching the television at a low volume, not noticing that Spike was in the room.

“Hey.” Spike said, and in an instant Clem jumped up, spilling his snacks.

”Woah...” Clem said holding his chest and breathing heavily, “You guys got to stop doing that to me…”

“Sorry.” Spike mumbled.

”I thought you were asleep.” Clem said, bending down on the ground to retrieve the dirty potato chips he spilled.

”Yeah, I was but I- I just…” Spike trailed on, “What time is it?”

“You guys slept all day…its night again…” Clem said.

Spike nodded.

”She still asleep?” Clem asked quietly.

“Yeah.” Spike simply said.

“So…what are you going to do?” Clem asked, and after a pause he asked, “About Buffy?”

”Not really sure…” Spike said and walked over to a chest in the corner of the room and started looking through it, “Maybe…maybe I’ll take her out of town… somewhere else…”

”Why?” Clem shrugged.

”You kidding?” Spike asked, looking up at Clem, “You think she’d want to stay here? I mean…look around you…Sunnydale is no longer sunny anymore…this place has gone downhill…” Spike said while looking back in the chest.

“But this is her home…don’t you think she would want to stay? It’s familiar to her.” Clem asked.

”Familiar?” Spike looked back up and started walking towards Clem, “This place is the total bloody opposite of familiar…she probably couldn’t tell the different from this place and hell…”

Clem looked down at the ground because he knew it was the truth. He remembered when he first saw her and she asked ‘Is this hell?’

“...staying here is something I don’t even want to do…” Spike continued.

“Do you know why she’s here? What brought her back?” Clem asked.

Spike looked down at the ground, “Yeah…”

”You do?” Clem asked.

“Yeah…magic…” Spike said quietly.

”What?” Clem asked.

“…it always has consequences…” Spike continued to say quietly, ignoring Clem’s question.

Clem just stared at Spike and then turned his head in surprise at something that stood behind Spike. Spike turned around and saw Buffy standing by the ladder. The silence was unbearable for all of them, but none of them knew what to say.

Buffy took one last look at Spike and then started to head for the door. She left so fast that Spike couldn’t call out her name until he got out the door.

”Buffy!” Spike called out.

Buffy stopped and turned around, waiting for Spike to talk. But all Spike did was stand there and stare at her, and when she knew he wasn’t going to speak she turned around and continued to walk.

Spike gave a small growl in frustration and started to walk again, trying to catch up to her in the graveyard, “Wait!” He yelled out, but she didn’t turn around or stop, “Wait!” he shouted again and finally got up to her to touch her arm.

”Let go of me.” Buffy mumbled and took her arm away from his grasp and kept moving.

”No.” Spike said, and stepped in front of her and set both of his hands on her shoulder, “Listen…look…I know this is confusing to you and all—“

”You don’t know anything…you don’t know what I’m feeling.” Buffy said harshly.

“You’re right…and you don’t know what I’m feeling either.” Spike pointed out and still held on to her shoulders, while she struggled a little bit.

“I said let go of me!” Buffy said and shoved him away and punched him in the face, which made him go tumbling onto the ground instantly. Buffy looked at Spike on the ground, holding his face in pain, and then in a moment she walked away.

Spike climbed back onto his feet, looking anger and frustrated while rubbing his nose. He then started to walk again, picking up on speed, and grabbed her arm once again.

“Don’t walk away from me…” Spike growled at her, “Don’t you dare…”

Buffy looked at him for a moment and then punched him once again in the face and did a kick in his stomach, “Leave. Me. Alone.” She said, looking harshly at him.

“You need help…” Spike mumbled quietly, “Leaving you out there alone will just get yourself killed.”

”Good.” Buffy said and turned around but didn’t get a single step in as she felt Spike turn her around once again and hold her shoulders with a harsh firm grip.

“NO…not good!” He said, “Seeing you die the first time nearly killed me…and I don’t want to experience it again…for eighty years …eighty years, Buffy…eighty years of torment…eighty years of pain…eighty years of days that I’d fear that I’d wake up and not remember your voice, or your smile…do you know what that’s like?” Spike asked with anger.

Buffy didn’t answer and just stared at Spike and he stared back. He slowly let go of her shoulders, giving her the choice to run or stay.

“You need someone…I know I’m not your first choice but…I’m someone…” Spike said when he saw she wasn’t running away, “And if you decide to run away…I’m coming after you...”

”Why would you want to do that?” Buffy said quietly.

Spike paused and looked at her, “Because I love you…”

TBC…





You must login (register) to review.