[Reviews - 10]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2021 times

- Text Size +




Buffy clawed her way through the coffin. Everything around her was dull and blurry. She hardly felt the dry earth of her grave falling in on her. It seemed like just moments ago she was warm and safe and happy.

She had no idea how she got buried under so much dirt. She burrowed up and up, the soil grinding its way slowly into her hands meeting up with bone and splinters. She felt no pain all her senses were still numb. She hoped when she broke the surface it would be her warm Sunnydale and she could run back into the arms of her mother or Spike.

Dramatically her hand burst through the grass above her. She pulled her mucked up self out of the hole and crawled around a little unsure why she felt so weak and vulnerable. It was dark out though she sensed hazy warm glows in the shadow. She sought out the flickering glows around her stumbling along after them as if in a dream.

It was so cold everywhere except near the fires. They reminded her of Spike’s crypt. Every time she approached a burning bit of whatever she saw a bigger warmer one. Eventually she stumbled into town. It wasn’t anything like she remembered it just being. Everything was grey and crumbled. Fire was alight in many of the windows. Roofs of shops were collapsing.

It got louder and brighter in town. Seemed like all the shops downtown were on fire. Car sirens were going off everywhere. In a parking lot was a great bonfire of debris. A group of surly looking men were whooping and hollering in celebration. Buffy walked toward them in a daze to see what in such a horrible place might be a scene of good.

In front of her was an oddly familiar girl all chained up. The leader of the group was giving some sort of speech that riled up the masses. Something about claiming town. Her senses were slowly coming back to her. She saw the men were really something else. They were something more hideous. Their skin was all defiled and torn and tattooed. Bits of metal studs were holding back folds of red flesh on their faces giving them a gruesome form. They were her definition of demon to her.

The chained girl looked just like Buffy. It confused her. Why would she also be in hell? Was this a horrible dimension where she already existed? The crowd became more frantic at the leader’s words. A gunshot went off and all a sudden her double seemed very scared. Motorcycles revved their engines and their back tired screeched the pavement before going off in different directions. At the last minute Buffy noticed the chains on the other Buffy’s arms and legs were attached to the speeding off vehicles.

“NO!”

The gang turned round at the interloper. At first they seemed confused at the sudden feminine outburst since their entire race was male. Upon seeing Buffy they thought she was just another toy to add to their devious amusement.

“Another one for the fire boys!”

Buffy’s confused terror caused her to flee down an alley nearby. Instinct quickly took over as two bikers carrying chain flails gave chase behind. One sped up around her and suddenly she was between the hostile demons. In the nick of time her forgotten slayer senses took over and she ducked under their attack. Both chains wrapped around the necks of the demons causing them their motorcycles to collide into each other. Both demons landed in a thud on the pavement and of all things apologized to one another.

She felt so alone then. She may have been home she wasn’t sure but she was so alone. She missed her friends. She missed her mom and her sister. She missed her romantic surprise visits from Spike and falling asleep in his arms every night and waking up to pancakes. She missed the safety of her recent life where she didn’t need to run from horrible faced demons down dark alleys wearing very unstylish dresses. She felt like this was hell. Maybe not hell as the one she sent Angel to but it was certainly not pleasant.

The alley led into a dead end. Hellions still behind her she did this amazing high jump over the chain link fence ahead of her. She landed rather ungracefully on the other side surprising a group of people. Blinking she saw that they looked like her old friends. It was almost too much for her to bear. This world was so different and so horrible. She froze to the spot not knowing if here they would be her friends or new enemies.

“Its-it’s the Buffy-bot”

“Ahh peachy no doubt to lead the wild bunch right to us again. Hey Will next time this thing is damaged cant you program it to go to the nearest Radio Shack or something?”

Here her friends thought she was a thing just like the Buffy-bot back before she came back from seeing the first one. Back before she jumped off…jumped off the tower to save Dawn! Was this reality? Where was she before? She was so confused.

“Buffy—?“

Frantically, she bolted down the alley and hid behind some crates. She didn’t want reality. She was safe and warm and so happy where she was. Now she was back. More than anything to return back home to her mother and Spike. Her friends chased after her and she could tell that they were trying to talk to her but it made no difference. The only thing she could think about. The only thing that they said that registered in her mind was Xander’s confession that they brought her back to life and had left her in her coffin to claw her way out. What friends did she have here? If they brought her back maybe it was possible to return to where she was. Hopefully her mom would be waiting with fresh dinner on the table and Spike ready with hot chocolate to sip near the fireplace while they cuddle when she was done.

She hated her friends then. Loved them for trying but still seething inside for what they did. She could hear them trying to say sorry but she tuned them out. She was too depressed to even roll her eyes at Anya’s failed attempt at changing the subject.
“Buffy it’s going to be all right. We brought you back. You’re home now.”

Looking up at Xander she couldn’t help but wonder if she thought he did her a favor. Home was where one felt safe. Here she barely felt alive. Everything was dark and dull and cruel. The alley stunk of blood and burning wood and hot metal. Evil demons looking like their faces falling off were slowing walking down the alley listening to her so called friends trying to talk.

Both groups exchanged some empty threats at one another. The Scoobies’s were a little on the weaker side to be sure. Tara cast a bright fiery magic trick at the lead demon. It wasn’t much it only reaffirmed her conclusion that her resurrection was the doing of Willow. Talking lead to posturing. Posturing led to blows. Buffy’s friends were soon to be on the ill end of a massacre. She could of let them suffer and run off but years of faithful friendship and seeing an unconscious Willow brought back some of the fighting spirit back to Buffy.

If this was reality her mom was already dead but she hadn’t seen Dawn or Spike. If the demons had something to do with that shed make sure to pull out all of their piercings one by one to make them suffer. All this talking about how they were going to have fun with them but warnings about how their anatomy tended to tear up little girls struck to close to her fears about what might have happened to her sister.

She walked up to the leader. His ill conceived ego oozed off of him when he took at swing at her. It hit. She didn’t even defend herself for it. Thinking the whole fight was going to go his way he swung again only to be knocked down hard by the angry slayer.

The whole gang began to fight. Willow groggily woke up and tried to fend off an attacker with a crossbow but it was like shooting toothpicks at a giant. At one point she felt five attackers dully beating at her and yet she prevailed. Her friends made good for mopping up but she owned this fight. She took out her rage on their bodies. Each blow landed on her was just reaffirming her hatred at this place. Heaven held no pain.

When the battle was done Buffy took stock of her new wounds. Her mouth throbbed with pain. She reached up and lifted some blood from her seeping lip. Blood. Blood was the key like Dawn was the key. Her blood was the same as Dawns letting her sacrifice from the top of that tower saved them all and brought her into that world of pure love and joy.

She ran back out of the alley and killed another demon on the way. Seeing his blood ooze out of his wound with the tower in the distance just reaffirmed her plan. She ran to the base of it and looked up. It didn’t seem so scary and tall this time around. She had no sister to save only one to return to. Dawn was probably dead here.

At the top Buffy could feel the tower sway and lurch in the breeze. She looked off the platform where Dawn was once chained and went over the whole thing again in her head. The blood drops. The portal opening. Talking to Dawn and her sister pleading for her not to go.
‘Buffy no’
‘Dawnie I have to’

“Buffy no”

Blinking, not sure whether she imagined Dawn’s voice again or if it was real, Buffy turned and saw her sister holding onto the side of the tower. She was okay. She was safe on top of this precarious tower and her look of utter amazement told her she had nothing to do with her return. Buffy was so close to heaven again she could feel it. Even through Dawn’s pleading once more the jump was all too enticing.

The tower gave sickening lurches and groans as Dawn edged her way closer to Buffy trying to get her to come away from the ledge. She was so confused. Her sister’s incessant pleading with her slowly grated on her already frazzled nerves.

“Is this hell?”

Dawn continued to plead for her to come back. Talked about how hard it was for her here. She didn’t know how everything was so shiny and clear when she was gone.

The tower gave a great creak then parts of the structure fell off and Dawn fell to her knees for balance shrieking and afraid. Buffy may have been in heaven but she loved her sister very much and would live in this hell for Dawn. And if she were alive perhaps there was hope that Spike was too.

With the tower continuing to buckle under them Buffy grabbed onto Dawn and jumped off the side hoping to climb down the rope but it was stuck. She gave a few downward jerks when all a sudden they were falling all to fast. Thankfully it broke along with most the rest of the tower stopping their fall not to far from the ground. When it broke it was a shock but not so death defying at the platform would have been on the top.

They both ran off as the whole tower collapsed in one final crash. They stopped outside the construction area to catch their breath. Dawn was in more shock than Buffy was and gave her a big tight hug. Wet tears fell down on Buffy’s shoulder. For the first time all night Buffy didn’t feel so alone. Her friends had betrayed her but her sister was here in her arms warm and alive. In all her time in heaven she couldn’t actually recall really seeing Dawn. It was assumed she was there but the only people she ever talked to was her mom and Spike.

Even home didn’t quite seem the same. The flowers outside were poorly tended to. The lawn was brown and covered with debris. Mom wasn’t around and more to keep everything nice and beautiful but it was a start. Her bed awaited her inside and upstairs. It was dark inside though like everything else. When Dawn turned on a light it hurt her eyes as unnatural and cold though better than the dreary dark. The light showed that not everything was the same anymore.

Though definitely home things had changed. It wasn’t like she remembered it before she jumped nor from whatever realm she was in with her mom. There were more chairs for one. Apparently Willow and Tara had been living here in her mother’s room. They added their feminine touch to everything trying to over compensate the festivity of the place after Buffy’s death.

She saw a picture of her mother and almost broke down missing her. She didn’t cry but Dawn could feel Buffy’s dark mood get even more somber and led her upstairs to get changed and cleaned up. Dawn tried to make cute jokes but all they did was remind her even more of mom. She was firm in her decision to stay for Dawn’s sake but it didn’t mean she had to like it. Not a single soul who she met said a thing about Spike.

In heaven they were in love their souls felt entwined and intermingled but she knew in the world she left behind, the world she was in now, she hadn’t been so kind to him. The whole gang looked down on him. Even though he had earned most of their respect in her final days she was fairly sure that if he were dead she and Dawn would be the only ones who would remotely miss him.

Buffy couldn’t stand standing in the bathroom any long and went to check on the rest of the house. She went to her mom’s room and was inwardly aghast at the changes. Willow and Tara had moved into her mother’s room and nothing was the same. It seemed more right though than moving into her own room but still it was like waking up one day to see your mom missing and two people taking her place.

“Wh-what else is different?”

She couldn’t bring herself exactly to ask openly if Spike was dead or alive hoping the open ended question would make Dawn mention something if he were and not know how much she cared. Dawn said something about Giles leaving. If that was the biggest news Spike had to be somewhere.

Suddenly a door had opened in the house. Buffy feared the demons might have come back. She was in enough emotional pain and didn’t need to get in another fist fight.

“Dawn! Dawn are you here?!”

Spike! It was Spike and he was here coming into the house. His invite was still standing he hadn’t done anything in her absence to rile up the Scoobie gang into banning him again. Finally someone was here that she had in heaven. Her nights with him still stood vivid in her mind and though it wasn’t possible she imagined she could smell his deep musky scent already.

She looked down she was a mess still but she wanted to make sure it was really him and not her heart playing trick on her in this horrible place. Slowly she crept down the stairs behind dawn. There he was just as she remembered him in both realities. Tall, godlike in his handsomeness, wearing his black shirt and pants and leather coat. Spike was mad at Dawn for running off and Dawn tried to explain but it was too late Spike saw her.

They were both speechless. Spike blubbered a little asking what Dawn did to bring her back. It nearly brought Buffy to tears to know that he too had nothing to do with her return but seeing him alive (well mostly) was just another reason she wanted to stay here. She was dead. If this was reality he was the real Spike.

Buffy kept her distance awkwardly buttoning up her shirt trying to look more presentable. More like the Buffy she was sure he expected from her. Cold and aloof to him like she had always been, caring more about her appearance than seeing him. It was so far from the truth that she had to struggle from falling down the remaining stairs for all she wanted to jump into his arms.

He noticed her hands then, all red and blistered. Bits of dirt and wood were still stuck under her skin. Dawn was so naïve about how they got like that but Spike in his infinitely understanding way had gone through the same process she remembered.

“She clawed her way out of her coffin, that’s how”

She agreed. The both of them shared a quiet moment while Dawn looked on awkwardly. Spike led Buffy off to one of the sofas and asked Dawn to get some medicine and some bandages for her hands. Taking her hands into his gently he surveyed the damage.

“How long was I gone?”

Spike knew the exact number of days though it had been over 140. She looked up into his eyes and completely melted over into his lap. He didn’t understand it at first. Expecting the old cynical Buffy back he patted her back awkwardly. But when her quiet tears turned into sobbing he gently soothed her stroking her spine and got up to sit down completely in his lap where she curled up and cried why he cradled her in his arms.

Then the Scoobie gang came crashing in the front door.





You must login (register) to review.