That night, Spike came to Buffy again. They laid on the bed together while he petted and stroked her face and body. Buffy was tied up in knots and shaking with anxiety. She didn’t want to sleep again. If she did, she’d see it. She’d have the murder dream.
“I’m sorry, pet,” Spike said with a rough voice. “If I could spare you this...I would.”
“I know. It’s not your fault... Someone or something wants me to see all of it for some reason.” She kissed him lightly.
“What if I’m doing it? What if unconsciously, I’m sending these dreams to you...”
“Stop it. Don‘t blame yourself,” she soothed.
They settled back into silence.
“You still don’t remember everything?” Buffy asked.
“No. I only remember...the pain...and the emotions of it...not the details.” Spike closed his eyes, feeling the grief, terror and pain of that night.
Despite her best efforts, Buffy’s eyes slid closed. Her breathing became steadier as she fell asleep. Spike watched her face, wondering if he should try to keep her awake. But she’d dream it eventually, if not tonight. Perhaps it was best to let it happen rather than have her be a nervous wreck.
Spike cursed himself when he felt his body begin to fade. He wanted to stay with her, to be here with her when she woke up. Before he vanished, he ran his fingertips over her cheek and gave her a sweet kiss.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, luv. Be strong,” he whispered, then was gone.
Buffy was in Spike's bedroom of the past again. She could sense that it was the same evening as the last dream.
July 5, 1978
"Oh...Oh, no..." Buffy whispered, realizing that it was coming. It was the date that the murders happened. Her blood turned to ice water in her veins.
Spike was lying on his back in bed looking at the ceiling, wearing only his jeans and a pair of big headphones over his ears. He was listening to his stereo silently. Buffy wanted to touch him and talk to him and warn him about what was going to occur, but she knew she couldn't interact with him in the dreams. She'd tried.
It was 1:35 AM.
"Spike, I wish I could change what's going to happen," Buffy said. "I want to yell at you to run, to get away from here... I wish --"
There were a series of ear-piercing screams from downstairs, both male and female.
Buffy gasped and jumped.
"OH GOD!" she cried. "It's starting! Spike! Oh, please get out of here!"
Spike didn't hear anything with the headphones on. He continued to lie there, oblivious to the ghastly crimes being committed downstairs.
He nodded his head and shook his foot slightly to the beat pounding in his ears. When Darla told him that Angel had roughed her up, Spike had wanted to find him and beat the shit out of him, and he still did. But out of consideration for his cousin's wishes, he'd try and behave himself. One thing was for sure, if the pillock tried laying his hands on her again, he'd pay.
Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands over her ears to drown out the screams. "Make it stop! Please, God! Make it stop!"
One of the screams stopped, leaving two people yelling and pleading for their lives. Then it was down to one voice, a female voice, Darla's.
"PLEASE! NO! NOOOOO!" Darla's muffled cry came from downstairs.
After a few minutes, Spike sighed and removed the headphones, intending on trying to get some sleep.
Spike sat up abruptly, his head whipped towards the door when the screeching assaulted his ears.
"Darla!? Darla!" he yelled, jumping off the bed and racing out the door. His heart was thudding painfully in his chest, afraid of what it was that could be making her shriek like that.
Buffy ran after him, tears streaming down her face.
Darla was stumbling up the steps, pulling herself upwards holding onto the banister. She was bleeding from the nose and mouth.
"He's crazy, Spike!" she screamed hysterically, her eyes were huge, her puffed and bleeding face streaked with tears. “He--He killed Ethan and Percy! Oh God! THEY'RE DEAD!”
Spike ran to her halfway down the stairs and pulled her against him.
"Darla! What happened?!" Spike panicked, his brain locked up. His attention was attracted to a figure standing below them on the landing.
Angel stood at the bottom of the stairs with a 12" butcher knife in his hand and a demented grin. Blood dripped thickly off the knife onto the carpet.
Buffy looked down to the foyer and gasped, putting her hand over her mouth and looking away sharply.
Spike stared at Angel in shock as he held his weeping and bloody cousin. Spike’s eyes then went to the foyer, to the prone forms of Ethan and young Percy, his friend. Ethan was lying half in and half out of the living room, Percy's body lay by the front door, bloody finger marks trailed down the white door, as if he had been trying to claw his way through it. Blood was everywhere. Their throats had been cut, their shirt fronts were soaked with blood.
"You crazy bastard...“ Spike muttered in disbelief, his vision blurred with a flood of tears, his stomach rolled at the grisly scene. “You--You murdered them?!“
“That’s right, I did kill them...” Angel said. “And guess who’s next?” He grinned.
Spike looked away from the bodies and down at his bleeding, whimpering cousin.
“WHY?!” Spike roared in fear and fury.
“They thought they could get away with screwing my woman behind my back!” Angel snarled. “NO ONE makes a fool of Angel O’Connor! NO ONE!”
“You’re insane! They never touched her! Percy was only 14 fucking years old! He was just a kid! He never had a chance to --“ Spike's voice broke into a sob as his face crumbled. "You bastard! Oh God! This...can't be happening..." Darla clutched at Spike and bawled. “I'll fucking kill you for this! I‘ll kill you!" Spike yelled, his face contorted with rage.
"Come and get me, boyo," Angel beckoned to him. "On second thought, I'll come to you..." Angel started mounting the stairs, his hand gripping the knife tighter.
Darla started screaming again. Spike started backing up the steps, watching Angel getting closer. The insane glint in his eyes and the toothy grin on his face were off-putting to say the least.
"You're crazy..." Spike whispered.
Angel barked with laughter. "Am I? Crazy like a fox maybe. You think I can't see what's going on right under my nose, you fucking punk!?"
"What are you talking about?" Spike said in confusion, still inching his way up the stairs.
"You and Darla. I know you're fucking her, too! You‘ve been sticking it to her ever since you got here!" Angel bared his teeth.
"What?! She's my bloody cousin! NOTHING like that is going on!"
"Likely story, mate," Angel sneered. "I've seen it! I've seen the way you two look at each other, I've seen you kiss her, I've seen the touches, I've seen you hug her just a little longer than you had to! You don‘t think I saw it, but I did! She‘s mine!"
"Angel, please! Don't do this! Please stop!" Darla pled with him.
"Shut up, whore!" Angel screamed.
"Don't call her that, pillock!"
"Aww, you don't like me calling your whore a whore? Too fucking bad."
"That's why you beat her?! That’s why you killed two innocent people?! Because you think we're all having sex with her?! What kind of bloody man are you?!"
"The kind that doesn’t take any shit. You're not going to be so pretty when I'm through with you, Spike. I'm going to carve you up into little -- tiny -- pieces," Angel's smile broadened as he made slashing movements in the air with the knife.
Angel started walking more quickly up towards them. Spike knew it was useless to try and talk the nutter down anymore, he was completely around the bend. Spike started running back to his room, pulling Darla with him. Buffy ran in the room right before Spike and Darla got in and he slammed the door shut.
Angel threw his body against the door to force it open, but Spike and Darla leaned heavily against it. Spike turned the lock.
Darla screamed and cried, "No, Angel! Please!"
"Let me in, you BITCH!" He hurled himself into the door. "I'll slit your fucking throat!"
"That's not giving us any incentive, you bloody bastard! Go to Hell! The cops are going to be here any minute!" Spike lied, but prayed that someone had called before the carnage began.
Poor Ethan and Percy. They hadn’t done anything to anyone, they didn’t deserve the deaths they’d gotten, they didn't deserve the fate that had been cruelly thrust upon them. Percy was only a kid... Spike fought to maintain his composure. The pain, grief and rage he felt rose up like the bile in his throat. He had to keep a cool head for Darla’s sake, he couldn’t fall apart. Not now.
Spike looked around frantically for something to use against the large, insane man with the knife.
Buffy stood near the window with her hands over her face, crying. This was how it had happened. This was how he had died. She didn't want to have to see this, she couldn't watch this. Buffy pinched the skin of her arms as hard as she could to wake herself up, the skin turned white between her shaking fingers.
But it didn't work. She was still here.
"Climb out the window or something! He's going to get in!" Buffy shouted in panic.
The tension and stress of the moment made her forget that she couldn't change what happened here, only observe.
All of the sudden, the banging on the door stopped. Spike put his ear to the door and listened to Angel's footfalls move away.
"I think he's leaving," Spike whispered, hoping that Angel got afraid of being caught and decided to hoof it.
"Don't unlock the door!" Buffy cried. "He didn‘t leave!"
Darla broke down in tears. "I'm so sorry, Spike. I'm so sorry you had to get involved in this!"
Spike hugged her. "It's okay. Shhh. I won't let him touch you again, I promise. I'll kill him first." He kissed her forehead.
"He killed them...he murdered them right in front of me. It all happened so quickly... I'm...so scared..." Darla whimpered.
It had started with Angel coming into the living room unannounced. Darla had risen from the couch only to be smacked down again. He accused her of sleeping with every man she'd ever said hello to and continued to beat her.
Ethan was in the kitchen with Percy (still cleaning up from the party) when her screams attracted their attention. They had rushed in and dragged Angel away from her. Angel shook their hands off and stalked away into the kitchen. They were helping Darla and asking if she needed an ambulance when Angel came back out with the knife. The three victims backed out of the room into the foyer, then Angel had attacked. Ethan was the first to die, then Percy. Fresh tears sprang from Darla's eyes.
"It's alright, Dar. Don't cry. We'll wait here ‘til we're sure he's gone, then we'll get you to the hospital and call the police." Spike stroked her back.
He couldn't help but blame himself. If he hadn't had those earphones on...maybe he could have done something. Maybe he could have incapacitated Angel before he had a chance to hurt anyone. Now it was too late -- far too late.
"C'mon." Spike helped her away from the door and over to the bed.
Darla sat down then curled up on her side. Spike picked up his t-shirt from the floor and gently tried to wipe away the blood on her mouth.
"Is your nose broken?" Spike asked, controlling his temper. He wanted to tear Angel limb from limb.
"I...don't know. I don't think so..."
"Try to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. It's going to be okay, Dar," Spike said with far more confidence than he felt. He handed her the shirt as he brushed her hair gently back from her face with his fingers.
There was a rattling sound coming from the door.
Their heads whipped towards the sound.
"The key! Oh God! He has the key!" Darla cried.
Spike sprinted to the door just as it was opening. He pushed against it with his whole body to force it closed again, gritting his teeth with the strain. But Angel's murderous rage and larger body proved too much for him. With a triumphant yell, Angel threw the door open. Spike was slammed hard between the door and the wall, the back of his head bounced hard against the wall, stunning him for a few precious moments. Angel stormed in, heading for Darla on the bed.
Darla and Buffy screamed.
Spike pushed the door off of him and ran at Angel, grabbing at his arm and punching him in the kidneys. Angel was so pumped up that he barely felt the blonde's powerful punches, but it was enough to annoy him.
Angel turned around and punched Spike repeatedly in the face, breaking his nose and splitting his lip, so that blood gushed down his face. Spike stumbled back, stunned momentarily. He bumped hard into the dresser and the mirror banged off the wall. Angel went to the bed and grabbed Darla's arm, dragging her off the bed. She screamed and twisted in his grasp, hitting and scratching ineffectually at him. He hauled back and punched her hard in the face with the knife curled tightly in his fist. Her head rocked back from the force of the blow; her body sagged to the floor next to the bed.
"Bastard!" Spike bellowed, recovering from the vicious blows he'd received and charging at him again.
He grabbed Angel's arm that wielded the knife, trying to twist it behind him. Angel shoved him away and wheeled on him.
"I'm going to kill you, boy." Angel grinned. "I'm going to gut you like a pig."
Spike came back swinging, connecting several times with Angel's face. Angel grunted and lurched backwards into the nightstand. Spike rushed him and tried to pry the knife out of his hand.
Buffy's hands were joined together under her chin in prayer as tears ran down her cheeks. She knew how this would end, no matter how well Spike seemed to be doing. She couldn’t look away.
Angel yelled and beat Spike back brutally. Darla was trying to stand up, using the bed to help her stand.
"Angel, please! Please STOP!" Darla begged. "I'll do whatever you want! I'll marry you, I'll give you everything! I'll do anything!" But it was too late for any of that.
Angel and Spike struggled in the middle of the room. Angel shook his arm free, swung it backwards in an arc then rammed it into Spike's midsection, sending the knife plunging into his body. The blade was so long that it broke through the skin of his back.
(More screams)
Spike's eyes were wide as he clawed at Angel's shoulders. He was in shock from the incredible, burning pain and the fact that he'd actually been run-through. Somehow, he never believed that it could happen. He thought he'd get the knife away from Angel before something like this could happen -- just like on TV and in the movies.
Angel smiled and punched the knife brutally through him twice more, making Spike shout in agony. He pulled back to look Spike in the eyes.
"I told you I'd kill you. Don't look so surprised," Angel laughed wickedly, then twisted the knife. “I believe I said something about gutting you like a pig...”
Spike shrieked again, his eyes fluttered, blood sprayed out of his mouth in a fountain. His weak fingers closed around and tugged at the neck of Angel's shirt. Angel jerked the knife upwards inside Spike’s body. The sound of his flesh ripping and his screams filled the room.
Angel shoved him away forcefully. Spike’s back hit against the dresser then he fell forward on his face. He groaned and clutched at his torn flesh, his frantic mind told him that he had to keep his insides from spilling out. His bright blue eyes were wide, his face was in a rictis of agony.
Buffy was weeping and sobbing freely. She kneeled down by his head, her fingers fluttered around his face.
“Oh, Spike! This is so horrible -- Oh God -- I don’t want to be here!” Buffy cried.
“Darla...” Spike grunted, blood pouring from his mouth.
Angel was trying to drag Darla off the bed again. She was staring at Spike in shock and horror, watching as the pool of blood spread beneath him.
“Noooo! NOOOO! Spike!” Darla struggled and scratched at Angel. “You sonuvabitch! You bastard!” She bared her teeth and tore at him like a wild animal. “You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM!”
Angel punched her again, sending her flying back onto the bed. Totally enraged and quite insane, he straddled her waist and raised the knife high into the air.
“I’ll teach you to make a fool of me, you BITCH!”
“NO!” Spike croaked, reaching a shaking, blood-covered hand out weakly towards the bed.
The knife plunged down into Darla’s chest. She screamed and gasped. Angel’s face was a grinning mask of pure evil as he plunged the blade into her over and over again. After the first 10 stabs, Darla’s struggles stopped, but he kept stabbing anyway.
Buffy buried her face in her hands and screamed shrilly. She couldn’t wake up from this nightmare.
Spike shut his eyes, helpless sobs wracked his body. He hadn’t been able to save her, he hadn’t been strong or fast enough to protect her like he promised he would.
Finally, Angel stopped and stood up, wiping blood from his face. He was breathing heavily from exertion as he looked at Darla’s twitching body for a few moments. Then he looked at where Spike lay on the floor and smiled again.
“Guess I’ll be taking a little trip...don’t want to go to jail. What’s the matter, mate? You get to die with your whore. Isn’t that romantic? Here…”
Angel took Darla’s limp body from the bed and threw it down near Spike. She landed with her head turned towards him, her face slack and lifeless.
“You two can have one last cuddle to carry you over to the afterlife. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get a little traveling money and be on my way.”
Angel hurried out of the room. The rage was wearing off and he was beginning to panic. The enormity of what he’d just done was sinking into his brain. His only thought was of escape.
Spike looked into Darla’s wide, unseeing eyes. He moved one blood-covered, shaking hand to her face and clumsily stroked her cheek, leaving streaks of his blood there.
“I’m...sorry...” he whispered to his dead cousin.
Spike’s breathing became more labored. He gasped and clutched at his stomach.
“Oh God...it...hurts....” he gurgled, aspirating blood.
His eyes dimmed and his body drooped, one last drawn-out, rasping breath rattled out of him.
Buffy was hysterical.
“Spike! Oh God! Oh God!” She rocked back and forth, hugging herself while she stared into his dull, lifeless eyes.
Even as a spirit, his eyes held more life than they did at this moment. Buffy thought of the dead baby bird she’d found in her backyard when she was 8 -- that’s how it’s eyes looked.
The pool of blood from Darla and Spike’s bodies spread further. Buffy could feel it seeping into the fabric of her jeans as she kneeled by Spike’s inert form.
If she didn’t wake up soon she was going to go insane. Buffy put her hands over her face and shrieked.
“Buffy! Buffy, wake up!” Willow shook her by the shoulders.
“Spike!” Buffy shouted, starting awake and bolting upright in bed.
“Buffy, you were having a nightmare. You were yelling. Are you okay?” Willow asked, her face worried and drawn.
Xander stood by the foot of the bed looking similarly concerned. Buffy’s screams had scared him to death.
Buffy looked around her, her face wet with tears. She touched her hand to her forehead. Her body was covered with sweat and she was trembling badly.
“Oh God! It was horrible -- It was horrible!” Buffy sat up and grabbed a pillow, hugging it against her. "So much blood...so much..." She rocked back and forth.
“Buffy, what happened?” Willow sat next to her and rubbed her back. Xander went to her other side, not knowing what to do for her.
“The d-dream...the nightmare...I saw it...I saw Spike and Darla murdered by Angel,” Buffy hiccupped.
“Oh, Buffy...I’m sorry...” Willow tried to comfort her.
“It’s over now,” Xander said, patting her leg. “It’s okay now.”
Willow handed Buffy a tissue to blow her nose. Buffy sniffled and wiped her wet face.
“It was terrible...I knew it was going to be bad, b-but not like that. Everything was so real. The screams...the blood...” Buffy looked around. “Where’s Spike?” She needed to see him so badly.
“He wasn’t here when we came in,” Willow said. “I’m sure he’d be here if he could.”
“I know,” Buffy sobbed. “That murderer is still free, still alive and...doing God knows what. Maybe that’s why I was made to see all of it...maybe I’m supposed to make sure he gets put behind bars where he belongs...” The wheels were turning in her head.
“Whoa, Buff,” Xander said nervously. “I don’t want you getting involved with this. That guy’s obviously a cold-blooded killer.”
“I am involved, Xander. It was personal before, but now...now that I’ve seen what happened with my own eyes. .. He has to be punished for what he did,” Buffy said, squaring her shoulders, feeling driven.
“I don’t think Spike would want you to put yourself in danger,” Xander tried to talk her out of it.
“That’s why we won’t tell him. He might overhear us, but unless he finds out that way, I want it to remain between us.” Buffy looked into their faces. “Alright?”
“I don’t like the sound of this either, Buffy,” Willow said, “But...I’ll help if I can.”
Xander swallowed his fear at the thought of tracking down a ruthless killer, then nodded. “I’ll...help too.”
“Thanks,” Buffy said gratefully, tears still leaking from her eyes. “We can’t let Angel get away with it.”
She shivered when the images from the nightmare flashed before her eyes.
Willow and Xander stayed with Buffy for the rest of the night. She didn’t want to be alone. They began to formulate a plan to finally bring Angel to justice.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N: This chapter gets very bloody and violent. The murders are described in graphic, gory, bloody detail. My poor, sweet Tiana had a hard time beta-ing this one. The images are sure to disturb you, they may be a little too intense for more sensitive readers. Be prepared...