Just when I think you and your muse can not possibly be any more evil you prove me wrong! Please let Buffy and the baby be alright and let us know this as soon as possible! I'm not above begging if that would help!

Author's Response: Ok, Melly --- I won't make you beg, but since you asked, I've posted the next chapter so you don't have to wait any longer to see how they are. I think my muse has just about come to the end of his gore and torture phase ... if that helps any. {hugs} -p4s 2011.10.29

So for the past week I have stayed up way to late reading this entire series! Now I am so sad to have to wait for updates but just wanted to drop you a line to let you know I love the story and am pretty much addicted

Author's Response: Hi Jamie!!! Wow! You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that! Thank you soooo much! I love addicts! That means I'm not the only one that my muse is making cry! heehee! Sorry that you have to wait for updates now, but I try to post pretty frequently when I have a story going ... although I do sometimes have lapses between stories as I try to get some chapters done 'ahead' so you won't be waiting in the middle of an evil cliffhanger in case I get stuck. Thanks so much for reading and sacraficing your beauty sleep! More on the way! {{hugs}} -p4s 2011.10.29

Sometimes I think your muse does not like Spike and Buffy. I have never read a story where they have been beaten and emotionally abused so much. I also wondered what happened to Travers while this fight was going on. You said there would be a sliver of hope I guess I am still looking for it. These last few chapters have really been depressing.

Author's Response: Hi Bridget ... Actually, my muse and I love Buffy and Spike ... unfortunately, he also loves angst and violence and making me cry ... The sliver of hope is, all the guards in the room are now incapacitated or dead ... and Bess and Giles are unhurt ... so we can hope that they can help Buffy and Spike and find a way out past the guards in the hallway. ... Where did Travers go...?? hmmm?? Hang in there ... the angst/violence of this bit of the story is almost over. Thanks so much for reading and stopping in. -p4s 2011.10.27

I really hope that you will get them out of this mess without Bess having to be tortured or Spike giving up the gem. I will be really upset if Travers wins another round.

Author's Response: Hi Bridget ... so, I don't think Travers has won another round ... maybe call the next one a tie? I think the sliver of hope will widen further soon. Thanks so much for reading and stopping in!! -p4s 2011.10.27

Hard chapter to read, pain, torment and despair all around. This story is playing out to be a glimpse into what is expected in hell. Hero’s and champions certainly do make sacrifices for the greater good, but they are the sacrifice in this story! Whether to expose the criminally insane man heading the watcher’s council or pay in blood the price for Bess’s freedom and the life of their unborn child. Bess has been through so much, I can only hope that she no longer thinks of herself as a victim dreading to believe that her ordeal would soon be over. Rupert can do magic and he is tied to Willow and Tara through blood, so will he unleash any magic to protect the others? Ripper is needed at the moment since he is the only one who is not shackled and not thought of as a threat by Travers and his goons. It is said that the greater the sacrifice, the greater the gain and at this point in your story, our little band of fallen heroes have more than paid their dues, especially Bess. I would love to see the pear of anguish used on Travers and Weatherby. I quote the following popular belief -The Universal Law of Karma: "Evil always comes back to the perpetrator of evil." If this is believed, then step by step Travers and his goons will have their evil misdeeds come back to them hard and strong. Your muse has shown what humans with souls are capable of in this story, proving that some monsters hide behind a cloak of respectability and do evil in the name of good.

Author's Response: Hi Vette! Ripper will make an appearance, for certain ... and Buffy and Spike always have to pay for everything with pain, don't they? Maybe one day I'll write a story where everyrhing comes easy ... LOL! Not bloody likely! I subscribe to that law of Karma, too ... so we can hope Weatherby and Travers get what they deserve, if not in this life, in the next! Unfortunately, history has shown that man can be cruel and heartless ... it's definately hard to tell the souled from the soulless at times.

Thanks so much for reading and stopping in - I LOVE your insightful reviews! I know, I say that all the time, but it's very true! More on the way! -p4s 2011.10.27

fabulous cant wait for more

Author's Response: Thanks, CJ! Will have more soon! Thanks for reading and stopping in! -p4s 2011.10.22

Giles is now missing too with no one to know of where he headed before disappearing. The watchers being one step ahead of Spike and Buffy is curious, could it be that the dreams that Billy and Bess are sharing are induced by spells? How come Dani cannot participate in the dreams? If the dreams are something magically induced and can be spied upon, then their plan is up the creek without a paddle just like the plan that got them all captured. Travers plan now has to include Giles as being in a fatal accident. Buffy spent years killing vengeance demons, could it be that they have a hand on their current situation? Cause the torment they are going through certainly qualifies as vengeance. Buffy is missing memories of 5 years of her new life, could there be something in those missing years that could help her to connect as to who may be helping the watchers against them? Hope that this story will have Travers and his goons punished eternally, essentially turned and tortured like the vermin they really are.

Author's Response: Hi Vette! I'm not sure anyone knows why Dani doesn't participate in the dreams ... it would sort of be like being in your own dream. Buffy's theory was that Billy could feel Bess' pain and his subconcious sought her out (that ability of Billy's to feel other people's pain will be explored further later, too). I think that there isn't so much a big conspiracy as much as Travers becoming suspicious when B/S wanted a meeting to talk about Annie even though all the reports he was getting said there were no problems with Annie, so he started looking for the real reason for their visit and took the opportunity to set a trap. Or perhaps he always knew that Bess was B/S's daughter and had just been waiting for them to figure it out and find her. He seems to be putting a lot of value in prophecies (there is at least one more to come) and has illusions of granduer - wanting to make himself into a legand. I thiink he's just losing his mind! Yes, you're right, Travers' plan now has to include Giles - which will bring the whole thing to a head very shortly. Their friends are getting worried and will be putting pressure on the Council Head ... he's about to blow his top. We'll cut to SunnyD I think after the next chapter to see what's going on there. More to come soon! Thanks sooooo much for reading and your always insightful reviews! You should write stories! You have GREAT ideas!!! -p4s 2011.10.22

Shouldn't Billy be having a dream and learning from Bess that their parents have been captured? Then when Travers presents his evidence they'll immediately know that he's responsible. I really hate for the child to be traumitized by another bad dream but I can't think of a faster, better way for the Scoobies to learn the truth of what has happened. Once again you're killing me in a good way with such a wonderful, heart wrenching story - more soon please!

Author's Response: Hi Melly ... Billy isn't coming into Bess' dreams every night now .... but hopefully he'll come soon! We'll cut back to Sunnydale shortly (I think after the next chapter) and see what's going on there. Thanks so much for reading and stopping in and thanks for the rec in the find a fic forum for angst! Yay! No better compliment! More soon! -p4s 2011.10.22

The gem would be a good thing for Spike about now, both Buffy and Spike are being shredded to bits and it would be a good thing if somehow they could be rejuvenated and reborn into brand spanking new bodies like snakes shedding old skin. Your muse is really making them into grotesque looking and scarred martyrs. Bess especially, her life as a imprisoned vampire has pretty much eradicated her sense of self and innocence and turned her into a creature that thinks itself a possession to be used and abused. Even Darla who was a prostitute selling herself to survive her existence becoming diseased had more choices on her life and death than Bess ever did and look how sadistic she turned out to be. Will Bess ever overcome her experiences or will she be another casulty of the lack of protection her parents failed to provide? Your muse is painting a bloody canvas at the moment, whether the Scoob's ever show up or not, it will not alleviate any of the torments inflicted on the family of fallen hero's. Puts your muse in the blue room and strap's him on to a table.

Evil cliff hanger! Really a chapter out of the worst experience one could ever imagine. The taunting of Bess to Spike by the jailers was bad enough without having to be forced to perform for the peanut gallery, fortunately incest was not happening. Travers really is a twisted and sick puppy. Spike deserves a better ending than at the hands of a mad man staged by a mad man. Where the hell is Giles and now that Bess is in dreamland perhaps she can tell Billy to send help. It would be great if watchers who do not know of the depraved and unconscionable acts being sanctioned by Travers were to rally with Giles to put an end them. Obviously, if Giles were any kind of watcher that plans for contingencies knowing the blonde duo for their impetuous desire to rescue their daughter, he would have put some sort of tracking device on them. Bess has suffered enough for twenty lifetimes, if her only escape were to be dusted, it would be kinder than what she has endured to date. If she is anything like her parents, she will only become stronger and more determined now that she has someone other than herself to protect and take care of. Picks up voodoo doll of your muse to stick pins into it and pour hot sauce over it. EVIL!

Author's Response: Hi Vette! Yeah ... that was about the worst thing that could happen to Spike ... apart from perhaps seeing Bess and/or Buffy tortured/raped. Hopefully Bess can get word to Billy - we'll find out how that goes later. I believe most Watchers in the field would, indeed, rise up against this; Travers has hand picked (apparently) the sickos to work in this 'experiment'. Giles should put a lojack on those two! LOL! I'll try to work that in somewhere! heehee! Lucky my muse likes hot sauce! Not so much with the pins --- watch his dangly bits! :-) Thanks so much for reading and stopping in! I love your insightful commentary! -p4s 2011.10.22

Of course I had to be right about that too, just as I feared. Travers will really enjoy telling Buffy about this. I wonder how many living Slayers they have tried to breed with vampires, they must have tried that too. Spike is in big trouble now. The gem is lost, the watchers will take it and he can be dusted. Almost anything could happen now. Spike could be dusted and later return somehow or Bess or the watchers could do something. Information will get out to the Scoobies and blood will flow in the future.

Author's Response: Hi Magnus! Yep ... you were 100% right on that ... and I think you are right about blood flowing in the future ... Will update soon and find out just what happens in the next moment... dust or ...???? Thanks so much for stopping in, even though I seem to be unable to lead you the least bit astray on anything anymore! If I ever surprise you, I hope you'll let me know! My muse is starting to get discouraged ... :-) {hugs} -p4s 2011.10.16

It is torture waiting for next installment, your stories are so goo.Please never stop writting

Author's Response: Hi CJ! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the Universe and all the ups and downs! and my muse loves to torture everyone, so that comment just made his day! :-) Thanks for reading and stopping in! I love hearing from you! -p4s 2011.10.16