They piled in to the limo. It was meant to seat ten people comfortably. They were eighteen. Angel drove as Lorne sat with him in the front. The rest of them did a lot of lap sitting to fit.

Giles brought two slayers with him, Katie and Michelle. Buffy brought her four. Faith, Willow, Kennedy, Xander, Issa, Illyria and Gunn all squeezed in for the ride.

Buffy sat on Spike's lap, staring out the window. She hit the button so it would roll down. She had to let the air in, they were all so cramped it was making it hard to breathe. Lorne looked back from the front seat and grinned at everyone.

"How about some tunes for my little sardines?" He was glad he chose the front. His long legs would have been crushed back there. He slipped one if his mixed cds. Sinatra crooned:

"And now, the end is here.

And so we face the final curtain.

My friends, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case of which I'm certain."

The group eyed each other uncomfortably. Lorne's eyes grew wide, then he gasped.

"Oops, let me find something a bit more... upbeat..," he stammered.

He inserted another CD. The beginning of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' filled the limo. Lorne smiled sheepishly then turned his gaze ahead as the rest sang along.

"They Told Him Don't You Ever Come Around Here

Don't Wanna See Your Face, You Better Disappear

The Fire's In Their Eyes And Their Words Are Really Clear

So Beat It, Just Beat It"

Buffy shook her head. Spike tightened the grip he had on Buffy's waist and leaned in closer to her. She stared out the window, wondering what they were about to get themselves in to. She was glad Willow and Issa were there to help with the magicks. She noticed that Spike didn't flinch when The Immortal mentioned Jean Trevaud. If Spike didn't know him, why would he put a spell on him? Why Spike?

Why was any of this happening?

Angel raced around a turn, causing everyone to lean to one side, crushing one another.

"Ow, Angel, watch it!" Xander shouted.

"Sorry," Angel yelled back.

Buffy adjusted after almost falling off of Spike's lap. She caught him staring at her, she met his gaze and smiled. "You okay?" she asked him.

"Sure, just thought I'd lose you there for a minute," he told her.

"Yea, Angel's not much of a driver, although I know he claims to..."

"Not what I meant Buffy," Spike said, half smiling.

She felt a pain in her heart. She knew what he meant. "Spike..." Buffy felt like there was nothing she could say that would justify her behavior from before.

After almost a half hour of driving, they came onto a dark winding road and up ahead was a gated driveway. The road still bent as they approached the gate.

Buffy smiled watching the slayers, Willow, Kennedy and Xander sing Thriller at the tops of their lungs.

"Cause this is thriller, thriller night

And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike

You know it's thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight"

The limo stopped. Angel and Lorne were the first to exit. The gate was a heavy iron. The speaker next to it buzzed, then a voice came out of it.

"May I help you?"

Angel was startled by the voice. He grabbed the speaker and crushed it in his hand.

"Okay, Bruce Banner. You wanna be a bit more... obvious?" Gunn said.

"It scared me is all," Angel pouted.

Buffy walked up to the gate with Spike and Faith, swords in hand. The rest of the gang following them, well armed.

"So, we have to figure out a way to open the gate... maybe..," Willow was interrupted by a loud crash.

"Done." Illyria said after she kicked it down effortlessly.

"Or that," Willow smiled.

Lorne was confused. "Hey, Angel-cakes. Not that I don't appreciate this bonding time and all, but why am I here again?"

Angel turned to him and slowed his pace. "This guy, Jean whatever his name is, is really big on magicks. We may need a karaoke session if things get... delusional. You know what I mean?" Angel informed him.

"Yea, got it," Lorne nervously said.

Buffy walked closer to Spike and grabbed his arm. She waited for the rest to pass and faced him.

"Spike, about before, in the park..."

"You scared me," he told her" "I see now that you have a lot of doubts." He kept his eyes on hers. He wasn't sure if he should be doing this now, but it came out anyway.

Buffy eyes watered up. "I do, Spike... have doubts. You and I have been... nothing ever seems to go the way we want it to," she told him

He broke their gaze and looked down. She was right.

She continued. "I admit that the thought of you dying... again... scared the hell out of me. I was almost wishing I'd never have come to L.A., so I wouldn't have known... and then the thought of never experiencing what you and I have shared these last few days..."

He looked back at her and smiled. "My entire world was rearranged when I saw you. Here I thought you and I would never see each other again. Buffy, I wouldn't trade these last few days for the world."

He brought her in closer to him. "Whatever happens in there, I want you to know that I have never stopped loving you."

"Spike..." Buffy paused then a wave of confidence came over her. "I... love you too," she stammered then leaned in and kissed his lips.

Spike returned her kiss then he stood frozen for a moment, realizing this was the first time he heard these words from her since Sunnydale. He smiled as he watched her join the crowd.

They reached the front of the mansion. The stone gargoyles seemed to stare at them. It was eerie. Buffy shivered when she could have sworn it's eyes followed their movement.

Angel stepped up to the front door first. He pulled out his sword and faced them all. "Okay, you guys ready?" he asked.

Angel turned and lifted his foot and kicked the door hard, causing it to fall off it's hinges. He stepped in, the others followed. The room was dark, save for a few candelabras that were lit. Buffy and Spike took the lead and followed the foyer to a room that had some light coming from it.

Lorne looked around and smirked. "Nice place. A little dusky and old worldish, with a fine detail to despair and horror."

Spike stopped, seeing a beaten Eve slumped in a chair. "Uh, Guys...,"

Angel and Buffy came to his side. Angel frowned at the sight of Eve. He knew she was involved and cursed himself for letting her bring the damned books to them. Angel moved closer to her and grabbed her hair to lift up her head. Blood covered most of her face. Her forehead had a huge lump that looked like it was turning purple. She was alive. Just unconscious. They all gathered around Angel to get a good look.

"Can we rip her apart yet?" Illyria asked.

"Do you think the french dude did this?" Xander asked.

Willow searched the books around the room. They were mostly in french. One caught her eye. It had red leather binding and black lettering. She lifted it off the bookshelf and examined it. It appeared to be ancient.

It was titled d'optique "Optical illusion?" she whispered.

Just then the room began to fill with a thick red smoke. Willow turned to the others who were nervously scanning their surroundings.

"Willow, what happened?" Buffy asked.

"Uh, this isn't good" Lorne said.

"I... I don't know. I just picked up this book... and..." Buffy was out of her sight. The red smoke was too thick. "Buffy?" Willow shouted.

Buffy held on to Spike's hand so she wouldn't lose him. She couldn't see anything now that the smoke had filled up the entire room. "Guys, we need to get out of this room. She pulled Spike down to the floor. The smoke was less down there.

"On the floor, guys. We have to crawl," Buffy shouted.

They all got on their hands and knees and crawled back towards the foyer. Unfortunately, the foyer was filling with the red smoke too. Just then, someone screamed.

"What, who was that?" Buffy asked.

"I... I think it came from down the corridor," Faith said.

Buffy could barely make out the hallway. It was dark and the smoke was becoming unbearable.

Xander began coughing. "We need to leave this area. I don't think my lungs can take it!"

Buffy looked ahead at the darkened corridor."We go that way!" she shouted.

Spike and Buffy led the way through the narrow hallway. Some old portraits were visible. Issa looked on at one and jumped when she thought that one of the faces smiled at her.

"This place reeks of dark magic. It's so heavy," Issa commented.

Willow agreed. " Yea my shoulders feel heavy, like someone is trying to pull me down."

Suddenly the candelabras flickered and went out. The hallway was completely dark now. Buffy grabbed Spike's hand harder.

"This isn't good...," Kennedy said.

Just then a strong wind blew past them, causing all of them to fall backward. Buffy lost her grip on Spike.

"Spike!" she shouted. Buffy, fighting against the wind, searched in the dark for them.

Everyone was being thrown about, slamming into walls. Spike felt himself get lifted off the ground and slam right into Faith. Xander crawled on the ground, trying to fight his way to Issa who was hanging on to a door knob so not to get blown away.

"Issa, I'm coming!" Xander shouted.

Willow tried magic to stop it, but nothing worked "Immotus!" She shouted three times, nothing happened.

Illyria grabbed Angel and pulled herself closer to him. "This is not real, it's magic." she said.

Buffy frantically felt around for Spike. "Spike? Where are you?" she yelled.

Spike tried to get his bearings. He couldn't figure out what direction her voice was coming from due to the darkness and the wind. "Buffy?"

Just then, the wind stopped. Everyone froze where they were. A loud thumping sound filled the hallway, almost like a very loud heartbeat. The hallway warped and stretched longer then the candles flickered back.

Buffy stood alone in the hallway. Everyone was gone. "Guys?"

Angel turned quickly as the candles re-lit. He stood at the doorway of a dimly lit room filled with hospital beds. He walked through, staring at the beds. He gasped. He saw Cordelia lying in one. She had an IV hooked up to her and she seemed to be sleeping. He walked closer, then noticed the bed next to her. Fred. My God! What the hell? Then the next bed, Darla. He felt his insides squirm. He looked back down at Fred. She looked so peaceful, then her eyes opened suddenly. Angel stepped back.

"You were never quick enough!" she shouted at him.

He stood, paralyzed.

Spike was alone in a room filled with pictures and books and... wait. He knew this room. This was his old bedroom back in London where he lived with his mother. That didn't make any sense. He walked over to a bookcase filled with all the literature he once had. Unbelievable. I must have passed out. This has to be a dream.

He spotted an old picture of himself in a pewter frame. He chuckled at it, seeing himself that way. He remembered everything about this room now. The crack at the bottom of the window. The hook he placed his hat and coat. The sink underneath the mirror. He could almost smell the lavender soap sitting on the porcelain.

He spotted his bed, so uncomfortably small. He approached it and opened the night stand drawer. There it was, his book of poetry. He sat on his bed and opened the book, forgetting what had just happened in the hallway. Spike chuckled when he turned to the first page.

"What a wanker I was," he said aloud.

Someone was approaching. Spike turned to the direction of the footsteps. Wearing a long green gown, hair tied up in a bun, loosely letting her curls frame her face. Cecily. Spike's eyes widened.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.