[Reviews - 72]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1400 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to all who reviewed!!! Especially you, Chrissie!
Chapter 11: Run, Love.

Previously: Tierre left the party, and Buffy decided to follow him, despite Angel’s objections. Dru has managed to put Franco under thrall, and she made him lead her and her invisible companions, Willow and Seyhan, to the Balancer. Angel suddenly got reason to suspect that Scarlet may be on to them and warned Dru and the others. But despite the warning, Dru and her companions get into trouble anyway. Meanwhile, Buffy has followed Tierre to the beach, where she gets the unshakeable feeling that he is contemplating suicide. However, Tierre apparently changed his mind when he sensed Buffy near. The two fight, but not for long. Tierre makes Buffy break the invisibility spell, and then he tries to seduce her for information. It didn’t work as well as he’d hoped…

***

Seyhan knew his enemy had him at a disadvantage. The Vashkan lord couldn't see his attacker, and could only hope that his invisible foe was also unable to see him. He was holding his own well enough in the fight, keeping young Willow safe from further attacks. The mortal witch had already been injured by the first hit she received when she’d called out, thinking their attacker was the other vampire, Angel. Seyhan would make sure she didn’t receive another. He was thankful that Drusilla had left through the window with Franco. He had one less person to worry about.

Seyhan knew his skill was being wasted battling this invisible fool. Any Vashkan youngling would be able to divine that his attacker’s true motives for fighting weren’t of a subduing nature.

It was merely to keep him in the room. Until another Scarlet poison, could come to assist.

The Vashkan lord wasn't about to stay put and wait for the reinforcements. With a well-placed blow, he hurt the scum badly enough that he gained a full 30 seconds of freedom. Then he purposefully returned his body to its visible state, following the instructions Willow had given all of them earlier. He knew he was making himself even more vulnerable to their attacker, but that was a risk he was willing to take.

A worthwhile risk, because now, Willow knew where he was in the room.

He watched as the lovely redhead made herself visible once more, following his lead. The blood spotting her lips drew his immediate attention. She fell to the floor in a crouch, her small hands splaying on the thick carpet. Her lips moved, but no sound escaped from between them.

Seyhan sensed his opponent charging him again while he was distracted. The devil had recovered very quickly. Seyhan allowed his sword to lengthen as he held it straight out in front of him, in a classic defense posture. That was the best he could do at the moment. Heedlessly attacking an unseen enemy would only be a waste of his energy, something for which his attacker had no doubt hoped.

Suddenly, Seyhan saw Willow's hands glow green. Light spread from her hands in waves, rippling out to fill the room, and then disappearing just as fast as it had come.

Seyhan felt a strong tug on his sword the moment the witch's spell took effect.

Everything started floating! The smaller chairs, the long sofas, and even the priceless antiques that had been sitting on the tables rose up into the air. Only the carpet remained where it was since it was below the spell's point of origin.

Seyhan heard a gasp of alarm. He laughed out loud when his sword began to rise, tugged upwards by something. The Scarlet fool was trying desperately to weigh himself down by gripping the blade, Seyhan thought, keeping his hold on the weapon tight.

Willow walked over to him, smiling smugly. "I feel like Alice in Wonderland," she said.

Seyhan beamed at her, "Thank you for keeping me grounded," he said, reaching out to snatch a fountain pen in midair. He inspected it, and then let it go.

Her eyes widened comically, "Hey! Hey, you made a legitimate human pun!"

"Don't spread that around."

"Your secret's safe with me. Now let's go. I told you, I don't want to stay here longer than we have to."

Seyhan willed the sword to return to its dagger length, feeling almost sinfully pleased when he heard a thud on the ceiling. The idiot that had dared to make Willow Rosenberg's lip bleed was now stuck on it.


~*~*~*~


The riskiest part of Drusilla's plan was the chance that she would have to make an escape to an isolated area of the grounds, which was exactly what had happened. The library window she had crashed out of had been facing the back of the house, where there were no guests.

Which didn't mean that there was no one else.

No guests around meant no protection, and Drusilla, still carrying Franco fireman style ―she knew she looked ridiculous, but what was a girl to do?― made for the garden where the party was being held. Where was the garden again? This monstrosity of a backyard was ridiculously large! If she ever got Tierre alone, she’ll have a word with him about the excess. That is, of course, if Tierre would listen to her. After their last encounter, he would be more likely to drive a stake through her heart himself, on principle alone, before he would let her get a word out.

Lucky for Drusilla, she was unscathed and able to make her way towards the safety of a public crowd. But the billionaire over her shoulders hadn’t been as fortunate. Franco was still out of it, blood dripping from a long gash on his forehead. He was going to be fine, though; just unconscious for the moment.

The vampiress tried to remember once more which way was to the garden the party was being held. She couldn’t go through the house with Franco slung over her back, so she’d have to find another way. Letting her senses take over, she caught the faint strains of music from the orchestra. Ah, yes. She could get to the garden by going through the thick, dark, forbidding-looking forest… which she felt certain was just one enormous trap.

The island was a mosaic of civilization and wilderness. There was the mansion, with its vast and perfectly manicured lawns, and the private beach with its sugar-white sands.

But surrounding Franco Scarletta’s original estate, a legacy from the time when he hadn’t owned the entire island, was The Forest. Drusilla knew that it had been deliberately cultivated afterwards for the purpose of protection. She imagined that during the daytime the dense foliage was less frightening. The various flora and fauna might even be fascinating. And there would always be something new and exciting to be found in such a forest.

The image came easily to Drusilla, even though she had never traversed those forest paths in broad daylight. It didn’t matter. Tierre had given her that image with his poetic words. He had tried to describe his new home to her, tried to entice her so she would come and see it for herself. He had made it sound like a paradise.

And her heart had broken for him. She knew that one day, that paradise would become a prison for him.

But no prison would ever be strong enough for Tierre; Drusilla knew this just as confidently as she’d known Tierre’s new home wasn’t meant for her. Her confidence did not come from the dark prescience that was her gift ―her curse. Rather, this assurance was deeply rooted in Tierre himself. In her long, dismal and painful life, Tierre was the one true thing that Drusilla had ever been sure of.

That’s a song, the vampiress thought, smiling to herself. Every now and then, her mind digressed, went on its own path like a dog with no leash and a horrifying lack of training. Drusilla sometimes had trouble with concentrating.

Not tonight. She entered the forest with every single hair follicle pricked to decipher the subtlest hints of danger in the breeze. Darkness swallowed the forest with its thick and suffocating blackness. Even the slim moon rays that managed to penetrate the canopy seemed to be absorbed by the dim environ. Drusilla morphed, letting her vampire eyes scan the shadows superimposed on more shadows.

She couldn’t join the party again, not with a bleeding and unconscious Franco Scarletta. But she could send a telepathic message to the witch, asking her to turn Franco invisible. Or, if that failed, she could just wait around the edges of the garden in the forest for the Slayer cavalry to arrive. Truthfully, she didn’t have much of a plan, but she would be a sitting duck if she remained out here in the open, alone. At least closer to the party, she could take advantage of the protection from a crowd if things got bad.

Franco was becoming a heavy burden. She ought to just leave him here and make a run for it on her own. Willow and Seyhan already had what they came for from him, anyway.

Just as she was bending down to lay Franco on the ground, a vision came to her. For one brief instant, the entire forest was flooded with light and Drusilla saw the forest as it must look during the day…and then some. She could clearly see the outline of every tree, every rock, and every upraised root; it was as though they had been drawn on thin bond paper by a heavy handed artist using a black permanent marker. Beneath her feet, the ground was dry and parched as the desert.

Something squawked above her, and a flutter of wings followed. Drusilla looked up, but she saw no bird; just a pitch-black shadow that was there one moment, and was gone the next. It left behind a pale endlessness. She couldn’t think of a better way to describe it. No blue. No clouds. No sky.

Drusilla dropped her eyes. The pale endlessness, the thing that was not the sky, hurt the flying creature.

She gasped.

She could see them. They thought themselves well-hidden, but she can see right through the trees and the thick clumps of wild bushes. Animals; each of a predatory nature. She saw a lion hidden behind a tree; a wolf coiled and ready to spring; a crocodile creeping its insidious way towards her. The dried leaves on the once-mossy earth transformed themselves into piranhas and swam on air, heading for her.

This wasn’t happening. Even so, Drusilla could feel her fragile hold on reason, tenuous at the best of times, breaking.

When a strong hand suddenly gripped her shoulder, she spun around, eyes wide.

Spike didn’t smile at her. He’d stopped smiling at her so long ago. Tipping his white-blond head towards a pathway that she could barely see, he said, “Run, love.”

At that, the vision ended, and the world was once again dark; as it should be. The animals were gone from her sight.

But they weren’t gone. She could feel with her gifts, what her other five senses were unable to detect.

Drusilla left Franco there, lying on the ground, and she ran. She ran as swiftly as the creature of the night that she was, moving like a quick-silver shadow herself through the forest. Spike had disappeared, she noted, but then, she told herself, he had never really been there now, had he?

No, he hadn’t. There was no Spike to fight for her now. She was on her own.

The animals easily kept pace with her. She could hear them thundering through the plant life just behind her. She could see them flitting in the dark; brief, sporadic bursts of color. They didn’t bother to conceal themselves. There was no need.

This was the savage part of the Scarletta Empire. Not the forest, nor the elaborate defense system. The most savage part was the people. Those who still had their souls and yet still had a capacity for evil that rivaled any vampire’s.

She was so focused on those running alongside her, that when the true danger appeared right in front of her, she actually felt surprised. There was a cold whoosh of air, and then a huge bird was flapping enormous wings at her face. Talons clawed at her. Something hard and sharp sank into her shoulder. Drusilla screamed in pain. Without thinking, she swiped viciously at the creature. Her hand met solid, feather-covered flesh. The bird flew backwards, allowing the vampire to see it for the first time.

It was huge, much bigger than an eagle. Its blackness made it resemble a raven, but its eyes held too much intelligence for it to be a mere bird. The creature hovered there, flapping its massive wings just once, staring at her with those strange eyes. Its ability to remain suspended in the air without moving was something that most birds ―not ravens, nor eagles― had.

This was no bird.

And it was attacking again.

It had an unfair advantage over her with its flying capabilities. Even so, Drusilla fought back furiously. But soon enough, the creature had her on the ground, and was pecking ruthlessly at her. Her arms and shoulders were bloodied.

Drusilla knew she was going to lose. If only she could fly, too … her mind began to wander again.

Suddenly, she saw Tierre; saw him in that vision that had propelled her to seek out Angel in the first place. No one else knew about the vision. No one else knew what kind of danger Tierre was in. Only her.

And until he was safe, Drusilla could never allow herself to lose.

From her gut, pushing past her throat, and escaping through her mouth, was an ear-splitting, blood-curdling scream. It was an unearthly cry, inhuman; its frequency completely different from that meant for human ears.

The bird jerked off her as though it had been electrocuted. Drusilla quickly pushed herself up and watched as the black creature tried to regain its equilibrium. She screamed again. With oxygen no longer an issue, there was no limit to what her vocals could do.

The bird fell to the ground like it had been shot. Drusilla watched, wide-eyed, as it changed. Its form twitched and moved. It looked like a huge black sheet draped over a bunch of playful puppies.

Until it was no longer a bird, but a man. The man groaned and swayed to his feet.

Drusilla laughed, “How pitiful. Never trust a shapeshifter to do a Slayer’s job.”

“You’re right. He is pitiful.”

The vampiress started. She was surrounded by humans. They lounged against the trees casually, unconcerned about their comrade, whom was even then shaking his head, trying to get the bells to stop ringing.

These were the vicious animals Drusilla had seen, racing just behind and alongside her. She didn’t think they were shapeshifters. The animals were a mere representation of their savagery.

“Drusilla,” one man said, eyeing her scornfully, “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“What can I say? Could never resist the forbidden.” Drusilla shot back. Someone moved behind her, and Drusilla turned around quickly. A woman smiled at her on her way to stand beside the man. Her manner was that of a friendly stranger just passing by.

“What should we do with her?” the woman asked.

“What else? We kill her.”

“Your Master Tierre won’t like that,” Drusilla said boldly.

“After what you did tonight? I’m sure he won’t mind your death so much.”

“Maybe not,” a low voice suddenly intruded, “But I will.”

Drusilla had never been so relieved to see Angel before and the pack of earnest Slayers trailing behind him. The two parties needed no introductions; they just started to fight.

“Be careful!” Drusilla cried out in warning, “They’re hidden in the dark!”

Xander managed to find his way to her side amidst the melee. “Drusilla, are you all right?”

Instead of answering, Drusilla turned and ran back to where she had left Franco, dodging and weaving around Slayers trying to earn points by taking down someone from Scarlet. She admired their dedication, but she didn’t have a lot of faith in the abilities of such inexperienced Slayers. They were going to need insurance if the battle turned against
them.

Drusilla found Franco being sneaked away from the fight by another Scarlet dog, this one almost resembling an elf. She rushed him, but he had sensed her approach. With Franco slung over one shoulder, the pseudo-elf easily whipped out a crossbow and aimed it at her heart. Drusilla saw him squeeze the trigger. The wooden bolt flew towards her.

But it never reached her. It slammed against something else and stopped there, several feet from her heart.

Drusilla blinked, confused.

“What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?” Seyhan snarled at her. “Heroes do not become heroes simply because they die.” He held up his palm. The bolt had impaled the center of his hand. Blue-green blood poured from the wound.

The Vashkan lord then turned his attention back to the murderous Scarlet member, watching as the elf-thug put his boss down. Abandoning further attempts on Drusilla, the Scarlet soldier met his enemy’s attack head-on.

“Dru!” Willow skidded to a halt beside the vampire. “Oh, thank the goddess we found you guys. Seyhan heard sounds of fighting coming from here and―”

Once again, Drusilla abruptly left while a Scooby was trying to talk to her. She headed directly for Franco Scarletta.


~*~ *~ *~


Willow surveyed the ongoing fight. She and Seyhan had brought 20 Slayers with them, as well as Angel, Giles, and Xander. From what she could see, they greatly outnumbered the Scarlet group that guarded the forest.

But the Scarlet knew their environment, knew their enemies’ capabilities, and they wouldn’t hesitate to use that knowledge to take their enemies down as efficiently as possible.

The Scarlet could also blend into the shadows and move as fast as any Slayer. These were basic skills to them. Willow had seen Mercury display such abilities at the Council HQ.

Their little hide and seek game intimidated the young Slayers.

“Don’t chase after them! If they disappear, let them go!” Giles yelled, delivering instructions better than any war general. He had noticed, with a sinking heart, that those Slayers who dared to go after Scarlet thugs who flitted into the shadows never returned. And there were a lot of Slayers doing just that, intent on getting payback for the humiliation they had suffered earlier at HQ.

“They’re not running because they’re afraid of you! They’re luring you away!” Angel added, bellowing over the cacophony of noise from the battle.

“Stick together! Don’t let them divide us!” Xander advised, encouraging the flagging Slayers.

Heedless of the advice of their leaders, three excited Slayers chased a lone Scarlet, figuring they had her cornered when she ran straight for a tree. Instead, the woman ran right up the tree trunk, four steps that should’ve been impossible, to reach the nearest branch. She swung herself up onto the branch and hid behind the leaves. The determined Slayers crowded the tree. They’d successfully treed a Scarlet and they weren’t about to leave until they found a way to drag her back down.

Suddenly, all three stiffened, arms pinned to their sides. The Scarlet woman poked her head out from behind the leaves, grinned, and jumped down from the tree, landing on the other side.

Simultaneously, all three Slayers were yanked up into the tree, screaming.

Seeing what had happened to their comrades, the remaining Slayers edged towards their Watchers, uneasy.

The Scarlet woman then stood up straight. As she moved, a long, and very thin line of what appeared to be thread, glittered in the pale moonlight, before vanishing altogether.

“As much as possible, we try to avoid carnage inside the estate.”

Giles, Angel, and Xander stopped for a moment to stare at the speaker that had so casually made the callous statement; a man they’d been fighting just moments earlier. He obviously considered Angel to be the only threat to him out of the three, and after kicking the vampire away, grabbed the nearest Slayer and held her neck in a choke hold. “We hate filth. Now if you don’t mind, we’d rather go back to the party than stay here, babysitting you.”

“Then go, no one’s stopping you,” the captured Slayer managed to grit out.

“Only if you leave first.”

No one moved.

The man sighed. “Gail, over there,” he said, pointing out the woman with the thread using his chin, “Owns a very special thread. If she wants to, she can cut all these little girls in half with it.”

“And if I want to, I can stop your boss from breathing. Permanently,” Drusilla loudly announced. Once again, Franco Scarletta was in her custody. Unfortunately, he was also starting to come around.

“What the hell is going on?” he demanded groggily. He gingerly touched his forehead, and then stared at his own blood coating his fingers, confused.

“Put the girls down! Let them go!” Xander ordered, “Or Scarletta is dead. Make no mistake, fellows. Drusilla is once crazy chick.” He was actually just being his usual loud distracting self, on purpose. Only he could see that Willow was standing by her lonesome, eyes closed, and lips moving.

The rest of Scarlet, even the one Seyhan was still fighting, were too busy mapping out the easiest angles to get to Drusilla to notice. They knew they shouldn’t worry that Drusilla would kill Franco. He was their only insurance, after all. But then again, Drusilla was insane. And she could just as easily injure their boss seriously, if not kill him in a moment of insanity.

And so they hesitated for two seconds.

Enough time for Willow to finish the spell.


~*~ *~ *~


A brief, very bright flash of light caught the party guests’ collective attention. They all looked around the garden, and then started clapping at what they assumed was some sort of entertainment.

“What was that, a new kind of fireworks display?” a man asked.

“Probably. You know Franco. He’s always one for the gimmicks,” a woman answered with a laugh. “Where is Franco, anyway?”


~*~ *~ *~


In the next instant, the good guys and Franco Scarletta were suddenly in Summer’s Cove, just outside the estate.

Xander swayed on unsteady feet. “Gah! I’ll never get used to your teleportation spells, Will,” he moaned.

“I must say, remarkable timing, Willow,” Giles said, apparently unperturbed. He was a little paler, but he maintained his stiff upper lip in front of the young Slayers.

“Sorry. It would’ve taken effect sooner, but it was a complicated spell. I didn’t just teleport us, I teleported Scarlet too. I had to scatter them individually, all over the island, to make it harder for them to regroup. Plus, I had to sense the other Slayers.”

Xander and Giles counted their Slayers, relieved that all 20 were present and … hurt. But alive. That was the important thing.

“Let go of me, Drusilla. I won’t run from you,” Franco said proudly. “I won’t need to.”

“Oh, yes you will,” Seyhan murmured, his voice soft and dangerous. This was him. This was the head of Scarlet. Or at least, one half of the head. Seyhan wouldn’t be satisfied until he has Tierre Wolfson. But with Scarletta in their hands, it wouldn’t be long before Wolfson came crawling to them. “Let us leave now. What are we waiting for?”

Angel glared at the impatient Vashkan lord. “Buffy,” he snapped.


TBC





You must login (register) to review.