Chapter 25
“A location spell, Buffy? Who or what are you looking for?” Willow asked. She gazed at her friend searchingly.
Buffy glanced down at her hands. “Spike. He went out last night and never came back,” she choked out.
Willow seemed stricken. “How long has he been gone?”
“He left around nine last night, and its after four now.”
“He’s probably hiding up somewhere till sunset,” the witch tried to reason.
“That’s what I keep telling her,” Dawn spoke up.
Taking a deep breath, Buffy fought to control her emotions. Maybe they were right. Spike was a master vampire, he wouldn’t go dust in the wind when she needed him most. He survived the torment of a God, he . . . Her eyes became large.
“Oh my God!” She snatched onto Willow. Her expression was desperate. “Glory has him,” she stated with certainty.
Willow led the slayer to a chair. Buffy slumped in it. She gave off the appearance of a scared lost child. The relationship between slayer and vampire must have changed drastically, Willow realized. There was no doubt about it, Buffy loved Spike.
“We have to do that spell now,” Buffy insisted.
“Sure, Buffy,” Willow told her.
Tara offered assistance by saying, “I’ll gather supplies.”
“We’ll find him for you,” Willow assured her. “Do you have something he touched recently?”
After a moment, Buffy got up and walked over to a display of candles. She took a red one and brought it over. She placed it one the tabletop.
“He helped set up the display,” she informed.
“That’ll work. Every time someone touches something they leave behind a tiny amount of their essence. I can track him with it,” Willow explained.
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About an hour later, a circle was made in the back room. White candles surrounded it. In the center was the red candle that Spike had touched. The gang were gathered outside the circumference, waiting for the spell to begin. Buffy was closest, giving off apprehensiveness.
The red-headed witch hovered her hands over the candle in the circle. She chanted in a language no one was familiar with. The speed of her words got faster and faster, building up energy. She began to sway, and the others became worried. Suddenly, the candle flames went out and Willow collapsed to the floor in a faint.
“Oh, dear, is she okay?” Fred asked.
“Damn, I don’t think that was supposed to happen,” Gunn muttered.
Tara rushed over to the other magic-caster. She knelt, cradling Willow’s head. “Sweetie, are you all right?”
There was a moan and then Willow stirred. Her eyes fluttered open to focus on Tara. “My head hurts,” she muttered.
A sigh of relief escaped Tara. “But you’re okay, baby. You’re okay.”
Willow smiled. “I’m okay.”
Tara helped Willow to stand. She made sure that the other girl really was fine before releasing her from her grasp.
Willow glanced around, finding Buffy. The slayer asked, expectantly, “Where is he?”
Shaking her head, she replied, “I’m sorry, Buffy, I didn’t see anything. It didn’t work for some reason.”
Without a word, Buffy walked out into the main part of the store.
“What do we do now?” Dawn questioned.
“I don’t know, Dawnie,” Willow answered.
“As soon as nightfall hits we’ll go search,” Angel announced.
There was silence. No one knew what to say because that was the only thing they could think of to do. Wait until sunset.
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When they came out of the training room Buffy was gone.
“Where is she?” Dawn gave off a hint of fear.
Willow went over to the window and glanced out. There was Buffy, sitting on the curb. “She’s out here, guys.” She opened the door. “Wait here, I’m gonna go out and talk to her.”
She stepped out, studying Buffy, who was hugging her knees to her chest. She sat next to the blond. They both had their eyes directed out in the street.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” The slayer’s voice was hardly above a whisper.
Willow’s head snapped to the side. “What? Why do you think that?”
Without averting her gaze, Buffy said, “The spell didn’t work. You said yourself that it detects essence. There must be none for it to find.”
“It might act differently for a vampire.”
Buffy finally looked over. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m . . .”
“I should be used to it.”
Confusion came over Willow. “Used to what?”
“People leaving. People dying,” Buffy said simply. She gave a little laugh. “I was so stupid to think that Spike would stay. That he would be different than everybody else.”
Willow felt her heart swell. “I didn’t want to leave before.” And even though it had not been her fault for dying, she felt apologetic.
“But you came back.”
“Yeah, I came back.” Willow gave a small smile.
About to break, Buffy squeaked, “He’s not coming back.”
Willow put an arm around her. Buffy hugged her in return.
“I want him back, Will. I want him back,” Buffy murmured.
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The sun was going down when Willow and Buffy came back into the magic shop. Buffy was worn and tired. She wanted to go to sleep and have to never wake, escaping the cold world that surrounded her.
Dawn stood up. “Are you okay, Buffy?”
“Fine, Dawnie,” her sister lied.
“Let’s go look for Spike then. It is getting dark.”
Buffy froze. What was the use of going out? They weren’t going to find anything. Well, maybe a pile of dust. But she couldn’t tell Dawn her suspicion. Not yet.
Switching to slayer mode, Buffy took charge. “Willow, Tara, Dawn, and I will do a round through the cemeteries. Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Cordy; go around town. See if you can find anything. A hint of where Glory might be.”
“And Spike,” Dawn added.
The two teams went off to check their given locations.
The Scooby gang walked in silence. They were all solemn except for Dawn, who was optimistic. She went ahead of the rest.
“We have to search all the crypts,” she insisted. She paused. “And we should try Angel’s old mansion.”
“We will,” Tara told her.
After a couple crypt searches, without any luck, Tara leaned over toward Willow. She whispered, “Willow, I’m getting worried.”
“Yeah,” Willow said. “Me too. And Buffy. . .” Sigh. “She’s lost hope. She’s only trying to be strong for Dawnie.”
“You think he’s dead?”
“ I dunno. But the spell didn’t work.”
“We can’t be sure, though. He was technically dead to begin with.”
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Buffy trailed off a little away from the rest. She sat down on a tombstone, fidgeting with the wooden stake in her hands. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. She was in no mood for a fight. In fact, she was in no mood at all. Hollowness had set in as if Spike had taken everything she was with him.
Suddenly a tingling pricked the nerves in the back of her neck. Oh great, a vampire. She stood up, spinning to face her foe.
“Hello, slayer.”
The stake in her hands fell to the ground.
“Spike!” she cried. She took a few steps in his direction.
He stood there, smirking at her with his hands in his pockets. She was relieved to see that he was generally unharmed. But . . . something was off. It was in his eyes. They didn’t hold that gentleness they usually did when he looked her way.
“I was so worried. Where were you?” she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Around.”
“Oh . . . k.” He didn’t sound like he was going to elaborate.
With a gleam in his gaze, he took a fist and leashed out at her. Surprised, she was taken off guard and didn’t block. She stumbled back, hitting a tombstone.
“Spike? What . . .?”
“Come on, slayer, don’t you want to dance?”
Her eyes widened. Slayer? He hadn’t called her that in a ‘very’ long time.
Out of the shadows stepped Glory. She smiled, putting an arm around Spike. “Like my new pet vampire?”
Buffy shook her head, water accumulating in her vision. “No, no,” she whispered. “Not again, this can’t be happening again.”
“Hurts, don’t it, pet? Two of your lovers up and leavin you for the dark side of the force.” Spike snickered. “Hmmmm, now I wonder which side is stronger.”
To her horror, she watched as Glory’s hands ran over Spike’s hard chest. She was sickened, having the urge to throw up as their mouths met.
“Oh God,” she said. Even the old Spike wouldn’t have gone for a hell god. Something definitely wasn’t right here.
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I know, I know, you’ve been waiting a long time for this. I really am sorry. I’ve been sooo busy. First with school and then with Christmas and all. *sigh* I hope I didn’t disappoint.
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