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Chapter 31

A hundred things can happen in a matter of minutes. But sometimes even more can happen in only a couple of seconds. And they did. As Buffy swung the massive sword at Spike all the reasons she loved him flashed through her mind. His eyes. His smile. The way he made her laugh. His nicknames. The way he cocked his head. It was all there, every single explanation and memory. She wasn’t aware of it, but a loud battle cry erupted from her throat.

Something built up inside her chest, burning her heart. She was positive that somehow a fire had actually established itself in her body. A white blanket covered her vision. The heat intensified, and then finally calmed until being quenched out completely. The blinding whiteness faded and everything became quiet.

“Oh my God, you were going to kill him!”

Buffy looked over to see Cristina. The woman had a concerned expression on her face. Buffy turned away to gaze down at the floor. Spike was laying there, his baby-blue eyes fixed on her with confusion. The blood and bruises on his face had vanished.

“Buffy?” Spike choked.

The sword slipped from her grasp. Her right hand came up to cover her mouth.

Cristina came nearer. “What were you thinking?” she demanded.

“Death is my gift,” Buffy stated tonelessly.

“Death is not your gift. Light is,” Cristina corrected. She gestured to Spike. “I meant for you to heal him. You’re the Light Bearer, Buffy, not ‘death’ bearer.”

Emotion took over and Buffy began to shake from the sobs that escaped her being. She didn’t know how she felt. Was she relieved? Ashamed? Happy? Sad? It didn’t matter. All she knew was that she couldn’t think and the tears kept coming.

 
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Willow surveyed the room. She spotted Angel, Cordelia, and Giles. When she saw Cristina, Buffy, and Spike her puzzlement grew. “What happened?”

Angel and Cordy walked over holding hands. There was a tear in Cordy’s blouse and a darkened stain around it.

“Cordy’s wound is gone,” Angel said. He touched the spot tenderly where she had been stabbed.

“It was Buffy,” Giles told them. “She used her light bearing energy. It’s astonishing. I never anticipated that intense of a light.”

“Why couldn’t she mend my shirt as well?” Cordy asked.

All eyes fell on her.

“Just kidding. Geez.”

Beside her, Angel stiffened. Cordy craned her neck to look up at him. She noticed that his attention was elsewhere, a pensive expression on his face.

“Why so gloomy?” Cordelia inquired. She glanced around at the others, addressing them as well. “All the vamps are gone and no one’s hurt. I say we have a party or something.”

Taking a step forward, Angel murmured, “Buffy.”

Cordy sighed. Of course. Buffy was always spreading melancholy to anyone around her. She knew that Angel loved her, but he still had some connection with Buffy. She had faced the fact that that would never change. Sometimes it really bothered her, though. Like now.

She looked over to see what had Angel captivated. She saw Buffy crying uncontrollably, Spike still on the floor. Unlike before, he had drawn himself into a ball. She furrowed her brow. She’d never seen Spike like that. He was always standing tall, ready to make snide remarks or throw himself into battle.

Cristina sighed. “Buffy, pull yourself together. We have to find Glory.” She said this aggressively, but not coldly.

The slayer complied. She composed herself as much she could. She knew that she couldn’t spare time working out her emotional problems. She hastily brushed the wetness from her eyes.

“I think we can conclude that Glory is not here,” Buffy announced.

“She’s not.”

Buffy’s gaze snapped to Spike. He was no longer in a fetal position, but sitting up. He looked worn and enervated.

“Where is she?”

He swallowed. “She’s raising the key of darkness. She’s. . .” He tried to stand, but fell back down.

Buffy gestured for him to stay where he was. “No, don’t get up. Just tell me where she is.”

“The construction site.” He met her eyes. “Where you died.”

She shook her head. “They never tore it down?”

“Lot of negative energy, pet. Tends to keep people away.”

Buffy turned to the others. “Alright. Cordy, stay with Spike. The rest of you, come with me.”

“Hey, now, I can fight! Just cuz I got hurt . . .” Cordelia complained.

“Listen to her, Cord,” Angel ordered. He gave her a chaste kiss before heading for the door.
“Hey!” Cordelia angrily called after him.

When everyone else had left, Cordelia faced Spike. She crossed her arms. “I don’t like being stuck here with you.”

He staggered to his feet. “Then I’ll make it simple. You won’t have to.” He began to walk to the exit.

Cordelia followed behind him. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t bother to answer.

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Buffy ran. She was aware of the others behind her. She felt bad for poor Willow and Giles, surely they wouldn’t be able to keep up. But, she had a feeling in her gut that they needed to hurry. Something was going down. Now.

A disturbing thought entered her brain. What was she going to do when she got there? She no longer had the troll hammer, or the glowy orb. She only had her slayer strength to rely on. And her light bearing energy, yet she still had no control over that. It seemed to come only at the last minute when a perilous situation got even more perilous.

As she approached the haunted location, she stopped dead in her tracks. A large circle of demons were surrounding a giant ball of blue energy. She glanced around, finding Glory not in sight. She took a deep breath and forced her muscles to work again.

The energy pulsed, growing brighter. The vampires backed away from it, clearing out of its path. Buffy squinted, positive she saw something in the midst of the blue blaze. From within, emerged a form. Out stepped a boy, about fifteen years old. The blue energy died away. She watched in horror as the vamps bowed down before the child, chanting.

“What the . . .?”

“We’re too late,” Angel’s voice said, making her jump.

She pointed at the teenage boy. “You mean, that’s the key of darkness?”

“What did you expect? Dawn’s about that age.”

“Oh, god,” she whispered. The boy was human. The boy had barely reached puberty. And the boy was evil. Which meant, she would have to kill him.

Giles, Willow, and Cristina made it to their side. Giles and Willow were out of breath.

“Dear lord, I am far too old for this,” Giles wheezed.

“Phew, that was a workout,” Willow said. Then she gasped when she noticed the boy. He was looking straight at them. He held out his hands and smiled. All five of them flew through the air from an invisible force. They toppled onto the hard ground with strong impact.

Buffy climbed off Giles. “Sorry, Giles,” she apologized.

Giles sat up, straightening his glasses. “No, no, quite all right. Not your fault.”

“He has the same powers as Dawn,” Cristina muttered. “But he seems to have a better grasp on his.”

“Great,” Buffy said. She hated having to bring her sister into the mix.

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Cordelia quickened her pace to keep up with Spike. He seemed to have recovered from his prior exhaustion. “Wait up!” she demanded.

He ignored her.

They passed the old mansion on Crawford street, sending chills down Cordy’s spine. She despised being reminded of their terrible past.

“Come on, where are you going! If you’re going to aid Buffy, she’s not this way.”
Without looking back, Spike replied, “Not going to Buffy. She‘s a big girl, she can manage. Besides, she‘s got the big poofter and the rest of em to help. Don‘t need me. All I do is bollocks her life up.”

Cordy rolled her eyes. “Good attitude, Mr. Don’t you remember that this is Glory she’s going to face? The one who ‘killed’ her?”

“Not gonna happen again. She’s looked after by the powers.”

Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t like him. She didn’t know much about Spike, but she had heard that he was very protective. He was always by Buffy’s side, helping her along the way with everything.

Spike came to a hill, overlooking Sunnydale. He sat down on the grass.

“Just great! You’re going to just sit there!?” Cordy shrieked.

“That’s right.”

She glanced at her watch. “You are a moron. Sunrise is in less than an hour.”

“I know,” Spike remarked, tonelessly.

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I know, I know. I don’t ever give them a break. *L* But I love emotional roller coasters.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





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