Chapter Sixteen
Another Development
Angel felt like he was falling. This was odd, considering that he was lying in his bed in the old manor house. Correct that; was lying in his bed. He just had enough time to realise that he actually was falling before hitting the pavement with a crash that would have killed a human. Fortunately, a vampire isn’t quite so fragile, but he was still knocked unconscious.
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Spike stared at Tara and Rich, and then back at the pile of dust that had been his tormentor and, apparently, his saviour.
“So, that’s it then? I’m buggered,” he said bleakly.
Tara put her arm around him once more. “Come on, let’s go to our room. I think we all need to sit down.”
Spike allowed her to lead him the few yards to their suite. His legs felt like they belonged to someone else. He collapsed gratefully onto the couch and leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe it. A few days ago he had everything. Now his world was falling apart.
“So what did the coven say?” he asked, although he knew that it was pointless. “Were they sure that it would have worked?”
Tara glanced worriedly at Rich before replying.
“Um…they were confident, not certain, that it would have reversed it all.”
There was a long silence, as none of them had any idea of what to say next.
“She said that she had to bite me twice and then I’d be fully hers,” said Spike, remembering Drusilla’s words.
Rich’s eyes fell on Spike’s torn t-shirt and the angry bite mark on his chest. “Looks like she did.”
Spike touched his chest. “What? This? No, that was just her waking me up.”
“Christ,” said Rich.
“When she first got hold of me, she choked me until I passed out,” explained Spike. “The next thing I knew was when she did this.” He winced as he pulled the t-shirt away from the wound, the congealing blood sticking onto his skin.
“You need to go get cleaned up, Spike,” said Tara.
“I will in a minute, pet.” He gave her a half smile. “Just need to get it straight in my head what damage has been done tonight. What if I’m a danger to you?”
“So, she needed to come back again to complete the job?” asked Rich, not willing to answer Spike’s question.
Spike nodded. “That’s what she said. She drank my blood again and then sodding made me drink hers. It hurt like hell too, because she didn’t put that thrall thingy on me. Bet she wishes that she had now.”
He bit his lip to prevent a hysterical giggle escaping his lips. In addition to everything else, he really felt like he was going insane. Perhaps all vampires are insane? Drusilla had certainly seemed to be.
Rich caught Tara’s eye. “So there’s still hope then?”
“I’m not sure,” replied Tara honestly. “I’ll get with the coven again right now.” She gave Spike’s shoulder a squeeze as she walked past him on the way to the bedroom, where she’d left her laptop. “Go and get a shower, Spike.”
“Okay, I will.”
Spike stood up and glanced at Rich’s face. He was unable to read his expression. Then he was almost bowled over as Rich enveloped him in a bear hug – this was Rich, who didn’t ‘do’ hugs. It terrified Spike.
“Er…it’s all right, mate,” he said, trying to disentangle himself from Rich’s clutches.
“Sorry,” sniffed Rich, wiping his eyes and letting him go. “It’s just…” He backed up a stride, his eyes wide. “Christ!”
“What now?” said Spike, impatiently. He’d just about had enough of people’s reactions to him; even Drusilla had looked at him strangely for a time before he’d pissed her off.
“Yer eyes!”
“What about them? Bit bloodshot? I took my lenses out before I got on the bus ‘cause my eyes felt a bit tired.”
Rich shook his head. “No, they’re not bloodshot,” he said quietly. “They’re yellow.”
Anger flashed in Spike. “Yellow? The whites of my eyes are sodding yellow. That’s just great,” he said sarcastically.
“Um…calm down a little, yeah?”
Spike growled. That gave them both cause to pause.
“Did you just…?”
“Shit, I guess I did,” said Spike wearily, deciding that sitting down would be a good option right now. “What’s wrong with my eyes, Rich?”
“Um…they are okay again now, but they were yellow. The irises were yellow – not blue.”
“God, Rich, I really am changing. That bitch’s eyes were yellow when she vamped out.”
“When she wot?”
“Vamped out. You know – got her fangs out.”
“So the Lost Boys got it right then?” said Rich.
“The lost boys? Who the hell are the boys, why are they lost and what did they get right?”
Rich chuckled. Spike glared at him. He really didn’t feel up to laughing right now.
“Um…yer eyes have done it again,” said Rich.
This time Spike realised that his vision had sharpened, heightened somehow. He remembered how it had cleared in his room, and the look on Drusilla’s face as she backed away. It must have happened then, too. He sighed and glanced back at Rich, who visibly relaxed.
“Blue again, yeah?” said Spike, weirdly aware of the slight change of the intensity of his vision.
“Yeah. Will yer stop doing it? Gotta say it’s freaking me out a bit.”
“I can’t sodding help it, Rich,” said Spike with another small growl. He leapt up from where he was sitting. “I can’t take this, Rich. I just can’t take any more.”
“I’m sorry, Spike. I shouldn’t have said that. We’ll find something to help you. Look, Tara’s in there already, trying to get information for you. She won’t fail.”
Spike took a shuddering breath as he ran his hands over his face. He could tell that his eyes were back to normal again. “But, what if I’m too far gone? I mean, the eye thing is new.” As he said it, they flashed amber for a second. “And the growling, what the fuck is that about?”
“I don’t know, Spike, I really don’t but we’ll get through this. The worse won’t ‘appen; I won’t bleedin’ let it.”
“I want to believe you, Rich, but I’m not sure that I can,” replied Spike, his voice breaking a little. He was rapidly becoming overwhelmed by all that was happening to him. “I guess I’ll go and get that shower.”
Spike stood up again, and Rich watched him as he walked to the bathroom. Spike’s shoulders were slumped; he looked like he was defeated already. Rich’s heart went out to him. He turned and walked quickly to the bedroom. Once inside, he hugged Tara tightly as she sat at the dressing table, typing on the laptop. She stopped typing and leaned back into his embrace. He buried his face in her neck and she felt his hot tears on her skin.
“Oh, God, Tara. We’re losing him.”
Tara put her hand up to Rich’s head. “Hey, try not to get upset. It’s not hopeless yet. Don’t give up.”
She twisted around until she was facing him and wrapped her arms around him. He clung to her. “It’s moved on from what it was before this last visit from that cow,” said Rich, as he told Tara of Spike’s eyes and his strange new ability to growl. He broke down in tears again when he finished.
“Shh, Rich,” soothed Tara. “It’ll be okay; you’ll see.”
“He’s my best mate, Tee. I can’t lose him. I lost James. I still miss him everyday. I can’t do it again.”
“James?” said Tara gently.
Rich tensed in her embrace for a second as he tried to work out what to say. James had been his best friend when he was a kid. He’d been killed in the crash that had left Spike an orphan. The complication was that for a time, Spike had lived as James and still had his surname.
“Um…he was a friend I had at school. He died years ago.”
“Oh, Rich. I’m so sorry.” Tara kissed his cheek, cupping his face in her hands.
“Thank God, that I’ve got you, Tee,” said Rich, returning her kisses but seeking out her lips, not her cheek. “I love you so much.”
Tara smiled at him, willingly deepening the kisses. “I love you too, hun.”
Rich sighed and released his hold on her. “I’d better go and see how Spike is.” He wiped his eyes and sniffed a couple of times. “Sorry about that.” He felt embarrassed at breaking down as he had.
“Don’t be sorry, Rich. You love him. You’re going to be afraid for him.”
“Yeah, but I’m English, remember? What about the stiff upper lip that I’m supposed to have?” he said, trying to make a joke of it.
Tara smiled at him. She reached out and took one of his hands, squeezing it tightly. “Spike’s English, and he has no trouble showing his emotions.”
“Uh…yeah,” replied Rich. “But he’s been in the States for years – it’s rubbed off on him.” “I’m going to have to tell her the truth about Spike’s past soon; he’s as American as she is. I hate bleeding lying to her.”
The computer chose that moment to chirpily inform them of an incoming e-mail. Tara turned to look at it.
“It’s from Jessica. She’s the head of the coven,” Tara said. “I’ll see what she says.”
Rich dropped a kiss on her head and walked from the bedroom to check on Spike.
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Spike stood under the jets of water and put his hands on the wall to steady himself. His legs felt weak. He forced Buffy from his thoughts, because he almost came undone every time that he let her fill them. For years, ever since he was seventeen, she’d been his rock. She’d held him together through the mess of his identity. Even now, she was the strong one of the relationship. She was his anchor, and now he felt as if he had been cast adrift. He fervently wished that she was here and was glad that she wasn’t, in just about equal measures.
He rested his forehead on the tiles of the shower cubicle. His thoughts were bleak. He’d worked so hard to get to the top with the band; they all had. Now, he knew that if things carried on the way they were right now, The Dingoes would be finished. He decided that should he begin to change even more, he’d kill himself before he had the chance to kill any of those that he loved. The fact that his eyes now changed, apparently of their own volition would be tricky to hide from the others. He shuddered at the thought of the low bestial growl he’d uttered earlier. He truly was turning into a demon, a beast.
He took a deep breath as he turned off the shower and stepped out onto the mat. He picked up a towel and dried himself off. He quickly got dressed and shaved, glad that he always used an electric razor. He smiled grimly to himself as he realised that he no longer glanced at the mirror as he shaved. He was getting used to the fact that he had no reflection.
tbc
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Banner by dawnofmeAuthor's Chapter Notes:
Thanks as ever to Carol and dawnofme for their beta work :)
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