[Reviews - 71]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2832 times

- Text Size +




Chapter 18

After Cassie recovered from her bout of Council induced weakness, she and Faith effectively dealt with the Sisterhood of Jhe's plan for an apocalypse while Spike grew closer to both Beth and the Specter. Drusilla's magical powder still worked its affects on the master vamp.

A new Watcher showed up in Sunnydale. He had been sent by Travers to take over for the now fired Giles. The entire Scooby gang had worried about Wesley Wyndam-Pryce being a plant by the Council to spy on them. However, when the unfortunate man was kidnapped by Balthazar and his Eliminati vampires, it was Dalton who rescued Wesley. That rescue insured the man's complete loyalty to the Sunnydale group.

There were several run-ins with the Mayor's group of vampire minions. Several more of the hapless creatures were dusted by various Scoobies. Faith came very close to killing the deputy mayor. It was only by the intervention of the commando Riley Finn that prevented a tragedy. It was due to this that the Scoobies were able to gain not only an ally in the Mayor's office but one in the soldier group too. The Scoobies bet on how long it would be before Faith and Riley would start knocking boots.

Willow had a run in with a vampire replica of herself. It freaked the red-head girl to see such an evil version of herself. Willow had a hard time reconciling with the fact that her counterpart was bisexual, even after they sent the vampire back to its own dimension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Specter wandered along twirling her stake. Spike was running late that night due to a meeting with Dalton. The Specter realized that there were a couple of demons lurking nearby. When she confronted them, it took her very little time to defeat the first one, while the second slipped away unnoticed.

"Oi, Specter! Havin' fun without me?" Spike called out as he came upon the scene.

The Specter looked up at the vampire. She was happy to see him. While she was greeting him with a wave of her hand, she didn't notice when the demon's blood disappeared through the cloth of her sleeve and into her skin.

"How was your meeting with Dalton?" the Specter asked.

"Fine." Spike took a cigarette out of his pack. "I'm havin' him leave town for a few weeks. I heard about a gem that lets a vamp walk in the sun, among other things. I want to find it for Beth."

The Specter fought to suppress the gasp she wanted to utter. That was some present he wanted to give her. Well, that he wanted to give Beth. She was almost jealous of herself. He was proving again what a different vampire he was from the rest. Most vampires would have taken the gem for themselves. Instead, Spike wanted to give it to a woman he cared about.

Spike smirked at the jealousy pouring off the Specter. Just wait till she sees the present I have in mind for her, he thought while he lit his cigarette.

"I'm sure she'll love it," the Specter replied. She could tell the vampire was feeling a bit smug. It made her wonder what else he had planned.

"Come on, pet. Let's go find some demons to rough up." Spike breathed out a lung full of smoke.

Together, the vampire and the Specter patrolled the town. They easily dispatched a few more of the Mayor's dwindling number of vampire minions and avoided a squad of soldiers before they parted company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next afternoon, Beth awakened slowly. She stretched her arm out looking for Spike, but she realized that her boyfriend wasn't in bed. A deep masculine chuckle echoed through the room, and Beth looked up to see Spike leaning against the door jamb.

She's so beautiful. How'd I get to be such a lucky fuck?

"Huh?" Beth stared at Spike. "Did you say something."

"No, luv. Was just admirin' the view." Spike shook his head. And what a view it is!

What the heck? I shouldn't be able to hear his thoughts, Beth thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "Me too."

"Like what you see?" Spike grinned when Beth mutely nodded. My Beth, how I love you.

Beth sighed happily. She pushed away the worrisome thought of how and why she could read Spike's mind. She decided to enjoy being able to hear his thoughts while they made love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beth slipped in the backdoor of the Bronze. Jack sat in the employee break room, and she looked up with a grin when the petite vampiress sat down across from her.

"I can read minds," Beth announced.

"Repeat?" Jack looked surprised.

"I'm serious. Think about something," Beth told her friend.

Clem has the sexiest skin folds in the world. Jack thought to herself.

Beth chuckled. "I'm sure Clem's folds are quite sexy, but I like my guys a bit more fang-y"

"Wow, how the heck did that happen?" Jack asked. She knew weird things happened in Sunnydale, but she hadn't heard of mind reading before.

Beth shrugged. "The Specter killed an unidentified demon last night."

"You know it wigs me out when you talk about yourself in third person like that." Jack and Clem, along with Joyce, were the only people that knew that Beth was also the Specter.

"I won't slip up that way," Beth groaned. "I sooo need to tell Spike, but I don't know how. He'll be so pissed."

"Probably," Jack agreed. "So tell me about the demons you... excuse me, the Specter killed."

"It was ugly and kinda brownish with glow in the dark blood," Beth said. "The only thing I can think of is to go ask Anya about them. Can I have the night off?"

"Go, silly." Jack waved her hand at Beth. "Reading minds would probably drive you insane if you hung out here tonight."

"Thanks, Jack. You're the best." Beth came around the table to hug the bartender/manager of the Bronze. "Congrats on the promotion. You deserve it."

"Go. Go. Before I change my mind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beth wandered around the Magic Box while she waited for Anya to finish with a customer. After the person left Beth waved Anya over to the book selection. "The Specter is curious about a demon she killed last night. It was tall, kinda brown and scaly, and had no mouth."

"Interesting," Anya commented. "Anything else?"

"Uh, the blood was glow in the dark blue." Beth kept her eyes turned away from Anya. God only knows what she's thinking about, Beth thought to herself. Anya's great, but she's a little too blunt for me, especially about the orgasms.

"That sounds like the demon Azarath." Anya pulled out a book, and she flipped it open to show Beth a drawing. "That it?"

"Looks like it." Beth nodded. "So, telepathy?"

"Hmm," Anya hummed thoughtfully. "That would be a demon aspect of this demon since that's how it communicates." She pointed at the information.

Wonder if Beth could save some of the blood when she kills it. There are some rituals that call for Azarath blood.

Beth glanced at Anya. She had the sudden suspicion that the ex-vengeance demon knew her secret. "Um, Anya, what's going on? Why do you think it would be me killing the demon?"

Anya looked over at Beth. "I know you're a vampire, of course, Beth, or should I call you Buffy. I saw what you did when those minions attacked a while back."

"You haven't said anything before." Beth nibbled on her lip while she waited to hear Anya's answer.

"Your need for vengeance was quite strong when you were turned, but you took care of it yourself." Anya shrugged. "Besides it's your secret to tell. Not to mention, I think they'd freak. Every last one of them. Although for the life of me I can't figure out why they don't realize your identities."

"Well, I'm not questioning their ignorance. That's for sure." Beth grinned. "Okay, one more person in on the big secret. That's four and a half."

"Four and a half? Where's the half?" Anya looked genuinely confused.

"Spike knows I'm a vamp, obviously. He just doesn't know I'm the Specter," Beth said softly. "Now, I don't even know how to broach the subject. What if he rejects me?"

Anya patted Beth's shoulder in an awkward manner. This human stuff was so confusing after 1,000 plus years as a demon.

"How do I get rid of this mind reading thing? It's giving me the wiggins." Beth pointed at the book. "I don't like hearing people's thoughts."

"Hmm. Let's have a looksee." Anya looked at the writing. "Ah ha, they travel in pairs. You have to eat the heart of the second demon."

"Oh, yummy," Beth muttered sarcastically. She put her hand to her head when she received an influx of mental voices. "It's getting worse. Can you call Clem?" Beth slumped against the bookshelf as the voices overwhelmed her.

"Let's get you sat down." Anya helped Beth over to a chair. Then, she went to the phone to call the vampire's demonic friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clem entered the Magic Box through the back door. When Anya had called to describe Beth's problem, the kind-hearted demon was instantly concerned. She had been his first friend in Sunnydale, and she wasn't even bothered by his being a demon. Clem didn't think of Beth as being a vampire, the soul made her too human for him to see her as anything other than what she was; a wonderful person with a big heart.

"Hey, ladies," Clem said when he slipped into the front part of the store. "I tracked down the second Azarath demon. It's held up just outside town in that abandoned hotel. You know, if I didn't know better I'd think the original Psycho with Anthony Perkins was filmed there."

Beth chuckled at Clem's off topic subject. It was nice being around someone whose thoughts were exactly the same as what they were saying.

"Beth's totally freaked," Anya said. "Apparently that Professor Walsh lady is in charge of the soldiers."

"Really?" Clem's eyes widened. He remembered how much Beth had disliked the college teacher during her short stay in the woman's class.

"Yeah." Anya nodded. "One of the soldiers came in to check out the merchandise." The ex-demon had a disgruntled look on her face. "He didn't even buy anything. I hate people who don't spend their money in my store."

"All the more reason to avoid that woman," Beth muttered weakly. "Please go get that demon heart before I go insane, Clem."

"Now, let's come to a business understanding," Anya announced. She handed Clem a list of demon species. "These are demon parts that I can sell. There's a price list too, there on the right side of the page."

Clem looked at the list, and he was delighted to see that his species was omitted.

Anya pointed to one of the names. "This is the demon you're going after to help Beth. As you can see, you need the heart, but I can use the blood."

Clem nodded mutely. The price for the Azarath's blood was quite high. The blood from just one of these creatures would bring in a small fortune.

"I'll be giving the list to Rupert and the Slayers later tonight." Anya grinned with confidence. "No reason why all the demon parts should go to waste."

"Okay. I'll go get the demon. I'll be back as soon as I can." Clem looked at his vampiress friend. "Hang in there, Beth." He hurried out the back door to go find the demon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Beth was completely cured of her demon induced telepathy. She sat in the Magic Box with the Scoobies as they discussed the eventful day at Sunnydale High.

"Jonathan tried to kill himself," Xander said. "I didn't realize he was so distraught."

"How about that lunch lady?" Cassie asked. "She tried to poison us."

"The Specter told me that Professor Walsh is the leader of the soldiers," Anya announced.

The Scoobies took the information well. They agreed to avoid the woman as much as possible.

"So the Prom?" Willow asked.





You must login (register) to review.