Twelve Hours Prior
Giles wearily pulled his glasses from the bridge of his nose, firmly pinching the area where the glasses once sat, his eyes sliding closed from sheer exhaustion. Three days since Buffy had gone missing— three days that felt like a lifetime. With a deep cleansing breath, he returned his glasses to their rightful place. Focusing on the old tomes spread before him, he resumed leafing through the weathered pages, murmuring, “There has to be another locator spell we haven’t used.”
After several futile moments of concentration, his gaze flickered to his left, resting on the dozens of books lining the wall. Nestled discreetly among those that held vital information regarding demons, vampires and the like, existed one he had considered using— one simply labeled Dark Majicks. Countless times in these past days, he found his mind drifting to this book and the immeasurable power contained within.
He hadn’t laid eyes on its battered pages in over twenty years, not since his Ripper days, when he and the others practiced the darker aspects of the art. One night, drunk on lager and power, he had come across a specific spell that transcended all dimensions of space and time with which one would be able to locate anyone dead or alive. At the time, he only scoffed and continued eagerly scanning the book for another, more powerful spell. That was the night they summoned Eyghon.
With each passing day, Giles slowly resigned himself to the fact this spell might be their last and only hope in finding Buffy, regardless of the consequences and sacrifices. Unexpectedly, Giles’ door suddenly opened, instantly breaking him from these thoughts.
“Giles! Giles, where are you?" Willow’s urgent, excited voice drove him to his feet, approaching her quickly.
“Willow, what is it? Did you locate Buffy?” Giles’ hope-filled eyes fixed on her while he clutched her upper arms to still her moving body.
“No, I haven’t. I’m sorry, Giles,” Willow responded sadly. Noticing this quick change in her demeanor, Giles attempted to dispel her sorrow and disappointment with sincere words of encouragement.
“Don’t be, Willow, we will find her. Now, what is this information that has you so elated?” Instantly, Willow’s eyes sparkled with excitement as her words rushed out.
“The Dean of U.C. Sunnydale announced the suspension of classes until further notice because of the numerous students being hospitalized with some unknown illness and the death of a professor.”
“That is a tragedy, but what does—“
“The professor was Maggie Walsh, and the students that are ill are all with—“
“The Initiative,” Giles captivated voice matched the expression etching his features.
“Yup, and there’s more. I did a little cyber snooping, well a lot of cyber snooping, and found out that the CDC currently has them quarantined. And before you ask, no, I couldn’t get into their system. Despite my whizzy-ness with the computer, they’re completely un-hackable. But have no fear. I was still able to find out something else very interesting. Before their isolation, they were all treated at Sunnydale Hospital, and yes, the hospital’s computers are hackable. After pulling up and looking at some of their records, I noticed something. They all have the same symptoms: fatigue, sweats, fainting, erratic heartbeats, and behavior. Before the doctor contacted the CDC he believed that they were possibly suffering withdrawal from some sort of drug, but despite all the testing done, he couldn’t figure out what it was or give them any drugs to help with the detox.”
“Willow that’s fascinating information but what—“
“Geez, Giles, for someone that can sit and stare at tiny words in dusty, old books for days on end, you’re being awfully impatient. I was getting to the good part. The Dean implied that this mystery illness was what caused Professor Walsh’s death. But, when I looked at the coroner’s report, the police found her body in the woods not too far from campus, and she died from a single stab wound to the chest.”
“A stake?”
“No, there wasn’t any wood in the wound, plus it went straight through her body and was only several centimeters in diameter. No matter how skillful Buffy is with whittling her own stakes, even she couldn’t have been able to make one that long and thin. The coroner stated that he believed that it was a spear-like object, similar to a harpoon or a javelin, but having sharp edges down the entire length, not just at the tip.”
“Willow, I believe there will be much more brought to light before the inner-workings of the Initiative are completely unraveled. It appears that Professor Walsh was not only attempting to control demons, but humans as well. All those young men were guinea pigs in her twisted experiments. Well, whatever the circumstances are, one fact remains clear, Professor Walsh was meddling with forces of which she had no comprehension or understanding. It may have been a demon she was experimenting on that delivered her death blow.”
Willow shuddered, as her face scrunched with disgust before responding. “Only in Sunnydale would you get this creepy slant on the old adage, “You reap what you sow.” Oh, and on that creepy note, there’s one more thing; two soldiers were missing from the list of people brought to Sunnydale Hospital—Forrest and Riley.” Giles blanched slightly from Willow’s final disclosure.
“Willow, we must know of their whereabouts as soon as possible. Since the Initiative has mostly been dismantled and with the death of Professor Walsh, they have no leader, no direction or chain of command to follow, I fear they are even more dangerous than before. If my understanding is correct, they were the Initiative’s Alpha and Beta, and one can assume they would be experiencing the worst of the withdrawal symptoms and the most difficult devastation from Maggie’s death. Revenge may be their only guidance now.” Despite the fear that coursed through him, Giles’ tone was firm and concise.
“This is really bad, isn’t it, Giles?”
“Yes, Willow, it really is,” Giles confirmed solemnly, walking toward the phone.
**** ****
LA, Angel Investigations
Cordelia eyed Wesley’s incessant pacing with irritation, as she left another message for Darin McNamara. In frustration from his tenth passing in less than five minutes, she slammed the receiver down and snapped.
“Will you please stop your pacing? You’re going to wear a hole in the linoleum, and we don’t have any money to repair it!”
Her disrespectful tone instantly stopped his movements, but his uncharacteristic hardened gaze fixed on her, caused Cordelia to hold up her hands in mock surrender.
“Sor—ry, inopportune time for sarcasm. Anyway, I’ve called Kate. No help there, and that was the thousandth call to Darin McNamara, that again went straight to voice mail. This totally doesn’t add up. You would think he would be sleeping with the phone under his pillow so he wouldn’t miss a call from us about his brother. Something fishy is going on.”
“That is the most logical and intelligent thing you’ve said since, well, since I’ve met you, especially, in the last few days,” Wesley tersely responded. Indignation instantly infused Cordelia’s features. Her mouth was agape as a fish out of water as she sputtered, attempting to respond. Once she recovered from her initial shock, Wesley noticed her glare narrowing and a deep intake of breath in preparation for an obvious hostile response, but his annoyed glower remained firm, stilling her words instantly. Ultimately, only an unladylike snort became her response.
“I believe that there is more to Mr. McNamara’s case than he originally disclosed. Our best bet is to retrace Angel’s steps. If I’m correct, his first stop was Jack’s bookie’s establishment, a bar called Shots in Silver Lake. So, I will—“ Wesley’s words stopped briefly as Cordelia started collecting several small weapons, placing them in her satchel. Eyeing her determined movements, all of his recent bravado melted away. With a heavy resigned sigh, he amended. “—we will be heading to Silver Lake.”
“All set, let’s go,” Cordelia announced throwing Wesley a set of keys. Catching them mid-air, he proceeded to grab a small axe from the top drawer of the filing cabinet. While engrossed in conversation about Angel’s whereabouts, Wesley opened the door for Cordelia and then exited behind her, neither hearing the ringing of the telephone with the increasingly worried Giles on the other end.
**** ****
Sunnydale
“Riley, how much farther?” Forrest’s weary voice, sounded from behind his slow moving comrade.
“Don’t know, but it isn’t much. Don’t you sense it? All I can hear, all I can feel is this steady pulse urging me forward, it’s like some-sort of internal homing beacon.”
After several yards, the two fatigued soldiers came to a point where the tunnel veered off to the right or continued straight forward. Riley closed his eyes and focused on where these new-found instincts drew him. Within moments, he staggered to the right, Forrest following closely behind, and increasing his pace, when he saw a dim light off in the distance.
Passing over the threshold of a spacious cavern the distinctive sounds of equipment, both medical and computerized, instantly caught their interest. Forrest and Riley stared in amazement, unsure what it all meant as they began exploring tentatively.
Riley cautiously approached the numerous monitors lining the cavern wall. On the screens were images of various sections of Lowell House and the Initiative’s underground facility. Most screens remained unoccupied, except those trained on the holding cells where there were demons in different stages of death and decomposition. Traveling further into the cave, Riley noticed gurneys, monitors for vital signs, and more sophisticated medical equipment.
”Is this part of 314? Is this what Maggie was hiding?”Riley briefly pondered, before he noticed and approached several gurneys to his left that held numerous demons in different stages of dismemberment. Despite the steady sounds of their heartbeats and respiration, Riley saw the monitors that showed brain function: they consisted of only silent, flat lines. Riley’s stomach lurched and roiled as yesterday’s MRE threatened to reappear. Once the heavy stench from the demons assaulted him, the contents of his stomach spewed across the stone floor.
Staggering away from the gurneys, Riley swallowed back the bile that rose once more as he turned to address Forrest. Instantly, his words stilled in his burning throat as he witnessed the next incident unfold before his wide eyes. Forrest met Riley’s gaze questioningly, opening his mouth to speak, just as a brutal force from behind bowed his body forward, causing his eyes to expand with shock and then drop to the foreign object now protruding from his chest. Slowly, he lifted his head, his wavering gaze meeting with Riley’s before death claimed him. Riley’s gaze lifted from Forrest’s lifeless eyes, to the deliverer of his deathblow as it violently ripped away the object from Forrest’s chest and casually stepped over his fallen form entering into the cavern.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” The creature’s robotic voice and commanding presence filled the room as he advanced toward Riley.
“And now I’m here.” Riley’s voice was strangely calm despite the fear that consumed him.
“Your thoughts are troubled -- in turmoil. I understand, brother. We have a lot to discuss.”
“I agree. For starters, who or what are you, and how did you get me here?”
“Adam, mother called me Adam. Naming me after the first man seems truly fitting, since mother believed herself to be a god. As to how you came to me, that was also mother; she implanted the behavior modifier that is tied directly into your central nervous system through your thoracic nerve. I activated it, bringing you to me. This is Phase 1 of your preparations. I lay dormant until the time came. Once mother taught me everything she could, I disposed of her. Mother could not forget her old life and embrace her destiny fully. She still wanted to remain human despite all their imperfections and shortcomings, jealousy being one of them. She and she alone was the one that made dealings with the wolf, ram, and hart. Her feelings for you overrode the initial plan to transform the Slayer into the ultimate disciple. It was at that point I knew that she was a liability and ultimately, expendable. Join me brother, and together we will eradicate all those not worthy and start a new future.”
Adam’s words incited the desire Riley had for absolute power, that he had been suppressing, to swell forward and engulf him completely. A feral grin twisted Riley’s mouth into a sneer. “Where do we begin, brother?”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, here's the next installment of my tale. I would like to take this opportunity to give a big thanks to Sanityfair and Diebirchen for their amazing help in beta-ing my story, but also for helping me far more than that. Without their guidance, I wouldn't be pushing myself to be the writer they know I can be. Thanks so much ladies!
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to David Fury who wrote the episode: Primeval, where I borrowed a few lines from.
Well, let me know whatcha think, especially you Iris! LOL!!! And btw, MRE is "'Meal, Ready to Eat'" They are absolutely nasty, but are necessary when you're far from a kitchen or any other source of heat/cooling.
Well, let me know whatcha think, especially you Iris! LOL!!! And btw, MRE is "'Meal, Ready to Eat'" They are absolutely nasty, but are necessary when you're far from a kitchen or any other source of heat/cooling.