[Reviews - 34]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1914 times

- Text Size +




Chapter 12: Burning

Footsteps, murmuring, still half asleep Spike is starting to wake to the noise of an intruder in his crypt. Someone’s close and… Spike’s eyes snap open and his hand grabs the wrist which holds a stake near his heart ready to plunge through his flesh and turn him to dust. The vampire who holds said stake looks on stunned, for whatever reason he thought he was stealthy enough to kill a master vampire in his sleep. He tries to back up but Spike is stronger, quicker. The blond vamp pulls the stake from the younger vamp’s hand and drives it through his chest. He turns to dust before his expression is even able to change from startled to scared. When Spike looks up he sees three more vampires waiting with weapons around his bed. Two have stakes, and one a torch.

“Thanks for the wakeup call mate, but you really shouldn’t’ve,” Spike says as he sits up in bed and pulls a cigarette out of the pack on his nightstand. He reaches for his lighter as he stares down the three before him.

“Not a wakeup call Spike, we’re here to kill you,” The one in the middle with the caveman brow says.

“That so?” Spike lights his cigarette and slides to the end of the bed reaching for his jeans.

“That child is an abomination,” the one with the torch says and Spike’s face jerks to glare at him as he pulls his jeans over his hips.

“Stay away from my kid…”

“Or you’ll kill us right?” The middle one, obviously their leader says. “That’s why we’re here.”

“Gotta take you out before…”

“Before what?” Spike yells, “before you go after Buffy.” All three vamps ignore his question, instead they charge at him.

--

Spike runs toward Buffy’s house. He left his crypt in a blaze of fire. After taking out Larry and Mo, Curly set his bed on fire with his torch and Spike nearly went up in flames himself escaping. Luckily he was able to grab a shirt and his duster as well as slip on his Doc Martins, the laces of which still remain untied, before racing out into the night. Now he runs faster than when he ran from that mob in Prague, faster than when he stormed up Glory’s tower, faster than ever before. They’re after her and they’re on their way to her now. Spike’s never felt this kind of fear before. With every step he takes he knows it might already be too late.

He dashes through yards and jumps fences running without thought. Then before he knows it he’s pushing his way through the bushes into Buffy’s yard. He’s fearful for what he might find, but so far the house is still intact, still quiet, and unassuming. Looking around and sensing for others of his kind Spike finds that the backyard is free of intruders for the moment. Spike makes his way up the back porch steps and through the kitchen door.

The blonde vamp storms through the kitchen and entranceway with a rush of adrenaline that seems to surge through his dead veins on its own accord. He’s ready to jump over the Slayer to protect her from any possible harm, ready to fight, ready to die if need be.

Then he stops. Spike blinks as the sight before him takes him back. Buffy lies on the couch pale and fatigued; Willow holds a wet towel to her head and Xander stands with a book in his hand pacing. Something’s happened and they all look worried. Spike then notices that the whole gang is here, Dawn, Anya and Tara sit around the room all in research mode.

“What’s wrong?” Spike asks completely forgetting the reason why he came here in the first place, he’s now worried for an all new reason. All faces turn to notice his presence for the first time.

“Buffy’s sick,” Willow says. “She can’t keep anything down.”

“W-we think… she’s not absorbing the nutrients from anything she eats… it’s like her body is rejecting it,” Tara says and Spike takes a step further into the room.

He runs his fingers through his hair trying to keep his composure, but his mind is racing with worry. Buffy meets his eyes. Her green orbs staring at him through sunken sockets. For a moment Spike looks at her and sees someone else, he sees a sick and dying Drusilla, starved and frail. He thinks then that he can’t lose her, and in that moment he realizes how real a possibility it is for that to happen.

“She keeps saying she’s hungry, but then she can’t eat anything,” Dawn says. Spike can tell by the tremble in her voice that she’s truly scared.

“We need to figure something out soon,” Willow says.

“The baby isn’t getting what it needs,” Buffy says speaking for the first time in a tiny soft voice. Her hands lay protectively over her belly.

Then something clicks in Spike's head, the baby, his baby, a half vampire baby. She looks as frail as Dru. From the very beginning Spike has been thinking of his baby as human, human and good like its mother, human with a heartbeat, but he’s still the father and he’s a vampire.

“Maybe you’re not feedin’ her the right thing,” Spike says.

“We’ve tried giving her everything,” Xander says.

“Maybe you should give ‘er what I eat.”

“I really don’t think wheety bits and a blooming onion are gonna… oh… you meant… oh.” Xander pales as he finally understands what Spike is saying.

“Blood you nit… the kids mine so…” All eyes look to Spike as they wonder why it hadn’t been obvious to them before.

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Willow says and her eyes get a faraway look as she thinks over the possibilities.

“Ew,” Dawn adds and Xander gets a look across his face like he’s about to object as well, but at that very moment a brick comes flying through the window. Shards of glass rain down looking like sparkling specks of glitter. Their razor sharp shards narrowly miss Buffy.

“Oh bugger,” Spike says.

“What was that?” Xander yells as he steps up to peer out the window.

“The reason I came ‘ere,” Spike replies. “They want to kill the baby.”

The Scoobies look out the window to see a mob of vampires standing in the street; many holding torches, the flames of which light up the demons in their vampire masks. There has to be near twenty of them and they’re all ready for a fight, however they all also look fairly young and Spike knows that when getting a mob together the younger and more stupid vampires you find the larger your mob gets, but also the less experienced they are.

“Send the Slayer out or we’ll burn the block to the ground!” A voice yells from outside.

“Dawn, take Buffy upstairs,” Willow says and Dawn moves quickly brining an arm around her sister.

Tara is already chanting up a protection spell and Xander is pulling out a sword from the weapons chest. He tosses an axe to Spike. He catches it then walks to the door. As he opens it he sees Anya loading a cross bow and Xander making his way toward him. With no more than a nod Spike heads out to face the crowd, Xander follows, and soon so does everyone else. They’ve all gathered together to protect her, they did so without being asked, without a single word being said. Even being outnumbered not a one questions putting their life on the line, not even Anya, and as they walk out the door to fight for their Slayer they feel confident and in control, like each and every one of them has something to fight for.

--

Dawn stares out Buffy’s bedroom window at the fight that rages in the street below. She watches as Spike takes out two vamps in one swift swing of his axe. She can even hear him yell as he storms deeper into the fight. Dawn sees Xander stumble back after taking out another vamp then kick his way out of an ambush. Anya is on the porch shooting as many vampires as she can with the crossbow, wounding some killing others, but mostly aiming for those in Xander’s vicinity, which is good, Dawn thinks. He needs the help the most as Spike seems to be taking out more vampires then any of them and Willow and Tara have each other’s backs as they use their magic to strike down the intruders. One thing she does notice is that the vampires seem to be less experienced then she would expect and so even the Scoobies limited skills seem to suffice.

Buffy sits at the edge of the bed feeling too weak to look on with her sister. “Dawn, you should get away from the window,” she says.

Dawn turns around to face her and sits beside her on the bed.

“How’s it look out there?” Buffy asks.

“We’re winning, and Spike looks really mad so that’s good for us… Buffy, are you really gonna drink blood?” Dawn makes a disgusted face as she waits for Buffy to respond.

“If it’ll make me better,” she says softly and Dawn nods.

“Are you… are you going to die again?”

Buffy turns to face Dawn and she brings a hand up to stroke her hair. She knows her little sister needs comfort and tries to look confident and sure of herself to sooth the younger girl’s worries.

The Slayer thinks about her question seriously. While they had been researching Buffy’s sudden mysterious illness they told her about what Giles discovered of the prophecy. Her first reaction was relief that her baby is good, but her second was fear that she may not live to see her child live and grow; may not live to see if she has blue eyes or green, or if she’ll be a cheerleader or a jock. That thought made her stomach churn, it bothered her more than anything, and along with that Buffy realized that somewhere along the way she no longer wanted to die.

Buffy wants to live, has things to live for, and she’s going to fight to keep what she has. Life has its hardships, but Buffy also knows that it has its rewards as well, and while the pain of being pulled from heaven still haunts her it’s overshadowed by a new vivaciousness. She’s starting to see everything in a new light, she sees a future that’s warm and inviting and she wants to be around for it. She wants to fight to keep it, and she will. She’ll fight for her baby, for her friends, for her sister, she’ll fight for her life.

“I don’t want to go anywhere Dawn, not ever again,” Buffy says and pulls Dawn close to her comforting her with a hug.

--

In the front yard the gang fights the young vampires that have formed a mob against them and it’s here that Willow feels it. She imagines Tara feels it as well, maybe they all do; but Willow recognizes it for what it is, a powerful dark energy. She sends a zapping ray of magic out at a vampire before her effectively dusting it and she can feel the dark energy buzzing beneath her fingertips.

There are more forces at work here than just the Scoobies versus vampires. Heaven and hell have their hands in this one as well. There’s an energy that buzzes around them, trying to get inside them, a dark powerful force that wants it’s say in the situation. She realizes- knows without knowing that there are things out there that want this child. Want to kill it, want to keep it, and that they’re going to keep coming. She zaps another vampire to dust and feels the dark energy surge through her. She feels the power and for a second her eyes gloss over black. It wants inside her, wants to use her.

“Willow!” Tara calls and Willow turns to see her. The pull of the dark power is gone as her lover’s voice knocks her out of the trance she was in. She also notices all the vamps that were in the yard are dust and she follows the rest of the Scoobies back inside.





You must login (register) to review.