[Reviews - 52]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2153 times

- Text Size +




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


CHAPTER 5: Lean on me, part 2


Faith was woken by Buffy’s screams. Again. She tried to put a pillow over her head to block the god-awful sounds, but nothing would do. She had never been that disgusted with herself in her entire life. Sure, while in jail, she dreamt of killing Buffy almost every night. That’s what had kept her alive. But she fantasized about a clean fight. A winner, a loser. May the best Slayer win. Not this. But the worse part was to realize that you are a coward. Preferring to hide and loathe yourself rather than standing up for what you believe is right.


*But then again, that pretty much sums up my whole fucking life* Faith thought bitterly. *Always favored my safety to my true self. Choosing the safe side, no matter how wrong it is. Letting jealousy and anger control my actions. Yep, that’s me alright. Faith, the failure. Faith, the screw up. Hopeless Faith. Worthless Faith. Then I spend hours in bed wondering why nobody ever believed in me.*


She put the pillow back over her head.


“Screw them!”


But after a few more gut wrenching screams, she got up with a sigh. “Fuck that. Let’s get the hell out of here before I lose my mind.”


Walking into the living room section of the old decrepit house, Faith looked around her. Spotting what she was looking for on the table, she walked to it, and just sat nonchalantly on the table. Looking as natural as she could.


“Finally decided to join the fun my sweet?”


“Hum, yeah, I guess.” She yawned, hiding her mouth behind her hand, then put her hand back down on the table, and over the keys for Buffy’s shackles.


Angelus grinned happily. “I knew you would come around. Let me get something from my bag, I’m sure you’ll like it.”


He went to the other end of the room and Faith took the opportunity to get closer from Buffy. She pretended to examine her, then dropped the keys by Buffy’s right foot. The girl automatically stepped on it to hide it from Angelus.


Faith looked at her in the eyes, and murmured: “Good luck.” Than she turned around to face Angelus, a bored look on her face.


“You know what? Forget it. I’m bored out of my fucking mind. I’m out of here. Thought we were supposed to kill the girl, not torture her for days. This is getting real old real fast.”


Angelus’ face fell comically. “But… I don’t think you understand torture Slayer. It’s half the fun. It’s like sex. Torture is like the foreplay of killing. The longer the foreplay, the better the orgasm.”


“Whatever. Have a really good orgasm Angelus, personally, I have more important things to do. I have to prepare for the ritual. It will be tomorrow night, and I’d like to be ready.”


Faith locked eyes with Buffy for a second to make sure the girl was listening.


“You two have fun. Just don’t wake the neighbors.”


“Fine. Whatever. Go practice your stupid ritual. You already know it by heart anyway you stupid bitch. While you do that, Buff and I will have some more fun together before I slice her throat and drain her.”


But Faith was already out the door.


“Well, that leaves you and I honey. You’re not a big talker, but I’m sure we’ll manage to find something to keep us entertained anyway. Or you could just scream if you’d prefer. You seem to be quite good at that.”


Buffy didn’t answer, concentrating on slowing down her breathing to save her energy for what was to come.


Angelus moved a few things around, then sighed. “I’m feeling a bit peckish. With all that blood smell and all. What do you say we take a bloodbreak? I know you can’t wait for what’s coming next, but I work better on a full stomach. I’ll be right back sweetie.” With that, he left the room.


Not sure how long she had, Buffy decided to act fast. Taking a deep breath and bracing herself against the pain that would without any doubt follow, she kicked her legs up above her head, trying to get the key she was holding between her toes. There was not word to describe the pain in her left knee, in her ribs and her torso. She fought against the darkness that threatened to engulf her, and the scream that wanted to come out of her mouth. She got a hold on the key, and trying to will her numb fingers not to drop it, she started working on the lock. After a few unsuccessful tries, she finally managed to get it open and she dropped limply to the floor.


Buffy held back a sob when she realized just how far she had to go, and that Angelus would probably catch her before she could even make it to the door. She was not even sure if she would have enough strength to make it there, more or less to fight him if he came back. She was now crying uncontrollably at the hopelessness of her situation, understanding that she would die soon and her efforts had been for nothing.


She was just about to give up and pass out when she felt something warm and soft enveloping her, and arms lifting her off the ground. She let out a long agonizing moan at the pain ripping through her body. When the pain calmed down enough for her to be able to breathe again, she tried to open her eyes to see what was going on.


“It’s ok luv, I’ve got you.”


Buffy managed to smile. “I told him you would come for me.” Then she let herself drown into the darkness.


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


The phone rang. Spike hadn’t called in more than an hour and Dawn was worried sick. She ran to answer it.


“Spike?”


“Niblet, you and Cordelia jump in a cab and meet me at Santa Maria hospital. Be there as fast as you can, and bring some of Buffy’s stuff. I found her. Hurry.”


Dawn’s heart beat wildly in her chest.


“We’re on our way.”


“Oh, and call the others too, I don’t have time.”


“I’ll put Cordelia on it while I pack Buffy’s stuff.” Dawn hesitated for a moment, scared of the answer. “Spike?… Will she be alright?”


“I don’t know Dawny. I hope so. Sorry, I have to go, the doc is here.”


And they both hung up.


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


When the gang walked into the hospital room, their hearts sank in at the sight of the empty bed and Spike sitting in the armchair, his head in his hands. But the nurse who ushered them in clarified the situation.


“Miss Summers is in the surgery room right now. The doctor is trying to stop some internal bleeding. She should be back in about two hours, but you won’t be allowed to stay.”


Giles thanked the nurse, and Dawn pushed past them to run to Spike. They hugged in silence for a while then he let go of her.


Giles finally managed to talk. “How was she… what happened?”


“Not well. The wanker got her real bad. He tortured her. Lots of nasty burns and cuts. He stabbed her many times too. She seemed to have a head injury and I don’t think she’ll be able to use her left leg for a while. He knew what he was doing and obviously, he planed on keeping her alive a lot longer. Which is probably why she still has a chance. The doctors are trying to assess the damages as we speak and fix what they can fix. Hopefully she’ll heal fast enough. But she was in so much pain…” his voice broke.


“How did you find her?” Xander asked in a shaky voice.


“Beat the shit out of some pillock who did mind controlling mojo on her. He cried like a baby and brought me straight to the house in the woods where Angelus had her.”


“Was that the guy who paralyzed me in the park the other day?” Dawn asked.


“Yeah little bit, I think so. Thank God they didn’t use it to hurt you. I also think that’s how they got people to work on the Hellmouth.”


Willow sat on one of the plastic chairs by the window, her hands between her knees. “That would explain it. Why else would all these people decide to spend their evening working on the rubbles? How come it didn’t work on you Spike?”


The vampire rubbed his eyes wearily before answering. “Willie warned me. When the bloke tried to use his power…” he glanced at Dawn before continuing “I chopped off his right hand. He decided it was safer not to try anything else if he wanted to keep the rest of his limbs intact.”


"Would you say that guy was human or demon?" Anya asked. "Because there's many different type of demon who can pull that off. Ciscar demons don't have that power from birth, but they often learn how to do it. And I met that Lyrr demon seven hundred years ago who..."


"Some kind of halfbreed. Like vampires. He looked human."


"Oh. I see. That's probably a Peehry demon then. Very common in Russia and Western Europe but I never met one in North America. Probably imported by Wolfram&Hart. They're clever." Anya added, a hint of admiration in her voice.


“Is he still on the loose?” Giles sat on the bed facing Spike.


“No. But he wasn’t alone, and I didn’t get the other guy. Besides, there could be more of these bloody wankers running around Sunnydale for all I know. They could creep up on us at anytime. Since they look human, no one will get suspicious until it’s too late. If you know what’s happening, it’s fairly easy to block any thoughts from your brain so they can’t control you. But it’s risky because you don’t need to be looking at them for it to work. They can just come from behind and then it would be too late. So we need some kind of spell to block them out. The fight could be lost in advance if we don’t protect ourselves against that threat.”


Giles sighed. “I agree with you completely. Willow? Do you think…”


“I already started to research it.” At Giles’ surprised look she explained. “Spike already asked me to look into it earlier today.”


Giles shook his head and wondered why he was surprised. **This is the Spike who used to make plans, give orders and control a bunch of minions.** He shivered slightly at the thought. **If he hadn’t been so distracted with Drusilla’s health back then, we would probably all be dead today**. But Giles knew that this was a different Spike he was faced with now. He also realized that taking control of things was what kept the vampire from crumbling down.


“Please continue Willow. Did you find anything relevant?”


“Well… yes and no. Sure I found pretty efficient spells, but they put you in a trance. Which isn’t the best thing if you are in the middle of an apocalyptic fight. But just before Cordelia called to tell us Buffy was here, I was just getting into some spells to strengthen your control over your own mind. That could work I think.”


“You think or you’re sure Red? This is vital to the issue of the fight.”


“I would need to look deeper into it before answering. I need to double-check every details of the spell to make sure it won’t backfire on us. But I brought the book with me.”


Spike smiled slightly. “Good thinking.” He turned to Xander who had kept quiet for once. “Harris, I know you want to see Buffy, but later on, I would need you to go home and gather all the weapons and put them in the trunk of your car. I have a feeling the showdown is coming sooner than we think. Might as well have everything we need with us. Willow, you’ll go with him and get all the magical supplies you think you might need for every eventualities.”


“Yes sergeant.” Xander answered with a half smile.


Spike just rolled his eyes at him, but the usual tension between them was gone and replaced by some kind of understanding.


When all was said and done, all that was left was the waiting. Spike went back to his initial position, with his head in his hands, Dawn sitting on the armrest next to him. Cordelia was standing next to them, petting Dawn's long hair comfortingly. Xander played nervously with everything he could find, with Anya patting his back awkwardly and Giles glaring at them periodically while Willow looked through her book. They all looked at the clock every three minutes or so.


The doctor finally entered the room two and a half-hour later, alone. Spike tried to swallow, but it tasted like hashes. He stood up.


“Mr. Summers? May I have a word with you in private?”


It took a while for Spike to remember that he was supposed to be Mr. Summers, and a few more seconds to be able to answer him. “Whatever it is you have to say, you can say it in front of these people. They are family.”


“As you wish sir. Ms. Summers is in the recovery room as we speak. The surgery took longer because we had to be careful with her ribs. The way they were broken, they could have pierced her lungs. There were no real hemorrhages. Well, nothing to be alarmed of anyway. Seems like she was stabbed with something really hot because the flesh was cauterized. That’s why she didn’t bleed herself to death. I’m fairly certain she will recover, but she will need surgery for her left knee if she wants to be able to use her leg again. If we let it heal like that, chances are she’ll never be able to bend that knee again. So we’ll let her recover until Friday morning, then we’ll fix that knee.”


“But… she’s ok, right?.. She’s not gonna die, is she?” Spike asked, not sure of what to make of the doctor's words.


The doctor smiled comfortingly. “We’ll keep her under close observation for the next twenty-four hours, but she seems to be a strong girl. I think she’s out of danger. Now, she’s been in and out of consciousness in the recovery room, even said a few words, so it’s time to get her back here. I’ll ask you to leave, she needs to rest. You can go home, or stay in the waiting room if you wish.” With this, the doctor turned and left.


Spike let himself back down in the armchair. With all the emotion, he could swear his heart was beating.


* She’s all right… She’s all right… She’s not gonna die…* Giles got up. He cleared his throat when he saw that nobody was moving. “I think.. We should listen to the doctor and let Buffy rest. Now that we know she’ll be fine, we can come back in the morning.”


They all started walking towards the door reluctantly, except for Spike and Dawn. Giles stopped to look at Spike. “You have no intention on leaving the room, do you.”


“They’ll have to fucking drag me out of here by my hair, and possibly stake me.”


“Please don’t make a scene.”


“I’m not leaving her alone again.”


“Good lord you can be stubborn. You’re worst than she is.”


Two nurses walked in pushing a stretcher. Willow gasped and grabbed Cordelia’s hand at the sigh of Buffy’s face. The entire right side was black and blue and there was still some dried blood in her blonde hair. Cordelia put her arm around Willow’s shoulders, and led her out of the room. Xander followed them. Giles wanted to stay a little longer to make sure they would leave Spike alone--or that the vampire wouldn't kill a nurse who would try to get him to leave.


The two nurses grabbed each their corners of the sheet under Buffy and switched her from the stretcher to the bed in one quick motion. A soft moan escaped Buffy’s lips and Spike was by her side at vampiric speed.


She opened her eyes and blinked, looking around herself wildly until she finally saw him. “Spike?…”


He took her hand and squeezed it lightly. “It’s ok luv, I’m here. You’re safe now.”


She blinked back tears and closed her eyes to sleep.


“Sir? You have to leave now.”


“…”


“The doctor’s order was that…”


“Sod off. I’m not going anywhere.”


Giles took Spike’s arm and tried to pull him away, but at the loss of his hand, Buffy opened wide, panicked, eyes. “Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone! Please…”


Spike broke Giles’ hold on his arm, and pulling a chair, he sat next to Buffy’s bed and took her hand again. “I’m not leaving you.”


She automatically calmed down, and closed her eyes again. Not wanting to fight, the nurses left the room, followed by Giles and Dawn.


When the doctor came back an hour later and saw his patient asleep with the blonde man sitting next to her, he tried again, with the same results. As soon as Buffy heard the request for Spike to leave the room, she opened her eyes again and squeezed his hand so hard that she almost broke all his bones. Spike barely frowned.


The doctor looked at the scene, horrified. “Jesus Christ! Are you all right? She’s strong. Let me take a look at your hand, this must hurt…”


“Not nearly as much as she’s hurting.” Spike answered through clenched teeth.


Mouth still gapping, the doctor shook his head, and seeing that his patient went back to sleep, decided that he might as well let it be.


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





You must login (register) to review.