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Never Alone by Lilachigh

Chp 14 No head or heart


Clem’s car jumped forward and stalled as Buffy’s foot came off the clutch. She was suffocating as the black oily mass wound itself round her. She tried to punch, but it was like fighting vomit smelling fudge. It gave way beneath her fists, but she knew she wasn’t doing it any harm. She tried to yell, but got a mouthful of foulness and began to choke.

Oh god, she was going to die. Back in Sunnydale, trapped in a silly little red car, she was going to be killed, not by a vamp or a demon, but by a black lump of evil smelling goo!

‘You shouldn’t have let Spike out of your sight. Told you so!’ a voice in her brain squealed.

Spike! No, she’d just found him. She wasn’t going to die when he was still alive.

She flung herself round in the seat, fighting to open the door. She was drowning in this filth, her head was aching, she couldn’t see or breathe and she refused to give in to it....her hand caught on the winder for the window and she managed to turn it. The window slid down and then her fist connected with the horn.

The noise blared through the car and Buffy felt the black mass quiver. She leaned heavily on the horn and with a shudder, the thing let go of her and heaved itself through the half open window and vanished.

Buffy sat, gasping, staring out at the empty, dusty road outside the half built shopping mall. She glanced round at the back seat. It looked quite untouched. A book of maps, some old Coke cans and a Big Mac carton. A couple of little plastic toys that she assumed belonged to Tosh, unless Clem had started playing with Spider Man models - and, no she wouldn’t go down that road.

Gingerly she started the engine again. So she was guessing that was a Shade. Nasty piece of work and not one she was in a hurry to meet again. But at least she knew it had one weak spot - it didn’t like loud noise.

She giggled and imagined herself ringing Giles. “Hey Rupert, we’ve got some great new suburban demons in good old Sunnydale. You’d get on really well with them. They hate loud noise while driving - just like you.”

But they weren’t funny. How could little Tosh fight against that? It had almost done for her. It was hard to kill something that didn’t have a head or a heart.

The drive through the newly constructed part of Sunnydale was uneventful. Buildings were springing up in all directions. Everything looked new and raw, but at least the town was beginning to take on some sort of shape once more. And horrors or horrors, there was even a school being built!

She wondered if anyone had thought to check out the site before they started building. It was impossible to tell, but somewhere down there was a Hellmouth. Shut for good - well, she hoped for good. Why did she have the nasty, tingly feeling that the school was just about where the old one used to be?

She felt a wave of sadness sweep over her as she drove. It was so hard to accept that underneath all this construction work lay the remains of the old Sunnydale. Her home, her mother’s grave, Tara’s, Anya’s unburied body. All swept away for ever.

But as the building areas disappeared, Buffy realised she was back on the outskirts again, where Willie’s Bar was situated. Here, the sun didn’t seem to shine so brightly, the air was thicker, a feeling of menace was everywhere.

The buildings looked rough and ready, more like temporary shacks that had been thrown together overnight rather than permanent buildings.

There were few people around and those that were scurried along, heads down, not looking up to catch her gaze. They looked scared and down trodden. If this was the new population of Sunnydale, they didn’t look very happy about it, she thought.

Buffy parked right outside Willie’s. As she got out of the car, she heard a yelling and thumping from inside the Bar. She raced to the door and flung it open, then had to dodge as Willie came sailing through the air, squealing, narrowly missing her.

She grinned. “Spike?”

“Slayer?” He strode forward from the shadows at the back of the room, his black coat swirling around him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to hit you. Just questioning rat-life here about young Tosh.’

“And?”

Willie picked himself up, groaning loudly, and limped back inside. “I’ve told you, Spike, I don’t know anything about a baby demon. And how come you can hit me? What happened to your chip?”

Buffy’s fist connected with his chin and sent him sprawling. “You’re a long way behind with the vampire gossip, Willie. Spike doesn’t have a chip anymore - soul, yes, but chip, no. The only thing that’s preventing him from killing you is himself. And, to be honest, if you’ve had something to do with Tosh’s disappearance, then I won’t stand in his way.”

Spike raised the newly scarred eyebrow. “Like to see you try, Slayer!” He frowned. Why did this woman think she could go against him and win? Part of him was very tempted to wind her up and see what happened. Punching her might be fun.

He staggered slightly as a bolt of pain shot through his brain and a flash of something inside his head showed him punching her, her kicking him, rolling on a dusty wooden floor, a wall breaking as they kissed, locked in each other’s arms and she reached down and - No! He couldn’t be remembering any such thing. It was impossible.

Willie was looking scared. “B..b..buffy, this isn’t the old Sunnydale any more. There’s some very nasty creatures out here. They make your average vamp or demon look like pussy cats.”

“Willie, the last time we were in Sunnydale, we were fighting the First and closing the Hellmouth for good. You’d left town long before. Really not too concerned about the various baddies that hang out round here now. I’ve just had a run in with one of those Shadey things. Not nice but hey, I’m still here.”

Spike glanced up sharply. “You OK?” Then he frowned, a puzzled look on his face. Why on earth should he be worried if the Slayer was OK or not? Surely he should be pleased to hear she’d had a brush with a nasty.

“Fine. They don’t like loud noise. And they’re kind of stinky. Apart from that - well, we’ve seen and killed far worse. But we’re still no closer to finding Tosh. Clem will be going out of his mind.”

Spike hauled Willie up off the floor once more. “I’ve got a feeling our friend here knows far more than he’s saying.” He vamped out and bent towards Willie, who screamed like a girl.

‘OK! OK! I’ll tell you, but you didn’t hear it from me. And I’m only telling you because I kind of like Clem, not because you’re scaring me.”

Buffy thumped the bar with her fist making all the bottles and glasses jump and rattle. “Willie, fast loosing my patience over here. Where’s Tosh? Have the Shades taken him?”

“I heard that they did have him, but he must have gotten away, because they’ve been hunting again. And they don’t do that if they’ve - well, if they’ve fed.”

Spike growled and tossed him over the bar. He crashed into the shelves, bringing down a cascade of bottles and the rich heady smell of alcohol filled the air.

Buffy frowned, her memory giving her pictures of the little boy demon who looked so much like Clem, his father. Except his skin wasn’t quite as wrinkled as his dad’s. Clem who’d always been her friend. Who’d helped so many times with Dawn. Who even now, when he had a wife and child and responsibilities and could be forgiven for turning his back on all the old times, had looked after Spike, found him a place to stay and cared for him, even when the vampire hadn’t even remembered who he was.

“Spike, Tosh is little more than a toddler. How could he possibly get away from them? Where would he go? God, he must be so scared.”

“I’ve been doing a bit of asking around on the way here, Slayer. The tunnels run in all directions under Sunnydale. It’s almost as if the whole warren had been built before people started putting up buildings on the bloody land. I reckon I know where the Shades have been hanging out. It’s a sort of cave, just under the surface of the ground with an entry into what looks as if it’s going to be a sodding cemetery one day soon.”

“Oh great! Another cemetery. Just what I need. Okay, let’s get going. Why aren’t I surprised that we’re going down into a damp, musty tunnel system? I wonder why I never get to fight evil somewhere nice and comfortable. If Tosh has wandered off into those tunnels, anything could have happened to him. Pity I haven’t got a drum. it would be really useful if we meet another Shade. ”

“I can always sing.”

Buffy threw him a startled look. She kept forgetting. He was standing there, one booted foot on the bar rail, his hair half dark blond, half platinum at the tips of the curls. He was just - Spike. But he obviously had no recollection of being controlled by the First through a song his mother had once sang to him. She didn’t think it was the right time to tell him!

“No, no singing, no humming, no chanting. If we meet a Shade, just shout and keep shouting. I’ll scream!”

Spike grinned. He knew she was the Slayer and all he had to hate, but there was something appealing about her, standing there, small but brave, hands on hips, tight jeans on her slim legs, and a top that left nothing to his imagination.

Really, T-shirts that fitted that close in this heat were going to get damp and cling. He wondered lazily if the Slayer knew just how much nipple she was showing him.

To his horror, he realised he was beginning to like her. Like her a lot.

to be continued





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