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CHAPTER 9


Buffy picked up the receiver before placing it back. She hesitated, pondering if maybe it would be better to do it with Spike by her side. She would feel more secure.

Then she remembered that Spike had no idea she had this number, and if he found out she had had it for several days without using it, he would be furious.

Buffy was seriously starting to wonder if she should have called when Willow had given it to her. Maybe she had been a bit careless on that one.

Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Buffy Giles. Is this Mrs Maclay?”

“Yes, this is Janet Maclay speaking.”

“I’m calling you from California. I need to ask you some information’s about Riley Finn.”

There was a silence on the other side of the line, and then Mrs McLay asked,
“What did you say your name was?”

“Buffy Giles. I know it may sound weird, but I really need to have those information’s.”

“What do you want to know?” The tone was still suspicious.

“I dated him for a few months, and we broke up recently. His behaviour has changed, lately. He got violent for no valid reason, and yesterday evening I’m sure I saw him standing outside of my house.”

Mrs Maclay sighed. “Oh God…I knew something like that was bound to happen.”

Buffy felt a twist in her stomach and clutched the receiver. “Mrs Maclay, my friend Willow called Iowa University, and they gave her your number. They also said Riley was dangerous. Please, you have to tell me what happened.”

“Riley Finn is indeed very dangerous, mostly because he’s smart. My…my daughter is in a coma now, because of him.”

“What?”
“Tara used to date Riley, two years ago. She was head over heels in love with him. We liked him too. He was so handsome, polite, sweet…the perfect boyfriend.”

“That’s how he was when I met him,” Buffy agreed.

“One day Tara came back with a bruise. She said she had fallen. We didn’t insist on it, but a few weeks later she had another one. She pretended it was her fault, that she was just clumsy. I started to have suspicions. But Riley was always so nice and attentive…even my husband dismissed my concern when I told him. But time passed, and I was pretty sure that Riley was beating up our daughter.”

“Did she press any charges?”

“No, and that’s the problem. She loved him so much, she was blind. She was sure that somehow she had deserved that beating, because she had said or done something stupid and made him angry.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“Yes, one night finally she confessed. She had taken some sleeping pills, and didn’t realize exactly what she was saying. After that, I tried to convince her to go to the police, that if Riley was hitting her he didn’t love her. That he could end up hurting other girls. But she didn’t want to listen. Her father and I, we…we even threatened her to…we were desperate…”

“I’m sorry to make you go through that again, Mrs Maclay. I can call back later if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. You need to hear this. You have to be very careful. Where was I? Yes…After many discussions, we finally convinced her to at least break up with him. I hoped that after some time she would see things differently and agree to press charges. She told us she would see Riley at the university the day after and would break up with him. That morning, she was really smiling for the first time in…she looked so much better. She told me I was right, that she had thought about it and breaking up with Riley was the best thing to do. And she left. That was the last time I spoke to her.

The police came a few hours later. They told us there had been an accident…Tara had fallen down some stairs and her condition was critical.”
“Oh God. Do you know what happened?”

“We don’t know exactly, and we probably never will. But this is what I think happened. Tara came to see Riley and broke up with him. He probably didn’t accept it and they fought…I know Tara didn’t fall down those stairs on her own. I’m sure he’s responsible.”

“Weren’t there any witnesses?”

“Unfortunately, no. It happened at Riley’s frat house on the campus, in the afternoon. Most of the people were in classes, or in their room. It happened very fast. Apparently nobody saw anything.

“Or didn’t want to get involved.”

“Probably. But what really convinced me on Riley’s guilt was that he lied to the police. He was the last person to have seen Tara, so they interrogated him. And he made up some story where he said he had told her he wanted to end things between them, that she had lost her mind, ran away crying from his room, and she had tripped and fallen. He played the guilty devastated boyfriend really well. We tried to tell the police that it was Tara who had wanted to break things up, that he had beaten her up in the past. But Tara had never pressed any charges, so there was absolutely no proof. And I know, deep in my guts, that it’s his fault. I’m sure he pushed her.”

“What did Riley do after that?”

“A few weeks after the accident he left. People are not blind, and some of Tara’s friends had guessed what had been going on. People started to talk. I guess it was becoming uncomfortable for him here.”

Buffy was now sitting down on the floor, her legs unable to sustain her. She had no idea it had been something so dramatic. “How is Tara now?”

“She’s still in a coma. She had severe head injuries…the doctors don’t give us much hope. Even if she would wake up now, she wouldn’t really be…herself anymore.”

Buffy could hear Mrs Maclay crying softly. “I’m terribly sorry,” was all she managed to say.

“You know, it helped me to talk about it. I’m glad that you called. Maybe Riley won’t be able to make another victim this time.”

Buffy could only imagine the frustration and helplessness at knowing who the responsible was and not being able to do anything about it. To know he was outside somewhere living his life while his victim was lying in a hospital bed, and probably indefinitely.

She promised to stay in touch and hung up the phone. Her hand was shaking. She wanted to call Spike, but her voice would betray immediately that something was wrong. And this week they were shooting the last episode, so it was better not to disturb him. Willow and Xander were on their honeymoon and her father was in England.

She was alone.

That night, she stayed by her window, Spike’s baseball bat ready in her hand.

But Riley didn’t show up.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Spike was about to call Buffy when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey Spike. It’s me.”

He took a deep breath. “Darla. Hey…how are you doing?”

“I’m good. The shooting is going well. I might be able to come back earlier than I thought.”

“That’s good news, love.”

“Yes, and I…I wanted to talk to you about the wedding.”

“Sure. Actually, I wanted to talk about it as well. Don’t want to tell me over the phone?”

“No…it’s too important. I’ll let you know when I come back. Will you come pick me up at the airport?”

“Of course. Call me, and I’ll be there.”

“Ok. Take care of you, Spike.”

“You too, sweetheart. Bye.”

He placed the receiver back, sighing. She wanted to talk about the wedding. Did she want to set a date? They had planned to do it in September, but had yet to decide on a date.

He put his head in his hands. This was going to be even harder than he thought. How was he going to break the news to Darla? How bad would she take it? And he had to tell her as soon as possible. After what had happened with Buffy, he couldn’t delay things any longer. He couldn’t sleep with Buffy while remaining engaged to Darla. He was not a jerk. Even if he felt like one.

Maybe he shouldn’t have gone so fast with Buffy. But this weekend had been so wonderful…just thinking about it – and her – brought a blissful smile to his face.

He would do it again in a heartbeat.

He just regretted deeply that it would take hurting Darla for him and Buffy to be happy.

He was not sure he could live with that.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

How am I going to tell him?

Darla was sitting on her bed, in the hotel’s room, resting her chin on her hands. She couldn’t tell Spike over the phone. But when she had said she wanted to talk about the wedding, she hadn’t expected him to say he did too.

Oh God. What if he wanted to set a date?

She knew he had felt guilty after the magazine incident, and had tried to make it up to her. They had been spending more time together. Then the last few days they hadn’t seen each other much because of work and socials obligations. So what if he wanted to set a date to confirm his intention of marrying her?

She couldn’t think of any other reason. And she had no idea how she was going to break the news to him.

She was already feeling horribly guilty about what had happened with David. She didn’t regret it, not for one second. But maybe they had gone a little too fast…a smile crept to her lips and she shivered while thinking about David’s strong arms around her. Who cared about fast, really?

But hurting Spike was really the last thing on earth she wanted.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§


The phone rang and Buffy woke up brutally, almost falling from her chair by the window. She got up and cried out in pain when stretching her sore muscles. Sleeping while sitting in a chair was now at the top of her things-not-to-do list.

Damn you Riley. I’ll make you regret this, I swear.

“Hello?” she said, picking up the phone.

“Hey baby. How are you?”

She closed her eyes. It felt so good to hear Spike’s voice…but there was no way he wouldn’t noticed something was wrong.

“I’m ok,” she said in the most neutral voice possible.”

“Buffy…what’s going on?”

She sighed. The inconvenience of having someone who knows you better than you do. “I’m fine. I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well.”

“Listen, tonight is our last shooting. Then tomorrow we have some voice editing to do and that kind of stuff. So I think I should be able to come home by Friday. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great,” she said, unable to stop the sadness from tainting her voice. She needed to see him so much. She had thought for a moment of taking her car and going to L.A, but he had to work so she would probably bother him. Besides, she was too tired and driving for two hours was not really the most reasonable option now.

“Come on, sweetheart, don’t cry. It’s only two days, and I’ll be there. Just the two of us. Isn’t that the title of one of those cheesy songs you like?”

She laughed despite her melancholy. “It’s not cheesy. And I’m ok. I just miss you, that’s all. I wish…I wish we didn’t have to worry about anything…or anyone.”

“I know. And I miss you too. Things will get better, I promise.” He didn’t dare to tell her about Darla’s phone call and his impressions. No need to upset her even more. And once again he had to lie, or hide things. He hated this situation.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you on Friday, ok?”

She sniffed. “Ok. I love you, Spike.”

“I love you too, pet. Take care of you, huh?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

She put the receiver back, letting tears run freely down her cheeks. She just wanted to have a nice, normal life with the man she loved. But to get that it would take hurting a very nice woman who didn’t deserve it, dealing with a father that probably had mixed feelings about it, letting the world know that yes, Spike Atherton had indeed kissed that blonde girl who was not his fiancée, and oh, by the way she was his stepsister. And to top everything, she now had an ex-boyfriend stalking her, who apparently was just waiting for the right moment to strike. Preferably in a lethal way.

She had always thought that if she was with Spike nothing else would matter. But it wasn’t that easy.

Maybe them getting together wasn’t such a right idea after all.





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