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Part Three
Xander gently carried Buffy's body up the stairs. Joyce was close behind, whimpering softly. He felt strange holding Buffy like this. Her body was so cold and fragile. Her pale skin began to look translucent as the non-working veins turned dark.
"Careful, Xander. Put her down gently." Joyce said, looking at her.
Xander put her down and Joyce began to cry again as she grabbed her daughter's hand and rubbed it, as if it would wake her up and she'd be fine. Xander turned his back toward her and went down stairs as he heard the door slam. He saw Faith and Giles talking in hushed and hurried voices. Xander knew what they were doing.
Xander's mind was spinning with implications, he needed Willow.
Willow would know what to do. He called her phone and got her answering machine. He tried to talk but his voice wouldn't cooperate. He silently prayed that the words he had just heard were wrong.
"No, you are not going to stake her."
Faith and Giles turned around to see Xander glaring at them.
"Xander, you must know what is going to happen to Buffy when she wakes up." Giles said sadly.
"Yeah, and who knows how B is going to be when she wakes up. She's going to be Super vamp, the strength of a Slayer and a vampire. Sunnydale doesn't need one of those around." Faith said causally, hiding her emotions.
Xander stepped toward Faith and smacked her across the face. His handprint marred her cheek. Her head snapped back from the blow and a single tear ran down her tender cheek. Joyce descended the stairs to see the events unfolding.
Faith slapped Xander back, knocking him to the ground.
"Xander! Faith!" Joyce asked shocked as she rushed to his side, helping him up.
"They want to stake her, Joyce. They want to treat her like she's some mangy vampire. They want to..." Xander froze as he looked at Faith's eyes. He saw a glimmer of emotion and immediately felt guilty for his actions.
"No, you are not getting anywhere near my daughter." Joyce yelled hysterically.
"Joyce you don't..."
Spike slowly crept into the Slayer's bedroom to see her lying peacefully. When he heard no heartbeat, he realized what must have happened. "Angel turned her."
A slight smile broke on Spike's face as he crept closer to her. He turned her head to see the bite marks and he nearly did a back flip. This was going to be even more fun than killing her.
Spike remembered hearing of only one another Slayer that became a vampire; she didn't survive too long. Her demon tried to destroy everything and just ended up getting staked by the next Slayer. Spike was going to make sure that it wasn't going to happen this time. Not with his Slayer.
Spike could hear their conversation with his vampiric hearing. First he heard the whelp.
"Willow could give her back her soul before she awakens." He pleaded.
"You sound just like Angel. Nothing is that easy." Faith argued.
"Yes, Faith it is." Joyce cried. "She's my baby. I refuse to believe that it won't work. She's all I have left."
"She still has at least nearly twenty hours before she awakens. But I think her soul can be restored," Giles said hopefully. "We should get supplies and get a hold of Willow."
"Really? You think she will be ok?" Faith asked softly, not wanting to reveal how much this was affecting her. A flurry of emotions flew through her mind. Part of her was happy that Buffy was gone; now she was the special one. Another part of her was sad that the closest thing to family she had was dead, the one person who understood what she goes through night after night was dead, and something she might have to kill again.
"I think it can work but only Willow knows the spell, enough to pull it off." Giles replied.
"Good then call her." Joyce said quickly. She smiled slightly, briefly believing in a happy ending and then her face crumpled as tears marred her face. She looked at Rupert standing in the corner, his eyes staring at the floor and the wary look on his face. Joyce could see his pain and felt the need to comfort him, even as her own heart was being ripped apart. As his hands trembled, she instinctively reached for him and held his hand. His eyes slowly meeting hers and a single tear spilling from his eye. Joyce pulled him close into an embrace. They stayed locked together in each other's arms as they openly wept. Faith, unable to deal with the emotion in the room, turned and walked into the kitchen.
Xander tried Willow's number again.
Spike gently lifted her body; he knew that it would only be a matter of hours before she woke up. She would reawaken a lot quicker than an average human would. He held her tiny body close as he left through the bedroom window.
"Ok, Oz. Drive safely." Willow kissed her boyfriend before he left into the cool night air, the snow had made the roads dangerously sleek and she wanted him to stay but he needed to get equipment ready for The Dingoes' next performance from Devon's.
Willow walked toward the phone just about to turn the ringer back on. She saw the answering machine flashing, but a knock on the door slowly jolted her. "What have you forgotten, Oz?" Willow asked as she flung open the door to see Spike standing there, looking smug.
The red head stood on the other side of the threshold just as smug. "Spike what do you want? Why are you in town?"
"I'm here to give you a chance to save your friend Buffy." Spike held onto a small platinum chain with a diamond and platinum cross that Willow had given her has a Chanukah present.
Willow gasped on the verge of tears, "What have you done to her?"
"Nothing yet, Pet. It's your Angelus that you have to worry about not me."
"Angelus? There's no way..." Willow's eyes opened with fright. "Angel would never hurt her."
"Well, he must have changed his mind. Guess all that sexual frustration finally pushed him over the edge."
Tears spilled down her face as she realized Spike's implications.
"Angel wouldn't..."
"But he did, pet. Called in me LA. Somehow he tracked me down, invited me in on the 'torture the Slayer' fun." Willow's eyes snapped up to his. "Not really my style."
He nearly smiled as she sighed in relief. This was gonna be easier than he thought. "So, is she still...there with..."
"No, pet. I might be a monster but even I'm not as cruel as Angelus. I clunked him over the head and took the Slayer to a safe place. I know the rest of you chums would stake me on sight, not knowing the whole story, that's why I came to you. She's gonna need you when she wakes up. She's in pretty bad shape." Spike lowered his eyes pretending to care.
"But why? Why did you help her?"
"I hate Angelus more than I hate her. Look at what he did to Dru, and now he's trying to do it to her. So, are you coming with me, pet? I know it's hard for you to understand or to trust me but for once you have to."
Willow looked at the sincerity in his eyes, grabbed her purse, coat and shoes, not even caring that she was in her pajamas, and left with Spike.
Part 4
Xander put down the phone as Willow's recorded voice once again began speaking. It was the fourth time that Xander had tried to get a hold of her, and he was starting to worry. He looked up and saw Giles over in the corner, talking with Joyce. Well, from the look of it, they weren't really having a conversation as much as Joyce, breaking down and Giles trying in vain to comfort her. Faith was over in the living room, looking through the chest of weapons. As he watched her raiding Buffy's stash, she looked up and met his eyes. Xander didn't like the look that she was giving him. It looked like that slap had made him a very dangerous enemy. He shrugged and turned back to the phone.
As he picked up the handset and again began to dial, he realized that this was silly. Willow wasn't home thirty seconds ago, she wouldn't be home now, and if she was, well she would be listening to two very panicky messages right now. Xander looked up the stairs towards Buffy's room. She was up there, not breathing, puncture holes on her neck and blood on her lips. I told them, I told them all, but do they ever listen to me, no. I'm just the comic relief. And now she's up there, dead… Xander shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought. There had been many times Xander had felt fear in the three years he had known the Slayer, but this, well this topped them all .
Xander was still staring at the stairs when Giles appeared at his shoulder. "Jesus, don't sneak up on me like that. It is so like Angel…" Xander halted that sentence as well. He looked down at his feet when he saw the look of pain and rage cross the Watcher's face.
"Did you reach Willow?"
"Naw, just got the machine again. Maybe she is out with Oz."
"Yes, well, we can't do anything here without her. She really is the only one that can do this spell. We need to do something fast. There are very few accounts of Slayer's being turned and I really, well, I don't know what to expect."
"Don't worry, G-man. She'll be here soon." Xander turned back to look at the stairs. "I think that I might head up there, keep watch, you know."
Giles stared at him for a moment, a knowing look on his face. "Good. I think that I will stay here with Joyce. She is having some trouble… Well, that is to be expected. She is… was her daughter."
Xander nodded, noting that Giles didn't, well couldn't , say Buffy's name. Joyce wasn't the only one mourning a child.
Xander turned, heading up the stairs slowly,and looked down the hallway. He had thought he had wanted to be here, to see Buffy, alone. But now that he was here, he couldn't bring himself to actually walk into her room. Buffy had been the most alive person he had ever met, that was one of the many reasons he was so in love with her. Xander shuddered at the thought of Buffy without that spark. He sighed, squared his shoulders, and put one foot in front of the other, slowly striding to the partially opened door. As he curved around the threshold, pushing open the door, he braced himself for the sight of her dead body.
The bed was empty.
Shocked and disbelieving, Xander looked behind the door, and then crossed to the closet, opening it wide . Frantically pulling blouses and dresses to the floor, he searched the clothes-filled space, then stilled abruptly. "I am so stupid. She is not here." Xander remonstrated himself, a silk shirt slipping from his hands. There was only one possible explanation; Buffy had awakened.
Unconscious of having made any decision, Xander blindly turned from the closet, his feet carrying him down the stairs and into the living room. Giles looked up from where he was sitting, awkwardly holding Joyce's hand. Xander motioned to Giles, moving surreptitiously into the kitchen. When Giles had joined him, he looked around nervously and whispered, "She's gone."
"What do you mean, who is gone?"
"Buffy. She's not up there anymore. I think she, you know, woke up." With another look over his shoulder, Xander told the Watcher what he had seen in the Slayer's bedroom."
"The window was open. You don't think…"
"No, Xander. It is not possible for… well, for Buffy to have woken up. It takes much longer than a few hours for a person to complete the change. In addition, a fledging vampire would not walk out of any house just hours before dawn. They have a natural instinct to stay inside and away from the sun."
"So, where is she?"
"Where's who?" Both men turned to look Faith who had just walked into the room. "Still looking for Willow?"
"No…" Xander's hesitant explanation was cut short with a look from Giles.
"Everything is fine. Could you go and check on Joyce for me ? I am worried that she is not doing well."
"Sure, no problem." Faith agreed softly, looking at the two, suspicion on her face. Xander held his breath, waiting for her to take issue with the obvious lie, but she just turned and walked back to the living room.
Xander looked to Giles who watched as Faith left and then spoke. "I do not want to involve Faith until it is absolutely necessary."
"Absolutely necessary? You don't mean staking Buffy? I mean we are going to do the spell, right?"
"Yes, the spell..." Giles sighed, removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But if at anytime she becomes a danger to anyone, it is our duty to protect the world from…" Giles' trailed off as he realized the impact of what he was saying. His voice cracked as he finished, "…well, vampires…."
Xander looked down at his feet as they both contemplated the ramifications of what Giles had said.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that. Now go. Try Willow again. And remember, not a word to anyone about …her."
"And what are you going to do?"
"Well, first I am going to wait to see if you reach Willow. Then I am going to see if I can find …Buffy." Giles' voice broke slightly as his Slayer's name crossed his lips. "I have to assume that if she didn't awaken on her own, then she must have been taken. The question is by whom."
With a nod, Xander returned to the phone. Giles approached the stairs to see the room for himself.
Xander dialed the witch's number again and then slammed the phone down on the tenth hollow ring. He was at the end of his rope. Buffy had been turned, her body was gone, and now Willow was nowhere to be found. He knew that if he could just find Willow, all the craziness of the past 48 hours would go away.
Xander paced in tight, agitated circles. "Willow…Willow will make it all right." In the midst of this desperate mantra, a sudden thought. Oz, of course, she was probably at his house. He opened his wallet and searched frantically for the slip of paper that had the musician's number on it. For a moment he panicked, thinking it lost but then thankfully found it. He dialed the number with trembling fingers.
"Oz." The sleepy voice on the other end of the phone answered.
"Oz, this is Xander. Is Willow there?"
"No, I left her at her house. She said that she was going to bed. What's wrong?" Xander could hear the fear in his voice. "Is Willow ok?"
"Well, she's not answering her phone and there is a bit of a crisis at Buffy's house. We really need her here."
There was a slight pause. Oz continued, a shade less laconic. "Okay man. You stay there and I'll drive over to her house and see if she is there. We'll meet you at Buffy's. Stay cool ."
"Thanks, Oz. We'll be here."
Xander hung up the phone, slightly comforted . He returned to the living room, where Joyce was talking to Faith , and sat down on the sofa. The women's soft voices buzzed in the background as he put his head in his hands and waited for someone to tell him what to do next .
Willow climbed out of the black Desoto, secretly surveying Spike's apparent home. The decrepit farmhouse was located on the outskirts of town. From the look of the boarded up windows and the mangy yard, this place must have been empty for a long time.
"So, like my new digs? Not as nice as the mansion, But it's got it own rustic charm."
"It's n-n-nice." Willow stammered. She had come with Spike willingly; Buffy needed her. But in the car ride over, Willow couldn't help thinking about each and every attempt by Spike to kill her or her friends. Plus Spike's behaviour hadn't helped her paranoia either. He kept throwing quick glances at her as she huddled in the passenger seat, an unreadable expression on his face. By the end of the drive, her every nerve was screaming at her to flee. But I can't, Buffy's life was at stake. With resolve face in full effect, Willow followed Spike up the rotting steps and entered the house.
It was pitch black inside. Willow shuffled nervously behind the vampire, moving blindly through an apparent hallway and into a dim room. She cried out as her shin hit something low and solid.
"Hold on there, Red. Stay still and I'll light a few candles. Talk to me while I search, that way I know where you are."
Freed from the fear of a shameful death by stumbling, Willow finally voiced the questions that had been buzzing inside her head since Spike had knocked on her door. "So, where is Buffy? How badly is she hurt? Where is Angel? Does he still have his soul?"
"Don't worry, luv. Buffy's gonna be fine, she just needs you. I'll explain what going on with Angel after you see her."
"Oh. Ok ay." As she spoke, she heard the flick of a lighter and then saw Spike lighting a candle. He moved toward to her, handed her a half dozen or so candles, and then passed her a lighter.
"Light these and set them around. I'll be right back." Willow moved into the living room, looking around as she lit the candles and placed them around the room. The farmhouse interior was surprisingly clean considering the rundown exterior. The living room was furnished with several well used but nice pieces of furniture, and surprisingly, a grand piano. The large fireplace in the center of the room had obviously been used many times.
Interesting, Willow thought. From the look of this room, someone has been living here for a while, but Spike said that he had just arrived from LA. Well, maybe Spike just borrowed the place from someone. Or maybe he just took it.
Standing in the shadows of the dimly lit room, Willow's unease returned in force. She hadn't really thought about the dangers of trusting Spike, she was so worried about Buffy. But now, she desperately wished that she had not gotten in the car with Spike. She should have gone to get Giles or Xander.
As she lit the last candle and placed it on the old grand piano, a floorboard creaked directly behind her. As she started to turn, Spike's arm snaked around her throat, cutting off her oxygen. Willow struggled uselessly, hands futilely clawing at the vampire's hold. The already dim room slipped deeper into gray as her struggles slowed and her limbs weakened. Her hands fell limply to her side, the gray solidifying into black. Willow went limp in Spike's grip.
Continued...
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