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Chapter 25

Willow came back with the ingredients for the spell. She set everything up in the main foyer, claiming that she’d need the space. Then, she turned and asked Giles, “You said it was magick that was affecting Buffy, right? Like a type of poison in her system.”

He nodded yes and she turned to regard the vampire hovering nearby.

“I’m going to need a little of her blood, preferably near her original wound. Can you do this for me?”

A stricken look crossed his face, but Spike nodded and left the room. She glanced at Angel, but his face was an immovable mask, his emotions locked behind the sturdiest of cages.

~*~*~*~*~

Spike climbed the staircase, dreading the task that Red had given him. But if it would help locate the sadistic bastard that had hurt his girl…

Dawn glanced around as Spike walked into the bedroom. When he pulled out a small dagger from the bedside table she whispered, “What are you gonna do with that?”

Spike looked at her, not quite sure what to say. “Uh, Red’s here. She’s gonna do a spell to help locate that bast, er, the demon that did this. But she needs a little bit of Buffy’s blood.”

“Oh.. okay,” she said softly, trusting this vampire who was like an older brother.

“Can you get me a plastic cup out of the bathroom, ‘Bit?” He’d rather not have her in the room as he nicked her sister's stomach with the dagger. Dawn got up and left to get what he needed, leaving Spike alone with the Slayer. He sat on the end of the bed and pulled down the sheet to expose the wound on her stomach. The blue was once more pronounced, and the blue veins were starting to work their way down her arms and legs.

Placing a hand on her stomach to keep her still, he inserted the dagger a half an inch into her stomach right near the jagged scar. Buffy made no protest; wherever she was right now, she was beyond pain. Dawn came back with the cup and Spike pushed it lightly into her side to allow gravity to drain her blood into the cup. When the small cup was a quarter of the way full with blood and poison, he pulled it away from her body and leaned down to lick the residual blood off her stomach and helped close the small wound he had made. Then he resettled the covers around her, brushed a quick kiss to her brow and left the room. The faster Willow performed her spell, the quicker he could mete out his revenge.

~*~*~*~*~

The spell took no time at all and as soon as the destination became clear, both vampires were gone, coats billowing behind them in their haste. They took Angel’s company car, and were near the old farmhouse Willow spoke of in under an hour. Parking some distance away so as not to alert the demon, then trekked the remaining mile on foot.

As they neared the farmhouse, they stopped to sniff the air. They could detect no human presence. Cautiously, they made their way inside. Both vampires went through the house in record time. No one was there. They decided to check the barn, just in case. There were no animals inside, which made them immediately suspicious. As they neared the end of the barn, they noticed that the bundles of hay were arranged in a weird manner.

Spike glanced at Angel and spoke softly, “Is it me, or is that hidin' somethin'?”

Both vampires walked around trying to find some type of catch. On the second pass, Angel noticed a small lever. He gave it a tug, and a soft whir sounded in the barn. The board holding the bales of hay slid to the side revealing an underground cave.

Both Spike and Angel slid into game face and descended the stairs to the chambers below. As they reached the bottom, they heard rustling coming from a room at the end of the hall. They moved forward slowly, their feet not making a sound on the stone floor. Each took up positions on either side of the door, swords drawn. At a nod from Spike, Angel kicked the door in sending it crashing against the far wall.

~*~*~*~*~

Damius looked up from his scroll to see two enraged vampires enter the chamber.

Seeing the demon that had hurt his slayer sent Spike into a rage. Wasting no more time, he charged, leaping over the table in his rush to get to him.

Damius lifted his sword off the table at the last moment, deflecting most of the blow. The vampire had moved so fast, he had barely reached his sword in time.

Spike landed nimbly on his feet and turned to face the demon. Angel stood before the door, sword ready, and let Spike fight. His demon demanded the right, and Angel would not be the one to interfere.

“You’re dead, demon. Tell me what you’ve done to Buffy, and I’ll make it quick.”

“You think killing me is going save your precious slayer? Even now the poison is coursing through her body. Her slayer healing is no match for our magick. What my people have wrought is before even your time, vampire,” Damius taunted. The clanking of swords rang out in the chamber. Damius was careful to keep the vampire at a distance so as not to disrupt his markings.

Both were evenly matched, but Spike had rage and the desire for revenge on his side. In that moment, he was the cold-blooded killer he had been for over a hundred years. He stalked his prey, moving in closer and closer for the kill. Seeing his intent, Angel tried to reason with Spike.

“We need him alive, Childe.”

A slight clearing of the bloodlust haze that had enveloped his eyes was the only indication that Spike heard him. Changing the grip on his sword slightly, he waited for the demon to lunge. When he did, Spike sidestepped, switching his grip to hold the sword with his right hand, as he swung downward, sending both swords to the ground. With his left hand, Spike drew back and slammed it into the demon’s cheek.

The punch caused the ink markings on the demon’s right cheek to smudge. Damius reared back as if mortally wounded.

“Damn you, vampire! I was not ready to return,” he yelled, black eyes boring into Spike’s. The demon disappeared right before Spike’s and Angel’s eyes.

“Bloody fucking hell!” Spike raged. “Where did he go?”

Angel walked over and put his hand on Spike’s shoulder. “You smudged his markings. They were his ties to this dimension.”

“Shoulda’ just bloody killed him. At least then I would have been satisfied,” Spike grumbled.

“Come on, let’s get the books and head back to the house. Maybe something in here can tell us what was used on Buffy.”

Sighing, Spike turned away from the spot where the demon had disappeared. They both made quick work of gathering the various tomes before leaving the farmhouse behind.

~*~*~*~*~

Spike walked into the house, several books held in his hands. He made his way to the dining room and dumped the lot on the table. Without a word, he turned on his heels and left the room, wanting nothing more than to see Buffy, hold her close.

He paused in the doorway and saw Dawn still sitting in the chair, but with her head on the bed, fast asleep. He walked over and ran his hand over Dawn’s hair. “Niblet? Come on, ‘Bit, wake up,” he called softly. She stirred and looked up at him.

“Huh? Spike?”

“Off to bed with you. I’m here now. Go get some sleep and you can sit with her once you wake up.” She nodded, and slowly pushed her way to her feet. Spike walked her to the door and watched as she made her way down the hall to her room. Only after she closed her bedroom door did Spike step back and do the same.

~*~*~*~*~

“What’s all this stuff?” Giles asked after Spike’s abrupt departure.

Angel stared at the opening Spike has disappeared through for a moment, lost in thought. Mentally shaking himself, he turned to answer Giles.

“This stuff,” he began, placing the items he also carried down on the table, “is all that we could get from the demon’s hideout. Hopefully, there is something in here that can be of use to us.”

“And the demon?”

“Gone.” Angel answered shortly.

“But, I told you we needed it alive–” Giles began.

Angel cut him off. “Look, I know what you said. And believe me; we did everything we could to keep that thing here. We didn’t kill it. Its damn markings got smudged during the battle and the thing up and disappeared... right before our eyes.”

“I’m sorry, Angel. I know you both would have done everything in your power. It’s just that it would have saved us some much needed time if we had a place to start. And time is not in our favor, I'm afraid.”

Angel sighed and nodded. They were all frustrated right now, and getting into a yelling match right now would not help matters. Angel picked up a scroll and a huge book handing one to Wesley and the other to Giles.

“These were the things that the demon was looking at when we burst in. Maybe this would be a good starting point,” Angel said, effectively breaking the tension that had settled around the dining room.

Giles glanced down at the scroll, noted the dialect, and grabbed another book to help him translate. Wesley glanced at the title of the book he was given then began thumbing through the text. Fred and Willow got up and they each grabbed a book from the pile that Spike and Angel had brought back from the farmhouse. Seeing the occupants of the room settle down in to research-mode once more, he left to get some blood out of the refrigerator. Research wasn’t his forte and it wouldn’t do for him to stand over them, lurking. He decided to head to the Rome offices of Wolfram & Hart to see if he could find any more information on this demon, the Draemuir dimension, how the hell it got here and why.

~*~*~*~*~

“This can’t be right,” Wesley mumbled to himself some hours later about an hour before dawn.

“What’s that, Wes?” Fred asked.

“I think I’ve found out what that demon did to Buffy,” he said. He quickly outlined the ingredients of the elixir that were used. Then he dropped the bombshell. “It cannot be undone. This… this spell, poison, whatever you want to call it. There is no way to counteract it. It’s sole purpose is to kill the soul.”

The other occupants of the room leaned back in their respective chairs, devastated.

“Surely, there is something?” Giles asked, refusing to believe.

“I’m sorry, Rupert. Here take a look.” Wesley handed the book to him. Giles read the script, his face going pale.

“Oh. dear. Lord.”

As if to punctuate the gloomy mood that had settled over the room, a distant clap of thunder was heard followed by the pounding of rain against the windows. Obviously, they were in for a big storm today. The front door opening and closing broke the silence in the dining room. Angel walked in, happy to have a bit of good news to share with the others. He stepped into the dining room and noticed the defeated faces of those around him, unable to meet his eyes.

“What is it?” he barked out.

“Angel,” Fred began, but then faltered. “I don’t know how… we just found out what spell that demon used. There’s no way to counteract it,” she said quietly.

Angel refused to react to her words. He held his emotions tightly in check, but inside, he was raging. If he could go back to the farmhouse and kill that demon, he wouldn’t think twice. He could feel his control start to slip so he turned on his heel to leave the room.

“That may not be entirely true.”

Giles words stopped him cold and Angel spun around, eyes flashing yellow, to pin the watcher with a glare.

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