Previously on Grey Lines:

Willow saves Dawn from certain death by using magic to create a mystical cloud that breaks the young teenager’s fall. In the meantime, in the woods, Buffy and Spike finally give into their temptations and… well, I’m sure you remember what happened. Back at Xander’s, Ethan prepares to strike when the demons, fuelled by his growing anger, take over and he begins to howl in pain. Xander wakes up to find an unconscious Willow. Giles tell him they have to get out of there, which they do.

Part XVI – Mayhem and Chaos

They ran as fast as they could in the pouring rain. Their drenched clothes, which stuck to their tired bodies, seemed to hold the weight of the world. Willow faltered in her stride as her legs protested against the extra burden of carrying an unconscious demon.

“Are you ok?” Giles asked.

“I-I’m fine.” She breathlessly struggled to speak.

“I can help.” Dawn offered moving to place Clem’s arms over her back.

“Thanks.” Willow said stopping for a second to catch her breath.

“What are you guys doing, we have to move.” Xander’s hoarse voice hovered over the loud thunder as he shouted over his shoulder at the rest of the group.

“I think we better find shelter somewhere.” Giles suggested as he came closer to the young man.

“Where?” Xander asked as he looked around.

They were in the middle of a street, all the light were out, all the doors closed, a haunting silence broken only by the familiar sound of rain falling and the occasional roaring of thunder as the electric currents cut through the dark skies. Thankfully they had got far enough not to hear the inhuman howling of that madman.

Giles pondered over Xander’s question. They were already drenched, Dawn had already sneezed a couple of times and Clem was getting heavier by the minute. They needed to find shelter quickly, but where?

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Her numb fingers drew eclectic geometrical shapes over the cool ivory skin of his back using mud as her paint, but the rain soon washed away all her artistic efforts. She could feel him smile against her neck and as he spoke the cool air that flowed from his mouth sent a chill down her spine.

“How’s the finger painting going, luv?”

“Not good, the rain’s washing it away.” She answered. “Plus the fact that I can’t see what I’m painting isn’t helping.”

He looked up at her, his lean chest now hovering over hers. He remained silence, looking at her with that intense gaze which always managed to leave her breathless; as if she had just ran a marathon. Her clean hand moved around his shoulder, pass his neck and settle over one chiselled cheek. As he closed his sapphire eyes and leaned into her touch, Buffy found herself staring blindly at him. She was about to say something when she felt him move his hips between hers and place himself at her entrance. He opened his eyes, as if asking for permission and she gave him her answer by closing hers and holding her breath.

Slowly he pushed between her inviting folds, entering her. Her eyes shot open as she felt him inside of her.

“God.” She couldn’t help letting out as he began to move in and out of her.

Looking up at him she found him with his eyes closed once more, his mouth in a straight line as he clenched his eyes, trying hard to keep his emotions under control. It was nearly impossible. He had dreamt about this for four months, being with her, surrounded by her body, her scent, her spirit.

Her hand dropped from his cheek back to his shoulders, clinging to him as her hips moved in time with his, meeting every thrust with the same urgency and desire.

“Ah…” she cried out as he plunged deeper into her, feeling her, stretching her from the inside. She could feel she was close to the edge and so was he. With one swift and fluid movement she made them roll over and she found herself sitting on top off him.

If Spike were human he would have been in deep trouble. The mere sight of her would have been enough to make it impossible to breathe. She sat up, slowly moving snake like up and down, impaling herself on him, her hands sluggishly travelling over her stomach, up between and around her breast as the rain bathed her naked form. She threw her head, allowing the crystal drops of nectar to run down her face. Spike’s eyes focused on one particular drop as it made its ways around the corner of her mouth, over her chin, down her neck to join its companions to form a small pool in the hole between her collarbones. As it overflowed, a small stream trailed into the valley between two perfectly shaped round globes, down her lean stomach, around her small navel and finally it died in a nest of dark curls where his and her body came together.

Entranced by this spectacle, one hand travelled up her side and round her breast, cupping it gruffly causing a muffled cry to come from her. Expert fingers circled her dark, erect nipple, pinching, teasing, provoking and sending Buffy into a frenzy causing her to move faster and faster, thrusting her hips against his with bruising force.

“Bloody hell! Fu…” Spike roared into the night as he felt her inner muscles clamp around him, squeezing the unlife out of him. He knew he was close, too close. Instantly his other hand dove between their bodies quickly finding her tender nub of nerves, his fingers curled around it, pulling at it, rolling it in just the right way to send her over the edge.

Soon, Buffy was screaming her pleasure for the entire world to hear. Her head thrown back, her mouth wide open, letting in the small drops of rain, while her inner muscles rippled and contracted as powerful spasms took over her whole body.

The sight and the feel of her sent him tumbling over the growing precipice and he let out a savage roar as his orgasm tore its way through him.

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As they stumbled into the abandoned mansion, Giles felt a chill run down his spine remembering everything he had endured the last time he had been there. It seemed a lifetime ago. He forced the memories of Angelus and the elaborate torture items out of his mind. There wasn’t anytime to think about that now. Ethan was bound to find them sooner or later.

“This place gives me the creeps.” Dawn interrupted Giles’ thoughts. As she twisted her hair a large pool of water formed at her feet.

“We’ll have to spend the night here.” Giles said in a low voice as he and Willow placed Clem on the couch.

“Do you think Angel left some firewood?” the redhead asked, looking around, but before anyone could answer her question, her gaze fell over a small pile of logs.

While Willow and Giles tended to the fire, Dawn paced around the large empty room. She frowned as she noticed all the windows where still neatly covered with long, dark and opaque curtains.

“Guess Angel forgot these.” She said to herself.

“There we go.” Giles announced as he successfully lit the fire.

All four sat in deafening silence for a while. Slowly, Willow leaned in and whispered to Giles.

“About what happen…” she said with a faltering voice, but the ex-watcher cut her off.

“You did what you had to do.” His eyes never left the faint flame burning in the fireplace.

“But…” she tried to speak.

“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was just afraid you might…” he paused and finally looked at her. She was surprised by what she found in his eyes – understanding. “Maybe you are ready.”

She searched her mind for some answer, but there was nothing to say so, instead, she gave him a soft smile and nodded her head slightly.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the scream cut its way through the howling night and into the old abandoned mansion.

“What was that?” Xander asked, but before he had finished his question he already knew the answer.

“Ethan.”

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Buffy’s eyes shot open as the most intense howl reached her ears. A bit dazed she looked around, soon her surrounding began to register. Dark, cave, strong arms around her body… correction, around her naked body.

“Did you hear that?” a voice with a strong British accent came from behind her and she felt him move to sit up. She turned to face him and sit next to him.

“It’s Ethan.” Her voice was hoarse. Well, no wonder, with the whole laying in the mud in the middle of a storm while moaning and screaming the entire time.

“We better go.” Spike went into autopilot. Picking up his and her clothes they had brought in from the storm. Before Buffy could say anything he already had his jeans on and was now working on his T-shirt.

Without a word she put on her own muddied up clothes and they made their way through the forest as the rain continued to pour around them.

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“We have to do something.” Willow stated the obvious.

Giles scratched his head as he tried to figure out what to do and finally said:

“We don’t know where Buffy is, but we need to do something.” Turning toward Xander and Dawn he continued with a strong and reassuring tone. “You two stay here, you’ll have to look after Clem and Anya. Willow and I will go to the Magic Shop and see if there is a spell we can use.

“Wait a minute, I thought Willow was…” Xander paused to measure his words. “You know… quarantined when it came to magic.”

“If you had seen what she did back at your place you wouldn’t think that.” Dawn said with a gentle smile as she stared at the reborn witch. Remembering she still hadn’t thanked her for saving her life she mouthed the words: “Thank you.”

Willow nodded and answered the teenager with a shy smirk.

“What about Ethan, he might come here.” Xander continued.

“I don’t think so. The demons are still fighting for dominance inside of him and even if he was sane enough to control his own actions, he would probably go after me.” Giles explained.

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Buffy ran through the thick bushes trying to block out the excruciating howling that roared through the stormy skies. Her eyes focused on the moving figure in front of her. His nearly white hair glowed as the rain kept it wet and shiny. Her mind raced as her senses picked up all that surrounded her. The raindrops that marred her face, the sound of thunder mixed with that inhuman scream, the feel of gushy, slippery mud under her pounding feet, the scent of wet grass and… what was that? She asked herself. Under the fresh, cool fragrance of stormy rain there was something else.

“What is that smell?” she asked herself as she got closer and the odour became clear. “Oh my God! Fire!”

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As they exited the mansion the smell immediately hit their noses.

“Fire!” Willow breathed.

Without another word they ran towards the centre to Sunnydale. Soon it was in sight, but what they saw made their breaths catch at the base of their throats – the entire town was in flames. As they approached the burning buildings another, even scarier spectacle awaited them. The streets where packed with a raving multitude of demons, very similar to the crowd that gathered at the clearing except they were all awake.

Mayhem and chaos ruled the city. It reminded Willow of the devastation they had witnessed just before Buffy came back. Human screams of fear and pleas for mercy mixed with daunting snarls and roars of the raging demons that plagued the streets. And all the while, in the background, that ungodly howl of pain and rage brought the symphony of horrors to completion.

They walked slowly, carefully avoiding calling any attention to themselves. Willow felt Giles nudge her slightly with his elbow. When she looked at him she saw him pointing ahead. She gasped when she turned and saw what he was pointing at.

A large circle of light, the size of a small building, pulsated in the middle of the street. Around it gathered an even larger multitude of demons and between them and the light was Ethan. His arms raised to the thunderous skies as he wailed his pain for the whole world to hear.

“It’s growing.” Willow heard Giles say from behind her.

As they looked on, the demons around the circle, that until now had remained calm, contrary to the ones further away from it, began to move. At first it seemed an erratic movement of dispersion, but soon the two realised there was a goal behind it – they were searching for humans. Eventually their behaviour became the same as the others.

“It’s the circle that’s making them act this way. It’s the circle that’s making them kill humans.” Willow stated the obvious.

“How?” Giles asked in a low voice. “It’s not supposed to do that.”

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“I’m worried. Maybe I should go with them.” Dawn suggested.

“Right so afterwards, if we survive this apocalypse, your sister can kill me. Brilliant idea!” Xander mocked as he knelt down next to Anya and caressed her hair.

“I never get to go.” Dawn pouted as she walked towards the window. She pushed the curtains apart and leaned into the glass to have a look. She was surprised when she found it was painted with black opaque paint. “That’s strange. I didn’t know Angel painted his windows black.”

“He doesn’t. He likes to pretend his human, remember. Thinks painting the windows is too obvious, so he prefers to use curtains instead.” Xander explained.

“Well, then why are these windows painted?” she asked chipping away a bit of paint and outstretching her arm to show it to him.

Xander frowned, but before he could say anything he felt a distinct chill run down his spine. The kind of chill you develop after six years of fighting alongside a Slayer.

“Dawn!” he shouted as he saw a dark figure slither its way out of the shadowy corner of the room and grab the teenager from behind.

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