Part VIII - Fitting in the pieces

Buffy looked through the gruelling drawings that illustrated Aronh’s actions in his time. Sketches of people dying of the most agonizing diseases, others being dismembered and decapitated, but the one that stood out the most was the image of a pyramid of skulls built in the honour of the sorcerer. From what was described in between the terrorizing drawings, Aronh had been considered a god by the tribe of the Climes, who carried out his dirty work. 

“Got it!” Anya said triumphantly as she hung up the phone. “The dealer that has the dagger is sending it in as fast as he can. Should be here in tomorrow.”

“Great work, Anya! Now we-“ Buffy stopped talking when she saw Spike bringing his index finger to his mouth, signalling her to shut up. Slowly he stood up and rounded the table, going behind the stacks. A mild struggle was heard and instants later Spike reappeared holding the Khind’Ara by its neck.

“Oh-oh!” the slimy creature uttered with its high-pitched voice, then it gave them the same ridiculous smile it had given Buffy the night they’d first met. “Hello!”

“It was listening to us the whole time.” Xander concluded.

“No kidding Boy Genius!” Spike mocked “Good thing it smells, easy to detect.” As he spoke a drop of the demon’s slime fell from its head onto Spike’s precious duster. “Oh, bloody hell, there goes my duster!” he protested. “Watch where you drop your goo, pal!”

“Sorry!” the creature apologized with a forced grin.

“How does it eat? It doesn’t have any teeth.” Dawn wondered out loud.

Buffy frowned at her sister and looked at Spike:

“Oh great! You got its goo on you, perfect!” she noticed.

“Buffy, don’t worry it only affects humans. Spike’ll be ok.” Willow quickly explained.

The Slayer huffed and turned her attention to the demon, which hung by its neck in Spike’s hand.

“You, start talking.” She ordered.

“Me. No. Talk. Anything!” it pressed its lips together and crossed his long arms over its bony chest in a sign of protest. “You torture. Me no speak.”

It took Buffy only one step towards the creature to make its façade of bravery crumble. In less then a tenth of a second it was screaming:

“No, no, no. No torture. Me talk. Pleeeeeeeease no torture.”

“Not very brave is it?” Xander observed with a smirk.

“I guess we finally found something more spineless that you, Harris!” Spike ridiculed.

“Hey!” Xander resented the statement.

“Guys!” Willow intervened.

Buffy crouched in front of the demon, carefully avoiding getting any of its slime on her.

“Who’s your master?”

The creature looked up at Spike and then back to the Slayer.

“Me no know…” it squealed.

Buffy took a stake from her back pocket and the creature immediately started crying out:

“Me no know! Master is smoke.”

“What do you mean your master is smoke?” Buffy asked, she was starting to loose her patience.

“Master is smoke. When Master is, is all black. Master go puff, no more black.” It spoke quickly and nervously.

“Ok, anybody get that? Cause I think I misplaced my ET lingo to normal speech filter.” Buffy gave up, standing and walking towards the table.

“I-I think what it’s saying is that when it’s Master is with him everything goes black. Com-complete darkness. The absence on light, matter, form…” Tara tried to explain. “His Master is Aronh!”

“That can’t be. I thought the guy was dead.” Xander started protesting.

“Xander, this is Sunnydale. Being dead is not an obstacle, I should know.” Buffy argued.

“Tara is right. I read about this when I was researching about resurrecting t-“ she stopped herself and looked at Buffy for a second. The Wicca’s eyes started to well up with tears, but the Slayer’s understanding smile calmed her and she was able to finish: “the dead. If something happens when you’re… bringing them back…” she swallowed hard and continued: “they can get stuck in a torn space between reality and… the other world. You get trapped in nothingness, in limbo. Someone must had tried to bring Aronh back but failed, probably cause they didn’t have the dagger. Now, Aronh must be, somehow, crossing reality with limbo. That’s what happen to us back in your room Buffy. That’s how he got the book. But he probably can only do that for a few seconds. His soul is trapped in that darkness, he doesn’t have form. The ritual will probably enable him to take form.”

“But what does taking form have to do with the First Slayer?” Dawn finally spoke.

“That thing has a soul?” Buffy seemed to be stuck on the idea that a creature that caused so much destruction could never have a soul.

“Of course. He was human, Buffy.” Anya reminded her.

“Just hard to keep that in mind when you read through this book.” She explained pointing to the large book on the table.

“Wha, Slayer, still think that demons are the only real bad guys in this picture?” Spike asked “Humans can be just as bad, soul or no soul.”

Buffy dropped her gaze to the floor, she couldn’t face the vampire’s accusing eyes. The tension between the two of them was obvious to everyone in the room except for the little demon that was still hanging from Spike’s hand.

“Me go?” it pleaded.

“No!” everyone answered in unison.

“Sorry!” it squealed.

“What are we supposed to do know, Buffy?” Willow asked.

“We stay here and research until we get our hands on the dagger, then we see what we do next.” Buffy explained.

“No, I meant about little ET over there.” The Wicca rephrased pointing to the Khind’Ara demon.

“Yeah, I’m getting kinda tired of holding it.” Spike protested.

“We’ll use the chains in the training room.” Buffy offered.

*******************************************

“Oh! Look how cute it is.” Dawn remarked looking at the strange demon.

It was sitting on the floor, its scrawny legs crossed as well as its arms. From its wrist a heavy metal shackle dangled and chained the creature to the stairs that lead to the top floor of the Magic Shop. It stared at the ceiling with huge gawking eyes.

“It is sweet.” Willow agreed putting down the book she was researching for a second, to look at the demon who was now feverously scratching its chained wrist.

In the meantime, Spike leaned over the counter of the shop and absentmindedly turned the pages of a dusty old book.

“Hey there.” Buffy greeted approaching the vampire.

Spike nodded, his eyes never leaving the book.

“You ok?” Buffy asked “The wound, I mean.” She added lightly tapping her own chest on the spot where his injury was.

Another nod. Awkward silence feel around them and Buffy searched her mind for a topic of conversation.

“You never told me what happen in my bedroom.”

“What do you mean?” he continued to turn the pages and it started to annoy her a lot.

“When I came to the bedroom, before the whole blackness, absence of form thingy started you where on the floor.” She remembered.

“I was?” he asked and for the first time in that conversation he looked at her. “All I remember is one moment I am sound asleep on the bed, the next everything goes pitch black and then I’m on the floor with you calling me.” He explained and returned to the book.

“Oh!” Buffy tried to fill in the silence. “So, whatcha doing?”

Spike raised his eyebrow at her.

“Reading.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Oh! Good.” She continued, leaning on the counter next to him. “Found anything?”

“No.” he answered.

“Hum.”

“Do you need something?” he finally asked.

“No, just making conversation.” She replied.

“I noticed. Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” she questioned.

“Lately? Yeah.” He answered going back to the book.

“Fine! I was just trying to be nice.”

“You? Nice? To me? Since when?” he spoke with an accusing tone.

She stared at him without an answer to his question. They looked at each other for what seemed like eternity. Her heart raced as her mind desperately searched for a way out of that uncomfortable moment. Dawn gave her that chance when she spoke:

“We should give him a name.”

Buffy immediately went into Slayer/Overprotective parent mode. “It’s not a pet, Dawn. It’s a demon and we are not naming it.” She demanded quickly walking away from the vampire and over to her sister.

Dawn pouted crossing her arms. Tara smiled, leaned towards the young teenager and suggested: “What about calling it It?”

Dawn’s face immediately lit up at the Wicca’s words.

“Where are Anya and Xander?” Buffy asked.

“I don’t know, we can’t hear the shouting and yelling anymore, maybe they’ve made up.” Willow offered.

“YOU LEFT ME STANDING THERE!!!!” Anya’s angry voice came from the training room.

“Or maybe not.” Willow sighed.

**********************************************

“An, I’ve already told you. I’m sorry! I was just scared, everything was going so fast.” Xander tried to explain, but the ex-demon wouldn’t have it, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him. “An, please say something.”

“I hate you.” She hissed.

“Something other than that.”

“I despise you.”

Xander sighed. At least she was talking to him. He was about to continue his pleas when the back door of the Magic Shop fell open. Three hooded figures came in.

“Hey, you’re going to pay for that.” Anya protested and walked after the strangers who ignored her and headed towards the main room of the shop, where the other Scobbies were. “Did you hear wh-“ she choked as the last of the hooded figures picked her off the floor by her neck.

“Anya!” Xander shouted, lunging at the figure that held the ex-demon.

The stranger let go of Anya and focused on the human that was now clinging to him and trying to strangle him. Effortlessly he got Xander off him by throwing him across the room. Xander fell to the floor with a loud thud and hit his head on the wall.

“Xander!” Anya yelled as she crawled her way to the unconscious young man.

The hooded figures ignored the wounded couple and continued towards the other room.

***************************

“What was that?” Buffy asked.

“Xander!” Willow replied standing up and walking towards the training room.

She was barred by the three tall, hooded figures.

“Where is it?” one of them inquired.

“Who are you?” Willow asked.

With a swift move of his arm the stranger flung the witch across the room, just as he had done with Xander.

“Willow!” Tara went to her aid, kneeling next to the red headed girl.

“I’m ok!” Willow assured.

“Dawn, under the table.” Buffy order, her eyes fixed on the strangers. As she tried to look at their faces she found them covered by masks. They were completely black except for a strange white symbol that was carved just above the two eyeholes.

At the sight of the three hooded figures the Khind’Ara demon squeaked, curling up into a little ball.

“Tell us where the heart is.” one of them spoke in a low voice.

Buffy’s heart was racing as her body prepare for a confrontation.

“I have a better idea.” She replied calmly moving towards them. “How about I just kick your asses.”

“The heart, Slayer!” the taller one order. Buffy was about to lunge at them when suddenly a bright red light surrounded them, grew in intensity and when it dimmed the three strangers had disappeared.

“What was that?” Dawn asked from under the table.

“Xander! Anya!” Willow reminded them.

Buffy quickly made her way to the training room to find Anya on her knees holding Xander’s head on her lap.

“Xander?” Buffy called.

When she came closer she found him unconscious. Anya looked up at the Slayer; her eyes bright and glassy with tears. Without a word she moved her hand from under Xander’s head and Buffy saw red blood dripping from her long fingers.

“Willow, call an ambulance.” Buffy shouted.

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