Part Seven Of
THE PARADISE SERIES
By Bitch Willow
Rating: PG-16 or R, for some sexual situations and swearing
Classification: Willow/Spike, some W/O
Disclaimer: I personally think that I should own Spike and Doyle, but if all
my dreams came true I?d be somewhat richer. I own no one in this fic. Also,
some of the lines are lifted directly from Fear, Itself. The title comes from
a Ray Bradbury book that has nothing to do with the plot of this fic. It just
went along with the Halloween theme and the garden theme.
Summary: Fear, Itself, only in my fun little universe.
Dedication: Again, to my computer. I got it one year ago today (Halloween).
And also for Charity, who put my fic on her site, praised it generously, then
got worried when I didn?t send this to her. Aw...she?s the sweetest webmistress
ever.
Author?s Note: Okay, I meant this to be all sweet and fluffy, bit again, Spike
ran away with it and refused to give it back until his demon got to be let out
to play. Also, now we all know how old Spike is, but I wrote this before Something
Blue, so in this world he's the age I say.
"Spike! Get your ass in gear before I kick it back to England!"
Spike cringed as he heard Buffy's voice echo across the training hall. They (meaning mostly him, with donations from the other Slayerettes) had been renting it for about two weeks now, and they got it for two hours, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. And right now he was wasting part of that hour, watching Willow sneak off to an isolated corner with the wolf.
< You gotta ignore her, mate, > he told himself. < Especially since you're supposed to be training with Buffy right now. Bitch has been on the warpath since that Parker guy bedded and dumped her. > As much as he still, well, hated the Slayer, he was getting to see that she was a nice little brat when it got down to it. < And I can certainly relate to her situation, > he sighed to himself, thinking of Drusilla with a pang. < She's gotta get out. Have some fun. Halloween?s in two days, and she's mopin' in her room like...Angel. God, according to Doyle, he spends more time in the dark than a bloody bat. A fruit bat, > he thought with a juvenile giggle.
"Spike!"
"I'm comin'," he called, shaking the sweat out of his bleached hair. < I've just gotta find a way to get her out.
* * *
"We've got to find a way to get her out," Willow stated in a concerned voice. "She's all depressed, not at all the hyper, perky Buffy we all know and love."
"Yeah," Xander sniffed. "She didn't even have the decency to mock my sardonic pumpkin."
Spike shot him an odd look, then shook his head, not even bothering to ask. < That kid is too bloody weird to figure out. > "You're cracked, man," he threw at Xander, then turned to the other two. "You're right, though. It's no fun fightin' someone with no spirit. The Slayer's got to go out; have some bloody laughs."
"Right. Fun. And the fun that she should get out and have is...Halloweeny fun. So, you're with us, Spike?" Will looked at him hopefully, and he jumped.
"Do what? What are you talkin' about? Halloween is sort of a vampire's in day."
"Yeah, but there's a frat party at the Alpha Delts'. Should be a blast and a half." Spike jumped as Oz began to speak. < Its so unexpected for him to open his damned mouth that every time he does I'm scared out of my wits. >
"Yeah, the fraternity. That I'm not good enough for." Xander sounded bitter, which was not uncommon for him.
Oz looked amused. "You're a townie. Non-college guy, remember? You couldn't join even if they did want you."
"Yeah, but it's the principle, you know?"
Spike cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, children, but...well, you're boring me. Anyway, don't you witches usually celebrate Samhain then, anyway?"
Willow looked guilty. "Yeahh," she said slowly, then perked up. "And I am. I'm doing a blessing and a tribute to Hecate, then I?m gonna party with my friends. Like a normal college girl, not like a witch who's dating a werewolf. Not that I mind dating a werewolf," she added quickly, throwing a concerned glance over at Oz, "I'm just saying, you know...acting like normal kids. So." She looked at Spike with big, irresistable green eyes. "You in?"
He sighed.
* * *
"How did I get roped into this?" Spike wondered aloud. "I mean,
I'm 183 years old. And I'm goin' to a party with a bunch of college kids? What
the hell am I thinking?" His mind wandered back to Willow, and he sighed.
"Oh, yeh. Well, hopefully she?ll be wearin' somethin' low-cut."
He jumped as the doorbell rang. "Here I go," he muttered, adjusting his jacket while walking over to the door. He opened it and gasped.
She was wearing chain mail. And for some reason, he found it infinitely more sexy than any harem outfit or French maid dress. He imagined that getting her naked would be like unlocking a treasure chest.
"Hi Spike! Do you like it?" she asked perkily, stepping into his apartment without invitation.
He had trouble speaking. "Uh, yeh pet. What are you?"
She looked offended, pouting like a kitten. "I'm Joan of Arc. See, chain mail? Battle gear?"
Spike nodded and grinned. "What do you think about me?" He executed a little turn.
She looked him over, biting her lip. He was wearing his usual black jeans, a white tank shirt, and a leather jacket with lots of chains. His hair was bleached even whiter than usual, and it looked like his name, spiked up over his head. "What are you, again?"
"Billy Idol. It's my way of dressin' up for All Hallows Eve, without actually havin' to dress up. So, you like it?"
She nodded, smiling big. "Yeah, you look cute." He felt his face grow hot and was relieved as he remembered that vampires don?t blush. "Oh, we gotta go pick up Oz, and then we'll meet Buffy and Xander at the frat house."
He nodded. "Kay then. Let's go." He grabbed his keys and took her hand. "Ready, my lady?"
Willow blushed, her cheeks turning the cutest shade of light pink. "Ready, kind sir." She pulled him to the door, stepped out, and closed it behind them.
* * *
Willow and Oz walked up to the front of the house hand in hand, as Spike trailed behind them. < Oh, a night watching those two drool all over each other. They?re so damn sweet. I think I?m getting cavities. >
"Hey Will. Medieval Will." Buffy walked up to them, clad in a knee-length dress and a short red hood. < Red Riding Hood, > Spike thought. < Now why didn't Willow think of that? She's little Red, and she's with the wolf. All in all, Buffy looks like the beginning of an odd porno. > He smirked to himself as he looked her up and down. Buffy noticed him staring and stuck her tongue out. "Hey Spike. Going to a white wedding?"
He laughed. "Yeh. Wanna show me your bag of treats, little girl?" She scowled at him, and he smirked.
Xander was dressed in a tuxedo, and was currently staring at Willow's costume. Spike couldn't help wondering if Xander found it as alluring as he had. "Hail, ye old barletty...thou?"
She giggled. "I'm Joan of Arc. I figure we sort of have a lot in common, seeing as how I was almost burnt at the stake. Plus, we both have that close relationship with God."
Spike rolled his eyes. < Oh, here it comes. >
Xander turned to Oz, who was dressed in his usual t-shirt with a jacket over it. "And you are?"
He pulled back his jacket with a grin, to reveal a nametag. "God."
"Of course." Spike couldn't tell if Xander's voice was choppy because he didn't think of the cheapo costume idea, or because he wanted the 'close relationship' with Willow. And frankly, he didn?t want to know.
Buffy looked set. "So, we all psyched to have fun, and loads of it?"
"Ah yes. Partying with a bunch of drunken college kids. That's my idea of fun," he drawled. Buffy and Willow hit him simultaneously, and he snarled at Xander. "What are you grinning at, tux boy?"
"Just happy not to be the one of the end of that abuse. As I usually am."
Willow smacked him on the arm, then shrugged as he shot her an injured glance. "Just didn't want you to feel left out."
"Thank you," he spat sarcastically. "Speaking of abuse on the male species, I invited Anya. She had trouble finding a scary costume, so she's just gonna meet us there."
Buffy's eyes widened, and she sputtered. "Oh, great. So I'm the only dateless one."
"That's not true. Spike's all alone."
Spike felt a pang go through him as he thought about how true that was. He remembered last Halloween, when he?d been with Dru. When Willow had worn that rocker girl outfit that showed off her abs...
Willow saw something in his face and patted him on the shoulder. Pulling Xander away from him and Buffy, she took one of their arms in each of hers. "We are gonna have the best time." She grinned at each of them, then looked back at Oz to see if he was fine alone, while his girlfriend comforted her friends. He seemed mellow, at usual. "Besides, this is everyone's first college Halloween party. Except Oz, cause he's a musician who plays at them, but still. It's our first while actually being in college." Her brow wrinkled. "Well, except for Xander and Spike, cause they aren't in college and I think I'm just gonna be quiet now."
Buffy giggled. "You're right, Will. This is gonna be the greatest college Halloween party I've ever attended."
They approached the tall stone building slowly, and Willow let go of Buff and Spike to be near her boyfriend. As they reached the door, Oz disengaged himself to open the door. "Let the horrors begin."
Spike snorted, walking into the frat house casually. "Nothin' scares me, man. I'm a demon."
As he walked further into the house, he heard Buffy comment below her breath, "That fire demon sure seemed to do the job," but he refrained from comment, mostly because as they all walked more and more deeply into the house, they realized that it was empty.
"Rockin party, man," Xander quipped.
Oz rolled his eyes. "Follow the signs," he explained, pointing to the 'Detour' signs posted all over.
Spike couldn't help but stare at the fake body parts and rubber spiders that were sporadically placed about, but Buffy was the one who chose to point out the oddly 50s movie look of the place. "Terrifying," she said dryly. "If I were Abbott and Costello, this would be fairly traumatic."
"My apartment is scarier than this," Spike whined.
Willow raised her eyebrow. "That's because you never clean it." He poked her in the ribs and she giggled. Suddenly she began to shriek. "Ahhh, cobweb!"
"Bloody right, that's a cobweb." Spike couldn?t keep the offended tone out of his voice as he pulled the stuff out of her beautiful hair.
"The frat boys aren't too obsessive with the cleaning, so that part could be real." Oz seemed amused, and Spike had to fight back the urge to belt him one.
They looked up as they heard a scream, but it was only Xander, cowering away from a plastic skeleton. He flushed. "I'm just, uh...trying to keep the Halloween spirit. Not scared."
Will nodded sympathetically. "And we'll stick to that, even if they question us seperately."
"Nancy-boy."
"Stick it, Dead Boy."
Suddenly, Oz's eyes widened, and he ran towards Willow. "Will!" From her shoulder he pulled a spider about the size of an egg.
Willow clutched at him, whimpering, as he threw the spider away from them. "Okay, that's not sanitary!" Spike went over and took her other arm, and she grasped him gratefully.
Buffy patted her on the arm sympathetically, then shouldered her picnic basket. "Let's just get to the party section of the...party."
They began to walk. Spike ran up to Buffy, who was in the lead, but he could hear Willow quietly asking Oz if he was sure it was off, and Oz replying in a gentle, soothing coo.
"I don't like this, Slayer. Something ain't right here, a presence..."
"Yeah, yours, she snapped, then put a hand to her forehead. "Sorry, I'm a bit on edge right now, and you aren't exactly helping."
"It's okay," he said. < Bitch. >
"I'm still trying to figure out where anyone is," Xander called from behind them.
"Party's upstairs. But still, there should be one or two..."
Buffy was still. "Wait...do you hear that?" There was a rustling sound coming from above their heads, and as Spike looked up he could see what it was.
Bats.
Hundreds of them, at least. The group shrieked and ducked as the bats began to flap their wings.
"Get down!" Spike pulled Willow to the floor, and the others followed suit. The bats began to ease up and, eventually, disappeared altogether.
Buffy looked like a grim six-year old as she stood up, grabbing her basket off the floor and shrugging her blond braids off her shoulders. "What was that?"
Oz approached a bat lying on the floor. "I think...it's rubber." Picking it up, he confirmed it.
Buffy clenched her teeth. "Okay, something weird is definatly going on."
"Ya think?"
Willow threw an irritated glance at Xander, then went over to Oz, taking the rubber bat out of his hand so that she could hold it. "Does anyone else hear that noise?"
The Slayerettes strained their ears, and Spike walked slowly over to the hallway. < It's like...creaking. Something's moving, like in a coat of armor or somethin'. >
He was hit in the side by the fast-moving thing, and at first he couldn't identify it. But then he recognized it as the plastic skeleton that had scared Xander earlier. Only, now it's eyes held a deep evil, and it appeared to be made out of real bones.
And it was moving. The knife was definately real.
He heard Willow's gasp and wished that he could do something to cause her not to be so scared, but by that time he had already taken the knife in his gut. Buffy ran over to him and punched the skeleton out. When it hit the floor, it was plastic again.
"Ah...bloody hell," Spike groaned, clutching the gaping wound. His blood showed up dark on his white shirt, but he was glad that his leather jacket hadn't been harmed. Willow was kneeling next to him, and her green eyes were huge and worried. A single tear made it's way slowly down her cheek.
"Spike..." she whispered.
"I'm okay," he reassured her. He reached out for someone's help up, and received a hand from Buffy. He got to his feet with a muffled profanity, then pulled Willow up. "Impressive healing, and all that. Vampire thing. I'm fine." She opened her mouth to speak, but he shushed her. "I'm fine."
"That's it. We need to find a way out."
Oz shook his head. "Windows are gone. So are the doors."
He was right. They could see into the living room through the open hall door, and it looked as if the windows and doors had never existed. They were completely closed in.
"No way," Buffy said slowly. "There has to be some way out."
"Look, why don't we split up?" Spike proposed. "I'll go alone, Will and Oz can go on together, and you and Xander..."
Willow looked around inquisitively. "Where is Xander?"
"It's just like Idiot Boy to go wandering off at a time like this." Buffy shook her head fondly, but she still seemed worried.
"Spike, you're hurt. You can't go off alone."
Spike turned to the two redheads. "Look, Buffy might be the Slayer, but she's still human. I'm not. I can withstand more."
"I gotta go with Will here," Oz said. "You should be with someone else."
"I'll go with him."
Spike turned to Willow with a barely supressed sigh. < In my condition, I might do something stupid. I'm way too...well, demonic right now. I might...hurt her. Or something worse. > He felt a blinding wave of anxiety and terror wash over him. < Alone, I could do anything to her. >
He couldn't fight the shiver that thought forced throguh him.
"No, she's right. Will, you and Spike try and find a way upstairs; Oz, look for Xander; and I'll try and find a way out of here. Yell if you find any monsters." Buffy disappeared through the hall with a wave.
Oz followed close behind. "I'm gonna go look for Xander." He seemed to have trouble speaking. "Take care of Will," he said finally, sending a glance full of meaning at Spike. It easily said 'If she dies or is hurt, I?m blaming you, and I'm doin' it when the moon is full.'
Spike nodded. < I'd sooner dig out me own eyes then let anything hurt her, you idiot. >
< I love her, isn't that perfectly obvious? >
* * *
Willow peered around the wall uneasily, checking to see if there were any ghoulies or creepy things they should watch out for. Despite Spike's objections, she had insisted on going first, to make sure that there was nothing evil around the corner and to give him some recovery time.
She shuddered as she remembered watching him take that knife in the gut. She knew intellectually that he was a vampire, and as such could sustain more injury more quickly than humans. He was healing already. But emotionally, part of her had gone irrational at the sight of him being stabbed. She had lost it for a second. And that worried her.
< He's a friend, yes. But I wouldn't react that way if Buffy or even Xander were stabbed. I'd think rationally, and intelligently. Not just run off and sink to my knees beside him. >
"Pet? Did you say something?"
< Dammit! > She cursed under her breath. She had been mumbling to herself, and it was just like a vampire to pick up on that. < Damn them, with their great hearing and their unbearably attractive bodies and their ability to make any female in a ten-mile radius melt and this isn't about me being annoyed anymore, is it? >
"Uh, yeah," she replied shakily. "Just trying to think of a spell. A, um, guiding spell. To, um. Guide us." < 'A guiding spell to guide us.' Good to see college is paying off... >
Spike seemed amused, even as he still clutched his side. Walking up to her, he put an arm around her shoulders. "Yeh? Then make it quick and remember it. Cause we gotta get out of he--" He stopped suddenly, dropping his arm from around her shoulders and bringing his hand up to cover his mouth.
Willow stepped closer to him, concerned. "Are you okay, Spike? Should I..." She brought her hand up to his shoulder, and he brushed her off, snarling.
"Don't!" he said in a broken voice. It sounded raw and rough, like sandpaper, and she saw why as he brought his hand away from his mouth. His fangs had grown, long and sharp and glittering white over his lips. Even as she watched, his eyes burned yellow for a moment, then flickered blue, then retained a static yellow. His face changed and morphed, and he tried to hold it back. She could see his nails digging into the flesh of his hands with the effort.
"Spike! What is it? Do you smell something, is it blood...?"
He couldn't speak, but he was growling and shaking his head. She approached him, and as he tried to turn away, she spun him to face her.
She looked into his face with no fear at all. "Spike, what is it?"
* * *
Spike took one look into her pretty face and snapped. < The demon's too damn strong...I don't know what I'll do to her. > He growled to himself.
He spun her around until her back was to the wall, enjoying the look of fear on her face. Spike slammed her head against the wall, and laughed softly to himself when she made a little gasping sound and dropped her eyes away from his, breathing hard from fear. He was no longer in control, and the demon knew exactly what it wanted. He tilted her face up to his, and she knew too.
His lips met hers with all the intensity of a hurricane, tongues meeting and teeth gnashing against each other. It was frenzied and out of control, like they had lost all reason. She was kissing him back with as much ferocity as he felt, but much more sweetness. There was no tenderness, because Spike's demon had one thought running through it's head.
< Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck... >
She was so warm against him, and his hands went almost immediately under her shirt. She had ditched the chain mail when they started wandering, and now he was glad for it, because one of his hands found her bra almost immediately. He broke the fragile front of it, and they both moaned as he slid his other hand up from her stomach to her breasts.
She was moaning continuously and grinding against him, and he thrust her back into the wall. Willow's hands went to his jacket, and she pulled it off him. Their lips never stopped moving on each other's, and he felt her tongue sweep over his fangs with a muffled groan. She giggled deep in her throat and her hands went to his tank shirt. As she tried to pull it off, her hands brushed against the cut on his stomach and he snarled in pain. Moving almost at the speed of light, he pulled his hands from under her shirt and grabbed her by the back of the head.
"That hurt." He slammed her head against the wall again to make his point, and she whimpered. He looked into her eyes, and now they were wet with tears and held an undeniable fear.
< Oh...God. > He felt his demon side shy away from his complete horror at what he'd done, the come screaming back. He snarled and let her go.
"I can't...I'm losing control? Willow, go." As he dropped to the floor she gasped and nearly touched his arm, but he shoved her away. "I might hurt you, Willow. Please."
She sobbed shallowly, but she backed away.
Before he collapsed on the floor, he saw the look of deep pain on her face, and he growled.
* * *
< Oh God. Oh God. Oh God? > As Willow made her way down the dark hall, feeling her way with her fingers, she realized that she was sobbing. Her tears were running slowly and steadily down her face, catching on her lips, then falling to dampen the neckline of her long-sleeved shirt.
She caught some, then licked her own salty tears off her fingertips. It woke her up from her daze, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. She collapsed onto the floor, her back against the nearest wall.
"Shit," she whispered. Then she caught sight of something in the blackness of the wall in front of her.
It was a bright white light, and she realized in the back of her head that she was having a vision. In the middle of the field of light she could dimly see two figures.
It was Buffy and Spike, and they were fighting. Buffy delivered a swift kick to Spike's back, but he rolled under her and grabbed her leg. She fell to the ground, cursing, and then pulled him on top of her.
On top of the stake. As Willow watched in horror, Spike exploded into a fine gray dust.
As the light faded, she buried her head in her arms and cried.
* * *
Spike slowly regained his equilibrium, and he stood up unsteadily. His demon side was no longer completely controlling him, but he could still feel it hovering under the surface.
Swallowing the blood in his mouth from Willow's tongue, he groaned and began to walk into the hall. < I?ve gotta find her, > he thought hazily. < I've gotta...save her. From whatever is doing this. > He passed a mirror, then gasped.
Peering into it...he could see himself. Not his own face looking back at him, but himself in a field of blinding whiteness. As he watched, he saw himself grin and turn to a wall made of solid light. He pulled an emanciated girl away from it in chains and brushed her dull, stringy hair away from her neck.
It was Willow.
< No no no no no... > Spike could tell what came next, and his usually unbeating heart was pounding away in his chest. He moaned as he watched himself grab Willow cruelly by the back of the head and sink his fangs into her neck.
The Spike in the mirror was obviously savoring this kill, and as he pulled himself away from the mirror-Willow, he stroked her dying face in some sick parody of affection.
As the light died in her eyes, Spike sunk to the floor and felt tears slide down his face.
* * *
Buffy slammed the door behind her and shrieked as something pounded on it. Demons, zombies, vampires...whatever they were, they wanted her, for some reason. It was like...some sort of nightmare.
She gasped at the revelation, then looked around the room, checking to make sure nothing evil or nightmarish had followed her up there. Instead, she found herself staring at the dozens of kids huddled in corners, shaking or silently sobbing, their bodies shaking like leaves.
She ran over to the nearest wall as she recognized one of the shivering bodies. She pulled the boy to his feet and grabbed his face as he began to snarl at her.
"Oz! Are you...Oz?"
He stopped shaking as he looked at her, then down at his own hands. "I wasn't. For a while there. Where's Will?" He paled, looking around the room for her.
"I'd volunteer to help look for her, but you guys wouldn't hear me anyway. Cause I?m not good enough for you to see now that you're in college." Buffy and Oz looked over as Xander?s voice, heavy with bitterness, floated over to them.
"We can see you, Xander," Buffy said gently. He looked up at her, and she nodded in conformation.
Xander let out a breath. "Good," he said softly. "Where's Willow?" All of a sudden there was a chainsaw sound at the door. Buffy shrieked and jumped back as she remembered the dead people she'd seen out that very door, but then she sighed in relief as Giles burst through the door like an insane fireman.
Oz shook his head, and Buffy heard him mutter under his breath. "Man, that was some really strong pot..." She grinned.
"Giles. This is certainly a relief."
"Certainly is." Xander looked suddenly worried. "You can see me, right?"
Giles nodded. "What's going on?"
A big white fluffy thing suddenly ran into the room, throwing it's arms around Xander's neck. "Xander! You're okay!"
Xander blushed, then pulled away from Anya, staring at her oddly. "Uh..."
She let him go. "What?" she asked testily.
He shook his head. "Uh...nothing."
"Willow's missing." Oz sounded irritated that no one else had brought it up.
"So's Spike." Buffy looked around the room once more.
Giles grit his teeth. "I meant, why did all the doors disappear and why are there dozens of children cowering on the floor. Perhaps finding that out would be the best way to go about this."
"Oh." Buffy looked at the floor. "I don't know. It's like that time all our nightmares came true. But way, way worse."
Giles pointed to something on the floor. "And that is?"
It was a pentagram with strange symbols painted around it, and it was glowing. Suddenly Giles gasped.
"Of course! It's..." He stopped in midsentence to swallow nervously.
"Well, what is it?" Buffy cried anxiously. "A bad coven? Some demons? What?"
"It's Gachnar, the fear demon."
Xander smirked. "Demon, huh? Buffy can handle those."
Giles glared at him, then picked up an open book lying next to the circle. As they each looked at the picture entitled 'Gachnar,' they shuddered.
"Okay, I don't want to fight that," Buffy stated firmly.
Oz broke away. "Do you hear...Will!"
He ran over to the opposite wall, and the others followed him.
Spike and Willow sat side by side against the wall, both of them crying softly. They didn't look at each other, but as Oz pulled Willow to her feet and into his arms with a muffled cry of helpless anguish, they both shook as if suddenly hit.
"What...Oz?" She sounded hopeful, and Oz enfolded her in his arms.
Spike rose unsteadily, and Buffy helped pull him up. She didn?t comment as he slowly wiped the tears from his cheeks and looked at her.
"What's goin' on?" he asked hoarsely.
"A demon named Gachnar is attempting to come into out world. It says here that he feeds...feeds off of fears, to manifest himself," Giles called from across the room.
Spike swallowed and composed himself. "So lets kill it," he said finally.
"No, thank you," Buffy drawled. "Let's find a way to keep it out of this world, so that there's no unneccesary slayage, okay?"
"That's easy enough," Giles announced. "There are many ways to keep Gachnar from entering into this world. Destroying his portal--"
Buffy walked over and calmy stamped a hole in the middle of the pentagram, then looked up at Giles for praise.
"--is not one of them," he continued.
"Eep?" Willow offered.
A bright white light grew in the middle of the circle, and Gachnar began to rise...
To about three inches.
"Huh," Oz said.
Spike leaned down and poked the fear demon on the head like he would an interesting mouse. "He's a tiny litt'l bloke, ain't he?"
"Fear me!" Gachnar yelled at them. "I am the dark lord of nightmares! You will cower before me! You will--"
Buffy crushed him calmly under her white sneaker. "Home?" she inquired of the gang.
Willow and Spike's tear-streaked gazes met. Then they slowly turned back to Buffy. Willow tried to nod cheerfully. "Yup. Home."
* * *
Spike woke from a dreamless sleep at three in the afternoon. Wandering into the living room, he stopped and looked at the empty mirror on the wall. He'd kept it there because he thought it was ironic.
Now he saw nothing in it, and it made him think of his vision. Him. Willow. His teeth buried in her neck.
Her dead and empty eyes.
"No more," he murmured to himself. "You're staying away from her." But even in his heart he didn't believe it.
THE END!
Next one soon! I swear!