Chapter 5: The First Night
Buffy wandered about the small restaurant, absentmindedly checking the mantelpiece of the large fireplace that took up one wall for dust. Nope, clean as a whistle. And, really, now that she thought about it, why exactly were whistles clean? And, speaking of clean whistles, why had Spike completely ignored her through the entire meeting? Was it because he and Dawn were together?
Even she managed to flinch at that horrible segue. With a sigh, she sat down on the large family table in the center of the room. All right, she could admit it. She was obsessing over Spike. And, really, it made perfect sense. After all, sexy guy claims to be in love with you, gives you hours after hours of the best sex of your life, then you’re stupid enough to turn psycho abuser and nearly kill him in a back alley so he leaves town for good, never even stopping by to say good-bye – that sort of thing just tends to preoccupy a girl.
And the only hope of distraction she had – namely, Leopard-Ho.er, what was her name again? Oh yeah, Veronica – was too busy reading some fashion magazine over at the far side of the room to start up any kind of conversation.
Remember that conversation Spike always wanted to have with you? Her persistent mind made yet another whiplash-inducing change in thought. Bet it would’ve been sweet. Bet he would’ve looked up at you with those big soulful soulless eyes and told you how much he loved you and-Argh!
OK, that was absolutely enough! Leopard-Skank had just volunteered for a chat, whether she liked it or not.
“Not much happening,” Buffy commented, wandering about the dining area once more.
A perfectly sculpted auburn eyebrow rose in response. “How very observant of you,” Veronica replied in a bored manner.
“Maybe stuff’s happening elsewhere?” Hell, even the sound of her own voice was better than being left alone with her thoughts.
“Fascinating.” Veronica’s tone practically oozed sarcasm.
Buffy scowled at the other woman. “You know, if we’re going to be stuck here together all night-” she began.
“Oh, spare me!” Veronica sighed in annoyance, dropping her magazine on the white tablecloth before her. “I don’t need the ‘let’s all get along’ speech.”
Buffy began to seethe inwardly. God, could this woman get any more pompous and self-centered? Not to mention: major skank-wear. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she retorted, her voice even more sarcastic if that were possible, “did you want to have that mega-ho outfit of yours sliced up into itty-bitty pieces by random shards of glass while you crawl, lungs gasping with blood, to your death? Silly me, and here I thought our working together actually served a purpose.”
“Mega-ho?!” Veronica seemed to only pick up on that part of Buffy’s tirade. “This coming from a precious little girl, dressed in fluffy pink bunny garb?” Her gaze scanned up and down Buffy’s pale pink blouse and billowy white slacks before she snorted in disgust. “That outfit when out of style around preschool, sweetie.”
“At least I’m not wearing a skinned cat!” Buffy bit right back. “Or, more like not wearing one, excuse me!”
“Well, check out the scandalized little virgin,” Veronica let out a cold peel of laughter. “Here’s a tip, doll.” She leaned forward and patted Buffy’s cheek condescendingly. “If you want to ever catch yourself a man, you might try for something a little less.” she snorted in a ladylike fashion as she appraised Buffy’s wardrobe once more, “.vanilla.”
“And you might wanna go for something that doesn’t shout out ‘I’m a two-cent whore’!” Buffy bit right back.
“Your friend seemed to enjoy it,” Veronica retorted nastily.
Buffy’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she just shook her head. “What are you talking about?” she demanded.
“Oh, puh-leeze!” Veronica rolled her eyes heavenwards. “You think I didn’t see you drooling all over him? Some slight subtlety might pay off, dear.”
“This coming from you?” Buffy couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Cheap-and-easy’s probably your middle name!”
“The fact of the matter remains,” Veronica countered sweetly, “that he wanted me, and he didn’t even look twice at you. Spike.” The name fell off her lips with a contented murmur. “Bet he’s loads of fun in the sack. I’ll enjoy taking him for a test-drive. Don’t worry though, honey,” she patted Buffy’s hand with a wicked smile, “I’ll be sure to save you whatever leftovers there are when I’m done with him.”
Buffy didn’t even know where it had come from. All she knew was that Spike had been her friend and confidant and lover, and that he was loyal and loving and had already been used far, far too often, and for this bitch to talk about him like that.
Veronica crashed back into the far wall of the room with the force of Buffy’s blow. The plaster split with the force, and the other woman fell to the floor in a heap, her head lolling about loosely in unconsciousness.
In an instant, the red fury that had enveloped Buffy’s vision faded, and she gasped in horror at what she’d done. She was at Veronica’s side almost immediately, checking the other woman’s pulse, hoping beyond hope.
“Ugh.” the other woman moaned, causing Buffy to breathe a sigh of relief. “What on earth was.?” She trailed off, wide-eyed when she looked up at Buffy for the first time. “Wh-What on earth is that?” She pointed with a shaky finger right at Buffy’s face.
“What?” Buffy felt her features in alarm, but nothing seemed out of place.
“Y-You’re not human!” Veronica announced, scrambling away.
“I’m a Slayer,” Buffy explained the source of her surprising strength.
Veronica shook her head. “No, your eyes,” she almost whimpered. “I saw it in them. The devil.”
* * *
“Paraguay,” Lena said in a husky voice, her antennae practically fluttering with excitement. “It sounds so.exotic.” She placed a not-so-inconspicuous hand on Ricardo’s thigh, causing him to inch backwards slightly in alarm.
Not that he had anything against green lizard-skinned demons with twitching antennae, mind you. In fact, he was sure that her antennae were.lovely, in the eyes of some. (And just how were they staying at a human resort without attracting attention anyway?) It was the married part that really threw him for a loop. Especially since her eternally-binding, ’til-death-do-us-part mate was practically breathing down the back of his neck in a jealous rage.
“Lena,” Xel practically hissed, his own antennae reddening with rage, “can’t you at least pretend to restrain yourself?”
She cast her husband an annoyed glance and inched towards Ricardo once more. “Ricardo Salvatore,” she rolled the ‘R’s on her tongue. “Such a.strong name.” Her fingers drifted to a place that they had absolutely no right to touch.
With an uncharacteristic yelp, Ricardo leapt to his feet and sat himself down at one of the other white tables that circled the resort’s spacious swimming pool. The only light in the room came from the pool lights, creating an eerie green wave pattern of darker and lighter shadows that covered the walls around them. They made the entire room seem like it was shimmering with supernatural luminescence, reflecting off the demon pair’s ebony eyes like flecks of emerald. It made the rage on Xel’s face look even more dangerous.
“So, boy,” Xel hissed angrily, his forked tongue snapping between his teeth. The gesture looked particularly eerie and out of place given that the rest of the D’vorak’s facial features were humanoid, “why don’t we make a little deal?”
“Xel, be nice!” Lena exclaimed indignantly, gripping her mate’s arm roughly to hold him back.
“I’ll not have you cheating on me right under my nose!” Xel roared at her furiously.
“Me?!” Lena snapped back in retaliation. “Don’t think I didn’t see how you were checking out that brunette this evening! Why, if anyone-“
“Perhaps we could search the other rooms for unusual activity?” Ricardo spoke up hesitantly, hoping to break-up the impending fight.
“What an excellent idea,” Lena practically beamed at him. “Why don’t you ever come up with ideas like that?” She turned a sharp eye in Xel’s direction.
“Maybe if I didn’t have to keep a constant eye on you, I would’ve!” Xel retorted.
“I don’t need you to baby-sit me!” Lena scowled. “I’m your mate, not a delinquent childe!”
“If you actually started behaving like my mate, then maybe-“
“I’m going to check the saunas,” Ricardo said quietly, standing up and walking calmly from the room.
“See? Now look at what you’ve done!” Lena practically screeched.
“Me?! You’re the one who started it!” Xel retorted.
Ricardo shook his head as he exited the room and, in the process, the ever-present pair of black sunglasses he wore – even now, in the pitch-black of night – fell down the bridge of his nose. Had either Xel or Lena been paying attention, they would’ve seen the brief flash of red in the young man’s eyes before the glasses were returned to their proper position and he vanished through the doors at the end of the hall.
* * *
Bob took a deep swig out of his rusty old flask, tipping his head far back to allow the rough liquid to burn down his throat.
“Bobby!” John’s voice shouted out through the blackness of the forest. “Where you gone off to?”
“Right behind you, bro!” Bob shouted out, stalking through the dense undergrowth in the direction of his brother’s voice. He came upon Tucker first, and the seasoned hunter merely acknowledged him with a gruff nod as he lit up his cigar end.
“There you are,” a Southern twang entered John’s voice at his irritation. “We’ve been waitin’ for you for nearly five minutes.”
“Got caught up is all,” Bob insisted.
John gave him a skeptical look. “Caught up drinkin’ is more like it,” he accused.
“You know me better’n that, Johnny,” Bob defended him. “I don’t drink on the job.”
“Except down in Mexico,” John retorted.
“That was a long time ago,” Bob insisted.
“And I got my suspicions about Montana.”
The conversation froze to a halt then when Tucker abruptly raised one hand in a gesture of silence. The third member of their party was a man of few words, but his simplest gestures spoke volumes and were regarded with the utmost respect.
For a minute, they all just stood, surrounded by complete silence. In the cold of the winter, the normal nighttime sounds of the forest were muffled to nothing. It felt as though the entire world had vanished and all that existed was the completely still snowy clearing and the deep dark shadows of trees that faded off into oblivion on all sides.
“What?” John finally ventured to ask when no purpose for their sudden silence could be ascertained.
“Somethin’s out there,” Tucker said matter-of-factly, eyes narrowing as they tried to pierce the darkness.
Bob gripped his rifle so tightly his knuckles were turning white. No matter how much of a tough-guy act he put on, the story he’d heard that night had scared him shitless. “Where?” he demanded, forcing down the nervousness in his voice.
Tucker merely shook his head, scanning the surrounding forest in vain. “It’s out here,” was all he could say.
“Let’s go,” John announced, his own voice a hushed whisper in the still of the night. “I don’t want that thing watching us.”
Bob and Tucker nodded, falling in behind John in formation, the barrels of their guns aimed menacingly at the even more menacing forest around them. It was only after they had vanished from the clearing, however, that a shadowy figure slipped between the trees, its movements as silent as a tiger on the prowl. It paused right over where the men had stood, red eyes noting their footprints in the snow and cautiously sniffing the cold night air. Satisfied that the hunting party had once more moved on, it disappeared back into the forest as easily as if it had been one of the trees.
* * *
“I have had enough!” Lena practically shrieked. Brushing aside her mate’s arm, she stalked off in the direction Ricardo had gone, her antennae twitching in irritation.
“Not nearly enough,” Xel growled deep in his throat, cutting her off once more. “And I won’t have you running off with him!”
“Try and stop me,” Lena retorted menacingly, her hands balling into fists.
Xel’s eyes narrowed in response, his own body coiled to strike.
And then, suddenly, his eyes widened in horror. Lena noticed it at the same time, and her own anger dissipated as fear took its place.
The ghostly green waves of the pool that had illuminated their little argument had suddenly turned blood red, the light that now surrounded them looking like the fiery depths of hell.
Despite their fear, the demon couple turned to face the pool, only to find the water there the same tranquil blue it had always been. The light around them continued to close in with crimson menace, however, the pale red glow darkening to a deep, rich maroon that seemed to ooze down the walls, making it look as though the room were dripping blood. As the thickened red darkened to complete black, there was a moment of complete darkness before, suddenly, everything was normal once more.
Chlorinated waves lapped against the sides of the pool, reflecting greenish shadows upon the walls, and Xel and Lena turned to look at each other before running off after Ricardo. Only he was nowhere to be found.
* * *
With a final heave of effort, Buffy managed to lift Veronica up onto her bed. The other woman had drifted off into unconsciousness just after her cryptic and disturbing remarks, leaving it up to the Slayer to drag her all the way back to her room. Fortunately, Buffy had quickly found the tackily-dressed woman’s room key, indicating both where they should head and allowing Buffy to get her inside.
Buffy frowned at the number. 147. Something was important about that number. She just couldn’t seem to shake it from her head, like something important had happened in this room. She made mental note to check over Simon’s charts again; it was quite possibly the site of one of the ‘accidents’.
Veronica’s head lolled back on the pillow as she favored the side of her face without the nasty purple bruise. Buffy flinched inwardly at the thought that she had caused such a thing. She had been a Slayer for fourteen years now and knew her strength perfectly. She had never accidentally harmed someone like this, especially not a human. But tonight. Something had happened; she had lost control.
There was nothing unusual about her anger at Veronica, that was for sure. The other woman was crass, rude, and entirely too full of herself. She just naturally put Buffy on edge. And probably the worst way to piss her off right now was to comment on her non-relationship with Spike. That wound was older and deeper than any other Veronica could’ve possibly happened upon.
But then Veronica had started talking about Spike like.like he was nothing, just a fuck-toy to be used and then cast aside, and Buffy’s blood had started boiling with rage and then.
It hadn’t happened it years. Honestly, it hadn’t. Holden had been helping her with that. Because one night, in a dark alley seven years ago, Buffy had hated herself so much that she’d taken it out on someone she cared about, beaten them to a bloody pulp because she saw things in them that she feared and loathed in herself.
“Spike.”
Not since Spike. But tonight it had happened again, Buffy forced herself to admit. She was practically the poster girl for using Spike for cheap sex, and she hated herself for it. And thus she had hated Veronica for it, too, and now.
“No,” she whispered to herself. “I’m not like that anymore. I-I’m not.”
With the beginnings of tears in her eyes, she darted from the room.
Veronica cautiously opened one of her eyes when she heard the other woman exit. She confirmed that she was, in fact, alone and breathed a sigh of relief. Because, no matter what the other girl thought or believed, Veronica had seen it the Slayer’s eyes in that moment before she struck. Just for a second, right at the moment when Buffy was consumed with uncontrollable rage, the pupils of her eyes had glowed a deep, threatening red.
* * *
“Gin,” Dawn announced, splaying her cards out on the table.
Spike groaned and tossed his own hand down in defeat. “I know you’re cheatin’ somehow,” he accused. A click and a hiss and the flame from his lighter brightened the dim overhead light above them, creating a moment of brightness until he’d lit the cigarette between his lips and extinguished the silver Zippo.
“And who’s the one who taught me to cheat?” Dawn retorted coyly.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Must’ve gotten some tricks from somewhere else,” he insisted.
“Or maybe you’re just getting slow and decrepit in your old age,” Dawn patted his hand teasingly.
Spike mock-huffed and shuffled the cards between his hands, his movements as quick and precise as any professional dealer. Dawn made sure to keep one eye on those hands just in case; one could never be too careful when playing cards with a demon.even if there wasn’t anything at stake. That, and thinking about these sorts of trivial things built up her courage for.
“How are you doing?” Dawn asked softly, finally broaching the question that had hung between them all night.
Spike thought on that for a moment, his hands only faltering for a second before they picked up their even shuffling motions once more. “Not too bad,” he finally decided.
The top card from the deck landed on the table in front of Dawn with a snap, and she immediately scooped it up. ” ‘Not too bad’?” she repeated curiously.
Spike flicked out the rest of their hands with blinding speed, occasionally landing a card on the back of Dawn’s hand as she tried to beat his super speed, just because he could. A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. “Thought I’d freak out, y’know?” he clarified. “Thought it’d be this big thing.”
“And it’s not?” Dawn asked curiously.
He frowned. “It is, but it isn’t.” He shrugged helplessly and began to rearrange his cards. “She was.”
“Not bitchy?” Dawn provided with an amused smile.
“Ah, you noticed it, too,” Spike agreed with a grin. “Woulda hardly recognized her without the holier-than-thou I’m-in-charge attitude and the woe-is-me look in ‘er eyes.”
Dawn nodded. “She seemed different,” she agreed. “But I guess.” She trailed off at the painful memory. “That kind of thing has to change a person. I mean, losing all your friends.especially like that.”
Spike nodded grimly.
“So, you’re not too freaked?” Dawn pressed further. “Because if you still wanna go.”
“‘m fine, sweetness,” he assured her. “Looks like things are finally over between us, y’know? No hard feelin’s.”
“Yeah,” Dawn agreed automatically. Her skeptical eyes watched his face intently as he continued to fiddle with his cards, however.
“‘sides,” Spike added with a grin, “it’d be a shame to come all this way and not meet this nasty.”
“If it ever decides to show itself,” Dawn agreed with a smile.
Spike let out a put-upon sigh at that. “This has to be the slowest night ever,” he agreed, discarding the six of diamonds.
With a mischievous little smile, Dawn snatched it right up.
* * *
Buffy raced down the hall towards her room, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She had thought she was over this. She’d been working so hard, learning to accept herself, getting to know herself all over again. And now this.
She came to a stop in the middle of the hallway and forced herself to take a deep breath. Panicking won’t help anything, she reminded herself. So you’ve still got some issues. Everyone does. Just call Holden in the morning and be prepared to try to work this out some more. Don’t deny it, just try to make things better.
Her internal pep talk wasn’t having much of an effect. Tears were still running down her cheeks in rivulets, and she wiped at them helplessly. And then.
The melody had started off so faintly that she barely even heard it. It was just a whisper at first, deep and low and soothing to the soul.
Her sniffles came to a halt as she tried to make out whether she was imagining the ghostly chords or not. However, the haunting harmonies were more clear now, drawing her deeper into the calming piece.
Cautiously, she followed the sound down the corridor, searching for the source of the beautiful, elegant tones that seemed to heal her very heart. The piano chords grew louder as she approached the sitting room right off of the lobby, and she cautiously peered around the corner of the door that really should’ve been closed and locked at this hour.
A gasp escaped her lips at the sight therein. A ghostly specter sat at the piano, translucent white outlines dimly visible in the otherwise pitch-black room. So mesmerized was she by the soulful melody that accompanied the movements of its spidery fingertips that she didn’t even think to move closer and catch this spook in the act.
Her eyes squinted as she tried to better make out the apparition in the dim light, but then she heard the sound of a door slamming down the hall. She turned to look in response, but when her eyes returned to the piano, the mysterious player had vanished.
A thoughtful frown on her face, accompanied by a strange feeling of peace deep inside, Buffy returned to her room, puzzling over the eventful night.
* * *
“So,” Spike commented, closing the door to his and Dawn’s suite behind him, “you spot anything?”
“Upstairs was all clear,” Dawn sighed. “You?”
“Nothin’ outta the ordinary here, either,” Spike agreed. “Guess there really was nothin’ goin’ on tonight.”
It wasn’t until the next morning that they found out how wrong they were.