Under the Forbidden Sun
Part 5 – Confrontations
Spike yawned sleepily as he stared out the window of Jericho’s Thunderbird. The windows were tinted, so he didn’t have to worry about frying in the afternoon sun. Xander snored peacefully next to him on the back seat and Jericho was driving. They’d been in the car for about fourteen hours and Spike wondered if the gang in Sunnydale knew they were gone yet.
By now Doyle would’ve found them and no matter what Jericho said, Spike was certain the half-demon had spilled his guts about everything. Even though Spike still wasn’t quite sure what everything was. Xander moved against him and Spike wrapped his arms around the boy. Xander settled back down and Spike returned to his contemplation of the boring countryside.
Jericho looked in the rearview mirror and saw Xander cradled by air. She smiled at the strange picture, then asked, “You okay back there?”
Spike grumbled, “I’ll be fine as long as you don’t wake Nummy. Though we should probably have a pit stop soon so the boy can get something to eat. And I need blood.”
“No problem. We’ll be hitting a gas station within a half an hour. Xander can get some food and I’m sure we can find you a trucker, or something.”
Oz walked the streets silently, wondering why the hell he was back in Sunnydale. When he left, he had hoped to never return, but then the mistress called and he knew he couldn’t ignore her.
He pondered that a bit. She had found him when he thought all was lost and he would never gain control of the wolf. He had been considering ending it all when she showed up, with her promises of absolute control and immortality. That was truly seductive, the siren call of forever, no worries of that stray silver bullet or a damn silver knife. When he agreed, she informed him of the price.
When she called, he was to come, to serve her higher purpose. He knew who the others were and wondered how they would react. He had been surprised to see one of the others, until he understood that one’s importance. One, he knew, would jump at the chance to change everything, but he seriously wondered about the other two.
Oz heard a squeal that brought him out of his musings. Cordelia Chase.
“Oz! Oh my god!”
“Cordelia.”
“What are you doing here? Does anyone know you’re here?”
“Nothing and no,” he said.
“Willow’s going to be so happy to see you!” she squealed. “She’s been so worried about you!”
“Oh,” Oz briefly weighed his options, then decided no one should know he was here, not until he met with the mistress. “You alone?”
“Yeah, on patrol. Gunn’s around somewhere, and Willow and Tara are in the next cemetery, I think. Why?”
Oz’s reply was to wolf out.
“Oz? What are you…” her startled words were cut off by a clawed hand ripping out her throat. Oz ripped and clawed at Cordelia’s body, then he regained his human form. He watched the last life die from her eyes, then walked off into the night.
Xander woke in the car, looking around sleepily. Spike was outside smoking, and Jericho was nowhere to be seen. “Spike.” Xander whispered. “Spike! Get in here!”
Spike flicked the butt out into the dusk, then slipped back into the car. “What, Pet?”
“How the hell did we get here?”
Spike stared at Xander incredulously. “Whatcha mean?”
“I mean, isn’t this a little weird? Her taking the chip out, me agreeing to come and probably destroy my blood-family! The whole binding ceremony! Doesn’t that bother you? ‘Cause I kinda feel like a sheep here!”
“A sheep, Pet?” Spike snickered.
“Yeah, Bleach-head, a sheep, someone who mindlessly goes along with whatever they’re told to, no arguments, no questions. And I don’t like it. This is not my choice,” he batted at the earring. “Why the hell would I want to bind myself to some unknown demon?”
Spike just stared at Xander for a moment, “Because you can’t refuse her. When she calls, you come. To defy her is to die. Hell, Pet, I’m the Big Bad! I haven’t taken orders from anyone since my poncey sire abandoned us.” Spike took Xander’s hand and looked deep into the chocolate pools of his eyes. “The first time I ever met her, I reacted the same way you are now, it was probably worse, because Dru kept saying how the stars whispered secrets about the pretty stranger and how the lines of time bowed before her. Hell, mate, I was out of my mind with fear when she first came to me.”
“What about the favor? What did you do for her?” asked Xander, equally frightened of and curious about Jericho.
“Rather not go into that right now, Pet. It’s still a touchy subject.”
“So, now what? Is she gonna keep controlling us?”
“No, Pet. Like she said, she has mindless
obedience. When she has companions, she
finds it intriguing when they don’t always just jump to do what she says. Makes things interesting.”
“What about Doyle? What’s wrong with him?” Xander remembered the terrified look on the half-demon’s face. “Oh, God, Doyle! He’s been spying for her this whole time! Spike, we have to tell the others! They have to know!”
“No, that’s not a good idea.” Xander jumped at the voice. He nervously looked at Jericho, who was standing right outside of the car. “Now, Xander, I thought we had a deal.”
“I didn’t know what I was getting into. You tricked me.”
“Xander,” Jericho purred, “that’s what makes it fun. Where’s the excitement without coercion and other devious means?” She looked at the boy for a minute, “This is what you want in your heart, you know. All I do is look to see what you want and I give it to you. I can never force you to do anything you don’t really want to do.”
“Oh,” Xander felt confused. His mind was telling him to believe her, but his instincts were yelling for him to get away.
She captured his eyes, boring into them with her own, “Trust me, Xander, and nothing will go wrong again.”
Xander felt like he was drowning in violets, “I trust you.”
Spike watched sadly, knowing this had to happen, but still wishing that it could’ve been avoided. Jericho looked at the vampire. He bowed his head and gathered the now unconscious Xander into his arms. She smiled and got into the car.
“Cordy? Where are ya, babe?” Gunn called, slightly worried. He returned to where she’d last been, then stood for a moment, shocked beyond all belief.
He stared in mute horror at the slashed and torn body before him. “Oh, god, Cordy! What happened?” he asked, hoping desperately for an answer, yet knowing it was too late. Suddenly frightened that the killer would return, he fumbled out his cell phone and called an ambulance, telling the operator that his girlfriend had been mauled by some animals.
Then Gunn called Willow and Tara and told them to get to the hospital. He looked at his phone, knowing he needed to call and tell Angel, and the others, but held off. Angel would be distraught; the broody vampire had considered Cordelia to be like a sister.
Finally, after a minute or two of hesitation, he called. Giles answered the phone and Gunn briefly considered letting Giles tell Angel, but he knew he would have to be the one. “Can I talk to Angel?”
“Of course,” Giles replied, getting Angel.
“Gunn? It’s Angel. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Cordy. She was… attacked.”
“By what? Is she alright?”
“I don’t know what, man. And no, she’s, she’s dead. The ambulance is here. Can you meet me at the hospital? I already called the girls.”
Angel stared at the phone, not registering the fact that Gunn had hung up. Giles and Wesley were watching him, worried. Doyle was sitting in the same place he’d been for the last few hours.
“Angel?” asked Wesley, worried. Giles went up to Angel and carefully took the phone from his hand, then hung it up.
“That was Gunn,” Angel said. He dropped eyes to the floor. “Something’s happened to Cordy. We have to go to the hospital.” The again was left unsaid, but both Giles and Wesley heard the unspoken word clearly.
Doyle, taking notice of his surroundings again, shuddered and said, “It’s begun. We have to leave!”
“Doyle? What are you talking about? What’s begun?” asked Angel, startled out of his cloud of despair.
“Can’t tell you. It’s bad, we have to leave!”
“We can’t leave. We’ve got to find out what’s going on,” Angel said firmly.
Doyle turned his gaze to Angel, yelling, “The world rebirth will destroy all you know. We have to leave before it’s too late!”
“The world rebirth? Is that what the prophecy is about?” asked Giles.
Doyle turned wild eyes on Giles, “You have the prophecy? Do you know what it means? Do you know who will do this?”
“No,” Giles admitted, “we haven’t had much of a chance to work on it.”
“Then leave! Gather up whoever’s left and leave!”
“We can’t. We have to stop this,” said Angel, worried about the half-demon.
“Can’t stop it!”
Angel looked at Doyle for a moment, the motioned for Wesley and Giles to follow him.
“I have to go to the hospital. Wes, can you stay with Doyle? I’m worried about him.”
“Of course, Angel,” Wesley said.
“Giles, I want you to come with me. In case you can figure out what attacked Cordy.”
“Yes, of course.” Giles turned to Wesley with a request of his own, “Can you check up on Buffy, as well? She’s still not doing well.”
“Yes, the last thing we need is someone committing suicide,” said Wesley pragmatically. “Now, don’t look at me that way. She just lost her boyfriend and her sister. We need to be prepared.”
“Yes, you’re right. Angel, shall we?”
When Giles and Angel arrived at the hospital, Willow immediately latched onto Giles. He took one look at her and instantly understood that she knew exactly what had killed Cordelia.
“Werewolf,” was all she said when she finally let go of Giles.
“You’re certain?” She just looked at him tearfully. “Of course, I’m sorry.”
“They’re saying it was a pack of wild dogs,” said Gunn. “Damn this town.”
“There haven’t been werewolves around here since Oz and Veruca. Is there a new one, or did one of those two return?” asked Giles.
“I don’t know,” whispered Willow. “I haven’t heard from Oz since he left. I think Xander was writing to him, though. Maybe we should ask him.”
“Good idea,” said Giles. Then he thought of something, “You know, I haven’t seen Spike or Xander since they took Jericho to their place last night. Have you seen them?”
“N-no,” said Tara. “Just you guys.”
“Well, we best get over to their place then, hadn’t we?” said Giles, as they left the hospital.