Continuation

There! It smelled the stench of hope and courage. The scent was so strong, so offensive to its senses, Garoth felt all eight of its stomachs twist and turn in disgust. Fighting the urge to gag, Garoth let out a roar as it raced into the cave.

“My you look so tasty in a lettuce sort of way, all green and white. Definitely a must eat before dessert,” Buffy purred as she picked up the bear-like man and stroked his cheek with her fingernails. “A little hairy for my taste, but then again, this is the first time I’ll be doing this so beggars can’t be choosers.”

Then Buffy frowned as she thought about what she said. “Or may I should say you look good in a Brussels sprout way. Or is it a kiwi way? Or is it some other veggie that I’m thinking of?”

“But then again who cares? Not like you’re gonna live long to find out what I mean,” Buffy shrugged nonchalantly. Then she grinned as she saw the scar on his face whiten. “And your fear smells like a really great pot roast that Mom sometimes makes.”

“Vampire, let me go,” Niall gasped as he felt the vampire’s nails scrape his cheek. “I will not harm the wench if you let me go.”

“Damn right you won’t hurt the wench,” Buffy sneered as she tapped the man’s nose. “Hard to harm someone once you’re dead. Isn’t it? Unless you’re a vampire, of course.”

Joyce stared at her daughter as Buffy casually caressed Niall’s cheek. She tried to get closer to her, but was held back. She twisted slightly to see Rupert holding her back and shaking his head at her. “You’re not going anywhere near her, love. She’s a vampire.”

“No! Not Buffy!” Joyce said as she shook her head violently. Desperate, she called out to her child. “Buffy! You can’t-“

“Oh, Mom! Why not? It’ll be fun!” Buffy called out as she turned and smiled at her mother, revealing her sharp fangs. “And then it’ll be your turn. Or maybe it’ll be Giles’s.” Her yellow eyes narrowed as she looked at her Watcher. “Still can’t keep your hands off my mother, can you? Maybe you will if I rip your hands off.”

Shoving Joyce behind him, Ripper grinned at her as he put up his fists. “Think that you can do it, Buffy? Beat me?”

“With one arm behind my back, old man,” Buffy sneered as she grabbed Niall’s head and casually broke his neck. Throwing the body aside, she dusted her hands off. “Like you said once, let’s have at it.”

“Oh, this is just bloody wonderful,” Ethan groused as he saw the Slayer break a Neanderthal’s neck. “We still have a psycho vampire Slayer in our midst.” Then he winched as he saw Ripper rush at her. “Not to mention an ex-librarian that brings a whole new definition to the term mid-life crisis.”

His face contorted as he saw the vampire Slayer lift Ripper up and throw him against the wall. In that instant, he knew that he couldn’t stand by and watch the Slayer slay Ripper, no matter how much he hated him at the moment. As he ran towards the girl he thought, “Well, this can’t get any worse!”

“Joyce! No!” Joao screamed as her friend started towards her daughter. She started to go after her when a she was tackled from behind. “Francois! We must stop Joyce-”

“Non, ma coeur! Non!” shouted Grilliot as he held on to her. “Joyce does not believe her daughter is a vampire now! We cannot risk our lives for her! We must escape!”

“No! I will not leave Joyce to be killed!” Joao shouted as she wrenched herself away from Francois. She looked at her lover pleadingly. “Please, my love! She is my friend-I cannot leave her!”

“Joao! Her daughter will kill you!” Francois shouted as he grabbed her by her shoulders. “Do you understand that?”

Desperate, Joao pushed him away. “I understand that! But I also understand that Joyce helped me to finally face Niall and his whip. And that her daughter is the Slayer and that vampire or not, her daughter is the best chance we have of obtaining eternal peace!”

“Buffy!” Joyce screamed as she ran towards her daughter and Rupert. In a blur, she felt someone go by and tackled her daughter. “Buffy! Stop!”

As the two figures rolled on the ground, Joyce raced towards Rupert to see if her were hurt, but the man immediately stood up and leapt back into the fray against her daughter. Wildly desperate, Joyce grabbed a flying arm as she screamed, “RIPPER! Stop! Stop-Ooof!”

“Oh, that hurt!” Joyce moaned dazedly as she found herself on the floor then swept away by a pair of frantic hands.

“Joyce, are you all right?” Joao asked as she touched Joyce’s face tenderly.

“Mon Dieu! Woman you are insane!” Francois exclaimed as he stood behind Joao. “You could have been killed!”

“I’ll live,” Joyce said shortly as she worked her jaw. Then she saw Rupert try to hold on to Buffy as Ethan’s fist rear back and Buffy smiling as she saw it coming towards her. Ripping herself away from Joao and Grilliot, she shouted, “Rupert! Look out!”

Distracted, Ripper looked up and then saw stars as a large fist connected with his chin. Reeling away, he looked up to see Buffy throw Ethan against the cavern wall as she sprang to her feet. “Bloody hell!”

“’Bloody Hell’ is right, old man,” Buffy snarled as she faced at him, her eyes flashing yellow. She bared her fangs at him, much like a hissing snake. “Bloody is definitely right!”

“Buffy! No!” Joyce screamed as she put herself between her daughter and Rupert. “Buffy! You have to stop this now!”

“Joyce! What the hell are you doing?” Ripper shouted as he made a grab for her, but Joyce dodged him. “Joyce!”

“Joyce! You must step away from her!” Joao cried out. “Joyce! Leave her! She is a vampire!”

“Listen to me! All of you!” Joyce shouted desperately. “Please! Listen! Buffy can’t be a vampire! I refuse to believe it!”

“What?” Buffy shouted back at her. “Are you still in the Land of Denial, Mom? Or are you just being stupid? I’m a vampire! V-A-M-P-I-R-E! Vampire! What’s not to understand? I am evil!”

“She’s got that right there,” Ethan groaned as he got to his feet. “Fangs, yellow eyes, blood lust. Yep, you gotta be real stupid or in severe denial to not believe she’s a vampire! But then again, I hear that it’s a toss up between your being stupid-Ooof!”

“What did I tell you about insulting my mom?” Buffy snarled as she grabbed Ethan’s throat and pushed him up against the wall. “No one insults my mother except me. No one kills my mother except me. Got it, you old Never-Was?”

“Buffy! Stop!” Joyce shouted as she started towards her daughter, but was grabbed again. “Rupert-“

Hearing her mother, Buffy turned to look at her and snarled as she threw Ethan away. “That’s it! Now I’m definitely gonna rip your arms off, Ripper! What the fuck was that?”

“You are a madman,” Muhyi whispered. “What kind of man would kill his son for what his wife did?”

Richard Barns shrugged as he looked at his son. “The kind of man that had a strict God-fearing upbringing from both sides. The Portuguese in me says that the stain on the old family echelon must be removed while the other part said that I should have left him out in the cold to die when he was born. A child born with a caul is not a child you would want to keep. It’s horrible to descended from the Vikings, no kind heart at all.”

“That’s a bunch of ancestor bullshit,” Jerrod snapped back. “I did everything that you wanted, you told me to be.”

“I told you to be a good son, and you weren’t,” Richard snapped back. “Honor your parents and you didn’t do that, boy. And neither did your friend here.” Richard sneered at the Arab. “So the two of you must die for the transgressions you both did.”

Muhyi stared at the man. “You honestly think that you can kill someone who is already dead?”

“No, I don’t think I can kill someone that’s already dead,” Richard said slowly as he lowered his gun…then smiled as he pointed it at Jerrod. “But I think that I can kill a soul with a body that’s not yet dead.”

“You mean I’m really not dead yet?” Jerrod yelped as he stared at his father then looked at the gun as the hammer clicked back. “Okay, Jerrod, get back to the subject at hand here.”

“And the main subject is your death, son,” Richard agreed as he smiled at Jerrod. “Say good-night like the good little boy you never were, Jerrod.”

As Jerrod stood there, facing his father, he felt his fear congeal. A strange peacefulness spread through him as he looked at the gun and at the face he once saw every morning. He could only think of one thing to say as he faced his father. “Go to hell.”

Furious at his son’s defiance, Richard gritted out, “You first, boy. You-what the hell was that?”

With his back to a cave entrance, Maurice’s eyes started to dance with malice and anticipation.

“You will die,” Maurice said as he lifted his sword high in the air. With a maniacal grin, he quietly adjusted his grip as he prepared to execute the grieving German.

With trembling lips, Karl placed a kiss on Adelaide’s cold forehead. “I have always loved you, mien Adelaide.”

As he started to swing the sword down, Maurice sneered, “And will always hate you-Argh!”

As it held the head of the pitiful wraith with a sword, Garoth stepped into the cave and grinned at the stunned faces before it. Accessing a memory of its Devil’s Knight, the monster smiled. “Hi, Honey. I’m home.”

“Master!” the wraith gasped. “Master!”

“Master! Master!” chanted all the wraiths as they faced it. “Master!”

Karl watched, stunned as the lifeless body of his Adelaide twitched and rose from his arms. “Adelaide!”

“Master! Master!” Adelaide chanted as blood gushed out of the fatal wound the swordsman gave her. Adelaide outstretched her arms towards Garoth as she faced it. “Master!”

“Mon Dieu!” Grilliot whispered hoarsely as the body of Niall rose from the ground. “Mon Dieu!”

Grilliot held Joao back as Niall stood, his head awkwardly bent but still chanting, “Master! Master!”

“What the fuck is this? A Garoth pep rally?” Buffy scowled, as she looked at all the people around her.

“If it is, we’re fucked,” Ethan said as he pulled back from her. He looked at the crowd around Jerrod and Muhyi. “Seriously fucked.”

“Master! Master!” shouted a young voice. Around him, his brother chanted as well. “Master! Master!”

Muhyi froze as he saw his family chant for the monster. “No! No! This is cannot be! This is-”

“A nightmare,” Jerrod finished for him. He gulped as his father ignored him and his mother rose from the ground, the two of them chanting for Garoth. “A real out-numbering nightmare.”

Ignoring the chanting, the demon looked at the delicious soul before it, full of grief, guilt and pain. It accessed the memory of a Laura and smiled. “Ah, you are the Kraut. How delicious will you be?”

Screaming, Karl scrambled back as Garoth grabbed him by its head. It looked at the Kraut, then at its chanting wraith. “Come back into me.”

Buffy’s yellow eyes narrowed in consternation as she watched the demon grab hold of Karl. No one should mess with her fun. Or her food.

As Garoth breathed in deeply, the wraith started to dissolve in air and waft into the monster’s nostrils. It licked its lips and gave the Kraut a travesty of a smile as it pulled another memory. “Ah, what a sweet scent.” It grinned at the fear in the Kraut’s eyes and reveled in the scent. “You smell good enough to eat-Ah!”

“Hey you! Get away from my food!” Buffy shouted as she stood over the fallen demon. Ignoring Karl scrambling away from her, she lifted the demon and threw it against the wall. Growling, she did let up on her attack. “This place is big enough for only one demon and that’s moi!”

“Buffy!” Joyce screamed as she started towards her daughter. She felt hands pull her back. She angrily twisted to look at her daughter’s Watcher. “Rupert! Let me go!”

“Yeah, Ripper! Let her go!” Ethan shouted as he tried to break Ripper’s hold on the woman. “If she wants to go racing towards her death, let her!”

“Shut the fuck up, Ethan!” Ripper shouted back as he held Joyce’s hand with one hand and backhanded Ethan with another. “She ain’t leaving me!”

Garoth roared as it swatted at the pesky soul that fought it. “You dare harm me, insolent soul?”

“You betcha!” Buffy screamed as it placed a roundhouse kick into the demon’s face. “Get back into whatever tar pit you came from, you Jurassic Park reject! These are my souls!”

Feeling pain for the first time in over a millennia, Garoth breathed in deeply, pulling in the nightmare wraiths that the souls created. “Come into me!”

“By Allah!” Muhyi whispered as he watched his family dissolve into the stale air and be sucked into Garoth’s body.

“You said it!” Jerrod whispered as he saw his father and mother disappear.

“Just go away!” Buffy shouted as she one-two punched the demon, then flipped it over her shoulder. She kicked the demon’s mouth. “Why won’t you go away?”

Grabbing the soul’s foot, it threw the soul against the wall. Ignoring the pain, Garoth rose and breathed in again. “Come into me.”

“Look, Francois!” Joao whispered as the images of Niall and her children become dissolving clouds. A tear escaped her eye as she looked at the empty space. “Good-bye Nalla. Pietro. We will meet again soon.”

As the insolent soul threw it against the wall again, Garoth caught a whiff of the soul’s scent and outrage filled it. It stood and hissed at the insolent soul. “You are filled with me! My breath has filled you! Whose nightmare are you?”

“Yours!” Buffy retorted as it grabbed a swinging arm and threw it against the cave wall again. “And maybe everyone else’s!”

Breathing deeply, Garoth pulled its breath away from the insolent soul. “Come into me!”

“Buffy!” Joyce screamed as her daughter clutched at her chest and fell to the ground on her knees. “Buffy! Run!”

“What-what happened?” Buffy said, disoriented and dizzy. Hearing her mother scream, she looked up and saw a huge demon with its arms pulled back and ready to pond her into dust. “Uh-oh!”

Feeling invigorated, Garoth breathed in and let out a huge roar that rang through the caverns. It looked down at the soul before it, and the memory of the eaten souls clicked. “You are the Slayer! Die!”

Back flipping away from the demon’s claws as they crashed down into the ground to where she was just seconds ago, Buffy landed on her feet a few feet away. She stuck out her tongue and retorted, ”Not in this lifetime, Dino!”

“Buffy!” Joyce screamed as she looked at her child. Relief filled Joyce as she looked at her baby, all back to normal, human and cheeky self. Then she screamed as Garoth took a swing at her child. “Buffy! Look out!”

“Hi Mom! Thanks Mom!” Buffy called out as she jumped over the swiping arm. “Now everybody run! Giles! Get her outta here!”

“We must go now!” Francois shouted as he pulled Joao after him. “Joao!”

“Karl! Come!” Joao shouted as she grabbed her friend’s arm. She yanked at his arm as he stared at Garoth. “Karl!”

“I’ve got him!” Muhyi shouted as he grabbed his friend’s arm and yanked him along. “Karl! Come! Jerrod-”

“Later, dude!” Jerrod shouted as he disappeared through a cave. “It’s every man for himself!”

“Worthless cur!” Muhyi spat as he dragged Karl along. ”Come my friend, we must go!”

“Buffy! I got her!” Ripper called out as he grabbed Joyce’s arm and pulled her through a cave. “Come on!”

“But Buffy! We can’t-“ Joyce shouted as she started to dig in her heels. She shouted as Rupert whirled around and threw her over his shoulder. “Rupert! Put me down! You can’t do this! Put me down!”

“Ripper! Wait for me!” Ethan shouted as he chased after them. “Ripper!”

“Guess they’re all gone, Dino-breath,” Buffy taunted as she threw a rock at the demon’s head. “Too bad.”

Enraged, Garoth watched as its prey scattered into the caves. Turning around, it saw the Slayer stick her tongue at it before she disappeared into a side entrance. Racing after her, it roared her name in hate. “SSSLAAAYYYEERRRR!”

“Gods curse that demon,” the Druid shouted as he saw the results of the demon’s handiwork. He fell to his knees as he watched the demon chase after the shadows in the cave and prayed that none of the shadows were the souls that it was seeking. “Gods curse you demon.”

The Druid despaired as he watched the souls hide in the many niches of the caves. After a distance, Joao and Grilliot had found refuge in a water chamber while Karl and Muhyi were in another chamber. A companion of the Slayer, Ethan, was wandering looking for his friends as well as Jerrod. The Slayer had lost the demon and was resting before she would resume her search for her Watcher and her mother.

“Gods curse that demon,” the druid repeated as he closed his eyes and despair filled him. They were so close in uniting all their strengths-so close to fulfilling the prophecy before defeating the demon before it appeared. So close to escaping before-“Enough! Time for regrets are long over! Concentrate, you old fool. Concentrate. Which of the souls was the Nightingale?”

“Or was the Nightingale already dead?” the druid said aloud. Then he violently shook his head as he grabbed fists of his hair. “NO! I will not think that! I will not! The Nightingale must be alive! Must! Now think, you old fool! Think!”

As he sat down to think, he carefully remembered the actions of the souls and how they faced the nightmares Garoth gave form to. And he wondered which of them was the Nightingale.

Unceremoniously dumped on the ground, Joyce looked at Rupert frantically. ”Oh God! Buffy! What what happened? What happened to her? Why did you take me away like that?”

“What do you think happened? The blasted demon found us,” Ripper panted as he leaned against a cavern wall for a second, and then started to push a waist-high boulder into the cave’s only entrance. “Help me move this thing. Buffy will be all right, she’s a fast Slayer. She’ll do a hit and run. Keeping you there would only make you a target of the demon since you can’t defend yourself, so Buffy made me take you away for now. Now help me move this thing! I’m no match for a demon but I’m all you’ve got.”

Tears started running down Joyce’s face as she helped Rupert push the boulder in place. “Oh God! I hate this place! First, we get sucked into a grey world then Buffy turns into a vampire trying to kill us all. Then to top it all off, the demon can use our nightmares against us. And we still don’t know how to get the hell out of this place. When is everything going to turn our way?”

“We’ll get our turn soon enough, sweet. And isn’t it good to know that the demon changed Buffy back when she was starting to beat the crap out of it,” Ripper grunted as the boulder started to move slightly, then more as Joyce helped him. Then he turned to heft another smaller rock, and placed it on top of the boulder. The cave was deep enough for them to avoid Garoth’s claws, but would the boulder stay against a demon as strong as Garoth? “We should-we should be safe here for now.”

“That’s good, whew,” Joyce panted as she closed her eyes and leaned against the cave wall. “Safe is good. Even for a few minutes. We have to find Buffy as soon as it’s clear.”

“Yeah,” Ripper agreed cockily as he turned to look at Joyce, then lost his smile as he saw her chest up and down due to her labored breathing. His hard one was suddenly as hard as the boulder. “Real good.”

“Right-mph!” Joyce yelped as she opened her eyes and suddenly found herself being bent over backward as her mouth being ravaged. A fireball of desire raced through her veins.

With a last desperate attempt, Joyce yanked her mouth away from Ripper’s with a gasp. She gripped his shoulders and pulled away from him as she leaned against the wall of the cavern. “Oh God! You’re the Energizer Bunny! Rupert! Stop we have to stop-“

“Why?” Ripper growled as he pinned her against the cavern wall with his body, her arms dangling helplessly over his shoulders. He lifted her and wrapped her legs around his waits and grounded himself into her. His hands clamped on her bottom, squeezing them rhythmically. Ripper smiled ferally when she gasped and stared at him with wildly aroused eyes. He brought his face closer and was amused when she barely evaded his kiss by turning her head. “Why stop now?”

“Oh God!” Joyce gasped as she felt his hardness rub against her sensitive juncture. Desire and disbelief raced through her. “What are you a rabbit? How could you want to-gasp”

“I always want to with you,” Ripper growled as he thrust his hips into hers and caught her earlobe between his teeth. “I always want to be in you.”

Forcing herself to pull away from him, she moaned, “We have to stop this now.”

Undaunted, he merely delicately licked at her earlobe, then nipped and kissed his way to her jaw. Ripper crooned as she lifted her head, allowing him better access to her mouth. Instead, he nuzzled against her throat. His eyes darkened when as his baby sucked her breath in raggedly, “You want this, baby. You want this as much as I do. You want me to take you up against this wall, like I did that night. On top of that copper’s car.”

“That was-this is wrong,” Joyce gasped as her nerves went haywire. Her chest heaving, Joyce shook her head frantically as if she were trying to get rid of the images in her head. The image of her and Ripper wildly entwined on top of the cop car.

“It wasn’t wrong, baby,” Ripper whispered into her skin, making it prickle. “It was just right.”

“Oh God,” Joyce moaned. It took her a long time to try and forget that night. To get her body used to being alone in her bed at night. To stop dreaming of him and remembering what it was like to be totally possessed by him. But he wouldn’t stop, and she still could feel the heat of his long hard body when he whispered in her ear, “Do you want me to take you here? Now, baby? On the copper’s car?”

Joyce bit her lip to prevent herself from answering like she did on that wild, magical night. She closed her eyes, and the past mixed with the present. Her body rubbed against his that night. Ripper crooning and touching her, inflaming every nerve he touched. “Do you remember what we did, baby? What happened that night? What I’ve craved for since that night? You wanted me to give it to you in hard, long strokes. Strokes you said you could feel all the way up to your throat. You want me inside you now?”

“Nuh- nuh- no,” Joyce whimpered as his mouth nipped at her collarbone, and his hand closed over her breast, kneading it as his thumb played with her hard nipple. She groaned as he started to suck hard on her soft skin, forcibly bring back the memories and the heat her body still remembered. Then the heat flared into a fire in her lower belly as he thrust his hips into her juncture. “Oh GOD, Ripper! Please!”

“Please what, baby?” Ripper whispered harshly against her skin as he ground himself into her. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her breasts and inhaled her sweet scent. “I remember how you teased me that night. Teased me until I thought I’d go mad with frustration. Thought I’d die from wanting you.”

“Oh, God, Ripper! Never meant to tease you!” Joyce whispered harshly as she threaded her fingers into his hair. “I remember that night-I still remember- I couldn’t forget it. The nights after-I felt more alone after we-“

“You’ll never be alone again, baby,” Ripper whispered as he peppered kisses on her face. Even in this grey world, he knew there was color in her cheeks. And that color was for him. Because of him. His eyes darkened as he looked at her flushed-face. “I won’t ever leave you, baby.”

“Oh, Ripper,” Joyce moaned, as her body demanded that she give in to Ripper’s sensual demands. Somewhere in her mind, she forced herself to think. This was Rupert! Not Ripper! Rupert! This man was Rupert. “Rupert-stop-please stop- we can’t-“

Fevered, Ripper moved his head down to her chest, nipping her delicate skin through her blouse. “Baby, stop teasing me! I can’t stop-I still remember that night. You were like hot liquid gold that night. So sweet, so soft and tight, baby. You were so soft and you squeezed me so hard I thought I’d finish it before we even started.”

“God! Rupert!” Joyce cried out as his mouth clamped down on her nipple, sending lightening bolts all through her system. She moaned as her back arched up and felt him take more of her into his mouth as his body pushed her back down into the ground. “Rupert! Please!”

“Please what, baby?” Ripper crooned as he lifted his head up to look at her. He cupped her head between his hands, his eyes dark with desire as he looked at her. “Please stop? Or please don’t stop? What do you want me to do, baby?”

“I-I-,“ Joyce stared at him, confused as he stared at her intensely. And suddenly, she knew that what she wanted was more than just sex. She wanted this man, all of him. And not just like he was on that magical night, she wanted him on the nights that weren’t laced with cursed candy. How could she want a man that she didn’t really know? A man who wouldn’t want her when all this was done and over? But how could she really turn away from something that she really wanted?

Ripper watched her face as emotions flitted through. “Baby-what’s-“

“Shhh, it’s okay. I know what I want now,” Joyce whispered as she silenced him with a kiss. Gently, she peppered tender kisses all over his face as she pulled him closer. “Shhh…”

“Joyce….” Ripper whispered. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he could hardly think when her tender kisses distracted him. Then he felt her roll them over and saw her smile down at him as her hair cascaded over her shoulder. “Joyce-“

She kissed him, stopping his words and felt her hand gently, teasingly flit over and cup the hardness of his jeans. He growled her name as a finger teasingly traced him. “Joyce…baby, you’re teasing me again.”

“You bet I’m teasing you,” she playfully growled back as she caressed his cock through his confining jeans. Nipping at his chin, Joyce smiled as her hand lowered his zipper. “Rupert, relax.”

“Not possible,” Ripper started to growl then he couldn’t say anything at all when her hand slipped into his jeans.

“What isss thiss?” Garoth hissed as suddenly stopped and it tilted its head. Flicking its tongue out again, Garoth lifted its head up. There was the hint of something sweet and something else in the cavern air. Puzzled, the demon lifted its head and flicked its tongue again; again it tasted something sweet in the caverns…and there was something sour. What in the caverns could be both sweet and sour?

“Ripper!” Ethan shouted as he ran through the tunnel between the caves. He stopped when a stitch forced him to lean against the wall and take a breath. “Bloody Hell! How fast can you go when you’re carrying a cow?”

Anger ran through Ethan as he leaned his back against the wall. How could Ripper pick that cow over him? She was hell bent and desperate to protect her precious Buffy while he was in the fray. And still Ripper chose to save her rather than him! Her! “If I had any of my stuff, I’d make sure that she’d come down with a permanent case of boils and have her parts fall off.”

As he envisioned Joyce with boils, lesions and several missing parts, Ethan smiled maliciously as he rubbed his hands together. “Might as well curse him, too. For another thirty or so years. Dump me for her, will he? Fuck that.”

“Aren’t you playing the scorned lover a bit too childishly?” asked a voice. Ethan whirled around to see Jerrod appear from an entrance. The younger man leaned over his knees, trying to catch his breath. “I mean, making her a hideous creature won’t stop him from staying with her. You see the demon anywhere near here?”

“Fuck you and if the demon were here, do you think that I would be?” Ethan retorted as he glared at the younger man. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Same thing you are, old man. Trying not to die,” Jerrod said as he looked at Ethan. “So what the fuck, you pissed that she’s made him a bi and you’re still homo for him?”

“She hasn’t made him into anything that he already was,” Ethan snorted as he glared at Jerrod. “Ripper and I have always been bisexual, but I’ll be damned if I’ll lose him to a twit like her. And what the fuck do you mean by childish? It’s worked before.”

“Does it matter if it’s childish? Well, let me think, yes, it does,” sneered Jerrod as he shrugged. “I mean, boils, lesions and falling parts. All gross but he’d know it was you. And I wouldn’t want to go messing around with her kid.”

“Point taken, mate,” Ethan winced. Then he looked at the younger man curiously. “So what would you do? Can’t kill the kid, she’s the best shot at getting us out of here.”

“Humiliate the mother. Rain on her parade. Make her dump him or something like that. Or you could do a two-for-one plan, like make him hurt her,” Jerrod shrugged. “Always worked for me. Personal pain is forever.”

“Yes, you should know, after all, having a bitch of a lover and having your father shoot at you should be somewhat a burden,” Ethan sneered at the younger man. “But you do have a point. You know, it’s nice to know that there’s a kindred troublemaker around here to liven things up, but you do know that I’ll leave you flat when things start to go bad.”

“Likewise,” Jerrod said amicably then he frowned. “And as long as you don’t hit on me we’re good. I don’t want your cock up my ass.”

“But your ass looks as good as the Slayer’s nubile ass,” Ethan winked salaciously at him. “And I know that I can make it feel real good without even using any magic.”

Scowling, Jerrod stopped to look at Ethan. “Fuck off.”

Chortling at Jerrod as he walked away, Ethan looked at Jerrod amusedly as he followed him. ”My, my. Who would have thought it? Aren’t you being a bit lily white ass when it comes to sex?”

As soon as they left, a shadow immediately stepped forward from another cave entrance and glared after them. “Like hell you’ll do that, Ethan Rayne.”

Following them, the shadow kept back far enough for them to not notice but close to hear their repartee and their plans.

In a small niche, Grilliot kept watch as Joao caught her breath. “We will rest here, ma coeur. I will keep watch as you rest.”

Though only the sounds of labored breathing filled the small cave, Joao swore that she could hear the taunts of her children. Closing his eyes, Grilliot only heard the accusations of his cousin and saw the hate on his face. Picking up a rock, he held it tightly as he forced his memory away. “You will rest, Joao.”

Sliding down to the cave floor, Joao nodded. Forcing the taunts of her children away, she blurted out. “Do you think that Karl and the others are all right? That they have escaped the beast like we have?”

Francois looked at her. “I hope so, Joao. I hope so. Sleep, ma cherie, we will search for the others later.”

Nodding, Joao curled up in a fetal position and fell asleep. Remembering what her children looked like.

“I think that I got something,” Willow called out as she rubbed her eyes. She took a sip of her cold herbal tea as she waited for Oz and Wesley to look up at her. After returning to Buffy’s house, Oz and Wesley sat at the dining room table, doing their thing while she went to search the Internet on the kitchen table. Well, to be exact, Oz was reading the books they got from Giles’s house while Wesley worked on translating the Druidatic Apology. “Hey, guys?”

“Whatcha got?” Oz asked as he put down his book to come closer. Rotating his shoulders, Wesley followed.

As they came closer, Willow moved her laptop screen to face them. “That twitchy guy out there? His name’s Everett Daniels. Not a real shady character, but a corporate raider. Buys up companies and bleeds them dry then dumps them. Rumors of insider trading, but nothing proven. And he’s been under SEC scrutiny for the past twelve years, but they haven’t really caught him red handed yet.”

“So we know who he is,” Wesley mused as he looked at the picture then at the body lying in the Summers living room. “But we don’t know why he’s used the Soul Gem. And how did you find out his name so quickly?”

“It helps when the body has a wallet with a driver license, Wesley,” Willow said patiently as she looked at him. “There’s something more-ouch!”

“Shoulders hurt?” Oz said sympathetically. “Want me to massage them?”

Nodding, Willow tried to work out the kinks in her shoulders, then sighed as Oz silently started to massage them. “Well, it has something to do with his wife. There’s an article that said that she’s been in a coma for the past seven years. He was off on a business trip while she was having a small get-together. He was notified when she was found unconscious with a few friends of hers. Three of the friends died within hours of being found by the cleaning lady and another is still in a coma. Sounds familiar?”

“Quite,” Wesley said as he looked at the bodies of Giles, Buffy, Buffy’s mother, Ethan Rayne and . “His wife is trapped within the Soul Gem and he was trying to get her out.”

Willow cleared her throat. “Um, Wes? It’s past tense now. Laura Daniels died yesterday afternoon. That’s how I was able to find the info so quick, there was an obit on her death. I looked at the articles of when she was found and hacked into the police database and found details out a few things. The deaths were ruled as accidental, an overdose of alcohol and drugs, PCP and Ecstasy to be exact, though the coroner’s reports had them clean and a search of the house turned up nothing.”

“Sounds like Sunnydale Denial there,” Oz commented as Willow nodded her head in agreement while she continued.

“Everyone was in a lying down position, like the way that Buffy and everybody are in now. The gem was never listed as being found but there were several old tomes about magic and stuff. From the titles, it looks like most of the books were about gems.”

After scanning the titles, Wesley rubbed his eyes. “Wonderful. They had researched the Soul Gem, read the warnings and they still performed the ritual to set Garoth free as a lark. Stupid Americans. No offense.”

“None taken,” Oz said as he looked over Willow’s shoulders. “Any more info on the Daniels Coma Band?”

Willow bit her lip as she scrolled down. “Well, the police found that Laura Daniels and her friend Janice Wayne were administrative assistants before they married into money. They both were into the occult stuff while two of them liked to dabble into New Age stuff. Um, the guy that’s still alive? Jerrod Barns? He was a successful body model before his coma and more of a horny wanna-be who was in for the ride. What’s a body model?“

“Exactly what it sounds like, Willow. A person that models certain parts of their body,” Wesley said absently as he scrolled down the screen a bit more. At the silence, he looked at the two teenagers and felt faintly embarrassed. “I read an ad for it in the Sun while waiting for the Concord. Anyway, can we find out where all these books were taken, Willow? There may be some useful information there.”

“I think that they were given back to Daniels, the police would keep them if they suspected that they were involved with foul play,” Willow said with a frown, then nibbled her lower lip. “Hopefully he hasn’t sold them.”

“Don’t think that would be something to worry about, Will,” Oz said as he looked at Wesley. “If he was so determined to free his wife, then he would’ve kept them to help him find out what was going on. Where does the guy live?”

Willow tapped in a few keys and peered at the information. “He lives Billingston, which is about two hours away from here, Wesley.”

“We can get there in less than two hours if we don’t hit traffic,” Oz said as he grabbed his car keys.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Wesley said as he stood up. “We can get the books and see if there’s any more information than we can find here and get it through any means necessary.”

Willow bit her lip as she looked at the two. “Are you guys going to break in the house if you can’t get in? Isn’t that kinda illegal?”

“We’ll see when we get there,” Wesley said evasively as he grabbed his jacket. Oz and Willow followed him to the living room. He looked down at the comatose Slayer and her Watcher. “Make sure that they’re safe-my God! What’s happening to them?”

Biting her lip, Willow knelt to look at her friend’s cheek. “Well, her cheek doesn’t have that cross mark anymore, but look at these bruises!”

“Something must be going on in the gem,” Wesley declared as he looked at Willow and Oz. He touched Joyce Summer’s red cheek. ”She’s very warm to the touch and not to mention she’s a bit flushed.”

“And the Giles doesn’t seem to be in any better shape,” Oz said as he looked at the Watcher. “Look at him, he’s all red and got a bruise the size of a goose egg on his forehead! And that’s that smell?“

“What smell?” Willow asked as she looked at Oz. “What are you smelling on Giles? Is it something we can use?”

“I’m not sure,” Oz said slowly as he cautiously sniffed the air around Giles’s body then hovered his nose to where the scent was strongest, close to Giles’s lower torso. Frowning, he stopped suddenly and sniffed again then looked at Buffy’s mother. Sniffing the air again, Oz looked down again at Giles’s prone body and froze. “Nope-nothing useful to know here. Let’s go Wesley!”

“What do you smell?” Wesley demanded as Oz practically jumped to his feet and nearly bolted out the door. “Oz, this could be important!”

“Trust me, Wes. It’s not,” Oz said as he opened the door. “Let’s go.”

Looking as rattled as she’s ever seen him, Willow grabbed her boyfriend’s arm just as he put a foot out the door. “Oz! Wait! What did you smell on Giles? And on Buffy’s mother?”

Struggling to find the words, Oz looked up at the ceiling. “Body fluid.”

Puzzled, Willow and Wesley stared at Oz. He looked at them expectantly then struggled to find the delicate words, as they looked at him, still confused. “It’s very private body fluid. On both of them.”

“Private body fluid? On both of them?” Wesley echoed as he blinked at Oz. “What kind of body-oh!” Wesley’s eyes bulged for a second as Oz simply looked at him. “Yes, you’re quite right. There is no relevance for that scent. Willow, you keep searching the Internet and perhaps read some of the books that Oz was looking at. We should be back soon if all goes well.”

“Good, now let’s go,” Oz said as he went out to the porch and made a beeline towards his van.

Still confused and a little bit annoyed at not being allowed into the private male understanding club, Willow followed both men as they started to rush out the door and towards Oz’s van. “What very private body fluid? Oz!” Then a disturbing thought hit her. “Giles peed in his pants?”

Oz stopped and his head leaned against the door. When he looked at Willow, his face was very red. “No. Think of very private, reproductive body fluid.”

As the answer hit her, Willow’s eyes widened as the two men sped away from Buffy’s house. “Oh. Ew. Buffy’s gonna be pissed again.”