Escape

When Spike and Buffy arrived at the house, it was pitch black, the interior of the house devoid of any light and a blanket of ominous silence enveloping the night air around them. Buffy swallowed nervously, clutching her crossbow in shaky hands.

It was Spike's throaty voice that cut into her thoughts as they slowly moved across the front yard.

“What’s your thoughts, luv. Should we just barge in, weapons in hand, all fangy and 'grrr'?" Spike paused, "Or maybe we should try something a bit less obvious… Say, a window?…”

Buffy's head darted around as she quickly weighed her options, eyes rapidly scanning the exterior of the house as she prayed for some miraculous epiphany that would show her the way to successfully bring her mother to safety. After a moment, she sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t think it matters where we make our grand entrance, he probably knows we’re here already anyway.” Spike couldn’t argue with that, he knew his grand sire well enough to figure Buffy was probably right. Anxiously, Buffy hefted the weight of the crossbow in her hand, her knees shaking and her palms sweaty as she suddenly felt inexplicably faint and dizzy.

A weakness was consuming her, she could feel it. But she refused to let it win.

‘Can’t spaz now, Buffy,’ she scolded herself.

Checking to make sure she still had a stake and holy water in her pockets in addition to the crossbow, she looked at Spike who wielded his own weapons at the ready, and let out the breath she'd been unconsciously holding.

“Well, no time like the present,” Buffy stated somberly. Head held as high as she could manage, senses alert, she marched up the front porch steps quietly as a cat, avoiding the boards she knew would creak under her weight. Sighing, she carefully eased the front door open the rest of the way, since it had already been conveniently and yet not so surprisingly left ajar.

But just as Buffy crossed the threshhold, a loud crackling sound followed by a stream of electric blue light nearly made her jump out of her own skin. She gasped, turning back in time to see wavy blue ribbons of incandescent energy filling in the doorway, and as Spike tried to pass through it, he was pushed back as though by some invisible barrier. Growling, he tried again, hurling himself at the barrier full force which resulted in a more violent response as he was knocked clear off his feet, landing on his back with a dull thud on the porch. Buffy cringed, knowing that if Angelus hadn’t by some miracle been aware of their presence to begin with, he was fully aware now, as it had practically been announced.

Quickly, Spike jumped back to his feet, demon guise sliding into place as a result of his anger over this unforeseen hindrance. Yellow eyes scanned the doorway as he contemplated his next move.

“Buffy,” Spike said after muttering a string of curses under his breath. “Try to walk back through it?”

Buffy silently heeded his words and tried to walk back through the doorway, but to no avail. It felt as though she were walking smack into a brick wall.

“I can't!” She hissed, and Spike's head dropped, shaking from side to side.

“Fuck, I was afraid of that," He mumbled, seething.

“Should I-should I try inviting you in, maybe?” Buffy lamely proposed, though she knew deep down that the solution couldn’t be that simple.

“Don’t think so, pet, s’not the traditional vampire barrier.” He snarled at some unseen person as his frustration began to reach the boiling point. “Seems some wanker worked this mystical mojo that keeps anyone from entering, save you, the slayer.” He sighed. “But it’s not a two way street. You can enter, but you can’t leave.” He kicked at the barrier in frustration, which emitted a crackle of protest. “Fuck!” He swore in a harsh whisper.

“Well, there’s no turning back now, is there?” Buffy swallowed, realizing with gut certainty what all this boiled down to… She wasn’t meant to leave this house alive.

Still, she tried to keep at least some hope alive for the present, for sanity’s sake if for nothing else.

“You have to go to Giles,” She stated as calmly as she could muster, feeling the seconds tick by as she met Spike’s intense stare through the translucent blue barrier.

“Buffy-“

“No, you have to go to him,” She repeated firmly. “Your staying here isn’t helping anymore... But Giles - he’s the only one who might know a counter spell for this barrier.”

After a brief pause, Spike nodded in reluctant agreement. “Slayer…" He began, his voice dropping another octave, and he cleared his throat once for good measure. "Buffy, be careful.”

“I’ll do my best.” It wasn’t exactly a vow, because deep down, Buffy had a feeling that her best wouldn’t suffice in this situation. Frustrated, she silently reminded herself that a defeatist attitude would get her nowhere.

With one last desperate look at Spike, Buffy nodded resolutely and turned away from him, feeling her entire body quiver with each step she took.

Buffy grimaced as the creaking of the floorboards under her feet seemed loud as gun shots against the unbearable silence.

‘I have to get to my mom....’ It was the mantra she kept repeating in her head, the one thing that propelled her foward into the darkness.

Knowing she didn’t want to have to explore for longer than necessary, as Angelus could pop out at any moment, she needed to figure out a way to find her mom in the shortest amount of time possible. Angelus knew she was inside, he had to, and it was only a matter of time before he made his presence known.

‘As long as I get my mom out, that’s all that matters.’

Thinking quickly, Buffy remembered her cell phone, knowing that her mother always kept her own attached to her belt as she often received phone calls to make emergency trips to the art gallery where she worked, and also since she worried about Buffy and wanted the phone near her at all times just in case.

Dilaing quickly, Buffy waited a few moments that seemed like hours before she heard the faint ring tone resounding through the darkness.

‘Hawaii five-oh, interesting ring tone, mom.’

Wastig no time, Buffy followed the sound of the ring which led her up the stairs. Cautiously, step by step, Buffy reached the landing, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness as she listened for the ring tone again. However, by this time it had stopped ringing, and Buffy was once again running on pure extinct as her eyes fell upon what she recognized as the door to her childhood room.

She flipped her cell phone closed and slowly, slowly, she reached out and pushed her palm flat against the door, pushing it fully open.

Her eyes widened in shock and horror

Instead of her mother, Buffy's eyes came to rest on a most unwelcome sight cloaked in the shadows.

“Honey, you’re home.”

Buffy’s throat constricted and she instantly became nauseous. She remained glued to the spot, fear getting the better of her, unable to muster a response.

She could see the outline of Angelus's towering form in the darkness, moonlight seeping around the edges of the closed window shade providing the only light in the room. Tall, dark hair, muscular arms, probably at least double Buffy’s weight. His features slowly came into view and made Buffy’s stomach lurch as she saw the expression on his face. His hooded eyes were dark and sickening, as though he seemed overjoyed by her current predicament, as though he couldn’t wait to watch her squirm, to torture her.

Buffy swallowed against the ever-present lump in her throat as he dangled the cell phone in front of him, the cell phone that was supposed to be on her mother. Grinning, he flipped it open and lowered his head, speaking into the mouth piece. “I’m sorry,” He said, seeming all too pleased with himself, “Joyce is, well... indisposed at the moment. Care to leave a message?”

Buffy finally managed to gain a modicum of composure, lifting her head to meet his cold eyes defiantly.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Gotta say, Joyce might not like that message too much…” He shrugged, throwing the phone to the floor suddenly and smashing it under his large foot. “But then again, you’re both gonna die anyway. So who cares, right?”

Buffy didn’t care. Suddenly, nothing seemed to matter at all as the room began to spin around her. Her legs felt weak and wobbly, as though she couldn’t support her own weight anymore, her hairline suddenly dotted with a line of sweat as perspiration began to drip down her forehead.

“Honey, you don’t look so good…” He cocked his head slightly to one side, examining her. “Tell me, is that crossbow starting to feel a little… heavy?” Buffy blinked, trying to shake off the impending feeling of doom.

Angelus was circling her, like a shark smelling blood in the water and moving in for the kill.

“Not that a little splinter would make a difference anyway… Well, that is, not with this.” She didn’t need to look at his finger to know that he was referring to the Gem of Amara.

Chuckling, Angelus watched as Buffy lifted her head, staring at him through hooded eyes with as much dignity as she could muster despite her current state.

“What’s a matter? Not feeling a hundred percent there, kiddo?” Moving in, he clocked her on the chin, grazing her jaw with his fist in a way meant to taunt, not hurt. She jerked her head away from his cold touch, disgusted. “Aww, cheer up, champ. Muscle relaxants work the same on every unfortunate human being… even slayers.”

‘Muscle relaxant…’

Flashing back, the light bulb went off in Buffy’s head.

‘"Wow, those dentures sure do pack a punch."’

In the heat of the moment, Buffy hadn’t realized what Quentin had really done. He hadn’t bitten her as she'd originally thought, he’d given her a shot of weakening potion, a muscle relaxant meant to hinder her slayer strength, that was only now beginning to take effect.

‘Because he wants to make sure that I’ll die to fulfill the prophecy.’

Buffy was vaguely aware that Angelus still circled her as he clucked his tongue softly.

“Something clicking in there?" He tapped her on the head, poking her skull roughly, and she flinched. "Well you better sit tight, because there’s so much to tell, so little time to kill you...” He snorted, shoulders moving up and down from the force of his silent laughter. "Oh, who am I kidding? I have all the time in the world."

With that, his fist came out and the last thing she saw was the Gem of Amara sparkling in the darkness on a collision course with her face before the world went black.

TBC...

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, and sorry for the delay in posting!