And Never Die

Chapter Two - Magic in the Village

And down in the ground is a place
where you go if you've been a bad boy,
If you've been a bad boy.

"Dru, are you done?" Darla asked as Dru slurped on the hairdresser they caught closing up shop. They had paid her well to cut Spike's hair at the last minute, or at least so the hapless woman had thought.

Dru patted her lips dry with the hairdresser's shirt hem. "Done. Oooo, Spike you look lovely."

"Handsome, ducks. Women are lovely." Spike dusted the hair off his stark white Nehru jacket. "What do you think, Darla?"

Darla's eyes raked over Spike's gaunt form. His hair had been trimmed into a short straight Mod style with the wisps brushing his high cheeks. The Nehru jacket would have been perfect for John Lennon; it made Spike look a bit washed out. He put on a pair of little round glasses for effect. "You look better," she admitted.

Spike spun in the seat and stared at the mirror, which reflected nothing more than shop and a dead stylist. "Damn! We really need to be able to reflect. This sucks."

"You are as handsome as Adonis in summer." Dru kissed his crown.

Spike got up and stared at the floor. His mouth dropped open. He stooped and scooped up corkscrew curls, inches long. He tried to imagine these golden locks sprouting off his head. He shook them in Dru's face. "Dru, pet, you told me I looked good. Look at these silly things! I had to look like an idiot!" he raged and Darla snickered.

"You were sweet like tea with the queen, like honey and crumpets," Dru said, taking the curls and rubbing them on her cheek.

"You did fit in well with the Hippie scene, Spike, could almost mistake you as human even if you looked like a dandelion." Darla smirked, pushing at a wrinkle in her fuchsia mini-skirt.

"Stop saying that, Darla," he snarled and swept up the rest of his hair into a dust pan. He noted that Dru tucked the locks she had into her bra. The rest he put into a trash can, doused it with fingernail polish remover and ignited it. He waited for it to completely burn. It did no good to allow hair to fall into a mage's hand. Lots of nasty controlling spells could come from hair. "Where do we go from here?" Spike asked.

"To a mage I know. He might be able to help us track down that book," Darla replied.

"Lead on." Spike waved at the door.

"Yes, Grandmummy, take us to the party." Dru hugged her and planted a peck on Darla's cheek.

Darla gave Spike an imploring look. He eased Dru away. She rubbed against him, nipping his chin. He kissed the tip of her nose, his hands playing over her orange mini-dress, which was printed, violently with yellow, sky blue and hot pink daisies. "Later Dru."

Darla led them to a brownstone in the village that had seen better days. Spike had to wonder if wiz wizard just wasn't smart enough to make money with his craft or smart enough to make it look like he had nothing worth stealing. He wrinkled his nose against the smells emanating from under the door once they were standing in front of the right apartment. Heavy incense warred with marijuana smoke, like the incense was fooling anyone. Darla knocked peculiarly and Spike assumed it was code. The door opened and a cloud of bluish smoke wafted out.

The man who answered was a strange little creature as far as humans went. Fox was the first thing that popped into Spike's mind. The man stood barely 5'2", scrawny with ginger whiskers and a wild bush of red curls. Green eyes stared out from under thick eyebrows. "Darla, dear. I wasn't expecting you. Who are your friends? You never said you'd be bringing others here." The man's voice was a watery squeal that grated on Spike's ears.

"Relax, Nolan. This is Spike and Dru," Darla said, trying to battle her way through the clouds of pot and incense smoke.

Spike glanced around half expecting to see someone or a lot of someone's hiding in the room. There was too much smoke for one man to generate. Spike had been smoking long enough to realize that. He put a hand on the orange wingback chair then on the battered couch. Both were warm.

"Where'd everyone go?" Spike asked, his blue eyes slotting suspiciously.

Nolan gave him a frantic look and spared one for Darla, too. The foxy impression doubled. "There's no one else here."

Darla looked at Spike and he wagged his head. Her perfectly manicured hand lashed out and caught Nolan by his fuzzy throat. Her face morphed into vampire mode. She was ugly, Spike realized. He hadn't ever really studied Darla closely before despite years of living with her and Angelus. Dru, even in vampire form, was lovely to him. Her wrinkles, the sharpness of her teeth, her golden cattish eyes, all beautiful in his eyes. Nolan seemed to agree with Spike that Darla was horrifically ugly, judging from the stench of urine that overpowered tandaandalwood and pot.

"Don't make Darla kill you," Spike said, trusting Nolan was coward enough to not think about the fact Darla needed him alive.

"You heard Spike. Tell us where everyone went, Nolan, or he'll show you why we call him Spike." Darla let her hand drop.

Nolan danced away, rubbing his throat. He eyed all three vampires fearfu "It "It's nothing. Just some girls. I thought it was the cops. They didn't want caught so they went down the fire escape."

"The cops know your special knock?" Darla's feathery eyebrows lifted as she toyed with one of her golden curls.

Nolan shrugged. "You can't be too careful."

"Search the house, Spike. If you find anyone, we'll kill him slowly," Darla said, sparing a smile for Nolan.

Spike didn't like being ordered around by her but he wanted that tome so he poked around the apartment and came back with a pair of trousers. "Place's clean. Why don't you do the same, Nolan? You stink." Spike flung the trousers at the man.

Flushing, Nolan went into the bathroom. The vampires flanked the door just in case he came out with something magical. Darla and Spike grabbed Nolan by the arms the moment he reappeared and hauled him back out into the living room.

"You really need to learn to trust people," Nolan said, petulantly.

"Whatever." Spike whirled him into a chair.

"What do you three want?" Nolan asked, fluffing out his red hair, looking like an Orangutan hunting fleas.

"Grady got away. We need to find him again," Darla said. "I want that book."

"You think I can help you?" Nolan's bushy eyebrows arched.

"You had better if you want to live." Darla draped herself over the wing-backed chair. She slowly crossed her legs, distracting Nolan for a moment with her lack of underwear. Spike already knew she was a natural blonde but didn't mind seeing it again for himself. Nolan seemed quite impressed.

Nolan coughed, forcing himself to look away. "I don't know where he is but I know where he'll be," Nolan said, watching Dru play with the crystal ball prominently displayed on a table along with tarot cards and a pendulum. "Um, keep her away from that. It's expensive."

Spike slapped him on the back of the head. "My girl can do what she wants."

"Where's Grady going?" Darla asked, her patience waning.

"To the Night Owl. It's a nightclub. He's always hanging out there, trying to find new birds for his flock," Nolan said, squirming in his seat.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Dru chanted, running her fingers over the crystal ball. She lifted her head, her blue eyes distant. "I see it here. Lies, lies, lies. A club yes but no smart bird. Naughty boy, no lollipop for you. The club is named for a place far away." Dru scraped one finger over the other at Nolan.

Darla growled and nodded to Spike. He grabbed through Nolan's coppery beard, sinking his fingers into the man's neck.

"Is Dru right?" Darla asked.

"Dru's always right," Spike said, sliding his glasses back up with his free hand. He had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass glasses were. He was thankful he no longer needed them.

"All right," Nolan gasped out and Spike let him go. Nolan peered at Dru, his big nose wiggling, reinforcing the foxy image. "What is she?"

"The most beautiful seer in the world," Spike said, going over to Dru, stroking her long hair.

"A real seer? Do kno know how rare that is?" Nolan's excitement made him forget, for a moment, the danger he was in.

"We know. That's why we had to have her," Darla said. "Now tell us again, Nolan, where is Grady and if it's not the truth, we will kill you."

"His favorite club is Max's Kansas City. All the big artists hang out there. You know he fancies himself a mod sculptor. That's the truth and if you don't find him there then come back here. I'm going to see if I can concoct a tracking spell for that book. It won't be an easy spell," Nolan warned. "Or cheap. I want another five percent of the sale of the book."

"Two percent," Darla shot back.

"Three?"

"Done." Darla gestured at Spike and Dru. "Let's go."

"Wait, Grandmummy. The cards are whispering to me." Dru started flipping a pattern of tarot cards on the table. "Our fat friend won't be in a club tonight. I see metal all around." Dru pointed to Nolan. "He knows all about it."

Darla shot Nolan a hot look and he backed away.

"Yeah, I was getting to that. His main girl, Sunflower, has been coming to me to learn spells. I told you about her when I told you how I leaned Grady had the book. Grady doesn't have a clue Sunflower's been working with me. She called me about an hour ago. Grady was picked up for speeding after he ran away from you guys in Woodstock. Of course they'redingding him now for being drunk and high, too. She's going to bail him out but can't quite get all the money together until tomorrow morning."

"He's in jail?" Darla snarled.

"Not for much longer." Nolan shrugged, fishing a joint out of the silvex onx on the table. "And no, I don't know where he has that book hidden and no I don't know where he lives. Sunflower won't tell me. She still needs him."

"So tell us where to find Sunflower," Darla said.

"Currently driving upstate to bail out Grady," Nolan said. "But I can almost guarantee they'll both be at Max's tomorrow. Grady will want to bitch about the Establishment locking him up to anyone who'll listen."

Darla grumbled under her breath. "Fine. That gives us a night to plan. Have that spell ready by the day after tomorrow, Nolan, just in case we don't get him at the club."

Nolan bobbed his head, his mass of hair bouncing. "I'll have it. I want that book, too, Darla."

She snorted and led her compatriots outside of the stinking apartment. Spike glanced over at her. She scowled at him. "What?"

"Why is he helping you?" Spike asked, jerking a thumb back at the door.

"He wants a cut of that book sale and he wants the immortality spell, too," Darla said.

"Doesn't he realize you'll kill him as soon as you get that book?" Spike asked.

"No, Grandmummy wants to use him again and again, like a favorite doll," Dru said, dancing in front of the other two vampires. "Play like there's no tomorrow."

Darla shoved past her. Spike caught Dru before she fell. "She's basically right. He has more uses alive than dead. I can spare his percentage of the book."

Spike shrugged. "Good minions are hard to come by. And speaking of which, you better start treating Dru with more respect."

Darla gave him the fish-eye. "Or what? That's what I miss most about Angelus. At least he knew how to keep you in your place."

"Bitch," Spike grumbled but a tug on his arm from Dru silenced him.

"We're going to a party tomorrow. Oh, how I love a party," Dru said, as if trying to defuse the tension. She often fed on it so Spike had to wonder about this.

"Yeah, this will be a lot of fun, a crackpot and her man. What do you see in her, Spike?" Darla asked and Dru sniffled.

"I mean it, Darla, lay off or you can do this on your own." Spike shoved her.

Darla just laughed. "I don't really need you, remember that Spike. I'm letting you tag along. Deal with it or leave."

Spike glared but held his tongue. He'd get some of his own back. He just needed a plan.