Impact

Drusilla sat against the cave wall scanning through her book. Soon. Soon he would be with her again, and she wouldn’t be alone. Soon Angel would come for her friends and she would have two of the books. And she knew Harmony was lurking around close, and had seen her with the last of the trio of books. Soon she would have her Spike back.

Dawn sat next to her captor, a blank look on her face. The demon inside of her was on guard, closely watching her family and friends sitting opposite them against the other cave wall. When her sister had shown signs of resisting them, or fighting back, all the demon had to do was squeeze a blood vessel or two, and Dawn’s nose would gush in blood. Seeing what trauma could be done to her had seized Buffy’s movements. She now sat in Giles’ arms. His back was against the wall, and cocooned Buffy in his arms, her back pressed tightly against his chest. Buffy was not crying, but her entire body was shaking in rage and torment. He tried to soothe her as best he could, but they were all worried. He fervently hoped that Angel and the others could find them soon.

Xander sat beside his two friends. He reached up and gently pressed his finger behind his eye patch, itching at his discomfort there. Sweat kept dripping behind the patch, and he was beginning to chafe. Looking like a pirate was not as sexy as he had first thought it would be. And sometimes he could swear his eye was still there. He could feel it, almost see out of it, and it burned now as the sweat dripped into the now empty socket. He knew it was sweat. It couldn’t be tears. He had no more tears in him after losing Anya.

“Buffy, have I told you?” Giles whispered into her ear.

Buffy didn’t move, but she did answer him, whispering under her breath, “What?”

He held her tighter in his embrace, not caring that the sharp rocks of the cave floor and wall cut into his skin. “I love you.”

She relaxed slightly at that. “Yes, you have, but you can tell me again.” He saw a hint of her smile.

“Okay, I will. I love you.” He kissed the top of her head. Drusilla looked up, her eyes meeting with that of the Watcher’s. He shuddered, remembering the torture in the mansion, and how Drusilla had morphed into that of Jenny. He clung even tighter to Buffy. If it wasn’t for her slayer strength, he probably would have squeezed her breath right out of her.

Drusilla grinned wickedly at him, and winked. Then she glanced over at Dawn. She could see the demon’s yellow viscous clouding over it’s host’s eyeballs. Hiring this demon had been a great plan. Spike would be so proud of her!

Outside the cave, Harmony was crouched down behind some boulders pointing the way to Angel and the others. “She’s in there.”

Angel sniffed the air. Yes, he could smell Buffy and the others. He could smell their fear and anxiety. He almost went into vamp face.

The smoke was even thicker here, obscuring the humans’ view. The vampires had little difficulties, but Wesley and Willow’s eyes burned, and they could both barely make out the entrance to the cave. Wesley in particular was worried, but Willow looked serious, a glint in her eye. She held out her hand to Angel. “Now, Angel. Give it to me.” Harmony looked at them all strangely, especially when Angel handed Willow the blood packet he had hid in his jacket pocket. “Good luck.” Angel told her, as he placed the blood packet in her hand. She smiled distractedly at him, and then entered the cave.

A shadow fell over the group huddled inside, as a form blotted out the entrance of the cave. Buffy and Giles both turned to look at the same time, and found Willow in the midst of the spell. They watched Dawn and Drusilla’s reactions as they listened to the Wicca’s Latin words. As Willow began to speak the words, she ripped open the blood packet and threw it at Drusilla, covering her in the red contents.

“Abutor. Caedes. Delego. Alieno. Cognatus.” Willow’s spell echoed in the cave. Dawn began to shake, and Buffy cried out fearing for her sister. Then the yellow mist rushed out of Dawn and back into Drusilla. Drusilla dropped the book in her anguish and clutched at her eyes. She was an unwilling participant this time in the demon’s parasitic behavior. Her crazed minions writhed in agony. Dawn slumped to the floor, and Xander rushed over to her, pulling her to himself and Buffy. She was still unconscious, but her normal color was returning. They sat mesmerized as Willow continued the spell.

“Absisto. Spatium. Accumulator. Aevum.” Willow then clapped her hands and a roaring noise filled the air. Drusilla was trying to gouge out her own eyes, and never noticed the cave wall behind her vanish and open upon a dark and writhing portal. It sucked her in, and she vanished, with the demon still inside of her.

Willow shouted above the roaring. “Adoperio!” The cave descended into silence, the walls returning to their normal state. But Drusilla and the Blimey were gone. All that remained as evidence of their existence on this plain was the stain of blood soaking into the Earth, and the book lying opened before the group.

“It worked. I did it.” Willow stood stunned in the entrance, until Angel, Wes, and Harmony stumbled in behind her. Angel rushed forward to help Buffy tend to Dawn. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. She won’t wake up.” Buffy’s tears finally did fall, landing on her sister’s face.

Wesley stayed back, one arm firmly holding onto Harmony, and the other hand squeezing Willow’s shoulder. “Yes, you did brilliantly Willow.”

“What the heck just happened?” Harmony asked.

“The spell used the blood to transfer the demon from Dawn into Drusilla. We had to use blood because it is a connection to Drusilla, her life line. Then when the demon was inside her, Willow opened up a portal to another dimension and sent them there, to be together forever.”

“Wow.” Harmony’s knees began to shake. Perhaps she didn’t want to upset these people after all.

Dawn was finally beginning to come around. She was moaning and clutching her head. “Oh, my head.”

“Dawnie, you’re okay now. Everything is going to be okay.” Buffy soothed her sister’s brow, and Angel opened another bottle of water and offered it to the girl. She drank from it, and then poured it over the top of her head, causing the others to chuckle slightly.

Giles placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up so he could study her face. “How are you feeling now?”

She blinked several times, and then shook her head slightly. “I’m okay. Really.” She glanced around their surroundings. “Hey, where are we, and how did I get here?” Then she noticed the blood spatters, and the book on the ground. Her eyes got big, and she looked up and saw Willow, Wes, and some blonde girl hovering in the entrance. “Willow? Did you do the spell? It worked!”

Willow smiled. “Yes, Dawnie, it worked. No more demon, and no more Dru!”

Then Dawn recognized the blonde girl standing behind Willow, being held tightly on the arm by Wesley. “Harmony? What are you doing here?” She frowned. “Why aren’t you staked yet!”

“My thoughts exactly!” Xander growled.

Harmony paled a bit more, if possible. “Hey, I helped. I brought Angel and Willow here. If not for me, who knows what that crazy would have done to you. And…and…I have the last book!”

Angel took out the book from one of his many jacket pockets. “Actually, I have the book now.” Harmony pouted and the rest smiled. Dawn crawled over and gently picked up the book that Drusilla had left on the ground. She dusted it off with her hands gently, and then handed the book reverently to Buffy. “We now have all three.” She looked up into her old friend's eyes, but couldn’t read her expression. Giles was frowning, and looking a bit peaked. Angel was also expressionless, but Xander just looked confused and wary. Dawn smiled at Xander, and he smiled back, and then bent down to help her up to her feet.

Buffy finally stood, along with Giles and Angel. They slowly made their way out of the cave. The silence was deafening, finally interrupted by Harmony. “So, now what? Can we bring Spike back now? Can I come?”

TBC