Solace

They could see the door to her house as their feet pounded against the pavement. He could hear her labored breathing and increased heart rate. He tightened his grip on her hand as he pulled her just a little faster. The sound of the hyena laughter and howls were closing in on them.

Moments from the front door several bodies leapt from the darkness and blocked their path. Spike pulled Willow to the right heading towards the back of the house only to be blocked again. He pulled Willow to his chest, looking around trying to find a way out. The hyena humans were surrounding them, perched on the front porch railing, sitting on the over hang roof, in the tree in the front yard, and in a dense circle around them. His eyes scanned the pack looking for a weak spot to drag her through.

The pack seemed to increase and started to close in on them. The dense circle of the pack grew in number and decreased in circumference. Spike held her tighter. He could feel her labored breath and warm tears on his chest. Her sweet smell mingled with his harsher scent that clung to the duster that adorned her shoulders and filled his mind.

Above all of the growls and cackling of the pack the sound of a slow clapping echoed in the darkened streets. Spike jerked his head towards the sound, his eyebrow cocked and his game face forward. A deep growl resonated through his chest. He tried to scent the air but there were too many other smells surrounding him to get a clear idea of who was coming. Slowly the mass of people started to part, a path opening up away from the house, and two figures walked slowly towards Spike and Willow.

“Look Kitten William has found his sunshine. ”

“Dru?!” Spike choked out in surprise causing Willow to lift her head from his chest.

Her eyes landed on two darken figures that slowly made their way towards them. One figure was tall and thin with wild hair that glistened in the half moon light. The other was tall and thick. He walked with a swaggering gait much like Spike’s. His hands continued their slow and eerie clapping that seemed to taunt and chill her.

“Willow, in the arms of scum, imagine that. You always did have a thing for freaks didn’t you?” Xander’s once joyful voice was harsh and dark. He cocked his head to the side as if studying the picture before him as he continued to walk towards Spike and Willow. “First me, then a werewolf, then me again and we know I’m not quite human now don’t we? Then the witch, now this thing, what is wrong with you. Here I thought you played ball for the opposing team. Guess I was wrong. ”

Drusilla giggled as she clung to Xander’s arm. They stepped out of the shadows and into the center of the circle with Spike and Willow. Dru let go of Xander and circled the two still forms. Spike followed her movements with his eyes waiting to see if she would attack.

Willow took in the sight of Xander. He had blood dripping from his chin onto his skin tight green shirt. The blood tinted his lips crimson and painted his finger nails ruby. A smirk graced his painted lips when he noticed Willow taking his figure in. He ran on finger over his chin, collecting the stray blood, and licked his finger clean.

“I knew she was good for something. ” He laughed. The sound send chills down Willow’s spine.

“Xander what did you do?”

“Found a purpose for Anya. ”

“Kitten nibbled on briskets and lapped up all the milk. ” Drusilla giggled as she ran her fingers through Spike’s hair. He remained completely still, looking her in the eyes. His grip on Willow remained tight. “The puppies are hungry should we feed them? If you don’t feed the puppies they will die like the birds and there will be no pretty songs. ”

“Dru you need to leave. ”

“Tisk tisk Spike, naughty boy. Miss Edith saw your spark. She told me to watch you and your sunshine to see if she burns you. To watch and see if the ashes fall to the ground and get swept up in the stars. Miss Edith saw a lost kitten that needed help finding its litter, saw the spark, and saw the sunshine. So I listened to the song the stars were singing and followed the Kitten to you. They sing such sad songs, so confused. They don’t know which way the verse is to go.” She dug her nails into his scalp before jerking his head back and returning to Xander’s side.

“I don’t want to kill you Dru but so help me I will.” Spike growled in her direction and she just giggled.

“Do you think that’s a good idea bleach-boy? Look around you. These are my children, my brothers, my sisters, my followers. They do what I tell them. If I tell them I want you for dinner that’s what I get.”

“Yeah whelp got that. Isn’t the head bitch of a hyena pack well a bitch?” Spike smirked then added, “should I start calling you Alexandra?”

“Shut it!” Xander growled and bared his teeth.

“That’s them boss! They did this to us!” Jr. called from behind Xander. His hand pressed to his side as he panted for breath. Ryan stood hunched forward; sweat covering the front of his shirt, hair plastered to his head as he gasped for air.

“Kill them.” Xander said after a quick study of his men.

“Xander wait!” Willow screamed as the crowd started to close in. “They were going to rape me! I had to!”

“STOP!” Xander screamed and the moving bodies stopped. Willow buried her face back in Spike’s chest at the violent sound of Xander’s voice.

“I couldn’t stop ‘em mate. You know that.” Spike said as he studied Xander’s face, ignoring Dru’s sounds of protest. “We just bound ‘em, slowed ‘em down so’s we could get back to Red’s. Never meant any harm to your blokes.”

“Is this true Willow?”

“Yes.” Willow nodded her head and pulled away from Spike. “They called me a bitch. At first they just wanted to kill me then they wanted to rape me. I didn’t want to hurt your new uh family I just didn’t want to get hurt. So I just made them tired, with the way they were acting just now you would think I tried to cut them in half or something.”

Xander’s hand snapped out from his side and grasped Jr.’s throat. His fingers tightened and he pulled tearing the man’s throat out in a mass of blood. “You get a free pass tonight.” He pointed his bloodied hand towards Willow and Spike, “This is not how we do things!” Xander’s voice boomed over the crowd. “We do not rape our food, we do not torment, we eat to survive, we do not torture. If I hear of this from any of you I will do the same or let Dru have some fun. Tonight we feast on two of our own.” He threw the chunk of flesh from his hand to the ground as the pack moved towards Jr’s fallen form.

Ryan started to run. He tried to get away from the pack but they were too fast. His howls filled the night with anguish. Spike used this opportunity to pull Willow from the scene and into her family home.