Nusac

Chapter 32

Faith’s POV

Over the next few days’ tempers run almost to boiling point throughout the Summers’ house. Well bar Pike and myself.

Every time Red does a spell that she could have easily done without magic both Nam and Tara share a look between them. I don’t understand it personally. Nam was all gung ho about getting me to use magic last year but with Willow it’s a totally different story.

Every time Tara and Nam share that look Red always looks like she’s going to blow a gasket. She’s not used to being told what to do especially with anything to do with magic. I stay well away from Red. Not only could she kill me with a flick of the wrist but also I’m sure she thinks Nam is turning Tara against her. Now she has no idea that Nam and I are an item. It’s not that I don’t want anyone to know it’s just that it’s never come up. Been kinda preoccupied. What with the avoiding Red in case she turns me inside out.

Buffy is slowly getting more and more angry with all of the friends around her. Not just because they pulled her out of paradise but I think it does have something to do with it. I think it’s more because they are convinced that they pulled her out of some untold hell dimension and they can’t see past that. They never stop to think that she might have been somewhere else. Somewhere she deserved to be.

Every so often one of them will catch her staring off into space. Just lost in her own little world. They distract her the moment they notice. Thinking that she’s imagining some sort of horrible memory that she needs to be protected from. Every time it happens I see something spark behind her eyes. Something that goes beyond hate or anger. I see resentment. Then in less than a second it’s gone. Bottled away to some deep corner of her mind. That’s what worries me the most. The way she bottles up the resentment. One of these days it’s going to explode and I for one don’t want to be in the area when it does.

So to sum up. I’m avoiding the ticking time bomb, which is Buffy Summers and while I’m at it I’m avoiding a very powerful witch who quite likely wants to rip my arms off with her bare hands. So I haven’t left the basement very much.

I need to get out of this basement. I’m starting to feel like a vampire in either dimension. I haven’t seen the sun or the moon for a day. However I can’t really leave as I can hear a fight raging upstairs. Well I can hear half of a fight. Nam is trying to talk Red into slowing down with the magic and Red’s in the process of exploding. Nam doesn’t shout. Ever. The only time I’ve ever seen her lose her temper is when Abbas captured me. Needless to say I don’t want to see that happen again especially if it’s directed at me. However when she doesn’t argue back it really is infuriating and I think it’s making Red shout even louder and higher pitched.

I pull the pillow out from underneath my head and push it against my ear trying to drown out all of the noise from upstairs.

The door to the basement opens and slams shut behind Pike as he takes a seat at the top of the stairs running his hand through his hair. “Fucking women.” He mutters. I remove the pillow from my head finally having something to take my mind off the battle upstairs. It’s times like this that I wish I still smoked. “I don’t envy you with your hearing.”

“Yeah they’re really giving me a headache.” I reply swinging around on the small bed to rest the soles of my feet on the cold concrete floor. “Are they showing any sign of stopping?”

He shakes his head as he comes further down the stairs. “Only if Willow yells so much her voice goes. I can’t see that happening any time soon. Can you just ask Namine to leave it alone?”

“Tried that, got a lecture.” It lasted for about half an hour. Don’t want to go there again. “I know that it’s dangerous but if she could just leave it for five minutes. The next five minutes would be of the good.” I let my head fall back against the wall behind me and let out a long breath.

“Want to go out?” He asks hopefully.

“Where would we go? We have no money. Besides can’t leave those two alone in case they kill each other.”

“If we could get Tara back from the magic box she could play peace maker.” It didn’t take long for us to realise that Willow wont raise her voice while T-bear is around. She’ll walk away from Nam and just pretend she isn’t there. Frustrates the hell out of Nam but gives the rest of us some peace and quiet. Catch 22 or what?

The screaming from upstairs doubles in volume, as Nam must have said something that Red didn’t want to hear. “If I ripped out Red’s vocal cords do you think T-Bear would mind?” I ask. I’d never do it. I would just like to know if I still have that option.

“I think if you left her tongue alone she would be alright with it.” That comment makes me laugh. Trust Pike to come up with something sexual out of this situation.

“You’re a hoot and a half Fish Boy.” Something smashes on the second floor of the house. I’m tempted to run up the stairs and see what was going on but I’m rather attached to my limbs thank you very much and I would like them to stay attached to me. I don’t think anyone is hurt. I can’t smell either fear or blood so I think everyone is still alive up there.

I know what you’re thinking. How could you smell fear or blood from two stories down, especially with all of the pollution around this world? We actually tested my sense of smell the other day. It was fucking amazing. Spike came around and scared the shit out of Nam when she touched him. She told me later that all she felt was the cold and a deep need for blood. I smelled her fear from the other side of the back yard when those two were right up against the window in the living room.

I drop my head back looking up at the ceiling; yeah I should probably still go see what the hell is going on. I take the basement steps two at a time and open the door just a crack in case I get attacked as I exit the door. When something smashes again up stairs I decide that it’s much safer down here.

My stomach has other ideas as it growls so loud I’d think next door would know I’m hungry. Great now I have to venture to the great outdoors and the sunlight. By that I mean near the kitchen window. I poke my head out and everything seems fine so I step out as quietly as I can and head for the kitchen.

I open cupboards searching for food, unfortunately we don’t really have any in the house. I hear the front door close and go to investigate, standing at the front door wringing his hands and looking nervously to the second floor is Giles trying to survey the situation, the shouting can still be heard throughout the house. “What the hell is with all this noise?” He asks me motioning upstairs.

“Red.” I reply. “She still aint taking Nam’s advice very well.”

Giles shakes his head looking slightly sad. “I don’t know what will get through to that girl.”

I smile at him. “Yeah, heard some stories about you Ripper, don’t think you would have taken the same advice very well at that age either.”

Giles looks a little shocked, then hurt but then he smiles, I was so right. “I need you to come with me Faith, I have a few things for you.”

“Ooh kinky!” I say with a smirk. “Is it whips and chains? … Sorry I shouldn’t spoil the surprise should I?”

With a roll of the eyes I give him another smirk then we quietly sneak out of the house unnoticed.

We arrive at Giles’ apartment, and it is much like I remember it last time I was here. I look around the main living area picking up books and knick knacks to inspect whilst Giles goes off into another room. He comes back in motioning for me to sit down, he is carrying a large blue plastic storage box which he places on the coffee table in front of me before sitting down himself.

I give him a questioning look but all I get from him is. “Well open it then.” I eye the box suspiciously before taking the lid off it, inside is mail… lots and lots of mail, all unopened. “When you were in the coma because I used to be your watcher I was marked as your next of kin… so I got all your letters, I never opened them, I just kept them here in case you did ever come back.”

I think about this for a second, he kept them… letters to a crazy serial killer… and never opened them… “Thanks Giles.”

With that he gets up to leave. “I will leave you to it then, I will be in the kitchen if you want anything.”

“Wait, can you stay here with me, I mean I never really got letters before and… they might be complicated or something.”

Giles nods his head at me and sits back down, I reach my hand into the box and pull out one of the letters. I flip it over and gently rip off the envelope. The letter slides out of the envelope with ease so I unfold the paper and begin to read.

My eyes widen and feel as if they’re about to pop out of my head, I cant form any coherent speech so end up making some weird “uuuhhhmmmmm” sort of noise at G-man before thrusting the letter at him.

“That’s a lot of Zeros Faith.” Is all he can come up with, I nod my head in agreement. “Where did you get all this?”

I shake my head. “I have no idea, before I left yeah I got like 10 grand up front for killing Angel, which of course never happened and I guess…”

“I believe you may have been entered into Mayor Wilkins’ will. The date on here.” He says pointing at an item on the bank statement. “Is around the time of his death. And then on top of that you have two years interest on what is a lot of money to start with.” He smiles slightly taking his glasses off and begins to clean them. “At the very least you will be comfortable now your back.”

Say what? “You say that like I’m staying.” I say taking the statement back from him and putting it back in the box.

“You’re not?” He sounds surprised.

“No.” I say looking back up at him. He’s jaw tightens and his glasses are replaced in record time. “G I’ve got a home over there. It might be a shack in the middle of nowhere to you but to me it’s home.”

“I hardly think that the Watchers Council will approve…” Those two words send me into a freak out. Last thing I need is to be shipped off to England and ‘rehabilitated.’

My head begins to frantically shake. “No don’t tell them. Don’t tell them I’m back. They’ll never let me leave again.”

“You have to understand Faith…” He steps in closer to me. Closing me in. I don’t like feeling trapped. My arms fold across my chest and I lean back on the seat trying to put some space between us. “You’re the active slayer. If you were to leave the slayer line would end. They have to be told. They’ve been looking for someone else who’s been called for two years now.”

“Don’t do this to me.” He seams to notice my protective pose and steps back taking a seat opposite me. “Don’t take this away from me… If you could just see.”

He holds his hand out to stop me. “If you don’t want it I will not inform them. However you were not here when this world didn’t have a slayer to defend it. When it returns to that state again, demons will rule the earth.” Way to lay one on me G. Feel like I’ve just been sucker punched.

I dig my fingers into my scalp. Why do I have to care? Why can’t it be like before when I only cared about myself? The rest of the world be dammed. I take a deep breath and compose myself. I lift my head up and look him right in the eye. “I’m gonna head back to B’s.” this conversation is by no mean over. I’m just refusing to have it now.

As I stand he tries once more to get me to talk about this. “Faith. Wait. You can’t leave this world to the hellmouth’s devices.”

I don’t intend to, but he doesn’t know that. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. But I’m not staying in this world.” I turn and leave before he can splutter anything else at me.

On the short walk back my mind begins to wonder. I hate it when it does this to me. I’m usually thinking about all the lives I took. This time it’s much worse. I have to wonder when it would be like with the demons ruling the earth. He’s right. I hate to admit it but he is. This world needs an active slayer. It just can’t be me. I don’t belong here any more.

I’m torn by the need to belong and the need to help. It’s tearing me apart. Before I know it I’m back on the porch steps with distracting screaming coming from the upper floors. You would have thought that Red would have screamed herself out by now. I let myself in to the always open door just as Pike is coming out of the kitchen with a mug of god knows what in his hand.

“Have they at least had a bathroom break?” I ask. I must have been gone for the best part of an hour.

He rolls his eyes and looks towards the ceiling. “If they did, Willow was still screaming through the door.”

It’s at that moment when B walks though the door behind me. She looks up and the ceiling. “Still?” she went for a walk when they started to get away from it all.

“Still.” I reply taking a look in Pike’s mug wondering what the hell he’s got this time. He’s trying to make the coffee here taste the same as it does in Nusac. So far no such look.

“Why are you persistently deaf?!” Comes another shout from upstairs.

Pike and my eyes meet and he asks. “Was that Namine?”

I think my heart just stopped beating. There’s only one time I’ve seen her angry enough to actually shout. “Willow’s going to die.” I literally dive up the stairs stumbling at the top in my haste to get into the master bedroom.