Transitory Evils

Part 5 The Demon Drink, part 2


Follows immediately after the end of part 1 of The Demon Drink


The four checked their weapons and equipment one last time. Giles looked through the ritual he had transcribed and made certain that the other ritual items he needed were all present. Cordelia brushed her hair after looking through her bag once more. The crossbow and arrows were all present and in working order. Willow looked pale and drawn after performing a series of incantations to ensure that the power levels inside the crystal she intended to use on the Thesulac were high enough. She ate chocolate mechanically and slumped on the couch, trying to regain her strength. Spike drank, making sure that he was as fit as he could be. If this demon was as tough as the watcher , he, he knew he’d need to be on the top of his form.

Giles stood, “Are we ready?”

The other three all joined in a chorus of “No!” as they got up and began to trail out to Giles’ car.

* * * *

The pub loomed in front of them, somehow looking dark and forbidding. It was empty, of course, being so late.

“We need to get inside,” Giles whispered to the others.

“Leave it to me,” Spike answered easily. As he spoke he moved over to the front door and bent over the lock. Less than a minute later, the door swung silently open.

Spike led the small group in, while Giles brought up the rear. Willow conjured small lights for everyone. She had designed the spell so that no light leaked outside, which allowed the group to work in relative comfort. “Remember that I have to end the spell before anyone leaves though,” she reminded them all. “Otherwise the lights become visible.”

Giles opened the book, retrieved the orb he needed from his bag and gave Cordelia the magical powder to create the summoning circle. As Giles chanted, Cordelia began to look confused. “Willow,” she hissed, “something’s wrong. The building should be shaking.”

Giles reached the final crescendo of the incantation and waited. At first, nothing happened at first. Then, a disembodied voice spoke, “That would have worked wonderfully if there was a Thesulac here. There isn’t. This is my place. Begone!” There was a flash of light, and suddenly, all four were back in the car, looking decidedly confused.

“Is anyone else as confused as I am?” Cordelia asked.

* * * *

All four sat in Giles’ living room, totally confused by the events of the night. “At least we know it’s not a Thesulac,” Cordelia observed. “Yes, I know, stating the obvious. But hey, it helps in the research.”

“We also know that there is some kind of demon there.” Giles added. “A rather powerful one. It translocated us all completely; even our possessions were in the car. And it did it all at once.”

Willow nodded. “But we have no idea what kind of demon it is.”

Spike nodded at Willow’s comment. “It’s bloody powerful. I felt my demon cringing when it spoke.”

Giles raised an eyebrow, Cordelia looked shocked and Willow was astonished. “What?” Spike asked in response to the looks. “Just ‘cause I’m the Big Bad, it doesn’t mean that I’m stupid. Whatever's in that building scared the shit out of the demon inhabiting me. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna run and hide though.”

The phone shrilled, catching them all by surprise. “Hello?” Giles asked as he picked up the receiver. He began to nod as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone.

“Of course, Wesley. As long as you and Gunn are willing to accept that Spike is now working with us, and that bygones are bygones.”

“All right, I’ll see you all in the morning. Be careful Wesley.”

Giles turned towards the three expectant faces looking at him. “Wesley and Gunn are relocating here. They haven’t had a lot of luck in the past year and they need to leave Los Angeles. They’ve been threatened several times, and Gunn only just avoided being shot. They’re bringing a friend with them, a chap called Lorne. At least Wesley may have some ideas about the kind of demon inhabiting the pub.”

* * * *

The following evening, Spike and Willow walked into Giles’ apartment, happy and glowing from a day of gentle lovemaking. Spike was whistling while Willow hummed, a little tunelessly, under her breath.

“Now, there’s two happy little lovebirds,” came an unfamiliar voice. “And, oh my! What a long road you have together.”

Both Spike and Willow looked at the strange voice and were surprised by the green demon sitting casually on Giles’ lounge as if he owned it. He stood. “I’m Lorne, and I couldn’t help reading you as you came in. It was like billboards. You kids are so happy it thrills me.” The smile was open and genuine, and Lorne’s red eyes twinkled with a happy mischieviousness as he spoke.

“Er … I’m Willow,” the little redhead said, introducing herself, “and this is Spike.”

Lorne flashed an appraising eye up and down over Spike. “Honey,” he said to Willow. “I love your taste.”

“He’s pretty darn cute, isn’t he?” Cordelia’s voice came from the kitchen.

“I heard that!” Willow shouted at Cordelia, trying to sound offended and then giggling slightly.

“Don’t worry cheekbones, I’m not hitting on you. Even if I wanted to play with someone else’s toy, there are some … incompatibilities that just can’t be overcome.”

Spike smiled and sat down, pulling Willow onto his lap. “Yeah, I’m about as taken as it’s possible to be. And I’m guessing you know about what I am too.”

“Oh yeah. A soulless vampire with an extraordinary capacity to love and care for another. I’d love to have met you as a h.”
.”

Willow giggled. “Perhaps not. Spike was … different. Very different.”

“I meant about the … chip,” Spike clarified.

“Oh that, yeah. Giles explained it all. In agonising detail. Honestly, that man can go on and on can’t he?” Willow smiled and smothered a giggle.

She was about to answer when the door opened. Giles, Wesley and Gunn all walked in together. “I really don’t like that place.” Wesley remarked.

“It wasn’t exactly welcoming the way they are back home, it? it?” Giles added.

Spike and Willow looked up while Cordelia came in from the kitchen. She looked quite at home there, Willow thought. ‘I wonder if they’re … it would be so sweet if they were.’

Lorne leant over and whispered in her ear “Not yet, but they will be soon.”

Willow jumped, and then smiled. ‘Good,’ she thought, ‘both Giles and Cordy need some happiness.’

“The events and descriptions all seem to match a Thesulac,” Wesley said without even greeting anyone. It was quite obvious that he was focused on the problem at hand rather than social niceties. “It’s quite a knotty little problem.”

”Well, don’t be polite then,” Cordelia said acerbically.

Wesley looked up. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s good to see you again Miss Rosenberg.” He also nodded to Spike.

Spike rolled his eyes at the combination of fear and nervousness emanating from Wesley. “Still haven’t got over that ‘He’s all soulless thing,’ have you watcher boy?” Spike asked nastily.

Wesley looked over, offended. “I know you can’t harm me, so you may as well keep your innuendo and sniping to yourself. Out of respect for Miss Rosenberg, I won’t attack you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you, just co-operate.”

Spike just raised an eyebrow and dismissed Wesley’s comments with nothing more than body language.

“I don’t understand,” Willow asked of the group in general, “if the evidence we have points to it being a Thesulac, but it’s not; then what is it?”

“We’re unsure, Willow. We really don’t know.” Giles sighed.

Lorne looked up quizzically. “Some kind of demonic baddie has laired in a bar? That’s … just evil. Is it a karaoke bar?”

Willow sighed, “And a friend of ours, his family is in lots of trouble because of the things they did there. But we think they were under the demon's control. At least I hope they were, but with the Harrises ... Oh, and no, not a karaoke bar.”

“Steady there honey. You’re so worried about your friend’s family that you’re bombarding me with images. Where did you gel thl that magical chutzpah anyway?”

“What? Oh … practice mainly I guess,” Willow answered. “And what do you mean, bombarding you with images?”

“Honey, you’re scared for your friend, it comes off you in waves. You don’t know how he’ll cope with seeing his mother in court, you’re afraid for his career too. All that puts this at the forefront of your mind. With your magical abilities, you’re like … a really good Marshall amplifier, only cuter. And I also think I know the answer to your dilemma.” Lorne said, gesturing grandly.

“What’s that?” Willow and Giles asked simultaneously. Immediately everyone in the room was alert.

“The images young witchy-girl here was sending to me tells me that the bar isn’t possessed or occupied by a demon. The bar is the demon.”

“What?”

”How’s that possible?”

“Bollocks!”

“Really Lorne, that does seem a little far-fetched.”

“Okay, okay. Explanations for you. Music comes from inside someone, right? But, sometimes, music can take on a life of it’s own, like Hendrix’s amplifier feedback did. Well, this is sort of like that. Some demons have no real form. So, when they enter a relatively ‘normal’ dimension they can choose to take on any form they want. Often they feed on emotions or other mental aspects of their prey. I think this demon chose to be a bar to get itself a captive food supply.”

“So how did the bar get there?” Cordelia asked.

“I don’t know sweet cakes. I can only guess that it appeared on a site without anything there.”

“More to the point, though, is how do we get rid of the demon,” Giles asked.

“Do I look like one of your books? I can’t answer that because I don’t know. And, by the way, once I reopen ‘Caritas’ here in Sunnydale, I want you to perform. I’ve heard about your voice.”

Giles looked surprised, and Willow explained to him. “I know some people heard you when they were here a few years back. When you were singing in the coffee shop. Guess they told Lorne.”

Giles nodded and then began to think. Soon he began to speak, unconsciously giving instructions, metaphorically marshalling his troops. “Wesley, can you start with the old languages. I’ll help in a moment. Spike, could you go through the Latin texts, please. Cordy, Gunn, could you work on the English language books. Willow, could you start by working on the database? I doubt there’s anything there but we should check. And after that could you assist either Spike or Cordelia?”

Gunn looked at Wesley as he asked, rhetorically, “Who died and made him General Grant?” He was therefore very surprised when Spike answered.

“Did you know Grant was a slave owner?”

“D’you what?” Gunn responded.

Spike ld upd up. “Before the war, Grant was a slave owner. He was also a lush, but that’s neither here nor there. Just thought you should know who’s name you were invoking.”

Willow looked up, suppressing giggles. She knew Spike could be mean, but she loved it when he did it like that, by challenging beliefs and stereotypes. He really was an intellectual and a scholar, she realised happily, and not for the first time. And that was a part of what was so attractive about him. She didn’t know for sure whether Grant was a slave owner, and didn’t much care if the truth be told, but the look on Gunn’s face was priceless. She also knew full well Spike could be lying in an effort to protect Giles. He was odd that way, she thought. It was if the Scoobies had become his new ‘family’. And he was as ferocious about protecting them as he had been with his previous, vampiric, family.

Gunn was still processing the information when Spike followed up. “Listen, let Ripper do what he does best, and help out. You aren’t an idiot, I can see that, so accept his lead when we research and worry about social niceties later.”

“All right already. I was just asking!”

“Good, so start with this.” Spike threw Gunn a large leather bound tome, edged in copper fittings. Wesley moaned and Giles winced before Gunn caught it.

* * * *

“Yes! I have it!” Wesley shot up out of his chair so fast that he sent several of the texts he had previously consulted flying.

Everyone looked up, even Lorne, who had long since got bored and was idly flicking through Giles’ record collection.

“There’s a species of demon, called the Deng-Taroni, who appear to be able to manifest as any inanimate object they choose, but only inanimate objects. They feed on emotions, all emotions but they much prefer the dark ones. Manifesting as a public house is perfect, the happiness of clientele would be as nourishing, although less tasty, as the violence anger.”

“Sort of like a demon who has to eat his vegetables?” Cordelia asked.

Wesley looked up and blinked. “I suppose it’s an analogy,” he acknowledged.

“Anything there about getting rid of it?” Spike asked.

Wesley nodded. “Yes. We’re fortunate in several senses. Firstly, the demon can’t respond physically to us. It’s locked into the shape of the bar. However, that doesn’t mean it’s defenseless. Anything within the bar that’s moveable can, and probably will, be hurled at us telekinetically. Further,” he said, holding up a hand to forestall any questions, “the demon cannot move at all … because buildings can’t. So it cannot run away other than by returning to its place of origin.”

“So,” Cordelia began, “what you’re saying is that we should really have two groups. One with people doing the spell to return it, and the other with people to protect them, with like … shields?”

“Well, that would work, except for one thing. We need everyone performing the ritual. All present at the ritual must partake. The book is very specific about that.”

“What does the ritual entail, Wesley?” Giles asked. He wanted this issue resolved as quickly as possible. He hoped that with the banishing of the demon, the Harris’s legal problems would also disappear or at least, if there was no longer a scene of crime, make the various issues confused.

“The usual sort of material components that one would expect. In this case, it’s hensbane, some anthracite, salt, two live toads and blood of a transvestite?” Wesley’s voice ended the sentence in a sharply rising pitch and questioning tone.

“Bugger,” Spike said dryly. “We’re all out of that. Unless of course you have a secret you want to share.”

Wesley looked up at Spike. “Don’t be faecetious. We need one component. Do you have any idea how to obtain it?”

Spike shrugged. “There’s a university here. Show me a campus without a gay group would ya? Well, perhaps there would be the disturbingly named Oral Robert’s University … but any normal campus.”

Giles looked over and grinned. “It’s times like this Spike, when I wonder why we ever thought you were one of the baddies.”

Spike looked back at Giles feeling, in equal parts, offended, pleased, amused and befuddled. “Er, thanks Ripper. I think.”

“So, blood of a transvestite eh? Pity the poof isn’t around innit, pet. Gods, what am I saying!”

Willow looked up, shocked for a split second before she realised what Spike had actually said. Then she smiled. Immediately after that, her curiosity got the better of her. “Are you being serious, or just being you?”

Spike grinned wickedly. “Well, luv, mainly just being me. Although there was that one time that the Master got totally pissed with Peaches and made him …” He trailed off at the looks he received from the rest of the gro“Lat“Later pet,” he suggested.

“If we could get back to the central theme of our discussion,” Wesley said peevishly, “what are we going to do about this? We only need a very small sample.”

There was a chorus of shrugs and muttered “I dunno’s,” from everyone.

Willow looked up. “I have an idea,” she offered tentatively. “Lorne, I don’t want to stereotype or anything … but do you know any drag queens back in LA?”

“Well … one or two. They’d come to ‘Caritas’ to try out new shows.”

“Good. Any of them owe you favours?”

“I see where you’re going, cutie. And yes, there’s one who does. He’s got the most to die for voice, like whats-her-name from ‘Shocking Blue.’ I think I can go and visit, ask a favour.”

“So," Giles concluded. "We can get some sleep and convene again tomorrow night, after Lorne has got us a sample for the ritual.”