The Key

Layla walked into the kitchen. She didn't like the way Giles had been asking all those questions. It was like he knew the answers to something else but didn't want to share his information. Layla was lost in thought she didn't hear the kitchen door open. Spike walked into the kitchen and saw the only person he had been waiting to see. Layla stood there staring out into space. He thought she was cute wrinkling her nose at some of the thoughts. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," he said. A smile spread across her face. "Spike," she said. She was the only person here who ever smiled at him. He liked it. "Are you ready to go and see Seth?" he asked her. " We have a problem," she said. "What kind?" he asked. "Well, I was on my was to see Seth Parker earlier today," she started. Spike gave her a look. "I know. I know. You said to wait for you but I didn't think I could. Anyways. I was headed there when I noticed cracks on the sidewalk. I knelt down and put my hand on the cracks and got a vision. Spike, Giles said something called the wake demons are headed this way," she said. "Oh no. These things are really bad news. Did your vision tell you how long we had?" he asked. "No but they must be close. The visions were strong," she said. "Fine. First we get you out of here and away from Buffy," he said. "Um no. I am staying here," she said. "I will not let these things kill Buffy without a fight," she said. "Why? It's not like she is really your cousin or anything," he said. Giles walked into the room. "I knew it," he said accusingly. "Excuse me?" Layla asked. "You are the child of Mary Parker. Oh why didn't I see this from the beginning? You have her eyes and her gifts. She could also see things when she touched stuff," he said. "Did you know my mother?" she asked. "Yes I did," he said. Then it hit Layla. He is the man from her first vision. The one who was talking to Mary in the hospital. "You were at the hospital when I was born," Layla said. Spike looked at Layla. He didn't know what to do so he stood silent. "How did you know?" Giles asked. "When I first touched the angel statue in the graveyard I saw you telling her the child was special," she said. "What did you mean?" she asked. "The handlers knew that the wake demons would head to Sunnydale for Buffy after she became a slayer. Your mother had special DNA. The make up of her DNA only occurs one in a hundred million people. Any child she was to have would have great abilities. They would be almost invincible. When we found her we gave Seth Parker a job at the plant so he would have to move here and bring Mary with him. When Mary had gotten here she had previously been in a car accident and been left unable to have children. But we gave her an option. The handlers told her she could carry a child to full term but we would have to fertilize her egg for her and implant it back into her. She agreed. The handlers took your mothers egg and mixed slayer DNA with other DNA and created an egg. She then gave birth to you nine months later," he said. "So I was made in a lab," Layla said getting upset. "Yes, you were. After your mother gave birth I went to her and told her what was expected of you. You were to be trained how to use your powers at a young age so when the time came you could use them to help Buffy. We didn't expect your mother to do what she did. She snuck you away and gave you to another family. She died the night she gave you to them. So we never did find out where you had been taken. We never even knew the family had been Buffy's aunt and uncle," he said. "And Seth Parker? What happened to him?" she asked tears forming in her eyes. "We had thought he had something to do with your disappearance so we interrogated him. His heart was weak so he died in our custody. Even up until the end he always believed you to be his real daughter," Giles said. Layla couldn't stand it anymore. Without warning she struck Giles across the face knocking his glasses off and ran outside the back door. "That was a low thing to do to a child," Spike said leaving to follow Layla. Giles picked up his glasses and put them back on. He figured he deserved worse and was pleased she didn't use her powers on him.

When Spike had found Layla she had sat down by a big tree and was crying. He sat down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. He let her cry. When she was able to speak she said," They killed my father." He stroked her hair. "It's alright luv. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere," he said. "When I woke up this morning I had such a good feeling in my stomach. I thought something good was going to happen. Spike they bred me to fight these things. They wanted my mother to just hand me over," she said. "She loved you enough to give you away," he said. "Yes but it also killed her. If she wouldn't have been out late that night she would still be alive," she said. "Now don't you go blaming yourself for her death. It was not your fault," he said. "I shouldn't have come back," Layla said. "You can't fight your destiny. I learned that the hard way," he said. "How?" she asked. "Not now. Another time," he said. Layla's necklace grew warm. She pulled it out of her shirt. "I think it likes you," she said to Spike. He saw the stone churning and remembered where he had seen the necklace before. Mary Parker had asked him for his help. She knew of vampires and demons. She knew what he was and still walked up to him. "I know what you are. I need you to help me one day," she said to him. "Get away from me woman," he had told her. He looked at the necklace then and saw it churning. He saw the woman notice it and saw panic in her eyes. "They are coming for me. I will make this quick. One day a special woman will come through here. She will need your help. No matter how stubborn she is please help her," she said running off in the dark. Men dressed in overcoats like Giles followed her. Layla gasped. Spike looked she had been holding his hand when the memories came back to him. She saw what he saw. "You knew my mom? But how?" Layla asked confused. Spike looked away. "I...I am a vampire," he said. Layla's mouth fell open. "A what?" she asked quietly. "A vampire. I am an immortal vampire," he said. "I am over 500 years old." She couldn't believe it. She stood up. "I have to go," she said running in the house and up to her room. Spike stayed where he was. She left him. She had run off. He got up and walked away. His heart was broken. That is not the way he wanted her to react. But then again he never expected her to find out the way she did. He went home.

Inside her room Layla sat on the bed. Her mother and father had both been killed by these so called handlers just so they could find her. Spike is a vampire. She now knows she has to fight these unstoppable killing machines. Her world has fallen apart in the last few days. But then she thought about Spike. When he told her what he was she didn't know what to think. All she kept seeing was the vampires that attacked her and Xander in the graveyard. But Spike was different. He was no monster all though she felt he used to be. But he has changed. Layla laid in her bed and held onto her necklace. "Mom if you can here me please help me. What do I do? I love Spike but he is a vampire. I am supposed to save the world but I am terrified. I need you mom," Layla said before drifting off to sleep.

Layla was sitting beside a lake with the moon shining down on her. She felt safe here. 'Where is this place?" she thought. "You are with me." Layla turned and saw Mary Parker standing behind her. Mary was dressed in a white gown that went all the way down to her feet. She was wearing no shoes. "Mom?" Layla asked. "My baby," Mary said walking up to Layla and embracing her. "I have been waiting for you to return," Mary said. Layla loved it. She wanted to hold onto her mom forever. Mary pulled away. Layla looked at her mother. She was crying. "I never wanted to give you away. I wanted to raise you, protect you, love you always. Seth said you would be safer going with the Simpsons," Mary said. "He knew?" Layla asked. Mary shook her head. "I loved him. I never kept any secrets from him. He loved you so much Olivia," Mary said. "Where is he now?" she asked. "I do not know. When they killed him his spirit left his body. I could not find him," Mary said looking to the starlit sky. "So they did kill him. And you?" Layla asked. "Yes, they killed me also. I angered them when they could not find you. When I did not tell them they killed me and made it look like a vampire attack," she said. Layla was angry. She was thinking of all of the torturous things she would do to Giles when she saw him again. "Do not do that my child. He tried to stop the others. Almost getting himself killed in the process," Mary said seeing her daughters thoughts. "I miss you mom," Layla said. "I will always be with you. The necklace will always connect our hearts. It is why I left it for you. You must always wear it," Mary said. Then Layla saw an image of Spike. "Trust him. He loves you. You will need him," Mary said. "Why?" Layla asked. "I cannot tell you that," Mary said. "How do I stop the wake demons?" Layla asked. "You will find that answer deep within yourself," Mary said. "I cannot do this mom. I am afraid," Layla said crying. "Do not be afraid. You were born for this. I did not want to let myself see it but now I have seen the future if you did not do what you were born to do. It would be disastrous for everyone," Mary said. Her image began to fade. "Mom. No don't leave me," Layla said reaching out. Her hand just passed through Mary. "Remember to trust your heart. Follow it. I love you cupcake," she said fading away. Layla woke up with the sun shining through her bedroom window. "I love you too mom," she said feeling more at ease.

Layla got up, got dressed in a white shirt and a black skirt, and went downstairs. Willow was sitting at the computer. "Layla I am glad to see your up," she said. "I found some important information. These wake demons are afraid of fire. People would set their houses on fire when the demons came near them and the demons ran away. Of course most of them died by the fire but that is better than being swallowed up by these things," Willow said. "That is great news. We could certainly use all the good news we can get," Layla said. "Willow? Where does Spike live?" she asked. Willow looked up from the computer screen. "You know he is not a human right?" she asked. "Yes, he told me last night. I just want to go there and apologize for my behavior. I was shocked when he told me so I ran from him," she said. "Understandable. I will give you the address if you promise not to tell Buffy I gave it to you. She has a wierd thing against Spike every since he destroyed her demon boyfriend," Willow said writing down the address. Layla took it. "I promise," she said. She looked at the address. "He lives in an apartment?" she asked. "Yeah can you believe it. He is a real modern vampire. He's done moved out of the crypt," Willow said joking. They shared a laugh. "I'll be back later," Layla said. "Good luck," Willow told her.

Outside the sun was shining brightly. There was still 4 hours till sundown so Layla knew she would be safe going to Spike's apartment. She didn't know what to expect. Would he not let her in after the way she treated him? Would he run out and give her a piece of his mind? Or would he simply just ignore her until she left? She didn't know but she was going to have to make him see that she still loved him. Vampire or not. She stepped over more cracks in the road. This time she would not touch them. But she knew the demons were getting closer because her necklace was churning. She stopped when she heard a rumbling noise. The ground started to shake underneath her. She moved just in time for a big hole to open up where she had just been standing. Steam was coming out of the hole. She looked into the hole an saw nothing but darkness. "Come and get me. I am ready for you," she said into the hole. The earth trembled again. So they could hear her. She hurried on to Spike's place.

She went into the building and took the stairs up to apartment 3c. She noticed it looked as if hardly anyone lived in the building anymore. 'I guess everyone has moved out,' she thought. She stood in front of Spike's door and knocked. She was nervous. She fixed her hair waiting on him. She didn't think he heard her so she went to knock again as the door flew open. "What?" he yelled. They were both a little stunned. Spike had never expected Layla to come to him. "I'm sorry I didn't know it was you," he quickly apologized. "You get a lot of visitors during the day?" she asked. "Can I come in?" she asked when he didn't move or say anything. "Of course," he said moving out of the doorway. She walked in and he shut the door behind her. "Spike I just came over to apologize. I am sorry for the way I acted last night. It's just when you said vampire I had an image of an evil bloodsucker. Not you," she said. "I was just a little shocked when you told me," she said. "It's alright luv. I should have told you sooner but I just couldn't bring myself to do it," he said. "Why not?" she asked. "I was afraid you would get scared of me. I thought you would run out of my life and never want to look at me again. At least not the way you had been looking at me," he said. She smiled at him. "Yeah that's the look," he said. There was nervous silence in the room. Layla spoke up. "Willow found out some information on the demons. They don't like fire." "That's good," he said. "On my way over here the earth opened up and tried to swallow me up. I don't know how much longer we have Spike. They are getting too close," she said. "You shouldn't have come over here. That was dangerous," he said. "I was afraid after my reaction you would never come back to Buffy's. So I just had to see you," she said. She was getting tired of the small talk so she walked up to him. "You can kiss me now Spike," she said. "I thought you would never ask," he said wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her body tight against his. Their lips met and Layla thought she saw sparks. She parted her lips more and let his tongue in. His hands explored her body. Hers were clinging to the back of his shirt. When they pulled away both of them were out of breath. "Wow," Spike said. "Exactly," Layla said. "I love you, Olivia," he told her. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I love you too William," she said using his real name. He blushed. No one has ever called him that. Not even his own mother. He smiled and pulled Layla in for another kiss.