Three weeks later things seemed to be going smoothly, or as smoothly as things could for a seer, a slayer, and a vampire all living together under the same roof. During the day Spike and Buffy acted like a pair of happy parents for Eve's sake. Night was a different story because the tension between them was reaching a near intolerable level. They took care to sleep on the couch, always starting on opposite sides and always waking up curled together. The frustration took on other forms instead, usually loud arguments. One of the first came up over whether they should sleep in Eve's room or not. After much muted shouting they agreed that it would be better for Eve to experience as normal of a childhood as possible in whatever time she had remaining.
Days passed and both Buffy and Spike had the feeling that time for Eve was running out. Her visions became more frequent and violent. Spike continued to vampire-proof his house, which drove him to spend most of his time in the living room. Buffy could not begin to guess what it was like for him with the dual handicaps of being unable to move around his house and unable to leave the house. Despite herself, she had to admire Spike's sacrifices for Eve; he even quit smoking for her. She at least was able, sometimes, to take Eve outside to the backyard during the day. Night was out of the question, and the short jaunts outdoors made Spike very edgy. It seemed that no matter how many safeguards he set up or how many magic spells Willow cast for them, Eve would just have a more damning vision.
The drawings Eve continued to make were often covered with octagons, circles, and crosses. Spike had drawn every appliance and piece of furniture in his house at her insistence. He, Buffy noted, had particular difficulty dealing with the aftermath of Eve's visions since he revealed one night that he was sure with each vision they were one step closer to whatever was lurking outside. Buffy tried to allay his fears by having Eve choose tarot cards constantly, in the hopes of seeing a more clear future. Spike was grateful for her assistance, but nothing could reassure him.
Research was turning into a dead end too. Giles and Willow were pouring over various old Watcher diaries and magic books to no avail. No evidence of any spell resembling Eve's drawings was found, in fact, little information on seers in general was found at all. Willow cast and sent spells over to the house as often as possible, but her small charms and locator spells were likely to be nothing when compared to what was coming next.
Buffy helped research in what time was not spent at Spike's house with Eve. The 'sick friend' excuse did not float well with Riley effectively stalling what little of a relationship they had. The nightly patrol with Xander and Anya who had both been let in on the secret almost always proved uneventful. She was unsure whether to comforted or not. Based on past experience, a sudden lack of vampire activity was usually a sign of impending trouble.
A big break in the research occurred on a Thursday night before they had sent Eve to bed. Willow called.
"Buffy," she called out jubilation evident in her voice. "I found some stuff on seers!"
"You did? What is it?"
"Well, it appears that some group called the Powers That Be control the world. They keep the forces of Good and Evil in balance. When one side gets too strong they tip the scales in the other direction."
"So they sound helpful, assuming you live on the Hellmouth were evil is usually pretty close to winning," Buffy commented.
"They have people designated as 'Tools.' Their job is to fight the evil. When evil is too strong, they like to send in a 'Voice' which is a person psychically gifted to guide the 'Tool.'"
"This sounds kinda important. Why isn't this mentioned in the diaries more often?"
"Most seers in the diaries predict bad things and are killed on the same page. The only seer that consistently appears in the diaries is . . . Drusilla." She paused as if she were considering what to say next.
"Will, what is it?"
"I didn't get this form the Diaries. It came from Angel."
"What?"
"Angel sent Giles this letter two months ago, but it got lost and we found it today. He says that the Powers That Be chose him to be a Tool. They sent him this half-demon seer Doyle to guide him."
Buffy vaguely remembered Doyle from her visit a few months ago. He was a slender brown-haired guy who looked like he had a huge crush on Cordelia. "So can I talk to him? Maybe he can help us."
"I don't think so. Angel wrote this letter to Giles to tell us that . . . Doyle is dead." Silence. Spike turned with Eve on his lap to look at her frozen expression.
"Come again."
"He died Buffy, an atonement for his earlier sins. He sacrificed himself for a couple thousand people, Angel and Cordy included."
"But, why didn't Angel tell me? And what can Eve possibly have to atone for?"
"Slayer!" Spike called out as Eve began to writhe in his arms. Her eyes rolled back and her arms flailed wildly. She began to scream loudly.
"Willow, I've gotta go." Buffy hung up and ran to help Spike keep Eve from hurting herself.
"Soon!" called the deep voice. "The darkness is coming. The Tool shall make the choice. Evil done by good hands is evil. Good done by evil hands is good. The Voice will die broken by evil hands on the Tool!" The shaking suddenly ceased, and Eve sat up. "Eve's head hurts."
"Of course it does, pet," Spike pressed a fatherly kiss on her hair. "What was that about?"
"Willow found us another seer. Remember Angel's friend Doyle?"
"The Mick that smelled funny?"
"That 'Mick' was half-demon and could see the future. Apparently he was Angel's link to God or the Powers That Be. Angel is their Tool and Doyle was their Voice."
"So that makes you their Tool and Eve their Voice. When can this Doyle get here to help us?" Spike patted Eve's head.
"Can't. Dead," Eve answered before Buffy could open her mouth. Spike's face twitched, and he held Eve a little tighter. "Don't be scared, Daddy William."
"Nonsense, Eve. I'm not scared," he replied.
"You are. So's Mommy Buffy. My old mommy and daddy told me to never be scared." Eve said, "Don't be scared."
"Okay," Spike said. "We'll have to call Angel tomorrow afternoon. It's nighttime so he won't be in now anyway. There's nothing to worry about."
Nevertheless, Spike and Buffy slept in Eve's room with her sandwiched between them on the bed; stakes in hand.
Buffy showed up late the next day, a Friday. When she finally arrived, it was almost dark, and Spike had been pacing uncomfortably around the kitchen. He'd been watching Eve play with the tarot cards since noon. Without a doubt he was edgy and nearly at the end of his rope.
"You're late," he stated as she entered. Spike allowed himself a short smile; she had come dressed for the occasion. "Nice color scheme." She was wearing his kind of outfit, slinky red top with black loose pants and her hair was all up with pins of some type. All of her slaying supplies were held in a little black hip sack, he observed marveling at her different types of bags.
"You, too." She commented because he was wearing his working set of clothes, red overshirt, black jeans, and the duster. "Sorry I'm late. I met a few undead friends trying to snack on some pre-meds."
*She looks delicious,* he thought for a second before remembering why he was so tense. "Just call the nancy boy. He should be in doing some serious brooding or something." He indicated the phone on the wall.
"Okay," She picked up the phone and dialed the number for Angel Investigations. Nothing happened. She dialed again and again nothing happened. She hung up the phone and picked it up again, listening for a dial tone. There was nothing. "Spike. The phone is dead." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the power on the street went out."
His voice deadly serious, Spike said, "We've been caught." He checked the time and tried to guess how long until sundown. Less than ten minutes he figured. Whoever was behind this had planned it well. With the power out, the security system was completely worthless. They had two choices, stay here and wait for them to come in, or make a run for it. Spike gazed at Eve and Buffy for a second. He reached his decision. "If you take her now, you two may be able to get out before they try to come in."
"What about you? I'm not leaving without-" She faced is dark blue eyes.
"Save Eve and yourself. I don't matter. You are the Tool, and she is the Voice. They may leave me alive, I know they won't give you the same option." He picked up Eve from her chair, interrupting her tarot card flipping. "Take her! NOW!'
Buffy hefted Eve onto her back, pulled out a stake, and stared at him. The Slayer had been around the block a few times, and she knew he was going to sacrifice himself for her and Eve. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Spike shoved her away roughly, his demon on the surface. "Bloody GO!" She turned and ran out the door.
As they left Eve called out, "Love you Daddy William." The door closed and he barred it.
Spike stood waiting for the inevitable attack. Of all the dumb things he had ever done, this was probably the stupidest yet. He was standing, patiently waiting to fight off his own kind after letting his mortal enemy, the Slayer, escape with the seer. If he wasn't so worried, he would have laughed at himself. He hoped Buffy and Eve made it; he knew he probably wouldn't. He glanced down at the table and picked up the last two cards Eve had drawn: Judgment and the Wheel of Fortune. A sudden impulse told him to go to the refrigerator. He held up the Wheel of Fortune to Eve's drawings of crosses and circles. The patterns matched perfectly.
So that was it. The answer had been right in front of them the whole time. But the future wasn't complete until the third card had been chosen. Spike took the next card off the top of the deck. And cursed. This proved it, he was stupid. He held the Fool in his hand. Sending Buffy away had been a mistake. It was a trap.
A rock crashed through his kitchen window, but he ignored it. He ran to the living room and kicked down his front door. Growling, he confronted the twenty vampires lined up in his yard. They must have been hiding in the neighbors' houses or cars to have arrived so quickly after sunset. It didn't bode well for the neighbors, but Spike had more serious concerns on his mind. Staking two of the closest vampires, he managed to crash through the pack with only a few bruises. He sprinted off into the darkness following the familiar vanilla scent of the Slayer. As he placed some distance between himself and his pursuers, he hoped with his entire undead heart that he wouldn't be to late.
After a minute of running, he had his answer. He ran smack into the ambush the vampires had caught the Slayer in. It was in the same copse of trees he'd rescued Eve from a month earlier. Judging by the piles of dust, the Slayer must have run in and been jumped by twenty other vampires. She was weaponless, valiantly fending off four of the ten circling her with her bare hands when Spike burst on the scene. As he entered he saw, her go down.
Holding nothing back, he was on her attackers, a blur of motion kicking and swinging his stake in a deadly arc. He cut through them like butter, slashing his way to the Slayer. With deadly efficiency he dispatched the two holding her down. The remaining few backed off, and Spike knelt down by her. Brushing the blood from her cut forehead, he shook her back into consciousness. "Slayer. Wake up. Come on, wake up."
"Spike," she gasped out. "Eve. . ." Her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Buffy! Stay with me!" Pushing back his fear, he shook her harder, "Where's Eve?"
"They. . .they took. . . her." She slumped against him, and her barely heard her whisper, "It's . . .a trap."
"At least she got that right,' a voice said from behind him. Spike turned in time to see the group of vampires he had run from join the ones in the copse. And he also got to see the close-up view of the crowbar descending on his head.
Spike woke to excruciating pain in his right shoulder. His eyes flew open to see an iron peg being pounded into him. He was dimly able to notice he was upright against the stone wall of some type of cave. A grinning vampire with a sledgehammer laughed when Spike's demon snarled in pain. "Master Spike, you should have never come back here to Sunnydale."
"Just couldn't resist the attributes of good ole Sunnyhell," Spike replied, trying to clear the haze from his vision.
"Or the Slayer, I see." The vampire jerked his head toward Spike's left. Moving his head painfully, Spike saw the Slayer chained up against the wall too. She was bruised and unconscious, her clothes torn in several places and her hair popping out of its pins. "Does she taste as good as she looks?"
"I wouldn't know, pillock," Spike retorted.
"Wrong again," the vampire said and gleefully used pounded another metal peg into him, this time in the left shoulder above the heart. "We've been watching you for some time now."
The pain was tremendous. It reminded him of when Dru had pulled him out from under the organ the Slayer had dropped on him. Every nerve protesting, he began to feel like a butterfly being pinned on a tray. Or a frog being prepared for dissection. He considered struggling, but, since the vampire had more pegs, he decided against it.
Seeing he wasn't going to show anymore resistance, the vampire lowered his hammer and slunk away laughing. Spike allowed himself to relax slightly. He was only nailed to the wall, fortunately not chained like the Slayer. Blinking a few times, he tried to make his eyes penetrate the darkness in front of him. Something strange was in the air because even his demon-enhanced eyes couldn't see past the Slayer. His duster he saw was laying on the floor by his feet. Smiling at his good fortune, he kicked it experimentally and was rewarded with the sound of breaking glass. If he'd broken what he thought he did, they had a chance to get away. First he had to free himself and the Slayer, and then they'd find Eve.
There was the whine of a generator kicking on, and the room was bathed in bright artificial light. When his eyes adjusted, Spike felt a sinking feeling about what would happen next. He recognized this place, it was one of the many mausoleums in one of the many Sunnyhell cemeteries. He didn't miss the huge Wheel of Fortune newly etched into the stone floor. Nor were he and the Slayer alone, they had the company of about twenty some vampires shifting uncomfortably as something approached form the depths of the crypt. The vampire crowd parted for him to see three very familiar figures.
Drusilla, her new fungus demon boyfriend, and, being half-carried and half-drug, Eve. Spike hardly glanced at Dru's mad eyes or the slimy demon; Eve held his attention. She was dressed in a new little white dress with her hair bound up behind her head. The first thought in his mind was one word 'sacrifice,' and the second was an affirmation of the rightness of the first.
Stepping away from her demon, Drusilla strode up to him in her matching white dress. "Hello, my Spike. You've been very bad." She held up her doll also dressed in white. "Miss Edith says you belong to her, the Daddy killer." She walked over and slapped Buffy. The Slayer woke quickly and lunged at Dru.
Her forward motion was stopped by a slap from the fungus demon. Spike hated fungus demons; this one was human looking if you didn't notice he had green jelly for skin. Also he was somewhat translucent, not having any bones and being made of slime. His filmy eyes twitched as he bubbled, "Keep away from my girl."
Buffy looked him at his gooey face and said, "Your 'girl' isn't playing with a full deck." She received another slap for her insolence.
"See, luv, I told you they were here," Dru let Eve see her 'parents.'
Eve ran toward Spike. "Daddy William!"
One of the vampires in the crowed pulled her back. It was Brian, one of Spike's minions from his time months back with Harmony. Spike's eyes flashed as her recognized the betrayal of one of his children.
"Brian, what the Hell are you doing. I'm your bloody sire."
Wincing in response, Brian squared his shoulders. "My sire ate humans. He didn't shack up with them. My sire also would have been smart enough to live in a different house than the one I helped him get."
So they'd know all along where Spike was living. He, the Slayer, and her little friends had all been fools to believe he'd been able to hide at all.
Drusilla took Eve's hand. "It's time now. Can you hear the air singing?" Brian stepped forward with the book Ford had stolen from the Watcher way back before Angel had lost his soul. Spike had not been aware that Drusilla still had it.
"Ever wonder why you never found much on seers? It was all here." Brian caressed the cover of the book. "Oh yeah, there were seers at the Salem witch trials. The mob hung the seer, the Slayer, and the Watcher all at the same time."
"Oh, tell us the story. Tell us the one with the Wheel," Drusilla cooed.
Fungus man nodded to Brian, and Dru danced her way toward the Wheel of Fortune, dragging Eve with her. Brian carefully opened the book and read. "After a Slayer has been active for four years, which is extremely rare, the Powers will send a voice gifted with psychic powers to aid the Slayer in her fight against the darkness. The seer is the gateway between the Powers That Be and this world." He closed the book.
"Now lets imagine someone forces the gateway open." The fungus demon lifted his fist. "The power would anchor itself onto the seer, making her a channel to the power of the gods."
"And how would that help? You're screwing with some heavy magic there. If you don't contain the power, you'll turn the whole world into a giant pile of ash. And even if you held it, opening all that power on the seer would kill her," Buffy said in an annoyed tone.
"I see you've been around to see the end of the world a few times. The Wheel will contain the power, and as for the seer, killing her as the door opens permanently forces it open."
"You don't seem much like you're into one time deals, mate. Once you kill the seer, doesn't the power die with her?" Spike said.
"The seer won't be alive, true; she'll just be a little undead. That way the power will never stop. She won't be able to use the power, but anyone how feeds off her will." The demon laughed.
"No!" Spike screamed as the fungus demon's words sunk in. They were going to make Eve into a vampire and feed off her endless power supply for all eternity. It would make them gods. With effort he controlled himself and changed his tone. "Dru, my black goddess, do you remember the Annoying One. All that power with no personality. Wasn't one of those buggers bad enough?"
In response Dru knelt down next to Eve, "Little angel, Princess likes children. Can I be your Mummy forever and ever?"
Eve pushed her away, "Not the princess or my mommy!"
Dru lifted Eve up by the throat, cutting off her air. Spike forced himself to remain motionless. "I'll be you Mummy! Miss Edith says so. We'll make sure your old Mummy is the first one you eat. Slayers are so yummy. They never get stuck in your teeth."
With defiance, Spike wished he could take credit for, Eve gasped out, "Daddy William will stop you."
Cradling Eve to her, Drusilla whispered into Eve's ear, "Daddy William ate little girls like you. And they cried, all crying when he got them 'Tastes like chicken,' my Spike said."
Her eyes scared, Eve looked at Spike and saw Drusilla's words confirmed by his face. While she may have know what he was, Eve was still just a little girl who had believed her daddy incapable to cruelty of any kind. Eve became very still and allowed Drusilla to stroke her hair. "No," Eve said in a small shocked voice.
"You bloody touch her Dru and I swear I will pour holy water down your gullet after I burn Miss Edith just for grins." He fought against the pegs again drawing all eyes in the room on him. Ignoring the burning pain, he was aware of Buffy stealthily reaching up, pulling a pin from her hair, and working it into her locks.
"Shut up, Fangs." The fungus demon shoved Spike into the wall, laughing as the pegs ground into his bones. "Start the ritual," he commanded.
Eve was forced by Drusilla to lay down spread eagle in the center of the wheel. The demon brought twin iron pegs and proceeded to pound them into each of Eve's wrists. Her terrified screams were horrible to hear, filling up the space in the crypt. For the first time in over a century, Spike began to pray. Brian chanted in Latin, beseeching the Powers to deliver themselves to the site. Eve writhed against the nails, her skin beginning to glow faintly with a blue light, the power of the beyond. Dru leaned over her and prepared to started feeding on the small seer.
"I wouldn't do that, ducks," Spike interrupted loudly. Dru's demon face snapped up from her intended meal to see Buffy loose from her chains. Simultaneously the crypt door swung open, revealing the Slayerettes in full fighting regalia: Willow armed with a holy water filled water-gun, Xander carrying a long crossbow, Anya holding a cross and a stake, and Giles decked out in cross after cross with some attached to chains. "Not even the Slayer's groupies could miss me breaking the locator spell the witch put in my duster's pocket."
For a moment the two sides regarded each other warily, and Spike wondered if it would end up in a Mexican standoff. He didn't have to wait long because as a wave the vampires surged at the Scooby gang, trying to overwhelm them by sheer force of numbers. The first onslaught was blunted by Willow covering the first rank with holy water. The fungus demon took that as an opportunity to rush the Slayer. Spike lost sight of Drusilla and Eve amid the smoking vampires. Groaning mightily, Spike hurled himself forward against the pegs and used his momentum to force them out his back. He crashed down, landing hard on his duster. From his perspective on the ground, he saw the vampires were having serious problems with the Scooby gang. The water gun was particularly deadly, cutting down anyone who tried to charge at them. Xander was giving a good account of himself firing his crossbow as fast as his hands could reload it. A veteran of many demonic battles, Anya was wielding her stake and cross as cover for Xander and the witch. The Watcher was swinging his chains of crosses, whipping them into any unlucky vampire.
The Slayer was another story because she and the fungus demon were fairly well matched. She was faster, but he was able to shift his gelatinous mass around most of her punches. Spike briefly debated helping her only to discard the thought when he saw Drusilla and Eve.
Dru had taken advantage of the battle to start feeding on the glowing seer. Her eyes were rolled back in near orgasmic joy as Eve's breathing slowed. Eve's bright green eyes were rapidly dimming, and Spike already knew he was going to be too late.
A sound rose form his throat, a deep keening cry of an animal too angry to scream. He knocked Drusilla off Eve with a flying tackle that sent them rolling across the floor. The bloodlust upon him, Spike was madly punching and tearing at her face when she delivered a sharp uppercut to his jaw. Her strength, enhanced by the power in Eve's blood, sent him flying across the room.
She giggled insanely almost floating, the magic of the gods singing in her veins. There was a blaze of dark power shining through her, and it grew brighter with each passing second. Spike never bothered to consider the odds, for he jumped at her, arms outstretched, practically out of his mind in rage. Dru caught him with one careless hand and cradled him into a crushing bear hug. His face close to hers, he gazed deeply into her crazy eyes for a short second. Her eyes were merry, never believing that her Spike could seriously harm her.
One of her hands released him and brushed his blonde hair. The hand began to shine with the burning magic energy she had absorbed. "It's all right, my Spike. Princess will make it quick."
"Wrong." Game face on, he shoved the stake that he had been concealing into her heart. She stared at him for one disbelieving moment and crumbled into dust.
"NO!" an agonized voice bellowed from behind him. The fungus demon seized Spike and tossed him into the Slayerettes. Narrowly missing being staked, burned, and fried, he rolled tiredly onto his stomach, shoulder wounds bleeding freely.
The demon was preparing to charge again when he was hit with some kind of liquid. He spun around in outrage to face his enemy.
"Hey Shroom man!" Buffy called, pouring some of the liquid on a stake. "As Cordelia might say, 'Wanna play with fire, Scarecrow?'" She lit a match, which ignited the stake and threw it into him. The liquid caught on fire instantly and he, equally disbelieving, disappeared in a cloud of foul smelling smoke.
The Watcher gave her an odd look. She shrugged her shoulders, "I had nail polish remover in my bag. I was going to show Eve how to paint her nails."
"Eve," Spike whispered staggering to his feet. Buffy shot a glance at Eve, and ran up to him to hold him back.
"You don't have to do this. I can do it," she said softly.
He pushed her aside wearily. "No, I've got to be the one." Spike continued to limp toward the small still-glowing figure nailed to the floor.
When he knelt the first thing his mind noticed was the cast of her skin, an unhealthy and unnatural white, despite the light shining through her. She had two deep, painful-looking holes in the left side of her neck. He touched the dark curls on her forehead and felt the iciness of her skin. Spike examined her mouth and knew the truth when he saw the trickle of red blood in the corner. She must have drank some vampire blood. Drusilla had done her work well, even if she would never get to enjoy it.
Eve's eyes opened, their light a fading green. "Daddy William. . ."
"Yes, luv," he said urgently, grabbing one of her cool hands.
"Eve is cold." She closed her eyes and reopened them. "Remember your promise?"
"I do, pet," Spike confirmed.
"Please Daddy William," Eve begged, the light in her eyes fading.
Spike turned to the Slayer. "Give me the bloody gun!" No one moved. "NOW!" he howled. Willow ran up and handed him her water gun. He took it and pulled her extra stake out of her coat pocket. He set it on his lap as he removed the gun's canteen of holy water.
With painful gentleness, he tilted Eve's mouth open and began to pour the water down her throat. His hands shook slightly as the image of him doing the same to her parents floated by his mind. The water spilled, burning layers of skin off both hands. He paid no attention to it and reached for the stake. Taking a last glance, he brushed his bloody burned hand across her cold forehead.
She looked like a sleeping angel, marred only by the crimson stain his hand had left on her face. The angel opened her flat yellow eyes and gazed directly into his matching set. A flicker of recognition flashed in them just before Spike plunged the stake down into her heart. The angel dissolved into a smooth pile of dust.
There was a deafening silence.
Buffy crept up next to him and laid a hand on his arm. "We have to leave. You're losing lots of blood."
He stood. With sure steps he picked up his duster, placing the stake in one of his pockets. Tilting his head at the Scooby gang he said, "So it ends. I'm going home."
"That's it?" Xander gulped in disbelief.
"What did you expect? Tears? She was just a bloody human, a meal that didn't make it." Ignoring them he walked to the back of the crypt. He picked up the forgotten Miss Edith from Drusilla's ashes and stuck her in his duster. "I'm out of here."
At his exit Buffy shakily said, "I'll go with him. I need to pick up my stuff anyway." Her breath caught in her throat. "Don't expect me around for a few days. I - I need to deal with all of this."
Willow nodded, "Careful though. Drusilla and her people took down the whole Sunnydale power grid. Lights, telephones, and everything is out. It probably even knocked out the Initiative." She wrapped Buffy in a hug as Buffy dissolved into tears.
Wiping the wetness from her cheeks, Buffy stepped away. "I've got to go. Make sure Spike doesn't hurt himself."
Xander did not agree, "Deadboy Jr. doesn't care about this. Why should you care about what he does?"
"Then why did he take Miss Edith?" Buffy followed Spike's example, leaving her friends to ponder what she meant.
Comments about this story(Did you think Eve should have made it?)