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Part 6

"Hey Chris, what happened to that guy? Marcus told me about the attack in the alley." Nina, Christine's best friend asked.

"He's going to be fine. Is Marcus coming tonight? I really need to thank him."

"No he isn't, he has some BUSINESS to do." Nina replied, turning towards the customer in front of her.

"A Cosmo please."

"Sure." Nina mixed the drink. The club wasn't packed because it was only nine o'clock, and although it was New Year's eve, no one would be in 'til around eleven to start the festivities.

"So, is this guy Marcus told me about your new honey?" Nina asked handing the guy his change.

"Nina! Daniel died five weeks ago, and you think this guy is my boyfriend?" Christine looked at her friend with disgust.

"You have to move on girl! Just because you're with someone new, doesn't mean that you didn't love Daniel." Nina told her best friend. Christine just looked at her, shook her head and served the next guy at the counter.

"What would you like sir?" Christine looked up to see piercing blue-green eyes staring straight into hers.

"I'd like to hav' an ale. Something Canadian." He smiled sweetly at her. Christine blinked her eyes at the man sitting in front of her. His hair was as black as hers, the slight smile made him look even more handsome, and the accent certainly made him even sexier.

Christine handed him a Labatt Blue and cringed at his ensemble, a loud green shirt with a worn brown leather jacket

"So what do you want?" She asked him. He looked up from his beer stunned. "Something about you… You want to tell me something?"

"Yer pretty quick, luv." He took a another sip of his beer.

"I can read people and demons well."

He nearly choked on his beer. "Alright. No beating aroun' the bush, wit' you. The name's Doyle."

The Irish man extended his arm out to the young woman who looked at it, then at him. "Ok then Christine, I've come to warn you that some vampires are going to attack you tonight to find some one you know. Now, in my vision you were fighting them, but you didn't survive, so I'm here to advise you not to do that tonight, but to leave now." He took a large gulp of the beer and continued. "As you probably can see, I'm new at this, but you hav' to believe me."

"Sure, I'm going to abandon my job on the busiest day of the year, because you said so. Whatever." She started to turn away from him but he grabbed her arm.

"No, you're going to abandon your job on the busiest day of the year so that you an' yer child can live. And fulfil yer destiny." Doyle's words shook her to the core.

"I don't have a child." She replied yanking her arm out of his grasp, "I can't."

"You can an' you will. You will in about eight months." His face looked sincere which scared Christine even more. Her eyes danced as she thought: 'Eight months. That means…' The night before Daniel died, they had made love, but she couldn't be pregnant.

"You're serious?"

"As a heart attack."

Christine looked at her stomach and then at Doyle.

"Christine, this guy bothering you?" Nina asked as she had witnessed the exchange.

"Nina. I don't feel good. I'm going home." Christine looked at Doyle one more time and then headed to the back room.

"I think you should leave." Nina said looking at Doyle accusingly. Doyle threw down the money on the counter and left.

'I hope she listened,' he thought, as he walked out the door.

Christine gathered her things, from her locker.

"What are you doing?"

Christine nearly jumped a foot off of the ground.

"Whoa, I didn't mean to startle you. What did that guy say to you?"

"I leaving Nina, tell Paul that I quit. Tell him anything, I have to go."

"Hey, tell me what's going on? Is that the guy from last night? Where are you going?" Nina pleaded as Christine brushed past her.

"I'll call you later on and explain everything Nina."

"Fine." Nina grumbled in frustration as Christine left.

Spike was shocked when Christine walked back into her loft an hour and a half later. Her face was stained with tears, when she entered her bedroom. Spike's unbeating heart sank a little at her expression of confusion and then sorrow.

He felt compassion for her which made his demon cringe.

"What's wrong?" He asked her as she left the bathroom where he heard her crying for the last ten minutes.

"I just really get myself worked up over nothing." She put on a fake smile, which only brought on more tears. "I shouldn't take this seriously. I can make an appointment on Monday and see if it's true, and it'll probably be false."

She walked over to the king-sized bed where Spike lay, curled up next to him and rested her head on his thigh. She turned on the TV, and chose a New Years show to watch. Her green eyes suddenly looked at Spike and he looked back at her.

"So do you plan to kill me?"

Spike thought about it as cool tears soaked his pant leg. Her eyes pleaded for an honest answer.

"No."

"Good."

And for the first time in over hundred and eighteen years he celebrated New Year's Eve with a human.

Part 7

Christine crept downstairs to see Mama Sha. The mysterious woman was in her mid-seventies and still going strong. She was exceptionally healthy and strong for her age. She had saved Christine from a vampire one night and they had been good friends ever since. She knew that there was something special about Mama Sha but she didn't know what, well, besides that she killed demons.

"I guess that makes you special enough." Christine said as she opened the woman's front door. She never kept it looked. "Mama Sha?" Christine's green eyes swept across the dark apartment. The walls were painted a rich purple and the furniture was a deep burgundy with cream pillows. The kitchen was a mass of stainless steel, and the dining room was converted into a psychic's haven holding crystals, tarot cards, and bottle and vials of things. Christine had no clue what were in them, and the way some of them looked told her that she didn't want to know.

"Hello child." Mama kissed Christine on the cheek after she approached the girl smiling.

"Hi." Christine gave the woman a tight squeeze and then she felt Mama Sha drag her towards the table.

"You look well, but I can see a slight air of misery around you. What's wrong child? You should be happy, you will have a child soon." Mama Sha could see the surprise in Christine's face.

"How did you ?. ."

"Child I know all." Mama smiled, her Haitian accent heavy. She could tell that Christine didn't come to hear that, but could also tell that the news had saddened Christine a bit. Mama decided she would find out later. "How is this Spike? Do you need more blood?"

"Ahhh yes Mama." Christine said noticing the switch in topics.

"So how are things child with you? I can tell something is worrying you."

"Well Spike is taking a long time to heal. I know that it's only been three days but ..... I was wondering if you could take a look at him?" Christine asked.

"Certainly child. I'll come up in an hour."

"Thank you Mama Sha." Christine left to go and check on Spike after giving Mama Sha a hug.

Mama Sha stepped into the room and cursed silently at the state of vampire. Spike's chest wound hadn't healed. ' There are probably slivers of wood in it' she thought. She touched his ribs, which were healing quickly, they only needed another day and they would be fine. However, the stake wound was hindering his recovery. Mama brought out a potion. She was about to poor it onto his chest when a strong hand gripped hers.

"I don't think so!" Spike grumbled, "I never trust a witch. For some reason most of them don't like us vampires."

"Oh shut-up an' let me do this! You are no good to Christine this way, so let me go before I turn you into a large pile of dust." Mama said, shaking off his grip, "It would have been better if you were sleeping, but now that you are awake, bite on this." She stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth and poured the concoction on his wound, and if not for the cloth, the whole neighbourhood would have heard his screams. He had never felt pain like that in his undead life, but as quickly as the pain started, it ended, and his chest wound immediately closed. His vampiric face receded and he felt better, his ribs still ached a bit, but he knew he'd be fine.

"Drink this." She shoved a container in front of his face and he drank it hesitantly, it tasted awful but he still drank it. He instantly felt sleepy again and his eyes fell shut. "Good, now sleep, and let me tell you something. You won't do anything to her, you hear me? Nothing. You will do what is written. I put my faith in the words."

Spike had no clue what the old woman was talking about, but soon he drifted into sleep.

Part 8

Jacob's four minions; Duke, Al, Stacy and Phil patiently waited at the bar, but the girl never showed up. They looked at all the warm bodies moving on the dance floor, and then looked back at the pretty bartender.

"Would you like a drink?" Nina asked the couple that sat in front of her. Stacy and Phil looked at her and then at each other both knowing that bartender would make a tasty snack. They both laughed and ordered two Bloody Mary's. Nina looked at them strangely, and turned to mix the drinks.

Marcus and his friend walked into the club and sat down at the open end of the bar. A slow R&B song played and Marcus wanted to dance with his girl.

"Hello? I am at work." Nina admonished him before giving the two patrons their drinks.

"Come on." Marcus urged as his friends laughed.

"Man she's got you pussy-whipped." His friends laughter blared and then roared, and Marcus nodded in agreement.

"She does literally."

Nina glared at her boyfriend but a small smile crept up on her face and she turned her back to him.

"Come on Nin, a dance."

"Marc, I can't ! I have double duty now that Chris left."

"Yeah, what happened to that guy? From a couple of days ago, with Chris?" Tim asked.

"He's cool. From what I understand, he's at her place."

"What?" Steve looked really pissed. "You said that you were going to hook me up with her when she got over Daniel, and now you're telling me that she's shacked up with some punk who got his ass kicked?" The bodybuilder huffed as he paid for the drinks.

Stacy and Phil were on high alert and motioned to Duke and Al to move in closer to get every detail and to find out where Spike was hiding out.

"First of all, my friend doesn't 'shack up' with guys, and secondly, she's pregnant, so I think that you shouldn't even bother her anymore. Like she was interested anyway." Nina replied a matter of factly to Steve

"Not interested in me? She must be blind." Nina rolled her eyes at his response and passed them some beers.

Nina sighed as the guys moved to table on the other side of the club. Marcus grabbed her hand quickly, "Is she really ok with this guy?"

"I think so. I really don't know what their deal is, and when she called me and told me that she was pregnant I nearly freaked. I'm going over to see her after my shift ends."

"I'll go with you." Marcus kissed Nina gently before following his friends.

Phil looked over at Stacy who took off to a corner and dialled Jacob on the cell phone. She listened to his instructions carefully and then returned to the bar.

The group of vampires followed the couple to an old warehouse building converted into lofts. They had no clue which apartment was housing Spike but soon as they tried to walk through the door they were stopped by an invisible barrier. An old black woman came out of her apartment on the ground floor and met the vampires.

"You can't come in here." She hissed at them, her eyes wild with fire.

"We just have a friend to visit, Ma'am. If you could just let us in."

"You see me looking old, but I am wise. I've been through life. I know your kind and you can't get in this building unless I let you in, so leave, vampires. And don't bother try to let anyone else get you in, you can't cross unless you have my permission." She said looking at the four.

"Well you have a vampire staying in here already." Al barked getting angry.

"I know, but you can't come in here. He was chosen. You were not. Now leave." She threw a fine dust towards the vampires and they ran as they saw Al turn into a pile of ashes before their eyes. They stared at the old woman in shock for a second and then took off .

Part 9

"So an old woman scared you off. Is that your excuse!" Jacob's yelled at his minions.

"She was a witch Master, a very powerful witch." Duke defended them. "She turned Al into dust with a a powder."

"So, if you can't get Spike in the apartment, then get him outside, and if you can't get him, then get the GODDAMN GIRL! Get out of my sight before I stake one of you idiots!" Jacob blared, and one of his minions brought him a young girl to snack on.

"She's cute." He admired her olive coloured skin, then looked deep into her dark brown oval eyes. Her straight dyed red hair looked beautiful in contrast to her skin colour. "Your name?"

"Liliane." She trembled in his grasp. His cold hands snaked around her waist pulling the lanky girl onto his lap.

"Last name?" He sniffed her, smelling her fear made him chuckle.

"Fujisawa."

"Hmmmmmm." He nuzzled his nose against her neck, "I felt like having Japanese today."

He licked along her neck. The girl gasped in shock and struggled to break free from his grasp. The vampire's laugh echoed in the room.

"Get out!" He commanded as the remaining fledgling left.

She looked around the room for a weapon and noticed his bandaged ankle and kicked him hard. The Master cried out in pain but didn't loosen his grip on her. "You BITCH!"

He put on his game face, as she began to scream. His teeth cut through her skin easily and within seconds her struggles stopped. He drained her and dumped her body on the floor. She struggled to breathe as she felt weaker and weaker with each gasp.

"Duke, get your ASS in here!"

Duke ran threw the door almost immediately.

"Turn this bitch. She needs a couple of rounds of torture before I officially kill her."

Duke opened his wrist and held it to her mouth, she no longer struggled. When he was done, he turned to his sire. "What do you want me to do with her now?"

"I don't think your demon can handle knowing Duke."

The minion smiled, knowing his masters talent for cruelty especially after what he did to L'nor.

Duke had know idea that vampires could bleed that much, but now he would get a second attempt to see his sire's mastery at work.

When Spike woke up he felt as good as new and extremely hungry. It had been a week since the old woman made him drink that potion and he felt stronger then ever. He couldn't sense Christine so he knew that he was alone. The peroxide blonde grabbed his clothes and changed into them quickly and set out to hunt. He had no intent of returning. Why bother?

He wasn't going to kill Christine. He had a certain code of ethics, even for a vampire. No pregnant women. He almost laughed at himself. "Code of ethics!" He said to himself before he closed the door.

Christine hurried from Nina's apartment. It was just after sunset and she stopped at the store to pick up her dry cleaning and completely lost track of time. She had her tazer gun with her but it was still. She hurried down the bustling street. She was a block from her loft when two strong hands pulled her into an alley.

Christine's scream was muffled by a large hand.

The vampire laughed as he slammed her back against the building wall.

"Now I think that you'll be very quiet. Won't you?" The vampire asked.

Fear coursed through Christine's body. Her purse was lying on the ground, so there was no way that she could get her tazer gun.

"We just want you take us to Spike. Now I am going to take my hand off of your mouth and you won't scream because you'll definitely regret it."

There were three vampires and she had no weapons. She silently cursed as she watched her purse.

"Well you are a pretty little thing aren't you." The first vampire said as her stroked her face.

"Now Spike…" Another one stepped up. "We want you to bring him outside."

"You guys think that I'm go....ahhhhhhhhhhhh." Her head suddenly felt like it was going to explode.

Her ears were ringing. It was probably just a slap in vampire terms, but it was an all out slug in human strength. Her lip was split and the blood ran freely followed from the wound. The three vampires watched the bloody trickle down her chin. The leader stepped forward licked her chin clean then began to suck slowly on her lip and finally pulled back, "I suggest that you take the offer because it's the only way that you are getting out of here."

"Screw you!" She said she felt the back of her head hit the wall behind her as the vampire slammed into her pinning her against the wall. He turned her head awkwardly. Christine felt like her neck was going to snap but instead she felt the pain of razors cutting into her neck. The other vampires watched and smiled as they moved in to take a taste. One grabbed her wrist and sunk his fangs into her veins.

As soon as Spike rounded the corner he could smell the blood. He turned to see two vampires feeding from a girl. The third stood guard as the others slowly drank from her. He suddenly looked down the alley and saw Spike, the vampire who had injured his Master and took off running. A street car passed and silver of light hit the girls face and Spike realized that it was Christine. He growled as he charged the vampires. The one feeding from her wrist looked up in time to see a stake being rammed into his chest and soon afterward imploded into a pile of dust. The one feeding from her neck pulled away from her smiling, as her body slumped against the wall. He smiled at Spike, holding Christine's body in his arms. He looked at the woman and then threw her at Spike and took off down the alley.

Spike caught Christine and looked at her limp body, her pale face and her blue lips made Spike feel weird. He couldn't quite describe it, but he didn't like it. He could hear her heartbeat slowing down, and cradled her gently in his arms as he ran with her towards the hospital a few blocks away.

It took the doctors a few hours to come out before they told Spike anything. Mama Sha came out from the elevator as the Doctor approached them.

"Well, she is going to live, but she's extremely weak and she insists on going home." The doctor shook her head.

"I'll tell her that she has to stay." Spike said forcefully

"No! She can come home if that's what she wants." Mama Sha scolded.

"I don't advise..."

"I don't care." Mama Sha glared at the middle-aged man.

Spike looked at the old woman and began to wonder what she was up to.

Spike shook his head and walked down the hall, not wanting to listen to the Doctor or Mama Sha. He slowly walked into the waiting room and sat down. He could smell the blood and death throughout the whole hospital. "What the hell is happening to me? I was-was bloody worried about her. I was..." Spike whispered to himself in disbelief. "Ssc-scared?"

"Pardon me sweety?" Spike turned toward the voice and looked into familiar blue eyes. He looked into the woman's face, and saw her pale blond hair and rosy coloured cheeks. She looked at the vampire expectantly.

Spike could have sworn that his heart had skipped a beat as he looked into the woman's face. Her eyes danced and her smile was light and warm.

"Mother?" He asked barely above a whisper.

"Yes, Willy." She smiled brightly.

"Are you for real?"

"As real as you want honey."

"Why are you here Mum?" Spike scooted over toward the woman examining her modern day clothes. A floor dress and black sandals. She reached out and touched his hand. Her warmth shocked him and then she reached for his face grabbing his earlobes like she always did when he was a boy and she wanted to tell him something important.

"Something big is happening and you must be aware. Evil is coming. Good is coming. You are both. That is why you were chosen." She smiled at him still holding him lovingly.

"Chosen for what?"

She smiled one last time. "To keep her safe."

A loud noise diverted Spike's attention, he turned to see the noise and then he turned back to see his mother was gone.

When Christine woke up, she was more than a little surprised to see Spike sitting next to her holding her hand and Mama Sha behind him. She had no clue how or when she got him, but she was happy to see both of them. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes as sleep called her.

Part 10

In the few weeks that passed, Christine and Spike had gotten close. He knew that eventually he'd have to go, because a vampire and human living together went against every law of nature possible. They were like brother and sister. They argued over television, politics and sports.

"So what exactly is the deal with you and this Buffy girl?" Christine asked her new roommate.

"Nothing. As I told you before . . ."

"Yeah I know bane of my existence yadda, yadda, yadda." Christine took the blood out of the microwave and handed the mug to Spike.

It had been nearly a month since she had gone to the doctors for the test and she was definitely pregnant.

Christine had asked him to stay with her, and the fact that he accepted staying with a human was weird to him. She reminded him of his friend Melanie when he was human, she had always been kind and sweet to William, unlike the other people in his life. Her family and his had always been close, and his mother even suggested once that he should court her. William smiled shyly at his mother and told her that he was in love with Cecily Addams 'Cecily,' he thought. She was the reason he was an immortal. That rejection, that humiliation, had driven him into the night and into Drusilla's arms.

"But you helped her save the world, even if it was for selfish reasons, but you still did it." Christine stirred the eggs in the pan. "Somewhere deep down you like her."

"No!"

"Whatever. Let me ask you a question. If you were human, would you two have a relationship? Or if she was a vampire, would you two be together, like you and Dru were?"

"No."

"Fine, deny it." Christine turned off the stove.

"I'm not denying anything." Spike mumbled as he looked at the clock which read 11:00 am. It was going to be a long day.

As soon as nightfall hit, Spike went out hunting for food. He came across a young couple going into a movie theatre, they were holding hands and giggling like school children.

Spike let go of the cold dead body in his hands. Draining this girl hadn't taken much effort. Spike had contemplated turning her but the couple distracted him from the small time window he had to turn a human. He dropped her behind the dumpster in the alley he was in and followed the couple.

"Where are we going?" The guy asked his girlfriend playfully.

"Just follow me." She smiled at him.

The words sent a haunting thrill through Spike.

London, England July 1880.

"Where are we going?" William asked Melanie.

"Just follow me." She replied, squeezing his hands tighter as they walked away from the square. There was a small building at the edge which her parents owned. She led him up the back stairs, onto the slanted roof of the building. The setting sun glowed in colours of purple, pink, orange, and red over the horizon. William's breath caught in his throat at the beautiful sight before him. Watching a setting sun from up here was magnificent.

William searched for a piece of paper as the words flowed into his mind. Melanie smiled as she handed him a piece of paper. He smiled knowingly at her.

"It's perfect." He gasped as he sat down on the flat part of the roof, and began writing furiously. Melanie smiled at his enthusiasm. "This will be the perfect poem to give Cecily."

Melanie's face dropped as her name left his tongue. She wanted to yell at him, she wanted to shake him, but tomorrow at the party she would tell him how she felt. She would wear her new dress and dazzle him, making him forget about plain old Cecily.

William looked up at her, and Melanie quickly smiled at him as he patted the space next to him. She sat down and watched him watching the sun's final glimmer before disappearing.

Spike, in his thoughts, had lost sight of the couple, but he had landed in front of a photo studio where the display photos had baby's gurgling with laughter and beautiful couples looking in love. As he looked at the last eight by ten picture from the end, he saw a familiar face. The girl looked like Melanie, her brown hair curled just like Melanie's had, and the crooked smile was almost identical. From the looks of it, the picture had been taken in a park, and she was sitting smiling, holding a baby in her arms. A tall dark man sat on her right side and smiled right into the camera like her. Their eyes burned a hole in Spike's psyche.

Why had he decided to stay with Christine? He was is in no way interested in her romantically, and she was not interested in him. Yet he felt compelled not to kill her. He felt compelled to stay. Why? He looked at the picture again, and the infant looked at him.

"The baby?" He whispered.

If you liked this fanfic why not tell the author your thoughts and comments, richess78@hotmail.com

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