I’ve never attempted fanfic before, so please excuse me if this is not very good. Thought I’d have a go and see if it was any fun. This tale is set in the aftermath of the final Angel episode and while it might reference a bit of what happened in the comics after, it will only be vaguely. Never read them myself. The story is centered around spike, but will likely venture into a Spike/Buffy thing down the road. Hope you enjoy :)
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Heaven And Hell
Chapter 15 The Hunt
For Spike the drive north out of Boston was a quiet one. His mind wasn’t in a place for conversation despite Clem’s occasional attempts at chatter. It wasn’t that the vampire was upset, simply that he was trying to fit a puzzle together without all the pieces and the frustration was starting to get to him. The hints were there. Everything pointed to it. But more than anything, he simply knew it. Down in his gut, he could feel that something was brewing. Something huge and terrible. And he knew that he was going to end up in the middle of it. Worse, he knew Buffy would be in the eye of the storm.
He needed answers. He had to know.
They’d left in the late afternoon, long after Tara and Dawn had vacated their little house with shopping plans and a sullen Gate in tow. With Clem providing directions, which was never a good idea, they’d left the city and eventually left the interstate as well, ending up in a rural portion of the state by the time early evening fell and the sun finally disappeared.
Clem got them lost several times, of course, but that was part of the reason Spike had insisted on leaving so early. The amiable demon’s inability to read a map was long since an acknowledged and accepted part of their little group’s dynamic. He meant well and no one really fussed over it. Spike would not even have noticed had he not been so impatient for answers. That said, he was more than a little annoyed with his friend by the time the DeSoto finally pulled into the dirt patch that served as a parking lot for a tiny bookstore in a town neither of them could rightly name.
The vampire glared at his companion as he killed the engine. “You know we could have been here a soddin’ half hour ago, at least.” he growled irritably.
“Hey, it’s not my fault!” the demon protested innocently “Human’s don’t know how to make maps.”
Spike bit back a sharp retort. Even before he’d had a soul, it had been a chore staying annoyed with Clem for long. With the soul it was a near impossibility. That amiable grin simply didn’t allow for a proper fight. “Best wait in the car, mate,” he muttered after a moment “The lady’s supposed to be in on the demon world, but that don’t mean she’ll appreciate one walkin’ in on her if she’s got customers.”
“Way ahead of you,” Clem agreed, producing one of an endless supply of trashy romance novels that he was obsessed with.
“Got some chips in the back if you get hungry,” Spike nodded, getting out. “Shouldn’t be too long.”
Knowing Clem could exist for weeks on end with nothing but chips he put his friend out of his mind and walked across the parking lot and pushed through the front door. It was a tiny place, a sad excuse for a bookstore, really. Shelves lined the walls but most were half empty, as were the assorted tabled that had book stacks haphazardly piled on top of them in the center of the room. Opposite the door he’d just entered was a small counter with a wizened old woman behind it who was ringing up a purchase for a rotund woman. A teenager was loitering around one of the tables, flipping through the books without any real interest. None of them looked up as he walked in.
The old woman, who must have been in her eighties at least, was sporting a little mass of wild hair that was almost starkly white. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, just a tiny little thing with a sweet smile that lay buried in a face that was wrinkled enough to get Clem’s approval. That smile was directed at her customer and she held up a finger to tell Spike to wait without looking at him. He shrugged and moved to look over the shelves, wondering if he should pick up a few books for Clem.
He didn’t get very far before he was confronted though. The teenager, a skinny kid of about fifteen, complete with a severe case of acne and an adam’s apple that almost doubled the size of his neck, planted himself in front of Spike and boldly looked the vampire up and down. Spike couldn’t help but smirk at the boldness. The kid was clearly a geek. Bad haircut, glasses, the faded comic book tee shirt. Probably the type that got his ass kicked a lot.
“Sorry, mate.” He drawled, resisting the urge to scare the kid. He needed information and frightening the customers was not likely to endear him to the old woman. “Sure you’re a right catch, but I don’t fancy the lads.”
The kid grinned back at him, which was a bit of a surprise. He never got the chance to reply though. The old woman had dispatched her customer in quick order and she spoke before the teenager could offer a smartass retort. “Jason,” she said, a reproving note in her tone “Be a sweetheart and go stack the boxes in back.”
The kid looked like he wanted to mouth off, looking Spike up and down again with a cocky air that didn’t really fit his geeky appearance. He simply shrugged after a moment and walked into the back, pausing only long enough to plant a kiss on the old woman’s wrinkled cheek. She swatted him fondly, pale brown eyes taking the waiting vampire in thoughtfully.
“Hello, Will.” She smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Anna.”
He quirked his scarred brow at that but didn’t react to her using his given name. Bloody fortune tellers. “Name’s Spike these days, pet. Ain’t been Will since before you were born.”
She snorted with amusement, showing a hint of the feistiness that must have been a large part of her personality in her youth. “Please, dear. You can’t fool an old woman. You were never Will. You used to be William. Then you were Spike.”
He shrugged and walked over to her, a bit curious now. “Why call me Will then, pet?”
“You aren’t William, but you aren’t really Spike anymore now, are you?” she smiled, not seeming bothered in the slightest when he drew near. For a brief second he missed the days when everyone was terrified of him. “Unless you still think about ramming railroad spikes through peoples heads?”
“Now an then,” he admitted drolly “That was a bit overblown anyway. Didn’t carry that habit for all that long. So you know who I am, obviously. Take it I can assume you know why I’m here.”
“Better than you do,” she grinned, nodding. “And don’t go scowling at me. Being smug about knowing what other people don’t is one of the perks of the job, so let me enjoy it.”
He snorted with amusement. Feisty old bint. “Aright then, let’s get to the impartin’ and whatnot.”
She tsked and waved a finger at him. “Not as simple as that, Will. You aren’t here to find out if you’ll have a happy life or if young business will fail. What you seek comes at a cost. Believe me when I say that I wish it weren’t so, but it can’t be helped. You want answers to questions that are larger than you think. But that’s not really why you’re here.”
“Okay, pet, I’ll bite.” he said drily “Why am I here?”
“You’re here to open a door, Will,” she leaned in, growing serious now. “The first door, in fact. Some of the answers you need are on the other side of that door. Enough to help you make your decision, anyway. Maybe enough to lead you to the next door, if you’re strong enough.”
“Being cryptic’s another perk, I take it?” he smirked, shaking his head.
“I’m speaking literally, vampire,” she smiled a bit “The answers you seek can’t be obtained on this plane. They can, however, be found in the Library. Note the capital in that word. It’s a pocket dimension. And it can be accessed only with great difficulty.”
He nodded slowly. “How?”
“There’s a cave in the hills outside town. I’d warn you about the danger, but I doubt you’d do more than smirk at me, so I’ll just tell you what you need. First, you won’t be able to find the cave on your own. It doesn’t work like that. There are D’vari hound’s wandering the countryside. You’ve heard of these?”
He shook his head in response and she nodded “They are shy creatures so I am not surprised. You’ll need one to help you find the cave. That won’t be easy but if you can manage it, you descend into it and face the trials.”
“Trials, is it? Pain, torture and the like?” he asked casually.
“I don’t think that more pain and torture would be a test for you, Will.” she said simply “But to be honest, I have no idea what the trials are. No one’s ever returned from the attempt. You see, even if you pass the trials, only a Champion can open that door.”
“Wait a soddin’ moment,” he frowned “Don’t think for a second that I’m going to go all hero of the people. I just need a few answers.”
“I don’t care,” she shrugged “My task is to tell you what you need to know. What you do with that information is up to you. Choice, Will. You decide if you can use what I tell you. I can assure you, though, that you won’t get your answers anywhere else.”
He scowled, knowing that the Powers were interfering again and not liking it one bit. There wasn’t anything he could complain about though. It wasn’t like he had a choice, whatever she said. Not like he could walk away. It was clear that this all revolved around Buffy. For her, he’d walk right into hell and slap the chains on himself.
“Fine,” he growled.
“It’s going to take you a few days, Will,” she smiled, seemingly sympathetic “Why don’t you head down to the motel. The man that runs it is a friend of mine and he won’t be bothered by your friend out there. Also, he can supply you with blood if you ask nicely.”
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It took about two hours to get his instructions from Anna and get Clem and himself settled into the local motel. A quick call to Tara assured him that everything was fine in Boston and he was off. Being in the backwater of no where didn’t suit him at all and he wanted to get back. He knew Tara and Gate would look after Dawn but it just wasn’t the same as being able to watch over her himself. So he picked up a few supplies from the local grocer and made his way out of town.
Eventually he found himself in the forested hills that cradled the sleepy village. He muttered to himself as he looked around, wondering exactly how difficult it was going to be to find a demonic dog that, according to both Anna and Clem, spent most of its waking hours avoiding contact with others. He sniffed the air, getting acquainted with the scent of the local vegetation and wildlife.
“Nature’s bounty,” he muttered “Have to hate it, just a little.”
He caught the scent of fresh water and angled himself in that direction. For all of his dislike of the setting, he was perfectly at home there. He was a predator, after all. Top of the food chain. He walked the woods and simply knew he was the master of that spot of the world. A small family of deer to the south. A beaver to the east. All manner of rodents.
He was a hunter so that’s precisely what he did. He wandered the hills, pausing sporadically to drop bits of garlic, of which he had an entire bag thanks to his stop at the grocers, onto the earth. The pungent garlic was problematic at first. It’s smell was so strong that he had some trouble filtering it out as he sought of the scent of the missing hounds. He managed though.
For hours he wandered, sprinkling garlic and unsuccessfully seeking out the elusive hound. When the time came that he had to head back or risk being caught by the dawn, he was filthy, tired and more than a little annoyed. He resolved that once he found the stupid demon mutt, he would beat it within an inch of it’s miserable life before he forced it to take him to the bloody cave. That made him feel better. For a while anyway.
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The next night he was out there again, cursing the Powers and their offspring and all old women. It rained, of course. That made the entire experience so much easier. He dropped the garlic again, following the same path he’d taken the first night.
And he found nothing.
When he finally dragged himself back to his room, soaking wet in addition to being filthy, he only had time to exchange a few words with Clem, who assured him that all was well in Boston, before he showered and fell asleep.
Fucking Powers.
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The third night of his hunt, he was missing the good old days when trials meant torture and torment. Anything was better than wandering aimlessly though the woods sprinkling garlic like an idiot. He continued at his task, but he had to constantly remind himself that it wouldn’t do to kill the fucking hound when he found it. And maiming it wouldn’t be advisable either. He needed it to get his answers. He just had to remind himself of that.
It was well past midnight when he first caught an unfamiliar scent near a patch of garlic he’d previously left. He almost missed the scent, actually. It was so faint that the garlic scent almost completely masked it. But sure enough, the pile of bait he’d left was missing.
Relief colored his instincts and irritation and he focused on that faint trace of a scent, locked it into his consciousness. It wasn’t something a human could understand, but it was something he, and he suspected every other vampire, could manage quite easily. Isolate a single scent to the exclusion of all else and that was it. He had it. There was no way he’d lose it baring some extreme circumstance.
He broke into a steady run, knowing that he needed to catch the hound quickly if he still wanted to get to the cave before morning. It was possible to find cover from the sun in the wild but it wasn’t something he especially relished the thought of. So he ran, his senses unerring as he tracked his prey.
The path led him deeper into the hills than he’d previously gone, into a thickly wooded area that made it difficult to move freely. He managed to tear his shirt repeatedly but he ignored it. The scent was getting stronger.
It became almost fun after a while. The hound had certainly noted his presence on its tail. It’s path became erratic and nearly disappeared at times as it crossed a small creek repeatedly. It’s speed also increased to the point where he had to move at a near sprint to keep it close. He was certain that a lesser hunter would have admitted failure but giving up wasn’t in his nature. Not when it came to something so important. So he pushed himself.
At last he came to a rock face and knew that he’d cornered the beast. He could smell it cleanly now, its sweat and fear and defiance. Could hear the heavy panting of its breathing. The tiny whine it emitted when he pushed through the thicket and emerged into the clearing it was holed up in.
“Bloody hell, you’re an ugly one,” he muttered when he finally saw the demon hound, it’s back to the large rock, facing him.
Ugly didn’t quite cover it, in Spikes opinion. The beast was about the size of a huge dog, waist high at least, but bulkier at the shoulder and chest. It probably weighed more than two hundred pounds. Dark, short fur. Blood red eyes. It looked a bit like a rottweiler on steroids but with an excess of skin that made it look a bit droopy. It snarled at him, baring fangs that looked easily capable of biting through an arm if given a chance.
“What are you growling at, you bloody mutt,” he growled back “You think I like being out here? Could be at home watchin’ the telly, but no I gotta be wandering the woods like a fucking Welshman thanks to you.”
The hound growled again, watching him uncertainly. It didn’t look to be aggressive for all it’s size, but he expected it would attack if he got any closer.
“Bugger that,” he snapped. “I got a job to do an that ain’t happenin’ unless you tag along, so you can kiss your soddin’ evening goodbye. Then I can head back and you can go back to buggering the nearest bear or whatever it is you do out here.”
He took a step forward, preparing to wrestle the damn thing to the ground if that’s what it took. It was going to be an ugly fight. The mutt outweighed him, easily. And for all that excess skin, it looked strong as an bull. When he moved, a deep chested warning growl rumbled out of the beast and it tensed as if to leap at him.
“Think I’m worried about you?” he growled back, his features slipping easily into his demonic visage. “Made bigger, uglier blokes than you into simpering she-men.” In response to the beasts challenge, his own demon let out a viscous snarl, one that could probably be heard a half mile away. Okay, maybe it wasn’t just his demon. He was pretty irritated by the whole situation.
The snarl seemed to startle the beast. It blinked slowly, its growling ceasing immediately, and it sat down. Those dull red eyes stared at him strangely, its head cocking slightly.
He paused as well, a bit confused. “Eh? Don’t wanna fight, ya daft mutt? This is the part where you jump me. With the snarling and slobbering and tryin’ to rip me limb from limb. What kinda nancy demon dog are you?”
The dog stood again and walked up to him, quite passively. It sniffed his hands, then looked up at him curiously. At a loss, he finally held out a hand to it, certain it was going to bite it clean off and prepared to snatch the hand away at the first hint of that. But the dog just bumped his hand with its nose and looked at him again, whining questioningly.
Finally he sighed and crouched down before it, one hand moving to the beasts head and scratching. “Well, aren’t you just the most ridiculous excuse for a demon ever?” he muttered.
The beast, taking this as agreement, simply licked the vampires face.
“Bloody hell!”