| Have a Little Faith Chapter 51 | |
For the victims of WTC 9/11/01
Willow sat in front of the orb. The sphere seemed to get bigger and more intimidating every minute.
“You gonna start already?” Anya said, annoyed.
Willow looked into the sphere. She suddenly panicked when her mind went blank for a moment. Everything she knew about witchcraft was completely gone. Finally the nervousness faded a little and her thoughts returned to her. She started speaking the spell with shakiness in her voice.
“Quod perditum est, invenietur,” Tara said, stuttering only slightly, while Anya spread incense all around the room.
“Not dead... nor not of the living. Spirits
of the interregnum, I call,” Willow said, her voice still nervous
but growing slowly confident. Despite that Tara was with her and
assured her every moment that she could do it, Willow still did not feel
comfortable. If only they had more time to practice.
She hoped she could do this for everyone’s
sake. She knew what would happen if Angelus opened that gate.
Doyle, Xander, Alex and Gunn rushed into the library. They were shocked to find Faith, Lindsey, Buffy and Riley fighting about 20 or so vampires. Angelus, Dru, Spike, Lilah and a blond vampire wearing Angelus’ jacket stood around an open gate. Xander recognized the blond vampire almost immediately as Darla. No one was going near them.
“We can’t get to them!” Faith cried out in explanation. “They have some kind of field! Help Buffy, Lindsey and Riley.”
A female vampire jumped on Faith. She flipped her over then staked her. A moment later another male vampire was upon her.
The vortex flashed again. Another vampire appeared. This time male and blond.
Faith staked the vampire that had jumped on her and gasped. It was Penn. She panicked. Would Wesley be next? She staked two vampires at one time. She went over to help Lindsey who was having trouble fighting a female vampire. The vampire threw him into a wall. A few feet from where Angelus was standing.
“You ought to be more careful Lindsey,” Angelus said, then chuckled.
Faith jumped on the back of the vampire. She punched her in the face. Lindsey came from behind while the vampire was concentrating on the Faith and staked her.
The vampire disappeared into dust. He looked around to see how the others were doing. They had staked most of the vampires. They were newer vampires who did not have experience fighting.
Buffy staked the last of the vampires. All of Angelus’ minions were gone. The only ones left where the ones by the vortex.
“Bad soldiers!” Dru screamed out. “You’ll have no treats.”
“Minions are always replaceable, my dear,” Angelus said and smiled. “In fact all the minions you just killed will be back again. Though after their performance I am not entirely sure.”
They approached the magick field.
“We can stay here all night,” Angelus said and winked. “The field expands to let more in. Whoever was the vampire or demon who created this spell-- Wonderful.” Angelus smiled.
“Lilah,” Lindsey said, calmly. “Angelus is going to kill you. I told you before. You are no longer useful to them.”
“Sorry Lindsey,” she said, with a devious smile on her face. “I need to take care of my client. I’ve already been assured of being returned to my position.”
“Your client is going to kill you.”
“Lilah has been extremely helpful.
She will be rewarded,” Angelus said, then smiled. Lindsey knew
in that smile what Angelus had in store for her. Lilah looked at
Angelus, then to Lindsey.
Lindsey could see that she believed him.
“Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the
um-- the evil—um—that evil realm.” Willow said, still unsure if she could
do it. All she knew was that it was taking an incredible amount of
her power. So much she wasn’t sure she would have enough for the
whole spell. She called on Thespia, then called on any goddess to
please help her make things right.
Drusilla again recited her chant. Another vampire appeared. This was also male. It was Lee. She squealed in delight. “All my brothers and sisters—coming home from war.” Lee came out of the vortex and like Penn and Darla, fell to the floor.
“All those that you killed,” Angelus told Faith. “In revenge for that whore and your wimpy watcher are coming back. They are coming back for you.”
Neither Faith nor Lindsey said anything. There was nothing much she could do. Giles was looking over his books to see if there was anything that could be done before there were to many vampires that they could handle.
Buffy did not tell anyone, but she was thinking about running. Getting everyone out before the spell ended. If Angelus raised a thousand vampires, they would not be able to take them on tonight.
The vortex flashed again. Another vampire appeared. This time it was Alonna. Gunn grimaced. He was barely able to stake her the first time. Drusilla caught Alonna. She had liked the girl. She was so disappointed when Gunn staked her. She placed Alonna gently on the ground. She placed her shawl over her.
Buffy could not leave. She had to make a stand. Angelus wanted to see her run. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.
Angelus laughed. “Look big brother, sis’ come home!”
The vortex flashed again. Another vampire, this one no one recognized came out.
“Howdy mate,” Spike said, taking his hand.
“They’re all back slayer,” Angelus said, then smiled at Faith. “And more are coming. Much more.”
Suddenly he gasped in horror when the vortex
suddenly closed. He turned around
and saw what had happened.
Lilah had pulled out the gem.
Drusilla screamed, but there was nothing to be done. Lilah cried out then disappeared in a flash of gray light. The gem fell to the floor with a thud.
The vortex was closed.
Spike rolled his eyes. Humans were so unreliable. They should have killed that woman when they had a chance.
Drusilla realized that now that the vortex was closed, the field was down. Buffy smiled and rushed towards them.
There was nothing Spike could do and he knew they would stake him this time. There were no brownie points left. Spike placed his arms around Darla. He flew over the library counter, knocking over Synder who had just regain conscious. Synder fell over again. Spike cried out in pain as he rushed the door.
“Leave them,” Buffy said. “They’ll be staked soon enough.” She smiled at Angelus. Only he and Drusilla remained with three weak vampires.
“I guess the tables have turned,” Buffy said
and smiled.
“Return. I call on...” Willow said. Every part of her body ached. Every last bit of her energy was gone. Every piece of energy called upon and there still wasn’t enough to finish the spell. Willow was ready to collapse.
“Willow?” Tara said, her voice was concerned.
“Are you okay?” Anya said.
“I call,” Willow said and the next day she would tell her friends, she didn’t remember what happened next.
Anya and Tara did. Willow’s head snapped back. It was almost like she was possessed. She stared into the orb. The confidence in her face seemed to improve greatly. She began to chant in Romanian as if it was her native language.
“Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte.”
“Is this a good thing?” Tara asked, nervously. “Willow, are you alright?”
“I think so,” Anya replied. She had seen possessed people before. Willow definitely looked like she was one of them. “Just leave her be and let her finish.”
“Nici mort, nici al fiintei...”
“Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta,
sufletul la el.”
Angelus and Drusilla were alone and out numbered. Angelus went for the closest person who happened to be Lindsey. He grabbed the young lawyer by the neck and lifted him in the air.
“Don’t move!” Angelus screamed. “Or I’ll snap his neck.”
Faith gasped. No one in the room could move.
“You’re not getting out alive if you hurt him!” Faith screamed. “I’ll fucking stake you if you do.”
“Where have I heard that before,” Angelus
said and smiled.
“Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum!” Willow screamed out. “Acum!”
Tara watched the Orb glow brightly, then darkened again. When it did, Willow began to sway where she sat. Tara grabbed her before she collapsed.
Tara took Willow over to the couch. Willow started crying and snuggled into Tara’s chest.
“It will be okay,” Tara said, cradling her and stroking her hair. “I think you did it.”
“I guess we’ll find out in a few minutes,”
Anya said. “Do you think Xander is okay?”
“You,” Angelus said, shaking Lindsey around. Lindsey gasped for breath. He tried to pull Angelus’ hand off, but he had a tight grip. “Caused all this. You betrayed me and you sent Lilah on the good path. You told Faith everything.”
Faith moved forward slightly.
“Don’t do it Faith,” Angelus said. “I’ll rip your boyfriend’s head right off. I can do that you know. Drusilla and I are getting out of here. Understand. Then I’ll let him go. But I’m going to kill you all eventually--”
Suddenly Angelus cried out and fell to the
floor. He dropped Lindsey. Faith rushed over to her and pulled
him quickly away from Angelus. They both went to the corner of the
library.
No one moved. They watched as Angelus cried
in pain.
“Angelus,” Drusilla said, concerned.
Angelus’ eyes lit up for a moment, then faded. He began to breathe heavily, then fell to the floor.
“Angel?” Buffy called out. Angel looked up from the floor. His eyes were filled with emotion.
“Buffy?” he asked, confused “Buffy, what happened?” He looked around. Everyone looked familiar but he could not remember everyone’s name. Drusilla was here. She looked upset.
He looked again to Buffy. His last memory was being with her and being filled with pure love. There was like a heavy fog in his head. He tried to remember what was happening.
“What?” Drusilla said, confused. Seeing she had no one to help her. She shoved Riley who had been guarding her and ran to the door.
No one went after her.
For a moment, no one moved. No one said anything. Angel sat on the floor and tried to figure out what was going on.
Finally Gunn went over to the unconscious Alonna and staked her one more time. He was glad she never regained consciousness. He looked at Angel in disgust then rushed out the door. No one stopped him.
Seeing what Gunn did Xander quickly staked Lee, Penn and the other vampire. They could get to Spike, Drusilla, and Darla tomorrow.
“Angel,” she said, gently. She reached out for him, which made Riley jealous, but he pulled away. The memories were all starting to flood back. His time in hell, being brought back by Wolfram and Hart and the killing—the brutal killing. It was worse than ever before because he had recently killed people that had once trusted him.
“Leave me alone,” he said using all his strength to get up. He looked around the room. Doyle, Alex, Buffy, Xander, Riley, Faith, and Lindsey surrounded him. He stared at Faith and Lindsey the longest. He had spent the last year trying destroying their lives.
“Oh god,” he cried out and pushed his way through them to the exit.
“Angel!” Buffy said, trying to stop him.
“No,” he said. “No.” he pushed his way out the door. He pushed Buffy away.
“Let him go,” Riley said, holding on to her, knowing that she could easily break free. He did not want to see Angel hurt Buffy again. It was best to let him go. Riley hoped he would never come back. Buffy did not fight though she wanted to follow him.
Lindsey walked over to where the vortex was and picked up the gem. He could not believe that Lilah had done this. He was proud of her for finding her humanity. He was touched by this. There was still good in the world, even in the confines of evil. It upset him to think that she probably hadn’t done enough to save herself from hell or that she had been sucked into vampire hell.
He looked at Faith and smiled. He would lose her too eventually. He did not know if he could deal with that. Maybe it was best if he didn’t.
“We should destroy it,” Faith said. She held back the tears forming in her eyes. “It’s destroyed to many people.”
“Do you have a million dollars to give to the collector to keep Kate out of trouble?” Alex asked.
“I’m sure he has insurance,” Faith said. “Kate would agree no one should ever have this gem.”
“They don’t need the books anymore,” Buffy explained, still not over what had just happened with Angel. Her Angel was back, but he had brutalized people. Could she forgive that? Could she give up Riley for the love she had for Angel. “Just the gem. Drusilla knows the ritual.”
“Wesley said it was indestructable,” Faith explained.
“Give it to Giles,” Buffy explained. “He’s smart. He can figure out how to get rid of it.”
Lindsey handed it to him. Giles nodded.
“Despite I’m not talking to them, I think the Watcher’s council can take care of this.”
“What are we going to do about Angel?” Giles asked.
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t imagine how he must feel now.”
Faith had expected something from Doyle, but when she looked around she saw the seer was no longer in the room.
“Excuse me,” said a voice from behind the
counter. Synder got up from behind it. “Miss Summers you have
a lot of explaining to do.”