Faith could tell how
anxious Spike was. Part of her was
waiting for him to explode out of pure unadulterated aggravation.
Spike wasn't one who liked
to wait. Faith knew it was the waiting
itself that was killing him.
She shifted her gaze,
watching Chatty talking quietly to a few of his followers. The group on the other side of the room was
whispering among themselves and Faith’s enhanced hearing was picking it all
up. The entire lot of them was getting
on her last nerve. She just wanted to
tell them to shut the hell up, but at least she finally got a name.
“When is he going to
start?” one of them whispered.
“How do I know? Cooper’s not one to volunteer information to
any of us. Why do you think the plan is
going so well?” another one replied.
“I just want this to be
done. I want her dead,” yet another one
said, motioning to Faith. “Having the
Slayer around makes me nervous.”
Should make you nervous,
asshole, she thought.
“Enough of this
chatter!” Cooper said as he finished his
discussion. “The time draws near. We must get started.” He motioned two guards to watch Spike while
he and four others left the room. The
rest stayed and encircled Faith.
Faith watched as Spike
struggled against the chains that held him.
If anger and frustration could’ve broken them, there would be nothing
left but shavings.
She asked Spike weakly,
"Can you bust ‘em?” Not caring that everyone could hear her. What did she honestly have to lose at this
point?
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Not bloody likely.”
“Come up with a new plan?”
she asked.
“Not yet.” He momentarily stopped struggling with his
bindings.
“You?”
She tried hers one more
time. “I’ll get back to you," she
said.
Just like the hundred times
before, it was no use, neither one of them could break free.
“Ahh,” Cooper said walking
back into the room. “We’re all still
here. Wonderful. This is so exciting I can hardly stand it.” He paused momentarily and then added, “I
think I may be giddy.”
They looked his way. No one needed to tell them what they would
see. Cooper was dressed for the ritual
wearing his cloak. The knife had to be close.
The reality of the
situation was far different than Faith’s dream.
Instead of feeling fear, she felt anger.
“You think I’m going down easy?
Not going to happen. Think again
you son of a bitch,” she said struggling against her straps once more.
“Now, Faith, we’ve been
through all of this. It might hurt...
just a little, but not for long. After a
while you won’t feel a thing. All that
pain and anger you’ve been feeling will be gone. Don’t you want it to be gone Faith? Don’t you, for once in your life, want some
peace?”
She stopped struggling and
looked at him. She didn’t say a
word. No retort, no nothing. She felt at peace suddenly. Not knowing or even caring where the feeling
was coming from.
“Faith!” Spike yelled.
“Don’t let him do it. Stop
looking at him. Look at me! Do you hear me? Look at me, damn it.”
Spike? What was...?
Faith shook her head. Coming back
from wherever she had gone momentarily.
“Hey,” she said, smiling weakly.
Spike obviously relieved,
smiled. “Welcome back. No more fallin' for the thralls, Slayer.”
Faith looked around.
“Thinking I liked where I was before better.”
“Enough!” Cooper
stated. “Do you two ever stop
yapping?” He then motioned to the guards
covering Spike. “Gag him. Sorry about that but you’re ruining my
concentration.”
Cooper moved closer to
Faith.
“Well my dear, this is what
you’ve dreamt about.”
Cooper took the knife from
a pocket in his cloak. He turned it in
his hand so she could get a closer look.
“See, this is what we
do." He walked to the left side of
Faith and motioned to one of his cronies.
A chalice was produced. “We make a
little cut here,” and he dug the knife into her upper arm making a small
incision. The chalice was placed against
her arm as the blood began to drip. “We
won’t take much; we need quite a bit left over as a gift for the Old One, so we
won’t kill you… well not yet anyway.”
Smiling, he held the
chalice in place for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he moved further down, cutting a
hole through her jeans and into her leg.
Another chalice was produced to gather the drops from her upper thigh.
After each cut was made, a
chalice was produced and a small amount of blood was taken. By the time the cutting was done, Faith knew
she had grown pale, but still, she said nothing. No protests, no cries of pain, nothing. The only thing that remained consistent was
her gaze. It never wavered from Cooper’s
eyes. Faith wasn’t going to give him the
satisfaction of letting him see her pain.
She would continue to look at him, and when she had her chance, she was
going to kill him. There was no question about it anymore. She would take him out.
The first part of the
ritual was done and Faith was still alive.
XXXXX
“Does anyone want to guess
what comes next?” Cooper asked, looking first to Faith and then to Spike. He realized Spike was still gagged so he
indicated that it could be removed.
“Can’t very well answer that way can you?”
“Next?” Spike began, “Thinking about maybe ripping
your eyeballs out. How does that sound
for a bleedin’ plan?”
The cold smile never
faltered. “I wouldn’t expect anything
less from either of you. If you were
docile and cooperative, where would the fun be?
Where would the challenge be?” He
continued, “Well since no one wants to guess, I’ll just have to show you.”
He opened a door to an
adjoining room.
Faith looked to her
left. Spike looked just beyond her. He wished he hadn’t. The next room was glowing. There had to be hundreds of candles. They were being held in wooden candleholders
spread throughout the entire room. In
the middle of the room was a table that held the Old One’s bones.
“If I could trust you two,”
Cooper said, “I would let you take a closer look. But since I know of another Slayer who
happened to smash the Master’s bones to smithereens … maybe I should make a
note to thank her…” He paused, “I figured I’d let you watch from right where
you are.” He then walked into the next
room, the other vamps followed.
Cooper began his chant of
resurrection.
Rise the Old One
Take your place in this
world
It is yours for the
taking
We have your gift
The gift of life is here
for the taking
Rise and rule those who
are unworthy
Rise and rule
For each line he spoke, a
chalice was produced and the blood drained from it. It was dripped onto the skeleton at the same point
that it was retrieved from Faith. Seven
cuts, seven chalices, seven verses in the chant.
“He will wake!” Cooper
called out to them. “Once the marked
Slayer’s blood begins working its magic on the Old One, we will bring you to
him Faith, he will be strong enough to drink from you and after that he will be
the all powerful. Our new Master will
rise!”
“Sod off you…” Spike didn’t
have the chance to finish.
CRASH!!!!!
The noise surprised them
all. “Go!!” Cooper ordered. Five of his flunkies went to
investigate.
Spike whispered, “I think
our odds just got better.”
“How many does that leave
besides the fashion disaster?” Faith asked quietly.
“Eleven.” Then seeing how pasty she was beginning to
look added, “Shouldn’t be much longer pet. Can you hold on?”
“Oh I can hold. Look, I’m full of holdiness.”
XXXXX
“We’re late,” Wesley
indicated checking his watch. “The
ritual started over a half an hour ago.”
“I know!” Angel grumbled
getting out of the car. They had parked
further down the road so it wouldn’t be spotted. “I don’t think the traffic in
They got out of the car.
“We are clear on the plan,” Angel said. “Maximum damage. We get Faith.
We get Spike. We get out.”
They heard a loud crash.
Angel looked around. “What the hell was that?”
Wesley knew
immediately. “
“Why do people keep
doing that?” Angel ran toward the warehouse, his black trench coat billowing
behind him.
“I don’t know,” Wesley
sighed and quickly followed.
They arrived at the front
of the building at the same time. Angel
had slowed his pace so Wesley could keep up.
There was no sign of anyone.
Angel went to the left, Wesley fanned out to the right. The front door was gone, demolished. Nothing
but splinters remained.
“At least we know which way
she went,” Wesley whispered to Angel.
They heard the unmistakable
bargaining style of their missing warrior.
“You are nothing. You half-breeds
dare to threaten me? You will know my
wrath.”
“I suggest we go,” Angel
said. “Now.” He and Wesley then did what Spike hadn’t
done. They went through the front door.
XXXXX