Chapter 16



Buffy let her head fall back towards the sky as she sucked the crisp night air into her empty lungs. She had been held captive for no more than a few days, but it seemed like forever since she had been able to breathe fresh air. It made her wonder how she took such things for granted in life. She shut her eyes and let a smile slide across her face as her demon receded. Its work was done for the night. It had gotten her safely outside of the walls that had kept her prisoner.

From the street, Buffy looked back over her shoulder and into the building she had just exited. She should have been horrified by the trail of bodies that she had left in her wake, but she wasn’t. They were all vampires, and the lack of dust clogging the already dirty and moth eaten floors of the run down apartment block attested to the fact that she hadn’t killed anyone that night. That wasn’t to say that she hadn’t inflicted more than a little violence on anyone that had tried to stop her.

The free rein she had allowed her demon both frightened her and excited her. She had been brutal and vicious, but more importantly she had been unstoppable. Nothing had stood a chance against her. She hadn’t known she could harbour that much violence and power within her person. If it had been any other time or place she would have been scared at what she had just felt, but all she could feel at that moment was relief—she was out.

The fight had been enough to appease the demon within her, satisfied that justice had been brought to at least some of those who were responsible for tearing her from her sister’s side and her family. She felt little guilt over the state in which she had left most of them. She hadn’t killed anyone, but if one of them happened to dust before sunrise? It wasn’t something she was overly worried about.

Maybe things would have been different had their Clan Leader and the members of his Order had been there to join the fight, but luck had been on her side and the only vampires who had been there to stand in her way were their minions.

Lifting her inner wrist to her forehead, mindful of the blood that coated her hands, she swiped it across her sticky forehead trying to dislodge some of the blood that was starting to dry out and make her skin feel tight. She needed to find somewhere to clean up—their Master wouldn’t be gone long and she wanted to be as far from this place as possible come dawn. The Aurelius Mansion was out of the question, she had no doubt that they would be able to find her there. It was the logical place for her to run to and the first place that she would send minions out looking for her were their positions reversed. No, she needed somewhere where she was completely unreachable.

Her mother’s place was the first place that entered her mind but she quickly brushed it aside. Joyce had made it more than clear that Buffy would not be a welcome presence in her home or in her life now that she was a vampire. She would need to be allowed inside her mother’s home before she could ever be safe there. Going to her mother was completely out of the question.

Who else did she know, though, that wouldn’t turn her away because of what she was? She could count the number of people that she knew in Sunnydale on one hand. She’d already ruled out both her clan and her mother. That left Ford and Mr. Giles.

She had no idea where Mr. Giles lived and somehow she didn’t think he’d appreciate being dragged into the middle of the situation she had somehow gotten herself into. She owed him so much already, and for all she knew members of the clan that kidnapped her might already have a standing invitation into his home. Of course, that was possible no matter where she went…

Buffy’s head snapped up as an idea suddenly hit her. Memories of a conversation her sire and grandsire had had the night after the incident at the nightclub suddenly came screaming back. Christian had overshadowed her memories of that night until that moment.

Riley.

She needed a place where she was completely unreachable. What place better than a vampire prohibited estate that was dedicated to rehabilitation of vampire addicts? She had overheard her sire saying that Riley had been shipped off to start in a programme there the morning after the night at Requiem.

Who knew that when she met Riley that fateful night that he would end up saving her life?

A grin split her face as she took off down the street. All she needed to do was find her way to the estate, and then all it would take was the use of her senses to guide her to Riley.


*****


Riley grimaced as his body swum back into wakefulness. His eyes still felt heavy with sleep as he blinked them open to stare at his darkened ceiling. Something had woken him. Rolling over, he looked at the glaring digits on the clock beside his bed that seemed to cast the room in a faint green glow—it read 3:30 a.m.

“Shit,” he said as he rolled over to bury himself deeper into the warmth of the covers of his bed. Whatever it was that had awoken him could wait. His body was just beginning to slip back into the depths of sleep again when he heard it. Someone was knocking on his window.

Riley bolted up in bed clutching the quilt around his waist as he stared at his window.

He frowned as he saw a little blonde head pop up over the ledge to look at him. His frown deepened when she waved at him and gestured for him to move over to the window.

He had to be dreaming. What the hell was a young blonde woman—who just happened to be smeared in blood—doing at his window beckoning him to come closer? Nevertheless he got up as if in a trance and moved towards his window.

“Can…can I help you?” he asked, mentally laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

“Riley? It’s Buffy. You remember me, right?” She asked hopefully at his confused expression. “From that night at the club?”

His hand moved up to scratch at his forehead. “Which night at the club? I was there a lot.”

“You know, your last night?” She prompted, hoping he would understand. She didn’t have time to be sitting here all night trying to swap details with him until he remembered.

Slowly the pieces started to come together in his head—the beautiful blonde little vampire that had fed off him, him begging her to continue, the fear on her face when he made to grab at her.

“You’re a vampire,” he stated simply, “you’re not allowed to be here.”

“I know. I need your help. Please? I didn’t know where else I could go that I would be safe. I was new to Sunnydale when I was turned so I haven’t been able to make many new friends yet.”

Riley gave her a look of astonishment. “How am I supposed to help you? I’m stuck here for at least the next 6 months, undergoing a rehabilitation programme ‘cause I am addicted to you—things like you I mean. Not you, you.”

Despite herself, Buffy smiled. “I know what you mean. Listen. I just need a chance to shower and use your phone. I’ll be out of your hair by dawn. No one needs to know that I was here and I promise I won’t do anything to disrupt your rehabilitation.”

“You don’t need to do anything. Just being here is disrupting it. You don’t know what having an addiction is like. I know it’s wrong, I haven’t been able to think this clearly in months. Yet still I’m standing here and I’d do anything just to feel you bite me again. Too feel that rush, that pleasure.”

“Yet you still haven’t broken down and invited me in. Doesn’t that prove to you that you have made progress? You want it, but you can resist it.” She looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please, Riley?”

He was silent while his eyes searched her face. She needed him to let her in, if not she could be stuck outside as an easy target until the sun rose for the day. Then she would be forced to find shelter wherever she could.

“Come in, Buffy,” he said finally.

Buffy let out a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

He stepped back and allowed her to climb in through the window. Shooting him a bright smile she looked down at her clothes for the first time since she had escaped. “I guess I should probably wash up first.”

Riley nodded and showed her to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her she flicked the lock and quickly went to work on undressing. She didn’t waste any time as she turned on the water in the shower and stepped under its spray. She moaned as the boiling hot water pounded down on her skin, easing the tension out of her muscles and washing away the grime from the fight.

She didn’t linger under its heat for too long though, stepping out again as soon as she was clean only to dry off and regretfully pull back on the dirty clothes she had taken from the minion. She had no choice but to leave her wet hair out to dry naturally on its own.

Stepping back out of the bathroom, she let her senses guide her to the only human in the small apartment.

“Riley?” She called out softly as she made her way down the hall.

“In here,” came the soft reply.

She followed the sound of his voice back to his bedroom to find him sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thanks for the shower,” she said gently as she made her way into the room. He nodded but didn’t answer. “Do you mind if I use your phone quickly?”

He nodded to the portable phone that rested on the bedside table. Picking it up, she flashed him a smile as she dialled the number she needed. It was answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”


*****


The heated debate on how best to rescue Buffy fell silent as the shrill ring of Spike’s mobile cut through the air. The vamp in question frowned as he pulled the small device out and flipped it open.

“Hello?” he asked briskly.

“Spike?”

Spike felt as if he had been punched in the gut. His eyes went wide as he shot a look across at his sire and grandsire. “Buffy. Where are you, baby? Are you okay?”

The whole room snapped to attention at the sound of Buffy’s name.

“I’m okay,” she said with a slightly bitter chuckle. “I managed to escape by going completely Rambo on a whole bunch of minions. I’m calling from Riley’s apartment. It was the only place I could think to go where they wouldn’t come looking, since it has the whole vampire prohibited estate thingy in place.”

Spike was already pulling his keys out. “I’m at Mr. Giles’ place at the moment, but I’m going to come get you and bring you back here, okay? They’ll need an invite to get in here, too.” He shot a look a Giles for confirmation. The man nodded the affirmative that she would be safe staying in his apartment. Spike gave him a small smile of thanks.

“Okay,” Buffy said, nodding even though she knew he couldn’t see it.

Spike pushed up from his seat and started to the door. “I’m leaving now, okay? I’ll be there soon, kitten.”

“Hurry?” She whispered into the phone.

“I am.” The door to the apartment slammed shut behind him, closing him off from the others still inside. “I am, sweetheart.”




AN: Thank you so much to Andrea for the speedy beta on this chapter, and to everyone who has commented so far :D You guys are great! On a different note, I'm sorry about the long delays in posting each chapter. I will try and keep them as regular as possible, but unfortunately school work has to come first :(