Prologue


Giles sat on his couch at home, a cup of tea in front of him, classical music playing on the radio. He rolled his head back, took off his glasses, and closed his eyes. As the music played he tried to relax, something he hadn’t done in months. Buffy had visited her father again this past summer and thankfully there had been no activity from the Hellmouth that he couldn’t handle. Unfortunately it wasn’t the Hellmouth that had him frustrated all summer, although he believed it might have been preferable to what he was facing now.

When he learned about his role as the Watcher he had to accept that despite his best efforts the world of demons, vampires, and other evil forces would still often claim the innocent. It was a given that people would be preyed upon by these creatures and what finally forced him to accept his duty was the belief that he could in some way he help protect people from becoming victims of the hideous creatures that existed. In training and guiding the Slayer for each of the battles and villains she faced, one more person may be saved, one more person may be spared. But over the years Giles had seen so many taken, none so close to him as Jenny had been.. Then there was last spring. He didn’t fool himself that he had been all that close to Cordelia. Out of the entire group of ‘Slayerettes" as they called themselves, she had been the least involved; usually helping out because she happened to be around and then later, he figured, because of Xander. She was a typical sort of teenager-impatient, rude at times, and shallow. In the end, though, she surprised him by her loyalty to their group-staying with them when she could have just pretended that all of this mess didn’t exist. Her involvement with them had brought her face to face with many of the horrors of the world of evil that no teenager should know existed. But she had seen and experienced it, they all had. And they had all survived intact until now. One of the things that had concerned him, was the fact that these teenagers willingly helped them and put themselves in grave danger simply associating with he and Buffy. He tried to push it into the back of his mind whenever they went up against a powerful enemy, believing that they all would survive and everything would work out in the end. But that had all changed and Cordelia now one of the casualties, a victim ,one of those that he had hoped to have spared.. In that respect he failed, and yet he knew that he couldn’t have known what all would happen. He just knew that because of her involvement with he and Buffy, she had become a target and had paid for it.

He sighed and stretched, grimacing slightly at the stiffness in his shoulder. He picked up his cup of tea and realizing that it was now cold, he took the cup to the sink and poured it out. He stood at the sink thinking back to the end of the previous school year. He shook his head trying to clear the thoughts from his mind. There was no way to change what had happened. They would just have to deal with it when the time came.

Giles left the sink and turned off the kitchen light and then the radio and prepared to turn off the downstairs’ lamp. It had been a long night and he was tired. School resumed tomorrow and he knew it would be a busy, frustrating day. He shook his head again and prepared to turn off the lamp when he heard a knock at the door.

Who the hell? He looked at his watch-1:12 A.M.

Giles went to the door and opened it to find Xander standing in the dark, his hands stuffed in his pockets, his face unreadable.

"Xander," Giles said startled. "What are you doing out so late?" He pulled the boy into the house and closed the door. No matter how quiet it had been over the summer, Giles didn’t like it when any one of the kids was out at night, especially alone.

"I wanted to ask you a question," he said quietly as he stood by the door.

Giles exhaled slowly as he looked at the young man. It was his change in demeanor that he noticed the most. The past summer had shown quite a change in him-less jovial and more serious, Xander had become withdrawn and pensive, yet another effect of this past spring’s events.

Giles had dreaded discussing this topic with Xander for months-because quite frankly he didn’t have the answers to his questions. He, like Xander would have to wait and see what had happened and hope they could manage somehow. Giles looked at Xander and motioned towards the couch. "Sit down?"

Xander sat down on the couch, Giles across from him. They sat silently for a moment until Xander finally asked, "Do you think she’s okay?"

Giles looked at him, looked away, and was forced once again to think back to last spring when it all began...


Part One: 3:00 P.M., Friday, June 6, 1998


Just what I need today Cordelia rushed down the hall to her locker.

School would be out in less than a week, but the students of Sunnydale High were already on vacation. Guys and girls ran up and down the hallways goofing off and hanging out despite finals next week. Cordelia was late getting out of English class due to Harmony’s long-winded presentation and she had a million things to do before she met Xander that night. Cordelia smiled to herself as she thought of Xander and their date tonight.. They would have little time together after this weekend; she was leaving for Europe right after exams. Her father had business in London and she was going to Italy to study art history. They wouldn’t be returning to the states until late August, thankfully leaving Sunnydale and its many low points behind.

No vampires, thank God she thought with relief. Yeah but no Xander either

She sighed as she finished putting her books in her locker and locked it, grabbed her bag and headed for the school parking lot. Damn, she would miss him. She had never been hung up on a guy as much as Xander and despite her resistance to dating what she had once considered a loser geek, Cordelia knew she had fallen hard for him over the last few months. She hadn’t realized how much she cared for him until that whole monster fish thing when Xander was almost turned into a fish. After that she knew that she was with him for more than the broom closet sessions, although, she thought with a smile, those were nice. What had begun as a physical attraction for her became more. More WHAT, she didn’t know, and it wasn’t like she was wearing his ring or anything. But she did want to keep it going and that would be a problem with her leaving over the summer. Leaving Xander for two months was a little risky at this stage of the relationship, especially considering Xander’s fixation on Buffy and Willow. Cordelia frowned as she pushed the school doors open to the parking lot. The afternoon sunlight forced her to take out her shades and slip them on.

It wasn’t a complete surprise that Xander was close to both Willow and Buffy, but his continual concern with their welfare and personal lives was annoying to say the least. Willow had a crush on Xander for what seemed like forever, but Xander with his usual cluelessness about girls took no hint whatsoever from Willow. Yet when Oz appeared in Willows life, Xander suddenly went into grand protector mode and spent half of his time worrying about her. He spent the other half of his time worrying about Buffy and how she was feeling. Considering she was the slayer and endowed with all these kick ass powers you’d think she would be able to take care of herself, but according to Xander, he was her friend and he would always be there for her.Which is almost all the time Cordelia thought as she reached her car. She opened the door and got in throwing her bag on the passenger seat. Instead of starting the car she sat back. Stop brooding and jet, Cordy she thought as she drummed her fingers on the dashboard of her car.

Despite the fact he focused his attention elsewhere, that was part of why she liked Xander, his loyalty to his friends and willingness to be there for them. I wish that he felt that loyalty towards me Cordelia looked in the rear view mirror. She had to admit she was frightened about what would happen over the summer.Would Xander not miss her? Would he realize that he really didn’t want to keep dating her? Did his feelings for her not go past the physical and deeper? She thought a moment and decided that she would have to take a risk and tell him how she really felt. No snide comments, yelling, or ranting just calmly tell him that she cared for him a great deal and wanted to keep their relationship going. The downside of telling him was finding out that he didn’t care about her and dump her without a second thought. The upside was she found out he felt the same way about her and they could really give it a go. What the hell Cordy thought as she started her car, If all goes well, I’ll be slummin with geek boy come this fall. She smiled and began to drive off when she heard a knock on the window.

She looked to her left and saw Xander standing beside her car. She smiled, took off her glasses, and rolled down the window. " What’s up?" she asked as she glanced up at him. Uh Oh trouble here she took a good look at his face. He was shuffling his feet back and forth and played with the strap on his backpack. His eyes didn’t quite meet hers as she killed the engine of her car and got out.

" Cordy, we need to talk..." Xander began.


9:45 P.M

"Spike, I’m lonely," Drusilla pouted as she inspected the dead flowers in their garden. They were sitting in the garden of their new home- an old abandoned building that had once been a museum. Its stone gargoyles and high roman columns instantly entranced Dru and she, Spike, and Angelus had moved right in.

"I’m here my pet," Spike replied, wheeling his chair towards her. He watched Dru gather some fallen flower petals from the ground and throw them in the air, twirling in circles under them.

"No, my love. I know I have you and my Angel here with me, but..." she paused as she walked towards her collection of baby’s breath at the other end of the garden. " I want someone I can take care of, a little ba-by of my own."

She slowly turned to Spike as she said the last part watching him carefully. "We’ve been together for such a long time and done so many things together, but we haven’t started our own little family." Dru slowly moved towards Spike her voice soft and pleading as she continued. " I want us to have our own special child, a little piece of you and a little piece of me together...forever." Dru and slipped her arms around Spike, sitting down in his lap.

Spike looked at her and stroked her hair, "Sorry, love, but us having a child is not a good idea. It would be such a hassle teaching the little brat how to correctly attack its prey and we would have to look out for it. Most importantly though it can be used against us by any dimwit stupid enough to take us on including the slayer. We would have a weak spot that would leave us vulnerable to the slayer and other undesirables who threatened it."

Dru dropped her arms from Spike’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes. "I know dearest, but that is why I said our child would be special," Dru said as she quickly jumped out of Spike’s lap and twirled around in circles. She stopped and stood in front of Spike. "I wouldn’t want our child to be susceptible to that nasty little slayer or the other problems that that us vampires must deal with. Our child wouldn’t be a vampire, but an Anti-Slayer," Dru said with a grin as she watched Spike’s face go from skepticism and soften into his adorable smirk.

"You mean call up the spirit of an Anti-Slayer to inhabit a body? If I recall the transformation process is a bit tricky and involved Dru," Spike began. "The blood of the defeated Slayer must be used in the calling of the Anti-Slayer and as of right now we aren’t in the position to pick a fight with the slayer-bitch."

"But Spike, the Anti-Slayer will bring her to us," Dru said confidently.

"How? We need the slayer to call the anti-slayer, but the anti-slayer to get the slayer? Dru that doesn’t make sense," Spike stared at Dru.

"Shhhhh," Dru placed a finger over Spike’s lips. "The transformation happens in two stages-one to bring the Anti-Slayer to our world and the second to keep her here. We don’t need the slayer’s blood for the first part only the second. Once our new arrival is here, she can retrieve the Slayer for us to complete the ritual. We’ll then all be one little, happy family." Dru finished kissing Spike softly. "I’ve been reading everything I can about the history of the Anti-Slayer and believe I understand quite well what must be done."

"Dru.." Spike began shaking his head.

"Please, darling," Drusilla begged as she knelt in front of Spike. She gently caressed his cheek. "Won’t you do this for me, for us. We deserve to have a special child, one that will bring us joy. What could be more joyous than the defeat of the slayer?" Drusilla looked wide eyed at Spike as he finally relented and nodded. She was intent on her plan, her dark eyes dancing brightly and he’d be damned if he would refuse her even if he could. He kissed the palm of her hand and she giggled. " Now we must decide what the child should look like," Dru started.

"Why she should look like you, love," said Spike.

Dru looked at Spike and smiled. "Yes, a daughter. A little girl with long brown hair just like mine."


10:00 P.M.

Cordelia sat in the dark in her room. Well I guess I got my answer as far as who I’d be slumming with this fall she thought as she stared off into space. It won’t be Xander She thought over what he said in the parking lot earlier and she got this sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.


"I don’t know how to say this so I’ll come right out with it. You know I have these feelings for Buffy. I mean I have feelings for you too, but..." And that was it. All she needed to hear from Xander. He was confused and frustrated about who he wanted and who he really liked. He didn’t feel right about dating her and fooling around with her when he felt he wanted someone else. He wanted to do the right thing and end it before things went too far.

Nice of him to think of me for a change. If only to dump me Cordelia thought bitterly as she got up from her bed and wandered downstairs to the family room. Her father was at his L.A. offices getting ready for the big trip and wouldn’t be getting back until late Sunday night. The whole weekend by herself. Big Whoop Cordelia thought as she sat at the piano. Despite Xander doing the right thing, Cordelia didn’t feel any better.. She felt as if she got the wind knocked out of her. This felt ten times worse than when she dumped him on Valentine’s Day; then it was because she had been the idiot stuck on her status and worried about what others thought about them. But the break-up now was because of something that Cordelia had known existed, but hoped would go away; Xander’s feelings for Buffy. Cordelia’s eye spotted the picture, taken years ago, of her and her mother on the piano, her mother’s face sunny and eyes bright as a little Cordelia smiled up at her. Mom, I miss you so much Cordelia shook her head not wanting to think about anything anymore. She got up and grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter and ran out the door. She had to get out of the house and move.

She almost made it to her car.

She had her hand on the door when she saw him out the corner of her eye.

"Well, well, well. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. How are you doing, Cordy?"

Angelus

Cordelia whipped around to face him. He stood behind the car, blocking her way back to the house. Cordy looked up and down the street hoping for someone to be out or a car to be coming.

"What? You don’t want to be alone with me," Angelus smiled as he moved closer to her. Cordelia took a step away. "I’ve been thinking that I should keep in touch with old acquaintances and decided to start with you. I mean you are now part of the slayer’s group right? And I do love playing with her friends." Angelus laughed as he closed in.

"Well I’m not really her friend, remember?" Cordy said as she continued to move away. She saw a shovel in the flowerbed just to her right. Maybe if she stalled a bit a car would come and she’d have a chance to use it and make a dash for the house. She hadn’t invited Angel inside it would be safe.

"Well you are pretty close to Xander aren’t you? I have heard things. You two have been pretty chummy." Angelus grinned as he saw Cordelia pale.

How the hell did he know about us? She watched him. "Well then you should have heard that we broke up. He doesn’t want me." Cordy said hoping that he would see her as not worth his time.

"I know. He wants Buffy." Angelus moved closer. "Which gives me a way to get to her through him. And the way to do that," Angelus’ game face came on, "is use you as a warning."

Dear God, Cordelia thought as she froze. Angelus made a grab for her and she ducked, picked up the shovel and hit him once, twice and he fell. She ran for the door of the house, two feet away when she felt his hand on her ankle. She screamed and fell to the ground her hand on the doorknob. She kicked at him and tried to turn the knob. So close, so close She almost made it inside when she felt him grab her hair and pull her back outside. He smacked her head onto the concrete sidewalk, grabbed her arms, and pinned her down and leaned over her. Dazed she looked up into his face and knew he had her.

"Oh the fun we will have," he said as he looked into her eyes. Cordelia closed them tight and prepared for the attack, when she felt him hesitate.

Angelus looked up Bring her to me My Angel Angelus shook his head and looked back down at Cordelia.

"Looks like a change in plans," he said as he backhanded her and knocked her out.

Part Two: 9:30 P.M., Friday, June 6, 1998


The Bronze was in full swing as Xander, Willow, and Oz entered. Most of the high school crowd were partying hard trying to forget about finals next week.

"Gotta get ready for our set, Will," Oz said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and rushed off. Willow smiled as she watched Oz go towards the side of the stage. Her smile disappeared as she looked back at Xander and saw him look towards the door in anticipation.

"Let’s get a table," Willow motioned towards a table in front of the stage and she and Xander moved to it and sat down. Xander looked back at the door once more, slightly frowning.

"Is something wrong?" Willow asked as she watched Xander look at the door for the umpteenth time.

"Huh? What?" Xander looked blankly at Willow. "Oh, Yeah, everything is cool. Ya know. Just scoping out the ladies who are out and about." Xander flashed a grin.

Scoping out ladies? Willow thought. "What do you mean? I thought you and Cordy were going out?" Willow watched Xander’s face darken at the mention of Cordelia’s name and then got the drift. "Oh, sorry. You two have a little fight?" Xander shook his head. "A big fight?" He continued to shake his head. "She dumped you?!?" Willow asked incredulously.

"You got it all wrong, Will. I dumped her or rather broke it off." Xander said as he watched Willow’s jaw drop in surprise. "I realized that I still like Buffy--a lot. I don’t want to lead Cordy on when I want to be with someone else. Besides like everyone said she and I are an odd couple anyway. We only agreed on one thing-the broom closet being a great place to meet up." Xander smirked as he played with a piece of paper left on the table.

Geeze Xander, Buffy again? While Willow didn’t feel particularly warm towards Cordy she felt sorry for her--Another woman burned by Xander in his quest for Buffy. "Hmph. Well sorry anyway," Willow said as the Oz and the band took the stage.

"Don’t worry about it, Wills. I am a single man again and ready for the hunt," Xander said as the band started up and began their set.

Xander looked at Willow as she began rocking to the music and following Oz. Xander glanced at the door again. Why am I even looking at the door? She is not going to come here after this afternoon. And why do I even care? Xander thought as he twisted in his seat.

The talk with Cordelia had been unnerving to say the least. He had dreaded talking to her about their relationship, but felt he should do something before school let out. He had expected her to flip out and argue with him-to let him have it. Instead she simply stood there as he told her it was over. He didn’t look up at her until he finished-feeling pretty low by that time. When he looked up at her she wasn’t looking at him anymore but off to the left and surprisingly quiet. Her jaw was clenched and he could see her tightly gripping the car as she leaned back against it.. But she didn’t say a word. Her looking away gave him a chance to watch her; she looked great as usual-dressed in a short pink dress and sandals. Her hair was down, blowing slightly in the breeze. One thing for sure she was a beauty and could and would find another guy-especially abroad. He didn’t think she would be jumping up and down for joy at his ending it, but he hadn’t expected her to be so...passive.

"Cordelia?" he asked after a minute. She looked back at him and stood up.

"I understand Xander," she said quickly as she turned her back to him and opened the car door.

"Cordy, I am sorry," Xander began as she got inside her car.

"It’s okay, really, Xander. I mean, I am not who you want and I think I knew that for a long time." She said as she closed the door and started the car. She peeled out of the parking lot, leaving Xander staring confusedly after her.

"Earth to Xander. Hey Xander ?!?" Buffy waved a hand in front of his face.

"Oh. Hi Buff. When did you get in?" Xander snapped back to the present and focused on Buffy as she sat down in the seat next to him.

"Just walked in. No vamp activity so far so I’m here taking a break. I see Will and Oz are here. Where’s your other half?" Buffy said as she looked around the Bronze.

"Ah, well I don’t know. Cordy and I have decided to cool it for a bit...She’s jetting off to Europe for the summer and I know she can find a guy over there. I’ll be here in good ole Sunnyhell for the summer working at minimum wage." Xander laughed as he watched Willow clap at the end of the song.

"You guys broke up, again?" Buffy asked in astonishment. "I mean it is and isn’t a surprise. After that fish thing she seemed to be in with you for the long haul. Although I have to say the two of you were just odd."

Yes I know thought Xander. But why is it that it feels odd without her here?

"I know what you need,’ said Buffy as she got up from her seat and grabbed Xander’s arm. "You need a little fun to lift your spirits. Let’s dance." Buffy pulled Xander out of his chair and moved past Willow. "Excuse us," Buffy said to Willow as she and Xander walked out to the dance floor.

I can’t believe this. I break up with Cordy and Buffy wants to comfort me. Sweet! The song was fast paced with a good beat-little possibility of body contact though. Buffy began dancing in front of Xander and Xander in his trademark of spastic moves danced in kind. They began doing some pretty wild and crazy dancing and started laughing about it. They ended up dancing to the next song in the set and Xander was feeling a little better. Maybe everything will all work out. He thought as he twirled Buffy around, her still laughing at his usual antics.


10:45 P.M.

Drusilla waited impatiently for Angelus’ arrival.

"Our little girl is coming home soon, Spike," Drusilla cried excitedly as she moved back and forth in the garden. Ever since she had her vision of Angelus with the brown haired one, she knew that she was the one -she was theirs.

"Patience, Dru. We have to wait until Angelus returns with her. If he does. And then we must start the transformation. Are you ready for that? Because it is a ritual that does not take kindly to mistakes." Spike looked at her squarely as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

"As you can see, darling, I have been preparing for her arrival," Dru said as she presented the table to Spike with a flourish.

A round stone table sat in the middle of the room with several symbols drawn at three equidistant points on the table to mark where the arms and legs of the host were to be tied. There were two daggers, one placed on either side of the body and the book containing the chant was open at the outline’s feet, but Dru didn’t need the book-She knew the ritual down cold. She would make sure the transformation worked. Period.

"Dearest, I am more than ready and capable of performing the chant. The reward is much too glorious to think of failure. We will have a child," Dru said dreamily as she began to dance with an imaginary baby in her arms. "She’ll be our little princess-our dark Angel. I’ll dress her in pretty dresses and bows and..."

"Honey, I’m home," Angelus said as he entered the garden, carrying Cordelia over his shoulder. He slowly walked over to Dru who was standing next to the table. "I see we have set up accommodations for our little guest."

"Ohhh," Dru squealed as she gingerly lifted Cordelia’s head. "She is soooo pretty." Dru stopped as she noticed the bruise on Cordelia’s cheek. She looked up at Angelus and said, "Now there will be no more of that Angelus. She will become my and Spike’s little one and we won’t let anyone hurt our little one." Dru looked sharply at Angelus as she motioned for him to put Cordelia on the table.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he placed Cordelia on the table and stepped back to look at Dru and Spike.

"Spike and I are going to have a child," Dru gushed. Angelus smirked as he glanced at Spike.

"Well I don’t know if your old man has it in him to give you what you want Dru," Angelus chided as he circled the table. Spike stiffened in his chair and Angelus enjoyed his discomfort. "Besides," Angelus continued, " I can just as easily transform her into a vampire as he can. I was planning on using her to get to the slayer and was interrupted when you called me."

"We are going to use her against the slayer Angelus," Spike began. "But we want her to be more of a challenge to the slayer than a mere vampire drone."

"What do you have in mind?" Angelus asked.

"Our child shall be special-a part of me and a part of Spike yes, but also an Anti-Slayer." Drusilla laughed with glee as Angelus waited for her to continue.

"I’ve been reading, Angel and I know about the Anti-Slayer. It was the dark side’s answer to those mean old vampire slayers. Instead of a chosen one, the Anti-Slayer was a demon spirit that upon its human host’s destruction would transfer to another host to resume its job. It had all the strengths of the slayers; agility, strength, speed, but were also immune to the slayer’s weapons against us: sunlight, holy water, and crosses Stakes through the heart however, will kill anything human or demon, but the Anti-Slayer thinks like a slayer-she can anticipate the moves of the slayer very well and avoid such pesky little problems. My child, the Anti-Slayer, will be the end of the Slayer," Dru grinned.

"Well if this Anti-Slayer was so great, why isn’t it around now?" Angelus asked as he watched Spike wheel over to the table where Cordelia lay.

"Bloody hell," Spike said as he checked to see if Cordelia was still breathing. "How hard did you hit her?"

"She’s fine," Angelus growled and looked back at Dru. "Continue."

"Well, before you were ever created, a particularly powerful Watcher of one of the Vampire slayers was able to create a spell to trap the spirit of the Anti-Slayer in another dimension of time and space. Many have tried to bring it back into our world, but failed because they didn’t know what exactly to do to bring it back." Drusilla smiled as she began tying Cordelia’s legs to the table. " But I know what to do."

Spike and Angelus both watched Dru as she hummed to herself , obviously enjoying her little secret. "Well spit it out," Angelus said impatiently.

"Well," Drusilla started as she tightened the ropes on Cordelia’s feet and moved to one of her hands. "The first part of the ritual requires that the blood of two vampires, in this case mine and Spike’s, be drawn by daggers and allowed to mix together. The blood is then placed on the host’s palms and forehead while one of the vampires whose blood was used then must chant the spell over the host’s body." Dru finished as she completed tying Cordelia down to the table.

"Sounds simple enough," Angelus said. "Even Spikey here could manage that," Angelus smirked as he slapped Spike on the back. Spike glared at him.

"Not quite, dear Angel," Drusilla replied. She placed her hand on Cordelia’s chest and felt it rise and fall slowly. " The vampire that is chanting must be in a psychic trance in order to connect with the Anti-Slayer’s spirit. The connection is what allows the spirit to be pulled from the other dimension and back into our world. As you know, I do have a special gift and I know I can do this," she purred as she turned to look at both Spike and Angelus.

"Unfortunately, the transformation is not permanent until she is able to draw the blood of the defeated slayer and mix it with that of mine and Spike’s. That is the second part of the ritual. Tonight we perform the first- bringing her into our world."

Angelus thought a moment and walked over to Dru, wrapping an arm around her pulled her closer to him. "Why not have me be one of the blood donors on this one," he whispered to her. "I don’t think rollerboy would be good daddy material, I mean we have to watch him now how will he take care of a kid?" Drusilla laughed and pulled back from Angelus and moved between him and Spike.

"Bad Angel," Dru scolded as she turned to Spike. " Now, now, darling," she cooed to Spike.

"You know I want you and not Angel. You are my love aren’t you?" Spike continued to glare at Angelus, his jaw clenched in fury and his blue eyes steely and cold.

"Let’s begin," Spike said simply, ignoring Angelus. Drusilla rolled him over to the table and handed him a dagger while taking one for herself.

Angelus stepped back and watched. Let the fun begin He thought.


Xander left the Bronze pretty late. Tonight went okay he mused as he began to walk home. Buffy had stayed a little longer and they hung out with Willow and Oz as the other bands played. He had been able to push Cordelia out of his mind for most of the night but now that he was alone, she filled his mind again. What is wrong with me? he thought as he walked down the street towards home. I broke it off because we just weren’t right for each other. Everybody thought so.

But did you really care about that? a voice in his head said.

Well it wasn’t fair to be with Cordy when he wanted Buffy. I did the right thing.

Then why do you feel so guilty? the voice said.

He stopped walking and looked down the street. If he turned left he could go past her house. For what? We are over, aren’t we? He remembered the look on her face earlier in the parking lot. Thought about it a minute and turned left.

It took him only a few minutes to reach her house. There were no lights on in the house, but her car was parked in the driveway. He stood there looking at the house for a moment, feeling something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. Finally he turned around and started walking home, the uneasy feeling staying with him and increasing with each step he took away from the house.


The ritual had been completed.

Spike held his arm where he cut himself, and looked cautiously over at Dru. He had never seen her in a fit like that before and during the ritual he felt...strange. He didn’t know exactly what was different, but was a little disturbed nonetheless. Drusilla, weakened from the ritual, knelt at the table, her hands on the host’s chest. Angelus waited in the background, lurking.

Drusilla pulled herself up and stared at the girl, willing her to wake up.. Finally, slowly, the eyelids began to move and then open. Drusilla gasped and Spike and Angelus moved closer to the table. The girl turned her head towards Drusilla and began to move her lips. Drusilla leaned in closer and placed her ear next to her daughter’s lips and heard her say:

"Mother."


Go on to Part Three


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