Love In Vein: Book Three - Chapter 18

Walking down the hall with Spike’s arm around her shoulders, Buffy couldn’t help thinking that it didn’t get better than this. Everything seemed to be looking brighter; things didn’t seem so bad when Spike was showing so much progress.

He’d researched with them all night, exchanging snide comments with Giles and sharing banter with her.

Things seemed like they were almost back to normal.

Almost.

She frowned as Spike stopped dead and then turned to face him. He was staring at the large mirror that was hanging on the wall opposite him and had a look on his face that matched how petrified he felt.

She could almost feel him slipping away.

She watched as he wrapped one arm about himself, muttering all the while and tapping his mouth with the knuckles of his left hand.

“Spike?” She tried to catch his attention by stepping in front of him, but his eyes remained fixed on the mirror as though he was seeing something in it other than her and the wall behind himself.

She could feel so much pain in him.

So much suffering.

“Styx…styx…styx…” Spike muttered as he stared at the mirror.

“Sticks?” Buffy looked confused as she tried to figure out what he meant.

“Dis…ruin and ruin…not willing to guard…not willing to stay to protect…bad…bad…bad…” He chanted the word as he stared sightlessly over her head and she almost jumped out of her skin as he suddenly looked down at her and whispered. “They’re coming.”

“Who?”

“We should…we should go…heh…go…go is good.” Spike hissed in her direction and she suddenly felt nervous about why they should go.

“Why? Who’s coming, Spike?”

He seemed quiet for a moment as he regarded her, his feelings placid as he looked deep into her eyes.

He raised his hand up and pointed at the mirror.

“Them.” He looked at it out the corner of his eyes and Buffy’s turned to see what he was looking at.

It was just a mirror.

She blinked.

Her heart skipped and jumped as she leapt away from the mirror, the split second vision of three angels watching her making her tremble with nerves. They had looked like the other one she’d met, all covered in dark scales with tattered wings and blue forked tongues. They had been smiling at her, their hands extended towards her as though they were beckoning for her to come to them.

She shuddered as she saw the image again in her head, the demonic angels standing in a cave of fire.

Looking up at Spike, she found him standing with his hand still extended to the mirror, his palm now facing it was though he was actually touching the glass.

She caught another flash of the angels and could see that one of them had its hand extended in a similar fashion to Spike.

Grabbing hold of his hand, she took his advice and decided that it was time to get going—at least it was time to get away from the mirror.

Practically running down the hall with him, she threw open the door to their room and then quickly locked it behind them once they were safely inside. She hurried around the room, placing every mirror present face down so she wouldn’t be able to imagine seeing anything in them.

She didn’t even want to know what just happened.

Walking out of the bathroom, she looked at Spike where he was laying on the bed, his eyes closed in sleep as his legs dangled over the edge of it.

Trying not to think anything of the vision she’d just had, she tugged his boots off and rearranged him into a more comfortable position on the bed.

Spike must have somehow been able to show her what was tormenting his soul, and had managed to get it to mix into her vision. She wondered if she had seen the same thing he had, if her vision had been different to his. The angels had been playing on her mind, maybe it was all sleep talking and she hadn’t seen anything after all—it was just her fears playing out in her tired brain.

Lying down next to her mate, she curled up and wrapped his arm around her, making him hold her so she could draw some comfort from him.

She heaved a sigh as she closed her eyes and tried to will herself into a peaceful sleep.

Something told her it was going to be anything but peaceful.


A stifling heat surrounded her. Her throat was parched, her mouth so dry that she couldn’t even wet her cracked lips. Her eyes felt as though they had a million tiny grains of sand in them, making them sore and painful.

An acrid stench filled her nostrils and she coughed, trying to expel it from her lungs while attempting to get her bearings at the same time. Looking at her surroundings, she found herself staring at a gatehouse, its two towers almost crumbling in ruin and the stones charred and black as midnight. Her eyes followed it up to the incredible height at which the towers stopped. Each of them was a tall as a skyscraper, their dark stones punctuated by windows of glowing orange light.

She watched as each of these lights flickered, a shadow obscuring them as something descended.

Hurriedly looking around her, she found that there was nowhere for her to run to. A vast plain of volcanic rock surrounded her and there was a path that seemed to wind in amongst the patches of unstable ground that were cracked and seeping lava. Gasses escaped small holes in the field, breaking the silence as they hissed.

In the distance, she could only see blackness. The field and the path disappearing into the gloom of the cavern and made her wonder just what lay back there.

Was it any safer than what lay ahead?

She swallowed as she felt a presence behind her, the feeling in her stomach making her all too aware of the power they held.

Turning slowly, she kept her eyes fixed on the floor and then tried to stop them from widening as she saw three pairs of booted feet.

She knew what she’d see if she raised her eyes and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go through with it. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend they weren’t there, hoping they would go away if she couldn’t see them.

Gradually raising her head, she offered a nervous smile to them as they stared at her.

They were as tall as the first one she’d met, if not taller. The one in the middle stood prouder than the others, its back straight and a spear held tightly in its hand. Their wings were as black as the smoke covered stones of the tower behind them, their red eyes shining brightly in the darkness and their scaly skin reflecting green and blue as it caught the light from the two fires burning outside the gate.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

If she spoke, would they speak back?

Clearing her throat as they regarded her with interested eyes, she gave them another smile. It was pointless fighting them, even in her dreams. She would just have to try to discover what they wanted and where she was.

“Hi.” She began with a wide, high beam smile that seemed to catch them off guard because they looked at one another with a very curious expression on all their faces.

“Dis…Dis…” The middle angel hissed at her, its forked tongue flickering.

Buffy frowned as she heard it and then looked down at the bracelet around her wrist. It must have been some kind of universal translator that didn’t just work on good angels, but on bad ones too.

“Dis…” It repeated and her eyes widened as she remembered what Spike had said in the hall.

“Ruin and ruin.” She whispered to herself and looked at the tower with its crumbling walls.

The angels extended their hands to her and smiled. The sight of it set Buffy’s nerves alight and all she could picture was the smile the other angel had given her as it devoured Cerberus’ heart.

“Dis?” She pointed at the towers behind them and they didn’t even bother looking, they just nodded solemnly.

She tried to remember what Spike had said about Dis. He’d mentioned sticks, and the angels and them not wanting to stay to guard. What were they guarding?

Looking up, she found that the angels were walking away from her, heading back to gate tower.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she followed them down the slight incline that led to the gate and then walked through it as confidently as possible.

Her eyes widened as she saw what was on the other side. There were clusters of rickety buildings, all of them in as much disrepair as the gate tower was. Creatures were moving to and fro, none of them paying her any attention as they swiftly passed her. They were centaurs, their human skin covered in scales like that of the angels and their horse halves walking on cloven hoofs. Their coats were shabby, loose black fur that was tattered and clumped, dirty and messy.

She smiled briefly as one looked at her, its eyes full of intrigue. For a moment, she wondered if it would come over to her, it seemed to want to get a closer look. There was a quick flash of fear in its face and then it moved off.

Buffy realised she wasn’t alone again.

The angels were now flanking her, standing close enough that she could feel the eerie chill that came off them as it sucked all the warmth from her.

Swallowing down her fears, she began to walk through the little village, her eyes moving casually about as she tried to assess the situation she’d found herself in. Further up the village, she could see pens of some sort with animals moving about in them. They were being herded by the centaurs and prodded with metal rods as they tried to keep them inline.

She stopped dead as she caught sight of the river before her, its width making it seem like a turbulent ocean because she could barely see the far bank.

It was flowing fast, the surface was rippling violently and small waves were splashing against the bank.

Walking down to the bank, she froze again as she realised that the river wasn’t flowing quickly at all—the waves and turbulence was caused by the people in it.

Her hand automatically rose to cover her mouth as she saw them writhing about in the blood-like water, their faces twisted in torment and pain as they cried out into the blackness. She felt a sickening chill sweep over her as one of them made eye contact with her, its hand reaching out for help.

She squinted as one of the angels beside her took off, its heavy wings beating the darkness and making her hair blow into her face. She cleared it away, wanting to see what was happening and suddenly wishing she couldn’t when she saw that the angel was hitting the people in the river, making them bleed into it.

She felt bile rise into her throat and turned away, not wanting to admit to herself that the river was made up of the blood of the people trapped in it. As she raised her eyes up, she saw one of the centaurs passing by with its herd.

Only it wasn’t animals like she’d thought it was.

They were people.

They were barely dressed. Tattered rags hung off their emaciated bodies as they walked stooped over and dragging on a chain. Her eyes followed the chain down to the floor and she felt sick as she saw they were being forced to drag dead bodies along by their necks.

When one of them moved she realised that they weren’t dead.

What kind of place was this?

She had to get out of here.

She was about to run in any direction possible when something cold wrapped itself around her upper arms and held her tightly. Looking at the hands of the two angels flanking her as they gripped her arms, she felt panic rise up inside her and shook her head.

Before she had time to protest, she was being lifted off the ground and carried into the air. She held back a scream as they swooped towards the river of people and she lifted her feet up to her chest, desperately trying to avoid the groping hands of the captives.

She could see the other angel still tormenting them, slashing at them with the spear and grinning maliciously as it watched them bleed.

As the two angels landed with her on the other side of the river, Buffy saw they were in front of a large dark forest, the trees of which were gnarled and dead. She looked up the length of the bank either way, hoping to find a bridge that she could cross. Her heart sank when she saw nothing but river stretching into the blackness.

She stared down at the river of boiling blood and people in front of her, a barrier that was stopping her from returning the way she came and forcing her to go into the woods. She could hear noises in there, screams of tortured souls that made her realise that what she had already witnessed would be nothing compared to what awaited her.

“Phlegethon.” The angel nearest her whispered into her ear and then turned her to face the forest. “Suicide.”

Buffy wondered if it meant that it would be suicide to enter the woods or whether it was telling her their name.

She smiled briefly and followed it as it walked into the woods.

She had to get out of here.

She had to wake up.

Wake up.

“Buffy, wake up!”

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