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Kantayra
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, Spike, Dawn, or Anya. They're all Joss'. Everyone else, though - those're mine. ~_^ I'd also like to credit the movies 'The Shinning' and 'Clue', as well as two episodes of Star Trek TOS that helped inspire this plot. (Don't ask. ^_^)
Summary: Seven years ago, Spike fled Sunnydale and his abusive relationship with Buffy. Now, he and still-best-friend Dawn are working together in their own demon hunting agency. However, everything changes when they're called out to investigate a chain of supernatural murders at Cascade Mountain Lodge and discover that Buffy's on the case as well. Will they be able to solve the mystery before they become the next casualties? And what does the solution have to do with the events of seven years ago?
Author's Note: Hey, it's the beginning of a new Spuffy saga! Yes, this one will be rated NC17 eventually. (Aren't they all?) And, yes, I am doing the infamous 'Buffy and Spike in a haunted house' theme, but I'm hoping it will be quite different from all the others out there. However, I do want to warn people that some parts of this will be a bit darker than some of my other sagas. This story assumes that everything through the S6 episode 'Dead Things' occurred, and it deals heavily with the events of that episode - hence, the darkness. Just wait it out, don't trust anything you see, and trust me that things will turn out all right in the end. ~_^
The farce that was Dawn’s day didn’t come to an end when her beat-up old Chevy pulled up to the Old Victorian house off of Jefferson Road in the town of Black Hills Falls. Oh no, it was just beginning.
“I’ve never known a Slayer to be so…feminine,” Xel practically purred in the back seat, inching closer to Buffy.
Her eyes widened, and she scootched even closer to the window.
“It must take amazing effort,” Xel continued in a low voice, “balancing the human and demon worlds like that… Have you ever considered experimenting more with the demon side of things?” The way he licked his lips with the world ‘experimenting’ made it all too clear what he really meant.
Buffy gulped. There had only ever been two demons for her – well, one since technically Angelus was the demon and not Angel… So one. Exactly one demon for her. And, while the glamour spell that Xel and Lena both wore to mask their more inhuman features was quite effective, it sure didn’t put Xel anywhere near Spike’s exalted status.
“Been there,” she assured him, “got the emotional scars.”
“Ah, a heart once broken—” Xel began.
“Keep your antennae to yourself!” Lena groused, scowling at her mate from the other end of the backseat.
Xel turned irritated eyes on her. “Like you were last night?” he snapped.
Dawn and Buffy groaned in unison. This was, what, the sixth time this argument had occurred during the brief ride? The eighth?
“This is why I usually investigate alone,” Dawn rolled her eyes in the direction of the two disguised D’vorak Demons that were too busy screaming at each other in the car to notice that Buffy and Dawn had already exited it.
“Is this a subtle hint that I shouldn’t have tagged along, either?” Buffy joked. She massaged her ear, hoping she didn’t have permanent damage from the pitch of Lena’s shriek.
Dawn smiled at that as they walked up to the door of the dilapidated two-storey house. “At least your story wasn’t ripe with recriminations,” she said with a pointed look at the demon pair that were still arguing back in the car. She pondered Buffy’s account of last night’s events for a moment before deciding to reveal her additional information. “Veronica said she saw your eyes glowing. She said they were red.”
A concerned frown marred Buffy’s brow. “Red glowy eyes definitely abnormal,” she agreed.
“Were you possessed?” Dawn inquired curiously. “If that’s what this demon or whatever does, it will narrow down our research.”
“No,” Buffy insisted, “I was just…angry. Furious. I don’t know what came over me.”
Dawn considered this for a moment. “But you don’t think you were possessed?” she pressed. “You were in control of your body?”
Buffy sighed. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It felt like it was me, but…I haven’t been that angry since—” She broke off, embarrassed to discuss this in front of Dawn. “I’m not like that,” she sounded like she was trying to convince herself, her voice slightly ragged. “I’m not…”
Dawn bit her lip and, after a moment’s consideration, rested a hand on her older sister’s shoulder. “The whole red eye thing wasn’t you,” she agreed. “That means that the hitting probably wasn’t, either. My bet is that whatever this haunting is, it’s playing with you – with all of us. From what I’ve picked up, things were pretty hectic last night.”
Both of them grimaced at Xel and Lena’s accounts of the blood-red walls. And Buffy thought back to the phantom piano player she’d seen as well. She felt a bit guilty about not divulging that part of the story to Dawn, but something about it felt so private…intimate. She just didn’t want to share. And, she couldn’t imagine that her mysterious musician was tied into all this. Something so beautiful couldn’t be evil, could it?
A resolved look crossed Buffy’s face. “I don’t like being toyed with,” she said, a hint of the old Slayer fire in her eyes. “When I get my hands on this thing…”
“I’ll be there to re-kick its ass after you’re done with it,” Dawn agreed.
The sisters shared a smile and then a giggle. Almost as soon as their laughter stopped, the distance was between them once more. But that moment was enough to remind them both of what they’d lost when they’d been estranged all those years ago.
“Are we going to do anything, or what?” Lena’s testy voice broke up their awkward reflections.
“Can’t you at least try to be polite?” Xel retorted immediately.
Lena gasped, offended beyond belief, and Dawn took the moment’s silence to cut off the argument. “Knock it off,” she gave them a stern scowl. “I am sick and tired of listening to you two arguing. Why don’t you both try to shut up for five minutes? Just don’t say a word, OK?” She gave them a falsely sweet smile.
Xel and Lena noticed an equally annoyed look on Buffy’s face and hung their heads in shame.
With identical head shakes and eye rolls, the sisters turned back to the door, and Dawn hit the buzzer. There was an uncomfortable silence while Buffy and Dawn waited and Xel and Lena tried their best not to start yelling at each other, until finally a figure could be seen moving behind the curtain that covered the window beside the front door.
“Ms. Collins?” Dawn asked politely when the bent old woman answered the door.
Ms. Collins blinked out at them through coke-bottle glasses. “Yes?” she asked, sparing a kind smile to the visitors to her doorstep.
“We’ve been hired by the Cascade Mountain Lodge,” Dawn began, “concerning certain disturbances they’ve been having.”
The old woman’s face instantly closed off. “What do you want?” she snapped suspiciously.
“Well, I was informed that your coven did some work up there fifty years ago,” Dawn explained.
The woman’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She moved to shut the door in Dawn’s face.
Buffy’s Slayer reflexes caught it long before it closed, however. “People are dying,” she pleaded. “If there’s anything you can do to help…”
“Oh, I helped,” the old woman retorted. “Fifty years ago I helped, and all I got in return was a lifetime of pain.” She brushed Buffy’s hand from the door with surprising strength. “If you’re willing to give up your lives, go right ahead. Just leave me out of it!” The door slammed shut with a bang of finality.
The four demon hunters stood on the doorstep in surprised silence for a moment. Then:
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Lena whined. “I don’t know why I should be surprised, though.”
Xel gave her a disgusted look. “Could you possibly be any more pessimistic?” he hissed.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lena retorted, her words practically oozing sarcasm. “Did I insult your little girlfriend and her plans?”
“You shrew!” Xel exclaimed. “If you weren’t always so…”
Their voices trailed off as they stalked back to the car together. Buffy and Dawn exchanged a look.
“I don’t suppose we can walk back to the lodge?” Buffy asked hopefully.
“I’ll drive fast,” Dawn assured her before reluctantly heading in the direction of the vehicle as well.
Buffy fell into step beside her. “She knows something,” she commented, gesturing back to the house.
“Something powerful enough to frighten an experienced witch,” Dawn agreed with a concern frown.
“I’m kinda thinking we have to figure out how to kill this thing fast.” Buffy wouldn’t have admitted it, but a bit of fear was seeping into her own stomach at the unknown danger. “’Cause if last night’s any indication…”
“We’re going to end up dead and fast,” Dawn agreed. “We’ll just have to keep trying to get information out of our reluctant Ms. Collins.”
“There are no other leads?” Buffy inquired.
“She’s the last member of the original coven alive,” Dawn confirmed. A grimace spread across her face as they reached the car. “Although, if this thing doesn’t kill those two soon,” she indicated the quarreling D’voraks with a pained expression, “I may beat it to them.”
Buffy managed an amused smile at that, and together they entered to the vehicle.
* * *
The Summers sisters had each worked out several dozen plans for double homicides by the time Dawn pulled to a halt at the end of Cascade Mountain Road. Xel and Lena remained oblivious to the extreme irritation of everyone who had to put up with them for more than five minutes. Still arguing non-stop, they finally went off on their own, and Buffy and Dawn both breathed a sigh of relief.
“Justifiable homicide,” Dawn decided, rubbing her temples where a headache was forming.
“Even better,” Buffy decided. “They’re demons. That means killing them is technically part of my job description.”
“D’voraks don’t hurt humans,” Dawn felt obliged to point out.
Buffy nodded in agreement. “But most D’voraks aren’t this annoying. I’d say they’re a definite danger to the sanity of everyone around them.”
Dawn grinned at that. Actually, she was pretty impressed. She’d entered the demon hunting business with her eyes open and had quickly learned that not all species were slay-worthy. But that her sister, the queen of black and white, humans equal good, demons equal bad, finally realized it… It made her curious just how much Buffy had changed over the years. And, from what she could see so far, a lot of the changes seemed to be for the better.
“What’s with that, anyway?” Buffy continued her rant. “I mean, I thought D’voraks were supposed to be the lovebirds of the demon kingdom. Hell, most of the time I’m annoyed by them making googly eyes at each other, but these two…”
Dawn chuckled at that. “My guess is that they’re going through Shi’lann,” she ventured.
“Mating season?” Buffy’s nose scrunched up. “Don’t they usually get extra cutesy then?”
OK, she was way impressed that Buffy knew that. Whatever happened to the ‘knowledge boring, kill now’ philosophy?
Her look must’ve tipped Buffy off to her thoughts. “They’re really common,” she pointed out. “Sunnydale’s gotten a bit more open with the demon population since the Hellmouth closed. I pretty much deal with D’voraks on a daily basis.”
“Cool,” Dawn agreed with a smile, a bit of the girl Buffy had known slipping through. “Yeah, I’ve never encountered any as annoying as these two, either.”
“Are they mis-mated or what?” Buffy wondered.
Dawn shrugged. “Just screwed up,” she decided.
“Sucks to be them,” Buffy decided.
“Indeed.”
They shared an amused giggle, and then Dawn spotted the three rogue members of the demon hunting squad entering the lodge lobby.
“Uh-oh…” she sighed. “You ready to back me up?”
Buffy looked at John, Bob, and Tucker with disdain. “Do we hafta?” she whined.
“They might be useful,” Dawn insisted.
Buffy moaned and nodded. “I got your back,” she agreed.
The two women ignored the rather blatant stares they got as they approached, and Dawn quickly addressed John, assuming him to be the leader of the group.
“We’re meeting in the rec room at eight o’clock tonight to discuss what we learned last night,” she informed him.
John merely chuckled. “Cute thing, huh?” he addressed Bob with a nudge. “Thinks she’s in charge…”
“By rather unanimous decision, I have been put in charge,” Dawn said, green eyes flashing angrily.
“Sure you have, sweetcakes,” Bob laughed, appraising her in a rather scandalous way. “I can guess how you got your votes, too…”
Before he even knew what hit him, he found his face shoved painfully into the counter of the lobby desk, his arm twisted roughly behind him in a bruising grip.
“Wanna rethink the way to talk to my sister?” Buffy asked in a false cheerful tone.
“Oh dear…” Ms. Danvers’ eyes widened at the fight breaking out in her lobby. “Is it really necessary to…?”
“Oh, it’s necessary,” Dawn agreed. She stepped up into John’s face in an odd imitation of Spike’s own trademark intimidation tactic and narrowed her eyes menacingly. “This isn’t some game for boys with guns,” she informed him coldly. “If you’re not prepared to do what it takes to beat this thing, then I suggest you leave it to the professionals. Before you end up getting yourselves killed.”
“You’re not the boss of me, toots,” John tried to maintain his bravado, but he was visibly shaken. “And, hell, like we’re lettin’ you get away with all that money.”
Dawn gave him a final scowl before turning to walk away. “C’mon, Buffy,” she said, her annoyance plain. “These losers aren’t even worth our time.”
With a final twist to Bob’s arm, Buffy let him go and followed after Dawn. “Assholes,” she grumbled under her breath.
“Incompetent assholes,” Dawn amended…
* * *
Now, Dawn had been slightly worried when she returned to her and Spike’s room. She knew that Buffy had come to see him earlier that day, and that probably implied a whole lot of angst. After all, her sister may have gotten nicer and more understanding and much less bitchy, but still… Buffy plus Spike equaled heartache.
So, she was practically floored when she entered their common room to get a quick peck on the cheek and an “afternoon, luv” from what looked to be a very happy vampire. Dawn watched in amazement as he practically floated around the room, straightening various knick-knacks and checking all their weapons absentmindedly for sharp edges.
“You’re in a good mood,” she commented, dropping her bag on the kitchenette counter.
Almost immediately it was snatched up and hung from one of the hooks the lodge provided in the closet for their luggage.
“No arguin’ there, Sweet Bit,” he agreed, humming to himself under his breath.
Dawn blinked. OK, this was getting scary. Fluffy, happy Spike – definitely not of the ordinary. “Did you check the basement?” she inquired, sitting down on the sofa.
He said down across from her, then practically sprang up out of the chair and began wandering around the room again as he talked to her. “Big wall ‘f knives,” he commented.
“What?” Dawn asked in surprise.
“In the restaurant’s kitchen,” he provided, grinning at the fact that he’d had her going for a minute there. “That was the most excitin’ thing I found.”
Dawn relaxed in her seat again. “Nothing hiding down there?” she pressed.
“Nothing,” he agreed. “Checked every square inch ‘f the basement. Even used your laptop to get the buildin’ plans to make sure there wasn’t any space missin’ for secret rooms. And then I looked through the records ‘f that coven Siggy told us about and—”
“Spike?” Dawn cut him off with an amused smile.
“Huh?” He blinked at her in surprise.
“You’re babbling,” she informed him with a giggle. “Now tell me what happened.”
He hesitated for a second before an eager grin spread over his face and he dashed over to the chair across from her with superhuman speed. “Slayer was here,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Yeah, I know.” Dawn was having a hard time containing her laughter. He looked like a kid on Christmas, he was so excited. “I talked to her.”
“Yeah, well…” he agreed, studying the nails of one hand absentmindedly. “Was nice was all. Talked a bit ‘bout old times, a bit about the case…”
“Spike…” Dawn began, a bit of worry sneaking into her voice.
“Nothin’ happened,” he insisted. “Just…” A bright smile lit up his face.
Dawn’s concern increased. “Spike,” she caught his hand in hers and looked directly into his eyes, “think about what you’re doing.”
“I am,” he said, the idiotic grin on his face fading to a more serious expression. “’S not like ‘m startin’ up with her again or anythin’. Just was nice to have somethin’ beyond the nastiness is all. A bit ‘f a reminder that there was good, too.”
Dawn gave him a relaxed smile at that. “Just be careful,” she requested softly. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“’ll watch my back,” he promised her. “But the Slayer’s changed. She’s—”
“I know she has,” Dawn assured him, “but we don’t know how much yet. Just…”
“Won’t run off and do somethin’ foolishly impulsive,” he promised her.
She gave him a skeptical look. “Who are you, and what have you done with Spike?” she teased.
He chuckled at that and brushed another quick kiss across her cheek. “’ll be all right. I promise, Bit. ‘m just…happy is all…”
* * *
“…Calm down, Buffy,” an eerily similar conversation was taking place in the room next door. “You don’t want to rush things.”
“I’m not rushing,” she insisted into the phone. “I’ve known I wanted this for so long… And now it’s like nothing’s changed. I mean, things have changed obviously. There’s all that stuff that happened that we haven’t even talked about yet, but… The feelings… They’re still all there.”
On the other end of the phone, Holden let out a weary sigh. “You’ve made those assumptions before,” he pointed out. “Just look at what happened with Angel.”
Buffy bit her lip at that, sobered slightly by the logical point. “This is different,” she insisted. “This time I know—”
“You’re feeling like this is the way you felt before,” Holden acknowledged. “And that’s good. That’s a sign that you’re moving beyond all that happened in your relationship before. But you’ve got to consider that maybe things have changed for him. Am I correct that you still haven’t ascertained the relationship between Spike and your sister?”
Buffy sighed at that. “No,” she admitted. “But even if… Even if I can just make things OK between us all again, that’ll be more than I ever hoped for.”
“And that’s a good place to start,” Holden agreed. “Just take things one step at a time and see how they develop.”
Buffy took a deep breath and calmed herself down. “It just feels like this could be it,” she admitted.
“And it could be,” Holden assured her. “But you have to work on acknowledging the past and keeping it behind you all at the same time.”
“I know,” Buffy grimaced at the incident the night before, “but there’s a chance that that was Big Bad related.”
“I hope so,” Holden agreed. “I certainly hope so…”
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