note: I have split this final chapter into two parts 9a and 9b.
Buffy and Angel approached the dark, derelict shell that used to be the high school. The silence was eerie in fact it seemed too quite if that was possible. They were going to try to sneak in round the back of the building but Buffy decided that would be exactly what Giles would expect of them so they went for the direct approach and walked straight in the front entrance or what was left of it. Angel pulled out the torch he'd brought with him and shone it down the dark corridor. Long shadows danced about the walls but there was no sign of any vampires. Slowly they walked towards the centre of the school, stepping over the mounds of charred rubble and what looked like decaying flesh. "Mayor?" Angel questioned. "Mayor." Buffy nodded. Suddenly Angel grabbed Buffy's arm and held her back. He indicated for silence and pointed in the direction of what used to be the science room. Buffy listened. With a frown she shook her head. She couldn't hear anything. Angel motioned for her to stay put as he moved forward to check out the noise that his slayer hearing had picked up. Angel flattened himself against the wall next to the gapping hole that used to be the door, with a quick look back at Buffy he started to move forward only to be grabbed by an arm. Moving with the speed of light, Angel reached out and grabbed his asailent pulling him through the doorway, before Buffy even had time to react. Pining his attacker against the wall he realised that it was a petrified Spike. With a huge sigh of relief Angel dropped his friend to the floor. "Christ Liam! you scared the crap out of me." "Me, scare you, where the hell have you been? Is Oz still with you?" "Yeah, I'm still hanging about." came the reply from the gloom. "So I take it that you figured out that the nest was here too." Spike said "Yeah, but how did you know?" "We ran into a little vamp trouble back at the crypt after you two left." Oz piped up. A noise from deep inside the crumbling school halted all further conversation. The four of them looked at one another and silently agreed to move towards the noise. The darkness seemed to grow thicker the further in they went. Buffy could hear Oz breathing so hard she was sure that the other vamps would hear it too. She couldn't blame him for being scared, she was apprehensive herself but she knew that if anyone could handle this and get them out alive Liam could. Buffy didn't know how long they had been walking before she realised that she couldn't hear Oz breathing anymore. She stopped and looked behind her. The darkness had closed in and there was no movement at all. "Liam?" "What is it?" came the faint reply. "We seem to be missing Oz." "Buffy?" Angel's voice seemed to be further away than before. "Liam?" Buffy started to panic. She realised that she could no longer see the beam of Angel's torch. In fact her own torch beam didn't seem to be cutting very far through the darkness now either. *Oh god, what's happening?* Buffy broke out in a cold sweat, her mind raced, she was sure that if she'd had a pulse it would have been sky high by now. For the first time since being turned she felt human, the fear and panic enclosed her and unbidden her true demon face changed her features. All of a sudden she seemed more aware of her preternatural senses, her hearing was finely tuned to every whisper in the darkness and her eyes became more focused. She sensed company before she saw the movement to her left, for a split second she hoped it was Angel but her finely tuned sense of smell told her it was a vampire. She heard her name being called but it wasn't from the approaching vampire, it seemed to come from all directions at once. Once again she felt panic, trying to move she realised she was frozen to the spot, but was it fear or something else. She felt a hand brush her neck, turning she came face to face with the red head vampire who smiled sickly sweet at her. "Wanna play?" a voice whispered in her other ear. Turning she found the other female vamp smiling at her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Buffy?" Angel repeated again into the suffocating darkness. No reply and no sign of her either. He turned back to where Spike had just been standing but he too had vanished. He reached out just to make sure it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him. The darkness seemed thick enough for him to grasp a handful. *What the hell is going on here? This just isn't right* He moved forward trying to trace Spike but he didn't actually seem to be getting anywhere. Frustrated, he broke into a run, after 5 minutes he stopped, and he seemed to be exactly where he started. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spike had heard Buffy call Angel and had stopped when the slayer had answered her and then there was utter silence. He looked behind to see if Angel had started to go back and was shocked to see no sign of him. "What the hell......" he muttered before he started back in the direction they had come from. After 10 minutes Spike stopped, he had a good memory and knew this was the way they had come so why hadn't he found himself back at the science room door where they'd first met up. He shrugged and started to back track, maybe they'd turned off somewhere but he didn't even remember passing a doorway or corridor. Suddenley he heard his name echo through the darkness it sounded like Buffy, he stopped and listened. There it was again. Definiatly Buffy. He started to move in the direction of the sound and smiled to himself as he realised that it was getting louder. "Buffy...I'm coming, just stay put I'll be there soon." He called out. He turned the corner and spotted a figure slumped on the floor. He broke into a sprint, slid to a halt at her feet. Kneeling, he lifted his hand to brush the hair away from her face, and then realised his mistake as the vampire looked up at him with her yellow eyes and smiled. He didn't even attempt to make a run for it, he just sunk further to the floor in resigned defeat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buffy tried to focus her eyes, the room seemed to swim in and out of focus. She shook her head to try and clear the foggy feeling that enclosed her. Slowly shapes seemed to come out of the fog and into view. On the floor in front of her was the motionless form of Oz. She tried to move towards him but her body just didn't want to respond. "Ah....I see our Vampire with a soul is awake." Buffy looked in the direction that voice came from and saw Giles, a smile of pure evil spread across his face. Next to him stood the newly risen Joyce. She came and kneel beside Buffy, stroking her cheek. "I never truely understood what your curse meant till now, how could you give up such a gift in return for the worse traits humanity has to offer?" she whispered gently. "You really believe that the ability to feel the pain you inflict, to feel guilt and remorse, to want forgiveness, is the worse trait humanity has to offer? I don't think so. That is what makes us who we are, without it we are nothing more than animals." "I hate to tell you this, but you are an animal, you aren't human, having a soul doesn't make you any differant from us, it just makes you a pathetic example of what we are." Joyce spat back. "You used to be the most vicious animal, I was so proud of you and then you betrayed me." Giles stepped forward. "I betrayed you!" Buffy said indignantly, "You left me there to die and then cast me out when I can to you for help." "Buffy, buffy, that's all water under the bridge now, I did that, you did this. Many years have passed and the details are not so clear to me now but what I do know is that I can rid you of that filth that has tainted you for so long and you can take your place at my side, and help me turn this town into the glory that it should be." "I would rather die." Buffy stared at him "That can be arranged." Willow stepped forward wealding a stake. "Willow, enough!" bellowed Giles,"Now Buffy you know I can't do that, I hate to admit it but I need you, so I'm afraid you have no choice." Buffy heard a voice begin to chant and then saw Giles move aside to let Faith past. TBC ....