League of Souls
Chapter Two
Serial Killers Come to You
Spike admired Buffy’s swaying hips as he followed her up the basement stairs. Sticking to their normal routine in the late afternoon, they headed for the kitchen to get their first meal of the day. The fading light filtered through the tightly shut blinds on both the back door and the kitchen window. Tiny streams of dust-filled light hit the floor, but the vampires were used to it and had learned to navigate around them like thieves avoiding laser beams to get to a bank vault.
“Sit,” Buffy said. “I’ll get it today.”
He sat at the small island bar and followed her every move with his eyes. Graceful and getting more powerful by the day, Buffy had really come to terms with her lot in life – or undead life – and he couldn’t imagine existing without her. He still ached for the loss of her life, but he tried not to show it, for her sake. Once the blood was in mugs and heating up in the microwave, Buffy sat down with him to wait.
“What’s with all the intense staring?” she asked.
“Just love to watch you, is all.”
They sat a few inches apart, locked in a heated gaze until the microwave beeped. They stood up at the same time.
“I’ll get it, love.”
Buffy went with him to the microwave and opened the door. “You’re always taking care of me. Let me take care of you sometimes.” Before she could get her hands on the mugs, Spike wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. She turned in his arms and hugged him back, letting out a soft sigh. Spike brushed his lips against her cheek before capturing her lips for a soft kiss. As the kiss deepened, the grip they had on each other tightened. Buffy broke it off and smiled at him. “I’m really hungry.”
“Me too.” Then he hugged her again before letting her go and saying, “I’ll get the mugs.”
“I can get them.” Then she laughed and stepped out of his way. “No wonder Faith calls us sickly sweet and gags at us.”
She stared at him over her mug as she took a sip. He tipped his cup back, downed the contents in four long gulps and then watched her drain her mug. After taking the mug from her, he went to the sink to wash them out.
“She’d better get used to it or I’ll have to buy her some sick bags.”
The sound of Buffy’s laughter was music to his ears, but he liked it even more when she stood behind him and put her arms around him. Even after he put the mugs on the rack to dry, they stayed there with Buffy at his back.
“Domestic bliss,” Andra said as she came from the basement. “It’s just how I imagined you two would be.”
With a soft smile on her face, Buffy pointed to the refrigerator. “There’s plenty of blood, if you’re hungry.”
“Maybe later. I’d like to wash up first. Where’s the shower?”
“Upstairs to the left,” Spike answered. “Can’t miss it.”
“Thanks,” said Andra, walking away.
Buffy called after her, “There’s fresh towels in the hall closet.” With an impish grin, she turned to Spike. “What do you think? We might have fifteen minutes or more.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Spike raised a suggestive eyebrow and followed Buffy to the basement.
They hadn’t even gotten their shirts off when there was a knock on their door in the basement at the bottom of the stairs.
“Bugger.”
Spike plopped down on the leather couch and picked up the remote as Buffy tugged her shirt down and opened the door.
Giles peered into the room. “Is Andra here?”
“She’s upstairs, in the bathroom,” Buffy said, opening the door wider. “Come in.”
“Thank you. I did want to have a talk with you both about her.” Spike had a feeling he knew what Giles was going to say. He put his arm around Buffy as she sat next to him and they waited for Giles to grab a chair from the corner and sit across from the couch. “We need to keep an eye on Andra.”
“Why?” Buffy asked. “What has she done?”
“Well, even though the Council decided to look the other way with the death of Travers, they can’t turn a blind eye to the vigilante justice that she’s so fond of.”
Spike frowned at Giles. “Why the hell not? So what if she’s offing humans? They happen to be the worst of the worst and I’m sure everyone is happy to see them gone.”
“Yes, but it’s not our duty to rid the world of humans, as bad as some of them may be. There is a procedure, a system. If we circumvent the system, we are no better than the demons we hunt.”
“But Andra told me that she only goes after the ones that go free after being on trial. Or if she catches someone in the act,” Buffy said.
Giles shook his head. “We can’t have her doing that. Her ways are a big security threat and could cause the Watcher’s Council a lot of grief if she’s ever found out.”
Spike stood up and glared at Giles. “That’s rubbish. Andra has never claimed to be a part of the Council and she can do as she damn well pleases.”
Giles got to his feet and stood his ground. “She’s a vampire, killing humans. If she continues along that path, Faith will be instructed to go after her.”
They both turned to stare at Buffy as she doubled over in laughter. “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. First of all, Andra is her own person – or vampire – and nothing we do or say is going to stop her. Second, Faith is her own person. She doesn’t take orders well, and I sincerely doubt she’d tried to dust Andra just because the Council sicced her on the souled vampire.”
With a snicker, Spike nodded in agreement. “More than that, Faith might just sign up to hunt down the bastards with Andra.”
“Can’t you just convince Aida to back off on this?” asked Buffy.
“My cousin has a job to do. I won’t ask her to bend the rules.”
“So all that travel and work we did in London was for nothing?” Spike grumbled.
“How can you say that?” Giles asked incredulously. “They aren’t trying to kill Buffy and not only are they leaving Faith alone, they’re paying her a wage.”
“Yeah, but they’re still trying to run things,” Buffy said softly.
They all looked up when they heard a door slam above and Dawn yelled, “I’m home!”
Just as the three in the basement were climbing the stairs, Dawn said, “Um, guys? Why is there a stranger in the house?”
Spike felt equal parts pride and sadness at Dawn’s reaction to the stranger in the house, as Dawn looked up the staircase with her hand on the door, ready to bolt. Pride that she was always careful and sad that she always had to be careful. Buffy stepped forward and explained.
“This is Andra. She got here last night after you went to bed.” Buffy turned to Andra as she cleared that last steps and stood with a towel wrapped around her head. “Andra, this is my little sister Dawn.”
Andra removed the towel, her wet, auburn hair tumbling down her back. “Little! She’s at least a head taller than you.”
That made Dawn smile, until Giles went past her and up the stairs, shaking his head and mumbling under his breath.
“Don’t mind the watcher,” Andra said jovially. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Well, I like you,” Dawn said, still staring off after Giles and then she smiled at Andra. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“All bad, I hope?” Andra said with a raised brow as she glanced at Buffy.
Buffy grinned at her. “Of course not.”
It suddenly got awkwardly silent.
“Hey, Niblet, you must be hungry,” Spike said. “Why don’t you put your backpack away and I’ll make you a snack.”
Dawn shrugged. “Okay. Do we have any cookies left?”
A few minutes later, they were all in the kitchen, the three vampires watching Dawn dunk her cookies in milk and making her very uncomfortable, when Faith came in through the kitchen door. Spike instinctively wrapped his arms around Buffy to shield her from any sunlight that might come in, but the sun was low in the sky and the back of the house was shaded.
Faith placed a small ice chest on the counter.
“Scored you guys some of the good stuff while I was at the hospital.” She pulled out the plastic packets of blood and put them in the fridge.
“So what’s the verdict?” Spike asked, letting go of Buffy and leaning on the island counter.
“Definitely not a vampire. Too messy. And I’m thinking not a werewolf or other demon, because the wounds aren’t messy enough.”
Andra wanted to know what they were talking about, so Faith filled her in on the details while Buffy shooed Dawn upstairs to get her homework done.
“Hmm,” Andra said, thinking aloud. “I wonder why a human would try to pin these deaths on vampires when the authorities have no clue that we even exist?”
“Could be trying to draw out the Slayer?” Spike suggested.
“Well, either way, I know what Giles is going to say,” Faith said, as she crumpled the paper bag and tossed it in the trash. “If it’s not a vampire or some other demon doing the deed, then he’s going to want us to drop it and let the police handle it.”
Andra snorted. “I’ve been in the States long enough to know that the police here are just as incompetent as those in Europe. They’ll not be finding this killer. How many more innocent girls will have to die?”
Giles chose that moment to come out from the hallway where he’d been listening. “Faith is right. Unless the killer tries to make contact with Faith or tries to harm her, this is now none of our concern.” He glared at Andra in warning. “We have demons to keep under control and that keeps us busy enough.”
~ * ~ * ~
Buffy and Andra strolled to Wakefield Cemetery, chatting about what it was like to live on a Hellmouth. Buffy had no idea how she ended up being babysitter for the night, but she wasn’t happy that Spike had bowed out - even if he was watching out for Dawn, who was on a movie date with the guy she’d gone to the dance with. If Dawn found out that Spike was spying on her, she’d throw a fit.
“So, this is what you do every night?” Andra asked.
“Not every night, but yeah, this is what we do.”
“You have got to be so bored.” Andra grinned while slowly shaking her head.
“Actually, I look forward to the end of the night when Spike and I can get some time alone. Nothing boring about that.”
Buffy came out of her hazy daydreaming when she noticed Andra staring at her feet as one foot went in front of another. She could have kicked herself for practically rubbing it in how happy she was with her mate.
“Before I left for the States, I was in London having a talk with Aida. I hate the Watchers Council building.” Andra said it so softly, but the underlying rage was still there. “I almost went to Smiley’s to hook up with Torch the night before that. It seems strange that I can’t just find him there anymore.”
“I have nightmares about the night he was killed,” Buffy said and bit her lip.
She didn’t add that her nightmares always had Spike being the one to jump in front of that wooden bolt. Nothing terrified Buffy more than the thought of losing Spike.
“You’re lucky to have—” Andra stopped, but then continued walking, going slightly faster and saying under her breath, “Don’t look now, but we’re being followed.”
As they reached the cemetery, they kept up their pace and passed the gates. Buffy reached out with her senses and sure enough, she could hear the footfalls behind them. There was more than one set. One appeared to be high heels and was fainter and thus farther away.
Whispering, Andra said, “I can hear breathing, so the closest one is human.”
Buffy strained to listen but couldn’t pick up the breathing. She would trust Andra’s senses though, as her own were not yet fully developed.
“Shall we take a break?” Andra stopped and pointed to a low, flat monument.
They had just sat down, both highly alert, when a disheveled man stepped through the gates. He spotted them and headed in their direction, his big blue eyes narrowing as he glared at Buffy. His shaggy, stringy brown hair fell over his handsome face. Buffy could see the knife that he was palming and braced herself.
“Darla. I’ve finally caught up with you.”
“Um, sorry, but that’s not my name.” Buffy’s brows furrowed and keeping one eye on the obviously crazy man, she turned to Andra. “I did know a Darla once. She was Angel’s sire.”
“Angel!” the human practically roared. “What’s so great about Angel? I’m the one who brought you back. I’m the one who cared about you. Not Angel, you stupid vampire!”
He raised his knife but Buffy and Andra were quick enough to get out of the way, both vamping out, Andra behind him and Buffy in front. He swiped the knife at Buffy.
“I’m going slice your throat open and empty all that borrowed blood from you, then leave you to the sun, you bitch!”
Buffy was able to dodge every thrust of the knife.
“I think we’ve found the serial killer, yeah?” Andra shouted over the man’s crazy talk.
Ignoring Andra, Buffy asked the man, “How do you know Angel and Darla, and who are you?”
“What? You’ve forgotten me already?”
The man sneered and thrust the knife at her again. Buffy grabbed his wrist, narrowly avoiding the knife, and twisted without mercy. Just as he let the weapon drop, Andra elbowed him in the head and he went down in a heap at their feet.
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