Lindsey´s Angels 12
Febuary 18, 2005
Hyperion Hotel
4.56 pm
"Uhhggg, nothing in this one either. God, I´m so tired of looking in these books," sighed a weary Cordelia. The brunette woman had wanted nothing more than to just spend the whole day in bed with Doyle, doing nothing but dozing in each others arms in–between long bouts of love making. Unfortunately, reality had punched a hole in those dreams via two hyperactive toddlers, grocery shopping for the week and research on souls. Glancing over at a vampire who was growing more annoyed by the moment, she asked Spike how he was going with his current book.
"This sodding thing is useless as well, bloody book is all about how to see your auras or some other bullshit. We´re getting nowhere fast."
"I know...why the PTB can´t just whap open a book at the right page is beyond me. I mean they can do just about everything else, you´d think that if the ´bloody soul´ or whatever it is, is so important, that they would get off their butts and help a bit more."
"Because that would be called common sense, remember, these are the same wanky twats that killed the only one who even had the remotest chance of understanding this bloody rot. Fuckin´ morons, should´ve let Dru hang on for a bit more....could´ve had a yap to her, fine tuned this drivel," replied the bleached blond, nodding his head in agreement. Slightly stunned that he was actually having a civil conversation with the girl for the first time they had known each other, he could tell from her face that she was feeling the same way and was waiting for him to call her something vile so that they could get back into the realms of normal.
"Right then, speaking of fat arses, how about you get off those binty buns of yours and get me a coffee? Ah..ah..ah, invalid here...see? Crutches, I *can´t* carry an effin´ drink back up here can I?"
"Hmmm, and your point would be?"
"Bitch."
"Really? Thanks, I think that´s the nicest thing you´ve ever said to me...are you hitting on me?"
"Fuck off Slag..go on, go and get some ´wife´ practice and make the superior sex a coffee...Oi! Don´t hit me, save your foreplay for the Mutt."
Giving the younger woman his usual leer and two fingered salute, he made sure to wipe off a dribble of cold coffee on his mug before handing it to Cordelia as she passed by him on the way downstairs, copping a slap across his upper arm for his attitude.
"Bloody hell, what is she on, steroids? Bint never hit like that before," he muttered to himself, one hand rubbing his upper arm. Felt good to have his sparring partner back, Cordelia was the only one who could give him a run for his money in the hotel. As far as he was concerned, trying to get a rise out of Graham was like poking road kill with a stick, nothing would happen and he was more interested in discussing the man´s endowments with Joyce...that is if he could get her tipsy enough one night. Riley...well really, why even bother? Wesley had been marked as off limits by Angel and he really didn´t want any of his bones broken in the near future by a pissed off Sire just because he had dared to taunt the gimp, no matter how tempting it was.
Angel was still fair game and so was Doyle, Joyce was someone that he could talk to about anything and he admitted that she was his friend, besides she was currently coming up with some of the dirtiest jokes he had ever heard and he was loving each one. The twins, well, it was amazing the filthy language kids picked up these days. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of his thoughts, glancing back down at the large book covering his lap. Pages flipped as fast as he could skim the words, the bleached vampire knew that continuing to look through the book would prove useless but he also knew that Pansy Arse Wes would know instantly if he had put the book down before reaching the end.
How the younger man could tell was something that continually puzzled Spike but after being caught out each time he had done it and having to sit through the Poof´s lecture about how important the research was each time, he made sure that he was at least looking for the two key words, blood and soul. After Wesley and Angel had learned of his human life, the two men were no longer so sure that the ´Soul of Blood´ applied to him.
"What hell would I do with an f´ing soul anyway? Hang on..I know, stake meself...be buggered if I´d prance around like the wanna be Batman downstairs, not even if Robin´s arse was thrown into the deal."
Head shaken, the bleached vampire shut the finished book and threw it across the room, punching the air with one fist as he watched it disappear down the side of the huge pot that housed a rather droopy palm tree. Spike couldn´t wait for Weakly to have a panic attack over not being able to find the book and anyway, he had only agreed not to verbally taunt the stick thin ex–watcher. Just because people had put their lives on the line to save his didn´t mean that he was going to cut them any slack.
While he was wondering when his coffee would arrive, the vampire reached over to the coffee table and picked up another book. Groaning when he saw that the title was in French, he mentally slapped himself for having reminded Angel that Drusilla had managed to teach him something in her more lucid moments. Even though the psychic vampire had done it out of her desire to be read to rather than any thought to if he had wanted to learn French or not, Spike had eagerly jumped at the opportunity once he had seen that it had gotten him away from a few bedroom sessions with Angelus and Darla.
"Where the sodding hell is that coffee, what did the stupid cow do, start digging a friggin well for the water?"
Book opened to the first page, the vampire froze as a gurgling sound came from the baby monitor sitting on the lamp table next to the couch that Cordelia had so recently vacated. Spike relaxed when he heard the brunette woman´s soft voice soothe a girzzling toddler back to sleep. At least he knew why the drink was so slow in coming, grimacing when he thought of how cold it was going to be. Still, the bitch had made herself useful and that was the most important thing, the half–breed should be thankful that the vampire was making an effort to get the woman used to her wifely duties. The bleached blond couldn´t suppress a snicker when Cordelia whispered into the baby monitor that his coffee was coming and not to whinge when he got it.
First chapter finished, Spike kept skimming the words, only looking up when his drink finally arrived. Sure enough it was almost stone cold but after a warning look from an expectant brunette, he kept his mouth shut. Time passed slowly, the quiet atmosphere of the library only broken by weary sighs coming from opposite ends of the room.
"I think I´ve got something. It doesn´t actually say ´Soul of Blood´ but it is describing a person who is born soulless. Apparently, the unfortunate person who is born without a permanent soul of their own can ´host´ any soul that is placed in their body without the usual battle between their own and the intruding one. The one that is sent into them can stay indefinitely because there is nothing already there to force it out. Well, that makes not so much sense to me...how about you Blondy?"
"Don´t ask me, ask Wankley. He´s the head honcho with all this crap. About sodding time something came up...he still up on the third floor with Joyce?"
Nodding to the question, Cordelia told the vampire that the two magic users were still erecting magic wards to each floor of the Hyperion, doubling the protection for every single room. After it had been decided that a Warlock had been in possession of the bleached vampire, Wesley had launched into paranoid mode. The ex–watcher and his voice advocate going from room to room and setting up a barrier spell that prevented any magic item from entering or leaving the room, the silver jewellery that Spike wore made into the only exclusion. Each spell was taking almost two hours as Wesley had had to work in a few clauses for safety reasons such as the special jewellery, he had also included a dampening effect that would stifle any attempts of magic use in a room or hallway once the wards were in place, something that could only be lifted and replaced again by a key word while visualizing the area to be affected. One that everybody had memorized.
Spikes room had been first, the spell taking almost all day as Wesley and Joyce had tried to iron out the kinks in the spell. The only rooms left were the unoccupied ones and the hotel lobby, the sheer size of it ensuring that both Joyce and Wesley would be out of action for a few days, the reason why it was being left until last. After a bit of trial and error, it had been found that spells were doubled in strength when Wesley and Joyce performed the finger actions together with Wesley reciting the words through Joyce, arms linked so that they touched. That way, Wesley had found that he didn´t end up blacking out, the energy drain was shared equally between them. Any other way and Wesley risked copping the full brunt of the spell drainage once it was over, although Joyce was proving to be quite capable of producing rather effective spell results by herself.
"Well, don´t just sodding well sit there...go and show the Poof´s arse boy and see what he has to say about it?"
"Wow..still making with the nice. Is it...David, what´s wrong?"
"What? You still fucking here? Don´t you have a company to run, new Dungeons and Dragons movie to wank over....OW! Don´t hit the invalid, you stupid trollop of a bitch."
"Uhhh, I retired three years ago...keep going in because I get bored at home, you know..help out a bit. Anyway, Francis just had a vision of someone...Todd I think was the name he gave me. Who´s Todd...is there really a new D&D movie out? Wank...that´s the same as drool isn´t it...just ´wank´ being the English term? Wonder if Kate wants to go? Ouch!"
The bleached vampire rolled his eyes as Cordelia shoved the nerdy billionaire out of the way in her rush to get downstairs and gather the details on the latest vision, Spike once again rubbing an abused upper arm. His attention turned to the deep in thought man, wondering how anybody so naive could be wealthy enough to be able to retire at 35 and also be dating a hot piece of arse like Kate Lockley. Barely able to suppress a snigger, the demon did his best to answer the younger man with a straight face.
"Yep, you´re right...wank, drool..it´s all the same meaning. Use it a bit, slot it in where it fits..anyway, Todd´s one of the kids we busted out of Eternal last year..you know, Mathew? This´ll be the first bit of info on them since they were bloody well taken for a second time....Hey, be a pet and pass me the crutches? Ta mate."
"Don´t suppose you would go to the movie with me if Kate doesn´t want to...don´t think D&D is her thing actually, doesn´t quite wank over it like I do...have you ever played yourself?"
In what was quite a rare occurrence since being turned, Spike found himself speechless and just stared at the goofily grinning man, the vampire standing motionless while balanced on his crutches. Just how had Cordelia let this one slip through her fingers? Why settle on a half–breed when quite obviously here was a man that every woman wanted to be seen with? Grimacing, he bit back the almost overwhelming amount of one–liners and acid tinged expletives that were battling to make themselves known to David Nabbitt, knowing that everyone in the hotel including Joyce would be fighting to be the one to stake him if he managed to offend their benefactor too much. So, going completely against the grain, he said nothing and twisted his face into a deeper grimace.
"Spike..Spike are you alright? Your foot hurting again?"
"Wha..nah mate, everything´s fine....the movie..ummm, not really my type either but thanks anyway."
"Oh...well, how about playing? I just got this new..."
"NO! Fuuuthanks again. Look, take this book to the twit upstairs and I´ll see how the Mutt and Slag are doing."
With that, the bleached vampire clacked out of the library as fast as he could before David decided to try and bond some more. He really did want to find out what Doyle had seen, curious to know why the PTB would send a vision of one of the boys from Eternal. Elevator reached, Spike sighed in relief as the small lift started its journey downwards before the retired businessman could enter the confined space with him.
***WARNING Character Death and unpleasant things ahead***
2.36 am
Last of the onslaught of demons dealt with, Graham found himself still keyed up and ready to do battle with anything that came at him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Riley and Angel tried to subdue the one remaining demon without killing it while the smaller ex–soldier slowly circled the main room with his pump action shotgun at the ready.
"Christ Angel, just grab it will you?"
"Speak for yourself!"
The brunette vampire ducked and rolled as a set of massive retractable claws whistled towards him, grunting in protest as the creature managed to kick him in the ribs. Amnruth demons were hard to grab hold of, especially when extremely pissed off and no doubt about it, this one was. Riley was all for just blowing its head off but Wesley had insisted that he wanted one brought back to the hotel so that he could question it as to how it had possession of Todd. They had been able to deal with the other seven demons easily, Graham and Riley showing off their skill at now being fully re–trained using their opposite hands and had downed the demons in a matter of seconds, all with clear head shots.
"Ri..Angel, step back"
BANG...BANG
Howling in agony, the mauve skinned Cyclops collapsed to the ground as Graham blew both its knees apart. Unable to help himself, Angel sympathised with the creature for a few seconds before grabbing hold of one flailing arm just as Riley attached himself to the other. Telling the two men to watch themselves, Graham gave the demon a solid whap across the back of its head with the shotgun butt, pausing for a moment to see if it was out cold before he gave it another hard smack just for good measure.
"Thanks Gra...why the hell didn´t we do that to begin with?" panted an exhausted Riley to a shrugging game–faced vampire. Demon hogtied with steel wire construction rope and rolled to one corner of the blood drenched room, Angel told Graham to look in the basement, Riley in the attic and upstairs rooms while he checked out the ground level and to hurry, they had to be out of the place before someone reported the gunshots. All men were hoping that the boy was still alive and in one piece but after hearing what Wesley had been able to tell them about the demons, they weren´t expecting much.
Stairs climbed slowly, the tall blond kept his shotgun aimed forwards, sweeping the weapon from side to side as he stepped into the upstairs hallway. Inspecting each room thoroughly, including the toilet, Riley informed Angel and Graham that the upstairs was secure, using the new Navy SEAL armed forces only communications devices Graham had picked up a few day´s ago. Amazing what you could get your hands on when you joined a rifle club made from ex–military types, something both Riley and Graham had done in the hopes of being able to track down the men who had turned Giles´ wake into a bloodbath. No go with locating the mercenaries as of yet but it was paying off with the amount of specialized electronics and weaponry that had suddenly become available to them.
Attic given the all clear, Riley gave a quiet chuckle as he listened to Angel push every button in an effort to tell the two ex–soldiers that the ground level was also clear only to start back downstairs when Graham requested that Angel and Riley meet him at the basement door. Trailing behind the brunette vampire as they made their way towards the kitchen at the farthest end of the house, Riley found his pulse rate increasing as Angel suddenly clapped a hand over his nose and started gagging.
"Jesus...God!"
"You should smell it when I open the door...there´s no light down there and I can´t find a torch...Angel, you go first, you´ve got better eyesight in the dark," grimaced Graham, pinching his nostrils shut with one hand, his expression shifting to a bare smile as he watched his best friend do the same when the blond took a big hit of the rotten odour emanating from the behind the basement door.
"Riley..gaackk, there´s a torch in the..cough...aaggh..car trunk."
"Right, on it."
As Riley dashed back out of the house and towards the classic car, Graham watched as the brunette vampire continued to dry retch from the obnoxious smell. It was bad, quite possibly one of the worst stenches he had ever had the opportunity to smell but the smaller ex–soldier thanked god that he didn´t have the enhanced senses of the vampire. All three men had winced at the foul odour that radiated from the old farmhouse the very moment Angel had parked the car outside but compared to what was behind the solid basement door, it was quite nice.
"Angel, go upstairs to the bathroom and see if there is any Vicks or some other chest rub. If there is...bring it down."
Chest heaving, the brunette nodded thankful for the opportunity to get away from the smell. He knew what was making the odour, decomposing bodies as well as a few other things he didn´t want to think about, and he knew that they would find the houses original inhabitants down in the basement. How many other unfortunate people there were was the question. The smell was too strong for just one or two bodies. Bathroom reached, Angel wrenched open the cupboard. Throwing things left, right and centre, he almost whooped in triumph when he located a small tub of Vicks behind a home pregnancy test. Steps taken three at a time, Angel ran back to the kitchen with the jar, placing it on the kitchen bench. The vampire watched as the smaller man twisted the lid off the jar and held it towards Angel as he started to cough again.
"Right, smear this under your nose, it´ll hide the smell a bit."
"Oooh..it..aarggk..stings."
As he finished smearing the steadily heating ointment underneath his nostrils, Angel found his torch shoved at him, allowing Riley and Graham to do the same with the Vicks. With his double blade axe in one hand and torch in the other, the vampire held the beam of light steady as Graham opened the basement door. As one, the three men took a step backwards as the stench hit them full force. Riley recovered first, giving the brunette a small shove towards the stairs while both he and Graham followed the vampire down into the basement.
"Uhhhh..."
The torch beam slowly showed the three men a countryside hell. Wherever the light fell, there was a body in a decaying state. Bottom of the stairs reached, both Riley and Graham found themselves being violently ill, the vampire sounding like he wasn´t far behind them. As the smaller ex–soldier stood upright again, chest heaving, Graham felt in his trouser pocket for the tub of chest rub. Smearing another layer underneath his nose, this time, he poked a finger full up each nostril, ignoring the burn as the menthol and camphor soaked into the sensitive tissue. Once Angel and Riley had followed his actions, he slipped the jar back into its place while everyone tried to get their bearings in the crowded space.
"Riley..Graham, there´s..urrgh..*two* heartbeats down here...one´s...argck..almost gone...the other almost off the scale....There! Look there, that´s where the weak one´s coming from."
Trying not to slip on the slimy flesh and rancid bodily fluids that were decorating the basement floor, Angel quickly made his way over to some of the more recently deceased corpses. Lifting a few out of the way, Angel assisted by the two ex–soldiers so that they could get to the heartbeat. What met their eyes as they shifted the last one was horrifying. There, buried half underneath the newer corpses was Todd.
"Oh God...Hey there..Todd..."
Graham honestly didn´t know what else to say, what did you say to someone who was in the process of dying because their internal organs were leaking in a liquefied state from their anus? The boy was lying on his side, his back facing the shaft of light, giving the three men a clear view of the lumpy clotted blood and tissue that flowed over the dirt encrusted thighs. How Todd could still be alive was astonishing but the slow rise and fall of the equally filthy chest was evidence enough. As Angel and Riley moved a few paces away to his left, Graham knelt down beside the youth, gently touching the young face. There was not a sound from Todd, nor did he acknowledge their presence in any way. The youth just stared straight ahead at the wall infront of him, his blue iris´ almost totally eclipsed by his pupils.
Shifting the naked youth slightly only produced a deep sigh and slow blink, the gory tide prompted into flowing faster. A hand waved in front of Todd´s face did nothing, a touch to his pupil producing another slow blink, not the twitch that Graham had hoped for. Wesley had told them that the demons sperm was acidic, pretty harmless in small amounts, usually only causing an uncomfortable sting. In large amounts, it would build up and eventually eat away at the insides of the recipient and liquifying, killing them in the end. No–one had wanted to know just how the book´s writer had known that, they just knew that they had to get to the youth before it was too late, Doyle´s vision having shown the demons repeatedly raping the boy. Something that had distressed the Seer immensely, not to mention everyone else when he had described it.
"Angel...Angel? He´s gonna die isn´t he?"
"Yeah Graham, he is...soon."
"Sure?"
"Yeah"
CRACK
The smaller ex–soldier gently twisted the youths head back the correct way, laying Todd´s head against the concrete floor again. There was no way he was ever going to feel guilt or regret for doing what he just had. Graham had given Todd the kindest death he could. Rising to his feet, he gave the youth one last look before he went to help Angel and Riley find the other heartbeat. A glance at the vampire and he saw an expression of understanding in the brown eyes even as Angel switched back to his gameface just as he was feeling Riley squeeze his shoulder. At an unspoken command, the three men started to move towards where Angel had pinpointed the other heartbeat as being, ignoring the swarming flies that crowded over anything they could.
"Hey..it´s alright..we´re here to help you, you can come out now..don´t be afraid."
Quietly gesturing towards a relatively un–crowded dark corner, Angel highlighted the area with the torch, while Riley and Graham started to shift the few bodies in the way in between being ill, the two humans thanking the higher beings that they were wearing gloves even though they had been donned so they didn´t leave any fingerprints in the house. As they struggled with a fairly large corpse, Angel kept up the re–assuring words, wondering just how many bodies had been thrown into the basement. So far, he had counted thirty–six and he knew there was more. It looked like the demons had been residing in the dilapidated house for a few weeks or more, abducting and fucking anybody that had crossed their path. The vampire was pretty sure that most of the immediate neighbours were amongst the dead.
"Yep...you´ll be home soon, back with your family...safe and sound," stated Angel, almost choking again from the stench. As if on cue, a thin wavery voice broke through the dank air.
"Aaaaangel?"
"Shit! Christopher...is that you?"
Instantly, Riley and Graham found themselves almost thrown out of the way as the brunette vampire shoved past them in an effort to reach the child buried under a badly decomposed black man. Body hefted out of the way at last, Angel bent down and gathered up the small boy, grinning like mad as he switched from game–face to human.
"Are you alright Christopher...are you hurt?" asked the anxious vampire, hugging the dirty naked child to his chest in a strong grip. Unable to help themselves, the three men found themselves laughing in relief as Christopher complained that he was hungry and that he wanted a drink of water. Riley couldn´t believe their luck, Doyle´s vision certainly hadn´t indicated the man/child´s presence, just the unfortunate Todd´s. Torch and axe taken off the vampire, Riley and Graham gave the crowded basement one last sweep before stopping to remove the dead boy´s jewellery for Wesley to study. Once done, the two men ventured back upstairs.
With a hastily washed and clothed Christopher clinging to Angel and Graham in the backseat and a still unconscious demon in the trunk of the classic car, Graham set off on the two and a half hour drive back to the Hyperion.
