Chapter 21: No Dominion
There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Who dares to love forever?
When love must die
Brian May/Queen, “Who Wants to Live Forever”
-
NEXT DAY – FRIDAY – EMMA’S ROOM - 8:30 AM
SOPHIA’S POV
“Breakfast was fun,” my nervous laughter fills the quiet room, “Nicky’s going to be a real chef one of these days.” I’m sitting on Em’s bed making stupid small talk as she leans against her desk to put on her steel-toe boots. Everyone woke up early and was downstairs in the kitchen mulling about drinking coffee until Nicky and Andrew made an ungodly huge meal for all of us. We came back up about a half hour ago so Em could take a shower and I could stare at the clock and get freaked out.
Last night we just lay in bed, holding each other. I know she fell asleep a couple of times, but I couldn’t, I was too scared to let go. Looking up at her now, I watch as she finishes tying up her laces. Faded Levis, T-Shirt and work boots: you’d think she’s off to go hang out with her buddies, not fight the forces of evil in another dimension. Her hair, still damp from the shower, clings to the sides of her face until she mindlessly brushes it away. Taking the NASA watch off her dresser, she puts it on then looks up at me watching her. She smiles then walks over and kneels in front of me, “We better get downstairs.” She holds my face in her hands, rubbing her thumbs against my cheeks.
“I know,” I reach out to her and bring her close, “I won’t say goodbye to you,” I murmur against her lips, “I can’t.” Damn it, I really didn’t want to cry.
She kisses me slowly, deeply, as if we have all the time in the world to ourselves. When she pulls away, she wipes my tears and takes my hand, pulling me up to stand. “Then don’t, ok?” Her smile warms me and I reach for her again, holding the length of her body next to mine.
“Em, I, I - ” I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.
She brushes her lips against the side of my face, “Shhh,” then squeezes me tight in a bear hug that makes me forget everything for a second. And that’s exactly what I need to get my head together.
“Be careful,” I whisper in her ear.
Em leans back, “I promise.”
“You’re coming back,” I let my eyes blaze into hers, as if my stare could make it so.
She smiles, “From your lips to the Gods’ ears,” then she kisses me again.
“Ok,” I swallow, “let’s go.”
TRIAGE – 9:00AM
FAITH’S POV
Damn, the four of us look like characters in a really bad girl-power western. Andrew hooked us up with some of Cleveland’s Finest holsters for the 9mms and clips. I think he was re-watching his old Lara Croft DVDs or something. Anyway, although it feels a little weird, and we look incredibly ridiculous, especially Nicky, it’s functional and beats carrying a duffle or a backpack. We’re leaving that up to Em; she insisted on taking a med kit. One more ‘just in case’ thing, she’s probably thinking about Nicky’s dreams, so wants to be prepared.
Willow is upstairs in a wicked trance, levitating off the couch in her office. She’s been like that for hours, finishing up the spell that will bring us back. I smile over at Ken. She’s been at Red’s side since the early morning when her witch started the incantations to bring us home, no matter what. She looks pretty beat.
“We cool?” I rest my hand on Ken’s shoulder. We didn’t talk last night after we got back from the cemetery. Nicky was all kinds of hyped up, then B needed, well, B needed me.
She grins, “You bet; I’m buying the first round at Willy’s when you get back.”
“But that’s not fair,” Nicky pouts, “I’m too young to go to Willy’s.”
Ken crouches down, “Tell you what, I’ll get a couple bottles of champagne, and I’ll make sure you get a glass.”
“Really?” Nick’s eyes are as wide as saucers as she looks from B to me.
Buffy laughs, “Half a glass, Nick.”
“Cool,” my mini Slayer grins then stands between B and Emma, taking each of their hands in hers.
“Remember, Andrew said to start the count on your watches as soon as you get there,” Dawn looks at all of us, “Happy hunting.”
I look at the clock then straight ahead as Ken, Dawn and Sophia as well as the rest of the room fade away and Emma brings us to the land of the Gods.
NIBIRU – HOUR 00:00:00
FAITH’S POV
“Jesus Christ, talk about the middle of fucking nowhere,” I marvel at the vast nothingness, as we take a few stumbling steps. “Set your watches... now,” we all do then look around again.
Emma takes Nicky’s hand and begins to walk away from us, “This way.”
“Nice language, Faith,” Buffy punches me in the shoulder.
I rub my shoulder and sigh, “They’re only words B, Jeeze…” Trudging behind her, I bring up the rear of our little group until we are standing in front of the three sided pyramid.
“Wow,” Nicky gasps as she is almost drawn closer by some unseen force. “It’s absolutely amazing,” she reaches out and touches it. She fans out her hand and lightly glides it over the cuneiform as she closes her eyes. “The possibilities are endless, these are only the most likely,” she steps away then looks at me, “I saw - OW” We hear the ‘pop’ as she crumples to the ground and her forearm erupts into a mass of blood.
Dragging Nicky towards the benches, I stay low and listen as a few more gunshots sound. “B, Em?” I call out.
“We’re good,” Emma responds as she crawls over to us, “Nick, let me see.” She props herself up on one elbow as she inspects the wound. Wiggling the backpack off her shoulders, she opens it and starts to clean Nicky’s arm with an antiseptic wipe. “It went right through, that’s good,” she looks up, “you’re gonna be fine, Nick.” Em closes her eyes for a moment and chats as she covers Nicky’s wound with gauze then wraps it.
“I guess now isn’t a good time to suggest body armor, huh?” I mumble, but know they all heard me.
Nicky stiffens then narrows her eyes at Emma, “That’s incredible, I mean, like there’s hardly pain at all,” she regards her partially healed arm then Buffy and I watching them. Her eyes grow large, “That was just like my dream! It was me you were operating on! That’s why I couldn’t see who it was... only it wasn’t operating, your healing spell is just another form of it…”
“Nice trick, Emma,” Richard calls out, “will you save them all like that?”
I watch Em close her eyes as his voice resonates across the barren land, then shake it off.
“Shit... Stay here,” Emma tells Nicky as she crawls to the end of the circle of benches.
“Ok, he’s got an army of vamps out there,” she crawls back to us, “It is so weird huh, vampires in the daylight?” She sits back against the pyramid and takes a deep breath, “Well we can’t stay here forever, huh? It’s time to start fulfilling some prophecies.”
Buffy looks at Nicky as she draws her gun, “Stay behind me, ok?” Our little one nods, she’s pretty freaked. “When we get to the edge, I want you to use the bench to steady your hand and shoot as many of the bastards as you can. If they get close don’t be afraid to use your stake, got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Nicky nods again, a slow grin coming to her face as she feels Buffy’s trust in her to get the job done.
We didn’t really expect to wage a gunfire war, but then we didn’t expect to be impaled by javelins in Ebih either. It’s been a couple of hours now; thank god we stashed extra rounds with Emma’s med kit. So far we’ve roasted a bunch of Richard’s vamps, some have snuck down for some good old fashioned fist fighting, but we took them out pretty quick. Turning around, I can sense them all around us. Almost as soon as I think it, one comes diving into the circle. B jumps him and they both fall to the ground. She doesn’t even miss a beat as they roll to a stop and she twists his neck dusting him.
“Nice,” I smile at her as I help her up and stand against the pyramid.
She leans against me for a moment, her forehead meeting my lips, as she rests her hands on my waist. She takes a couple of breaths, “They’re going to start really coming now.”
“I know,” I kiss her head quickly then she pulls back.
Emma takes out another two as they made their way towards us then all hell breaks loose as a wave of vamps come spilling out from the small hill north of us into our little haven. Reaching out and grabbing Nicky by the collar, Em pulls Nick behind her as she backs the both of them up into the pyramid. Thank the Gods for Emma.
B and I rush the vamps. I can’t see what she’s doing but I hear the “poofing” so I know my girl is kicking ass. The one thing that’s working in our favor is most of the vamps are newbies so we’re taking them out pretty easy. As if on cue, a foot connects with my chin, sending me flying into Em. She pushes me off then blows the vamp away. Nicky runs to Buffy while blasting 3 vamps in row, that’s my baby girl!
I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder and a vamp tries to get me in her grip, but I stomp her knee then plunge my stake in her chest as she’s going down. Another quickly takes its place but I twirl my trusty stake and slam into his heart through his back. Jumping to my feet, I bounce on my toes waiting for the next one.
“Thank you little girl,” Richard sneers as he pulls Nicky’s gun from her hand. Fuck, he must have snuck up behind her. “Having fun ladies?” He asks lightly as he inspects the weapon, “Amazing you guys just came up with these.”
The other vamps just start to back away and let Richard have his moment. Sweeping my eyes around, B is at the far corner between two vamps with Nicky standing behind her, Emma is still up against the pyramid, and I’m in between them, right in front of Richard. Yeah, I know it’s impossible, but I think I can feel my blood boiling. “What, are we gonna rap now?” I step closer to him.
“No,” he narrows his eyes at me as he quickly backs away, “I’m going to kill all of you, starting with your wife,” he sneers as he spits out the word then turns to Buffy and fires.
You know when everything just stops? It’s that whole slow motion thing again, like when I got back from Sanal. B pushes Nicky to the ground as the UV bullet explodes into her chest, throwing her flat on her back.
“BUFFY!” I scream as I run to her, kneeling in the sand by her very still body. I watch the fire encasing her chest die out. I don’t know what to do; I keep on looking from her face to the exposed wound of her chest then back again. As I graze my hand over her cheek, she vanishes, leaving only a puddle of blood in the sand before me. I try to take a breath, but it’s as if all the air is suddenly gone and I know I’ll never breathe right again.
“What kind of magicks are you dealing with now?” Richard is actually wide eyed as I snap my gaze up at him and start to stand. He’d be a fool not to know exactly what I’m going to do right now. Dropping the 9mm, he calls out, “Jacob!” then catches the Uzi thrown to him as he glares at me, “The day is still young. One down, three to go.”
Emma was running to Nicky from the second Richard dropped the 9mm. She grabs Nick around the waist as she dives to the ground shielding her with her body. I start toward him then have to duck for cover as he sprays in front of me with machine gun fire.
“Welcome to the end, Faith,” he spits out, “Today is the day you get to watch your family die one by one. But you must wait your turn,” he laughs, “I want to save you for last.” He sprays the ground again then disappears, probably back to the hill.
Breathing heavy, I can’t believe what just happened, holy shit, he killed Buffy. I watched her die right in front of me. I try to reach out to her with every fiber of my being, but it’s gone, our connection is severed. There’s no way I can live like this. Jesus, Red, please let that spell work; let it bring her back to you and Sophia. I beg all the Gods I can name to let Sophia bring my baby back. I look at my watch; we’ve been here nearly 3 hours... 3 fucking hours. I hang my head and yell out, “BUFFY!”
CLEVELAND - SATURDAY - KITCHEN – 8:00 AM / NIBIRU – HOUR 2:52:30
DAWN’S POV
Sophia and I are trying to chill, talking over coffee. We’re trying not to think about them being gone for a full day. By our calculations 1 day here is only about 3 hours there, so that’s not too long, right? At least I slept a little; I don’t think she has for two nights now. “How’s your mom? Andrew and I were thinking of going back to Barcelona in the fall, we’ll drop in and say hey.” I try to get our minds on something else.
“That’s actually a really funny story,” she begins, “I called her earlier. She was asking about how I hadn’t been seeing anyone and how lonely I must be… blah, blah right?” She laughs, “Then she starts asking about Faith.” She shakes her head, “Dawn, I have no clue what Faith said to her when they met years ago, but my mother worships the ground she walks on.”
Laughing, I remember how much my mom liked her too, “She has a kind of thing with parents I guess.”
“Exactly, so... well, when I was talking to her this morning, I thought it would be the perfect ice breaker you know?” Soph takes a sip of her coffee.
Shaking my head, “What, I don’t get it.”
“Well, I told her I was dating Faith’s daughter,” she grins at me.
My jaw drops to the floor, “Get out!”
“I swear,” she laughs.
I roll my eyes at her, “Well??”
“She was fine, kinda scary how ok she was actually. Then she asked the normal questions: what’s her name, does she cook, what does she do for a living,” she pauses, then, “how old is she.” She chuckles at that then shakes her head, “Ladrón de la pesebre...” She takes in my questioning face, “Ken would love to know she called me a cradle robber too, but I don’t think we should share that.”
I lean back, “That’s absolutely hysterical.” I can’t help but shake my head along with her.
“Yeah, I know.” Finishing her cup she gets up for a refill. “You want?”
Waving her off, “Nah, I’m good. I’m going to check my emails.”
“Good idea, have a computer I can borrow?” She put a little milk in her coffee.
Knowing Andrew is tracking Nibiru’s movements from a secret link to NASA on his, I think for a second, “Sure, use Buffy’s.” I walk her to Buffy’s office and watch as she’s a bit awed to sit at Buffy’s desk. “Its freaky right?” she nods then looks up at me, “Even Faith gets weirded out when she sits at Buffy’s desk.”
“Was that always there, that poem?” she points her head at the framed poem to the side of all Buffy’s maps and clocks.
I watch her read it over, then she turns to me, “It’s absolutely amazing, so raw, so heart-wrenching.”
“That’s Buffy’s favorite stanza of poetry; it’s by Dylan Thomas. She’s had it up here since we moved in.” I look at Sophia curiously, “I’m surprised you never noticed it.”
She looks at me then at the poem again, “I guess cause whenever I’ve been in here, my back is to it.”
“Gotta huge point there,” I laugh then grow pensive; “In the beginning I used to think it was about Angel, but later realized it was all about Faith.” Sighing in wonder at my sister and how much pain she’s had to deal with over the years, I continue, “Even though Buffy knew Faith was with the PtB, and that she most likely would never see her again, Buffy knew deep down nothing could separate them on an entirely different level.” I sigh again, “They really are amazing.”
Sophia nods, “Yeah, they really are.” Then both of us look back and read it again:
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
“SOPHIA, SOPHIA!” it’s Willow, frantic, on the intercom from triage, “we need you downstairs now. It’s Buffy.”
We run through the door and head for the basement.
NIBIRU – HOUR 6:00:00 / CLEVLAND – SUNDAY 9:00 AM
EMMA’S POV
“Damn it,” I pull a crossbow bolt from Nicky’s shoulder, “bastards.” They moved back up the hill for now. We’re all beat, it’s been non-stop, they advance, strike, then retreat, like bees or something. “You ok?”
She nods. She hasn’t said anything since Buffy... left. She just nods or points her head in the direction of a vamp.
“Nick,” I say softly, “it’s not your fault. If he didn’t take your gun, he would have found another way.” I lift up her shirt and clean then patch the wound.
She just bows her head, “I knew it was going to happen, but I couldn’t stop it.” She starts to cry.
“Shhhh,” I gather her up on my lap and hold her close to me.
Faith watches us closely. She hasn’t said much either, but she’s destroyed every vamp that’s come near her. She doesn’t even use the 9mm anymore, just the stake. “She’s alive,” she finally speaks then looks at me and Nicky, “Well, it goes in and out, but I guess that’s because Sophia is working on her.” She gets up and sits next to us, “Em’s right babe, it’s not your fault.”
“But I - ”
Faith closes her eyes and tries to keep whatever handle she has on her control, “Nicky, stop it. Some things can’t be changed even if you know what’s going to happen ahead of time. Trust me.”
“But I saw it and I should have - ”
In a movement too fast for me to see, Faith grabs Nicky’s face and turns it to her, “I knew Emma was going to be bitten by a vampire.” She sighs, then looks at me, “The PtB showed me that, but not the when and where, so what was I gonna do? Say ‘hey Em, one day you’re gonna get fed on by a vamp?” She takes her hand from Nicky’s chin then puts her own face in her hands. “What a fucking mess.”
“It’s not a mess,” I take one of her hands in mine, “Bring Nicky home, I’ll take of business here.”
Faith looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind then shakes her head, “No way, we’re stronger together; I’m not leaving you alone here.”
‘We need to get Nicky out of here’ I send to her.
She nods, ‘Yeah, I think you’re right. It’s only gonna get worse. She knows how to get home, right?’ She regards me slowly, ‘So, it’s you and me babe?’ Faith smirks.
‘Yeah, we can do it and still get home to our girls.’ I wink at her then catch her smile.
She narrows her eyes at me, ‘Do you love her?’
‘With everything I got,’ I nod to her.
Faith smiles at me, ‘Good.’
Though out our entire exchange, Nicky has remained on my lap, leaning her head against my shoulder, “Nick?”
She turns to me, “Yeah?”
“It’s time for you to go home. Maybe you can help Sophia and Willow with Buffy?” I try to make it that we are not getting rid of her. You know how kids get.
Nick turns to Faith, “You sure? I can help; I’m not going to get anyone else hurt.”
“Hey,” Faith runs a finger down Nicky’s face, “stop it. I want you to stay with Buffy, help her get better.”
She looks at me then Faith, “But the prophecy...”
“You survived a trial. And you spilled your blood.” I point to her forearm and shoulder, “You’ve done enough. It’s time to go home.”
Again, Nick looks back and forth from Faith to me, “But what about you guys?”
“We’ll be along,” Faith assures her, “We just need to sort out the loose ends now.”
Before she can object further I turn her to me, “Open your heart Nick, reach for Buffy’s essence.” I look up and see Faith shake her head, “You know, try for Will, it will be stronger right now. Reach out to her Wicca aura.”
“You really want me to go?” Nick is almost is tears.
I sweep her up in my arms, “No, we just want you to be safe.” She hugs me so tightly I think she’s cracked a rib.
“Come here,” Faith calls then Nicky jumps up into her arms, “You take care of B and we’ll be back soon ok?”
Nicky nods, “Ok.”
“You’ll be home before you know it,” I ruffle her hair then step back, “Just concentrate on Willow. Now go ahead.”
I watch as my little sister closes her eyes then disappears.
“Right, so, did we pack anything to eat?” She tries to joke, but I can feel her heart breaking at Nicky’s absence, just like mine.
CLEVELAND – SUNDAY – BASEMENT OR – 2:00 PM / NIBIRU - HOUR 6:37:30
ANDREW’S POV
Sophia’s finally taking a nap on one of the gurneys in triage. Dawn tried to get her to go up to Emma’s room and a real bed, but she didn’t want to be too far away. Personally, I think she doesn’t want to sleep in Em’s room without her. And you know what, I don’t blame her. After seeing how Buffy came back, I’d be scared if Dawn was there.
I’m watching over Buffy, listening to the whirl of the respirator and the bleeps of the EKG. Buffy’s been in and out of cardiac arrest almost as soon as we resuscitated her the first time, but she’s finally stable. Sophia said the first 24 hours were going to be touch and go, let me tell you it was. God, I finally learned what the word asystole actually means. How many times has Buffy gone through it? The state of no cardiac electrical activity, hence no contractions of the muscles in the heart and no cardiac blood flow. Slayer or not, how could that tiny body stand so much abuse? But now, between the surgeries Sophia’s performed and the spells Willow cast, it looks like she’s going to pull through.
We really don’t need the others to know someone shot her with a UV bullet. The radiation burns all over her stomach and chest told us that straight away. What it didn’t tell us is how it happened or when the others would be back. They’ve been gone more than 2 days now. It’s weird cause you worry if they’re ok, but then you know if they weren’t ok they’d be back here, like Buffy.
Looking over at her again, I sigh and take my sister-in-law’s hand in mine. “Come on Buff, we need you back,” I whisper into her fingers then lay my head against her hand. “Dawn’s very worried about you,” I put her hand back down then arrange her blankets, “She’s sleeping now, but didn’t leave your side until Sophia said you were stable; neither did Will.” I sigh and stand next to her bed, “God Buffy, I need you to wake up, this waiting is killing me,” I stop, “yeah probably not the best choice of words but you know what I me - ”
“Andy?” a very small, very familiar voice whispers to me, “is she gonna be ok?”
Whipping around, I see her then a huge grin spreads across my face as I stride to her and pick her up in my arms, “Nicky, thank the Gods!”
“Is, is she?” she stutters.
Pulling back from her, I nod, “She’s stable now.” I look at her as I put her down, taking in the blood stains all over her shirt. “Let me wake up Sophia so she can have a look at you.”
“No, I’m ok, Em patched me up,” she turns to Buffy and sighs.
Sitting in the chair next to the bed, I pull Nick onto my lap. She easily puts her arms around my neck then leans her head down on my shoulder. Her sadness begins to creep into me until I ask, “What happened there kiddo?”
“Richard is there,” she draws closer to me and I tighten my grip on her, “he took my gun from me and… and shot her with it.” Then she turns her head into my neck and cries.
Oh my god this poor kid, “He did that to mess with you Nick, it’s not your fault.” She just cries even harder.
“It’s not your fault, Nicky,” Sophia’s voice lofts to us from where she’s standing in the doorway. “He wants you to feel guilty.”
Nicky jumps up and wraps her arms around Sophia’s waist, doing her best to bury her head in the doctor’s stomach, “It happened so quick, then she disappeared.” The little one takes a breath, “Faith is very sad, she hasn’t talked much. She knows Buffy is hurt really bad.” She looks up at Sophia, “They sent me back because they were scared I was gonna get hurt again.” Nick pulls away a little, looks to me then back to her, “I think they’re going to go after Richard.”
“Jesus,” Sophia sighs, “Ok, let go back to triage and I’ll see what Emma did with these wounds of yours. Then we’ll do your screen ok?”
Nicky nods, “Then can I come back here?”
“You bet, right Andy? You’d like the company wouldn’t you?”
Smiling at both of them, I sit back in my chair, “Yeah, I’d really like that.” They turn to go and I lean my head back against the top of the chair. “Well, Buff, two of you are back and two more days to go,” sighing, I run my hands through my hair.
“It was really weird,” I can hear them talking in the triage room next door, “you know, jumping by myself. I saw a lot of things, but I don’t really understand it all.”
Sophia’s voice is soothing, “When Willow and Dawn get up, you should tell them everything you can remember, ok?”
“Ok,” Nicky agrees, “I feel kinda stupid though cause I got lost.”
The shock is clear, “What do you mean ‘lost?’”
“Well, I was reaching for Willow’s essence because I couldn’t hold onto Buffy’s.” Nick stops for a second, “Well, at first it was ok, then there was a… like a short, a hiccup, and I was in this dirty room with some weird looking guy and Willow was there, but she was very young – younger than Emma. He was a bad man, Sophia, he kept on calling her ‘Strawberry’ then he… he took her magic then he hurt her. Did that really happen? And why did he feel like Emma?”
I hear Sophia push out a breath, “Yeah, that really happened, many years ago in Sunnydale. His name was Rack, Nick. He was, oh boy,” she sighs, I’m sure not knowing if she should even be telling Nicky this story, “he was a very powerful witch, the son of Ereshkigal and Emma’s uncle. That’s why it felt like Emma, they share the same magic.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” she says softly, “cause after he made Willow faint the Goddess came and took me away from there. She guided me back to the way here.” They are both quiet for a moment then Nicky begins again, “She told me to tell you something, but I don’t understand it.”
There’s a pause, then I hear something I never have in the 21 years I’ve known Sophia: her voice waver, “W-what did she tell you?”
“She said: ‘Death shall have no dominion,’ what does that mean?”
Sophia’s silence is deafening.
NIBIRU –HOUR 11:52:30 / CLEVELAND TUESDAY 8:00 AM
FAITH’S POV
We’re at the base of the hill, out of breath and completely exhausted. Emma just finished cutting the leg of my jeans off and is now taking out the bullets imbedded in my thigh. Fucking Richard and his god damn Uzi.
He was angry that Nicky wasn’t here. It’s obvious he doesn’t like not being in control of the situation. Em and I think we’re doing ok with the whole ‘Trials of Blood’ thing as we’ve been bleeding all over this fucking planet. But we both feel there is something more to it. It can’t be that we just come here to fight an army of vamps, can it? It seems so anti-climatic in a way.
“You ok?” Em finished with the bandages and is now staring at me.
Nodding, “Yeah, just trying to figure out his game.” I look at my leg then back up at her, “We don’t have much time left babe, we should jump back before Andy-boy pushes the button, ya know?”
“Yeah, about that…” she trails off.
I shake my head, “Don’t even think about it Em, I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Faith,” she says my name with so much resignation, “I have to stay and you know it, you feel it. Don’t tell me you don’t.” She searches my eyes, “Something else is going on here: more than the vamps, more than the blood we’re spilling here.”
Taking a breath, I run my fingers through my hair, “But Andrew’s going to knock the planet out of its orbit, you can’t stay here.”
“The planet won’t explode or anything, just be shaken, like an earthquake or something, I don’t know, I might be wrong but I don’t think so,” she narrows her eyes at me, “Nicky needs both her parents Faith, so you staying is out of the question.”
Shaking my head again, I know what she’s saying is right, but I just can’t leave her here, “How do you expect me to go Em? I can’t - ”
A shot rings out and strikes the ground next to where Em is kneeling in front of me. She scrambles next to me and leans against the boulder, “Is your little sister safe at home with that pretty girlfriend of yours Emma darling?”
“Fuck you Richard,” she shouts out bringing a smile to my lips.
He laughs for a moment, “Really, would you like that my dear? I thought I wasn’t your type.” He chuckles at his own joke, “Oh Emma darling, even if you do make it out of here, you’ll always live with the fact that I had her first. And she was delicious. How does that make you feel?”
“Mother fucker,” she starts to stand, but I pull her back down.
I turn her to me, “Chill, don’t let him bait you.” She pushes out a breath then nods.
“I wonder if that little Canadian would be as sweet.” Richard ponders, “Maybe it’s time to find out, yeah? What to do you think, Faith?”
My eyes harden when I think of him feeding on Nicky, “Never gonna happen, Dick.”
“Good God, you Americans are so callous,” he sneers, then laughs heartily, “Never say ‘never’ Faith.”
With that, both Em and I look at each other then stand up and turn to the top of the hill. Richard waves to us then disappears with his Wicca. Fuck me, they’re going back to Cleveland, I know it.
“Go,” Emma shakes me out of my thoughts, “he’s going to do something to Nick; you have to stop him.”
Knowing she’s right, I bring her into a hug and swallow, “Be careful, Em.”
“I will be,” she hugs me tightly.
Trying to keep it together and not think about the fact that I’m leaving her alone here, I whisper in her ear, “You better be home soon or Buffy, Nicky and Sophia are all gonna kick my ass.”
“You got it,” she pulls back, “If there’s a way back; I’ll find it.”
NIBIRU –HOUR 12:00:00 / CLEVELAND TUESDAY 9:00 AM
EMMA’S POV
I watch as Faith vanishes just as the vamps on the hill make their next charge down towards me. Putting in a fresh clip, I pick a few off then look at my watch as the alarm sounds. I glance around then back to the vamps, waiting, waiting, nothing, fuck! I guess Andrew’s satellite thing didn’t work. Suddenly the vamps stop and look around as if they smell something in the air. Then there’s a huge crashing noise that reverberates right through my body. The ground begins to move and bits of the hill start to tumble down on me. I know, I think to myself, I never should have doubted Andrew, as I dive out of the way.
