The Illuminati
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Stories by Kaz : Illuminati- Page 3
This time, there was a fleet of cars
waiting at the small landing strip; the passengers departed the plane filing
quickly into the waiting cars. Buffy found herself in a Mercedes with Spike,
a driver, and two of the men from the plane.
Leaning over, she whispered in Spike’s ear. "Am I going to the motel again?"
Spike shook his head. "This time, you stay with me."
Buffy smiled in contentment and showed her pleasure by holding his hand just
a little tighter.
"Where are we going?" she whispered again.
Spike grinned at her. She was capable of a never-ending stream of questions.
"We are going to the Temple.......and that’s the last question I’m answering
tonight.
Buffy grinned back at him. "What ya gonna do? Whip me if I don’t behave."
"Don’t tempt me Slayer." replied an amused Spike.
"God, I really didn’t say that, did I?" groaned the Slayer as she turned to
look out the car window and noted the first glow of dawn beginning on the far
horizon. Worriedly she glanced over at Spike.
Spike acknowledged the source of her concern. "Don’t worry Slayer. We’re almost
at the Temple."
Within minutes the cavalcade of cars pulled up outside the Temple and the passengers
hurried inside. The temple doors closed behind Buffy and Spike just as the first
rays of sunlight began to creep towards the building.
Once inside, Spike moved directly towards a grand staircase that lay directly
opposite the main door. Buffy however, had come to a complete standstill and
was busy taking in her surroundings with nothing less than pure awe.
Spike rolled his eyes and walked back over to her. "Come on, I’ll take you to
a room you can stay in while I take care of this business stuff."
Buffy glanced at him momentarily before turning her eyes back onto her surroundings.
Spike rolled his eyes again. "Look Slayer, I have to go. I can see that you
are interested in all this stuff. Do you want to hang around down here for awhile
and browse?"
Buffy looked at him in surprise. "I can do that?"
Spike smiled. "Sure. Lots of people do. I fact, people come from all over the
world to look around down here."
Buffy looked confused.
"It’s just an old Temple Buffy. The lower floor holds a lot of historical stuff
and is open to researchers at various times of the year. There are no great
secrets here."
Buffy looked skeptical. "Yeah sure, it’s just an old Temple.......maybe down
here, but what about up there.´ she said, pointing to the stairs.
Spike’s eyes sparkled with mischief. "...and that is none of your business Pet.
Now, do you want to stay down here or not?"
"I’ll stay.......for now" replied the Slayer thoughtfully.
"If you get bored, go on up the stairs and at the top you’ll find an assistant.
They will be able to escort you to my room and you can wait for me there," said
Spike as he walked away. "Oh, and Slayer," he said turning back to her "...don’t
go outside this time."
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" replied the Slayer dismissively; her attention already on
her surroundings rather than Spike.
Spike shrugged in defeat and then took the stairs three at a time. He was sure
the Slayer had absolutely no intention of following even one of his requests.
All he could hope for was that she would stay out of life
threatening trouble until he got back.
Meanwhile, Buffy was still busy taking in her surroundings. She didn’t know
what the rest of the building held, but the entrance hallway and staircase were
masterpieces in their own right as far as she was concerned.
The overall impact was of airy lightness with architecture full of geometric
lines. The walls were mirror smooth stone in various light earth tones and all
accent pieces, picture frames etc were in beautifully finished silver. It looked
very old and very new, all at the same time. It was not at all what she had
expected from seeing the building from the outside. Apart from the staircase,
the hallway boasted two double doorways. On the wall at the side of each door
was a silver plaque. Walking over to the doorway to her right, she took a closer
look at the plaque.
MDCCLXXVI
Shrugging, Buffy turned and walked over to the other door.
Novus Ordo Seclorum
"Need Giles" Buffy mumbled under her breath as she reached out for the doorknob.
A glance over to the guard type person at the front door confirmed that he was
paying her no attention. Obviously Spike’s invitation for her to wander around
was good enough for the guard.
Hesitantly she pushed open the door and walked through.......and came to a complete
standstill.
She had expected some kind of museum type room, but that was not it.......not
it at all!
Instead she found herself in a space which reminded her of some kind of ancient
Egyptian temple type room. At first glance she thought the room was open to
the sky, but then she realised that the ceiling had been crafted out of some
type of reflective stone, which was picking up the startlingly blue floor tile
and giving the effect of an eternally moving sky.
The room contained no windows and there was no central point of focus, such
as an alter.......yet the room ‘felt’ like a place of worship. The room was
devoid of conventional furniture, but the stone floor had been crafted to form
seemless objects that looked like they could serve as chairs or tables. All
was covered in the royal blue tiling that sparkled with tones of blue and green.
Bending over, Buffy looked at the tiles closely and noted what seemed to be
imbeded flecks of emeralds.
Walking over to one wall, she looked at one of the symbols imbeded into the
white stone wall. Like the plaques outside the room, the symbol made no sense
to her.
With a sigh of frustration at her own lack of knowledge, Buffy turned to leave.
As she turned, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Hi, is somebody there?" she called down the room in the direction of the movement.
Nobody answered, so she decided to investigate. Walking quickly and quietly
she covered the forty or fifty feet to the other end of the room, heading towards
the pillar where she had noted the movement. Skirting the pillar, she took a
look into the corner and found the source of the movement.
Someone was sitting, cross-legged on the floor with his back to her. The person
was hunched over and seemed to be busily involved in sketching something into
a book that he held on his lap.
Noting that he wasn’t a vampire or some other noticeable baddie, Buffy decided
on the direct approach.
"Hello" she said loudly. Immediately her voice began reverberating off the surrounding
walls, repeating the hello a thousand times.
Buffy jumped in surprise, but the poor man on the floor.......who had obviously
believed himself alone.......jumped so high that he almost hit the roof.
Buffy bit her lip in an effort not to laugh. "I’m sorry. I startled you didn’t
I?" she said apologetically.
The man swung round to look at his attacker and his jaw dropped.
"Buffy?"
"Oh....my....God!!!" said Buffy as she recognized the man on the floor. "Lizz....I
mean...Larry! What in the hell are you doing here?"
"I might ask the same of you, might I not?" said the young man.
Buffy stared at the man as her mind worked to adjust his presence to this new
place and time. The last time she had seen Larry The Lizard had been at her
mum’s exhibit opening night two years ago. Shortly after that night he had left
town and Willow had mentioned that he had gone off to University somewhere.
"Let’s start with you Larry and then I’ll tell you about me." she finally managed.
Larry stood up and brushed off his trousers. "Well OK. Well it’s really quite
simple..."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. The Sunnydale Lizard ending up in a Mexican Temple
at the exact same time as her....coincidence or what!
".......I am studying ancient cultures and societies at Harvard. I managed to
get my undergraduate degree in record time, as one would expect of me," he said
smuggly, "now I am working on my postgraduate degree."
"And that still does not explain what you are doing here." said an unamused
Buffy.
"Well! Give me a chance and I’ll get to that."
"Just spill it" pushed the Slayer.
"OK. OK. Well, as I said, I am working on my postgraduate degree. I needed a
research topic and I thought about this place. I had read a few minor pieces
on it in various periodicals, but I really wanted to investigate further. Anyway,
I wrote asking permission to do my research here and they agreed........actually,
your boyfriend agreed." finished the Lizard.
"My...WHAT?" choked the Slayer.
The Lizard gave a wicked smile. "Your boyfriend....you know...the bleach blond
punk."
"You better tell me more." said the Slayer.
"Well, after I wrote asking permission to research this building, they wrote
back and invited me for an interview to discuss the type of research I wanted
to conduct. Can you imagine.....interviewing me!" he said, obviously still incredulous
that someone would dare to question him.
"Just get on with it" said the Slayer.
"Anyway, these two men interviewed me and then told me that they wouldn’t be
able to grant me access to the building at this time. I was really upset, let
me tell you!"
Larry glanced at the Slayer to ensure she understood just how he had been wronged,
but he only got a stony glare from her.
"So, I was just about to leave when your boyfriend arrived. Last person I expected
to see around here........he recognized me straight away and asked what I was
doing here. I told him and he said I could stay. That simple."
"So you are telling me that the decision on whether or not you could do your
research here rested with Spike?
The Lizard nodded. "Yep, only they don’t
call him Spike. They call him William.......and they treat him like some kind
of God."
"A God!" spluttered the Slayer.
"My sentiments exactly" agreed the Lizard.
For a moment there was silence as Buffy took it all in. Finally she raised her
eyes to the Lizard. The time for games was over. It was time to get to the bottom
of this.
"Larry, how long have you been here?"
"About two months now. The let me rent an old trailer in the paddock behind
the building, but I spend most of my time in here doing my research."
Buffy glanced around the room. "Can you tell me what all this stuff is?"
The Lizard smiled his superiority. "Of course" he hesitated, "Well at least
I can give you the theory and speculation.......nothing is for sure."
Buffy grimaced. "Speculation works for
me right now. It’s better than nothing."
"Come on then, lets start over here" said the Lizard walking over to a diagram
imbedded in the wall.
Buffy followed him but her mind had slipped up a notch. Spike knew the Lizard
was here.......he knew she knew the Lizard......he knew the Lizard would tell
her. Therefore Spike wanted her to know!
Buffy glanced over to the Lizard. "Tell me"
The Lizard pointed up at a spot on the
wall just above her head. At first Buffy didn’t see what he was pointing at
but she took a couple of steps backwards and eventually it came into view.
The diagram had been etched out of the stone wall. No colors, decorations or
any other additives, which might have drawn attention to it, were added.
"See, it’s like this" the Lizard began. "They have lots of diagrams and symbolization
around here. Most of it is brightly colored and full of precious or semi precious
stones. I believe they were designed that way to
draw people’s attention away from the real treasures.......these." he said pointing
at the plain etched diagram again.
Buffy tried to make out the symbols in the diagram. "It looks like a flame with
a star over the top impressed over a leaf?"
"Exactly." nodded the Lizard. "Now lets talk about what it means."
Buffy waited expectantly, but the Lizard seemed stalled.
"What’s up" asked Buffy.
"Well, I don’t quite know where to start. Someone of your limited knowledge
will obviously need a great deal of background information before you could
even begin to grasp what I’m about to tell you." he said condescendingly.
"Try me" said the girl.
"Well Buffy, there are certain ancient secret organizations that exist in our
world..."
Buffy interrupted. "Yeah, I know. That would be the stuff about the Knights
of Templer and their dissolvment by the Pope and the theory that they dissolved
into the Freemasons or the Illuminati depending on which work of fiction you’re
reading."
The Lizard’s mouth hung open for a moment then snapped closed. "I’m impressed.
Very impressed."
Now it was Buffy’s turn to offer a condescending smile.
"So you know then that the Illuminati was rumored to have started in 1776 yet
the Templers dissolved in 1312 long before that. That means the Illuminati had
to exist before the speculated 1776" said Larry.
"I can go one better than that," said Buffy as she racked her brain for all
the info that her Watcher had given her. "The De Nugis Curialium in 1190 talks
about the growing corruption of the Templers by something or someone whose goal
is the destruction of the Church"
"What or who do you think corrupted the Templers?" prompted the Lizard in a
way that told that he knew the answer but wanted to see if she did.
"Vampires" said Buffy looking hard at the Lizard to see if he had accepted the
potential for a supernatural element.
The Lizard was now positively grinning from ear to ear. "Go on.....finish it."
"So the Vampires corrupted the Templers to get at the Church and when the Templers
were dissolved by the Pope, The Templers disappeared into the Illuminati taking
the Vamps with them?" said Buffy slowly.
The Lizards smile faded. "No No No.......think about it. That doesn’t make any
sense."
Buffy sighed. "Enough. Tell me what does make sense."
"OK. Think about it. Why would Vampires suddenly up and try to corrupt the Templers.
Too much like hard work for our ordinary hard working vamp. Let’s face it, they
just don’t have the interest in world domination...all they want is to know
where their next meal is coming from." began Larry.
"I don’t know about that. I’ve met a few who had plans" Buffy disagreed.
"Yeh" replied the Lizard "whatever plans they had were short-term plans, hurriedly
thought up and designed to end the world instantaneously.....in other words,
junk plans"
"OK" said Buffy wearily. "Tell me your version."
The Lizard stood up straight trying to give as much credence to his next statement
as possible.
"I believe that Vampires have been on this World much longer than recorded history
tells us. In fact, I believe I have found proof of them all the way back to
the ancient Egyptians. I also believe that I have found proof of the Illuminati
all the way back to the ancient Egyptians." he said pausing for breath, then
continued. "I think the Illuminati has existed, quietly ruling and guiding cultures
and societies for thousands of years and that vampires have been an integral
part of that organization since its inception."
Buffy looked skeptical.
"Imagine Buffy. Imagine that the corruption of the Templers was as designed
plan of the Illuminati. Imagine taking Knights of the Church and corrupting
them and then taking them and their acquired wealth of the Church into the folds
of the Illuminati. What a power coup"
He paused, "Buffy I believe Illuminati Vampires took down the Templers, rather
than Vampires taking down the Templers and then entering the Illuminati"
"Proof?" said Buffy.
"There is proof," replied the Lizard, "and I’m going to show it to you......but
I want to remind you that the Archdeacon who wrote the De Nugis Curialuim told
you this in 1190. Never written about before, somehow the Vampire shows up in
this manuscript and is connected to the Knights of Templer and their destruction."
"Why would Vampires do that? As you said, it isn’t really their scene" asked
Buffy.
"Not ordinary Vampires, Buffy. Illuminati Vampires. A different breed. A breed
above the common vampire. Intelligent, quiet, resourceful and virtually immortal.
Buffy think hard....organizations loose power when leadership changes and new
‘management’ takes over. Imagine a Vampire at the helm of something like the
Illuminati. Imagine an underground world power with the long-range goal of,
say, a thousand years."
He paused gauging if he should continue. "A vampire like your boyfriend." he
ended quietly.
Buffy’s eyes locked on his. For a moment her stomach sank but then she remembered.
Shaking her head negatively. "Couldn’t be Spike, he’s nowhere near old enough."
she said with relief.
"And what makes you believe that." asked Larry.
"I have my sources" replied Buffy, thinking of the Watcher’s Council and their
tracking of Vampire’s existences.
"Then your sources are wrong." said Larry slowly.
Buffy didn’t argue. There was no point. Who knew anything for sure anymore?
"The diagrams. Let’s get back to them." she said instead.
For a moment it looked like the Lizard might argue the point, but in the end
he thought better of it.
"The flame you see there" he said, pointing, "is the eternal flame of the Illuminati,
the star is six-pointed star, and the leaf is a maple leaf. The translation
is that the Illuminati have control of Canada."
"Yeah right" said a disbelieving Buffy.
"OK then" said the Lizard, clearly annoyed. "Perhaps you can tell me why that
very same symbol appears in Parliament House in Ottawa? Why would the Canadian
government allow such a symbol in their Parliament unless they were controlled
by it?"
For a moment Buffy was stumped, but then she retaliated. "The symbols might
have other meanings. Nice meanings. Meanings that have nothing to do with the
Illuminati."
"OK lets leave that one. Come and look at this one" said Larry pointing to another
symbol. This one had a bird’s spread wings. The body of the bird was outlined
by two snakes. Between the snakes was a pyramid symbol with an open eye.
"This is a reproduction of an Egyptian symbol. The winged disk with the two
snakes represents upper and lower Egypt. The eye is the All Seeing Eye of Ra
or Osiris. It’s function is to represent humanity under surveillance...in ancient
Egypt it is the eye of Osiris, it appears in with the Freemasons as the All
Seeing Eye, and above all it is the symbol of the Illuminati."
"Go on" said Buffy as she stared hard at the symbols.
"The winged disk represents the great Egyptian Sun God Amen Ra....now look here"
he said handing Buffy a dollar bill.
"Look at the Eagle. There are thirty-two feathers on the right side of the Eagle,
which symbolizes the 32 degrees inside the Scottish Right of Freemasonary. There
are 33 feathers on the left side which recognizes the honorary 33rd degree in
Freemasonary. Look at the pyramid on the dollar bill. Do you se the letters
MDCCLXXVI ?"
Buffy nodded.
"It means 1176. Now most think it is in reference to the signing of the Declaration
of Independence, but that may not be so. 1776...." he was interrupted by Buffy.
"1776 was also when that branch of the Illuminati started." she said slowly.
Larry nodded and then pointed back to the dollar bill. "Look at the nine tail
feathers of the Eagle. That represents the nine beings in the innermost circle
of enlightenment in the Illuminati."
He paused. "Buffy, I could go on and on. I could walk all over these rooms and
showing you Ancient Egyptian symbols and then showing you how they are carried
forward within governments, politicians, currency and organizations around the
world.......but I think you get the idea."
Buffy nodded wearily. "One last thing. On the other door out there, it says
'Novus Ordo Seclorum´....what does that mean?"
Larry looks at her pityingly. "New Secular Order"
"Oh" said Buffy slowly.
"Buffy, if you have any doubts try this one little thing for me. When alone...completely
alone and quiet....take out a dollar bill. Turn it to the Great Seal. Then sit
and stare at the eye of the pyramid. I’ll tell you now, not many can stare for
long. Isn’t that strange?"
Buffy ignored him; she didn’t have time for games.
"Larry, I really thank you for all your help but I have to go" she said as she
turned quickly and headed for the door.
Larry watched her for a moment. "Buffy´ he called.
She turned and looked back at him. "Get rid of that boyfriend of yours. He is
a dangerous piece of work" he said earnestly.
Buffy gave a sad smile. "I always do what has to be done. Don’t worry Larry."
As Buffy left the room, she turned and
walked quickly towards the staircase. Her half baked idea was to go up there,
find Spike, and demand answers. Granted, it wasn’t a great plan since she had
absolutely no idea how she was going to get Spike to talk, but at least it was
a starting point.
However, as she put her foot out to take the first step, she glanced upwards
and then abruptly came to a halt.
At the top of the stairs, Buffy saw two people standing close to each other
obviously deep in some interesting conversation. The woman looked vaguely familiar
to Buffy but for the life of her, she couldn’t place it.
The woman, sensing that someone was looking at her, turned and looked down the
stairs. She seemed to recognize the Slayer and an evil smile crossed her face
as she said something to the man at her side. Taking a step forward, the man
looked down the stairs at the Slayer before taking a disinterested step backwards.
The woman was so familiar to Buffy, but she still couldn’t work her identity
out of her uncooperative memory. The woman and man were obviously Vampires but
that didn’t seem to help Buffy place them. The woman was stunningly beautiful
with dark auburn hair that fell to below her waist. She was dressed in an elegant
pair of black, ankle hugging, corduroy jeans that she had finished off with
a pair of black leather ankle boots. In contrast, her shirt gleamed with what
seemed to be a material spun out of pure silver. The vampire at her side was
equally elegantly dressed in a, perfectly cut, gray double-breasted suite.
And then the woman turned, and as she did her hair swung out around her. With
that movement, Buffy had it. Cassandra!
The vampire from the Club that she and Spike had visited almost two years ago!
The one who had tried to make her mad enough at Spike to kill him. What in the
Hell was she doing here? More than that, was absolutely everyone that she knew,
congregating in this God forsaken corner of Mexico!
Glancing up, Buffy noted that the Vampiress was on her way down. The male Vampire
had not moved but stood watching Cassandra intently.
Buffy closed her eyes for a brief second. She didn’t want to talk to the Vampiress.
In fact, to be honest, she did not want to be here at all. Things were just
a little to crazy.
Without a word, Buffy spun on her heels and ran for the front door. Before the
guard there could utter a protest, she jerked the door open and dived out into
the sunlight, slamming the door behind her.
Skidding to a halt in the middle of the dirt road, she turned and looked back
at the Temple. No one followed her out, but then she hadn’t really expected
them too. It was the middle of the day. Barbecue time for vampires. As for the
human guards, they knew they didn’t have the strength to overcome the
Slayer without their Vampire accomplices. Buffy figured that no one would come
looking for her until nightfall.
Turning around, Buffy took a look at the village. The last time she had been
out in the village it had been nighttime and she had seen virtually no signs
of life except for those in the Bar. She expected to see more people around
now, since it was daylight. She was wrong.
Around her, the village seemed to be deserted. The only signs of life included
an old woman walking down the road beside a donkey about half a mile away and
a stray dog rummaging for food across the road.
"Very odd" said Buffy under her breath raising her hand to shield her eyes from
the bright sunlight.
Over too her right, about a mile away, she saw what appeared to be the outline
of the sign that stood outside the motel that she had stayed at during her last
visit.
"That means that bar is nearby" she said, still talking to herself. "Definitely
somewhere to start." she said as she set a brisk pace in the direction of the
Motel.
The walk was relatively short and uneventful. She only passed a couple of people
on her travels and they all avoided eye contact with her. Once she found the
Motel she stood outside and got her bearings, locating the Bar with minimal
difficulty. Resolved to her task she set off for the Bar, hoping that someone
would actually be there at this time of day.
She was not disappointed. Several old cars lay scattered around the parking
lot and the sound of soft jazz music drifted out of a couple of open windows.
Without pausing, Buffy opened the door and walked into the cool darkness.
Immediately several pairs of eyes swung onto her, before quickly turning away
and ignoring her.
Buffy shrugged and headed over to the bar. The bartender watched her approach
with something akin to hate.
"Hello again" said Buffy with the sunniest smile she could muster.
The bartender glared at her. "Get out, I don’t want you bringing them here."
"Bring who?" asked Buffy. "I’m all alone here. Just want to talk."
"You are with him. You brought him here last time. We don’t want him here again,
so leave before I kick you out." ground out the bartender.
"Hey look. I’m with nobody and I certainly don’t want to cause you any trouble."
said Buffy trying to calm the bartender’s ruffled feathers.
"It will be dusk soon. I want you out of here." repeated the bartender, totally
unmoved by her arguments.
"Listen. I need some help. I need some answers to a couple of questions. You
help me out and I’ll leave; promise." said Buffy, making a cross my heart gesture.
"Lady, there is no help for you and it is more than my life is worth to answer
one single question. So please just leave. We don’t want any trouble."
"What exactly are you guys afraid of?" asked the Slayer turning to look at the
patrons of the bar. Not a single one of them held her gaze.
Buffy opened her mouth to continue her argument, but before she could the doors
to the bar burst open and in stumbled a man. Well actually it was a vampire
covered in a softly smoking sheet.
"I’m what they are afraid of Slayer" said Spike lightly as he tore the sheet
from his head, threw it on the ground and stomped out the smoking areas.
The bartender glared at Buffy. "See, you brought him here, now we will all have
to pay."
Buffy ignored the bartender and walked over to Spike.
"What are you doing here?" she ground out.
"Chasing after you Slayer," he said as he dusted the last remnants of smoke
and ash from his clothes. "and chasing after you is a full time job at the very
least."
Buffy opened her mouth but was cut off by Spike giving a 'time out´ signal.
"Just a minute Slayer" he said turning to the patrons of the bar. "Would you
ladies and gentlemen mind leaving us alone for a few minutes"
He didn’t have to ask twice. The scramble of bodies hurrying for the door would
have made any fire marshal proud at the quick evacuation time. Buffy watched
the patrons’ hurried departure with a frown.
"You know, if I find out you are sucking on them, I’ll have no choice but to
kill you." she said mater of factly.
Spike looked totally affronted. "Who me? Would I do something like that?"
"Stow it Spike"
"OK Slayer. Look lets leave that for a minute. We need to talk and we don’t
have much time" he said as he moved over to one of the round bar tables and
motioned for her to sit.
Buffy sat. "What is the rush, where are we leaving for."
Spike shook his head. "I’m not leaving, you are."
"Really" said the Slayer. "Pray tell, where am I going?"
Spike looked her dead in the eye. "Are you ready to listen or do you just want
to ask questions?"
Buffy gave him a tolerant smile. "I’m all ears; shoot."
"You spent time with the Lizard and I know that Giles also talked to you before
we came here, so I know that you now know about the Illuminati." he began.
"Hold up there. No I don’t know about the Illuminati, but I sure would be interested
in you telling me about them."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and listen, we haven’t much time." he began.
"To make things short and sweet, yes there is an Illuminati. It is more than,
yet less than you have been told. It is not what most people imagine it to be.....but
that is a story that we don’t have time for right now"
"Make time" said the Slayer forcefully.
Spike shook his head. "It would be a waste of time anyway, you’ll only forget."
Buffy’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean."
Spike sat forward in his seat and took hold of her hand which was resting on
the table. "Buffy I want you to think back to the night we spent together two
years ago. I want you to focus on the time directly before we met in the gas
station."
"What’s this all about?" said Buffy watchfully.
"Just do it Slayer."
"OK. Thinking" said the Slayer.
"Now tell me what happened.......anything specific that happened in the days
prior to our meeting" asked Spike.
Buffy opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. The Slayer’s eyes became
increasingly wild as she hunted through her memory for something, anything that
she could tell him.
Finally she looked up at him. "I can’t think of anything. It’s like its there
in my peripheral vision but when I try to look at it closely it fades away."
"Now Slayer, think about the two years between the time you saw me and now,
and give me anything specific from that time period."
Again the Slayer tried, with her face becoming more distressed by the minute.
"What’s going on here Spike. Why can’t I remember?"
Spike took a deep breath. "You can’t remember it because those time frames do
not exist within this continuum."
Buffy stood up. "What in the Hell are you talking about? What Continuum"
"Sit down Buffy. We haven’t much time and I need to tell you all this before
you go." Spike looked off into the corner. "I don’t know why I need to tell
you......its useless you’ll just forget..."
Buffy sat back down. "Tell me"
Spike looked at her. "Couple of months back you died."
Once again, Buffy was on her feet. "Now I know you are crazy."
Spike ignored her. "I couldn’t save you. I tried, I really tried, but I couldn’t
do it."
Buffy sank back into her seat. She felt detached from reality. Spike’s voice
seemed to come to her through a fogged haze.
"Once you were gone, I couldn’t take it. I wanted you so much....so I brought
you here. I shouldn’t have, but I did."
"If I died....which I absolutely don’t remember anything about it.....where
exactly is here?" said the Slayer slowly.
"Here is a continuum detached from the one you exist in. One of the reasons
that the Illuminati have never been truly identified is due to the fact that
they do not function on your continuum. This is the continuum of the Illuminati."
"Yeah right. Somehow I don’t believe all off this" said Buffy.
"It doesn’t matter what you believe, this is bigger than you. Buffy, for you,
the reality of this continuum is about to collapse and when it does you will
have no memory of this time or of the times we spent together in this place."
"Hold up. Back up. How did you create this continuum.......if this is real."
asked the Slayer.
Spike looked evasive but Buffy was having none of it. "You’d better tell it
all" she said warningly.
Spike nodded. "It’s a long story and it has to do with the theory of Virtual
Chaos and the Time/Space continuum. But the hows and whys of how its done are
secrets lost to history." He paused, looking for a way to explaining himself.
"You remember how you wondered about me being able to read the De Nugis Curialum?"
Buffy nodded.
"Well, you read English easily don’t you?" Spike asked.
"Yes...but your point would be?" replied the Slayer somewhat testily.
"How do you read English so easily?" continued the Vampire
"Because I grew up with it. It’s all I have ever known" said the Slayer quickly.
"Why wouldn’t I be able to read English, that’s not the question here the question
is how you come to be able to read ancient
Latin..........." the Slayer’s words trailed off as her mind kicked into gear.
The Lizard’s words came back to her....he’s old; very old.
Buffy looked up at Spike. "You read ancient Latin easily because you lived in
that time." she said slowly.
"I read ancient Latin Buffy..........I also fluently read and write at least
twenty ancient languages, some forgotten to history, including Ancient Egyptian."
Buffy looked at the man......the vampire.....sitting across from her. Bleach
blond punky hair, long black leather duster, jeans.....don’t forget the black
nail polish. That was the man she knew. This new stuff
didn’t fit in at all.
"You can’t be that old. What about your sire? What about Dru and Angel?" she
asked.
Spike shook his head. "Dru and Angel know the score and for reasons that we
won’t discuss here, they watch my back........even when they hate me and want
to see me dead."
"The Watchers know when you were sired." said Buffy still looking for a way
to make this all go away.
"The Watchers know only what I want them to know Pet. A new hair color, and
new style of clothes..." he said flicking at his coat, "....a new accent and
a little slight of hand and I’m brand new again. Don’t like getting too old
on paper........people get too interested in you when you become very old....better
when they think your just a hundred or so years."
"The accent.......are you really English?" she asked.
Spike smiled. "What I am is long forgotten. Look at the shape of my face, it
is not sculpted from modern lines." he leaned forward. "And with that we get
back to your question about this place and the continuum."
He paused for a moment looking for the right words. "Researchers have often
speculated about the Ancient Egyptians and their death rites. Some have speculated
that they were visited by beings from outerspace. The researchers were close,
but slightly off. What the Egyptians practiced was movement
through the continuum."
"Are you telling me that you learned how to do this from the Ancient Egyptians?"
asked Buffy.
"What my race learned from the Egyptians and what they learned from us is a
mute point. It simply is."
"Why are you trusting me and telling me all this?"
"Because you will forget it all when you leave this continuum." he replied.
"Why am I leaving?"
"Willow aimes to pull you back" he said slowly.
"Willow?"
"Yep. She is right now busily working a spell to bring you back from the dead."
Buffy sucked in a long breath. This was all too much to take in.
"So why tell me if I’m about to forget it all."
Spike looked her straight in the eye. "Because I’m hoping that some vague memory
of our time together will get pulled back with you......that you might not forget
everything about our time together here."
At that moment a sharp pain hit Buffy hard in the stomach and she bent over
clutching herself. Wild eyes locked on his.
"What’s happening?"
Spike bit his bottom lip. "Red’s spell is starting to work on you. You’ll be
gone soon."
Suddenly the impact of all he had said hit her. Reality and belief surged in
on her as she accepted the truth of all he had said. Her mind focused and then
shoved out of the way all the none essential stuff. Gone were thoughts of the
Illuminati and what they were up to; gone were thoughts of the implications
of Spike’s age and his role in the Illuminati. All that was left was the realization
that she was about to loose Spike.
"When I go back I won’t have any feelings for you? It will all be gone?" she
asked.
Spike nodded.
Buffy took a deep breath and then took each of his hands into hers. "Promise
me that you will make me love you again." she said quietly.
Spike closed his eyes against the pain, but Buffy squeezed his hands forcing
him to open his eyes and look at her.
"Promise me you’ll take all the shit I hand out and that you’ll stay there with
me until I either remember or fall in love with you again."
Spike hesitated. "I promise Slayer."
Another pain racked through Buffy and she began to fade before his eyes. The
hands that he held began to loose substance.
Buffy looked at him in panic. "Please be there Spike. I need you."
And then she was gone.
.......and then, without movement, she
was rushing through the darkness of the heavens. Stars and planets flashed by
in an instant as she rushed towards her unknown destination. There was no fear
or pain, only curious acceptance.
And then Spike was in front of her and they existed in their own capsule of
space as the stars rushed by them. His eyes gazed into hers, mesmerizing her
and promising her all that she could ever need, and though he made no movement
towards her, she began to feel hands moving over her body as if trying to commit
her form to everlasting memory. Buffy tried to raise her arms to touch him,
but she seemed to have no form, no way to reciprocate the feelings that he was
arousing in her body.
Then she felt him invade her as his mind entered hers. More than any physical
possession of the body, this invasion of her mind generated the most erotic
sensation that she had ever experienced or dreamed of. Gently he became her
body and her soul as she fell into him.
And then he allowed her into his mind. She felt what she did to him and the
power she held over him. She felt his need for her. She felt her own body under
his hands and she saw the erotic fantasies that he held for them in his mind.
She felt him moving in her and through her. Masculine and femine becoming one
spirit and soul.
And then he was ripped away. All that remained was complete darkness and a loneliness
that threatened to engulf her very existence...
************
Spike walked into the Egyptian room in
the temple, dragging the terrified girl behind him.
Behind them came Cassandra and her partner.
"You can’t do this Spike. You are needed here." said the female Vampire.
"Yes William. You cannot shurk your duty for nothing more than a girl....a Slayer
no less." said the elegantly clad male vamp.
Spike turned and glared at them. "Fuck you."
"Now William, there is no need for crudity." said the male vamp.
Spike threw the terrified girl into a corner and strode back over to the two
watching vamps.
"I’m leaving, and if either of you two ass holes think you can take over in
my absence think again. I’ve played with better in my sleep than you two could
ever be, even if you lived to be a thousand." he ground out.
With that, he walked back over to the quivering girl and grabbed her hair, forcing
her to her feet. Pushing her in front of him, he walked over to a diagram imbedded
into the wall. Jerking the girl round to face him, he raised his hand ready
to slit her throat but just before his hand struck, the girl’s face changed.
Instead of the Mexican girl that he had grabbed outside the Bar, he was now
holding Buffy. In an instant the image was gone, but the message remained. Buffy
didn’t like him to kill.
Instead of slashing her throat, Spike gently took her throat in his hand and
pressed in with his fingernails. Five small spots of blood welled to the surface
and began to trickle down her throat and onto the floor. The girl’s eyes were
wide and horrified but she stayed completely still.
Spike watched the blood accumulate on the floor until a small puddle was visible.
Then, without another thought for the girl, he tossed her behind him. Out of
the corner of his eye he saw the other two vamps take a step forward, excited
by the smell of her blood.
Spike shrugged. He might not kill her, but he wasn’t interested in whether or
not the other two did. He was not a good boy, just a little tamed by love.
Glancing down at the floor, Spike saw that the portal had begun to open. Within
seconds the portal was fully open and pulsing at his feet. Without a glance
backward, Spike stepped through.
In the Heavens the continuum hiccuped and virtual chaos rushed to realigned
itself.
**********************
Spike sat beside her and listened to
the Slayer breakdown and tell him that she thought she had been in Heaven rather
than Hell. That she had not wanted to come back and that she had been happy
there.
He kept his emotions deeply hidden and simply offered her the comfort of his
company. He knew that, as yet, she had no idea why she felt comfortable with
him. Why it was only with him that the loneliness and depression left her. Why
she was willing to share with him many of the truths that she would not share
with her closest friends. As yet, it had not dawned on her that their closeness
was unnatural.
Sitting so close to her and seeing her pain, hurt him. He want to reach out
and love her in every way that a man could love a woman....but it was not time
for that yet. He had promised her that he would make her love him again and
he knew that would take time. There would be a time and a place for them if
only he showed patience.
She stood to leave him, but then she turned back and told him that they, her
friends, could never know the truth. That he must promise to keep the secret.
As he watched her leave, he thought about the irony of the situation.
"You’re wrong Slayer. It’s you who will never know the truth"
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