Stuck In The Feedback Loop
by Jamie
Chapter 4
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Buffy sat uncomfortably on the chair, her wrists hurting from the rough rope binding them behind the back of the wooden seat and her skin beginning to ache from where it was being pulled back by the gag. She glared balefully at the massive vampire standing in front of her. He smiled and walked forward. Suddenly he brought his hand back and then round her face in a vicious slap. He grabbed her hair roughly and spun her head around so that she was staring right into his eyes.
"Look at me again like that, and I'll decide yer not worth holdin' hostage." He said. His breath stank of rotting flesh and blood. Buffy must have flinched or something, because the next thing she knew, she was looking up at the ceiling whilst the vampire scraped her throat slightly with his fangs. She whimpered slightly and the thing laughed. "What's the matter girlie? Lost yer cojones now yer Slayer's gone?" He sniffed her throat hungrily, and licked at the drop of blood that seeped through the graze made by his fangs. "Oooh, ye're tasty. I'm sure the Slayer wouldn't mind if I had a little taste, do ye?" Buffy screamed as the Kharkov growled and sank his fangs into the soft flesh of her neck.
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"C'mon Giles! Gun it!" Xander called from the backseat. He was pretty certain those old ladies who'd passed them a minute ago had sworn at them.
"I am 'Gunning It' Xander." Giles said irritably.
"Okay, turn left here," the boy instructed. Giles followed his directions.
"How far is it now?" Willow asked.
"About two blocks." Xander replied.
"Giles, stop the car." A few seconds later the Watcher had pulled over to the sidewalk and was disembarking from the car.
"Um, excuse me, why?" Xander asked, climbing out.
"They'll hear us coming." Willow replied, before opening the boot and retrieving her crossbow. Giles picked up his sword and took a practice swing, before closing the lid. He hurried around to the driver's side, and locked the door. Rejoining Xander and Willow on the sidewalk, he fell into pace and the trio stalked through the street towards the derelict and abandoned Cineplex. Suddenly, Willow motioned for them to back up against the wall. She turned to them and put her finger on her lips, before pointing out the sentry to Giles by the entrance, a vampire. She knelt down, and handed her Watcher the crossbow. He ratcheted a bolt, and leant the stock on Willow's shoulder. After a few seconds of careful aiming, Giles pulled the trigger and the recoiling string sent the arrow forward with a satisfying 'Thwappp'. The bolt whistled through the air and the vampire just had time to look in its direction, lets his eyes go wide, and begin to bring his hands up before the point pierced his heart, the shaft following it in. His skin crumbled to ash before their eyes, then his bones disintegrated too. Giles handed the crossbow back to Giles, and glanced at Xander, who was looking at him with a sense of awe.
"That was awesome!" He breathed, and Giles grinned in response.
"Boys," Willow interrupted. The three stood up and ran over to the shadow-shrouded entrance. Giles counted down with his fingers on one hand. Three, two, one. Willow kicked the door open...
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Kharkov looked up, and release his hold on Buffy. The girl was crying freely now, not really surprising considering he'd practically torn her throat open. He reached out with his Gift, and saw through the eyes of one of his minions the Slayer, the boy he'd encountered earlier, and an older man who he could only assume was her Watcher breaching the building. Hmmmm, he thought. Perhaps it's time for a little game.
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Giles, Xander, and Willow stalked through the darkened theatre, with only Giles' torch as a lightsource. Occasionally a vampire jumped out at them, but Willow gave it nothing more than a cursory glance and a staking. Giles had never seen her so focused, so calm in her attack. It was almost as if her heritage had taken complete control of her, the essence of the Slayer working through Willow's body, so efficient was she. Suddenly they head a sweet voice singing in the shadows ahead. Giles focused his beam on the source of the noise, and revealed a small blonde girl, no older than sixteen.
"Buffy," Willow breathed.
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"Hey girlfriend, how you holdin up?" Buffy asked coyly. Her face was still Buffy's, the voice Buffy's. But the movement was totally off. She swung from left to right in a confident swagger, whilst humming bars to the tune she'd been singing earlier.
"Buffy..." Willow choked out. "I'm so sorry."
"Of course you are, you failed me after all," Vamp-Buffy replied. She took a small pebble off of what had once been a fast food counter and rolled it in her palm. "You know, I believed in you so much. I though 'Nothing's gonna happen to me if Willow's here.' Ha, shows what a fool I was."
"Buffy," Xander began, then trailed off as the demon that inhabited his best friend's corpse looked at him.
"What, Xander? What do you wanna say? You're sorry, you wish it didn't have to end this way?" Buffy lashed out viciously. Xander took a step forward.
"You're sick Buffy, we can get you some help. It doesn't have to end this way." Buffy grinned.
"Oh no, I think it does." She vamped out, and Xander shrank back. Suddenly Willow was there, She grabbed Buffy and plunged the stake into her ribcage. Xander cried out, but stopped when Buffy vanished.
"What. The. Hell?" Willow said breathlessly, and a more than a little confused.
"Mind games," Giles breathed. "This was what I was telling you about. Willow..." The librarian trailed off as he saw Willow begin to move slowly ahead. "Willow!" He shouted. "This is getting us nowhere! Get a grip!" Willow stopped and turned around.
"Get a grip?" She said slowly, staring at Giles murderously. "I have a friend who is right now either dead, dying, or in some kind of pain. I just went through that, and you're telling me to GET A GRIP?" The read head shouted, her voice becoming slightly shrill. "YOU GET A GRIP! I'M FINDING BUFFY!" She stalked off into the hallway. Xander clapped Giles on the back and followed, holding the stake up protectively. Giles sighed in defeat, and followed his Slayer.
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Willow kicked open the double doors that led into Theatre 2. Immediately she was greeted by four grinning demonic faces. She landed a solid kick to the stomach on one of them whilst she spun around and smashed her elbow into the face of another, breaking its nose. The vampire howled in pain for a few seconds before Xander came up and stabbed at it repeatedly with his stake. Eventually he found the heart and the thing exploded. He coughed and squinted briefly before he was bowled to the ground by a vamp. Giles swiped at the thing's head with his sword and it come off, blowing away into dust before it hit the ground. Willow shoved a stake into the heart of the vamp with the broken nose, and quickly brought her crossbow to bear on the last remaining one, ending its vampiric unlife with one simple action.
"That was...interesting..." Xander said, after Willow had run a hand through her shoulder length hair, brushing the vamp dust out of it. She was just about to reply when all of a sudden clapping came from the front row.
"Very good," The voice said. "Really, I'm impressed." A spotlight flicked on all of a sudden and Willow could see Buffy sitting on a chair in the centre of the theatre, head lolled to one side and blood running down her top. Standing next to her was the vampire she'd fought earlier, and come so close to killing. The red head wasted no time now however, and fired the crossbow. It connected with the vampire's heart and he disintegrated. "Nice shot." A disembodied voice came from around the theatre.
"Okay, I am so getting SICK of THIS!" Willow shouted at the voice. A flash to her far left caught her attention, and when she spun around Giles and Xander were on the floor. Suddenly her throat was seized from behind in a strong grip. She gasped as her airway was closed off. Acting on instinct, Willow brought her elbow backwards and into Kharkov's gut. He wheezed and stumbled backwards, releasing his hold on the red head. She spun around and caught him on the jaw with a roundhouse kick. The vampire sprawled backwards onto the floor, but kicked himself back onto his feet.
"You're fast, and strong." He observed, wiping blood away from the corner of his mouth with the back on one hand, whilst adopting a fighting stance. He moved quickly forward, with almost blinding speed. His fist came forward with a punch to the face but Willow grabbed it and squeezed with all her might. Kharkov howled as she broke nearly every bone in his hand, then lashed out with a kick to Willow's stomach. She stumbled backwards, temporarily stunned by the ferocity of the blow. That was all the time Kharkov needed to land a roundhouse on her face, flooring the red head. He loomed over her and bent down, kneeling on her thighs and holding her hands to the side. Willow shouted at Giles and Xander to help but they lay unconscious, deaf to her cries. Kharkov grinned...again...and leant down to her exposed neck. Suddenly he sat bolt upright, his eyes bulging and a squelching sound coming from his back. He fell forward towards Willow, who was showered with dust as he disintegrated. She blinked the dust out of her eyes and looked up at her mysterious saviour. There, stood in front of her, was no one! A wavering object caught her eye though, and she looked further up to see a stake hanging in mid air.
Flash
"I've been studying Wicca for about four years now, I'd like to think I could help with that"
Flash
Willow looked back over at Buffy, who was obviously straining to keep the stake up. Her head drooped, and it clattered to Willow's stomach. The red head jumped up and onto the chair, using their backs as a platform to run from. She hopped over all the rows until she practically leapt onto the area between the front row and the screen. For the first time she saw the ghastly wound in Buffy's neck...a vampire bite. It narrowed and increased in width sickeningly as the blonde breathed. Willow ripped the ropes that bound Buffy's hands together off, and her friend fell forward into the red head, bringing her arms up to Willow's neck and wrapping them around for support. Willow brought one arm underneath Buffy's knees, and another around her back for support, and carried her up the stairs. Giles and Xander were just starting to stir.
"Giles! Wake up! Buffy needs help!"
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The doctor walked along the corridor leisurely, taking her time. Today was a pretty quiet evening actually, only four or five people in the IC ward, and no fatalities. She set her clipboard down on the reception desk, and lifted a cup of coffee to her lips.
"Hey Karen," She greeted the receptionist. The plump woman looked up and smiled.
"Hey, slow evening tonight huh?" She said. The doctor hummed her agreement, and lifted the cup again, which promptly went flying as the double doors of the reception area were kicked open. A small red head ran in, carrying an even smaller blonde in her arms.
"Help!" Red shouted. "Someone please!" The doctor dropped the cup and ran straight over. Behind her, two more nurses were arriving with a stretcher.
"What happened?" She asked no one in particular. Two more people came to stand beside her, a man in his late-forties, and a boy of about sixteen or seventeen.
"A wild animal attacked her as she was walking home." The man said in a crisp British accent.
"Did you see what animal?"
"No." He replied simply.
"Massive trauma to the throat, mild abrasions to the cranium. Probably massive blood loss." She said loudly to one of the male orderlies, who noted it down. "Get her down to the ER now." As the other nurses lifted the blonde onto the stretcher, she turned to the red haired girl who'd brought her in.
"What's her name?" She asked.
"Buffy." Red replied through tear streaked eyes.
"Okay, You can come with us to the ER but you'll have to wait there." The doctor turned back to Buffy. "Buffy...Buffy can you hear me?" Buffy rolled her head to the side and opened her eyes slightly.
"W...Where am I?" She asked dazedly.
"You're in the hospital honey, my name's Jennifer. We're gonna give you something to take the pain away, okay?" Jennifer said soothingly, placing her hand on Buffy's as the stretcher moved.
"Okay...no pain is good..." Buffy said, wincing. Around the stretcher, two light bulbs suddenly sparked and exploded.
"What the?" One of the nurses said, and stopped. Jennifer glared at him.
"Keep moving!" The nurse complied with her order, and they burst through the doors of the ER. The older man stopped then and stared after the stretcher, but the red head and the boy followed them through into the ward.
"Hey, I told you to wait here." Jennifer shouted at them. "Are you family?"
"Yes," the boy replied huskily. Somehow, the older woman doubted that but didn't say anything. The stretcher wheeled into a room, and after three counts Buffy was lifted on to the bed. Almost immediately, orderlies began attaching various needles and drips to her. The hear rate monitor was switched on, and a series of fast blips began to stream out from it.
"We need blood!" Jennifer shouted out. She heard a muffled acknowledgement and a second later one of the nurses was running out. The beeps suddenly began to steadily increase in speed, the gap between them shortening at a rapid pace. Jennifer heard a gasp from Red. "She's going into arrest! Panels!" She ordered. The machine was wheeled up next to her and the woman grabbed both of the shock apparatus.
"Okay, 3...2...1" She counted down, placing the panels on Buffy's chest. The staccato beeping of the machine had now turned into a steady stream, a continuous hum. "CLEAR!" The voltage ran through Buffy like fire on a run of gasoline. Her body arched and she cried out. Next to Jennifer, the window suddenly smashed into thousands of tiny shards. A strong wind began to blow throughout the room, papers went flying and overcoats billowed. "No effect!" Jennifer shouted. "Someone hold her down!" Two orderlies grabbed an arm each, but they were flung away by some invisible force. Blood trickled out of Buffy's clenched fist, and her eyes opened abruptly. Jennifer gasped and stumbled back. Her eyes...they were...completely black!" Another second passed, with Buffy arching more and more off the bed, until it looked like she was floating. The heart rate monitor exploded in a shower of sparks, then as suddenly as all the chaos begun, it ended. Buffy flopped down onto the bed and her head lolled to one side.
"No!" Red shouted from behind her, and buried her face in the boy's chest. "Oh god...Buffy..." She wept. Jennifer took a cautious step to Buffy, and looked at her eyes again. The black mist cleared from them, and the doctor closed her eyelids.
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