Story: Walking After Midnight (chapter 8)

Part Seven

We stood outside the entrance of the cave looking at the gaping mouth like it was death itself. The gang and I had been in situations like this a countless number of times. Us against the end of the world, heading into the darkness with our heads held high and our knees shaking. But on this particular day there was a different quality about the air around us, it was tenser more desperate and I knew why. I had already stood at the mouth of this cave and I had faced the demon and lost. We were going in now not as predators but as trespassers who were being hunted as well as hunting.

"Stay behind me," I said tightening my grasp on the flame thrower in my hands.

"Yeah," Lia piped up. "Stay behind us." I looked back at her. The look in my eyes conveyed that she too was to follow my instructions. I was the first line of defense and she was the second. If it got through both of us I didn't even want to think of consequences.

Before submerging myself in the darkness of the cave I looked back at Willow. Taking that image with me I stepped into the cave. I had tried to get her to stay behind, that morning before breakfast I tried to convince her that the best thing for her to do would be to stay behind with Wesley and research other possibilities. It didn't work of course, it never did. It was futile to try, but I had to anyway, it was a compulsion. I knew it irritated her, made her feel like I didn't trust her or didn't think that she could take care of herself, but nothing could have been farther from the truth. It was me I didn't trust, but I could never quite get that across.

"You've got to love the décor," Lia said as we traipsed through the cave flash lights bouncing around. "It just reeks danger, like Tori Spelling reeks nepotism."

"Apparently we've got ourselves a demon with self-respect," Xander continued. "This is the way it should be, huh, Giles? All dankness, and filth. None of that condominium and Miata crap for this guy."

"Indeed," Giles responded from somewhere behind Xander. "It's nice to know that demons somewhere still have some values. I mean, really."

I smirked into the darkness then turned a down a passage. We had pondered our own mortality and were now bantering about the décor and the lack of respect demons seemed to have for themselves these days. So far everything was going according to plan.

* * * * * *

"Hey, I remember you," I said as we entered the fork in the cave where Lia and I had been ambushed on our previous trip.

"Yes," Lia agreed darkly. "I remember you too. I don't like you," she continued eyeing the space evilly as she rubbed her head unconsciously.

"Is this where your head got jiggled?" Willow asked Lia as she made her way up to the front of the procession.

"Yes, yes it is," Lia answered. "Can't you just feel the evil?"

"Luckily you for you didn't have much up there to get scrambled," Lyndon said cheerfully.

"We'll see if you're still Mr. Sunshine when that thing decides to play 'splatter brains' with you," Lia responded turning away from him.

"As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have to ask you all to shut up now," I said staring at the tunnel directly in front of me.

"See, I don't know what Cordelia was talking about when she said that you lack people skills," Xander quipped in response to my request.

"Xand," I said looking back.

"Sorry, shutting up now," he said making a motion like he was zippering his lips.

Before entering the tunnel in front of me I heard Giles mutter, "Today we have witnessed a miracle".

* * * * * *

I felt it before I saw it. No one else seemed to be able to sense it coming so I knew it had to be my spidy-senses. It was coming for us right now. We were being hunted.

"It's here," I said raising my flame thrower. The others look confused but raised theirs as well.

"Where is it?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," I said shaking my head. "I can't tell. But it's here. It's here somewhere."

I closed my eyes and stood completely still. Listening, feeling the air around me, engaging all of my senses just like Giles had taught me. As a Slayer I was acutely aware of things others were not, could not be aware of. Even Giles though he taught me, and was skilled in his own right could not hope to achieve the level of awareness I was capable of. "It's what makes you the One," Giles had said to me. "It's my gift, it's my curse," I had responded quoting Frank Black.

A moment after I closed my eyes I felt it. In the blink of an eye I turned so that I was facing it and pressed the trigger. An eruption of fire burst from the apex of the thrower illuminating the room with a unpleasant glow. I hit it's left side and the beast let out a outrageous cry. It was high pitch, almost deafening, like listening to a bunch of whales mating with the volume way turned up. If I didn't need my hands to hold the flame thrower I would have clasped them over my ears which I was certain were going to start bleeding at any moment.

Finally the beast seemed to grasp the situation and contorted it's gooey body to avoid the blast by propelling the middle part of it's body off to the side. It looked like someone had taken an ice-cream scoop to it. I adjusted the blast when I saw what it had done but it was too late. For something that looked like the Kool-Aid guy on crack the thing sure could move like lightening. By the time I got it again it had almost reached us.

"Guys," I said continually adjusting my fire. "Now would be a good time to use those things!"

"Right." That was Giles

"Uh huh." That was Willow.

"I knew that." That was the Xand-man.

"You looked like you had it under control." That one was Lia.

"Where's the trigger?" Without a doubt that one was Lyndon.

Soon we were all firing at it. I had the mid section under control. Lia was being vicious and going for it's head, and Xander, Willow and Giles were altering limbs. I could see the black ooze bubbling where our fire was in contact with it. Bubbles were forming and popping all over it and an awful smell was released. It was like sulfur only worse, which was quite a feet cause sulfur really, really smells.

Things continued in this fashion for a few minutes until the beast let loose another one of those cries. Then just like before the beast moved like lightening. The gang had listened to me and stayed behind me and at that moment I was eternally grateful for it. I was closest to the beast and it headed straight for me, not that it had far to go. I re-aimed my thrower when I located it again but it was too late, it was on me by then. Sucking me up into it just like before, ready to suck my brain dry.

"Stop firing," it was hazy but I could tell that it was Willow. She sounded worried, not that that was an unreasonable reaction or anything. After all we all knew what happened last time the beast and I danced together. "Stop or you'll hit her."

I could feel it starting to enter my mind. The outside world was starting to fade away, I could no longer make out words or phrases, only sounds. I tried to move my arm. There was resistance but I could move it slightly. That was fine with me, I only needed to move it slightly. I shifted and tilted the flame thrower up so that the barrel was facing the beasts head. "Please don't blow me up, please don't blow me up, pleasedon'tblowmeup, pleasedon'tblowmeup…" I chanted as I pulled the trigger and let loose and stream of fire.

I could see the beast bubbling again. Even though I was only aiming at one part of it's body it seemed to be traveling all over, migrating from the inside out. The longer I fired for the more violent the bubbling became, but I didn't feel any of the heat that was the sure result of my actions. It was like I was in some sort of shielded pocket for which I was thankful, cause what was happening to it looked like it would suck. Like it would suck a whole lot.

Soon it started to glow orange, and where I was lodged inside of it started to become very hot. Even as I kept the trigger compressed I could feel my skin beginning to burn. The body of the thing started to expand creating a huge goo bubble around my body. It stayed like that for a moment thumping like it was breathing, trying to compress, trying to live, but it was not to be. Within moments the bubble burst spraying bits of goop all over the cavern we were standing in and white circular energy waves were cast out from where the beasts body had been filling the cavern with a hum and a blinding white light.

Then all was quiet again.

"Buffy are you alright?" Willow asked running over to where I had dropped when the tar-man exploded.

"I'm alright Will," I said with a slight smile. "Well-done, but I'll be fine."

"Your arm," she said reaching out but not touching it. "It's all burned."

"Hey, I planned on working on my tan anyway," I responded standing up and giving her hand a squeeze. "It's alright, I've had worse."

"Are you sure you're alright Buffy?" Giles asked concerned.

"Yeah, " Xander piped up. "It looked pretty hot in there. Not that you're not always on fire."

"I'll be fine. But I won't protest to getting the hell out of here," I responded.