FIC: Three Years in Hell, A Lifetime of Pain (16B/?)

["Bill Gopher" <asagiri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

And the next part of Chapter 16;

==============
Roselawn Cemetery

10:30PM PST

Willow arrived at the Roselawn cemetery just as the sun was setting and made
her way over towards Beth's 'grave'. Willow dropped the bag near the
headstone and walked around the

grave clockwise once, stopping at the foot of the grave. Moving her coat out
of the way Willow drew the athame out of the knife sheath at her hip and
proceeded to draw a circle in the ground around the entire grave and the
symbols she could now see. Stopping, Willow left a small 'window' in the
circle and stepped inside before she completed the circle and closed it.

Kneeling down Willow closed her eyes and focused her mind on what she had to
do next. She

pulled out some herbs from the bag, chanting softly she threw the herbs
around her until the bag was empty. <That should keep anyone from seeing me
if they are scrying.> Willow reached down and grabbed the athame off the
ground and started drawing symbols on the inside edge of the circle she had
marked with the dagger.

A little while later Willow finished the last symbol as sweat ran down her
face. <Goddess I'm tired> She leaned back against the headstone and closed
her eyes. She had several hours till the moon rose to its zenith and she'd
need all her energy for the spell.

Willow opened her eyes as her internal clock went off and she woke up.
Looking up at the sky Willow could see the moon, <It's almost time.>
Reaching over Willow grabbed the bag and pulled it closer, as she opened it
she reached in and pulled out a medium-sized, black jar,obsidian dagger, a
golden eagle's feather and several sticks of incense.

Willow took several sticks of the incense and stuck them in the ground in
front of her. Reaching in her pocket she pulled out a lighter and lit them.
Breathing in the fumes from the incense Willow steeled herself for what she
had to do next. Reaching down with her left hand Willow grabbed the black
jar and opened it, inside she could see the still-beating rabbit's heart.
Turning the jar over the heart fell out and into her hand below.

Willow placed the jar to the side and then took the heart in both hands and
raised it above her head, "Upuaut!! Guardian and Keeper of the Hidden Ways
hear me!!! Anakh tal ah inta yi-ada ba!!! I call upon you to unlock that
which is hidden from my sight, let me see that which I seek! Sateh vah-boku
ra-ekh! Rashi mu lakashka, hutashi ma delwakty inya!! Mè Him-ü set-na! MÈ
HIM-Ü SET-NA!!!" The sky darkened and Willow heard a loud rumble of thunder
above her. Lowering her hands Willow picked up the eagle feather and covered
the tip of it in rabbit's blood. With the feather Willow drew the sacred
symbols on her cheeks and forehead. As she finished, lightning light up the
sky and thunder roared. Carefully Willow put the heart and feather down and
picked up the black jar and brought it level with her eyes. "For what I ask
of you I give you the heart of an innocent and sacrifice my blood-innocence
to you for that which I require." Anakh ge ha yo! Yi-cda bä! Ana tal-äh inta
Gekh-hami. Bringing the jar to her lips Willow tipped it forward and
swallowed the thick, warm liquid that filled her mouth. The taste almost
made her want to gag, but steeling herself Willow swallowed all of it.

A darkness settled inside of her stomach and her sight went black. Taking
several breaths

Willow opened her eyes, and 'saw' the shield and just inside the circle were
the glyphs which were clear to her now. Shooting from the glyphs Willow
could see how they formed a complex web around Beth's grave and she
understood how she could break them.

A wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell back against the headstone
as she struggled to get her balance and strength back. Closing her eyes she
concentrated on tapping her reserves of energy, she had to finish this now.
She knew she couldn't go through this again.

Willow dropped the jar and reached down to grasp the obsidian dagger. With
one swift move

Willow slashed her left hand diagonally. Grabbing the knife with her bloody
hand Willow

repeated the action on her other hand and dropped the knife. Squeezing her
hands so the blood ran down her arms and onto the ground Willow looked up at
the sky, "Maat!! In my time of need I call you. At the moment of my death I
will honor you!! Hear me! You who are Truth and Order in the Universe come
to my aid now, Chaos has taken up here and corrupted this hallowed ground.
Break this evil that surrounds me and free Elizabeth Summers from the deceit
that covers her now!!"

Willow saw her vision start to tunnel and go gray as she fell on her back,
fighting to stay

conscious she used her last burst of energy to pull herself up. There was a
deafening clap of thunder and a blinding flash of light that blinded her and
threw her down, the last thing Willow saw was her shield surrounding her
shattering. <No!! I can't falter now, the spell's not complete!> were
Willow's last thought before the darkness claimed her.

******************

Northern France

At the same time...

Her lungs were burning as Beth came to a stop and her breath ragged. Tears
leaked down from her eyes, her hands were clenched into fists at her side as
she fought to stop the feeling that her heart had been ripped out. The
argument with Faith continued to replay itself in her mind, and each time
Beth could hear the angry things she had said. <Stupid! Stupid!! What is
wrong with me lately?? I can't seem to say anything without hurting her.>
Beth berated herself as she angrily wiped the tears from her face. From
behind her she heard a voice.

"Well, well Slayer, feeling sorry for yourself?" the voice asked mockingly.

Whirling around Beth saw a group of ten large, winged, red-skinned demons.
The leader stood only a few feet away and was easily over 7' feet tall and
heavily muscled. Beth watched as the demon casually held a large broad sword
in one hand.

Tilting her head slightly to the left, Beth put on a cocky smile. "And what
are you? Rejects from the movie "Legend?" Beth watched as the demon roared
in anger and swung the sword at her. Leaping high over the whistling blade
that slashed where she had been standing Beth landed on the blade trapping
it and nailed the demon with a quick forward snap-kick to its' head knocking
it back and stunning it. Reaching down with her left hand, Beth grabbed the
sword up by the blade and felt the edge slice into her hand.

Before Beth could take advantage of the demon she had to jump back to avoid
two swords

from the demon's companions who charged at her.

Raising his clawed hand Lucidan halted his companions, "The first blow goes
to you Slayer?"

reaching behind he pulled the massive two-handed sword loose from the
scabbard on his back and his companions slowly spread out in a half-circle
in front of him, surrounding their prey.

Quickly Beth pulled the bandana from her neck and wrapped it around her
bleeding hand as she held the sword in her right hand. Experimentally Beth
twirled the sword in her hand, noticing the lightness of the blade and
smiled grimly.

<Aw shit!> as Beth saw the demons spread out to surround her. Reaching to
the small of her

back, in one swift move Beth pulled the dagger out and threw it at the
nearest demon to her.

She had the satisfaction of seeing it sink to the hilt into one of the eye
of one of the demons that was charging her and see it fall before she had to
fall back, parrying the attacks from the other demons.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Her clothes torn and bloody, Beth stumbled back several steps as she fought
to keep herself from falling, there wasn't a place on her body that didn't
hurt. Blood dripped down the left side of Beth's face and into her eye, with
her free hand Beth wiped the blood out of her eye, wincing at the pain that
shot down her arm as she moved it.

She'd killed seven of the demons attacking her, but there was still three
left; the leader who stayed back and the two remaining demon-soldiers. But
the others hadn't gone down easily, these demons had fought as a group and
not individuals. Beth knew she had been cut up badly, the worst of which was
a deep slice that had cut her left arm open from her shoulder to her elbow,
<I can't keep this up, I've lost too much blood. If this goes on too much
longer I'm gonna pass out.>

Out of the corner of her eye, Beth had a glimpse of movement and pivoted to
her left and raising the sword with both hands to parry the blow from the
demon's sudden attack. The impact from the demon's blade knocked Beth down
onto one knee and from behind her Beth heard running footsteps. Waiting
until almost the last moment Beth rolled to her left, a sword cleaved the
ground where she had been a moment ago. Coming up onto one knee Beth dropped
the sword and drew the M9 9mm Beretta out of the holster on her hip, firing
five times at the closest demon. Beth saw three rounds catch the demon high
in the chest and the fourth round go in one eye and blow the back of its
head off. Beth watched the demon as it collapsed and wasn't going to get up
when she turned her attention to the other demon. The other demon hesitated
for a moment as it watched its' comrade fall before charging her.

Beth emptied the rest of the clip into the demon and it collapsed dead right
in front of her. Thumbing the release Beth ejected the empty magazine from
the pistol and reloaded it with a fresh clip. <I gotta thank Faith for the
idea of using hollow-point rounds> Pulling the slide back Beth chambered a
round into the barrel and held the weapon steady on the leader's chest. Beth
watched as the leader moved towards her slowly and stopped about five feet
away from her.

"I'm impressed Slayer. Those men were my best, very few who ever faced them
have lived to

tell the tale and yet you have managed to survive." Lucidan smiled broadly,
showing off the razor sharp teeth in his mouth. "But now you have me to deal
with, and I've never lost or failed to fulfill a bounty."

=======================

Sunnydale, CA

1:00am PST

Tara woke up suddenly and shot up from the bed, her heat racing. <Willow's
in trouble> was

the feeling that filled her. Quickly she pulled on a pair of jeans and a
sweatshirt and headed out of the bedroom, only stopping to grab her jacket,
car keys and wallet as she headed out of the apartment. Once outside, Tara
pulled on her jacket in the cold night's air as she ran towards where their
car, a beat-up, blue, 1988 Toyota Camry was parked.

Driving quickly, almost recklessly, Tara headed towards the cemetery. The
feeling of

dread she had about Willow, became stronger as she approached the cemetery.

As she neared the cemetery entrance Tara pulled right up to the gate and
stopped. Jumping out of the car Tara gestured at the locked gates, flinging
them off their hinges. Running inside the cemetery Tara headed towards
Buffy's grave where Willow had planned to cast the spell. Tara could see a
body lying in the grass about 10' feet from the grave and several small
fires were burning nearby, the smell of smoke and burning wood was stronger
the closer the got to the grave.

"Willow!!" Tara called out as she reached the crumpled form of her lover.
Carefully Tara turned Willow over onto her back, she could see the left side
of Willow's head was covered in dried blood that matted her hair against her
head and blood leaked from Willow's nose and down her cheek. Checking for
any other injuries Tara found two deep cuts on Willow's hands, but didn't
find anything else.

Pulling out her cell phone she quickly dialed "911".

*****************************

Lucidan slowly walked towards the Slayer, confident she would be his
shortly. Taking the Slayer had been more difficult than he had anticipated,
it would be hard to replace the nine mercenaries she had killed but the
reward would more than compensate him for their loss.

As he started to close with the Slayer, Lucidan had a moment to recognize
the sudden feeling of wild magick in the air and shield himself. The demon
felt the magick shield he had managed to raise take the brunt of the magick
that lashed out at him and batted him backwards, slamming him into a tree
and then he felt nothing at all.

Beth watched stunned as violet lightning flashed and swatted the demon back
into a tree over 400 feet away where he collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

The ground shook violently around her and Beth felt herself fall backwards
to the ground, struggling to get back up Beth saw a pair of rotting hands
burst out of the ground and grab her by the ankles, holding her. As she
fought to free herself from the hands that held her, more skeletal and
rotting hands burst out of the ground and grabbed her, pulling her down to
the ground and keeping her pinned to the ground spread eagle.

A flash of light blinded her and Beth felt a surge of energy course thru
her. Screaming in agony as the energy pounded thru her, Beth fought back
with all her strength to break free but to no avail. Suddenly the energy
that hand been pounding her stopped, leaving her out of breath, and her
entire body throbbing in pain.

<Oh god, oh god, oh god! I hurt so much?nothing was this bad.> Beth felt a
tiny tickle on the top of her head and then she felt the energy surge though
her mind and then a rush of memories began;

"Beth do you have a minute?" Mary asked.

"Sure." Beth turned to Sammy and handed him the bag of napkins she'd been
carrying.

"Hey squirt, bring this out to your Dad. I'll catch up with you in a few
minutes."

" 'Kay Aunt Beth." Beth watched as Sam ran out the patio door and then
turned to look

at Mary. "What's up Mary?"

Mary looked at Beth with a serious look on her face. "Beth, I've heard some
rumours

recently about the 13th deploying overseas?"

"Mary, it's just a rumour, that's all." Beth answered.

"Maybe, but I need to ask a favour from you though."

Beth watched as Mary started to nervously smooth the non-existent wrinkles
out of her

shirt, something that Mary only did when she was very uncomfortable. "It'll
be okay

Mary. It was just that, a rumour, talk, that's all. What did you want to ask
me though?"

Mary reached out and put her hand on Beth's shoulder and squeezed it gently.
"Beth, you

know that you're a part of this family, right??" Mary waited until she saw
Beth nod

before continuing. "I want you to promise me you'll look out for Steve, I
know he can get

single-minded at times and he forgets to take care of himself. I want Steve
to come home

to me and I want Sammy to have his aunt come back as well."

Beth saw how important this was to Mary and how it was hurting her to ask
Beth this

favour. Mary knew that Taylor would have been hurt if he ever find out about
this little

'talk'. Reaching over Beth put her hand on Mary's, "I promise I'll do
everything I can to

watch his back so he comes home to you Mary."

Beth felt the tears course down her face, "Please...no more!" Beth
whispered. But the floodgates to her memories was open and they continued
play themselves in her mind.

Scene after scene bombarded her mind and body. Every experience and memory
she had buried from the prison rushed forward and Beth found herself
experiencing them all over again as if for the first time?

Time had no meaning now to Beth?all she wanted was for it to end and not
feel anything anymore when a final memory rose up from the depths of her
mind, Beth saw herself from outside as she was thrown into the cell with the
five rapists and time seemed to slow down.

<No, not this! Please dear God, don't make me live this again> Beth pleaded
to whoever was doing this to her but no-one answered.

The memory started up once again and Beth called out to the one person who
could save her.

<FAITH! HELP ME!!!!>



Continued in 16C