Chapter 2

“We’re here,” Amy announced.  She turned the car ignition off while she peered out the window at Ravenhurst Manor.  “I have to tell you that this is one creepy house.  Man, the vibes I’m getting off of it …”  She shook her head.

Buffy got out of the car, stretching after the long car ride.   She studied Ravenhurst Manor.  “Well, I don’t see anything or feel anything out of the ordinary.  Maybe that’s how it lures people in.”

Spike crawled out of the car with his eyes scrunched closed.  “Witch Girl, your driving is minimally less scary than the Slayer’s.  When we get home, you’re both taking lessons.  No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“Oh, hush you.”  Buffy smacked Spike’s arm.  “Now open your eyes and tell me what you think of Ravenhurst.  It looks perfectly normal to me, but Amy says the vibes are completely off.  I need your perspective.”

Spike opened his eyes to check out the manor.  He wrinkled his nose in disgust.  “You know that horror comedy we watched a few months ago with Alex P. Keaton in it …  the one where he could see ghosts?”

“You mean The Frighteners with Michael J. Fox?” Amy asked.  She remembered the movie.  “We need to do a rewatch when we get home.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”  Spike pointed at Amy with a snap of his fingers.  “When the ghost saw the house for the first time, how it was all nasty?”  He waited for the two girls to acknowledge his description.  “Yeah, that’s how this place looks.  Hideous.”

Lindsey slid out of the Desoto.  “I have to agree with Buffy.  It looks innocuous enough to me.”

“Took you guys long enough.”

Buffy and her friends whirled around to see Faith step out of the shadows.  She was followed by a tall, fairly good-looking man that none of them knew, along with Willow and Xander.

“We’d about given up hope and were planning on going in by ourselves,” Faith continued. 

“What are you doing here?” Amy demanded.  “Lorne didn’t mention them, did he?”

Spike shook his head.

Faith pointed at the unknown man with her thumb.  “The head scientist is Riley’s mentor, Maggie Walsh.  When she didn’t check in, he got worried.  So, here we are.”

“The scientists are military?” Buffy asked.  “Lorne didn’t mention that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Riley said.  “He may not have known.  It wasn’t common knowledge.”

Buffy nodded.  “So, you know Angel went in after them?”

“Yeah, we know.  We checked in with Angel’s office before we came here.  We’re not stupid, despite what you think,” Xander sneered.

“Do you know that it’s part of a trap for Angelus?” Spike sneered in return.  He went on to tell Xander all the gory details about the snake worshipper sect and how Angel was drained of his blood, fully expecting Buffy to stop him at any second.  When Buffy didn’t say anything, he glanced at her, but she was studying Ravenhurst Manor.   He was concerned with her preoccupation and he turned his attention towards the house.

The front doors burst open and a dark-skinned woman burst from the house.  She clutched a bloody dress around herself while she bled from various bite marks on her arms and shoulders.  The woman ran blindly towards them, her entire attention on running as fast as possible.

“Grab her,” Buffy said to Spike. 

The vampire stepped into the woman’s path.  She rushed headlong into him.  Spike held the woman as she struggled and screamed.

“Hey, it’s Alonna, Charles Gunn’s sister,” Faith said.  She stepped a bit closer, and she spoke in a calm, soft voice.  “Alonna, it’s Faith.  I’m here to help.  Tell me what happened in there.”  She gestured towards the house.

Alonna continued to struggle against Spike’s superior vampire strength until Faith took ahold of her chin.  The dark-haired Slayer looked into the young woman’s eyes.  “Alonna, you’re okay.  You’re safe.  We have you.”

Finally, Alonna focused on Faith.  “Charles is … is changed.  He’s not human anymore,” she said with a shudder.  “I haven’t seen Angel or Doyle in a while.  I never saw the group we went in to find.  At least I don’t think I did.   I got so turned around.”

Faith took in the injuries on Alonna’s body.  The bitemarks were unsettling.   “We’ll find them all, I promise.”

“No, Faith.  Please don’t go in there,” Alonna pleaded with Faith.  “It’s just not a good place to be.”

“You don’t have to go back in,” Buffy replied.  “But we have to.  Lorne sent us.”

Alonna looked at Buffy.  “Lorne?”

“Yes, Lorne sent us.  We’re here to help,” Buffy said softly.

Faith nodded in agreement.  “We need to get this done.”

Amy, who had been looking around and studying the exterior of Ravenhurst, pointed towards the shadows at the side of the house.  “Isn’t that Angel’s car?”

Everyone looked in the direction that Amy had pointed.  Sure enough, it was Angel’s convertible.

“Lindsey, why don’t you take the convertible and take Alonna back to the Hyperion?” Buffy asked the lawyer.

Lindsey gave a quick nod.  “Good thing I was the best at hot wiring back in juvie in Oklahoma.”  He strolled over the convertible and had it started in a hot second.

While Faith and Spike got Alonna settled in Angel’s car, Buffy pulled Lindsey to the side.  “If we aren’t out in a week, the girls have orders to burn the place to the ground.  Just so you aren’t surprised when they show up.”

“Of course,” Lindsey said with a grin.  “I’ll be happy to help.”

When Buffy and Lindsey approached the convertible, Wesley was in the back seat.  Willow and Xander glared at Buffy, but the Slayer ignored them like always.

“I’m going to send Wesley with Alonna, too,” Faith replied.  “Hopefully there will be safety in numbers.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Buffy replied.

After Lindsey drove off with Alonna and Wesley, Buffy turned to Faith.  “You ready to go in?”

“I suppose,” Faith sighed.  She looked at the house again.  “I wonder what Alonna meant by her brother had changed?  And what were those bite marks on her arms?  They looked almost human.”

Xander sneered.  “I bet it was Angel.  He’s all happy again and eating everyone.”

“The poodle didn’t smell like Angelus,” Spike said.  “Whatever bit her was female and nasty.”

“You just had to sniff her, didn’t you?” Xander scoffed in return.  “That is so gross.  Don’t you agree, Buff?”

Buffy stared at Xander in disgust.  “No, no I don’t.  Besides, I didn’t see any sniffing.”  She turned to Faith.  “Make sure your party stays together.  Don’t get separated in there.”  She moved to the rear of the Desoto and opened the trunk.

Spike and Amy joined Buffy at the trunk.  They supplied themselves with stakes and crossbows.  Buffy slammed the trunk closed.  The three of them power-walked towards the entrance of Ravenhurst Manor.