Chapter three

"Rise and shine, William..." a female voice said, shaking Spike away from his drowsiness.

Spike opened his eyes, and sat with a jerk on his makeshift bed.

"You're getting old, William...didn't they teach us to be always alert?" the female voice said. The woman came out from the shadows of his crypt.

"Electra?" Spike said surprised.

Last time he had seen that woman, it had been in Rome, almost a century before, but he would have recognized her everywhere. He was surprised the Eletti hadn't ever asked him to stop her, since she was one of the cruellest vampires he had ever met.

The woman smiled at him, while getting close to him "The one and only..." she said. There was amusement in her voice. Spike blinked recognizing in her voice, that of his nightmares.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at her. The woman was looking around, there was laughter in her emerald green eyes, she moved with grace around his crypt, yet her movements had always reminded Spike those of a predator, a dangerous predator.

"Aren't you going to ask me why am I here, William?" the woman said turning to look at him. Spike noticed she was holding her hands behind her back

"Should I? And how did you get here to start with? "

Electra shrugged and sitting next to him on his makeshift bed she said, "Don't you remember Rome, William? What was it 1910? Your lovely Drusilla told me, your house was always going to be mine if I needed it...and besides you are technically dead, I don't need to be invited in..."

"Are you going to tell me what are you doing here, or are we just going to talk effin semantics?" Spike hissed.

"Oh, William is that the way to greet an old friend? A peer?" the woman said pouting at him.

"We are not friends..." he hissed.

"Aren't we?" the woman asked. "By the way I came here even to tell you, you did a very good job with the heta7tanatos..."

"I don't know what are you talking about" Spike said looking straight in her eyes.

Electra laughed at his words and shook her head, "What was that…lesson number three? Learn to tell blatant lies, looking your enemies straight in the eyes? I hated that part..."

She didn't let him talk and placed on the bed a silver box saying, "Open it..."

Spike looked at her, puzzled. Was Electra an Eletti? What game was she playing?

He snorted and opened the box. Surrounded by what it looked like vampire's ashes there was a human's heart.

He didn't even realize he had morphed in his game face; he had to resist the urge to take that heart in his hands and drain it from the blood he could still smell in it.

He shook his head. He had been so surprised, both by the macabre gift and by his first reaction to it that he didn't even notice that Electra had gotten up from the bed and had headed toward the door, her voice made him start.

"Poor Bruce...he kept begging for life until I just ripped his heart out of his chest....it's been fun...see you around, Spike!" she happily quipped and turned her back at him, she took some steps then turned again, she had morphed in her game face, she practically growled when she said, "You stopped me once, try that again and next time it will be your bitch's heart...and your gheraious' ashes...in a silver box"

If Spike had had a heart it would have stopped beating when she softly added, "Unless you want to stop denying your nature, what you really are. Don't you remember William? Be yourself...let it free...let it live...”

She winked at him and left his crypt, laughing. The clinch of her heels ticking on the floor, the only sound in his crypt.

Spike closed his eyes, tightening his grip around the box; he didn't even realize he had morphed in his game face.

Electra had talked about a next time.

Spike smirked; he was going to be ready for her.

But first he had to have a long talk to his gheraious, Eric, it was time he explained some things to him.

He only hoped that in the process he wasn't going to lose Willow.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Giles' living room was crowded with people. His house was now, more than ever their hang out place, or as Xander always called it, "The Scooby's Central" it was there they researched, trained or simply relaxed.

They were all sprawled in various places in the living room, all of them waiting for Giles to come back from the kitchenette.

Xander and Anya were on the stairs, already with books in their hands, Willow and Spike were both sitting on the couch, Willow cross legged was typing on her laptop, while Spike was reading from a big tome. Buffy was working out on the floor but when Giles returned to the living room, they all stopped their activities and as one looked at the man; Buffy gracefully rose on her feet and helped him with the tray.

Giles nodded at her and sat on an armchair, while Buffy sat on the floor at his feet hugging her knees against her chest.

"So, G-Man, what's the what? We've been pretty quiet since the failed hetawhatever"

"Heta7tanatos Xander, and don't call me that..." Giles said. He looked around, Spike was looking at him. He had been the first one to arrive at his house, and he hadn't uttered a single word, he had just logged on the net, using Willow's laptop and had worked on the computer, until the red-head had arrived.

Giles arched an eyebrow at him and Spike silently nodded at him before saying, "I think I know, why the watcher called us here..."

"Do you?" Willow asked.

Spike nodded, "But first, let's listen to Rupert..."

"An article on this morning's newspaper caught my attention" he took some sheets from the coffee table and handed them to Willow who passed them to the others.

"So, a guy has been killed...and that's supposed to regard us how?" Xander asked, after he read the sheet.

"It's the way he has been killed that caught my attention..."

"His heart has been ripped out from his chest, am I right, Rupert?" Spike asked.

Giles looked at Willow who nodded at him, then at Spike and said, "How do you know that?"

"Because I know who killed him..." Spike said in a low voice.

"Let me guess: could it be a vampire?" Xander asked.

"How do you know him?" Willow asked shooting an angry glance at Xander.

"Her...it's a woman." He got up from the couch and started pacing the room before saying, "Six months ago, one of the Eletti, a woman, was sent to France, she had to contact a dangerous master vampire and stop him from opening one of the Hellmouths, three months ago she disappeared just after stopping him, since then strange things happened...things that led to the failed heta7tanatos we faced last month. Two weeks ago, this...creature, has been spotted by one of our agents, last week her gheraious..."

"Her what?" Buffy asked blankly.

"It's a term we use for our trainers...it means elderly, anyway, her ghearious disappeared...word is among the Eletti that she has lost her soul...her name is Electra...there should be something in the Watcher's diaries..."

"Electra is an Eletti?" Giles asked surprised. He had read about her while he had been training, she was one of the cruellest vampires known in history.

"I was as surprised as you are when they confirmed it...I met her once and wondered why she hadn't been stopped by one of us..." Spike said.

"You...you said she has lost her soul, is it possible? I thought it was permanent..." Buffy asked. To say she was surprised meant using an euphemism.

Spike shrugged; "It looks like it isn't after all..." he swallowed, forcing himself not to look at Willow, although he could feel her eyes on him, that wasn't the moment to let his feelings cloud his judgment.

"What makes you think she's the one who killed that guy and her gheraious?"

"Because I know her, because that's her style...and because she paid a visit to me this afternoon..."

He took from the floor his backpack, and extracted from it, the silver box Electra had given to him and placed it on the coffee table.

"Do we want to know what's inside that box?" Xander asked frowning.

"Her ghearious' ashes and that man's heart" Spike said flatly. He looked around at the people in the room, who were very quiet and exchanged glances.

It was Buffy who broke the silence saying, "Well, ok she isn't very sane, but she's a vampire, Spike! She shouldn't be that difficult to kill..." she shrugged and added, "a stake through the heart, beheading...take your pick...and I'm your girl!"

Spike smiled at her words. He wished things were that simple. She wasn't just a vampire...she was the vampire who currently held him for his balls, screwing with his head...pushing him on the edge.

"What did she tell you?" Willow asked raising her head from the sheet she had been observing.

"I don't know what are you talking about... “Spike said.

"She told you something...and there is something else, I think she's targeting you...that guy's body was found near the factory...and take a look at that man's picture, there's a slight resemblance..."

Spike nodded at her, he had reached the same conclusions. He looked at her and didn't catch any trace of fear or doubts on her face; she just seemed concerned about him.

Spike turned and looked at Giles; the man looked back at him before asking, "What do you think she will do, next?"

"She'll gather as many vampires as possible...she'll build an army and attempt to do what she failed last month..."

"Did you contact the Eletti?" Xander asked.

"I did...and guess what? They told me to stop her, she's very dangerous..."

"Duh much?" Buffy mumbled. She looked at Spike and said, "she could expose all of you..."

Spike just nodded at her. He didn't worry about his cover. The local demons in Sunnydale already knew he was working with the Slayer, although they probably thought it was because he had fallen in love with a human...he feared for the other Eletti...he didn't even want to imagine what could happen if Electra exposed their existence.

He got at the centre of the living room and looked at all of them before saying, "Red is right, Electra has targeted me...but I'm not her only target, we all are. All the people who stopped heta7tanatos are...it goes without saying...you'll all have to be extremely careful in the following days..."

"Hm...Spike? I think we had figured this part out..." Xander mumbled.

"There is something else...I think she is trying to weaken me..."

"Are you talking about your dreams? Spike they were just dreams!" Willow exclaimed getting up from the couch and approaching him.

Spike took a step back, not letting her touch him and said, "I know they were dreams...it's the fact she's using them to get me which worries me...it looks like she learned some neat tricks from the demon that kidnapped you..."

Willow opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and shook her head when they heard a knock on the door. They were looking at each other, totally oblivious of the other occupants of the room, until Xander said, "I'll get it...."

Only then did they glance away, Spike nodded at Xander, feeling he already knew who it was at the door.

"Eric!" Xander said aloud greeting the vampire inside.

Willow looked at Spike and asked in a low voice, "Did you call him?"

Spike shook his head, "Yes, but they had already decided to send him here...they think I'm too emotionally involved, and they're right..."

"What did she tell you, Spike?" Willow asked; her voice was but a whisper.

Spike shook his head, "We'll talk about it later, Red... "

"When?" she hissed

"Not now..." he hissed back.

Willow was about to say something when Eric approached them, he was wearing jeans and a grey sweater.

Willow blinked. She had never met Eric, when she had been under the spell, the closer contact she had had with the vampire had been through Xander. From what her friends had told her about him she had expected someone completely different, not that young looking man, with a gentle smile and soulful almond-shaped brown eyes.

"William, it's good to see you, again...." The vampire said. He smiled at Willow and said, "It's good to finally meet you, Willow"

Willow looked at both Spike and Eric and smiled, her smile quickly faded, though when she said, "Do you know what's going on, don't you?"

Eric nodded and said, "Yes, William called me and explained it to me..."

"She came to my crypt this afternoon and brought me a present" Spike said in a low voice, pointing with his eyes at the silver box on the coffee table.

Eric nodded at him and approached the coffee table; he knelt and opened the box. He didn't even blink. He just cocked and eyebrow and turned to look at Spike saying, "I presume those are her gheraious' ashes..."

"I think so..." Spike said.

"Well, at least we now know what happened to him...hmm....any idea to whose heart is this?"

It was Buffy who spoke saying, "A guy she killed...."

"Let me guess, did he have a remarkably resemblance to our William?" Eric asked.

"Yes, and the body was found near the old factory" Willow added.

Spike nodded at Willow then turned toward Eric saying, "It's her, Eric...she told me..."

"It figures, she likes playing these games..." Eric said getting on his feet, "what did she tell you?"

Spike looked briefly at Willow then at Eric and said, "Oh, you know the usual...don't deny your true nature, let your demon free...let it live...try to stop me again and next time it will be your bitch's heart and your gheraious ashes you'll find in a box..."

Eric just cocked and eyebrow at him and shook his head, "What a honey..." he mumbled. Eric looked at Spike and said, "Well, the orders are clear...we have to stop her, she hasn't spread the word yet, but it's just a matter of time..."

Spike interrupted him asking, "Speaking of which...may I know why in the bloody hell didn't you tell me it was Electra the Eletti who had blown her cover?"

"I couldn't...you know the rules about the secrecy of ..."

"Oh, sod off! We were facing a heta7tanatos...our covers had already blown with the Slayer and her chums but you couldn't tell me that crazy bitch was an Eletti?"

"We didn't think it was important, she was presumably dead..."

"Well guess what? She wasn't! You know what, Eric? I'm sick of being left out...I had to be informed there was a heta7tanatos in motion by a sodding trainee!"

"What do you want to know, William?" Eric asked. He didn't seem concerned about Spike's outburst.

Xander was looking at both of them, he had seen Spike furious, or at least he had believed he had, he wasn't prepared to the cold fury that exuded from the bleached-blonde vampire.

 He hadn't raised his voice, he hadn't even morphed in his game face...but for the first time since he had been chipped Xander was scared of him. It was the look in his eyes, the coldness in his voice that scared him.

He knew about his real identity as all the Scoobies did, but he had never had a glimpse of the real Spike, of the Eletti, who had carried a double identity for more than a century...he was seeing it now...and he was scared by him.

"I want to know everything, Eric...I want to know who her gheraious was, who was the master she had been sent to stop, what she had written in her last report. I want to know how in the bloody hell she's getting into my head! I swear it to you, Eric...if any of them get hurt because of the sodding rules....the next on the list is going to be you!"

Eric cocked an eyebrow at him and asked, "Are you quite finished?"

Spike pursed his lips and lightly nodded. He had clenched his hands in fists while talking and both Xander and Eric noticed the blood that was spilling from them on the floor, Spike though didn't even seem to notice that.

"Look William, if punching me is going to make you feel better, and help you focus on the task on hand then go ahead....but I'd suggest we focused our energies on other less trivial things, don't you agree?"

Willow looked at Spike. The blonde vampire looked shaken, his jaws were clenched, she resisted the urge to get close to him and touch him, she stifled a sigh when he nodded and said, "Of course, you tosser...what do you suggest?"

"Well..." Buffy said interrupting them, "I say we should find her and stake her..."

She looked around they were all looking at her, the duh, although not spoken, was clearly heard in the room, she shrugged and said, "Do you have a better idea?"

Eric and Spike looked at each other, then at Buffy and shook their heads. Eric looked at Spike and asked, "Do you have any idea about her whereabouts?"

"Here in Sunnydale? It shouldn't be that difficult...one of the abandoned factories...or warehouses" Buffy said, "Vampires usually hide there..."

Spike shook his head, "Not Electra..."

Giles who had been silent during all the exchange said, "I agree...if I recall correctly, she has always preferred much more luxurious places to live in..."

Spike nodded at Giles and said, "She has probably settled in a house, one in the upper class side of Sunnydale..."

"What about we tried to locate her with a spell? It's much simpler than keep wondering where she could be" Willow said.

Eric nodded at Willow's words. Spike had informed him over the years about Willow's progresses in Witchcraft and he could feel how powerful she was becoming. He smiled at her and said, "Good idea, I'd say we should start, then...we have to stop her!"