Chapter ten

Eric's big house was dipped in obscurity, heavy black curtains covered all the large windows of that huge Victorian house.

Willow had kept looking

 around while she had followed William. There weren't portraits on the walls,

 and the furniture was Spartan, to say the least.

<Does he even sleep in a coffin?>

She wondered, following William through a darkened hallway, she could breathe magic in that house, and the weight of time.

She didn't know how old exactly Eric was, yet, the more she knew him, the more she started to think,

 he had to be indeed very old.

William stopped in front of a door, he hadn't looked at her since they had gotten out from the coach, even now, he wasn't looking at her, she caught hesitancy in his gestures, but that hesitancy only lasted for an instant,

because he knocked at the door.

Eric's deep voice greeted them saying, "Come in"

William opened the door, and gestured Willow to get in first. Willow was surprised by some of his gestures, he didn't talk to her, he didn't even look at her most of the times, yet he surprised her with gallant gestures, typical of the men of his age.

She sensed, though, that it wasn't just something he did out of habit, his gestures were instinctive.

She found herself being curios about who he had been before becoming a watcher, before accepting to be an Eletti.

She shook away those thoughts, and her mouth almost dropped open, when she saw the room they had entered in, it vaguely reminded her of her high's school library.

 It was a very large room, filled with books, the only window in the room, was covered with a thick black curtain, blocking out the sunlight, yet the room was lit by a huge chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

On a side of the room Willow noticed a big fireplace, fire was cracking in it, Eric was sitting Indian style on the floor in front of it, as usual dressed in black, his eyes were closed and he was tilting his head up, he didn't acknowledge their presence at first, then quickly rose on his feet saying, "Please, do take a seat, both of you. We have some important matters to discuss..."

William gestured Willow toward a desk, there were two chairs in front of it, William took that on the left, he placed the sheets he had been reading in the coach on the desk, while Willow slowly sat beside him.

Eric approached them, then sat behind the desk, he took the sheets William had placed on the desk and quickly read them, he then placed it in a drawer before asking, "Anything to add to your report, William?"

Willow noticed how William almost imperceptibly pointed at her with his eyes, Eric shook his head and said, "Do not worry, William. I already told you, she can be trusted..."

"Does she know?" William asked.

Eric just nodded at him, and rested his back against the chair saying, "Do tell me whether there is something to add to your report...."

William pursed his lips before saying, "I have noticed an increased number of newly risen vampires for the last month. I did not notice a precise scheme, though. I do believe, however that some of the vampires of the Clan

of Aurelius could be involved. I did spot some of them, on various occasions..."

Willow blinked at those words, vague recollections about her researches coming up at William's words.

Hadn't been Darla, Angelus and Drusilla part of the Clan of Aurelius?

Eric crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Very good, William, since you are telling the tale, I can be reasonably sure, you haven't been spotted by any of them"

Willow had to bit the inside of her cheek from laughing, when William smirked at Eric, in a gesture incredibly Spike-like.

She could see the seeds of the vampire he was going to become, when he talked about his job. There was passion in his eyes, although he hadn't moved, the tension in his body had been evident.

"What do you think, Eric?" William asked, a hint of cockiness in his voice.

Eric almost smiled at his words, but didn't comment, he looked at William, then at Willow and asked, "How do you feel, Willow?"

Willow nodded at him and smiled, Eric smiled back at her, then turned to look at William saying, "Willow is here for a precise reason, William..."

William blinked and turned to look at Willow, puzzled, then asked, "Does this reason concern me, somehow?"

Willow nodded at him, unconsciously squeezing the little bottle in her hands.

"Yes it does, William...she is here, because she needs your blood" Eric simply said.

William looked at him, arching his eyebrows and asked, "May I know why?"

Eric shook his head, he was about to say something when they heard a knock on the door. He shook his head and said aloud, "Come in"

A young, red-haired man, entered the room. He was totally dressed in black, Willow noticed Eric and William exchanged a glance when the man got close to them, the young man didn't say anything, he just placed an ivory envelope on the desk, then took a bow and left the room.

Eric took the envelope in his hands and looked at them for some instants then opened it, he quickly read from the sheet then closed it, he got up from the chair and went to the fireplace, he knelt in front of it, and carefully burned the sheet.

Willow followed his movements, ignoring the knot that was forming in her stomach, she suddenly felt sick, she turned to look at William, he had lightly paled, and his hands were almost gripping the

arms of his chair.

<Oh God...>

She silently said, she swallowed when Eric returned behind the desk, his face was totally expressionless, he looked at William for an instant then said, "You have been activated."

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

The mansion was empty, that didn't surprise Buffy, Xander and mostly Eric.

He could feel magic in that place, it was stronger than the previous night. The sun had just set, it hadn't taken long for them, to dispatch the few remaining vampires at the entrance of the mansion, since then they had been

looking for Electra.

They all knew, she was observing them waiting for the right moment, to come out.

"Are you really sure, she's still here?" Xander asked looking around.

He was gripping a stake in his right hand and a cross in his left one. He didn't like that quiet, although he couldn't feel magic...or didn't have a spider sense, as Buffy called her ability to sense evil, he had a gut feeling something was going to happen, and that none of them was going to like it.

"I'm positively sure..." Eric said looking around.

He turned to look at Buffy, she was walking lightly apart from them, holding a crossbow in her hand, again he was getting strange vibes from her, there was something he couldn't exactly put his finger on about her.

<It can't be>

He thought, he unconsciously got closer to her. She looked at him puzzled, but Eric didn't say anything.

He was almost tempted to call Electra aloud and end that stupid charade...but he knew that she wasn't going to answer them, she wasn't going to make things easy for them.

She enjoyed the waiting, the game.

She was waiting for them and relying just on her strength and her knowledge... the perfect Eletti, even when turned.

He swallowed. The previous day they had willingly chosen to fall for her trap in order to stop her, and what they were doing in that moment wasn't very different.

He looked at Buffy, the Slayer had stopped, she was at the center of the hall, her eyes narrowed, she almost reminded him of a predator.

She tilted her head on a side, meeting his eyes, and Eric knew, she was reaching his same conclusions. Electra had something big hidden in her sleeve.

"Any idea what she is up to?" Buffy asked in a neutral voice

"You can ask me, Slayer..." Electra's voice came from a corner of the mansion.

They heard her steps approaching them. Buffy turned toward the voice, the woman who was in front of her didn't look much older than her.

She slowly walked toward them, her eyes on Buffy, she seemed to ignore the others.

She was dressed in large black pants and a lilac thin strapped top. They all noticed that although she was in her game face, she didn't have any weapons with her.

She looked calm, controlled, as if she owned all the

cards in her hands

"What are you looking at?" Buffy asked. That woman was giving her the same strange vibes Spike had always given her.

"I'm just thinking....you're going to be my first Slayer...." the female vampire said.

"Yeah, yeah....you've no idea how many times I've heard this line....yet, as you can see I'm still here..." Buffy said rolling her eyes .

The female vampire nodded at her and smiling said, "You have been very lucky, Slayer....that's all"

"Quite cheeky, aren't we?" Buffy asked, stepping lightly closer to her.

"Nah, I'm just stating the facts..." Electra said. She didn't move, she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Buffy's move.

"Are you gonna use again that shield, Electra, or are you gonna fight?"

"There are no shields, Slayer, I'm just waiting for you...are you gonna make a move any time soon?" Electra asked, she sounded amused by the situation.

Eric moved toward them, but Electra's voice stopped him. Her eyes were still on Buffy, she didn't turn toward him when she said, " Stay here, gheraious...it won't take long... "

Buffy aimed her crossbow at Electra, and fired a bolt, Electra though, effortlessly caught it, and broke it, throwing it on the floor. She shook her head and said, "What did I tell you? You have been lucky, Slayer...now let me see whether you have learned something for the last month"

She snapped her fingers and all the lights around them went off.

Buffy blinked, surprised, while Electra's voice taunted her in the darkness saying, "Where am I Slayer?"

Buffy felt cold fingers brushing her face. She shivered, that wasn't mere darkness. It was so thick that she couldn't see anything through it. She couldn' t hear Eric or Xander.

She was alone.

~ Hone your senses... you will be surprised....~

She took a deep breath, Spike's words came up in her mind. She closed her eyes, sighing. She focused on the vibes she was getting from Electra.

"Tzk, tzk...be careful with that crossbow, you might end hurting someone..." Electra said, her voice soft and full of amusement.

Buffy blinked her eyes open and just like it had happened the month before under the galleries, she was able to see through the darkness. Electra was in front of her, she wasn't very far from her, and still didn't have weapons...or so Buffy thought, since she was hiding her hands behind her back.

Electra tilted her head on a side and smiled at Buffy saying, "Just you and me, come and get me..."

"Electra? Shut up!" Buffy exclaimed. She aimed the crossbow at the vampire and fired another bolt but it seemed to hurt against a solid wall.

"Another shield, Electra?" Buffy asked getting close to her.

"That's correct...I said just you and me, Slayer...Come and Get Me" she softly said.  She raised her hands and said, "I want to bag my first Slayer with my bare hands..."

"You guys are getting lamer and lamer" Buffy said under her breath charging Electra.

The vampire didn't move. A kick in the stomach from Buffy sent her to the floor, Electra couldn't help laughing while she quickly got on her feet and said, "Very good..."

Buffy spin kicked her, with blows almost too quick for the eyes to see. She threw Electra against a wall, the vampire shook her head and looked at her smiling.

Buffy got closer to her, taking from the waistband of her trousers a stake, "I say this is the end, Electra, don't you agree?"

Electra didn't move, even when Buffy threw the stake at her, Buffy blinked when the vampire just grabbed the stake with her left hand. She hadn't even flinched.

~ I was a watcher...when they approached me. ~

"I don't Slayer..." Electra said, shaking Buffy away from her recollections.

There was a light blink in Electra's eyes, then she threw her stake back at her.

It was so quick  that Buffy didn't even have time to move. The stake pierced with deadly precision the soft skin of her right shoulder.

Buffy fell on her knees. What had surprised her the most, was that Electra had purposely aimed at her right shoulder.

She lowered her head in pain and swallowed as she heard her steps approaching.

Electra grabbed her by her hair and tilted her head up saying, "Definitely not. Lesson the first, a Slayer shouldn't *ever* give potential weapons to her opponents, because, you see? "

~ "They?" she asked.

Spike nodded, "They told me who they were...what they did...they only choose the best among the watchers..." ~

Buffy swallowed again, Electra lightly tilted her head on a side and whispered tightening her grip on her hair, "Bad things happen"

That was the last thing Buffy heard, Electra's knee, solidly connected against her face, sending her in a dark space, where the only thing she could feel, the only thing she knew was pain.

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

William nodded, and asked in a firm voice, "Which is the assignment?"

~ You have been activated. ~

Four words. He had been waiting to hear them for months, since he had left Eric's house, the house where he had trained for three years.

Part of him, the part that had been forged under Eric's severe training, was eager to begin...yet why did he feel so breathless?

"You'll have more details as the sun sets..." Eric said.

William noticed how Willow looked surprised by the coldness in Eric's voice, his face didn't betray any emotion, any feelings, it looked like he didn't care at all about him, about what he was going through. William, though, knew better.

Yet, he couldn't help wondering whether he was right in that moment, how could he be so cold while condemning a person to die?

William nodded and got up from the chair, he was almost at the door, when Eric's voice stopped him saying, "William?"

William turned, and the restlessness, the tension in him was almost palpable, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Is there something else?"

"The ring" was the only thing Eric said.

He started at those words almost as if he had been slapped. He slowly walked toward the desk and placed the ring on it saying in a low voice, "To stand against the darkness. To be the light within the darkness...to aid the

Slayer in her never ending.... battle against the darkness...to lighten her  burden...to fight by her side and die for her...to protect the world ...always"

He raised his head to look at Eric, and he vaguely noticed Willow, she looked as if she was expecting Eric to say something, anything, but the vampire didn't talk, he just took the ring and said, "You are dismissed..."

William nodded and went out the room without saying a words, he chose not to consider the fact that Willow had blinked when she had noticed the trembling in his hands.

He took a deep breath, there was only one place

where he could go, in that moment, there was only one place where he could regain some of the resolve, that he was feeling shaking within him.

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

Electra let go of Buffy and snapped her fingers and the lights around them went on, she turned toward Eric shrugging and said, "Told you, it wasn't going to take long, gheraious"

Eric stepped toward her, he lowered his head and looked at Buffy.

She was on the floor, a stake was emerging from her right shoulder. He pursed his lips, the vibes from Buffy were stronger...he turned toward Xander, saying, "Take

her to the hospital, now..."

"Do you really think I will let you?" Electra asked getting close to him.

Eric stretched a hand toward her, and Electra was thrown back, hitting a wall, she slowly rose on her feet and shrugged saying, "I guess I will..."

"Is she alright?" Xander asked, kneeling to take Buffy in his arms.

Eric nodded, without looking at him. His eyes bore into Electra's, she wasn't moving, she just kept looking at him, unafraid.

He didn't turn when he heard Xander taking Buffy in his arms, and taking her away from the mansion. Only then did he take a step toward her.

 He didn't morph in his game face, and his voice was calm when he said, "I'll rip your heart out of your chest with my own hands, Electra..."

"Oh, yes please...by all means let me taste your darkness..." Electra said smiling.

Eric smiled back at her and hissed, "As you wish darling"