The fall seemed to last forever, even though Spike knew it really took only seconds. He let out a gasp of pain as the branch of a tree pierced his side.
The smell of burning incense was filling the dim room. Only the trembling flames of several candles, precisely arranged in a circle on the floor in the middle of the room, provided some weak light. The red-haired girl was sitting cross-legged in the circle, eyes closed, murmuring words of an ancient spell. A chilly draft swept through the room, making the flames quiver...She flinched. A moment later, like thick fog vanishing when the sun starts to shine, her vision cleared, and she saw a huge, modern building...Her eyes focused on a certain office inside, revealing some furry, muscular, snarling animals. Willow immediately recognized the monsters; she had already seen some of that kind... Werewolves.
She turned to Spike, "Can we put the top down? I brought a jacket, and I've already got my hair tied back in a ponytail, so I'm all ready for the full Viper convertible experience."
A litle more than an hour later, Spike drove the Land Cruiser out of the Gilroy Inn parking garage, towing the Viper, and headed toward the freeway to begin their journey to the western slopes of the Rockies.
Spike began to wonder if there was more to this marriage made in Hell than met the eye.
Then they each grabbed a suitcase and headed for the elevator.
Dracula's hand moved up. His cold fingers slowly brushed her neck and traced her jaw line.
Spike parks the bike at the curb, and he and Dana stroll over for a closer look at the pyramid and the statue.
He could feel that beast now, clawing to be released, so Spike opened his heart, opened his soul and allowed the wolf spirit to nourish itself.
Once the waitress left them, they both called out, "Cheers!" and swallowed the first of what would end up being several shots.
...the fiery figure returns and runs at Spike.
If he closed his eyes he could almost picture the Poncey Prince as Satan, trying to tempt him to sell his soul.
A few minutes later Victor returned carrying a tray with a crystal decanter and several glasses.
The moon flashed intermittently through gaps in the canopy above him. As it did, the patterns on it's surface took on a familiar form; a lone wolf circling the perimeter, howling in sorrow at his pain and weakness.
Dracula had re-materialized on the highway directly in front of them.
He looks in one window, tenses and stops. In that room, in that bed, curled into a fetal position, curled around a core of pain and desperation, is a mad girl named Dana.
The lamp began to quake, shaking towards the edge of the nightstand. The televison suddenly clicked on, the sound blaring and the screen revealing that it was right in the middle of the film Poltergeist.
"Actually, you guys caught me napping..."
"So all I've got to do is drink the tea and chant the mantra, and I'll be safe from Dracula's thrall?" asked Xander anxiously.
Spike barely got off one "BLOODY HELL!" before he found himself somersaulting through the air over the horse's head, and landing most ungracefully on his butt in the middle of the brook.
Bringing his heel down on the figurine, Dracula ground the glass into dust.
Holly Monster