SHERLITON'S ARMY
Sherliton’s Army, chapter two Notes: This is dedicated to Woody. Enjoy. I’ll just run out and buy
some marshmallows. Thanks to everyone at the fantastic Willow/Spike fanfic list -
groups./group/WillSpikeFic/ For their wonderful encouragement and support. And fabulously entertaining
fic. You guys rock. More notes: Just a quick chapter here. Keep in mind that I don’t take
this seriously. My readers shouldn’t either. Trust me – it’s more fun
that way. Spike was dreaming. Not his usual Slayage-n-Shaggage dreams, either.
Nor nightmarish flashbacks of Dru and Angelus. No. This was something
truly terrifying. Something that nearly made his dead heart pound in fear. Spike was dreaming of frogs. Big, plump, green frogs on logs, Kermit the frog – even that animated
frog from the WB made a brief appearance. Little tiny rainbow-colored tree
frogs were swarming all over him; they dangled by a couple of suction-
cupped toes from his clothes, sat in his hair, crawled up his face, and
croaked in his ears. They were everywhere. It was horrifying. He stood
stock still, too petrified to move, and some tiny part of his brain
wondered when these small amphibians had become so repulsive to him. Willow also dreamed. At least, she thought it was a dream, but it
seemed so real…and on the Hellmouth, who could be sure what was reality,
anyway? All she knew for certain was that this wasn’t any dream she’d had
before. The land around her was blackened – singed by fire. The foundations of
houses and building still smoked. Bodies of humans and demons alike
littered the ground, and there wasn’t a single living thing to be seen, or
sensed. She was completely and utterly alone. Even worse was her legs. They wouldn’t move, and she wanted so badly to
run away from all this distruction. Goddess, it looked like the Hellmouth
had been opened, or something. She found herself looking east towards the horizon, feeling an odd
tingly feeling at the base of her neck that she knew meant the sun was
about to rise. She couldn’t hide from it, and suddenly she didn’t want to. Smiling, Willow waited for oblivion. The sun came up, only to be blocked out by the rising clouds of smoke.
She couldn’t even see the light, much less turn herself to dust. “No…”she
whispered brokenly. Meanwhile, the Slayer and the Slayerettes were standing around, watching
with fascination as the non-breathing Spike continued to snore. “It must
be some kind of spell,” Xander said. “They’re both out cold.” Buffy nodded. “Or poison of some kind. Maybe there’s something wiggy
about that demon’s skin. They both touched him.” “But so did Xander. He’s still awake and reasonably alert.” “Thanks, An.” Anya just smiled at him. She was finally getting the hang of humor. Dawn was worried. The redheaded witch was her role model – and although
that status had taken a beating a few weeks ago, the strength with which
Willow was dealing with her addiction was inspiring. She was like her big
sister and favorite aunt all rolled into one. And it looked like something
was after her. “Why would something want to hurt Willow?” she asked.
“Willow hasn’t done anything. It’s not fair!” “I don’t know Dawnie. We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” The teen nodded, and went back to trying to clean the two snoozing
adults up. She took a damp wash cloth to Spike’s face, trying to wash off
the dried blood from the corner of his mouth. He stirred. “Don’ warn the
tadpoles…” he muttered, and then fell silent. Xander gaped at him for a
minute, his mouth opening and closing without any sound. Finally he spoke. “I think it’s time to hit the books.” Buffy nodded, eyes wide. Arnold Percival Sherliton was not a person one would normally notice if
they passed by him on the street. He was short, wiry, and seemed to
possess a rather suspicious lack of identifying features. Most people did
pass him by. Many of those people ran into him first. He was just so
nondescript he faded into the sidewalk. This irked Arnold a great deal. He hadn’t successfully made a name for
himself in the software business only to be overlooked in social settings.
He was rich. He was powerful. And damn it – he could have any girl he
wanted! Unfortunately , none of the above statements were exactly true.
Sherliton was wealthy compared to the average Sunnydale citizen, and
did have the power over his own career – being his own boss had it’s
perks, of course – and he could have almost any girl he wanted, thanks to
a little magick he’d been working on. But he didn’t want any girl. He wanted her. She was gorgeous, with
all that brilliant red hair and creamy skin and big hazel eyes. Arnold was
completely and utterly smitten with the woman. And she, for some reason,
had never given him the time of day. Arnold frowned, mixing a variety of smelly herbs into a large crystal
bowl. A pentangle of black candles surrounded him, and a large red one sat
next to his workstation. This would get her attention. He knew it
would. The girl had the biggest heart in the world – you could see it in
her eyes. All he’d have to do was gain complete control of everything in
this creepy little town, bring it to it’s knees, and then offer it all to
his sweetheart. Arnie watched the talk shows – he knew what women wanted,
and he’d give it to her. In fact, he’d better start practicing now – he
could just imagine the loving tear slipping down her face as he spoke, the
way she’d touch his face…. What was his line, again? Oh. Right. “My
darling. My one true love. Your beauty outshines the sun. Your purity
blinds me. I’m helpless before you. Only you can take this hardened heart
and change it. Only with your love can I divert from my life of crime to a
future of good…” A group of newly called demons congregated in one corner of the
warehouse, chatting in their native language about the outcome of the
previous night’s Game. The game in question was one similar to American
football, but happens to be utterly unpronounceable in English. When their
new boss’ voice rang out, they paused, hoping they were about to get some
action. They’d been waiting for friggin’ ever. Instead, he was just rehearsing that speech again. The demons didn’t
have the firmest grasp of the Human languages yet, but that didn’t mean
they lacked some degree of taste. They snickered. This shook Arnold out of his dreamy recitation and the bowl in front of
him shattered. Several candles also went out. “Damn it!” he hollered. “I
thought I told you – no noise! You guys are throwing me out of my groove!
Now I’ve got to start this crap all over again!” The demons quieted immediately, foreseeing the beginning of a loooong
night. Arnie smirked at the command he held over them, and then turned to
the creature on his right. “Dave – you wanna give me a hand cleaning this
up? I just don’t believe those guys – I pay them well, but do they listen
to me? Noooo…” the short man trailed off, mumbling curses. His black
scaly companion wriggled its mandibles and started sweeping up glass with
its claws. TBC (to everyone’s dread! Evil laugh, cackle, cackle, etc…)
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