Chapter 4 - Meeting with a Vampire

"Wow," Cordelia said softly, looking around. "This is my spiritual home."

The service elevator opened in the back hall of the first floor lobby. The vampire glanced around the small hallway. There were rest rooms at either end, with the lift between them. In this area, there was a low ceiling, about ten feet up, with sprinklers every few feet. To the left of the lift as they exited there was an alarmed emergency door. There was an alarm on the wall near the doorway to the main lobby.

Moving forward through the open double doors, Spike eyed the lobby. It was huge and not unlike an angel food cake with a slice taken out of it. The inner circular wall--the one surrounding the central hole of the tube cake--and the cut ends where the slice had been, were clear glass, allowing natural lighting in the daytime and tonight showcasing the lower level reading room's glowing pyramidal skylight. There were stairs and doors at each end. Attached firmly to the wall were heavy display cases, with plexiglass thicker than windows at a post office. An arc, broken in the center with a wide gap, of double-sided freestanding display cases paralleled the curve of the central glass wall. The room was large enough that there was still un-crowded space for all the attendees to wander around and view the exhibits. Between and above the cases on the wall and at each end of the inner arc were the paintings that inspired the exhibit.

The lighting of the showcases was inspired: The unset gems and the jewelry gleamed and glittered in great sweeps of color and brilliant accents of gold, platinum and silver. The people already present glanced at the four newest arrivals, then went back to talking to each other.

"Shit," Gunn said.

"Relax. Look slightly bored," Spike said. "Remember, for all they know, we bought tickets."

"And even then we couldn't get dates?" Gunn muttered.

"I thought Rodeo was your spiritual home?" Wesley asked Cordelia.

"This is my second spiritual home, my jewelry home. Rodeo Drive is just my shoe home now."

One of the circulating waiters stopped by them and offered champagne. Spike gave the man a quick glance and took a glass with a soft word of thanks. The other three followed suit.

"Is this safe?" Wesley asked.

"Probably. He was wearing a cross, the bubbles look right, there's no precipitate, and they're opening the bottles right over there." Spike nodded towards the entrance to the far right. Through the glass end, the group could see behind the beverage station, set up against the glass wall on the terrace. Effectively, the servers were in full view, before and in back of the table on which they were unloading glasses, arranging them on trays and filling them with bottles from a couple of large ice baths. No one was adding anything to the glasses or the wine. "Hm. Not as good as Ann's."

Spike stepped back behind Gunn. "Stay still," he said calmly, touching the big man on the arm. "Dru's over there, looking at the skylight."

"Is that Jack with her?" Wesley asked Cordelia.

"No. I don't know him. Wow! Bazaar! The magazine? Her suit?" Cordelia explained in the presence of total male incomprehension. "She's wearing about $11,000 worth of Valentino! I never would have thought of mixing mink and lace, would you?"

"Turn, Cordelia, before she sees you," Spike said.

"Right," Cordelia said, putting her back to the female vampire. Spike moved in front of her and looked over her shoulder.

"I don't know the man with her," he said, moving back behind Gunn.

"Nor do I. All right," Wesley said. "Gunn, staying between Cordy and Drusilla, escort her around to the display cases. Spike, stay on my near side, with your back to Drusilla, and we'll head the other way. Cordy, locate the ruby, and move to where you can watch it. If you see Jack before you find the ruby, come to us."

"Why do I carry the clipboard?" Wesley asked.

"Because you have the Permanent Under-Secretary look down cold," the vampire said. "No one would listen to Gunn because he's young, black and well dressed. Cordelia has almost the same problem, being young, female and too beautiful. No one would listen to me because they have no idea who I could be. You're the most respectable and responsible looking of us all, you sort of epitomize power exercised through proper channels. If we run into opposition, you can do the talking, using the clipboard as an authority symbol."

"Most of the models seem to be circulating outside," Wesley said.

"It occurs to me," Spike said, "that if the point of this rather silly gathering is to stare at beautiful women and expensive jewelry, instead of European painting, which they seem to have chosen, the organizers should have picked some Hindu idols. Any one statue of a Hindu deity shows more flesh and better jewelry than any three Flemish portraits."

"Beyond the fact that early Asian gem technique resulted in large but uncut stones, which to contemporary eyes are strange and fairly unimpressive, good models would be difficult to find."

Spike nodded. "Women with four or more arms are few and far between; good looking ones are even rarer. The requisite body type should evoke the words: rounded, firm and wasp-waisted. Also agile."

"I was thinking of limber and pneumatic," Wesley agreed. "Who is Drusilla speaking with now?"

"Same one. A guy over there is counting heads," Spike said. "If Jack brought multiple minions, we may have an overpopulation problem; one potentially more serious than just running out of caviar."

"Ah."

Spike glanced around again. "And the population is definitely skewed to the male and vampiric. That one over there is licking his lips as he looks at that model, and I don't think it's because he likes van Dyck."

"Is that a van Dyck?"

"Henrietta Maria. What are you, a Roundhead? I don't think checking for stamps on the back of our hands is going to go over with this crowd. Infra dig," the vampire said.

"There is a guest list, and for all we know, ticket stubs," Wesley said. "We may be operating under a time limit. Have you seen any vents yet?"

"No, not in the lobby walls. The architect was fond of this travertine marble, wasn't he?" Spike looked around again. Not looking at Wesley, he said, "It's a buyers' market for means these days. If you want the stuff to come floating down, you purchase gas A, even if it is a little more expensive than gas B, which rises, and is useful in a different scenario. What you do depends on the physical layout of the action and who the target is. This place faces sort of south; at a guess, cooling is more important than heating, even with the hi-tech glass. I bet there are air conditioning vents further up, which is where I would plant gas A, the one that comes floating down, the way cool air does."

"You are a monster."

With a cold smile, the vampire looked fully at the Watcher: "Hey, I didn't invent poison gas, you know. One of you humans did; also germ warfare, the atomic and thermo-nuclear bombs, bureaucracy, inland revenue and Jar-Jar Binks. Remember that, when you're calling names."

"I didn't mean to imply that there aren't human monsters, too," Wesley said.

"And why gas in the first place? Jack's a vampire, why doesn't he just eat everyone?" Spike wondered. "Maybe he doesn't have enough minions for thorough crowd control, just enough so they grab all the caviar, leaving none for us."

"And what about the people out on the terrace? There's a steady breeze up here, gas would be difficult."

"Cordelia's vision wasn't focused outside, it was centered here, inside, where the ruby is and where there is no breeze. We have no idea what happens to the people outside, maybe Jack lets the minions feed on them while he steals the ruby."

"So where is the gas? And when is will it be released?"

"Well, if we assume Jack is a guest here only tonight and doesn't have library privileges, he could not have set this up last week."

"That does not seem unreasonable," Wesley said. "So?"

"So," the vampire said softly. "So, he's probably using gas C, which has pretty neutral buoyancy and just stays around where you spray it. At a guess, the gas probably hasn't been planted, it was probably carried in tonight. This place isn't that big, a tank large enough to do the job would fit in a briefcase, or a large purse, or an inside pocket of an overcoat."

"All this glass." Wesley was also thinking aloud. "The people outside will see the people inside die. Some will flee, some will try to help, some will call 999, I mean 911."

"Not if they're being killed by vampires," Spike said. "Jack may think he has enough minions to handle half this crowd, the outside half."

"And with one half dead and the other half under attack, he can break open the display cases and steal the ruby. Effective," Wesley said.

"Overkill," the vampire disapproved. "Not in the least elegant."

"Did you see her? Do you know who that was? She was wearing Armani. In fact, she wore that same dress on the show, when they all went to the Kennedy Center."

Gunn glanced after the woman in the blue and white floor length gown. "Kind of tall. Anyway, we're supposed to be looking at rubies," he said.

"These are red," Cordelia said.

"Huh. These are garnets."

"Oh. Maybe Spike was right to worry about my color sense. You know, in my vision, I didn't read the little sign."

"So these might be them?"

"Yeah. I better look at these. The one we're after is on top, above other red stones."

Gunn glanced along the curved wall. "OK. Here's some red stuff. Right over there is some pinkish to red stuff, then there's still more red stuff off at the far end. In the inner row, beyond some lilac to purple stuff at the end of the first bunch of cases, there's more red stuff, a couple of portraits, and then are a few red things in that mix just beyond them. At least we're starting at one end."

"It's not pink or purple."

"Rubies at last," Cordelia said, reading the sign.

"And the sign over there says emeralds. Do you see it?" Gunn asked.

"That's it," Cordelia said. "That's not it, I mean. I mean, it's the one I looked at but it's not the one I saw, it's not the one I should have paid attention to."

"Which one, then?" Gunn said. "Which one is Jack after?"

"The flat one, down three shelves. It's next to the pin-cushion one."

"It looks like red Jell-O," Gunn said, "the kind you make in a flat pan, then cut into cubes and cover with fake whipped cream, to try to fool kids in to eating it. It's sort of skewed, too."

"That's it, though, even if it's not a perfect square, that's the one I should have seen."

"Competition, and not just competition, another seer." A tall, pale man, with an oval head and a high brow under dark red hair, short, neat and parted on the side, reached out and turned Cordelia to face him. His wide, fine mouth smiled at her as her eyes widened and she stepped back from him. He was an inch or two shorter than Gunn and not as muscular. He looked as if he were playing Strephon in a summer camp musical, but his clothes were almost as good as Spike's and Gunn's.

"Jack."

"No; but you do know me, don't you? You've seen me. Interesting. This was fated."

"I was mistaken. Excuse us," Cordelia managed coolly, and turned away. She met Drusilla's manic stare.

"Oh, I know you, don't I?" Drusilla said. Behind her were the man she had been with earlier and two other male vampires. The three minions moved around in back of Gunn. "I don't remember your name, but I know you."

"No," Cordy lied.

"Yes. You're bad." She turned to Jack: "She's bad. Let me kill her."

"No. Where do you know her from?"

"Sunnydale," Drusilla hissed.

"This is the Slayer?"

"No!" Cordelia said.

"No," Drusilla said.

"Good. If she were the Slayer, that would have complicated matters. As it is, don't harm her. She's another seer. We'll take her with us. For now, take her outside to the cars and keep her safe," he ordered two of the vampires.

"Adan," Drusilla started.

"Don't argue," the big vampire told her. "Go outside and get ready to kill everyone else. Send in Colin and Brendan."

"What about him, boss?"

"Don't you hurt Gunn," Cordy said.

"We're just going to leave him right over here," the vampire said.

Chapter 4 - Gas and Champagne

"Shit," Spike said. "Dru has Cordelia. Wait," he snapped, grabbing Wesley's arm. He easily held the taller man still for a moment, then released him. "Slow and easy. Look at the door," Spike said. "She's taking her outside. There are two male vampires with them."

Wesley turned and looked, then nodded. "I see her."

"Where's Gunn?" Spike asked.

Wesley glanced to his right. "Over there, at the end of the central displays, with the vampire Drusilla was speaking with before. Ah, hell, one of the other men with him matches Cordy's description of Jack: as tall as I am with dark red hair."

"OK," Spike said.

"Ah, Spike? The canister for the gas? Would it be small enough that you could carry it in a nylon water bottle carrier? One that could take a tall, slim bottle, the litre and a half size?"

"Easily."

"Two very pale people, each complete with bottle carriers--I can't believe this," the Watcher's voice was horrified. "One is wearing a pinkish dinner jacket and the other one has one of those band collar shirts with a big knob instead of a tie--they just spoke with Drusilla, then entered the lobby. Would you really need two canisters?"

"Overkill," the vampire said again. "I said the man had an inelegant mind. We need everyone out."

"The fire alarm," Wesley said.

"Do that, then get out yourself. I'll get Gunn, then maybe we'll try to stake Jack."

Wesley walked away from Spike, going clockwise around the circular room, back towards the service alcove and the fire alarm.

Spike put his hands in his pockets and ambled counter-clockwise, looking at the free standing cases in the inner arc, heading towards Gunn and the male vampire, who were on the other side of the double sided display. Gunn glanced around, saw him, and waited.

Jack nodded at Colin, in the pink tux, and Brendan, with the band collar, who were waiting at the center aisle between the two segments of freestanding cases. Colin gave Brendan a hand up to the first arc, then vaulted up to the remaining section. Across the center aisle, they faced each other.

A few of the nearest attendees glanced at them. Some attendees moved back, apparently so they could get a better view of whatever was going to happen next.

Instead of bursting into song, or whatever the watching attendees expected, Colin and Brendan unlimbered the canisters from their carriers. Pointing the spouts at the attendees' heads, the two vampires turned around and began walking along the top of the display cases, each heading for the doors at the far ends of the room. Gray mist started surrounding the attendees. Colin and Brendan were thorough, spraying slowly and carefully on both sides of the room.

Spike glanced back: The stuff was fast. Already people in the center of the room were sagging and collapsing. The people not yet engulfed in the gas but aware of it were screaming and pushing, trying to reach one of the doors. They crowded into the people who had not yet noticed anything wrong and who were annoyed at being pushed and shoved. Angry words were shouted, adding to the noise.

In the service alcove, Wesley pulled the handle of the small fire alarm.

In the lobby, the sprinklers, high above, started spraying water and bells and sirens started sounding.

Wesley returned to the double doors. "Everyone out, please. This way, and through the fire door here; excellent. Move along." He waved the clipboard to guide the nearest attendees into the back hall and towards the fire door. The crowd fell into line as if they were school children at a fire drill. "Excellent. No pushing," Wesley said.

Spike looked ahead; The tall vampire was heading for the end of the display cases on the interior wall. The minion with Gunn was pushing the ex-troll towards the two vampires walking the arc, and the gas. Spike took a quick look around. The sirens and bells would cover any noise he made and no one was paying any attention to him at all. He took a short run at the free standing displays, leaped up, got a hand on the top and vaulted over. As he came down, he was moving too fast and missed his kick at the minion's head, but caught him on the shoulder. He landed well enough, though, and drew his stake as Gunn pulled free and pushed the minion back against him.

BOOM!

From in front of the rubies came an explosion. Given the noise level, even Spike could barely hear it.

Spike shook dust off his stake and looked around. The increased breeze from the open doors was pushing the gray mist along towards them. "The other door," the vampire said, pulling Gunn towards the other end of the doughnut.

"Cordy!?" Gunn said, not moving.

"She's outside, Wes is after her. Go help. That way, then around to the other door."

"Right. The ruby, it's not round," Gunn said, starting for the doors. "It's the sort of square one, the big flat one."

"The big fat one?" Spike asked. "I'll get it."

A waiter who had been refilling glasses was standing watching the falling bodies and the approaching gray mist. Spike glanced at him, kept walking, stopped, turned back, took the waiter by the arm and shook him.

"More champagne?" The waiter seemed to focus on Spike, and offered the bottle. It was empty. Spike took it. The waiter's eyes followed it. "Ah..."

"I'll just take the bottle, thanks. Why don't you go get another one?'

"All right."

"Outside. That way," the vampire said again, turning the waiter around.

"Ah," the waiter said, and ran for the doors.

Spike, still holding the empty champagne bottle, silently approached Jack, who was bent over the litter of emeralds, rubies, and plexiglass shards.

Colin, still on top of the free standing displays cases, saw the strange man come up behind his boss. "Look, out, boss! Hey, you! Stop that!" He threw his canister at the man attacking his boss, and then leaped after it.

Shit. Under attack from two sides, Spike hit Jack with the empty champagne bottle, while batting the canister aside with the hand holding the stake. He got the stake pointed up at the vampire in the ugly pink tux, but the jolt when the vampire hit knocked it from his hand. The other vampire hit the floor on his chest, then shivered into dust, as the impact drove the stake completely into his heart. Spike hit Jack a second time with the empty champagne bottle as the bigger vampire continued to turn towards him, then hit Jack again as he sank slowly to his knees.

He bent over the debris. "What did he say? The big fat one? The big flat one? They're both sort of square," Spike muttered. He shrugged, took the flat one, the fat one and the three largest round rubies, just in case Gunn hadn't understood Cordelia; and the three largest oval rubies, just in case Cordelia had been confused. He put the gems in his pocket, hit Jack along side his head with the champagne bottle again, just to be sure, turned and looked around.

The only occupants left were Jack, who was unconscious; the vampire with the band collar evening shirt, who was still spraying; and the fallen humans. Spike eyed the gray mist: It was being beaten down by the water from the sprinklers. Interesting. Spike found the canister the vampire in the pink tux had thrown at him and turned off the gas; then he picked up his stake from the pile of dust and went counter-clockwise, heading for the left hand doors. As he came up beside the last vampire, the one with the band collar evening shirt, Spike grabbed his ankle and jerked him off the display case.

"Hey," Brendan yelled, losing the canister.

Spike reached into his inner pocket, exchanging the stake for the aerosol holy water. Dodging the vampire's flailing arms, he sprayed his face. He continued spraying as the vampire got his hands in front of his eyes.

Brendan, in real pain and blind, blundered around, knocking into the display cases and tripping over the unconscious humans.

Spike found the canister and shut it off. There. If the sprinklers continued spraying, even the humans on the floor might survive. Spike picked up his champagne bottle and continued out the left hand doors.

Wesley joined the stream of exiting patrons, going down the metal fire stairs. At the bottom, most of the escapees continued down and counter-clockwise around the outside of the Research Institute. "Excellent," Wesley said, again gesturing with the clipboard. "Keep going."

He stepped over a gate leading to a narrow walkway headed the opposite way. It halted abruptly at a wall above an unexpected terrace. Wesley saw no easy exit from there and decided to walk out to the edge of the retaining wall. Once there, he turned right. He glanced down to his left. There was a steep and unpleasant looking drop, the wall being faced with rough cut travertine marble. Balancing with his clipboard, he proceeded around the beds of what might be an arbelia of some kind, to a vantage point just above the normal entrance. Only a few people were utilizing this exit. Many more people were coming up the stairs leading to the terrace below the lobby. Just beyond this Wesley saw Cordelia, still in the grip of the two male vampires, being pulled in the direction of the wide stairs going down to the arrival plaza. Wesley climbed up the white pipe railings, crossed through the dense planting of Strelitzia reginae and out onto the marble sidewalk. Avoiding most of the human traffic, he cut around the yarwood trees and the benches directly in front of the doors and went after her.

Gunn came out on the circular terrace. Some of the people who got out ahead of him were going down the stairs to the right and crossing the lawn of the central garden, heading for the walkway over the noisy stream and the temporary ramp up to the garden café. Gunn joined them, then angled through the crowd to the walk joining the garden and the main museum, which had only a few people on it. He raced toward the museum, then turned left and ran up the short, steep flight of stairs than ran along west the side of the main building.

He came out on the main terrace above arrival plaza. Wesley, tall enough to be noticed even in this crowd, was hurrying toward the flights of steps off to Gunn's right. He looked over that way and saw Cordelia. Right. He followed Wesley.

Spike gave his jacket a shake, dislodging the drops of water from the sprinklers. He glanced around at the crowd of vampires and victims. Vampires did get excited about the prospect of easy food. He looked around: Where was Drusilla? Ignoring the screams, he looked at each cluster of vampires. Ah, there she was, over by the steps down the wall to the left of the building, right in the thick of it, surrounded by feeding vampires and dying humans. Calmly, silently, he moved after her.

Coming up around the outer circumference of the terrace, he debated: Did this situation call for his trusty champagne bottle, the holy water spay or the stake? The stake, he decided, and used it twice, on two vampires holding a woman while a third tried to bite her. "Hey," the biting vampire said, raising his head. "Don't let go yet."

"Sorry," Spike lied and staked him.

"Thank you, thank you," the woman said.

"Get going," Spike told her, and didn't watch as a fourth vampire seized her from behind and bit her neck. He walked over to Drusilla. "Hello, luv," he said, shifting to full vampiric display.

"Spike. Is that for me?" Unmoved, Drusilla nodded at the stake he carried, then ran her hand over it.

"No, never," he promised, watching her white hand caress the wood. He looked up, smiled at her, and hit her with the champagne bottle he held in his other hand. "I still love you, baby."

Dru crumpled to the ground. Behind Spike, Jack came out from the lobby. Spike stepped in front of her, slipped the stake into his cummerbund behind his back and watched.

Even with his vampire hearing, Spike couldn't tell what Jack was yelling. The humans' screams, the bell and the sirens were too loud and drowned out the taller vampire. The pantomime was fairly plain, however. Something had displeased Jack, and his minions should do something about it now.

Spike dragged Drusilla up in his arms, biting her neck enough to get his mouth bloody. He turned and dropped her over the railing to the lawn of the garden. A minion came up. "Have you seen the boss's woman? Drusilla? I thought she was over here."

Spike wiped his mouth. "Haven't seen her."

"Damn, he's in a mood already. Something has gone seriously wrong. This won't help."

"I'll look over here," Spike said, and walked away from the minion, who returned to Jack.

Spike stopped walking and leaned against the railing. He watched Jack's greeting: The big vampire glared at the returning minion, then he produced a stake and used it. Jack's next move was to reach out and grab a human. He bit the man's neck and drank deep.

Time to move, Spike thought. As Jack's victim settled limply to the ground, Spike abandoned his bottle, swung his legs over the railing and landed beside Drusilla. He had left it a little long: Dru was already coming too. Working quickly, he flipped her on her face and taped her wrists behind her back. Rolling her over, he took his handkerchief and stuffed it into her mouth as she focused on him. "Don't worry, baby, it'll be all right," he said as he taped the gag in place. He tossed her over his shoulder, and headed for the stairs up to the main terrace that Gunn had used earlier.

Hell, Wesley thought. The vampires with Cordelia were approaching a Bentley, from which emerged another vampire. He eyed Cordelia eagerly, but one of the vampires with her held up a hand and said something. The third vampire looked disappointed.

"Vamp?" Gunn's voice came over Wesley's shoulder.

"I believe so. Where's Spike?"

"I left him in the lobby. The gas doesn't bother him. He was going after the ruby."

"We'll get Cordy."

"Right. Got your stake?"

"Of course."

Gunn and Wesley came up to the Bentley. Wesley slipped his stake in front of the clipboard and held it up in front of him. He glanced at the Bentley's license plate, at his board and back at the license plate. Obviously, nothing matched.

The vampires watched him silently, exchanging quick worried looks.

Wesley stepped forward, started to speak and staked the nearest vampire.

"Hey!" The vampire who had emerged from the car said, and started for Wesley, only to fall apart as Gunn staked him

Cordy, now with one hand free, got her holy water sprayer out of her skirt pocket and used it. The remaining vampire released her to try to wipe the corrosive fluid away from his eyes. As he was still screaming in pain, Wesley staked him.

"Good work," Spike said, coming up to them.

"Got the ruby?"

"The fat one?"

"No! The flat one!"

"I got that one, too."

"Let's get out of here," Cordelia said.

"I'm going to take the Bentley," Spike said, indicating the car. "Gunn, would you drive? I don't dare let go of Drusilla." He gripped Dru's kicking feet more securely and gave the female vampire an angry shake.

"That's her? Can you keep her under control?"

"Yes, as long as I don't have to drive. Are we taking everyone?" Spike asked.

"No way," Cordelia said. "We have to get the convertible. Anything happens to that car and we--and I really mean me--will never hear the end of it. Darn, I'm turned around. What's the best way of getting back to the car?"

"The easiest way is down that little ramp over there, then over the wall and down to the service road and so back to the base of the Research Institute," Wesley said. "Come, Cordy. We want to leave before the police arrive."

"Us, too," Gunn said.

Spike opened the passenger door and tossed Drusilla inside. "What happened to her?" someone in the driver's seat asked.

"She's a little tired," Spike said, taking the holy water sprayer out of his pocket. "Get out," he said, spraying the driver.

"Hey!" the driver said, flinching away and opening the door. Gunn, about to do the same thing from the outside, dodged the swinging door, reached inside, grabbed the driver by the collar and pulled him out.

Gunn got in, closed the door and started off.

Chapter 5

Back to the Main Page