WCHB Chapter 12: Bad Laid Plans
"What is it?" an alarmed Willow asked.
It was Giles who answered her, "There's an article about Sue Reynolds, the woman whose husband owned the amulet. She's been killed."
"What happened?"
"It doesn't say, just that the police have no current suspects."
Jenny looked up from reading the article trying to get her bearings in order, "What does this means? Do you think it could have something to do with the amulet?"
Giles shrugged his shoulders in resignation. They looked at each other in silence for a long moment the implication weighing heavy on their minds, finally Giles spoke, "We need look in to this, if Spike and Angelus is involved..." he left the sentence hanging and instead adressed Willow, "Tell Buffy and the others that we need to meet at the library directly after school, no excuses."
"Okay," the young girl replied.
Giles gave Jenny a small smile before heading out the door, Willow started to follow him.
"Willow..." Jenny called after her, "didn't you want to talk?"
"Oh," she seemed to battle with herself for a moment before answering, "it's not important... it can wait."
"Are you sure?" seeing the girls uncertain expression she went to close the door and inquired, "What did Mrs Osbourne want when she called you?"
"She wanted us to meet, have coffee and talk."
"What did you tell her?" Jenny asked, trying to figure out what it was that was making her so anxious.
Willow shrugged in resignation, "That I was busy... with school and stuff."
"You don't want to talk to her? Willow it's perfectly understandable for you to find it difficult to talk to her, or anyone about Oz," Jenny tried to console her.
But Willow shook her head decidedly, "It's not that. I mean, it is hard but... I'm more worried about exactly what she wants to talk about."
"She probably just wants to talk about Oz with someone who was close to him in the part of his life that she wasn't a part of."
"That's the thing, when I spoke with her at... at the funeral, she mentioned that she wanted me to testify if the... person responsible was caught and that I should stay in contact with the police." She gave Jenny a helpless look, "I haven't because... well, you know."
Jenny nodded in silence in response as it finally dawned on her what it was Willow was so concerned about. "And you think that's what she wants to talk to you about?"
"I got a call from the police a couple of days ago that the case was temporarily closed since they haven't been able to come up with any suspects. What am I suppose to tell her? She deserves to know what happened to her son but I obviously can't tell her the truth," Willow exclaimed in desperation.
Jenny's heart ached for the poor girl, she shouldn't have to worry about this on top of everything else. But before Jenny had the chance to respond the bell rang startling them both and within seconds students had started to pour into the classroom.
"Willow..." she started but quickly realized there was nothing she could say to reassure her, she was reluctant to let the girl go while she was still upset but she didn't have much of a choice. "Why don't we talk more about this later, I'm sure we can figure something out."
Willow gave a short nod in response before hurrying out of the door and down the hall.
Jenny stood looking after her in worry for a moment, her thoughts filled with the possibilities of what this could entail. Someone coughing interrupted her pondering and she suddenly remembered she had a classroom full of students waiting for her, students who where currently looking at her with wondering expressions. Willows dilemma would have to wait until later.
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Willow slowly opened the door and peered into the classroom, grateful to find the teachers attention focused on the board. She entered as quietly as she could taking a seat next to Buffy who had Cordelia seated at her other side, the place where Xander usually sat.
Confused she looked through the room and found him sitting at the other side of the room in the back, as far away from them as possible. Irritated with his childish behavior she tried to catch his gaze but he was determinedly staring down at his desk ignoring everything around him.
"Miss Rosenberg?" The teachers voice suddenly interrupted her gazing at Xander and she realized the rest of the class where all looking at her obviously waiting for something.
"Uh? Oh, I was..." she stammered to try and come up with an explanation.
The teacher gave her a strict look and reprimanded, "I suggest you pay attention to the lecture."
"Yes Mrs Malcolm," she murmured in response while trying to sink as far down in her chair as possible. When the teacher continued with the lesson the other students attention was finally drawn away for her, she refrained from trying to catch Xander's attention for the rest of the class.
When the bell rang signaling the end of the lesson Xander hurried out of his chair and all but ran from the classroom most of the other students right behind him.
Willow made sure to quickly gather her books together and informed Buffy and Cordelia that Giles wanted to se them all in the library after school. But before she had the chance to tell them what about Mrs Malcolm interrupted her, "Miss Rosenberg! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Oh... sure," she agreed worriedly and hesitantly made her way over to the teachers desk.
Her teacher observed her in concern for a moment before she eventually asked, "Is everything all right? You've seemed to be very distracted lately, not paying attention in class is not like you.
"I'm okay," Willow answered quickly.
"Are you sure?" Mrs Malcolm questioned again clearly not convinced.
Willow tried to make her voice sound more assertive when she assured, "Everything is fine..." and then asked in a slightly more mild tone, "Can I go?"
Mrs Malcolm gave a deep sigh but nodded her head, "Yes, of course."
Finally making her way out in the corridor she looked around but couldn't see Xander anywhere, not that she had expected to. She did however notice Cordelia standing at her locker putting away her books and made her way over to the other girl.
"Cordelia, do you know where Xander is?"
"No, and I have no interest in knowing," Cordelia responded surly.
But Willow was to occupied with her thoughts on talking to Xander that she hardly even noticed Cordelia's apparent displeasure with her boyfriend. Instead she hurried through the corridor anxious to get a hold of Xander before their next class began.
Suddenly she spotted him a few yards ahead walking towards her. She rapidly started walking forwards to meet him but when he caught sight of her he halted before abruptly turning around and walking in the other direction. Not willing to lose track of him again Willow started running after him shouting, "Xander!"
Luckily for her Xander's way was blocked by several seniors who wasn't intending getting out of his way and that enabled her to catch up with him, "Xander..."
She could clearly see his shoulders slump in defeat and when he turned to face her he was sporting a big fake smile, "Willow. What can I do for you on this fine morning?"
"We need to talk."
His smile faded at her words but his voice was still overly cheerful, "Do we? I can't imagine what about."
She bit back a angry retort and took a deep breath to calm herself while trying to come up with a way to try and persuade him, "I know you've never liked Angel, I'm not so crazy about him either after... you know."
That seemed to calm him down a nudge so she decided to just lay it all out there, "But Buffy loved him. And now he's gone... except he's not really gone cause now he's Angelus and Buffy's going to have to be the one who kills him. And we have to be there for her, and support her because that's what friends do. So snap out of it.
As her rambling came to a halt she was worried that she had came on to hard and that he would close up again, but to her relief while he looked reluctant he didn't seem to be angry. Not wanting to press him any further she dropped the subject and instead informed him, "Something's happened, Giles wants us all to meet in the library after school and that includes you. Will you be there?"
He still looked reluctant but let out a resigned sigh, "Yeah, Ill be there."
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Once again Giles, Jenny, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Cordelia where all gathered in the library.
"What exactly did she tell you guys? Was there anything that seemed weird?" Buffy asked after Giles had finished telling them about the article.
"Everything about our visit was weird. She started by asking us if we where from the police, then she got very upset when we asked her about the amulet. She told us that her house had been broken into the day before and that had made her skittish," Giles explained.
"Why did she think you asking about the amulet would have something to do with a robbery?" Willow asked.
"I wondered over the same thing. In hindsight we probably should have looked into this more closely, at the time it just seemed like a dead end."
"Well I found something that could be of interest." Jenny declared, turning the computer screen so they could see it. "This is the police report from the robbery. It says that one of Mrs Reynolds neighbors saw the back door was open and called the police. They found the house ransacked but when Mrs Reynolds got home it was declared that nothing had been taken."
"Who breaks into a house and doesn't take anything?" Buffy wondered aloud, she was getting the suspicion that this wasn't Hellmouth related.
"A vampire..." Xander suggested.
But Jenny shook her head no, elaborating, "This took place in bright day light, I doubt a vampire would be able to pull that of."
"That's a bit of a risk too, breaking in, in the middle of the day, especially if the neighbors where around," Giles reasoned.
"So maybe this was an amateur, breaking in and then realizing the neighbor saw him and he got out of there," Cordelia suggested, appearing to be very pleased with her theory.
But Jenny shook her head again, "I don't think so, this says that every room in the house had been trashed and that wasn't a small house. And judging by the top notch TV and the jewelry she wore I would say there would have been more than enough time for the robber to get his hand on pretty hefty find."
"In other words or robber isn't actually a robber?" Xander concluded.
That caused Cordelia to let out a ridiculing snort, "Way to state the obvious you moron."
Buffy interrupted before Xander had a chance to retort and start another squabble, "Xander's right do, if whoever did this didn't break in to steal something there must have been a different reason."
"But if this person isn't a vampire that would make them human? I mean, if we think this person might have been the one that killed her shouldn't we contact the police?" an anxious Willow wondered.
"We have no idea who this person could be. They police are already investigating her death and they know about the break in, they are probably already looking into it," Jenny pointed out.
Giles quickly concurred, "Jenny's right, we shouldn't do anything hasty."
"If she wasn't killed by a vampire there's nothing we can do anyway," Buffy added.
"That's right," Xander loudly proclaimed, "besides we already have enough on our plate with Spike and Angel, let's not forget that!"
Buffy gave him a hard glare but it was Cordelia who angrily exclaimed, "That's it!" before abruptly getting up and walking away.
"Where are you going?" Xander called after her.
"Anywhere that isn't here, I can't stand another second of your whining."
"That's a first, I actually agree with Cordelia," Buffy muttered.
"What's going on with you guys?" Willow quickly intervened, desperate to keep her friends from getting into another argument.
"Oh she's upset about her birthday."
Buffy snorted and gave Xander a mocking glance, "Don't tell me you forget it?"
"No! I took her to the movies. It was the only thing I could afford but apparently that wasn't good enough for her royal highness."
"Well that's not really fair." Willow cried out in indignation, "It shouldn't matter what you do as long as you're together."
"Try telling her that," Xander drawled.
"I will tell her, next time I see her." That earned her several disbelieving looks. "No I will, honestly."
"If you say so."
Willow seemed to ponder it for a minute and then added, "Well maybe not directly when I see her, I have to pick my moment."
That extracted a laugh from Buffy, "Sure you do."
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Since he had not been able to get any information from Spike or Drusilla about the amulet Angel decided to try a different source. Getting information from another vampire was too risky, there was to big a chance that it would eventually come back to Spike.
Luckily he had since long been acquainted with some of the local fences and knew that was one of the best places to get information about goods being either soled or stolen.
"Hey Skippy!"
A long thin man wearing an oversized trench coat looked up in surprise, "Hey, Angel. Haven't seen you in a while man. Thought you might have skipped town."
"No, just been busy. Listen I need some information."
"Oh no worries man, you've come to the right place. But hey, while you here can I interest you in a new watch? I just got in these new Rolexes, they look just like the real thing too."
"Yeah, no thanks." Angel looked around to make sure nobody could overhear their conversation, "I'm actually looking for a necklace. Or it's more like an amulet really. Made in silver and gold. Have you heard about anyone selling or buying that kind of thing?"
"No you know necklaces really isn't my thing. Nancy down on the corner there as a lot of fancy jewelry but I don't think she has any amulets, it's mostly diamonds and that kind of stuff."
Angel nodded in understanding while mentally berating himself for encountering another dead end, "Yeah well, if you hear or see anything about it let me know okay."
"Oh, sure thing man. You can count on me," Skippy assured him.
"Thanks."
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From a safe distant away Spike was standing next to a building wall, his eyes following Angels every move. Since he needed to be enough far away so Angel wouldn't notice him he didn't have a chance to hear what was being said.
He watched as Angel leaves and waits a long enough while to be sure that Angel is far away. He then quickly made his way towards the unexpecting fence who was standing with his back to him. Before Skippy has time to understand what was happening Spike had grabbed him by the collar and swiftly pushed him into an alley between two buildings taking them away from any eventual prying eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?" Skippy shouts in anger as he shrugs out of Spike grasp. But Spike just gives him a wicked smile in response before grabbing him by the neck and heisting him up against the wall, "Ahh! Let go of me! Let go of me!"
"No point in fighting it."
Skippy's rage quickly turns to fear, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"The man that was just here, what did he want?"
"He just wanted to buy some goods that's all. I've got prime stuff, if that's what you want I'll get you some, free of charge."
Spike tightened the grip around his neck, "I have absolutely no interest in your merchandise, and I know that neither did the man who was here before me. Now, I'll ask one more time. What did he want?"
"He wondered if I had heard anything about an amulet," Skippy managed to choke out while trying to gasp for air.
Spike loosened his grasp slightly when it became clear that his victim is going to cooperate, "What amulet?"
"Just an amulet, in silver and gold."
"And what exactly did you tell him?"
"That I hadn't heard anything. Listen, I swear to God I didn't tell him anything!"
Spikes interest is instantly caught, "Anything? You mean you do know something?"
Skippy hesitates for a second but when he fells Spike grip tightening once again he quickly confesses, "This guy came here a couple of days ago."
"What guy?"
"I couldn't see his face, he was wearing some sort of mask. It looked like something out of a horror flick or something."
"And what did he say?"
"He wanted to know if somebody here had soled an amulet. And he said that if it appeared we weren't aloud to sell it to anyone but him. He made some pretty nasty threats about what would happen if we did."
Spike finally let go of him and smiled as he said, "Now there, that wasn't so hard was it? I just wish you hadn't made such a struggle, you made me hungry.
The fence face becomes one of horror as Spike face changes and before Skippy can make so much as a sound Spike has sunk his fangs into his neck.
It was Giles who answered her, "There's an article about Sue Reynolds, the woman whose husband owned the amulet. She's been killed."
"What happened?"
"It doesn't say, just that the police have no current suspects."
Jenny looked up from reading the article trying to get her bearings in order, "What does this means? Do you think it could have something to do with the amulet?"
Giles shrugged his shoulders in resignation. They looked at each other in silence for a long moment the implication weighing heavy on their minds, finally Giles spoke, "We need look in to this, if Spike and Angelus is involved..." he left the sentence hanging and instead adressed Willow, "Tell Buffy and the others that we need to meet at the library directly after school, no excuses."
"Okay," the young girl replied.
Giles gave Jenny a small smile before heading out the door, Willow started to follow him.
"Willow..." Jenny called after her, "didn't you want to talk?"
"Oh," she seemed to battle with herself for a moment before answering, "it's not important... it can wait."
"Are you sure?" seeing the girls uncertain expression she went to close the door and inquired, "What did Mrs Osbourne want when she called you?"
"She wanted us to meet, have coffee and talk."
"What did you tell her?" Jenny asked, trying to figure out what it was that was making her so anxious.
Willow shrugged in resignation, "That I was busy... with school and stuff."
"You don't want to talk to her? Willow it's perfectly understandable for you to find it difficult to talk to her, or anyone about Oz," Jenny tried to console her.
But Willow shook her head decidedly, "It's not that. I mean, it is hard but... I'm more worried about exactly what she wants to talk about."
"She probably just wants to talk about Oz with someone who was close to him in the part of his life that she wasn't a part of."
"That's the thing, when I spoke with her at... at the funeral, she mentioned that she wanted me to testify if the... person responsible was caught and that I should stay in contact with the police." She gave Jenny a helpless look, "I haven't because... well, you know."
Jenny nodded in silence in response as it finally dawned on her what it was Willow was so concerned about. "And you think that's what she wants to talk to you about?"
"I got a call from the police a couple of days ago that the case was temporarily closed since they haven't been able to come up with any suspects. What am I suppose to tell her? She deserves to know what happened to her son but I obviously can't tell her the truth," Willow exclaimed in desperation.
Jenny's heart ached for the poor girl, she shouldn't have to worry about this on top of everything else. But before Jenny had the chance to respond the bell rang startling them both and within seconds students had started to pour into the classroom.
"Willow..." she started but quickly realized there was nothing she could say to reassure her, she was reluctant to let the girl go while she was still upset but she didn't have much of a choice. "Why don't we talk more about this later, I'm sure we can figure something out."
Willow gave a short nod in response before hurrying out of the door and down the hall.
Jenny stood looking after her in worry for a moment, her thoughts filled with the possibilities of what this could entail. Someone coughing interrupted her pondering and she suddenly remembered she had a classroom full of students waiting for her, students who where currently looking at her with wondering expressions. Willows dilemma would have to wait until later.
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Willow slowly opened the door and peered into the classroom, grateful to find the teachers attention focused on the board. She entered as quietly as she could taking a seat next to Buffy who had Cordelia seated at her other side, the place where Xander usually sat.
Confused she looked through the room and found him sitting at the other side of the room in the back, as far away from them as possible. Irritated with his childish behavior she tried to catch his gaze but he was determinedly staring down at his desk ignoring everything around him.
"Miss Rosenberg?" The teachers voice suddenly interrupted her gazing at Xander and she realized the rest of the class where all looking at her obviously waiting for something.
"Uh? Oh, I was..." she stammered to try and come up with an explanation.
The teacher gave her a strict look and reprimanded, "I suggest you pay attention to the lecture."
"Yes Mrs Malcolm," she murmured in response while trying to sink as far down in her chair as possible. When the teacher continued with the lesson the other students attention was finally drawn away for her, she refrained from trying to catch Xander's attention for the rest of the class.
When the bell rang signaling the end of the lesson Xander hurried out of his chair and all but ran from the classroom most of the other students right behind him.
Willow made sure to quickly gather her books together and informed Buffy and Cordelia that Giles wanted to se them all in the library after school. But before she had the chance to tell them what about Mrs Malcolm interrupted her, "Miss Rosenberg! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Oh... sure," she agreed worriedly and hesitantly made her way over to the teachers desk.
Her teacher observed her in concern for a moment before she eventually asked, "Is everything all right? You've seemed to be very distracted lately, not paying attention in class is not like you.
"I'm okay," Willow answered quickly.
"Are you sure?" Mrs Malcolm questioned again clearly not convinced.
Willow tried to make her voice sound more assertive when she assured, "Everything is fine..." and then asked in a slightly more mild tone, "Can I go?"
Mrs Malcolm gave a deep sigh but nodded her head, "Yes, of course."
Finally making her way out in the corridor she looked around but couldn't see Xander anywhere, not that she had expected to. She did however notice Cordelia standing at her locker putting away her books and made her way over to the other girl.
"Cordelia, do you know where Xander is?"
"No, and I have no interest in knowing," Cordelia responded surly.
But Willow was to occupied with her thoughts on talking to Xander that she hardly even noticed Cordelia's apparent displeasure with her boyfriend. Instead she hurried through the corridor anxious to get a hold of Xander before their next class began.
Suddenly she spotted him a few yards ahead walking towards her. She rapidly started walking forwards to meet him but when he caught sight of her he halted before abruptly turning around and walking in the other direction. Not willing to lose track of him again Willow started running after him shouting, "Xander!"
Luckily for her Xander's way was blocked by several seniors who wasn't intending getting out of his way and that enabled her to catch up with him, "Xander..."
She could clearly see his shoulders slump in defeat and when he turned to face her he was sporting a big fake smile, "Willow. What can I do for you on this fine morning?"
"We need to talk."
His smile faded at her words but his voice was still overly cheerful, "Do we? I can't imagine what about."
She bit back a angry retort and took a deep breath to calm herself while trying to come up with a way to try and persuade him, "I know you've never liked Angel, I'm not so crazy about him either after... you know."
That seemed to calm him down a nudge so she decided to just lay it all out there, "But Buffy loved him. And now he's gone... except he's not really gone cause now he's Angelus and Buffy's going to have to be the one who kills him. And we have to be there for her, and support her because that's what friends do. So snap out of it.
As her rambling came to a halt she was worried that she had came on to hard and that he would close up again, but to her relief while he looked reluctant he didn't seem to be angry. Not wanting to press him any further she dropped the subject and instead informed him, "Something's happened, Giles wants us all to meet in the library after school and that includes you. Will you be there?"
He still looked reluctant but let out a resigned sigh, "Yeah, Ill be there."
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Once again Giles, Jenny, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Cordelia where all gathered in the library.
"What exactly did she tell you guys? Was there anything that seemed weird?" Buffy asked after Giles had finished telling them about the article.
"Everything about our visit was weird. She started by asking us if we where from the police, then she got very upset when we asked her about the amulet. She told us that her house had been broken into the day before and that had made her skittish," Giles explained.
"Why did she think you asking about the amulet would have something to do with a robbery?" Willow asked.
"I wondered over the same thing. In hindsight we probably should have looked into this more closely, at the time it just seemed like a dead end."
"Well I found something that could be of interest." Jenny declared, turning the computer screen so they could see it. "This is the police report from the robbery. It says that one of Mrs Reynolds neighbors saw the back door was open and called the police. They found the house ransacked but when Mrs Reynolds got home it was declared that nothing had been taken."
"Who breaks into a house and doesn't take anything?" Buffy wondered aloud, she was getting the suspicion that this wasn't Hellmouth related.
"A vampire..." Xander suggested.
But Jenny shook her head no, elaborating, "This took place in bright day light, I doubt a vampire would be able to pull that of."
"That's a bit of a risk too, breaking in, in the middle of the day, especially if the neighbors where around," Giles reasoned.
"So maybe this was an amateur, breaking in and then realizing the neighbor saw him and he got out of there," Cordelia suggested, appearing to be very pleased with her theory.
But Jenny shook her head again, "I don't think so, this says that every room in the house had been trashed and that wasn't a small house. And judging by the top notch TV and the jewelry she wore I would say there would have been more than enough time for the robber to get his hand on pretty hefty find."
"In other words or robber isn't actually a robber?" Xander concluded.
That caused Cordelia to let out a ridiculing snort, "Way to state the obvious you moron."
Buffy interrupted before Xander had a chance to retort and start another squabble, "Xander's right do, if whoever did this didn't break in to steal something there must have been a different reason."
"But if this person isn't a vampire that would make them human? I mean, if we think this person might have been the one that killed her shouldn't we contact the police?" an anxious Willow wondered.
"We have no idea who this person could be. They police are already investigating her death and they know about the break in, they are probably already looking into it," Jenny pointed out.
Giles quickly concurred, "Jenny's right, we shouldn't do anything hasty."
"If she wasn't killed by a vampire there's nothing we can do anyway," Buffy added.
"That's right," Xander loudly proclaimed, "besides we already have enough on our plate with Spike and Angel, let's not forget that!"
Buffy gave him a hard glare but it was Cordelia who angrily exclaimed, "That's it!" before abruptly getting up and walking away.
"Where are you going?" Xander called after her.
"Anywhere that isn't here, I can't stand another second of your whining."
"That's a first, I actually agree with Cordelia," Buffy muttered.
"What's going on with you guys?" Willow quickly intervened, desperate to keep her friends from getting into another argument.
"Oh she's upset about her birthday."
Buffy snorted and gave Xander a mocking glance, "Don't tell me you forget it?"
"No! I took her to the movies. It was the only thing I could afford but apparently that wasn't good enough for her royal highness."
"Well that's not really fair." Willow cried out in indignation, "It shouldn't matter what you do as long as you're together."
"Try telling her that," Xander drawled.
"I will tell her, next time I see her." That earned her several disbelieving looks. "No I will, honestly."
"If you say so."
Willow seemed to ponder it for a minute and then added, "Well maybe not directly when I see her, I have to pick my moment."
That extracted a laugh from Buffy, "Sure you do."
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Since he had not been able to get any information from Spike or Drusilla about the amulet Angel decided to try a different source. Getting information from another vampire was too risky, there was to big a chance that it would eventually come back to Spike.
Luckily he had since long been acquainted with some of the local fences and knew that was one of the best places to get information about goods being either soled or stolen.
"Hey Skippy!"
A long thin man wearing an oversized trench coat looked up in surprise, "Hey, Angel. Haven't seen you in a while man. Thought you might have skipped town."
"No, just been busy. Listen I need some information."
"Oh no worries man, you've come to the right place. But hey, while you here can I interest you in a new watch? I just got in these new Rolexes, they look just like the real thing too."
"Yeah, no thanks." Angel looked around to make sure nobody could overhear their conversation, "I'm actually looking for a necklace. Or it's more like an amulet really. Made in silver and gold. Have you heard about anyone selling or buying that kind of thing?"
"No you know necklaces really isn't my thing. Nancy down on the corner there as a lot of fancy jewelry but I don't think she has any amulets, it's mostly diamonds and that kind of stuff."
Angel nodded in understanding while mentally berating himself for encountering another dead end, "Yeah well, if you hear or see anything about it let me know okay."
"Oh, sure thing man. You can count on me," Skippy assured him.
"Thanks."
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From a safe distant away Spike was standing next to a building wall, his eyes following Angels every move. Since he needed to be enough far away so Angel wouldn't notice him he didn't have a chance to hear what was being said.
He watched as Angel leaves and waits a long enough while to be sure that Angel is far away. He then quickly made his way towards the unexpecting fence who was standing with his back to him. Before Skippy has time to understand what was happening Spike had grabbed him by the collar and swiftly pushed him into an alley between two buildings taking them away from any eventual prying eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?" Skippy shouts in anger as he shrugs out of Spike grasp. But Spike just gives him a wicked smile in response before grabbing him by the neck and heisting him up against the wall, "Ahh! Let go of me! Let go of me!"
"No point in fighting it."
Skippy's rage quickly turns to fear, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"The man that was just here, what did he want?"
"He just wanted to buy some goods that's all. I've got prime stuff, if that's what you want I'll get you some, free of charge."
Spike tightened the grip around his neck, "I have absolutely no interest in your merchandise, and I know that neither did the man who was here before me. Now, I'll ask one more time. What did he want?"
"He wondered if I had heard anything about an amulet," Skippy managed to choke out while trying to gasp for air.
Spike loosened his grasp slightly when it became clear that his victim is going to cooperate, "What amulet?"
"Just an amulet, in silver and gold."
"And what exactly did you tell him?"
"That I hadn't heard anything. Listen, I swear to God I didn't tell him anything!"
Spikes interest is instantly caught, "Anything? You mean you do know something?"
Skippy hesitates for a second but when he fells Spike grip tightening once again he quickly confesses, "This guy came here a couple of days ago."
"What guy?"
"I couldn't see his face, he was wearing some sort of mask. It looked like something out of a horror flick or something."
"And what did he say?"
"He wanted to know if somebody here had soled an amulet. And he said that if it appeared we weren't aloud to sell it to anyone but him. He made some pretty nasty threats about what would happen if we did."
Spike finally let go of him and smiled as he said, "Now there, that wasn't so hard was it? I just wish you hadn't made such a struggle, you made me hungry.
The fence face becomes one of horror as Spike face changes and before Skippy can make so much as a sound Spike has sunk his fangs into his neck.