Jack had parked the car off the gravel road and they had hidden it in the bushes and trees that lined the track as soon as they had caught sight of the old rundown homestead down the bottom of the hill, the sunset illuminating several dust coated cars parked outside it. Something about the place twisted his stomach into knots, a horrid familiarity that brought a cold sweat to his skin and bile to his mouth.

"Love?" Angelus cast him a worried look, clearly aware of the dread that had gripped Jack.

"I don't know 'Lus, something, very.. wrong.. something we've met before."

"Can you feel Gretchen?"

Jack shook his head slowly, "I can feel two sparks of life down there, but, so much death, so much living death," he choked on bile and spat it into the bushes.

Angelus put a steadying hand on the small of his back.

"So, undead? The magic aura of the place is dark, foul, so that would make sense," he seemed to be talking to himself as much as Jack.

Beside them Valiant huffed, he hadn't gone charging down the road towards the house, instead he'd sat down with a frustrated whine, clearly unhappy about something.

"I don't want to approach it while it's dark," Jack shuddered, "the lives I can feel are underground, being held in the cellar would be my guess." He sagged against Angelus, the effort of using magic all day when he wasn't used to leaving him drained.

"We need to find somewhere safe to rest love," Angelus was already lifting him into his arms. "Val, find somewhere for us to hide, as close to the house as possible."

The big dog huffed quietly, giving Jack and Angelus a quick glance before he slid into the bushes, Angelus following him with Jack in his arms. The closer to the homestead they walked, the deader the landscape felt, no hum of insects or bird-calls disturbing the evening.

They spent the night huddled in a disused mining shaft, with enough iron around them from the rails and abandoned ore carts to keep most Nethers away. Jack slept fitfully, dragged awake repeatedly by nightmares of blood, rot and being strangled by rosebushes. Each time he woke gasping and sweating, Angelus soothed him back to sleep, but he had never been so glad to see the sunrise and feel it dispel some of the aura of menace that clung to the old building and it's surrounds.

"How do we do this love?" Angelus's voice dragged him from his musings.

Jack stretched and sat cross legged, "let me just try and locate where the live ones are."

Angelus nodded and sat behind him, hands on Jacks shoulders, lending strength.

"One is above ground now," He felt shock like a gut blow when he recognised the other taste in the room with the live one.

"N..nooo," he whimpered, falling back against Angelus, his body shaking.

"Love? Jack?" Angelus wrapped around him.

"Dontan, oh Nethers 'Lus, it's Dontan down there with him!"

He felt Angelus stiffen behind him, then crush him in a fierce hug.

"I thought we got rid of that bastard centuries ago."

"It's him, he's not even slightly human anymore, but, oh Nethers, it's him." Jack sucked in a shuddering breath, "we have to get the boy out of there 'Lus," his voice high and panicked in his ears.

"Calm down love, I am here," Angelus rubbed his arms, projecting a serenity Jack knew was forced for his benefit.

Beside them Valiant grumbled impatiently, clearly ready to go get Gretchen back, plan or no plan.

Angelus stood, pulling Jack up with him.

"Find as much iron as you can comfortably carry, some long spikes would be ideal."

Jack nodded, scouring the ground for loose metal work. Collectively they found a number of rusted coach-bolts which went into their pockets, an old pickaxe, which Angelus quickly fashioned a makeshift handle for, and a length of rebar, which Jack claimed. It was far from a nicely balanced sword, but it made him feel better to have it in his grip. Under the cover of a 'no-see' spell conjured hurriedly by Angelus the three of them worked their way down the sparse dry growth towards the dilapidated homestead, stopping just beyond the gravelled area where the cars were parked.

There was a mass of activity around the cars, and as they watched, crouched behind some dessicated bushes, the unnatural dead feeling humanoids piled into the cars and drove away, leaving behind clouds of swirling dust kicked up from the dry gravelled earth. They didn't wait for the dust to settle, slipping through it to the front door of the homestead as quickly and quietly as they could. The door wasn't locked and swung inwards easily, no guards in evidence. Clearly they either believed themselves to be secure here, beyond detection, or more likely, this was part of the trap, a trap Jack and Angelus were walking into willingly.

Valiant had been left outside, much to his disgust, to give warning if the carloads of undead returned. Jack shivered as an unearthly laughter floated through the corridor, the house shook and dust rained down on them, the boom and crack of splintering wood a prelude to more crazed cackling.

"Gretchen!" Angelus growled beside him, pulling Jack into a swift jog, eating up the length of the dim corridor.

They slid to a halt at the sight of Gretchen, sprawled at the base of the wall, laughing hysterically, one finger wagging at the malevolent figure stalking towards him through the splintered ruins of a double doorway.

"Y..you're wasting," Gretchen giggled louder, "b..both our times!"

Dontan drew himself upwards, the foul darkness pooling around him.

"You will obey me mortal!"

Gretchen continued to giggle, "not m ..mortal, and.. and not gonna happen.. rot face."