By Reatha
Author: Reatha
Email: [email protected]
Rating: PG-16 (?)
Classification: Willow/Angelus
Disclaimer: Joss owns them, I don’t. I own nothing!!!
Summary: Willow is targeted by Angelus, with some interesting consequences.
Author’s Notes: Happens some time after Ms. Calendar is killed.
Feedback: I’d love it!!
I’d like to have some input. (The nicer the better.....fragile ego!)
Part 1
<I wonder where they
are?> Willow asked herself as she surveyed the club once more. Buffy had
heard of this new place that had just
opened up on the other
side of town, and had convinced everyone to go. Well, more like got enthusiastic
yeses from everyone, but had
resorted to the ultimate
guilt trip, in order to get Willow to come. It wasn’t that she was anti-social
or anything, she loved going out
with her friends,
but with Xander and Cordelia engrossed in their own little world....and
Buffy trying to make herself forget about
Angel (sorry, Angelus) by throwing herself at every guy in the place, it
left a shy Willow feeling lonely and left out.
Anyways, tonight had
been a type of turning point for Willow. After coming to terms with the
fact that she would definitely have to be
there (or risk having
Buffy ream her out on the phone, or worse, in person), Willow decided that
for tonight, she would leave ‘Net Girl’
at
home, and bring a new Willow to the club - the same Willow that had dared
to wear a TOTALLY out-of-character outfit, on
Hallowe’en. So, she
had put on a short black skirt, with a white, tight-fitting tank-top (which
she had bought when out with Buffy once
but had never dared
to wear) and matching black sandals. She put on a minimum of make-up and
silver jewelry, and was ready to party
as the new Willow. Until she got to the club, and found that her friends
were 25 minutes late.
<Where are
they?!!!> getting just a little ticked off at having to wait for her friends
in a strange place. <Well, I might as well look
around a bit.>
Standing along
side the wall on the far side of the club, she began to take in her surroundings.
The Lair. <The name sure fits THIS
place!> The walls were
all black, with some red, velvety-type material draping the walls in certain
areas. The red lights didn’t illuminate
much, but what she
could see, left her with a strange feeling. On the opposite side of the
dance floor, there were several overstuffed,
black couches.
Willow couldn’t decide whether they were leather or not. A black gauzy-type
material hung from the ceiling around
groups of the couches,
creating almost separate rooms. The dance floor was packed, with the writhing
bodies of Sunnydale’s youth, while
music pounded from the
giant speakers at all four corners of the room. Turning to look at the
door, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair,
before it was swallowed
up in the crowd. Stepping away form the wall, Willow began to slowly walk
towards where the blonde head had
disappeared, when she
finally saw the rest of the group. Xander and Cordelia making their way
through the crowd to where Buffy had
vanished.
Willow had taken
only a few steps, when a pair of arms grabbed her form behind, one around
her waist, lifting her up and back, the
other covering her
mouth. Squirming furiously, she was taken towards one of the red, velvet
curtains, which was suddenly pulled back
and a doorway became
visible. Once through the doorway, the curtain was dropped back into place,
and the arms released her from her
prison. Spinning around
furiously, Willow was prepared to rip into her assailant with a vengeance,
when she got a look at his face, and
her heart dropped into her stomach, when she realised exactly what was
going on.
"Well, well. Willow. It’s about time." he said tauntingly.
"Angelus!" cried out Willow, in fear and shock.
"Good guess Willow! I always knew you were the smart one."
"What d-do you want?"
Willow asked hesitantly. She didn’t know what Angelus wanted, but whatever
it was, it sure wasn’t good. Maybe
he was going to use her as bait for Buffy........he had to know she was
here.
"Why... you Willow. I’m hurt that you forgot. Really I am!"
She couldn’t beleive
it. After all this time.......to still want to keep that promise - if that’s
what you could call it - it made her quake
inside. She still remembered
that night - the first night that Angel had become Angelus. Just before
he let her go, he had whispered
something in her ear.....to quietly for anyone else to hear, but loud enough
for her to understand.
I’ll be back for you later.
She’d fooled herself
into thinking that he wouldn’t come after her, but deep down, she knew
that it was only a matter of time. <It seems
that now is the time! Oh Goddess.......What am I going to do???!!!>
"Why......why me? Why
now? I mean, I ...........I ......." she began stammering, before Angelus
cut her off by covering her mouth with his
hand.
"Really, Willow. I’m
surprised at you. All that intelligence, and you still can’t figure it
out. Well then, let me help you out." With that,
Angelus removed his
hand and lowered his head to hers. Willow stood frozen to the spot, unsure
of what to do, as his lips claimed her.
Bringing his hands up
to her head, to hold her in place, Angelus gently forced her lips open,
to let his tongue enter, swallowing her gasp
of surprise and fear.
Willow was
totally floored. When he had first kissed her, she had been prepared for
anything. Anything, that is, except for the
sensations her body
felt as his tongue penetrated between her lips. Unable to control herself
anymore, she felt herself responding to
his kiss as she never
had with Oz. Bolts of fire were racing through her body, making her nipples
hard and apparent through the tank
top she wore. With
a will of their own, her arms wound themselves around his neck, and her
hands buried in his hair, pulling him closer.
Deeper.
As he left her mouth,
his lips continued down her jaw and her neck, to her pulse point. There
he stopped and began a small suction that
had moisture beginning
between her legs, and her knees growing weak. Hearing her moan in disappointment,
at the lose of his mouth on
hers, Angelus grinned in satisfaction. <I was right. This is going to
be absolutely perfect.>
With a last kiss on her neck,
he slid his game face into place, and sank his razor sharp canines into
her soft skin. He felt her hands in his
hair tighten as he
forced the blood from her body, trying in vain to pull him away from her
neck. Angelus almost groaned at the sweet
pleasure that tasting
her blood brought him. It was the sweetest thing he had tasted in almost
150 years. Forcing himself to slow down,
he stopped before he
killed her. Raising his head from her neck, he looked into her eyes, glazed
over with the coming of her death. At
the precise moment
before death took over, he bit into his own wrist, and held it to her mouth.
After a few seconds, he began to feel
her mouth moving on
his wrist, as the blood was slowly drawn out of him, and into his newest
creation. Soon, the slow drawing out of his
blood became
a hard suction, as instinct took over, but he held on, knowing that the
more blood she took, the stronger she would be.
When he reached the point
where anymore loss of blood would kill him, he gently separated her mouth
from his wrist, and caught her as
she collapsed. Picking
her up in his arms, Angelus carried her up the hidden stairway at the back
of the cubby-hole, and up to a room he
had set up, above stairs.
Laying her on the bed,
Angelus took off her sandals, and looked at his newest childe. <She’s
going to be perfect.> Her hair was spread
out behind her like
a cape made of satin. Already he could see the changes beginning to take.
Her skin was paler, her lips more red, and
her hair
took on an almost blood-like color. Angelus sat down in one of the chairs,
and waited for Willow to wake up. He knew it
wouldn’t take long, as the more blood was taken in, the less time it took
for the vampire to wake up to its unlife.
He could hardly wait.
Part 2
She was dreaming again. Dreaming of him.
They were in a small
area, similar to the utility closet that Xander and Cordelia use frequently,
but the walls were bare. He had her up
against one of the
walls, holding her tightly. She was scared, but at the same time, she felt
a sense of inevitability overcome her. She
knew what was coming,
but couldn’t seem to stop herself or him. His mouth descended towards hers,
and all she could do was stand there
and stare. Wait for
what she had craved for, since the moment she had seen him. Not the nice
part of him that she knew, but the other
side of him. The dark
side that intrigued her, always hidden just beneath the surface, just peaking
out but not allowed the release it
craved. What she craved.
As his mouth touched
hers, she realized that she would never be complete without him. She was
his as completely as if he had created
every aspect of her being.
She felt the electric bolt through her entire body, as his mouth took possession
of her, body and soul. Letting
go of rational thought, she allowed her body to act on instinct, trying
to meld with his own.
His mouth slid from her
lips, releasing a moan of frustration and desire from hers. She felt his
lips slide down her throat, to rest at her
pulse point, where
they began to lick and kiss the skin he found there. Then he left her.
Forcing her eyes open, she looked into golden
eyes, a ridged forehead
and pointed canines, and knew her fate. Unable, or unwilling, to try to
stop him, she saw him bend his head back
to her neck, and felt those same canines pierce her tender flesh.
Then, pain and blackness.
Part 3
Jerking upright in bed,
Willow opened her eyes wide, trying to figure out where she was. Willow
knew the second she woke up what she
was. It was ingrained
into her very being, that she was now one of the very demons she had fought
alongside the Slayer, but somehow, it
didn’t seem to bother
her in the least. In fact, she gloried in the fact that she would now outlive
her friends. She would be around when
they were dust. <Dust! HA!>
Taking
stock of her surroundings, Willow noticed the decor first. The walls were
dark, there were no windows, and very little
furnishings. The bed
she was on, a large dresser and two wing-back chairs the only things, except
for several rugs on the floor. The bed
itself
was a four-poster, made of some kind of dark wood, with black velvet hangings
falling from each post. The room itself was
decorated in mostly black, with only the very smallest splash of color
here and there.
Looking around the room,
she noticed a dark shadow sitting in one of the chairs, blending so well,
that only the slight movement of the
shadow
itself when she had woken up, giving away anything. Staring deep into the
shadow, Willow felt a zing go through her, and a
strong pull towards
the shadow. Crawling across the bed, towards the chair, Willow was not
surprised when the voice from her dreams
called out to her.
She felt it within her very demon who this other was. He was her sire,
true, but more importantly, he was her mate.
How she knew this was
a mystery to her, but she knew it was the truth. The instant she had seen
him, she had known who he was. Mine.
"Willow." he said. "You’re awake, at last. I was beginning to worry." this was said in that mocking tone of his.
"No you weren’t." she replied in a calm voice.
"You’re right. I was just waiting
for you to wake, and it took so long. I was beginning to get bored." he
said, still in that mocking tone of
his.
"You always were impatient."
came her reply, as she knelt on the end of the bed, facing him. She wanted
nothing more than to jump him
that very second, but
knew that to have him, she would have to play the game for a bit. That
didn’t bother her one little bit. However,
her plans were put on hold for awhile, as another desire made itself known
to her.
Hunger. Hunger like she
had never known in her life overcame her. It was so powerful that Willow
had to close her eyes for a second to
regain control, before
she made a disgrace of herself. It would not do to show any weakness, either
around Angelus, or other vampires.
Noticing her action,
Angelus was amazed at her control. For a newly made vampire, she had remarkable
control over the demon in her.
Newbies could rarely
control themselves long enough to savor their first meal, let alone keep
their human mask in place while doing so,
the hunger being so
strong. But then again, she wasn’t a normal newbie. He’d known that when
she had looked at him, seeing him through
the shadows of the room, he’d felt the snap, and even now felt her pull.
His mate.
Very few vampires can
say that they had found their true mates. Unlike in humans, where they
often have soulmates, vampires have a
kind of ‘demon-mate’.
It very rarely happened, but when it did, the mated pair became incredibly
strong and powerful, ruling a clan for
decades,
sometimes centuries. They were often killed by Slayers or such, but not
without retribution. The surviving mate usually
started a rampage of
terror, that was talked about for years to come. He still remembered the
last mated couple. Angelus had never
met them,
but he’d heard about them from sources. Alec and Tanya. Tanya had been
killed by a fledgling vampire, trying to gain
dominance in the pack,
thinking that if she took out the Queen, the King would then turn to her.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out
the way she had planned.
Standing up, Angelus
made his way to the dresser, where a bottle and a glass sat. Pouring a
large amount of the red liquid into the glass,
he brought it over to the
red-head kneeling on the bed. Taking the offered glass, Willow brought
it too her dark red lips, and drained it
in a few seconds.
"I’m impressed. Not even a hint of the demon within you." said Angelus.
"Would you expect anything less?" Willow asked him. "No." came the amused reply. "More?"
"Please."
she answered, not daring to let him know just how much she craved the contents
of the bottle he brought back with him.
Re-filling the glass, he watched in amazement as she drained it again,
without letting the demon slip from her control.
After finishing the
last of the bottle, Willow looked up in surprise at his next words. "Lets
see." His tone of voice suggesting it was a
command, not a request.
Knowing what he was referring to, she let the demon slide into place, and
looked up into deep, dark brown eyes.
Angelus was quite literally
floored. She was beautiful. This little red-headed witch, who seemed almost
too delicate to hold more that
lightly, was an absolutely
gorgeous vampire. Lifting a hand, he gently trace his fingers over her
ridges, pleased when her eyes closed in
obvious pleasure. Trailing
the hand down the side of her neck, it found its resting place at the base,
over top of the now-healed bite
marks. Squeezing gently to get her attention, he watched as she slide her
human mask back into place, and opened her eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper, sending shivers down her spine.
"You’re Angelus." she replied, mesmerized by his voice, and the look in his eyes.
"Who am I to you, Willow?" he asked again.
"My sire." came the answer. Angelus knew she understood the question, but was teasing him.
"Who, Willow?!" this time, his voice was harsh and uncompromising, demanding the answer he knew she knew.
"My mate." she said,
raising herself up onto her knees, looking him straight in the eye. Bringing
a hand up to his head, she twined her
fingers in his dark hair, and dug her nail into his scalp. "And who am
I?" she asked, in the same harsh voice he had used.
"My mate." came
the amused reply. With a wicked grin curving her lips, Willow leaned forward,
bent her head, and licked his neck,
following the corded
muscles up to his ear, where she gently, but firmly, bit down on his earlobe.
Still having a firm hold of his head
with her hand, Willow
let her free hand slide down to his waist and rest on his hip. Pulling
him towards her, she whispered into his ear.
"Your mine, now, Angelus."
all the while, moving he hand from his hip to the bulge pushing against
the front of his black, leather pants.
In response to her statement,
his arms wrapped around her, swiftly, pulling her against his hard body.
Bending down, he whispered into
her ear "But, you’re mine, now, too, Willow. No one to save you. No one
to keep the bad, bad monsters at bay."
"Who said I needed or even
wanted to be saved." she said seductively. "In fact, who said I wanted
to keep the monsters away. Some can
be awfully fun........well, one in particular, anyways." leaving no doubt
in his mind as to who she was referring.
Angelus slipped
his hands under her tight tank top, sliding up her rib cage, to stop just
under her breasts. Letting his thumbs lazily
caress the underside
of her breasts, he heard her moan of desire. "Lets see how long that control
of yours will last, hmmm?" he said as
he drew her top over her head.
Pushing her backwards onto the bed, he covered her body with his, and proceeded
to claim his mate in the oldest of ways.
Part 4
"Hello?"
"Buffy, hi."
"Willow! Where were you last night? We’ve been worried sick about you."
"Well, I got there and waited, but you didn’t show, so after awhile I went home."
"Yeah, we kinda got there a little late. Cordelia had hair issues."
"As always."
"Hey, Will. You want to go shopping this afternoon? There’s a great sale on at the Gap."
"Sorry, I can’t. I promised
mom we’d have some ‘family’ time. She’s on this new kick and wants me to
spend more time at home. NOW she
wants to be best friends with her teen-age daughter!"
"Sounds joyful. Many sympathies."
"Yeah, well......... Look, Buffy....I sorta have....well, lots of homework to do......"
"But it’s Saturday morning, Will!! You have all weekend!"
"Not if mom wants to
play happy family, which I think she does, not that I mind..but, well,
I do have other things to do and well......I
should go."
"K. See you tonight? You are coming, right?"
"I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Besides, who would perform the ritual? Giles?"
"Yeah, I guess you’re right."
" Bye, Buffy."
"Bye Willow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, that was easy." said Willow.
"What did you expect?
She’s an idiot!" replied Angelus as he pulled her back towards him on the
bed. "Maybe, but I still didn’t think it
was going to
be that easy."came Willow’s answer. Laying her head on his shoulder, she
began to trace designs on his hard chest and
stomach with her hand.
They had spent all night getting to know each others bodies, only realizing
too late that the sun had risen, and
they would have to spend the day in their room above the club. Not that
either of them minded.
Angelus could still
barely believe that this creature laying next to him on the bed was his
for eternity. Willow was his match in every
way. She had a cunning
and creative mind, was like a wildcat in bed, and totally stunning. However,
she was not a weakling. She would
take orders from no
one, and constantly challenged him, daring him to prove himself to her
over and over again, while at the same time,
proving her worth
as his mate. In short, she was perfect for him. Never had he felt this
complete, in all his years. She was truly the
complement to his demon, making him whole.
Looking down,
he realized that green eyes were regarding him with lazy interest, with
a hint of clever mayhem lurking in the back.
"What is that mind of yours thinking?"
"Who to play with first." she said, in a matter-of-fact voice. "The Slayer’s mine." came the uncompromising voice of her lover.
Surprise coloring her
eyes, Willow’s eyebrows rose in defense. "Of course. I didn’t even think
of taking her away from you." she said.
"But I do get to help.
After all, she did have you as her pet vampire. I can’t allow that to go
unpunished. I mean, if she lived, then just
imagine the discipline
problem we’d be having.......... No respect, every fledgling within a hundred
miles thinking they can challenge you.....
No, I just can’t let it go."
"Well, Red, just what is this
plan of yours." he asked casually, as he flipped he onto her back. Leaning
over her, he braced himself on his
forearms on either side
of her, and lazily looked down into her face. Bringing her arms up, she
entwined her hands with his hair, saying
"We’ll make them
think that you’ve decided that I’m the next to die. They’ll try to protect
me. They’ll try to give you back you soul.
And, when Buffy goes to confront you, thinking that you’re her Angel, we’ll
have her. Then, the fun will begin."
"Why would
you think they would try to give me back my soul?" he asked, already dreading
the answer. "We found a disk of Ms.
Calender’s with the curse on it. They’re going to try it tonight." came
the careless reply.
"And I should not kill
them all, because................?" Angelus was curious. She would not
have mentioned it, unless she had a way to avoid
it.
"Because..........I’ll
switch disks before the ceremony, so we won’t even be performing the curse.
Just some Latin words, candles and
really good acting on
my part. Anyways, the curse still has the happiness clause. If they do
happen to perform it, one good romp in bed,
and bye-bye soulboy." came the wicked response.
"And you think you can give me one true moment of happiness, do you?" he asked.
"You know, you’re
right. We really should practice. ‘Cause you know what they say: ‘practice
makes perfect’." Laughing in a purely
maniacal way, Angelus
lowered his head to her stomach, and began to lick and kiss his way up
to her mouth, setting off another round of
lovemaking that lasted well into the afternoon.
Part 5
"I’ll try and get the
disk before they perform the spell, and switch it with the fake one. That
way, we won’t be taking any chances."
said Willow,
as she walked through the cemetery, with Angelus’ arms around her. They’d
just finished hunting, and were enjoying the
night. Angelus was truly captivated by her. She was quick and deadly, but
still took the time to play with her food.
Stopping in front of
a large stone that looked like a table, Angelus lifted her up, and sat
her on the edge, with her legs dangling over.
Stepping between
her legs, he grabbed her head, and kissed her with such ferocity, that
Willow almost said ‘screw the plan’, to stay
there with her
mate. But soon, they were interrupted by the approach of several set of
feet, one of which belonged to the Slayer.
Breaking apart, they
looked at each other, and began to get ready. Taking Willow into his arms,
he turned her around, and wrapped one
arm around her waist, the other hand going up to grab hold of her head,
and tilting it to the side.
This was how the Slayer
and gang found them. Willow looking helpless in the arms of a vamped out
Angelus, who was getting ready to
have a Willow snack.
"Let her go, Angel!"
yelled the Slayer. Angelus glanced up, a bored look in his eyes. "Well,
well, Buffy. Your timing is impeccable, as
usual. Just as I’m about to have a nice snack a la Willow, here you come
to interrupt me. Again." still holding on to the
frightened-looking red head.
"I said, let her go.
NOW!!!" Seeing the watcher and Xander behind the Slayer, Angelus let out
a sigh. "I’ll be back for you, Willow.
Don’t think that
I’ve forgotten." he said, just before he threw her to the ground, her head
hitting a headstone, and took off at top
speed, with Buffy hot on his heels.
"Willow, are you ok?"
asked Xander, kneeling down in front of his best friend. "Yeah, I’m fine.
Just a little bump on the head. Nothing
to worry about." she reassured him.
"My dear girl. What in heavens name were you doing out here so late, for, anyways?"
"I ...I
was looking for the last ingredient for the...the curse, and I guess I
lost track of the time. I thought I could make it to the
library safely,... but I guess I was wrong." came the answer to Giles’
question.
"Well, we had better get you
to the library before we have anymore unexpected company." said Giles.
<Idiots. The lot of them!> thought
Willow, inwardly laughing.
<Poor little Willow needs to be protected from all the evil creatures
of the night.> disgusted with her former
self, she almost sneered
at her own thoughts. <Wonder what they’ll do when they realize that
poor, little Willow IS one of those evil
creatures of the night, and is right now planning their downfall. HA!>
A small smile was the
only indication of her thoughts, as they helped her to her feet. "What
are you smiling about, Wills? You almost
became Deadboy’s evening meal, yet you smile. Am I missing something of
vital importance?" asked Xander.
"Oh, I was just thinking of how happy Buffy will be when Angel gets his soul back."
"Yeah, well. I still
say we slay him, and give his ashes to Buffy, instead of giving him his
soul back." came Xander’s snide reply. Trying
to control her
rage at the boys careless words, Willow had to remind herself of the role
she was playing. That was easier said than
done. The mere thought
of her Angelus a pile of ashes unleashed feelings and thoughts of such
rage, destruction and violence, that she
fairly shook with them. <I’ll destroy this entire town before I let
these fools take him away from me!>
Feeling her tremble, Giles looked at Willow in concern. "Are you all right, Willow? You’re shaking?"
"I’m fine. Just a little cold, that’s all." her calm voice reflecting none of her inner turmoil.
"Here, take my jacket. I don’t need it." taking Xander’s jacket, they walked in silence the rest of the way to the library.
Once there, Willow began
instructing them on the preparations for the ritual. "Giles, can you set
up the candles, please? Place them in a
triangle, each candle
representing a tip. Xander, these are the ingredients. Please place them
in that bowl, and then put the bowl in the
centre of the Giles’
triangle of candles." turning her back on them, she walked over to the
computer, and picked up the disk with the
restoration ritual on
it. Hearing Xander and Giles go about the tasks she had assigned them,
she silently slipped an identical disk out of
her pocket, and substituted
it with the real one. Turning on the computer, she inserted the fake disk,
and printed up the Latin text she
had created earlier
that day. <Thank Satan that the club had a word processor identical
to the one here.> Laughing in her mind, Willow
remembered exactly WHAT she had translated.
Looking up, she saw a
young man with yellowish hair enter the library. "Hey Oz." "Hello." greeted
Xander and Giles. With a small nod in
their direction, he walked over to where his girlfriend sat at the computer.
"Hey there."
"Oh. Hi Oz." she said, in the brightest voice she could find.
"You ok? You don’t look
so good...kinda pale...and there’s something about you......" taking a
sniff of the air, Oz looked directly at her,
"You smell like Angel! What were you doing with him?"suspicion forming
in his mind, he took a step back from her.
"Angel caught her tonight.
Almost had a Willow-snack." her rescue came from Xander, in an off-handedly
way. "Buffy chased after him,
but he threw her down, and she hit her head." finally looking at the couple.
"Baby, are you ok?" came the sympathetic response from Oz. "Yeah. Just a little bump."
"Let me see." reaching
up a hand, he attempted to feel the bump his girlfriend had gotten. He
didn’t like the fact that she was Angelus’
next target, and was
determined to prevent Angelus from reaching his goal. She was HIS, and
was not going to become a gourmet meal
for the Slayer’s wacked-out ex.
Shying away from his
hand, Willow looked at the ground, so he wouldn’t see the panic in her
eyes. The bump had already gone away, but
if she were still human,
it would still be there, causing her pain for the next few days. "No, it’s
ok. Really. Oh, look. It’s done printing.
Time to
start with the re-cursing of Angel’s soul, so Buffy can have her boyfriend
back. Then, we don’t have to worry about evil
vampire Angelus anymore.
Uh, huh. That’s a good thing." she said in a rush. Jumping off the stool
she sat on, Willow quickly made her
way over to where Giles and Xander had finished setting up.
"Are you sure you’re
ok, baby?" came Oz’s concerned query. "Yeah, I’m just a little jumpy. I
want to get this curse over with, and then
I won’t have to worry about Angelus lurking in the shadows, thinking of
ways to kill me."
At that moment,
Buffy came through the doors. "I lost him in the cemetery." was her only
statement. Motioning for her to sit down,
Willow began the ritual.
Part 6
Walking up the front
steps of the mansion, Willow took a good look at her new home. She had
already discussed it with him, and Angelus
had agreed that the
mansion was the best place to live. The place was huge, dark and gloomy........just
the way she liked it. Opening the
front door, she came face
to face with one of the minions. Angelus had told her to make her presence
felt, and that was exactly what she
did. Delivering
several brutal punches, and a well-placed kick, the vampire was rendered
unconscious in the entryway. <Gotta thank
Buffy for letting
me watch her train, otherwise I’d be dependant on others to teach me how
to fight. It’s not good to show weakness
around vampires.> Stepping over the unconscious demon, she continued on
her way.
Staying in the shadows,
Willow entered what looked like the main room. Almost a dozen vampires
were congregated there, along with a
bleach-blonde in a wheelchair,
and a dark haired woman, dressed in a long white gown, with an empire waist,
holding a blind-folded doll.
Realizing that this must be Drusilla and Spike, she leaned back, and watched.
"What’s so bloody important
that the wanker had to call us all here, at this time of the night." spat
out Spike. From his comment, Willow
guessed that
he was talking about Angelus. <Gonna have to have a word with Spike
about his attitude to my mate. Can’t have demons
getting
ideas.> Looking at him closer, she noticed something. They were small,
insignificant details, but if you looked at the whole
picture, a secret was
revealed about this injured vampire. <He’s not weak! He’s as strong
as ever!> she realized. <Well, well, well. What
are you playing at, Spike.>
"Spikey, be nice. Daddy has something big to tell us. Something that will change everything." said Drusilla, in a dreamy voice.
"Do you know what it is, pet?" inquired Spike, suddenly very interested in the loons ramblings.
"Miss Edith won’t
tell me." she said, then smiled and giggled at his growl. Hearing Spike’s
sigh of resignation, Willow decided to try
something new. She’d
heard that Drusilla had some sort of psychic powers, and wanted to see
how strong they really were, if they even
existed.
Ever since Angelus had
changed her, she’d felt power flow through her, just waiting to be released.
Earlier in the day, she’d realized
that coming together
with her mate had increased her witch’s power, and was anxious to see what
she could do. Stretching out her mind,
she gently pinged Drusilla. It had the desired effect.
Stopping in the middle
of a sentence, the vampire quickly looked around the room, growling, her
golden eyes picking out Willow’s form
among the shadows. Standing
up, Drusilla took a few steps towards Willow, in full demon mode, when
she suddenly stopped. Stepping out
from the shadows,
Willow quickly glance around the room. She saw that everyone there had
stopped whatever they were doing, the
instant Drusilla had stood up, and were all looking at her with a mix of
surprise and menace, evident on their faces.
"Well, well. If it isn’t
the Slayers pet hacker. Nice outfit, girl. Now how did you get in here?"
asked Spike. He had to admit, he was
curious about this girl.
Before, he had always seen her behind the Slayer, scared for her life,
but bravely facing any danger coming her
way. He’d always thought her
the mouse, the weak link in the group. His suspicions were confirmed when
Angelus returned, and gave them
all the dirt on the Scooby gang. But here she was. Walking into their lair
like she owned it, not the littlest bit afraid.
"Spike, you really should get
better help around here. I mean, any sort of disreputable person could
walk in here at any time." came her
witty reply. "And thank
you. I went shopping this evening, and maxed out a few credit cards." Casually
walking around, Willow looked
at the multitude
of faces staring at her. Some were surprised, some confused, but most were
looking at her like she was next on the
menu. Laughing softly,
she made her way around room, and back to where she had started. Pausing
for a moment, she let her eyes drift
shut
for a second, as she let herself feel the power flow into her, as she sensed
her mate stepped into the room, but keep to the
shadows. Opening her eyes, she caught the gaze of Drusilla.
"Look into my eyes.
Be in my eyes. Be in me." came Drusilla’s hypnotic voice. Just before she
fell, Willow heard Spike laugh, thinking
that his dark princess
was about to claim another victim. Feeling power behind those words, Willow
prepared herself for the fight to
come.
Falling into the vampire’s
mind, Willow looked at the chaos around her. It was like a world torn apart,
only kept from drifting off into
space by some unseen
gravity force. Landing on the largest of the fragments, Willow crouched
at one end, and saw Drusilla at the other
end, sitting in a rocking chair, rocking her doll in her lap. The insane
vampire looked up from her doll at last.
"You’ll destroy everything." she said. "My daddy will leave me, and soon Spike will leave me too."
"Angelus is not
yours. You may have had him to yourself for all these years, but he’s mine
now." replied Willow. This was not only a
fight for power, but
for Angelus. Though Drusilla didn’t seem to realize yet that the fight
for Angelus was already lost to her, Willow
decided to enlighten her.
"But you know that already, don’t you. You just don’t want to accept it.
He’s mine in every way. My partner, my
companion,
my friend, my lover...........My MATE!!!" she said the last forcefully,
as she mentally reached out, and began to use the
vampire’s own mind against her.
Drusilla let out
a scream, both in her mind and in reality, as a floating fragment of her
mind crashed down between the two women.
Thrown off balance,
Drusilla lost what little control she had, and Willow gained power. Standing
up, she sent a surge of such power
through her mind, that it sent Drusilla down to her knees with a scream
of pain and anguish, in the real world.
Realizing that she was
back in the real world, and no longer in Drusilla’s mind, Willow took a
minute to survey the damage. Drusilla was
on the floor, weeping
and begging for the pain to stop. Spike was by her side, in the wheelchair,
trying to comfort her, while sending
murderous glares at
Willow, at the same time. The rest of the vampires in the room, looked
afraid. They had just seen Drusilla defeated
at her own game, and
were terrified. If she could do that to someone with a fair amount of powers,
then imagine what she could do to
normal vampires. They couldn’t imagine, and didn’t want to find out.
However, Spike gave the
order for them to kill her. He didn’t like to see his princess in pain,
and the person who caused it was going to
pay. What he hadn’t
counted on, though, was the fact that most of the minions in the room were
terrified of this small girl, and didn’t
want to become a pile of dust. But still, a few of them decided that they
could take her, and began to advance upon her.
Smiling with delight,
Willow laughed. She had expected to have most of the room on her in seconds,
but found that only three vampires
were descending upon
her. She knew Angelus was in the room, but she also knew that he wouldn’t
help her, unless it looked like she was
about to die. This was another test for her, to prove herself to her mate.
And she reveled in it.
When the first one was
within reach, she spun out and kicked him in the head, sending him spinning.
He landed a good fifteen feet from
where he had started,
dazed on the ground. The second one to reach her went to punch her, but
she blocked it with her arm, bringing the
other hand up to punch
him in the face, pushing him a few steps back. Gaining some space, Willow
turned to the side, and aimed her foot
into his gut. It hit
with such a force that the vampire collapsed unconscious on the ground.
The third one, seeing his fallen companions,
got behind
her, and wrapped his arms around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides.
Finding she didn’t have the use of her arms,
Willow lifted one foot,
and brought it down on one of his with such force, that the crunch could
be heard all through the room, making
all the others glad
they weren’t fighting her. Feeling his foot being crushed, her assailant
dropped his arms in surprise, and immediately
regretted it. Willow
spun around and landed her open hand in his chest, throwing him backwards
into a crowd of vampires. Before he
blacked out, he could have sworn that he heard a few ribs break, from where
her hand had been.
Realizing that she wasn’t
done, quite yet, Willow sharply brought her arm back, nailing the vampire
coming up behind her in the chest
with her elbow. Quickly,
she reached over her shoulder to grab his head, and threw him over her
shoulder. As he landed in front of her
on the floor, she absently
noted that it was the first vampire of the three that had attacked her.
She didn’t care. Forcefully, she put
her high-heel, booted
foot down on his throat, and kept him in place. Looking around at the room
of stunned vampires, a wicked smile
crossed her face.
"Oops. Did I do that?"this
came out in a small child-like voice, which drew a laugh from the shadows.
Clapping was heard from the same
spot as the laugh. Every
vampire in the room, with the exception of those unconscious or otherwise
unable to move their heads, turned to
see Angelus step out from the shadows.
"I’m impressed." he directed his comment a Willow, whose foot was still planted on the vampire’s throat.
"No you’re not." she said. "You would expect nothing less."
"True. But it
was still amusing to watch." he said, as he walked over to her. Halting
in front of her, he looked down at the trapped
vampire and smiled. "You can let him up now. I think he’s learned his lesson."
With a sigh a resignation, she lifted her foot, and allowed the minion to scamper out of range.
"Angelus!" Spike shouted.
He had just gotten his princess calmed down, when his sire had appeared.
"Just what do you plan to do with
the little witch! She walked in here, attacked Dru, and brought down three
of the boys!"
"Actually, it was four."
replied Willow. At the questioning look Angelus gave her, she clarified.
"There’s another one by the front door,
who should be waking up any time now."
"Just what do you plan to do? This kind of thing cannot go unpunished." said Spike. He was still upset about Dru getting hurt.
"Let’s see. I plan to
take her upstairs, and see that she doesn’t leave until well after sunset,
tomorrow night." Looking at his mate, he
questioned "Does that work for you?"
"Always." came her whispered reply. "What about Dru, Angelus?" Spike wasn’t going to let this go easily.
"Drusilla was warned.
Now she’s being punished. If she continues, she will soon be a pile of
ashes by my feet!" growled Angelus. Hearing
a low, feminine growl
from behind Spike, all attention turned to the recovered, female vampire,
still vamped out on the ground next to
Spike.
Seeing her daddy,
next to the red haired witch, made Drusilla go wild. She wouldn’t give
up without a fight. Getting up, she launched
herself at her daddy,
hoping for some acknowledgment from him. However, before she could reach
him, the witch stepped in front of
him, to block her way.
Seeing his beloved run
to their sire was like a stake in his heart. No matter how hard he tried,
he couldn’t make her forget ‘her Angel’.
He was about to give
up and leave the room, when the red headed hacker stepped in Dru’s way.
He watched as Willow’s hand reached out
and grabbed Drusilla
by the throat, dragging her face up to hers. What was most surprising to
everyone in the room, however, was the
fact that when Drusilla
growled at the girl, Willow growled back, as her demon came to the fore.
Drusilla fought the hand around her
neck, but with no luck, as Willow had a good hold of her. <So he turned
the little hacker, did he? This should be interesting.>
It was as Willow was
growling at Drusilla with such power behind it, that Spike began to see
what was different about this girl. Willow
was not just a normal
fledgling, but a childe of Angelus. What surprised him the most, however,
was that when Willow said "He’s mine!"
to Drusilla, all Angelus did was smile.
"Bloody hell!! You’re
mated, aren’t you?" swore Spike. It was the only explanation he could come
up with that fit all the pieces together.
The conversation between
the two, the sexual energy oozing off them, and Angelus’ humour at Willow’s
claim. If anyone else had said
that, they wouldn’t have lived
to finish the sentence, as Angelus was his own person. People belonged
to him, but never had he belonged to
anyone, not even Darla.
"I win!" chimed
in Willow, with a smile on her face. Angelus looked at her with an almost
petulant look about him. Spike would have
laughed,
except that Willow’s next words froze him in place. "I told you he would
be the first to guess it. Now you owe me!" She
sounded victorious, and pleased.
"Angelus!!" came Spike’s roar as he realized what she was talking about. "You bet against your own childe??!!"
"Well, Spike, come on.
You’re not the sharpest tack in the box........... But in this group, I
guess you are." Seeing that this was about to
become a fight, Willow decided to intervene.
Dropping Drusilla
to the ground, she turned to Angelus and held out her hand. "Time to pay
up, big boy." she said smugly. Sighing in
defeat, Angelus reached
behind him for his wallet, pulled out a credit card, and handed it to her.
Seeing this, Spike let out a bark of
laughter. <I like her.
She’ll be good - or bad - for him. Either way, he’s out of my hair......hopefully.
Bloody wanker!> were his thoughts as
he contemplated the scene
before him. This slip of a girl had Angelus, the Angel of Death, by the
short curlies. Spike loved it! What was
even better, was that
Angelus didn’t mind. In fact, he loved it. Which really wasn’t all that
much of a surprise to Spike, considering that
mated demons had one hell
of an unlife together. There male was usually the stronger of the two,
but the female was powerful in her own
right, using strength
and intelligence together in an amazing combination. Spike realized that
the only way that they could have been
mated, was if Willow
matched Angelus in every possible way. Knowing his sire better than almost
anyone, except for Willow, he knew
that she was one vamp
to stay on the good side of. Especially if the scene with Dru was any indication.
He’d never seen ANYONE defeat
his princess at her own game, and not even bat an eye. Willow could be
truly frightening.
Once Willow got her
hands on the card, she placed it in the back pocket of her tight, black
leather pants, smiling up at her mate the
entire time.
"Thanks." was all she said. Seeing that he had to say something to the
minions crowded into the room, he turned to face
them, with Willow at his side.
"For those of
you who don’t understand, Willow here, is my mate. That means that she
is mine. Don’t go getting any ideas about her,
because if she doesn’t
kill you, I will." pausing a moment, he allowed that to sink in. He’d seen
some of the others sliding looks her way,
and didn’t like it one
little bit, even though he knew she’d never seek out another. Well, he
amended, not unless I’m invited. "Do what she
tells you, no
arguments. You won’t win." he continued. "Lastly, she will be living here.
Don’t spread it around. I don’t want any nosy
slayer poking around here." With that, he put his arm around Willow’s waist
and led he out of the room, and up to their room.
Part 7
Walking down the
dark street, the Slayer was oblivious to the night around her, her mind
solely on the person she was about to see.
After the restoration
ritual last night, she was all set to go out and find Angel, but Willow
had stopped her. Willow had said that he
night need some time
to gather his thoughts and re-adjust to being souled. Realizing that she
was right, Buffy waited impatiently for the
sunset,
and then waited some more before going to Angel’s old apartment, deciding
to give the vampire time to find some food.
Unable to wait any longer,
Buffy had left her house and started walking to Angel’s apartment, hoping
to find him there. Looking up, she
saw that she had arrived.
Opening the door to
the darkened apartment, she hesitated before entering. She wasn’t sure
if he would welcome her or not. She had
been nervous
all day, pacing her room, changing her mind about her outfit at least two
dozen times, and basically driving her mother
nuts. Taking a deep breath,
Buffy took a few steps into the room when she saw him. He was standing
in the doorway to his room, his dark
form outlined by the glow of a desk lamp left on.
"Buffy?" came the hesitant and confused inquiry. "Is that really you?"
Rushing forward, Buffy
flung herself into her love’s arms, holding him tightly, unaware that the
door had closed behind her. Stepping
back, she looked up
into his eyes, expecting to see love and tenderness there, with a large
amount of guilt. Instead, all she saw was evil
amusement and a mocking
smile playing upon those beautiful lips. Distancing herself from him further,
she was about to turn and run,
when something hard hit her on the back of the head, sending her into unconsciousness
on the floor.
Looking down at the fallen Slayer, Angelus laughed in triumph. "That seemed almost too easy."
"That’s because you didn’t do anything!" came his mate’s indignant reply.
"What, and deprive you the pleasure of beaning the Slayer?" he said. "You would have been upset if you hadn’t gotten to nail her."
"True. But I’m still
pissed at her! I mean look at the dent in this thing!! You had to have
such a hard head, didn’t you Buffy?" looking
down at the aluminum
bat in her hands, that sported a sizeable dent now, promptly send a wave
of annoyance through her. Taking her
anger out
on the knocked-out Slayer, she sent a brutal kick into her side, feeling
satisfied hearing the distinctive crunch of a rib
breaking.
"Now, now. Be nice,
dear. We have all week to torture her.....maybe longer. Let’s see how long
she lasts, hmmmm?" came the reply from
Angelus. Calling in
the few minions he’d brought with them, he set them to the task of bringing
the Slayer back to the mansion. "Be sure
she’s kept chained the
entire time! I don’t want to lose her." was his final command, before taking
Willow’s arm, and leading her out into
the night.
Part 8
Groaning in pain, Buffy
slowly began to wake up. <My head’s killing me!> trying to remember
what had happened, she started to put the
pieces together. <I
went to see Angel.......hugged him......but...it wasn’t Angel.....it was
Angelus.....the curse didn’t work! I was about to get
away....and was hit on the head with something....> came the disjointed
thoughts. <I wonder who hit me?> Opening her eyes, she
immediately regretted
it, as it sent a wave of pain so intense that she almost passed out again.
Trying again, she managed to open her
eyes half-way with
minimal pain. Seeing that she was on the floor, Buffy used her arms to
push herself up into a sitting position, this
time not able to stop the gasp of pain that left her. "She’s awake." came
a voice from the other side of the room.
Finally able to open her eyes completely, she looked up as a fuzzy figure in black walked over to her.
Crouching down in front
of her former friend, now enemy, Willow held a glass of water to Buffy’s
lips, letting the Slayer sip at the cool
liquid.
Lifting a hand, she gently brushed the hair away from Buffy’s face in a
surprisingly tender act. Dropping her hand, Willow
cupped Buffy’s face in her hand, forcing the Slayer to look at her.
"Willow?" confused
and uncertain, she tried to figure out what was going on. She felt the
chains around her wrists and ankles, but
couldn’t figure out what Willow
was doing here. She should be at the library, trying to find out what had
happened to Buffy, or out with
her new boyfriend,
Oz. She shouldn’t be here with her. <Unless Angelus caught her too!>
That would explain a lot. <And he has become
interested in her, recently. The scene in the graveyard certainly proves
that!> "Did he get you, too?"
"Who, Buffy?" asked Willow.
"Angelus."
A small smile passed
over her lips as she said "Not exactly." Standing up, Willow walked across
the room. When she returned, Buffy
had fully regained
her senses. She could feel vampires all around her, even a few in the room
with her. Looking up at Willow as she
returned, Buffy got
the shock of her life. Willow was in LEATHER!!! She had on tight leather
pants, wearing thick, high heeled boots,
and a lace
up, leather top that showed off everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! <Since
when does Willow have breasts?!> Buffy
thought. And her entire
outfit was in black. No colour on her, expect for her red hair, green eyes
and bright red lips. Even her eyes
were outlined in black.
"Willow, what happened?
Why are you dressed all in leather?" shocked was not what she was feeling
in the next instance. She went so
far past shocked
that there was no name for what she was feeling as a pair of strong arms
snaked their way around Willow’s waist.
"Not very smart for a
Slayer, is she?" Glancing over her shoulder, Willow looked at her mate,
and gave him a faint smile. "That Slayer
sense of hers is always letting her down."
"That’s not true!" came the Slayers indignant comment.
"Puh-lease! Explain Angel!
You spent how many hours in his company, and you didn’t even realize that
he was a vampire! I mean the cold,
pale
skin, lack of eating food and never being seen during the day was quite
a tip-off for me, but not for the almighty Slayer!"
"Now, now. Don’t go
getting all heated up. Save it for later." bending his head, Angelus began
to nibble at his mate’s neck, making her
moan.
"He turned
you!" whispered Buffy. Horror and sadness evident in her voice. "See, she’s
not as dumb as she looks." said Willow to
Angelus.
"When?" asked Buffy,
gaining control of her raging emotions, rage and hatred being in the fore.
<I’ll kill Angel for this!> was her first
thought.
<Then we’ll restore Willow’s soul and everything will be okay.> was
her next thought. Then, "Was the curse real? Or just
another game?" she asked. She needed to know, as her plans for Willow rested
on the fact that the curse existed.
"Yes, the curse is real,
but the one I performed was just some Latin words I threw together. I would
love to see the look on Giles’ face
when he finally decides to translate the ‘curse’. It’ll be priceless."
Willow informed her.
"And to satisfy your
curiosity," continued Angelus, "Willow was turned Friday night, when you
and your followers were late to meet
her."
"You were at the club?"
she asked. "Buffy, I own the club. When I saw her standing there, all alone,
I figured that now was as good a
time as any.......... It worked out better than I could have imagined."
"Isn’t he just delicious?"
Willow asked Buffy with a happy grin on her face. Turning her head, she
caught Angelus in a deep kiss that
looked like it wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
A disgusted snort came
from off to the side, as a silent observer made his presence known. "You
two are more repulsive than a slimy
Chaos demon." an accented voice said from the shadows.
"Why thank
you, Spike. Never knew you cared." replied Angelus, in a snide tone. Seeing
that an all out brawl was about to begin,
Willow intervened.
"We have more important things to do, darling. It’s time to play with the
rest of them. You promised, remember?"
Willow said in a child-like voice.
With a final glare at
his childe, Angelus agreed. As they were headed out the door, Willow’s
last comment could be heard, "We’ll have so
much fun, Angelus. I can hardly wait."
Struggling against the
chains, Buffy tried in earnest to get free and save her friends, but they
didn’t so much as budge. "You’ll just tire
yourself out, if you
keep that up. Red strengthened the chains before they were put on. You’re
going to need you’re strength for what’s
coming." said Spike, rolling over towards her.
"What do you mean, she strengthened them? How?"
"Put a spell on them, ducks. Ten Slayers all trying couldn’t break the damn things."
"Spell? But Willow
isn’t that strong!" exclaimed the Slayer. She knew Willow was a practicing
Wicca, but her powers weren’t very
strong.
"Ever since she mated
with the wanker, her powers have been growing. She nearly destroyed the
last of Dru’s mind, when Dru decided
that she wouldn’t let
anyone take away her ‘daddy’." scorn evident in his voice. All Dru had
talked about all day was getting ‘her Angel’
back. Spike had tried
to get her to drop the subject, knowing that the only way to get Willow
away from Angelus was to kill her, which
would then be
the death of them all. <He’d probably take out most of the continent
before someone stopped him.> "She doesn’t see
anything other than
the fact that the witch ‘stole’ her ‘daddy’. She’ll be the death of us
all if she’s not stopped." he said with a resigned
sigh. He knew her days
were numbered. And Angelus wouldn’t be the one to take her out, either.
The red head wouldn’t let Dru live to
see another night if she knew what Dru was planning. Not that Spike knew,
either.
" Let me go, I’ll kill Angelus and restore Willow’s soul. Problem solved." she said, her voice taking on a ‘reasonable’ tone.
"You don’t get it, Slayer. They’re mated."
"She’ll get over him. She has eternity." still not seeing the problem.
"Slayer,
you really know nothing of vampires." he spat. He was getting annoyed.
Having to explain about mates to this girl was
ridiculous, but
necessary. "Vampires who have found their mates are different. They are
bound to each other for the rest of their
lives."
"I’m still not seeing the problem here."
"Think of it as soul
mates. But with vampires, it’s more like demon-mates. We each have our
own mate. If you’re lucky enough to find
them, you gain incredible power and strength. Angelus and the witch are
mates. If you kill one of them, the other will become
self-destructive."
"So if I kill Angel, Willow will commit suicide?" horror filling her with that realization.
"Not exactly."
"Well, explain. Please."
she asked. She really wanted to find a way to get Willow out of this situation,
and her plan was quickly going
down the drain. She didn’t want to kill Willow.
"If Angelus died,
his mate would go on a rampage of violence. She would become almost unstoppable,
not caring who she killed, how
many, or if they’re human or demon. She wouldn’t stop until someone killed
her, which is very difficult."
"Ohmigod!!" came her
whispered exclamation. The thought what Willow would do was beyond horror.
But the thought of Angelus going on
a rampage was even worse.
"Now you see. To stop
them, you have to kill both of them." explained Spike. "It’ll be hard enough
to kill one of them, because they will
do anything to protect the other."
"How come I never heard of this before? I mean this sounds like something that all Slayers should be aware of!"
"For one, very few vampires
know about mates, so I doubt the Watcher’s Council does. And second, there
hasn’t been a mated couple in
close to 200 years."
"If it’s been so long, and so few have heard of it, how do you know?" she asked, suspicion colouring her voice.
"Because I was
around when the last couple died. Tanya and Alec. Tanya was killed by a
younger female, trying to take her place as
head female in the pack.
She didn’t know what hit her when Alec went mad. She was the first one
to die. Alec went on a killing spree so
bloody, that it’s still talked
about today. By the time he was done, half of Europe was on it’s knees."
The way he described it had shivers
of fear running up and
down her spine. <I’ve got to think of a way to get Willow out of this.>
Not willing to let her best friend be tied
to a cruel and sadistic demon for the rest of her life, she tried something.
"Spike, will you help
me? If you could find the disk Willow took, you could help me perform the
curse on the two of them. Then they
wouldn’t be such a threat." plans already forming in her head.
"You don’t get
it, do you, girl. These aren’t just a pair of vamps that decided to join
up together. Their demons are bonded to each
other. Any curse
for a soul or such you try on them would only backfire. A soul is the opposite
of the demon. Together, Angelus and
Willow
are protected from any restoration you try." With that said, Spike spun
his chair around, and wheeled off in the other
direction.
Leaning against the
wall behind her, Buffy let out a sigh. <I don’t know what to do.> Closing
her eyes, she fell into unconsciousness, her
body losing the battle with pain.
Part 9
Walking into the
library, Willow and Angelus prepared to do the best acting of their lives.
Willow, personally, could not stand the
person she once was.
All quiet, shy and helpless. So weak. She liked the way she was now, much
better. So strong and powerful. <And I
have Angelus.> Not
to mention the difference in clothes. <Fuzzy sweaters, sneakers, overalls,
tights.......uuugggggghhhhhhh!! Sickening!>
But still, the acting
made the game all the more fun. Angelus, however, was in a different frame
of mind. He could hardly wait. He had a
feeling that tonight would be one of the best of his unlife.
Once they stepped through
the doors, it seemed as if time had stopped. Giles, Xander and Cordelia
stopped what they were doing, and
were all looking at Angelus as if he might attack them. <Smart kids.>
he thought.
"Hey guys." came Willow’s cheery
greeting. Giles was the first to get it together enough to form a complete
sentence. "Willow, are....are
you certain that this
is Angel, and not.....not Angelus?" He still had unresolved issues concerning
this creature, especially after Jenny,
but the hope and joy on his Slayer’s face when they had found the restoration
ritual had pushed aside all his doubts.
"Of course I am. Giles,
if he was still Angelus, do you really think I’d be here talking to you?
I mean, Angelus had his mind set on me
next, and that would
be bad. But this is Angel. They’re two different people. Don’t blame Angel
for things he did as Angelus. He had no
control over that." she said, putting on her best effort at her ‘resolve
face’, which was hard, without scaring them all off.
"Ok, Wills. Whatever
you say." said Xander, slightly surprised by the vehemence in her voice,
and the serious ‘resolve face’ on. He had
never seen her be that ‘resolved’ before.
In an attempt to change
the subject, Willow turned to Giles. "Giles, have you seen Buffy tonight?
I can’t find her anywhere." conveying
concern in her voice.
"Well, I believe she
was set to go visit Angel tonight, at the apartment. Why, is she not there?"
the last was directed at Angel. "She
didn’t show. I was waiting for awhile when Willow showed up."
"I expected to find Buffy
there, but she wasn’t. We can’t find her anywhere!" panic now in her voice.
"What if something’s happened to
her? We have to help
her! She’s our friend. She could be in trouble, fighting a vampire or a
demon or other Hellmouthy creatures. She
could be hurt, lying
on the ground bleeding to death as we speak, wondering where we are, and
here we are just talking about where she
is, and not really looking. Giles, we have to find her......"
"Willow, calm down. I’m sure she’s just out patrolling or changing her outfit or some other such activity." interrupted Giles.
"Yeah, I’m sure she’s
just fixing her make-up. Which, I might add, she needs a lot of. I mean,
all those visible pores......... Uhhhhh." put in
Cordelia with a delicate
shudder. "Thanks for the creative input, Cordy. What would we do without
you?" Xander said sarcastically.
"You know, Xander, I
really don’t have to put up with this..." only to be interrupted by Giles
again. "Children, please. Our main concern
should be Buffy. Now Willow. Have you called her mother?"
"Yes. She said Buffy left hours ago. I don’t know why, but I just have a bad feeling about this." came Willow’s teary reply.
"Alright then, we should
go out and have a look for her. Xander, Cordelia, you come with me. We’ll
look around the route from Buffy’s to
Angel’s
old apartment. Angel, can you check out the cemeteries, please? Willow,
if you could search the hospitals and such on the
dreadful machine?" the watcher waited for all their nods before gathering
his things.
"Of course. I want to find her as much as anyone." said Angelus in a concerned tone of voice.
"Why should we trust Deadboy, over there? How do we know he really has a soul?"
"Xander!" snapped Willow.
"Don’t you trust me and my abilities? He’s Angel!!! Now go out and find
Buffy. She should be our priority
right now!"
That said, a shameful
Xander, a smug Cordelia, a tired Watcher and a pretend-souled vampire all
left to look for the possibly missing
Slayer.
Watching as the group
left, Willow went to the table in the centre of the room, and sat on top
of it. Waiting. Several minutes later, the
doors opened, and the one that had been on her mind walked through them.
"I can’t believe they
actually bought that crap." he said, stalking over to her. Stopping in
front of her, he spread her legs and stood
between them, running
his hands up and down the front of her fuzzy sweater. Bringing her arms
up around his neck, she pressed herself
against him before answering.
"They always were idiots."
Threading her fingers through his hair, she pulled him closer, her lips
almost touching his. Teasing him. "Now,
what can we do to pass
the time, until they come back from looking for the poor, missing Slayer?
Hmm?"she said seductively. Lowering
his head, Angelus
captured her lips in a deep kiss, getting lost in her mouth. Pulling back,
Willow looked into his eyes as she ran her
hands down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as she went.
"Tease."
he charged, as her hands roamed the inside of his shirt, getting reacquainted
with his hard chest. "Um hmm."was her only
answer as she began to place small nips all over his chest, making him
groan with need.
Suddenly, he froze in place. "Slayer." was all he said. But it was enough.
"I thought she
was in chains in the mansion?" she hissed. All their plans were about to
fall into a million pieces. Stepping back from
Willow,
Angelus moved into the shadows and Willow took her place in front of the
computer, waiting for Buffy to enter the room.
When the doors opened,
Willow was shocked to see not Buffy, but Kendra. The other Slayer. If she
still breathed, Willow would have
let out a sigh of relief. The plan would still work.
"Kendra! What are you doing here?" Willow asked in genuine surprise.
"Me watcher said I was greatly needed here. He say Angelus back." came the accented reply.
"Well, he’s half right."
said a voice from the shadows, that had Kendra spinning around. "I knew
I felt a vampire here, but I was not
sure where ye were."
"Well, you do better
than our own Slayer. She couldn’t even tell her boyfriend was a vampire
until he ‘vamped out’ as it’s put around
here."
"What happened to yer
soul?" she asked as she sized up her opponent. Angel had been nice, but
guilt ridden. Angelus, however, was a
killer, with more Slayers
under his belt than his childe, Spike. She felt something that she hadn’t
felt in awhile. Fear. She was scared,
because Angelus had taken down better Slayers than her.
"It went bye-bye, Slayer. And
just so you know, you’re really not needed here. I have everything perfectly
under control." that said, he
glanced over her shoulder
to the person behind her. Throughout the entire conversation, Willow has
silently crept up behind Kendra.
Catching Angelus’ eye, she attacked.
Kendra barely had time
to take in Willow’s game face, before a set of fangs became imbedded in
her throat, quickly draining her. Once
she was dry, the now-dead
Slayer was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, as Willow looked at her
mate. She saw his smile of pride.
His mate had taken a Slayer.
Taking her hand,
he brought it to his lips for a kiss. Just as they were about to start
where they had left off, when the doors were
opened by the watcher
and the two teens. Taking in the vamped out Willow and the not-very souled
vampire before him, Giles asked the
obvious question. "Dear Lord, what happened here?"
"Willow
got herself a Slayer." said a smirking Angelus. As if realizing for the
first time that something was wrong, all their eyes
dropped to the body on the floor.
"Willow?" came Xander’s squawking exclamation. Confusion was evident on the faces of all the humans in the room.
Gasps of shock and horror
filled the library as the her three former friends realized that Willow
was lost to them. "You bastard!" was
all Giles could say,
so great was his rage. Laughing in pure evil glee, the two vampires took
off to the back of the library, and escaped
through the tunnels, entering their home a while later.
Part 10
A few days later.
Willow was laying in
bed when the idea finally formed in her thoughts. She’d had a vague notion
of how to accomplish her goal, but until
this moment, she hadn’t known
exactly how to do it. Getting out of bed, she made sure she didn’t wake
Angelus, and made her way into the
main room of the mansion,
her new senses telling her it was just before noon. Finding a comfortable
chair, she sat down and called to her
the one who had been on her thoughts for days.
Hearing a noise, she
looked up as Drusilla came into the room. The insane vampiress had been
reclusive since Willow had come. <Probably
plotting ways to get
her ‘daddy’ back. As if I’d let her!> thought Willow. Motioning for her
to sit down in the chair Willow had placed
across from hers, she began her task.
Looking deep into Drusilla’s
eyes, she allowed herself to be pulled into the other’s mind. Concentrating
all her power, Willow began the
slow and painful job of fitting all the floating pieces of Drusilla’s mind
back together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sensing it was sunset,
Angelus awoke in bed to find himself alone. Feeling that something wasn’t
right, he went in search of his mate. He
found her downstairs.
Rushing over to her
unconscious form slumped in the chair, he didn’t even spare a glance at
his other childe who was also unconscious,
across from Willow. The minions
came running at their Master’s call, surprised and slightly scared when
they saw the scene before them.
"Find me some fresh
blood. NOW!" he ordered them, his tone not leaving any room for argument.
Angelus was terrified. His mate was
hurt and he didn’t even know why. He felt helpless.
"What’s all the bloody
racket for. You finally realize that sunlight burns?" asked the blonde
Brit from one of the doorways. Seeing his
princess in the
same predicament as Willow brought Spike over to her side in an instant.
His secret of being able to walk had been
revealed by Willow the previous day, when she’d decided she’d had enough
with all the secrets in her new family.
"Dru? Baby? Wake up,
princess." panic slowly seeping into his voice. Watching her closely, he
noticed her eyes flutter slightly before
they opened. What surprised
him the most, was that for the first time in over a century, they were
clear and bright, not glazed with her
madness. Growling from behind him distracted Spike for an instant.
"Willow! Open your eyes.
OPEN THEM, WILLOW!" becoming more panicked and enraged as the minutes passed
with no response from
her.
"Don’t worry, Angel.
She’s just tired. Give her time, and she’ll wake up." came Dru’s soft reply.
Looking at her sharply, Angel noticed
something different about her, but couldn’t tell what. "What’s wrong with
her?!"
"She made me better. She undid
all that you did. But she’s tired now." It was then that Angelus saw that
Drusilla’s madness was gone. He
understood now. Willow
had heeled her mind, but it had taken so much out of her, that her body
had shut down to repair itself. <When
the food gets here,
she’ll be better. She needs to get something into her.> It was also at
that moment that he realized that Dru’s cryptic
and nonsense sayings weren’t from her madness, but a part of her. <Probably
a quirk she got from me!>
Pulling his attention
off his now-sane childe, he picked up his mate, and took her upstairs.
Saying before he left, "Send up one of the
meals when the
boys get back.". Turning his back on the room, he carried Willow to their
room. Laying her gently on the bed, he sat
down next to her, thinking
over all they had done the past few days. <I can’t lose her now. We’ve
been so happy these last days.> Since a
replacement Slayer
had yet to arrive, the Hellmouth was without a Slayer to patrol it, as
Buffy was in chains in the basement. That
thought brought a smile
to his face. Willow did have a mean streak in her. He’d never seen anyone
with that kind of lust for torture and
blood, except for Spike and himself.
Gently brushing the
hair away from her face, he recalled the past few nights. It had been an
all out hunt-fest in Sunnydale, with his
Willow leading the way.
He was so proud of her. She’d earned the respect of all the vamps in the
town, without killing any of them. But
they all knew she’d dust them in a second if they so much as thought of
betraying her. <A true queen.>
Looking down, he found
himself staring into a pair of luminous green eyes. "You’re awake. It’s
about time." he said. Then, letting out all
his pent up tension and worry, "What the hell did you think you were doing?
You could have fried your brain!" he yelled.
"Shhhhh, Angelus. I’m
alright. I knew what I was doing." came her calm reply. She understood
his mood. He was worried about her. If
she were being truthful,
she had been worried there, for a minute. Putting back together Drusilla’s
mind had taken more out of her than
she had expected. Her
body had immediately demanded rest from her, time to heal. Thus, she had
passed out. Now, she was starving and
let Angelus know about it.
Laughing, he told her that he’d sent the minions out for some food for her and Drusilla. "But I want to hunt." came her petulant reply.
"You’re too weak, right
now. Get some food into you, and we’ll go hunting." seeing that she still
wasn’t content, he added "I’m sure Dru
will want to come."
pleased when he saw her smile. He was constantly amazed at this person
who was his mate. He had sone something
extremely nice for
Dru, even though she knew that the insane vampiress was plotting ways to
kill Willow. It was then that he realized
that some of
her kind heart had stayed with her, when she’d been turned, but that her
kindness seemed to only be directed towards
those in her family. Namely, Spike, him, and Dru, not her former friends.
Hearing a knock on the
door, they both turned to see Spike standing there, the vampire behind
him holding the body of an unconscious
resident of Sunnydale.
"Foods here." was all he said, motioning for the minion to bring his burden
into the room, giving it to Willow as
she got
off the bed to meet him. Without a word, her demonic ridges appearing as
she fed from the hapless girl. Spike look on in
fascination as his
sire’s mate fed, amazed that this girl had given him his princess back.
Dru was sane, and no longer plotting Willow’s
death. Plus,
she was devoted to Spike, no longer passing him over for Angel, who she
no longer referred to as ‘daddy’. <Thank bloody
Satan! My dark goddess
is here to stay, and she’s all mine.> Deciding that he’d let Willow and
Angelus have time alone, he turned from
the room and headed
for his and Dru’s room. Thinking back, he was flabbergasted by the fact
that Willow had convinced him to not hide
the fact that
he could walk. Now, he was glad. Unlife had become better since Willow
had come into their lives. He knew that every
vampire in Sunnydale
would gladly follow her in anything she decided, even if it was walking
out into daylight. <Angelus inspires fear,
and his mate inspires respect. What a combo.>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Library
"What the bloody hell...." cursed Giles under his breath, drawing the attention of the other occupants of the room.
"What’s the matter, G-man." asked Xander, curious as to what had caused the tweedy librarian to use such language.
"I’ve been going over the spell to restore Angelus’ soul.....translating it and such.....it doesn’t make any sense....." he replied absently.
"Why are you wasting
you’re time on Deadboy’s curse?! We should be figuring out how to help
Willow, find Buffy and dust evil Angel!"
cried Xander, missing the big picture all together.
"Xander! Please use
your brain for something other than a paper weight." said Giles, unable
to believe the boy’s denseness. "If we can
find out what went wrong with the spell that Willow performed, then we
can fix it, and use it to give Willow back HER soul."
"Oh." was all he said.
"So what’s the problem?" asked Oz.
"Well, I’ve only translated the first few lines, but it doesn’t seem like any spell. It’s more like babbling."
"Well, maybe if you read it to us, we could help you some."
"Here it goes, ‘A long
time ago, in a galaxy far, far away......’" began Giles. However, he was
interrupted by Xander, who was choking on
the pop he had just taken a gulp of. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I’m just guessing that Willow was turned before she ever did the curse." said Xander.
"What makes you say that?" inquired Giles, truly curious.
"It’s the opening to ‘Star Wars’." supplied Oz, feeling sad. His girlfriend was truly lost to him.
"‘Star Wars’?"
"Yeah, you know, the movie?" answered Xander.
"Well, then..... It
appears as though we must come up with some other plan." said Giles. "We
have to assume that Willow and Angelus
have Buffy."
"What makes you say that?" asked Oz.
"Well, we didn’t know
she was missing until Willow and Angelus mentioned it. How would they know
unless they had taken her?" finished
Xander, following Giles’ train of thought.
"So do we have a plan?" questioned Oz.
"I believe I have an idea." said Giles.
Part 11
At the Mansion
Angelus and Spike were having an argument about the best way to skin a cat, when one of the minions came rushing into the room.
"Master Angelus! You
must come quick! Lady Willow’s been taken!" he said in a rush. He was terrified
to be there, but knew that his
death would be slow and painful if he didn’t reveal what he’d seen as soon
as possible.
"What do you mean ‘taken’?"
he roared. <I knew I never should have let her go out hunting alone
with Dru.> But the red head had a way
of convincing him to do things he normally wouldn’t.
"Well, I was in
the park, looking for something to eat. I noticed that Lady Willow and
Lady Drusilla were also hunting in the park.
Before I had a chance to do anything, I saw that librarian and the two
boys attack them."
"Well!? What happened?
I don’t believe for a second that they would both be taken down by such
imbeciles!" shouted Angelus. He
wasn’t over-reacting.
Those idiots had taken his mate and his childe, but he knew Willow wasn’t
dead. He would have felt it if she had
been dusted, besides,
that group would never be able to kill one of their own. But he still couldn’t
figure out how they had taken them.
"I saw the dark haired
boy shoot Lady Willow with some sort of gun, and then she just collapsed."
the minion paused there, unwilling to
go on. He knew that what he said next would be his death.
"Dru wouldn’t
just stand there and let that happen. She adores Willow." this was the
first thing Spike had said since the minion had
come in. As he
said the words, a sense of dread overcame him, as if he knew what the next
words out of the minions mouth would be.
"She didn’t............ Lady Drusilla went wild, attacking the three of them." pausing again.
"Well! What happened? Did they get her too?" asked an impatient Spike.
"No." he said slowly.
"They staked her." Expecting an outburst of violence and a quick death,
the minion was surprised, and even more
terrified, at the long silence that followed his statement. Finally, after
what seemed like an eternity, Spike spoke.
"They’re dead. The lot of ‘em." was all he said, before turning on his heels and walking out of the room.
Realizing it was too
late to do anything for his mate didn’t add to Angelus’ mood, either. Instead,
he went into the basement where the
chained Slayer was being held, and took his anger and frustration out on
her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jolting
upright in a flash, Willow opened her eyes and saw she was in the cage
in the library. Thinking back, she tried to put her
memories together
to form a coherent picture. She remembered hunting with Dru, using the
time as bonding-time with the now sane
vampire....... then two Slayerettes with the librarian...........something
hit her in the chest........she felt herself falling into
unconsciousness........as
her eyes were about to close......Dru going wild........and then a poof
as she was dusted. With the realization that
Dru was dead, came a growl from deep in Willow’s chest.
Hearing her growl in the cage, the occupants of the library turned to see a very angry, very vamped out Willow, awake and pissed.
"Let me out of
here and I’ll make sure your deaths are as quick as possible!" she growled.
Ignoring her comment, Oz approached the
cage with sad, yet expectant, eyes.
"Willow." he began. "You don’t have to be this way. I know there has to be a part of you that remembers who you are."
"Don’t waste your breath,
wolfboy. This IS who I am. The Willow you remember was only a pathetic
shell. Shy. Quiet. Mousy. Never
had the
nerve to go after what she really wanted." she snarled, every minute getting
angrier. "And what I want right now is your
still-beating heart in the palm of my hand. You killed Dru! You’ll die
slow!"
"She was nutso, Willow. Bonkers. Wacko. The world is a better place with one less psycho vamp running around." said Xander.
"You idiots! Do you
think I went to all that work to rebuild her mind, just so you asses can
kill her?!" she yelled. "It took me a good 6
hours to put her mind back together!"
"You reversed Drusilla’s
madness?" asked Giles in astonishment. He knew Willow had power, but he’d
never thought it was this strong.
To rebuild a broken
mind was VERY difficult. Add to it the fact that the person in question
had powers of her own, only added to the
complexity of the task.
Willow looked at Giles
while he contemplated what it meant. <Finally, he’s beginning to understand
the full capacity of my powers.> she
thought with an evil
smile playing across her lips. Once she dropped that bombshell, Willow
decided to leave it for now. She could smell
the dawn coming, and knew no rescue would be forthcoming this day. She’d
have to wait until sunset.
"Bored now." was all
she said, as she turned around and began to pace back and forth in the
cage. Her mind already plotting the mind
games she could play
with them. But she’d also have to inform them of her mated state and all
it represented. <Don’t want them going out,
thinking that
they can dust him.> realizing that no matter how good a vampire was, there
was no avoiding an arrow from a ‘sniper’, of
sorts. You can only avoid what you know is coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in his
office, Giles’ mind went over all that had happened that day. They had
captured Willow, hoping to help her by either
cursing her with
a soul or find a way to bring back the Willow they all knew and loved.
Staking her was a last resort. Correction, it
WAS a last resort,
until she explained in great detail about her ‘mate’ and what would happen
if either of them was killed. Little was
known about mated vampires,
mainly because there hadn’t been any in over two hundred years. <And
the chaos that abounded the last
time cannot be
allowed to happen again.> The only option open to them was to kill both
Angelus and Willow. However, as with other
plans, this one
had several holes. One, they would have to be together, as once one was
gone, the other would be almost impossible to
stop once he/she got
started. Two, there was no way an aging Watcher and three teens could take
on that many vampires (as Angelus
would have his legion
of minions with him). One Slayer was missing, held captive and tortured
(confirmed by Willow - in GREAT detail),
and the other
one not ready, as she’d just been called. Three, if they did somehow manage
to live through all of this without killing
Willow and Angel,
there was still the fact that the group would be hunted by the vampires.
And four, if they did succeed in killing
Willow and Angelus,
there was still Spike to deal with, as he would be out for their blood
as soon as possible, for the staking of his
long-time love.
<I need some tea.> he thought. His head felt like it was going to explode,
but at this moment, that sounded like a good
idea.
Getting up to prepare
his soothing cup of tea, he wandered past his bookshelf of ‘forbidden’
books. Stopping, he ran the list of spells
through his mind, finally finding the right one. Finding the book, he found
the page.
"I can do this...." he mumbled under his breath, ideas already forming
in his mind.
Part 12
Angelus was in a mood.
And not a good one. His mate had been taken, and was being held for ransom:
the Slayer. That made his bad mood
become
even worse. But images of how he would get revenge ran through his mind,
lessening his ire a little. Not much, but a little.
Stalking through the park,
he concentrated on the moment, eager to have his mate back. A note had
been slipped under the front door of
the mansion earlier
this afternoon, setting a time and place for the exchange of one female
for another. The time - thirty minutes after
sunset. The place -
the old fountain in the park. Glancing behind him, Angelus was pleased
to see that Buffy was being carried, rather
than have her walk on
her own. Walking had become something of a wishful dream of the Slayer’s,
after having Spike, and later Angelus,
take into her for the
loss of Drusilla and the capture of Willow. Already, plans were forming
in the back of his mind, most ending with
the bloodied corpses of the entire Scooby Gang littering the streets of
Sunnydale.
Reaching the meeting place, he noticed that those left of the Slayerettes were all there. He also saw that Willow wasn’t among them.
"Where is she?" he all but growled at them.
"As if we’d trust you
to leave quietly after you get Willow back." said Xander. "The second you
get your cold hands on her, we’d all be
vampire supper!"
"She’s safe, for the
moment." was all Giles said. Looking beyond Angelus, he saw his Slayer
being held up by two of Angelus’ minions. "Is
she alright?" motioning to Buffy.
"Spike spent some
‘quality’ time with her, this afternoon." mocked Angelus. "She’s fine,
for the moment. Now, where’s Willow?" his
mocking tone gone.
"Hand over Buffy, and we’ll tell you." reasoned Giles, hoping to have this end easily, and hopefully, with little to no blood.
"As if I’d trust you to actually tell me where she is." sending the same words back at them.
"You need
to ask yourself a question, Angelus. Do we want Buffy more than you want
Willow?" seeing the dark look pass over the
vampire’s face, Giles
knew he’d hit it square on. Growling deep in his chest, Angelus realized
that what he said was true. He would give
almost anything to get Willow back. But he hated to know that that damn
librarian knew it too.
"I’m leaving two of
the boys here. You don’t touch her until I send word that Willow is safe.
If you’re lying to me, they’ll kill you all."
said Angelus. Seeing that it was the best he would get from the vampire,
Giles nodded.
"Giles, you can’t!" cried Xander. "He’ll kill us all, anyways!"
"Got to agree with him." said Oz, no emotion in his voice. Cordelia, for once, had nothing to say through this whole ordeal.
"I’ve guaranteed us some
protection." was all Giles said to the group of teenagers. Turning to Angelus,
"She’s in Angel’s old apartment.
She should be waking up in about ten minutes."
Not waiting to see who
followed him, Angelus spun on his heels, and ran in the direction his mate
was in. Reaching it in record time, he
stepped into the main
room, searching her out. Vaguely aware that Spike had followed him from
the park, his eyes caught on the sight of
his Willow, slumped on the floor. Rushing to her, he lifted her up in his
arms just as the tranquilizers wore off.
"Angelus...?"
she whispered. Her head hurt and there was a hunger in her that she hadn’t
felt since she was turned. Controlling the
hunger, she opened her eyes in time to see Spike leave the room.
"I’ll kill them for this." was all he said as he carried her from the apartment to the mansion.
Laying her down on the
bed, he noticed her paleness. "You haven’t fed in awhile. I’ll go get you
something." Turning to leave the room, he
was stopped by her soft plea. "Don’t."
"Don’t what?" he asked.
"Giles has been busy
with his magic, today. He cast several spells. One was to prevent us from
harming any person inside the city limits
off Sunnydale, until
sunrise." she said, pushing the hunger away. What she had to say was more
important than her stomach. Struggling
to sit up, she tried to explain to him what Giles had done.
"We have to leave. By sunrise."
"Why leave? And why
so soon?" he asked. He knew there was something important she was trying
to tell him, and he had a feeling her
REALLY wasn’t going to like it.
"He put a spell on all
the vampires in town. At sunrise it will activate." she said, her voice
growing stronger with each word. "It gives us
an aversion to blood
- makes us despise the taste, smell and thought of blood. However, it only
affects us as long as we’re in the town
limits. Leave, and it dissipates."
"So we’ll just leave town to feed. It’ll take longer, but in the end, we can...." he began, only to be interrupted.
"That’s not all he did.
He was very busy all day, casting spells and making plans." she said. "His
last one was a type of binding. It is also
activated at sunrise. Any
vamps left in town are locked in the city limits for eternity, or until
they die, which won’t be long. But if those
vampires are
outside the city limits, then it bans them from entering the town. It’s
like revoking the invitation to a house, only Giles
managed to do it to the whole town." with that said, Willow lay back down
on the bed, exhausted but slowly recovering.
Getting up from the
bed, Angelus looked down at his mate. "Then we’ll leave town before sunrise."
he said, before leaving the room to
get her some blood they kept around, in case of emergencies.
Reaching the bottom of
the stairs, he saw that most of the minions had returned, and so had Spike.
Informing them quickly of the need
to leave town before sunrise, and why, he then moved on as Spike took control
of the move.
Returning upstairs, he
gave the bottle and a glass to Willow, then proceeded to pack up their
belongings. There wasn’t much really, just
clothes and a box of
Angelus’ that held some treasured keepsakes from the ‘good old days’. Things
like Drusilla’s rosary, from when she
took her vows as a
nun (minus the cross), the ring off his first meal as a vampire, and Spike’s
first spike. <Ahhhh, what memories.> he
thought.
"The boys are packing up as we speak. We’ll be out of town well before sunrise."
"Do you know where we should go?" she asked. On such short notice, it would be hard to find a place big enough for the whole group.
"I have a house on the
beach, about an hour from here. It’s all boarded up......very nice view
of the ocean, when you actually go outside."
even as she was
speaking, Angelus had been making plans. As Willow realized this, she also
came to realize that his mind was always
working. As an event
happened, his mind came up with dozens of different ways to deal with it
or avoid it. He was truly amazing. <And
he’s all mine.>
came the thought, which sent tingles up her spine. As if reading her thoughts,
he walked over to her sitting form, and
lowered his head to
her lips in a brutal kiss. He showed her how much he’d missed her, and
how much he loved her. They both realized
that there wasn’t time to get into anything, and broke away from each other.
But her eyes promised him everything later.
"Is there any loophole in this damn spell?" he asked, getting back to the subject at hand.
"Well, there is one. I’m sure Giles never considered this, when he was casting all these nasty spells." teasing him with her answer.
"What is it?" he nearly growled.
"Well, we can’t be invited
back in, unless everyone involved in the spell invites us back into town............But,
any other vampire can come
and go as they
please." she said, letting her hands glide up and down his chest and shoulders.
She’d been away from her mate for too
long, and wanted to show him how much she had missed him, but knew that
this wasn’t the time. The place, but not the time.
"So....we get another
vamp into town to do the killing for us....." he finished for her. Searching
his mind, he came up with the perfect
candidate to fill the
position they’d leave open in Sunnydale. Marcus was the last childe he’d
made, before being cursed by those damn
gypsies. He had his
number in New York. <Yes, perfect.> Marcus had been one of his better
children, right up there with Spike, Dru and
Willow, but he’d never
had the time to really teach and train him. <Oh, well. He’s bloodthirsty
and vicious. And still my childe. He can’t
refuse my offer of a Hellmouth, even if he wanted to.>
That decision
made, he returned to the task of packing up to leave the Hellmouth. It
wasn’t as bad as he would have thought, leaving
Sunnydale. He
thought he’d be angry, being forced to leave, but instead he felt almost
relieved. A whole new world lay out there. A
world in which his
newest childe and mate had no experience in. Just thinking of all the mischief
and destruction they would wrought
together almost made him giddy.
Finished with the packing,
he turned, reached out his hand to Willow, and left the mansion and Sunnydale,
for good. Heading towards a
new life of mayhem and torture.
The End