Angel walked slowly away from Buffy's house, deep in thought. Tearing himself away from her was getting harder, sooner or later they would end up....
"Angel?"
"Miss Calendar?"
"I'm glad I found you, Angel; we need to talk."
"Sure, what's up?"
"This is going to be hard to hear but bear with me. It's about your curse."
"What do you know about that?"
"Until a couple of hours ago, not much. I had a phone call from my uncle..."
"And what does HE know?"
"There's something I need to tell you about myself, first. I'm a descendant of the gypsies that cursed you; I was sent here to see what's going on in your life because one of our seers says that your pain is less than it was."
"Go on." Angel prompted, his voice low and dangerous.
"The curse isn't permanent. It was meant to make you suffer, if you stop suffering and know true happiness, then the curse will be broken and your soul will be taken from you."
"And I'll go back to what I was before."
"Angelus. It's Buffy, isn't it?"
"What?"
"It's Buffy that's making you happy."
"I love her."
"Yeah, she fits the profile."
"WHAT?"
"You know you have a type, right?"
"What...?"
"Young, virginal, special in some way, beloved by her family and friends....is this ringing any bells?"
"You think I'd hurt her?"
"Angelus will."
"I'm not him."
"Once you've deflowered Buffy, you will be. What happens then?"
"Angelus will torture her by hurting everyone she cares about, then he'll kill her."
"Will he turn her?"
"No, he'll hate her too much for that."
"Because you love her."
"Yes."
"Do you, though?"
"What?"
"She's a TYPE. Your type and, because of that, Angelus' type. If you REALLY loved her..."
"I'd what?" Angel asked, "leave her?"
"Well, yes. What future can the two of you have, together? That's if you even still want her, once you've bedded her."
Angel turned away, angry but he recognized that what she was saying was true. Before Darla sired him, he'd been all about the chase. He'd loved to find some innocent - preferably someone lowly, who couldn't complain - and take what he or she had to offer, before discarding the unfortunate plaything. He had spent the rest of his time getting drunk with friends or paying the few skilled whores that were available to him. Sometimes he craved experience over innocence.
After Darla, the thrill of the kill had been added and best of all, the hurt. More than anything, he had loved to torment. He loved to find an individual and drive them to despair by taking everything from them, in the worst way that he could think of. Much as he would like to deny it, he and Angelus were two sides of the same coin. If he stayed with Buffy, she was doomed.
A squeal from Miss Calendar broke his reverie. He looked around to find Drusilla in the process of breaking Jenny Calendar's neck.
"Bad teacher to upset my daddy." She said, letting the body fall.
"Dru, what have I done?"
"Made ME daddy." She replied, running her velvet gloved hand lovingly down the side of his face.
"I should stake you." He said, looking into her eyes and seeing no hint of fear.
"But you won't."
"No, I won't but Buffy will." He made a snap decision. "I'm leaving for L.A., want to come?"
"Oooh, pony rides and candyfloss, I promise I'll be a good girl." Drusilla squealed with delight, clapping her hands.
"What about Spike?"
"I can't be 'is mummy anymore." She pouted, her mood souring, instantly. "Now 'e's seen the sunshine and soon 'e'll be flyin' in the breeze. Li'l motes of dust, sparklin' in the sunlight."
* * * * *
Contents of a letter from Angel to Buffy, delivered a few days before her seventeenth birthday.
My dear Buffy,
I'm so sorry to have to do this to you but I'm leaving Sunnydale. I know that you love me and that this will hurt you but I think that it's better for you, in the long run, if I go now. If I don't, we'll end up doing something that we'll both regret. You are only a child and I really am old enough to know better. The powers recruited me to help you, not to seduce you and I don't think that you need my help, anymore. You have friends, they are your strength, you don't need me.
I'm sorry to have to tell you that Drusilla killed Miss Calendar. To keep Dru out of mischief, I'm taking her with me. She told me that Spike's dead, so that's two problems out of your way. Don't try to look for us.
I'm sure that someday you'll meet a nice, normal boy, who will make you happy. Someone your own age. You have my best wishes for the future.
Angel
Willow read the crumpled, tearstained letter in silence.
"Oh, Buffy," She said, at last, "I'm so sorry."
"He's a patronizing bastard." Buffy spat.
"Really? Aren't you upset?" Willow asked, looking at the tearstains again.
"I was to start with, spent the weekend eating loads of ice cream and crying but now, I'm just REALLY angry. How dare he just sneak off like this? For my own good? Like HE gets to decide. He couldn't even tell me face to face. And this thing about the powers, sending him to help me? That's just another way of saying that the powers don't want me making my own decisions either. Not without a vampire stalker. And the worst part, the VERY worst, is this thing with Drusilla. He knows that she killed Miss Calendar, so he must have seen it happen. He could have come and told us, broke it to us gently. But no, he lets us all find out the hard way, Snider announcing it to the school. Poor Giles, finding out, that way, that she was gone. And....and has he staked Drusilla? No, he took her away with him, probably so I wouldn't kill her. Which means he still has feelings for her."
"I hate to say I told you so..."
"Shut up, Xander." Both girls said, in unison.
* * * * *
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Spike, helpless in his wheelchair, was still a daunting sight to the hapless minion who had drawn the short straw and was now delivering the bad news to his master.
"She's taken Miss Edith and she was seen talking to Angel."
"That bloody ponce!" Spike roared in rage. "What has he got that she could possibly want?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "I gave her everything, got her better, made her strong again. If it weren't for that bloody slayer, Angel would have died during the ritual. The SLAYER. It's all HER fault. I want you lot to watch her, the slayer. I want to know every move she makes, and while you're at it, spread the word, no one and I mean NO ONE, kills the slayer but me. I won't be in this chair forever. When I'm strong, we are going to fight, then I'm going to make her suffer and only when she asks me really nicely, I'm going to kill her. Is that understood?"
"Yes, master."
"Good. Now, get me someone to eat."
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!