Chapter 8
~*~*~*~*~
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Edgar Allen Poe
The Raven
~*~*~*~*~
Willow
had met up with Ripper at the library as arranged, reporting back on the
situation with Xander and Buffy respectively.
“I
think that by now, Buffy’s no longer the vampire Slayer, but Buffy the
vampire. Here’s hoping it cheers
the miserable bitch up a bit.” He smiled at Willow.
“Well,
I’d think Xander the virgin is much happier now he’s Xander the
deflowered.”
At
Ripper’s puzzlement, she continued. “Drusilla
was a little bored so I told her to play with him. He was my friend after all; I know he’d thank me.”
She looked a little hurt that Ripper would think otherwise.
“Bloody
right – it’s about time he had a shag, at his age! So, we go and see Angel now, yes?”
“Yes.
We’ll wring our hands and look all worried that Spike and Drusilla have
our friend. He won’t even
question us, just be the eager puppy wanting to impress Buffy.
Can you imagine his face when he actually sees her?”
Ripper
laughed. “Fantastic!
And won’t it mean that Buffy’s his great-granddaughter?
It just gets better.”
“Right,
let’s get to it then. I’ll
lead, all right? It’ll be more
convincing coming from me, and you need to keep your distance in case he can
sense Eyghon. No point taking
unnecessary risks.”
Ripper
looked at Willow with adoration. She
was everything and more he’d hoped for once he’d laid his plans.
She’d not only accepted her new role, but reveled in it.
Moving swiftly he grabbed her shoulders and locked her lips with his in a
ravenous kiss. She responded by
thrusting her tongue inside his mouth, wrapping it round his own as she ground
her hips against him. The power
flowing between the two of them caused her hair to float around her face as the
link was strengthened by the sexual contact.
They broke apart reluctantly, having more pressing things to deal with.
The
journey to Angel’s apartment was spent in silence. Willow composed herself; eyeing the clothes she’d changed
back into in order to lure Angel to the factory.
It was imperative that he wasn’t on the loose while Spike and Buffy got
through the initial stages of the Slayer’s turning. He wouldn’t hesitate to dust the two of them and that would
be a great waste and a setback to Eyghon’s plans.
Reaching the door, she smoothed down the lurid purple skirt and fluffy
purple and lilac sweater and knocked frenziedly, as though in a panic.
Ripper, or rather Giles, hung back in the shadows.
“Yes!
I’m here…what is it?” Angel
came to the door, bare torso gleaming in the light from the alleyway.
“Willow! What’s wrong,
where’s Buffy?”
He
was already grabbing a shirt and buttoning it quickly.
“Buffy’s
fine, Angel, she’s out on patrol -- but Xander…I don’t know where to look
for her and Xander’s been taken by Spike and Drusilla. Please – you have to help me…please, Angel.
I don’t know what to do.” She
squeezed tears from her eyes, but they were tears of laughter as she looked at
his heavy brow and soulful brown eyes, completely falling for her act.
“Giles!
Do you know where Buffy is tonight?
Can we go get her?” He
spotted the Watcher outside the apartment.
“Sorry,
Angel…there’s no time. We’ve
no idea what Spike and Drusilla have planned for Xander. If anything happened to him, Buffy….” He flashed stricken
eyes at the vampire before removing his glasses and bending his head to clean
them.
“You’re
right, come on – let’s move.”
The
vampire grabbed his jacket and shut the door behind him, leading the way to his
own doom. Ripper stifled a snigger
at the look Willow shot his way, following back to the factory.
As they reached the building, Willow whispered at Giles, “Hey!
Do you think we should try to find Buffy, tell her what’s up?”
“Good
idea, Willow. You should do that,
Giles. I can handle this.
Really, she needs to know.”
“You’re
sure? Right then, I’ll be as
quick as I can.”
Angel
and Willow slipped into the factory and made their way along the upper gallery
to check out the interior. Willow
knew exactly where Drusilla had Xander, but Angel would figure it out.
He’d lead the way and then the trap would be sprung.
She couldn’t wait.
Drusilla,
as if on cue, danced into their line of vision, cooing and swaying whilst
communing with the stars. She
retrieved a glass of water and ostentatiously held it aloft as she danced back
towards the back of the factory, obviously showing the location of the hostage.
Angel
warned Willow to stay put as he stealthily stalked after his insane Childe.
Willow stretched out from the cowed stance she’d affected as the meek
and timid student. She skipped down
the stairs to find her new clothes, donning her new persona as she slipped them
on. Drusilla would take care of
Angel now.
He
rounded the corner and watched, hidden by the wall, as Drusilla allowed the
beaten form of Xander Harris to sip at the water. She patted him on his head and muttered some babble at him
before kissing his forehead and turning around.
She stiffened as she sensed the vampire, grinning to herself as she
realized that the ploy had worked.
“Daddy!”
she shouted out. “Daddy, where
are you? I’ve been a very, very bad girl and I need to be spanked.”
Angel
rushed her and gripped her throat in a meaty hand. “Dru -- where’s Spike?”
“Spike’s
gone to get a present, a lovely present all wrapped up in a girlie skin.
He’ll be back soon, Daddy. Do
you want to play with my new pet?”
“No,
Drusilla. Let him go and I won’t
kill you. You get out of Sunnydale
and take Spike with you. You hear
me?”
Drusilla
laughed and twisted out of his grasp. She
skittered out of reach and round the corner.
Angel wasted no time in entering the room where Xander was bound and
barely conscious. He didn’t
notice Willow tiptoeing up behind him, muttering under her breath, her eyes
black and expressionless and her hand pointing at him.
As she cast the spell, he fell to the floor, limp and motionless.
“Oh,
that was fun, Willow! Can we do it
again? Wake him up and do it
again!”
“No.
Bind him, tightly. We don’t have time for games, Drusilla. Tie him to Xander and make sure he can’t escape.
And give him this.” She
handed Drusilla a syringe filled with blue liquid.
Drusilla
rushed to comply, her eagerness for play incongruous with her vamped out
features. After the serum was
administered, Willow remained hidden and removed the restraining spell.
She didn’t want Angel to know of her involvement just yet; it gave her
more room to toy with him. She
watched from her vantage point as the vampire writhed against his bonds and
realized he was now a captive also. “Drusilla…let
me free!”
“Bad
Daddy, shhh! You have to wait for
Spike; he made me promise. He’ll
be cross if I let you out to play. And
Miss Edith so wants to play with you….”
Angel
screamed in pain as the drug started to take effect. It would essentially drain him of any nutrients in his blood,
making him ravenous and thirsty. It
wouldn’t take long before he’d crack, need to feed. His eyes flashed blue as it continued its job and Drusilla
clapped her hands with glee.
She
twirled off around the corner and into the arms of Willow who’d watched the
process, her mouth open, eyes wide. It
was working; it was very satisfying to have that power.
Drusilla danced around with her, singing to herself about lambs in the
blackberry patch. Willow was caught
up in the moment with the joyful vampire and clasped her close, holding her
raven hair in her hands and crushing her lips with her own.
Cool tongue met hot as the two women rejoiced in their success.
Angel’s howl of agony broke them apart, laughing.
“Let’s
go and watch, Drusilla. See the
demon waging with the soul.” Willow
led her back towards the barred cell, watching from the corner.
Angel was hunched over in agony, clawing at the chains holding him to the
boy. He was desperate to put some
distance between himself and the tantalizing pumping of blood beneath the
boy’s skin, but his mouth was watering of its own accord, his demon features
already to the fore. His hands were
bloodied with his efforts to escape as he waged his internal battle, soul
against demon. The soul was losing.
The drug he’d been given was too strong for him; he had to have blood.
He
shuddered as bloodlust overcame him, then reached roughly for the warm and
unconscious body of Xander Harris. Sinking
his fangs deep into the teenager’s neck, he drank down great gulps of blood,
the liquid soothing his throat and his pain with every draught.
As the hunger was sated, he raised his head and stared in horror at the
very still form of the youth he’d previously sworn to help.
There was only one way to help him now; his mind still clouded by the
drug he rubbed a bloody wrist across Xander’s mouth smearing it with red
wetness.
“Well,
that’s an unexpected bonus,” Willow whispered to Drusilla who was watching
the scene with awe.
“Yes!
Yes! I’m going to have a
new baby brother…all shiny, all glowin’.”
Drusilla
clapped her hands in glee causing her anguished sire to turn in an attempt to
locate the sound. His vampire
visage faded as he noticed for the first time exactly what he was doing.
He’d acted instinctively, just wanting to save the boy.
Instead he’d damned him forever. Angel’s
eyes were spilling over with tears, the blood he’d taken from the young man in
his arms still smearing his lips, the pain and guilt smearing his soul.
“Drusilla!”
he screamed. “Why?
Why did you do this?”
Willow
nodded at the female vampire, urging her on from her hidden vantage point to go
and taunt the tortured and broken Angel. Drusilla
skipped forwards, shushing her sire with a finger on her lips.
“Bad
Daddy! You’ll wake the baby…shhhhh!”
Angel
looked again at Xander’s pale and lifeless body, the mouth slack now and red
with sire’s blood. The
transformation to vampire would happen soon enough, then the innocent young face
would be twisted and evil, the soul gone and replaced by a demon.
“What have I done to you?” he whispered softly, cradling the curly
brown head in his lap and stroking the cooling features gently.
Angel made his mind up that he wouldn’t subject Xander to the hell of
life as a vampire, would dust him before he arose.
Angel was a Master vampire, strong enough to decapitate his soon-to-be
fledgling with his bare hands. It
was all that he could do to make amends. He
placed a reverent kiss on Xander’s smooth brow then began to throttle him with
two meaty hands, crushing flesh and bone in an attempt to remove his head.
“Ah,
ah, ah Daddy – you’ll break him. He’s
a new dolly, got to be gentle.”
Angel
continued to squeeze, ignoring the screeches from Drusilla, her ineffectual
clawing at his hands. Suddenly, he
was ripped forcibly from Xander’s body and flung against the far wall by an
unseen force, the collision enough to knock him out.
Willow’s
leather-clad form rounded the corner. She
kicked at the still figure of Angel as he was slumped against the wall,
finishing her prodding to see if he was conscious with a vicious kick to his
head, splitting his temple and spattering her boots with his blood.
Her
ebony eyes were cold and mirthless as she stepped over Angel to squat at the
side of her oldest and best friend. Willow
took in every inch of his dead body, the bite mark on his neck, the blood on his
lips, the slightly open eyes. She
leaned towards him, snaking out her tongue to lap at the drying blood.
“Mmm,
salty,” she murmured as she got to her feet.
She held out her hand to the keening vampiress who was crouched over
Angel’s crumpled carcass, stroking his high forehead with her pale hands.
“Drusilla….
come, we have plans to make. Ripper
needs to be told that instead of a corpse we have a convert.”
Reluctantly,
Drusilla left her Sire in the cell with the boy.
~*~*~*~*~
Angel
awoke to the feel of a rough tongue lapping at his hand.
He struggled to focus, the drug he’d been given still lying in his
redundant bloodstream. What was licking him?
He
opened his eyes and sat up, freezing as he noted Xander’s kneeling figure and
drawing back in horror as the fledgling gazed lovingly at his Sire.
Oh god, what had he done? Buffy
would never understand this; never forgive him.
He’d never forgive himself.
He
had to get out of here, find Giles, and see if he could do anything about this
disaster. He stilled as Xander
continued placing kisses along his forearm, his biceps and up to his neck.
The rough, cool tongue of his newest descendant affected him despite his
revulsion. He felt his cock twitch
as the demon inside him basked in the adoration and worship offered by the newly
arisen vampire who owed him his very existence.
He
didn’t have time for this. Spike
and Drusilla had obviously planned something major. He had to protect Buffy, warn her. And Giles and Willow. None
of them were safe. He had to get
free.
But
as he locked his piercing gaze with Xander’s, he wanted to dominate him and
teach him what it meant to be a vampire.
His Childe had risen; he’d failed to save him the pain of losing his
soul and he wouldn’t abandon him now. Feeling
the brow ridges slide into place and his fangs descend, he gave into his primal
urges and bent his head to bite down hard on the making mark he’d left
earlier.