Fic: "Tales of D'Hoffryn..." Part II...
reg...@aol.com
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.buffyrebecca.com...
Summary: While saddled with the job of tending the discombobulated
First Evil, the Lord of all Things Vengeful tells a few tales of his
(well, his people’s) exploits with some old friends…
Part II…
Hell…The secure chamber in which the First Evil in her currently
somewhat pixilated condition resided under the care of imps in Buffy
form…And her storyteller/keeper, the demon lord D’Hoffryn, currently
forced by order of the acting CEO of Hell, Warren Mears, into the form
of Buffy Summers’ past existence, the beauteous Cicely Addams
Walthrop...
“So then the stuffed and gutted body of Warren Mears was …” ‘Cicely’
continued…
“Hanging, drawing, quartering, stuffing, and gutting while alive is
not something I think the Slayer is allowed to do…” ‘Buffy’ noted…
“Hell, girl…” ‘Cicely’ frowned… “We’re Slayers, right?…We can do as we
please…”
“Oh, no…” ‘Buffy’, wide-eyed… “The Slayer is a force for light and
love in a cruel and cynical world…She ensures that evil is punished
and good rewarded…”
“That’s nice…” ‘Cicely’ nodded… “But as I said, this was to save our
William…” solemn look…
“Well…” ‘Buffy’ considered… “I suppose in that case…”
A Buffy imp attendant entered in cheerleading costume…Eyeing ‘Cicely’
carefully…
Hmmn… “Excuse me, Buffy…Another sister from a parallel universe needs
my advice…”
“Oh…” ‘Buffy’ eyed Cheerleader Buffy… “Are you battling the fiendish
mother of Amy, Buffy?...”
‘Cicely’, hastily nodding…Just go with it, you moron…
“Yes, Buffy…I’ll just be a minute…” the imp smiled…
“Try mirrors…” ‘Buffy’ suggested…
“Well…?” ‘Cicely’ hissed…
“Lord Mears requests an update…”
“Tell him all’s well…”
“Actually…I’m lying…” Cheerleader Buffy noted… “He has a direct feed
from here, been watching every moment…He wants you to know one more
‘gut and stuff Warren’ suggestion and you stay ‘Cicely’…Contentedly…”
“…And washing his and Angelus’ clothes and backsides for all eternity…
Contentedly…” she added…
“Fine…I mean, no more ‘gut and stuff’…” ‘Cicely’ sighed…
Out loud…For now…
“He thought you’d agree…” Cheerleader Buffy nodded…Heading for the
exit door… “Oh, and Angelus says to tell you he got a good look down
your cleveage a few minutes ago… ‘Nice goods’, he said to say…Goodbye,
Buffy…” she waved…
“Goodbye…Tell Amy in your universe she shouldn’t do rat in deadly anti-
Wican situations…She’ll be much happier…And perhaps Willow will go for
her instead of Tara…” ‘Buffy’ waved…
God…You know… ‘Cicely’ eyed herself in the reflecting pool in the
center of the chamber…Pity one can’t drown permanently in Hell…
I actually don’t look half-bad…It is rather nice looking rather…Nice…
Lord, Haly never looked quite right in the part…Can’t believe she
actually fooled William even for the few minutes needed to destroy
him…
But what the hell did he see in Buffy after spending time with
me?...Er, with Cicely…?
“So… Cicely…What else can you tell of William and our past while we
wait for our plane tickets…?” ‘Buffy’ turned to ‘Cicely’…
I mean look at these, compared to her little…Hmmn?... Oh, right…
“Well…”
“You said there would be tales of our sufferings?...Losing an argument
with William in a park and then killing Warren to avenge him doesn’t
sound so…”
“There was the time he saved us…From our darker side…And we completely
failed him…Didn’t even remember what he’d done…” ‘Cicely’ noted… “Had
a chance to rescue him, muffed it completely…”
“When Glory beat him almost to dust?...”
“Worse…”
“When we left him, with soul and insane, in a basement, alone…?”
“Child’s play…” ‘Cicely’ shook her head…
God, how could we have been so…?
Hmmn… ‘Cicely’ blinked…
“Is insanity contagious in Hell?...” ‘she’ hissed to a Buffy imp
attendant in Grecian goddess robes…
“I think Lord Mears is counting on it…” the imp nodded…
“Oh…” wan look from ‘Buffy’…
“I must hear…So I can atone…But…Cicely?...If I didn’t remember, how
could you…?”
“Parallel universe, Buffy…Don’t even try to puzzle it out, sweetheart…
Paradox the size of a major headache…”
“I see…Go on…” ‘Buffy’ sat on a large flat boulder near the pool…
“Well, about nine months after Spike came to Sunnydale…Just after
Angel took his ride to Hell?...When Spike was about to leave with your
permission…?”
“Leave…Oh…No…Is that the story?...Oh…Why didn’t I remember and make
him stay…?”
“There was a bit more to it, Buf…Vicious evil and cruelty…”
“You mean when I didn’t even thank him for helping me save the world
from Angelus and the Judge before he left?...” sad-eyed stare…
That was terrible… ‘Cicely’ sighed…The phalanx of Buffy imps in
various costumes attending sighed…
Ummn…
“Anyway…This was even worse…”
***
“Sunset…”
Part I…
“Christ…” Spike eyed the broken fuel gauge…Looking carefully out of
the opening in the painted-over windshield at the descending twilight…
Of all the things that could have happened to this beauty of mine…I
forget the gas needle is permanently stuck at half-full…And that cars
are not ‘glass is half full’ kinds of people…
Drusilla muttering in her sleep in the back…
And there’s another joy…When milady awakens…And if she awakens close
enough to Slayerland that it wouldn’t be much of a vengeance trek,
always a major consideration for one so flighty of mind…So much for my
temporary truce…
Well, at least this is one problem not too impossible to rectify…At
least not for the current world-saving champion vampire, William the
Bloody…Defeater of Angelus and the Judge, with a little help from
human bit players…
Though, sadly…Not bit…Would dearly have liked to have a taste of that
girl…Ah, well…
Of course cash flow is a minor problem…And given I’m still in
Sunnydale environs, I suppose bloody homicide for gas is not a wise
option…
After all, I may want to do business with that Slayer again before I
kill her…
Still, nothing in our agreement says I can’t commit a few minor acts
of larceny…There must be an ATM somewhere nearby just waiting for the
magic moment when I come crashing in through its door…
Or perhaps a bank…Might pick up some jewelry for Dru from the safety
deposit boxes on the way out…A bit of a peace offering…
He opened the door cautiously…Yes, just about dusk…He got out and with
great care closed the door…Peering inside…
Yes, sleeping like a drugged and inconvenient baby about to be tossed
into the river…Excellent…
A brisk constitutional in the pleasant evening’s air…The world’s
savior getting to savor his heroics, pleasantly nodding and greeting
the lower end of the food chain…Hell, surely saving about 6 billion
cancels out viciously
killing 40,000 or so…
“Is that him?...” A brown-haired girl in blouse, sweater vest, slacks
eyed the strolling Spike as he set out down the highway, back in the
direction from whence he’d just come…
“That’s him…” The lord of all things vengeful, glorious in aspect in
his battle armor, nodded…His carewornly handsome face expressing a
profound mix of emotions…Hopeful triumph, sneering contempt, vicious
amusement…A touch of bitter resentment…God, the trouble this little
blonde putz and his girl have put me to…
“He’s the one who cost Haly her assignment?...What’s he got?...”
“No, not him…And he’s got…The Slayer…The same one who cost Haly her
assignment, so look out…”
“The vampiress in the car is…?”
“No, Anyanka…” D’Hoffryn sighed… “Of course not…”
“Well…He does have a rep with Slayers…” she noted… “He’s got the
Slayer?...Tied up, enthralled?...”
“She’s protecting him…Though she doesn’t know it…” he said, patiently…
“Her past memories buried, but instinctively she’ll never let harm
come to him…”
“Ok…So he’s a vampire as was ordered on the original job?...” his
companion asked… “And his wife, the Slayer in question, was poisoned
and died with their child and he’s become a major player on the
manical killer circuit…
And doesn’t know and may well happily kill said wife in her new girly
form…If he can…?”
“Right…”
“And so Haly screwed this one…How?...”
“She failed the mission goal, Anyanka…To bring the Slayer to despair…
Defile her soul and make her ready to accept us…”
“Oh…” Hmmn…
I don’t remember ever agreeing to ‘defilement of soul’ in my contract…
And more importantly…This one…Been there, failed that…
“You know, Buffy Summers doesn’t seem any less spunky than Cicely…”
she noted… “Maybe…”
“Are you suggesting you’d like resign this case?...You know no one
resigns my cases…Voluntarily…”
“I didn’t volunteer in the first place, D-H…” she sighed… “But I’m
just pointing out…Since I did fail with them twice in previous lives…”
“You want to remind me of that?...” he glared…
“I’m just sayin’…Haly oughta have another chance…Just to be fair…”
Yes, indeed…Wouldn’t want her to miss an opportunity to screw it
again…
“She’s wrong for this job…She’d stir up unwelcome memories…Consider
this a chance to retrieve your shattered reputation, Anyanka…Now pay
attention…I expect you to make the most of this chance…”
Sigh… “Right, boss…So?...I get her to wish she’d finished Spike off…
Her own husband…Then let her find out about everything?…”
“Not bad but no…She’s used up her occult wishes for the moment…It’s
his turn…”
“You want me to grant Spike’s wish?...” she eyed him… “How does that
get us a Slayer justice demon?...He wishes her dead in spectacular
fashion…She’s dead, reunites with his soul…End of story...”
He eyed her…
“This is why I’m the minion….” she sighed… “I get it, boss…”
“Just do as I tell you and leave the strategic planning to me…” he
insisted…
***
“Hey, there…Blonde, lithe, and gorgeous…You need a ride into
Sunnydale?...”
Spike eyed the open car door…And its rather open occupant…A tall brown-
haired beauty in light fall clothes…Smiling warmly…
“As a matter of fact…” he gave a boy’s smile… “I could do with a lift
to the nearest gas station…”
“Hop in…” the door locks popped…
He moved to the passenger side…
“Thanks…” he climbed in…Closing door… “But a girl like you should be
careful whom she takes for a ride…”
“No problem…” beaming smile… “I always trust a man in a leather jacket…
It’s the nerds in buttoned-up shirts and tight little ties you hafta
watch out for…” grin…
“William…” he offered a hand…
“Anya Jenkins…” she accepted and pumped the hand with her right hand
while steering them back into the highway with the other…
“That’s lovely…Hope this isn’t taking you out of your way…”
“Nah…I live in Sunnydale…” Anya shrugged… “You from England?...I can
tell by the accent…” she smiled…
He nodded, warm boy’s smile… “Indeed…And here I was hopin’ I’d pass
for a Billy Idol groupie…”
“Too good-looking…” Anya smiled…
“And you?...” he asked politely… “Fresh out of Hell, aren’t you?...”
She eyed him…He her…
“Please keep one of however many eyes you actually have on the road,
miss…” he said, sternly… “I’ve no wish to complete a very bad day by
ending up dust in someone’s tail pipe…”
“You’re good…”
“Please…” he put up a hand… “Lets not stoop to insults…What do you
want?...And since I don’t quite sense
that ‘big bad’ aura, more importantly…What does your boss want?...
“Only to benefit a brother demon…A compadre in the fight for Evil
against all things good…”
“If you’re that unselfish I’m shocked you didn’t come a chargin’ to
save your good friend the Judge and his plans to level all before him
in the name of Demonity and all things Evil…”
“I’m here to help you, William…Specifically…”
“Delightful…What do I have to buy?...Will dinner and a movie
suffice?...”
“That would be nice…” she gave an arch smile back… “But I can’t accept
presents from clients…”
“Ah, the incorruptible Evil…” he nodded… “Dedicated to the Cause and
all that…You know you religious fanatics are the prime cause of the
suffering in this world…And grateful as I am for that…”
“Just tell me what you most want…William…” she smiled…
Whoa!!...He grabbed the wheel and turned it just enough to get them
safely past an overturned tree in the road…
She staring as well…
“I think right now I most want you to keep your eyes on the road…” he
noted…
“Sorry…” she bit her lip… “I’ve only been driving since I got here a
week ago from the early 20th…”
“Twenty gallons of gas, free…” he said suddenly…She glancing at him a
second only…
“What can I say?…My needs are simple…”
“What about that bitch Slayer…Bitchy the Blonde?...”
“Oh…” he shrugged… “She’s all right as Slayers go…Keeps her deals…And
I prefer to do my own killin’…Now,
love…”
She grimaced as he twisted at the point where he’d gripped her arm…
Ohhh…
“I’m sure killing you is out of the question…And thrall useless…But
I’m a great believer in the power of raw physical violence…Who wants
to hire me for whackin’ the Slayer?...And why?...Might be wise to pull
over, love…”
She did so…Rubbing freed arm on stopping…
“So?...” he eyed her…
“I meant what I said…” she noted… “I’m here to help you set all things
right…”
“For how many easy payments of $9.95?...”
“You wouldn’t like to have vengeance?...”
“A kindly fellow like me, with full access to my own inner
maniac?...Why should I wish ill toward anyone in particular, apart
from the natural need to feed and the instinct to inflict
suffering?...No, my heart is filled with nothing but benevolence…I
just saved the world, if you weren’t aware…”
“Then surely the world owes you, William…”
“Twenty gallons of gasoline will do nicely…Thanks…”
“Not even interested in another crack at the Slayer?...”
“My friend and angel of light, Buffy Summers?…Why, ma’am if you were
to take one ill-intentioned step in her direction…”
She eyed him…
“I could almost believe you meant that…” she said…
“Lady…” he smiled coldly… “Thanks for the lift…But I’m not a contract
player…As for the Slayer, I’ll deal with her…Whoever she is at that
time…In my own eternal time…” he opened the door…
“Wait…” she pulled out her purse…Taking out a twenty… “I’m obliged to
grant your wish…” she smiled…Handling him the money which he stared at
a moment, then shrugging, took…
“Thanks…” he turned to get out…
“Spike might be content with that…” she began…
“But what about William Soames Walthrop…?”
He paused, eyeing her coolly…Thin smile…
“He’d probably throw the dough in your face and stride off to his
untimely death, making a pretty, if dull speech on the inherent
nobility of the human soul…Give it and my rotting soul a rest, love…
Good night…” he got out…
“It felt good to be a hero, didn’t it…?” she called from the open
door… “Some little part of you was William again, for an instant in
spite of everything, wasn’t he?...”
“Wasn’t he?...” she was beside him now, standing as he looked at the
car door, exasperation on his face…He whirled…The briefest of starts,
then calm, hard stare…
“I’ve been polite…” he said quietly… “Now if you don’t want me to muss
that pretty hair…”
“You can’t harm me…But I could help you, William…” Anya smiled…
“Do you get paid strictly by commission for this sort of thing, is
that it…?” he frowned… “All right, you’re some sort of wish-granter…
I’ve heard tell of your kind…One of D’Hoffryn’s girls, I presume?...”
“Anyanka…” she nodded…
“Tell your boss the mark’s not interested and if he bothers me again,
there will be consequences…You might describe in detail the untimely
roasting of our beloved Anointed One, ok?...Besides, I thought your
type dealt strictly with the little mortal kind…”
“You were, once…And he’s still hanging about, demanding answers,
seeking justice…” she noted… “You know he is…”
“If he were so foolish, he’d deserve his fate…” Spike started off down
the road…Leaving her alone…
“Suppose…” she was beside him again, walking…
“Christ…” he slapped at her with hard swipe…
“Just hear me out…” she was on his opposite side…
“Until we reach the nearest station and I set you aflame with some of
the gas you so kindly paid for…”
“Fine…Suppose you had the chance to be the hero, not the victim…At
last…”
“I like to see myself as the hero of every encounter…It’s all in the
eye of the evil beholder, you know…” he replied…Eyeing her…
“Suppose the chance included a chance to learn everything about that
night…And what really happened…?”
“A girl dumped me, I drank too much, a streetwalker who offered me a
jolly time turned out to be Drusilla…
Mystery solved, love…”
“No…And you know it, William…”
He paused… “Why?...”
“I exist to see justice done…We all do…”
Uh-huh… “Lovely…Why?...”
“Injustice was done to each of us, so…”
“No, love…You know what I mean…Why me?...”
She hesitated…
Gotta give it the full force…
Yet…Honesty?...Unprecedented…
Still, D-H knows his souls…And this one will only cave for the true…
“It’s our chance to capture Cicely’s soul…” she replied… “And condemn
her as you were condemned…”
He stared at her…
“Her soul lives…Now…Here…” she nodded… “Free of you, but…Searching for
you…Desperate to find you and
make amends, in point of fact…And this is your chance to learn the how
and the why…”
“D’Hoffryn wants Cicely’s soul?...” he blinked…
“To drag her down and condemn her forever…It’s what we do…” she
smiled…“Particularly to the greatest of heroines…With a tragic
weakness…”
“Good luck with that, love…Give the bitch my regards if you pull it
off…” he continued on…
“Part of you…Loves the idea of condemning that bitch…But most of you…
Admit it,William…”
He snarled at her…Taking face…She vanished to reappear on the branch
of a large tree…
“Wasting your time, Spike…” she cooed…Then back at his right side…
“You want answers…” she noted to his furious face… “Admit it…And,
whatever rage you feel at her…I’ve made you wonder…As you so often do,
floating about Spike…William, I know you’re here…You have a choice now…
You can go on floating round, till Spike wallows in so much blood even
you run for Limbo or Heaven or whatever and Cicely can meet her
inevitable fate, abandoned by you…Or…You can have a chance to know the
truth and to take matters into your own hands…Stop being the victim,
if only for an instant…”
“A puzzler…And a catch…?”
“If you fail…Probably all’s lost…Forever…For all Humanity as well as
you and Cicely…” she smiled benignly… “Yeah…She’s that important…And
of course you’d likely be dust…”
“There is no me and the one you mentioned…As for Humanity, I’ve done
more than any vamp should be expected to do, thanks…”
“And if you win…” she smiled… “You get another chance…Both of you…”
“Delightful…No…”
“Why do you think you’ve been so fascinated by Slayers?...Why this
particular Slayer?...” she stared at him…
And found herself on the ground, breath knocked out of her…
Tsk-tsk…He wagged a forefinger at her…She got up, frowning…Ok…
“Nice…You have ability, William…You’ll have Spike’s power…A fair
chance…At last, answers…And…” wry smile…
“A chance to really impress the girl of your dreams…” she beamed…
“Plus I threw in that full tank of gas…Come on…What have you got to
lose but a pesky soul hovering about…”
“How could…?”
Nibble…Now play the line, let him run with it…
“Twenty-four hours to resolve everything…Find the answers…Save the
world on your own from a terrible Evil…
Well, with some help but not hers…And save the girl…From her own
darkness…”
He paused…Words coming to him, he couldn’t stop them from coming
through…
“And the catch, even if…?”
“…If you win?…You get another chance…Not resolution…We can’t give you
that…But a certain chance…Both of you…Will, she’s dying within,
doesn’t even know that she is, poor kid…Losing her Humanity to the
Slayer as she’s always feared…And much as we want that, I’ll be honest…
There’s a part even of us that wants to see you two have a sporting
chance…Will you abandon her, fail her again?...And the others, this is
their chance too…”
“I never…” he gasped…Suddenly…
Well…Hello, William…Hooked and in the bag…She thought, contentedly…
“You can hear her, screaming, crying…Pleading for you to believe in
her…And you do, you have still all these years, in spite of that night…
Will, don’t leave her, trapped like this…Worse than you, dying with
her guilt…And the others, they’re dying within too…You know that, it’s
your pity and compassion that was the lure for Dru…Give them this
chance for a moment of redemption…Give her this chance…”
“Cicely?...” he whispered…
Warm smile…
“Wish…Granted, William…” Anyanka disappeared…
***
He glanced round again, for the tenth time…No sign of her…Gone…
Lord…He shrugged…
Well, whatever it was…Practical joke or something real…I still need
gas…He looked down the highway…
A light…Seemed like a sign…Yes, the last station on the way out of
town…Well, stick to the practical for now and worry about what can’t
be helped later…
Cicely…He pictured her, for the first time in what?...Fifty years…?
Alright, more like fifty days…Perhaps even…Hours?...
But that was surely Spike simply stoking the ole fires of vengeance…
Searching for me…And here, now…She said…
No…He shook his head…
No…It’s a trick…A joke…A very bad one…Perhaps of Angelus’ makin’?...A
little parting gift left in case his little plan to destroy all
failed?...Have me runnin’ to the Slayer, asking her…?
Yeah, a pretty picture that…She laughing so hard, she might even spare
me again, just kick me down the road outta town…
No…Not possible…
Cicely was much bigger all around…
Still…She was a sweet girl…Though full of sass, like Cics was, in the
first days…The old days…The days when I dreamed…No…
No…
Lost in his thoughts…He failed to see the moon had turned a bloody red…
Then cleared…
***
A scream interrupted his reverie…He instinctively hurried toward the
sound, coming from the station ahead…
A young woman, dark-haired…On the ground, her legs crushed by the car
that had driven over her…Shrieking in agony…He moved to her…Blood all
over…
“Help me!...” she wailed…
He looked round…Some way to stop the bleeding…Tourniquet?...He grabbed
a long cleaning rag… “Miss, I’ll have to lift your legs, hang on…” he
lifted and wrapped the rag about her left thigh, the left leg a bloody
mess…
“Oh…” she moaned… “You son of a bitch!...”
“I’m sorry…That should slow the bleeding…Let me try and get help…” he
rose and saw the station attendant eyeing them…
“Did you call a doctor?!...” he called…
“Call one yourself…” the boy shrugged… “And get her out of my
driveway…” He turned and went back inside…
Jesus…Spike stared…
“I’ll kill him when I catch up with him…” the girl hissed… “Get me a
doctor, you bastard!...”
He eyed her angry, contorted face…Pain, of agonizing sort, certainly…
But something more…A raging hate winning out even over agony that
should have put all thoughts but agony aside…
He hurried to the station store and went in… “Phone?...”
“There…” the boy pointed, slouching… “And get her out or I’ll throw
her in the highway…”
“Hello…911…I’m reportin’…”
“Go to Hell…” click…
“Hello?...” he tried…
Wrong number?...He dialed again…
“What?...”
“This is an emergency…Is this 911?...”
“Yeah…F-you…” click…
Hmmn…
He dialed “0”…
“Operator, can you put me through to the nearest hospital off Rt 195
in Sunnydale?...”
“Sure…” laugh…Click…
Right…He pondered, then dialed 411…
Where an out-of-town operator quickly gave him the number and
transferred the call…
“Sunnydale General?...Emergency?...”
Hideous screams in the background…
“Whatda you want?...”
“I’ve an emergency…A woman run over…”
“Alive?...”
“Only if you hurry…Please…”
“Arnie, we may have a live one…” call… “Where is she?...”
“The Mobil station on Rt 195, just out of town…Can you hurry?...”
“Keep her packed in ice and we’ll get to her…” chuckle… “Bring the saw
and the organ box…Don’t blow this
one…” call…
He hung up…
Hmmn…
Oh…God…He suddenly gasped…A vision of the girl on the ground…He
trembled, shuddered at the sight…
No…Not her…One like her…One…
Louise…That girl in St. Louis…The one who’d begged him to leave her
baby alone…
No…And I laughed and…
“Hey…Either buy something and get the bitch outta my driveway or get…”
the attendant called to him…But backed down at his icy stare…
I took that baby and laughed and…
He got to the door, stumbled out…
The girl…I can still…
A car parked by the pump where she…
Jesus…Still lay…
He rushed over…A thirty-ish brown-haired woman pumping gas, talking on
phone…
Stared at him with frown…
“Where’s the…” he stared at part of the corpse underneath the woman’s
right front tire…
“You oughta get your garbage outta the way…I coulda blown a tire…” the
woman snapped at him…Returning immediately to the phone… “So I told
Mom…I’m through paying through the nose for you, you old bitch…And she
starts bawling…So I hung up and…”
He went round…The body, minus severed limbs, now lying by the next
pump island…Face contorted in pain?...Rage…?
He put his hands in his hair…What Hellish madness?...Right out of…
Well, one of my wilder evenings…
Dreaming…I’m dreaming…All of it…Everything…The girl, that waifish
streetwalker…Drusilla?...Yes…The waking up in a shallow grave,
digging out to find her waiting…The killing…Mum…Oh, God…It has to be…
It has to have been a dream, all of it…And this…
He looked round…
But those aren’t carriages and these are gasoline pumps…
“Hey!...” the woman on phone had hung up… “You wanna screw?...I got
thirty…”
He stared at her…No, not one of them…One of me…
Still human…After a fashion…
“Your loss, pal…” she shrugged and got in her car, nearly hitting him
as she drove off…
The attendant running out of the station store…Gun in hand, firing
after her… “Bitch!...Come back here and pay up!!...”
“Hey!...” he raced over…Trying to grab for the gun…
“You want some?...” the attendant whirled, firing…
He winced but felt only the mildest stinging…
Yep, still…One of them…
“Christ…” the attendant backed away from him… “You get outta here, you
freak!...I’m calling the cops!!...”…He ran back into the station
store…
All right…All right…William put hand to his head…
No…He forced eyes open at the onset of the visions which gripped him
on closing eyes…
Thousands…Thousands upon thousands…Men, women…Children…
And I can’t even remember a name…Or a face, clearly…
Except…One…He closed eyes…Yes, I remember one…
Mother…Oh, Mother for the love of God take pity on your poor son’s
lost…
…Soul?...
***
The demon…The wish-granter, what the hell was her name…Anna?...Anya…
Anya…Right…He thought as he
made his way back toward the car, gallon container of gas in hand…
She said…A chance…The fate of Humanity…And of us…
Us?...He shook his head…No…There is no “us”…Cicely sent me away…
And whatever her game, this wish-granting whore…It couldn’t involve
Cicely being…
Here?...Alive…
Seeking me…
And as…?
Nonsense, even if the girl’s not a natural, Cicely would never trade
her brunette…This is some kind of cruel game, a deception…
But she was right about my strange interest in those poor girls…Whom
every other of my kind runs from unless backed up by major firepower
or severe threat by the current Big Bad…For Spike…
For me…They were a lure…
No…Some kind of deception…Clearly all I have waiting for me is a
dreadful penance ahead…
Could that be it?...Could this be Hell and Damnation?...Those whom the
Gods would destroy, they first give back a soul?...
And yet she said I had a chance not to be the victim…
To save her…And win a chance for us both…
Nonsense…A trick…All of this, an illusion…
Though one with a practical bent…I am still in the world I’ve existed
in for a century since that night, or so it’s seemed…This is Earth,
best as I can make out…However bizarre the behavior of some people…
And it still seems a world in which one needs gasoline to travel…He
eyed the container…
And Drusilla…Is still out there, waiting for me in that car…
Now clearly this D’Hoffryn has some delightful game in mind for me to
play…What was it?...Twenty-four hours, she said?...If she can be
trusted, which I’d say I have excellent reason to doubt…
But I don’t have to play…In fact, there being nothing for me here…I
can take action, end this here and now…He scanned the side of the
highway…There…He moved to where some broken fence slats lay in a
little pile…He took a piece up and eyed it…
Exit, stage right…He thought wryly…Breaking a bit off one end to form
a crude point…
“Not her fine instrument, but it will do the job at hand…” he noted….
Wait…
Drusilla…
I can’t leave her, that monster free to cause mayhem…That poor
condemned soul crying out to me…Begging me…
Trapped like me…That night in Prague…Those poor…God…Those poor
children…And she, just for an instant…
Somehow broke through and cried out…
Yes, she nearly saved us both that night…We barely escaped the mob and
that fire, worse luck…
God if I’ve done nothing else to atone for my weakness, the least I
can do is not abandon her to suffer alone here, pitiful lamb…
And she’s likely still sleeping…A simple, merciful thing…Not done for
revenge or in hate…And then, for me as well…Freedom and peace, at
last…
Right then, Walthrop…Here’s your real chance to do some good…And
change the damned game plan on our little demonic friend and her boss…
He strode on…
Should be just another half…He peered down the road…Squinting…
Vampiral abilities or no, I still could use my old specs…
Someone coming…
Someone….Oh….
Guess the drugs weren’t as effective as I’d hoped…
Drusilla was moving along, tentatively…Glancing round….Her black shawl
trailing…Her gaze finally coming to fix on him…She closed, slowly…
Deliberately…
Does she sense?...I’m…Different…?
His hand on the makeshift stake, now hidden against his black jacket
sleeve, tensed…
One quick swipe when she moves in a bit more…
She stopped, staring at him…Swaying a little…Raising a hand as if to
clear her demented mind…
“Sir…” she hesitated… “Is this Hell?...”
***
“Careful…” he warned her as they stood by the road…The car coming up
behind them from town, headlights glaring, showing no signs of slowing
as it neared them…
She watched it pass within inches, the breeze lifting her hair…
“Folks not taking much care for their neighbor this night, it seems…”
he noted…
“Kill me, sir…Now…” she looked at him… “Free me from this…Torment…
Before It can return and use me more…
Please, Mr. Walthrop…” she begged… “Forgive me and take pity on me…”
“There is nothing to forgive…Miss…” he paused…Finally a wan smile…
“I know Spike told you my name but actually we never were properly
introduced…”
“Waverly…Drusilla Waverly…” she eyed him…. “Help me, sir…I don’t know
if I can take my own life…But It mustn’t be allowed to return…I’ve no
right to ask your help, I know…” she pleaded…Raising hands to him as
if in prayer…He patted her arm...
“You aren’t to blame, Miss Waverly…” he shook his head… “I don’t know
who or why in this matter…God certainly must take a share of the blame…
But not you…”
“I failed…” Dru shook her head… “I was not strong enough…”
“No one is…Drusilla…God knows, you know I certainly wasn’t…”
“I killed you, sir…And the others, the others…” her face contorted,
hands clenching…
“Angelus killed you…The demon killed the others…Dru…Miss Waverly…
You’ve done nothing evil…You couldn’t stop the creature who possessed
you…”
“I must be destroyed…It might return at any moment…”
“Not for a bit…I think…” he replied, shaking head… “It must have been
meant for you, too…”
“Sir?...” she eyed him…
“Someone…Perhaps even a worse beast than our counterparts…Is having a
bit of fun with us, miss…”
“Fun…?” she gasped… “Is it…Him?...”
“The Beast?...”
He eyed her terrified face…Ah…
“Angelus?...No…He’s off to Hell…Him and perhaps his soul, Lord knows…
You do remember…?”
“I…” she hesitated… “I’m sorry…I…”
“No…Forgive me…I shouldn’t try to make you remember any of that…”
“Not him?...Another?...” she stared…
“Someone wishing to have a bit of fun with me at least…Not you, I
think, dear heart… Though they have a larger and more sinister purpose
in mind…I am sorry you’ve been caught up in this…”
“It’s only what I deserve for failing God…” she shook her head…
He frowned…
“I refuse to believe that, Miss Waverly…I may not have much liking for
the ole fellow, but even I won’t assume He’s behind any of this
directly…At least not without proof…”
She blanched… “I…”
He sighed… “No…” he put up a hand… “My fault…I’ve never learnt to
control my tongue…It’s got me in quite a bit of…Well…” he smiled
faintly, shrugging… “As you see…Please, forgive me, I spoke out of
turn…”
“I can only beg your forgiveness, sir…” she eyed him…Then looked
round… “So…This is the world…Not Hell?...When I found myself here…Like
this…” she indicated herself… “I was so sure…” her voice, trailing…
“For so long…I seemed…” she paused… “I knew of you and It…But…I seemed
to have escaped…Thought I’d been freed…”
He stared… “She…Your counterpart…And I…Mine…Have been here, I think…
Since my death…Here on Earth, that is…Assuming this is Earth…You say
you were free?...”
“I don’t know, sir…” she shook her head… “I felt away…Safe…Free of It…
Though believe me, if I had known how you suffered…If I could have
done anything…”
“I know…” he nodded… “And you did try…You did, Dru…Miss…Nearly got us
killed doing it once…” smile… “Whatever Angelus intended, he failed…
Your soul has stayed pure…”
“So many deaths…So much suffering…” she sighed…Staring down…
“Not by you…Now…” he smiled gently at her… “There’s been enough
suffering, miss…No more…At least not to ourselves by our own hands…
Miss, we’ve done our share of it…And then some…”
She stared at his stern look…Sighed…
“Perhaps you’re right, sir…It may be that it is not yet my time…What
can I do?...” she asked…
“Miss?...”
“You say some creature wishes to torment you by bringing us back to
this world…How can I assist you?...”
“Miss Waverly, I think it may be…”
“Dangerous?...” she now gave a wan smile…Shrug… “We are dead, sir…
There should be little that we need fear…”
“I don’t know what it may involve…You have a soul again, miss…
Perhaps…”
“My soul…And my life…Are in God’s hands, sir…I was wrong to try and
take that decision into my own…God has given me a chance to prove
myself at last, after so long…Please let me help you, if and while I
can…I owe you that much and more…”
“No, you don’t…You owe me nothing, miss…”
She looked at him a long moment…
“Nothing…” he repeated, firmly…
“Then let me do it as a friend…For the friendship your soul extended
to me in my agony…William…” she said, simply…
***
“Here?...” Dru looked at the gas station store as she stood by their
car…William closing his door…
“It’s where I first noticed something wrong…And felt…Myself, again…”
Will nodded… “But careful…” he nodded at the police car now parked by
the store…
A loud scream of agony from within…She gave a stricken cry and raced
for the store door, not waiting for him…
“Hold it, lady…” a voice from the police car…She halted…
“Police business here…Get lost…” the cop rose out of his car…
“Unless you want a little…Quick justice…” he grinned… “I’d say that
car of yours won’t look too good on a check…” he nodded at the
battered Spikemobile…
Another scream…
“Do something!...Someone is being killed in there…” she pleaded… “Oh,
I’m sorry but…” she hurried on into the store as Will reached the door
just after her…
“Hey!!...” the cop cried…
They burst in to find the young attendant on the floor…Two cops
pouring hot, scalding coffee on him…On face, on chest…The boy howling…
“These doughnuts are stale…” one officer sneered at the boy… “And as
for this pastry…” he tossed a cheese Danish at the writhing boy as his
partner delivered a hard kick…
“Hey!...” the second officer yelped in surprise as he was tossed back
against a counter of dangerously caloric snacks…
“Here…” Dru knelt over the screaming boy as he twisted…
“You just got yourself in bad with the Law, lady…” the officer who’d
had complaints as to quality of goods glared at her…
Then, relenting slightly…
Not too bad…
She stared up at him…Arm round the boy…
Will now at her side, eyeing the officer…The second officer now
picking himself off the floor…
“But I could be persuaded to overlook this infringement of the penal
code…If you’re very good, little girl…” the first officer leered…
“Get out of here…” William told him…Coldly…
“Get…” he repeated…
The officer eyed him…
“Give him a good one, Harry…” the second officer had staggered over to
his partner…
“F-you…” the first sneered… “A girl just knocked the guts outta you,
Sidney…”
“I told you to go…” William told the first officer quietly… “Don’t
make me say it again…”
“You got a big mouth, buddy…Want it even bigger?...” the officer
pulled out his gun…
“Please…Just go…” Dru stared at him… “You need to go…You have business
elsewhere…”
She stared…He, blinking… Yeah…
“Come on…We got business…And we don’t want any extra paperwork…” he
pulled at his partner…
“You don’t want to stay here…” Dru eyed the partner… “You’re hurt and
you want to get out…”
“Lets go…” the partner nodded…Grabbing at his side… “I got find a
hospital…”
“The hell I’m driving you…” the first officer said…
“Night, folks…” he called back to the group…The boy cradled in Dru’s
arms…Dru knelling on the floor…William standing, eyeing the retreating
cops…
“Terrible…Hideous…” Dru shook her head…
“Must be new, from LA…” Will noted…
“No, not them…” she shook her head…Absently patting and stroking the
wounded boy whom she had set gently down on her shawl, pulled from her
shoulders…
“…what was done to them…” she sighed… “And this poor boy…”
He looked at the boy…
Hmmn…Well the burns aren’t too bad…
“His soul, sir…And the policemen…Gone…” she shook her head sadly…
“Gone…?”
“You must sense it a little…That they are different…”
“But they didn’t…They aren’t vampires…Or any kind of demon I know of…”
“No…Worse…” she said…Frightened look… “They are simply humans who have
lost all their Humanity…”
***
Having done what they could for the boy…Calling an out-of-town
ambulance, treating his burns with first aid
creams from the store, and giving him what pain-killer was available,
William and Drusilla had left the store and had returned to their car…
Trying to determine a course of action…
“A trade-off…” he suggested as they sat…
“We get back ours and a few locals lose theirs…At least for a day or
so…?”
“Very likely, sir…But…” Dru pondered…
“What have they (whoever) done with the souls…And how many more are
affected?...Perhaps we should try to see what’s happening in the
town…?”
“I imagine it’s not good…” he frowned…
“She said…” he paused…Eyeing Dru… “I would have the chance to save
her…”
“Cicely?...” Dru asked…
“You remember Cicely?...”
“I remember everything up to a point…And especially Cicely…It hated
her…” she said quietly… “Every time your
demon…Spike…Came close to mentioning her name, It raged…And despaired…
But it was too late to harm her, poor thing, she was long dead…”
He nodded…
“And now, somehow…” Dru considered… “She is back…Looking for you?...”
“I can’t trust what this Anya said…” Will shook his head… “Cicely
never loved me…She wanted me gone and that was that…There’d be no
reason…”
“There’d be every reason, I’d say, William…” Dru replied… “Drusilla
didn’t find you by accident that night…”
He stared at her…
“You were murdered, Mr. Walthrop…Very deliberately…”
***
They drove carefully along the highway into Sunnydale…Dru trying to
concentrate and sense…Anything…
“So…” he paused… “Sorry…”
“No, it’s fine…” she shook her head… “I sense great chaos but it’s
impossible to get specifics yet…What did you want to ask?...”
“This creature…In Cicely’s form?...Approached you…It…That night?...”
“She offered you to It…Yes…And she was in your beloved’s form…I saw
the real one myself…It did, I mean…Shortly before I…It…” she
hesitated…
“It…Killed me...Not you…” he said, sternly…
“She was definitely sent to use It to kill you…Why, I can’t say…But
someone wanted you dead…And transformed…For some dark purpose…”
“Cicely…Being thorough…?” he sighed… “She might not have been aware of
what she’d done, if D’Hoffryn was involved…” he gave a sheepish look
at her serious glance… “He’s famed for trapping the unwary…” wan
smile…
“Perhaps that explains it…She wished to make amends?...” Dru noted…
“But if this girl…This Slayer…?”
“Miss Summers…She didn’t seem to know me…And while I’ve changed a
bit…”
“Reincarnation…Yes…Not impossible…In fact…” she hesitated…
“It could explain my own situation…”
“Dru?...”
“I remember another life…Vaguely…Not my original one, back with my
parents and my uncles…Another…I remember a town, like my old one but
not the same…And not in England…Here…In America…”
“Reincarnated…You?...But if that’s true…”
“Then my current self has been robbed of a soul…As I was…” she
nodded…
He blinked at her steady look, quickly returning his gaze to the road…
“Then you have my profound apologizes, Miss Waverly…I’m truly ashamed
to have put you in this situation…”
“No...” Dru replied… “If this is my chance to help you in any way…To
make some amends…”
She smiled wanly at his glance…None of that, girl…
“To defeat those who condemned us…I’m happy to have it…I simply must
trust to God that my current human self will do no harm while I’m here…
But this girl…Miss Summers…”
“I never sensed…Well…” he pondered, watching the road…Passing a
recently replaced “Welcome to Sunnydale” sign… “Perhaps there was
something…Hard to say…It did feel…”
“Lets assume for now this Anya wasn’t lying about this…And this young
woman is Cicely reborn…As well as a vampire Slayer…Could she help?...”
“Anya was quite clear she would be needing my help…” he sighed… “I
guess we can assume she’s affected by this too…”
“Dear God…” Dru blanched… “Soulless, like the others?...And these…
Slayers?...Are very powerful, true?...”
“Very…” he nodded… “If she’s become like the others…I’d say heroics
here will be a bit difficult…”
“We should be on guard then…And approach her with extreme caution…”
“Soulless or no, that would be true…We’re still vampires, after all…
And she’s not one to take chances with the likes of us…” he sighed…
“Oh, my…William….” Dru pointed… “Look at those children…”
He looked where she’d pointed out her window…To see a row of children
in nightdress…Pyjamas, nighties…None older than four or five…Twenty or
so…Wandering…
A car racing by nearly hit theirs…Stopping with sudden halt by an
appliance store…A couple getting out…The woman pointing at the store
window, the man taking a sledgehammer from the rear of the car…He
tossed it at the
window, shattering it and setting off alarms…They climbed in, grabbing
at various items…The children looking over…Racing their way…
The man threatened them with his hammer and they fell back…Waiting,
greedy-eyed…
“Look…” Dru gasped… “More…”
Children wandering down the street…Some older, most quite young…
“The parents are abandoning them…” she looked at him… “We must stop
this…”
A young, dark-haired, twentysomething woman in sweater and skirt
hurrying down the street…Pausing to stare at the wandering children…
Some of them eyeing her coldly…Others looking her over, the same
greedy stare as they’d given the couple looting the appliance store…
“No…” she waved two off… “Keep back!...I’ll hurt you!!...” she stepped
back…
“She’s like us…” Dru stared…
“Please…You have to go home…Get away from here!…Don’t you
understand?!...” the woman cried…One little girl grabbing a necklace
around her throat…Pulling it tight…Breaking it loose as the woman
struggled, then running off
down the street…Several following after her…Calling to her…
Threatening…
“Miss!...” Dru had rolled the car window down… “William, stop!...”
He pulled the car over to the curb…
“No!...” the woman backed away… “I’m a monster!...I’ll hurt
you!!...Keep away!!...”
“You won’t hurt us…” Dru called… “We’re of your kind…”
She stared at Dru… “My…?”
“Monster!!...” she cried… “You keep away from these kids!!...”
“No, miss…” Dru called… “We’ve regained our souls, like you…I swear,
it’s all right…Come…”
The woman eyed her…
“You can sense it…Just reach out…” Dru nodded… “We only want to help,
like you…”
She opened the car door… “Please…It’s all right…”
The woman approached…Staring… “You…I know you…You’re Drusilla, the one…
The one they kept in the cellar…
That boy that night they brought me in…And that maniac…The blonde
guy…”
“Yes…” Dru nodded… “But it is all right…You can sense I’m not lying to
you…”
The woman came closer…Shaking…Finally stopping just in front of Dru…
William looking over saw the woman’s sweater was stained…
Blood…
“What’s happened?...” the woman asked…
“We don’t know…” Dru shook her head… “Not for certain…But we must try
and help these children…Get them to shelter…”
“Help them?...” the woman stared… “I was killing them…Two little girls…
Just before…They thought I was going to take them for ice cream…They
trusted me…”
“A demon it was that did that…Not you…”Dru insisted… “We’ll tell you
what we know…But for now, we must do what we can to help them…Please,
miss…”
“Ok…” the woman nodded, rubbing her head… “Maybe you’re right…”
“Do you know the area?...Is there a place nearby…?”
“There’s a school there…” she pointed… “I saw…” she said, woodenly… “I
saw a lady slam her little girl into a lamppost…Just now…But she
wasn’t…Like me…”
“Something terrible has happened…” Dru nodded… “But we will deal with
that later…” she got out…Will coming from his side… “I still have some
ability to influence, it seems…Lets try and herd them, get them to the
school…
They’ll be safer there…”
“I’m afraid…I’ll…” the woman stared down… “Look…Their blood’s all over
me…Oh, God…”
William came over…Took off his leather jacket and gently put it round
her…Zipping it up…She staring at him…He patted her and she burst into
sobs…Grabbing at him, he holding her…Soothing her…
“You won’t hurt them…” Dru said firmly… “It wasn’t you that harmed the
others…” She came over, taking the woman from William…Rocking her in
her arms… “Come, come lets do what we can while God has given us this
chance…”
***
“Tales of D’Hoffryn…”
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain
the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/
creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother
Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.buffyrebecca.com...
Summary: While saddled with the job of tending the discombobulated
First Evil, the Lord of all Things Vengeful tells a few tales of his
(well, his people’s) exploits with some old friends…
Part II…
“Sunset…”
Part II…
“Caryn…?” Dru turned to the vampiress she and William had found
wandering the streets with the abandoned, soulless children of
Sunnydale… “Can you check those alleys?...Try waving the toys if they
hide from you…
William?...Can you take the other side?...I have to keep focused if
I’m to hold them…” she looked back to the line of children, ranging
from barely two to young teen following her like ducklings…
“Right, love…” Will nodded, grabbing a couple of bright flashing toys
from the bag he filled in passing a smashed toy store window and
tossing it to Caryn who pulled out several and passed it onto Dru…
“Dru?...” Caryn paused…Looking nervously at the first alley…
Alone with innocent children…In the dark…Like…?
“You’ll be fine…” Dru nodded… “Your soul won’t let them be hurt…”
The woman nodded and hurried into the alley… “Hey…We’ve got toys here,
guys!!” she called…
“You are a noble soul, Dru Waverly…” William smiled at Dru, then
turned and raced for the side street on his side…Dangling the brightly
lit toys from his hands…
“Come, children…” Dru intoned softly to the line following her… “Come…
We’ve lovely things for you…”
***
The children they could find wandering safely herded into the gym of
the elementary school Caryn had led them to…They’d secured the main
door with a chain William had found in the maintenance room and come
back to the street outside…
“Well…The kiddies should be fairly safe for now…” Will noted…
“What if…” Caryn eyed them… “The others, like us…But not…This way…
Come…”
“Judging by the way this is playing out…” William shrugged… “I’d said
it’s likely every vampire in Sunnydale has a soul…”
“Still…Caryn has a point…” Dru said…Glancing at the school… “Until we
know for certain…And the children are likely to fight amongst
themselves…” she eyed Caryn…
“I’ll stay…” she nodded…Wan smile… “I was a kindergarten teacher…
Once…”
“We’ll check back with you every hour…” Dru promised…“And any other
children we find, we’ll send here…”
“Ok…But leave me that…” Caryn pointed to the crude stake Will still
carried… “I won’t be the cause of more death…If I think I’m
reverting…”
“Yes…” Dru nodded… “I understand…Give it to her, Will…She won’t do
anything unless she has to…”
“Not while they need me and I can help…” Caryn agreed… “What will you
do?...”
“Try to find the Slayer, I’d say…If we can…” William shrugged…
“Hopefully she’s home sleepin’ through this after all she’s been
through the past few with Angelus…”
“Be on guard…Of her and the other humans…” Dru noted… “As well as our
kind, should any not be souled…Just concentrate on me and I’ll hear…
We’ll come…Though most who are awake now seem to be further downtown…
Looting and pillaging, I’d suppose…You shouldn’t be bothered…”
“All right…” Caryn turned…Hesitating… “How long?...” she said, not
turning to look back at them…
“We think about a day…” Dru said… “But that may be a lie…”
“A day…” Caryn sighed…Turning to them now… “I suppose half of it we’ll
be trapped indoors…”
“Likely so…Our bodies haven’t changed…” Will nodded…
“Well…Will be nice to work with kids again…For a little while…Though
if there were time…”
“Perhaps there will be…” Dru smiled kindly…
“I don’t even know if they’re still here…Or if they know…About me…I
probably shouldn’t…”
“If we can…I’ll go with you…We won’t intrude, just make sure they’re
well…” Dru, gently…
“Thanks…” Caryn smiled back… “And maybe…If you guys stop by a clothes
store?...” she glanced down at Spike’s jacket… “Size 10?...Brown or
maybe light green?...”
“Not a problem…” Will smiled…
“Dru?...If…” Caryn eyed her…
“If…We’ll do our best to help you destroy It…” Dru nodded…
“Thank you…” Caryn turned and made for the school entrance…
“Well?...” Dru looked at Will… “Shall we go find our nemesis and see
if she can still listen to reason?...”
Wan grin…She shrugged… “I know…Reason, from me?...”
“She’s seen stranger things, I’d guess…” William returned the grin…
***
Sound of running, panting…
“Come on, come on…” a slender, light-haired fellow in suit called to
his companions…One, a heavy-set black-haired man in dark suit…The
other, a red-headed woman, about forty in appearance, in casual
clothes… “We’ve gotta get outta here…” the first speaker insisted…
“No…” the heavy-set man shook his head… The red-head eyeing him…
“She’ll kill us…”
“I don’t care…” the dark-haired one looked back… “I don’t want to…
Exist…Like this…Let her do it…I’d rather be dead than this way…”
“You’re right…” the woman nodded… “I won’t hurt anyone else…Let her
kill me…”
“You’re both crazy…” the first ‘man’ shook head at them… “We’re not
responsible for what happened…We didn’t ask for this…I’m not gonna die
here…I’m alive again and that’s all that counts…!”
“Then go on…” the heavy-set one pointed… “We’ll keep her busy for a
minute or two…Go…”
“And leave my party?...” a soft voice cooed… “Oh, don’t do that…” a
figure stepped out of the shadows of the cemetery behind them…
“We’re not what you think…Slayer…” the slender one pleaded…As Buffy
Summers, in rather elegant outfit, a light green gown and shawl,
snatched just a few minutes ago from her favorite department store
downtown…With bright, warm smile…Moved into the light of a streetlamp…
“I think…You just came outta that crypt, back there…” she eyed him…
“And that puts you at the top of my party list…”
“You can’t…We’re not responsible…!”
The heavy-set ‘man’ stepped forward…The woman beside him… “Run!...” he
called to the slender one as they moved to block the Slayer from him…
“Now that’s loyalty…” she cooed…Nodding…Taking careful aim, she hurled
her stake between them to hit their fleeing companion, instantly
dusting him…
“You should have let him go, miss…” the woman shook her head… “He was
telling the truth…Something’s happened…We’re not…What we were…”
“Like I give a fuck…” Buffy smiled… “Now…While I go dig Mr. Pointy out
of your friend’s ashes…Why don’t you two get started making this fun
for me and run…Different directions and I’ll give you a whole sixty
seconds…”
Well?...She eyed the two…
“Do what you have to, miss…” the ‘man’ shrugged… “We want to die…We
can’t bear this anymore…This nightmare…”
“Now that’s a disappointment…” she frowned…Heading past them to reach
the pile of ash where Mr. Pointy lay…
“I’ve been having one hell of a night what with all of you guys
stretching out before me, asking me to ‘end this torment’ and all that
crappola…What’s up?...” giving a single, sharp heave to pull the stake
out and turning to face them…
“God knows…” the woman shook her head… “We just suddenly found
ourselves…Back…”
“I was hopin’ from your pal’s fine sense of self-preservation, you
guys might be a bit of a challenge…” she sighed… “This is getting’
borin’, ya know?...”
“What’s wrong with you, Slayer…?” the woman stared… “You sound like
one…Of us…”
“Now that’s an insult…” Buffy waged a finger… “Bye…” she dusted the
woman…Cocking her head at the man…
“Pity your girlfriend had a big mouth…She’s right…I am feelin’ a
little off color tonight…” she eyed him…Twisting a bright bracelet on
her wrist…Flitched from the jewelry counter of said department store…
“You any good in the sack, big boy?...” she asked, smiling at him
again… “This virgin’s lookin’ to lose it but I haven’t found a real
Unman in this burg tonight…And as for the happy meals…Plllease…”
“What?...”
“I asked if you could get it up…For the sake of extendin’ your
existence another fifteen or so…Maybe longer if I enjoy myself…” she
smiled…
“You can’t screw a vampire…” he said, rather shocked tone… “You’re the
Slayer…What is wrong with you?...”
“Ok, now you’re wounding my fragile ego…” she glared… “The Slayer says…
Get your pants off…”
“I’m a married…Well, I was…Man…I won’t do that…” he replied… “Young
lady…You need help…”
“Really?...Well, here’s the deal…Get…Them…Off…” she repeated…Eyeing
him up and down… “Or I will make it hurt…A lot…”
“Slayer…Something terrible’s happened to you…” he shook his head…
“Some kind of Evil influence…You don’t want to do this…It’s not
right…”
“Now vamps are giving me moral lectures?...” she sighed… “Ok…Bye…” she
staked him…
“Bet you regret it now, huh?...” she sneered at the dust cloud…
***
“I think I know that girl…”William pointed to the pharmacy down the
street from them, close upon the downtown section where most of
Sunnydale’s adults seemed busy looting or fighting…Like demons, acting
solely on instinct, Dru noted…
“The red-headed one?...” Dru looked…
“She’s a friend of the Slayer…” he stared where Willow in her usual
sedate outfit was coming out of the store, carrying a bag… “She may
know…Hey!...” he called… Ummn…Right… “Willow?!...”
Willow turned, staring…A frightened look as she recognized him…
“Is she?...” he looked to Dru who nodded… ‘Fraid so…
“You?...” she gasped… “You keep away from me…!” she pulled out a
cross…
Hmmn…Not that it would normally deter me that much…But…Nothing…Will
thought…
“Miss…Willow…I won’t hurt you…” he pleaded… “Something dreadful has
happened and…”
“The Slayer’s my best friend…She’ll kill you if you hurt me!...”
Willow glared… “You, too…” she looked at Dru, who put up a hand…
“We mean you no harm, Willow…” Dru said, quietly… “Please…William is
telling the truth…You know something is wrong here…”
“What?...” Willow stared… “Go to Hell!...I’ll have the Slayer kill you
if you don’t get outta here!!...” she backed away…
“Willow…” Dru said, slowly… “It’s all right…You can trust me…Look at
me…You know I won’t hurt you…”
Willow staring…
“No!...” she cried, hurrying back…
“She has power…” Dru shook her head… “Sorry…”
“It’s fine…Lets try the standard method…” Will shrugged…
They raced down after her…
***
“There…That car!...” Dru pointed… “Willow!...Wait!!...” she called…
William hurrying along, squinting… Damn…I have got to get new specs…
Ah, there…
Willow fumbling with car keys…Bit more difficult they not being her
own…She found the right key and unlocked…
“Stop!...” Dru had reached the door, grabbing her arm…Pulling out and
tossing the key back toward William…
“Get away…!!” Willow tried to slip back across the seat to the other
door… “You bitch from Hell!...”
“Not tonight…” Dru said…Grabbing her arm… “Listen, Willow…I’m not
going to harm you!!...I…”
She caught sight of the unconscious boy in the back of the car…Dark-
haired…Willow catching her glance…
“He’s mine!!...” Willow suddenly raged… “You can’t have him…Xander is
mine!!!...”
Dru stared at her…
“Mine!!!...” Willow repeated…As William reached them…
“The poor girl is in a sad state…” Dru shook her head at Willow… “But
I can’t seem to break through…She has some natural ability, power…”
“The Slayer will kill you when she knows you’re here…You’re dead!!...”
Willow fumed… “Get outta here!...”
“We need to find out what she knows…At least if she knows where Miss
Summers is…” William noted… Eyeing Dru…
“I hate to do it, but…” he gave an apologetic look…
“I don’t know…They must be very susceptible to demons now…It could
allow one to seize her…” Dru noted…
Willow eyed them…
“Don’t hurt me…I’ll help you…” Willow said… “I can show you how to get
into her place…You can kill her…Just don’t hurt me…”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, miss…” Dru sighed… “Please…Try to
calm down…”
“I’ll be as careful as I can…Just enough to put her in light thrall…”
“All right…But…” Dru glanced nervously at Willow… “Stop if I sense
anything dangerous…Threatening…”
“Of course…” he nodded…
“Buffy…” Willow called… “Buffy!!...” she screamed… “Goddamn you, you
goy bitch!!...Where are you when I need you!!!...”
“Willow, I won’t hurt you…” Will sighed, climbing into the car… “I
only want to help end this…”
“Xander!!...Help me!!...” she screamed… “NO!!!...”
Dru averting her eyes…God, forgive us…
***
The trio strolled carefully along what William identified as Main
Street, downtown Sunnydale, avoiding the horde of humans now
demolishing the major stores and restaurants…Cars whizzing by, most
loaded with plunder…
Well, at least two did…Willow rather stumbling along in light thrall…
“He wouldn’t be with me…” Willow noted blankly to William’s question
about the unconscious Xander…
“So I drugged him…But I needed more…And something to get him goin’…”
“’Goin’?’...” Dru quoted, puzzled…
“You don’t want to know, dear heart…” Will sighed…
“You mean...?”
“This stuff’d make him stiff as a board…” Willow noted…Blankly…
Indicating the bag by her side…
“While he was unconscious?...That’s dreadful…” Dru stared…
“I want him…He’s mine…” Willow said, quietly…
“Determined girl…” Will noted… “He’s a lucky so-and-…”
Sorry…He eyed Dru’s frown…
“Willow?...Where is Miss Summers?...” Dru asked…
“That bitch…She outta be here, protecting me…” Willow replied…
“Let me try…” Will suggested… “Willow, girl…I want a straight answer…
Where’s the Slayer…?”
“On Patrol…” Willow answered…
“’Patrol’?...” Dru stared…
“Hunting our kind…Protecting the city…” William explained… “But, I
wouldn’t’ve thought…Willow, was she…Normal?...”
“She’d be here, trying to help her friend…” Dru shook her head…
“Bitch took the dress I wanted when we went into the store…Wouldn’t
come with me to get Xander…”
“Doesn’t sound like she’s the same Slayer I met…” William eyed Dru…
“You’re right, she’d never leave a friend actin’ like this…”
“Does she have anyone…Slayers have advisors, don’t they…?” Dru, trying
to remember…
“A Watcher, yes…A scholar who knows the occult, a Mr. Giles in this
case…But he’s likely gone like the rest…” Will frowned…
“The poor man, the Beast…In front of me…” Dru closed her eyes… “And I
helped…Oh, those memories are coming back now…” she shuddered…
“Dru…” Will eyed her… “I need you…”
“I’m all right…” she shook her head… “Just trying to remember…Yes, I
remember him…Willow, do you know where Mr. Giles is…Or might be…”
“Giles?...Gone…LA…To report to someone…” Willow said, wanly… “He
should’ve been here to help me…Bastard…”
“LA?...” William looked at Willow… “You’re sure?...”
“Yeah…”
“He might be a help then…” Dru noted… “If we could just reach him…If
he’s outside the radius of influence and has knowledge of the occult,
he might be able to break this curse or spell or whatever it is…”
William nodded…Worth a try…
“Willow?...Do you have a way to reach Mr. Giles?...A phone number?...”
“Buffy does…”
Hmmn…He eyed Dru…
Well, back to square one…
“There must be a place he’s staying…Something connected with his group
of Watchers…” Dru noted… “They’re based back home, aren’t
they?...England?...”
“Yeah…We could try giving them a call…”
Hello, Watchers Council?…William the Bloody here, with soul…Just
wanted to tell you your Slayer’s lost hers and…Click…He thought…
Still, worth a try…They’ve seen stranger, no doubt…
“Perhaps…But if he’s English and an occult scholar…”
“And a high school librarian…” Will noted…
Sounds like a back-up career for me, if I retain the soul…He thought,
wryly…
“There can’t be too many places in Los Angeles where he and his people
would be meeting…” she suggested…
“Well, it does give us two additional avenues to pursue…Though our
immediate problem is…”
“Right here…” Buffy said, broad smile…Stake gripped
***
“Tales of D’Hoffryn…”
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.buffyrebecca.com...
Summary: While saddled with the job of tending the discombobulated
First Evil, the Lord of all Things Vengeful tells a few tales of his
(well, his people’s) exploits with some old friends…
“Sunrise…”
Part III…
“Hey…My ole favorite vamp bud and his dead whore…And with my best
friend in their fiendish grip…” Buffy grinned… “Say, Willow, that
zombie look is you…Didn’t you guys have time to finish her off?...I
can wait a few, if you want…”
Dru eyed William…William, Dru…
“Now don’t tell me you two are gonna do the… ‘oh, kill me now, end
this torment, Slayer’ crap now?...” Buffy frowned… “ ‘Cause I gotta
tell you I’m getting awful bored…And you won’t like what I do when I’m
bored…”
“Cicely…” Drusilla eyed her sternly… “You’re needed…”
Buffy stared at her…Blinking…
“Listen to me…William is here…”
“What?...” Buffy looked at her, then Will…Shaking head…
“Geesh, she’s crazier than usual, isn’t she?…” she noted…But seemed a
bit dazed…
“Cicely…You must save him…” Dru, insistently…Her stare boring deep…
“You’ve waited this moment for a century…He needs you…”
“Who?...” Buffy swayed a bit…
“You…” her face darkened… “You whore…” she stared…
“Cicely?...” William stared…The clipped British accent most startling
of all…
“William…” she looked at him… “Good…You survived…” she turned to Dru…
“Now as for you, whore…We have business to settle…” she tensed, stake
quivering in her grip…
“No, Cicely…” William began…
“Quiet…I’ll deal with her…” Buffy said, coldly… “Now…Drusilla…Time for
you to learn what happens to vampiral whores who steal husbands…”
“What?...” William stared…
“Memories…Not soul…” Dru looked at him…
“Ranting as ever, eh?...” Buffy sneered… “Come, lets do this in the
open air…I wouldn’t want your ashes to have contact with my husband…
We’ve had quite enough of that…”
“Husband…?”
“I said, be quiet, William…Will you never listen?...” Buffy, glaring…
“Go and wait for me…Watch if you like…”
“Dru has a soul, Buffy…Cicely…”
“Is that so?...How quaint…Just like Angelus…” she said, coldly…
“And right now, you don’t…” he noted…
“What?...” she stared…
“Though I do, so perhaps we’re no worse off…”
“What nonsense is this?...” Buffy frowned…
“Tell me who you are…” William asked…
“You know very well…” she replied…Folding arms… “Is this to protect
your whore?...Have you grown fond of her over the years?...”
“Tell me…”
“Cicely Anne Addams Walthrop…” Buffy frowned… “And what do you mean,
I’ve no soul…?”
“Courtesy the demon lord D’Hoffryn…” William replied… “But the
memories you’ve just regained are courtesy Miss Drusilla Waverly…”
“Indeed…” Buffy, coldly…Dru standing by Willow… “Well, thank you Ms.
Waverly…I shall make your agonizing death a tad less so in gratitude…
William, go over there and wait or I shall be angry with you…”
“And what, love…Stake me?...”
“You belong to me…Not her…” she said, icily… “And I’ll see you dust
before I’ll let her have you again…”
“I’m not here to take him from you, Cicely…” Dru pleaded… “I’m here to
help…There’s a terrible Evil afoot…You must sense something’s wrong
with you…Your friends…These people…” she waved arms…
“I’ve waited a hundred years to tear you limb from limb, vampiress…”
Buffy, grimly… “A little fairy tale about lost souls won’t deter me…
And if William has decided your body is preferable to mine…”
“He’s loved you for over a century…Believed in you and that you’d save
him…You can’t betray him now…”
Buffy eyed her…Reflected a moment…Then leapt at her before William
could intervene, stake under her grabbed and held chin…
“Killing the whore who killed him is hardly betraying him…” she noted,
quietly…Forcing Dru’s head back with the stake… “Beg for death, whore…
Beg I’ll be mercifully quick…” she pulled Dru’s head back more… “Say
it!...”
“Stop it, Cicely!...” William grabbed at her…
“This’ll hurt you too, liar!...Adulterer!!...” Buffy waved the stake
at him… “You worthless, unfaithful…!!” she raged…
Dru grabbed her arm, forcing it back…Uhh…The stake dropped with a
clatter…
“Let me go, you!!...” Buffy cried…
“We’re telling you the truth…I could kill you now…” Dru told her,
holding her arm…
“William!!...Help me!!!...” Buffy looked to him…
“Dru isn’t lying, Cicely…” Will shook his head… She kicked back,
throwing Dru off balance…Racing back..
“Right then…” she eyed them… “Let it be war on you both!!...” she ran
off, disappearing into the crowds all along the street…
“Well…” William eyed a shaken Drusilla, helping her up…
“That went rather better than I expected…”
***
“I’m sorry…” Dru sighed…Carefully guiding Willow along…
“No need…” Will shrugged…
“I honestly thought I might reach her…That Cicely’s soul might be
better protected…” sheepish look…
“Well…You did reach her…In quite spectacular fashion…” he noted…
“And now it seems I’ve a bitterly jealous spouse determined to have me
or dust me…”
“That may be the best news…” Dru reflected… “I mean…” she caught his
frown… “She didn’t re-engage and kill
you…She could have…She’s taking her time, trying to capture you…She
won’t hurt you…”
“I wouldn’t count on that, love…” he smiled wanly… “She seemed quite
willing to sacrifice me on the altar of marital fidelity…”
“I don’t think so…Though we shouldn’t press our luck, true…” Dru
pondered… “I think it’s a sign…Cicely is near…
The soul I mean…Trying to help…I know I sensed something…Faintly…”
“Well, kudos for a good try, girl…” he smiled… “What about Red,
here?...” he indicated Willow…
“I think we need her a bit longer…” Dru noted…
***
“Yes…This is Willow Rosenberg…” Willow said, a bit more energetically
than in her recent conversations…
“A little more urgency…” Dru hissed…Willow staring at her as she spoke
into the phone in the bar they’d temporarily holed up in…
“Willow Rosenberg…”Willow repeated… “A friend of the Slayer’s in
Sunnydale…Please…I have to reach Mr. Giles, Buffy’s Watcher…Can you
help me?...”
William scanning the entrance…No sign of a rampaging Slayer spouse as
yet…
Dru listening to the phone’s receiver intently, standing just by
Willow’s ear…
“Hello?...Yes…Yes…I’m Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers’ friend…The
Slayer’s friend…Please, I have to reach Mr. Rupert Giles…There’s been
a terrible disaster here in Sunnydale…”
William came over…Dru looked at him…Not yet…
“Tell them their damned Council’s about to be destroyed…” he suggested
to Willow…Who looked at him a little blankly…
Yes, William…she soundlessly murmured…Dru having cautioned her not to
speak to them aloud…
“Sir…Your damned Council’s about to be destroyed…Thank you…”
“Thought that might speed things along…” Will noted to Dru…
“Yes?...Hello…Who?...Oh, hello…” Willow said, a bit flatly again…
William eyed her…Who?...His look clear…
“Mr. Travers, who says he’s Chairman of the Watchers…” Willow hissed…
Nice…But we went past our floor, I think…
“Yes, the situation here is very terrible, Mr. Travers…Can I speak to
Rupert Giles?...”
Hmmn?...Willow looked at the phone…
“What is it?...I…”
“Here, love…” William took the phone… “Hello, Mr. Chairman…William
Soames Walthrop here…Nice to finally
speak to you after all these years…Listen, the demon lord D’Hoffryn’s
gone and put a soul removal/soul curse spell or something on Sunnydale…
Yes, involving Miss Summers and then some…Yes, this is the William
you’re thinking of…But the demon has vacated for a day or so…Look,
D’Hoffryn’s minion told me that Humanity as well as Miss Summers was
in peril if this thing…Whatever it is…Wasn’t stopped or defeated
before twenty-four hours was up…Yes…Quite specific about it…We could
use some help here, especially if you lot care about the fate of
Humanity…Well, it seems her whole lot and every human here has gone
soulless…But every vamp seems to have a soul…Yes, that includes
Drusilla…No, Miss Rosenberg’s gone and lost hers as well…She’s under
my thrall, for which I deeply apologize but there was no other way to
contact you…Is there any chance of speaking to Mr. Giles?...Good…Thank
you…”
Direct approach…Usually best…He noted to Dru and the blank-eyed
Willow…
“…Hello Mr. Giles?...Yes, this is who Mr. Travers told you…No, Spike
is off on vacation, this is the soul of William Soames Walthrop…
Cicely’s husband…”
Hmmn…He smiled at Dru…”I think I heard a pin drop on that side…”
“Oh, yes…Cicely Addams…Walthrop…Your great nineteenth century
Slayer?...Now back in the form of your own Miss Summers…No, not
possession, Mr. Giles…As I suspect you know…She’s a reincarnate…But
currently, soulless, like everyone else human in this benighted town…
Mr. Giles…Mr…Giles…If D’Hoffryn’s minion, a Miss Jenkins, wasn’t lying
we have only twenty-two…” he eyed a clock over the bar… “…twenty-one…
hours to set this right…Well…I have Drusilla Waverly…And a very nice
young ex-kindergarten teacher who’s watching the kiddies of the town…
There may be other souled vampires willing to help…That’s about it…No,
your Miss Rosenberg is like the others…I had to put her in thrall to
get her to call you…Mr. Giles…I am sure you know more about Cicely and
me than you are letting on but as to my lying about ‘everything’ I’m
sure you lot have the power to check out my story pretty quickly…If
nothing else, send someone into Sunnydale to observe…Believe me,
they’ll find proof very quickly…No, Buffy is soulless not transformed…
Certainly…”
He pulled the phone away… “Miss Rosenberg?...Would you speak to Mr.
Giles?...Just answer his questions truthfully, please?...” he held the
phone to Willow’s ear and mouth…
“Yes?...Yes, Giles, Spike has me in thrall…I don’t know…They say I
have no soul now…I dunno…I feel different, I guess…No, before Spike
put me in thrall…Yeah, everyone’s actin’ weird…Yeah, Buffy, too…She’s
speaking with a Brit accent and seems kinda nasty…Xander?...I drugged
him and put him in a car I stole…So I could have him, he belongs to
me, you know…No, I did that before Spike put me in thrall…I guess that
could mean he’s tellin’ the truth about souls goin’ bye-bye…Ok…”
“He wants to talk to you…” Willow looked over to William…
“So…Any suggestions or concrete help you can offer would be
appreciated, Mr. Giles…” William noted… “Especially as Buffy seems to
have recovered some ole memories of us and wants me to resume my
position as her husband…” he eyed Dru and Willow…
Ha, hah…Willow gave a slight laugh…
“Yeah, that did get him…”Will nodded…Dru giving reproving look…
“How soon?...All right, granted…” he shrugged…
“He doesn’t trust us…” Dru offered…He nodding…
“But help is coming, right…?” he asked the phone… “Good…We’ll try to
keep Buffy and the good people of the town alive until your Council
reaches a decision…Try to make it within the next twenty hours, will
you?...Good bye…”
Dru eyeing him…
“The Council will consider the matter and if our story is verified
they will take appropriate action…” he looked at her… “Which could
mean anything from they’ll do nothing, to for the greater good
Sunnydale will be nuked…We’ll
see…”
She sighed… “At least they know…And it’s only natural they wouldn’t
place faith in us immediately…”
“Lets hope in the States they move a bit faster than back home…” he
noted… “Last time I contacted them as Spike to warn them a Slayer was
likely to die…Just before I killed that poor Slayer a few years ago…
Two weeks wasn’t enough time to get them moving…”
“It always wondered why you called…” Dru smiled faintly… “You…Spike
said it was to make it a challenge…
But…”
“That’s sweet of you, Dru…Thanks…” he smiled back…
“Buffy won’t like this…” Willow noted…Shaking head…
“Now…We’re just friends, Miss Rosenberg…” Dru, gravely…
Uh-oh…She looked round…
“Someone…Fairly soulless but odd…Something is still…Anyway, human…I
think…” she hissed…
“Buffy?...”
“Can’t tell for sure…But I don’t think so…Even Cicely has no trace of
soul now…”
He looked about…
No, she’d make a big entrance…Soulless or no…Cicely or no…She never
changes on that…
A crash of boxes…Even Willow jumping a bit…
He was on the fellow in an instant, a small man, weasily in aspect in
nondescript clothes… “All right, you…”
“Lemme go!!...” the little man in his grip…Squirming…Demanded… “This
is my place!...What are you guys doin’ in here?...Jesus…” he stared…
“You…William the…”
“Nice to know one has a rep…” William nodded…
“No…Don’t kill me…I’m part demon…I can help you…” the little man
whimpered, eyeing William, then Drusilla…
“We won’t hurt you…” Dru said, soothingly…Coming over by Will…
“No?...”
“Probably not…” William corrected… “If you give straight answers…Who
are you?...And what are you doing here?...”
“Willie…” the man(?) answered… “Like I said, I own this place…”
“We’re very sorry to trepass, then…” Dru said, kindly… “It was
unavoidable…”
Hmmn…
She eyed Will… “He’s not lying…He’s part demon…And somehow has kept…
What little soul, a very weak one…He had…”
“Neither fish nor fowl, that’s me…” Willie shrugged…
***
“Tales of D’Hoffryn…”
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.buffyrebecca.com...
Summary: While saddled with the job of tending the discombobulated
First Evil, the Lord of all Things Vengeful tells a few tales of his
(well, his people’s) exploits with some old friends…
Part II…cont…
Confinement chamber, Hell…
‘Buffy’ frowned at her storyteller and supposed ‘sister from a
parallel universe’, ‘Cicely’…
“So I lost my soul and regained my Cicely memories…And now I’ve turned
against William, out of soulless jealousy?...”
“Viciously ironic, isn’t it?...” ‘Cicely’ beamed… ‘Buffy’ eyeing her
narrowly…
Though…It is terrible…Poor William…
Dear B’aal… ‘she’ blinked…That worthless Mears…He must be doing this…
“What’s happening to me?...” ‘Cicely’ hissed to a nearby Buffy minion…
This one in nurse’s uniform…
“Cicely?...Aren’t you feeling well?...” the ‘nurse Buffy’ eyed her…
“Should I get you something…?”
“You know damned well what I mean…” ‘Cicely’ raged…But struggled to
keep ‘her’ voice down…
“I’m D’Hoffryn, lord of all things vengeful…”
“Of course you are…” the imp in Buffy form nodded, soothingly… “But
with a little rest, you’ll be fine…Cicely…”
“Stop that!...” ‘she’ shouted…
“What’s wrong?...” ‘Buffy’ hurried over… “Am I needed?...”
“No, no…” ‘nurse Buffy’ noted… “Cicely here is just a bit upset…The
story she’s telling being so sad…”
“It sure is…” ‘Buffy’ frowned… “And it better not end with me breaking
William’s heart…Or else…” she eyed ‘Cicely’…
“Better get back to your story, sweetie…” ‘nurse Buffy’ nodded…Patting
the somewhat dazed Cicely…er ‘Cicely’… “I’m sure it has a happy ending
for you and William…”
Yeah…
Wait, no…All right…All right, D-H…Finish the tale…And then get the
here out of here…Back to good ole vengeance and imposition of
suffering…
“Ok…So they had found the part demon, Willie…”
Monitor console in CHQ, Hell…Angelus and Mears chuckling…
“Poor thing…It’s sad to watch…But I always did think D-H was unusually
‘close’ to his girls…” Warren, mock-solemn…Then roaring…Angelus
joining in…
“God, Mears…I have to admit…” Angelus leaned back in his chair… “This
is even worse than what I did to Drusilla…”
***
“Sunrise…”
Part IV…
“And you felt nothing…No different when the others changed so
suddenly?...” Dru asked…She, with Willow beside her, seated at one of
the bar tables…
“Same as always…” Willie shrugged… “I figured at first it was somebody
gunning for those folks with targeted magics but then I saw what was
going on all over town and I came back here to hole up till things
settled down or at least I could find a way outta town…”
He eyed them…Dru, pale and lovely, looking concerned, with rather less
of that psycho waif look he remembered from one time when he’d seen
her strolling about…That William, standing, frowning at him…Still
pretty menacing in his way, even souled and even in that small package…
The red-headed kid, the Slayer’s pal, looking pretty much outta it…
Bit, he noted…
Not likely to go over well with the Slayer…Even with soul…
“So all the vamps in town have souls now…And everyone else…Human, that
is…No soul?...” he asked…
“It seems so…” Dru nodded… “Though of course we can’t be sure everyone
is affected…Especially given you…”
“Now there’s a howl…” Willie grinned…Ummn…He caught sight of Dru’s
stern look…William’s deepening frown…
Uh…Well… “Of course, it’s terrible, too…Just, ya know…Ironic and all
that jazz…”
“And you’ll find out how ironic if the Slayer catches us here…Minus
that usual compassion and regard for human or semi-human life…” Will
noted…
“That would be bad…” Willie nodded, pensive now… “I met a turned
Slayer once…She was not fun…”
“But it must be important…A clue to the cause of all this…” Dru
suggested… “That he…You, sir…” she nodded to Willie… “Are still souled…
Something about your nature…”
“The demon part somehow protecting him…” William eyed him…
“Can’t help you there…” Willie shrugged… “I’m no big expert on the
subject…”
“What about your father, the demon…?” Dru asked… “Was he unusual in
any way…The species?...”
“Moray…Nothing special…They get on ok with humans, not violent,
generally…I dunno…” Willie looked at them… “Look, if the Slayer’s
gunning for you, you’d best get outta town…She’s sure to find you here
sooner or later…”
“We can hope…” Dru nodded…
“What?...” Willie said…Nervous eyes darting…Hopes of offering to
provide ‘help’ in exchange for hitching a ride under the protection of
two famously mighty otherworlders fading fast…
“We’re trying to help her…Not run from her…” Dru explained… “But to
help her we need something, anything, that could counter whatever
D’Hoffryn’s done…”
A caravan, actually, considering…Well, doesn’t seem likely, given the
sad lack of self-preservation instinct here…Willie sighed…
Wait…
“D-H?...The revenge king?...” Willie looked at them… “One of his is
here?...”
“Anya…” William noted… “Who seems the prime mover…At least the prime
instrument…”
“Anyanka?...Jesus…” Willie sighed… “She’s bad news…One of his best…”
William eyed Dru who nodded…
Looks like we came to the right place…If utterly by chance…
Surely God is guiding us in some way…
Willie rather convinced otherwise…Anxious now to find his own path...
After all, wouldn’t want to get in the way of their efforts…Just be on
his own merry…
“What can you tell us about her…?” Dru asked, kind tone… “Is there any
way to break her spells that you know of…?”
“Willie?...The lady asked a question…” William frowned at the little
half-man as he glanced round…Clearly seeking the nearest exit route…
“There’s always a way…” Willie noted, shrugging… “But usually it
involves years of study…Careful research…And a Slayer backing you up
don’t hurt…”
“Not enough time…We need to cut corners on the research fast track now
and worry about long-term later…We’ll have to make due with Dru and me
instead of a Slayer for the moment…No offense dear heart…”
“Not at all…” Dru shook head… “Of course the Council could provide
that research if they really are coming…”
“The Council of Watchers?...” Willie eyed them… “You’re in touch with
them?...You two?...”
“Yeah, welcome to bizarro-world…” Will nodded… “But given their idea
of rapid response…And their inclination to stake, crossbow, burn, or
set a vampire (really, no offense, love…patting Dru’s hand…though
plenty to them…) on one first and confirm their good intentions later…
I wouldn’t exactly consider them the cavalry on the way…”
“But getting back to focus…?” he eyed Willie sternly… “If you want to
get out of this alive…And remarkably, no personal threat intended…If
you have any ideas or first- or second-hand info…Speak up…”
Ummn…
“We don’t mean to press, but anything you know could help…” Dru,
gently… “And William is right…We aren’t any threat to you but you are
in danger here…”
“Especially should we have to battle an angry, soulless Slayer here…”
William eyed him… “The property damage alone is sure to be…”
“The girl…The demon…” Willie, hastily… “They get their power from him…
D’Hoffryn…It’s channeled through a talisman…”
Hmmn…More than I had a right to expect…Will eyed him…
“And the talisman?...”
“Could be anything…A bracelet…A necklace…But she’ll fuss with it…Never
let it alone…That’ll be the giveaway…”
“And summoning?...”
“Who knows…?” Willie shook his head… “D-H’s got his own system…
Designed to confuse…That’s all I know…
Honest…”
“That’s very helpful, sir…” Dru beamed… “Thank you…If you’d like to
try and make your escape now?...I know you’re very anxious to go…”
William frowned…Not all that helpful, girl…She shrugged… “The poor
man’s told us what he knows…No need to put him at risk…”
Will sighed… “I suppose…” he looked at Willie who was a bit nonplussed…
Go?... “All right…Well, good luck, mate…” he offered a hand…Willie,
now increasingly hesitant…Go?...Out there?...Took it gingerly… “Thanks…
Make for the south and keep from downtown…Well…Guess I mean get out of
downtown as quick as you can…”
Uh…Willie looked over to the door…
Rampaging soulless humans…Brutally murderous Slayer…
And now, likely a pissed-off vengeance demon and her boss gunning for
him out there…
And…The others…
“Uh…I’m fine here, for now…”
“Of course…” Dru nodded… “This is your place, after all…”
“Well, if you’ll be staying…How’s about a drink?...” William
suggested… “I actually having a bit of coin of the realm about my
person…” he pulled out the change from Anya’s twenty…
“And something for Miss Rosenberg…?” Dru asked… “She must be thirsty…
Willow, would you like something to drink…?”
“Yeah…” Willow nodded, vaguely… “But not blood…”
“Of course not…Water?...A soda?...”
“Ginger ale?...”
“Comin’ right up…” Willie, rather glad to have business to focus on…
“And a whiskey…Double…” William added…
“Will…We need to decide what to do now…” Dru insisted… “We can’t sit
here, waiting…People are in danger…And what if some leave Sunnydale in
their current condition?...We can’t be sure they’d revert once out of
town…”
“Love…I’d like to help…But there’s only us…” he noted… “And my dear
spouse seems ready to institute extreme divorce proceedings if she
spots us…”
“Not only us…” Dru replied…Eyeing Willie…
“Him?...” William stared…
“Willie?...” Dru, gently…
He blinked…Ummn…
“Please…Introduce us to your friends…” she said, quietly… “It was very
brave of you to protect them…”
“What?...” William stared…
“They’re rather well-hidden…A spell barrier?...” she asked… “It took a
moment, even for me…But I can sense a faint trace about here…”
“They’re not harming anyone…” Willie insisted… “I wouldn’t’ve done it
but…They got souls now…And the Slayer wasn’t listenin’…Just staking
left and right…”
“And you took them in…” Dru nodded… “Willie, you are a good man…” she
smiled…
“Had to do somethin’…” he shrugged… “They’re in the cellar…It’s where
I keep contraband…Just a little stuff that wouldn’t be kosher, you
know…Nothing dangerous…Just special foods and things some of the folks
like…Shielded so as not to give the stuff away…Just a little ‘black
market’ stuff…Nothing bad…And only for the ones who don’t make
trouble…”
“Of course…” she agreed, gently… “May we meet them…?”
“Who?...” William looked round…
Willie sighed, then went over to a corner, lifting a rug…Then the trap
door the rug concealed…
“Come on up, folks…It’s ok…” he called…
***
“People!...People!!...” Dru called, looking out over the group… The
milling crowd of nearly seventy vampires and vampiresses slowly
heeding her… “Please…”
“Come on, you lot!...” William called, standing on a table next to the
one where Willow sat, sipping her ginger ale quietly…
“Hey!...” Willie banged a glass on bar…All staring… “Listen up!...”
“Right…” Dru smiled at him… “People…I know you’re all confused…This
has been a terrifying, if unique experience…”
“Drusilla!...” one teenaged-appearing female gasped… “Lemme out of
here…She’ll kill us all!!...”
Some sounds of panic…Anxious glances…
Oh…My…Dru sighed…
“Quiet!!...” Willie banged again, stern look… “She’s just like you…
Souled…Now listen up!!...”
“Yes, Mr. Willie is quite right…” Dru resumed… “William and I are
souled like you...”
“Can we go home now?...” one tall male spoke up… “My wife is still…”
“You can’t go home, Albert…” a blonde female frowned at him… “And your
wife must be dead or one of us…I
transformed you sixty years ago…”
“You…Bitch…” Albert glared… “You killed me!...”
“Sorry…” she shrugged… “Someone killed me, too, you know…And you were
looking for some action that night when you came up to me…”
Several angry and accusatory conversations now springing up…
“People!...” Dru cried…
More bitter words… “You made me!!...” “You killed my family!!!...Well,
I wouldn’t have helped if you hadn’t…” “I didn’t wanna eat my
dog!!!...” “I never said I wanted to sleep with you, I just wanted to
live forever!!...” “It’s over, Henry…I want my own crypt!...”
She went to Willie’s bar counter…Please?...He handed the heavy glass…
Slam!!... “Hey!!!!...” she hollered…A window shattering in the front…
William staring…The group staring…
“Friends…This is no time to blame each other…God knows we all feel
ourselves guilty in some way…But we are also all victims…” she noted…
“Yeah!...And I want compensation!!...” a heavy-set, middle-aged-
looking ‘woman’ in frightful print blouse responded… “I was just
passing through six months ago and one of you kills me…!”
“And you killed me and my little girl…!!” a slender, brown-haired
‘woman’ in gown fumed back…“…and you made me have sex with you!!...”
“That wasn’t me…I’m a God-fearing Christian…” the heavy woman glared
back… “I’d never…”
“Yeah, right…” the young ‘woman’ replied, bitter… “Can’t hide it from
your demon, you rapist!…And I’m through calling you, mistress,
lady!!...”
“Can I call my mom?...” a young male asked, raising hand… “I think I
only died a week ago…”
“Enough!!...” Dru cried… “And we’ll see, young man…We don’t want to
upset your family, you know…”
“Please, friends…” she looked out over the group… “God has given us a
chance to do good this night…”
“I don’t believe in God…” one male spoke up…
“Fine…Fate, then…” she waved him off…No time for a religion debate…
“You all know the humans of Sunnydale are afflicted…Soulless…They need
our help!...”
“What’s the girl…The Slayer…For?...” the heavy-set ‘woman’ fumed… “Let
her take care of them…Instead of coming after us…”
“She’s for getting rid of us…” Albert frowned… “Whatdaya mean, not
come after us?...We’ve all been mad killers until tonight…”
“Not me…” the large ‘woman’ insisted… “I’m of the blessed elect…It was
Satan doing the killing…”
“…And the raping?...” her former companion glared…
“The point is, people!...People!!...” Dru called… “We are needed…Our
human brothers and sisters…Our descendants and families…Need us
tonight!...We must act to help them while they can’t help
themselves!!...”
“No one ever helped me…” the blonde ‘woman’ who argued with Albert
insisted… “Not even the Slayer…I was left
like this for eighty years…Why should I stick my neck out to help a
few mortals?...”
“Any one who doesn’t want to help is welcome to stay here…” Dru noted…
“But those who want to prove they are still human, inside…Can help to
save Humanity tonight…Great Evil threatens the world and we have a
chance here to fight back…To stop being victims, for once…”
“That’s the Slayer’s job…” the large ‘woman’ fumed… “I’m a victim…I
don’t have to do anything for anybody…”
“The Slayer is affected, she told you lot that…” William glared…
“We’re it, tonight folks…The last line…”
“What can we do?...” Albert shook his head…Several agreeing… “We’re
just a bunch of vamps with souls…There are thousands of crazy people
out there…And a Slayer who don’t take souls for an excuse…”
“We have unique abilities…We can influence human minds…” Dru noted…
“And the humans are running on instinct…They will respond easily to
base impulses…Fear, reward…We can use that to herd them and keep them
safe through the night…Prevent more deaths…”
“And what about us?!...” another woman, a tall black woman of about
forty, spoke up… “What happens to us now?...Do we try to live like
this?...Burning or hiding by day…Drinking blood…And from where and
what?...I can’t live like this…Let the Slayer or the sun take me…”
Several cries in agreement…
“Ir won’t last…” Dru sighed… “By tomorrow night we’ll be back…To what
we were…” she eyed the suddenly still group… “I know it’s horrible,
but that’s the truth of it…We only have about nineteen hours with our
souls…”
“And you know that…How?...” the large ‘woman’ eyed her…
“Because I’m the cause…” William said, quietly…Firmly… “Not
intentionally but there it is…”
“You?...” several stared…Others looking at each other…
Uh-oh…Willie slowly slid down behind the bar counter…
William tensing…Might perhaps have been a bit too honest on this one…
Albert started clapping…The blonde…Others joining in…
Dru stared…More joining in, some with tears running…
“Thank you!!...” shouts… “William!!...” Fists in the air… “Thank
God!!...” a few cries…
Dru looking to Will who stared, stunned…She beamed at him…
Willie rising back up…Hmmn…
“Even a day alive again…God…” Albert beamed… “To know, finally, we’re
still what we were…That we’re still here, somewhere…Not…Those things,
whatever they do…Thank you, both of you…” he came up… “What do you
want us to do?...I’m in!...”
“Yeah!...” the young brown-haired ex-love slave came forward… “Count
me in!...”
More stepped forward…Only a few hanging back…
“First…” Dru began…
***