"There is someone I would like you to meet, Lindsey."
A pretentious smile crossed Holland's face as we walked through the double doors and into my office. The someone was female and stood at the opposite wall, near the windows. She was running her fingertips over one of the plants Holland had yet to move to his new office as she curiously gazed at the setting sun outside the window before her. The contrast in the colors of her skin, hair, and clothes made her look like the walking un-dead in the dying sunlight that filtered past the open blinds. I was certain she was a vampire. The appearance was unmistakable after so many years at this firm. She was lucky that the special glass in the windows allowed her stand there without lighting up like a ant beneath a magnifying glass.
"Drusilla, this is Lindsey McDonald," Holland said politely as he inclined his chin towards me.
The pale skinned brunette turned from her fascination with the vine plant to sweep across the office toward me. Her movements were very fluid like a dancer, almost as if she was gliding and had no bones in her knees. The illusion was helped by her long deep red skirt which brushed the floor at her feet. However, her unstable gate did not compare to the unsettling nature of her gaze. Her dark eyes were wide and glassy as if disconnected from reality beneath her heavy lids. I could feel them peeling back layer after layer of my mind.
"He wants to save grandmummy," Drusilla said in a singsong voice as she slipped past Holland who looked rather stiff as he watched her. She smiled faintly and her eyes locked onto mine. "Her outsides make his insides bubble."
Refusing to break from her eerie stare, even when she leaned forward to inspect me closely, I swallowed hard. I knew from my prying into Angel's past that Drusilla was much more than just a vampire. She was a powerful seer, driven insane by Angelus before he had made her. Drusilla had been one of the few members in Angelus and Darla's little family of death dealers and enjoyed playing with her victims in a sadistic cat-and-mouse sort of mindlessly slow torture as if she were a curious child. With her sniffing this close to my throat I knew I should be frightened, but I didn't care if she wanted to drink from me as long as the turning of Darla followed. I relayed that sentiment out loud in a rather flat tone.
A happy sort of breathy sound escaped Drusilla as her long fingers, which were entangled in the sleeves of her dress, found the shoulders of my charcoal gray suit. I raised my chin to expose more of my neck and closed my eyes, daring her to call my bluff. My breathing stopped as her lips came dangerously close to my skin.
"That's enough, Lindsey," Holland's voice cut through my thoughts and I blinked. I had almost forgotten he was there. "Come away from him, Drusilla."
I felt Drusilla decrease our proximity and my vision began to focus. Holland had a stern look on his face as his eyes followed Drusilla who retreated back to the plant near the windows. She seemed lost in her own world as she swayed her head to an unheard song.
"We have work to do, Lindsey. We must take her to Darla before it is too late. If Angel is as concerned for Darla as you say, he will be looking for her as well," Holland said quietly as we both watched Drusilla. He turned to leave the room, but paused at my side to give me a very serious look. "Stay with Drusilla as I prepare a team. Do not tempt her again."
"Yes, sir," I replied simply. I would do anything to save Darla. If that meant turning her into a souless demon, then so be it.
