Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Buffy the Vampire slayer or any of its characters.
Interference
Chapter One - Lost
"I think it should be Cordelia." Markus stared at his brother incredulously following this comment, with an expression that looked as if he actually doubted the boy's sanity.
"I mean it," continued Tom, apparently oblivious to his brother's shock, "she's like the queen of the school and hotter then hot." Markus groaned at this lapse attempt at rationalisation, and it was with a voice filled with scorn that he replied:
"Exactly, if we pick her then everyone will notice," the elder of the duo trailed off into silence for a moment, casting his mind around for suitable candidates before continuing, "What about Buffy?"
"No way!" screech Tom, almost leaping out of his seat in a combination of shock and fear, "that chick is psycho; she'd probably kill us in an instant. What about Harmony?" The speed with which Tom produced this alternate name showed he'd clearly been thinking the matter over whilst Markus had been speaking, however it was shot down just as quickly.
"She's hot," admitted Markus breathlessly, "but she can barely string two words together. I don't want someone that vacant following us around." The brothers lapsed into silence once again, each one thinking over the problem in their own way. It was clear they couldn't pick someone too popular, however at the same time it had to be someone attractive enough to make it all worthwhile. Eventually it was Markus who reached a solution, a wicked grin rapidly spreading across his face.
"I say we go for Willow."
"You're not serious!" exclaimed Tom, a similar expression on his face to the one his brother had worn at the suggestion of Cordelia.
"Dude, she's hot!" insisted Markus vehemently, "and smart too. She'll be able to do anything we tell her to." His younger brother thought this over for a moment. As much as it grated him to have been beaten to the solution, he couldn't deny the truth of his brother's logic.
"When you put it that way…" muttered Tom begrudgingly, face in no way mirroring his brother's obvious enthusiasm.
"It's settled then!" confirmed Markus gleefully, "we'll make Willow into our slave!"
Two weeks had passed since this conversation between the Trilent brothers, for whilst if either of them had gotten their way they would have cast the spell immediately, there were actually several preparations that needed to be made. Ingredients had to be bought, rituals practised, and spells memorised until they were sick of the sight of Latin. However eventually, on a dark night in a deserted warehouse, they were ready. They'd briefly considered casting the spell in their own basement, or even in a disused classroom at Sunnydale High, however they had concluded that the warehouse was a better choice; it did after all ensure they wouldn't be discovered until it was too late.
"I've got the spooky sand," stated Tom as he pushed the warehouse's side door open with his shoulder and stepped inside. Markus looked up from the tome he was examining as his brother entered, quickly ushering him to make two circles from the sand, each large enough for a person to sit in comfortably. He pulled several sticks of incense from his jacked pocket whilst this was going on, lighting them and placing them at strategic points around the warehouse.
"Okay, it's time!" exclaimed Markus excitedly, positioning himself cross-legged in one of the circles with the spell book before him. Something about this simple action seemed to bother Tom, for he stalked over to his brother with in irate expression on his face.
"How come YOU get to cast it!?" he complained loudly, running one hand through his sickeningly greasy hair as he spoke, "I want to control her!" Markus rolled his eyes at this and, resisting the urge to point out that Tom hadn't even wanted Willow in the first place, responded in a patronising tone.
"Delegation based on natural talents," he replied smugly, "I'm the spell-casting guy, you're more of the sand-pouring type." He ushered his brother away before Tom could complain further, positioning himself comfortably as he did so before slowly beginning to read from the book. He had the words memorised, however he felt that it was better to check them as he went, just in case. A lot of possible unpleasant side-affects had been listed for this spell going wrong, from spontaneous combustion of everyone involved to ending up under the control of the intended victim instead.
"Hermes," he began, feeling the unnatural glow of magic beginning to stir within him, "patron god of thieves, bring me what I desire,
Through Hecate's domain, through the gorge of wind and fire."
This was not Markus's first time casting a spell; he'd dabbled in sorcery for a while now, however this was his first time attempting anything on this level. Tom watched intently as his brother worked, eyes widening as he noticed several sparks of energy flickering away in the currently unoccupied circle.
"Place it under my control," continued Markus without pausing, although his eyes had also lit up in anticipation at the sight of the sparks, "my every word the law,
Make the prize obey me with no chance of waging war."
The air around him began to crackle with the same energy from the circle, which by this point was glowing brightly. By now Tom was practically bouncing up and down in excitement, and was barely about to keep his hands still as he uncorked a bottle of Fyarl mucus and poured it into the circle as the ritual demanded. The reaction was instantaneous. A rush of wind filled the room, and in spite of both brothers' hair getting blown in all directions the sand of the circles remained deathly still. Markus's eyes lit up with the same glow as the circle, his voice changing to a shout as he began chanting in Latin:
"Addo Willow Rosenburg iam!
Ego nutus per omnis mei potentia!
Addo mei diligo iam!"
The light of the circle became blinding, filling the room so that Markus and Tom had to quickly cover their eyes in an effort to prevent permanent damage. Fortunately the brightness faded quickly enough, and as the siblings opened their eyes they were thrilled to see a girl standing in the circle that only moments ago had been deserted.
This world was no fun. She'd known it at once, however despite her hopes of change it had only gone from bad to worse. For a start the White Hats seemed to have won in this world, and all of the vampires she'd associated with were either dusted or (she still shuddered at the thought) human. Both of these pains were however topped by the Willow who existed in this universe, for she was as different from her as it was possible to be. Had she seriously ever worn pink? The vampire certainly couldn't remember ever having done so; although there was the distinct possibility her demon side was repressing these unpleasant memories.
"Good luck!" Ah, here was the pink fluff-ball now. They were back in the Master's factory… that is… the warehouse that housed the factory in her world; it was all so confusing. She supposed it didn't really matter that much, after all with any luck she'd be back in her own world in a matter of moments, so long as that irritating former demon and the White Hat knew what they were doing.
"Try not to kill people." The vampire known as Willow stared in disbelief at her human counterpart, attempting to gauge whether or not the human was joking with this comment. It soon became apparent that she was serious, a show of naivety that almost made the undead Willow want to throttle her human self on the spot. Of course her shock at the girl's words of advice was nothing compared to the vampire's surprise at suddenly finding the human embrace her.
She stood unresponsive for a moment, and was about to break out of the human's grip when something made her change her mind. The vampire had to admit, even as a human she was undeniably alluring. There was something in her scent, something incredibly familiar that instinctively drew her to the human; it was almost as if they'd been together their whole life… or afterlife. After a moment the vampire relaxed in the girl's embrace, wrapping her own arms around in return. With a mischievous gleam in her eyes she held herself tighter, slowly caressing down the human's form until the girl pulled away in a mixture of fear and revulsion:
"Hands! Hands!" The vampire grinned wickedly at her human self's surprise, shooting the girl one last seductive look before taking her place at the circle set out to cast the spell. She didn't know much about magic herself, any potential she may have had within her had been thoroughly washed away when she was sired, so watched with genuine interest as the ritual began. It was clear that the former demon was there under duress; however the White Hats seemed to have her intimidated enough to cooperate for the time being. They chanted briefly and sand was poured around, before finally the scene dissolved with a bright flash.
For a fleeting second the vampire known as Willow could see her own world before her. She smiled genuinely, however in the same instant a new force struck her. It seemed to drag her from behind, mercilessly tugging the vampire away from her own universe to some other location. Willow fought against the force's hold fiercely, vainly attempting to steer her own course back towards the factory, however her efforts came to naught as with another bright flash an entirely new (and vehemently unwelcome) scene solidified around her.
"Is that… Willow?" asked Tom uncertainly, squinting slightly as he spoke as if the figure in the circle was about to transform. The face was undeniably the girl in question; however the outfit was another story entirely. Neither of the brothers had ever seen Willow dressed like that (well, except in their imaginations whilst preparing the spell), so were quite at a loss at how to react to this shock. They were used to seeing the girl in fuzzy sweaters and other outfits of that ilk, not the binding leather that their captive was actually dressed in.
"No fair," whined the vampire Willow, "you magic types have been so mean to me today." She pouted, tilting her head slightly as she stared intently at the humans before her. Each was as repulsive as the other, the type of foul specimens that she wouldn't have even wanted to bite if she hadn't fed in a month. Judging from the identical looks of shock plastered over each human's face, they didn't seem to have intended to bring her here. Then again, they did know her name. No; the vampire quickly corrected herself; they knew the human Willow's name.
"Her," sulked the vampire sullenly, "it's always her." Whoever these humans were they'd been trying to summon her human counterpart, which was enough evidence for the vampire to conclude that she was still in the same universe. It wasn't fair, all she wanted to do was to go home; why was fate insisting on keeping her away? Well she wasn't going to put up with it this time; these humans would pay dearly for interfering with her journey home.
"My turn now," purred the vampire Willow, a sadistic gleam flashing in her eyes as she took a threatening step forward. This action seemed to bring the humans out of their stupor, for they paralleled her movement by taking a cautious step back away from her.
"Stay back!" stammered Tom and Markus simultaneously. The vampire rolled her eyes and sprang forward, or would have done had glowing green manacles not formed on her arms and dragged her back. She sighed dramatically, ceasing her attempts to advance and instead standing still. The bindings on her wrist vanished, however the vampire was certain that they would return should she try to disobey the command again.
"Don't like being controlled," muttered the vampire morosely, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the brothers, "but who's got the button?" She reached down, raising one of the legs of her leather pants and beginning to unfasten the chunky heeled boot that adorned that foot.
"Dude," gasped Tom, tugging excitedly on his brother's arm, "did you command her to undress?" Markus however was just as surprised as his sibling, and for a moment was only able to shake his head as he stared.
"She's doing it on her own," he explained, eyes not leaving their captive's hands as the boot was finally unlaced. Much to the boys' annoyance however she did not go any further then unlacing the boot, causing Tom to actually groan in disappointment.
"Tell her to carry on!" insisted Tom, poking his brother with each word to emphasise his point. Markus opened his mouth to respond, however he was cut across by the softer tones of the vampire.
"So you're in charge," she stated, eyes fixed on Markus now as she smirked, "am I all you wanted?" She smiled seductively at the human for a moment, then quick as a flash kicked out with leg wearing the loosened boot. The considerable momentum of the attack was transferred from her foot into the shoe, which became an impromptu projectile and shot through the air with the same force as one of the vampire's super-powered kicks. The heavy boot hit Markus square in the forehead, with a result that wasn't pretty; suffice to say he crumpled to the ground and didn't get up again.
"Bored now," sighed the vampire Willow, advancing again now that the spell no longer held her back. Tom had been momentarily too shocked to move, staring at his brother's body as if that would change what he was seeing, however as the woman moved towards him he sprang into action and hurtled towards the door. The vampire was faster however, so it was with no effort at all that she managed to cut him off from escape.
"Your friend had to go so quickly," complained the vampire, kicking the human fiercely in the chest so that was sent sprawling back across the floor, "we can have more fun." She sauntered across to her whimpering victim, raising her one booted heel and stepping down on his chest with all of her weight. Tom cried out in pain, yet no matter how much he squirmed the vampire's leg kept him firmly pressed to the ground.
"Hungry now," murmured the vampire known as Willow as she let the warehouse's door swing shut behind her. The brothers had been far too unappetizing to even contemplate eating, so pausing only to collect and wipe off her other boot the vampire left the bodies undisturbed. She hadn't had a meal since that girl Sandy in the Bronze, which hardly counted since she'd immediately lost the blood again when she chose to sire her.
The vampire emerged from the industrial sector the warehouse was located within, moving on into Sunnydale proper without pause. Main Street seemed to be the best choice for finding someone to eat, after all it had been crowded enough when she walked along it earlier, whilst in contrast the Bronze would still be deserted after the chaos she'd caused there. She sniffed the air, quickly honing in on the most appealing scent in the area and shifting into hunting mode.
After a moment or two of searching the vampire located the source of the scent she was following; it was a woman, slightly older then her human self, yet no less appealing to the demon. She kept to the shadows, following her prey along the road until, much to the vampire's delight, the woman turned to move down a darker alleyway instead. The vampire sped up, grinning in delight as she rounded the corner in pursuit and quickly caught up to the woman.
"I'm so lost here," stated the vampire Willow, "far from home and hungry." The woman stiffened as she heard the voice, slowly turning to face the source of the noise with a nervous expression clear on her face.
"E…excuse me?" The vampire shivered in pleasure as she saw the woman's nervous expression. The aura of fear her victims exuded was almost as delectable to her as their blood, and since encountering her fluffy self she was doubly glad to still be able to intimidate.
"Don't worry," whispered the vampire, speaking so quietly that the woman had to strain to hear her, "it won't hurt a bit…" Those words sent alarm bells ringing in the woman's head; however before she could even think of fleeing the vampire had latched onto her with an unbreakable grip.
"…it'll hurt a lot." Willow's face morphed into the hideous visage of the vampire as she spoke, sinking her teeth into the woman's neck in the same instant. The stranger's blood welled up at the point of impact, pouring out into the vampire's lips in a rush. She moaned in satisfaction, only now realising how hungry she had actually been. The vampire cradled her prey tightly, holding on until as much blood as possible had been drained from her before finally letting the woman drop to the floor.
"Sorry baby," murmured the vampire, hoisting up the woman's body and hefting it into a nearby dumpster, "already made one childe today." She flexed her fingers, feeling the energy from her feed rushing outwards from her dead heart to the furthest tips of her limbs. Forget striking terror, this was the true joy of being a vampire; nothing as a human that the vampire Willow could remember compared to the sensation of drinking blood. Unfortunately tonight she could not fully enjoy it, for she was rather distracted by the need to return home.
"Have to find me," stated the vampire, emerging from the alleyway back onto Main Street, "wanna go home…" She turned to head back towards the high school; however she had barely taken two steps when a soft voice addressed her.
"No," stated the voice, so close that there was no doubt as to who they were speaking to, "you really don't want to do that."
