This fanfiction takes place in an alternate Buffyverse, the world created in the episode The Wish by demon Anyanka. In The Wish, Cordy wishes that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale. The end result was a world where Sunnydale was run by vampires, The Master having succeeded in rising from his prison.
I always wondered, why was Willow so crazy as a vampire? She was almost as batty as Drusilla, and Dru was only so crazy because Angel tortured her for months before siring her. Who could torture Willow into insanity? Why our dear Xander of course. In my version of the world as it is in this alternate reality, Xander is Willow's sire.
Now dear reader, you don't have to read what I am about to explain, but it may make my way of seeing things a little clearer. Xander loves Willow more than anything when he is human. His family is mean and the only person who has been with him always is Willow. You may think that because of this, he'd rather watch her suffer great pain when he's a vampire, like Angelus did with Buffy when he lost his soul again. But I always thought that, like Spike did with his mother, Xander would be one of the people who would rather turn their loved ones. Angel loved Buffy and it pained him, making him want to hurt her as much as possible for making him feel such a useless emotion. Some vampires would probably go after their loved ones and just kill them. But some, like Spike, would want to sire their loved ones so that they could spend all eternity with them. Xander doesn't realize, lacking a soul, that he is hurting Willow more than anything by making her like him. All that he can see is that he will be happy, to be forever with the person he loved most in the world.
Ok now that you're done with that… hehe, enjoy the story.
Willow Rosenburg lay on her bed, curled up with a book. Her parents were out, as usual, and she was alone in her house. Which wasn't so abnormal. Her only real friends were Jesse and Xander. No one had seen Jesse in weeks, so most figured he was one of the Lost, the people who had suddenly started disappearing all over town in the past few months.
Willow got up from her bed and wandered over to her desk, tugging self-consciously at her ultra huge t-shirt that she was wearing as a pajama top. It reached down almost to her knees, mostly covering the pair of short biker shorts she was wearing. She didn't expect to see anyone tonight so wearing that little was ok. Besides it was a hot night in Sunnydale, as it usually was in Southern California.
She grabbed her math notebook from the desk and plopped onto her bed again, chewing thoughtfully at her pencil. It was a Monday night. Xander hadn't been at school that day, either ditching or sick; she suspected the former.
The doorbell rang. Willow looked up, startled. Who would be coming over at 9:45 at night? She got up from the bed and uncomfortably pulled the edge of her long t-shirt almost passed her knees. She trotted down the stairs, trying to ignore the cold wood under her bare feet. The house was dark and Willow nervously flicked the hall light on. With all the disappearances lately people had gotten more paranoid. Darkness was no one's friend.
"Dad?" The little redhead called. "Did you forget your keys again?" Ira Rosenburg had a habit of forgetting things.
"Nah Wil, it's me. Open up!"
Willow felt her face grow hot and she quickly reached for the doorknob. She yanked at it, but when it didn't open she realized the deadbolt was still firmly in place. Embarrassed, she undid the lock and opened the door. Xander stood on the welcome mat, eyes twinkling and lips parted in a happy grin.
"Xander! Where were you today? I was so worried about you. With all the disappearances lately, I thought you might be dead or something!" She scolded him, trying to make him feel guilty for making her worry.
Xander just stood there, smiling. Willow started to get a funny feeling. She noticed for the first time he was wearing an expensive looking leather jacket, a very un-Xander article of clothing. His hands were in his pockets and he stood with a rather confident air. Willow's heart sank. She wondered if he had met a girl… He was acting so self-assured all of a sudden.
"Aren't you going to invite me in silly?" Xander teased, voice light and friendly. Willow practically melted at the affection in her best friend's voice.
"Oh! Uhh… of course! Come on in Xander," Willow stammered, opening the door wider. Her best friend sauntered in, an odd look of what Willow could only interpret as triumph in his eyes. She wondered vaguely why he had asked to be invited in. Xander came over all the time and never asked for permission to come in. Willow brushed the thought away and followed Xander, who had started to ascend the stairs.
The two friends entered Willow's room and Willow blushed. It was pretty messy for once. Clothes from the school day were on the floor. Her backpack was open and books were scattered everywhere, including on her bed. Willow scampered over to the bed and picked up the books there, then threw them on her desk. Xander wrinkled his nose in amusement.
"Sorry it's a mess. That new librarian is awesome and he's been letting me check out more books than is officially allowed. He likes me I guess, I mean what librarian doesn't like a bookworm?" Willow babbled, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. Xander just grinned at her and sat down on the bed, then patted the space next to him. Willow hesitantly sat, hands on her lap.
"Hey Wil, relax will ya? It's just me, Xander," the boy chuckled. Willow immediately felt ridiculous. Of course, she shouldn't be acting like such a freak. Then again, he hadn't been over at night with her in a big t-shirt and short shorts before. And he was acting different… It may not have been obvious to just anyone, but it was obvious to her.
" You know Wil, I've always loved you."
Willow's eyes widened in shock and she turned to fully face Xander. "W-what?" She stuttered, utterly lost for words.
Xander's eyes were dark and hypnotizing, and his smile could burn a soul. "You know it Wil. You're my girl. And I've never actually completely realized it until now. I want to be with you, always."
Willow felt like she was in a dream. She felt a huge smile break out over her face and she felt suddenly giddy. This had been her fantasy for as long as she could remember, back to when they were kindergarteners together. She could barely form words, then finally, "I… I love you too. I always w-want to be with you too."
Xander's smile widened and Willow felt like the air around her was humming with energy. "I knew you would want to," he murmured. Then his face was suddenly an inch away from hers and he kissed her. His lips felt like ice.
Willow closed her eyes. Behind closed eyelids she expected to see fireworks. Instead there was nothing, darkness. But she could feel her heart singing her utter happiness. It was all too perfect.
They kissed for what seemed like forever. When they finally pulled apart Willow was breathing heavily. Xander smiled and smoothed a lose strand of her hair back behind one ear.
"Xander," Willow murmured, trying to find the right words. She could never explain how that kiss, her first ever real kiss, had made her feel.
Xander placed a cold finger on her lips, silencing her. "You don't have to say anything. We'll have all eternity."
Willow smiled shyly at her old friend and nodded. Yes, they'd have the rest of their lives to be together. Then she froze, looking at the clock next to her bed. "Oh my God, Xander! It's 10:15! My parents could be home any second! You should go…"
Xander laughed. "Oh, I took care of them."
Willow blinked, confused. "What do you mean Xander? Did you call them or something?"
Xander didn't answer. He just kept staring at her, that same smile on his face. Then he murmured, "You're so cute when you're confused Wil."
"Umm… thanks?" Willow replied, felling suddenly wary. "Hey Xander, you feeling OK? If you're coming down with something you should probably go home and get some sleep. We have school tomorrow and since you missed today…" she trailed off as Xander leaned over to kiss her again.
After a few more minutes Xander pulled away. "You won't have to worry about school anymore. It's beneath us."
"Beneath… Xander, I really think you should go home and get some rest cuz-…"
Willow let out a squeak of alarm as Xander pushed her down onto the bed and placed his arms on either side of her. "X-Xander! What on earth are you doing?!" Willow cried in distress, pushing fruitlessly at the boy's chest. But he was like stone.
Xander smiled, but this time Willow could see the predatory glint in his eyes. "Come on Wil, this'll be fun," he purred and he bent down to lick her neck. His eyes flashed hungrily.
"Xander! Get off!" Willow shouted, voice rising in panic.
Xander pouted. "Aww, come on Wil. I worked so hard to get to be able to do this! The Master had me running errands all yesterday and today so I could earn the privilege to turn someone. I had to kill Jesse too, cuz he wanted to do it himself, but I didn't think that proper since I'm your best friend and all. We got into a fight and well, I was always the stronger one. And I had to kill your parents and that was a chore in itself. Tracking them down was not easy, let me tell you."
Willow could only stare in horror at the monster who had stolen her best friend's face. Silent tears trickled down the sides of her face, falling into her ears and hair. "You killed my p-parents?" She whispered in revulsion.
"Well yeah, they might have interrupted, ya know? Now hold still," he said quietly, and in an instant his face had changed into something inhuman. Fangs immerged from behind his lips and he grinned. The vampire Xander leaned forward. "This'll only hurt for a second."
Willow screamed and did the only thing she could think of, bringing her knee up hard into vampire Xander's crotch. He howled in pain and rolled off her into a ball. Willow scrambled off the bed and sprinted down the stairs, bare feet hitting the wood hard.
Xander smiled despite the pain. "That's my girl," he grumbled. He might as well give her a head start.
Willow ran down the street, barely aware that her feet were starting to sting. She kept running as fast as she possibly could, tears falling down her cheeks and being whipped away by the stirred air around her.
Where could she go? Instinctively she started heading towards the Bronze. A lot of people would make him wary of chasing after her right? It sounded like the vampires didn't want to be discovered just yet, and a vampire going into a busy club might blow it.
But Willow never made it to the Bronze. As she rushed into an alleyway, a stranger popped out of the darkness and grabbed her. The stranger was a tall, dark man, maybe in his mid-twenties. He grinned maliciously at her, apparently overjoyed by her fear. His faced changed in seconds into something bestial and crazy. "Hello little girl. Too bad. You're kind of cute."
He opened his mouth wide and reached for her neck. Suddenly the man was knocked away from Willow, sending him flying into a dumpster. The man snarled.
Xander wrapped his arms around Willow's waist, pinning her arms to her sides. "Back off bastard. She's mine."
The other vampire hissed. "I found her. Finders keepers." With that the vampire lunged toward them.
In what seemed like less than a second, Xander was in front of Willow, protecting her. The vampire crashed into him, but vampire Xander didn't even budge. With a quick efficient twist of his hands he snapped the other vampire's neck. Dust flew everywhere.
Vampire Xander turned to beam at Willow. "There, see? I won't let anything hurt you." He walked forward and placed his hands on Willow's trembling shoulders. He inclined his head, in that second changing his face into is true visage, into what he was.
"Xander," Willow murmured, closing her eyes in anticipation. She knew she was going to die. All she could do now was mourn for her dead best friend. A single tear slid down her cheek.
"And we'll be together forever," Xander whispered into Willow's ear.
Pain. Blackness, rage, grief, fear, wrathful anger. That was all she felt. And hunger. Immense hunger.
When Willow woke up she was lying on a comfortable bed. The room she was in was completely dark, but she could see perfectly. Her head was at the foot of the bed, and she looked up to see Xander watching her from a chair in a corner, smiling.
Willow blinked once, slowly. Then she turned over onto her back so that she was looking at Xander upside down. She narrowed her eyes and sighed.
"Bored now."