/
/
/
Later…
/
Spike was lying in his bed, going over everything that he had said in front of Drusilla. Well, over-analyzing was a better term.
"Leg it?" he muttered to himself, "What the hell were you thinking? You're not a couple of mates getting home from the football…"
"Spike?"
Spike sat up, and turned on the light. Drusilla stood by the door.
"Hey…" Spike muttered, slightly asleep
"I have to leave," Drusilla said, "My pills are back at my place. If I don't take them, I become…unpleasant."
"Oh, okay," Spike nodded, "Uh…what about The Three?"
"The Three are very determined. As long as you're still in the house, they won't notice me."
"You sure?"
"It should work. Goodbye."
Drusilla leaned forward and gave Spike a kiss. Spike decided to take a risk and began to kissed her back. The two of them did not part; Spike placed his arm around her, and slowly began to pull her down to his bed. Not forcefully, but in a gentle way, with Drusilla silently consenting. Her lips felt so good, her body was soft, her skin was smooth, and…cold. DEAD cold. Her entire body was. It was then that Spike noticed how pale her skin was, how he had never seen her during the day…
"No…" Spike began, "You're not…"
Drusilla froze.
"Brave knight, before you jump to any conclusions…" she began
Spike punched her in the face…
/
The next day…
/
"…and then her vamp face appeared!" Spike continued
"What did you do next?" Oz asked
They were in the library, trying to find information about Drusilla. Well, Giles and Willow were.
"I kicked her off me and she left through my bedroom window."
"And she didn't come back?"
"Nope," Spike replied, "I stayed up all night at the top of the stairs with a stake and some garlic."
"Does garlic actually work?" Oz asked
"I don't know, she never…"
"Are you two going to sit around and gossip or are you going to give us a hand?" Willow interrupted
"I'll give you a hand," Oz said
He walked over to Willow. Spike rolled his eyes.
"So what about The Three?" he asked, "Do I have to be home before sundown every night?"
"Actually, you needn't worry about The Three," Giles replied, "Their code of honor requires them to offer their lives as penance for their failure."
/
Sometime later…
/
"I've got something!" Giles announced
He made his way out of his office, carrying a large leather-bound diary.
"The Watcher's diaries, I can't believe I didn't look in these," the man said
He flipped it open to a page.
"Drusilla, sired in 1860, is one of the most psychotic and deadly vampires I have ever encountered," Giles read, "She maintains a childlike, psychotic demeanor, speaking in random dialogue. She has shown joy in killing women, children, and small animals."
Willow looked at Spike.
"I can't believe you like someone who kills bunnies for fun!" she said, her voice filled with judgment
"At least I'm not the one who likes Xander," Spike snorted
"What's wrong with Xander?"
"What's right with him? He's never said anything nice to me."
"Well maybe if you didn't push him into that bench…"
"You know he started it!"
"Well it didn't help that you killed…!"
Willow stopped mid-sentence.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Spike muttered
"Now this is strange," Giles interrupted, trying to change the subject, "According to this Watcher's diary, Drusilla stopped killing around 1920. She also shunned vampire society, and has been sighted in and out of various mental institutions throughout the century."
"Well, crazy girls need love too," Oz commented, stoic-as-ever
/
Drusilla stood in her apartment, rearranging her dolls. She could never seem to get them in the right order, they were constantly demanding to be seated next to someone else. Miss Edith was the fussiest.
"It's never enough for you, is it?" Drusilla sighed
The alarm clock by Drusilla's bed bleeped three times. Drusilla put down Miss Edith, and walked to her medicine cabinet, taking out a bottle of pills.
"Hello, granddaughter…"
Drusilla turned around, and saw Darla standing in the doorway.
"Please don't call me that," Drusilla said
"Oh, why?" Darla teased, approaching Drusilla, "Last time I saw you, you loved it when I called you that!"
"I've changed."
Drusilla walked to the fridge, and took out a glass of blood. She swallowed her pills, chasing them with the blood.
"Look at yourself, Drusilla," Darla sighed, "Donated blood, all those pills…it's not natural."
Drusilla closed the pill bottle and put it away, trying to avoid looking at Darla.
"It's because of that slayer, isn't it?"
"No," Drusilla lied
"You really think he'll see you as anything but a target? He'll kill you the first chance he gets."
"He is not like that!" Drusilla stamped her foot on the ground, "My brave knight is different! He's special!"
"Special?" Darla laughed, "Dru, you've always been a bit crazy, but now…"
Drusilla began to whimper.
"Oh, come on," Darla placed an arm around Drusilla, "Don't cry."
She eased Drusilla down onto her bed.
"Dear, it's fine if you want to play human every once in a while," Darla explained, "But sooner or later, you'll have to face who you are. I'll always accept you for that."
Darla got up, and walked to the door.
"But the slayer won't…"
She left.
/
Willow and Giles had gone home. Oz and Spike had stayed at the library to study. Well, that was what they had told Giles. They studied for about five minutes then adjourned to the Faculty lounge to watch TV. Unbeknownst to them, Darla was still watching.
"I don't think I understand British TV," Oz admitted, referring to the show they were watching
"What don't you get?" Spike asked
"They were just in the phone box, now they're in the spaceship?"
"The spaceship is inside the phone box."
"How does that work?"
"It's bigger on the inside."
"Were the writers on drugs when they wrote this?" Oz wasn't trying to be mean, he was seriously asking
"Probably," Spike shrugged
Oz got up, and rummaged through the fridge.
"So…how far exactly did you get with Drusilla?" Oz asked
"Not much before I realized she was a vamp."
"So you didn't…" Oz tried to think of a tactful way to ask
"We kissed, we moved to the bed, then I noticed how freezing cold her skin was, and figured it out."
"Dead cold? Like a corpse?"
"Actually, it was sorta like the other side of the pillow."
/
Joyce sat at the kitchen counter, in a state of frustration. There was a knock at the door; Joyce welcomed the excuse to abandon her taxes. She walked to the front door and opened it, revealing Darla in full-schoolgirl attire.
"Hi, I'm Darla," she said, "A friend of Spike's."
"Oh, nice to meet you."
There was a pause.
"Spike didn't say anything about me coming over to study?"
"He said he was studying with Oz at the library tonight."
"Oh, Oz is the Civil War expert, I'm the expert on the War of Independence. My family kind of goes back to those days."
"Well he'll be home soon, if you'd like to come inside and wait for him."
Darla smiled.
"Thank you for inviting me in…"
She crossed over the threshold, and entered the house.
"Can I get you something to eat?" Joyce asked
"I could go for that…" Darla said, her eyes focused on Joyce's neck
Joyce opened up the kitchen cupboard.
"Did you want something big, or something small?"
"Something big…" Darla morphed into her vampire face
/
/
/
To be continued…
