Slayer In The City
Chapter 4
F.A.O. Schwartz was William's favorite store. It was where he had bought most of Emily's frogs, and he often stopped by for no particular reason, just to marvel at the Magical clock that was the store's centerpiece. Tonight, however, he was a vampire on a mission. Emily's Birthday was next week, and he wanted to buy her something special. He had already picked out a frog for her collection. The first time William had seen Emily's room, he had been shocked...it did look as though a plague of frogs had descended! William had a tendency to go a little overboard, and he realized that he had sent her over 20 frogs in one year. So, he decided to buy them only for special occasions, and her Birthday was certainly a special occasion. This particular frog was made of a kind of soft slimy rubber that made it feel just like a real frog…it was kind of creepy and William loved it.
He wandered through the different departments. No guns or weapons, Buffy had made that quite clear. William kind of liked the model cars, but Emily wasn't interested in that kind of thing…no trucks or…how about a model railroad? William loved the railroad display with its little houses and trees and tiny people. But where would they put such a thing? The little brownstone that Buffy rented was short on space for a model railroad, especially the one that William envisioned, which would have required about an acre.
Dolls were an obvious choice for a little girl, but dolls reminded William too much of Drusilla. He had trouble even looking at them…especially the Victorian ones, with their quaint lacy dresses and vacant eyes. He passed by the doll section without even looking in, so he didn't see the Victorian dolls arranged so stiffly on their shelves. He didn't see that some of them had been blindfolded.
Now doll houses…. that was more like it. William loved anything in miniature, and the dollhouses here were beautifully done. He chose one that would be appropriate for a six-year-old girl...no point in getting her something that was too elaborate to play with. He paid cash for it and arranged to have it delivered to Buffy's address.
He ordered a couple of rooms of furniture to start with and chose a miniature family. There was a blonde mother and a dark haired father…no, that other father, the one with lighter hair. And a blonde little girl. There were little brother or sister figures too, but William knew that was never to be. Oh, there was a dark haired girl...the Aunt. Now the little family was complete. He had them wrapped and decided to bring them home with him. As he walked out of the store into the night, he was whistling.
William had left the store close to closing time, and as it was a beautiful spring night, he decided to walk for a bit before hitting the subway. As he walked down Fifth Avenue he thought about the little family figures that he had bought for Emily. They reminded him of the cheesy Bride and Groom figures Buffy had bought years ago when they had been briefly engaged, thanks to one of Willow's spells. Buffy had planned to paint blood around the groom's lips so that it would look more like him. He wondered if Buffy would marry him for real, if he asked her. So engrossed was he in these thoughts that he walked right into the back of a woman who had stopped right in front of him. She turned around. He opened his mouth to apologize when he saw to his horror, that the woman was Darla. He froze. Darla was not someone he wanted to see again in this millenium. They had never been close, even in the old days. She was Angelus' sire and had been Angelus' woman. She had loved Angelus as much as she had been capable of loving anyone other than herself. She and Angelus had been perfectly matched, in that regard. This situation had changed. He had heard something of her history from Dru, but that had been 7 years ago, and he had no idea what she had been up to since then, and had no desire to know. But here she was. What had been a lovely Spring evening had grown cold.
"Well, well," William sneered, "Look who's back from the dead…more or less."
"Spike." She gestured towards his bag, "have you reverted to childhood again? I heard that you had become a tame puppy, but now an infant?"
He ignored the barb…he didn't even want to think about Emily in this situation. "You're lookin' well, Darla. The last time I saw you, you were dust in the wind. Amazin' what modern science can do...or was that ancient witchcraft?"
"A little of both, I imagine. I wasn't there for most of it."
"Well, they did a bang up job. Listen, Darla, it's been a pleasure. Sorry I can't hang about, and chat you up, but I've got a rather important…" His words were cut off as a searing pain tore through his skull, worse than any chip headache he had ever endured. He saw Darla aiming a small device at his head, then he saw no more.
The small F.A.O. Schwartz shopping bag lay forgotten on the sidewalk. Trodden underfoot and kicked by the careless crowds, the wrapping paper shredded and the little family was torn asunder; the parents, aunt, little girl and one fat frog were scattered and broken under the full May moon.