Chapter 9: The Vampire
Angel didn't sleep at all that night. He was lying awake in his bed in Willow's
basement and his thoughts were running wild. The hope he would forget about it
after a while was a false one. He could only think of her. The way she moved,
the way she looked at him, the way she smelled ... she smelled? He stopped and a
sudden frown appeared on his forehead. Had there been something different in the
way she smelled?
Shaking his head, he put his arm over his eyes and groaned. It was already
sunrise and still he hadn't found a solution for this problem. How was he
supposed to act around her now. He could clearly remember the feeling of her hand in his. The warmth that had instantly gone through his body. The boiling feeling in his veins, the reactions of his loins. He groaned again. Maybe it was another way to test him. His self-control that was. Sure he had lots of it, you didn't become a more then 300 year old vampire without self-control, at least not one with a soul. His alter ego hadn't had very much self-control, but the ensouled version had to learn a lot about it.
He turned in his bed and came to lie on his left side. He could feel the sun
outside. Maybe he should just get up and step into it. He was pitiful. There
was no other way for a person who lusted after the grand-daughter of the love of
his life. Pitiful and disgusting. That's what he was.
Everything had been fine. They'd worked together smoothly. She'd trained with
him, they had been near to each other with her body sweaty, panting with the
exercise and not for one second had he felt anything but brotherly for her and
now everything had changed. With the attack of a simple demon his world was in
turmoil. Groaning again he buried his face in his pillows. He would just sleep
through the day and hope against hope that everything would be better tonight.
*****
Willow instantly noticed the dark shadows under Anne's eyes when she entered
the living-room in the morning. It was Saturday and for that no school.
"Dearie," she greeted the girl she loved like her own, "didn't you sleep well?"
Anne yawned and looked at the witch, "No. It was so strange. I had dreams ...
strange dreams."
Willow was instantly alarmed, "Prophetic dreams?"
The slayer groaned, "Now you sound like Angel," she said and to her own
distress she felt something warm in her stomach at mentioning his name. First the dreams and now... she shook her head. "He told me some slayers had prophetic
dreams and some were psychic." Seeing the former red-head's puzzled gaze she
explained, "Yesterday, you know. When we went home, after, well after the events
with the Morah demon, I suddenly had pictures in my head. But I couldn't get a
hold on them. They were gone so quickly that I didn't know what they meant." She
paused and looked at Willow, then added, "Angel was in them." Again that warm,
tingly feeling inside of her. What the hell was going on?
"Angel?," the witch raised a brow. "And the dreams? What were they about?"
"They weren't clear, you know. Just images, pictures. I saw you in them, but
you were much younger, Buffy, she was a girl about my age. Angel. Then Xander, I
think. You know, granny showed me his pictures. And Cordelia, again I think,
because I can only remember her from when I was very young and she very old
while in my dreams she was ... well, young. It's irritating. I never had these
dreams. Do you think it could mean anything?"
Willow thought about it for a moment but then shook her head, "I don't know.
Maybe it's just a slayer-thing. I mean you almost died yesterday and this might
have triggered the dreams. The images in your head. Slayers are more
complicated than you know. Your grand-mother learned a lot with the years."
"It's just ... it confuses me. I'm also scared. What if I lose my mind. What if
my head injury was worse than we thought?"
To her surprise Willow laughed, "I don't think so." She reached out and touched
the girl's head. "There isn't even a lump or anything. Slayer healing and all.
No, I'm sure there is a perfectly normal explanation for the dreams. All we
have to do is understand them. Maybe you should talk about Dermot with them and
Angel. Tomorrow when we meet."
"Not tonight?"
"No, not tonight, silly. Remember, Angel's patrolling alone, so that you can go
to your friend's birthday party?" The witch laughed when she saw Anne's puzzled
expression.
Then the girl slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot about it. Karen has her
party today at the Crush. So a free night for little ole' me! Now, I'm starving
and really need coffee."
"Coffee?" Willow raised her brow. "You're drinking tea, aren't you?"
"Do I? Well," she shrugged. "Now it's coffee. I need the caffeine."
******
"I'm so glad you could make it," Karen said excitedly the same night. "You're
always so busy and I was afraid you wouldn't come."
"Hey, you're my best friend," Anne playfully punched Karen in her ribs. "I
would never forget about your birthday party. And I'm glad you like the
necklace."
"It's lovely. I never knew you were interested in Celtic design," her friend
said.
The slayer shrugged, "Thought it was nice."
"Hey," Karen took Anne's hand. "I even invited Luke. He's over there. And
you're right he is sooo hot."
"Hmmm," the slayer made absentmindedly. "What?" She asked when her friend
punched her playfully. Karen's face wore an irritated expression. Her green eyes
were puzzled and she was playing with her ebony black hair.
"Luke. The college-guy, you were so crazy about. He's over there," she pointed
at a corner where a blond young man was joking with some friends. From time to
time his gaze wandered to the two girls in the opposite corner of the club and
he was smiling then.
"Oh Luke, yeah," Anne gave her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Didn't
sleep well last night. Well, yeah, I think Luke is hot. Hmmm. Nice."
"Nice?," Karen's eyes widened in astonishment. "Hey is that the same Anne in
there who told me he is *the* hottie and that you could lose your virginity to
him?"
The slayer sighed, "Okay, he is good-looking. So what? And lose my virginity to
him. Oh, please. There are certainly better opportunities." Was Karen going
insane. What should be so special about a blonde, college-football player. He was just the average guy. Angel on the other hand ... the thought hit her to the core and she momentarily forgot how to breathe.
"Better opportunities?," the black-haired girl couldn't believe her ears and
eyes. There was her best friend Anne, who had been completely crazy about Luke
Warring and now she didn't seem interested at all. There could only be one
explanation, "You've got another guy."
"What?," Anne's head snapped around. She was still trying to control the rapid
beating of her heart.
"Oh come on. You were lusting after Luke for months and all of a sudden he's
like thin air for you. There has to be another." She paused and studied her
friend's face for a moment. "Is it the guy I saw you with the other night. You
know the dark, tall one. How did you say was his name? I know it was something
really unusual."
"Angel," the slayer replied in a dreamy voice. "His name is Angel. He has the
most beautiful eyes and his hands ...," she trailed off and after a second her
eyes shot open wide. Oh God, where did that come from. She was thinking about
Angel - romantically???? - Anne, you're going insane. Maybe something did
happen to her head last night. Hadn't she thought that thinking about Angel
intimately was disgusting. But how could she? He was so attractive. His mouth
was well shaped, his lips full and made for kissing. Kissing???? Inwardly
groaning she looked into Karen's knowingly smiling face. "What?"
"It is him. Oh, Anne. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what? That's nonsense," she said angrily. "Angel is a friend, a good
friend. He's like ... like my older brother."
"Sure," Karen grinned and took a sip from her soft drink. "Try to fool
yourself, but I know better."
Narrowing her eyes, Anne shot her friend a deadly look. Then she tossed her
head and headed over to Luke. Maybe he would like to dance with her after all.
*****
"How was patrol?," Willow wanted to know, when Angel returned shortly before
midnight.
"Uneventful," he replied shortly and then sighed. "Seems that vampire activity
has gone down again after Morah's death yesterday." Trying to sound casually he
asked, "Anne in bed already?" The truth was, the whole evening he couldn't
think about anything else but the girl.
The witch had to laugh at that, "Oh God, no."
"Still out then?"
"Of course," Willow grinned, "Angel you're behaving like her father. She's over
eighteen, she's at her best friend's birthday-party and there's this obviously
hot guy she's crazy about..."
Angel's head jerked up, "Hot guy?" His eyes were narrowed dangerously. "And you
think this is alright?" His voice was sharper than intended and he winced
inwardly at that.
"Oh Angel, Buffy was seventeen when she slept with you."
"That's different," he snapped.
"Oh?," Willow looked at him innocently. "And pray why?"
"We were in love," Angel replied stubbornly. "That's different."
"And why do you think she and Luke aren't," the witch wanted to know. The
vampire was behaving strangely. Sure, he'd been protective about Anne from the
start, but now. If she didn't know he was eternally in love with Buffy, she
would've thought he was jealous. She had to laugh at her strange train of
thoughts, Angel jealous of Anne, laughable. But still... "Angel?," she gave him a curious look.
"What?," he snapped. "I'm just concerned. Willow, listen. I need to go out for
a while. I'll be back before sunrise." And with a typical flap of his duster he
was gone.
The witch leaned back in her seat and tried to understand what was going on.
End Chapter 9.
Angel didn't sleep at all that night. He was lying awake in his bed in Willow's
basement and his thoughts were running wild. The hope he would forget about it
after a while was a false one. He could only think of her. The way she moved,
the way she looked at him, the way she smelled ... she smelled? He stopped and a
sudden frown appeared on his forehead. Had there been something different in the
way she smelled?
Shaking his head, he put his arm over his eyes and groaned. It was already
sunrise and still he hadn't found a solution for this problem. How was he
supposed to act around her now. He could clearly remember the feeling of her hand in his. The warmth that had instantly gone through his body. The boiling feeling in his veins, the reactions of his loins. He groaned again. Maybe it was another way to test him. His self-control that was. Sure he had lots of it, you didn't become a more then 300 year old vampire without self-control, at least not one with a soul. His alter ego hadn't had very much self-control, but the ensouled version had to learn a lot about it.
He turned in his bed and came to lie on his left side. He could feel the sun
outside. Maybe he should just get up and step into it. He was pitiful. There
was no other way for a person who lusted after the grand-daughter of the love of
his life. Pitiful and disgusting. That's what he was.
Everything had been fine. They'd worked together smoothly. She'd trained with
him, they had been near to each other with her body sweaty, panting with the
exercise and not for one second had he felt anything but brotherly for her and
now everything had changed. With the attack of a simple demon his world was in
turmoil. Groaning again he buried his face in his pillows. He would just sleep
through the day and hope against hope that everything would be better tonight.
*****
Willow instantly noticed the dark shadows under Anne's eyes when she entered
the living-room in the morning. It was Saturday and for that no school.
"Dearie," she greeted the girl she loved like her own, "didn't you sleep well?"
Anne yawned and looked at the witch, "No. It was so strange. I had dreams ...
strange dreams."
Willow was instantly alarmed, "Prophetic dreams?"
The slayer groaned, "Now you sound like Angel," she said and to her own
distress she felt something warm in her stomach at mentioning his name. First the dreams and now... she shook her head. "He told me some slayers had prophetic
dreams and some were psychic." Seeing the former red-head's puzzled gaze she
explained, "Yesterday, you know. When we went home, after, well after the events
with the Morah demon, I suddenly had pictures in my head. But I couldn't get a
hold on them. They were gone so quickly that I didn't know what they meant." She
paused and looked at Willow, then added, "Angel was in them." Again that warm,
tingly feeling inside of her. What the hell was going on?
"Angel?," the witch raised a brow. "And the dreams? What were they about?"
"They weren't clear, you know. Just images, pictures. I saw you in them, but
you were much younger, Buffy, she was a girl about my age. Angel. Then Xander, I
think. You know, granny showed me his pictures. And Cordelia, again I think,
because I can only remember her from when I was very young and she very old
while in my dreams she was ... well, young. It's irritating. I never had these
dreams. Do you think it could mean anything?"
Willow thought about it for a moment but then shook her head, "I don't know.
Maybe it's just a slayer-thing. I mean you almost died yesterday and this might
have triggered the dreams. The images in your head. Slayers are more
complicated than you know. Your grand-mother learned a lot with the years."
"It's just ... it confuses me. I'm also scared. What if I lose my mind. What if
my head injury was worse than we thought?"
To her surprise Willow laughed, "I don't think so." She reached out and touched
the girl's head. "There isn't even a lump or anything. Slayer healing and all.
No, I'm sure there is a perfectly normal explanation for the dreams. All we
have to do is understand them. Maybe you should talk about Dermot with them and
Angel. Tomorrow when we meet."
"Not tonight?"
"No, not tonight, silly. Remember, Angel's patrolling alone, so that you can go
to your friend's birthday party?" The witch laughed when she saw Anne's puzzled
expression.
Then the girl slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot about it. Karen has her
party today at the Crush. So a free night for little ole' me! Now, I'm starving
and really need coffee."
"Coffee?" Willow raised her brow. "You're drinking tea, aren't you?"
"Do I? Well," she shrugged. "Now it's coffee. I need the caffeine."
******
"I'm so glad you could make it," Karen said excitedly the same night. "You're
always so busy and I was afraid you wouldn't come."
"Hey, you're my best friend," Anne playfully punched Karen in her ribs. "I
would never forget about your birthday party. And I'm glad you like the
necklace."
"It's lovely. I never knew you were interested in Celtic design," her friend
said.
The slayer shrugged, "Thought it was nice."
"Hey," Karen took Anne's hand. "I even invited Luke. He's over there. And
you're right he is sooo hot."
"Hmmm," the slayer made absentmindedly. "What?" She asked when her friend
punched her playfully. Karen's face wore an irritated expression. Her green eyes
were puzzled and she was playing with her ebony black hair.
"Luke. The college-guy, you were so crazy about. He's over there," she pointed
at a corner where a blond young man was joking with some friends. From time to
time his gaze wandered to the two girls in the opposite corner of the club and
he was smiling then.
"Oh Luke, yeah," Anne gave her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Didn't
sleep well last night. Well, yeah, I think Luke is hot. Hmmm. Nice."
"Nice?," Karen's eyes widened in astonishment. "Hey is that the same Anne in
there who told me he is *the* hottie and that you could lose your virginity to
him?"
The slayer sighed, "Okay, he is good-looking. So what? And lose my virginity to
him. Oh, please. There are certainly better opportunities." Was Karen going
insane. What should be so special about a blonde, college-football player. He was just the average guy. Angel on the other hand ... the thought hit her to the core and she momentarily forgot how to breathe.
"Better opportunities?," the black-haired girl couldn't believe her ears and
eyes. There was her best friend Anne, who had been completely crazy about Luke
Warring and now she didn't seem interested at all. There could only be one
explanation, "You've got another guy."
"What?," Anne's head snapped around. She was still trying to control the rapid
beating of her heart.
"Oh come on. You were lusting after Luke for months and all of a sudden he's
like thin air for you. There has to be another." She paused and studied her
friend's face for a moment. "Is it the guy I saw you with the other night. You
know the dark, tall one. How did you say was his name? I know it was something
really unusual."
"Angel," the slayer replied in a dreamy voice. "His name is Angel. He has the
most beautiful eyes and his hands ...," she trailed off and after a second her
eyes shot open wide. Oh God, where did that come from. She was thinking about
Angel - romantically???? - Anne, you're going insane. Maybe something did
happen to her head last night. Hadn't she thought that thinking about Angel
intimately was disgusting. But how could she? He was so attractive. His mouth
was well shaped, his lips full and made for kissing. Kissing???? Inwardly
groaning she looked into Karen's knowingly smiling face. "What?"
"It is him. Oh, Anne. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what? That's nonsense," she said angrily. "Angel is a friend, a good
friend. He's like ... like my older brother."
"Sure," Karen grinned and took a sip from her soft drink. "Try to fool
yourself, but I know better."
Narrowing her eyes, Anne shot her friend a deadly look. Then she tossed her
head and headed over to Luke. Maybe he would like to dance with her after all.
*****
"How was patrol?," Willow wanted to know, when Angel returned shortly before
midnight.
"Uneventful," he replied shortly and then sighed. "Seems that vampire activity
has gone down again after Morah's death yesterday." Trying to sound casually he
asked, "Anne in bed already?" The truth was, the whole evening he couldn't
think about anything else but the girl.
The witch had to laugh at that, "Oh God, no."
"Still out then?"
"Of course," Willow grinned, "Angel you're behaving like her father. She's over
eighteen, she's at her best friend's birthday-party and there's this obviously
hot guy she's crazy about..."
Angel's head jerked up, "Hot guy?" His eyes were narrowed dangerously. "And you
think this is alright?" His voice was sharper than intended and he winced
inwardly at that.
"Oh Angel, Buffy was seventeen when she slept with you."
"That's different," he snapped.
"Oh?," Willow looked at him innocently. "And pray why?"
"We were in love," Angel replied stubbornly. "That's different."
"And why do you think she and Luke aren't," the witch wanted to know. The
vampire was behaving strangely. Sure, he'd been protective about Anne from the
start, but now. If she didn't know he was eternally in love with Buffy, she
would've thought he was jealous. She had to laugh at her strange train of
thoughts, Angel jealous of Anne, laughable. But still... "Angel?," she gave him a curious look.
"What?," he snapped. "I'm just concerned. Willow, listen. I need to go out for
a while. I'll be back before sunrise." And with a typical flap of his duster he
was gone.
The witch leaned back in her seat and tried to understand what was going on.
End Chapter 9.