Part 10(b):
Xander got up, dusting himself off. {I had nearly forgotten how strong a slayer was. Good thing I've got a painful reminder now. Yay me.} He thought sarcastically, touching his jaw, wincing when his fingers grazed the purple swell that was already forming.
{Now, if I were a beautiful, psychopathic vampire, where would I be?} His thoughts turned towards Drusilla. It was already 10:30 pm and he wanted to be as far away from Sunnydale as possible by daybreak. {I don't want to be out on the road at sunrise. A Dru-shaped pile of dust does not make pleasant company. What could we talk about? 'Been in any good ashtrays lately?'} He set off to find his vampiric companion.
He hadn't walked two steps, however, before he heard a rustling from behind him along with the pleasen tingle he got in the back of his neck when she was around. (Looks like she found me.} "Hey Dru, listen, let's go pick up Miss Edith, and. . ." He stopped mid sentence as he saw her.
"You know, Dru, people don't usually make lots of friends by playing rough."
Drusilla was standing in front of him in a pink floral dress, her face the picture of innocence. In front of her was a girl who looked to be in her mid twenties, bound, gagged and on her knees. Tears were flowing down her cheek, as Drusilla absently twirled her sandy hair. Xander recognized the girl instantly.
{It's the girl I nearly shot just now. What the hell is she doing here? I told her to go home.} Xander wondered what game Dru was playing at. {Is she going to feed on her? She's never fed on anyone in front of me before.} The issue of Drusilla's nutritional habits had never been an issue to the couple, before. Just another example of the tightrope between good and evil Xander had been balancing himself on.
"She's been a very naughty, girl, hasn't she?" Drusilla said in a sing song voice while grabbing her helpless captive's hair.
"What are you talking about, Dru?"
"Well, didn't she make the slayer angry at my kitten? She should be punished." Drusilla grinned, licking her lips seductively. "She should hurt for what she did to you. I want to hear her scream. Maybe a few holes in her body would help her make that delicious sound. Make her shriek for mommy, kitten." Drusilla kicked her from the back, causing her to fall on her face in front of Xander.
Xander bent down, forcing the girl to look at him by holding her head by the hair. Xander could see the fear in her eyes as she shook her head vehemently, silently begging for him to show her mercy. He had to admit that he felt a certain thrill holding this tiny, insignificant life in his hand. {So this is what power feels like. It feels nice. . . in a scary kind of way.}
Sensing Xander's hesitation, Drusilla continued. "Come kitten, do it for your mommy. Don't you want to make me happy? We've been through so much this past five and a half months. Don't you remember when mommy found you? Mommy was so happy that night."
@@@@@FLASHBACK: TWO WEEKS AFTER 'WE WENT WRONG'.@@@@@
Drusilla sat on her four post bed, which was located in one of the many rooms scattered in the abandoned warehouse she had decided to set up residence in a few months earlier. In front of her was a set of toy China that was arranged to accommodate 'tea' for three people. At the moment the three people who were enjoying the 'meal' were herself, Miss Edith and Jarod, whom she had turned a few nights before.
She took a sip out of her plastic toy cup and let out an appreciative 'aahh'. "Doesn't Miss Edith make the most yummy tea, Jarod? Come now, take a sip."
"I don't know about you, mistress, but this tea tastes a lot like air to me." He answered defiantly.
Drusilla's hand snapped forward, gripping her childe by the genitalia. "See what you've done now?" She said with a pout. "You've made Miss Edith sad. Now apologize to her before something bad happens. MY brand new dress is so clean and I don't want to dirty it with your liquid."
"S-s-sorry, Miss E-Edith." Jarod said in a very unmanly voice, so fearful was he that he didn't find it ridiculous that he was apologizing to a stuffed doll. He grabbed the plastic cup with his trembling fingers, and made a show of drinking it. "Mmm. . . t-this tea is delicious. P-please, ma'am, could I h-have some more?"
Drusilla just stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether to rip his head from his body or not. In the end though, she sighed and let him go. "No use killing you when he's coming to do so anyway."
Jarod's face contorted in confusion. "Whose coming, mistress?"
Drusilla giggled childishly. "Why, the White Knight of course, silly! The White Knight with the heart of darkness! He'll destroy you all."
Jarod inwardly squirmed. He had heard from the others about his mistresses prophetic powers. Though the stench of fear was coming off him in waves, he tried to mask it with false bravado. "Who would be stupid enough to try and defy us mistress? There are fifteen of us guarding this warehouse. Don't worry, nothing will harm you."
"Don't worry, darling Jarod, I won't."
As if on cue, the door to the outside burst open, and in limped another one of Drusilla's minions. "He's. . . too strong. Everyone's gone. I'm. . ." He didn't have a chance to finish as two loud shots filled the air and he immediately evaporated into dust. A figure stepped through the cloud of dust, his dual Barettas leaving matching smoke trails in their wake.
Jarod, sensing that his mistress was in danger, got off the bed and lunged towards the figure, fangs first. From his scent, Jarod had concluded that he was human, and what could a puny human do to hurt him, a powerful vampire? Sure, this human was armed, but guns don't kill vampires, do they?
Do they?
Imagine his surprise when the man's leg lashed out and connected with his stomach in mid air. He fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen in pain. He felt himself being lifted by the throat, and a smooth, cold object being pressed to his chest.
*bang*
And just like that, Jarod was one with the wind.
After the dust had settled, the figure turned towards Drusilla, who had been watching the scene unfold before her with childlike curiosity and fascination. He moved toward her like a tiger stalking it's prey, going in for the kill.
Drusilla slowly backed up, trying to get away from this madman, until her back connected with the headboard of her bed. She felt herself being suffocated by the grip of fear, one of the very few times in her unlife that she had ever felt that emotion.
Her fear vanished however, when he was close enough for her to see his face.
It was. . . {Him. I wanted him before, but Angelus wouldn't let me have him. Pappy said that he didn't have potential. But I can see the darkness that fuels his soul. Even as a mortal he has more potential than daddykins ever had. He's crying. Why is my baby. . . my kitten crying? I'll rip out the hearts of the people responsible for this.}
"Why. . . why won't they kill me? Why don't they see that I just want to die?" Xander said in a raspy voice, tears soaking his face. He had recognized Drusilla the moment he had entered the room, but now, when he was so close to finishing her off, he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger one more time. She reminded him off his past, when everyone was alright, by hellmouth standards at least, and in his confused state, he was compelled to speak to her.
Drusilla leapt up and pulled him into a tight hug, stroking his back lightly and whispering soothing words into his ear. Xander could not explain it, but he felt safe in her embrace. His sidearms dropped to the floor, and he remained in that position, crying in her arms 'til the darkness of sleep claimed him.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@END FLASHBACK@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Since then Drusilla had remained his rock, his lifeline to the real world when his emotions were so intense they threatened to overpower him. The first few days they were together, all Xander could do was lay in her bed, sometimes weeping, the other times catatonic. Drusilla brought him food to eat, and gave him the comfort that both his body and mind had craved. Every night {or day, in human time} for the past six months, Drusilla would hold him, willing him to sleep while he cried. {When we're not doing other, more fun stuff anyway.} She never tried to turn him or feed on him, which Xander found odd. {Not complaining though.}
Xander had admitted to himself that without Drusilla, he would definitely be dead. If not by the hand of some undead demon, than by his own. {But at what price has that come?} As the days went by, Xander had found it increasingly harder to define himself. Sure, he spent most of his nights terrorizing the undead, but his motivation was not self righteousness, but rather a need to vent his anger. {And Dru's definitely not drinking milk to keep her fit and strong. Drinking the milkman, though, is a completely different story.}
He looked down towards the girl again. {So fragile.} He knew his actions that night would shape his whole future, his destiny. Tonight, Xander Harris would define himself. He unholstered one of his weapons, pointed it at his captive's temple and closed his eyes.
{Why shouldn't I do it? I've been playing around the whole 'evil' thing for a while now. This would just make it official. Like a bad guy graduation certificate I could hang on my wall. Besides, it's not as if I have anything going for me on the good side anymore. Willow's gone, and Buffy doesn't ever want to have anything to do with me again. And it's all this bitch's fault.} He thought, sneering at his frightened captive. He undid the safety on his sidearm, ready to pull the trigger that would change his life forever.
{Don't let it win, Xander.}
Suddenly, those words haunted his mind. Those words that had been spoken that night, a night he had been trying to forget ever since. For months, he had been trying to understand the meaning, the relevance behind them, and now, they finally made sense. He clicked the safety back on, threw the weapon to the side, and bent down on his knees, untying the girl's limbs and removing the gag from her mouth.
"Thank y. . ." She could not finish she was yanked up by an incensed Drusilla.
"You disappoint me, kitten. Your darkness sang to me, but now your soul stinks of light. No matter, she won't go to waste. I've been aching for a hearty meal." Her face morphed into her vampiric visage and she lowered her hideous face towards the girl's neck.
"Dru, don't." Xander croaked but his pleas went unheeded as Dru's fangs continued their decent towards the inviting flesh. Xander whipped out his other beretta in desperation. "Dru, please, no!" He said, pointing his gun at Drusilla, his grip shaky, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Drusilla, do as father says, put her down." a new voice rang out from behind him. To Xander's surprise, Dru obeyed the voice and dropped the girl, who promptly scurried away. He turned around to be greeted by the strangely though unquestionably familiar visage of a silver haired, grey eyed man.
"Hello, 'dad'. It's been awhile."
Xander got up, dusting himself off. {I had nearly forgotten how strong a slayer was. Good thing I've got a painful reminder now. Yay me.} He thought sarcastically, touching his jaw, wincing when his fingers grazed the purple swell that was already forming.
{Now, if I were a beautiful, psychopathic vampire, where would I be?} His thoughts turned towards Drusilla. It was already 10:30 pm and he wanted to be as far away from Sunnydale as possible by daybreak. {I don't want to be out on the road at sunrise. A Dru-shaped pile of dust does not make pleasant company. What could we talk about? 'Been in any good ashtrays lately?'} He set off to find his vampiric companion.
He hadn't walked two steps, however, before he heard a rustling from behind him along with the pleasen tingle he got in the back of his neck when she was around. (Looks like she found me.} "Hey Dru, listen, let's go pick up Miss Edith, and. . ." He stopped mid sentence as he saw her.
"You know, Dru, people don't usually make lots of friends by playing rough."
Drusilla was standing in front of him in a pink floral dress, her face the picture of innocence. In front of her was a girl who looked to be in her mid twenties, bound, gagged and on her knees. Tears were flowing down her cheek, as Drusilla absently twirled her sandy hair. Xander recognized the girl instantly.
{It's the girl I nearly shot just now. What the hell is she doing here? I told her to go home.} Xander wondered what game Dru was playing at. {Is she going to feed on her? She's never fed on anyone in front of me before.} The issue of Drusilla's nutritional habits had never been an issue to the couple, before. Just another example of the tightrope between good and evil Xander had been balancing himself on.
"She's been a very naughty, girl, hasn't she?" Drusilla said in a sing song voice while grabbing her helpless captive's hair.
"What are you talking about, Dru?"
"Well, didn't she make the slayer angry at my kitten? She should be punished." Drusilla grinned, licking her lips seductively. "She should hurt for what she did to you. I want to hear her scream. Maybe a few holes in her body would help her make that delicious sound. Make her shriek for mommy, kitten." Drusilla kicked her from the back, causing her to fall on her face in front of Xander.
Xander bent down, forcing the girl to look at him by holding her head by the hair. Xander could see the fear in her eyes as she shook her head vehemently, silently begging for him to show her mercy. He had to admit that he felt a certain thrill holding this tiny, insignificant life in his hand. {So this is what power feels like. It feels nice. . . in a scary kind of way.}
Sensing Xander's hesitation, Drusilla continued. "Come kitten, do it for your mommy. Don't you want to make me happy? We've been through so much this past five and a half months. Don't you remember when mommy found you? Mommy was so happy that night."
@@@@@FLASHBACK: TWO WEEKS AFTER 'WE WENT WRONG'.@@@@@
Drusilla sat on her four post bed, which was located in one of the many rooms scattered in the abandoned warehouse she had decided to set up residence in a few months earlier. In front of her was a set of toy China that was arranged to accommodate 'tea' for three people. At the moment the three people who were enjoying the 'meal' were herself, Miss Edith and Jarod, whom she had turned a few nights before.
She took a sip out of her plastic toy cup and let out an appreciative 'aahh'. "Doesn't Miss Edith make the most yummy tea, Jarod? Come now, take a sip."
"I don't know about you, mistress, but this tea tastes a lot like air to me." He answered defiantly.
Drusilla's hand snapped forward, gripping her childe by the genitalia. "See what you've done now?" She said with a pout. "You've made Miss Edith sad. Now apologize to her before something bad happens. MY brand new dress is so clean and I don't want to dirty it with your liquid."
"S-s-sorry, Miss E-Edith." Jarod said in a very unmanly voice, so fearful was he that he didn't find it ridiculous that he was apologizing to a stuffed doll. He grabbed the plastic cup with his trembling fingers, and made a show of drinking it. "Mmm. . . t-this tea is delicious. P-please, ma'am, could I h-have some more?"
Drusilla just stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether to rip his head from his body or not. In the end though, she sighed and let him go. "No use killing you when he's coming to do so anyway."
Jarod's face contorted in confusion. "Whose coming, mistress?"
Drusilla giggled childishly. "Why, the White Knight of course, silly! The White Knight with the heart of darkness! He'll destroy you all."
Jarod inwardly squirmed. He had heard from the others about his mistresses prophetic powers. Though the stench of fear was coming off him in waves, he tried to mask it with false bravado. "Who would be stupid enough to try and defy us mistress? There are fifteen of us guarding this warehouse. Don't worry, nothing will harm you."
"Don't worry, darling Jarod, I won't."
As if on cue, the door to the outside burst open, and in limped another one of Drusilla's minions. "He's. . . too strong. Everyone's gone. I'm. . ." He didn't have a chance to finish as two loud shots filled the air and he immediately evaporated into dust. A figure stepped through the cloud of dust, his dual Barettas leaving matching smoke trails in their wake.
Jarod, sensing that his mistress was in danger, got off the bed and lunged towards the figure, fangs first. From his scent, Jarod had concluded that he was human, and what could a puny human do to hurt him, a powerful vampire? Sure, this human was armed, but guns don't kill vampires, do they?
Do they?
Imagine his surprise when the man's leg lashed out and connected with his stomach in mid air. He fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen in pain. He felt himself being lifted by the throat, and a smooth, cold object being pressed to his chest.
*bang*
And just like that, Jarod was one with the wind.
After the dust had settled, the figure turned towards Drusilla, who had been watching the scene unfold before her with childlike curiosity and fascination. He moved toward her like a tiger stalking it's prey, going in for the kill.
Drusilla slowly backed up, trying to get away from this madman, until her back connected with the headboard of her bed. She felt herself being suffocated by the grip of fear, one of the very few times in her unlife that she had ever felt that emotion.
Her fear vanished however, when he was close enough for her to see his face.
It was. . . {Him. I wanted him before, but Angelus wouldn't let me have him. Pappy said that he didn't have potential. But I can see the darkness that fuels his soul. Even as a mortal he has more potential than daddykins ever had. He's crying. Why is my baby. . . my kitten crying? I'll rip out the hearts of the people responsible for this.}
"Why. . . why won't they kill me? Why don't they see that I just want to die?" Xander said in a raspy voice, tears soaking his face. He had recognized Drusilla the moment he had entered the room, but now, when he was so close to finishing her off, he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger one more time. She reminded him off his past, when everyone was alright, by hellmouth standards at least, and in his confused state, he was compelled to speak to her.
Drusilla leapt up and pulled him into a tight hug, stroking his back lightly and whispering soothing words into his ear. Xander could not explain it, but he felt safe in her embrace. His sidearms dropped to the floor, and he remained in that position, crying in her arms 'til the darkness of sleep claimed him.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@END FLASHBACK@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Since then Drusilla had remained his rock, his lifeline to the real world when his emotions were so intense they threatened to overpower him. The first few days they were together, all Xander could do was lay in her bed, sometimes weeping, the other times catatonic. Drusilla brought him food to eat, and gave him the comfort that both his body and mind had craved. Every night {or day, in human time} for the past six months, Drusilla would hold him, willing him to sleep while he cried. {When we're not doing other, more fun stuff anyway.} She never tried to turn him or feed on him, which Xander found odd. {Not complaining though.}
Xander had admitted to himself that without Drusilla, he would definitely be dead. If not by the hand of some undead demon, than by his own. {But at what price has that come?} As the days went by, Xander had found it increasingly harder to define himself. Sure, he spent most of his nights terrorizing the undead, but his motivation was not self righteousness, but rather a need to vent his anger. {And Dru's definitely not drinking milk to keep her fit and strong. Drinking the milkman, though, is a completely different story.}
He looked down towards the girl again. {So fragile.} He knew his actions that night would shape his whole future, his destiny. Tonight, Xander Harris would define himself. He unholstered one of his weapons, pointed it at his captive's temple and closed his eyes.
{Why shouldn't I do it? I've been playing around the whole 'evil' thing for a while now. This would just make it official. Like a bad guy graduation certificate I could hang on my wall. Besides, it's not as if I have anything going for me on the good side anymore. Willow's gone, and Buffy doesn't ever want to have anything to do with me again. And it's all this bitch's fault.} He thought, sneering at his frightened captive. He undid the safety on his sidearm, ready to pull the trigger that would change his life forever.
{Don't let it win, Xander.}
Suddenly, those words haunted his mind. Those words that had been spoken that night, a night he had been trying to forget ever since. For months, he had been trying to understand the meaning, the relevance behind them, and now, they finally made sense. He clicked the safety back on, threw the weapon to the side, and bent down on his knees, untying the girl's limbs and removing the gag from her mouth.
"Thank y. . ." She could not finish she was yanked up by an incensed Drusilla.
"You disappoint me, kitten. Your darkness sang to me, but now your soul stinks of light. No matter, she won't go to waste. I've been aching for a hearty meal." Her face morphed into her vampiric visage and she lowered her hideous face towards the girl's neck.
"Dru, don't." Xander croaked but his pleas went unheeded as Dru's fangs continued their decent towards the inviting flesh. Xander whipped out his other beretta in desperation. "Dru, please, no!" He said, pointing his gun at Drusilla, his grip shaky, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Drusilla, do as father says, put her down." a new voice rang out from behind him. To Xander's surprise, Dru obeyed the voice and dropped the girl, who promptly scurried away. He turned around to be greeted by the strangely though unquestionably familiar visage of a silver haired, grey eyed man.
"Hello, 'dad'. It's been awhile."