Title: The fascinating Life of Zoey (Part 2)
Author: Miss. Kitty Fantastico
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Angel characters (why would I want to
anyway?), or anything else that pertains to Angel or Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. I only own Zoey, and Verdandi owns Evita-yep, that's all!
***
I folded my arms and started tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for him. It had been, what? 20 minutes since I first came here, and there was no sign of the guy. And now I'm hungry and tired and bored-and the stupid guy isn't even here.
Okay, this is the last time I listen to Lorne when he gives me advice-I'm never going to sing for him again-even if he tempts me with the karaoke machine he got for the hotel-no, that's right, I'm never going to listen to him again.
I had to admit, though, the library I was standing in was pretty impressive (practically the only good thing about being stuck here). Located underneath the L.A.P.D (where Detective Kate works-arg- gag me with a toothpick), it had very high, domed ceilings. Lighted here and there with a small brass chandelier, the place was mostly dark, and it was hard (even with vampire sight) to make out the shapes on the other end of the library.
And then of course, there were the books. Rows and rows and rows of book selves crammed full of what else? Books. Which accounted for the stench of the place. From the moment I stepped foot in here, the smell of old, half decayed books wafted into my nose, making me gag. This place was Evita's paradise - and my worst nightmare.
So, why am I here again?
I looked down at my watch; 6:20.
Great, the sun's already coming up. If this place doesn't have a connection to the sewers I'm going to have to stay here all day. I tapped my foot even faster on the dimmed cranberry colored carpet.
"Looking for me?"
Startled (but trying not to show it), I turned around quickly, almost losing my balance. I came face to face with a tall man holding a book. The guy reminded me of a younger, cooler, Wesley. Dark brown hair and round glasses, he looked about in his 20's, and a little out of place to be in an underground library.
"I could say the same about you, you're what? 14?15? Ohhh, but then again you're a vampire and there's no telling how old you really are." The guy said with a happy grin, clutching the book he held closer to his chest.
Maybe it was because I had been standing in the same place for 20 minutes- or because I hadn't eaten at all tonight, but this guy was starting to annoy me. That grin.
"Wow." I said almost mocking the guy, "You can read minds. Look, I don't have time for any of your mind games that you have planned. I'm in a hurry and I just want to get this over with. Are you The Keeper?"
There was a long silence between us as I clenched my fists in impatience. Then the happy go lucky smile the guy had on his face was replaced with a more softened look. "Something happened to you tonight, didn't it? Something painful.you must feel-."
I folded my arms, "What else is knew? Look, I didn't come here for your sympathy. If you're not The Keeper, I don't want to talk about it." I looked up at him and added, "And if you try to prod deeper into my mind, I'll eat you."
The guy smiled the 'grin' again, "Well, you're in luck. I'm the current Keeper, call me Breckin."
***
We sat at a wooden table in the center of a cream colored room. It was dim and a little claustrophobic with no windows and nothing but a small lamp lighting the room. Before Breckin sat a large leather bound book and a small tape recorder with two small blank tapes sitting beside it.
I shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair as The Keeper prepared his materials. He looked up at me for a second and said, "You're nervous."
"Am not!" I lied, looking around at the confining walls. Stupid walls. "It's just.tight in here. Why aren't there any windows in this place?" I asked.
He laughed and mumbled, "Typical vampire attitude."
I was about to say something about his comment, but decided that a cold glare was much better.
Sitting in his chair and scootching it in, Breckin place his two hands firmly on the table top and looked directly at me. "Okay, I'm ready when you are. What do you want to do?"
I thought about it for a while, then said, "I want to put it all on record. All of it, from the beginning to now. Every detail."
"Okay." Breckin said, pushing the red dot on the tape recorder.
I watched the two small circles on the tape spin around.and.around.and.around.and.around.and..
Breckin tapped the table, snapping me out of my daze, "Where do you want to start?"
"Umm, 1727. My brother, had just been turned-into a vampire, I mean. He had already killed our sister, Kathy and our father."
***
Galway, Ireland 1727
Angelus watched her from behind two cris-crossed planks secluded in the shadows of the loft in his family's barn. Body warm and alive from the fresh blood of his sister Kathy, and of his father, the newly vampire felt very satisfied with himself-not to mention how satisfied Darla would be when she found out all the horrible things he'd been doing around town.
Killing the bartender and drinking all of his liquor, murdering the family across from his own house and laying the bodies out on their own roof and stinging their pets on the clothes line, were only a few of the things he had done in the previous hours. Everyone within 10 miles knew of his presence, 'The Demon Boy Back From the Dead', Angelus savored his growing popularity.
Watching his little sister-the youngest of the family-he savored the thought of breaking her neck. And almost burst out of his hiding place with the excitement. He was thrilled at the thought of destroying her innocence he thought as he surveyed her, playing with her dolls. It was something she liked to do the most, sneak out to the barn after family prayers, just to have the quiet that she wanted so she could play with her beloved toys.
Through his thinking, the vampire caught snitches of her play. Things like 'Hi Natalie! Hi Fiona!' 'Let's go to the market!' and 'Oh no, Fiona! You look like you need to be patched up!'. This made Angelus smile, a cruel, sadistic smile.
"Well, if it isn't Bridget the bridge!" The vampire said suddenly, coming out from his hiding place.
The little dark haired girl turned around and had the look of utter shock written all over her face-an expression Angelus had gotten to know very well in the past few days. "Liam?" She said softly.
The vampire smiled again, "Who else were you expectin' Bridge?"
The girl looked confused and held her two dolls tighter in her hands, "Are you an angel, visitin' from Heaven?"
Angelus almost burst open with a roaring laughter. It had been the exact same thing Kathy had said when she had invited him in the house-right before he had broken her neck with the quick twist of his hand. He shrugged, "Somethin' like that."
The vampire eyed the two dolls in his sister's hands. He remembered them vaguely-between the women and the hangovers and his father's never ending lectures his mortal life had become a single colored blur. But what he did remember was that the two dolls were his sister's prized possessions.wouldn't it be awful if something happened to happen to them?
"Bridget, Bridget, Bridget. You're always playin' with those dolls, aren't ya?" He asked his sister.
The girl looked up, "Liam? Why do you say my name as if you haven't said it at all?" She asked, confused.
"I've just been thinkin'" Angelus answered, gesturing with a hand, "You spend an awful lot of time playin' with those dolls of yours. Maybe a little too much time, wouldn't ya think?"
Bridget looked down at the two dolls in her hands, then back at the vampire, "What do you mean? I like my dolls."
"All girls your age do." Angelus said matter-of-factly, "But, you, ah, Bridget. What do you think would happen if I told father that you come up here at night to play with your dolls when you should be praying by your bedside?"
"You wouldn't tell father, would you?" She asked, fear in her eyes as she clutched the dolls closer to her body.
The vampire was eating up her fearful answers. He looked to the side and mused, "Hmm, I don't know. you know you're not supposed to be up here."
"Oh, please Liam!" Bridget pleaded with her brother, "Please don't tell father! Please!"
"Hmmm" Angelus rubbed his chin, thinking, "Okay, I won't. But, what if I went into church, and told the Father of your sins? That you focus on playing more than your studies as a good, Catholic girl? That you don't have time for God anymore, because you spend all your time up here in the hayloft playing with your toys."
The girl burst out in tears, "But that's not true! None of that is true! I do have time for God! I do worship Him like a good, Catholic girl should!"
"Oh, you do, do you?" The vampire toyed with his sister more. He thought the conversation to be much like a cat playing with a mouse. "You said I was an angel sent from Heaven, didn't you? I should know God on a personal level then, shouldn't I then? So, then I should know when God sees a little girl that is damned for the depths of Hell for all eternity, shouldn't I then?"
He looked down at his sister and saw a nothing but a crumpled crying mass. She had thrown the two dolls in front of her and turned to the side, away from them as if they were poisoned.
Angelus leaned back against the wooden siding, satisfied. He had done the psychological damage, now it was time for some last words and then, finally the kill. He had liked how this one was going so smoothly, so, uninterrupted, just like all the others. How sweet.
"I'm just warnin' ya, Bridget, that's all. It's my duty as your big brother to do so, well, that, and I'm also here to save you."
Bridget quickly looked up at the vampire, "You can save me? Liam, please save me! I'll do whatever you want, anything! I want to go to go to Heaven with you! I don't want to sin anymore!"
Smiling at the comments of his sister, but ignoring them, he eyed one of the dolls, the vampire swooped down faster than the human eye and snatched it up. He looked at the doll from all angles, saw it's dark brown horsehair hair, and it's sewn black eyes, and the little cloth dress it wore. It was almost cute, in a way.
Bridget stopped crying for a moment and looked up at her brother, "Wha-what are you doin' to Natalie?"
"Oh, is that her name, then? Natalie?" Angelus smiled. "The only good thing about these dolls is that they're so much like real people. They have arms, legs, eyes, clothes-just like real people." He paused to feel the doll's hair. "And their heads twist off so easily like real people too." And with that he grabbed the doll's head in his fist and pulled it right off, and tossed it at his little sister. The straw filled head bounced and rolled to a stop near her knee.
"Why did you do that to Natalie? You broke her!" She yelled.
Angelus stepped forward, "Oh, I was just practicing." He said with a shrug.
"What are you doing? Liam, you're scaring me."
"Good." The vampire said, stepping closer and grabbing his sister by the arms.
"Ouch! Liam! Why are you doing this to me? You're hurting me!" She screamed as her brother lifted her off the ground. She kicked and twisted, but her efforts only made the vampire enjoy the situation even more.
"You said you wanted to be forgiven, didn't you Bridge? Well, I'm helping you, just like I said I would." He squeezed his right hand into a fist around his sister's arm until he heard a satisfying 'crunch' as the bone shattered underneath the skin and muscle.
"Ow!" The girl screamed as tears streamed down her face again. "Liam, why are you hurting me?!"
Angelus thought that this was an excellent time to show his true face to his sister. And with a growl, his true identity came forth, making his sister's piercing screams even louder. Angelus roared with laughter as he looked at the terror in the girl's blue eyes. He thought it was a look that should be immortalized in history forever.
"Okay." The vampire said, "Now for part two of your forgiveness, there's some good news and some bad news. Good news is that you get to go to Heaven, bad news is that you get die."
"Noooooo!" Bridget screamed, kicking her legs harder against the useless air.
Angelus stepped at the edge of the loft and looked down at the stone bottom of the barn. He looked back up at this sister, "It's a long way down there, isn't it, Bridge? I'd hate to have to fall all the way down there and land on that hard stone."
"Please! Please don't do it, Liam! I beg you, please! Don't let go!" His sister screamed, looking down at the drop.
The vampire shrugged, "Oh well. Guess you'll have to do it anyway. By the way, the name's Angelus now." He said, letting go of his sister's arms.
He watched her scream as she dropped down through the air, and then as her voice disturbingly stopped with an accompanied 'Thud' as she hit the stone floor. He peered over the edge and saw her body laying there on the floor like a tossed rag doll.
He smiled, "Goodbye Bridget the Bridge" He said before leaping out of the open window in the hay loft and back out into the town.
***
***
I folded my arms and started tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for him. It had been, what? 20 minutes since I first came here, and there was no sign of the guy. And now I'm hungry and tired and bored-and the stupid guy isn't even here.
Okay, this is the last time I listen to Lorne when he gives me advice-I'm never going to sing for him again-even if he tempts me with the karaoke machine he got for the hotel-no, that's right, I'm never going to listen to him again.
I had to admit, though, the library I was standing in was pretty impressive (practically the only good thing about being stuck here). Located underneath the L.A.P.D (where Detective Kate works-arg- gag me with a toothpick), it had very high, domed ceilings. Lighted here and there with a small brass chandelier, the place was mostly dark, and it was hard (even with vampire sight) to make out the shapes on the other end of the library.
And then of course, there were the books. Rows and rows and rows of book selves crammed full of what else? Books. Which accounted for the stench of the place. From the moment I stepped foot in here, the smell of old, half decayed books wafted into my nose, making me gag. This place was Evita's paradise - and my worst nightmare.
So, why am I here again?
I looked down at my watch; 6:20.
Great, the sun's already coming up. If this place doesn't have a connection to the sewers I'm going to have to stay here all day. I tapped my foot even faster on the dimmed cranberry colored carpet.
"Looking for me?"
Startled (but trying not to show it), I turned around quickly, almost losing my balance. I came face to face with a tall man holding a book. The guy reminded me of a younger, cooler, Wesley. Dark brown hair and round glasses, he looked about in his 20's, and a little out of place to be in an underground library.
"I could say the same about you, you're what? 14?15? Ohhh, but then again you're a vampire and there's no telling how old you really are." The guy said with a happy grin, clutching the book he held closer to his chest.
Maybe it was because I had been standing in the same place for 20 minutes- or because I hadn't eaten at all tonight, but this guy was starting to annoy me. That grin.
"Wow." I said almost mocking the guy, "You can read minds. Look, I don't have time for any of your mind games that you have planned. I'm in a hurry and I just want to get this over with. Are you The Keeper?"
There was a long silence between us as I clenched my fists in impatience. Then the happy go lucky smile the guy had on his face was replaced with a more softened look. "Something happened to you tonight, didn't it? Something painful.you must feel-."
I folded my arms, "What else is knew? Look, I didn't come here for your sympathy. If you're not The Keeper, I don't want to talk about it." I looked up at him and added, "And if you try to prod deeper into my mind, I'll eat you."
The guy smiled the 'grin' again, "Well, you're in luck. I'm the current Keeper, call me Breckin."
***
We sat at a wooden table in the center of a cream colored room. It was dim and a little claustrophobic with no windows and nothing but a small lamp lighting the room. Before Breckin sat a large leather bound book and a small tape recorder with two small blank tapes sitting beside it.
I shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair as The Keeper prepared his materials. He looked up at me for a second and said, "You're nervous."
"Am not!" I lied, looking around at the confining walls. Stupid walls. "It's just.tight in here. Why aren't there any windows in this place?" I asked.
He laughed and mumbled, "Typical vampire attitude."
I was about to say something about his comment, but decided that a cold glare was much better.
Sitting in his chair and scootching it in, Breckin place his two hands firmly on the table top and looked directly at me. "Okay, I'm ready when you are. What do you want to do?"
I thought about it for a while, then said, "I want to put it all on record. All of it, from the beginning to now. Every detail."
"Okay." Breckin said, pushing the red dot on the tape recorder.
I watched the two small circles on the tape spin around.and.around.and.around.and.around.and..
Breckin tapped the table, snapping me out of my daze, "Where do you want to start?"
"Umm, 1727. My brother, had just been turned-into a vampire, I mean. He had already killed our sister, Kathy and our father."
***
Galway, Ireland 1727
Angelus watched her from behind two cris-crossed planks secluded in the shadows of the loft in his family's barn. Body warm and alive from the fresh blood of his sister Kathy, and of his father, the newly vampire felt very satisfied with himself-not to mention how satisfied Darla would be when she found out all the horrible things he'd been doing around town.
Killing the bartender and drinking all of his liquor, murdering the family across from his own house and laying the bodies out on their own roof and stinging their pets on the clothes line, were only a few of the things he had done in the previous hours. Everyone within 10 miles knew of his presence, 'The Demon Boy Back From the Dead', Angelus savored his growing popularity.
Watching his little sister-the youngest of the family-he savored the thought of breaking her neck. And almost burst out of his hiding place with the excitement. He was thrilled at the thought of destroying her innocence he thought as he surveyed her, playing with her dolls. It was something she liked to do the most, sneak out to the barn after family prayers, just to have the quiet that she wanted so she could play with her beloved toys.
Through his thinking, the vampire caught snitches of her play. Things like 'Hi Natalie! Hi Fiona!' 'Let's go to the market!' and 'Oh no, Fiona! You look like you need to be patched up!'. This made Angelus smile, a cruel, sadistic smile.
"Well, if it isn't Bridget the bridge!" The vampire said suddenly, coming out from his hiding place.
The little dark haired girl turned around and had the look of utter shock written all over her face-an expression Angelus had gotten to know very well in the past few days. "Liam?" She said softly.
The vampire smiled again, "Who else were you expectin' Bridge?"
The girl looked confused and held her two dolls tighter in her hands, "Are you an angel, visitin' from Heaven?"
Angelus almost burst open with a roaring laughter. It had been the exact same thing Kathy had said when she had invited him in the house-right before he had broken her neck with the quick twist of his hand. He shrugged, "Somethin' like that."
The vampire eyed the two dolls in his sister's hands. He remembered them vaguely-between the women and the hangovers and his father's never ending lectures his mortal life had become a single colored blur. But what he did remember was that the two dolls were his sister's prized possessions.wouldn't it be awful if something happened to happen to them?
"Bridget, Bridget, Bridget. You're always playin' with those dolls, aren't ya?" He asked his sister.
The girl looked up, "Liam? Why do you say my name as if you haven't said it at all?" She asked, confused.
"I've just been thinkin'" Angelus answered, gesturing with a hand, "You spend an awful lot of time playin' with those dolls of yours. Maybe a little too much time, wouldn't ya think?"
Bridget looked down at the two dolls in her hands, then back at the vampire, "What do you mean? I like my dolls."
"All girls your age do." Angelus said matter-of-factly, "But, you, ah, Bridget. What do you think would happen if I told father that you come up here at night to play with your dolls when you should be praying by your bedside?"
"You wouldn't tell father, would you?" She asked, fear in her eyes as she clutched the dolls closer to her body.
The vampire was eating up her fearful answers. He looked to the side and mused, "Hmm, I don't know. you know you're not supposed to be up here."
"Oh, please Liam!" Bridget pleaded with her brother, "Please don't tell father! Please!"
"Hmmm" Angelus rubbed his chin, thinking, "Okay, I won't. But, what if I went into church, and told the Father of your sins? That you focus on playing more than your studies as a good, Catholic girl? That you don't have time for God anymore, because you spend all your time up here in the hayloft playing with your toys."
The girl burst out in tears, "But that's not true! None of that is true! I do have time for God! I do worship Him like a good, Catholic girl should!"
"Oh, you do, do you?" The vampire toyed with his sister more. He thought the conversation to be much like a cat playing with a mouse. "You said I was an angel sent from Heaven, didn't you? I should know God on a personal level then, shouldn't I then? So, then I should know when God sees a little girl that is damned for the depths of Hell for all eternity, shouldn't I then?"
He looked down at his sister and saw a nothing but a crumpled crying mass. She had thrown the two dolls in front of her and turned to the side, away from them as if they were poisoned.
Angelus leaned back against the wooden siding, satisfied. He had done the psychological damage, now it was time for some last words and then, finally the kill. He had liked how this one was going so smoothly, so, uninterrupted, just like all the others. How sweet.
"I'm just warnin' ya, Bridget, that's all. It's my duty as your big brother to do so, well, that, and I'm also here to save you."
Bridget quickly looked up at the vampire, "You can save me? Liam, please save me! I'll do whatever you want, anything! I want to go to go to Heaven with you! I don't want to sin anymore!"
Smiling at the comments of his sister, but ignoring them, he eyed one of the dolls, the vampire swooped down faster than the human eye and snatched it up. He looked at the doll from all angles, saw it's dark brown horsehair hair, and it's sewn black eyes, and the little cloth dress it wore. It was almost cute, in a way.
Bridget stopped crying for a moment and looked up at her brother, "Wha-what are you doin' to Natalie?"
"Oh, is that her name, then? Natalie?" Angelus smiled. "The only good thing about these dolls is that they're so much like real people. They have arms, legs, eyes, clothes-just like real people." He paused to feel the doll's hair. "And their heads twist off so easily like real people too." And with that he grabbed the doll's head in his fist and pulled it right off, and tossed it at his little sister. The straw filled head bounced and rolled to a stop near her knee.
"Why did you do that to Natalie? You broke her!" She yelled.
Angelus stepped forward, "Oh, I was just practicing." He said with a shrug.
"What are you doing? Liam, you're scaring me."
"Good." The vampire said, stepping closer and grabbing his sister by the arms.
"Ouch! Liam! Why are you doing this to me? You're hurting me!" She screamed as her brother lifted her off the ground. She kicked and twisted, but her efforts only made the vampire enjoy the situation even more.
"You said you wanted to be forgiven, didn't you Bridge? Well, I'm helping you, just like I said I would." He squeezed his right hand into a fist around his sister's arm until he heard a satisfying 'crunch' as the bone shattered underneath the skin and muscle.
"Ow!" The girl screamed as tears streamed down her face again. "Liam, why are you hurting me?!"
Angelus thought that this was an excellent time to show his true face to his sister. And with a growl, his true identity came forth, making his sister's piercing screams even louder. Angelus roared with laughter as he looked at the terror in the girl's blue eyes. He thought it was a look that should be immortalized in history forever.
"Okay." The vampire said, "Now for part two of your forgiveness, there's some good news and some bad news. Good news is that you get to go to Heaven, bad news is that you get die."
"Noooooo!" Bridget screamed, kicking her legs harder against the useless air.
Angelus stepped at the edge of the loft and looked down at the stone bottom of the barn. He looked back up at this sister, "It's a long way down there, isn't it, Bridge? I'd hate to have to fall all the way down there and land on that hard stone."
"Please! Please don't do it, Liam! I beg you, please! Don't let go!" His sister screamed, looking down at the drop.
The vampire shrugged, "Oh well. Guess you'll have to do it anyway. By the way, the name's Angelus now." He said, letting go of his sister's arms.
He watched her scream as she dropped down through the air, and then as her voice disturbingly stopped with an accompanied 'Thud' as she hit the stone floor. He peered over the edge and saw her body laying there on the floor like a tossed rag doll.
He smiled, "Goodbye Bridget the Bridge" He said before leaping out of the open window in the hay loft and back out into the town.
***