Title: Tales of the past: Mask of Innocence
Author: Alecca
E-mail: kitana_m@yahoo.com
Summary: To satisfy Darla's curiosity, the four vampires (Angelus, Darla, Dru and Spike) attend a strange mask ball.
Couples: Angelus/Darla, Spike/Drusilla.
Rating: PG-13 towards R in the end?
Spoilers: None here.
Disclaimer: I don't own Angelus, Darla, Spike or Dru they belong to Joss.
Feedback: Begging helps. So please, pretty please?


Vienna, Austria
January 1889

They walked side by side, two young couples, looking at the height of their lives, rich and beautiful, in the grandiose capital of Austria - but the truth was far from that. They were neither young, nor rich. The youngest of them was over 32, but still looked barely 21, while the oldest had lived across centuries, and seen the world and all its treasures after her heart had stopped dead in her chest, and her blood was poisoned with that of an elder vampire. That blood was their binding; they all carried it, even if only in a small degree. A part of each other inside themselves. As for the wealth, they currently dwelled in a mineshaft outside the city, thanks to the doings of their youngest companion, as well as a rather persistent demon hunter who had followed them across Europe like a plague. And there was a fresh new slayer who was a bit too confident in her line of work.
She had found out about the death of one of her predecessors was by Angelus' hand as well as the mass killings in the crowd preferred by William, and had decided she should kill them for the good of humanity. But she was perverse. Killing them wasn't really what she was after; she had a preference for traveling around a lot, to see the world and at the same time empty the pockets of the Watchers' Council, saying that it was "all for a good cause".
They had run into each other on three occasions, one from which she had completely ignored them, even when they were sitting only a row in front of her at the opera in Moscow while her watcher was desperately trying to point them out without alarming anyone else. The second time she had fought them only because one of the Watchers' Council elders was present at the time, while during the third - only a few weeks ago - she had burned their luxuriant lair to the ground. Darla admired her, in a twisted sort of way, for the ability to have gotten the Watchers' Council wrapped around her little finger. She was French and a noble after all. She was considered the dream of every young girl in her hometown, the girl who had eloped with her 'English lover' a week before her actual marriage. At least, that's what she led on in a few letters sent home to her mother and sister. The truth was her watcher had to knock her out and throw her on a horse and ride out like a storm, to convince her it wasn't a game.
Angelus considered her unworthy to be a slayer, while William tried to run into her as often as possible to satisfy Drusilla's ever-growing admiration.
As for their last lair, in which they had barely settled in, in a small town close to Vienna, they were chased away by an angry mob which had followed William and Drusilla home after a bloody night of hunting. Angelus cursed all the way to Vienna. But now things seemed to have calmed down. There was no trace of the slayer, or of the hunter whose family they had killed.
"Do you notice anything strange?" Darla asked, looking at the people on the streets.
"Yes. The people... They're glowing all shiny colors. Some are blue and some are red... And some just wear their bare hearts in front of them," Drusilla said looking at the people passing by her with a certain fascination.
"Wouldn't that be nice? Would spare us a lot of trouble. I wouldn't get all that skin and meat under my nails from digging through it. Then again, where's the fun in that?" William asked smiling.
"Not what I meant." Darla said, turning her head towards Angelus for a moment before returning towards the people on the streets. "Anyone else? And let's leave the glowing people out, Dru," she told the vampiress before she could say something again.
"Everyone's just waiting to be dinner?" William suggested.
"No," Darla pressed the word.
"Looks like it to me," William said.
"They're all rich. And I must've heard ten different languages tonight alone," Darla said exasperated.
"Probably just merchants. Vienna's a big city," Angelus said absently searching for a suitable victim trough the crowd.
"What's the difference anyway? French, English, Germans...they all taste the same," William pointed out.
"Hungry, my William?" Drusilla asked smiling.
"Yes, luv. Let's hunt," William nodded, taking her hand. As he was about to walk away, Angelus stood in front of him.
"Try not to make a mess of things again. I don't think we can stoop lower than a mineshaft. I'll personally feed you to that angry mob if you bring them to us again," Angelus threatened him before stepping aside.
"Don't worry, mate, this isn't Baden. It's Vienna for God sakes! People just don't form an angry mob because of one measly vampire!" William said shaking his head and departing from the two vampires along with Drusilla.
"Maybe I should've told him what happened in Marseilles," Angelus said looking after the two vampires.
"Let him learn on his own. I doubt he'd listen to you anyway," Darla said smiling.
"So what exactly bothers you about the people?" Angelus asked as they began walking down the street.
"I don't know, it's like they're here for something," Darla said looking at the people again.
"The opera perhaps?" Angelus asked.
"No, it's something else," Darla said and then put the thought aside. "Let's hunt. I feel like a child tonight," she said and Angelus grinned, already finding a lost child through the crowd.
* * *
As their wild kisses deepened, they heard footsteps coming towards them. They parted, Angelus' hand grabbing an ax from nearby. But it was only William and Dru. Angelus put down the ax and shook his head.
"Don't you get spooked easily?" William said smiling, content that he managed to startle his grandsire.
"Well since you managed to not appear where we were supposed to meet earlier tonight, I dared to hope someone did away with you. It seems the gods are just not on my side these days," Angelus said while Darla rearranged her dress, a little angry that they were disturbed.
"What gods?" William asked mockingly. "We ran into the slayer."
"My William was so brave, Angelus. You should've seen him. She didn't stand a chance if it weren't for that messy crowd, he would've killed her I'm sure and I would've tasted a slayer's heart," Dru said dreamily.
"A crowd?" Angelus asked standing up. "What did I mention to you before we parted?"
"We were at the opera," Spike said and Angelus stopped in his tracks.
"And what exactly were you doing at the opera?" Angelus asked suspiciously.
"Since when does William the Bloody attend the opera?" Darla asked mistrusting him as well.
"It's Spike now. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Spike said shaking his head in exasperation.
"Just answer the question." Angelus told him menacingly.
"Don't be mad with him, my Angel, I just wanted to see how the singing woman works," Drusilla stepped between the two vampires.
"Let me get this straight. You killed the soprano?" Darla asked.
"Yeah. I almost broke a fang in her neck... You should've seen all the muscles she had there," William said smiling.
"All the pretty pulsating flesh. Hard as rock, stiff as iron" Dru said, obviously enchanted by their hunt.
"Oh, and by the way you were right," William told Darla. "Something is happening. It's a masked ball or something like that," he said and pulled out a bloodstained invitation from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Hmmm... It seems we'll be attending a ball tomorrow night. Strange...it's somewhere underground," Darla said, trying to find the place it was going to take place.
"Yeah, maybe it's going to turn into a massacre," William hoped. Drusilla clapped her hands cheerfully.
"I haven't seen a good massacre in ages. It's so pretty like rose buds in spring" Dru said enthusiastically.
* * *
"I'm bored... Can't we just start a little fight? Kill a few people?" William said as they observed the people from the shadows, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he wore on his face. "Bloody thing!" He said, raising the mask on his forehead.
"Put that back. It's very likely the slayer's going to be here. I don't want you seen," Angelus told him.
"Let her. I feel like a good fight," William said impatiently.
"Most likely she'll ignore you," Darla told him.
"Believe me. I won't let her," William told her. "What's so interesting about this party anyway? Just a bunch of people with masks and capes, acting all mysterious," William said, still not putting his mask back on.
"There are things here. Evil things," Dru said, smiling.
"Yeah, other vampires getting a kick out of this, while we're lurking in the shadows," Spike said shaking his head.
"It's your fault in the first place. You have people hunting us when we're supposed to be hunting them," Angelus said angrily.
"Oh, yeah, whose bright idea was killing that slayer 7 years ago anyway?" Spike asked.
"Ah, I brought the slayer, I see. It wasn't all your random killing when there are more than a hundred people around to see them," Angelus spit out.
"Stop bickering. I want to see where all this is going," Darla cut their argument short.
"What makes you think it's going anywhere?" William asked and Angelus was one step away from hitting him.
"That, for example," Darla said, pointing towards a hideous statue in the middle of the room.
"Big deal! I always knew these rich pigs worshipped Satan," William said. "That, or sculptures just aren't what they used to be."
"The people, they're sparkling. Like stars on a clear sky," Dru said smiling. "Some are brighter, some are darker."
"Who's darker, Dru?" Angelus asked, looking trough the crowd.
"The children. They're so evil, so wicked, so dark. Beautiful..." Dru replied with a smile of delight.
"Children? I don't see any children," William said looking around, trying to spot a child. "I feel like having a nice, ripe toddler. An evil one would be even better."
"Not these children, my William," Dru said pressing a delicate finger to his lips. "They're like poison, going to your heart," she added making a lazy trail across his chest to his heart.
"And when did you plan on sharing this little detail with us?" Darla asked angrily. "When I have my mouth full of poison?"
"Leave her alone. At least now we know what's happening," William said taking Dru's hand in his and laying a soft kiss on it.
"And what is happening?" Angelus asked, curious of his conclusion.
"Evil children are about to kill their mommies and daddies and we're here to watch," Spike told him.
"No," Dru was the one who denied Angelus the pleasure of telling William he was wrong. "The children...they're dead..."
"But how can they throw such a ball?" Darla asked.
"Vampire children?" Angel suggested.
"No! They died here...tonight," Dru said humming.
"That's why she couldn't feel them before," Spike told Darla. "Where are the children, luv?"
"There! Hiding," Drusilla whispered pointing towards a blood red curtain hanging heavily from the ceiling.
"So that's what they do, sacrifice children to some demon," Angelus realized. "I always thought we should build ourselves a religion," then rethinking it, "but it's much more fun to get food ourselves. Besides, religions are usually for demons too fat or too lazy to hunt anymore."
"They're absolutely pathetic," Darla agreed.
"If I ever wind up that way - through any circumstances - feel free to kill me," Angelus said, looking through the crowd again.
"That's a promise," William said, cheered up just at the thought of Angelus being killed. "Now can we go?"
"But the children...their little bodies...so much hate and darkness. They're inside them. The wretched insects," Dru panted. "The children have to die first, then they come and everywhere, just blood, wonderful blood. Red as a rose."
"So someone's making the wrong assumptions here. The children are possessed and there's going to be a massacre," Darla said in a sing-song voice, thrilled at the perspective.
The red curtain suddenly opened revealing a group of harmless looking children, playing with what looked like the remains of a corpse. The crowd's attention turned towards them and as one of the children stood up, holding in his fist, a still bleeding heart, and stared at them, the crowd burst into applause. The child took the heart to his mouth and bit into it. The cheers intensified.
"Long live, Teveron!" A woman exclaimed, stepping out of the crowd, removing her mask. The people in the followed her example and removed theirs as well. Not wanting to be spotted easily the vampires did the same. "He brought my child back from the beyond. My child is now eternal!"
William whispered, "You sure they're not -"
"Shhh," Darla interrupted him. "I want to hear this."
William rolled his eyes while Angelus gave him an angry stare. Drusilla was watching in fascination, her eyes shinning with a childish happiness.
The crowd applauded as the mother reached out for her child. As the boy was raised in her arms, the four vampires noticed the long cut along the neck of the boy. The wound left a bloody trail across his mother's orange dress, staining it. The boy smiled, his teeth covered in blood from the heart he had bitten into and still held in one of his small hands. The organ slipped from his grip landing on the floor. The child put his hands around his mother's neck. Suddenly, he bit into it. A desperate cry escaped her as the child dug into her flesh, devouring the being that had given him life. The crowd had frozen. And then the silence was broken by the laughter of the other children, so sweet and crystal-like.
A slim figure detached from the crowd, pointing a knife towards the child's neck.
"Let her go," she demanded.
"It's the slayer," William whispered to the rest.
"Well, you won't get a chance to kill this one," Darla said knowingly.
"Why?" William asked like a stubborn child. Suddenly a little girl sprung from her place behind the curtain, biting into the wrist of the slayer. The knife fell from her hand and she let out a small scream of surprise before hitting the child still hanging from her hand across the face. A demonic smile crossed the child's face, as she refused to release the slayer's now bleeding wrist from her grip.
"That's why," Darla said sighing.
"At least they can't say we killed this one," Angelus said admiring the show as the slayer was hitting the child hanging from her wrist into the wall, having no success at all in freeing herself. Her watcher appeared from the crowd; apparently he had only noticed the happenings now. He grabbed the knife that had fallen from his pupil's hand and stabbed the little girl in the back, accomplishing nothing. "Hopefully there'll be a worthier one next time. One I'd actually want to kill myself."
"There's going to be a new one? Already?" William was thrilled at the prospect.
"The moment that child's going to..." Darla started, but her words faded as the little girl biting into the slayer's wrist propelled herself up the body of the girl, with unnatural movements, towards her neck, biting into her cheek with her already bloodstained mouth. The slayer cried out in pain. At the same time, the boy dropped the corpse of his mother to the floor and the other children stood up and hummed a cheerful little song along with him. The crowd had begun to move, snapping out of their shock, and searching for a way to escape. In their rush, they crushed people and glass under their feet, as hysteria began overwhelming them. Only the foursome of vampires had stayed, observing the spectacle with cold stares. As the people reached the doors, they realized they were shut, leaving them trapped inside.
"Well surprise, surprise," Darla said, taking a sip from the wine glass she had managed to save when the crowd had mobilized. Desperate screams were heard at the realization. Women pulled their hair, scratched at the doors, while men tried their strength at opening the large wooden doors, not managing to even budge them.
Back in the main hall, as the people knocked into the walls, screaming or trying to reach the high windows or find another exit, the children just watched with evil little smiles on their faces, still humming songs. The slayer was dead by now, her corpse crushed under the feet of the moving crowd, a large cavity bitten into her cheek and the bone of her wrist showing, as her wounds still bled on the thick carpet. Her watcher wasn't far from her; the panicking mass of people had pushed him into the wall and into an iron torch holder that was now sticking out of his chest.
A constant, loud, humming sound had taken over the - until now - cheerful singing of the children. The sound drove the people into an even bigger sense of desperation.
"I smell fear. So much of it," Drusilla said, almost joining in the humming of the demon children, a vibe seeming to want to possess her body and bring her into the game the dead children were playing.
Then the children seemed to rise off the floor and move with such an incredible speed across the room, attacking people randomly while they searched for an escape.
"This was an interesting night," Angelus smirked. "We saw a slayer die and now a massacre. Exquisite."
"It's so pretty," Dru said dreamily. She began fidgeting like a little girl wanting something. William noticed and she knew he understood what she wanted. "Can we, my love?"
"Oh, what the hell! Might not be my glory night, but I'm at least getting some action," William said and Drusilla clapped her hands happily as he lead her into the frenzy of flesh devourers. They seemed to be rocks in a river of people. They ripped, killed and devoured who they wanted, not minding that their clothes were getting stained or torn from their bodies.
At one point one of the children attacked William from behind, biting into his neck.
"Bloody hell!" He yelled as he flipped the small girl over his shoulder and threw her into a wall, ripping flesh off his own shoulder as he did. With his flesh still hanging out of her mouth, the girl stood up and spit.
"You taste bad!" She said in a whiny, childish voice. "Like crippled old corpses!"
"Oh, yeah? I bet you're not a treat yourself!" William replied, but the child wasn't interested in him anymore as she turned her head towards a young girl who had run right by her. "Oh, hell!" William let out feeling the wound on his neck. Drusilla appeared out of nowhere licking it clean and sharing a dirty, bloodied smile with him before pulling him back into the crowd.
Darla and Angelus stood aside, watching the blood spill under their eyes.
"Think there's anyone important still left out there?" Darla asked looking up towards a window. A hand was thrown her way, barely missing her, landing on the floor instead. She looked down at it and let out an unnecessary sigh. Angelus held out his hand. Darla took it, crushing the dead hand under her heel as she walked.
"I bet the magistrate's still home. Slumping in his chair," Angelus said and then looked into the crowd. "There's his daughter though," he added gesturing towards a woman screaming as a child ripped the hair from her skull. Noticing their stares, the woman made desperate gestures for them to help her. Angelus waved as if she had waved at them. Darla gave him a smile.
"Ah yes, the good old magistrate. The man is almost a saint. He wouldn't be caught dead at an unholy reunion like this," Darla said smiling at Angelus, sharing their little joke. "So, join me for dinner?"
"I'd love to," Angelus returned the smile as they jumped up to a tall window, still holding hands. A woman threw herself at them, catching Darla by the shoe. The vampire looked down at her annoyed.
"Please help me!" The woman yelled desperately.
"Goodbye now," Angelus told her before hitting her in the face with his foot. The woman crashed back down into the hall, landing over a half-eaten corpse. She tried to stand up, but was thrown back down by Drusilla.
On the now almost abandoned streets of Vienna, a lonely couple walked serenely, not minding the horrible screams coming from somewhere distant, barely heard that could easily be confused with the doings of a whorehouse. They smiled at each other as they continued to walk towards a large and imposing house at the end of the road. A small light shone from one of its windows and the shadow of an old man lingered somewhere inside.

End