Queen Of Darkness
Chapter Two: Incident at Caritas
"Caritas, what a name," Willow commented as she and Angel stepped through the heavy security doors into the demonic kareoke bar. "What's with the heavy security?" She asked, noting the many safety measures they had to pass through before entering the bar.
"There were a few troubles about a year ago, somebody tossed a can of gasoline and a grenade in here, the owner doesn't really want a repeat of that incident," Angel said.
"Really? Why did they do that?"
A shadow passed across the older vampire's face, or rather a deeper shadow. "I'd really rather not talk about it right now," he said , obviously trying to keep his voice under control. Willow shrugged and dropped it, making her way to the bar.
Half-sitting on one of the stools and leaning up against the bar was perhaps the worst dressed demon that Willow had ever seen. She nearly gawked at his flashy suit and far-too shiny shoes. She supposed that by most people's measure he would be described as snappy, but Willow was a dedicated vinyl, leather and lace girl. He turned to her, giving her a big grin that showcased his brilliantly white teeth and red lips. "Well, well, well," he said, his voice far too happy for it to be completely real. He was hiding something, some unhappiness that was eating at his outward cheeriness. "So this is the one you guys went to so much trouble to get. I gotta say, Angel, not exactly what I was expecting."
Willow stepped up to him, narrowing her eyes as she studied him. Angel strode up behind her and began to speak with the demon. "Kinda hard to expect anything about her, 'Lorne," he said. "And that's why we're here."
"You want me to take a look," 'Lorne said. "See what's going on with her, and what her aura shows about her path," Willow began to stare at the small reddish horns protruding from his head, she wondered if they were soft and spongy, or hard and brittle.
"That's about it, actually. So, will you help?"
"I don't know. Angel, the last several times you needed my help it ended up in a lot of personal danger on my part, and at least two blowings-up of my club," Willow raised her right hand and poked at 'Lorne's left horn. He blinked at her for a moment. "Could you please not do that?" He asked, apparently more than a little disturbed though the smile never wavered. "Not only is it inexcusably rude to poke at a demon's horns without his permission, I also just got them manicured, and would really not like to have it ruined so soon."
"Uh, sorry," Willow said slowly. She turned to Angel. "Bored now, what are we going to do here?"
"You, my little vampire, are going to go up there on that stage, select yourself a song, and let rip with the best of your singing ability," 'Lorne said. Willow's eyes suddenly went wide, and her already pale face seemed to lighten a few shades.
"So you'll help us then?" Angel asked.
"Sure, Angel, have I ever really turned you down before?"
"Sing? Me?" Willow squeaked.
"Thanks 'Lorne. You have no idea how much it might help," Angel continued, ignoring Willow's distress.
"I think I'm going to find out," 'Lorne said. "Wesley sounded pretty concerned over the phone. Do you have any idea what the problem might be?"
"Yeah, but I think you should see for yourself before I tell you what I think, just in case I'm way off base," Angel said.
"Angel," Willow said, turning towards the older vampire with a look of panic on her face. "Problem, big, big problem!"
"What is it, Willow?" He asked.
"I have this thing about public performances," she said. "As in I can't. Perform in public, that is. I get all nervous, and then I get all spazy, and then I get all nauseous, and the rest isn't pretty. I don't think 'Lorne here'll really take well to half-digested blood spilled all over his nice shiny floor, so I think I'll take this one off, okay?"
"Come on, Willow," Angel said, trying his best to be reassuring. "You were a sadistic killer, you stalked the night, struck fear into all that saw you. A little singing can't be all that bad."
"There's where you're wrong mister!" She exclaimed. "Stalking the night is nothing like singing in front of a crowd! Now, if I were torturing someone to death onstage that might be different, but only if I couldn't see the people, or was onstage. Actually, no. It wouldn't be very different. It would just be a whole lot ickier. The point is, I can't do it. Nope, no way on this earth or my own that you can get me up on that stage," she said emphatically, shaking her head to indicate that her point was final.
"Come on, dear," 'Lorne said. "I bet you have a lovely singing voice. Here, I'll even pick the song for you and introduce you to the crowd. You'll love it once you get going, trust me."
"Did you not see the shaking of my head?" Willow said, and was horrified to find that both the demon Host and Angel had begun to herd her towards the stage. Her terror of what lay ahead had sapped all strength from her, she was completely at her mercy. "No, no, no, no, no. I don't like this at all."
"It's okay, Willow," Angel put in, still using his 'reassuring' voice. "You can make it through one song, I'm sure of it."
"Eep!" Was all that she could get out as the dreaded microphone and spotlight loomed closer. In short order, they hauled the nearly catatonic Willow onto the stool that was on the stage, setting her so that she faced the crowd of humans, demons and vampires that turned their attention to her, eagerly awaiting what she would do.
"Hey folks," 'Lorne began amiably as he put the mic to his lips. "Tonight we have a real treat, a first timer to the bar, and to kareoke in general. She's real nervous, so let's give a warm Caritas welcome to Willow the vampire!" With that he handed the microphone to Willow, who help it limply as the applause from the patrons of the bar swept over her. She knew that it was meant to be comforting, to ease her nerves, but it only made the butterfly's in her stomach triple in population and become real mean.
"Just give it your best," Angel said, leaning next to her as he picked out a song for her. "Just follow the words on the screen and you'll be fine."
Willow stared at what he had selected. "George Michael?" She managed to whisper. "You couldn't just stake me now?"
"It's really very short," Angel said, still trying to be reassuring. "And full of energy, it should help you get through it faster. Don't worry, Willow," he said again. With a final pat on her shoulder, he hopped down from the stage, and left Willow at the mercy of the crowd. She reasoned that, this being a kareoke bar and all, the patrons would be used to bad singing. It did nothing to calm her.
The timer started ticking down, far too quickly for her. She tried to breath, seeing if the act of filling her lungs with air would help, too late she remembered that he lungs didn't actually fill with air, and managed to suck in a whole lot of nothing. This only further reminded her of the outfit she had yet to change out of, and it's own particular properties, specifically how tight it actually was. Events were moving a great deal too fast for her, she could feel the familiar dizziness coming on that signaled the beginning of the downward spiral of her forays into public performances. She was doomed.
The counter hit zero. The words began to appear on the screen. She opened her mouth, knowing that a frightened squeak was all that was destined to emerge. She was caught completely off guard when she actually started to sing.
"Well, I guess it would be nice, if I could touch your body, I know not everybody, has got a body like you. But I gotta think twice, before I give my heart away, and I know all the games you play, because I play them too," she couldn't believe it. She was actually singing! "Oh but I need some time off from that emotion, time to pick my heart up off the floor. Oh when that love comes down, without devotion, well it takes a strong man baby, but I'm showing you the door. 'Cause I gotta have faith . . ."
She had never felt so scared in her entire undead life. The Master himself had been the only thing that had terrified her as much as this, and even then it had been a different kind of terror. This was visceral, this was horribly solid fear. It was something that she felt in the core of her being, something that made her wonder if she was in hell. If that white hat had actually dusted her back in the factory in her own world, and she was in hell, living out her worst nightmare. And still the words kept pouring from her mouth, each in perfect pitch and full of energy.
"Baby! I know you're asking me to stay, saying please, please, please don't go away, you say I'm giving you the blues. Maybe, you mean every word you say, can't help but think of yesterday, and another who tied me down to lover-boy rules. Before this river becomes and ocean, before you throw my heart back on the floor. Oh baby I reconsider my foolish notion, well I need someone to hold me, but I'll wait for something more. Yes I've gotta have faith!"
As the song ended after the repeat of the chorus, Willow smiled and stood for the crowd. There were cheers all through the house at her perfect performance. She had done it, she had made it through, and had shined. She laughed, thanked everyone for listening, and then did the only thing she could think of doing. She fainted.
* * *
Just after giving his last reassuring comment to Willow, Angel made his way back to the bar where 'Lorne was waiting for him. He hopped onto the stool next to the demon Host, and turned so he could lean on the bar and watch Willow while talking to 'Lorne at the same time.
"How's Cordy," the Host said, beginning the conversation, referring to the vision-plagued girl that served as Angel's link to the Powers-That-Be.
"She's recovering in the hospital," he said. "With the interference that the Willow of this universe is causing with all transmissions from the Powers, they have to send the visions in pretty damn hard for her to actually get them. The last one was a big one too. She barely had enough time to tell me what I had to do before slipping into a coma."
"I heard about that," 'Lorne said sympathetically. "When do they think she'll come out of it?"
"The doctors say it's temporary, but she could be in it for anywhere from a few more hours to another six months."
"Way too bad," 'Lorne said sadly, he liked the fiery Cordelia Chase, a bitch queen extraordinair, and a true champion of the Powers. He perked up as he heard the opening guitar riff of the song Angel had chosen. Then Willow began to sing, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He slammed himself backwards into the bar, gripping its edge so hard that his normally green knuckles turned white. Angel snapped into high alert mode immediately, but he was completely at a loss as to how to handle this.
"'Lorne!" He said loudly, but the Host couldn't hear him. 'Lorne suddenly started shaking, his entire body vibrating as if he were shivering from extreme cold. Just as Willow reached the first chorus, 'Lorne began to convulse, his muscles snapping his body back and forth in violent seizure. Through it all, his eyes never lift Willow, never breaking the contact that her singing had forged between her aura and his mind. "Somebody help me here!" Angel cried out, and was astonished when he found that no one was listening to him. A quick survey of the bar showed him that everyone in there, human, demon or otherwise, was focused to the exclusion of everything else, on Willow.
Angel spotted several other demons who he knew had some form of aura or spirit reading abilities, and every one of them were in the same state as 'Lorne. It was Willow, it had to be. Exactly what she was doing, and how she was doing it were secondary considerations in the vampire's mind. His first concern was to keep 'Lorne alive, and with the way he was wrenching himself so violently, that might become a problem. Acting on impulse, Angel thrust his palm over the Host's eyes. Instantly the contact was broken, and 'Lorne let out a keening wail, falling to the floor and curling up in a tight fetal position.
Angel threw his coat over 'Lorne's head to make sure that the contact remained broken, and sprinted towards the other convulsing demons he had seen. Each of them read aura's in a different way, and so it wasn't easy for him to find a way to break contact, but he found that throwing a handy coat or, in some cases, cloak over them did the job nicely. As he did this he noticed that none of the patrons of Caritas had escaped the effect except him. They were all staring dumbly at Willow as she wholeheartedly belted out George Michael, oblivious to what was going on in front of her.
He couldn't understand what was happening, but he could guess that there was a lot more going on with the vampire Willow than even Spike had guessed. Angel knew that there was nothing else that he could do, and Willow was coming to the end of the song anyway, so he decided to wait and see what would happen. The song ended, and the crowd began to cheer, something that Angel had only seen on extremely rare occasions in the demon bar. Willow stood up from her seat, still paler than even the undead should be, and smiled at the adulation she was receiving. Then she collapsed, crumpling into a neat heap next to the stool she had sat on, the microphone rolling out of her nerveless fingers.
In a flash Angel was at her side, cradling her as he pulled her from the floor and began heading towards the back room where 'Lorne made his home. He opened the door, thankful that it hadn't been locked, and laid the unconscious vampire on the bed before racing back out into the main floor of the club. What he found when he got out there was chaos. The people who had been spellbound by the vampire's song had awoken from their trance to find that several of their number were little more than whimpering knots of pain on the floor. Angel picked up 'Lorne, much in the same way he had picked Willow up, and brought him into the Host's room as well, placing him next to Willow and pulling the coat off of him.
"'Lorne!" He called, leaning over the Host's face. "'Lorne, can you hear me?"
"I hear you, man," the demon said as his eyes opened slowly. "I'd say your breath stinks to, if you had any, that is."
Angel took the hint and backed off, letting 'Lorne sit up and clutch at his head. "What happened?"
"I might have to ask you the same thing," the Hosts responded, obviously still recovering from what he had seen. "I have no idea why I'm hurting so much now. I understand the headache, of course, but why the rest of me feels like I just went ten rounds with a Fyarl demon I have no idea."
"That was the convulsions," Angel said offhandedly. "What did you see? What did her aura tell you?"
"Oh, more than I bargained for, Angel," 'Lorne began, gingerly rubbing his temples. "She's not alone in there. There's more than one being inhabiting her body, and I'm not talking about her soul and demon. There's two distinct souls in there, as well as the demon, and . . . something else," he seemed to go distant as he said the last, his eyes staring off into nothing. "There's something in her that I've never seen before, something big, really, really big. Every one of those entities is powerful, but, my god whatever that other thing is, it's more than any power I've ever encountered."
"A true demon? A god? What?" Angel asked, trying to understand what 'Lorne was alluding to.
The Host shook his head. "No, nothing so simple as that. We're talking power the likes of which this universe has never seen. Or if it has, it was a long, long time ago. As in before even Demons inhabited this, or any other world. I'm just thankful that whatever it is, is dormant."
"Dormant?"
"Yeah, it's not an active part of her, yet."
"What is active?"
"So far? Both souls and the demon. It seems that they're in a power struggle over who gets to control the body and the mind, so she's probably going to have some personality difficulties. I can't stress enough, though, that this fourth being, this Other, has more power than anything should ever have. I don't think even the combined might of the Powers-That-Be could stand up to it."
Angel survived on not being shocked by much, but this declaration gave him pause. "Stronger than the Powers? But how?"
'Lorne shook his head. "Don't ask me, Angel, I'm just telling you what I saw."
Angel assimilated this for a moment before speaking again. "Do you have any idea why she was mesmerizing people out there? I kept trying to get their attention, but they were fixated on her."
"Oh, that!" 'Lorne said, as if it were nothing. "That was just a spell. A kind of 'look at me!' deal that captures the attention of all who are susceptible. Very rudimentary in its construction, but she's got a great deal of power for such a small girl. Probably what stopped me from closing my eyes and getting away from looking at that thing," he shuddered at the memory. "Where is she, anyway?"
"Right behind you," Angel said, and immediately 'Lorne was off the bed and across the room. "What? What is it?" Angel asked, concerned.
'Lorne was staring in horror at the sleeping vampire as he pressed himself against the wall. "I, uh, I'll just stay over here as long as she's over there, okay?"
Angel nodded, noting the fear in the Host's eyes. Whatever he had seen in her aura, that mysterious 'Other', it had frightened him to the core. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the hotel. Once Wesley picked up he told him what had happened at the bar only minutes ago. The head of Angel Investigations was worried, and rightly so.
"You must get her back here as quickly as possible," he told Angel. "If she is carrying some sort of passenger, then we might have to change the plan. I'll see if I can find something in our research material that can help us in identifying what is going on."
"Good idea, Wes. There's something else. See if you can get hold of Giles."
"Giles? But he's off trying to find Oz, we don't even know in what part of the world he's in."
"If we get lucky, he'll be somewhere with cell-phone service. We need him, Wes."
"Alright, I'll try."
"Has Faith come back yet?"
"Yes, she and Spike are having a sparring match in the basement as we speak."
"Make sure she doesn't kill him, okay? As much as I hate to admit it, we need him right now."
"I know. When will you get here?"
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"See you then," Wesley said, and the line went dead.
Angel folded up the phone and put it back into his coat pocket. He looked over at the peacefully sleeping face of the vampire Willow. "Was it a mistake to bring you here?" He asked himself quietly. "Did I misinterpret what the Powers were trying to tell me?" He gathered her up in his arms once more and headed for the door. "What am I going to do with you?"
'Lorne watched them leave from his position at the wall. Only after Angel had closed the door behind him did he speak. "You should have warned me about her," he said to the air.
'I did not know,' a calm, female voice whispered into his brain. 'I did not foresee this Other that came with her. Are you sure that it is dormant?'
"Yes, my Queen," 'Lorne answered.
'And, what of the two souls you saw within her, what of them that you held back from Angel?'
"One was hers, and the other was yours," he said. "The same, yet different. I have told you all I know, my Queen! Please! Let her go now. She can do no more harm to you!"
'You have done as I asked, Krevlorneswoth of the Deathwok clan. And for that I will release the girl. But I gotta say, I really don't like her.'
"That was our deal!" The Host nearly shouted. "I let you in on what I find for Angel, and you leave the girl alone!"
The voice in his mind laughed, a pleasant, mirthful sound that totally belied the evil it was capable of. 'I have already told you that she will be released. But that doesn't mean your obligation to me is ended. No, you have just begun in your service to me. Remember, I can strike her down anywhere and anytime. Because of that, you belong to me!' The voice faded through the last sentence, finally fading from his mind.
'Lorne sank to the floor, holding his aching head in his hands, tears leaking from his closed eyes. "Oh, Cordelia, I'm so sorry!" He cried. "What have I done? What have I done?"
