At that he and the Shaman held hands and chanted something in a language I
didn't understand. And I do speak 37 human and demon languages. Though some
of the minion ordering phraseology tends to be limited to grunts and ugghs,
so they aren't too demanding.
I freeze in place. Brain fully functional? Check. Eyesight the same. At least whatever the shaman did to me hasn't resulted in me having to go back to glasses all the time, as opposed to reading glasses. Being vamped helped a lot. I can see fine, even when not vamped out, for driving, the telly, and normal stuff. Reading hurts after a while though. It's a real shame though, always loved books. You can see why I gave up wearing them though. You try being the big bad feared vampire with glasses falling off your nose. Difficult in a fight too. Not to mention the grief I got from peaches about them.
Hello, mouth and voice still functional.
"Oy! Communication skills here, you tossers! You can probably get a course on it! Or is it the Sunnydale influence? Don't talk to the vamp. He might actually have a chance to know what's going on!"
"Sorry, Spike, but for this stage you won't be able to move a muscle, other than those involved in the senses. You have to be able to feel everything."
They picked me up and plonked me under a tree. Guess Rupert doesn't want sunburnt vamp, as he makes sure that daft hat is still firmly planted on my head.
"You will be here for some time. You will not be able to move. What you will experience should help, but might prove painful. It is necessary though."
More funny words, some wacky smoke and a couple of crystals. No fire this time though. If I am gonna be here a while I am going to feel a bit chilly once the sun goes down. Vampires don't have the same sensitivity to temperature changes as humans, but we do feel it. With the changes that tear made in me, and my blood, I think I'm gonna feel the cold when its dark.
"No fire?"
"No defences; no limits. Samuel and I have some scrying to do. Nothing to do with this. We will be on the other side of the lake. You won't be able to see us, or hear us, but we will be back - eventually."
And they just up and left. Story of my life - again!
There's a little hyrax - looks like a squirrel: same size as a squirrel: closest relative - the elephant. And they say Mother Nature has no sense of humour.
It's on some rocks basking in the sun. It's completely missed the cheetah stalking it through the bush. Should be a nice easy meal. Gorgeous animal, pure lean predator, sharp claws and some truly impressive teeth. It springs, but at the last moment the hyrax sees it and goes off running.
Suddenly I'm not me. I'm being chased, swatted with sharp claws; I just know pure fear and adrenaline. I can't escape. I'm too slow; it's too fast. The claws trip me and the fangs go into me. Pain, fear and death are all I know.
I come back to myself, still shaking.
Moments later smoke forms. Out of it comes a woman in black. Honey brown hair, mixed with plenty of grey, done up in a bun. Blue eyes surrounded with the marks of too much grief. A mourning broach making a sad counterpoint to the mourning rings on her hands.
"Mama? No! Now that's cruel!"
"I wept for you. My dearest son. My blessing, and my solace in widowhood. My pride. My clever my good son. I buried you. I kissed you for the last time. I still have the broach from your lock of hair. It matches the rings from the 2 sons I had already given back to God. Then I'm told even your grave was desecrated. Your sisters and I couldn't bear it. No grave to tend, your body missing."
"Mama, no please don't cry. I'm here. I love you. I always loved you. I created so much trouble that we had to leave London so you'd all be safe." Tears were rolling down my face, but I couldn't even move to wipe them away.
"Your friends, the ones that said such lovely things about you at the funeral, all dead - so horribly. That Addams girl, who was so sweet, sent away to the Continent and never seen again. All so soon after losing my own dear brother. Your brothers tried. John was so good to the girls, but he was so busy in the City It was never the same. Dear Henry, wrote such wonderful letters and took Lizzie back with him to India, but he was so far away. I needed you. We all needed you."
"Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was getting into. Once I did it was too late. I couldn't come back. I wouldn't have got the chance either. I didn't meant to make you suffer."
"But you could make others like me! How many other mothers like me William? How many lost their children? How many lost beloved wives of husbands? How many lost dear friends?"
It seemed that untold thousands of black clad mourners filed through me. The anguish, the loss, the question "WHY?" went through me again and again.
Their sheer pain was agonising. I've been tortured by artists of the medium. Angelus in his more whimsical moods, Darla like a cat playing with a canary. Hey - even a Hell-God. I would have traded hours of that to get rid of this agony. But it just kept coming and coming.
"Goodbye, darling. We will see each other again. I know you can do this."
She kissed me on the forehead, like she had when I was a child. Then she and the others disappeared.
I freeze in place. Brain fully functional? Check. Eyesight the same. At least whatever the shaman did to me hasn't resulted in me having to go back to glasses all the time, as opposed to reading glasses. Being vamped helped a lot. I can see fine, even when not vamped out, for driving, the telly, and normal stuff. Reading hurts after a while though. It's a real shame though, always loved books. You can see why I gave up wearing them though. You try being the big bad feared vampire with glasses falling off your nose. Difficult in a fight too. Not to mention the grief I got from peaches about them.
Hello, mouth and voice still functional.
"Oy! Communication skills here, you tossers! You can probably get a course on it! Or is it the Sunnydale influence? Don't talk to the vamp. He might actually have a chance to know what's going on!"
"Sorry, Spike, but for this stage you won't be able to move a muscle, other than those involved in the senses. You have to be able to feel everything."
They picked me up and plonked me under a tree. Guess Rupert doesn't want sunburnt vamp, as he makes sure that daft hat is still firmly planted on my head.
"You will be here for some time. You will not be able to move. What you will experience should help, but might prove painful. It is necessary though."
More funny words, some wacky smoke and a couple of crystals. No fire this time though. If I am gonna be here a while I am going to feel a bit chilly once the sun goes down. Vampires don't have the same sensitivity to temperature changes as humans, but we do feel it. With the changes that tear made in me, and my blood, I think I'm gonna feel the cold when its dark.
"No fire?"
"No defences; no limits. Samuel and I have some scrying to do. Nothing to do with this. We will be on the other side of the lake. You won't be able to see us, or hear us, but we will be back - eventually."
And they just up and left. Story of my life - again!
There's a little hyrax - looks like a squirrel: same size as a squirrel: closest relative - the elephant. And they say Mother Nature has no sense of humour.
It's on some rocks basking in the sun. It's completely missed the cheetah stalking it through the bush. Should be a nice easy meal. Gorgeous animal, pure lean predator, sharp claws and some truly impressive teeth. It springs, but at the last moment the hyrax sees it and goes off running.
Suddenly I'm not me. I'm being chased, swatted with sharp claws; I just know pure fear and adrenaline. I can't escape. I'm too slow; it's too fast. The claws trip me and the fangs go into me. Pain, fear and death are all I know.
I come back to myself, still shaking.
Moments later smoke forms. Out of it comes a woman in black. Honey brown hair, mixed with plenty of grey, done up in a bun. Blue eyes surrounded with the marks of too much grief. A mourning broach making a sad counterpoint to the mourning rings on her hands.
"Mama? No! Now that's cruel!"
"I wept for you. My dearest son. My blessing, and my solace in widowhood. My pride. My clever my good son. I buried you. I kissed you for the last time. I still have the broach from your lock of hair. It matches the rings from the 2 sons I had already given back to God. Then I'm told even your grave was desecrated. Your sisters and I couldn't bear it. No grave to tend, your body missing."
"Mama, no please don't cry. I'm here. I love you. I always loved you. I created so much trouble that we had to leave London so you'd all be safe." Tears were rolling down my face, but I couldn't even move to wipe them away.
"Your friends, the ones that said such lovely things about you at the funeral, all dead - so horribly. That Addams girl, who was so sweet, sent away to the Continent and never seen again. All so soon after losing my own dear brother. Your brothers tried. John was so good to the girls, but he was so busy in the City It was never the same. Dear Henry, wrote such wonderful letters and took Lizzie back with him to India, but he was so far away. I needed you. We all needed you."
"Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was getting into. Once I did it was too late. I couldn't come back. I wouldn't have got the chance either. I didn't meant to make you suffer."
"But you could make others like me! How many other mothers like me William? How many lost their children? How many lost beloved wives of husbands? How many lost dear friends?"
It seemed that untold thousands of black clad mourners filed through me. The anguish, the loss, the question "WHY?" went through me again and again.
Their sheer pain was agonising. I've been tortured by artists of the medium. Angelus in his more whimsical moods, Darla like a cat playing with a canary. Hey - even a Hell-God. I would have traded hours of that to get rid of this agony. But it just kept coming and coming.
"Goodbye, darling. We will see each other again. I know you can do this."
She kissed me on the forehead, like she had when I was a child. Then she and the others disappeared.
