Title: Facing Death
Author: mahaliem
E-mail: mahaliem@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy
One of the Hellspawn clubbed me in the back while I was busy beheading the fellow in front of me and I went down on my knees, expected a second blow, a deathblow to follow. It never came. I was hauled up to my feet and spun around. It was Wesley. He had a large gash in his forehead and blood was running down his face, but he grinned before turning to block a blow that was being leveled at his head.
The Last Apocalypse
by A. L. Harris
Part 2
When I entered The King of Cups the next morning, Leon rushed up to greet me.
"Xander. Good. You're here. I gotta talk to you."
"I'm busy, Leon. Where's Drusilla?"
"She's around. Listen, Xander, it's important."
Exasperated, I stopped moving towards the back area and glared at Leon.
"What?"
"Angelus is in town."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"There's been a rumor going around for the past few days that he was headed in this direction. Then, last night, it got to be more than a rumor."
"What happened? Is Dru okay?"
"Yeah, yeah…Miss Drusilla's fine. But the folks over at the Hell Pit aren't. Seems Angelus showed up there to do some recruiting. Jake and Pete, who owned the joint, took offense. He ended up using them to entertain the crowd. Parts of them, anyway."
"Is he still there?"
"Nah. Took off with a group of demons and vamps after he had his fun. Don't know where they are now. Xander…you've got to stop him. Him killing bar owners…it isn't right."
"Leon, you know my cell phone number. If you or your buddies get any information on where he might be holed up, let me know."
"You've got it."
I heard the back room door open, and looked away from Leon to where Drusilla was gliding into the room.
"I felt you, my brave knight. Your nearness hummed against my skin, making me tingle."
"That's me…Mr. Skin Tingle Guy."
She came up to me, touching my cheek with a fingertip before sliding it down to my neck, then around my nape as she walked around me, circling me. I moved to face her and gripped her hands in mine.
"Dru, I want you to come away with me for a while. We'll take a little vacation together. How 'bout it?"
Her eyes lit in pleasure at the prospect.
"Can we go to the beach and let the sand sing its song of endless pain to us?"
"Er…sure, sounds like a winner. Why don't you go grab a few things, and we'll leave?"
Drusilla started to turn to go back to her room, but stopped after only taking a few steps.
"Oh, Kitten, I can't. Daddy's nearby."
"Have you seen him?"
"Daddy? No. But he wants to dance with us…you and me. We'll have such fun."
Damn! So much for getting her cooperation.
"Drusilla, honey? Why don't you show me some of those dance steps you plan to do…for Daddy? I'd love to see them."
Her eyes glittered as she smiled, then humming a soft song, she began to sway and undulate gracefully around the area. For a moment, her movements mesmerized me. She was lovely, enticing. Giving myself a mental jerk, I reached under my jacket, pulled out a tazer gun, and zapped her. I barely managed to catch her as she collapsed.
Leon's eyes bulged and he began babbling at me.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"You don't want Angelus coming here, do you? Well, with Drusilla gone, maybe he won't show."
"Oh. Okay. Do you need any help getting her out of here?"
"Leon, once again, I'm awed by your complete and total lack of loyalty."
Leon simply stood there, waiting. He had looking out for number one down to an art form, and he knew it. It didn't bother him when it was pointed out. With a disgusted roll of my eyes, I told him what he could do to help.
"A blanket to wrap her in would be nice…and maybe George behind the bar could help me carry her out to my car. Afterwards, you might want to put out the word that Dru's no longer staying here."
Within minutes, the demon bartender had helped me carry my burden to the car and I was speeding away. I swung by my workshop to pick up a few items, and then drove on to Father Murry's house. He'd had an early morning meeting with the church board, so we hadn't had our little talk yet. As I pulled in, I spotted his car in the drive, so I figured he was back home.
Pulling Drusilla into my arms, and after making sure she was properly covered, I carried her to the porch, then rapped on the door. Father Murry opened it, puzzled, but motioned me inside. I shook my head.
"Invite us in."
Even more confused, he spoke the magic words.
"Xander, you and…your friend can come in."
Quickly, I hurried inside.
"Father, there's a bag of stuff I need in my car; can you get it for me?"
While he retrieved my bag, I carried the still unconscious Drusilla into the bedroom I'd used the night before. She'd started to stir a bit after I'd left my workshop, so I'd zapped her again. Part of me felt a bit guilty. Another part knew that if the power could be turned down to a more reasonable level, Dru would probably be really into it.
By the time the priest returned, I had Drusilla comfortably laid out on the bed. His eyes widened when I opened the bag he handed me, and drew forth a set of chains and manacles.
"Xander, I know that your religious education was sorely lacking when you were young, but you do realize that bringing an unconscious woman into my home and proceeding to chain her up is just not done."
"Not a woman. This is Drusilla."
"Drusilla? The vampire…?"
He was flabbergasted. There's really is no other word for it. I mean, his mouth was working, but no sound was coming out. His arms were making weird, little, flapping motions. I was getting a little worried about him. I don't think he was remembering to breathe. It was just as I was clamping the last manacle to her wrist that he exploded.
"You brought that creature here? Into my home?"
"Yeah. You know, you really should make it a rule never to invite anyone into your house. If they can't step in, they should be kept out."
"Why…" he paused, took in a deep gulp of air to calm himself, and then continued. "Why is she here?"
With a nod, I indicated that we should maybe finish the conversation in another room and headed for the kitchen. I got myself a glass of water. My eyebrows rose when I saw that he got himself a shot of scotch. Good job, Xander, I thought to myself. Make the nice priest start drinking.
As we sat at the table, sipping from our glasses, I explained.
"Do you remember me telling you about Angel? How, when everything went wrong, he became crazed with grief, and now he makes all serial killers look like poster boys for sanity?"
Father Murry nodded and drank some more.
"He's Drusilla's sire. They've always had a pretty twisted relationship. But now…I'm afraid he'll hurt her. Hurt her, and not in the usual-vamps-just want-to-have-fun way, either."
"Is this the reason that you showed up last night? Dawn doesn't understand your desire to protect Drusilla?"
"Got it in one. Bet you're pretty good at that whole priest gig of yours."
Reaching for his glass, he drained the rest of it and set it down with a thump. I could tell that he was considering telling me to take Dru and go. I had to try to explain.
"I know that she's an evil creature now. I understand that. But she wasn't always. I figure God owes her big time."
He started to protest, but I laid a hand on his arm.
"The day Angelus killed her, turned her into a monster, was the day she took her vows at a convent. She should've been protected. God should've protected her. But he didn't."
"So now you've taken over that task…of protecting her?"
I rubbed my face in my hands. Conversations like this were never my strong point. Giles had always been able to make clear, logical cases for his point of view. Willow was smart and could support her opinion with lots of examples. Buffy had passion on her side. Spike also had passion, but there'd always been a hint of manipulation in his arguments. Anya just said what she thought and to hell with everyone else. For me, the words seemed to stumble over themselves, colliding with my feelings, and never coming out of my mouth the way I wanted them to.
"Think of her as a lost lamb. Okaaay, one that's become rabid and dangerous…but she belonged to the church, belonged to God when she died. Are you going to turn your back on her?"
He sighed. Knowing about all the evils in the world was one thing. Having one take up residence in the spare bedroom was another. Finally, he nodded his head. He'd let her stay. I stood up to go check on her, but stopped when he held his arm out, blocking me.
"Is there anything I should know? Things to do or not do?"
I considered his question for a moment before answering. He knew a bit about vampires, but what he didn't know could kill him.
"Drusilla's really good at enthralling people. And no, I'm not under her spell…I think. Just don't go into the room. No matter what. You may hear her laughing or crying or screaming in agony, but don't go in there. And for Pete's sake, don't do the whole horror movie cliché, and now that I'd told you what not to do, you go ahead and do it, okay?"
He smiled.
"Right. No going into the room. Anything else?"
"You might want to consider opening the drapes during the day – let in the light. Keep a lot of crosses handy, in your pockets, on tables and nightstands, just in case. And maybe have some pitchers, bowls and cups of holy water around. Seeing as how you're a priest, that shouldn't be a problem."
"I think I'll be able to handle that."
Pulling a stake from my pocket, I set it on the table next to him.
"And finally, if none of that works, use this. Go for the heart. Don't hesitate, because you won't get a second chance."
I left him, still contemplating the wooden stake before him.
TBC
