Facing Death (Part 6 of 7)
As each comrade fell, Angel roared as if his soul was being torn asunder. It was less a lament as it was a growling challenge to death, to leave his friends alone and fight him, instead. Our casualties rose and his grief mounted and the fury in which he attacked his enemies grew. His efficient killing style became savage and bestial. Now, I watched as he loped along, fiercely tearing apart Hellspawn with a feral snarl. Any remnant of his humanity that he'd nurtured and cherished had been lost in the battle. And slowly the Hellspawn weakened, weakened to the point where they were unable to stand.
The Last Apocalypse
by A. L. Harris
Part 6
I caught up with Dawn and Dru on the stairs around the 5th floor. It surprised me to find that, as weak as Dru was, she'd been the one dragging Dawn out of there and not the other way around. The holy water coming down from the ceiling had totally freaked her out. I took hold of Drusilla's hand, after prying it from Dawn's wrist, and forced her to stop, so that Dawn and I could take a breather. Dru whimpered a bit, but I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her, soothing her. Glancing over her head, I studied the woman I loved.
"Dawn, how are you doing?"
Leaning up against the wall, she closed her eyes, as if she wanted to block out the last twenty-four hours.
"Oh, I'm fine and dandy. I just spent the last day and most of the night with a crazy vampire who wanted to kill me."
She opened her eyes and turned her head towards where I stood, still comforting Drusilla.
"Guess that's just an ordinary, hum drum day for you."
I bit my lip and took a deep breath before replying.
"Did he hurt you?"
Her quiet nod caused me to flinch. I started to apologize, but she held up a hand, stopping me.
"I'll have a few new scars to brag about, but I'll live."
She pushed off from the wall and started back down the stairs without saying another word. Drusilla and I followed her, equally quiet.
It was only after we exited the building and went across the street that I realized that I'd made a big mistake when I'd planned our escape. I had a truck that I used to deliver large pieces of furniture I'd made to their hopefully happy owners. Earlier in the day, I'd parked my delivery truck in the lot near the Bank of America building. It was powerful, easily defendable, and much better than my car for running down demons and vampires.
What I hadn't taken into account was the fact that all three of us were going to have to pile into the cab of the truck together.
Opening the passenger door, I picked Drusilla up and placed her on the high seat, then ordered her to slide over. When I turned to Dawn, she simply rolled her eyes, brushed past me, and climbed up on her own. Going around to the driver's side, I climbed in myself, and started up the engine. It should take twenty-five minutes to drive to Father Murry's house. I figured that in the current situation, I could probably make it in twenty. Forget the fact that Drusilla is a crazy vampire. Forget the fact that Dawn is one tough lady of mystical origins. I was trapped in a small space with the two women in my life, and as every man knows, it was going to be hell.
- - - - - -
Even though I was on the left side of the truck, at the steering wheel, it didn't take long before they put me in the middle of them.
"Xander," Dawn complained. "She keeps poking me."
"Drusilla, stop poking Dawn."
A minute passed before Dawn spoke again.
"Xander, she's still doing it. If she keeps it up, she's dust."
"Dru, why do you keep poking Dawn?"
"Pretty," Dru giggled. Green and glowing. Sticks to my finger before fading away."
I jerked the wheel at that, and heard Dawn let out a little gasp.
"You can see Dawn glowing? I thought that was over, that the whole key thing was done with."
"Makes sense that she can see it," grumbled Dawn. "You know, being crazy and all."
"Pretty key. The lock is looking for you. Looking for you and the door, but the door doesn't want to be found."
Dawn angled her body and stared at Drusilla.
"What do you mean by that?" Dawn moved forward so that she could look around Dru and stare at me. "Xander, what does she mean?"
I shrugged. "Sorry, my Drusilla-ese is a little rusty. Sometimes, if you turn it into a game, you can get a bit more information."
"Yes, my Kitten loves to play games."
Oops. We were suddenly swimming in dangerous waters. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dawn arch an eyebrow.
"Games? Really? Tell me about some of those games Xander likes to play."
Did I say dangerous waters? Shark-infested waters. Great White Shark infested waters.
And they were circling because they could smell blood.
- - - - - -
We walked into Father Murry's house, and I showed Dawn into the priest's bedroom. He had an en-suite bathroom, and she headed there, determined to wash away Angelus' touch. While she showered, I laid out one of my few spare tee shirts for her to wear, before concentrating on Drusilla. I was afraid that the drugs weren't going to last too much longer, so I led Dru into the bedroom and chained her, before heating up a container of blood.
I was still sitting on the edge of the bed, feeding the vampire, when Dawn appeared at the doorway. She studied Drusilla chained to the bed for a moment, before turning and going back into the living room. I handed the half-empty container to Dru, and followed Dawn out, closing the door behind me.
"Chains, huh? After all our time together, I didn't know that was what did it for you, Xander."
"She's chained up because I can't trust her not to leave and search for Angelus," I explained, exasperated. "I couldn't trust her with Father Murry, and now I can't trust her with you. I won't let her hurt you."
She sat down on the couch and stared at the floor. Quietly, her voice soft, her words barely slipping from her mouth, she spoke.
"She's not the one hurting me."
I sighed and sat down on the couch next to her, and put my head in my hands.
"I've been staying here since the night I left home. After I brought Drusilla here, I slept on this sofa. If you don't believe me, you can ask Father Murry."
She didn't say a word, just continued memorizing the grains and swirls in the hardwood floor.
"Dawn, tomorrow I'm going to take you to Fred's, and I want you to stay there until all of this is over. She can protect you. Angelus is wounded. He may be even more dangerous than before."
She glanced up, and I saw her gaze flicker to the door to the room from which we could hear Drusilla tunelessly humming.
"And what are you going to be doing?"
I rose from the couch and looked down at her. Dawn was brave, but I could see the dark circles under her eyes, see the slight shakiness in her limbs caused from fatigue and too many hours under the threat of being killed. With my fingertips, I lifted her chin, tilting her face so that I could examine a bruise that had formed on a cheek, a bruise that had been hidden by her hair, grime, and the darkness of the night. With fierce determination, I answered her.
"I hurt Angelus tonight. Tomorrow I plan to hurt him some more."
- - - - - -
A small crowd of men hovered at the front of my workshop when I arrived the next morning. All part of Fred's little group. I greeted Holcomb and Ivy and nodded to the others. I didn't ask the men their names and they didn't offer them.
The first item on the agenda was to check that everyone had all of the necessary gear. Most of the men were outfitted pretty well, but I supplemented it a bit, making sure that we all were carrying silver knives, adding grenades, that sort of thing.
Leon and his friends had finally come through with information on where Angelus' crew had been holing up. They were on the north side of town, in a warehouse. It's always a warehouse. According to Leon, the scuttlebutt was that Angelus didn't return last night, and the vampires that were still hanging around the place were getting nervous. Gee, I wonder what in the world might have delayed him? It didn't matter that he wasn't there. We'd still hit the place, but first, we needed to make a few stops.
On the outskirts of town, was the cave where the clan of Shegouls were living. The Shegouls that attacked my home, attacked Dawn, and gave her to Angelus. My informants had told me that there were two entrances, but I sent my men around the hills, scouting for other routes out of the caverns. We found three. It didn't take much to get my revenge. A few grenades tossed inside each hole, a boom, and then gravity and falling rocks did the rest.
The next stop was the building that the Fyarls who survived the attack on the Riley's soldiers were currently occupying. It was, to put it plainly, a hovel. There weren't very many of them left, but they fought well.
I sent the others off for a late lunch and a rest while I made a stop at the Hell Pit, Angelus' recruiting grounds. Two hours later, we met up again at the workshop and headed for the warehouse. We weren't expected. No one was even guarding the perimeter. The vampires that Angelus had deemed not worth taking with him the previous night were dusted, almost before they knew what was happening.
Afterwards, I dismissed the men. I thanked them, told them to consider the silver knives and any weapons that I might've loaned them as gifts, and then reminded them to forget that they'd ever met me. Most just gave me a silent nod or a pat on the back before walking out of the warehouse and into the fading sunlight. Holcomb was the last to go. I assured him that I would be fine. He didn't believe me. I explained that this was something I had to do myself. That he understood. With a last glance at me, he left, shutting the door behind him.
I found a chair and sat down to wait for Angelus. I didn't have to wait long.
- - - - - -
A slight shifting in the air was my only warning that I was no longer alone in the warehouse. I leapt to my feet and spun around, finding Angelus less than five yards from me. Although he was limping and obviously still in pain, he'd almost managed to sneak up on me. My heart was pounding and he knew it.
"Xander, what a nice surprise. Now my friends and I don't have to hunt you down…and tear you apart."
He called out to his friends, but no one came. No one answered. At first, he was puzzled. I could tell by the way he kept searching the corners of the warehouse, trying to detect his cronies. Then he looked at me…really looked at me.
"They're dead, aren't they?"
"Yep. Roasting in hell even as we speak."
"Now what, Xander? Are you going to kill me, too?"
I shrugged.
"Thought about it. Planned on doing it. Heck, I wanted to kill you even when you were supposed to be good. But there are people in this world who hope that somehow they can help you. That they'll get Angel back."
Angelus began to laugh in derision.
"That's never going to happen."
"I don't think it will, either. But I made a promise that I'd give you a chance to leave town."
"And you expect me to scurry off? Xander, Xander, Xander…when will you ever learn?"
"I have learned. See, I've decided to take a page out of your book, Angelus. I'm not going to kill you. But I will kill everyone around you. This," I swept my hand around to indicate the empty building, "was just the beginning. Today I was a busy little carpenter. The Hell Pit, where you recruited most of your followers…gone. Seems they had a wiring problem and a fire broke out. The Shegoul demon clan, where you went for help against me and mine…also gone. The Fyarls…gone.
He stared at me and shook his head.
"No. You wouldn't do that. You're not capable of that."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of. But the vamps in this town…they know. At least, the ones that are still around do. Everywhere you've gone, Angelus, every creature you've been in league with, I've destroyed. And I'm making sure that the news is spreading, too. You've become a walking plague."
He started to speak, then stopped, glaring at me. Angelus clenched his jaw, as I continued.
"Do me a favor…don't believe me. Go to a demon bar and see how welcome you are. I made a promise that I wouldn't kill you. I never promised that I wouldn't convince anyone else to do it," I hissed.
Angelus knew that the demon community was out for his blood. He was badly injured, nursing broken bones, a long gash in his back, hopefully courtesy of the enthralled yellow demon, and incredible burns. It didn't seem to matter to him. He was completely focused on me and he seemed frustrated. And pissed.
"Damn it, Xander, you're screwing up again! You're not supposed to let me go."
Then I saw it. I'd seen that look in my own eyes for years, whenever I'd gone into the bathroom and made the mistake of looking into the mirror. I suddenly understood. Angelus hadn't come back for Drusilla. It'd all been some sort of elaborate ruse. He'd come back because of me. I'd acquired a bit of a reputation and he must've decided that I might be good enough to pull it off. That I might be good enough to kill him.
"Angel?" I whispered.
He reared back as if I'd struck him. For a moment, I saw something unidentifiable flicker over his face before a smirk settled in its place.
"You're a fool, Xander. You've always been a fool. This isn't over. Don't think for one moment that this is over. I'll be back."
With a swirl of that stupid billowy coat of his, he disappeared into the night. I'd still be on alert for the next few days, still pump my sources for any information about him, but it was over…for now. I knew, though, that someday he'd make good on his threat and return. I only hoped that when that happened, no one I loved died.
TBC
