FOOLS FOR LIFE
CHAPTER 7: SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT...
"So..."
"So."
Spike crossed his legs down at the ankles and looked casual as he hung back in his chair. Halfrek leant on her elbows with her fingers entwined under her face.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Her sweetly-polite tone was in full working mode.
"'s Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. You often hang around Willie's to catch the brawl of the evening? Don't seem like a proper hobby for a lady."
Halfrek smiled and puckered her lips ever so slightly.
"No can't say that I do. Awful place, and that Willie person wouldn't know what a clean glass was if he tripped over it."
Spike gave a little sarcastic smirk. Sounded like Cecily alright. "Yeah, 's just my complaint of the place too. So why you hanging around then?"
"Perhaps I was just....curious. Maybe I wanted to see if it was really you. I almost hadn't recognized you." She paused and then added. "William."
Spike shifted in his seat. This made him more uncomfortable than he thought. No, don't give her the satisfaction.
"'William' was a long time ago, pet. Name's Spike. I'm sure you know what I mean, seeing how you're not going through life as 'Cecily the Vengeance Demon'." He grinned mischievously. "Does Anya know that's your real name? Just wondering."
Halfrek's turn to shift in her seat. She adjusted her hair for a moment and forced her smile again. "For your information, Cecily is a perfectly fine name of class and high standard. And if you tell Anyanka, I'll curse you with a Gnarl demon's nose!"
Spike grinned widely now. "Well, luv we both know you need someone to WISH that on me, and judging from this sad bunch here, I don't think your chances are too great."
"Besides," he added "I'm told the ladies seem to fancy those noses for some reason..."
Halfrek was taken aback by that for a moment and almost blushed. She composed herself and sipped her drink.
"Well, you certainly have changed. I know it's been a long time, so it's to be expected but still...the man I knew didn't exactly talk like that."
"Man you knew's long gone, luv. Found a better life. A better way to be. It's all been a gas since." He leant back even further and put his hands behind his head.
"Yes, how did that come about? I mean with what I've learned it didn't take a genius to figure out that the infamous vampire 'William the Bloody' who killed two slayers, was the same as....an old friend."
'That what we were then?' Spike thought to himself, but said nothing.
"Tell me, do your friends know the truth about that name?" she coyly added.
Spike's jaws clenched for a moment as the memory of 'William the Bloody Awful Poet' floated up and he just grunted. "What, the Slayer's bunch? No friends of mine luv."
She smiled. "Well, you keep MY secret....."
Spike wondered for a second what Buffy would think about that if she knew.
"Anyway," Halfrek went on, "what I'm really wondering about....well, you remember, around the time we.....last saw each other, there had been disappearances all over town? Everyone was talking about it.
"Yeah, I remember. Ran into the 'disappearers'. Joined up actually." he said almost proudly.
Halfrek nodded. "Yes, so it was a band of vampires then. You disappeared too. And then I left for France and when I got back, Clancy was gone as well, except...."
Spike couldn't help but grin with deep satisfaction at the sound of that name. "Except he didn't disappear for too long?"
She gave him a meaningful look. "No. He didn't. He was found at the railroad tracks....."
Spike interrupted again. "Yeah I heard that too. Oddest thing, he seemed to've gotten kind of...attached to the place. Wouldn't have figured him for that, what with him being so upper class an'all. Maybe he was looking to meet some strapping lads from the rail road work crew. Always did strike me as a bit of a poofter."
Halfrek rested her chin on the back of her hand. "Yes, or perhaps it was because he was attached to the place with a rail road spike through his head."
Spike leant back again, oozing glee and satisfaction.
"Of course," she continued, "everyone assumed he'd been the victim of the same thing as the other disappearances. But I remembered he had said something, the last time I saw him...and you, at the party. Something about your poetry, how he'd rather have a railroad spike through his head than listen to it."
Spike shrugged. "Yeah well, let's just say that he changed his mind later on. Believe he was actually begging to hear 'couple more verses. Fickle fella as an art critic."
Halfrek smiled. Genuinely smiled. Like they were on a date and he'd just told her how he'd earned his first million. She seemed to actually appreciate that one. Of course she WAS a vengeance demon now. Would be the kind of thing she would like.
She continued. "You know, after he was found and I remembered him saying that at the party. And well, with your disappearance after that... I...well, no one else did, but I wondered if you hadn't been killed, but rather..."
"Turned killer?" He gave a little scoff. "Sure, poor little William gets a boo boo cuz little Cecily didn't want to hold hands, so he probably went nuts and turned into Jack the Bloody Ripper. That it? You think a little too much of yerself, luv."
It was the first time her rejection of him had come up. Her eyes changed slightly but her smile stayed on as Spike continued.
"I turned VAMPIRE, is what I did. No choice of my own, could have happened any other bloody day of the week. Had nothing to do with you or the rest of that bunch of."
"And yet," she interrupted softly "the first thing you did, after you became a vampire...."
Spike paused momentarily...and took a gulp from his drink. "Was visit 'ole Clancy. Yeah, well.....I was a fledgling. Don't apologize for that. Can't begrudge a fella a first kill that has a little extra spice to it."
"And did it?" She asked.
"What?"
She smiled a sardonic smile that got to Spike a little in spite of himself. "Did it have the little extra spice to it?"
Spike's only answer was a grin that made hers look like a girl scout's.
Halfrek signaled the waitress for more drinks and Spike noticed how that had actually felt good. To discuss that with her. He'd never been able to tell anyone about that kill. Well, no one that it would have meant anything to. For Dru or Angelus, it was just another night, another kill. Although Dru had been very sweet in appreciating his fledgling attempt. One of her clearer moments. But Cecily had known the bugger. It had context. And her being a demon spending her days filling the world with revenge kinda helped make her an appreciative audience.
The waitress brought new drinks, and Halfrek picked up her glass and took a sip. She held it up and tapped it with her fingernails. "You know," she said, "I always hated that stupid twit."
At that, Spike couldn't suppress a chuckle. He leant forward on the table and spoke in a low voice. "Yeah well, I suppose I gotta admit I DID plan to pay you a little visit as well, luv."
When he spoke her eyes actually lit up as she held her glass with both hands.
"Really." She said.
"Oh yeah, probably would have too, if you hadn't been so inconveniently out of the country."
"And what would you have done with me then, William the Bloody?"
No mistaking it now, she actually sounded excited at the notion of a vampire seeking revenge knocking on her old self's door.
"Would it have been... spicy?"
Bloody hell.
Looks like he hadn't been the only one with unexplored depths back then.
TBC!
Now, do your R&R duty...
CHAPTER 7: SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT...
"So..."
"So."
Spike crossed his legs down at the ankles and looked casual as he hung back in his chair. Halfrek leant on her elbows with her fingers entwined under her face.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Her sweetly-polite tone was in full working mode.
"'s Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. You often hang around Willie's to catch the brawl of the evening? Don't seem like a proper hobby for a lady."
Halfrek smiled and puckered her lips ever so slightly.
"No can't say that I do. Awful place, and that Willie person wouldn't know what a clean glass was if he tripped over it."
Spike gave a little sarcastic smirk. Sounded like Cecily alright. "Yeah, 's just my complaint of the place too. So why you hanging around then?"
"Perhaps I was just....curious. Maybe I wanted to see if it was really you. I almost hadn't recognized you." She paused and then added. "William."
Spike shifted in his seat. This made him more uncomfortable than he thought. No, don't give her the satisfaction.
"'William' was a long time ago, pet. Name's Spike. I'm sure you know what I mean, seeing how you're not going through life as 'Cecily the Vengeance Demon'." He grinned mischievously. "Does Anya know that's your real name? Just wondering."
Halfrek's turn to shift in her seat. She adjusted her hair for a moment and forced her smile again. "For your information, Cecily is a perfectly fine name of class and high standard. And if you tell Anyanka, I'll curse you with a Gnarl demon's nose!"
Spike grinned widely now. "Well, luv we both know you need someone to WISH that on me, and judging from this sad bunch here, I don't think your chances are too great."
"Besides," he added "I'm told the ladies seem to fancy those noses for some reason..."
Halfrek was taken aback by that for a moment and almost blushed. She composed herself and sipped her drink.
"Well, you certainly have changed. I know it's been a long time, so it's to be expected but still...the man I knew didn't exactly talk like that."
"Man you knew's long gone, luv. Found a better life. A better way to be. It's all been a gas since." He leant back even further and put his hands behind his head.
"Yes, how did that come about? I mean with what I've learned it didn't take a genius to figure out that the infamous vampire 'William the Bloody' who killed two slayers, was the same as....an old friend."
'That what we were then?' Spike thought to himself, but said nothing.
"Tell me, do your friends know the truth about that name?" she coyly added.
Spike's jaws clenched for a moment as the memory of 'William the Bloody Awful Poet' floated up and he just grunted. "What, the Slayer's bunch? No friends of mine luv."
She smiled. "Well, you keep MY secret....."
Spike wondered for a second what Buffy would think about that if she knew.
"Anyway," Halfrek went on, "what I'm really wondering about....well, you remember, around the time we.....last saw each other, there had been disappearances all over town? Everyone was talking about it.
"Yeah, I remember. Ran into the 'disappearers'. Joined up actually." he said almost proudly.
Halfrek nodded. "Yes, so it was a band of vampires then. You disappeared too. And then I left for France and when I got back, Clancy was gone as well, except...."
Spike couldn't help but grin with deep satisfaction at the sound of that name. "Except he didn't disappear for too long?"
She gave him a meaningful look. "No. He didn't. He was found at the railroad tracks....."
Spike interrupted again. "Yeah I heard that too. Oddest thing, he seemed to've gotten kind of...attached to the place. Wouldn't have figured him for that, what with him being so upper class an'all. Maybe he was looking to meet some strapping lads from the rail road work crew. Always did strike me as a bit of a poofter."
Halfrek rested her chin on the back of her hand. "Yes, or perhaps it was because he was attached to the place with a rail road spike through his head."
Spike leant back again, oozing glee and satisfaction.
"Of course," she continued, "everyone assumed he'd been the victim of the same thing as the other disappearances. But I remembered he had said something, the last time I saw him...and you, at the party. Something about your poetry, how he'd rather have a railroad spike through his head than listen to it."
Spike shrugged. "Yeah well, let's just say that he changed his mind later on. Believe he was actually begging to hear 'couple more verses. Fickle fella as an art critic."
Halfrek smiled. Genuinely smiled. Like they were on a date and he'd just told her how he'd earned his first million. She seemed to actually appreciate that one. Of course she WAS a vengeance demon now. Would be the kind of thing she would like.
She continued. "You know, after he was found and I remembered him saying that at the party. And well, with your disappearance after that... I...well, no one else did, but I wondered if you hadn't been killed, but rather..."
"Turned killer?" He gave a little scoff. "Sure, poor little William gets a boo boo cuz little Cecily didn't want to hold hands, so he probably went nuts and turned into Jack the Bloody Ripper. That it? You think a little too much of yerself, luv."
It was the first time her rejection of him had come up. Her eyes changed slightly but her smile stayed on as Spike continued.
"I turned VAMPIRE, is what I did. No choice of my own, could have happened any other bloody day of the week. Had nothing to do with you or the rest of that bunch of."
"And yet," she interrupted softly "the first thing you did, after you became a vampire...."
Spike paused momentarily...and took a gulp from his drink. "Was visit 'ole Clancy. Yeah, well.....I was a fledgling. Don't apologize for that. Can't begrudge a fella a first kill that has a little extra spice to it."
"And did it?" She asked.
"What?"
She smiled a sardonic smile that got to Spike a little in spite of himself. "Did it have the little extra spice to it?"
Spike's only answer was a grin that made hers look like a girl scout's.
Halfrek signaled the waitress for more drinks and Spike noticed how that had actually felt good. To discuss that with her. He'd never been able to tell anyone about that kill. Well, no one that it would have meant anything to. For Dru or Angelus, it was just another night, another kill. Although Dru had been very sweet in appreciating his fledgling attempt. One of her clearer moments. But Cecily had known the bugger. It had context. And her being a demon spending her days filling the world with revenge kinda helped make her an appreciative audience.
The waitress brought new drinks, and Halfrek picked up her glass and took a sip. She held it up and tapped it with her fingernails. "You know," she said, "I always hated that stupid twit."
At that, Spike couldn't suppress a chuckle. He leant forward on the table and spoke in a low voice. "Yeah well, I suppose I gotta admit I DID plan to pay you a little visit as well, luv."
When he spoke her eyes actually lit up as she held her glass with both hands.
"Really." She said.
"Oh yeah, probably would have too, if you hadn't been so inconveniently out of the country."
"And what would you have done with me then, William the Bloody?"
No mistaking it now, she actually sounded excited at the notion of a vampire seeking revenge knocking on her old self's door.
"Would it have been... spicy?"
Bloody hell.
Looks like he hadn't been the only one with unexplored depths back then.
TBC!
Now, do your R&R duty...
