Blood Tears 17 - Willy Meet Ripper
"Bloody hell." Giles stumbled over the bar's threshold, his eyes widening in shock at the chaos that met them.
Three different colours of blood were splattered on the bar's walls, floor and even the ceiling. The jukebox had been thrown from one end of the bar to the other, while the pool table had been broken into two roughly halves and smashed chairs and tables lay scattered across the blood stained floor. Glancing at the liquor cabinet behind the bar, Giles saw that less than a third of the bottles remained unbroken.
On the floor there lay the bodies of half a dozen demons as well as around ten tell-tale dust piles. And on the only remaining standing table there lay Willy, pinned there by Faith's hand around his throat, his face turning blue from a lack of air. "Where's Angelus!" shrieked the vampiress, her eyes gleaming golden. "Tell me where he is!"
"Buffy, Kendra! Get Faith off him," Giles ordered.
Once the enraged vampiress had been dragged off the whimpering and gasping bar owner, Giles strode over to the table and shoved the unfortunate man back down on it. "Have you seen you what she's done to the place, killed my clientele, wrecked my furnishings, -."
"Do you think I give a damn about your little fleapit?" Giles broke in coldly. "What I want from you is answers. Where is Angelus?"
"How much?" the all too familiar greed was back in the bar owner's eyes.
His fist smashed into Willy's face, breaking his nose and sending the bartender rolling off the edge of the table, falling to the floor. Ignoring the gang's shocked gasp, he brought his foot down hard on Willy's left hand, breaking fingers, before clutching hold of a handful of the screaming bartender's hair. After pulling the man's head up, the Watcher savagely drove his head back down onto the hard floor before grabbing a broken beer bottle off the floor and waving the jagged end in the bartender's face. "Not tonight Willy," Giles warned coldly. "One of our group is missing and I have neither the patience nor the inclination to haggle with you. Where is Angelus' base? Or," the Watcher moved the jagged end to the space between the bartender's bulging eyes. "Or which eye do you want to lose first, left or right? Two questions, decide which to answer."
"Giles -."
"Quiet Buffy!" the Watcher roared. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt your elders when they're conversing. Clock's ticking Willy?"
"I don't know much," Willy shrieked when he allowed the bottle's jagged edge to gently brush the bar owner's skin. "Just that three weeks ago Angelus' gang started moving out of Sunnydale. Word is they've forted up outside of town."
"Damn it," Giles muttered as he released his grip on the bartender and stood. What Willy had said made sense. Around three weeks ago, vampire activity had dropped off considerably. At the time he'd put it down to having two Slayers and an ensoulled vampiress on staff. Now it took on an altogether more ominous face.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Watcher saw Faith effortlessly throw off Kendra and Buffy before beginning to stride towards him, her gaze intent on the cringing bar owner at his feet. The Englishman swallowed hard before stepping into the vampiress' path. "No Faith."
The vampiress growled menacingly. "Your Slayers couldn't stop me, what makes you think can stop me from ripping his lungs out?"
"Because," Giles forced himself to meet the vampiress' cold gaze. "Xander wouldn't want it."
To his surprise the vampiress looked away first. "Fine," she muttered. "Then I'll find Angelus myself."
"I think not," Giles glanced towards the bar entrance. "Jenny! Oz!"
On his shout, the techno-pagan and the werewolf stepped forward and fired tranquiliser darts into the vampiress. Her eyes flaming with anger, Faith lunged at him, only to fall at his feet. After sighing in relief, he'd been far from sure that the darts would work, Giles crouched over the unconscious vampiress. "I'm terribly sorry Faith, but Xander wouldn't want you losing your life in a pointless suicide mission either."
Standing, the Watcher glanced at the two Slayers. He'd been shaken when Faith had broken free of the duo, whenever they'd sparred, either of the Slayers had appeared roughly equal to the vampiress in power. But just moments earlier, she'd thrown them both off effortlessly. "Kendra, Buffy. Please carry Faith to the van."
"So Giles, about my overdue books? You are still just fining and not beating students?"
"Yes, very amusing Oz. Now let's get back to the library."
* * *
Angelus glared at the crumpled body at his feet in disgust. The torture session was not progressing as he'd hoped. The vampire crouched and lifted the boy's head by his hair. The boy screamed when hurt, but there was no fear or hatred in him for his demon to feed off, he was just an empty shell. The Master vampire realised he'd made a critical error. By revealing the boy's resemblance to Faith's dead brother, he'd broken the boy's spirit. Now the youth didn't care enough about what happened to him. He should have saved the information until later, for a final crushing blow.
There were things he could do to make the boy beg, but they would cause permanent damage and he needed the boy fit for the next part of his plan. Angelus glanced across at a watching Darla. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he hid a smile. After one of her disciplining sessions, Darla was always wonderfully submissive. "Come here."
Her gaze fixed firmly on the ground, the blonde hurried over his side. "Yes sire."
Angelus choose to run his hand through his childe's golden locks for a few seconds before replying, savouring both the silky softness of her hair and her nervous anticipation. "How did the boy react when you had your fun with him?"
"Sire?"
"Answer me," Angelus grabbed a handful of the blonde's hair and pulled, making her yelp in pain. "Otherwise."
The vampiress swallowed. "He didn't react at first, just took it," she smiled. "But soon he was sobbing and begging me to stop."
Smiling proudly, Angelus ran his finger down the blonde's cheek. "It's his fault you had to be punished. It's time you got your revenge," he laughed at the sudden eagerness in his childe's face. "But Darla, I want to hear him beg."
The blonde vampiress nodded dutifully before walking over to the crumpled body and kneeling beside it. Angelus smiled as he watched the boy's face pale as the childe began to stroke the youth's face and whisper in his ear. Whatever else she was, Darla was an expert in pain. Maybe he'd give her the boy as a play-thing after he'd turned him. And if he managed to kill Faith.
* * *
"Right Willow, what we need to do is a search for an increase in unexplained deaths in any near-by towns," said Giles. "Only in Sunnydale would the arrival of such a large group of vampires go unnoticed. There has to be something - newspaper reports, coroner's records or law enforcement bulletins."
The Wicca nodded, obviously eager to do something to aid her oldest friend. "I'll get right on it. Jonathan, you hack too don't you?"
The newest addition to his team nodded. "I'll get onto the coroner offices."
"Don't bother."
"Why not?" Giles turned to the vampiress. Since her awakening Faith had been subdued, almost defeated. "We've got to do something."
"No matter how useless it is? Madrid 1742, Rome 1744, Paris 1747, and London 1749. Our great European tour," the vampiress paused, clearly lost in visceral memories. "In each city, we angered the local population so much that we had to go to ground for weeks at a time. To avoid being noticed we killed only vagrant, burying their bodies after we'd fed. It's my guess that Angelus will the same now - the homeless, hitchhikers, anybody who won't be missed too quickly. If he needs extra he'll supplement by stealing or buying from a butchers or slaughterhouse."
"Damn it," Giles groaned.
"Can't you track Angelus, with him being your sire?" Cordelia suggested her eyes filled with desperation.
"I can sense the average vampire at a distance of maybe 100 metres, my sire from three to four times that, but if they've left the city.."
"What makes her different?"
"Excuse me?" Giles turned to a nervous-looking Jonathan.
"Faith's a good vampire right? If they're trying to make him into one of them, why don't we just turn him good like her?"
Faith's chair flew backwards as she leapt to her feet. Her demonic face showing, the vampiress let out an angry howl. "He'll have still been killed you little fool! He'll still never be able to walk in sunlight again! He'll still live to see everybody he's ever loved die! He'll still wear this face and carry a demon inside his body!"
"Faith, calm down!" Giles stepped between the raging vampiress and the trembling boy. "Jonathan's idea has some merit as a last resort."
"I can't believe -."
"Buffy! Now is not the bloody time! Having our friend on our side instead of a murderous rampage would be an improvement, however slight. Faith, would you be able to tell when Xander was turned?"
The vampiress hesitated before nodding slowly. "It depends, assuming that Angelus does the turning himself yes. But if another vampire other than my sire does it no."
Giles digested that piece of information. "This is what we're going to do. Willow, Jonathan, carry out the searches I requested in case Angelus has turned sloppy. Try one for blood-bank robberies too. Buffy, you take Faith and Kendra and search Sunnydale in case Willy was lying or misinformed. The rest of you check out the armoury, I somehow think we might have unwelcome visitors. I'll look over the curse and its translation."
"Bloody hell." Giles stumbled over the bar's threshold, his eyes widening in shock at the chaos that met them.
Three different colours of blood were splattered on the bar's walls, floor and even the ceiling. The jukebox had been thrown from one end of the bar to the other, while the pool table had been broken into two roughly halves and smashed chairs and tables lay scattered across the blood stained floor. Glancing at the liquor cabinet behind the bar, Giles saw that less than a third of the bottles remained unbroken.
On the floor there lay the bodies of half a dozen demons as well as around ten tell-tale dust piles. And on the only remaining standing table there lay Willy, pinned there by Faith's hand around his throat, his face turning blue from a lack of air. "Where's Angelus!" shrieked the vampiress, her eyes gleaming golden. "Tell me where he is!"
"Buffy, Kendra! Get Faith off him," Giles ordered.
Once the enraged vampiress had been dragged off the whimpering and gasping bar owner, Giles strode over to the table and shoved the unfortunate man back down on it. "Have you seen you what she's done to the place, killed my clientele, wrecked my furnishings, -."
"Do you think I give a damn about your little fleapit?" Giles broke in coldly. "What I want from you is answers. Where is Angelus?"
"How much?" the all too familiar greed was back in the bar owner's eyes.
His fist smashed into Willy's face, breaking his nose and sending the bartender rolling off the edge of the table, falling to the floor. Ignoring the gang's shocked gasp, he brought his foot down hard on Willy's left hand, breaking fingers, before clutching hold of a handful of the screaming bartender's hair. After pulling the man's head up, the Watcher savagely drove his head back down onto the hard floor before grabbing a broken beer bottle off the floor and waving the jagged end in the bartender's face. "Not tonight Willy," Giles warned coldly. "One of our group is missing and I have neither the patience nor the inclination to haggle with you. Where is Angelus' base? Or," the Watcher moved the jagged end to the space between the bartender's bulging eyes. "Or which eye do you want to lose first, left or right? Two questions, decide which to answer."
"Giles -."
"Quiet Buffy!" the Watcher roared. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt your elders when they're conversing. Clock's ticking Willy?"
"I don't know much," Willy shrieked when he allowed the bottle's jagged edge to gently brush the bar owner's skin. "Just that three weeks ago Angelus' gang started moving out of Sunnydale. Word is they've forted up outside of town."
"Damn it," Giles muttered as he released his grip on the bartender and stood. What Willy had said made sense. Around three weeks ago, vampire activity had dropped off considerably. At the time he'd put it down to having two Slayers and an ensoulled vampiress on staff. Now it took on an altogether more ominous face.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Watcher saw Faith effortlessly throw off Kendra and Buffy before beginning to stride towards him, her gaze intent on the cringing bar owner at his feet. The Englishman swallowed hard before stepping into the vampiress' path. "No Faith."
The vampiress growled menacingly. "Your Slayers couldn't stop me, what makes you think can stop me from ripping his lungs out?"
"Because," Giles forced himself to meet the vampiress' cold gaze. "Xander wouldn't want it."
To his surprise the vampiress looked away first. "Fine," she muttered. "Then I'll find Angelus myself."
"I think not," Giles glanced towards the bar entrance. "Jenny! Oz!"
On his shout, the techno-pagan and the werewolf stepped forward and fired tranquiliser darts into the vampiress. Her eyes flaming with anger, Faith lunged at him, only to fall at his feet. After sighing in relief, he'd been far from sure that the darts would work, Giles crouched over the unconscious vampiress. "I'm terribly sorry Faith, but Xander wouldn't want you losing your life in a pointless suicide mission either."
Standing, the Watcher glanced at the two Slayers. He'd been shaken when Faith had broken free of the duo, whenever they'd sparred, either of the Slayers had appeared roughly equal to the vampiress in power. But just moments earlier, she'd thrown them both off effortlessly. "Kendra, Buffy. Please carry Faith to the van."
"So Giles, about my overdue books? You are still just fining and not beating students?"
"Yes, very amusing Oz. Now let's get back to the library."
* * *
Angelus glared at the crumpled body at his feet in disgust. The torture session was not progressing as he'd hoped. The vampire crouched and lifted the boy's head by his hair. The boy screamed when hurt, but there was no fear or hatred in him for his demon to feed off, he was just an empty shell. The Master vampire realised he'd made a critical error. By revealing the boy's resemblance to Faith's dead brother, he'd broken the boy's spirit. Now the youth didn't care enough about what happened to him. He should have saved the information until later, for a final crushing blow.
There were things he could do to make the boy beg, but they would cause permanent damage and he needed the boy fit for the next part of his plan. Angelus glanced across at a watching Darla. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he hid a smile. After one of her disciplining sessions, Darla was always wonderfully submissive. "Come here."
Her gaze fixed firmly on the ground, the blonde hurried over his side. "Yes sire."
Angelus choose to run his hand through his childe's golden locks for a few seconds before replying, savouring both the silky softness of her hair and her nervous anticipation. "How did the boy react when you had your fun with him?"
"Sire?"
"Answer me," Angelus grabbed a handful of the blonde's hair and pulled, making her yelp in pain. "Otherwise."
The vampiress swallowed. "He didn't react at first, just took it," she smiled. "But soon he was sobbing and begging me to stop."
Smiling proudly, Angelus ran his finger down the blonde's cheek. "It's his fault you had to be punished. It's time you got your revenge," he laughed at the sudden eagerness in his childe's face. "But Darla, I want to hear him beg."
The blonde vampiress nodded dutifully before walking over to the crumpled body and kneeling beside it. Angelus smiled as he watched the boy's face pale as the childe began to stroke the youth's face and whisper in his ear. Whatever else she was, Darla was an expert in pain. Maybe he'd give her the boy as a play-thing after he'd turned him. And if he managed to kill Faith.
* * *
"Right Willow, what we need to do is a search for an increase in unexplained deaths in any near-by towns," said Giles. "Only in Sunnydale would the arrival of such a large group of vampires go unnoticed. There has to be something - newspaper reports, coroner's records or law enforcement bulletins."
The Wicca nodded, obviously eager to do something to aid her oldest friend. "I'll get right on it. Jonathan, you hack too don't you?"
The newest addition to his team nodded. "I'll get onto the coroner offices."
"Don't bother."
"Why not?" Giles turned to the vampiress. Since her awakening Faith had been subdued, almost defeated. "We've got to do something."
"No matter how useless it is? Madrid 1742, Rome 1744, Paris 1747, and London 1749. Our great European tour," the vampiress paused, clearly lost in visceral memories. "In each city, we angered the local population so much that we had to go to ground for weeks at a time. To avoid being noticed we killed only vagrant, burying their bodies after we'd fed. It's my guess that Angelus will the same now - the homeless, hitchhikers, anybody who won't be missed too quickly. If he needs extra he'll supplement by stealing or buying from a butchers or slaughterhouse."
"Damn it," Giles groaned.
"Can't you track Angelus, with him being your sire?" Cordelia suggested her eyes filled with desperation.
"I can sense the average vampire at a distance of maybe 100 metres, my sire from three to four times that, but if they've left the city.."
"What makes her different?"
"Excuse me?" Giles turned to a nervous-looking Jonathan.
"Faith's a good vampire right? If they're trying to make him into one of them, why don't we just turn him good like her?"
Faith's chair flew backwards as she leapt to her feet. Her demonic face showing, the vampiress let out an angry howl. "He'll have still been killed you little fool! He'll still never be able to walk in sunlight again! He'll still live to see everybody he's ever loved die! He'll still wear this face and carry a demon inside his body!"
"Faith, calm down!" Giles stepped between the raging vampiress and the trembling boy. "Jonathan's idea has some merit as a last resort."
"I can't believe -."
"Buffy! Now is not the bloody time! Having our friend on our side instead of a murderous rampage would be an improvement, however slight. Faith, would you be able to tell when Xander was turned?"
The vampiress hesitated before nodding slowly. "It depends, assuming that Angelus does the turning himself yes. But if another vampire other than my sire does it no."
Giles digested that piece of information. "This is what we're going to do. Willow, Jonathan, carry out the searches I requested in case Angelus has turned sloppy. Try one for blood-bank robberies too. Buffy, you take Faith and Kendra and search Sunnydale in case Willy was lying or misinformed. The rest of you check out the armoury, I somehow think we might have unwelcome visitors. I'll look over the curse and its translation."