*** It was raining. Big surprise. But staying in the rain was preferable
to staying in that house. Not that he had much choice in the matter. His
father had made it clear that he was no longer welcome. He rubbed his jaw
gingerly, already feeling the swelling. His back would be stiff and sore in
the morning as well. But the memory of his sister running to his defense
brought a smile to his busted lips. She was a dear child.
Night had come. Hhe found it oddly comforting as if he could hide from
everything, from his responsibilities, from the lauding stares of the
townspeople at the "insolent braggart" as the elder population knew him;
from his feelings for Claire, from his Father, mostly from himself.
Wandering through the dark deserted town, he made his way into the woods.
There was an old hermit's cabin somewhere in here, perhaps he would stay
there the night. A shallow scream reached his ears. Whirling around,
nothing greeted him but the dark mist and scraggly trees.
A gurgling sound came from his right, it sounded like someone was fighting
but he couldn't see anything.
"Liam!!" A shrill voice begged.
Turning and turning, searching, he strained his eyes but could see nothing. He thought he saw a shadow moving but then a shadow moved towards his right. The whole forest was alive with specters and ghosts. A sharp wail rose then was cut off abruptly. Racing toward the sound, Liam couldn't dodge all the underbrush. The ground was damp and muddy as his face made violent contact with it. As conscious left him, dark figures filled his vision.
Liam woke up to darkness and in no little amount of pain. Groaning, he staggered to his feet trying to recall what had happened. Was he drunk again? The pounding in his head made it clear he was sober. After a hard moments thinking, Liam remembered what had happened. Claire..his father..the scream...the..the..had he truly seen what he thought. No, he dismissed the notion. Such monsters were stories to scare small children but the scream.a sound he could never forget. He began to pick his way back to town when he saw it. A yellow cloth crumpled on the ground. It was covering something. Was that an arm?! Pushing down his spooks, Angelus removed the cloth. Greeting him was a horrid sight of nightmares. A piece of hell for Liam alone. Claire's sightless eyes stared up at him, dried blood along her neck led to a sticky puddle on the ground. Liam wailed. With all that was in him, he screamed. Seizing her body and holding it tight, he shook her: cursing her for dying in the same breath he vowed his loved.. He sat in the forest until a fine mist began to fall, chilling him. The dainty raindrops fell on his beloved Claire's cheek. Liam pretended she had begun to cry, that she was telling him of her sorrow, that she was sorry for what she'd done. He wiped the "tears" away. Gently, he lifted her frail body to carry back to town. He was greeted at the edge of town who had heard the screaming. Superstitious to a fault, they were waiting, albeit impatiently, for dawn before entering the forest. Seeing a devastated Liam emerge holding Claire's lifeless form reduced the men also to tears. As one left to summon the girl's father, the other's tried to relieve the broken-hearted boy of her body but he refused.
A hand on his shoulder startled Liam out of a tired stupor. It was his Father, trying to offer some mercy to his grieving son. In his haze, Liam overheard his father arguing with Claire's father. The man didn't want his daughter's murderer at her funeral. He had no place here. Was his father actually defending him?! Angel was in too much pain to process this. He hadn't murdered Claire, he told himself. He Hadn't!
"Come, son. It's time."
"I didn't kill her!" Liam said.
"I know son." But Liam ignored him. He repeated it over and over as they walked together to a large gathering of people at the cemetery. Through it all, he watched with clouded eyes. He felt disconnected, surreal. It wasn't happening! But as her Father threw the dirt on Claire's coffin, Liam felt his heart shatter, knowing the truth. She had died angry and betrayed. Now he could never tell her the truth. Feeling a violent need to wretch, he turned and ran from the funeral.***
"Come now Liam! We can be together you and I! As it was meant to be. As it should have been!" Claire pleaded.
It was clear what had happened now. Being then unfamiliar with the work of vampires, Liam had thought his love dead when she had, ironically, become un-dead. Claire leaned close to Angel.
"Tell me Liam, not one more moment must pass between us, for years I have yearned to know. Did you love me?"
Angel had lived almost three hundred years without his physical heart beating. But he felt it stirring. It's remnant quaking. A young, blonde girl in a city so close yet so far away had showed him what love was once. It had cost them both dearly but Angel would never forget that moment when he had come as close to feeling blood pulse through his veins. Now he felt the echo of that heart inside him, remembered as their days together were but yesterday and he remembered what heart-felt love had been.
"Yes." He whispered. "I cried at your funeral .I loathed myself until my...my own changing."
Claire smiled deeply. "You did." She asked breathed.
"Very much."
"I looked for you." She told him softly.
*** Dirt clogged her throat, filled her nose, and burned her eyes. She tried to claw through it, make her way to the surface. What had happened to her? She choked down her fear as she clawed frantically through the dirt. Finally, she felt her hand break free and a soft breeze licked her fingers. Dragging her way to the top, she lamented the sad shape of her once beautiful dress. Where was she? How'd she get here? Was this Liam's work? To torture her more? It was nightime and no one was about. She bit back a gasp as she saw the tombstones around her. She was in the cemetery! A scream rose to her throat but was swallowed when she saw her sire's face gazing at her. Suddenly, she remembered it all. She had been crying hysterically in the field outside her house.
"You're troubled." A gentle voice said.
Startled she looked up. A handsome man was standing above her. "Who are you?"
She could tell by his very manner that he was not from around here. The man introduced himself as Gwain. He soothed her for a moment, offering comfort and understanding. She gave her broken heart to him and he mended it for her.
"Would you like to take a walk, Clara-sweet?
It was a charming pet-name that Claire instantly liked. Liam never called her his sweet. Liam never called her anything but young and naïve. She accepted his offer and they walked and talked, easing Claire's troubles.
"It's dark, We should head back before me Father comes a looking."
Gwain tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh, Clara-sweet, we'll go looking for him."
Her eyes showed confusion, and he clarified by changing for her.
She gave a blood-curdling scream!.***
"You said you came looking for me?"
Claire pouted for a moment. "Yes. After all, if you hadn't broken my heart that day, I wouldn't have become what I am. But Gwain wouldn't let me kill you. Oh how I wanted to hurt you for how you'd hurt me. I had special plans for you Liam. But Gwain said that his own sire had plans for you. If we so much as drank a drop of your blood, she'd kill us both."
"Darla." Angel said.
Claire nodded. "You don't even know. Liam. Don't even realize what a pawn you were! Scourge of Europe-clueless." The last word was harsh and Angel took a step back forcing himself to remember what she was. Claire had gotten a distant look in her eye, as if she were still in the past as she kept talking. Her voice bitter and cold.
"Darla and Gwain were the best of lovers. But Gwain was not faithful. He liked to dally which made Darla insanely jealous. He took a shining to me which drove Darla into a tizzy. She killed you outright. Sooner than I think she had planned. I think she was hoping to bait you more. " Her hands clenched into fists. "She killed you and made you her boy-toy to drive Gwain crazy. No other reason. But her plan back fired. Instead of becoming jealous, Gwain saw it as an opportunity to get out from under her control. He took me and fled to Germany where we stayed for years. I kept track of your achievements and whereabouts but Gwain would forbid me to mention you at all. He's obsessed with me, convinced that I'll somehow make Darla jealous one day. I've been with him all..this.miserable.time. Never been faithful to me, but won't let me go." Sighing, she laid a hand on Angel's arm. " Oh, how I've tried Liam. Oh, how I've tried. The thought that Darla never came looking for him, too pre-occupied with you I suppose, drove him into a lather. He didn't' want her. Not really, but his ego was bruised. Insane lot those two are. And I've had to deal with it for two centuries."
She snapped back to reality and focused on Angel with a hardness he'd never seen about her before. "That's a very long time Angel."
Angel was at a loss for words. He stared intently at the floor for a moment. "Why are you here now Claire?"
"I need your help."
Claire stifled a laugh at the perfection of her plan. She had thought her old lover dead til he had shown up at the park. Hiding in the shadows, she had observed him hungrily. His hair was much shorter and spiked, his skin much paler, and that look he'd had of never being quite sober was gone. If her heart could beat, it would have been racing. Liam here and now! He was as handsome as ever and her love for him had never wained. But his being here was no accident she realized. Somehow, he had known the boy would be in danger. Perhaps, the boy had even contacted him. Either way, the boy would escape yet again, but Claire didn't worry about following him. **(present day)
"You let him go!" Gwain has shouted enraged. "I should stake you myself."
Claire knew it was an empty threat, one she'd grown accustomed to hearing. "Relax darling. I don't know where the boy is, but I know who does."
"Who?" Gwain asked, wary of her endless tricks.
"Angelus."
Gwain scoffed. "you've gone daft."
Claire rubbed Gwains back as they lay on their bed. "No, Angelus is here in L.A. He saved the One. He must know where he is, and of his worth. It's been far too long since I've seen him."
"If this is another one of your"
Claire put two delicate, pale fingers to his lips. "Shhhh. Enough of that. I'm ready to serve at your side as Queen. Why give that up? I'll find the One and then we will have everything we need."
"I've heard of the Vampire with a soul. I didn't realize it was dear Angelus. If he protected the One, I doubt he'll just hand him over, even to you my sweet."
Gwain's such an idiot. Claire thought, never losing her smile.
"He will if he thinks I'm still in love with him."
Gwain snorted, unsure of this but not having a better option.**
Claire gazed up at Angelus, savoring his presence. Who needed Gwain, when Liam could take his place?
"Liam!!" A shrill voice begged.
Turning and turning, searching, he strained his eyes but could see nothing. He thought he saw a shadow moving but then a shadow moved towards his right. The whole forest was alive with specters and ghosts. A sharp wail rose then was cut off abruptly. Racing toward the sound, Liam couldn't dodge all the underbrush. The ground was damp and muddy as his face made violent contact with it. As conscious left him, dark figures filled his vision.
Liam woke up to darkness and in no little amount of pain. Groaning, he staggered to his feet trying to recall what had happened. Was he drunk again? The pounding in his head made it clear he was sober. After a hard moments thinking, Liam remembered what had happened. Claire..his father..the scream...the..the..had he truly seen what he thought. No, he dismissed the notion. Such monsters were stories to scare small children but the scream.a sound he could never forget. He began to pick his way back to town when he saw it. A yellow cloth crumpled on the ground. It was covering something. Was that an arm?! Pushing down his spooks, Angelus removed the cloth. Greeting him was a horrid sight of nightmares. A piece of hell for Liam alone. Claire's sightless eyes stared up at him, dried blood along her neck led to a sticky puddle on the ground. Liam wailed. With all that was in him, he screamed. Seizing her body and holding it tight, he shook her: cursing her for dying in the same breath he vowed his loved.. He sat in the forest until a fine mist began to fall, chilling him. The dainty raindrops fell on his beloved Claire's cheek. Liam pretended she had begun to cry, that she was telling him of her sorrow, that she was sorry for what she'd done. He wiped the "tears" away. Gently, he lifted her frail body to carry back to town. He was greeted at the edge of town who had heard the screaming. Superstitious to a fault, they were waiting, albeit impatiently, for dawn before entering the forest. Seeing a devastated Liam emerge holding Claire's lifeless form reduced the men also to tears. As one left to summon the girl's father, the other's tried to relieve the broken-hearted boy of her body but he refused.
A hand on his shoulder startled Liam out of a tired stupor. It was his Father, trying to offer some mercy to his grieving son. In his haze, Liam overheard his father arguing with Claire's father. The man didn't want his daughter's murderer at her funeral. He had no place here. Was his father actually defending him?! Angel was in too much pain to process this. He hadn't murdered Claire, he told himself. He Hadn't!
"Come, son. It's time."
"I didn't kill her!" Liam said.
"I know son." But Liam ignored him. He repeated it over and over as they walked together to a large gathering of people at the cemetery. Through it all, he watched with clouded eyes. He felt disconnected, surreal. It wasn't happening! But as her Father threw the dirt on Claire's coffin, Liam felt his heart shatter, knowing the truth. She had died angry and betrayed. Now he could never tell her the truth. Feeling a violent need to wretch, he turned and ran from the funeral.***
"Come now Liam! We can be together you and I! As it was meant to be. As it should have been!" Claire pleaded.
It was clear what had happened now. Being then unfamiliar with the work of vampires, Liam had thought his love dead when she had, ironically, become un-dead. Claire leaned close to Angel.
"Tell me Liam, not one more moment must pass between us, for years I have yearned to know. Did you love me?"
Angel had lived almost three hundred years without his physical heart beating. But he felt it stirring. It's remnant quaking. A young, blonde girl in a city so close yet so far away had showed him what love was once. It had cost them both dearly but Angel would never forget that moment when he had come as close to feeling blood pulse through his veins. Now he felt the echo of that heart inside him, remembered as their days together were but yesterday and he remembered what heart-felt love had been.
"Yes." He whispered. "I cried at your funeral .I loathed myself until my...my own changing."
Claire smiled deeply. "You did." She asked breathed.
"Very much."
"I looked for you." She told him softly.
*** Dirt clogged her throat, filled her nose, and burned her eyes. She tried to claw through it, make her way to the surface. What had happened to her? She choked down her fear as she clawed frantically through the dirt. Finally, she felt her hand break free and a soft breeze licked her fingers. Dragging her way to the top, she lamented the sad shape of her once beautiful dress. Where was she? How'd she get here? Was this Liam's work? To torture her more? It was nightime and no one was about. She bit back a gasp as she saw the tombstones around her. She was in the cemetery! A scream rose to her throat but was swallowed when she saw her sire's face gazing at her. Suddenly, she remembered it all. She had been crying hysterically in the field outside her house.
"You're troubled." A gentle voice said.
Startled she looked up. A handsome man was standing above her. "Who are you?"
She could tell by his very manner that he was not from around here. The man introduced himself as Gwain. He soothed her for a moment, offering comfort and understanding. She gave her broken heart to him and he mended it for her.
"Would you like to take a walk, Clara-sweet?
It was a charming pet-name that Claire instantly liked. Liam never called her his sweet. Liam never called her anything but young and naïve. She accepted his offer and they walked and talked, easing Claire's troubles.
"It's dark, We should head back before me Father comes a looking."
Gwain tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh, Clara-sweet, we'll go looking for him."
Her eyes showed confusion, and he clarified by changing for her.
She gave a blood-curdling scream!.***
"You said you came looking for me?"
Claire pouted for a moment. "Yes. After all, if you hadn't broken my heart that day, I wouldn't have become what I am. But Gwain wouldn't let me kill you. Oh how I wanted to hurt you for how you'd hurt me. I had special plans for you Liam. But Gwain said that his own sire had plans for you. If we so much as drank a drop of your blood, she'd kill us both."
"Darla." Angel said.
Claire nodded. "You don't even know. Liam. Don't even realize what a pawn you were! Scourge of Europe-clueless." The last word was harsh and Angel took a step back forcing himself to remember what she was. Claire had gotten a distant look in her eye, as if she were still in the past as she kept talking. Her voice bitter and cold.
"Darla and Gwain were the best of lovers. But Gwain was not faithful. He liked to dally which made Darla insanely jealous. He took a shining to me which drove Darla into a tizzy. She killed you outright. Sooner than I think she had planned. I think she was hoping to bait you more. " Her hands clenched into fists. "She killed you and made you her boy-toy to drive Gwain crazy. No other reason. But her plan back fired. Instead of becoming jealous, Gwain saw it as an opportunity to get out from under her control. He took me and fled to Germany where we stayed for years. I kept track of your achievements and whereabouts but Gwain would forbid me to mention you at all. He's obsessed with me, convinced that I'll somehow make Darla jealous one day. I've been with him all..this.miserable.time. Never been faithful to me, but won't let me go." Sighing, she laid a hand on Angel's arm. " Oh, how I've tried Liam. Oh, how I've tried. The thought that Darla never came looking for him, too pre-occupied with you I suppose, drove him into a lather. He didn't' want her. Not really, but his ego was bruised. Insane lot those two are. And I've had to deal with it for two centuries."
She snapped back to reality and focused on Angel with a hardness he'd never seen about her before. "That's a very long time Angel."
Angel was at a loss for words. He stared intently at the floor for a moment. "Why are you here now Claire?"
"I need your help."
Claire stifled a laugh at the perfection of her plan. She had thought her old lover dead til he had shown up at the park. Hiding in the shadows, she had observed him hungrily. His hair was much shorter and spiked, his skin much paler, and that look he'd had of never being quite sober was gone. If her heart could beat, it would have been racing. Liam here and now! He was as handsome as ever and her love for him had never wained. But his being here was no accident she realized. Somehow, he had known the boy would be in danger. Perhaps, the boy had even contacted him. Either way, the boy would escape yet again, but Claire didn't worry about following him. **(present day)
"You let him go!" Gwain has shouted enraged. "I should stake you myself."
Claire knew it was an empty threat, one she'd grown accustomed to hearing. "Relax darling. I don't know where the boy is, but I know who does."
"Who?" Gwain asked, wary of her endless tricks.
"Angelus."
Gwain scoffed. "you've gone daft."
Claire rubbed Gwains back as they lay on their bed. "No, Angelus is here in L.A. He saved the One. He must know where he is, and of his worth. It's been far too long since I've seen him."
"If this is another one of your"
Claire put two delicate, pale fingers to his lips. "Shhhh. Enough of that. I'm ready to serve at your side as Queen. Why give that up? I'll find the One and then we will have everything we need."
"I've heard of the Vampire with a soul. I didn't realize it was dear Angelus. If he protected the One, I doubt he'll just hand him over, even to you my sweet."
Gwain's such an idiot. Claire thought, never losing her smile.
"He will if he thinks I'm still in love with him."
Gwain snorted, unsure of this but not having a better option.**
Claire gazed up at Angelus, savoring his presence. Who needed Gwain, when Liam could take his place?