Chapter Seven ~ The Pain We Feel - 2
It was only when he stopped, that William realized that he was lost. He had never really been into the city before, only once with Winnie to buy some clothes when he first arrived. Now it looked dark and menacing, like a death roamed the streets.
He only wanted someone to care about him. To care for him like his mother used to. Like Winnie sometimes did. He had thought things were finally working out. Gunn had started to see the humor of his pranks; he was even starting to like him and Angel. Angel had been getting better too. Ever since that day when William had turned that mirror into a vision of the future, the broody vampire had began to lighten up. It had been great. He hadn't go too mad at the problems that were caused and actually laughed he told him jokes. But that it was all gone now. He hadn't cared at all; just hated him and kept it secret.
Now he was lost and there was nobody that cared about him any more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where could you be?" Fred whispered nervously as she watched the sun begin to set. The reds and golden yellows that were starting to mix and become dark orange was frightening her. The vampires would begin to come out soon. She had to find William and take him home with her where he belonged. With his family, well the dysfunctional family that was really made up by her, Wesley and Lorne.
Stepping lightly, Fred followed the map on the data pad of the city of Los Angeles that contained two small moving lights of red and blue. The Blue light represented her and the Red light represented William. For a four-year-old, he was pretty fast. Two hours and he was almost half way across the city.
With an irking feeling, she pulled out her cell phone and called Wes.
"Hello?"
"Hey Wes, I need some help"
"Already on it. William should be arriving . at the Hyperion! Oh my, I think that boy has been hanging around us a little too long. He picked up some of our old tastes, not to mention that some old enemies might still be hanging around there"
"Great, I'll be there in ten minutes and the sun will be down in twenty. Thanks Wes, you're the greatest!"
"Don't mention it. See you later then Fred and be careful"
"I will"
With the connection ended, Fred jogged back to the car and hopped in. Wes was right about William. The kid had been around them long enough to pick up on their styles. She pulled out and was on her way. Traffic wasn't that bad but it slowed her down and she needed to get to William now! Oh god she just wished that she wouldn't be too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
William collapsed upon the steps of the large building before him. Exhaustion had come to claim him after he had fought to fend it off for so long. He had been drawn to this place like a magnet. His fright began to grow as he watched the sunlight slowly retreating on the horizon, the shadows of darkness growing up in its place to swallow him whole.
He was brought back to reality when he heard footsteps. A woman was coming towards him, one he had never seen before. She had long flowing dark hair, deathly pale skin and an aura the screamed vampire.
"Little Kitty" she crooned in a sing song voice. "Here little Kitty, Kitty"
There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't place it, like it was a lifetime ago. Something that screamed from him to run and get away from her as fast as her could.
"The stars say that little Kitty is very precious. That history connects me with this Kitty. Who are you Kitty?"
William stood frozen to the spot. His body protested for him to move, but he couldn't. The dark haired vampiress moved closer, stopping directly in front of him. Delicately she reached out one of her long pale regal hands to stroke the side his off his face. William flinched at the cold touch, but still had no control over his body. She reached out and took his chin in her hand and tilted his face up to look into hers.
"I want to know who you are Kitty. Tell pretty Drusilla who you are now"
Unable to disobey those hypnotic eyes, he was forced to comply with the vampire's wishes.
"My name is William" he whispered mechanically with a slur that no one but a vampire could understand.
"William? I had a sweet William once. My Dark Knight, he left me long ago. Became a lapdog for the Slayer like my Daddy was, oh horrible what my precious Spike became"
"Spike? The one that Angel hates?" his mind slowly returning to his controle.
"You know my Daddy little Kitty?" Drusilla purred. "My poor Angelus, tainted with his soul"
"He hates me too"
She turned to look at him again. She saw the tears that once again began to threaten to fall from his large feline blue orbs.
"Hates you too? Then you can be my pet kitty" and she let her face shift to show her demon and began to advance on him.
"Stay away from me!" William shouted. He fell to the ground and squirmed back away from Drusilla's approach.
"Don't worry little Kitty, it won't hurt. much"
She laughed and the night seemed to pick up the insane giggle and allow it to dance upon it. She was about to grab him, when William thought quickly and threw up a shield with a large electric shock. Drusilla smashed against it, was electrocuted and fell back onto her bottom upon the ground.
Sizzling and smoking, she stuck out a quivering lip and shot him a glare "Nasty little Kitty has powerful magic. I see that nasty little Kitty has a destiny"
And some how she managed to brake his shield. Before William could move, she had lifted him up off the ground by his throat, cutting off the oxygen. His magic seemed not to have an affect on the crazy vampire, but it didn't last long. There was a squeal of tires somewhere in the distance and they both knew that someone was coming for him.
Drusilla turned her attention back to William from the distraction. With one of her sharp fingernails, she racked it down and into the skin of William's left eyebrow. He gave off a strangled cry and she dropped him. She licked the blood off her finger, the taste of the blood made her wandering eyes grow large and she spun back to stare at the shacking wheezing boy.
"You taste like my William, my Spike!" she accused the boy.
"You are my sweet precious, that I know" she giggled with a glee that sent shivers down William's spin and threatened to make the little black spots obscuring his vision grow larger.
"But I will let you ripen first. I'll be back little Kitty, the stars tell me that it is meant to be. That you were always meant to be mine. forever more. Good bye my precious Kitty, till we meet again"
With that the mad vampiress disappeared into the shadows of the night from once she came. William was still holding the wound above his eye that didn't seem to heal with aid of his magic, when a car pulled up and Winnie jumped out. Winnie was shouting out to him. The world seemed so blurry as he felt himself swept up into a hug and the last thing he heard before the world went black was.
"I'll never leave you alone"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fred paced back and forth around her room waiting for William to wake up. She was terrified and she didn't really know what happened, but she had a good guess that a vampire was involved. Angel had tried to apologize when she got back with the boy, although she refused to listen. There was some hope for him, that she knew, but for the meanwhile things between them would be civil as their friendship was on hold.
Tara had flown in not too long ago and had healed William's wound with her tears, which was the magical quality of them. So she had decided to comfort the poor nervous woman with a gentle song. Fred calmed down and when a voice in her mind spoke, she was surprised that it was Tara's"
* Hello Fred. I'm sorry I haven't said anything until now. I just wanted to. tell you that Spi - I mean William will be okay. I want you to tell him I appreciate what he did for me, but I have to go now. The Powers That Be sent me back a Phoenix to help others and everything. If I manage to do a lot of good things, then over a certain amount of time, they'll have gathered enough magic energy to make me human again. Oh and I'm to tell Angel that he has to stop being so bitter, its only prolonging the length of time till he gets his reward. Will you tell him for me? *
"Yes. yes I will" Fred said with a small stutter.
* Thank you Fred, you're a good soul. Good bye *
"Good bye Tara"
The phoenix disappeared in a burst of flames and Tara was gone. As if she had left a gift and the first person she was to help, William stirred and slowly opened his eyes.
"She was kind, a soul that didn't deserve to die. I'll miss her greatly"
With a cry of delight, Fred ran over to him and hugged him like she wouldn't let him go.
"Don't be mad at Angel, he's too use to having to make all the choices and I understand now to why he was so bitter towards me. He misses his son"
"What? But William, vampire's can't have children"
"He did and you even knew his son, Conner. You helped when he was born, born to Angel's sire Darla. Then he was taken. Angel's lack of trust in Wes revolves around that. Wes thought it was the right thing to do. He came back though as a teenager, raised by the enemy. Things did get better after time, but couldn't truly heal the pain that they both felt. So when Angel took this job, he gave his son a real family and no memories of this life. That is why Wes, Gunn and Lorne don't remember either. He made it so that he no longer had a child, so if he didn't, you wouldn't remember right?"
There was an air to his voice of wisdom from bound his years evident in his soft accented voice that seemed to make things so mush clearer.
"When did you become so wise?"
"It's my curse Winnie, to have two life times worth of knowledge and to not know why. Will you tell be?"
"When you're older, I promise to tell you. Now go back to sleep" Fred pulled the covers up and kissed him atop of his head.
"You wont let her get me will you?" William asked suddenly.
"Let who get you?"
"The dark vampire lady. She told me that she would come back for me one day"
"Drusilla? No I will never let her touch you again. Don't you worry, I protect you and so will Wes and Lorne I know that for sure"
Smiling with relief William laid back against the pillows and was instantly asleep. Fred stood up and turned out the lights. It was so amazing to see how smart William was. There was something about him, and it wasn't the fact that he was really over a hundred and thirty years old or that he packed a lot of 'punch', it was just a felling that there was something more about him.
There was something more about them all. How they all came together, it was strange and wonderful. Things would get better and make everything thing worthwhile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Happy Holidays! Hope I did okay with that two-part chapter. Things will go back to their humorousness and then a little more of this later. I decided to let Tara go on her way so that I could bring in other characters, like the request to put in Drusilla (though I will bring them both back for a future chapter(s).
There will not be another chapter till after the Christmas season (Dec 19th - Jan 5th). If anyone has any suggestions, please review. Well see you next year! Later.
It was only when he stopped, that William realized that he was lost. He had never really been into the city before, only once with Winnie to buy some clothes when he first arrived. Now it looked dark and menacing, like a death roamed the streets.
He only wanted someone to care about him. To care for him like his mother used to. Like Winnie sometimes did. He had thought things were finally working out. Gunn had started to see the humor of his pranks; he was even starting to like him and Angel. Angel had been getting better too. Ever since that day when William had turned that mirror into a vision of the future, the broody vampire had began to lighten up. It had been great. He hadn't go too mad at the problems that were caused and actually laughed he told him jokes. But that it was all gone now. He hadn't cared at all; just hated him and kept it secret.
Now he was lost and there was nobody that cared about him any more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where could you be?" Fred whispered nervously as she watched the sun begin to set. The reds and golden yellows that were starting to mix and become dark orange was frightening her. The vampires would begin to come out soon. She had to find William and take him home with her where he belonged. With his family, well the dysfunctional family that was really made up by her, Wesley and Lorne.
Stepping lightly, Fred followed the map on the data pad of the city of Los Angeles that contained two small moving lights of red and blue. The Blue light represented her and the Red light represented William. For a four-year-old, he was pretty fast. Two hours and he was almost half way across the city.
With an irking feeling, she pulled out her cell phone and called Wes.
"Hello?"
"Hey Wes, I need some help"
"Already on it. William should be arriving . at the Hyperion! Oh my, I think that boy has been hanging around us a little too long. He picked up some of our old tastes, not to mention that some old enemies might still be hanging around there"
"Great, I'll be there in ten minutes and the sun will be down in twenty. Thanks Wes, you're the greatest!"
"Don't mention it. See you later then Fred and be careful"
"I will"
With the connection ended, Fred jogged back to the car and hopped in. Wes was right about William. The kid had been around them long enough to pick up on their styles. She pulled out and was on her way. Traffic wasn't that bad but it slowed her down and she needed to get to William now! Oh god she just wished that she wouldn't be too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
William collapsed upon the steps of the large building before him. Exhaustion had come to claim him after he had fought to fend it off for so long. He had been drawn to this place like a magnet. His fright began to grow as he watched the sunlight slowly retreating on the horizon, the shadows of darkness growing up in its place to swallow him whole.
He was brought back to reality when he heard footsteps. A woman was coming towards him, one he had never seen before. She had long flowing dark hair, deathly pale skin and an aura the screamed vampire.
"Little Kitty" she crooned in a sing song voice. "Here little Kitty, Kitty"
There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't place it, like it was a lifetime ago. Something that screamed from him to run and get away from her as fast as her could.
"The stars say that little Kitty is very precious. That history connects me with this Kitty. Who are you Kitty?"
William stood frozen to the spot. His body protested for him to move, but he couldn't. The dark haired vampiress moved closer, stopping directly in front of him. Delicately she reached out one of her long pale regal hands to stroke the side his off his face. William flinched at the cold touch, but still had no control over his body. She reached out and took his chin in her hand and tilted his face up to look into hers.
"I want to know who you are Kitty. Tell pretty Drusilla who you are now"
Unable to disobey those hypnotic eyes, he was forced to comply with the vampire's wishes.
"My name is William" he whispered mechanically with a slur that no one but a vampire could understand.
"William? I had a sweet William once. My Dark Knight, he left me long ago. Became a lapdog for the Slayer like my Daddy was, oh horrible what my precious Spike became"
"Spike? The one that Angel hates?" his mind slowly returning to his controle.
"You know my Daddy little Kitty?" Drusilla purred. "My poor Angelus, tainted with his soul"
"He hates me too"
She turned to look at him again. She saw the tears that once again began to threaten to fall from his large feline blue orbs.
"Hates you too? Then you can be my pet kitty" and she let her face shift to show her demon and began to advance on him.
"Stay away from me!" William shouted. He fell to the ground and squirmed back away from Drusilla's approach.
"Don't worry little Kitty, it won't hurt. much"
She laughed and the night seemed to pick up the insane giggle and allow it to dance upon it. She was about to grab him, when William thought quickly and threw up a shield with a large electric shock. Drusilla smashed against it, was electrocuted and fell back onto her bottom upon the ground.
Sizzling and smoking, she stuck out a quivering lip and shot him a glare "Nasty little Kitty has powerful magic. I see that nasty little Kitty has a destiny"
And some how she managed to brake his shield. Before William could move, she had lifted him up off the ground by his throat, cutting off the oxygen. His magic seemed not to have an affect on the crazy vampire, but it didn't last long. There was a squeal of tires somewhere in the distance and they both knew that someone was coming for him.
Drusilla turned her attention back to William from the distraction. With one of her sharp fingernails, she racked it down and into the skin of William's left eyebrow. He gave off a strangled cry and she dropped him. She licked the blood off her finger, the taste of the blood made her wandering eyes grow large and she spun back to stare at the shacking wheezing boy.
"You taste like my William, my Spike!" she accused the boy.
"You are my sweet precious, that I know" she giggled with a glee that sent shivers down William's spin and threatened to make the little black spots obscuring his vision grow larger.
"But I will let you ripen first. I'll be back little Kitty, the stars tell me that it is meant to be. That you were always meant to be mine. forever more. Good bye my precious Kitty, till we meet again"
With that the mad vampiress disappeared into the shadows of the night from once she came. William was still holding the wound above his eye that didn't seem to heal with aid of his magic, when a car pulled up and Winnie jumped out. Winnie was shouting out to him. The world seemed so blurry as he felt himself swept up into a hug and the last thing he heard before the world went black was.
"I'll never leave you alone"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fred paced back and forth around her room waiting for William to wake up. She was terrified and she didn't really know what happened, but she had a good guess that a vampire was involved. Angel had tried to apologize when she got back with the boy, although she refused to listen. There was some hope for him, that she knew, but for the meanwhile things between them would be civil as their friendship was on hold.
Tara had flown in not too long ago and had healed William's wound with her tears, which was the magical quality of them. So she had decided to comfort the poor nervous woman with a gentle song. Fred calmed down and when a voice in her mind spoke, she was surprised that it was Tara's"
* Hello Fred. I'm sorry I haven't said anything until now. I just wanted to. tell you that Spi - I mean William will be okay. I want you to tell him I appreciate what he did for me, but I have to go now. The Powers That Be sent me back a Phoenix to help others and everything. If I manage to do a lot of good things, then over a certain amount of time, they'll have gathered enough magic energy to make me human again. Oh and I'm to tell Angel that he has to stop being so bitter, its only prolonging the length of time till he gets his reward. Will you tell him for me? *
"Yes. yes I will" Fred said with a small stutter.
* Thank you Fred, you're a good soul. Good bye *
"Good bye Tara"
The phoenix disappeared in a burst of flames and Tara was gone. As if she had left a gift and the first person she was to help, William stirred and slowly opened his eyes.
"She was kind, a soul that didn't deserve to die. I'll miss her greatly"
With a cry of delight, Fred ran over to him and hugged him like she wouldn't let him go.
"Don't be mad at Angel, he's too use to having to make all the choices and I understand now to why he was so bitter towards me. He misses his son"
"What? But William, vampire's can't have children"
"He did and you even knew his son, Conner. You helped when he was born, born to Angel's sire Darla. Then he was taken. Angel's lack of trust in Wes revolves around that. Wes thought it was the right thing to do. He came back though as a teenager, raised by the enemy. Things did get better after time, but couldn't truly heal the pain that they both felt. So when Angel took this job, he gave his son a real family and no memories of this life. That is why Wes, Gunn and Lorne don't remember either. He made it so that he no longer had a child, so if he didn't, you wouldn't remember right?"
There was an air to his voice of wisdom from bound his years evident in his soft accented voice that seemed to make things so mush clearer.
"When did you become so wise?"
"It's my curse Winnie, to have two life times worth of knowledge and to not know why. Will you tell be?"
"When you're older, I promise to tell you. Now go back to sleep" Fred pulled the covers up and kissed him atop of his head.
"You wont let her get me will you?" William asked suddenly.
"Let who get you?"
"The dark vampire lady. She told me that she would come back for me one day"
"Drusilla? No I will never let her touch you again. Don't you worry, I protect you and so will Wes and Lorne I know that for sure"
Smiling with relief William laid back against the pillows and was instantly asleep. Fred stood up and turned out the lights. It was so amazing to see how smart William was. There was something about him, and it wasn't the fact that he was really over a hundred and thirty years old or that he packed a lot of 'punch', it was just a felling that there was something more about him.
There was something more about them all. How they all came together, it was strange and wonderful. Things would get better and make everything thing worthwhile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Happy Holidays! Hope I did okay with that two-part chapter. Things will go back to their humorousness and then a little more of this later. I decided to let Tara go on her way so that I could bring in other characters, like the request to put in Drusilla (though I will bring them both back for a future chapter(s).
There will not be another chapter till after the Christmas season (Dec 19th - Jan 5th). If anyone has any suggestions, please review. Well see you next year! Later.