Part 4 – Half past the witching hour
First the intense heat and branding irons they would push against his flesh, watching it sizzle. He would growl, then scream and then finally sob in pain. They enjoyed it all, the agony, the smell of burning dead flesh, and the sounds of the vampire in pain.
Then they would leave Angel alone long enough for the burns to heal, let him think he had finally gotten a reprieve. Then the fun would start all over again. The pattern went on and on, never changing, well the only change being the demon holding the branding iron, and where it was placed on Angel's tortured body.
Then the noise, the constant high pitch wailing that made his head spin. That never stopped. So loud, so harsh, he wished for deafness rather than the super vamp hearing he possessed.
The place smelled like death, but without the hope of an end to suffering.
He was thrashing around in the bed, images of the Hell dimension he was trapped in for what felt like centuries kept clawing at his brain. He heard the sound of his name being called, and didn't really believe that it was a human-like voice...demanding him to wake up. But there was no waking up from the nightmare of his existence.
Cordelia was shaking his shoulders, trying to get the vampire to wake up from whatever nightmare held him so tightly. It was shortly after midnight and they had fallen asleep maybe 2 hours earlier. She had woken up when he had backhanded her shoulder when the thrashing had started. His body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and there was a pained expression on his face. Angel's eyes remained shut tightly.
"ANGEL wake up!" She shouted, even though she knew how much it hurt his head, she had to get him to wake up, he was scaring her. She had to get him to stop moving to relax. She straddled his waist, needing all her body weight to keep him from moving, to keep his arms from punching her again. Cordelia pushed down on his shoulders with her hands and leaned into his face, which had now in his throws of the nightmare had vamped out.
For some reason she was not frightened of the demon face, it was a scared Angel, and she wanted to trust him not to hurt her. Cordelia moved her head down next to his ears and decided maybe soothing words would get him to snap out of it and wake from the nightmare.
"Angel, wake up, you are home, and you are safe. Please wake up, please for Cor-del-ia" enunciating her name so he would have some grasp of reality. She moved a hand up from his shoulder to his ridged brow and stroked it, trying to calm him. The weight of her body kept him immobile and he had stopped throwing his body. "Yes that is it, just relax, you are safe," She kept muttering words of safety and warmth into his ear. Stroking his vampire features, feeling the softness of his skin over the hard bones in his forehead. Trying to hug him with her entire body, to give him security and safety he was missing in his dream world. Knowing all too well herself what it was like to be alone.
"Cordy" Angel whispered, not believing what he was seeing, the brunette wrapped around his body, her hands touching his demon face. He moved his arms to hug her close to his body. To feel her heartbeat against his chest. Smell her, warm and safe, that is what he thought of now whenever he smelled the girl.
"Is this real?" Angel asked to the air, not knowing what to believe anymore.
Gently whispering in his ear, "Your home and safe, Angel, no one is going to hurt you now" Cordy said, feeling his arms tighten around her, moving her hands into his hair to rub his head gently.
Angel sighed. "When...what time is it?" he asked the girl, not moving his grasp of her body.
"Friday, Angel, it is a little after midnight" She said, feeling him start to relax, the demon face fading away his features returning back to normal.
"How long have I been gone?" He loosened his hold of the girl a little and was moving his hands to stroke her back...to verify that she was really there. It felt good to have the warm body next to his, which was forever cold.
Cordelia sighed a little, what was she getting herself into. It felt really good to be held by a naked Angel, which was wrong, wrong, wrong, this was Buffy's boyfriend. But if you send a guy to hell does that automatically mean you are broken up? She wondered, and was glad that it was not said out loud.
"You have been gone about 4 months, it is almost the end of September Angel." She stretched out her legs and relaxed her hold on this torso, as he was not going anywhere. She was really glad she had on jeans and was fully clothed, well maybe she was not glad, but relieved. "Do you have any idea where you were?"
"Hell, it felt like Hell or something like it. Loud, painful, smelled bad" He whispered back to her, continuing to relax, so comforted by her presence and soft voice near his ears.
Cordelia didn't know how to respond or what to do next. He hadn't moved his arms from around her and it felt a little awkward trying to figure out how to move away from him without upsetting him. God she was tired, it had been a long day between fighting with the Scoobies and then taking care of Angel. She stretched a little trying to get comfortable, and felt Angel's arms tighten around her body.
"Don't leave me" Angel said, is voice full of need and fear of being alone.
"No, just trying to get comfortable, you scared me when you started thrashing in your sleep. I had to keep you from punching me" She said, regretting the last sentence at the look of horror on his face.
"Oh god, I am so sorry, did I hurt you, wouldn't want to hurt you" Angel said, moving a hand to stroke her cheek. Checking for bruises and going into full brood mode.
"No you didn't hit my face, just pushed me enough to wake me up. I am fine Angel" Cordelia re assured him.
"I'm just tired and probably smell bad too, I need a shower" Cordelia said, sitting up, still straddling Angel's chest, looking down at him, seeing the worried look on his face. "I will stay here tonight. I am not leaving you in the condition you are in Big Guy. Now close your eyes and get some sleep, I will be back in a little bit" Cordy quickly got up off the vampire, deciding that being that close to him was sending her senses for a loop. She also used her take charge voice, because he seemed to respond best to that tone right about now. She figured she would not have that power for very long, so took advantage of having it now.
She tucked the blanket up to his shoulders and bent down and kissed him on the forehead, like she would a little boy. "Just going to shower, close your eyes and sleep Angel" She ordered him.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, counting her heart beats as she moved away from his bed. The thud-thump of her heart lulled him back to much needed sleep.
Cordelia looked down at herself and realized what a mess she was. Her jeans were dirty and her shirt had drops of blood on it from trying to feed Angel. She hated not being clean. She walked away from the bed, assured the vampire was resting and went to his closet, to steel some clothes for her to change into after her shower. She was not surprised to find it so neat and tidy when she turned on the light. Hanging was shirts and trousers, organized. Angel was certainly particular about his clothes even if they were all black or dark colours.
She looked to the shelves on the right and found sweatpants and workout clothes, or what she guessed was his workout clothes. Did vampires need to work out? She wondered to herself. She pulled out a dark pare of sweats and then one of his white t-shirts. That would work for now; no way could she sleep in her clothes. Cordelia held the clothes close to her body and could smell Angel on them. He didn't wear cologne but he definitely had a scent that was all man, and power. She turned off the light to the closet and walked back into the bedroom.
She noticed on the floor by the bed a dark green towel, and picked it up, Angel liked his house neat, so she would make sure he woke up to not having a mess around. What didn't hit her was the fact that if the towel was on the floor, it meant that Angel was fully naked under those sheets. Had that thought passed through Cordelia's head, she might not have hummed lightly as she made her way to the bathroom to get a much needed shower.
Walking out of the bathroom Cordelia finished toweling off her hair and wished for her blow dryer, but figured it wouldn't get too tangled if she didn't completely dry it. She glanced over to the bed and saw that Angel was still sleeping. He had pushed the blankets down so that his chest was bare, but he didn't look like he was having another nightmare. Cordelia yawned again and walked over to the other side of the bed and looked at her watch sitting on the nightstand. It was almost 1:30 in the morning, no wonder she was exhausted. She looked around the room, where to sleep? The chair did not look at all comfortable, and she didn't want to be outside the room should Angel have another nightmare.
She looked at the big bed. Ah hell, it wasn't like anything was going to happen between the two of them and she had to be practical. She was not a creature of the night, and if she did not get her beauty sleep she was really going to earn her title of Bitch tomorrow.
Cordelia turned off the light on the nightstand and waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the room. She pulled back the covers and got into bed. The blue silk sheets felt cool against her body. She laid back and closed her eyes, letting the day slip away into much needed sleep.
The vampire heard the heartbeat move closer to his, and inside he smiled. She was back, she had not left him, she would keep him safe and warm. He took in a deep breath and began to reassess her scent. He recognized his soap, but underneath was still the cinnamon scent, her scent. He was so tired, even though now was normally the middle of the day for a vampire, he just wanted to stay in bed and sleep away the pain. He heard the sound of Cordelia's breathing even out and knew she was finally sleeping.
He rolled over onto his stomach and moved his head to rest against her chest, like earlier. His arm heavy over her waist, a possessive hold on the girl. The sound of her heart beat lulling him to sleep, as well as her hand stroking his head. He was so glad not to be in Hell.
First the intense heat and branding irons they would push against his flesh, watching it sizzle. He would growl, then scream and then finally sob in pain. They enjoyed it all, the agony, the smell of burning dead flesh, and the sounds of the vampire in pain.
Then they would leave Angel alone long enough for the burns to heal, let him think he had finally gotten a reprieve. Then the fun would start all over again. The pattern went on and on, never changing, well the only change being the demon holding the branding iron, and where it was placed on Angel's tortured body.
Then the noise, the constant high pitch wailing that made his head spin. That never stopped. So loud, so harsh, he wished for deafness rather than the super vamp hearing he possessed.
The place smelled like death, but without the hope of an end to suffering.
He was thrashing around in the bed, images of the Hell dimension he was trapped in for what felt like centuries kept clawing at his brain. He heard the sound of his name being called, and didn't really believe that it was a human-like voice...demanding him to wake up. But there was no waking up from the nightmare of his existence.
Cordelia was shaking his shoulders, trying to get the vampire to wake up from whatever nightmare held him so tightly. It was shortly after midnight and they had fallen asleep maybe 2 hours earlier. She had woken up when he had backhanded her shoulder when the thrashing had started. His body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and there was a pained expression on his face. Angel's eyes remained shut tightly.
"ANGEL wake up!" She shouted, even though she knew how much it hurt his head, she had to get him to wake up, he was scaring her. She had to get him to stop moving to relax. She straddled his waist, needing all her body weight to keep him from moving, to keep his arms from punching her again. Cordelia pushed down on his shoulders with her hands and leaned into his face, which had now in his throws of the nightmare had vamped out.
For some reason she was not frightened of the demon face, it was a scared Angel, and she wanted to trust him not to hurt her. Cordelia moved her head down next to his ears and decided maybe soothing words would get him to snap out of it and wake from the nightmare.
"Angel, wake up, you are home, and you are safe. Please wake up, please for Cor-del-ia" enunciating her name so he would have some grasp of reality. She moved a hand up from his shoulder to his ridged brow and stroked it, trying to calm him. The weight of her body kept him immobile and he had stopped throwing his body. "Yes that is it, just relax, you are safe," She kept muttering words of safety and warmth into his ear. Stroking his vampire features, feeling the softness of his skin over the hard bones in his forehead. Trying to hug him with her entire body, to give him security and safety he was missing in his dream world. Knowing all too well herself what it was like to be alone.
"Cordy" Angel whispered, not believing what he was seeing, the brunette wrapped around his body, her hands touching his demon face. He moved his arms to hug her close to his body. To feel her heartbeat against his chest. Smell her, warm and safe, that is what he thought of now whenever he smelled the girl.
"Is this real?" Angel asked to the air, not knowing what to believe anymore.
Gently whispering in his ear, "Your home and safe, Angel, no one is going to hurt you now" Cordy said, feeling his arms tighten around her, moving her hands into his hair to rub his head gently.
Angel sighed. "When...what time is it?" he asked the girl, not moving his grasp of her body.
"Friday, Angel, it is a little after midnight" She said, feeling him start to relax, the demon face fading away his features returning back to normal.
"How long have I been gone?" He loosened his hold of the girl a little and was moving his hands to stroke her back...to verify that she was really there. It felt good to have the warm body next to his, which was forever cold.
Cordelia sighed a little, what was she getting herself into. It felt really good to be held by a naked Angel, which was wrong, wrong, wrong, this was Buffy's boyfriend. But if you send a guy to hell does that automatically mean you are broken up? She wondered, and was glad that it was not said out loud.
"You have been gone about 4 months, it is almost the end of September Angel." She stretched out her legs and relaxed her hold on this torso, as he was not going anywhere. She was really glad she had on jeans and was fully clothed, well maybe she was not glad, but relieved. "Do you have any idea where you were?"
"Hell, it felt like Hell or something like it. Loud, painful, smelled bad" He whispered back to her, continuing to relax, so comforted by her presence and soft voice near his ears.
Cordelia didn't know how to respond or what to do next. He hadn't moved his arms from around her and it felt a little awkward trying to figure out how to move away from him without upsetting him. God she was tired, it had been a long day between fighting with the Scoobies and then taking care of Angel. She stretched a little trying to get comfortable, and felt Angel's arms tighten around her body.
"Don't leave me" Angel said, is voice full of need and fear of being alone.
"No, just trying to get comfortable, you scared me when you started thrashing in your sleep. I had to keep you from punching me" She said, regretting the last sentence at the look of horror on his face.
"Oh god, I am so sorry, did I hurt you, wouldn't want to hurt you" Angel said, moving a hand to stroke her cheek. Checking for bruises and going into full brood mode.
"No you didn't hit my face, just pushed me enough to wake me up. I am fine Angel" Cordelia re assured him.
"I'm just tired and probably smell bad too, I need a shower" Cordelia said, sitting up, still straddling Angel's chest, looking down at him, seeing the worried look on his face. "I will stay here tonight. I am not leaving you in the condition you are in Big Guy. Now close your eyes and get some sleep, I will be back in a little bit" Cordy quickly got up off the vampire, deciding that being that close to him was sending her senses for a loop. She also used her take charge voice, because he seemed to respond best to that tone right about now. She figured she would not have that power for very long, so took advantage of having it now.
She tucked the blanket up to his shoulders and bent down and kissed him on the forehead, like she would a little boy. "Just going to shower, close your eyes and sleep Angel" She ordered him.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, counting her heart beats as she moved away from his bed. The thud-thump of her heart lulled him back to much needed sleep.
Cordelia looked down at herself and realized what a mess she was. Her jeans were dirty and her shirt had drops of blood on it from trying to feed Angel. She hated not being clean. She walked away from the bed, assured the vampire was resting and went to his closet, to steel some clothes for her to change into after her shower. She was not surprised to find it so neat and tidy when she turned on the light. Hanging was shirts and trousers, organized. Angel was certainly particular about his clothes even if they were all black or dark colours.
She looked to the shelves on the right and found sweatpants and workout clothes, or what she guessed was his workout clothes. Did vampires need to work out? She wondered to herself. She pulled out a dark pare of sweats and then one of his white t-shirts. That would work for now; no way could she sleep in her clothes. Cordelia held the clothes close to her body and could smell Angel on them. He didn't wear cologne but he definitely had a scent that was all man, and power. She turned off the light to the closet and walked back into the bedroom.
She noticed on the floor by the bed a dark green towel, and picked it up, Angel liked his house neat, so she would make sure he woke up to not having a mess around. What didn't hit her was the fact that if the towel was on the floor, it meant that Angel was fully naked under those sheets. Had that thought passed through Cordelia's head, she might not have hummed lightly as she made her way to the bathroom to get a much needed shower.
Walking out of the bathroom Cordelia finished toweling off her hair and wished for her blow dryer, but figured it wouldn't get too tangled if she didn't completely dry it. She glanced over to the bed and saw that Angel was still sleeping. He had pushed the blankets down so that his chest was bare, but he didn't look like he was having another nightmare. Cordelia yawned again and walked over to the other side of the bed and looked at her watch sitting on the nightstand. It was almost 1:30 in the morning, no wonder she was exhausted. She looked around the room, where to sleep? The chair did not look at all comfortable, and she didn't want to be outside the room should Angel have another nightmare.
She looked at the big bed. Ah hell, it wasn't like anything was going to happen between the two of them and she had to be practical. She was not a creature of the night, and if she did not get her beauty sleep she was really going to earn her title of Bitch tomorrow.
Cordelia turned off the light on the nightstand and waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the room. She pulled back the covers and got into bed. The blue silk sheets felt cool against her body. She laid back and closed her eyes, letting the day slip away into much needed sleep.
The vampire heard the heartbeat move closer to his, and inside he smiled. She was back, she had not left him, she would keep him safe and warm. He took in a deep breath and began to reassess her scent. He recognized his soap, but underneath was still the cinnamon scent, her scent. He was so tired, even though now was normally the middle of the day for a vampire, he just wanted to stay in bed and sleep away the pain. He heard the sound of Cordelia's breathing even out and knew she was finally sleeping.
He rolled over onto his stomach and moved his head to rest against her chest, like earlier. His arm heavy over her waist, a possessive hold on the girl. The sound of her heart beat lulling him to sleep, as well as her hand stroking his head. He was so glad not to be in Hell.