Chapter 3
Fred looked up. Angelus and Drusilla would be back from the hunt soon. She never heard them enter the building, they were too quiet even for another vampire to hear, but by now she had learned to sense them. She could feel their presence a block away, and when they entered the mansion, their scent had already overwhelmed her. They smelled of blood and roses...
Fred closed her eyes and smiled to herself. As she stretched herself like a cat and got up from the couch, Angelus and Drusilla walked into the room.
"Hello my darling," Angelus said, and kissed her. He was always very nice when the hunt had gone well. Glancing over her Sire's shoulder, Fred saw Drusilla drag in an unconscious young woman by the hair.
"We brought you a present," she said with child-like enthusiasm, dropping her victim onto the wooden floor. "Are you happy with it?" Fred nodded and smiled as she walked up to Drusilla.
"It's a great present Dru, I'm very happy with it." she said kindly. She turned around to Angelus and smiled at him too, her eyes glinting. "Thanks. Do you guys want a bite?"
"Nah, this one's all for you babe," her Sire said with a mischievous smile. He went over to stand right behind her, and snaked his arms around her waist. She closed her eyes in exstacy as he spoke softly into her ear. "I'm off to bed. Join me later?" As Fred nodded, her eyes still closed, he let her go.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at the young woman who was lying still on the floor. Drusilla was stroking her cheek in obvious delight. She grinned at Fred as the slender brunette kneeled next to her.
"Ooooh, will there be games tonight, then?" Drusilla glanced at her knocked out victim. "She will scream, I can hear it singing in my head..." Softly, she touched her temples with her fingertips.
The young woman on the ground was beginning to stir. Without an another word Drusilla got up, took Angelus' hand in hers and together they walked into the bedroom. The door closed behind them, and with a contented smirk, Fred was left alone with her victim.
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At the hotel, Wesley, Gunn, Spike and Faith were slumped down in the moldy sofas that stood in the centre of the empty lobby. They were all looking resigned. Gunn glanced at the window.
"Sun's coming up," he said softly, "so hunting's pretty much out of the question right now. What's the plan?"
"We have to figure out what they're planning. I assume that implies hitting the streets, interrogating some of our underworld snitches," Wesley said, cleaning his glasses. Spike lifted an eyebrow and smirked.
"Yeah 'course, that's a bloody smart plan," he said sarcastically. When he saw the glares the others were giving him, he rolled his eyes and continued. "Right. So, being a little lowlife demon, and knowing Angelus' and Dru's reputation, you'd help the people who kill you for a living, and risk Angelus finding out and making you wear your ribcage as a hat?"
Faith shrugged. "Hate to say it, but he's got a point." Wesley just rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Then he looked up.
"Fine. Research it is, then... Faith, would you mind getting the Turner and Hawkes volumes from the office?" Wesley said with a sigh. Faith raised her eyebrows.
"What, am I your secretary now?" she said with a frown, but she got up without further muttering. She disappeared into the small office behind the counter and came back out a minute later, carrying a stack of books three feet high. The Slayer put down the volumes on the coffee table and fell back in the sofa.
"Right. Let's start with prophecies. I'd like to be aware if there's an Apocalypse announced any time soon. If there is, there's every chance our vampire trio is about to cause it," Wesley said as they picked up one of the big, dusty books.
"Great, we're Scoobies now..." Spike muttered under his breath as they all started flipping quietly through the pages.
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Quietly, Fred opened the bedroom door and walked past the bed, where Angelus and Dru were fast asleep. When Fred closed the door with a soft click, Drusilla slowly opened one eye and closed it again, like a true predator. The slender young woman smiled as she walked over to the water bowl on the dresser and started washing the blood off her hands and forearms.
When she was done, she slowly slid into the bed. Without opening his eyes, Angelus slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"What did she know about the Sigil?" he said. Fred let out a deep, almost disappointed sounding breath.
"Nothin' really. I played out all my tricks but she didn't have anything to tell me. And she never will again," she added contently.
"Not to worry my sweet, we'll get what we want in the end, like we always do. You're my precious little genius, you'll figure it out..." Angelus added. Fred just smiled and closed her eyes.
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Six hours later, Wes jumped up as Faith slammed an enormous 18th century grimoire onto the coffee table, as an obvious sign of her frustration.
"What's the point? Do we even know what we're looking for?" she asked. Gunn leaned back and sighed.
"She ain't wrong. Can't we go out and get information the regular way? By beating up the baddies?" he said. Wes sighed.
"We could, but I believe Spike was right. Most demons won't be overly keen to share what they know, and risk Angelus finding out about it," the former Watcher replied, cleaning his glasses with the sleeve of his shirt.
"So what?" Gunn said. "We'll just tell 'em that they got an option. Either they don't tell us and die slow and painful deaths, or they play nice and share, and we kill 'em quickly..." he added, shrugging.
"Well, that's hardly ethical. But I suppose it will work, since most demons only understand violence," the former Watcher said, looking tired. "Very well. The three of you can go and try to find out whatever you can, I'll stay here and continue our research. I don't quite feel up to going out yet..."
Faith glanced at the Englishman's leg. There were blood stains on his trousers. Some of the old wounds wouldn't heal properly, and she'd noticed that some of them started bleeding again when he was frustrated or emotional. Which happened a lot.
"I"ll stay here and hang out with Wes. It's harder to focus on the demon torture when the cops are on our tails – so you guys are gonna have to have fun without me," the Slayer said with a smirk.
"Suit yourselves," Spike said with a bored shrug. He got up, grabbed his old leather duster and followed Gunn out the door. After a short silence, Faith got up and headed for the office.
"Coffee?" she asked. "Or are you a tea kinda guy?"
"Coffee will do fine, thank you," he replied. He watched her disappear into the office, and re-appear a few minutes later with two steaming cups of coffee in her hands. Taking one of the cups from her, he looked at the Slayer with interest as she flopped back into her chair.
"So... You give up the opportunity to kill demons, which is after all your destiny, to spend your time researching with the Watcher who failed you in the first place..." he said, looking at her over his cup of coffee. Faith just shook her head and smiled.
"I think I failed you more than the other way around. You didn't go off to kill a buncha people, now did ya?" the Slayer replied, showing one of her patented smiles. Wesley smiled back, softly.
"You really are an extraordinary young woman..." he said.
"There's a lot about me you don't know, Wes," Faith replied with a small smirk. Then, both turned to their drinks, and a silence filled the hotel.
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TBC