First things first, the Legal part.
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
===============================================================
HEY THERE! I'm really, really sorry about the lack of updates in a while. With finals, and the finding of a job, and the looking for a college, and worst of all the summer yard work, I've had no time to write at all. Finally I've merited a break it seems so I'm going to spend it continuing this story. I have no intention of abandoning this story! I've already got the whole thing mapped out on where I plan to take it, and what the theme of the story is, so don't worry about that. I just hope it turns out ok.
I also did a sort of promotional poster with photoshop. I can't seem to put it in the page so look at my bio to find the URL and when you go there click on "Photoedits Posters" to find it if your interested.
===============================================================
Fool For Her
Chapter 3
London
1880 A.D.
William left the ball a broken man. Twice now his heart had been broken. He would have liked to take a carriage; as usual he opted instead to save his shillings for necessities, like food. So after a nearly an hour of walking, no mean feat in 19th century shoes, he arrived home. It was a gentleman's household but only just so. William had barley walked through the door when he heard his mothers ageing voice,
"William, your back." William turned and saw her sitting in her chair reading, as she usually was when he came home. William smiled.
"Hello mum," She smiled and gestured for him to come closer. Drawing up a chair from a small table he sat in front of her. In her youth his mother had been of great beauty, but do to the sickness, she had not aged well. The woman in front of him was but a fragment of her former glory. He banished such thoughts and began, "How are you feeling today?" She sighed, he was always concerned with her well being first.
"Better today, I was actually able to go out for little while." William frowned,
"Are you sure that's wise, I mean the doctors did say-" His mother said very frankly,
"I'll be fine William, don't worry about your old mum, she's not leaving anytime soon." William smiled,
"And it'll stay that way if I have anything to say about it." She smiled,
"How was the party?" The fresh memory of Selene's face came to the surface of his mind. He decided not to tell his mother about her, for the same reasons he hadn't told her of Cecily's rejection. She was sick enough without trying to carry her son's pain also. No, that was his weight to carry.
"It was a complete bore as usual. I honestly don't understand why you insist on me going. I could write my poetry so much better here in this house and watch over you more carefully while I worked-" suddenly and unexpectedly she made a comment which shocked William,
"Don't let the rejection of one woman cause you to loose all hope my son." How did she always know? There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. William looked at the ground as he spoke,
"I never told you about Cecily-" again she cut him off,
"I know. I heard it from Mary. But for the life of me I can't understand why I didn't hear it from you first. Do you think so little of me William; that I couldn't help?" William shook his head.
"That's not it at all." Calmly he tried to explain himself as she looked at him with a hurt expression. "You have enough to deal with besides my troubles mum. What with the sickness and the pain, you don't need my troubles to worry about also." His mother made a sigh,
"Oh William, I'm the parent, not you. It's my job to share the pain, not yours. From now on, please talk to me, I gain strength by helping you."
William made to leave,
"Forgive me mum, but it's been a long walk home and I think I'll retire early tonight." She suddenly became very concerned, her son didn't typically leave her side so soon.
"Are you feeling alright William?" He nodded and without further word left her to her reading. William enjoyed conversation with his mum, but not tonight. He had no desire to relive his pathetic imitation of a love life at the moment. He realized he was being rude to her, but there would be time to apologize in the morning. So after finding his room, he placed his journal on the small desk and without any further action collapsed into his bed.
When morning came William groaned in tiredness. Even if it was dawn he was hardly prepared for another day. But he could not neglect his responsibilities. The first item at hand today however was to make an entry into his journal which he had neglected to do last night. So after a quick crawl to his desk he gathered the small bound book, found his pen and turned to the last entry he had made. As he was preparing to write however, William realized that the page before had an entry not in his handwriting. Curiously he glanced at it and recognized, of all things, Selene's signature! He began reading immediately!
Dear William,
My sincerest apologies for my father's rudeness. He means well for me, but he tends to forget at times that I mean well enough for myself. I'm sure that you and he will not converse long so I must write quickly. As a token of apology I would like you to accompany me at the Adelphi Theater. Meet me there at eleven tomorrow morning.
Selene
P.S.
Don't be late, if you are I'll assume you are too upset and I'll go alone.
It took William half a minute for his brain to begin functioning properly again, but once it did he immediately reached for his pocket watch and discovered that it was nearly ten! It was impossible to get to the Adelphi by foot now, and unlikely even by cab!
He immediately hopped to his feet, flung the door open, grabbed his purse, and ran out. Down stairs he saw his mother sitting at the table eating a small serving of toast. Sitting with her was her friend Mary. As he ran down stairs his mother smiled and said,
"Ah William, your up finally. Sit with us, Mary fixed some delicious-" William didn't stop his hurried gallop,
"Sorry mum, I have to be off early today!" With that he ran out the door slamming it behind him. Mary and his mother were left in shock as the scene replayed in their minds. Mary chimed in,
"Well I never! That was certainly rude. He almost completely ignored us. He didn't seem to have a care in the world what we thought. He didn't even bother to eat before leaving. What could be so important for him to just leave his sick mum and her friend as though they meant nothing?!?" William's mother smiled,
"It must be love." She continued eating with renewed vigor.
Outside William ran along the street in the general direction of the Adelphi until he was successful in hailing down a cabby. Dropping a generous amount into the drivers hand (his food money), he gave him the destination and told him to hustle.
By Williams watch he arrived at 11:05. Thanking the driver he jumped out and began searching carefully for Selene outside the theater. He was unsuccessful however.
"No, No, No!" He thought in desperation. "Please God No!" Head hanging low he sighed in defeat. Suddenly he felt a hand on his right shoulder,
"I said not to be late William," said a sweet voice into his ear. William turned to find Selene wearing another white dress, this one long sleeved to protect her from the chilled weather. William just gawked, she looked like an angel. He started stammering,
"My apologies, I didn't see your message until this morning and I had already slept in so I-" She laughed, silencing him.
"You're so polite William. It's alright, you're only late by five minutes." She laughed again and William forced out a chuckle. He had been so afraid that she had left.
"Well William, be a gentleman and walk me in." Selene held out her arm, which William logically took in his own, and walked her into the theater as courtly as knew how. He had never done this before. God he wished he had changed into another suit! They took their seats next to one another, the play began almost instantly. William had never been to the theater, he couldn't afford the time or money. For the next hour or so William casually glanced at the stage from time to time, but too often his eyes drifted towards Selene and he forgot the performance. Half a dozen times he pretended to laugh as the crowd was lifted into an uproar. Obviously the performers had said something funny, but William wasn't paying much attention. All he was focused on was how she smiled, and how she laughed, and before he knew it the show was already over.
As they left the theater Selene said,
"Walk with me." Happy to oblige, William walked side by side with her down the streets of London. "What did you think of the performance?" Selene asked. William could only reply,
"I'm not sure. I mean I enjoyed it of course, but I don't have anything else to compare it too. I haven't been to the theater before." Selene looked at him, shocked.
"Never?!?" she asked. William shook his head saying,
"My mother is very ill and has been most of my life. Most of my houses income goes to keeping her comfortable and acquiring what medicine we can. I can't afford such luxuries." At that William mentally kicked himself realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to remind her that he was only a hairs breath away from being a beggar. To his surprise Selene smiled and said,
"Your mother is very lucky to have you watching out for her. Lesser men would not spend so much time and money keeping her in this world." William smiled, but the frowned,
"It worries me to see her of late. It used to be that she could venture outside without difficulty on better days. Now she rarely ever has the strength to venture outside even on her best days. She's bedridden most of the time and her spirit is gradually growing weaker. I would that I could watch over her all day but she keeps insisting that I do too much and should focus on my own life more." Selene smiled,
"Perhaps you and my father do have something in common." William raised an eyebrow in question. Selene explained.
"Not long after I was born my grandmother fell into a deep sickness. To this day the doctors were unable to explain exactly what it was, but she had great spells of insanity for days at a time until finally, bedridden, she passed away."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." William said with regret in his voice. Selene shook her head.
"It hurts, but I never really even knew her. My father is the one you should be sorry for. I was too young to remember, but my mother says that when she died he was devastated. He used to be a very happy and playful man. But afterwards he became very cold and distant. I love him, and I know he loves me and wants the best for me. But it's still hard to see things from his view." William nodded, trying to think of a way to comfort her. Suddenly Selene laughed and said,
"Listen to us, we're talking about our family. This is hardly a romantic conversation." Romance, William found the thought of her reaching out to him romantic enough. Ah, perhaps poetry!
"Would you perhaps be interested in reading my latest piece?" Selene's face showed great enthusiasm,
"I'd love to here it." William pulled out his journal, flipped to his latest entry and began reading.
"Yet her smell, it doth linger, painting pictures in my mind.
Her eyes, balls of honey. Angel's harps her laugh.
Oh, lark. Grant a sign if crook'd be Cupid's shaft.
Hark, the lark, her name it hath spake.
"Selene" it discharges from twixt its wee beak."
He had actually misread the final line as it read Cecily and not Selene, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to read it like that. When he had finished William looked to Selene to see a pathetically forced smile. William sighed,
"I know, I know, I'm a bad poet." Selene's eyes widened,
"No, No, It's not that-" William cut her off.
"Yes it is. They don't call me William the bloody awful poet for nothing. Selene replied,
"No, I mean, you have an extensive vocabulary, and your syntax is well placed but," there was a pause before she continued "It just seems so forced." William in surprise said,
"Well sometimes they just need to be ironed out, this line here for instance, let's see what's another word for discharges?" Selene began laughing again quite suddenly which threw William off his train of thought very quickly. She didn't seem to be able to stop until finally after catching the stares of several on lookers she calmed down.
"It's no wonder why your poems have no substance, there's no feeling in them!" William suddenly became defensive.
"I'll have you know that I write these poems when I am deeply enthralled by the passions of my heart!" Selene pointed and said,
"See, that last sentence was a better poem than the one you wrote, and do you know why? It's because you didn't think!" William looked confused and said,
"But it has to have order, has to have structure to be poetry-" Selene began laughing again.
"Honestly William! You should be a man of science not art! It's not mathematics, its feelings. A sculptor doesn't keep adding texture and material to create beauty; he strips away that which isn't needed until all that is left is his vision."
"What do you know?" William defensively objected. He knew his poems were bad, but that didn't mean his writing style was lacking. He just had to find a subject that his style was good for, that was all. Selene sighed and said,
"Bloody hell man, I finally get some fire out of you and your going to argue about how to write poetry when your own poems are so bloody awful that even you admit it. Maybe it's time to hear a woman's perspective on the matter?" Inevitably, with a sigh, William conceded to her.
"Very well, so what would you suggest?" She gave a great smile and said,
"Good, now come with me." William felt a tingle of apprehension as she suddenly pulled him over to the side of the street. "Ok, now first of all, clear your mind of all thoughts."
"What?" He stuttered.
"Just do it." William blinked, but attempted to do so. "Ok?"
"Ok."
"No thoughts?"
"None."
"Ok good, now close your eyes." William complied.
"Now what?" Suddenly without warning William felt two soft lips press to his. "She's kissing me!" he thought, then kicked himself for thinking. Common sense asserted itself and William passionately drew her into him, the kiss intensified from a simple press to a desperate desire to devoir each other.
William was beyond bliss. He let his fingers curl through her hair as he tried to draw her closer. Had he the time to think about it he might have decided to back off, but he wasn't thinking. At last the need for oxygen took over and they reluctantly pulled away. Selene managed amongst her ragged breath to get out.
"Still no thinking, now speak your poetry." William, still in a euphoric state began,
"I always was a fool for love
I guess it's written in my blood
I never cared what others said
You were always in my head
Or on a picture I had drawn
An elegant beauty dwarfing sun's dawn
You were always there inside my mind
And in my heart then, now, and for all time
They say grow up, forget, that I'll move on
But I don't want to forget at all
About your hair, your lips, your eyes
About your smiles, your laughs, your cries
I love all you are beneath and above
And I'll always be a fool for love"
"Much better, much better." Selene whispered. Seeing Williams strange look she asked, "didn't you think so?"
Williams answer was to kiss her again, with even more passion. Obviously it wasn't the most logical thing to do. It was dangerous enough that he was engaging in ungentlemanly acts and she in unladylike ones, but they were doing them on the streets of London and it was an ever present possibility that someone might see them. William's face wasn't well known, but Selene's face was, and if word got back to her father she was kissing a young man in wrinkly clothing it wouldn't take much to put the pieces together.
But neither of them were thinking.
London
2004 A.D.
Selene's apartment wasn't far from Gehenna Now! as she had said. The building certainly wasn't anything spectacular, it was practically in the slum regions. It had the advantage of being a low visibility area though, something that was invaluable at the moment. Selene again felt her world crashing around her. Everything she had believed for the past century had again quite suddenly been thrown out the window and she was left to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all. "How is he here?" Selene thought, "He should be dead!" She turned the rear view mirror a tad so that she could hold him in her gaze as he followed her car.
He had certainly changed over the past century, the black on black look suited him much better than she would have expected, but what had prompted him to crucify his hair? Well there would be time to ask questions later. She made a left turn and led the car into an old parking lot taking her familiar place. Spike promptly parked his bike next to her.
When Selene got out of her car Spike followed her wordlessly as she led him through the doors and upstairs to room 308. She slid her key into place and opened the door to reveal an equally meager room to match the building.
Plain grey carpet with plain white walls, and furniture that was functional, not decorative. It was certainly a step down from her manor in London. Even still, trinkets and baubles to decorate the home never really were his thing; that was always Drusilla's interest.
Selene walked through a nearby door on the right into her bedroom and laid down her guns. Spike watched in fascination as she took off her coat and proceeded to remove various deadly implements from her leather attire. From both her wrists she produced two long serrated blades. From her boots she pulled out two more pistols, this continued to go on until finally there was a small arsenal on the bed. At this Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Thought you said you only had this one left." Spike raised the desert eagle which Selene snatched up and placed with the others in the pile.
"I lied." She stated unemotionally.
"Right then." He said without much interest, he didn't really care.
Spike left the bedroom while Selene was busy sorting the weapons out. He proceeded to the kitchen and threw his duster on the counter. Checking the fridge he found a healthy supply of cow blood, good to know that they shared a common diet. Interestingly enough, that wasn't all he found. There was red meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese, and even milk. Spike shot a curious glance at the food and decided to check the pantry. Sure enough there was a variety of treats. This was odd. Either Selene's clan had developed Vampiric taste buds which could actually enjoy such dishes or, more likely, she didn't live alone. Deciding that a drink could do both of them good he gathered the necessary ingredients, which she of course had, and fixed a generous amount of tea setting it on the stove allowing it to heat.
Time flew and eventually the pot was steaming signaling that it was ready. William poured a small amount into two cups and filled them the rest of the way with a healthy amount of cow blood he fished out from the fridge.
By now Selene had finished sorting out most of her weapons so she left the room to find Spike waiting for her in the kitchen and to her relief was holding two cups of warm blood. She took one and sat down across from him. They each took a drink, savoring the salty, yet sweet, taste of the blood. Spike took the initiative,
"Ok so let's get the simple stuff out of the way first, now what kind of trouble are you in?" Selene sighed, sitting back in her chair. She had hoped to hear William's story first, but it was because of her that his night had been shot to hell, and she owed him an explanation.
"What do you know of the Death Dealers?" Spike's eyebrows shot up,
"Enough too know not to mess with them. So that's who those buggers were." Spike had only heard of them a few times in his unlife as they tended to stay in the background but he knew from what he had heard that they were legendary for there cold hard efficiency and brutality.
"Yes, up until a few months ago I was a decorated soldier in their ranks."
"What happened?" Spike asked with interest.
"Have you heard of the Zyvera clan's blood feud with the Lycan hordes?" Spike nodded,
"Heard about that one time from my grand sire, wasn't it supposed to have been the bloodiest war in the dark ages?" She nodded, to which Spike replied, "Still why would a war that happened centuries ago have anything to do with--" Spike suddenly stopped, thought, and said "Oh, wait, let me guess, the wars still going on isn't it." Selene nodded. Spike smiled saying, "That's the problem with immortals and wars, the leaders never die, so the wars tend to keep going." Again Selene nodded. "Now those vamps from earlier," Spike continued, "had the same scent you did, so I'm assuming that you're from the same clan. And I'm even going to go so far as to assume that those were also fellow death dealers?"
"Correct." Selene answered.
"What the bleeding hell did you do to piss them off so much?" Selene suddenly became quiet and Spike could tell that this was difficult for her.
"I slew my own sire, one of the three Vampire elders in our clan." Spike nearly chocked on his tea, the slaying of a Vampire elder was uncommon, Spike himself had not had the honor of administering a coup de grace to a child of the millennia.
"Bloody hell woman! You're not in trouble, your dead where you stand!" The slaying of an elder by a childer was……a sacrilege, to put it mildly. Selene gave a slight nod to this; she understood the predicament she was in. Still, this only gave rise to more questions.
"So what exactly did your sire do to you. I mean sure I tried to kill my grand sire a couple of times but there were……circumstances." Selene made a note to ask what those circumstances were when it was her turn for questions.
"He betrayed me, and deceived me for a century. Then he tried to kill…" Spike waited for her to finish, but she didn't. "Listen," she stood up, taking one last sip of her tea. "The morning is nearly here. We're both exhausted and I'm in no condition to be digging up old ghosts at the moment. Let's continue this tomorrow night." Selene desperately wanted to hear his story, but the situation was awkward enough as it was. And she could hardly ask him questions when she couldn't answer his.
"Right, sunset then." Spike wanted to hear more, but it was obviously painful for her to continue, better to wait till the following night. He had no desire to cause her pain.
"You can sleep on the couch, we'll speak tomorrow." She turned and walked to her room, but Spike needed to know one more thing,
"Who else lives here luv?" Selene turned with surprise and looked down at the ground before meeting his gaze to say,
"My lover." Spike felt a sword slide through his heart. He made sure his expression bellied the feelings of agony he was feeling. "He's not currently in London, he has business in Tibet." She waited a moment before saying, "Get some sleep William." Then, just like that, she closed the door.
Spike listened carefully as he heard her climb into bed, and then dead silence. He had half expected her to hear her crying. It was almost like she was incapable of doing so anymore; like she was shut off from everything. Spike laid back on the soft leather couch, feeling the sleep start to wash over him. He'd been tired already after the vast amounts of alcohol he'd consumed earlier and had been running almost entirely on adrenaline the past hour or so, although technically not since Vampire bodies didn't produce it. Pure will was keeping him up, but his nature as a Vampire was taking over and now he was ready to rest for the day.
As his eyes began to flutter his thoughts were on Selene. She had changed so much. Obviously becoming a Vampire does tend to change people, but even still. A century ago, hell just a decade ago, if someone were to tell him this leather clad perfection was his Selene……it was more than just how she looked though. The Selene he had known was an aristocratic enigma. Well mannered, polite, but with an odd ball sense of humor and a larger than life personality. She was the type of woman who always seemed to have a white light following her. Almost as if the entire world was a stage and the spotlight was always on her.
Not that she was conceited! She was quite simply and unintentionally that charismatic. This Selene was totally different. She was certainly no less beautiful. No one Spike knew could argue that she wasn't one of the most gorgeous women in the world. But her entire persona and demeanor had changed. The white dresses were gone and in their place was protective, but nonetheless provocative, black leather. She had apparently gone through dozens of training exercises involving: martial arts, weapons, and tactics.
The Selene he knew was no pushover but she was anything but a twin pistol wielding angel of death. Gone was her bubbly and shinning smile. Now she was cold, withdrawn, and sad. As though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
As the sleep overcame him his last thoughts were not only on Selene, but Angel as well.
"Bloody Hell!" Spike thought in sudden realization. "The whole tortured soul, black on black, dark brooding Vampire gig actually is sexy!" He vowed with his last conscious thought in that moment to never repeat this too his grand sire.
AN:
I'm really not good at writing romance, sorry. The flashbacks are important but they won't be the main focus of the story, not for long at least. Trust me some real action is about to start up, but the connection Spike and Selene had as mortal's plays an epic part in the overall story, so I have to try my best at showing that. I'll try not to be to cheesy.
Was the poem ok? It was actually one I wrote myself, and I'm not to sure about it. I knew I wanted William to improve a poem so I took one of my own and wrote it in hopping it's not quite as bad as some of his earlier works. Also interesting to note is that, ironically I wrote it while I was thinking about Kate Beckinsale(I have a huge crush on her)!
Buffy will make an appearance in the next chapter, which I'm planning to have up very soon.
Another Vampire hunting badass from another series will make a cameo, probably not in the next chapter, but very soon. He won't be around for very long but it kind of occurred to me that because this portion of the story is taking place in London it might be interesting to throw him in the mix. (By the way, that was your hint!)
Hope it turned out ok, more is coming.
================================================================================
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
===============================================================
HEY THERE! I'm really, really sorry about the lack of updates in a while. With finals, and the finding of a job, and the looking for a college, and worst of all the summer yard work, I've had no time to write at all. Finally I've merited a break it seems so I'm going to spend it continuing this story. I have no intention of abandoning this story! I've already got the whole thing mapped out on where I plan to take it, and what the theme of the story is, so don't worry about that. I just hope it turns out ok.
I also did a sort of promotional poster with photoshop. I can't seem to put it in the page so look at my bio to find the URL and when you go there click on "Photoedits Posters" to find it if your interested.
===============================================================
Fool For Her
Chapter 3
London
1880 A.D.
William left the ball a broken man. Twice now his heart had been broken. He would have liked to take a carriage; as usual he opted instead to save his shillings for necessities, like food. So after a nearly an hour of walking, no mean feat in 19th century shoes, he arrived home. It was a gentleman's household but only just so. William had barley walked through the door when he heard his mothers ageing voice,
"William, your back." William turned and saw her sitting in her chair reading, as she usually was when he came home. William smiled.
"Hello mum," She smiled and gestured for him to come closer. Drawing up a chair from a small table he sat in front of her. In her youth his mother had been of great beauty, but do to the sickness, she had not aged well. The woman in front of him was but a fragment of her former glory. He banished such thoughts and began, "How are you feeling today?" She sighed, he was always concerned with her well being first.
"Better today, I was actually able to go out for little while." William frowned,
"Are you sure that's wise, I mean the doctors did say-" His mother said very frankly,
"I'll be fine William, don't worry about your old mum, she's not leaving anytime soon." William smiled,
"And it'll stay that way if I have anything to say about it." She smiled,
"How was the party?" The fresh memory of Selene's face came to the surface of his mind. He decided not to tell his mother about her, for the same reasons he hadn't told her of Cecily's rejection. She was sick enough without trying to carry her son's pain also. No, that was his weight to carry.
"It was a complete bore as usual. I honestly don't understand why you insist on me going. I could write my poetry so much better here in this house and watch over you more carefully while I worked-" suddenly and unexpectedly she made a comment which shocked William,
"Don't let the rejection of one woman cause you to loose all hope my son." How did she always know? There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. William looked at the ground as he spoke,
"I never told you about Cecily-" again she cut him off,
"I know. I heard it from Mary. But for the life of me I can't understand why I didn't hear it from you first. Do you think so little of me William; that I couldn't help?" William shook his head.
"That's not it at all." Calmly he tried to explain himself as she looked at him with a hurt expression. "You have enough to deal with besides my troubles mum. What with the sickness and the pain, you don't need my troubles to worry about also." His mother made a sigh,
"Oh William, I'm the parent, not you. It's my job to share the pain, not yours. From now on, please talk to me, I gain strength by helping you."
William made to leave,
"Forgive me mum, but it's been a long walk home and I think I'll retire early tonight." She suddenly became very concerned, her son didn't typically leave her side so soon.
"Are you feeling alright William?" He nodded and without further word left her to her reading. William enjoyed conversation with his mum, but not tonight. He had no desire to relive his pathetic imitation of a love life at the moment. He realized he was being rude to her, but there would be time to apologize in the morning. So after finding his room, he placed his journal on the small desk and without any further action collapsed into his bed.
When morning came William groaned in tiredness. Even if it was dawn he was hardly prepared for another day. But he could not neglect his responsibilities. The first item at hand today however was to make an entry into his journal which he had neglected to do last night. So after a quick crawl to his desk he gathered the small bound book, found his pen and turned to the last entry he had made. As he was preparing to write however, William realized that the page before had an entry not in his handwriting. Curiously he glanced at it and recognized, of all things, Selene's signature! He began reading immediately!
Dear William,
My sincerest apologies for my father's rudeness. He means well for me, but he tends to forget at times that I mean well enough for myself. I'm sure that you and he will not converse long so I must write quickly. As a token of apology I would like you to accompany me at the Adelphi Theater. Meet me there at eleven tomorrow morning.
Selene
P.S.
Don't be late, if you are I'll assume you are too upset and I'll go alone.
It took William half a minute for his brain to begin functioning properly again, but once it did he immediately reached for his pocket watch and discovered that it was nearly ten! It was impossible to get to the Adelphi by foot now, and unlikely even by cab!
He immediately hopped to his feet, flung the door open, grabbed his purse, and ran out. Down stairs he saw his mother sitting at the table eating a small serving of toast. Sitting with her was her friend Mary. As he ran down stairs his mother smiled and said,
"Ah William, your up finally. Sit with us, Mary fixed some delicious-" William didn't stop his hurried gallop,
"Sorry mum, I have to be off early today!" With that he ran out the door slamming it behind him. Mary and his mother were left in shock as the scene replayed in their minds. Mary chimed in,
"Well I never! That was certainly rude. He almost completely ignored us. He didn't seem to have a care in the world what we thought. He didn't even bother to eat before leaving. What could be so important for him to just leave his sick mum and her friend as though they meant nothing?!?" William's mother smiled,
"It must be love." She continued eating with renewed vigor.
Outside William ran along the street in the general direction of the Adelphi until he was successful in hailing down a cabby. Dropping a generous amount into the drivers hand (his food money), he gave him the destination and told him to hustle.
By Williams watch he arrived at 11:05. Thanking the driver he jumped out and began searching carefully for Selene outside the theater. He was unsuccessful however.
"No, No, No!" He thought in desperation. "Please God No!" Head hanging low he sighed in defeat. Suddenly he felt a hand on his right shoulder,
"I said not to be late William," said a sweet voice into his ear. William turned to find Selene wearing another white dress, this one long sleeved to protect her from the chilled weather. William just gawked, she looked like an angel. He started stammering,
"My apologies, I didn't see your message until this morning and I had already slept in so I-" She laughed, silencing him.
"You're so polite William. It's alright, you're only late by five minutes." She laughed again and William forced out a chuckle. He had been so afraid that she had left.
"Well William, be a gentleman and walk me in." Selene held out her arm, which William logically took in his own, and walked her into the theater as courtly as knew how. He had never done this before. God he wished he had changed into another suit! They took their seats next to one another, the play began almost instantly. William had never been to the theater, he couldn't afford the time or money. For the next hour or so William casually glanced at the stage from time to time, but too often his eyes drifted towards Selene and he forgot the performance. Half a dozen times he pretended to laugh as the crowd was lifted into an uproar. Obviously the performers had said something funny, but William wasn't paying much attention. All he was focused on was how she smiled, and how she laughed, and before he knew it the show was already over.
As they left the theater Selene said,
"Walk with me." Happy to oblige, William walked side by side with her down the streets of London. "What did you think of the performance?" Selene asked. William could only reply,
"I'm not sure. I mean I enjoyed it of course, but I don't have anything else to compare it too. I haven't been to the theater before." Selene looked at him, shocked.
"Never?!?" she asked. William shook his head saying,
"My mother is very ill and has been most of my life. Most of my houses income goes to keeping her comfortable and acquiring what medicine we can. I can't afford such luxuries." At that William mentally kicked himself realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to remind her that he was only a hairs breath away from being a beggar. To his surprise Selene smiled and said,
"Your mother is very lucky to have you watching out for her. Lesser men would not spend so much time and money keeping her in this world." William smiled, but the frowned,
"It worries me to see her of late. It used to be that she could venture outside without difficulty on better days. Now she rarely ever has the strength to venture outside even on her best days. She's bedridden most of the time and her spirit is gradually growing weaker. I would that I could watch over her all day but she keeps insisting that I do too much and should focus on my own life more." Selene smiled,
"Perhaps you and my father do have something in common." William raised an eyebrow in question. Selene explained.
"Not long after I was born my grandmother fell into a deep sickness. To this day the doctors were unable to explain exactly what it was, but she had great spells of insanity for days at a time until finally, bedridden, she passed away."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." William said with regret in his voice. Selene shook her head.
"It hurts, but I never really even knew her. My father is the one you should be sorry for. I was too young to remember, but my mother says that when she died he was devastated. He used to be a very happy and playful man. But afterwards he became very cold and distant. I love him, and I know he loves me and wants the best for me. But it's still hard to see things from his view." William nodded, trying to think of a way to comfort her. Suddenly Selene laughed and said,
"Listen to us, we're talking about our family. This is hardly a romantic conversation." Romance, William found the thought of her reaching out to him romantic enough. Ah, perhaps poetry!
"Would you perhaps be interested in reading my latest piece?" Selene's face showed great enthusiasm,
"I'd love to here it." William pulled out his journal, flipped to his latest entry and began reading.
"Yet her smell, it doth linger, painting pictures in my mind.
Her eyes, balls of honey. Angel's harps her laugh.
Oh, lark. Grant a sign if crook'd be Cupid's shaft.
Hark, the lark, her name it hath spake.
"Selene" it discharges from twixt its wee beak."
He had actually misread the final line as it read Cecily and not Selene, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to read it like that. When he had finished William looked to Selene to see a pathetically forced smile. William sighed,
"I know, I know, I'm a bad poet." Selene's eyes widened,
"No, No, It's not that-" William cut her off.
"Yes it is. They don't call me William the bloody awful poet for nothing. Selene replied,
"No, I mean, you have an extensive vocabulary, and your syntax is well placed but," there was a pause before she continued "It just seems so forced." William in surprise said,
"Well sometimes they just need to be ironed out, this line here for instance, let's see what's another word for discharges?" Selene began laughing again quite suddenly which threw William off his train of thought very quickly. She didn't seem to be able to stop until finally after catching the stares of several on lookers she calmed down.
"It's no wonder why your poems have no substance, there's no feeling in them!" William suddenly became defensive.
"I'll have you know that I write these poems when I am deeply enthralled by the passions of my heart!" Selene pointed and said,
"See, that last sentence was a better poem than the one you wrote, and do you know why? It's because you didn't think!" William looked confused and said,
"But it has to have order, has to have structure to be poetry-" Selene began laughing again.
"Honestly William! You should be a man of science not art! It's not mathematics, its feelings. A sculptor doesn't keep adding texture and material to create beauty; he strips away that which isn't needed until all that is left is his vision."
"What do you know?" William defensively objected. He knew his poems were bad, but that didn't mean his writing style was lacking. He just had to find a subject that his style was good for, that was all. Selene sighed and said,
"Bloody hell man, I finally get some fire out of you and your going to argue about how to write poetry when your own poems are so bloody awful that even you admit it. Maybe it's time to hear a woman's perspective on the matter?" Inevitably, with a sigh, William conceded to her.
"Very well, so what would you suggest?" She gave a great smile and said,
"Good, now come with me." William felt a tingle of apprehension as she suddenly pulled him over to the side of the street. "Ok, now first of all, clear your mind of all thoughts."
"What?" He stuttered.
"Just do it." William blinked, but attempted to do so. "Ok?"
"Ok."
"No thoughts?"
"None."
"Ok good, now close your eyes." William complied.
"Now what?" Suddenly without warning William felt two soft lips press to his. "She's kissing me!" he thought, then kicked himself for thinking. Common sense asserted itself and William passionately drew her into him, the kiss intensified from a simple press to a desperate desire to devoir each other.
William was beyond bliss. He let his fingers curl through her hair as he tried to draw her closer. Had he the time to think about it he might have decided to back off, but he wasn't thinking. At last the need for oxygen took over and they reluctantly pulled away. Selene managed amongst her ragged breath to get out.
"Still no thinking, now speak your poetry." William, still in a euphoric state began,
"I always was a fool for love
I guess it's written in my blood
I never cared what others said
You were always in my head
Or on a picture I had drawn
An elegant beauty dwarfing sun's dawn
You were always there inside my mind
And in my heart then, now, and for all time
They say grow up, forget, that I'll move on
But I don't want to forget at all
About your hair, your lips, your eyes
About your smiles, your laughs, your cries
I love all you are beneath and above
And I'll always be a fool for love"
"Much better, much better." Selene whispered. Seeing Williams strange look she asked, "didn't you think so?"
Williams answer was to kiss her again, with even more passion. Obviously it wasn't the most logical thing to do. It was dangerous enough that he was engaging in ungentlemanly acts and she in unladylike ones, but they were doing them on the streets of London and it was an ever present possibility that someone might see them. William's face wasn't well known, but Selene's face was, and if word got back to her father she was kissing a young man in wrinkly clothing it wouldn't take much to put the pieces together.
But neither of them were thinking.
London
2004 A.D.
Selene's apartment wasn't far from Gehenna Now! as she had said. The building certainly wasn't anything spectacular, it was practically in the slum regions. It had the advantage of being a low visibility area though, something that was invaluable at the moment. Selene again felt her world crashing around her. Everything she had believed for the past century had again quite suddenly been thrown out the window and she was left to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all. "How is he here?" Selene thought, "He should be dead!" She turned the rear view mirror a tad so that she could hold him in her gaze as he followed her car.
He had certainly changed over the past century, the black on black look suited him much better than she would have expected, but what had prompted him to crucify his hair? Well there would be time to ask questions later. She made a left turn and led the car into an old parking lot taking her familiar place. Spike promptly parked his bike next to her.
When Selene got out of her car Spike followed her wordlessly as she led him through the doors and upstairs to room 308. She slid her key into place and opened the door to reveal an equally meager room to match the building.
Plain grey carpet with plain white walls, and furniture that was functional, not decorative. It was certainly a step down from her manor in London. Even still, trinkets and baubles to decorate the home never really were his thing; that was always Drusilla's interest.
Selene walked through a nearby door on the right into her bedroom and laid down her guns. Spike watched in fascination as she took off her coat and proceeded to remove various deadly implements from her leather attire. From both her wrists she produced two long serrated blades. From her boots she pulled out two more pistols, this continued to go on until finally there was a small arsenal on the bed. At this Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Thought you said you only had this one left." Spike raised the desert eagle which Selene snatched up and placed with the others in the pile.
"I lied." She stated unemotionally.
"Right then." He said without much interest, he didn't really care.
Spike left the bedroom while Selene was busy sorting the weapons out. He proceeded to the kitchen and threw his duster on the counter. Checking the fridge he found a healthy supply of cow blood, good to know that they shared a common diet. Interestingly enough, that wasn't all he found. There was red meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese, and even milk. Spike shot a curious glance at the food and decided to check the pantry. Sure enough there was a variety of treats. This was odd. Either Selene's clan had developed Vampiric taste buds which could actually enjoy such dishes or, more likely, she didn't live alone. Deciding that a drink could do both of them good he gathered the necessary ingredients, which she of course had, and fixed a generous amount of tea setting it on the stove allowing it to heat.
Time flew and eventually the pot was steaming signaling that it was ready. William poured a small amount into two cups and filled them the rest of the way with a healthy amount of cow blood he fished out from the fridge.
By now Selene had finished sorting out most of her weapons so she left the room to find Spike waiting for her in the kitchen and to her relief was holding two cups of warm blood. She took one and sat down across from him. They each took a drink, savoring the salty, yet sweet, taste of the blood. Spike took the initiative,
"Ok so let's get the simple stuff out of the way first, now what kind of trouble are you in?" Selene sighed, sitting back in her chair. She had hoped to hear William's story first, but it was because of her that his night had been shot to hell, and she owed him an explanation.
"What do you know of the Death Dealers?" Spike's eyebrows shot up,
"Enough too know not to mess with them. So that's who those buggers were." Spike had only heard of them a few times in his unlife as they tended to stay in the background but he knew from what he had heard that they were legendary for there cold hard efficiency and brutality.
"Yes, up until a few months ago I was a decorated soldier in their ranks."
"What happened?" Spike asked with interest.
"Have you heard of the Zyvera clan's blood feud with the Lycan hordes?" Spike nodded,
"Heard about that one time from my grand sire, wasn't it supposed to have been the bloodiest war in the dark ages?" She nodded, to which Spike replied, "Still why would a war that happened centuries ago have anything to do with--" Spike suddenly stopped, thought, and said "Oh, wait, let me guess, the wars still going on isn't it." Selene nodded. Spike smiled saying, "That's the problem with immortals and wars, the leaders never die, so the wars tend to keep going." Again Selene nodded. "Now those vamps from earlier," Spike continued, "had the same scent you did, so I'm assuming that you're from the same clan. And I'm even going to go so far as to assume that those were also fellow death dealers?"
"Correct." Selene answered.
"What the bleeding hell did you do to piss them off so much?" Selene suddenly became quiet and Spike could tell that this was difficult for her.
"I slew my own sire, one of the three Vampire elders in our clan." Spike nearly chocked on his tea, the slaying of a Vampire elder was uncommon, Spike himself had not had the honor of administering a coup de grace to a child of the millennia.
"Bloody hell woman! You're not in trouble, your dead where you stand!" The slaying of an elder by a childer was……a sacrilege, to put it mildly. Selene gave a slight nod to this; she understood the predicament she was in. Still, this only gave rise to more questions.
"So what exactly did your sire do to you. I mean sure I tried to kill my grand sire a couple of times but there were……circumstances." Selene made a note to ask what those circumstances were when it was her turn for questions.
"He betrayed me, and deceived me for a century. Then he tried to kill…" Spike waited for her to finish, but she didn't. "Listen," she stood up, taking one last sip of her tea. "The morning is nearly here. We're both exhausted and I'm in no condition to be digging up old ghosts at the moment. Let's continue this tomorrow night." Selene desperately wanted to hear his story, but the situation was awkward enough as it was. And she could hardly ask him questions when she couldn't answer his.
"Right, sunset then." Spike wanted to hear more, but it was obviously painful for her to continue, better to wait till the following night. He had no desire to cause her pain.
"You can sleep on the couch, we'll speak tomorrow." She turned and walked to her room, but Spike needed to know one more thing,
"Who else lives here luv?" Selene turned with surprise and looked down at the ground before meeting his gaze to say,
"My lover." Spike felt a sword slide through his heart. He made sure his expression bellied the feelings of agony he was feeling. "He's not currently in London, he has business in Tibet." She waited a moment before saying, "Get some sleep William." Then, just like that, she closed the door.
Spike listened carefully as he heard her climb into bed, and then dead silence. He had half expected her to hear her crying. It was almost like she was incapable of doing so anymore; like she was shut off from everything. Spike laid back on the soft leather couch, feeling the sleep start to wash over him. He'd been tired already after the vast amounts of alcohol he'd consumed earlier and had been running almost entirely on adrenaline the past hour or so, although technically not since Vampire bodies didn't produce it. Pure will was keeping him up, but his nature as a Vampire was taking over and now he was ready to rest for the day.
As his eyes began to flutter his thoughts were on Selene. She had changed so much. Obviously becoming a Vampire does tend to change people, but even still. A century ago, hell just a decade ago, if someone were to tell him this leather clad perfection was his Selene……it was more than just how she looked though. The Selene he had known was an aristocratic enigma. Well mannered, polite, but with an odd ball sense of humor and a larger than life personality. She was the type of woman who always seemed to have a white light following her. Almost as if the entire world was a stage and the spotlight was always on her.
Not that she was conceited! She was quite simply and unintentionally that charismatic. This Selene was totally different. She was certainly no less beautiful. No one Spike knew could argue that she wasn't one of the most gorgeous women in the world. But her entire persona and demeanor had changed. The white dresses were gone and in their place was protective, but nonetheless provocative, black leather. She had apparently gone through dozens of training exercises involving: martial arts, weapons, and tactics.
The Selene he knew was no pushover but she was anything but a twin pistol wielding angel of death. Gone was her bubbly and shinning smile. Now she was cold, withdrawn, and sad. As though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
As the sleep overcame him his last thoughts were not only on Selene, but Angel as well.
"Bloody Hell!" Spike thought in sudden realization. "The whole tortured soul, black on black, dark brooding Vampire gig actually is sexy!" He vowed with his last conscious thought in that moment to never repeat this too his grand sire.
AN:
I'm really not good at writing romance, sorry. The flashbacks are important but they won't be the main focus of the story, not for long at least. Trust me some real action is about to start up, but the connection Spike and Selene had as mortal's plays an epic part in the overall story, so I have to try my best at showing that. I'll try not to be to cheesy.
Was the poem ok? It was actually one I wrote myself, and I'm not to sure about it. I knew I wanted William to improve a poem so I took one of my own and wrote it in hopping it's not quite as bad as some of his earlier works. Also interesting to note is that, ironically I wrote it while I was thinking about Kate Beckinsale(I have a huge crush on her)!
Buffy will make an appearance in the next chapter, which I'm planning to have up very soon.
Another Vampire hunting badass from another series will make a cameo, probably not in the next chapter, but very soon. He won't be around for very long but it kind of occurred to me that because this portion of the story is taking place in London it might be interesting to throw him in the mix. (By the way, that was your hint!)
Hope it turned out ok, more is coming.
================================================================================