Disclaimer's Apply.
IretherI: This chapter was inspired by my whimsical awe of Greek mythology after watching Disney's Hercules on film that lead to a pain-staking silly way of learning more about Greek mythology (I had chosen to go through every single encyclopedia we had and looked page after page to know about the people in who were in it) That was when I was like, thirteen years old. Well I won't keep you from reading.
Go ahead.
Complacent Strangers
Chapter Two- Nothing Lasts Forever
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles.
Somehow, their day ended with Angel, Cordelia and the baby lying on his bed. All of them were waiting for sleep to overcome them but the events of almost beheading of their genius Winifred Burkle and the possession of $50,000 into Angel Investigations left them both weary and gripped in delusional fantasies.
"Go to sleep, my baby peep…" Cordelia was softly singing a lullaby for the baby between Angel and herself. They were lying on top of Angel's bed with the baby happily feeding on the bottle she was holding while the dad and the dad's unknowing beloved were exhausted and eyes closed to shut.
It was one of the beautiful things in the world, simple, as it was being two people brought closer by a child and dreaming about what the future would bring into the wealthy addition to their income, "I'm just saying a boat."
Brown eyes half-opened, it reminded Cordelia of a puppy-dog look. "No. College fund." She smiles to herself and replies, "Yes. College fun -and pay our bills- and put a down payment on a boat."
"We're not getting a boat." Cordelia sighs heavily.
"Hmm, they're fun."
"They're expensive." If somebody took a photograph of the moment, they would guess that they're a happy family. The married couple, madly in love with each other and their child, having a nightly chat about their baby after a long day's work, toiling for the brighter future they sought for their little boy. "And when would I go on this boat, hmm?"
However, reality, to them, was far from that, they were a family unbound by blood but a family nonetheless. The man was a creature of the night with a soul by gypsies, the woman and the child shared something special. They were bound in complications and lived through it.
"Moonlight sails," she dreamily answered and went for a reality check, "Okay, college fund -pay our bills- and rent a ski condo in Aspen."
Angel raises a brow, "Ski condo?"
"There's got to be some fun in our lives."
"Hmmm," Angel pauses for intentional dramatic effect; he failed miserably but answered her. "I like a ski condo."
"Sure. Snow. Trees. Chipmunk robots on ice…"
"Chipmunk robots…" They were drifting together into dreamland, "-on ice."
Serene and tranquil, they were at peace, safe and secure as they dreamed of happy dreams woven by their unconscious mind but that was when it striked. The pains of helping others through seeing what was happening beforehand was not killing her...as much as it used to when she was fully human.
Cordelia pushed herself out of Angel's bed, receiving another vision, there was a grave feeling she mused to herself that this one was going to be one heck of a ride. The bottle fell out of her grasp and Angel felt her erratic movements while the baby was complaining about the loss of his milk.
"Cordy!" A surge of white light enveloped them with its warmth but it did not last as balls of fire appeared on her palms, she saw them mesmerized and then let them shoot away from her. She lets out a pained cry, the baby wails in the background.
That was all she could remember, the balls of fire emitted from herself had dispersed the moment she felt it hit her skin. Then on, everything faded again.
Emerald eyes faced with the view of her living room rotated to ninety degrees as she fell asleep on the couch again. She could feel that trouble was brewing, wrapping her arms around her. Memories from someone else were being etched deep into her mind, her body and her soul. She could feel her heart beating swift while she wrapped her arms around herself.
She whispers, "Angel, what is happening to you?"
The ice embracing her heart, away from the real pain that would break her down, the ice around her heart was melting. She was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Chosen One, the girl who deserved to be placed on a pedestal for eternity for all the work she does to keep the world more safer from the things that do more than bump in the night, she was the good girl who was wicked when the time came to be bad.
She was seen to reach their highest expectations and her lists of responsibilities weren't exactly growing shorter since she was growing up. The great power she carries brings great responsibilities, she was juggling the parental guidance, the older sister, the slayer, the best friend and the list keep piling on; one after another…
Nobody was home in 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale except for Buffy Anne Summers. It was time to let out what has been kept inside when she was around everyone else and so she cried. It was out of character for the slayer to cry but it felt right for Buffy pouring her heart out silently across an empty house.
Outside, the vampire was waiting for Buffy. He was pursuing her like a shadow underneath the much praise for her, he lays evil. He looked at her with such love that he knew it was close. Eventually, his love will drive him mad. Until he hears what she was saying, he shatters his self-proclaimed promise of watching her from a distance.
He drops another cigarette onto the pile behind the tree of her front lawn and lights another, his chain-smoking habit wouldn't kill since he was already dead. He inhales the stick one more time before thinking again and again if he should stay or should he go.
Brown.
The colour brown was a similarity for both of them since they had brown hair and brown eyes. He knew that fact but he never indulged in the petty pleasure of saying to himself that was one more reason that they belonged together. He was a cursed creature of the night, the vampire with a soul setting out his path to redemption by doing what is someway right and alongside that was to pay for his sins.
Sitting down on his chair behind his office desk, he had been patiently waiting for their new arrival. A giggle erupts from his son and he looks up to find Cordelia coming his way with his baby and the drooping lids of her eyes, he managed to smile. "Couldn't sleep?"
He earns himself a glare from his half-demon seer, "Well excuse me for making the baby feel agitated from the freaky-deaky Cordy just because I'm doing my job." He laughs to himself out of Cordy's hearing range, she was still busy attacking him weakly about something he forgot to listen to. Her intense one-side conversation did no further good to her as little Connor thought it was too much for listening to his aunty Cordy's rants. He started to cry.
"Oh, no." Cordelia was trying to appease Connor by means of anything that came popping in her very, very exhausted mind. "Please stop crying, honey. I promise when you grow up I'm going to teach you the real way to deal with women so that you won't end up brooding and depressed like your daddy dearest did, ok?"
"Hey, I resent that!"
She gives him the sarcastic version of a sympathetic look. "Of course, you do." Her attention divided between the man and his son, she did not notice that Angel placed himself behind her and closed over the arch of her back. She was surprised.
Whispering to her left ear and holding her arms out as he was offering help to soothe his child, "Calm down, everything will be fine now." He half-sang and half-hummed a tune.
"Over in Killarney many years ago, me mither sang a song to me in tones so sweet and low. Just a simple little ditty, in her good ould Irish way, and I'd give the world if she could sing that song to me this day." He held them both -he wove his arms around Cordelia from behind with his head resting on her shoulder while his hands helped support baby Connor, rocking them gently into relaxing sway of peace.
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!" She shudders at his sheer touch and almost letting out a breath of a whimper when he suddenly stopped for a moment.
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral-" She shudders at his sheer touch and almost let out a breathe of a whimper when he suddenly stopped and felt her heart thudding a little bit harder against her chest when he started to sing again. "-Too-ra-loo-ra-li, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."
He kept on rocking them from side to side, 'Angel, why, what are you doing -how can you make me feel like this…' and suddenly her cheeks burned red when she felt the trembling of her shoulder as he chuckled. 'Okay, did I say that aloud?'
A tender giggle of a baby boy caught her attention, one from her shoulder and one from the little boy who was around her arms now asleep. "Baby knocked out and daddy still standing…" she smiles and unconsciously nuzzles the side of her head beside the crook of Angel's neck.
"Cordelia?"
"Hmmm?"
"You know, I've been around a long time and I've never known anyone like you."
Genuinely surprised and a bit annoyed look was what he immediately got from Cordelia. "Wait, haven't you said this before?"
He stills them both and replies with a grave nod, "But I haven't finished," he shifts and stands up with his six inches taller than her. He looked back into her eyes, brown on brown, and meant every single word of what he was about to say, "Tá cion agam ort."
Confusion fuelled her to open her mouth and ask him what the heck he was trying to say. With her head still turned to face him and the petite gaping of her mouth, she was felt tearful as he ravished her so gently by his lips against and with her own. She closed her eyes and ignored the rational way of keeping a real friend; it was the most tender thing anyone has ever done to her. It seemed to go on and on until he remembered that Cordelia needed air. She finally did moan out loud when he pulled away; blinking brown eyes, both on each other and she was breathless.
The feel of her fingertips on her lips made her wonder what the heck happened; everything seemed to go so fast.
'Did he just kiss me?' "Angel, wha-"
Then their Texan sweetheart came in with a ghost of a smile pasted on her face, she was not in a festive mood but her quirky personality made her remember a totally random occurrence with Plyean rats. 'The abominations of the Plyean dimension were cute little animals crossed between pandas and koala bears, what were they called again? Something, something -tocik?'
She said without looking up at them, "Um, I'd just like to say that um, the Slayer's sister just came out of nowhere literally. It's like she was magically transported..." She raises her head to find Angel's eyes on her and she turns to see Cordelia breathing deeply.
She suddenly giggles, "Is there something going on that I should know about? You guys look like you've been making out." The horror struck both of them but Fred immediately replies with another laugh, "Don't mind me, it's like I'm on a high or something like that. I'll just take my turn on the baby!" Her eyes droop for a moment making funny faces as she carries Connor out of the office and then she was gone with giggles.
Then again, they were alone. Angel could hear the loud thudding of Cordelia's heart through his heightened senses as cursed vampire. For the first time he had made the Cordelia Chase speechless, it was an accomplishment even for an old vamp like him but his humane half bound with demon has some fears starting to gurgle on the surface.
'Silence is a good thing, right? But she's just not talking and it's not like I wouldn't love to hear what she says about the kiss? The weird lingo? Comment on the weather even?' His eyes were always on her whether she noticed or not. It was the kind of like psycho stalker but more of a subtle-stalkerish lover from the sidelines; longing and waiting with his hands clenched to stop him from craving more of attention. 'I can't do this.'
"Angel," his eyes perk up for a fleeting moment. "I love you but-" His world was caving in and he sees his past choking him into submission. It was screaming at him, 'You were never meant for happiness of any sense, this will never last and you'll only end up breaking with the friendship you have with her. You'll destroy the nature of happiness you have built with them, the binds of friendship are strong but it will wilt away when you do something stupid…'
He wasn't listening but Cordelia managed to lock her lips with him as he was wrapped in his own world of woven thoughts. He gave in for primal desire but realizing he was doing something he wished not to do, he literally pushed her off him, Cordelia landed directly onto his chair.
"I can never have you." With that, he bolted with his vampire abilities and disappeared from his seer's view and haunted with the words he left fading into her ear and imprinted into her heart, "I'm sorry."
Groggily, groggily, she was coming back. Everything was aflame; an enchanted smile sprang upon her demonic features. Screams of agony were heard as the world was slowly coming into another end but it was not enough, the pull of menace and scornfulness was abundant and the unbearable pain coming from those who merit punishment. Blood clung to her like second skin as she walked the path many have chosen, she had enjoyed her stay and now the time was to fulfil her escape.
The wish of a young Italian woman who had been wronged to utmost extent by Nazi soldiers who have abused her and killed every single person that she had given a piece of happiness in their hellish village. It turned from a spitfire of vengeance to a very much praised massacre in the underworld. "Lucretia," she smiled of satisfaction. She remembered the weeping woman's requiem, "Sono venuti uninvited al mio paese. Hanno assassinato la mia famiglia. Hanno abusato, violentato e me ha ucciso. Sono morto perché ricordo sempre ciò che è successo sul mio giorno di nascita e sul giorno quando la mia vita intera è stato rovinata. Voglio che staranno nell'inferno per sempre."
With her shoes clicking against the pavement and her hair tailing behind her, this wish granted and she walked away as another layer of stone and ice covered her heart.
Lucretia Rossi lived in Istria, Italy. She was born to goodly parents. She lived a simple and righteous life. Ordinary, yet she recalled vengeance demons as the beautiful and broken Italian woman who lived to tell her sad tale.
Yugoslav partisans. Accusations. Foibe massacres. September 8, 1943.
They killed her family, her everything. They abused and raped her. They were killing her, painfully and slow. She wanted to die that very fateful day but what do you know? Surprise, she survived living through the horror. Carrying the distressing memories and a child from that man -that day was supposed to be of celebration for her birth, but she could never ever be happy ever again. She mourns every single second that she breathes in air and nurturing an unwanted son as she lives a life not dying when they took everything away. "L'inferno è qui…Arrivederci il mio Lucretia dolce…and they are bound to pay for all eternity, dear Lucretia…"
Shattering screams of everlasting torture, gore and death in a cycle to pay for the sins, they shall never receive redemption and they shall never have a moment's peace while being eternally imprisoned in hell. They were to go through the pain and the hurt over and over again for the rest of eternity, their fates were sealed and Anyanka rejoiced for justice
Groggily, groggily, she heaves herself away from the scalding sunshine of her demon days and comes back reluctantly to reality. Hot flashes flee as she wakes to a room that was not her own, she looks around. Machines and wires sticking out her skin, she searches for her voice and coughs out, "Hallie?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," he checks on to his clipboard to find her name, "Ms. Jenkins but I'm not Ms.Underwood. Your friend Hallie is waiting for you outside."
He reminded her of a fox but she was not going to think of what connotations she could bring as she looked at the white coat man. "Who are you? Where am I? What have you-"
"Please, Ms. Jenkins. Calm yourself." She did. "Firstly, how rude of me. I'm your doctor or rather gynaecologist, Michael Smith." Then came the feeling of dread and unanswered questions as she resonates more fear, "I'm here to give you news that there might have been complications with your unborn children."
A furrow in her burrow and her front teeth biting her lip, "Children?"
The doctor mistook her confusion and associated it with shock; he talked rather more simply and slowly. "Ms. Jenkins, you are three months pregnant with your first twins as Ms. Underwood explained. A few hours ago, you experience crapping in your back and severe pain flashing over your body. You had a miscarriage, we took the liberty of having a scan, since permission was granted by Ms. Underwood, and we could hear a surviving heartbeat."
"A surviving heartbeat? You said that I was having children, children mean more than one, how come I only have one to end with when I had many to begin with?"
The doctor gave calm, understanding approach and spoke even more softly with a clear voice. "You were carrying twins inside your womb, they have been there for twelve weeks as I can imagine but this morning you...passed the pregnancy." He was grim and solemn. He handed Anya a leaflet that read 'How to deal with losing your baby…'
"We have a support group-"
The doctor continued to speak but she had shelled herself away from it. She placed her hands on her tummy whispering sweet nothings; the doctor stopped and said that he was going to leave and let the family in.
'I will not cry. I've cried too much, this isn't happening. It's a nightmare and I can't wake up…' In a sudden blur of colours, she could see someone perch itself on the couch. That someone eager held her hand; she wished that it were he. With much high expectations, she wished that Xander was there trying to see if she was still all right. "Anya? You gave me quite a fright, dear." She lets out a high-pitched laugh, Anya lethargically recognized who it was and she was somewhat disappointed. "I brought you to these human hospitals after well panicking and well stuff. I could teleport you to where your other friends are."
She tries to smile but it came out as a pained expression. "I don't have any friends." She tries to speak but tears flooded down her cheeks and she wails like a mourning mother that she is, "I can't understand. Am I that stupid? How can everything start out confusing then lift my spirits up to feel all those feelings and, and I just wish you know." She slumps down into her pristine hospital bed while Halfrek's eyes gleam with expectancy. 'I apologize for now Anya, but wishes always comes first.'
"I don't understand, please do elaborate." Eager was Halfrek for the faded soul of the twin, but stern eyes met her with weak stance, "No. I know what you're trying to do, Halfrek. You're not getting it from me."
"Fine, Anyanka." She walks out of the room, with a remembered thought of irony. She turned to face the woman sitting on the pristine white bed, "Well, I cannot play caring friend without any gifts. You see I brought you one of your most favoured memories..." With words stolen from a witch, she blessed and cursed her by envisioning the past. "Arrivederci il mio Anya dolce…"
She shivers as she was forced to see the monstrosity her devious granting of the wish. She remembered everything Istria; the trauma of the woman, the sodomizing ways of man and how crystalline black her heart was that day. It marvelled her how cold her heart had been, how she had seen the world for centuries as black and white. There was nothing in between and now she's always caught in the middle. She reached out for the glass of water on her bedside table and drank its contents with a shaky hand.
Without sparing another second, she drifted out to calm herself with her dreams of being a millionaire against the whole world and winning.
It did not help.
Darkness echoed throughout the waters of the unknown as theenigma deliberate. Excitement pulled through their works, Lachesis playfully spins the thread of life a little bit faster; with childish glee, she knew that someone's time was going to be up. With her nimble fingers, the youngest of the sisters smiled.
"Little by little, it happens as it should." She hums out self-indulged song. "One would wonder why mortals are ever so surprised? A day they are born, days they live, and then one other day they die. They all know and yet they cry surprised." As she sings more, she could not help but sing quicker. Enthusiasm from her meant there would be some things cut short, but her older sister had to intervene cutting a glare like ice.
"Childish Lachesis, know what is good for you. Never…" Atropos glares at her without even looking directly at the youngest, she was the most feared and the inevitable. Little Lachesis would add 'shortest and meanest' in the list to describe her eldest sister.
Lachesis looks up at her second sister, the middle child and the equilibrium of the three whom rarely speaks, Clotho. She regarded her as the most prettiest of the three, she knows so much about the past if she could only find her voice when it was most needed, the sisters might have been more harmonious. Atropos felt something unusual in their abode and smileddespite that knowing what was going to happen, she whispers,"-It is approaching…"
