A/N thanks for the reviews everyone and especially Howard and Twin who are my most frequent reviewers thus far. I hope you like this chapter.
Chapter Eight
Harmony lifted her head from where it rested on her arm at around 5:30am. She stretched her sore body and stood to her feet. She was glad that vampires had rapid healing speeds but the reminders of the battle of last night were still present with the aching muscles. She walked over to a bed and looked down at a still form lying motionless. "Willow you need to wake up." Harmony spoke softly as the redhead stirred.
Willow was dreaming of the vampire leaning down towards her neck and then felt the fangs sink in. She felt her body tremble and jerk as the vampire drank from her to replenish its life source. She heard the vampire saying something just before she blacked out but couldn't make it out. She then heard herself screaming no and jerked awake in a startled fashion. She ached all over and wasn't sure if she could move but felt a calming hand on her shoulder. "Harmony?" Willow questioned in a hoarse voice as she tried to stretch her body into life.
"Is everything all right Harm?" A middle-aged man who looked a lot like Harmony asked, as he poked his head into the room.
"Sure, could you get her something to drink?" Harmony asked, as the man left the room. "Willow, it's all right," the vampire touched the shaking redhead's cheek with her thumb. "Relax, you're just fine Willow."
Willow relaxed and looked at harmony with slightly blurred vision. "That man, is that doctor Kendall?" Willow asked in a small voice as she recalled the stories of Harmony murdering her parents. If that was doctor Dennis Kendall, Harmony's father at least was alive and well.
"I told you they were alive Willow." Harmony said and took the drink from the man who stood at the door. "Dad, do you think mom could get her some breakfast in a couple hours? She's still a little shaken and I can't help her get home now," she motioned to the covered window in indication that the sun was coming up.
"Of course, will you be eating with us, I mean people food?" He smiled at his daughter and left the room again.
"You didn't kill me, why?" Willow asked and took a big gulp of the cold juice.
"You tried to stop them from killing me Willow. Even a vampire has respect for people who try to help them. One favor deserves another." Harmony said and fluffed Willow's pillows back up. "I got you here and dad took care of you. You've been sleeping since 2ish this morning and could use some more I'm sure."
"You're not really helping them are you? I mean the people that are after the slayers." Willow looked at the vampire and wished that she could figure this one out easily. She was going against the grain by helping a human and then not turning her when she had the perfect chance.
"NO Willow," Harmony said and turned towards the door. "You should get some sleep."
Willow knew the vampire was trying to make a quick retreat for a reason. Either she didn't want her secrets of helping the bad guys to be found out or there was something else on the go. She also was afraid to go to sleep because she had replayed what almost happened to her throughout the night and didn't want to do it again. "Harmony, how did you control the demon? I mean once you bit me, I thought you would lose total control and…" Willow trailed off and visibly shivered at the thought of what would have happened to her if the vampire had not stopped.
"I had a goal Willow and killing you was not on the agenda at the time." Harmony said and walked back to the bed. "You helped me and so I helped you is all there was to it."
"Do you ever miss Cordy?" Willow asked another question to the perplexed vampire. She wasn't trying to change the topic of discussion for small talk but rather to get a better feel as to the mental picture of the soulless vampire.
"Most of the time, no." Harmony answered honestly as she looked the redhead over with other thoughts entering her mind. "Most of the time I don't feel a thing mentally Willow. It's like, when I was a teenager. I was going to go to Paris and become a model. My name was going to be in lights for a long time to come and Cordy was going to join me. So when I allow myself to think of times like that, I feel. Every now and then I feel something sad or a fond memory but it doesn't stay long."
"Do you want to feel Harmony or are you happy being a shell of what you once were?" Willow asked, as harmony quickly stood back up from the bed.
"What do you want from me Willow?" The demon asked as irritation built up inside her. She hated to feel because it showed weakness on a demon's part. She hated to feel because it made her desire a normal life and she could never have that because Buffy, who had won a class protector award, did not protect her. Most of all, she hated to feel because each time a fleeting emotion passed through, it hardened her to the world. Harmony enjoyed the thrill of a bite or two and even enjoyed a little shady dealing but to be totally callous, cold and evil, she didn't want that. As harmony evolved into who she was, a double-crossing mammal blood eating, working vampire, she had decided she did not want a reputation like some of her bosses. She wanted a reputation of a socialite vampire who was dangerous if need be but more for a business sense then just to be evil. "I'm not one of Buffy's special case vampires who can be whipped by the smell of her perfume Willow! I tried to turn you and even Cordelia at one time! I don't have a soul and I never will be able to do the things I once wanted to do!" The demon was fully visible now, as harmony had let the frustration get the better of her.
"If you were as evil as your acting and claim you want to be, you would have killed me harmony so stop it! I'm trying to return the favor and help you just as you helped me!" Willow said bravely, as the demon grew dangerously close. "Spike turned his mother, Angel killed a lot of people close to him but you can't! If you could, your parents would be dead by now! You can coexist with them, dine with them and bring people that you do not want to die for them to help make better! Now why is that harmony?"
"Because when I turn you I want it to be in a night of passion, not caused by that bitch Kennedy!" The demon spat back then glared at Willow. She was clearly about to do something she had not planned on and Willow realized this. "I was going to turn Delia Willow so yes I can kill someone close to me. My parents merely serve a better purpose alive, I don't feel for them what I once did." Harmony kept up her angered front but felt the opposite inwardly. She knew that she didn't want to be evil, she knew that she felt something for her parents and even Willow and this scared her. It scared her because she knew that, without a soul, she could not give her parents the daughter they once had nor Willow the lover that she deserved.
- - - - - - - -
Everyone was up at the headquarters and emotions were running high. Kennedy was at the brunt of Faith and Dawn's anger as they claimed that if she had not abused Willow in such a way, Willow would not have turned to the vampire to begin with. Buffy displayed the most fearful emotions because she knew all to well what it was like to fall under the spell of a vampire. Granted Angel had a soul but Spike only had a chip. Occasionally he would display emotions that made her believe that he was different until the night he tried to rape her. She knew then that, without a soul, a vampire was a pure monster deep down. One who could not be trusted for any length of time because their evil tendencies could strike at any moment. "Harmony hung with Spike for awhile and he liked to play with his victims." Buffy was trying to hold out hope that Willow was somehow alive. "I can't give up on Will until I see some proof that she is dead and if she is…" she glared at Kennedy and walked out the door followed hastily by Dani.
"I agree with B." Faith said and glared at Kennedy who looked as though she were going to combust. "It's getting daylight, the vamp will have to sleep and that's the perfect time to rescue Willow."
"I'll stay here with the wounded," Robin said and walked over to Kennedy. He felt sorry for the girl because no matter how much of a bitch she had turned out to be, she did not deserve to have Willow's stupidity blamed on her.
"Watch it Kenny, he likes to have a snack on those who are in a rough emotional state." Faith quipped and headed out the door behind Dawn and Andrew.
"I can't stand her," Kennedy said with a hurt yet angry look on her face.
"The feeling is mutual," Robin smiled at the slayer. "Maybe we can talk, I've got a few ideas."
- - - - - -
The late December rain was poring down relentlessly as Dani and Buffy walked the streets. Rain was not what Cleveland was accustomed to this time of year but it was falling hard and cold as ice. "Do you really think she's alive Buffy?" Dani asked with fear in her voice.
"She has to be alive or that vampire will wish she stayed dead in the high school parking Lott." Buffy snapped back then stopped and looked at Dani. "You really care for her don't you dani?"
"Yeah I do Buffy." The taller slayer responded bleakly. "I thought she and Kennedy had a real shot or I would have tried to act sooner. I even went out on that date to try and get Willow off the brain, y'know? I just don't know how to broche the subject of dating and now that she's taken up with this vampire, I doubt my time will be right yet again."
"Willow is a very special girl," Buffy mused more to herself then Dani. "She's been my best friend for eight years now and I won't allow her heart to be shattered by that vampire. That is, if she's still alive and I believe she is. Will and I kinda have this vibe with each other and I'm not getting some sort of pending doom vibe here. I think she's acting out, being rebellious because of her inability to get over Tara. Maybe like being with something that you don't have to worry about feeling with and then it doesn't hurt. That's what I did with Spike and I regret it but it happened. Tara was a big help to me during that time. She was a one of a kind person and there is no way in hell we have to worry about the likes of harmony Kendall, even with a soul, having the desire or mentality to fill those shoes."
"Kendall you say, as in doctor Dennis Kendall?" Dani said with a sudden flash of hope on her face. "I let him patch me up one night and was going to recommend him to Dawn for our medical person to go to because he didn't seem rattled by the nature of my wound. It was the night that vamp nipped me, remember?"
"Which way?" Buffy enquired frantically as she ran in the direction Dani was headed. "I will kill that vampire and anyone who gets in my way of getting Willow out of there if he knows where they are." Buffy continued her rant as the two slayers ran for the doctor's office in the blinding rain.
"Dawn, we're heading to doctor Kendall's office, punch it in on your pocket pc." Dani said and pocketed her cellphone. "I hope we find her Buffy, I'm so scared she's not going to make it."
"Willow's a fighter," Buffy said as the two women turned up the street to the office. "Who knows, maybe we're lucky and Harmony is dead by now."
- - - - - - -
The demon was successful at shifting the activities in the small dark room. She had began massaging Willow's aching shoulders then started kissing her. She moved the redhead closer and began a trail of kisses down to her breasts where she suckled them. "Harmony stop," Willow said in an effort to test the vampire.
The fact that vampires are not only carnivorous predators but also sexual predators by nature fueled the demon onward. She moved her mouth to Willow's lips and began rubbing her breasts with her hands. Though Willow said stop in order to test the vampire, her body betrayed her. The vampire quickly grew more aggressive in her kissing and touching, which garnered soft moans of desire from Willow. When the vampire almost had Willow where she wanted her, she pulled back quickly. Having heard noise upstairs, she turned the radio up loud and produced a long thin box from the bedside table. Willow knew what this item was used for and began kissing and groping the sexually charged vampire back with fervor.
While Harmony and Willow engaged in sexual pleasure, probably more so aggressively then a vampire should with a human, the five Scoobies stood at the door to the doctor's house. "May I help you?" Janice Kendall said politely wishing that Harmony would turn the music down.
"I sure hope so," Andrew asserted himself to the front of the group quickly. He believed that he was the most diplomatic of the gang and thought it best that he try a little calm discussion first. "We're looking for a couple of people and took a shot that you might be the Kendall's from Sunnydale."
"You took a correct shot," Janice said and moved back from the door to allow the gang inside. "Come on into the kitchen here and I'll get you all a nice hot cup of tea."
Faith was the first of the three slayers to pick up on what was going on down stairs. Though the radio covered most of the noise, her keen slayer hearing distinctly picked up the words, "that feels so good," in between moans. She gave Buffy a sideways glance and Buffy's face reddened as she picked up the moaning with her slayer hearing.
"I'm Dawn Summers and this is my sister Buffy," Dawn said and took the seat at the table offered her by Mrs. Kendall.
"Buffy Summers? You went to school with my daughter, Harmony." The woman smiled and finished getting their tea. "I was about to put some breakfast on the stove, you all are welcome to join my husband and I. It's not every day that we get visitors from Sunnydale."
The kind nature of the woman didn't go unnoticed by Buffy. She figured that it must have been heartbreaking when she found out that she lost her child and then to find out her child was a vampire had to be more shocking. "Yeah, Sunnydale kinda caved in and so we had to find a new home. Mom had some contacts here so I thought it'd be a good place to start over." Buffy lied but had to think of something.
"Oh yes," Dennis said as he joined the group at the table. "Joyce Summers," he pointed at a painting that hung over the mantle near the door. "I bought that from her among a few others before we left Sunnydale. Now who is it that you are looking for?" He asked with a genuine smile, as Janice flipped the sausage.
"Willow Rosenberg," Dani said in an agitated tone, she did not fancy having to sit and listen to Willow be pleasured by that vampire. She was thankful that only a noise every now and again made it to her extra-sensitive ears.
"Oh yes," Dennis said and smiled. "I remember that nice young girl. I used to get after Harm and Delia for poking at her a bit much."
"Look, we don't mean to be rude but we're going to guess that you know about your daughter and if so, we hope and pray that you can at least tell us if Willow is alive!" Dani said a little more rudely then she had anticipated upon barely hearing an instruction from the vampire for Willow to get on her knees.
"Willow is not a vampire," Janice answered sternly. She didn't mind the company of the others but this one was rude and that was not the way people behaved in her home.
"You'll have to forgive Dani," Dawn piped up, "she's Willow's girlfriend and so was worried when she didn't make it home last night."
Buffy and Faith, who had managed to filter out the intermittent noises from downstairs, choked back laughter. They knew that Dawn, Andrew nor Harmony's parents knew what was going on down stairs. "We're not here to start trouble," Buffy added with a smile, as Janice set the table. "We are just worried about our friend."
"That's understandable," Dennis smiled at the eldest slayer. "We understand from Harmony that she had to do something she's not done in a long time in order to survive. It seems that a couple of girls put a few stakes into her and Miss Rosenberg helped her willingly."
"Harmony carried her in here late last night and Dennis took care of her. She's going to be just fine I can assure you." Janice added with a comforting smile.
Meanwhile, downstairs the infrequent noises ceased. Harmony lifted Willow from the floor back to the bed. "You gonna pull a Buffy on me now Willow because I didn't stop?" The vampire gave the redhead a cocky look, as she kissed her gently.
"No but I don't think I'm going to be able to walk." Willow said honestly, as the vampire picked her up again. "Where are we going?"
"You said you can't walk and I thought maybe you would like a nice bath," the vampire smirked with the knowledge of what she had done to Willow. "Being sweaty isn't very becoming or attractive."
"Harmony!" Dennis called from the top of the stairs. "Breakfast is ready and could you turn that music down?"
"Just let me help her get cleaned up and we'll be right there. Tell Buffy that I will make sure that she gets home safely if she doesn't want to wait." Harmony said and laughed at Willow's shocked look. "Your savior is upstairs Willow."
"Harmony," Willow began as the vampire helped her out of the tub. "How much would you charge to do some work for me?"
The vampire smiled at Willow and laughed. "What, do you want your own personal bed fellow?"
"No I think if I sleep with you many more times, you're going to kill me without having to turn me." Willow said with a reddening face. "This is serious, I want to know what happened to my powers and if you acted in a certain way towards me in the demon community, maybe you could find out. Plus, honestly, some of these slayers we have just aren't good enough and I'm afraid that something bad is going to happen or maybe has. I think Kennedy or Dani said something about losing a large number of them last night but there was so much going on that I don't remember."
"You keep those damn slayers from staking me and get me a list of Angel's real-estate holdings then you have a deal." Harmony answered flatly. She had a lot of fun in the sack with Willow but business was business. Angel had something in his possession that the vampire wanted and this just could be the way to get it.