Hey guys! sorry it took so long to post this... i was trying to find a way to work in Spike's dream and Dawn's school day...
HAPPY EASTER!!
Previously: I climbed into the bed with her and pulled the covers up, engulfing her in my arms once again.
It was easier to sleep with her in my arms, it felt natural and I loved it.
Within moments, I was sound asleep and happy.
Chapter 13
My sleep was undisturbed and peaceful. I felt like nothing bad could happen while I slept here with her. I didn't count on Buffy kicking me in her sleep however. It was a huge bloody kick, which hurt a bloody ton! She kicked me out of the bed and I hit solid floorboards.
Sleepily I lifted myself off the floor and gazed at the sleeping figure before me. I had no idea if she had done that intentionally or not. I looked over at the clock. It read 4:30am. I groaned and heaved myself onto the window seat. There was no way I was getting back into the bed now, unintentional kick or not.
I settled myself into the seat making myself as comfortable as possible and soon fell into a dream.
***
Sitting inside a carriage I could see nothing but a lane of trees. Judging by my clothes and the carriage, I was back in the 1880's sometime. I don't know how I could have, but with my human ears I picked up the faint sound of sobs. Asking for the carriage to be stopped I clambered out of the carriage and set of at a slow pace towards the sobs.
I waked much slower than I would have normally and it began to frustrate me. I was used to vampire speed, not whiny William pace. I forgot how slow I once was however, when I stepped through a small archway, leading to a small courtyard and in the middle stood a fountain, a mound of something and a woman sobbing.
Slowly I made my way forward, taking deliberate steps, heavy steps so she would be able to hear my approach.
The woman turned towards me with a beautiful, though tear stained face. My heart sank as I looked her over. By the looks of it, she had been here for a while, the mound seemed to be clothing and blankets of some sort and the woman herself, she was beautiful; long fair hair, hazel coloured eyes, fair skin though it was streaked with tears. But there was something about the woman I couldn't seem to place. Something familiar.
I had tried not to stare, but had failed miserably.
'What do you want?' the woman asked. Her voice was hoarse but she had intended to be menacing.
'Are you all right Miss? Is there anything I might be able to do?'
'Sure. You might be able to hunt down the bastard who left me and my child for dead.' She sounded infuriated, her face a mix of anger and fear.
'Your child?' I asked as I sat myself on the ground a fair distance from her, not wanting to crowd her, but to be at the same level. To save her looking up and me looking down.
'Yes my child. The one I was carrying when he found out and fled.' She looked on the verge of tears.
'I can't help you with the father situation, but I may be able to help with somewhere to stay?' I soothed. I didn't want her to break down. I couldn't deal with tears.
'I'm not going to be a pet. I don't need your help. Thanks for the offer though.' She seemed offended.
Did she think I would take advantage of a pregnant woman?
'I didn't mean for you to be a pet. I simply meant you could reside at the manor until you find your feet again. No offence was meant I swear.' I quickly backtracked.
'No strings attached? I get to stay there until I find another job?' she seemed mightily suspicious.
'No strings attached' I smiled. 'My name is William, William Henry Pratt.' I exchanged while holding out a hand for her to shake.
She seemed reluctant at first then must have changed her mind; she extended her hand and shook mine.
'Victoria, Victoria Marie Summers' she smiled mimicking me.
I laughed and helped her to her feet. We both decided we'd take her clothing but both agreed to burn it and to buy her some new ones, which she promised to pay me back for once she had the money. I got to my feet and helped her. We then headed back to the carriage and on to the house.
***
I awoke some time later, and if a vampire could sweat I would be in a cold sweat right now. Victoria Marie Summers. Now I could make the connection between her and Buffy. They had the same coloured hair, skin and although their eyes were similar, you could still tell they were related.
I looked at the clock; it read 11:59 am. I sat upright on the window seat, finding all sorts of aches and pains all over my body in various places.
Note to self: Never sleep on the bloody thing again.
Needing some time to think I stood and picked up my shirt and duster and made my way to the bedroom door. Buffy stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake.
I made my way through the apartment to the front door. While passing the coffee table however, I found a note from Dawn and Red.
It read:
Buffy, I've taken Dawn to school. Don't worry she'll be ok. If not I'm only a block away. We'll see you tonight. Willow
Buffy, I'm off to the dreaded place they call school. Willow says I'll love it. I think different. Try not to sleep around with Spike all day ok? And eat something other than yoghurt!! I didn't have any and it's already down to two tubs!
Anyway, Cya later!
Dawn.
I laughed silently to myself. That 'sleeping with Spike' line was bound to get a giggle. Dawn wasn't stupid, but she wasn't exactly aware of how close she was with that statement. I headed to the front door and quietly made my way out into the hallway. I stalked back to my apartment, hoping Buffy wouldn't wake soon. I couldn't look at her the same way right now. I wouldn't see Buffy; I'd see bloody Victoria, which wasn't what I wanted right now.
I unlocked the door and headed to the kitchen; grabbed a bag of blood, slipped into game face and drained the thing in twenty seconds flat. Still feeling hungry, I drained another and lit a cigarette. It wouldn't do anything to me physically, but it somehow managed to calm me a bit. I took a long drag and walked over to the couch where I then sprawled myself.
I finished the cigarette and was then in a different state of mind. I would think about the Buffy – Victoria thing later, right now I pushed it to the back of my mind and wondered how Dawn was going on her first day.
That was, I was doing that until I fell asleep. Again.
Dawn had made it through most of the day without attracting too much attention to herself. Bad enough she was the 'New Girl' what was even worse was the fact that she was the 'Summers Kid'. This bugged her more than the 'new girl' status. Everyone here seemed to know about her sister. How? She had no idea. So she had tried really hard to attempt to fit in on the first day. She had made a few acquaintances though she couldn't remember all of their names, she had found all of her classes, made it to the classes on time and done all her work.
Now she was just exhausted and just wanted to be home. To be with either Buffy, Spike or one of the Scoobies was fine with her. Battling monsters was so much easier than school. For a few moments she was truly jealous of Buffy. She got the strength, the agility, the witty sarcasm and Dawn was pretty sure Buffy had gotten the hot vampire, Spike.
Dawn had been so busy fretting over this that she didn't notice the odd looks two girls were giving her. One was tall and had black hair, though you could tell it was dyed. The blazing red regrowth was faintly visible. She could have been the exact opposite of Willow. She wore a black shirt and a red skirt, with fish net stockings and knee high black boots. She had several piercings in her ears and her eyes were of an unnatural bright green colour.
The girl with her was shorter with dark brown curly-ish hair. She didn't wear things like her friend did, but they had a certain charm to them. She reminded Dawn of the clothes Tara used to wear. The purple jumper especially. Along with the jumper, she wore black skinny jeans and volleys.
Dawn realised that they had been in her art class earlier that day. They had shot her odd glances then too. They had whispered things as well. Dawn was going to turn around and ask them what their problem was then, now was her chance to ask them outright.
She knew she was about to attract that unwanted attention, but she had to find out why these girls in particular gave her odd looks.
Dawn marched up to them and was about to say 'hey you were in my art class weren't you? What's the deal with the dirty looks?' when the girl with the black hair smiled at her and said, 'Hey you're the Summers kid aren't you?'
'Yeah I am' Dawn said suspiciously
'Dawn if I remember correctly' said the girl again.
'Yeah'
'So you're the sister of the infamous Slayer Buffy Summers' she breathed in awe.
Dawn didn't know what to do. She was backed into a corner with no way to escape.
'I don't know what you're talking about' she sniffed
'Don't play dumb Dawny. I'm Candice and this is Carly' she said gesturing to the girl next to her.
Carly did a curtsey and smiled as if she was trying to seduce some poor guy.
'And together, we make a vengeance demon and the spawn of an old one' Candice exclaimed.
Dawn was shocked. Why would they be telling her this?
'C'mon we'll show you the ropes' said Carly. She looked nice enough, though Dawn still wasn't sure who was the spawn and who was the vengeance demon. Carly grabbed one of Dawn's hands and Candice grabbed the other.
'You'll fit in here nicely' Candice smiled.
Dawn wasn't so sure. But she was glad that she now had two people to actually have a conversation with. A paranormal conversation mind you. She wasn't going to waste her breath on the topic of boys etc when she could learn more about the world that Buffy lived in.