Chapter 8
"And we were supposed to go to the London Eye, but Mum got called into some stupid meeting, and instead I spent the entire day in the Council library studying Latin." Laurie rolled her eyes. "At least Apple got one last summer vacation before we got called."
"Yeah, camping with my parents along the Appalachian trail while they told me all the reasons I wasn't workin' hard enough to make it so's I was going to be the next Slayer. It was a hella great vacation." Apple rolled her own eyes. "If I could do anything at all the resta my life, it would be to make it so's I don't go home for the summer."
"And also give up actual slaying and become an academic." Laurie responded, nudging her friend.
"Well, yeah," Apple blushed. "But that's the second-most thing. The first-most is definitely spending less time with the folks."
"As someone who never really got along with his parents, I sympathize, but I have no good advice for you." Liam was starting to get the hang of talking to the girls after a few hours, and he couldn't help but jump in.
Apple winced. "Yeah, I think I heard about you and your folks. I mean, if what I read is true…"
He snorted. "Probably. I killed them. Not that it's an excuse, but it's hard to control yourself when you first become a vampire, and there was a lot of resentment even before that."
Connor paled and shot him a concerned look. "I almost hate to ask, but what could they possibly have done to make you resent them that much."
Liam took a deep breath. "I wanted to be an artist. My father wanted me to take over the family business. He was a fabric merchant, and I really couldn't care less about pricing and tariffs and things. It started with yelling and escalated to beatings. He broke two of my fingers when I was 15. When I still didn't buckle down and eventually started drinking, he threw me out. My mother was weak and never stood up for me, and that hurt in its own way. It grew for years, the resentment, lying and hiding to get art lessons, practicing every chance I got and having my efforts pissed on. When the demon took over I snapped. It wasn't pretty. Eventually I regretted my mother. She wasn't a bad person, just passive. My sister, I pretty much regretted killing immediately; but she invited me into the house, and I had to get her out of the way so I could get to my father…" He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk at once." Laurie said, searching for something else to say. "I think it's cool. Not the killing, but that you're starting to get comfortable with us. I mean, we're all family, right?"
"Are you?" A mocking voice emerged from the darkness, and all four of them tensed and started searching the area for its source. "Isn't that cute. The mighty Angelus, trading in his proud vampire lineage to hang out with a bunch of do-gooding teenagers. I think I might be ill."
"Who the hell are you?" Liam shouted and stepped forward, trying to keep attention focused on him, now that he knew they were interested in him. "I don't recognize the voice. Show yourself."
"Oh, you don't recognize my voice? I'm crushed. How will I ever survive?" From the dim recesses of an alley across the parking lot, a vampire emerged. He didn't look familiar to Liam, but it was possible he'd met him in human face previously. "Oh, of course, I know how." The vampire raised his arm, and suddenly vampires appeared all around them. "I'm going to make sure you're dead, and that I get to dance in your ashes. That should sustain me."
The boss vampire dropped his arm, and then they were fighting. Liam was a bit ashamed that he hadn't thought to bring any weapons; evidently Connor, Laurie, and Apple had all gotten the memo not to leave the building without at least a stake. Fortunately, Connor was able to flip him an extra knife from his calf-sheath before the fight got too heavy.
It became evident pretty quickly that the vampires were decent fighters, and although they'd kicked ass in a major battle not too long ago, Liam and Apple were definitely off their games. Connor and Laurie did most of the heavy hitting, bouncing around the others to intervene when they got tired or were overwhelmed. After twenty minutes or so the four fighters had cut the number of vampires almost in half.
A shrill whistle from across the street caused the remaining vampires to retreat abruptly. Laurie couldn't resist hurling a stake into one fleeing back, but the remainder got away. The boss vampire remained where they'd first seen him, in the mouth of the alley. "I'd say that was impressive, but I've seen you fight before, Angelus. You're weak and slow. Was it worth it? Betraying everything you stood for, the entire order of Aurelius?"
Liam blinked, still trying to catch his breath from the fight. "I didn't betray anything except a bunch of lawyers. I haven't been welcome in the Order since the 1880's."
The vampire snorted. "No need to make excuses for yourself. You supposedly came back to the fold, started doing evil like a modern master vampire, and then you sold them out. Every last vampire of your line, gone. I hope you enjoy your time with the kiddies." He started backing into the shadows of the alley. "By the time I'm through with you, you'll wish you'd never been born. I'll find out everything you're enjoying in your new life, everything that makes you happy, and I'll crush it."
Between one second and the next he was gone. Laurie bolted forward to shouts of protest from the rest of the group, but she was soon back with nothing to show. "It's like he vanished." She muttered, one eye on the buildings around them, as if she expected vampires to appear on the roofs and fire escapes above them.
Connor draped a reassuring arm over her shoulders. "Come on, let's get out of here. Maybe Jezzie and Gunn have some info about the vamp who's in charge of this part of LA." He glanced at Liam out of the corner of his eye. "If it's one guy who just has beef with you they might be sneaking around, but that was like 40 vampires. You don't bring a gang like that into someone else's territory without getting permission, or starting a war."
"I think that guy woulda been a-okay startin' a war." Apple muttered, rubbing her upper arm absently.
As Liam paced Apple back towards the car, Connor and Laurie muttering to one another as they led the way, he wondered what the hell he'd gotten Connor mixed up in now. Fortunately, his son was headed back to Stanford on Tuesday, so if any vampires were spying on him he could hopefully take care of it before Connor finished his semester.
Jezebel paced the lobby of the Hyperion, wringing her hands and complaining. "I can't believe no one freakin' told me there was a chaos demon trying to get into the building. Nevermind that my daughter's out galivanting around LA. What the hell is going on with you people?"
Wesley and Marta both shot her indignant glares, while Spike, Tom, Chas and David all either rolled their eyes or looked at her like she was crazy. "Is it galavanting, though, if she asks your permission and has adult supervision?" Chas ventured.
Spike coughed and muttered under his breath, making Tommy chuckle and Wes transfer his glare to a new target. "That's enough." Wes and Spike locked eyes for a moment, until the former vampire shrugged and looked away. "Jezebel," Wesley continued, "While I understand your concerns, you are blowing this out of proportion. Spike and Marta took care of the demon…"
"Gary. His name is Gary." Spike supplied helpfully. "He coulda been trouble if he'd wanted to, but the bloke's in mourning. He came and left, and never really threatened anyone. Maybe take a deep breath on that one, luv."
"As I was saying," Wes interjected to prevent Jezzie from transferring her ire to Spike. "I understand your concerns, but Laurie's 17. She's surely capable of going for ice cream in a group without you calling out a search party. You should try to relax."
"RELAX!" Everyone in the lobby jumped, including the four who'd just come through the back door from the parking lot.
"Holy crackers, mum. You scared me half to death!" Laurie shook her head, exaggeratedly miming an ear injury. "Like, I hope no one's sleeping around here."
Jezebel shot across the lobby and grabbed Laurie in a frantic hug. The group who had been waiting in the lobby with her started to relax, while the other three members of the ice cream trip party conferred as quietly as possible.
"Did you text her about the thing?" Connor murmured to Apple, frowning.
"Yeah, 'cause I look stupid." She hissed in response. "Of course not."
"Calm down, probably something here." Liam muttered.
Jezzie finally drew back, and pinned them all with a glare. "What thing was Apple not texting me about, now?"
Apple stiffened and went pale, and Connor and Liam both stepped forward to back her up. "It's nothing, mum." Laurie interjected. "We got ice cream, we talked, we came across some vamps and killed them, we drove home. Typical Slayer night out, right?"
"Vampires? In Atwater Village? I thought that was a pretty low traffic area. The master out there in the loop tends to keep tight reigns on his people." Jezebel frowned, zeroing in on Liam. "Or, at least that's what I'd been led to believe."
He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey now, I didn't make the plan for tonight, and as far as I knew Philippe had a rock-solid grip on his vamps. I was actually planning on asking if you or Gunn had heard anything about a turf war or something, because it seemed weird." Connor glared, getting the distinct sense that his father would throw him to the head Slayer if necessary to escape her wrath.
Jezzie looked between the three of them. "Alright, let's get the patrol maps and open up the database. We haven't gone out there a lot, and it's been a while. Maybe we need to add it into more frequent rotation…"
"Probably not." Connor cut in. "The head vamp was threatening Pops, so most likely not a turf war. Unless this guy who threatened him is taking out other masters to get himself instant minions."
"A vampire showed up to threaten you?" Wesley walked over, "Who was it? A Wolfram & Hart client, or a personal enemy?"
"I honestly have no idea." Liam sighed and rubbed his chin, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "He made a big speech about how I'd betrayed the Order of Aurelius, and sent his minions after me, but I'd swear I've never seen him before. Could be a former client, I guess."
"Did you keep any client lists or anything?" Jezzie turned her attention to Wesley.
"Perhaps. I'll check my apartment once I get there." Wesley smiled. "I'm so glad you've calmed down. I was starting to worry about you."
Jezzie rolled her eyes. "Why don't you head home and dig around for all your Wolfram & Hart papers, and plan to bring them here in the morning. Call me if you find something interesting." She turned her attention back to Liam. "You, sit down tonight and make a list of every master vampire you've ever met, and every one you've ever heard of. Make a note of any you've pissed off, and who's dead. We can cross-reference that with whatever Wes comes up with." Then she turned her attention to Connor. "Why don't you write us a detailed description of everything that happened tonight. Laurie and Apple can help you. Liam seems not to have been paying attention to all of the details."
With that she spun on her heel and headed for the office. "Girls, get your stuff together, we need to get home. It's late, and you have school tomorrow."
Everyone left in the lobby gave a sigh of relief. "She can be pretty scary when she wants to be." Tommy murmured, causing Spike and David to chuckle, and Apple and Marta to nod in total seriousness.
"Hey, that's my Mum you're talking about." Laurie snapped, heading for a bookbag she'd stowed near the front desk.
Wesley shrugged, heading over to grab his own bag. "I wouldn't say that Jezebel is scary. Just incredibly focused and determined."
"An' scary." Apple added.