Interlude 1

And The Band Played On

Time moves so slowly for humankind.

Not so for vampires. Days march in rapid succession, inexorably, racing by in a blur of light and dark, gold and black, day and night. Never anything new for them, for when you’ve lived a lifetime and then some, there is nothing new on the planet. Nothing unseen, nothing undone, no toys too esoteric to explore.

He watched. He waited. There seemed to be no change in them, or their relationship. But her kisses no longer tasted of innocence, and her scent wasn’t tinged with that hint of virgin anymore.

He never thought to ask her, just simply ask. He brooded, he glared, he looked at her with sweet, chocolate eyes, melting in the heat of his adoration, and still, she kept some secret from him. Buried deep inside her, there was a secret, he knew it in the depths of his soul.

He followed her, he spied, and still, there was nothing. She went to school, patrolled, spent time with her annoying friends, trained with the Watcher—all the boring, usual stuff. He barely had time enough to dwell on his own shortcomings and sins; he was so busy looking for hers.

He thought that maybe he could get her to confide in him on her birthday. He hoped when he pulled that ring thing, that she would surely…. But no. Instead of a piece of her heart, she gave him her body, and relieved him of the torturous soul.

When he was Angelus, he considered torturing the vampire to find out their secret, then threw the idea away, bored with torturing Spike. He had tortured him so often in the past, both physically and mentally, there was no fun to be had there. Screams start to sound alike after a while.

Better yet, capture her and torture her. Pry the secrets from that sweet mouth; fuck the secrets from that lithe body. If he could have got his hands on her, he would’ve. Would have ripped what happened in the alley out of her as he flayed strips of skin from her back. Would have torn the reason behind her changed feelings from her dry vagina as he pumped into her. Would have tasted it in her blood.

He never had the chance. The bitch had allies. Allies he would never have expected. Or maybe he should have expected it. Something between those two…he knew there was something. Spike still saved Drusilla. And Buffy killed him, her secret still safe in her heart.