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Ancient shades by Kur
 
14
 
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CHAPTER 14

First thing Buffy took mental notice of, after crossing the blinding portal to the past, was to kill Cordelia as soon as she went back to Sunnydale. She was sure the brunette had taken extreme pleasure in tightening the corset laces to an extreme point… Buffy had argued against the painful garment but she had to accept it in the end. The damned dress didn’t fit her without the corset not matter how she wriggled inside it. Thanks God she hadn’t thrown away the wig… In spite of how much she hated that long hair, she didn’t want anything to spoil the spell. If she had crossed with that on, she had to wear it. She would have worn a dress made of human skin if that had helped.

Second thing was that she was absolutely convinced she had forgotten something. Not the pendant. Her hand had clutched it all the time Anya had chanted the magic words. Not even the tiniest piece of paper she had attached with a safety pin inside one of her white linen bloomers. Buffy knew she should have learnt the going-back song by heart but she had been so jumpy since they all had gathered in the alley for her journey to the past… Afraid something, someone better said, would be spying to ruin her last chance of getting things right.

Taking a deep, necessary breath she turned round. A closed, wooden door and a wood sign swinging above it. “Jonathan Crowther & Sons. Private Undertaker.” Buffy shuddered. So Anya had cast a perfect spell after all. Just in the same spot Willow had opened that one. But the undertaker… It was closed… She’s supposed to be staring at William’s cheap splintered coffin. What if it wasn’t November anymore? What if she had struggled so hard for nothing?

Buffy started to walk. She remembered those streets as if everything had happened only yesterday. Now the sound of clattering wheels and hooves would hit the cobblestones like a deadly drum. Now the horses would snort when a whip smacked their hindquarters and her shoes would rattle on the floor as her heart in her chest.

But there wasn’t anything of that. The streets were silent and chilly, empty and wrapped in a thin mist that blurred the kerbs and the lamp post pedestals. The cold breeze sneaked under the layers of petticoats making her shiver. She should have brought a London map. Or some money. William had paid for the carriage. His mother had lent her the dress and every piece of garment underneath. Even the shoes… But she was alone now. Unless… unless it were still October… Unless they were alive… Of course they wouldn’t know her but she knew the house. Could break into and… borrow some coins… The sixth pin was thief? So true… But it was for a good purpose! If she’d manage to do it she promised to give the money back to Spike.

The house she had known had had a lamp lighting the crocheted curtains in the ground floor. It was warm and friendly. This one was dark and gloomy. Maybe it was only her imagination and they were only out in some social meeting… The front door was a black pit. Buffy tiptoed towards it and rested an ear against the surface. Nothing. Not even the tall clock in the hall. Her hand tried the doorknob. The door opened its dark mouth with such easiness that she should have known that something was really wrong. Despite her doubts, she stepped inside the house and shut the door at her back. In the small parlour, a log spluttered in the fireplace and died with a red hiss.

Her gaze climbed the stairs and a fist clutched her heart. It was so difficult to control her rumbling feelings in that moment… Torn apart she was. She’d have liked to verify that William was still alive. At the same time, her heart bled and screamed for Spike. For what would be going on with him. What if she took a peek? Only a second. Just to check the date in that small leather notebook of his… As furtive as a woman dressed in rustling silk could be, Buffy went upstairs and got into his bedroom.

The box of matches was still on the bedside table. Just as she remembered. She lit the gas lamp. A sizzling sound filled her ears together with a door slamming downstairs. Voices. Shouting. Her hand reached for the doorknob but it was too late. Someone was stomping on the stairs, followed by a heavier sound. Buffy’s eyes whirled around the room and she jumped towards the desk, hiding behind the wide armchair that stood between it and the bookcase. The orange glow of the lamp stopped at the middle of the room leaving her wrapped in deep shadows.

“All I say is that I don’t want to stay here!”

William’s voice! Buffy was so happy that she was about to leave her refuge when the next voice froze her behind the armchair.

“And who told you, boy, that you can say something about anything?”

Angelus… Angelus’s voice. That cold draught in it, mixed with an unreal sweetness, something Buffy knew so well…

“This is MY house!”

“Was your house. Now… it’s mine.”

“YOURS! Who the hell do you think you are? I’m leaving and I’m taking Dru with me!” He stared at his grandsire, challenging him to say otherwise.

“Don’t push your luck, Willie… I only tolerate Dru’s stupid caprices. But me patience isn’t strong…” That was a real threatening voice. Buffy could picture a simple door with thousand of knives hid behind it as a bobby trap.

“I’m a caprice? It’s that what you’re implying?” William chuckled. “You’re nobody to give me orders. And if I want to…”

Angelus’s blow was so unexpected that caught him defenceless. His body crashed onto a chair splitting it in half. Buffy crouched down even more, not sure whether to stay where she was or jump like Batgirl saving the powerless.

“I give the orders here.” Angelus slowly walked towards William’s fallen shape. “I’m your master. And you’ll do as I tell. You’ll be needin’ somebody to teach you how things work ‘round here, Willie.” He grabbed the front of William’s shirt, forcing him to his feet. The next slosh was straight to his chin. “’Cause in case you haven’t realized, you don’t own anything. My women are mine.” His fist sank in William’s stomach and he threw him against the desk. Buffy stopped breathing. Almost. “And you’re just a toy she’ll throw away soon enough.”

William leapt from the floor and his knuckles erased Angelus’s smirk. “I’m not a toy!” Another blow and Angelus’s nose started to bleed.

The taller vampire wiped away the blood and sighed deeply. “Now you’re getting me angry, boy…” A clout on his head nearly knocked William down but he managed to clutch Angelus’s shirt. The fabric ripped and they both fell to the floor in a confusion of limbs and fists.

Buffy’s eyes were two green coins peeping from her shelter. Her fingers grabbed the bottom of the armchair, ready to send it flying across the room. No flying… Only an ordinary lift. As if she was picking it up to sweep under it. She tried again. The same… And suddenly she had the picture of what she had forgotten. The tiny detail about her lack of strength. Just as she had done when she’d talked to Giles. Panic crept over her, making her crouch down even more. All she could do was follow Angelus’s fingers crawling on the carpet as furtive worms.

The splintered leg of the chair appeared among them before sinking in William’s shoulder. Another one stabbed him on his right nipple but he still fought back. A third smaller sliver pierced his side. William wriggled backwards trying to get to his feet but Angelus’s kicked him and his back hit the edge of the bed. His shirt was soon ripped in half and his wrists were tied to each of the bed posts. His foot threw out but he didn’t kick a thing. Everything was a blur. He didn’t even feel his bones.

“Now look what you’ve done to my shirt.” Angelus pointed at the torn garment. “It was my favourite one.” Yanking it from his body he threw it away on the armchair. “Oh, boy… you know why I don’t kill you? And I’m so close to doin’ it… ‘Cause Dru’d be so upset… But things are going to change. They have to. ‘Cause two roosters? Bad idea. You can’t beat me Willie. Think you’ve learnt the first lesson already. Second, I do give the orders here and you just obey.” His figure was as tall as a dark obelisk standing between William’s legs. “Third… yes, you’re a toy. A new one. Always wonder what she saw in you.” He knelt and pulled William’s chin up. “Was it your blue eyes? Or those beautiful chiselled features of yours?” Kneeling down, his big hands perched on both sides of the young’s face. His thumbs traced the cheekbones and stopped on the lips. “Maybe it was that full bottom lip of yours.” His face was so near that, for William, it was nothing but a round yellow shape with entangled features. His tongue outlined William’s lips with extreme slowness.

Buffy’s hands ran to her mouth and her nose. She hadn’t been wrong at the warehouse. Everything had been etched in his words and his gaze. An intense rush of something bitter was hitting her throat. She swallowed. She merely breathed. He was so into the fight that he hadn’t sensed another presence in the room. She wasn’t going to give herself away only by puking.

“Or is it that you taste good?” His palm pushed the stake on the shoulder and his mouth caught a blood mouthful. “I bet it was this.” William’s crotch was painfully squeezed. Suddenly, his trousers were shreds around his legs. His gaze was fixed on his grandsire’s face showing not a thread of the expected fear. His wrists didn’t move at his command. Maybe the stake on his shoulder had severed a nerve… “Did you know that for certain people nudity makes ‘em feel vulnerable?”

Her eyes were itching. They didn’t want to comply with her command of no tears. They hung from her eyelashes, hot and furious. She dared to pat the nearest desk. Not a single letter opener, a pencil, the box of matches. Why in hell she had left the box of matches on the bedside table? And lit what? Her dress? Would be a quick snack before seeing the first sparks.

“So you are a big bad boy, ah Willie?” He held William’s cock in one hand as if he was inspecting some vegetable quality. “I can fix that too. I can fix everything. I can make you so useless that you won’t be anybody’s toy again.” He pulled out the wood from between the ribs. “Let’s see…” Angelus unbuttoned his own pants. His cock sprang free nearly hitting his lower belly. His palm began to rub William’s shaft. The nail of his thumb scratched the slit. “Oh, come on, boy. It’s not fair if yours is like that. Okay.” He shrugged cutting a slight gash near the head. William winced and clenched his jaws. “You think that would make them look alike? Or maybe here?” The second cut went deeper. “What if I cut it all?” The wooden shiver sank deeply. “Am I smelling tears, boy? What a girl…”

Buffy desperately wiped the tears out with the dress sleeve. She wondered how it was possible that her heartbeat hadn’t set the whole room to rock. She wondered if it was possible for her to hammer the fiend head as she had done with Dru’s. Her hand crawled to the blue leather boot.

“Bastard!” William spluttered among gasps and grunts. The pain was unbearable and he’d lost enough blood to faint. But he wasn’t going to. The prick had to kill him first.

“What have you said? Who gave you the order to speak?” The golden hair was yanked backwards. “ You speak if I want, you jump if I want. You shag if I want. I’m your master.”

“And that’s why Darla is here?” William spat, a mockery ringing in his rough voice. A slap crossed his face but he didn’t falter. “Are you her master as well?”

“Shut up!” Jumping to his feet, Angelus grabbed his grandson’s hair. His hand held his bursting cock pushing it against William’s lips. “Stupid boy! You won’t be able to speak for a while. I guarantee you that.” His knee hit the shoulder stake forcing a scream out of the lips he was pressing. He plundered into the opened mouth like a battering ram through a castle defence. It didn’t matter how hard William tried to pull back. The hand on his neck was a thick wall. “You see, you do what I want. Speak when I tell you. Do what I command.” His thrusts were violent and bruising. “Oh, yes, - he hissed, - you’ll be a good toy…”

He was so near that his grasp slackened. Gathering the last threads of energy, William’s face changed and his fangs sank deeply on the invader piece of flesh. The hurt roar filled every inch of the room. Angelus stomped back, his bleeding cock pointing at the savage smirk on William’s swollen lips like a finger promising a deserved punishment. His face was twisted with rage. Only one thing in mind. Erase that smile forever. He hit him so hard that the shirt split completely, releasing William’s wrists.

His booted foot kicked Angelus’s balls with all the strength he had left. Grabbing the bed post he struggled to get to his feet. Maybe he should run away. At least for now. Till he could regain some power on his own body. This could be the best and only chance he’d have that night. He wasn’t quick enough, though. His forehead was crashed against the bedpost till he thought his brains would leave their spot on it permanently. A hissing sound shrilled behind him and a rain of leather lashes fell on his back. Losing his unstable balance, he fell on the bed. The stakes ran through his flesh and pointed at the ceiling.

“So you want it the rough way. I’ll give you rough then.”

Oh, shit. He was lost. Lost for that crazy beast to finally win his prize. With a final effort William kicked him on the chest and send him against the bookcase. The bronze earth globe on the top of it waved a little before falling on Angelus’s skull knocking him out. William’s glazed eyes gawked for a moment. His face sank on the mattress.

Finally picking up the courage, Buffy got out from behind the chair. Her legs were dancing a mad waltz. She stopped near Angelus stiff body and kicked his ribs. He didn’t move. She turned round to the bed. Only two steps and her mouth opened in a silent scream to throw a flow of sour liquid on the carpet. She had walked bare foot on that carpet. Had swung like a princess. Had picked up jewels. Her face was now a river. Holding her stomach she pulled out the two stakes in his body and shook him gently. His blue eyes were bewildered and shocked slits. Buffy forced him to his feet; amazed he could still have some strength left in him. Downstairs, she was about to head to the door when a song filled the air. Oh, shit! This night had no end! Shuffling hastily, she dragged him to a door on the left. A dark pit welcomed her. The cellar? She didn’t think. Too shocked for even that.

tbc...
 
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