Chapter 5


Sallie Bennett paced around her office as she did on many nights such as these. The sun had set hours ago, and dark clouds rolled across the sky like angry beasts. She glanced at the big mantle clock with her stomach churning in anticipation, the seconds ticking away far too slowly.


'Just a minute towards midnight now.'


Her lips thinned as she nervously adjusted the collar of her shirt. She’d been in the charge of this school since the very beginning in 1869. Times had been different then but one thing had always stayed the same: she abhorred the children with her very shriveled yet still beating heart. She had no time for guilt or shame. Getting rid of the ungrateful brats was the biggest favour she could do for the world. They wouldn’t be missed anyway--the rejects and spoilt children whose parents couldn’t stand to be around.


A slight rumbling alerted Sallie to the presence of her guest. The big bulky presence stood out amongst her obsessively ordered office. She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the sulfur odor the beast emanated.


“Have you come to collect your sacrifice?” she said. “You’re early, Hermes. Not that I care.”


The beast smirked, brushing off his chest and horns as he transformed into a handsome man right before her eyes. The ash fluttered to Sallie’s clean beige carpet, and she narrowed her eyes.


“No. Not yet. ” Hermes’s black eyes twinkled as he caressed the lapels of his tailored suit.


“Why the early call then?” she asked, curious now. Surely their agreement still stood?


“Don’t you worry, Miss Bennett. I wouldn’t deprive you of your immortality. Selling one’s soul does give you a privilege of eternal life after all. But-”


“No but. We have an agreement. A contract. You know as well as I do that you can’t break it. You receive two children a year to take to Hell with you, and I get another year of being alive. That was the deal.” Her fists clenched with the urge to take her cane into her hands. Not that it would do much good on a servant from Hell.


“No need to get fretful, Sallie. I hold the end of my bargain. I’ve heard there were problems though. Students calling authorities for inappropriate… educating methods.”


“I’ve dealt with them,” she said with a contemptuous glare.


“I wonder how you manage to hide the corpses. They seem to be piling up. You’re drawing too much attention.”


“I’m just giving the unruly students what they deserve. Is that why you’re here? To reprimand me?”


“Yes and no. I don’t need the Council catching a whiff of the unusual disappearances and connecting the dots, which might happen if you don’t stop fooling around with that cane of yours. And I came to let you know, I’ll come for my sacrifice next week…there’s someone specific I want to take with me.”


*******


Something was tickling his neck. William fought to open his eyes and glanced down. The first rays of sun penetrated the blinds, bathing the girl in his arms in a golden hue. He hadn’t slept so peacefully in a long time, and he had no idea how he would ever rest again without Buffy’s hair and breath brushing against his skin. William let the luxurious feeling spread through his every muscle. One lazy glance at the alarm clock told him it was still early, and there was no need to get ready to go to classes since it was Saturday, but he was reluctant to doze off again.


Buffy was snuggled to his side, her head resting in the crook of his neck, and William gently stroked her back beneath the blanket. She shifted against him, her light purr making him shiver. Then she tightened his hold on him and yawned.


“Mmm, you’re awake,” she murmured into his neck.


“Didn’t mean to wake you up.”


“You didn’t.”


William made a move to get up and noticed her pout. “Where are you going? Is it the time for classes yet?”


He chuckled slightly. “It’s weekend.”


“Yay!” Buffy sat up and patted her hair, wrinkling her nose at the nest she found on her head. “Bed hair… not as sexy as they make it look like in the movies.”


“Dunno. I find it quite sexy,” he said with a shy smile and headed to the bathroom to clean up before she could reply.


After they had brushed their teeth, Buffy sat on the bed next to William, both of them still in their pajamas.


“Umm… it’s only eight o’clock,” she remarked. “Way too early to be up yet.”


“Wanna sleep in?” he asked with a hopeful expression.


“God yes!” She let out a laugh and blushed. “Would you mind if I… if I stayed in your bed… with you in it?”


William gulped. “T-that would be great.”


They lay down, assuming their previous position with the ease of an old married couple before William covered them with the comforter.


“You’re comfy. So much better than hugging my pillow,” Buffy said with her eyes closed.


“You’re not so bad yourself.”


“Are you teasing me?”


“Maybe.” He grinned and stroked her hair with deliberate caresses.


“I like it when you play with my hair.” She made that purring sound again that made William melt and ache for something more at the same time.


“You have beautiful hair… like sunshine. You smell like it too…sunshine and cinnamon.”


“I do? Nobody has ever told me that.” Buffy was suddenly hungry to know what she was like. Who was Buffy Summers through the eyes of William? What was she like to talk to, to look at, to hold?


“Everything about you is… beautiful.” She gazed up at him with eyes that held no reprimand for giving her a compliment, for expressing his feelings. On the contrary, Buffy seemed to want to know what he thought of her. The poetry he swore would never again pass his lips burned on the tip of his tongue. “When I see you, when you smile… it’s like stepping into the warmth of a sunray. You’re so… radiant. Looking into your eyes, I can feel your heart… you’re so kind, so good it makes me want to be someone better too.”


'For you.'


He didn’t say that out loud of course. They barely knew each other, but at the same time it felt like it had always been this way. This connection they shared. Nobody had ever been able to give him the courage to let all the barriers fall away and let them see him. Whatever he’d felt for Cecily was insignificant and shallow compared to what a single smile from Buffy evoked in his very soul.


“Is that what you see me like?” she whispered, scooting upward in his arms.


William turned on his side to face her. “I’m not good with words, but… when you look at me like this, it feels like I’m drowning… and I don’t wish to be saved.”


“I’d like to tell you too… what you make me feel, but I’m not very good with words. I want to say something and it always comes out wrong. I want you to know though… you’re the only reason I smile here. That means… you don’t know how much that means to me.”


“Buffy…”


“Shh, just let me… show you.” Buffy gazed into his eyes, so full of innocence and desire it made her tremble. She caressed the side of his face, both of their eyes fluttering shut as their faces got closer, noses brushing. William encircled her waist and their legs tangled. William’s heart had never pounded so furiously; he’d never experienced such a heady mix of nerves and excitement.


Her breath caressed his slightly parted lips and then everything ceased to exist. There was nothing beyond the ecstasy of her soft lips brushing his, the minty taste of their mingled breath, the pure excitement of kissing her. Buffy’s lips danced against his in a perfect symphony. Getting bolder, William suckled her upper lip into his mouth, shivering at her soft moan. It couldn’t possibly get better than this. Then Buffy parted his unresisting lips with the tip of her tongue and he was lost. Moving against him, her t-shirt slipped above her hips, and William caressed the heated skin of her lower back with his fingertips.


There was no hurry, and they kissed slowly, languidly. William met her tongue with his and she rolled on her back, bringing him atop her. Her hands sneaked beneath his t-shirt, lightly scratching his back. Their lips fused together in unhurried intensity while William lay cradled between her thighs. He’d never felt anything so perfect.


Pressing a final kiss on Buffy’s lips, he rested his forehead against hers as they inhaled some much needed oxygen. Unable to help himself, William nibbled on her jaw and peppered gentle kisses to her neck before finally resting his forehead on Buffy’s shoulder.


Buffy breathed heavily, her brain turned into mush. Nobody had ever kissed her like this. With such an ardent natural sensuality. Like she was the only thing that mattered and his whole existence depended on the feel of her lips against his. She’d only kissed one boy before this, but it beyond paled in comparison. It had felt wrong; sloppy and uncomfortable. But one kiss from William and Buffy’s whole world had been rebuilt. She craved his lips as soon as they parted from hers.


“Was it okay?” he asked hesitantly. “Did you… enjoy it?”


Buffy struggled to form a coherent thought. How could he possibly doubt how amazing he was? “It was… the most perfect experience of my life.”


“You’re not just saying that?”


“It was…”


William gazed up at her, surprised to see her blushing. Perhaps Buffy too had felt what he had. Like they were made for each other.


“I’ve never felt anything like that,” she finished then averted her gaze. “You liked it too, didn’t you?”


“I’ve never known something could feel like this,” he confessed with a shy smile, kissing her neck as she raked her fingers through his curls. “I think I’m addicted to you.”


“Oh yeah. If I could, I’d spend the rest of my life attached to your lips.” Buffy’s eyes widened at what she said and William laughed. “Why did I learn how to talk?”


He rolled them over to keep from squishing her, and Buffy rested her head on his chest, hiding her burning cheeks.


“God, you’re so amazing.” William stared at her in awe. “How did I get so lucky?”


“Maybe it’s destiny.”


TBC

Author's note: Happy Easter to everyone! :D