TITLE: Retribution AUTHOR: rosekk2000 RATING: Hard R (violence) DISCLAIMER: Not mine I wake early yawning and stretching like a cat lain to long in the sun. Slowly I emerge from the bed disentangling myself from the mass of limbs encasing me as I do. Moving to the window I can feel the gentle caress of the late afternoon air on my naked body. Its too early for my kind to venture forth into the world but I enjoy rising before the others. It amuses me to spy upon the prey. Looking out the dirty window I watch the humans as the scurry about in their mundane little lives. Oblivious to the terror that I may bring to their lives perhaps this very night. I think back sometimes to how is was to be so small and insignificant. Bored with the fair outside the window I turn to see what the inside has to offer. There in the bed in a mass of naked flesh are the three I call family for now. Darla, my sire mother to my current existence. Outwardly in charge, confident, sure of herself the captain of her own destiny. Inwardly she is nothing more than the common whore she was in her humanity. Alone even when she is with someone and now afraid of the one she has spawned. I have to admit it fills me with a feeling of power knowing that and perhaps a secret joy. Then there is Drusilla , sweet, innocent, and quite insane Drusilla. I smile to myself as I think of how I had perused her destruction with reckless abandon. She was my first true toy, my first work of art. Even now in her insanity I believe her to be happier than she ever was in her humanity. Cursed with the gift of sight and force to hide it or be burned for a witch. Oh yes her family had made it easy for me to totally decimate them. Once more a smile comes to my face at the fond thoughts that are surfacing. Lastly but certainly not least there is William AKA William the bloody. He had been a poor excuse for a man. A poet in love with a bitch who was foolish enough to think herself to good for him. A soft weak man but then Dru saw him took a shine and wanted a new toy. I was never really one to refuse her her playthings and so here he is. In the end he has become quite the vicious one reveling in the destruction he rains down. Hell, I shared his joy as he ripped the one time love of his life's still beating heart from her body before her shocked and horror filled eyes. Oh what a pleasure that had been. I laugh inwardly thinking of them each as lovers. Darla having been a whore is quite skilled, Dru a virgin filled to the top with an innocence that somehow still remains. She and Darla compliment one another making for a night of passion few have ever enjoyed. But William, well now he is by far the best lover of the three. Both soft and hard at the same time hungry for love but unwilling to admit to it. Thinking back to my human days I would never have thought to take to bed another man. Of course then I was a fool hopping from one bed to another housemaid, barmaid, Nobel woman it had never mattered to me as long as it had a place to stick my cock I had not cared. As the sun completes its descent from the sky the others begin to stir. Quickly I dress and head down into the tavern in the lower part of the Inn we had taken refuge from the day in. Looking around the room my eyes lit on one face after another knowing full well that most if any of them will not live to see the coming dawn. I smile at the thought it had several days since we had hit the gypsy band. The memory of that sweet gypsy girl rises up in my mind. She had been truly sweet, filled with a spice for life you did not find in people in this day. First I had used her body in every way I could think of and that had been fun but in the end it was the gift of her thick rich blood that had satisfied me most. I was like a bee to honey and her destruction had been a very pleasurable experience for me. Perhaps I will find another such treat this night. In my dark heart I hope so. It did not take my companions long to move. I watch as Darla glides across the room flirting as she goes. Stopping by the large wooden door she slides the latch into place. No one notices or cares until the killing begins. Darla begins by choosing a younger man next to the door climbing unto his lap and batting her lashes at him. He does not object until she transforms. Then he screams in mortal terror as her fangs sink deep into the tender flesh of his throat. From my place in the middle of the room I can see her smile as his warm blood flows into mouth and she drinks deeply. Dru and William join right in. Dru grabbing the bar keep her fangs ripping out his throat before he knows what is happening. William takes the mans plump little wife draining her before even I realize it. Stepping back I decide to let the others play this time so I find a seat in the corner dragging the barmaid behind me. I sit watching the madness bending occasionally to taste the sweet nectar of her blood. The sound of her intermittent sobbing and begging combined with the screams of the others form a sort of symphony of terror, a bittersweet melody. By the time that I have completely drained her and push her lifeless corpse to the blood-covered floor the place has gone silent. Death fills the air and nothing living moves within the tavern walls. I smile proud of the job our little band has done but I realize we must move on before it is too late. So I usher the others out into the night. Turning I toss a lantern back through the not open doorway behind us. It dose not take long for the flames to engulf the dry, aged wood and straw building. Standing next to me I can hear Dru as she coos and talks to the fire in soft lilting tones. Telling it how pretty it is as she reaches out a delicate little hand to touch it. Before I can move to stop her William takes her into his arms pulling her close as he begins to lead her away. Its now that I realize she is really his now or perhaps he is hers either way they are for one another now leaving me to myself. Darla also turns to go stopping for a moment she asks me. "Are you coming Angelus?" "Shortly." I respond dismissing her with a nod of my head. Like rising early often I like to remain alone and revel in the nights death and destruction that we have made. I listen until I can no longer hear their footfalls as they move on away from here. My eyes never leaving the scene before me, I can feel the heat of the flames against my dead skin and revel in the warm. I feel so little anymore in the back of my mind I still hunger for the warmth of humanity. it is the only thing I miss from my life before. Turning to go I hear a faint gentle coughing I turn back seeking its source would not do to leave someone alive that would ruin the entire night. Off to the right side of the building I find a pair of wooden cellar door somehow missed by the flames. Roughly I yank them open to reveal a young woman of 15 or 16 years. She stares up at me from the smoky darkness her eyes filled with a quite delicious amount of fear. A gentle smile plays across my face as I offer the false hand of hope to the young woman. Slowly, hesitantly she takes it realizing only death awaits her if she remains where she is. Standing together we watch as what remains of her home tumbles to dust and ash. I am truly enjoying watching her face as she realizes that all that she loves or has loved is gone as if they never were. Her face takes on an ashen pallor and tears stream from her large brown eyes her pain and anguish is thick and sweet as it fills the evening air. Another time and place I may have felt sorry for her but now I Angelus am well beyond caring for the feelings of a human girl. Wait that is an untrue statement I do care after all her pain and suffering are nearly as intoxicating as the blood that runs through her veins. Blood that I intent to relieve her of very shortly. I can feel her body next to mine warm and soft, trembling and racked with sobs. I find my self gently stroking her dirty brown hair and squeezing her close to me. After awhile she finally looks up into my eyes thank you reflected in the deep depths of her own eyes. I smile as her gratitude turns on fears as I transform freeing my demon half. Terror now dances in her eyes filling me with an almost sexual satisfaction. She struggles to free herself but my hold is far too strong and there really is no escape. Bending low I allow my lips to brush past hers softly as they seeking the soft warmth of her neck. Gently my fangs brush the tender flesh they find there and she whimpers. Oh such sweet music I think to myself. Suddenly pain; sharp blinding pain like I've never felt before. Burning a whole into my chest my mind reels. Stake I wonder but no I'd be dust if that were the case. I stumble slightly forward but do not release my grip on the girl. It is as if my soul is being ripped from my body I think then it hits me. Not ripped from but rather forced back into. Thinking back to the gypsies what had the old woman screamed at me? Something about retribution? I had simply laughed at her what could they really do to me? Now I can feel the soul struggling with the demon and now it is my turn to know fear. Shocked I turn my gaze to the young woman and am taken aback by the horror and revulsion I find in her eyes. They wash over me little hot flames burning their mark forever into my brain. My heart breaks at the fear I can sense emanating from her and without thinking I release my grip on her arm. She stands there stupidly staring at me unsure if this is a ploy on my part perhaps another way to play with the prey. I hiss at her in a low g runtle tone "Run away! GO! Do not look back!" As I fall to the ground hitting it hard. Through a haze of pain I watch her flee into the early morning. The pink tickles of dawn have already begun to touch the sky and I think that very soon my suffering will end. Darkness claims me as I close my eyes for the last time. Slowly I stir shifting in my make shift bed of straw. The pain in my head is overwhelming so much so that my first attempt to open my eyes results in a round of sharp pain and my eyes burning even in the darkness of the room. I feel gentle hands as they lay a wet cloth over my forehead and I wonder where I am, how I got here and why it is I still exist. Finally I force my protesting eyelids apart. I am in a barn. It is damp and dark save for the light of a lantern in the corner. The smell of hay and animal musk is heavy in the air. I can see a figure shifting in the shadows. Darla? I wonder to myself. Straining to see better despite the pounding in my head I sit up and am rewarded with the form of a young woman with sandy brown hair. My eyes widen with surprise as I realize it is the girl from last night the bar keeps daughter as I recall. She is standing in the corner smiling hesitantly at me as she moves toward me she asks " Are you all right?" I simply nod in reply. As she moves closer into the faint lamplight I can now see that gone is the fear and horror of the previous night. In it places is sorrow, deep sadness, and sympathy for me, perhaps even worry. My heart fills with something I have not known for years *REMORSE*. Remorse for what I have done both as Liam and as Angelus. The feeling consumes me filling every fiber of my being and I feel a shiver run through my undead body. Struggling to my feet I brush the straw from my hair and clothes. I reach out a trembling hand taking the young woman's and pulling her close to me. I can feel her body trembling as she presses herself closer to me and I close my eyes. Gently I rest my chin on top of her head. I can still feel the battle that is raging within myself and I am not sure what it is that the future now holds for me. The one thing I do know for sure is this. I am Angelus No More." The End.