~~~part 5~~~ Angelus stalked through the garden door into the Crawford Street mansion. Walking right past Spike who was kicked back on the sofa and headed straight for the stairs. He kept running the scene over and over in his head, wondering where exactly he had lost his mind. In the last day he had experienced more feelings than he had for two hundred years. Sure he had *felt* things, but not with such intensity. The flash of anger that raced through him when he learned that Willow was injured, and by that disgusting bitch of a slayer made him see red. Buffy was lucky he wasn't able to find her on his way home. There definitely wouldn't be any *games* involved with what he'd do to her. "What's got your knickers in a twist?" Spike popped his head over the back of the couch, quirking his scarred brow in question. "Nothing. Everything is going as planed." Angel muttered still climbing the stairs. Spike's mouth curved as he hurdled the couch and followed his sire upstairs. "Really? Because you look like things aren't all that swell." They had reached Angelus's rooms and Spike found the door slammed in his face. Not to be ignored Spike flung the door back open. "So what's got you so pissy?" "Nothing!" Ripping his duster from his body, Angelus waded it in a ball and tossed it on a wingback chair. "I want you to spread the word that Willow and Faith are off-season." "You're joking right? I'm sure I won't hear much complaining over the redhead. But you want me to tell everyone that the slayer is off limits? There'll be mutiny." "If they have a problem they can come to me. I'd be more than happy to remind those arrogant pups who's the Master around here." Angelus sneered, his hands forming into fists. "I need Faith safe to watch over Willow during the day. Buffy hurt her." "Who? Willow or the other slayer?" Had Spike been just some minor minion he may have been frightened by the anger on Angelus's face. But he wasn't and so he stood his ground. "Willow. Her right arm is bandaged and from what Faith said tonight it was good ole Buff that injured her." "Faith told you this? You mean in between attacking you right?" Spike was getting curious and wished that he had insisted on going that night. "No." Angelus paused and started to frown. "She didn't. In fact she seemed all too eager to share the information." One side of his mouth started to curve upward. "Did the little kitten like her present?" Spike lit a cigarette, leaning up against the doorjamb. "She wasn't wearing it." Shrugging his shoulders and plucking the cigarette from Spikes lips and inhaling a lungful of smoke. "It's just a matter of time. Buff hurting her is just another point for us. Plus if I'm reading Faith right I think we may have another ally." "You're out of your bloody mind! Did the soul rot your frigging brain?" Spike grabbed the cigarette back from Angelus. "Shut up boy before I teach you some manners. That girl has darkness inside her, utilize it correctly she'd be a hell of a person to have on our side of things. She dislikes Buffy and has this need to protect the witch." Spike thought on this before saying another word. "Are you sure? I'd hate to have her shove a stake through my heart." "I'm positive." Both stood in silence. "Fine. I'll go tell the others about your orders." Spike turned and headed toward the door. "Want to come? Grab a drink at Willies?" "No, I think I'll stop by and make sure my new little pet made it home all right." Feeling a little better after speaking to his childe, Angelus grabbed his wrinkled coat. ~~~*~~~ "He digs you." Faith taunted. "Who?" Willow crinkled her brow in confusion. "Don't play dumb with me. That dark handsome vampire that's who." Faith gave a throaty laugh as Willow sputtered. "No he doesn't *dig* me. He's just using me to annoy Buffy." Shoving her hands into her pockets, Willow cringed as her left hand felt the necklace inside. "I didn't see Buffy anywhere around, did you? And the anger in his voice when he heard that it was Buffy that hurt you? Made even me slightly nervous." Faith could see the blush creeping up Willow's neck under the streetlamps. "Stop. Everything has gotten way out of control. Ever since this whole May Queen thing happened my world has become all topsy tervy. I just want everything to go back to the way it was. Where no one noticed me, or gave me nerve wracking gifts." Kicking out her foot in frustration, Willow missed the rock she was aiming for and stubbed her toe into the ground. "Umph." "Hey watch it Red, one injury per week." Faith held out a steadying arm as Willow hopped around muttering nonsensical words under her breath. "Look at you, you can't even say bad words like a normal person. You need to look at this as a good thing. People are finally noticing that you're a beautiful person." "Are you hitting on me Faith?" Willow tried to joke. "No, if I were you'd know." Winking back at the giggling witch, Faith turned down Willow's street. "But if you ask me that leather wearing hunk back at the cemetery was." "Faith." Groaning at the way the brunette was able to circle the conversation back to the topic that Willow had hoped she had dropped. "What? He's hot. Tell me that he's not the finest piece of flesh that walks this earth." "I have eyes, of course he is. In that he'll rip your throat out on a first date kind of way. He's evil, not the cuddly vamp we used to know." "Angel? Please, Buffy had him so well trained that I thought she was going to pull out a rolled up newspaper the few times he made a mistake. Sure Angel was good looking, but Buffy snuffed out any personality he could have had." Willow couldn't help but smile slightly, visualizing Buffy swatting Angel on the nose for chewing on her favorite pair of shoes. "But Angelus, now that's what I call a man." Faith grinned ear to ear. "No he's a vamp. Faith stop it. I'm really starting to get wigged here. We need to figure out a way to get Angelus to leave me alone...without telling Buffy." "I swear you're no fun." "That's fine. No fun means no trouble. And that's me. Trouble free girl." Willow sighed in relief when they got to her house. She could leave this insane conversation and Faith's gloating face behind. "See ya tomorrow Red. We'll think up some of those strategies." "Oh that reminds me, Amy'll be back tomorrow. She's great at that kind of stuff." Faith scrunched up her face trying to recall the girl. "Blonde witchy girl huh?" "Yeah." Willow held her breath. She liked Faith a lot, and was actually surprised that she enjoyed hanging out with her. But it was hard enough that Buffy and Faith didn't get along, if Amy and Faith rubbed the wrong way it would just make things harder. "I like her." With that Faith turned and left, whistling a tune as she walked down the street. Willow let out her breath and went inside her house. She wished she had left on a light, it was just plain spooky having to find her way in the dark. Feeling the wall for the light switch, Willow hurriedly turned the light on. Taking the steps two at a time Willow decided that a long hot shower was just what she needed to rid her of the stress the last two days had created. Stripping her clothing off and letting it drop to the floor as she walked down the hallway, Willow felt a little giddy at her messiness. After a twenty-minute shower Willow felt like a brand new person. Her arm still hurt, and the ugly bruises promised to be there for weeks. What was wrong with Buffy? She had never been so careless in the past? With the way Buffy was treating her nomination, to the injury Willow felt just a tad irritated with her best friend. Picking up her discarded clothing on the way back to her bedroom, Willow wished that she could take some of Faith's advice and just enjoy having been picked to run for May Queen. The thing was that nothing ever went smoothly in her life. Anytime something good happened, it was usually caused by some freak source of evil. Like her on line boyfriend sophomore year, who turned out to be some heinous sacrificing demon. Throwing her clothes in a hamper, Willow pulled out a neatly folded nightshirt and pulled it over her head. Going over to her burrow she picked up a comb and pulled it through her wet hair. "Maybe I should cut my hair? Nothing drastic, just a few inches." Talking to the reflection in the mirror, Willow chuckled at herself. Being alone a lot could do that to a person. She always talked to herself out loud when she was home alone, it made the quiet house almost bearable. Willow looked at her jacket lying on the bed, and hesitated for a brief second. Why not? It was beautiful, and why shouldn't she wear it? Going over the bed, she questioned her sanity one last time before reaching for the object inside her pocket. Walking back to the mirror she put the necklace on, and studied the way it looked around her neck. The chain wasn't all that long, the pendent lying an inch above the swell of her breasts. It was truly breath taking. Angelus had given her this gift, he said to congratulate her. Her friends hadn't thought of saying the words, while a demon purchased her a gift. He did purchase it, right? Visions of Angelus stalking down a victim just to get the necklace made her pale slightly. "I won't think about it." Willow blocked off her mind of anymore bad thoughts and slipped into bed. Switching off the lamp on her nightstand she fell into a deep sleep within minutes. Angelus watched all this from the balcony. He knew she'd wear the necklace sooner or later. Perhaps a little sooner than he anticipated, but he wouldn't complain. The piece of jewelry once belonged to his mother. It was one of the things he had taken for his home and kept through out the centuries. He had to admit it looked beautiful on the little witch. Jumping over the rail and landing gracefully on the ground, Angelus decided to take his childe up on his offer and meet him at Willies. |
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