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Sorry people. Here ya go:
{"Yes, I put her to bed an hour ago." The woman was telling him as he walked around her almost bare living room.
In his opinion, the structure barely qualified as a house; compared to where he used to live in Ireland, that is. Built by hand, brick by brick, it was a poor place to raise a family. The wooden furniture was even shoddier. One well placed spark, and within seconds there'd be nothing left. She was risking quite a lot having a fire burning, but he wasn't here to criticize the home. He was an invited guest, after all.
"And what's the wee one's name?" He asked, turning to face her.
"Katie." She smiled.
He smiled, studying the picture he'd picked up off of the small, wooden table. "Such a pretty child. She'll make a fine lass some day."
"Um...thank you." Shedidn't want to be rude, but when he took a seat in Brady's chair, she had to say something. "Excuse me, sir, how do you know my husband?"
"From the city. We were supposed to meet for a pint, but he never arrived." He answered, returning the picture to its spot. "Photography is an amazin' thing, don't you think?"
"It is." She agreed. "Brady calls pictures, 'Memories which are frozen in time.'"
"My, isn't that a poetic description?" He responded, impressed. "Well, a man that wise surely can't have lost his way. I have a habit of worrying too much." He moved to rise from the chair. "Forgive me for calling on you this late."
She brought her hand to her mouth. "Is he in trouble, Mr. Angelus? Has he gotten himself into debt playing at the pub?"
Angelus shook his head, standing. "Of course not; his skill at cards is well known -- as is his temper." He jokingly assured her. "No, he needn't be concernin' himself with debt collectors; not when the night is full of so many other perils."
The woman didn't know whether to be relieved or alarmed. She always warned him about his temper. "Yes, I suppose you're --"
She stopped herself as she faced her out of breath husband, who was running through the doorway.
"Claudia, wake Katelyn, we have to..." Brady saw the man sitting in his chair and turned white. "Back away from it! Hurry to me!"
"What are you going on about? This is..."
Angelus made sure hisferal visage greeted her as she looked at him. "You should mind your husband, Claudia."
Then she screamed.}
***
"Is it dripping what I think it's dripping?" Cordelia spoke softly, having had her scream stifled by Buffy's hand. "Cause if it is, count me out."
"Hooves? But...they crush." Xander pointed out, beginning to sweat. "Not a huge fan of the claws, either."
"Its skin looks fairly tough. Weapons could have a hard time penetrating it." Giles noticed. "And small pores covering its body are probably more dangerous than they seem."
"I just hope it doesn't feel a cold coming on." Buffy chipped in, disturbed by the memory. "The amulet has to work."
"As long as nobody wakes it up, we won't have anything to worry about. So let's try and be careful." Jenny advised.
While Amy stared at the creature with Angel, whose drawing didn't do justice to its size, she knew that waking it up was the last thing she wanted to do. Her certainty had been for show; she didn't have a spell, and to get the Goddess' attention, more energy would be required from her. And the amount of energy that'd be necessary to change this thing into something else could leave her seriously hurt -- or worse. The other problem was, without a spell and the right bloodstone, she didn't know how to control what the creature would become.
Ever since she found out that she had inherited her mother's gift for magick (dark magick, to be precise), she had used it to make things easier for herself. She got out of homework. If she was late for school, one snap of her fingers, and she was ready to go. But with the gang, she could use her talents to assist others; the darkness could be used for good. It was up to her -- she wasn't going to let them down, even if it meant putting her life on the line. She took a deep breath, and saw why the creature was sleeping. It probably tired itself trying to escape the magickal cage it was contained in.
"There's where the magick's coming from." Amy gestured to the fluctuating yellow light surrounding their enemy. That's when she realized that Angel had been watching her. "What?"
"Give me the amulet. I'll do it." The vampire said, holding out his hand.
He knew.
"I can --" The witch started to object.
"You're not strong enough." He cut her off. "Get her attention...I'll deal with the rest."
If Angel wanted to win back their trust, he had to show them that he was on their side, no matter what the risk. Xander looked ready to get in his face, but Amy handed over the amulet, her features relaxing. Buffy pulled her friend away from the vampire, and took the bag from his shoulder.
"Not now." The slayertold him, opening the bag. "Anyone who isn't talking to an omnipotent being, have something to fight with." She said, checking to make sure the Big Ugly was still snoozing. "Whatever this thing's gonna turn into, we need to be ready." Xander grabbed another staff, and Miss Calendar and Amy grabbed knives. "Go for it, Amy."
The witch and the vampire both sat on the ground, opposite one another. Angel gripped the amulet, while Amy closed her eyes and began to say words in Latin. Giles was able to translate for himself:
"Queen of blackest night, we beseech you; awaken the power within this amulet! The power to make anew its body! To change this ancient evil into a creature the Warrior may conquer! Give us the strength to endure! Hear my call! We beseech you, Hecate, help us! Accept our love and bless us; reclaim the dark!"
Amy repeated the wordsagain and again, never stopping. The amulet began to vibrate in Angel's hand, so held it tighter. Faster and faster. Then came the pain; Angel cried out, which caused the creature to stir. Seeing intruders it rose up quickly, the ground shaking in the process. The barrier was still holding, though.
"Don't freak." Buffy said to her friends, calmly.
"Easy for you to say."Cordelia said back to her.
The blonde looked at her significant other. "Wanna bet?"
Amy felt like her eyeshad been forced open, so she could see the agony that Angel was enduring in her place. His arm was shaking, and rays of red light emanated from the amulet. She wanted to take over, but it was too late; whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. She stood, facing the creature with the rest of them. It was ramming into the barrier, attempting to break free. Every time it did, they all hadto work hard to maintain their balance. With one, final, determined bellow, the creature charged through the barrier, collapsing it for good.
"Now you can freak." Buffy gave her permission. "I'll try to distract it, and you guys stay out of its way."
The pores that Giles mentioned each held a tentacle. One of those tentacles had shot out, almost snatchingAmy, but her boyfriend pulled her out of the way. While her friends scattered, Buffy judged her options. The best way for her to injure the beast was something she wasn't going to enjoy. Taking the axe, she made a beeline straight for it, narrowly avoiding the stamping hoof, and sliding underneath her target. With a swift strike, she planted the axe in its stomach.
"Is she crazy?" Cordelia wondered, fear in her eyes.
"Yep." Xander said.
When she saw that her weapon didn't do anything, and after the shock wore off, she removed the axe and rolled out of the way before the creature could lower itself on top of her. Not being able to get at the slayer, it reached for Miss Calendar, wrapping a tentacle around her ankle. It started dragging her along the ground, and then liftedher above it.
"Jenny!" Giles called out.
Both he and Cordelia rushed to the teacher's aid, and the cheerleader sliced the tentacle that had claimedher. The watcher caught the techno-pagan, and the three of them observed the severed tentacle uncoiling itself from her ankle. Cordelia thoroughly stepped on it, before turning to the adults with a smile.
"This won't get me outof Computer, will it?" The brunette asked, and Miss Calendar shook her head. "Damn."
Prepared to rush in and rescue her girlfriend, Cordelia saw that Angel had gotten up and already shoved the slayer out of harm's way. She didn't have time to be annoyed, though, because he threw the now pulsating amulet at the creature, and for what seemed like an eternity, all she could see was red, and all she could hear were unnatural screeches. When it was over, a very different form stood in the creature's place, and they were wide-eyed. It had been placed in the body of a vampire.
Angel's body -- with his vampiric face.
***
{Angelus took hold of Claudia's throat. "You ought to be willing to stand up for yourself after you insult a man."
"You're not a man! You're a demon!" Brady proclaimed.
"There you go again."The vampire looked disappointed. "Perhaps I gave your husband too much credit. Only fools don't know when to hold their tongues." He squeezed, and she gagged. The baby was crying. "I'd hate for little Katie to discover what a shameful person her father is. Not a single cross to protect his family." He smiled evilly at the head of the household. "And you call yourself a Catholic."
"Please, let us be." Brady pleaded, unable to do much else.
"Where's the fun in that?" Angelus asked, snapping Claudia's neck and dropping her to the ground.
Brady was horrified, and he wept, falling to the floor. "You monster!"
"I see what you mean, Angelus...no manners at all." Darla had come in behind Brady, and when he turned around, her yellow eyes were staring at him. "Grab the child."
"No! Katie!" Brady tried to get to his feet and run to the nursery, but Darla caught his arm and proceeded to sink her fangs into his neck.
Angelus went to retrieve the baby, and when he came back to the living room, it was strangely quiet in his arms. "Don't kill him."
Her mouth bloody, Darla dropped the severely weakened human to the ground. Angelus handed over the child to his sire, so he could break off a chair leg. He stuck it in the fire until a flame caught on, and then threw it in the direction of the nursery. The vampires left the home, ignoring Brady's moans. Once they were a safe distance away,they watched as the house slowly went up in flames.
"It's times like I these I wish I had a camera." Angelus revealed, entranced by his carnage.
"We'll have to pick up one in Paris." Darla said. "All the best photographers are there, you know."
"What shall we do with her?" He asked.
"We'll eat her along the way." Darla shifted back to her human face. "Unless she starts crying again. I can't stand the noise." She handed Katie back to him. "Come, darling! France awaits!"}
Willow's eyes abruptly opened. She had reached the end of another one.
***
"The amulet must've used Angel as a blueprint." Giles said, looking on.
"Ya think?" Xander remarked.
That thing wasn't Angel or Angelus; it was only a shell. But to the Englishman and the real Angel, that distinction was hard to make. The vampire tackled his double with energy supplied by rage; as far as he was concerned, he was looking at his demon, and he wanted nothing more than to destroy it. Buffy had rejoined the group, but wanted to go back and help him. Her watcher stopped her with a look, so they watched as the two vampires fought.
When the transformed creature would try and head for them, Angel would pull it back. They through each other into walls, exchanged blow after blow, kick after kick. Angel was bruised, bloody, and his shirt was torn, but he had gotten hold of its arms, and was struggling to pin them behind its back. Angel then locked eyes with Giles. All the memories of what Angelus had done to him and Jenny had been haunting him them both all summer, and their anger had just peaked.
"Cordelia, hand me the sword." Giles requested. She did, and he walked to Angel "Stand it up." With a lot of effort, Angel maintained his grip and pulled the creature up. The sword rose. "It'sall right."
The very second that Angel released his hold on his double, Giles removed its head. As the dust rained down, Angel's legs gave out on him, so the librarian had to help the man tohis feet. Amy rushed over to help, and Xander followed. They took over for Giles, each supporting an arm, already beginning to walk home. Cordelia, Buffy andMiss Calendar went over to an oddly relaxed Giles, who returned the sword to the cheerleader.
"I'm gonna see if they need help." Cordelia announced. "Still going to the Bronze?"
"Yeah." The slayer smiled, giving her a kiss. "You don't have to rush, though."
Three of them were now left standing there.
"That was, uh..." Miss Calendar was searching for a word, putting her hand in her partner's.
"My thoughts exactly." Buffy said, tiredly. Then she looked on the ground; a black orb, slightly larger than a baseball, was sitting there. "What's that?"
***
The redhead picked her head up off the table, looking around the library in fear. She was just glad that she didn't scream this time. Her heart was racing -- they never got any better.She looked inside the book cage, wiping the tears from her eyes; Oz was still there. That was a relief. If he got out, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself, and Giles...well, he'd be unhappy. The watcher got scary when he was like that. Though not as scary as Angelus. The worst part about the nightmares was that she wasn't just that --
The librarian had just walked in. "Did you have any trouble?"
"Are you kidding? He's like a puppy." Willow said, just as the Oz-Wolf attacked the cage with a growl. "You know...generally." She remembered where he'd been. "How was it? Really bad?Is everybody okay?"
"It was...cathartic."Giles answered with a weary smile. "And we all survived."
She didn't quite get what he meant by that, but she didn't question him any further. "Oh. Good."
"Buffy, uh, told me to tell you that they're heading for the Bronze in a little while. I can watch overOz if you like." He offered.
"Great. Thanks." She more or less leapt from the chair, intending to take full advantage of the out she was given, going for the door. "See you tomorrow, Giles. Hey, it'll be the first day of school."
"Yes, you're right. Which means people will actually have to come in here." Laughing, he figured that talkingto could wait. "Goodnight, Willow."
When she was gone, he entered his office and sat at his desk. He retrieved the black orb from his jacket pocket, but besides knowing that the material was obsidian, he had no clue what its purpose was. He sat it on his desk, unsettled by the fact that he hadn't known what the creature was, or where it came from. He would've beeneven more unsettled if he could've heard the voices crying out inside that orb:
"Eh-Woo-Too! Eh-Woo-Too!"
"Bestia de Infierno!"
"El
Mago! El Mago!"
------
To
be Continued..... |