Illyria watched from the shadows as the distraught man gulped down more whiskey.

This was beginning to annoy her. The human was supposed to be teaching her about this world, and although he had explained some things, there were still questions she needed answered.

When she had tired of Wesley’s drunken state, Illyria began studying her surroundings. More of the shell’s memories were coming to the surface. She would see a particular item in the room and immediately get the sensation she recognized it.

Suddenly, Illyria stopped in her tracks; eyes locked on a tiny, white creature inside a box.

The once powerful deity cocked her head in curiosity and bent down to retrieve the object. Before she could stop herself, electric current poured from her fingertips, sparking yet another memory.

“Feigenbaum, the master of chaos,” Illyria announced in Fred’s child-like voice.

From his seat by the window, Wesley’s eyes grew stormy with repressed rage. ‘How dare she?’ Wesley thought. That was it…the last straw. He’d had enough of this thing and its mockery of his beloved Fred.

Setting down his glass with a loud bang, he made his way over to Illyria’s crouched form. He pulled the treasured rabbit from her grasp and grabbed her shoulders with bruising force.

“I told you to never do that again,” Wesley hissed.

She jerked away from him, completely unfazed by his outburst.

“I do as I please,” she said, taking a few steps toward the angry Englishman, hoping to intimidate him with her presence. “Do not EVER lay hands on me again, human, or I’ll see fit to remove them from your pathetic body.”

Normally, Wesley would shrug off her threat and go back to his seat.

But this time, he didn’t.

“Your threats do not concern me, Illyria,” he shot back at her with venom in his words. He took special note to place major emphasis on her name, for he knew what kind of reaction it would elicit in the self-righteous Smurf.

‘Damn this human’ she thought, remembering the first time he used her name so casually. It infuriated her. In her time, no being so much as whispered her name without her permission. Yet for some unknown reason, she’d let the human live.

She was beginning to regret that now.

“How dare you speak to me that way,” Illyria said, ready for a confrontation.

She raised her hand and prepared to access more of Fred’s memories.

“Don’t,” Wesley warned.

The next thing he knew, Fred’s voice was booming out at him.

“Grow up, Wesley!”

Wesley had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from railing at her again. He knew what she was doing and he wasn’t going to play along.

He had something else in mind.

Wesley’s quiet, chilling voice broke the momentary silence between them.

“I think it’s time I showed you what it means to respect someone.”

“I do not understand,” Illyria responded.

“When I’m done with you, you will,” Wesley answered, pushing her backwards onto the bed behind them.

He didn’t give her a chance to move because he straddled her body, bracing Illyria’s arms above her head and securing them with steel cuffs around the headboard.

“You actually think these will hold me?” she asked, trying in vain to free herself.

“Yes, I do,” Wesley replied, watching her struggle.

If Illyria had emotions, she would have most certainly been afraid of the unstable man above her. Instead, she fought with her bonds. ‘What kind of contraption is this?’ she questioned silently to herself, not believing her predicament.

“I would stop fighting if I were you. Those cuffs are not coming off. I put a spell on them…and you,” Wesley said, as if in answer to her question.

“What purpose does this serve?”

Wesley almost grinned at that, but he didn’t want to give anything away.

“You mean besides keeping you out of trouble? I’m your teacher, your guide, correct? That is what you asked me to be for you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m teaching you how to behave.”

Illyria was becoming more confused by the moment…and Wesley was enjoying every minute of it.

“You make no sense. You have gone mad.”

“Perhaps, but I’m the one in control here, not you. Need I remind you that humans are the ones who walk the Earth now? You would do good not to disobey me.”

At this, the demon/god tried to plead her case.

“I agreed to abide. There is no need for this.”

Wesley leaned closer and stroked his hand down her leather-clad body. “Oh, there’s need. There is most definitely need.”

He knew this was insane. He realized his actions were outrageous, but after consuming too much whiskey, reason was the last thing on his mind.

“Make no mistake, this body is not, nor will it ever be yours. You’re a thief, Illyria. You stole something precious from me, and now you’re going to pay.”

Illyria attempted to speak, but Wesley silenced her with a finger to her lips.

“You are not to say another word, understand? From now on, I’ll do all the talking.”

When she didn’t say anything further, he lifted his finger away, and continued the “lesson”.

“I told you on the roof that there were things in this world both terrible and beautiful. That is what you are to me. Just to look at you causes me great pain, but when you purposely use one of Fred’s memories for your own amusement, it turns the pain to something far more sinister. I want to kill you; however, you have made that impossible, and because of it, I isolated myself up here in the hope that you would disappear, vanish to another dimension, and leave me in peace to mourn my love. Since it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, I decided to set down a few rules.”

Wesley thought for sure that Illyria would fight him, but when he looked down at her, he realized she was actually doing what he wanted for once.

“There’s a good girl. Now answer something for me. Does your…outfit come off?”

She didn’t say a word, just continued to stare at him with those damn eyes of hers.

“I asked you a question. If I ask you a question, you may answer.”

Illyria tried to sound indignant, but her voice had a slight quiver to it.

“What business is it of yours, what my outfit does? How is that relevant?”

Ah, so she was going to fight him a little. That was all right. Wes would just have more fun breaking her.

“Answer the question.”

She squirmed under her restraints, uncomfortable, but answered nonetheless.

“Yes, it comes off. Why?”

“Show me.”

“Show you what?”

“Fred’s body. I don’t want her beauty covered with this reptilian suit of yours. Get rid of it.”

“I need my sarcophagus in order to do that.”

“There is no other way?”

“I have to touch one of the stones; otherwise, it stays on permanently.”

“I guess I’ll have to remove it myself then.”

Wesley retrieved a knife from the kitchen, and sliced one perfect line down the middle of the suit. He was very careful not to cut the skin as he worked the material off Illyria.

One strong tug, and she was completely nude.

He let his eyes roam over the exposed body. ‘This is wrong. I should be making love to Fred, not fantasizing about it.’

Wesley remembered how Fred had joked about it when she was dying.

How precious she was to him…

The way she could melt away the darkness with her smile. God, every detail was still so clear in his mind.

Her laughter dancing in the wind…her chocolate eyes shining with love…her kisses tasting like strawberries.

She loved him.

Fred had loved him…and now she was gone.

They could have lived happily ever after, had children, grown old together…

But now, that was nothing more than a dream.

Wesley wasn’t a violent man. Unless, of course, he was possessed by a masochistic psycho named Billy. So under normal circumstances, he kept his head and stayed calm. However, with Illyria constantly trying his patience, he was beginning to lose control.

Purposely invoking Fred’s memories was beyond tolerable, and he was sick of it…all of it.

Nothing mattered anymore, and quite frankly, he didn’t give a damn.

Wesley had told Illyria she would pay for her theft, and now, it was time to collect on that debt.

With teary eyes, Wesley undressed.

‘Forgive me, Fred’ was his last thought as he prepared to do the unthinkable.

From her spot, Illyria noted that for a primitive human, his body was quite impressive.

She could feel the heat building inside her.

This body was responding to his nakedness, and it disgusted her…or at least, it was supposed to.

Something was influencing her reactions. Perhaps, this was just a manifestation of her confusion or simply another new thing she needed to adjust herself to.

Whatever it was, it annoyed her.

No matter how attractive the human may be.

And he was most definitely attractive with his strong shoulders, long legs, and smooth skin.

‘This is absurd. Why am I thinking this way?’ Illyria contemplated. ‘The man is clearly mad.’

Despite the fact that she had chosen Wesley to be her guide, she was puzzled by his odd behavior.

Maybe, she had underestimated his instability and the level of his grief.

‘No. I will not allow him any leverage over me,’ she thought as her anger returned.

Making up her mind, she opened her mouth to launch a verbal attack.

“What would your precious Fred think of you now? If she could see you like this?”

In a flash, he jumped on top of Illyria, pressing his body as close to hers as possible.

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t taken her from me, Fred would be here, not you!” Wes screamed, slapping her across the face. “I told you to be quiet!”

He thrust, quick and hard, making Illyria gasp and causing him to suppress the sobs that were rising to the surface. He couldn’t keep up pretenses any longer. Instead of breaking her, she broke him…into a million pieces.

Despite the fact that Wes was being violent, she began moaning in pleasure, winding her legs around his waist and rising to meet his thrusts. ‘This is interesting. Intense. I should hate this, yet this body is enjoying it,’ Illyria thought as she and Wes climaxed together.

After the tremors subsided, Wes pulled out of Illyria, horrified by what he’d done.

On shaky legs, he ran to the bathroom and emptied the contents of his stomach in the toilet. Wesley slid down onto the cold linoleum and began to cry.

Illyria listened as he cried. ‘Why do I have the urge to comfort him? What’s happening to me?’

Suddenly, another voice invaded her mind.

“You’re feeling what I’m feeling. His pain is my pain. He needs me.”

“Stay in your box, human. Stop pestering me.”

“You can’t get rid of me, you know. I’m always here…underneath.”

“Go away.”

Nude, chained to a bed, with one human trapped in her mind, and the other losing his mind.

Illyria let out an exasperated sigh.

That ridiculous shrimp world was starting to look more appealing.