~The Past~
"What do you want from me?" she screamed over the rushing winds.
The demon paused for a moment, the glinting knife it held pressed against the young man’s neck.
"You have nothing to offer me."
"I’ll give you anything, anything at all. I’ll give you my life in exchange for his!" she shouted, the skirts of her emerald gown swirling around her ankles.
"Too easy," the demon resumed its actions, lifting the knife above the unconscious boy’s body.
"NO!" she shouted, her entire body trembling, "Name your price, I swear, you can have anything."
Abruptly, the winds died down and the entire field became silent.
He gave her a wicked smile.
"You must suffer for your mother’s actions, you know that don’t you?"
She met his dark gaze with a fury and fire of her own.
"Name… your…price."
"Not so fast, little one," he hissed.
"I want you to know what true pain is. I want you to understand the suffering your mother inflicted on me when she obliterated all my kind. I want you to understand what it is to have nothing. The tears. The desire. The relentless fear and ache that comes from being alone. All alone...you know..your mother...she killed my mate."
He let out a loud laugh at the girl’s shocked expression.
"Yes, even demons have mates," his eyes grew dark once more, "And I shall never see mine again."
His smile stretched inhumanly wide.
"I thought that killing *your* mate would bring justice, especially because your union is pure. Not the slightest taint of evil, greed or hatred. Do you realize how rare that is?"The sudden dark waves of anger emanating off of him almost knocked her over.
"You stupid mortals understand nothing. The rarity of such a union is worth a countless number of your lifetimes. Most Souls never find one another. But, you..you actually managed to find yours. And at such a young age as well…pity…,"
She looked around desperately for a weapon, anything to subdue the demon.
< Mother, please help me now >
As if he’d read her mind, the demon snapped back to reality.
"Now I see that my original plan for vengeance was too light. Not to worry though, because I believe I found a more fitting and suitable punishment for you. Your offer gave me quite the inspiration. Prepare yourself, little one, because I’m about to send you to hell."
With a wave of his hand, the unconscious boy’s body started to glow an evil red.
She gasped, her heart in her throat.
"You want to know my price? My price is him."
She lunged for the demon who simply laughed and floated higher, watching her tumble to the ground harmlessly.
"Not his life though, little one, I want his love."
She jerked herself up, forcing her own gaze to his,"W-what?"
His voice dropped to a low whisper, "In exchange for his life, you agree to forfeit your relationship with him. I will remove every trace of emotion he has for you. He will know you simply as a friend and nothing more. He will never love you again, but at least he will live."
< I’ll die without him > the thought flashed quickly through her mind but she pushed it away.
"You asked for my price. There it is. Do we have a deal?" Looming ominously the demon smiled showing rows and rows of jagged, brown teeth.
She choked back a sob and stared at her love’s lifeless body. His cheeks were pale and his body contorted in an odd position, but he was still exquisitely handsome.< I’m sorry, darling, I hope you’ll forgive me someday. Someday when we’re together again… >
Her heart tore in half as the words slid out of her mouth.
"Agreed."
He laughed heartily, as the boy’s body glowed more furiously, "Very well then."
The voice came out in a harsh disembodied growl, "Let all that is dark bear witness: "From here forth, I curse you, your kin and all those who will come after."
The winds started to rise again, causing red tendrils to waft over the body.
"For all your life you will be within inches of your love, filled with an ache which will be unbearable, but never sated."
The demon twitched his hand and the red glow suddenly turned a sickening green. She fell to her knees, a cold feeling washing over her.
"The attainment of love means death. And you yourself are forever banished to wander this world, cold, lost and alone."
His eyes turned into sharp black diamonds as she felt something being torn from her, "Like me."
With a final spark of energy followed by a loud clap of thunder, he disappeared, and the boy’s body fell limply to the ground.
Sobbing bitterly and pushing the tangled red strands out of her green eyes, the girl crawled over to him. Stooping over his prone form, she took ahold of his shoulders and shook him desperately.
"Alex? Alex? Are you all right?"
He groaned slightly and his eyes fluttered open, gradually coming to focus on her.
"W-Willow? what’s going on? What happened?"
She helped him into a seated position.
"Alexander, what do you remember?"
"Well, not much," he began uncertainly, "We were at your house-at your father’s party. We stayed for about an hour...and..and then I said I had to give you something," he paused, a slight frown marring his handsome face, "and we went walking down the path to the garden," he licked his lips lightly in concentration, "…when there was this flash of light, a-and then….," his voice trailed off and he let out a resigned sigh, "I’m here."
He gave her a confused smile, "What happened?"
"Nothing. You fell," she replied shortly, looking away. She tried to hide the agony etched tightly across her face as she turned to stand. < He doesn’t remember a thing. He’s gone, forever. And now, I’ll die. > The thought was cold and emotionless, completely void of any passion or even anger. Her prayer for help had fallen on silent ears. Her last chance of hope had died when she saw the look in his eyes. The light she always remembered seeing was completely gone. The demon had extinguished it. She stood stiffly and moved away, her fists clenched in tightly along her sides.
< I curse you, your kin and all those who come after… >
< Oh God..oh GOD….my children…my children’s children.. >
She abruptly fell to her knees, her back to him this time, so he couldn’t see the single tear which fell unbidden from her eye.
"Willow, are you all right?" he asked in a concerned voice as he took her arm.
A wave of warmth passed over her. Briskly wiping away the tear, she glanced up hopefully, "I’m just a little dizzy," she murmured looking deeply into his eyes again.
< Maybe…maybe it hasn’t worked. Maybe the demon wasn’t powerful enough.>
She gently tried to reach his mind.
He suddenly fell to the ground, writhing in pain and clutching his head, "God!"
The touch had been tentative and very soft, the way they had communicated when they were younger, before their bond had grown stronger. Her eyes widened as she felt his mind recoil from her own. She immediately stopped.
< If I try to reach him, I’ll kill him. >
The sudden realization felt like a heavy weight on her heart.
"Oh God, Xander," she said softly, using the name she’d called him back when they were children, "I’m sorry." She knelt down and tenderly brushed his hair out of his eyes, caressing him as a lover for one last time.
He slowly sat up, pushing away her hand without realizing it.
She suppressed a sudden wave of sadness over his actions.
"No, it wasn’t you," he said shakily, "It’s just that my head was suddenly filled with this horrible pain…"
She nodded sullenly and stared at her hands. She knew what she had to do.
"We should get you to a doctor," she whispered as she took his arm and steered him towards the house.
He stopped and looked at her for a moment, "Willow, if I was the one who fell, then what happened to you?"
She glanced down at her torn gown and dirty hands. < Damn, I forgot about that. > Sighing softly, she slowly ran her fingers through her messy hair.
"Alex, we’ve been friends for years. Please believe me when I say that what happened tonight is none of your concern. It is neither to be questioned nor spoken about ever again. "
He opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a wave of her hand.
"Please…give me this one peace. Promise me, Xander, promise me that we’ll never discuss this again." < Promise me that you’ll be happy when I’m gone. >
He stared carefully at her, searching her delicate features and finding nothing but intense pain and sorrow. As much as he yearned to know what had happened, he realized that her request was sincere.
"Agreed," he replied simply.
The word sent chills through her. That word, that one innocent word had ended her entire existence.
Recovering quickly, she forced a smile,"Good, let’s go," she tugged his arm again.
"Just one thing Willow," he remained rooted to his spot, "What was it that I was going to give you?"
She looked up at him, startled, "What?"
"I brought you to the garden, I said I was going to give you something, what was it?"
"I haven’t a clue. You never got the chance."
His dark brows furrowed as he strained to remember. After a few minutes of silence he looked up at her in defeat.
"Very well, let’s go," he muttered in a resigned voice. He started to head down the path, "Perhaps it will come to me later."
"Perhaps," she said softly as she followed him, pausing only to put her hands behind her back, hurriedly slipping the engagement ring off of her finger.
*****End Part I
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