< How the heck did I get myself into this? >
Sighing softly, she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes.
Being stuck alone with Xander in his house all afternoon and for most of the evening was only one of a STRING of BAD ideas she’d been forced to carry through with recently.
< I’m hoping this isn’t going to be a trend. >
“Okay, so…Rocky Road or Coffee?”
She opened her eyes warily to see him hovering over her, a goofy smile on his face.
“Xander, how can you even THINK about food at a time like this?” She tried to keep her voice and manner as neutral as possible but she couldn’t help it. He was irritating the hell out of her.
The smile faded somewhat and he took a seat next to her, “Well, I mean…what are we supposed to do? We’re pretty much stuck here waiting. We might as well try and make the most of things.”
She shrugged listlessly and closed her eyes again.
“Hey, wanna play a game?”
“What kind of a game, Xander?” she responded without opening her eyes.
“Well, I mean, to test out this whole bond thing. Like..okay, I’m thinking of a number from one to te-,”
“Seven.”
He paused. “That’s not fair, you didn’t even let me finish! Okay, now, I’m thinking of a number from one to twent-”
“Three.”
“Willow!!! Cut it out!”
He saw the faint beginnings of a smile start to cross her face and he grinned.
“Last time, okay? I’m thinking of a number from one to fifty, wh-,”
“Sixty-eight,” she stared up at him, “Xander, that’s cheating.”
His dark eyes widened innocently, “I was just checking to make sure you were paying attention.”
Fighting back a full-fledged smile, she sat up, “Okay, fair enough.”
“Feeling better?”
“A bit. Can you pass me th-,”
Wordlessly, he handed her the carton of coffee ice cream.
< I could actually start to like this bond thing… >
“Me too.”
Blushing slightly, she dropped her gaze and opened up the ice cream, digging in a large spoonful.
“So, like..yeah,” Xander muttered, trying to fill the awkward silence,
“are we actually going to
go through with this whole bondage thing, or what?”
Willow immediately started choking on her mouthful of ice cream.
“Huh?” he stared at her in pretend-confusion.
“ING Xander, bondING, NOT bondAGE,” she sputtered, trying to keep from making a mess of herself.
“Hey, sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me!” He smiled brightly.
Unable to help it, Willow jumped up, partially spewing coffee ice cream and ran for the kitchen.
“Xander, you’re nuts!” She called while tearing around for a napkin.
Snickering slightly to herself, she re-entered the living room, still wiping some stray drops of ice cream off of her shirt.
“Seriously though, Willow.”
She glanced up at the tone of his voice and realized that all of the previous joking had vanished from his now somber dark eyes.
“What are we going to do?”
Biting her lip, she tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear and shook her head, “I don’t know…I really don’t.”
“There’s still stuff that you aren’t telling me.”
She nodded slowly, “Yes, there is.”
“And that’s because…?”
“The less you know, the less you’re involved,” she responded without hesitation.
“Wills, the less I know, the greater the chance that we’re both going to get killed.”
“Xander, you don’t understand.”
He stared at her quietly, “Then help me too.”
She sat down beside him but remained silent.
“This has something to do with what Bridget said to you, doesn’t it?” he prodded gently.
“It might.”
“Tell me.”
More silence.
“Willow?”
Nothing.
“Willow Ann Rosenberg, you tell me or else I’ll have to resort to violence.”
This got a reaction.
Raising a delicate eyebrow, she regarded him in disbelief, “Violence? You? The same kid who got beat up on a daily basis in the fifth grade by Gretchen Marks, who was a GIRL SCOUT, is going to resort to violence?”
“Hey, she was a big girl,” he replied defensively.
Willow grinned slightly, “So am I.”
He considered her comment for a few seconds.
“Is that a challenge, then, Miss Rosenberg?” He asked, a playful sparkle in his dark eyes.
Feeling herself being inexplicably drawn into the game, she returned his look with a coy smile. “It might be, Mr. Harr-”
Before she could even finish the sentence, he lunged for her and she started shrieking.
Falling heavily off of the couch, they tumbled across the floor until he managed to gain leverage and pin her to the floor beneath him.
Tickling mercilessly, he shouted victory, “I am Xander, King Of Cretins!!! Bow down before me Lesser Cretin!! Bow down!!”
“Xander, get off of me!!!”
“You dare refer to me in the familiar, Lesser Cretin?!” he yelled, “Take that!”
The tickling increased double time until Willow was laughing so hard that tears were running down her face.
“Stop! Xander, stop,” she managed to gasp out.
“You beg mercy?” he stopped tickling all of a sudden and pinned her arms to either side of her head.
Gradually, their laughter subsided.
There was a long pause as the teenagers regarded one another. He couldn’t help but appreciate how beautiful she was. Not just pretty, but downright striking. With her long red hair awry and her green eyes still sparkling slightly she looked vibrant and amazing. There was no way he was going to let her go.
“Xander, can you get off, please?” Willow whispered softly, a gentle smile on her face.
“Magic words?” he smiled back at her, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
Subtly, she tested the strength of his grip on her hands and the amount of weight he was exerting over her hips.
Finding his hold to be somewhat relaxed, most likely out of fear of
hurting her, Willow found her chance.
“Now?” she ventured, suddenly pushing upwards with all her strength
and flipping them both over.
Finding herself at an obvious advantage, the hacker took to exacting her revenge. Tickling him viciously right along the sides of his ribcage, where time and practice had taught her he was most sensitive, she soon had him laughing almost as hard as she had been.
“I give, I give, I give!!” he howled through tears.
“So now you declare me Queen of Cretins?” she challenged as they continued to struggle.
“Uhm…yeah?”
The tickling got worse.
“I mean, YES my Queen, YES!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Laughing too hard herself to continue, she finally stopped and sat backwards on his stomach.
“I win.” She declared proudly, wiping the mixture of tears and sweat off of her face.
“Yes, you do.” He propped himself up on his elbows to stare at her with admiration.
Feeling considerably warmer, she impulsively shed her green cardigan and flung it halfway across the room. < Better! > She thought triumphantly before noting the look on Xander’s face. Suddenly, she felt very self-conscious clad only in her plain white undershirt. Blushing obviously, she cast a regretful glance at where her sweater lay in a heap on the floor.
There was an awkward pause as they regarded eachother yet again and Willow could almost feel a tangible tension start to build up in the room. She was caught between a strong desire to hear the sound of his voice and a mind-numbing fear of what he would say.
“Have I ever mentioned how beautiful you are?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Cut it out, Xander” she turned away shyly and started to move off of him and towards her sweater but he placed his hands firmly on her hips to stop her.
Pushing himself off the floor, he held onto her waist and sat up so that she was still sitting in his lap, facing him.
Soon they were nose to nose.
Brushing her hair away from her eyes, he took a firm hold of the side of her face and guided her forward slightly, “What are you so afraid of?” he murmured soothingly.
She could feel his breath on her cheek. It’s gentle caress caused her entire body to start tingling.
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Xander,” she whispered back, “I care too much about you to get you killed.”
“I don’t want to see you die either, Willow.”
“I…I know…”
There was another pause as the tension slowly built. She knew full well that she shouldn’t be sitting with him, like this. That it was too risky for both of them and that she might regret these moments of intimacy in the very near future…and yet….there was such a sense of strength…of..of warmth that simply radiated from him and from both of them whenever they were together that made her feel so secure.
It was a feeling she had missed so much, one that had only been a vague memory of when she was younger and much more innocent. It reminded her of a time during which it had just been the three musketeers: Jesse, Xander and herself. Back then, their biggest problem had been as simple as trying to figure out how to avoid Cordelia or how to pass the weekly spelling test.
Sighing painfully, Willow felt her heart almost break from longing for that time and place.
The support he offered her felt too good to give up so quickly.
That and the fact that his skin was incredibly soft, his breath was warm and his scent was more than inviting. She blushed inwardly and tried to push these ‘less pure’ thoughts out of her head in order to be able to think clearly….and to prevent anyone from “accidentally” sneaking a peek at them…
< I’ve missed you so much. > Delicately, she ran her fingers over the slight coarseness of his sweater up to the sides of his face and finally back to tangle in his dark hair.
Something in Xander’s eyes flashed briefly, “Complete the bond with me,” he demanded with such suddenness that it threw her for a moment.
“We…shouldn’t,” < Right? > Instinctively, she knew this was
beyond wrong, and yet, she felt herself too weak to offer up any real resistance.
“Why?”
< Good question. > Her thoughts were too far gone to offer up any legitimate reason so she remained silent.
Images had begun to flow through her mind, surfacing from the tiny corners and crevices in which she had kept them firmly hidden. Subconscious little dreams, desires and latent thoughts began flashing past with maddening speed. Dangerous thoughts. Evil thoughts.
He shifted slightly underneath her in order to better balance them and then he lifted his other hand up to capture the rest of her face.
< I love you. You have to realize that. You have to believe that I just didn’t know… >
“Xander….”
< I’m scared. I’m so so scared. I can’t explain why it hurts so much right now. >
“Willow…”
< Trust me. I’m never going to let you down again…. >
“don’t…do”
< I feel like I’m swimming… >
“let me kiss you…”
< God, you’re so beautiful… >
“I can’t…”
< I can…. >
“Please?”
< Be strong with me. >
“I..”
Words intermixed with thoughts were causing her head to spin. All sense of what was her and what was him started to fall away as they melted into eachother….
His lips were dangerously close to hers by now and she knew full well that words weren’t going to stop this. Weakly, she slid a hand up near his shoulder and pushed against him lightly to delay contact. Nonetheless, she could still feel her resistance rapidly crumbling.
Looking back on this moment later, she would come to realize that if she hadn’t still had her eyes open, she probably would have kissed him and sealed their bond in that instant.
Fortunately, she DID have her eyes slightly open and vaguely, out of the corner of one of them, she noticed something that caused her to stop immediately and snap back to reality.
Her hand was glowing.
Yelping in shock and surprise, she tore it away from his chest and scooted off of him in one fluid motion.
‘What!?” he shook his head in shock, starting at her with a mixture of apprehension and disappointment.
“My…your…..I was touching and…..” she opened and closed her mouth a few more times, too scared to go near him again for fear of a repeat performance of what had happened in the library and too confused to say anything useful.
He furrowed his brows in concentration, “Glowing?” he finally asked. “Your hand glowed when you touched me?”
She nodded, still clutching the offending appendage.
“Let me see.”
“Careful.”
Gingerly, they reached out and brushed fingertips.
Sure enough, a bright white light radiated from wherever their skin touched.
“Oh cool.” He breathed.
“This has to stop.” She shook her head and backed away, the fear evident in her green eyes.
“Willow, don’t run away from me.” Helplessly, he watched as everything he had come so close to having mere seconds ago was now disappearing.
Wrinkling her nose slightly, she drew her knees up to her chin and leaned her head down on them, her gaze downcast. She knew it was unfair to shut him out, especially since she could clearly feel his anger and frustration whenever she did, but it was even harder for her to let him in and to knowingly risk his life.
Sensing her internal struggle, he kept a respectable distance but gently urged her to open up, “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on. You need to tell me what Bridget said.”
Pause.
With the mental equivalent of a shrug, he decided to guess, “Was it something about Adam?”
“Not…really.”
Seeing that she was a bit more receptive to this approach, he pushed on.
“Something about killing the demon?”
“No.”
“Something about the bond or the curse?”
“Uhm…no.”
He thought for a second.
“Something about me or you?”
“No, no nothing like that.”
Feeling somewhat at a loss, he sighed, “Then?”
“Well, it wasn’t really about you, OR about me. It was really about…her….and…” < Here it comes.. >
“And…?” he prodded carefully, finally feeling near an answer.
Taking a deep breath, Willow looked him right in the eye.
“And how she died.”
***
~ Flashback: That afternoon ~
Although it had taken her several minutes to pull Xander and Giles onto the library couches, Willow had managed it by herself. While performing the task, her mind was thankfully occupied. Unfortunately, now that she was done, she could no longer avoid addressing the strange apparition of herself which she'd found standing over Giles' unconscious body a short while ago.
After an awkward pause, she managed a shaky smile, "So… uhm… you're, ahh… dead, huh? I-I mean, you're Bridget… an-and you're… you're dead… but you're not… since you're here and all…" Willow blundered, mildly horrified at the words that were coming out of her mouth.
Grinning, the ghost nodded, "Both statements are equally accurate, Willow."
"But how?"
"How what?"
"How'd you get here?"
"Well, I never really left."
The redhead looked thoroughly confused, "What?"
Bridget bit her lip, "Listen, we're obviously getting ahead of ourselves. First let's get through the basics. I've been following you and Xander… keeping watch you might say…. for the past few weeks and I'm sure that by now you have a fairly healthy idea of what's going on."
"I-I'm getting hunted by some demon, aren't I?" Having said the words out loud for the first time, Willow wanted to cry.
Bridget nodded grimly, "Yes."
"B-but why? Why me…w-why us? Why won't this thing leave us all alone?"
"It's all fairly complicated. Willow, you know very little about your heritage."
"Well, I know that I'm Jewish."
Nodding, the ghost sat down next to her, "You're right. That's
part of it. But, I'm talking about your mother's heritage.
Not your father's."
Putting her head in her hands, Willow took a deep breath, "Okay." She looked back up, "Then tell me… t-tell me about my mother."
"Well, we can probably start with mine," Bridget smiled sadly, "she was an amazing woman. I loved her dearly and I'm sure you would have, too. She died when I was your age. She was a demon hunter."
"What…?"
"You see, back then, before magic became a part of fairy tales told to children, demons were a commonplace menace. They were a much bigger problem than vampires because, unlike vampires, they weren't hindered by a mortal body. They could disappear and reappear at will. They could cast spells on humans, feed upon children, burn whole villages just with a simple gesture… they were terrible. My mother was one of the most skilled hunters at that time. It was a very honorable position and one which raised my entire family to great wealth and status. Even though she wasn't born nobility herself, when my mother gave birth to me, I was born a Lady. Are you with me so far?"
Willow nodded slowly.
"Well, even though the hunters of my time were getting stronger, the demons were still growing. One day, my mother devised a method to exterminate every single one on earth. We all rejoiced when she revealed it, but she never mentioned the fact that the spell required a human sacrifice." Bridget turned to look at Willow, "You have to understand that my mother valued life above and beyond anything else. Old or young, rich or poor, it didn't matter. She would never even dream of asking anyone else to die, even if it was for a greater good. And so, even though it pained her immensely to leave the rest of us behind, she sacrificed herself."
"Then what happened?"
"Well, it was successful and the countryside was cleared."
"B-but, what about the demon that's after me? Why did he survive?"
Bridget sighed, "He was a special case because he wasn't on earth…technically. He was in a state of limbo, one which a demon must enter to travel between here and hell. Evidently, his mate had just crossed through the threshold when the spell took action and she was destroyed. He crossed through and the gateway back to hell collapsed leaving him stranded."
"And what about vampires? Don't they have demons in them?"
"Yes, but the spell was geared towards pure demons. It was an unforeseen complication that the mortal bodies which house a vampire's demon actually served to protect it."
"And so he's after us for revenge?"
"That's pretty much it. He's the last living pure demon on earth and it was a woman in our line who made him that way."
"Geez, but wouldn't you figure he'd… I dunno, get sick of this by now?"
"Willow, he's been sentenced to roam the earth alone for all eternity. If he has to suffer, he wants to see us do so as well. I think it's become a form of entertainment for him. He likes to see how creatively he can propagate the curse he's inflicted."
"So, what about you? Why are you stuck here? You said you never left. B-but you're dead. You mean you've been here all this time? Is that part of the curse too?"
Bridget furrowed her brow, "Well…to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure. I've been here this whole time, but I don't think the demon had anything to do with it. The first time he saw me, which was several decades ago since it took me a while to figure out how to appear visible, he looked absolutely shocked. Of course, then he thought it was funny, but that was to be expected."
"So you don't know why you never left? Are you supposed to be some guide or something to help break the curse? Can you... I dunno, use your powers to stop him or something?"
"All right, slow down, Willow, slow down. Maybe if I explained
to you exactly what happened, you'd understand this as I do."
**
~The Past~
"I hate the dress... And I hate this party... And I don't want to be here... And where is father?... And can we leave, yet?... And how come Charlotte doesn't have to wear an ugly dress and come to this stupid place?... And how come she gets to go hunting....?"
Dutifully blocking out her daughter's incessant complaining, Bridget
scanned the crowd for her husband,
"Yes, dear, I understand, go see if you can find your sister."
"Mother! You're not even listening!" The girl looked properly offended before picking up the sides of her lacy blue dress and stalking off.
Surveying the majestic garden before her, Bridget could do little more than marvel at how rich the Lord and Lady of this manor were. It was a real honor to be invited to such a gathering, especially as the wife of the Watcher.
"Lady Laughlin? I trust that you are enjoying the party."
Turning, she smiled at the old man who had addressed her, "Yes, Lord Myerson, your grounds are truly immaculate. The lighting is wonderful."
"I can't seem to find your husband, and I was wondering if you'd seen him."
She looked thoughtful, "Adam? No… I'm afraid not."
Shrugging slightly, the old man nodded, "Quite all right, I'm sure I'll
stumble across him sooner or later.
I wanted to talk to him about that new fighting technique he's been
teaching Charlotte. Kujo or Juko or something?"
"Judo?"
"Yes, yes that's the one. See, I was talking to Lord Harris about it and he came up with the idea of perhaps bringing it before the Council and including it in a guide or a book of some sort for future Watchers…"
Smiling wistfully, Bridget sighed, "Lord Harris is here, is he?"
"Yes, madam, have you ever been introduced?"
"Once before… a long time ago. I used to know his son."
Looking mildly perplexed, the old man stared at her, "But Lady, he doesn't have a son. He never married."
With a strange sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Bridget regarded him, "He does have a son. He must. We knew each other… briefly… as children. His wife, Lady Alice, gave birth to him just 6 weeks before my own mother gave birth to m-,"
Her companion cut her off with a fit of raucous laughter, "Alexander Harris?"
"W-why yes."
"M'Lady, that * is * the Lord Harris I'm referring to. His father, William, died a few years back. Lady Alice is still alive, but she's grown frail in age. She chose not to come to the solstice celebration. First time since the year her husband died. Of course she forced Alex to go in her place…."
He continued to rattle on, but the redhead's mind was far away < He's here? He survived? But… I can't sense him. I don't feel a thing. There must be some mistake… > "Excuse me, Lord Myerson, but if you could direct me towards Lord Harris, I'd be much obliged. I'd like to greet my old friend. I haven't seen him in years."
"Why, of course. Last I saw, he was heading towards the private gardens. Just head down that path, take a left and keep walking. You should bump into him eventually."
Nodding, she thanked him distractedly and left.
**
Pushing blonde curls out of blue eyes, Kateri stood in the middle of the huge crowd of guests, still looking for her little sister and muttering under her breath, "I can't believe this. She's scant old enough to be here in the first place. I TOLD mother not to bring her. Just WAIT until I get my hands on the little imp…"
"An' what're ya doin', Katy, that you're so cross?"
Swiveling, the statuesque girl regarded the tiny child standing behind her.
"Rena! Where on earth have you been?"
The redhead took a deep breath.
Kateri cringed internally. < No, I suppose it couldn't be a simple explanation now then, could it? >
"Well, Michael Myerson's mum has a keen lookin' new cross and it's all sparkly and rich-like and he snitched it from her room just to show us but Maggie accidentally bumped him while he was holdin' it and it fell clean into the lake. We had to get it out 'else his father woulda boxed his ears."
It was then that Kateri noticed her sister's soaked green dress, "Dear God, Rena Kane, you DIDN'T!" she moaned.
"Aw, it's only water, Katy. It'll dry soon enough."
"Yes, but wait until father sees it. And mother will have an absolute fit. Naturally they'll both blame ME for it. Sometimes, I swear, Rena, if you weren't my sis-," her voice faded and she stumbled forward suddenly.
"Katy! Are you all right?" Immediately, the younger girl reached out to steady her.
"I-I'm fine… I'm just.. I'm just... dizzy." The truth was, she was pretty sure she was going to be sick. Suddenly seeing everything through a gauze of whiteness, Kateri stumbled forward, pushing her way blindly through the crowd. < What's happening to me? > Her whole body felt as if it had been set on fire.
"No, Katy, where are you going? I said I was sorry about the dress.
Katy? What are you doing? Stop!! Do you want me to fetch
mother? Katy!" Desperately, the little girl latched onto her sister's
skirts and was dragged off.
**
Bridget had gotten halfway down the path when she saw the dark figure.
He was slightly hunched, as though in possession of a heavy physical burden.
His back was towards her, but she knew who he was instantly.
< Xander. > The name rocked through her head and she was suddenly
living a dream that wanted to make her laugh and cry all at once.
Slowly and deliberately, he turned around to face her.
She could only imagine what he'd say when he saw her standing there. She knew in her heart that he would recognize her just the way that she had recognized him. Holding her breath, she couldn't even force a smile as she gazed into his dark brown eyes. He stood silently regarding her and she could feel her heart breaking. Quickly, she began to cross towards him but stopped when he opened his mouth to speak. Dread and apprehension suddenly shook her whole being. Would he welcome her back? Hate her for leaving him? Would he even remember what they had been to each other?
Nothing could have prepared her to deal with what happened next.
Smiling brokenly, he stared at her and cleared his throat, "Hello? Is someone there? I-I'm not sure, so please identify yourself…"
It wasn't until then that she noticed the cane in is hand and the slightly vacant stare in his eyes.
Like a cold slap across her face, Bridget discovered painfully what had escaped her before.
Alex was blind.
**
Breathing heavily, Kateri leaned against a tree on the outskirts of the party.
"Katy? Speak to me! Katy, what's going on?" hovering around her and flitting side to side like a hummingbird, her little sister alternately tugged at her gown and stuck her nose in her face, "I'll go fetch mother. She'll know what to do. Katy, just stay here. I'll go get her. I'll go get mother."
"No, I don't think you'll have to fetch mother…"
Both girls turned to see who had spoken.
"Daddy!" Rena looked distinctly relieved, "Oh thank goodness. Where have you been?"
"I had to meet with some men about Charlotte's training. What's happened?"
"Come take a look at Kateri, she's fallen ill."
"Has she now?" He placed a comforting hand on his older daughter's shoulder before turning and walking a ways down the path, "Well then, perhaps it would be best to fetch your mother. Come along, Rena, we'll go find her and Katy can stay here."
"But mayhaps we shouldn't leave her alone, father."
"We'll be right back, come along." Kneeling, he beckoned for the little girl to come to him.
Like a bolt of lightening through her being, Kateri's head shot up,
"Rena, no."
Throwing out an arm, she restrained the child. "Stay away."
Rena just stared at her dumbfounded.
"Katy?" He stared at her, puzzled, "What's gotten into you?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
Adam Laughlin sighed and stood up, "Blast it all, Kateri. You always have to be so ungodly clever don't you?" Not waiting for her reply his face shifted.
Smiling faintly, he lunged for the two girls, fangs bared.
**
It took a few seconds for Bridget to regain her senses. "I'm.. ah.. ah friend. You probably don't recognize me. I knew… your mother." She gripped the sides of her dress and waited in apprehension to see whether or not he'd recognize her voice.
Nothing but serenity was reflected from his expression, "A friend of my mother's? How nice. It's a pity she couldn't be here. I'm sure she would've enjoyed seeing you, Lady…"
"Laughlin."
He looked surprised, "Adam Laughlin's wife? Why, I didn't know you were friends with my mother."
"Oh, ahh… we were acquaintances, really. I knew her as a child for a short time. She probably wouldn't remember me."
"Well, she doesn't remember many people these days."
There was a pause as she searched for something else to say.
"Would you mind if I escorted you back to the house?" He asked suddenly, "It's getting a bit chilly out here."
"Oh, of course. I'd love that."
Unthinking, he offered her his arm.
Staring at it, she cautiously accepted. Almost at once, her whole body was assaulted by memories. The scratchiness of his coat, the weight of his hand, the scent of his cologne were all excruciatingly familiar. Fighting back tears, she resisted the urge to yank her hand away and run.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes… fine." She managed to choke out as they walked towards the mansion, "I'm fine. So, ahh, Lord Harris, I've heard that there were frosts in your parts. How did your-,"
She was cut off by a piercing shriek followed by shouting.
"What on earth..?" He perked up, his ear directed towards the sound.
< Rena. > Bridget quickly extracted herself from his grip, "I... that sounded like my daughter. I should go see what's happened. I apologize, Lord Harris."
"No, that's quite all right."
"C-can you make it back to the house?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. I hope your child is, as well."
"Thank you, It was nice speaking with you, Lord Harris. I really am sorry!" turning, she headed up the hill in a full fledged run.
Gripping his cane, he slowly made his way in the opposite direction. Staring at the ground, he smiled and whispered "It's quite all right, Willow. It's quite all right."
**
Kateri swung herself in front of her little sister just in time to be slammed aside into the tree. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"NO!! Katy, NO!" Rena was screaming at the top of her lungs. "Daddy?!" She stared up at him in terror.
"Come come now, Rena. Be a good girl and don't cry. Daddy's here…" grinning wickedly, he advanced upon her.
"Adam?" Bridget had just reached the top of the hill. The
scene which confronted her was highly confusing. Although her husband
was there, his back to her, her daughter seemed positively beside herself,
"Dear God!" She shouted, suddenly seeing her older child sprawled upon
the ground, "Kateri!"
Half turning, Adam Laughlin, former Watcher and newly risen vampire, threw his wife a casual smile, "Bridget, so kind of you to make it. Do stay. I'll be right with you."
Her body suddenly numb, she could do little more than stare at him in dumbfounded horror. The only thought which pervaded her mind was coldly logical. < He was killed and changed, but how did he rise so fast? >
The sight of him grabbing her daughter's red hair, though, was enough send her vaulting onto his back in maternal fury, "Bastard!! You bastard! How dare you? How dare you? Get away from her. Rena, run!!"
He snarled and released his smaller prey.
Raking her nails into his eyes, she screamed, "I loved him! You killed him and I loved him. Bastard!! Get the hell away from my daughter." Grabbing fistfuls of hair, she hung on for dear life as he tried to shake her off.
"Rena, run!!" Bridget shouted again. as her stricken daughter stood rooted to the spot, "Rena!! Get out, go get help… Kateri, wake up! Wake up, Kateri!" Her other daughter merely lay there.
With a grunt, he managed to send her flying. She rolled to a stop a few feet away. "I will kill you myself, you stupid son of a-," she reached into her skirts and pulled out a stake just as he leaped forward and kicked her in the ribs.
"Such words, darling wife! You know better than to address your husband as such.." Clucking mockingly, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and leaned in close, "Mayhaps I'll just turn you as well. You were a good consort in life. I suspect the same would be true in death."
She gritted her teeth and stared back at him unflinchingly. Suddenly, she began speaking in Gaelic.
He hissed at her when he recognized the words, "Praying won't do you much good, Bridget. Believe me. It did very little for Adam." Yanking her neck to his lips he whispered, "Welcome to eternity, my love."
As his fangs pierced her neck, Bridget tried to dig her nails into his face but she could already feel herself getting weaker. Paradoxically, the more light headed she was getting, the more pain she felt. Through it all, she was trying to think of a way to kill him before he could get to her children.
Blindly reaching into his jacket, she grasped for the bottle of holy water she knew was hidden there.
Easily swiping her hand away, he merely ground harder into her neck, causing her to cry out.
It was then that Bridget heard something.
"No."
That simple word was followed by a release from the pain and a dust filled explosion.
Shakily opening her eyes, she looked up to see Kateri standing in front of her, a stake clutched so tightly in her hand that her knuckles had turned white.
"No." She repeated again, staring vacantly at the dust pile. "Bad."
Scrambling away from the remains of her husband, Bridget reached out to her daughter.
Backing away, Kateri dropped the stake, "H-he touched me. Was cold. Too cold. Not father. Bad." She whispered, almost as if trying to convince herself.
Rena just stared at the scene silently, still rooted to her spot and shaking violently.
"Bad." Bridget murmured in agreement. "Not your father, Katy. That wasn't your father."
Kateri simply shook her head and allowed herself to be engulfed by sobs.
It was the first vampire she had ever killed. Her own father. Although she had sacrificed him to save her mother, it was still a difficult experience.
Even for the new Slayer.