Angelus had been more ill-tempered then usual of late, on edge one could say. He was angry and starting to realize how many enemies had piled up against him. He thought of Spike his one time best friend, of Di' who was keeping his pups from him, of Connor who looked so much like...HER. He growled and leapt landing on a small terrified mini otters and unceremoniously ripping out it's throat. He drank with the cold emotionless motions that spoke of how easy killing had become. His daughter had vanished a few nights before and he was irritated with her disappearance. Melantha too had stopped coming to him for their interesting hunts, had her father gotten to her?
He slowly sat by the river and glared into the black waters dipping his muzzle for a quick drink. He glanced up at the barely present crescent moon and huffed. The night was dark and perfect for him to cause mayhem, but he felt...tired.
So she had been brought back. It wasnt pleasant, and she was already irritated
with the thought of being brought back to do others dirty work. Though she supposed if her daughter was saying
others were suffering..it was the duty of the slayer to destroy the demon. Not that it was really her duty anymore. Was she still the slayer?
She had been dead, so another had been called. Who had it been? Her daughter had mentioned that she wanted to help destroy him.. Daughter..that term
was so foreign to her. She had never expected the clams to survive without her to protect them.
It almost made her bitter that they were alive and she had been killed..and theyd been raised by that monster!
The sky was black, and it did a good job of hiding the undead slayer. She drug her leg behind her. She supposed she could walk regularly, but.. she really
didnt care to expel the energy to keep from dragging it.
Then a scent hit her nostrils. Blood. So she still had that keen smell, that was helpful. But blood, wasnt good.
Sneaking forward, she peered from the trunk of a large tree.
There he was, and her eyes narrowed.
No not tired, tired he would never be, he was a master of darkness, a lord of evil, he would be eternal. It was that nagging pathetic trace of...soul? Like a residue that refused to wash away every once in a while it reared up in a pathetic struggle. He tossed aside the mini's carcass and licked his lips.
"Where are you..." He muttered softly his eyes narrowed dangerously wondering where his children were off and about. Connor was probably scheming against him as usual, Darling was with Dru no doubt, and Artemis...that girl was dark, dangerous like him, he should start grooming her properly.
She grinned a little, that ol' fire coming back into her as the thrill of seeing him
again hit her. She hated him so terribly, but she didnt forget the Angel she once knew either.
She had loved before, only the love had torn her apart.
She stepped from the shadows, and grinned. Her wings spread a bit so that they looked larger than they were.
They hadonce been beautiful. Now they were not, tattered feathers and blood stains were all they were now.
"So you felt something after all? Too bad it wasnt compassion..Or .. death." She said, and that was it. She stood staring at him..
Waiting for him to realize she was back, and out to get him. She thought briefly how much it would suck if he killed her twice, but she would
not let that happen..Not this time.
"Hello Angel."
He whirled around startled, and he was hard to startle, other vampires rarely got the drop on him, most other living creatures possessed blood he could smell. He froze then and simply...stared, he hadn't been addressing her...but there she was. Had he lost his mind completely? Had his soul found some new clever way to try and torment him? What was she? Was she a figment of his imagination?
He shook his head, his mouth opened and closed several time but nothing escaped his lips. How could this be? His mind raced and tried to puzzle her appearance. Slowly he started to take in the differences, the lack of a radiant glow, the dullness of her hair, the torn mangled feathers, and...her flesh...bone apparent...like the dead.
She grinned at his reaction and stepped a little closer. She knew to beware him, and she would..but she was the offensive this time.
She blew him a kiss, and then crossed her arms, conveniently gripping the stake in a paw.
"You look like you see a ghost.." She teased, and almost laughed at it. However at this moment, she was soaking up the fact that
she was indeed dead, and the only reason she was back was to torment him..and torment him she would, until she decided he would die.
"Did you miss me?" She asked, and folded her wings back in. Her eyes were glassy but they still had the same life behind them as she had once
before. Maybe life was the wrong word, but they held the fire she had inside. She wasnt sure she could ever lose that flame that burned through her soul.
A ghost...was she a ghost? She had haunted his thoughts day and night, but to think she was actually...he took a shaky breath. Miss her? Did he miss her? She was gorgeous...she was...she was dead, and this was insanity! Why hadn't he turned her when he had the chance, she would have been the most perfectly ruthless companion. Instead he had killed her and it had been over all too fast. "You're...." He tried to find the words, but he still couldn't believe it was really her.
"You're not real..." He finally growled out and stalked towards her. How odd that he should be having such odd visions, he hadn't even had anything to drink. Maybe that mini had been tainted, he had to stop glutting himself on blood.
"Nope. Sure Im not. Yet here I stand, right here in front of you." She held out her arms as if to show she was there.
She was liking this effect that she had on him, but when he stalked forward, she stalked in a circle, as not to let him too close.
She wasnt sure if she could die again, but at this moment she sure as hell didnt want to find out.
She watched his features, and noted the blood that dripped from his maw to the ground. His paws were covered in the thick liquid, same as his face.
It made her grimace.
"Still being bad huh?" She asked, with emphasis on the bad as if she was making fun of him. A smile covered her face and she shook her head.
"You havent changed. Thats too bad."
She circled away and he felt that spark of passion, her eyes were still firey, she was still...wild. He sucked in another deep breath and narrowed his eyes.
"What is this?" Was it a trick, an illusion, a mirage? Mirage! Perhaps she was behind it? Though this didn't seem her style, what did she hope to do stir him into a killing frenzy.
He smirked at her and watching as she shook her head. "Oh baby I'll always be bad for you..." He grinned and tried to advance on her.
She thought of telling him what had happened, but she liked having the mystery. She was not going to allow him the explainations. Those could end
up being the death of her once again. She did let a little spark shine in her eyes as she continued to circle.
"What, dont you like it? You didnt want me back?" She pouted in a teasing fashion and shook her head.
"Oh, dont use me as an excuse for it. You're bad for your whore, and youre bad for our children. However, it is not just me."
She said, her eyes taking that look of anger. She was angry at the thought of his grin. He would suffer, and she would wipe that grin off his face.
"However, if youre looking for a fight.." She pulled out her stake with the arm that was of bone and flesh.
"I can help."
Did he want her back? No...yes...NO! She was like an everlasting plague, on him like fleas. He jerked to a stop as her tone went from teasing to anger, she spoke of Dru, of Darling, Artemis, and Connor. She knew...it was as if she had never been gone, as if she had always been there watching...waiting. Was she back for revenge?
"I've done the very best for our children...Dru has been an affectionate mother in your absence. It's hardly my fault if some of our whelps have YOUR wild spirit, uncontrollable little monsters sometimes." He growled thinking of Connor, his son...Connor should have been his pride and joy instead he was a constant traitorous thorn in his side.
He froze when she pulled out the stake loosing some of his confident swagger. He had been confident because he had believed he had killed the slayer...yet she stood before him...angry. The stake was a hard reminder of how close their fight had been.
When he spoke of her children as monsters she snarled a little, her eyes showing the deadly
power they possessed. She was not happy about him having her children, though it wasnt what angered her
the most.
She took alot to hold herself back from flying at him just then, but she knew she had to be smart about this.
She noticed teh effect on his face when she pulled out the stake and grinned.
She gripped it a bit tighter.
"Or maybe its the fact that Drusilla is raising them. Last I checked, she kept a squirrel as a doll.
Is that what she calls my children? Her dolls?"
She asked, adding fuel to her fire.
He watched the stake for a long moment and then his movements changed. Slowly he crouched back on the defensive instead of the offensive. The first time he had managed to catch Buffy vulnerable, she was worried about the clams, this time she could unleash her full power with no concerns.
"Dru's only doll is little Darling...but it's good for her, poor thing she suffered some...problems when she came out of the clam." He wouldn't irk her further then that, he knew she knew. The problems Darling had suffered were caused by her breathing in buffy's blood and almost drowning. The pups had been yanked early from their clams as well, but only Darling had suffered visibly.
No doubt those problems came from the torture or trauma from living with such a pair, but she knew Angelus knew that all too well.
She wasnt stupid, she knew it wasnt just genetics that made Darling that way..Something had happened to her. She nodded as if she was listening, and though she was.. hate was blooming deep within her,
stronger than ever before. She stepped a little closer, and clutching the stake tightly, rushed him. Maybe not the best move, but she wanted to hit him, more than ever.
She may have been dead, but all her muscles and limbs worked as if she were living, and she jumped in the air to kick him square in the chest.
"I just wonder.. Should I do to you, like you did to them? Im not the bubbly blonde you remember." She warned.
He really hadn't expected it, her movement was so sudden so full of rage that her kick landed perfectly. He grunted as she kicked him square in the chest and he tumbled back. He quickly leapt to his feet and held back a slight wince. Her threats reached his ears and he growled softly before his ears fell back.
"No your not...but you'll die just like her..." He snarled and lunged before quickly changing his path and dashing into the darkness. Angelus knew how to pick his fights and letting Buffy sneak up on him while she felt at her peak was not the way he wanted their match to go.
She loved the solid feeling of her foot kicking into his chest. When he fell back she couldnt help but grin, t hough she was crouched in a defensive stance.
She braced herself for the attack that followed, and took a deep breath. She was ready.
"Lets dance then.." She whispered, and went to lash out as he ran around her and dissappeared into the shadows.
She growled, and punched the earth before standing from her crouch.
"Ill find you..I swear I will."
