Chapter 11
Willow stared at the red tinted water as it disappeared down the drain, her mind once again numbed. This day has been with such emotional extremes that she was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. It was both a physical and emotion exhaustion, and it made her crave the peacefulness of sleep. Willow flinched a little when Dominique inadvertently brushed one of her broken fingers.
Dominique gently cleaned Willow’s hands and lower arms of the gory results of Willow’s attack upon her. The end result - for Willow - was three broken fingers and several torn fingernails. Once Dominique was finished cleaning, she had Willow sit on the toilet seat so she would be able to set the bones.
Willow made herself bear the pain without making a sound as Dominique pulled the fingers straight and wrapped them in gauze. They didn’t need to be splinted because soon it would be evening and, during her transformation, all injuries would be healed.
“Willow,” Dominique called after setting her fingers.
Willow briefly met her eyes and then glanced away. She still felt so ashamed and horrified at what she had done to Dominique. Willow felt Dominique lean closer and tenderly cup her face in her hands.
She made Willow turn her head to look her in the eyes. “Oh, Willow, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Look at what I have put you through today, and what you have apparently inherited from me. It’s no wonder you snapped. It will be evening soon. Why don’t we go gliding together? Los Angeles is very beautiful from the air at night, and, as you know, gliding can be very soothing.” Dominique ducked her head a little in order to look at Willow through her eyelashes. “Would you like that?”
A small smile of anticipation found its way to Willow’s lips as she answered, “Yeah.”
Dominique smiled in response. “Well then, I guess the first thing we need do is to get you changed into your evening wear.” Glancing down at Willow’s bandaged hands, she continued, “But don’t worry; I’ll help you with your clothes.”
Willow could feel her eyes widen as her face heated from the fierce blush spreading across it, “Ahh… um…”
Dominique gave a small chuckle as she stood and then helped Willow up. “Or, if you don’t mind losing those clothes, you can dress yourself after changing into your Gargoyle form.” It warmed her that Willow was accepting her offer of gliding together. Willow was also allowing Dominique to drape her arm over her shoulders as she showed Willow to her room, where she could change both her form and her clothes.
New York City at the Eyrie Building, several hours earlier.
The wind blew fairly strong across the battlements of the Scottish castle perched atop the Eyrie Building which was David Xanatos’ home and corporate headquarters. It was also the home to the Wyvern Clan, made up of Goliath, Angela, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Hudson, and their Watchbeast Bronx. As the sun disappeared under the horizon, cracks ran across their stone forms and then, in an explosion of shattering stone flakes, they awoke. Roars greeted the night sky as their eye’s flared with colored brilliances, white for the males and blood red for the single female.
The Clans awakening still took Elisa Maza’s breath away, and, she admitted to herself, watching Goliath’s muscular body as he stretched was a very nice bonus! When he saw her waiting down in the courtyard, he quickly joined her, simply leaping from the tower he had rested on during the day and gliding down to her.
“Hello, Elisa,” Goliath said in his deep yet gentle voice as he ran his clawed fingers through her hair in greeting.
“Hey, Big Guy,” Elisa replied with a smile as she leaned into his caress while patting his arm. Then she straightened and raised her voice so the rest of the clan, who had come down to greet her, could hear. “Listen, guys, I got some news about Demona.”
Elisa shot Angela a look of apology, she felt sorry for the female gargoyle who was the daughter of both Goliath and Demona.
“Nightstone released a statement to the press today, and I have to admit I really don’t know what to think about it. Basically, it said that when Dominique was a teenager she got pregnant.” Elisa saw looks pass between the Gargoyles around her. “Dominique had the baby, but her guardians at the time took it and gave it away. Finally, after all of these years, she was able to track her daughter down. She discovered that she was being neglected by her adopted parents, and Dominique regained custody of her.”
Elisa held her hand up to forestall the questions the Clan started asking; once they had quieted down, she continued, “The teenager’s name is Willow Rosenberg, and she’s sixteen years old. She grew up in Sunnydale, California, and is top of her class in just about everything. Xanatos is having Owen run a more complete background check on her, but so far everything seems to legally check out. He also said Owen has something to tell us about Sunnydale that might shed some light on things. Oh… there’s one other thing. There was a paternally test done, and it shows Dominique as Willow’s biological mother.”
“Whatever Demona has planned for the kid, it can’t be good!” Brooklyn growled out through his tightly clenched beak.
“Indeed,” Goliath quietly said in response to Brooklyn’s statement, “but first let us hear what Owen wishes to tell us. It may help us to scent Demona’s plan.”
Elisa led the clan deeper into the castle to the Main Hall where Owen told her he would be waiting for them. When they entered, they saw that David and Fox Xanatos were also there with their baby son Alexander. Elisa was puzzled by the grim looks both David and Fox were wearing. Owen, of course, had his normal bland expression.
Once everything had quieted down, Owen cleared his throat to speak. “First, we happened to have a file on Ms. Rosenberg since she posted several free, but very complex, programs on the internet and has given free technical advice to several of the major software companies. Some of the advice involved unknown risks in some very prominent security programs. There is speculation that she is a very skilled hacker. So skilled that no one has uncovered evidence to link her to the security breaches. Xanatos Enterprises and several other companies were looking at approaching her for future employment. After looking over her school records, it’s also very surprising that she hasn’t been enrolled in a school for advance students. Her school work is already college level.
Owen adjusted his glasses before continuing in is monotone voice, “The charges of abandonment, child neglect, and endangerment of a minor all seem authentic. From a copy of a report submitted by a Ms. Grimes, who works for the State of California’s Child Protection Services, from the age of eight Ms. Rosenberg has been left home alone for two to three weeks of each month.” Owen waited a moment for the cries of outrage to die down. “Her adopted parents fled to Israel after receiving word of the charges that were being brought against them.
“Owen,” Xanatos interrupted, his tone of voice frostier than normal, “why don’t you explain to them what makes Sunnydale so interesting that you were forbidden to tell me about it until now.”
That statement drew everyone’s attention to a greater degree and answered Elisa’s puzzlement over the Xanatoses’ grim faces. There were only two people, if you could call them by that moniker, who could command Owen like that. Unfortunately, neither of them would have the received a warm reception from anyone in the room.
“Of course, Mr. Xanatos,” Owen replied as he took off his glasses, putting them in his breast pocket. “But I believe it would be best done in my true form.”
Once the words left Owen’s mouth, he began to spin in place at a dizzying speed, and then, in a dazzling flash of light, he changed. From the burst of light a smaller form arose into the air, floating effortlessly, Owen’s white hair blowing in a nonexistent breeze. It was Puck the Trickster; though, unlike the other times, his fey features weren’t alight with mischief. Instead, they held a grimness very much at odds with his normal demeanor. Everyone in the room had trouble meeting Puck’s eyes. This time, his eyes reflected the eons of life he had experienced, and the mortals in the room found themselves very aware of their own mortality.
Rising higher as he tapped his chin with a finger, Puck finally spoke, his voice filled with a trepidation that chilled all who heard it. “Sunnydale, a town with forty-three churches and twelve cemeteries. A town that has more people disappearing per week than our fair city has in a year. A town built on top of a very active Hellmouth. What is a Hellmouth, you ask? Why, this is a Hellmouth!” Puck spread his arms wide as the wall behind him exploded inward as a demonic hydra thrust its multiple heads into the room. Screams and roars filled the main hall as the occupants reacted to the creature’s appearance. Both Elisa and Xanatos pulled out their hand guns, while Fox twisted her body to hide the sight of the creature from her child Alexander. She needn’t have bothered; Puck made sure to surround Alex with an illusion so not to traumatize the child. As one, the Gargoyles began to charge the creature but were suddenly brought up short when it disappeared into thin air, and the wall behind Puck was once again whole.
Puck hovered in midair, ignoring the glares and foul language directed his way. With a disturbing smile, he spoke. “That, my friends, is but the tip of the iceberg. The Hellmouth is an area in which the barriers between dimensions are weak. The Hellmouth is a focal point, if you will; it serves as a portal between earth and at least one or more hell dimensions. When I say hell, I mean Hell; it is inhabited by actual demons and their kin.” As Puck spoke, demonic figures appeared and disappeared behind him, each one seemingly made of the stuff of nightmares.
“But the most prolific of all demonic creatures you will find is this.” With a wave of his hand, a young teenage girl appeared before them. She appeared to be fifteen or sixteen and was dressed casually. She looked like any teen you would pass in the mall.
“My dear detective, please put your skills to the test and tell us what form of demon she is,” Puck told Elisa in a faintly mischievous tone.
Elisa slowly walked forward as the teen watched her but made no other move. Walking around the girl, Elisa couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. For all intents and purposes, she appeared as a normal teenage girl. She noticed that the girl didn’t appear to be breathing. Then motion out of the corner of her eye captured Elisa’s attention. Looking, she saw it was her reflection in a mirror that hadn’t been there before. It dawned on her that she could see the reflection of herself and several of the gargoyles - and yet not of the girl. Elisa turned to check that the girl was still there. She was, though she had a smirk on her face that greatly resembled Puck’s.
The girl and Puck spoke simultaneously, their voices perfectly in sync, “Very good, detective. Tell me - what creature has no reflection?”
Elisa shook her head as she turned to look up at Puck and spoke in an incredulous tone of voice. “Vampire? No way will I believe Vampires are real!” Elisa didn’t see the looks of surprise that crossed the Gargoyles’ faces at her words. For them, the Vaimpír, as they were known back in their day, was common knowledge.
Puck looked down at her from where he was floating with a sardonic smile on his face. “Why, I completely understand, detective, I really do! It’s not like you’ve faced spell casters, or shape shifters, Fays, or even spend the evenings with a clan of Gargoyles.” Puck slowly floated down so he was eye level with Elisa, getting into her face he spoke with sarcasm lacing his words. “Please explain to me then why, after experiencing all of that, you can so readily dismiss the idea that Vampires are real?”
Elisa found her face warming as she blushed in embarrassment. Damned if what he said wasn’t the truth. Giving Puck a nod of acknowledgment, Elisa turned back to look at the girl, only to see the girl charging her with a deformed face. With a yelp Elisa, found herself bowled over. As she fell with the girl… no… the Vampire on top of her, Elisa was able to plant her feet against the creature’s stomach. Using her leg muscles, Elisa kicked the Vampire away from her; though, not far enough for comfort. Even before she regained her feet, the Vampire was up and charging again. Then, with a roar, Goliath was there, picking the Vampire up with one large clawed hand wrapped firmly around its neck.
“Enough,” Goliath said to Puck in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. “Your demonstration is at an end.”
“Not quite, I believe,” Puck replied. With another wave of his hand, a stake appeared, floating in the air before Elisa. “There is one last Act to this little play.”
As Puck and Goliath locked gazes, he spoke to Elisa. “When a Vampire sires another, the human soul is expelled upon death, and a demon takes its place. The demon has all of the memories and most of the mannerism of the deceased. The first thing most Vampires do upon rising is kill their friends and family. You see, a Vampire needs an invitation to enter a dwelling, and who else would so readily give one?” Keeping his eyes locked with Goliath’s Puck, floated down so he was behind Elisa with his mouth beside her ear. “Grandparents, parents, siblings, lovers, and, yes, even their own children… They hunt them down, and sometimes - with a spot of torture to sweeten the taste - they then drain them all dry.”
Elisa grabbed the stake.
Summers Residence…
The first one through the door was Buffy’s mother Joyce Summers. She had a furious look on her face. Following her were Buffy, Giles, and (last, but not least) Xander, who quietly closed the door behind him. Joyce tossed her purse on the in table by the stairs, not caring that it slid across the table top to drop to the floor. Walking into the living room, she spun around to confront the three who behind her. She saw Xander standing in the entryway to the living room with his hands clasped behind his back and his feet apart; it made her thinks of a soldier standing at ease.
Buffy stood by that man Mr. Giles, the so called Watcher. What the hell kind of title was that - it involved an older man and a young girl! Said man had a calm but slightly pained look on his face. Joyce didn’t like how closely Buffy was standing by him so she said, while pointing at the floor besides her, “Buffy, over here right this instant, young lady.”
Buffy started toward her then stopped. With a suddenly defiant look on her face spun, Buffy around and stalked out of the room, turning down the hallway leading to the kitchen.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Joyce yelled, angry at the blatant act of defiance and upset at the whole situation.
“I’m getting everyone something to drink!” Buffy yelled back, her voice filled with bitterness.
“Need a hand, Buff?” Xander asked the retreating back.
With a wave of her hand, she replied, “Nah, I got it.”
Joyce refocused her attention on Mr. Giles, who had moved farther into the room. “This is your fault! She was over that delusion, and now, thanks to you, she’s sick again.” Joyce could feel tears starting to run down her cheeks.
Clasping his hands in front of him almost as if praying, Giles spoke in a soothing manner. “Mrs. Summers, please let me explain and listen this time before making any kind of decision.”
“What - listen to your lies and…” Joyce suddenly stopped speaking. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes widened in shock at something behind him.
Giles, fearing some kind of attack, quickly turned around and found himself stunned into immobility. Coming into view from the kitchen hallway was the refrigerator, which at first seemed to be moving effortlessly by itself about a foot off the floor. When more of it came into view, he saw that Buffy had simply picked up it up by hugging it to her. Though she was easily capable of carrying the great weight, the refrigerator was very awkward to handle when one didn’t want to make a mess of its contents.
Buffy slowly, yet still smoothly, turned with the refrigerator so she was able to bring it into the living room. Giles and Xander backed into the room in order to give Buffy room to maneuver, while Joyce collapsed into a chair and dazedly watched her daughter.
Once Buffy was fully in the living room, she twisted so that the front of the refrigerator was facing everyone in the room. The refrigerator stayed level the entire time. After gently setting it on the carpet, Buffy walked over to plug it into a nearby outlet. Coming back around, Buffy casually leaned against the side of the refrigerator and opened the door so everyone could see that it was, indeed, full. Looking at them - especially her Mom - Buffy said, “So what do you want to drink?”
Joyce just covered her eyes as she burst into tears.
Los Angeles, Nighttime
Willow made her way out of the bedroom Dominique had shown her to. It felt good to be in her Gargoyle form, and it was nice not having her fingers hurting like they did earlier. Though, with a slight frown, she flexed the hand that had two of the three broken fingers on it. Her broken pinky had merged with the finger next to it when she transformed. A Gargoyle only had three fingers and a thumb. That one didn’t hurt at all; her index finger, though, still ached a little from being broken. It seemed that she didn’t completely heal when she transformed; it was something to remember.
“Is there something wrong?” Dominique… no, Demona asked as she walked up to Willow.
Willow looked up from her contemplation of her fingers to reply, but, on seeing Demona as a Gargoyle for the first time, she just stared in wonder. Willow knew Dominique had a commanding presence in her human form, but in her Gargoyle form, Demona filled the room with her presence.
“Ahh… fingers still hurt a little,” Willow was finally able to stammer out. She felt herself blushing in embarrassment.
“Really?” Demona asked in concern, stepping closer she reached for one of Willow’s hands. She stopped herself at the last moment. Raising one brow ridge in question, Demona asked, “May I?”
“Sure,” Willow replied as she held one of her hands out to Demona. She watched as Demona gently manipulated her fingers while she examined them.
Demona had to smile to herself. Willow hadn’t even hesitated in giving Demona her hand to scrutinize. She was making progress with the youngling. Looking up, Demona said, “They seem alright; though, these two,” Demona slightly tapped Willow’s index finger on one hand and the middle finger on the other, “have some roughness around the bone where the breaks were. We’ll take a look at them after sunrise to see how much more they have healed. Otherwise, just be a little careful with them, and they should be fine.”
Willow replied with a small smile and then felt her eyes gravitate to the view of the night time skyline outside.
Demona saw the direction of Willow’s gaze and it wasn’t hard to deduce what Willow wanted. Giving the hand she still held a gentle squeeze, Demona said to Willow, “Wanna glide?” After receiving a smile and an energetic nod, Demona led Willow outside onto the balcony. Hearing a softly spoken, “Wow,” from behind her, Demona turned a smiling gaze upon Willow. Her smile grew on seeing the awed look on her daughter’s face. She watched as Willow walked to the balcony and at first leaned over it to look at the view below them. Then her eyes strayed straight out and up as her wings literally quivered with anticipation.
Demona easily leaped up onto the balcony, the claws on the end of her three-toed feet granting her a firm and stable perch. She spread her arms and wings wide while closing her eyes so to savor the night air blowing across her body. Willow’s exhilarating laughter made her glance over to see Willow mimicking her stance on the railing. Then, with another joyful laugh, Willow crouched down and with a burst of powerful leg muscles threw herself out into the air. Echoing her daughter’s laughter, Demona was quick to follow.
Willow couldn’t believe how free she felt up here, gliding between and even at times over the large skyscrapers. Demona was right; the view from up here was breathtaking. After a while, Willow noticed Demona gliding closer.
“Willow,” Demona called to her, and when Willow turned her head to look, Demona gave her a cocky grin. Willow was caught by surprise when Demona swept under her in a fluid movement and lightly flicked Willow’s bare stomach with her tail. With a laugh, Demona dropped into a steeped dive away from her.
Willow recognized the tail slap for what it was - the Gargoyle version of tag, and she was it. With a laugh of her own, Willow drew her wings in close as she dove after Demona.
Willow followed Demona as she dropped closer to the ground below them; Willow’s unblinking gaze never wavered from Demona’s body as they raced by buildings in downtown Los Angeles. For the next hour, the two of them played tag amongst the buildings. Willow knew Demona let her tag her several times. But they were having so much fun, she didn’t care, and at the end, they just ended up gliding quietly together enjoying the view.
Out of the corner of her eye, Willow spotted flashing lights, catching a thermal she drifted higher. The added height allowed her to see a car chase in progress. Willow was idly watching when suddenly she became very alert. The car being chased had turned onto a different street running through a small barricade of saw horses. The street curved to the left and ended in a four way intersection. In the intersection was some kind of street party and it was full of people! Willow dove, ignoring the shout of surprise from Demona.
Victor knew his chocolate skin was pale from the sheer terror he was experiencing thanks to his friend Rick. Rick’s pale skin was even paler from whatever drug he downed earlier before the deal that had gone sour on them. Everything was going good; he handed over the cash for the high grade crack the dealer was selling when Rick just pulled out his gun and shot the dealer in the head. As the dealer’s girlfriend ran down the alley that connected to the parking lot they were in screaming and covered in her late boyfriend’s brains, he was able to get his piece out in time to cap the dealer’s buddy. While he was busy picking up the crack he had dropped, Rick ran after the screaming girl. Victor heard several shots, and the screaming suddenly stopped. Then he heard Rick emptying his gun. He looked up in time to see Rick barreling out of the alley yelling at him to get in the car. It suddenly became glaringly obvious why when the flashing lights and the blare of police sirens sounded from further down the alley.
“Come on, Rick,” Victor was pleading to his friend, who he was sure wasn’t aware of just what the hell was going on, “You gotta let me drive, man, and get off this street; it was blocked off for a reason!” Victor looked away from Rick to see what was up ahead as they came around the curve, and his eyes widened in horror at the people ahead of them. He was just turning to grab the wheel when something slammed into the hood of the car with enough force to cause its front bumper to throw sparks off the pavement. Victor heard screaming, and then it dawned on him it was he and Rick who were doing the screaming.
The demon (for surly that’s what it was) had eyes that flared a brilliant blood red while the street lights illuminated its hellish appearance as it roared at them through the windshield. He could see that it had sunk claws from all four limbs into the hood and roof of the car for purchase.
Still screaming, Rick threw the wheel hard to the left trying to shake the demon off the hood. He ended up clipping a parked car and sending all three of them into a spin. The damned thing was able to hang on all the way through till the end, though it did stop roaring.
With the car stopped, the demon let go of the car’s roof as it reared back and drove both fists through the windshield. Victor could feel a blaze of fire as claws cut through flesh as it grabbed him and Rick by their shirt fronts. As if they weighed nothing at all, it pulled them out through the shattered windshield. As it held them, aloft Victor could tell it was female, and he blinked. It was wearing a red leather outfit that some hooker wore in his neighborhood! Suddenly, the sirens and flashing lights filled the street as several patrol cars came barreling around the curve. With scream, the demon girl lifted them both higher and slammed them into the car’s roof. She left them laying there, stunned, as she turned and dropped to all fours before running into a nearby alley.
Willow was giggling from the euphoria she was feeling from the adrenalin rush as she ran down the alley. After she had gone about thirty feet, Willow leaped up onto the wall of a building and began climbing. Once she reached the roof, she hurried over to peer down at the scene below. She watched as the police officers cuffed the two men she had stopped and led them to the waiting cruisers. Willow was glad she hadn’t hurt them too badly since she didn’t know why they were running from the police. She was startled, though, by the damage she had done to the car - which several officers were closely examining.
When it looked like nothing else was going to happen, Willow turned away to find Demona. She had a feeling Demona wasn’t going to be too happy with her. When she had completed her turn, Willow let out an “Eep!” of surprise on seeing Demona standing just a body’s length away from her.
Demona stood with her arms crossed with a look of exasperation on her face. Her wings were flared half way out.
Willow found herself drawing her wings tight against her body as her tail wrapped around her feet in response. When she started to lower her chin, Willow forced herself to stop falling into a submissive stance. Squaring her shoulders, she loosened her wings and unwrapped her tail. Willow held her chin high as she looked over Demona’s shoulder.
Willow waited tensely in the ensuing silence as they both stood there on the roof top.
Demona broke the silence when she let out a small “harrumph” as she draped her wings over her shoulders and walked to the roof’s edge to peer down at the street below.
Willow let out a small gasp as she let the air out of her lungs; she hadn’t been aware of holding her breath. Turning back around, Willow stepped next to Demona and stared back down below. After a few minutes had gone by without Demona saying a single word, Willow opened her mouth to speak.
Demona began talking before she could get a word out. “How are your fingers faring?” Demona asked her in an almost too calm voice while the flashing lights from below painted her face in reds and blues.
“Ahh,” Willow looked down at her hands as she flexed them, “they hurt a little more but nothing too bad.” Willow watched anxiously as Demona continued to stare at the people below them. Demona wasn’t reacting like Willow had thought she would and it was making her nervous.
Demona’s shoulders seem to slump a little and then she spoke to Willow, “Is this going to be a habit of yours?” Again, her voice was eerily calm.
“Y-yes,” Willow replied, though her voice betrayed the apprehension she was feeling.
Demona must have heard the tone of Willow’s voice for she suddenly gave herself a shake and stepped away from the roof’s edge. Turning to face Willow, Demona opened her arms and wings as she said, “Come here.”
Willow quickly stepped forward into Demona’s opened arms and happily welcomed the arm and wing hug that only a Gargoyle could truly give.
Willow could feel Demona resting her cheek against her head as she began to speak, “You have to understand - I’ve just found you, and I don’t want to lose you.” Demona gave out a soft sigh then continued speaking. “I’m not going to forbid you from helping the humans, but I want you to wait a while so I can train you properly.”
Returning Demona’s hug with just her arms since her wings were trapped by Demona’s, Willow answered with a quiet, “Ok.”
Demona tightened her hug for a moment and then released Willow. As Demona stepped back, she said with pride in her voice, “That was a very remarkable feat of gliding and coordination. I’m very proud of you.”
Willow felt a huge smile spread across her face and she stood taller as she puffed her wings out a bit. This was the first time she had heard a word of praise from a parent since she was six. Ira and Sheila believed that praise led a child to look outside of oneself for external personal motivation, and she guessed they believed that was a bad thing.
“Let’s be off, for the night is still young,” Demona said to her as she turned and headed to the opposite side of the roof.
Willow hurried to catch up, and when she did, she eagerly asked Demona, “Can we go hunting?”
“What?” Demona asked in surprise as she stopped in her tracks, causing Willow to over shoot her by a few steps.
Turning to face Demona Willow excitedly explained, “Vampires, I want to hunt Vampires! I’ve always had to sit on the sidelines when Buffy slayed, and maybe - if I was lucky - I might get one every now and then. Other than that, I was the prey, but now…” Willow held up before her a wickedly clawed hand and then snapped the serrated bone blades along her wing’s edge together with a string of clicks. Willow’s eyes began to glow blood red as she continued to speak, “I am prey no longer. Now I’m stronger and faster and far deadlier than they are.”
Willow waited for Demona’s response with barely restrained patience, visible by her slight bouncing on her six toes. Demona stared at Willow with a small smile on her face and then, with a nod, she said, “That sounds absolutely wonderful, my dear; let us strike terror into the heart of the demon world tonight!”
It took Willow by surprise when Demona snapped her wings out to their fullest, raised a clenched fist to the sky, and roared out in Middle Gaelic, “For Tonight We Hunt The Damned!”
Willow threw her own head back and echoed Demona’s cry in Middle Gaelic.
In the surrounding streets, both humans and demons alike took notice of the roars and shivered. The few… the very few who understood the language and emotion behind it, they hid.
Willow followed Demona as she leaped off the roof’s edge and into the open sky. Quickly, she and Demona gained altitude until they were high enough that no human could see them from below. Once they had leveled out, Demona turned to Willow and said, “Willow, you have more knowledge than I about demons and their kind. Where should we begin our hunt for Vampires?”
Willow felt herself swell with delight that she had something to teach Demona. She took several moments to gather her thoughts, and then she pointed in the direction of the street party. “Vampires especially like to hunt around groups of humans such as nightclubs and parties. They either hunt on the fringe of a grouping of humans or, sometimes, one or more will enter the group to bring out their prey. Let’s circle around and check out the nearby alleys. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some waiting for delivery.” They both were quiet while they glided and scanned the alleyways for their prey.
Finally, Demona pointed. “Down there.”
Looking down where Demona had pointed, Willow spotted what had caught her attention. There was a small courtyard that connected to an alley and within it was a group of three men and two women. Swooping closer, she could make out the deformed faces and (sadly enough) a body thrown carelessly in a darkened corner. Willow growled with anger at the apparent death they were too late to prevent.
“Look before attacking,” Demona interrupted her burning thoughts. “Make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for you down there. The human is dead, concentrate on the threat itself.”
“Ok,” Willow replied in a growling voice as she forced herself to really look around the area. After a few moments, she said with confidence, “I don’t see anyone else around, though something tells me there is more of that nest out amongst the street party.”
“I agree,” Demona replied. “Do you have a plan of attack?”
Willow quickly developed a plan of attack, which she explained to Demona.
Demona seemed quite pleased with it, and she surprised Willow by telling her she was going to just watch Willow attack. She would only step in if it looked like Willow needed the help, but not to worry, afterward they would fight together. Demona wanted to gauge Willow’s fighting skills so she would be able to train her better.
With a grim smile Willow dove with Demona following behind. Willow came in at a very steep angle; though, not as fast as she had with the car. At the last moment, she flipped so that her feet were facing downward at her target and her wings snapped out, slowing her descent. The sound of her wings was overshadowed by Willow’s roar as she slammed down on her target feet first. The large male Vampire, who had looked up at the sound of her roar, had a look of absolute terror on his face as her large toe claws sunk deep into the muscles and bones of his shoulders. Willow could actually feel and hear the multitude of snaps and cracks as a larger number of his bones shattered under her impact.
She rode his body down as it collapsed underneath her like a ghastly accordion made of flesh and bone. Willow let the momentum from her dive push her body into a crouch, while she drew her wings tightly against her sides. She ignored the slight twinges of pain in her legs from the abuse she was putting them through. As she reached the lowest point of her crouch, Willow buried her clawed fingers into either side of the Vampire’s neck, easily slicing through the muscles and vertebrae. With a surge from her powerful legs, Willow exploded upward into a leap while simultaneously tearing the vamp’s head off as she flared her wings out, the serrated edges cutting deeply into the two vampires on either side of her.
While she rode the force of her leap, Willow threw the now disintegrating head at the face of the female Vampire across from her. The head turned to dust before hitting its target, but the dust itself got into the female vamp’s eyes, blinding her momentarily. Then Willow hit her with her legs folded up against her chest, thus allowing Willow to sink her toe claws into the flesh just below the vamp’s rib cage, while at the same time hooking her finger claws into the vamp’s shoulder joints. As the female vamp fell back screaming in agony, Willow uncoiled from her crouch atop her. The power in her legs caused Willow’s toe claws to explode through the female vamp’s back just above her hip bones. With a roar, Willow twisted her body as she straightened from her crouch, the act allowing her to literally rip the female vamp in half.
Dropping the upper half as it dusted, Willow turned to meet the charge of the as of yet unwounded Vampire. From the corner of her eye, Willow saw the other male vamp limping out of the courtyard into the alleyway. The remaining female was just standing there looking much undecided. Ducking under the punch the male vamp threw at her, Willow rammed her knee spike into the male’s groin. Letting the now screaming Vampire drop to the ground, Willow rushed the last female.
On seeing her coming, the Vampire turned to run; Willow easily caught her before she reached the alleyway. Pouncing on the vamp’s back, Willow bore her down onto the cement below them. She readily broke the vamp’s neck, than with a savage jerk tore the head off, dusting her in the process.
Standing up, Willow hurried over to the downed male vamp and gave him a swift kick, flipping him onto his back. As she dropped to one knee besides him, Willow pulled her arm back and straightened her fingers before punching her claws into his chest over his heart with brutal force. For a split moment, she saw Ethan’s face superimposed over the vamp’s as they both bore the same look of shock and agony. Then, shaking herself free of the flashback, Willow met the vamp’s eyes and, with a sinister smile, said, “It must really suck to be you right now.” She then ripped his heart out.
Demona crouched on a fire escape as she watched with awed fascination as Willow literally tore a Vampire in half. Even with the little of it Demona had seen so far, she could tell that her daughter’s fighting style had an almost animalistic brutality to it. It was something that puzzled her greatly; her own style wasn’t anything like this. Demona feared that the demonic energies of the Hellmouth may have affected more than just her daughter’s physical appearance.
Then a thump from below caught her attention; looking down, Demona saw Willow pounce on a female vampire’s back. Movement out in the alley distracted Demona.
She spied a male vamp hobbling away toward the street.
“We can’t have that now, can we?” she said to herself. With a powerful leap and a snap of her wings, Demona gave chase. She quickly overtook the Vampire, and, as he looked back, she landed in front of him. When he faced forward again, he was met with a brutal backhanded blow from Demona. It lifted him off the ground to land several bodies’ lengths away from her. By this time, Willow had exited the courtyard.
Willow had just walked through the archway into the alley when she saw Demona backhand the fleeing Vampire. As the Vampire lay stunned on the alley’s pavement, Willow made her way casually over to him. She stared down at him from her position at the top of his head, her wings arching outward and her eyes glowing. She gave him a fang-filled smile as he looked up at her in fear, but then his eyes drifted and he got a strange look on his face. Willow was puzzled for a moment and then, with a shout, she leaped back and snapped her wings across her front.
“What?” Demona demanded.
Looking up from glaring at the Vampire, Willow answered with a combination shock and embarrassment in her voice, “He… he looked up my SKIRT!” She screeched out the last word. Willow couldn’t believe it - and it didn’t help that Demona was visibly trying not to laugh!
“Hey!” A male voice from below caught their attention, and when Willow met the yellow eyes of the Vamp, he cockily said, “Damn, kid, what did you expect, standing like that? And hell, I have to say I can see,” he smirked, “why you would flaunt somet…urrrg!”
Demona stepped on his chest with one clawed foot. Bending down so that her arms were crossed behind that leg’s knee spike, Demona said, “That’s my daughter you’re talking to and,” Demona took one of her arms off her leg and positioned her hand so a claw was hovering over each of his eyes, “if you don’t want to lose those eyes of yours, you will answer some questions.”
Demona got a terrified nod in return.
Giving him a truly sinister smile, she asked, “Are there any others left?” She shifted her weight slightly, allowing him to draw in enough air for him to answer her. “Yeah. The Master is still out here. He saw some chick he went to school with years ago.”
Willow stepped forward, though she kept her wings wrapped around her. “How old is the Master?”
Not moving his eyes away from Demona’s claw tips, he answered her “Uh, I think he’s like twenty six or something.”
“He’s only been a Vampire for that long and calls himself The Master?” Willow emphasized the title by making quotation marks in the air with her wing claws.
In confusion, the Vamp replied, “No, he’s only been a Vampire for like a year.”
Willow rolled her eyes as she responded, “If he’s that young he is lucky to be called The Minion.”
Smirking at her daughter’s antics, Demona asked her final question. “Is he bringing the woman back here?”
“Yeah, he’s planning on Siring her so this time he can get some action out of her,” he replied to her question.
Demona looked up at Willow and asked, “You have anything more to ask?” After receiving a headshake from Willow, Demona shifted her weight onto the Vamp’s chest as she leaned forward. Imitating her daughter, Demona sank her finger claws deep into his neck and ripped his head off. She watched with interest as the head she held turned to dust in her hands. Letting the dust trickle through her fingers, Demona said to Willow, “I have to say this make disposing of the bodies a lot easier.”
“Yeah, but any spilled blood remains,” Willow replied in disgust.
Looking over, Demona gave a soft chuckle at the sight of Willow standing there with blood covering the lower halves of both her arms and legs. The look on her face, as the humans put it, was priceless. “Well, that’s what you get when you fight like you do - which by the way was fantastic. Watching you leap all about like that made me feel every single year of my thousand years of life.”
Willow blushed at the praise, and she replied bashfully, “Thanks… and Demona,” she gave Demona an impertinent grin as she continued, “you don’t look a day over five hundred.” Willow took off running, giggling madly, with Demona chasing after her growling in mock anger. The dust from the last Vampire scattered at Demona’s passage.
Once they reentered the courtyard, Demona made her way over to the dead human male. She cut his shirt off using her claws.
“What are you doing?” Willow asked in bewilderment.
“You need something to wipe that blood off,” Demona replied as she stood up and walked over to Willow with the shirt in her hands. “Here, give me your arms.” When Willow complied, Demona wiped both arms clean. Then she knelt down and cleaned Willow’s lower legs.
Willow simply stared down in wonder at Demona. Even though she was a bit embarrassed at Demona’s actions, she welcomed the attention. The last time Sheila had cleaned her like this, it was very impersonal and accompanied by a lecture on proper hygiene. Willow had been five or six at the time. Suddenly, her vision blurred, and Willow found herself quietly crying.
Demona must have sensed something amiss; she stood up and enveloped Willow with her arms and wings.
Willow sobbed silently against Demona’s chest while Demona simply held her tightly. After a while, Willow got herself under control and, when she pulled away, Demona let her. Wiping her eyes with her thankfully clean arm, Willow said in mild aggravation, “I… I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
“Oh, Willow,” Demona said as she reached out with one clawed hand to gently cup Willow’s cheek and look deep into her eyes. “It’s completely understandable. It hasn’t even been a day since we’ve been together. It hasn’t been a day since…” here Demona hesitated, but she felt it had to be said, “since I took you away from your home.” Demona watched as an unfathomable look stole across Willow’s face, and when Willow looked away, Demona dropped her hand.
“No.” Demona barely heard Willow’s whisper, as her hand shot out to grasp Demona’s. Demona held her breath as Willow turned her head back to look her in the eyes once again as she spoke in a stronger voice. “No… you did not take me away from my home.” Willow slowly raised Demona’s hand and pressed it against her cheek like it was before as she said, “You brought me home.”
Demona was crouched next to Willow as they peered down at the courtyard below from the building’s rooftop. She was still reeling from what Willow had said earlier.
“You brought me home.”
The words echoed through her mind. That Willow felt that way was truly astounding, and Demona was very grateful for it. She was sickened at herself as she remembered her initial plans for insuring Willow’s obedience - a combination of blackmail, intimidation, and brute force. Demona now saw that she, herself, has also been affected by Halloween night because those plans quickly gave way to parental concern.
Demona cast a quick glance toward Willow and had to smile at how intently Willow studied the alley below them. Though she did hold herself fairly still for a youngling, her lack of patience betrayed her sometimes: a flexing of her toe claws, the slight ruffling her wings, and even, at times, quietly mumbling to herself. Willow may have some of her memories and skills, but there was quite a bit for her to learn - or relearn.
Whenever she got too restless, Demona softly rapped her tail with her own. This was the signal to a youngling to be quiet during hunting training.
Willow gave her a chagrined smile and settle into stillness for awhile, but like Demona herself when she was young, she simply couldn’t hold still for too terribly long.
Suddenly, the quiet of the alley was broken by feminine laughter from below.
Kate had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard as she hung onto Jason’s arm. “You… you really said that to your professor?” she asked in disbelief. Jason just gave her his trademark smirk that she so well remembered from college. “You goof,” she said, giving him a mock punch on the arm. When they turned to go down the alley, she hesitated.
Jason must have felt it. He turned to her and said, “Hey, one of my friends is renting an apartment, and the landlord lets his tenants use a courtyard in the back. But…”He again gave the trademark smirk. “If you’re afraid, we can walk around to the front.” Jason shrugged and continued. “Just figured you being a police detective, you would protect me.”
Kate rolled her eyes as she started down the alley, with Jason obediently walking along with her. “Me protect you? Ha… you’re the one with how many black belts in how many martial arts?”
“Two, the third style has no belt in it. But hey… who’s counting?” Jason replied with mock humility.
Kate softly laughed as they reached what she presumed was the entrance to the courtyard. She felt Jason stiffen beside her as he came to a sudden stop. Looking up at him, she saw he had a puzzled look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“I can’t sense them,” he replied distractedly.
“Who?” Kate asked.
He didn’t answer; instead, he took a firm grip on her upper arm as he entered the courtyard. She was shocked by how strong he was as he effortlessly dragged her along.
“Jason, let go; you’re hurting me!” She felt sick with the rookie mistake she had made in walking into a dark alley with him, but, damn it, she knew him! This wasn’t like him at all!
When they entered the courtyard, Jason casually tossed her almost ten feet through the air to land by an inner wall.
Kate tried to land on her feet, but she hit at an awkward angle and felt her ankle bend painfully under her. She landed on something that cushioned her fall a little. When she saw what it was, she felt her breath catch in her throat.
It was a dead body, laying face down,
Strangely enough, her mind catalogued what she saw Caucasian male, late teens/early twenties, cause of death unknown. She quickly pushed herself off the body, and, once she had her back against the wall, she pulled out her SIG P228 pistol. Kate was happy to note that her hands weren’t shaking as she took a two handed grip on the gun. Aiming it at Jason from her sitting position, Kate said, “Jason, please don’t move.” She saw that he was kneeling on one knee while he let some kind of powder run through his fingers.
He looked up at her, and she was horrified to see that his face had changed into some kind beastly visage with fangs and yellow eyes.
He stood up and gave her a twisted version of his smirk. “Guess what, Kate? It looks like the whole gang’s dusted. Umm…” He tapped a finger on his chin in thought, completely ignoring Kate’s gun pointed at him. “I wonder if it was a Slayer; last I heard, she was still in good old Sunnydale.” Returning his attention to her, he said, “Oh well; just you and me then, Katie.
When he began walking towards her, she shouted, “Damn it, Jason, stop!” When he didn’t, she dropped her sights and forced herself to shoot him in the upper thigh. The shot was loud in the confined space, causing her ears to ring. She didn’t notice because she was too busy staring in disbelief as Jason simply kept walking toward her. Except for a slight stumble, he was seemingly unaffected by the nine-millimeter round.
She smoothly raised the gun up again and aimed at the middle of his chest this time. Just as she squeezed the trigger, Jason spun impossibly fast into a reverse roundhouse kick, knocking the gun out of her hand.
She cried out in pain as the gun was wrenched from her hands. Her trigger finger made a sickening pop as it caught in the trigger guard. Kate looked up in fear as he opened his mouth to speak.
Before he uttered a word, though, Jason suddenly threw himself into a backward roll. The reason for this action became apparent when some kind of creature landed with an, “oof”, right where he had been standing. As it stood up from the hard landing, Kate was shocked to see wings snap out to either side of it, and she felt a tail brush across her legs.
Kate watched as Jason came out of his roll to face the creature before her. “What the hell are you?” he growled at it.
It growled right back, saying, “Gargoyle!” Judging by its voice it was female, and she sounded pissed.
Jason just shrugged his shoulders as he asked, “You the one that dusted my minions?”
The Gargoyle replied mockingly, “Yep!” and then charged Jason.
Jason waited till the last minute and then Kate thought he was turning to flee. Once again though, he moved impossibly fast (to Kate’s eyes) and delivered a spinning back kick that hit the charging Gargoyle in the stomach.
The Gargoyle gave a painful grunt as she was thrown back by the force of Jason’s kick. She landed on her back with a loud thump, her wings fanning out to either side of her.
As she lay there gasping for breath, Jason took a few quick steps then leaped high into the air. As he started down toward the fallen Gargoyle, he bent one leg under him and aimed the knee at her chest.
“NO!” Kate threw herself forward in a vain attempt to save the Gargoyle.
The Gargoyle herself was barely able to roll partially aside at the last minute; though, her wing membrane was brutally caught between the cement and Jason’s descending knee.
The Gargoyle had rolled so that it was facing Kate, and for the first time she got a good look at her face. The second before Jason’s knee struck, Kate’s eyes met those of the female Gargoyle, and something seemed to lurch in her chest.
Then Jason’s knee hit with a loud, stomach-churning crunch. The wing’s thin membrane didn’t offer any cushioning from the hard cement below it. Both Jason and the Gargoyle screamed in agony, and the Gargoyle’s eyes flared red as she screamed. Even as Jason started to roll away, cradling his smashed knee, The Gargoyle used the wing trapped under him for leverage and rolled over to envelope him with her other wing.
Several moments of grunts and muffle screams followed.
Then Kate was shocked to see Jason’s one good leg - sticking out from under the Gargoyle - disintegrate into dust.
Kate stared as the Gargoyle knelt on the ground with her back toward her, breathing heavily. Kate began to speak but nothing came out. After swallowing, she tried again. “Are you ok?”
Willow blinked in surprise when she heard the girl asking her if she was ok. When she turned to look over her shoulder, Willow saw Demona standing in the shadowy corner to the left of the girl. The girl… no, the woman apparently hadn’t seen Demona yet since she completely ignored her. As Willow stood up, she let out a small gasp of pain. The fight had left her with multiple bruises. She knew Demona was going to give her a good chewing for getting so cocky, but, dang it, those other vamps hadn’t even touched her once!
As she made her way over to where the girl was, Willow replied, “Umm… kind of banged up but otherwise I’m ok.” When Willow got about five feet away from the woman, she crouched down. She didn’t want to frighten her - even though she did seem unusually calm at the moment. Giving the woman a smile without fangs, Willow asked, “How about you? He threw you pretty hard.”
Kate found herself unconsciously returning the Gargoyle’s smile; though, it was a bit tight from the pain she was beginning to feel from both her ankle and finger. “Well, I think twisted my ankle and my finger…” Kate forced herself to look at her hand; she immediately felt sweat pop out across her forehead from what she saw. “…is dislocated.”
“Let me see,” replied the Gargoyle, and, before Kate knew it, the Gargoyle moved closer to gently grasp her wrist. They both held still in shock.
By this time, Kate’s eyes had adjusted enough to the faint light in the courtyard to see that the Gargoyle had a hesitant look on her face. Still smiling, Kate looked the Gargoyle in the eye. “Go ahead a take a look, but unless you kno…gaa!” The Gargoyle had popped the finger back into place with a soft pop. After the initial pain was over, it began to gently throb. Thankfully, the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been while dislocated.
With a bashful smile, the Gargoyle said, “Sorry about that, but I didn’t want you to tense up when I put it back into place. Is it feeling better now?”
Kate flexed her hand, and, while it did hurt, it wasn’t anything serious. Giving the Gargoyle a grateful smile, she replied, “Feels better, thanks.” Glancing over the Gargoyle’s shoulder to where Jason had disintegrated, Kate asked, “What happened to Jason?”
Willow looked over her shoulder to where she had dusted the Vampire - who was apparently named Jason. “That was a Vampire; it wasn’t Jason anymore.” On seeing the puzzled look at her comment, Willow explained, “A Vampire is a demon-inhabited corpse. When a Vampire turns a human, which by the way is called Siring, he drains the victim of blood and - just before death - feeds the victim some of his own blood. When the human dies, his soul leaves and is replaced by a demon. The demon remembers all that the person knew and has the mannerism of the victim. The big difference is that it has no conscience; it enjoys causing pain and suffering.” Willow stopped her explanation at the look the woman had on her face. “Oh! I’m sorry; was he your boyfriend?”
Kate’s mind was reeling from what she’d been told. As she glanced at where Jason had been dusted, Kate answered distractedly, “N… no, he wasn’t my boyfriend. He was someone I went to college with.” She looked over to where the dead body was. “It’s just… it’s really dawning on me what he was going to do to me.” Meeting the female Gargoyle’s eyes, Kate tilted her head at the body “Is he going to become a Vampire?”
“Ummm…” Willow blinked in embarrassment; she had gotten distracted looking at the woman’s face. Clearing her throat, she replied, “His throat was completely destroyed; it looked like they did a mass feeding.” Willow unconsciously tucked her hair behind the points of her ears as her wings slowly extended themselves to either side. Suddenly, a thought struck her, “Ah… what’s your name?” Willow asked.
Kate felt herself blushing a little in embarrassment; with everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten to ask her savior’s name. “Oh… it’s Kate Lockley and,” here Kate couldn’t help but let pride color her voice as she continued, “as of a month ago it’s Detective Kate Lockley of th…” Kate came to a sudden stop as a scream of rage blasted her.
“Detective!” Looking over to her left Kate was shocked to see another female Gargoyle with her eye’s blazing a blood red and her face twisted with hate. But the thing that terrified Kate the most was her own gun being pointed at her head.
To be continued…