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From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (Buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: Buffyfic-digest V1 #80 Reply-To: buffyfic@xmission.com Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Buffyfic-digest Wednesday, January 14 1998 Volume 01 : Number 080 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Part Five of Six BUFFYFIC: ADMIN: List rules Re: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Part Five of Six BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (9a/11?) BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (9b/11?) BUFFYFIC: Out of the Shadows 0/6 BUFFYFIC: Out of the Shadows 1/6 See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 23:52:19 -0800 From: Angel's Lover <lfox@continuum.org> Subject: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Part Five of Six The standard disclaimers apply.. the characters belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy Productions... I am not making a cent from this and no copywright infringement was intended. Please direct all comments to Lea at either lfox@continuum.org or angels_lover@hotmail.com . BTW: Please don't kill me for the end of this chapter... there is one more chapter in the works... this isn't the end people.. I swear! LOL! ____________________ Time Heals All.. Part Five Angel had closely searched the area around where he and Buffy had been standing, but he had seen nothing. He frowned; they had both heard the twig snap... someone had been here. Shaking his head in minor confusion, he headed back to where he had left Buffy. She was not in the clearing where he had last seen her standing. "Buff?" he called softly to no reply. "Buffy?" This time his voice was louder, she wouldn't have left with out him... she wouldn't have wandered off. Unless... perhaps another sound had come, he rationalized... perhaps she was out doing the same he had been.. trying to keep them safe. If anybody could take care of themselves it was Buffy. "Buffy!" His voice carried across the woods, reverberating in the canyon not far away. Still no answer came. His heart began to beat faster... something was very wrong. Stepping out of the clearing he began to head back to the mauseleum, perhaps she had lost herself in the woods and had to return to the only place she really knew. He had to pass his house on the way to the mauseleum; all the windows were dark... no movement within. Angel sighed, his other self was out on the hunt by now, perparing to hurt some innocent girl.. to drain her blood... to help her meet a painful death, something which she did not deserve. He sighed, wondering who his next victim would be... that first night he had hurt many. ************ Buffy struggled desperately against her bonds, using her heightened strength to test the limits of the ropes. She sighed, Angel had been smart; the knot was unslipable, and the bonds were so tight the were cutting off the circulation to her hands. "Angelus?" she gritted her teeth against the name, refusing blatently to call this demon Angel... this was not her Angel. He stepped in from the next room, "Yes, my dear?" She made her voice light.. feminine as she looked up at him with eyes full of intentional pain. "My bonds are too tight.. they're cutting into my wrists.. they hurt me." The vampire smiled, "Do not concern yourself with such matters. In a few moments you will feel no pain.. and soon after that the scars of your mortal life will fade away." She grimaced, "Thanks, but I happen to like the scars of my mortal life. Scars are good.. they give you personality." He shook his head, "Quiet now. I have no need to listen to your prattling. You will become like me.. you have no choice." "You know what? I hate this century.. the men are always making the decisions for the women. We're not fragile flowers, we do have brains, we can think for ourselves, and I think I do NOT want to be a vampire." "Women." He slowly pulled Buffy to her bound feet, moving around behind her, caressing her shoulders, slowly moving her hair off of her neck. "If you're so intelligent, why is it you do not understand I am about to give you a gift. You will be immortal... all powerful... You will reign by my side and together we will terrorize the world." "I'll be a murdering demon." She shook her head, "Thanks, I think I'll pass." "I think you won't." His mouth moved to gently move over her throat, his teeth just very slightly grazing her skin. Buffy bucked back against him, trying to knock the demon off of his feet to give her one last chance, but her bonds and his arms held her firm, and all it served to do was make him laugh. "You have such spirit.. it'll be such a pleasure to suck that spirit out of you." "I'll die before I become one of you." she muttered grimly through her teeth, finally realizing there was no way out. "Yes. You will." He drew back her head, using her hair as a lever, and sunk his teeth deeply into her throat. Buffy cried out in pain as the demon ripped deep holes into her neck, sucking fiercely from her the blood she needed so desperatly. It took only moments for her mind to become fuzzy with the lack of blood and oxygen. Slowly, as tears came to her eyes, she wondered why her last impression of her mortal world had to be of the man she loved purposely ending her life. Why him? Why? Her question was never answered however, as she sank nearly unconscious to the floor. She could not move, could not think, could not breath as Angel opened his wrist over her mouth. Brilliant red droplets of his blood slipped between the lips she was too weak to close. The thick liquid poured slowly down her throat, choking her as it travelled, but she was too drained to even cough. Within moments it was over... Buffy lay fading upon the floor of what was once Angel's home. A final thought before she faded into unconsciousness struck her suddenly, Spike won. She closed her eyes, he may not have intended it this way, but in the end, Spike won. Buffy faded away into the darkness of death. **************** She had not been at the mauseleum.. she was not in the apple orchard... she was not at the library. All Angel had succeeded in doing was alarming William who had insisted upon coming with him on his search. Angel stood upon that hill they had first landed upon and looked out over the sleeping town. No movement met his searching eyes until finally, one point of light out of the darkness beckoned to him. His heart stopped beating, and his breath caught in his throat. "Buffy.. no..!" With demonic speed Angel shifted from human to vampire, startling William badly, and set out at a dead run for what used to be his home. He had not been home that first night... the light shouldn't be on.. he had not been there. With desperation as he ran Angel pleaded with whatever force existed to not let him be too late. The light could only mean one thing... this century's Angel had brought a victim home with him... a blip in time that Angel feared he understood too well. Buffy would never slay him... not now that he had asked to live... she would die first. Angel cried out at the top of his lungs as he burst through the door, he would not let her die, he could not! As he paused to catch his breath, Angel did a quick survey of the house. His hearing and sence of smell told him that the other vampire was no longer in the building. He was probably out searching for other victims.. one person's blood was not enough for a new vampire. To gain full strength he had to drink from three or four humans. A groan of pain drew his attention towards the parlor; the smell of blood filled his nostrils and overwhelmed his sences. Another groan, and then a shriek of agony. Angel rushed over to the entrance to the parlor, stepping through into the one lit room of the house. He swallowed hard, his eyes closing momentarily at the vision that met him. Viscious pain washed through him at the sight of Buffy laying on the floor, her throat ripped open, still oozing slowly thick, red blood, her mouth and chin stained red with the blood of another. How long he stood there staring at her, his body filled with the white hot agony he knew instinctively she was suffering, he did not know. Too soon however the door to the house opened slowly. Angel did not turn to greet the newcomer, his eyes never moved off of Buffy as William came to stand beside him. "Dear God," William muttered in shock. "God had nothing to do with this." "Who did this?" "I did." William looked at him in disbelief. "YOU?" Angel shrugged, "I stopped her from killing Darla... I stopped her from killing me.. all because I didn't want to live without her... my greed.. it killed her... I killed her..." William nodded as he understood, "Your other self did this?" The vampire did not answer. William sighed, "Angel? She's not dead." "I know." "We can't let her change." "I know." "Do you want me too...?" Angel's eyes filled with tears as he thought of the fear she must have gone through as his teeth sank into her neck... he wondered what she had last thought... he wondered how much of his Buffy was left in the shell that was rapidly becoming a demon... could he do what he had to? Could he kill her? "Angel?" "No. Leave us." "Angel, you have to do this! You can't let.." "Leave us." "Angel..." "I SAID LEAVE!" his voice was harsh and viscious as he turned to face the Watcher. Finally, William nodded, and headed out of the house, back to the library, a sanctuary from the horrors of the night. Angel sighed as he allowed himself to fade from his demonic form back to human. Slowly he made his way to Buffy's side, kneeling down, drawing her body into his arms to tenderly cradle her head against his chest. "Buffy... I'm sorry." With great effort she opened her eyes... the normally brilliant color of her eyes was fading... fading into the yellow-green of a vampire, but some of his Buffy still survived. She smiled. "Angel.." she whispered almost to sofly for him to hear... her throat gurgled with the flowing of air through its damaged passages. "Not your fault. Don't ever be sorry with me." He held her more tightly to him, words escaping him as grief began to cloud his mind. Her body stiffened in his arms as another wave of agony washed over her; her body was dying so that the demon could take it over. She reached up weakly to caress his cheek. "Angel..." he leaned in more closely, his ear mere centimeters from her mouth. "Kill me." Angel jerked suddenly, his head shaking. "I could never hurt you, Buffy." She shook her head, "Not me anymore." Slowly he rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort her as she groaned yet again. "My bag..." He followed the trail of her eyes, and one of his hands snaked out to bring her bag closer to her. He moved her hand so that it was inside her bag, and watched as she searched for something within; finally she nodded. As he helped draw her fingers out of the bag he realized what she was holding onto. A wooden stake. "Buffy... I... I..." his face crumbled as a single tear escaped his eye. She smiled bravely. "You can save me, Angel... don't let me turn... please." He nodded as he laid her back upon the ground, his gaze never leaving hers. The stake felt heavy in his hand as he slowly leaned down to lay one final kiss upon Buffy's lips. She sighed deeply, "Love you," and smiled up at him as he raised the stake over her. He took deep breath after deep breath, his heart screaming at him not to do this, his mind telling him he must. Her smile was the last argument... he had to do this.. for her.. he couldn't let her suffer the same fate as himself. With one final breath he looked deeply into her eyes, "I love you, Buffy Summers, from the beginning of time until the end." His arms came down with a strength born of being a demon, driving the stake deeply into the center of the heart of his beloved, severing her very last hold on life. In the seconds before she turned to dust, Buffy smiled into his eyes one last time, whispering an almost inaudiable, "Thank you." Then it was over, and Angel was left to sit in amongst the dust that had once made up the body of his reason for living. In an almost childlike fashion, Angel drew his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, burried his head, and began to cry. End Part Five - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 09:18:38 -0500 From: sah <romana@mindspring.com> (by way of sah <romana@mindspring.com>) Subject: BUFFYFIC: ADMIN: List rules My apologies for that *huge* digest that went out last night. Obviously that's ben sitting in the XMission servers for a month. If people's systems choked on it and you *didn't* get this, contact me and I'll see what I can do about getting it to you. There's also a copy of it on the buffyfic archive site. Check old copies of the digest for the URL. - --sah ***** Welcome! This list is for fiction related to "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," both the TV series and the movie. To ensure that we all get to enjoy as much fiction as possible, please adhere to the following guidelines, and please save them for future reference. 1. Fiction should have Buffy characters in it and clearly be related to Buffy. Crossovers are great, and expected, but general vampire/monster stories that aren't in the Buffy universe and don't use Buffy characters belong somewhere else. 2. Discussion of posted fiction is permitted onlist. Please put "DISCUSS" in your s*bject line. Requests for missing story parts should go directly to the author, and not be posted to the list. Discussion that is not related directly to the fiction should go over to the general Buffy list. Discussion of fiction is expected to follow common netiquette guidelines and use PG-13 language. 3. No advertising of <any> items or services, Buffy related or not, and no posting of non-story items such as .gifs, sound files, etc.. No attached files of <any> kind-- if your mailer makes your fiction into attached files, you need to find another way to get it to the list. 4. If you're writing a story and including advance information on a new episode, and you're posting your story earlier than the national viewing time, please: **Mark the post as a "spoiler" in the s*bject header. **Leave about twelve lines (blank or with non-spoiler info) at the top of the post. This ensures that anyone who doesn't like knowing about an episode ahead of time is "protected." :) The blank space is for people whose mailers automatically open up the next piece of mail, without giving them a chance to see "spoiler" in the header. Spoiler warnings are not necessary after the start of the episode's national viewing time, which is currently set at 9 p.m. Mondays, Eastern Standard Time. Spoiler warnings are not necessary for reruns. 5. This list is absolutely NOT for erotic fiction. <Nothing> stronger than sexually PG-13 material is to be posted to the list under any circumstances. A story may be R rated for violence or language, however. If you have a question about something's suitability for posting, feel free to ask one of the listowners. Sending sexually explicit material will get you immediately and permanently uns*bscribed. No exceptions. 6. By s*bscribing and/or posting to this list, you acknowledge that Buffy the Vampire slayer and all characters associated with either the televised series or the motion picture were created by Josh Whedon and are owned by Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions, Sandollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox. All stories posted to this list are for entertainment purposes only, are not sold for profit of any kind, and are not intended to infringe on any copyrights. 7. When posting stories to the list, please follow the following formatting guidelines - --No story parts longer than 250 lines - --No lines longer than 75 characters - --Turn off your "smart quotes"-- many readers receive these as garbage or weird symbols - --Put the title of the story in the s*bject header, indicate if it's a multipart story, and if so what part this is. Example: Buffy Meets Godzilla (2/65) indicates that this post is part two of a 65 part story. 8. If a story is rated "R" for language/violence, indicate this in an introduction. For example, "There's a really bloody fight scene at the end of this part" or "if you don't like dismemberment, stop reading now!" If there's <any> chance that someone might be disturbed by something in your story (even if it's not rated R) please include some kind of warning up front. 9. And last, but not least, the listowners reserve the right to deny s*bscription (new, renewed, or continued) to the list for any individual(s). PLEASE NOTE: not following any or all of these rules will get you the following: **First offense: offender is uns*bscribed for one week. **Second offense: offender is uns*bscribed to the Buffyfic list for a minimum of three months. **If the offender returns and does it again, they're offlist permanently. As noted above, posting sexually explicit material is the exception -- you go straight to permanent uns*bbing. Again, welcome! If you have any questions about these rules, please contact either one of us offlist. If you have s*bscription problems or questions, the fastest way to get help is to e-mail one of us at the addresses below, <not> at the kirby@xmission.com addy which is the "official" e-mail owner of the list. Jill Kirby (jtkirby@mcs.com) & sah (romana@mindspring.com) Listowners, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fiction List buffyfic@xmission.com - - - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 15:44:23 EST From: Carriedel <Carriedel@aol.com> Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Time Heals All: Part Five of Six I liked your fanfic a lot. I must say I was a little upset by the fact that Buffy becomes a vampire and then dies, but I guess it is different. I am anxiously awaiting part six - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 18:08:00 EST From: Bryce2000 <Bryce2000@aol.com> Subject: BUFFYFIC: unsubscribe buffy unsubscribe buffy - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jan 98 07:56:01 -0600 From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com> Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (9a/11?) Title: Pleasant Dreams Author: Kimela Email: kimela@writeme.com Rating: PG-13 for violence Spoilers: None -- takes place between "When She Was Bad" and "Some Assembly Required" Summary: An answer to the question Why didn't the vampires kill Xander when they abducted Willow & Giles from the library during the episode WSWB? This is a rough draft of Part Nine and any feedback for improvement is HIGHLY appreciated! Parts Prologue-eight are posted at http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4079 Pleasant Dreams Part Nine Xander stumbled along the corridor, unsure as to where he was or where he was going. He had sat still long enough, though, and he had decided that he was going to find his way out--or die trying. The fact that he couldn't see slowed him down, of course, but he wasn't going to let it stop him. Not anymore. He wasn't sure how much time he had wasted, sitting in the darkness feeling sorry for himself, but it had obviously been quite a while. He didn't have any idea how or when it had happened, but at some point, the chain that linked him to Willow--*to the demon that was Willow*, he corrected--had been severed, and he was alone. He could hear water dripping, but could not tell exactly where it was coming from. He didn't really care, except that no matter how far he walked, the source didn't sound like it was getting any closer. Or any farther, for that matter. In addition to the water, he could occasionally hear voices whispering near him, but he didn't listen to the words, and did his best to pretend that they weren't there. If I don't acknowledge them, they'll leave me alone, his mind repeated. It became his mantra. And, for now anyway, it seemed to be working. All he needed to do was keep his wits about him, and find his way out of the cave. He didn't even care, anymore, that he was blind. He could learn to live with that. The only thing that really bothered him was that his friends would not be waiting for him on the outside. That hurt more than any pain he had ever felt in his entire life. Realistically, he knew that he could not have beaten the demon. If Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, had succumbed to it, how could he have possibly vanquished it? Still, he felt guilty that he alone had managed to escape its wrath. He was unsure why it had spared him, time and again, unless it was because it simply enjoyed tormenting him more than it had the others. He supposed that was probably the case, and it infuriated him to no end. He swore that the next time he encountered the demon, he was going to either kill it, or he was going to make sure that it killed him. It didn't even really matter to him which way the battle went, just so long as there was only one survivor. "NO!" He heard a voice bellowing from a distance. This voice made its way fully into his consciousness because of its familiarity. "Take it back! Tell me what it is and I'll do it--anything!" *Willow.* Could it be? Was she really alive, or was this just another trick? If it was real, he couldn't take the chance of losing her. He began running in the direction of her voice. He kept one hand on the corridor wall, so that he could keep an idea of where he was going. Every few moments he would pause and listen for another clue to her whereabouts, but the only sound that greeted him was the constant drizzle of water. "Willow!" He nearly missed the passage that branched off from the main corridor on the opposite wall from the one he used for support. He wouldn't have even realized that it existed had it not been for the heart-stopping wail that came from somewhere in its depths. Xander turned toward his friend's cries and with arms extended began searching for the break in the wall. His quest became more frantic as Willow's screams grew more piercing. Oh, God, it was torturing her-maybe even killing her! He had to hurry. At last, he found the elusive hallway and ran at full speed toward the sound of his friend's agonized shrieking, not even considering for a second that his own life would be in danger, or that it could be a trap laid for him. After what felt like an eternity, the screams stopped echoing and the corridor became silent again. No longer sure of her whereabouts, Xander skidded to a halt, and listened intently for any sign of life. "Willow?" he called. He knew that he had to be close, but without her cries directing him, he wasn't sure how to proceed. He wasn't even close enough to a wall to rely on it to give him a clue. "Willow, where are you?" For a moment, all he could hear was the sound of his rapidly beating heart, then to his relief, he heard her answer. "I'm here," Willow's soft voice replied. She sounded very close. Perhaps only a few short yards away. He shuffled forward, extending his arms again. "Where, Will? I can't see you." "Down here...I'm hurt. You've gotta help me, Xander." "I'm coming. Hang on, Will." As he grew closer to the source of her voice, he dropped to his knees and began reaching through the darkness for her. At last, he felt her cold hand grasp his. He squeezed her hand and crawled up against her, putting his arms around her to warm her up. To his horror, he could feel a sticky wetness where her other arm should have been. Oh, God, what had happened to her?! "Will!" he gasped. "Oh, God, what--" "I'll be okay," she assured him, weakly. "Just get me out of here." "I will...I promise." He gathered her in his arms and picked her up. She weighed a lot less than he expected her to, and the explanations that ran through his mind did nothing to ease his horror. She laid her head against his chest. "I...I can't see, Will. You're gonna have to tell me which way to go." "Buffy...She's...further down this way." "Oh, God, is she..." "It killed her. She's dead." "We won't go that way, then," he attested, turning back the direction he had come from. "No," Willow insisted firmly. "We have to go back. Buffy brought her sword. We need to get it. It's our only chance." "We can't fight it, Will. We'll just find an escape r--" "We have to. It's the only way to get out. Giles--" She stopped talking as if whatever she had been about to say was too painful. Xander decided not to press her for an explanation. He had the sinking feeling that he knew the gist of what she was going to say. Giles was dead, too. "A sword, huh?" "Yeah. She's not...not far. Just turn around and go down that way." Xander took a deep breath and then followed Willow's instructions. He didn't like the idea of encountering Buffy's...corpse...but if it was the only way to save Willow, he'd do it. He'd lost her before, and he wouldn't lose her again. He couldn't believe he'd been so wrapped up in his own self-pity that he'd let her be taken...that he hadn't even noticed...how had she broken the chain without him noticing? "Will...when did the chain--" "We're here," Willow cut him off, not letting him finish his question. "The sword is right over there, next to...Buffy." She turned her face into his chest and he could feel what must have been her tears soaking through his shirt. He stroked her hair for a moment hoping to soothe her suffering. After a few moments, he gently set her down. He was glad that he wasn't able to see the broken body of the Slayer--it would only make him feel worse than he already did. It was best not to dwell on the losses, but to focus on Willow's survival. It was the only thing that was going to keep him going. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jan 98 08:26:35 -0600 From: "Kimela M Wilker"<kwilker@allina.com> Subject: BUFFYFIC: Pleasant Dreams (9b/11?) itle: Pleasant Dreams Author: Kimela Email: kimela@writeme.com Rating: PG-13 for violence Spoilers: None -- takes place between "When She Was Bad" and "Some Assembly Required" Summary: An answer to the question Why didn't the vampires kill Xander when they abducted Willow & Giles from the library during the episode WSWB? This is a rough draft of Part Nine and any feedback for improvement is HIGHLY appreciated! Parts Prologue-eight are posted at http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4079 Pleasant Dreams Part Nine (cont.) "Ok, Will, you're going to have to direct me to the sword." She turned him around and gave him a gentle push. "Go that way about ten feet. Then it'll be directly on your left." He moved forward several paces, then knelt down, feeling along the floor for the weapon. "A little farther." Xander's foot struck something and he felt slightly sick as he realized it was most likely the Slayer's corpse. He forced himself not to think about it and kept searching for the discarded sword. At last, he felt the cold metal against his fingertips. He snatched up the weapon and rose to his feet. "Xander, look out!" Willow bellowed suddenly. "No!" Xander felt something slicing across his back and he was knocked to the ground. Oh, God, the demon was there! He scrambled to his feet and raised the sword. "Willow, where is it?" "Right behind you! Turn around!" He whirled around and swung the sword with all his might. He felt the unmistakable pressure of the blade striking its target and heard the fiend's inhuman screech. He swung the sword again, and again, relentlessly slashing at the beast, never giving it a chance to strike back. He was half crazed with savage glee at this final confrontation. It had killed his friends, hurt Willow badly, and had tormented him for days. Now it was his turn. He didn't stop his attack until he felt Willow's hand on his back, long after the beast's cries had ended. "It's over," Willow whispered into his ear. He stood for a moment, panting as he tried to catch his breath. Finally, he let the sword drop from his hand and he turned to embrace his best friend. The adrenaline was gone, and now he was beginning to feel sick by his own actions. Sure, he was glad that he had killed the beast, but Jesus, he had totally lost control. He needed her assurance that he was all right, that he wasn't an animal. He felt Willow's arm wrap around him and he began to relax into the embrace. At least it was over... Then Willow began laughing in his ear. He jerked away, unnerved by her inappropriate giggle. Something wasn't right.-her laughter...it was so...evil? Oh, God, it wasn't Willow! He had been tricked again? How could he have been so stupid? What had he- "Oh, Xander, I really wish you could see this," the demon hissed, laughing at his folly. All at once, his vision returned. He could see the demon as it stood before him, grinning menacingly. "Just remember, you're the one who did it," it taunted before turning and sauntering away. Xander stood frozen in place, unable to chase after the demon. He was too shocked to react. All he could think about was how he had lost control and had just killed something...someone...he was too horrified to check to see what...or who...Oh, God, oh, God, oh... He took a deep breath. He had to know. He slowly turned around and looked down. The first body he saw was that of Buffy. She looked almost peaceful in death. None of her beauty had been destroyed. Only the odd position of her neck indicated that she was indeed not alive. The second body, however, was almost unrecognizable. It was drenched with blood and had been pretty much mutilated...by him. Yes, it was almost unrecognizable, and anyone else might not have been able to identify it, but Xander knew her immediately by the long auburn hair that was stained nearly black by the pool of blood that surrounded the corpse. "Nooooo!" he screamed. He turned and began running away from the sight. He made it only a few yards before he stumbled and fell to his hands and knees, silently retching until there was nothing left in him to vomit. When he was done being sick, he stumbled to his feet and continued to run away from the mangled body of his best friend. He was only dimly aware of the tears that streamed down his face. He didn't stop running until he reached the main corridor. He had no idea which way to turn. He didn't remember which direction he had come from. All he could think of was Willow's mutilated carcass-the image of her that would forever be etched in his mind. He would never again see her smiling face or hear her beautiful laughter. And it was all his fault. He had killed her. He had lost control, had stupidly trusted the demon again. He wanted to die. "Please, just kill me now," he begged no one in particular. He fingered the broken manacle that still hung from his wrist. It hadn't done its job-it was supposed to keep them together. *Oh, please, God, let this just be a nightmare, let me wake up and still have my Willow beside me.* He slumped against the wall and let himself sink to the ground, ignoring the puddle of water that quickly soaked through his pants. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 17:56:12 -0800 From: Elizabeth Ann Lewis <lizbet@primenet.com> Subject: BUFFYFIC: Out of the Shadows 0/6 Out of the Shadows -- Author's Notes Having finally decided that I'm doomed to verbosity, I'll pull all the authorish comments out into their own part. Delete at will! <g> For those of you still reading: This is the response to a challenge on the SunS list: to write a first season episode from the point of view of a character other than Buffy. Others that have been written <plug plug plug> are "The Stranger," by Perri Smith ('Angel' from Willow's point of view), "Mad Moon in Scorpio," by Christina Kamnikar ('I Robot, You Jane' from Ms. Calendar's point of view), and "Shadow of an Apocalypse," by Christina Kamnikar ('Prophesy Girl,' again from Ms. Calendar's POV). Being something of an overachiever, I did four episodes: Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Teacher's Pet, and Never Kill a Boy on the First Date. And I chose the most close-mouthed character of all: Angel. However, as I soon learned (to my chagrin), Angel is quite capable of babbling a blue streak when he's so inclined. (You should have heard him in my head during the Bronze scene in NKAB. <sigh>) What you see here is the result of (ye gods and little fishes) six months of on-again, off-again effort. Angel has two more stories (at least) to tell me, and he *will* if he doesn't want to fit into an ashtray. <glares at Angel> <realizes she glaring at a fictional character> <doesn't care and keeps glaring> Credit, disclaimers, and blamage: The title and lyrics used in the story are from Sarah McLachlin's first album "Touch." Since Angel seems to like Sarah McLachlin, the other two stories I'm working on also come from this album. And since Sarah McL doesn't seem to do any songs but downers... well, you can guess. (No, neither of them are Building a Mystery.) Some (OK, most) dialogue in this story was taken directly from the four episodes I used. "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" were written by Joss Whedon (oh holy be his evil name), "Teacher's Pet" was written by David Greenwalt, and "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" was written by Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali. Any dialogue you recognize is theirs. Oh, and to answer a question often asked of me: No, there was no scene with Willow and Buffy alone in the Bronze at the end of Teacher's Pet. That one's mine. <VBG> Rated PG-13 for language that we've seen on the show, but only when it gets a TVPG - L rating. <g> (And it's over in the first sentence, even.) Angel, Buffy, et al are the brainchildren and property of Joss Whedon (oh holy, etc, etc), Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, 20th Century Fox and the WB. Any similarity between them and this story is... well, quite intended. I'm making no money, don't sue. This one gets blamed on Chris and Perri (as usual) for dragging me into this fandom in the first place and then creating this challenge. DIEDIEDIE... um, I mean, I love you guys! <VBG> Thanks as always to the Sunnydale Slayers, Those-Who-Fight-The-.Sig-Jihad, the Best-BetaReaders-Money-Can-Buy-If-I-Had-Any-Money-To-Pay-Them. Especially my co-list Mom, Dianne, who *eventually* gets her betaing done. <g> Thanks to Marlys for coming out of the blue (Bruin Blue <g>) to give me some *great* comments. And thanks to everyone who mournfully wrote asking if this was going to *ever* be posted. This vamp's for you. Praise, comments, flames, chocolate and cute angsty vampires to lizbet@primenet.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMING ATTRACTIONS! Coming soon to a Buffyfic list near you! Ill Met By Moonlight, by Perri Smith: There's a full moon out tonight in Sunnydale, but no one's in the mood for romance. When a specter from Angel's past appears he is forced to help her contain an evil attacking Sunnydale -- if they don't kill each other first. A Truth Worse Than Lies, by Dianne DeSha: "Some lies are necessary. Sometimes the truth is worse." When Edith is told by a dark stranger at her window that her destiny is to be the Slayer, she has no idea that the stranger himself is one of the ones she must fight, and that she will lose everything in the struggle, her family, her friends, her sanity... and her soul. High Priestess Lizbet of the Cult of Joss ~*~ lizbet@primenet.com Co-List Mummy, Sunnydale Slayers: "Spank your inner moppet." http://www.primenet.com/~lizbet/ ~~*~~ - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 17:57:20 -0800 From: Elizabeth Ann Lewis <lizbet@primenet.com> Subject: BUFFYFIC: Out of the Shadows 1/6 Out Of The Shadows (1/6) by Elizabeth Ann Lewis lizbet@primenet.com Part One-Welcome to the Hellmouth & The Harvest/"I'm a friend." ***Crouching down inside a deep ravine ***Those angry cries pass quickly by, can't be seen ***So many ways spent hiding in so many undone plans ***Forgetting what it's like to fight when no one understands... Getting knocked on your ass is, at the very least, a memorable introduction. Of course, until that moment, I had no idea what I was getting into. Call it intuition, call it a sixth sense, call it the vampire self-preservation instinct, but I *knew* when the Slayer arrived in town. The Chosen One, the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to kill vampires. To kill me. Under normal circumstances, she -- and her predecessors -- were creatures that my kind avoided like the plague. Except that I wasn't my kind. My situation was, to say the least, unusual. The Rromany had certainly chosen their punishment well. Killing me outright would have been merciful and much too easy. Sometimes I wondered if the Catholic God of my childhood was possessed of an extremely eccentric sense of humor. The night I met the Slayer, I was convinced of it. It went against every ingrained instinct to help her. Reclaiming my soul did not cast out the demon within me. The cartoons of a devil and an angel hovering over an indecisive head were pathetically true in my case. The devil urged me to kill her, to stop her from her bounden duty. My namesake plaintively reminded me that I had to help her. It wasn't hard to figure out who she was, if you knew what to look for. She was young, fit, new in town. It almost was a cliche. I found her house easily, watched her bounce down the front steps of the porch with an anxious mother calling warnings and blessings into the night air. She headed towards the local hang-out for teenagers; I followed. She turned down a dark alley. I hurried my steps -- and found nothing. An empty passageway. Cautiously, I moved forward, alert. There were boxes and bags littering the sides of the alley; if she was going to ambush me, then it would be from there. My first clue into the mind of Buffy Summers was when the tips of her remarkably sharp boots landed between my shoulderblades. Talk about head over heels. I executed a involuntary somersault in the grimy alley, head ringing and pride smarting. Before I could recover, her foot was planted on my chest. ~Not bad,~ was my grudging estimation. "Is there a problem, ma'am?" I said, trying to look innocent. Too bad I couldn't see my reflection in the mirror; I obviously needed to practice that expression. "Yeah, there's a problem. Why are you following me?" she demanded. The boots that gave her at least two inches of height were solid. She could do quite a bit of damage with those alone. Innocent obviously not working, I went for direct. Well, as direct as I intended to get. "I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. I don't bite." She unplanted the boot from my chest -- if I had need of oxygen I would have been in serious danger of suffocating. Rising gingerly, waiting for any sign that her temper was going to send me back to my ignomous position at her feet, I surveyed her quickly. "The truth is, I thought you'd be taller, bigger muscles and all that." Regaining full height meant stretching the neck that had borne the brunt of her original attack, and I rubbed at the spot ruefully. "You're pretty spry, though." She had backed off maybe two steps, eyes hard and anxious in the dim light, hands raised in an elementary fighting position. "What do you want?" she asked flatly. "Same thing you do." It was more than a little humiliating to be taken down that easily, even by the Slayer. She was good. Then again, she *had* killed Lothos, and he hadn't been an easy target, if my memory served... Exasperated, she dropped her hands. "Fine. What do I want?" Now we were getting somewhere. Leaning closer, I whispered, "To kill 'em. To kill 'em all." And immediately blinked, confused at her sarcasm a moment later. "Sorry, that's incorrect, but you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of Turtle Wax. What I *want*," she continued when I was still trying to unravel her allusion to game shows, "is to be left alone!" "You really think that's an option anymore?" I demanded, incredulous. What, a Slayer who didn't want to fight vampires? What was this? "You're standing at the Mouth of Hell. And it's about to open." I pulled out the case from my jacket and flipped it to her. "Don't turn your back on this. You're got to be ready." She caught it easily. Obviously, her reflexes were just fine. My aching neck had already figured that out. "What for?" she asked suspiciously. For disaster. For the Master's rising. For the end of the world. However, it wasn't my job to give her *all* her information. I was going against deep-seated instincts to tell her anything, and between annoyance and humor, I decided to tell her as little as possible. "For the Harvest." It did my wounded pride good to see her so obviously confused. "Who are you?" she asked, still clutching the unopened box. Long story, and definitely a place we didn't want to go. "Let's just say... I'm a friend." I started walking away, turning my back to her. Maybe a bad move... but she obviously had no idea what I really was. "Yeah? Well, maybe I don't want a friend," she said defiantly. She walked right into it. I turned back and grinned at her. That expression I didn't have to practice. "I didn't say I was yours." I didn't hang around to see if she opened the box. She would. Curiosity would make her. And the cross that rested within would protect her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMING ATTRACTIONS! Coming soon to a Buffyfic list near you! Ill Met By Moonlight, by Perri Smith: There's a full moon out tonight in Sunnydale, but no one's in the mood for romance. When a specter from Angel's past appears he is forced to help her contain an evil attacking Sunnydale -- if they don't kill each other first. A Truth Worse Than Lies, by Dianne DeSha: "Some lies are necessary. Sometimes the truth is worse." When Edith is told by a dark stranger at her window that her destiny is to be the Slayer, she has no idea that the stranger himself is one of the ones she must fight, and that she will lose everything in the struggle, her family, her friends, her sanity... and her soul. High Priestess Lizbet of the Cult of Joss ~*~ lizbet@primenet.com Co-List Mummy, Sunnydale Slayers: "Spank your inner moppet." http://www.primenet.com/~lizbet/ ~~*~~ - - ------------------------------ End of Buffyfic-digest V1 #80 ***************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffyfic to majordomo@xmission.com. You will need to go through a confirmation process, and the listowners have to manually approve your subscription request, so it may take some time. Back issues of this digest can be found at: ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/buffyfic/archive/ Dalton Spence has also provided an index of the buffyfic archive at: http://www.hwcn.org/~ag775/BUFFYFIC.HTM For help, contact Jill Kirby (jtkirby@mcs.com) or sah (romana@mindspring.com)