Memories Maketh the Man, Chapter 6

[maryperk73703]

Ford has arrived.

Chapter 5 Lie to Me

Drusilla watched in dismay as the little boy she was about to lure in for a quick snack ran away. Her Daddy intervened and sent the child scurrying away.

"My Angel!" The dark-haired vampiress cried when her Sire finally faced her.

"Hello, Drusilla," Angel replied.

Drusilla slowly approached Angel. "Do you remember the song mummy used to sing to me?"

Angel nodded. "I remember." He thought it was best if he humored the insane woman.

"No, you don't, Daddy," Drusilla screeched. "Not really. You've forgotten too much."

"Drusilla, leave here," Angel said softly. "I'm offering you a chance. Take Spike and get out of Sunnydale."

"Can't." Drusilla pouted. "Not till the girl is gone, but I have a plan." She started to hum to herself.

"Drusilla, what did you do?" Angel felt a fissure of alarm run through him.

"Just called a nasty boy," Drusilla replied dreamily. "He'll help get rid of the Slayer."

Angel backed away from Drusilla. As he hurried off, he had to wonder who the nasty boy his insane childe was talking about. He wanted to warn Buffy, but he wasn't sure if she would listen to him. After all, she had been avoiding him ever since Halloween, as had the other Scoobies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ford raised a hand to his forehead. He had been observing his old friend Buffy Summers for the past ten minutes. The memory of the dream from the night before flashed through his head, giving him an unwanted headache.

Ford made up his mind to approach Buffy. When he got closer, he realized she and her friends were talking about cheering Buffy up. Someone named Spike was mentioned, but Ford was too intent on reintroducing himself to Buffy to comprehend what was being said.

"Are you planning on seeing Spike?" the red-haired girl asked. "I'm sure he'll be happy to cheer you up."

"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase," Ford spoke up. He grinned when Buffy's eyes widened in recognition, but he was a little disappointed when her greeting was a bit frosty.

"Ford," Buffy replied. "What are you doing in Sunnydale?" She stepped back when the other teen went to hug her. She felt a shiver of disgust go through her as she somehow recognized Carl Pendegrass' soul. She stepped back a second time when Ford tried to hug her again.

Xander and Willow stood up from where they had been sitting on one of the Bronze's couches. They didn't know who this stranger was, but they both recognized Buffy's desire to put space between herself and the newcomer.

"How have you been?" Ford attempted to sound casual, but inside he seethed with anger that Buffy wasn't happy to see him.

Buffy looked past Ford to see Spike standing a few feet away. A glorious smile spread across her face. She brushed past Ford, and she hurried to the vampire's side.

Ford turned to see what, or rather who, had caught Buffy's attentions. He felt the blood drain from his face when he recognized another player from his dream. "William," he whispered.

"So, you know Spike?" Xander looked at the other boy. Something made him suspicious of Ford.

"No, I don't!" Ford abruptly hurried away.

"Wonder what his problem was," Willow said softly.

"I can tell you." Buffy walked up with Spike. "I don't know how I know this exactly, but Ford is a guy named Carl Pendergrass."

"Who?" Willow and Xander asked together even as Spike let out a low, disgruntled growl.

Willow looked back and forth between Spike and Buffy. "I guess that means something to the two of you."

"Yeah, you could say that." Buffy nodded. She sank down on a couch, and she put her head into her hands.

"Pendergrass was a wanker who lured Lizzie away from a party with the intention of rapin' her." Spike's eyes flashed yellow, making it apparent that even after a century, and then some, the incident made him angry. "How the bloody hell did he get here?" He sat down next to Buffy where he cautiously took one of her hands.

Spike had been out looking for a snack to play catch and release with when he realized the Slayer was out at the Bronze. On an impulse he had decided to join her. Now, he was glad he had. He didn't want Buffy to face Pendergrass alone, even if it was a reincarnation, possession, or something else.

"I think I know," a quiet voice said. Angel stepped out of the shadows.

"Do tell," Spike snarled. He wasn't happy to see his grandsire, especially after he had warned the broodin' poof away from his girl.

"It's Drusilla." Angel ran a hand over his hair. "She said she had called the nasty boy to take care of Buffy."

Willow's brow furrowed in thought. "I don't understand all of this."

"I think we need to find out more about reincarnation," Buffy replied. "I mean, she couldn't just get someone from our past with a snap of her fingers, could she?"

Willow tilted her head. "I wouldn't think so. Maybe we should go talk to Giles."

Buffy nodded in agreement. She smiled shyly at Spike. "Walk us to the school?" she asked.

Angel felt a zing of jealousy shoot through him. It used to be him that Buffy wanted to hang out with. Didn't she understand that it was Angelus, not him that had hurt Lizzie? He didn't appreciate getting the brush off for Captain Peroxide either.

Angel realized that while he was musing to himself -- he refused to call it brooding -- Buffy had left the nightclub. She didn't even say good-bye, Angel thought angrily.

"Hey, stud muffin. You look lost," a female voice said.

Angel turned to find Cordelia standing behind him. He shrugged, still upset that Buffy had left.

"I saw how they left you here," Cordelia continued. "That just isn't right. Come sit with me." She indicated a table where she had a cup of espresso.

Angel nodded his head as he hid a sly smile. Maybe if Buffy saw him with another girl, she would realize what she was missing. He followed Cordelia over to her table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Giles," Buffy called out as she entered the library with Spike, Willow, and Xander. "Are you here?"

Giles came out of his office. He wasn't surprised to see Willow and Xander with Buffy, but seeing Spike made the Watcher hesitate for an instant. "How can I help you, Buffy?" he finally said.

Buffy glanced at Spike for a second before she replied, "Remember our talk last week when I mentioned how William protected Lizzie?"

Giles nodded. He glanced at Spike too. He was encouraged when the vampire wasn't angry at Buffy's revealing words.

"Yeah, well he's here!" Buffy wrinkled her nose. "This guy I used to live next to in Los Angeles showed up."

"Somehow Buffy recognized him," Willow added. "Not just as her old friend from out of town either."

"Deadboy seemed to think someone named Drusilla made Ford come here," Xander replied.

"I thought she died in Prague at the hands of the mob," Giles addressed Spike.

Spike shook his head. "She's at the Annoying One's hideout. She's not very strong at the moment."

"I've been researching reincarnation." Giles waved towards the table in the middle of the room. The surface of the table was covered with books. "Please have a seat."

After they were settled, Buffy asked, "So, what's the what, Giles?"

"I've discovered that reincarnation is only possible through curses." Giles handed Buffy a sheet of paper with handwritten notes.

"Lizzie didn't know about magic." Buffy glanced at Spike who shook his head. "William either. Besides, Drusilla is older than Spike."

"Somehow, I very much doubt that Lizzie and William were your first lives," Giles replied. "Just as I doubt William's soul has been reborn."

"Why is that?" Willow asked. "I mean, he's dead. Well, technically." She looked at Spike. "Right?"

"Undead, pet, and lovin' it," Spike drawled. "So, if I've got this right both Buffy and myself have relived our lives many times over?"

"Yes, and it was only by magical circumstances that Buffy even remembers her past life as Lizze."

"Is there anyway to find out how old the curse is, and to break it?" Willow directed the two-pronged question to Giles. "I guess it could be like carbon dating Buffy's soul."

"Guess old Pendergrass got himself cursed somehow too." Spike's lip curled in disgust. "Wonder how long that was before I drove that railroad spike through his brain."

"You did?" Buffy looked at Spike with wide eyes. Then she got a faraway look on her face. "Yeah, he was always the one who said he'd rather have a spike through his brain than listen to..."

"Slayer," Spike barked.

"Oh, sorry." Buffy blushed bright red. "No spilling that secret." She pretended to lock her mouth and throw away the key.

"I might be able to 'carbon date' Buffy's soul, as it were." Giles got the conversation back on track, but he was dying to know what kind of secret Buffy had about the bleached blond vampire.

"Are there any consequences to this spell?" Spike asked.

"Buffy might experience some of her past lives, but if we have Brenna present, it should be fine." Giles nodded as he spoke. This might be beneficial research wise. He could submit a paper on reincarnation to the Council.

"I will talk to her tomorrow," Buffy replied. "We have a session right after school." She glanced at the clock, and she let out a small groan. "I gotta get home."

"I'll drive you," Spike offered. "Your friends too."

"That would be great," Buffy murmured. "Just let me use the little girls' room, and I'll be ready."

"Me too," Willow replied. The two girls got to their feet, and together they left the library.

Spike waited until Buffy was down the hall before he said to Giles, "There was more to this than just the spell on Halloween."

"How so?" Giles was avidly interested by this information.

"Few weeks back, after I broke in here, I dreamed about Buffy and Lizzie," Spike answered. He didn't mind telling the Watcher about the dream, but there was no way he was going to mention the masturbation session that followed. "It was downright disturbin', but it was like I was bein' warned."

"Ford called you William." Xander looked thoughtful.

"Really?" Giles wrote some words down on a piece of paper. "Interesting."

"So, we have two other players in our little drama." Spike leaned back in his chair. "This Ford wanker and Drusilla."

"At least two," Giles agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are more. I will start looking into the required spell to check on Buffy's soul."

"You do that." Spike rose to his feet. "Come on, whelp. Our women await us."

"Willow's not my woman," Xander protested as he rose to his feet too.

Spike tapped his nose. "This never lies. Red is hot for you."

"Too much information," Giles muttered as the two unlikely comrades left the library in pursuit of Buffy and Willow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ford sank into one of the chairs that were scattered around the vampire wanna-be's club. His headache was getting more pronounced. It had started behind his right eye, and it had spread to encompass his whole head. He closed his eyes, and soon he was lost in a dream.

Carl Pendergrass lounged in the gazebo where he had assaulted many young girls. His hand brushed along his cock as he recalled all the tight virginal pussies he had fucked.

Pendergrass was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to see the demonic creature standing behind a nearby bush. Neither did he see the approach of William Jamison.

"Pendergrass, just the git I wanted to see," Jamison said with a smirk.

Carl leisurely opened his eyes. Despite the fact that William had knocked him out during their last fight, he felt no fear of the smaller man. "What do you want, poetry boy? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"But I brought you a present." Jamison reached into his pocket.

"Take your present and shove it up your arse," Pendergrass muttered. He had so many better things to do than verbally spar with the likes of Jamison.

In just a few second, Carl found himself held in the air by his throat. He gasped for air against William's inhuman grip.

"Oh, but I'm going to shove it somewhere," Jamison snarled. He took an old rusty railroad spike out of his pocket. "But it won't be up my arse."

Carl spluttered in terror when William's face changed into that of a monster. He clawed at Jamison's hand to no avail. Then he felt his bowels and bladder release in fear.

William wrinkled his nose. "That's just nasty, Pendergrass, just like you," he growled. He hefted the spike up, and he placed it against Carl's eye. "So, let's see which really is more painful, shall we?”

Carl squeaked, hoping that William would change his mind. As the metal nail entered his eye, the Pendergrass heir would have screamed but the hand on his throat squelched all sound. Carl fainted from the pain long before the spike reached his brain.

William dropped the body to the ground. He gave it a disdainful sniff before he kicked it hard in the balls.

"That was short and sweet," the vampire muttered. "I just wish you would feel that pain over and over for about a hundred lifetimes or so." He strolled out of the gazebo whistling a lullaby his mother used to sing to him. So, he didn't hear the other demon's words as he departed.

"Wish granted.”

Ford woke up abruptly. Sitting across from him was a dark-haired woman in an old-fashioned dress. Beside her was one of the vampire wanna-bes, cold and lifeless with bite marks on her neck.

.

Comments

Memories Maketh the Man, Chapter 6

[cordykitten]

Heh ... Yeah, he was always the one who said he'd rather have a spike through his brain than listen to... William's poetry?
Good that Buffy recognized Ford; Drusilla's plan shouldn't work now.
Oh... Ford / Pendergrass was cursed indeed.

Looking forward to find out more about Buffy's soul.

Re: Memories Maketh the Man, Chapter 6

[maryperk73703.livejournal.com]

Yep, the poetry thing.

Funny thing, I look forward to finding out more about Buffy's soul too. Sure hope the kitty tells me something soon.

[basilio-the-cat.livejournal.com]

Well done

[maryperk73703.livejournal.com]

Thanks.