CHAPTER ONE

The day started out as normal as any other Sunday in the Summers home.

William was yammering on to our mother about Cecily and the upcoming Valentine’s Day dance at the high school. He was finally going to ask his long-time obsession to go with him the next day at school and was telling mother about her “unfathomable” beauty over a cup of cocoa at the breakfast bar. I was trying not to laugh at the kitchen table while coloring with my younger brother and sister. William had a schoolboy crush on Cecily for as long as I can remember, well since middle school at least. He had never acted upon his feelings, however, because William just wasn’t that type of guy.

Although he was good-looking, with his shaggy, dirty blond hair, piercing blue eyes and high cheekbones, William was very shy and lacking in confidence when it came to women. I guess the best word to describe him would be bookish. He didn’t have a lot of friends and spent most of his days at school in the library reading or drawing. William coasted from class to class with his eyes down, trying to be as unassuming as possible in the school hallways. For years, he had been writing Cecily poetry and having fake conversations with her in the bathroom mirror without ever actually speaking to her. One time I even walked in on him jerking off in his bedroom looking at her picture from the school newspaper. It really was pathetic. As I said, I had to stop myself from laughing.

He finally gained the courage to even think about asking her to the dance, because this year, his junior year of high school, he had actually talked to her. William’s art teacher roped William into doing the stage design for the school play with the assurance that it would look good on his college applications, and Cecily had the starring role of Juliet. When Ms. Calendar asked him to stand in for a late Romeo, I thought he would faint right there. I was helping my friend Cordelia with costumes backstage when we heard William start running lines. Of course, we couldn’t resist any opportunity to tease my brother and had to watch the rehearsal from the side stage. Although I was a year younger than William, I ran with the popular clique of the high school, being a member of the cheerleading squad, so it was my God given duty to make fun of my nerdy brother. Cordelia and I shared endless giggles over that one, the way he kept rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants leg and the distinct stutter that he hadn’t had since he was ten popping up again.

William had seen his opening and started talking to her from that day forward. He would say hi to her in the hallway and make conversation with her in the lunch line about how the play was going. I don’t know if she ever caught on that he would time his whereabouts around the school based on her class schedule, which he knew by heart. She was nice, I suppose. Neither Cordelia nor I could understand what he saw in her. She was very snobby, thinking herself even above my station as a cheerleader because her daddy was a rich and successful political figure. She hung around with an elite group of other “aristocrats”, both jocks and nerds being beneath her, but she was never outright mean to anyone and she did have a sort of striking beauty, in a 19th century sort of way. But my brother was weirdly romantic, bordering on stalker. He built her up on this pedestal and no one could say anything bad about her. She had been a regular topic of conversation in the Summers household for quite some time.

I’m sure my mother was sick of hearing about her but she continued to nod and smile and ask him questions at all the right moments. She was a good mom like that.

However, I knew the twins were tired of hearing about the perfect Cecily. Connor couldn’t keep his laughter at bay when William used words like “effulgent” to describe her, and Dawn continuously rolled her eyes. William would flash a glare at Connor whenever he heard the chuckling. The twins were seven and they had been hearing about the notorious Cecily for most of their lives at this point. The only reason I had to behave myself was because if I didn’t, William would start in on my boyfriend, Parker. William hated him and called him a right perfect Nancy boy. Personally, I think Will hated him because he thought Parker was trying to upstage him in his sensitivity.

We were all in the kitchen waiting for my father to come home because my parents had some important news they wanted to tell us. Earlier that day, my father Hank got an emergency page from the hospital. He’s an obstetrician and one of his patients went into early labor. The doctor on duty feared complications so he called in my dad. My father told everyone the news would have to wait until he got back as he kissed my mother goodbye.

I didn’t know what the news was, but I was hoping my mother wasn’t pregnant again. My mother’s pregnancy with the twins had enough mood swings to last me my lifetime. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to have children after living through that.

It wouldn’t surprise me though if she were pregnant. My parents were still madly in love after seventeen years of marriage. They were one of those perverted old couples that held hands while walking and had no problem with public kissing despite their children’s protests. They had met in college. My father was pre-med and my mother was pre-law. They fell in love during a whirlwind romance, marrying at nineteen and keeping it secret from my mother’s parents.

My grandfather had wanted my mother to come work for him at his law firm since he did not have a son to follow in his footsteps. They both knew Grandpa Ethan would not be pleased with their marriage. He was not even happy that his little girl Joyce was dating someone who wasn’t a lawyer. I think my grandfather planned on marrying his daughter off to one of his partner’s sons, a business merger rather than a marriage.

After my mother got pregnant with Will at twenty, their junior year, they finally had to confess. Ethan had gone ballistic. He disowned her and dissolved her sizeable trust fund. Having to choose between her husband and her father, her husband won and she dropped out of college to become a full time mom. Ethan and Joyce hadn’t spoken since. We’ve never met him, though we did meet our grandmother Drusilla one time. She came around Christmas a few years ago to tell my mother that Ethan was sick. He had been diagnosed with cancer. She wanted them to reconcile before it was too late. My mother said she would not do it unless she heard from Ethan himself.

Will and I watched the conversation from the staircase with morbid curiosity. Drusilla was creepy yet undeniably attractive even at her advanced age. Her long brunette hair flowed down below her shoulders and her slim figure was emphasized by the long straight red dress she wore. The way she talked was hypnotic as she sometimes threw riddles into her speech. Before she left, Drusilla looked at William and I on the stairs and pointed a slender finger at us. Her dark hard eyes burned into our souls as she cackled through a tight smile, “You will rot in hell.” Our bodies tensed and I could hear William suck in his breath at her words. And as quickly as she came, she was gone.


***************************************

The phone ringing interrupted the peace of the evening. Mother answered it and I watched as her face fell. The coffee cup she was holding fell to the tile and shattered into a hundred pieces, much like our lives.

Her husband, our father, was dead. There was a shooting at the hospital. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After delivering the baby of his patient, he went to fill out the paperwork in the emergency room. Two rival gang members had been shot and brought in. It seems the fighting wasn’t over yet. Another member, the brother of one of the victims, entered the ER with his pistol cocked. Before he was done, a paramedic and a nurse were wounded and the rival gang member and my father were dead. The young man responsible for my father’s death was apprehended, but we did not feel that justice was served. Nothing would bring him back. Nothing could put our lives back together.

Suddenly my brother’s arms were wrapped tightly around my wailing mother’s shaking body. The twins were screaming. Will and I exchanged a knowing look – it was not our time to grieve yet. We had other people to take care of right now. I gathered Dawn and Connor in my arms and rocked them, never losing sight of Will’s teary blue eyes. After what seemed like forever, we finally got our mother and the twins to sleep. My mother with sleeping pills, the twins exhausted from crying. It was then that William and I could fully let go. We cried in each other’s arms until late into the night. It was that night that we made a promise to each other. We would be strong for the others. We would take care of mother and the twins. For them, we would hold it together. We would find solace in each other only; we could cry and ache with one another but not in front them. Together, William and I would keep our family from completely falling apart.

Hank Summers was a respected man in the community due to his job and his devotion to his family. The funeral was a huge affair largely taken care of by the hospital board with more people than I knew how to handle. Almost all of the hospital staff and many of my father’s patients, both past and present, paid their respects as well as people from our church, the neighborhood, and the country club. Among the mourners was my grandmother.

And so for the second time in my life, I felt that ice-cold stare bearing down on my skin. Arriving in a black Rolls Royce, she glided to the back of the congregation in a mass of black lace. I squeezed William’s hand and subtly tilted my head. Turning his head slightly in the direction I indicated, he saw the creepy woman who damned us to Hell years ago.

His arm tightened around my mother’s waist, trying to protect her from this old evil.

But it was too late. As they lowered my father’s casket into the ground, my mother saw Drusilla as she returned from throwing dirt onto the coffin, which was to be the final resting place of the love of her life. Kissing William on the cheek, she let go of his hand to wander over to her estranged mother. By now, William had his arm clutched around my waist as we watched the conversation going on between the two women. We watched them intently, but we could not make out what they were saying. By the way my mother was shaking her head and watching the fresh tears run down her face, we could tell Drusilla was upsetting her further. With a final shake of her head, my mother turned away from grandmother and William finally loosened his grip on my hip.

Later that night, Will and I lay on his bed thinking about the day. Mother didn’t let us in on the conversation that she shared with Drusilla. In fact, she pointedly avoided us for the rest of the day. We both knew what the other was thinking, but as of yet neither of us broached the subject.

Finally, I settled deeper into Will’s arms, laying my head in the crook of his shoulder. As his fingers tangled into my hair, I asked, “What do you think they were talking about?”

“I don’t know. ‘Bout dad I suppose.”

“But she was upset. It had to be more than dad. What about grandfather?” I whispered his name as if it was the Devil’s.

In a far off voice, he replied, “Yeah, probably that. Maybe she was trying to get mom to visit him again. Get her while she’s vulnerable.”

I tightened my grip on Will’s arm. I didn’t get a good sense from my grandmother the two times I met her. I shuddered at the thought of my grandfather, “Do you think she will go?”

Will felt the shiver run through my body and held me tighter. He placed a light kiss on my head and shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll stay together. I’ll protect you. All of you. I promise you that.”

Chapter Two

William did his best to keep the promise he made to me the night of our father’s funeral. In the time after father’s death, we operated as a family again for the most part. The twins had become acclimated to life again and we celebrated their eighth birthday in June for the first time without our father. Once school began again in September, William would be entering into his senior year, so he started looking at colleges close to home rather than the East Coast as he originally planned.

I was looking forward to my junior year, having been voted captain of the cheerleading squad along with Cordelia. Will and I took care of mother and the twins just as we promised each other on that night dad had died. Will had taken over the role of man of the house seamlessly, taking on the burden of the more manly household chores and responsibilities. He and I also took on a more active role in the twins lives, making lunches and reading before bedtime. We made sure that at least one of us always attended Connor’s weekly baseball games or Dawn’s Saturday dance lessons.

This more active role was mostly because mother was still living her life through a depressing haze. As we children grew closer, my mother became distant to her family. She would spend more time in her room sleeping or sobbing. None of us knew what to do. We tried to involve her in our lives, but she seemed uninterested and disconnected. Unknown to us, she had other burdens on her mind besides the death of her husband.

Six months after dad’s death, my mother gathered us in the living room. Will and I took this as a good sign since we had not had a family gathering since the day of the shooting. It was anything but. Mother stood watching as Will and I settled on the couch and the twins stretched out on the floor. After a deep breath, she began.

“I know you’ve all been worried about me. I didn’t want to burden you with my problems on top of your own grief, but now I’m afraid I have to.” I gave a sideways glance at Will, but he didn’t register my gaze. He was biting on his lower lip, something he always did when he was nervous.

Mom continued with her speech, “There have been some legal issues with your father’s life insurance policy. Your father fully intended to provide for all of us, but circumstances have arisen that were unforeseen. I’m afraid I can’t support us all. We’re going to have to sell the house.”

Immediately, I jumped to my feet shaken and upset. “What? What are you talking about? Why would we have to sell the house?” This house was where we grew up, where we had spent our entire lives with dad. In this living room, he used to dance with me while I stood on his toes when I was a little girl. He taught Connor to throw a baseball in the back yard. It felt like mom was ripping another piece of dad away. This couldn’t be happening.

“Elizabeth,” my mother admonished, “it can’t be helped.”

Clearly as panicked at the thought of losing the house as I was, Will jumped in. “I don’t understand. If this is just about money, I can get a job. I can forget about college and help out. Elizabeth can get a job too, something after school.”

My mother placed a gentle hand on William’s cheek. “It’s not that easy. Even if the three of us got jobs it wouldn’t be enough. Besides what would I do? I’m a college dropout who hasn’t worked in over seventeen years. And it’s going to be alright.”

“What happened mother?” I asked again in a harsher tone. Tears were running down my cheeks.

She sighed. “The day your father died, you remember that we had big news to share with you. We never got to tell you because he never made it home. Your father was going into private practice. He had bought a small office downtown. It was going to allow him more time with us. He’d make his own hours, no more weekends on-call. He took out a second mortgage on the house to fund it. The life insurance policy was somehow wrapped up with it. The bank is foreclosing on everything.”

“Why is this the first we’ve heard about this?” Will was now pacing back and forth across the living room floor. “You’ve barely left the house in months. Why didn’t you try to fix it?” he asked icily.

“Don’t take that tone with me young man. Don’t you think I tried? Our lawyer has been doing everything he can to clear this up. But it’s too late. I even went to my mother but she couldn’t give me the money without father knowing.”

“What are we going to do mommy?” A quiet whisper from Dawn broke through the tension coming off of Will and mother. We all looked down at her, and then Will and I shared a tentative glance.

“We have one month to pack up our stuff and get out of the house. Although my mother couldn’t help with money, she was able to offer us another solution. We’re moving to Sunnydale to stay at Rayne Manor. I think you kids are going to love it. It’s huge and there are stables with a half dozen horses and ponds where you can feed the ducks. And you’ll be inspired to paint and write with all of the beauty on the grounds.” Mother was spinning a beautiful tale of Rayne Manor for us all but I knew it was just an act for Connor and Dawn. I could hear the slight tremor in her voice and the joy of her voice didn’t reach her eyes. I knew Will felt it too as I watched the muscle in his jaw twitch and his hands ball in and out of fists at his side.

So this is how it came to be that over Labor Day weekend, we said goodbye to our house and life in Los Angeles and sat on a train bound to Sunnydale. Will and I sat together four rows behind mother and the twins. I stared out the window for the first thirty minutes not saying anything. I could hear mom and the twins playing I Spy and I could feel the intent gaze of Will on the back of my head. Lost in my own thoughts about what was to come, I didn’t notice when Will squeezed my knee. It wasn’t until I heard him say my name that I snapped out of my little world.

“Elizabeth?”

“What do you think it’s going to be like? What do you think is going to happen?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Big, I wager. Mom said it was a manor.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. I mean with grandmother and grandfather. Do you think we’ll have to grovel and do parlor tricks to get into their good graces?”

“Don’t be stupid, we’re not dogs. I guess mom will just make up with him and we’ll all live like family.”

“You think it’s going to be that easy? A simple nice to see you after seventeen years and by the way meet my four children who I bore with the man you disowned me over.” Elizabeth scoffed at his naiveté. “It’s not going to be like that.”

“’Lizbeth, don’t be so negative. Mom loves us and she knows what she’s doing. She wouldn’t be bringing us here if it was going to be awful, if it wasn’t the right thing to do.” He grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know that. In case you haven’t noticed William, mom hasn’t been the same since dad died. She’s like a different person. Sometimes she scares me. This…this plan of hers, I don’t trust it. I certainly don’t trust grandma Dru and I’m not sure if I trust mom anymore. I just wish we were staying in Los Angeles and dad was here to take care of us like he always did.” I finished with tears in my eyes.

As if she knew I doubted her, mom glanced back and gave us a reassuring smile. William squeezed my hand harder as he smiled back at mother. He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. “Dad isn’t coming back, Elizabeth. And I told you before, I’ll take care of you even if mom doesn’t.” I smiled weakly at William. Although I knew he meant every word, my gut instinct was telling me that he couldn’t protect us from what laid ahead in Sunnydale.

Chapter Three

We arrived just before sunset at the Sunnydale train station. It was a small barn-like structure in the middle of nowhere that was pretty much deserted. Grandmother had sent a car around to pick us up. A very tall bulky man stepped out of the limo and greeted mother.

“Children, this is Adam. He is Dru’s right hand man. He’s going to be driving us back to the house.” Mother explained all of this while Adam stiffly loaded our luggage into the trunk of the car. We all watched in silence as this man, who to me resembled a modern day Frankenstein, packed away our belongings. Once he was done, we all climbed into the back, the silence thick.

Mother was nervous. I could tell by the way she kept wringing her hands. She was once again painting a pretty picture for the twins, talking about the stables and playing hide and seek in the massive gardens. The twins were enraptured; you could tell by the expressions on their faces that they were excited and ripe with anticipation.

I, on the other hand, was digging my fingernails deeply into the palms of my hands. None of this felt right. The limo, the creepy butler, mothers visions of grandeur. If it was this good, why hadn’t she made up with grandfather before now? I spared a glance over at Will and saw that he too was deep in thought. He looked concerned but I could still see him smile every once in a while at something mom would say. I couldn’t understand why I was the only one with so many doubts about this arrangement.

After forty minutes of driving, first through town and then away from it to the outskirts, the Rayne Manor could be seen from the road. The car drove through the tall iron gates that surrounded the entire Rayne property and started down the long gravel road. It was daunting, more like a castle than a home. There was one main section and then two massive wings coming off it from either side. Judging from the rows of large windows, it looked to be three stories high. In the middle of the lawn was a reflecting pool leading to a softly lit fountain. The driveway was illuminated by elaborate gaslights along each side of the path. There were many lights in the windows but one wing looked vacant, dark and abandoned. Avoiding the circular driveway around the fountain in the front, the car drove around back and Adam shut off the headlights before we came to a stop. I could hear dogs barking in the distance but otherwise the night was silent.

Standing in the doorway with a candle was grandmother. Drusilla looked as insane as usual. Dressed in black and illuminated only by candlelight, she stared at the limo. Once outside, Adam addressed us in a curt tone. “Mrs. Rayne will see you to your rooms. I will follow with your luggage momentarily.”

Mother quickly gathered the twins and led them to grandmother. Will and I followed and watched with interest as mother approached Drusilla and gave her a quick, awkward hug. She tried to introduce Dawn and Connor but was quickly reprimanded. “Joyce, there is no time for pleasantries. We must do this without Ethan’s knowledge. Now follow me and keep the children quiet.”

We followed Drusilla down a dark corridor and then up a flight of stairs. She led us to a wing of the house that obviously hadn’t been used in a long time. Antique chairs and credenzas had storage cloths over them and ornate wall mountings had dust and cobwebs clinging to them. About halfway down the hallway, she stopped to unlock a room. Stepping aside, she made a sweeping gesture with her hand to indicate that we should enter.

Inside the plain white room was sparse. There were two double beds with a nightstand in between. Against the wall opposite the beds were a couple of dressers for clothes. There was a small desk along another wall underneath the windows. It was unnerving to see that the windows were covered with sturdy iron bars ensuring that no one from the outside could get in. Or from my perspective, so that no one could get out.

“This will be your room. There is a bathroom through that door to the right. I am going to get your mother settled in her room and then I will be back to tell you the rules of this house.“ With an icy gaze on all of us, she finally turned to the door. “Joyce, come.”

Our mother flashed us an apologetic smile and turned to follow Drusilla’s order. When the door closed, we heard a key slide into the lock, shutting us away from the outside world.

“She can’t be serious, Will!” my head snapped in my brother’s direction. “All four of us stuck in this tiny room!” I was furious, lashing out at the only one I could vent to as I went to turn the knob to our door to no avail. “This huge house and all she can spare is one room! And to lock us in!”

I could see the anger in Will’s eyes and was glad that he felt it too. To my surprise, however, he was mad at me. He gripped my upper arms and backed me up to the wall so fast I didn’t know what was happening. My heart raced as he leaned in to whisper in my ear between gritted teeth, “Do not talk that way in front of the twins. This is hard enough for them without your irate bitching. You will think of them first before you speak. You can yell at me all you want when we are alone, but not in front of them.” His fingers dug deeper into my arms as he pressed me harder into the wall. “Do you understand me?”

He pulled back so I could look him in the eye. The fury was still there but his face softened. I couldn’t face his stare any longer, so I looked past him to Dawn and Connor clung together on one of the beds. They were both trembling and I could see tears falling down Dawn’s cheeks. My anger dissipated as I looked at the two huddled forms and it gave way to love and sympathy. My gaze turned back to William who had loosened his grip but still did not move away. I gave a barely perceptible nod to answer his question and then looked away, ashamed at my outburst. He pulled me in for a hug and told me that he loved me.

Then he turned back to the twins, “Dawn, Connor, let’s get you settled for bed. Beth and I will get you cleaned up and then get you into your pajamas. Tomorrow we can start unpacking. I think we’re all tired after today’s travels. “ He had moved closer to the twins as he spoke. With his last sentence, his thumb brushed away the tears streaming down Dawn’s face. “Don’t cry Dawnie, “he knelt down in front of her. “We’re all in this together, ok? We’re all going to get through this together. Just like when daddy died. Remember how Beth and I took care of you?” Dawn nodded her head while sniffling. “Good. We’re going to take care of you now too, ok? Do you believe me?” Another nod from Dawn. Will pulled her into a hug much the same way he did with me earlier. “I love you Dawnie. Now go with Elizabeth so she can wash your pretty little face and brush your teeth and get you ready for bed.”

Dawn came toward my outstretched hand and we walked hand in hand into the bathroom. I cleaned her face with a warm washcloth and began brushing her long brown hair while she brushed her teeth. In the other room, I could hear Will talking to Connor. “We’re the men of the family now. Ok, Connor? You need to be strong for your sis. Dawn is going to need you to be there for her. You’re going to have to protect her.” I assumed Connor nodded his head in agreement because the next thing I heard was William’s voice. “You’re a good boy, Connor. I know you’ll keep her safe. I love you. Now go get ready for bed.” And there it was. My brother, in less than an hour, reassured us all of his love and devotion. William, at sixteen, reasserted his loyalty and let us all know that we would take care of each other, that we would all protect each other, and that we would hold together as a family. Something I would be hard pressed to say my mother was doing at the moment.

As Dawn and I came out of the bathroom, Will and Connor went in. Both of the boys had already changed into their pajamas and Dawn and I quickly changed as well while they were in the bathroom. I told Dawn to pick out a book so that we could read some of it before bed. She grabbed ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ from her backpack and sat on the bed next to me to wait for Connor. When William and Connor came over to the bed, Dawn scrambled into William’s lap while Connor stretched out on the bottom of the bed. Once settled, I began to read.

****************************************

The normality of the situation was shattered when after thirty minutes the lock rattled and Drusilla floated into the room. “Well isn’t this cozy. I told you I’d be back with the rules.” She wasted no time.

“Rule number one. Girls and boys are not allowed on the same bed. The girls will share the bed by the door, the boys the bed by the window. Move, NOW!”

“But I want to sleep with Connor.” Dawn whined.

“I told you to MOVE!” Drusilla grabbed Dawn’s arm and forcefully removed her from Will’s lap. She threw her onto the other bed ignoring her comment and whimpers of pain. I quickly went to a now crying Dawn and clutched her to my chest. “I guess I should make myself clear right off the bat. If you do not follow any of my rules, you will be punished accordingly.” She gave a menacing stare at us before she continued.

“Rule number two. There will be no yelling or crying so I suggest you stop that right now little girl. If I hear from any of the staff that they have heard even a whimper from this wing I will know that this rule has been broken. Rule number three. You will not try to leave this room. If your grandfather or any of the staff see you there will be grave consequences. No one is to know that you are here until I say so. Rule number four. You will be showered and dressed by 9:00 AM. This is when breakfast will be served. Either Adam or I will bring it to you. I also expect the beds to be made by then. Rule number five. You will not tempt each other. You will change in different rooms and you will not pleasure yourself. Sins of the flesh are the most punishable. You can ask your mother about that one.” She looked pointedly at Will when she said the last one. “God will not abide sinners and neither shall I. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah,” a defiant word from Will. “What about school? Elizabeth and I are supposed to start our junior and senior years of high school. The twins are going into fourth grade. If we can’t leave the room, how are we supposed to get an education?”

“I will supply you with books so that you can home school the children. I will include some for yourself so your mind will stay fresh but school does not concern me. You will not need anymore than the books I provide you.”

Well if Will was going to ask questions, I thought I might as well too. “What about lunch and dinner and what if we need something from the store, personal items and laundry?”

“Lunch will be served at noon, dinner at six. Laundry is done on Saturday, there is a basket in the bathroom closet. Shopping is done on Wednesdays. If you need something at the store, leave a list with the breakfast cart that morning. And to show you how reasonable I can be, I’ll have Adam get you a small refrigerator for your room so if you want to keep some things here you can.” A pleased smile graced her lips.

“When are we going to see mom?” Will’s question wiped that smile right off her face.

“That’s up to her. I’m not keeping her from you. She has taken her punishment tonight and I’m sure she’ll want to visit with Ethan. I assume she will come to see you within the next few days.”

“What do you mean her punishment?”

“I told you that anyone who does not follow the rules of this house would be punished accordingly. Joyce is not immune to those consequences. She has been forsaking the Rayne Manor rules for twenty years. Her insubordination cannot be taken lightly. Ask her to show you what happens when you break the rules. I’m sure it will be a good lesson for all of you.” With those parting words, she floated back out of the room as fluidly as she entered.

After hearing the door lock once again, William turned to everyone. “Alright, let’s get to bed. I think we’ve had enough excitement for tonight.”

It was early for us to go to bed, but I knew Will was trying to comfort the twins and maybe trying to wrap his mind around what Dru had just told us. I wanted desperately to talk to him but knew I couldn’t yet. We needed a place to talk in private and the only place for that was the bathroom. Plus, the twins needed to fall asleep first. I climbed into bed next to Dawn and gave a small smile to Will. I thought I would be up all night thinking about Dru’s words but to my surprise, the exhaustion of the day helped me find sleep quickly.

Chapter Four

Over the next few days, we tried to make our room more comfortable. We unpacked our belongings, putting up our personal effects to try to make it more like our bedrooms at home rather than a prison cell. Pictures of dad and the rest of us on family vacations at Disney World and the beach were placed on the nightstand, bureaus and desk. Dawn and Connor’s favorite stuffed animals sat on the bed, as well as my favorite stuffed pig Mr. Gordo. A Ramones poster was taped to the closet door by Will. True to her word, Dru had Adam bring us a refrigerator where we stored water, soda, fruit and other snacks. I hated to admit that it wasn’t that bad once these items were in place, but at least it seemed livable.

After three days, mother finally made an appearance. As soon as the door opened and we knew who it was, we all ran to her to give her a hug. Dawn and Connor’s cries of “Mommy! Mommy!” were music to my ears. We didn’t notice her wince when we hugged her but Drusilla would be sure to let us know of her pain.

“Joyce, show them your back so they will not have to learn their lesson the hard way.”

“Mother, I will not!” My mother seemed outraged at this suggestion.

“Please dear. You don’t want your own children to suffer the same fate as you. This will teach them obedience without them having to be broken down. Besides, I told them that your punishment would be used as an example of what they may expect.” There was too much pleasure in Drusilla’s voice when she said those last words.

“Fine.” Mother seemed exasperated. “Kids, I don’t want you to be alarmed and I also don’t want to hear that this ever happened to you. So please, follow your grandmother’s rules and everything will be ok.” While she talked, mother unbuttoned her shirt. Once the task was complete, she turned her back to us and lowered the garment to reveal long puffy gashes all over her back – whip marks. We could see that some of them were already healed, leaving the skin discolored in blue and red hues. But the deeper gashes looked raw and very painful, some with pus still oozing from the wounds.

An angry outburst to my left brought me out of my horror. “What have you done to my mother?” Will yelled while barreling towards Drusilla. Adam quickly jumped in between them and easily held William at bay. Drusilla’s icy smile was in place when she backhanded Will hard across the cheek. Blood spilled from where her large diamond ring connected with Will’s face.

“Enough!” Drusilla’s eyes burned with fire as she took her time to look at each one of us. “I think I made myself perfectly clear as to what would happen to you if you did not obey the rules of this house. Your mother got the punishment that she deserved, twenty lashes with a switch for each year she defied her grandfather’s rules. I will not hesitate to lay a switch to any of you if I feel you have been disobedient. You must learn respect and if we have to do that the hard way then we will.” Despite the fire in her eyes, her words were cold. “Adam, come. Let’s give Joyce some time alone with her bastard children.”

I had no time to be angry at grandmother’s bastard comment as my only concern was for Will. Both mom and I rushed over to him as soon as the door closed. Of course, he leaned into mother. “Elizabeth, go get some antiseptic and a bandage from the bathroom. Help me get William cleaned up.” When I returned, mom tended to Will’s cut just as she would have when we were younger. The gentle mother of our youth was back.

Once finished, she hugged the twins and gathered us all on the beds. “I know this isn’t exactly what we all expected, but mother says that until I spend some more time with father, you being in the house should remain a secret. I don’t think it should take me long to gain father’s love again. As you know, Ethan is very sick and eager to make amends. I’ve already been spending time with him by reading to him every night before bed. I think within six months you should be able to get out of this room. We’ll get you all enrolled in school and everything will be back to normal. You just need to be patient for six months and follow Dru’s rules. I don’t want you being punished.” Her voice was laced with concern.

“I have a secret though to help you make it through the coming months. Behind the desk, there is a panel. If you push at the knot in the wood, it opens up to a staircase that leads to the attic. It runs the length of the whole wing and there are all sorts of things up there. Books and clothes, I think there may even be a bar up there for you to practice dancing Elizabeth. I think you’ll find a lot to keep you entertained. Plus there’s a lock on the inside so no one can go up there if you don’t want them to. And the best part is that your grandmother won’t go up there, she’s claustrophobic and afraid of the narrow stairway. Use the attic as your sanctuary. I know I did when I used to live here.”

“Mommy, when are we going to see you again?” Dawn interrupted mother’s talk of this supposed gift she was giving us.

“Oh, Dawnie. I don’t know. I’m going to try to come at least once a week. It really just depends on how much time I spend with Ethan. Hopefully, I can see you quite often. But even if I don’t come, know that I love you and everything that I’m doing that’s keeping me away from you is because I love you. You will all be in my hearts always. These next few months are going to be trying, but we will come out of this stronger than ever. I promise you.” She said this in such a caring tone, but her words seemed hollow. She was already making excuses for not coming by often.

“What if six months isn’t enough time?” I asked skeptically.

“Elizabeth, I am doing this for your benefit. I will evaluate how close we are then and determine whether we should continue this plan or start thinking of another. Just remember I will have your best interests in mind.” She was clearly irritated with my questioning of the plan and her previously caring tone was quickly replaced with indignation.

“Like now? You think this tiny room with bars on the window and an attic is in our best interest? What about school, going outside, seeing other people our own ages?” I pushed back. Mother was not the one suffering, we were and if she couldn’t see that, I would make her see it.

“Stop it Elizabeth!” William yelled at me. He grabbed my arm and spoke harshly. “We already had this conversation, didn’t we?”

I stared at him feeling both angry with him for taking her side, and guilty because of the twins. But it was mom who spoke next, “Elizabeth, I understand how you feel but you have to believe I’m doing this for us. We have to stick together in this. We cannot turn on each other; otherwise we’ll never survive. This is our time of sacrifice and then life will be better than ever afterward. You guys need to take care of each other and my thoughts of you will get me through the days. I love you all more than anything.” She was pleading now with tears in her eyes.

“I’ve got to go now but please remember what I’ve said and use the attic as your haven.” She kissed us all on the cheeks and once again, we were alone.

Will and I got the twins into bed and then he dragged me into the bathroom to defend mother. “Why do you doubt her so much? She’s our mother Elizabeth. She’s not going to hurt us. It’s grandmother who’s punishing us.”

“How can you say that? Can’t you see how she’s changed since dad died? I know Drusilla is evil but mom should be able to stand up to her.”

“You saw mom’s back. She’s trying to protect us by doing what grandmother says. She doesn’t want us to get hurt.”

“I just don’t understand why we have to stay locked in this room like we don’t exist. This isn’t healthy for the twins or us.” Will had to realize this plan was insane.

“Once she gets back into Ethan’s good graces, everything will be fine. We can come out of hiding and we’ll be a family again. Six months is not that long.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as he stood up from the edge of the counter and began to leave the room.

As he got to the door, I said to him just barely above a whisper, “I hope you’re right William.” He hesitated for only a second and let out a small sigh before walking out of the bathroom, the only sign I had that he heard me at all.

Chapter Five

The next morning, grandmother arrived promptly at nine with the breakfast cart. We all waited anxiously for her to leave because today we were heading up to the attic. She was taking longer than usual to set up the food. Once she finished she looked at us with a mad twinkle in her eye.

“Did you like the scars on your mother’s back? Did you enjoy seeing the punishment I gave her as much as I enjoyed giving it?” She was almost giddy as she rocked on her heels, asking us these cruel questions. “I know your mother told you about the attic. I am allowing you to go up there as a privilege but my rules are still in effect up there. Whenever you think you’ve gotten away with something, I want you to see those marks on Joyce’s back." Her smile grew wider and more maniacal. “And remember, the Lord sees everything.” With those parting words, she left us alone in the room.

I saw William’s jaw tick a few times before he spoke. “She’s a complete nutter. She just likes to rattle our cages. We can’t let her get to us. Come on, let’s eat fast so we can get upstairs.”

We ate our pancakes quickly and then William moved the desk and found the knot in the wall. A small door opened and he fumbled with the string that attached to the naked light bulb, which revealed a long narrow staircase lined with cobwebs. William parted the cobwebs as he began to ascend the staircase with the rest of us following.

What awaited us at the top of the stairs was something we could not have imagined. Mother said it was big, but in reality, it was gigantic, running the entire length of the wing. Huge windows from the floor to the rafters ran along either side of the attic. The roof was so high in some places it looked to be twelve feet tall. There were things everywhere – trunks, wardrobes, furniture, shelves and old toys. Best of all, the sun streamed through the bar-less windows which gave us a feeling of freedom. I could already tell that this place was going to be our sanctuary, just as mother said.

Over the next several weeks, we spent almost all of our time up in the attic, cleaning the space and exploring its treasures. We found four mattresses, which we set about on either side of the room. Two together on the east side under the windows so we could lay in the warmth of the sun and two together on the west side so we could watch the sunset. With the extra furniture we found, we were able to set up a sitting area around the mattresses on the east side.

William was able to improvise a swing set with some rope and boards tied around the attic rafters for Dawn and Connor. He found an old workout bench and barbells, which he decided he could use and placed them at the north end of the attic. Using some old mirrors and shower rods, we were able to make myself a place to keep practicing dancing over by the workbench. William dubbed that area our personal gym.

In the trunks, we found old books on every subject imaginable from gardening to first aid to traveling to sex. We set up a library in the sitting room with all of the books, save the sex ones (William put those in the north part of the attic so the twins wouldn’t get to them, though I suspect where he would have better access) on an old bookshelf we found. There were some art supplies like charcoals, pencils, and sketching pads, which William pilfered for him, while the crayons and craft supplies were brought out for the twins.

Dawn and I spent hours going through the wardrobe finding clothes from various decades that would fit both us and the boys. There were elegant dresses, suits and tuxedos most likely from the balls and parties that mother spoke of being held at Rayne Manor in the past. I found some leotards and wrap-around skirts that I could use for dancing. Dawn found some little girl clothes that were probably my mother’s in a wardrobe that she could wear. There was a long leather duster that I could tell William was itching to try on, though I knew he wouldn’t because he considered himself a sensitive poet, not the neighborhood bad boy. And Connor loved trying on the different hats and made a point to wear a different one each day.

The days went by rather quickly while we explored the attic those first few weeks. Mother was right in that we did find solace in the attic. It was not a prison like the room downstairs but something more of our own. Up in the attic, we weren’t trapped but living in our own little world. Up here we could watch the outside world and feel a part of it. We could see the seasons begin to change from summer to fall and not feel so alone.

************************************

It was a rainy day in mid-October while I practiced at the dance bar that Will had fashioned for me. The twins were making little origami animals with instructions from one of the craft books we found while sitting on the mattresses. Will was in a chair reading a book of poetry over by the twins. Despite my distance and the sound of the rain pounding on the roof, I could hear Dawn’s voice when she started asking questions to William seemingly out of the blue.

“When are we going to see mom again? It’s been almost a month.”

“I’m not sure Dawn. She’s probably been busy trying to win over grandfather again. I know she’ll come when she has time.”

“But it’s almost Halloween. I want to go out trick or treating.” Dawn whined.

“Yeah, I was going to be a pirate this year just like Jack Sparrow.” Connor chimed in making a sword swinging motion with his hand. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ had been his favorite movie before we came to Sunnydale. He made William and I take him to the movies to see it at least four times.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to go trick or treating. Mom won’t be able to get you out of the house. You’ll just have to wait until next year.”

“That’s not fair. I’ll want to be something else next year. I want to be a pirate this year!” Connor demanded.

“Connor, you’re just going to have to be patient. Mom will come to us when she can.”

“I don’t want to be patient. She said she would come see us every week. She hasn’t been back since that first time.” Dawn countered and she was right.

Since the night where mom bared us her whip marks, she had not been back to visit us. With getting the attic together, I hadn’t noticed, but now that Dawn had mentioned it, I realized it had been weeks since mother had visited. I wondered if William had already known or if Dawn’s declaration had taken him by surprise as well.

“Dawnie, remember what mom said. We have to stick together in this. She hasn’t come to us because the time hasn’t been right. Whatever her reasons for not coming, they’re good ones and she’s thinking of us. She’s doing what she thinks is best for us all.” William said.

Despite his words, I could hear the slight waiver in his voice from the seeds of doubt in his mind. His tremor answered my earlier question, he just realized as I had that mom hadn’t been around for that long. I decided to help him out since his head was most likely spinning with questions as well.

“Hey guys, what are you making?” Coming upon them and hoping to distract the twins, I grabbed a book off the shelf and took a seat next to Dawn. William’s eyes met mine for just a moment and I saw the grateful look he gave me for getting him out of what might have been a sticky situation.

Connor held up his piece of paper, “I’m trying to make a giraffe but I think it looks more like a swan.” He pouted and his lower lip protruded in the same manner all of ours did when we pouted. My dad could never resist the pouting lip from any of his children and we all learned to use it to our advantage.

“Well, you’re not done yet. Once it’s finished, I bet you’ll have the perfect giraffe. If not, I think you’ll still have a pretty good swan.” I opened the book on my lap and realized that I grabbed a book of names. Not quite the distraction I had hoped for, but it would have to do. I looked at William and started to flip the pages to W. “Hmm, interesting.”

“What?” Will asked.

“Did you know that William means resolute guardian?” I flashed him a thousand watt smile. “I think it’s appropriate for you.” He flashed one of his own back to me.

“What does mine mean?” Dawn asked. Thankfully, the conversation of mother was now forgotten. The distraction had worked.

“Don’t be stupid.” Connor said. “It means daybreak. Just like the word. What’s mine mean?”

“Don’t be mean to your sister.” Will chastised Connor.

“Well, let’s see. Connor means wolf-lover.”

Dawn started to giggle. “Wolf-lover. That’s funny. My name is much better.” Connor let out a tiny pfft.

“Let’s see what your name means, shall we?” William reached over and grabbed the book out of my hands. “Elizabeth – god’s oath.” He raised an eyebrow and his annoying trademark smirk graced his lips. “Well, isn’t this interesting. A popular nickname for Elizabeth is Buffy.”

“Buffy? Now that’s a funny name.” Connor blurted out and then both he and Dawn burst into giggles. I looked over to William and saw that he too was laughing with a glint in his eye.

“Well, it’s a good thing my name isn’t Buffy then, isn’t it?” I glared at Will then stood up. My work there was done. “I’m going to take a bath. I’m all sweaty from dancing.”

“Ok, Buffy, we’ll see you in a bit.” Dawn said through stifled laughter.

************************************

The attic wasn’t the only haven I had found at Rayne Manor. Almost every day, I would steal away for some time alone in the bathtub. It was one of those old claw-foot tubs that were huge enough to fit your entire body. I would put some bubble bath in and set the water temperature as hot as my body would allow. Usually, I would put on some relaxing music which varied depending on my mood. Sometimes it was classical, Mozart or Bach; sometimes it was New Age, Enya or Enigma; and sometimes it was just soulful pop, Dido or Sara McLaughlin.

Today, it was Depeche Mode, one from William’s collection. I popped ‘Violator’ into the CD player and peeled my damp dance clothes off my body. The water was already running at hot and I poured the vanilla scented bubble bath into the tub. Once the bubbles began to take good form and the water was high enough to cover my body, I shut off the water and climbed in.

I stretched out my legs and closed my eyes. My muscles were aching from their workout earlier and the hot water felt like heaven on my body. Slowly, I ran my hands over my silken skin. I let the music take over in my mind and imagined that I was back in high school getting ready for a date with Parker. He’d be taking me to dinner and then dancing tonight at The Bronze, the local club. I’d look gorgeous in a black leather skirt that went to mid-thigh and one of my favorite halter tops. The red one I thought, the one with all the laces in the back so I could feel his fingers run along my skin while we danced close.

At fifteen, I was still a virgin but that didn’t mean I was completely innocent. Parker was a year older than me and we had definitely done some heavy groping during our serious make-out sessions. I loved the way he kissed me. I loved the way he made my body tingle with the touch of his fingers. I loved the power I felt when I did something that made him moan. The next song came on and I got lost in the lyrics and my imagination.

Let me take you on a trip
Around the world and back
And you won't have to move
You just sit still

I lifted one leg straight out of the water and ran both my hands from the ankle slowly down over my calf and back up. I lowered my leg back under the water and rubbed my foot up along my other calf to my knee. This slow movement caused my thighs to rub together, creating a wonderful friction that went straight to my center.

Now let your mind do the walking
And let my body do the talking
Let me show you the world in my eyes

My hands disappeared under the water and began languorous strokes on my stomach. They moved to the music up to my breasts and my nipples pebbled under my touch.

I'll take you to the highest mountain
To the depths of the deepest sea
We won't need a map, believe me

As one hand ran circles around a nipple, my other hand traveled south to take care of the pressure building between my legs. A knock on the door startled me out of my fantasy. My eyes snapped open and water splashed over the tub when I jerked my hands off of my body. William poked his head in.

“Elizabeth, I’m sorry for interrupting you, but I need to talk to you.” He entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. My cheeks were flushed and I was breathing heavy from what I was just doing. I hoped Will thought it was because he scared me, as he walked further into the bathroom. “You pilfered one of my CD’s I hear. Hand me the cloth, I’ll wash your back.”

I grabbed the cloth and handed it to him. Still breathing heavy though he didn’t seem to notice, I hugged my knees to my chest and leaned forward. He squeezed some bath gel on the cloth and began washing my back.

Now let my body do the moving
And let my hands do the soothing
Let me show you the world in my eyes

That's all there is
Nothing more than you can feel now
That's all there is

Will ran his cloth-covered hand up and down my back in silence while he gathered his thoughts. The music in the background played and my body was still humming. I closed my eyes and for a moment my fantasy returned. Suddenly, I was swaying in the club wearing my red halter and Parker’s fingers lightly ran over my skin. When Will’s hand went lower under the water, the sensations became too much.

That's all there is
Nothing more than you can touch now
That's all there is
Let me show you the world in my eyes

A shiver ran through my body as the music and his touch overwhelmed my senses. My mouth parted and my tongue darted out to lick my lips. As an unfettered sigh escaped me, the silence was broken.

“I hadn’t even realized that mom had been away for so long. We’ve been spending so much time getting the attic in shape I hadn’t even noticed.” Will began, oblivious to the situation I was in. “We need to keep the twins lives as normal as possible. I want to do something for Halloween.”

“What do you want to do?” I asked. As the conversation shifted to the twins, the tension in the air around me lifted, as William became my brother again.

“I don’t know, but I think we should try to get costumes for them and we need to add a lot of chocolate to the shopping list but we have to make sure Adam doesn’t let the twins know about it. Since we can’t go out, maybe we can do a haunted house or something in the attic”

“What about ghost stories? We can dress up and eat chocolate and you can tell some stories to scare the pants off of the twins. They’d probably love that.”

“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea. You work on the food and I’ll work on the stories. Maybe we can find costumes in the attic or you can get Adam to buy something. If Connor wants to be a pirate this year, I’m going to make sure he is one.”

“Resolute guardian, you are. You’re sweet William. You’re so protective of us all. We’ll do it and they will remember this as the best Halloween they’ve ever had despite being stuck here.” I reached up and took his hand. He gave mine a light squeeze. “Do you think we’ll see mom before Halloween? She has to know this is an important time for Dawn and Connor.”

“I’m sure we’ll see her soon Elizabeth. She’s probably making headway with Ethan and just doesn’t want to spoil it. I know she’ll come. She loves us and she won’t stay away much longer.” William was not only protective of his siblings. His love for mother was unwavering despite the doubts the rest of us had. “Get back to your bath. Adam will be coming soon with dinner.” With that, he was gone.

Chapter Six

The rest of the month of October was spent preparing for Halloween.

At night, after the twins went to bed, Will and I would sneak back up to the attic to rummage through the old trunks and wardrobes looking for things that could be used for costumes. For Dawn, we had found a little girl’s ball gown of pink and white taffeta with lots of crinoline and a small tiara for her head. Some ballet slippers for her feet and a star wand made from tinfoil topped off the perfect princess costume.

Connor would get to be a pirate this year after all. Will had found a pair of ladies pants that were black satin and wide legged. With some scissors, I cut the legs to make them shorter and jagged at the ends. To make the waist fit his small body, we decided an old black and white striped tie would work well as a belt. A white puffy shirt was in one of the wardrobes and a red Christmas napkin would make a good skullcap. To top off the costume, I made a tinfoil sword. We decided to put an eye patch on the shopping list to complete the pirate look.

Will obviously never got the leather duster out of his mind since the time he saw it that first week we came to the attic. He went straight for it and put it on. It fit him as if it was custom made just for him. While modeling it for me, he told me to add vampire teeth to the shopping list. I found a red hooded cape, a white apron and a picnic basket for myself. Little Red Riding Hood it was.

With the costumes figured out, now Will and I had to think about entertainment. We added lots of different candy to the shopping list along with some other foods for games. Deciding on peeled grapes for eyeballs, cooked spaghetti for intestines and a big cauliflower head for brains, these items were going to be used to gross out the twins. We also decided that bobbing for apples was an easy Halloween activity to pull off in the attic. Using some old Halloween decorations and the arts and crafts supplies, we were also able to come up with pin the tail on the black cat and create your own jack-o-lantern.

The evening would end with the ghost stories. William worked hard each day on the stories. He would write all day long, but refused to give any of us a hint as to the tales he was creating. For the twins it was supposed to be a surprise, so they thought he was just writing some of his bad poetry. But he wouldn’t even let me read any of it, telling me that the stories were as much a gift for me as they were for the twins. William and I found some old dark blankets that we could hang from the rafters in order to make a backdrop for William’s story telling, along with a silver candelabra to place on the table next to him which would be the only light provided while he read.

With some additional decorations to be placed strategically around the attic, I actually had a lot of hope for this year’s Halloween. I thought Will and I did a pretty good job in our planning and that the twins would be happy with the evening. Surprisingly, Adam helped us out too. He was very careful about not letting the twins know about the extras from the shopping list, boiled the spaghetti and cauliflower and peeled the grapes without us even having to say anything, and he even threw in a tape of scary music that we didn’t ask for.

With only one day left until Halloween, Will and I prepared for the games and did as much as we could to get the attic ready without the twins knowing.

We still had not heard from mother.

************************************************

Halloween was finally here. William and I were set to put our plan into motion. The day started off as any other day with us waking at 8:00AM to be ready in time for the 9:00AM serving of breakfast. The four of us stood showered and clothed in front of the window waiting for Adam to arrive with the meal of the day. Promptly at 9:00AM, the door opened to reveal not Adam, but Grandmother.

Wheeling in the large room service cart, Grandmother placed it in the middle of the room and then turned to us with a stern look. “As you know, tonight is Halloween. We will be holding a costume ball here with many prominent guests from in and around Sunnydale. This is an important night at Rayne Manor so I want to make myself clear that you are not to do anything that will make yourselves known. I do not want to hear a peep out of any of you. Not a whisper. Also, I am going to light up the entire house so you will not need to worry about the lights in this room, but I do not want to hear anything about strange lights coming from the attic. You will stay out of there tonight, do you understand?”

My head quickly spun around to William. There was no way we could stay out of the attic tonight. All of our weeks of planning down the drain all because of grandmother’s stupid ball. Where was mother in all this? Not that she knew anything about what we were doing for the twins, but surely she would have protested this. I saw the nerve in William’s cheek twitch and my jaw dropped open when I heard him respond, “Yes, we understand.”

“What?” It came out of my mouth without me realizing it.

William turned his head to me and shook his head. “Not now, Elizabeth.” I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he had something in mind. I quickly dropped my eyes to the floor and let it go.

Grandmother watched the exchange between us with interest. A slow smirk formed on her face. “Good. I’m glad we understand each other, William. It’s nice to see you have your sister under control.” William and Drusilla stared at each other in silence for a moment. I could see the hatred dripping from his eyes. Drusilla broke eye contact first by flinging her head back in a wicked laugh. “You do amuse me so, William, so like your father. I cannot wait to have the pleasure of teaching you a good lesson.” She quickly turned and left the room.

The twins went to the food as soon as she was gone, unaware of what the importance of going into the attic was tonight anyway. William just stood and stared at the door. “Will, what are you thinking?” I asked as I moved closer to him and took his hand in my own to shake him out of his thoughts.

“That she’s a crazy old bitch.” He whispered to me so only I could hear, while he still stared at the door. William then looked at me and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. We are still doing things as planned.”

“But, Will…”

“No, buts, Elizabeth. We are making tonight special for the twins despite grandmother’s battiness. I’ll put blankets up over the windows today while I’m doing the other things that still need to be done. Besides, we were going to be mostly in candlelight tonight anyway. You just keep the twins down here as planned until you give them their costumes before dinner. Make sure they are up in the attic at 6:30 so the fun can begin.”

“I know the plan William. But what if grandmother comes back with dinner and sees the twins in costume? What if Adam has already told her of our plans?”

“I don’t think he has. She would have loved spilling that at breakfast just so she could see Dawn and Connor’s disappointment. And she’s not going to come back for dinner; she has a ball to get ready for,” he said with such sarcasm. “I’m sure this will still work.”

“Ok, fine. I guess you’re right.”

“You know I am. Now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Chapter Seven

“I’m bored. Why can’t we go into the attic? Grandmother said we just couldn’t go up tonight.” Connor complained close to three o’clock.

“And what’s Will doing up there? He’s been going up and down all day and he’s making all kinds of noise. It sounds like he’s hammering something. “ Dawn interjected.

“Don’t worry about what Will’s doing. He’s just doing some rearranging up there. And since he’s doing that, we’re staying out of his way. Why don’t we play a card game? Crazy eights or slap jack?” I asked trying to keep them distracted for a few more hours. Will had been making some weird noises up there and I was actually surprised the twins lasted this long without saying anything. Only a few more hours, I could handle that. Right?

“I say crazy eights. Connor slaps too hard.”

“Wimp,” Connor mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for his sister to hear.

“Hey! I’m not a wimp.” Dawn cried. “Elizabeth, Connor is being mean.”

“Stop it, both of you! I know you’re both cranky from being cooped up in this room all day, but just give it a rest ok. Once Will is done, we’ll find something more exciting to do.” I pleaded.

“Some Halloween this is. This stinks! We should be getting ready to go trick or treating soon.” Connor pouted.

“Maybe mom will come to take us to the ball, Connor. If it’s a costume ball, no one will know it’s us.” My heart broke for Dawn. I didn’t know what was worse; her thinking mother would show up tonight or the fact that she was resigned to being kept a secret.

Just then, the attic door opened and William poked his head out. “Elizabeth, can I talk to you for a minute?”

I passed the shuffled cards to Dawn to deal and walked over to the door. He grabbed my wrist to bring me into the stairway and closed the door behind me. “How am I supposed to get the water for the apples? I need to fill the bin.”

“Just go into the bathroom and fill it from the tub. They think you’re rearranging furniture, just tell them you’re cleaning the floor where you moved something. They’re getting cranky though, fighting and talking about mom coming to take them to the ball. Maybe we should just tell them now before they get more depressed.”

“No, it’s not much longer. Once I get this tub filled, I need to set up the food from the fridge and do some last minute changes on my story. Just keep them occupied for a couple more hours. If you need to, you can give them the costumes a little earlier but don’t let them come up until after dinner. “

“Ok, fine. I just hope I can do it. “

“I know you can.” Will placed a kiss on my forehead and opened the door. The twins were in the middle of a game of crazy eights so I took the opportunity to set the food from the fridge on the steps hoping they wouldn’t notice. Since they were preoccupied with the game and what Will was doing, I think I got away with it.

“Will, what are you doing?” Dawn piped up.

“I’m cleaning up a little.”

“Why? I liked it the way it was.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m making it better.”

“Aren’t you going to spend any time with us today? It is Halloween.”

“Yes, I am. I’m almost done up there. I’ll see you later. Just don’t worry about it and mind your sister.” With that, he walked back through the doorway leading to the attic, careful not to spill any water from the tub, mouthing a thank you to me when he saw the food on the stairs as I closed the door behind him.

*************************************************

After several games of crazy eights and slapjack, with the back of my hand red from Connor’s enthusiasm, 5:00pm finally rolled around. Mid-way through Dawn’s deal for another round of cards, I stopped her. “Guys, Will and I have a surprise for you under the beds.”

“What is it?” Dawn asked. “Is it something for Halloween? Is that why Will’s been gone all day?”

“Just go look under your beds. I’m not giving anything away.” Even as I said this, Connor was already pulling out the box from under his bed and ripping off the cover.

“Oh cool,” he said as he pulled out the sword and the eye-patch. It didn’t take long for Dawn to scramble over to pull out her box once Connor made his discovery. “Oh, Bethy it’s beautiful. Put it on my head please,” she begged as she pulled out the tiara. “I can’t believe you did this, it’s wonderful.”

“Did you really think Will and I would let you down on Halloween? Now, come on, let’s get ready. We have to get you both into your costumes and then we’ll need to make up your face. I think a brave pirate needs a scar and a fairy godmother needs some glitter. Plus, I need to get dressed too.” I said while I helped take out the rest of the clothes from the boxes and laid them out on the bed.

“You’re getting dressed too? What about Will? Is he dressing up?” Connor asked as he pulled off his jeans to get into the pirate pants.

“Of course he is, but it’s a surprise. Now stop asking questions and let’s get dressed. We need to be finished by the time dinner comes. We’ll eat and then we’re heading into the attic.”

I heard Dawn gasp and Connor stopped pulling on his pants. “We’re going into the attic? But grandmother said not to go up there tonight. I don’t want to get punished.” Dawn said with a scared look on her face.

“Oh, Dawnie. “ I said sympathetically looking at her with sad eyes. I hated that she was so scared. The fear in her eyes just brought to the forefront the horrible position we were in. “I promise you won’t get punished. Will covered up the windows so no one will be able to see. Besides, Grandmother will be busy with the ball tonight. She won’t give us a second thought. We shouldn’t let her ruin our Halloween.” Seemingly satisfied with my answer, the twins turned their attention back to their costumes.

For the next forty minutes, I helped the twins get dressed and applied some makeup. Dawn’s gown fit her almost perfectly. The only problem was that it was a little too short since she was tall for her age. I did up her face with some of my makeup and put some body glitter on her arms, chest and face. I even tried to get creative, making a pretty design in glitter and blue eyeliner extending from the side of her right eye. I think it came out pretty well.

For Connor, the striped tie worked out well as the belt because as we suspected the black pants were very big for him. Once I got the eye patch on and the skullcap settled, I put some heavy black eyeliner under his exposed eye much like Jack Sparrow and then drew a jagged scar coming out from under the eye patch with some eyeliner as well. He looked very menacing when I finished.

Once they were done with their costumes, I went into the bathroom to get into mine. I had a little red sundress that I put on and then the white apron over it. I put on some makeup, put my hair up in pigtails and then donned the cloak. I was done quickly and made it back out to the main room with a few minutes to spare before dinner. When I stepped out, I did a twirl for the twins to let them admire my costume. Connor laughed but Dawn told me I looked very nice.

Promptly at six, the door opened, thankfully revealing Adam. “I see you’re all set for your night. You look good in your costumes,” Adam said as he leaned over to pinch Connor’s nose. I couldn’t believe the change in the man, usually so reserved and silent, now actually being friendly. Maybe it was his resemblance to Frankenstein that made Halloween his favorite holiday or something. “I took the liberty of picking up something for you both.” From under the service cart, he withdrew a plastic scabbard that wrapped around the waist and held a plastic curved sword with an elaborate gold handle at the end, and a sequined wand leading to a star with different colored sequins and ribbons hanging from it to replace the ones I had made from tinfoil. He handed them to the twins and patted them each on the head. “Have fun tonight.”

Before he could close the door, I went up to stop him. “Thank you.” I said sincerely looking him straight in the eye. He looked at me softly, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t place, and gave a quick nod. Without saying a word, he was gone.

When I turned back, the twins had already dived into dinner. Adam had kept tonight’s meal simple and light by supplying us with sandwiches and some fruit. I wrapped up Will’s and put his in the fridge for later. The twins tried to eat fast but I told them to slow down. We couldn’t go up until 6:30 anyway and I didn’t want them getting sick from eating too fast and putting a damper on the rest of the night.

**********************************************

Six-thirty finally arrived. The twins were excited with anticipation as I opened the door to the attic and started up before them. When I got to the top of the staircase, I couldn’t believe my eyes. William had done such a good job transforming the attic that even I was amazed.

Thick black blankets covered the windows, ensuring that no light got out, but also that none got in. He set up candles and lanterns strategically around the different activity areas, which gave the whole attic an eerie glow. Artificial cobwebs were hung in the rafters along with various decorations of ghosts, witches and skeletons. “Cool.” I heard Connor whisper under his breath as he took a look around the attic.

From behind one of the hanging blankets emerged William. My jaw dropped when I saw him as his usually shaggy, wavy hair was slicked back to reveal his structured face. He was not wearing his glasses which brought out his piercing blue eyes. On top of that, I think he was wearing eyeliner. He was dressed head to toe in black and draped upon his lean body was the leather duster he had found all those weeks back in one of the attic wardrobes. He caught my eye and winked just before he grinned with his plastic vampire teeth at Dawn and Connor.

“Good evening and welcome to my castle. My name is William the Bloody. Please won’t you join me for the festivities of All Hallows Eve?” William said this in a horrible accent meant to sound like Dracula, but was made worse due to the lisp he developed because of the teeth. Dawn couldn’t hold back her giggle, which sent me into my own hysterics. “I’m trying to set a mood here people! Work with me!” he huffed with an eye roll, still with the lisp but losing the accent.

Connor saved him by getting into the Halloween spirit. He raised his sword to William’s chest and introduced himself in his best pirate voice. “Aye, me name is Jack Sparrow. Show me to yer treasures.” William looked down at the point of the sword with a raised eyebrow and then at me with a smirk.

“Right this way then.” He said as he swept his arm towards the table with the create-your-own pumpkin material on it, again with the bad accent. As Connor and Dawn skittered quickly to the table, William grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. “Are you making fun of my accent?”

I turned my head to look at him with a look of disdain, “Who do you think you are now, the big bad wolf?” I asked playfully.

“Careful, I have these fangs now. All the better to bite you with, Little Red.” He moved his hand from around my waist to sweep a pigtail to the side. He lowered his mouth to my neck and bit me softly.

I elbowed him in the stomach and turned around completely. “Stop fooling around. You did a great job on the attic. It looks fantastic, but your accent is horrible, and you know it.” He had that famous Summers’ pout on his face, which looked absolutely adorable with the fangs. “Stop pouting. You know that doesn’t work on me since I can do it too. Now come on, let’s go make this a night the twins won’t forget.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the table.

Chapter Eight

After Connor and Dawn made two pumpkins each and Will and I made one, we moved on to pin the tail on the black cat. Will had made prizes for the twins for whoever got the closest to where the tail should actually go. Then it was off to bob for apples and feeling the various parts of the human body. We were all having a very fun time, laughing and joking and stuffing ourselves with chocolate. At 8:30, Will decided it was story time.

Will led the three of us over to the area set up for the story telling. He took a seat in the chair and lit the three candles in the candelabra. Dawn, Connor and I sat down on the mattress in front of him. The twins stretched out on their stomachs with their heads held in their hands looking up at Will with wide eyes. I sat back a little Indian style so I could see both the twins reactions and Will at the same time. Will turned on the tape of scary music and earned a snicker when he took out his fangs before starting the story.

“Buffy…” Both Connor and Dawn burst into giggles at the name, while turning to look at me. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, annoyed that William would use the nickname.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” William asked the twins, a little annoyed at their outburst himself.

“Yeah, yeah, go on. It’s just that Buffy is a funny name.” Dawn replied getting her giggles under control and lightly slapping Connor to get him to stop too. Once there was quiet, William began again.

“Buffy followed the sound of a little girl singing through the dark hallways. Though she walked through a maze of walls, the voice never seemed to get closer but continued its eerie chant.

“Can't even shout
Can't even cry
The Gentlemen are coming by
Looking in windows
Knocking on doors
They need to take seven
And they might take yours
Can't call to mom
Can't say a word
You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard

“At the end of the verse, Buffy turned a corner and saw a little blonde girl, still humming the tune, standing with a delicately carved box in her hands. The little girl’s face turned gruesome and pale with an evil smile full of teeth as the box started to open.

“Before the box could open completely to reveal what lie hidden inside, Buffy awoke to find herself alone in her room. It was only a dream, but Buffy knew it wasn’t an ordinary dream. For Buffy was the Vampire Slayer. In every generation a slayer is born. She was the one girl chosen in all the world, born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of evil. She knew that this dream was prophetic.”

Connor whispered over to me during William’s dramatic pause. “What’s prophetic mean?”

I laughed a little and looked at Will who was the one to roll his eyes this time. “It’s sort of like a vision of something to come in the future.”

Connor nodded his head and then turned back to William. “Sorry,” he whispered. William began the story again.

“Since it was almost time for school anyway, Buffy got up and planned to go see her Watcher before class to discuss her dream. Her Watcher’s name was Merrick and he was the school librarian. A Watcher was like a trainer, he helped the slayer with her fighting skills as well as researching information about the current monster she was facing.

“Merrick repeated the lines from the dream back to her. ‘Can't even shout, can’t even cry. The Gentlemen are coming by. Hmm, it sounds vaguely familiar. You're sure it's nothing you heard when you were a child?’

‘No, I don’t think so. It didn’t sound familiar.’ Buffy replied.

‘Well it could definitely be one of your slayer dreams or it could just be the eternal mystery that is your brain. But I'll check it out and let you know if I find something.’ Merrick dismissed Buffy to her classes and went to work researching in his books. ‘They need to take seven... take seven what?’ he mused.

“Once school was over, Buffy checked in with Merrick who hadn’t gotten anywhere on finding out who the Gentlemen were. She decided to go ask the one demon she was on speaking terms with.

“William the Bloody, also known as Spike for his fondness of killing people by driving railroad spikes through their skulls, was an evil vampire who had tried to kill Buffy in the past. Spike had already killed two slayers in his one hundred plus year lifetime and had come to the town of Sunnydale looking to make Buffy his third; however, she proved a worthy adversary and though they fought often, neither could kill the other.

“Reluctantly, he started to help the slayer after she took down the government organization that captured him and put a behavior modification chip in his head, which left him unable to hurt humans. Now, Spike helped Buffy in order to keep some sort of violence in his life as the chip was never removed from his brain. The way Spike saw it, fighting was fighting; he didn’t care if his opponent was human or demon. He just wanted to get in the action.

‘Have you heard of a group called The Gentlemen?’ Buffy asked Spike when she entered the crypt he called home.

‘Dunno.’

‘You certain?’

‘No. I’m out of wheat thins. Go to the store and get me some more. It’s still light out.’

‘I thought vampires were supposed to eat blood.’

‘Yeah, well sometimes I like to crumble up the wheat thins in the blood - gives it a little texture.’

‘That’s disgusting. I’m not getting you wheat thins for that. Keep your ears open for anything about The Gentleman. I may need your help later.’

‘Sure thing, Slayer. Though my ears may be more open if I had some wheat thins.’

‘Whatever.’ Buffy said to the annoying vampire before closing the door and heading back out through the cemetery.”

I laughed inwardly at this whole exchange. It was clear that Buffy and Spike were based on me and Will, considering this bit of teasing was similar to our own bantering. Also in typical Will fashion, he made Spike full of contradictions – I loved how the vampire was evil but turned to good because he would miss the violence, just as I loved that Will was a poetry-writing geek with a penchant for punk music.

“The clock tower in the middle of town struck midnight. Inside the tower, pale grayish hands opened an ornate box among a cluster of whispers. When the box opened, people all around Sunnydale opened their mouths and a white mist escaped from their bodies out their windows.

“The mist traveled over the town to the clock tower and entered the ornate box, which the pale hand closed in a smooth fluid motion. The hand belonged to one of The Gentleman. His face was grayish white with silver teeth, which were fixed in a horrid perpetual grin. His white eyes were drawn back into tight skin over a bald skull with a hooked nose. It was the same face that appeared in Buffy's dream.”

William paused dramatically to let this new development in the story sink in for the twins. I could tell that they were both enjoying it by the looks on their faces. I watched as Dawn wrinkled her nose and Connor gritted his teeth at the gruesome description of what the Gentleman looked like.

Letting Will’s voice lull me to contentment, I listened as Will described the town’s reaction to being speechless when they woke the next day, the introduction of Cordelia as the slayer’s cheerleader friend and Buffy and Spike keeping order among the silent streets. Will shifted forward a little as he began to tell of the sordid activities that his imaginative monsters were up to.

“The clock tower read 1:50am when six Gentlemen dressed in black suits glided out the door. Without moving their legs, they floated gracefully through the air about four inches off the ground. The Gentleman split into three pairs, each pair followed by henchmen wearing untied straight-jackets and bandages wrapped around their pinkish heads. One pair waved goodbye with slow, barely perceptible hand movements to walk toward the Sunnydale University campus.

“In the dorms, the Gentlemen floated passed room 217, then 215. One waggled his long bony finger and shook his head just enough to let his companion know they hadn’t found their victim yet. They passed rooms 214, 212 but it still wasn’t right. Arriving at room 208, one of the demons looked to his companion with the evil grin still plastered on his face and nodded. This was the room they wanted so their lackeys knocked on the door.

“Inside the room, a sleeping college student awakened to the knock and opened the door. He was immediately grabbed by the two henchmen and held down on his bed as he struggled against them. He tried to scream for help again and again, but his voice had been taken. No one could hear his cries for help as one of the Gentlemen removed a scalpel from the inside of his suit jacket and lowered it to the boy’s chest right above his heart. The boy’s eyes bulged against the pain and his mouth opened in a silent scream as the scalpel drew blood when it cut into his flesh.”

Upon hearing about this ghastly execution, I wondered what Will was thinking when he wrote this. The twins would never be able to sleep tonight with this image in their head, which meant we wouldn’t get any sleep either. Hell, it might even last a few nights with Dawn and Connor’s overactive imagination, leaving us to check under the beds every five minutes.

Will explained how Spike had seen one of the Gentlemen and it reminded Merrick of something from a fairy tale. The music began a dizzying beat which brought to mind witches and demons dancing around a bonfire during a full moon and I wondered if he planned it since it was perfect for the scene Will described next.

“Buffy, Spike and Cordelia sat around the library where Merrick was setting up an overhead projector. He cracked his knuckles right before he started the slideshow.

‘Who are The Gentlemen?’

‘They are fairy tale monsters.’

‘What do they want?’

‘Hearts.’

‘They come to a town.’

‘They steal all the voices so no one can scream.’

‘Then…’

“Merrick held up his index finger. The next transparency showed a picture of one of the Gentlemen over a person in bed. He was holding a knife, the person's chest was red as if stained with blood and there was more dripping onto floor.

“Merrick switched to the next picture. It showed The Gentlemen holding a heart over the person in bed. An enormous amount of blood was on the boy’s chest, bed and floor. Buffy and Cordelia exchanged disturbed looks.

‘They need seven hearts, they have at least two.’

“Spike held up a piece of paper. ‘How do we kill them?’

‘In the tales, no sword can kill them,’

‘But the princess screamed once... and they all died.’

“Cordelia dug a CD out of her purse and held it up, then put her hands over her ears and acted out a painful death scene. She smiled. Merrick shook his head and changed the transparency.

‘Only a real human voice can kill them.’

“Buffy held up her hand and wrote: ‘How do I get my voice back?’

“Merrick threw his hands out to his sides. He didn’t know”

Will finished up the story with a big fight scene between Buffy, Spike and the henchman in the clock tower. His face was animated as he described the spinning kicks and punches the heroes were throwing at the bad guys. I could tell he was having as much fun with this as the twins. Connor’s body was weaving as if he was the one in the fight, while Dawn clutched at the sheets on the mattress out of anticipation.

“Buffy saw the table with the canning jars containing the bloodied hearts and noticed the box from her dreams in the middle of the jars. Only two jars were empty. Distracted by this site, two henchmen grabbed her, while a Gentleman floated up to stab her with a scalpel from behind. Smelling her blood, Spike turned to see Buffy in trouble, but he knew she was resilient.

“Smashing the back of her head into the Gentleman behind her and kicking out her legs to take down the two henchmen at her sides, Buffy broke free. She waved at Spike and eyed the box. Following her gaze, Spike smashed a jar of blue liquid on the table. Once done, he looked up at her smiling. She rolled her eyes while shaking her head, using her hands to mimic opening and closing the box. Understanding her meaning, Spike picked up the box, and smashed it on the table.

“Streams of white mist were released from the box, two of which entered Buffy and Spike’s throats. As soon as she saw the mist return to her body, Buffy screamed as loud as she could. At the sound of her voice, the Gentlemen’s bodies stiffened and they brought their hands to their ears to block out the sound, but it was useless. As Buffy continued to scream, the Gentlemen’s heads exploded like crushed watermelon. A gooey splat sound was heard as parts of the creatures’ heads fell to the floor and stuck to the walls, a split second before the thud of their bodies.

‘Nice going slayer. Now I have demon brains on my boots.’ Spike said.

‘Shut up, Spike.’ Buffy said wiping green gook from her face.

The End.” William said and closed his writing book.

The twins seemed to be in shock, mouths agape, saying nothing, so I began clapping. My applause brought Connor out of his stupor. “That was really gross.”

“Then my work here is done.” William smiled and put his fangs back in his mouth.

Chapter Nine

Soon after the story, we put Connor and Dawn to bed, who were exhausted from the night’s activities in the attic. Just as I expected, they were scared from Will’s story and whined to sleep together until we finally gave up, allowing them to sleep in the same bed as long as they were up and dressed before grandmother came to the room for breakfast. It would not be good for Dru to find out about the bed switch, not so much because of the twins, but because of Will and me. They promised to be up without any hassle in the morning, so we let them snuggle under the covers together.

Once the kids were in bed, Will and I climbed back up to the attic. We cleaned up some areas of the Halloween stations that we thought couldn’t wait until tomorrow and made sure all the candles were out. Will removed one of the blankets from the windows so we could watch what was going on outside while we sat in the dark with me leaning against his chest in one of the big windowsills.

From where we sat, we had a perfect view of the circular driveway. It was a little past ten so there was a lot of activity. The late arrivers were pulling up in their Porsches and BMWs, while the older crowd retired early into their Rolls Royces. We watched the people come and go, dressed up in a variety of costumes. There was a Rhett and Scarlet, a Raggedy Anne and Andy, a sheik and his harem girl and a Bonnie and Clyde. The costumes were elaborate, obviously not of the handmade variety that we wore here in the attic.

The Rayne’s must have invited just about every influential person in town. People were milling around outside for another two hours – sipping champagne, smoking cigarettes, stealing kisses. At some time just after midnight, I felt Will tense up behind me. I looked back at him and then followed his gaze to the woman dressed as Cleopatra near the fountain. She was beautiful in a long white flowing gown with a wide golden belt that hung down to her feet in the front. There was a thick gold necklace around her neck, while a band of gold beads circled around her head and intertwined in her straight black hair. Her lips were painted a bright red and her eyes were smoky, outlined in dark black eyeliner.

It was when I looked at her eyes that I knew why Will had tensed. This beautiful woman dressed as Cleopatra was our mother. The mother we hadn’t seen in more than a month. She looked so healthy and alive, her eyes shining with happiness. I guess her reintroduction into Sunnydale society had gone well. Will’s grip tightened a little bit more on my waist as we watched a man dressed as a Roman soldier, presumably Marc Antony, walk towards her. My mother’s grin became wider as he touched her cheek and brought his lips slowly down to hers. They shared a tender, tentative kiss, maybe the first they ever had together. It was over quickly as the soldier pulled away from mother with a shy smile, while his hand lingered a little longer on her cheek. The moment ended when a valet drove up in a blue Bentley and handed him the keys. He drove away while mother stood still staring after him with a look of infatuation on her face.

Will and I both noticed grandmother dressed as a nun watching the scene unfold with a small smirk on her face. Dru imperceptibly turned her head up towards the dark attic window almost as if she knew we were watching the activity below. Her smirk turned a bit more sadistic before she walked back into the house.

We had been sitting quietly together for over two hours, but I had to break the silence after witnessing that little scene between mother and the mystery man. “I guess we know why mom hasn’t been up to see us lately.” My voice was full of venom as I turned to look at William.

He stood up abruptly, pushing me off from against his chest. “Shut up, Elizabeth. I don’t want to talk about it.” With that he left me standing alone in the attic as he stormed down the stairs back to the bedroom.

After he had left the attic in a huff upon seeing mother with the Roman soldier, I gave him some time to cool off. Why he was taking his anger out on me, I couldn’t understand. I remained in the attic for a half hour more watching the people continue to leave the party. I never saw grandmother or mother again. When I finally left the attic, I made my way downstairs into my bed. Since Dawn and Connor were sleeping together due to our earlier adventures, William was sleeping there. His back was turned away from me and he was as far away as he could get to the middle of the bed. I figured this was because he was still mad from earlier. I had a feeling that he was just feigning sleep, but I decided not to push it. I laid down next to him, my back to him as well. I had stayed awake a while longer thinking about what we had seen, and I really did want to talk to him about it. Eventually, sleep took over.

********************************************

I woke up the next morning with an arm wrapped around my waist. Sometime during the night, William must have unintentionally moved closer to me. He was spooned up against my back and I could feel every inch of his body through our cotton pajamas. His erection was pressed to my backside and I could feel his warm breath tickle my neck. I guessed this was why one of grandmother’s rules was that we couldn’t sleep in the same bed.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was only seven. Breakfast wouldn’t be served for another couple of hours, which meant we were still safe. A flash of shame passed through my mind when I thought that I was comfortable like this, sleeping in my brother’s embrace. I was upset last night when William yelled at me. It wasn’t fair. Mother was the one who hurt him, not me. We should have been comforting each other like we did during our father’s death, not pushing each other away. Well, I wasn’t the one pushing him away; he was the one doing that. So I shoved the grandmother-induced shame to the back of my head and relished in the comfort that his closeness gave me, even if he was unaware of it. Mother had some serious explaining to do next time we saw her.

Whenever that would be.

I stayed like that for a while, thinking about mother and getting more and more upset. I knew eventually I would have to approach William about it. We had to talk about it but he always took her side. That made me even angrier. Suddenly, I felt Will begin to stir and I froze. The hand that was around my waist began to move, sliding underneath my pajama top and onto my bare skin. His hips pushed forward and his erection rubbed firmly against my behind. He let out a low moan as he nuzzled his head deeper into my neck. Ok, this was getting a little ookie.

When his hand started to move further up my stomach toward my breast, I snapped out of my daze. I elbowed him in the stomach hard and he woke with a start. “Ow! What was that for?” He asked, looking down at me with a pissed off expression. Realizing his hand was under my shirt, he quickly snatched it away and looked down, embarrassed. Unable to meet my gaze, he mumbled, “Sorry, was dreamin’.” He got up with red cheeks and practically ran to the bathroom. I heard the shower start. Great, now he was mad and embarrassed. I sighed as I rolled over on my back and flung my arm over my eyes.

Chapter Ten

Everyone was up and dressed by the time grandmother came with breakfast. William still couldn’t meet my eyes and he went upstairs to the attic immediately after breakfast to do the remaining clean up, though I think it was really just to avoid me for as long as he could. We had hardly talked throughout the day since he was upstairs, while the twins and I stayed downstairs sifting through candy and playing cards.

It was just before dinner when Will finally returned from the attic. He looked to the bed where we were all gathered. “All cleaned up and back to normal,” he said to the three of us and then walked into the bathroom to wash up. As he stood at the sink washing his hands, I entered the bathroom and shut the door.

“William, I can’t stand this silent treatment. And I don’t know if it’s because you are mad at me for last night or mad at yourself for this morning.” I finally made eye contact with him in the mirror when he looked up.

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth; I didn’t know what I was doing. I was still asleep.” His face looked pained as he talked to me.

“I know you didn’t, William. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

“I’m not embarrassed; I’m ashamed. How could I do that? You’re my sister. God, I’m sick.”

“Will, stop it. You said it yourself. You were asleep, dreaming. You didn’t know it was me and you are sixteen years old. I don’t want you beating yourself up about your body’s normal healthy reactions. It wasn’t a big deal. Just let it go, ok? For me? I can’t stand not being able to talk to you.”

“Yeah, ok,” he sighed, “for you. And I’m not mad at you for last night either. I was just upset at mom. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

I nodded my head in acceptance. “We good?” I asked questioningly,

He nodded in return. “Yeah, we’re good.” He gave me a smile and a little hug. “I don’t mean to hurt you.”

“You don’t. You just need to talk to me, don’t shut me out, please. We only have each other right now.” I pleaded with him. “We are still going to have to talk about mother.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said dejectedly. “We will later. I can’t right now.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise you we’ll talk about it tonight. After the twins go to bed, I don’t think they should know about this.”

My next words were interrupted by the sound of Dawn and Connor’s cries from the other room of “Mommy! Mommy!” I shared an incredulous look with William and then headed for the door. Sure enough, mother was in the middle of a double embrace from a smiling and giggling Dawn and Connor. She looked happy to see them as well, hugging them back and kissing their foreheads. Dawn turned and saw us standing at the bathroom door, “Will, Beth! Look, it’s mommy! She came to see us!” She grinned, breathless with excitement.

Will’s reply stunned me. “Yeah, ‘bit. I knew she would.” Then he ran over to join in the group hug. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just a second ago, he was still mad at her. The twins I could understand, they were younger. They didn’t see what she did last night outside under the light of the moon with her new man. Mom noticed that she was missing a child around her and looked up. Her bright smile dimmed a little when she looked at me, still standing over by the bathroom door with my arms folded in front of me. “Elizabeth? Come see me, I want to hug my girl.” She said it so sweetly, like she really missed me. I crumbled; she was my mother after all.

Joining the circle, we all hugged some more. Then the twins started to fire off questions and comments. “Where have you been?” “Will and Elizabeth made us costumes for last night, I was a pirate!” “How was the ball?” “What did you dress as, mommy? I was a princess.”

“Wait, wait. One at a time.” She laughed pulling us all away and bringing the twins to sit with her on the bed. “Connor, you were a pirate? Jack Sparrow I suppose? I bet you were the bravest pirate around.” She quickly mussed his hair and then turned to Dawn, grabbing her hand. “And you, I bet you were the prettiest princess. I’m glad you had a good Halloween and by the looks of all the candy on the bed, it seems you cleaned up.” She looked at Will and me, “Thank you for giving them something special. I‘m sorry I couldn’t have been here too.” She hugged the twins again and I thought her statement gave me a pretty good opening.

“Why weren’t you here? You know how important Halloween is to Dawn and Connor.” My eyes were hard as I looked at her.

“Elizabeth!” Will grabbed my arm to control my temper.

“It’s ok, William.” Mom said as I shrugged off William’s hand and returned to my previous stance with my arms crossed in front of me. “I couldn’t come. I was getting ready for the ball. I spent a lot of time with my father yesterday, learning the names of the people I was going to meet. I needed to be perfect for my reintroduction into society. I couldn’t let my father down. Last night was very important to him and I had to please him. The good news is I was wonderful. Everything was perfect and my father was so happy with me.” She paused to giggle and hug the twins again. “We are so much closer than we were when we showed up two months ago. Our plan is going to work and then you will be out of this room.”

“And we’ll get to see you everyday again?” Dawn asked.

“Oh, honey. Everyday, I promise. Things are going so well. That’s why I came today. I wanted to let you know how wonderful it was. I wanted to give you hope that things are going the way we planned.” She pulled them in for another tight hug. “We are going to succeed and be together as a family as soon as possible.”

She smiled up at Will, who returned her smile. He walked over to her and sat next to Connor and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “I know we will, mom. You’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you for believing in me, William.” She looked at me with mixed emotions on her face. I could tell she was sad that I doubted her, but I thought I saw a glimpse of contempt in her eyes, as if my defiance was going to ruin her plans. What I thought I saw in her stare was gone in an instant as she smiled brightly again. “Now, tell me about your Halloween.” Our mom was back, listening to the twins tell stories of last night, about bobbing for apples, their costumes, which they put on again to show her, and William’s story of The Gentlemen and the Slayer who stopped them.

Will kept glancing over at me as I stood apart from them. I couldn’t take the hurt look on his face anymore so I went over to join them on the bed. I still wanted answers from my mother, but I could wait until after the twins had enjoyed her presence.

**********************************************************

Mother had stayed the rest of the night and even tucked the twins into bed for the first time in months. We chatted quietly about inconsequential topics until we were sure they were asleep. Once Connor began his light snoring, we knew it was safe to bring up more serious issues.

Not wasting any time, I went right for the jugular. “Who was that man you kissed last night?”

William flashed me another glare but I knew he wanted to know as much as I did so I ignored him. Mother sighed and then began, “I was hoping you didn’t see that, but I guess I should know better. You two always did like to spy on the adults.” She giggled thinking of the many times dad or her would have to shoo us from our perch on the stairs back up to our rooms during dinner parties.

“Mother, don’t try to distract me from the question.” I said icily.

“Fine, fine. His name is Wesley Wyndham Price. He is a partner at father’s law firm. Father introduced me to him a few weeks ago, but last night was our first official date. He is bright, kind, attractive, and has the most wonderful British accent,” mother explained with a song in her voice.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early for you to start dating again? Dad hasn’t even been dead a year.” I knew my words were harsh and cruel, but I couldn’t help it. She was betraying our father.

“Elizabeth, don’t take that tone with me. I loved your father with all of my heart. You know the main reason for the falling out with my father was because I chose to be with Hank over Ethan’s wishes, so do not act like I’m betraying your father. Hank is dead and he’s not coming back. That’s something you need to get used to.”

Her cruelty was worse than mine. Tears slowly began to leak from my eyes and William was torn between the two women in his life. My tears won out as he came over to me and cradled me to his chest. “You don’t need to be so harsh, mom. Elizabeth loved dad too. You might be over his death, but she’s not. None of us stuck in this room are.”

“William, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it came out. She’s always just so critical of me and my decisions. I’m doing this for you, for all of us. To get back into Ethan’s good graces, I have to do things his way. This is part of it. He always wanted me to marry someone from his firm. The fact that Wesley is a good man is just an added bonus. I will never forget about your father or stop loving him, but he’s gone. I have to move on if we are going to make this work.”

“Does he know about us?” my question was muffled against William’s chest.

“No, I can’t tell him yet. But I will, when the time is right and when we are closer to our goal.” She sounded confident in her resolve. “We are closer now than ever to accomplishing what we want. At this rate, you will definitely be out of this room by Christmas. It’s going well, can’t you see that?” Now she sounded as if she was pleading with us.

“Yes, mom, we can see that. It’s just hard when we don’t hear from you in so long. We don’t know what’s going on or how the plan is going. We don’t know if you still think about us.” William replied.

“Of course, I’m thinking about you. I’m always thinking of you. You’re my babies. You’re the most important people in my life. I’m doing this so we can all be happy again, be a family again.” She came over and embraced us both. “This is going to work. I love you always.” She tightened her arms around us and I heard her sniffle. “I need to go now, but please remember what I’ve said. Things are going to work out.” She gave us both a kiss and left the room.

William and I stood in the middle of the room, him still holding me while my crying subsided. He kissed the top of my head and tightened his grip. “It’ll be alright, Elizabeth. It’s ok that you still miss dad, I do too, but maybe mom’s right. He’s not coming back, maybe we need to start moving on too.”

“I don’t want to move on, I want dad back.” I snuggled deeper into his chest.

“I know, sweetheart, I know.” He rocked me gently for a while until I couldn’t stand anymore. The emotional roller coaster I had been on today exhausted me. William felt the change in my body and gently lifted me up. He brought me over to my bed and tucked me in. “Go to sleep, you’re drained. We can talk more tomorrow. Don’t ever forget that I love you.” I nodded and he kissed my forehead before going over to his own bed.

“Thank you for being my brother, William.” I said softly before he reached his destination.

He smiled and climbed into his bed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter Eleven

The second day of November was raining causing the sky to be grey and overcast. The attic had a gloomy feel to it as we listened to the patter of raindrops against the roof and windows. Still munching on the candy from Halloween, we were making paper leaves in fall colors to hang along with the pumpkins made the other night.

“How come Connor and I weren’t in your story?” Dawn asked suddenly.

“Huh?” Will replied back, confused.

“The people in your story with the Gentlemen were all based on people we know. Buffy, was obviously Elizabeth and you were the vampire, Spike. You had Cordelia as Buffy’s friend, just like Elizabeth’s in real life. Even Mr. Merrick was the watcher, which isn’t really the same as a neighbor, but he did come over to check on us when mom and dad went out.” Dawn could be very perceptive at times, considering she was only eight. “So how come me or Connor weren’t in it?”

“Well, I didn’t need that many characters.” He shrugged. “You want to be in a story?” Will asked.

“Yeah, I think it would be neat. Besides, I liked it. I think if you did another story it would be really good. With Buffy being a slayer, you could come up with all kinds of monsters for her to fight.” Dawn answered getting into it. Connor took much interest in this conversation.

“Me too!” Connor butted in excitedly. “I want to be in a story.”

“Did you think it was good?” Will asked Connor.

“Yeah, I liked it when their heads exploded and when the guy couldn’t scream as they were cutting out his heart. That part was really cool.” I shook my head that Connor was so fascinated by the macabre scene. “I wish I knew what they looked like though. I bet their teeth were nasty with them always smiling.”

“Really? What if I put some pictures to it, like a comic book?” Will seemed excited at the thought of putting something like this together. He rarely shared his other drawings and writings since they were usually about Cecily and everyone made fun of him for those.

“That would be awesome.” Connor said, abandoning his leaves. “I want special powers too, like Buffy’s.”

“Well, you can’t be a Slayer. Only girls are slayers.” Will replied as if that little fact was common knowledge.

“Who says?” Connor asked defiantly.

“I do because I’m the writer. I can make you into something else though. Spike’s got special powers as a vampire; I’ll just come up with something for you too.” I could tell William was already thinking of different ideas.

“I want to be something magical, not a slayer.” Dawn said, snapping Will out of his thoughts.

“Elizabeth, you’re too quiet. What do you think of the slayer and her being based on you?” Will asked a little nervously.

“I thought the story was good, with drawings it could be even better.” I reassured my brother. “Dawn’s right, you could do all kinds of stories just from her being a warrior and I certainly don’t mind being used to spread a little girl power. You can get more into the mythology of being the chosen one you mentioned in this story, you can even do the back story for Spike and the slayer’s past, as well as them taking down the government agency. There’s a lot of potential, especially with these two monkeys chiming in.” I pointed to Dawn and Connor, who both smiled at me.

“You don’t think it’s stupid?” Will asked, still not convinced.

“Of course not, you’re so talented and creative. You have a gift for writing and drawing, you should use them.”

Will was the one now smiling at my words. “Ok then, I’ll do some more stories. I’ll even put some drawings into the last one.”

“Can I help you with the drawings of the Gentlemen? I really think they should have nasty teeth.” Connor supplied.

“Sure, but I get final say. It’s my creative license as head writer and artist.” William said, getting up to find the charcoal pencils and one of his writing books. Connor scrambled up to follow him, as Dawn and I rolled our eyes at the two. Boys and their comic books.

************************************************

Later that night after the twins had gone to sleep, Will and I sat up in the attic. He was showing me the rough sketches that he and Connor had worked on for the Gentlemen, while he talked about different ideas that they had come up with for plots. “You really don’t think this is stupid?” He asked.

“Not at all, in fact, I think it’s a wonderful idea. This is a great project to keep the twins focused on something besides being stuck here. It will keep them distracted from thinking about mom and not being able to live normally. Us too, for that matter.”

“We need to talk about mom.” A muscle in Will’s jaw twitched. “You need to lay off her some.”

“What? Why?” I asked in protest. “You were the one that went rushing out of here the other night pissed off because she was kissing someone. I don’t understand how you can’t want to question her.”

“I know I was pissed the other night, but I was in shock. I never expected to see mom with anyone else besides dad. But I’ve been thinking since she came to visit and I think she’s right. She lost her husband that she loved very much, but she’s not dead, she has a right to continue on with her life.”

“So what, you’re just ok with all this?”

“No, I’m not just ok with it, but I have to learn to accept it and dad’s death. We all do. Elizabeth, we have to trust her. We don’t know what’s going on outside these walls, she does. I have to believe that she’s doing the right thing, that mom knows what’s best. Otherwise, this is all for not and we’ll go crazy in here.”

“Will, I understand what you are saying but I think this whole plan is crazy. I was skeptical about just moving here. Now we are being hidden away, while mom lives it up. She doesn’t know what it’s like for us in here.”

“It’s not so bad, is it? I think we’re doing a good job of making it work.” Will sounded dejected.

“That’s not what I mean, Will, you know you’re doing a great job at making things as normal as possible for the twins, but the truth is, it’s not. We can plan Halloween parties and teach them long division, but it’s not the same as being in school or interacting with kids their own age. “

“We’ve already been here two months. According to mom, she still thinks we’ll be out of here around Christmas. That’s only a few more months, it’s not that long.”

“That’s what she’s saying now, but she also said she would be around more often. Since we got here, she’s only visited us twice and the first time was only a few days after we arrived. I’m just saying that I think her timeline might be off and if it is, just how long are we ok with living like this.”

“It goes back to trusting her, Elizabeth. I’m not saying you can’t question her, but just back off a bit. You put her on the defensive, questioning her motives and doubting her love. If you keep doing that, she may decide it’s better if she just doesn’t come around at all.”

“Fine, fine, you win. I’ll control my temper when she comes around. I’ll ask questions in a calm and reasonable manner. Happy?”

“I’ll be happy when I see it. You are the most stubborn person I know.” Will said playfully looking at me with a smile, but then turned serious. “We are her children. You act like she can just stop caring for us after sixteen years.”

“I know she can’t, but she’s different. I mean last year she was dressing up as Professor McGonagall to bring the twins around the neighborhood for Halloween, this year she didn’t even show up.” I looked at him smugly. “You know, I’m right.”

“Well, she came the day after because she was getting ready for the party beforehand. She was busy working on getting us out of here.”

“Right, the ball.” I said with disdain.

“Yes, the ball.” Will mocked. “I’ll make a bet with you. Your birthday’s coming up in two weeks, the big sixteen. I think she’ll show up. If she does, give her a chance.” He pleaded softly.

I wasn’t going to give in to his puppy-dog eyes so easily. “And if she doesn’t?”

“She will.” He was so sure of her.

“But if she doesn’t?” I challenged.

“I’ll let you loose the next time she comes around after that. No admonishing, no jumping in. You can wag your tongue all you want.” He then stuck his tongue out at me and wiggled it around.

“Hey! Watch where you stick that thing!” I attacked his ribs with my fingers where I knew he was the most ticklish.

“Oh, you don’t want to go there missy.” He said, laughing as he trapped my arms and dove in for his own attack. The sound of our laughter echoed throughout the attic as we spent a carefree moment in a tickle fight, leaving thoughts of mother behind us.

CHAPTER 12

Since William and I had made the bet about mother coming to visit, we didn’t talk about her in the two weeks leading up to my birthday. I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, at least until after the bet was won. I still wasn’t convinced that mom would show up, but William was so sure. It amazed me how much faith he had in her, and I didn’t want to make things strained between us by continuing to harp on the situation.

We tried to keep the twins on a daily routine. Each day after breakfast, we would go into the attic for lessons out of the home schooling books grandmother provided. Will and I would take turns teaching the different subjects of math, history, science and English. We tried to keep the lessons somewhat interesting by using other books and odds and ends we found in the attic, like travel books, a globe and an old chemistry set that included a microscope. After lunch, we would keep them busy by assigning them art projects that related to some of the topics we talked about in the morning. We also had them read a book a week and then write a small report about it, which they presented to us when they finished.

Once it hit two o’clock, Dawn and Connor’s school time was over and they were free to do whatever they wanted. Mostly they played board games or cards with each other. Sometimes they continued on with their art projects or found some other crafts to do from one of the books. At this time, I usually went to practice at the dance bar. I continued a normal routine of stretches and basic ballet steps just to keep in shape and in practice. William had taken to working out with the barbells and doing sit-ups and push-ups every day as well. He had always been thin, but now his body was starting to define itself with small muscles from his daily exercise.

Tales of the slayer also kept us busy at night and on the weekends. Will went through the story from Halloween giving it pictures and reworking some of the storyline, while the rest of us piped in our opinions of what the Gentlemen and their henchman should look like. I knew Will, Dawn and Connor were working on a new story for my birthday and I tried to give them time alone since it was going to be my present this year.

At one such time, I was enjoying a bath while I reflected on my upcoming birthday. Now only two days away, to say this was not how I pictured my sixteenth birthday would be an understatement. This was a big one, the beginning of an important stage of my life. I had always wanted a big party at The Bronze with all of my friends from school and dance class. There would have been a DJ and tons of presents, maybe even a diamond necklace, or better yet, a car from mom and dad to welcome me into adulthood. Parker would declare his undying love for me and we’d make love for the first time after the party, making me a woman.

But those teenage dreams were not going to happen. Instead, I would be stuck in a room with my brothers and sister listening to a story. No friends, no party, no father, not even mom if I was correct. If I got lucky, William would be able to finagle a cake out of Adam.

This sucked. It’s not that I wasn’t grateful for what Will and the twins were doing for me, it’s just that I had always pictured my sixteenth birthday as something special, a day that I would remember as one of the happiest times of my life. William and mother were always talking about sacrifice, but I wanted to be selfish in this matter. I wanted the birthday I had dreamed of for years. I put the washcloth over my eyes and sunk a little deeper into the tub, trying not to get too riled up about it. Maybe life would surprise me.

-------------------------------------------------------

On the morning of my birthday, I woke very early to the twins jumping up and down on my bed singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. William was laughing as I tried to pull the covers up over my head.

“Wake up! Wake up, Elizabeth!” Dawn said excitedly. “It’s your birthday.” She and Connor stopped jumping and snuggled up on either side of me, both giving me big hugs.

“I know. Thank you for reminding me so early in the morning.” I said while hugging them back.

“I think since it’s Beth’s birthday we shouldn’t have to do any schoolwork today.” Connor decided, looking over at William.

“Oh no, you don’t. We’re still doing lessons, only President’s birthdays get people out of school.” William replied. “Besides, the festivities will be left for tonight, but we’ll do some fun stuff today for the birthday girl.”

“Gaarrrr.” Connor groaned.

“Go brush your teeth and get ready for breakfast. No complaining.” Will said while getting out of bed himself. Dawn and Connor scrambled out of the bed and into the bathroom. Will came over and sat on the bed next to me. “Happy Birthday, Bethy.” He leaned over to kiss my cheek. “The big sixteen.”

“Yippee.” I replied sarcastically.

“Come on, Elizabeth. I know this isn’t exactly how you pictured it, but I promise you’ll have a good time. I’ve got a few surprises up my sleeve. I wouldn’t let my girl down.” Will smiled, while brushing his thumb across my cheek. “Do you trust me?”

“Yeah, I trust you.” I smiled back. “I better like these surprises.”

“You just said you trusted me!” Will said, laughing as the twins came screeching back out of the bathroom.

“Get up, Beth. You need to go get ready. Breakfast will be coming soon and we have a lot to do today.” Connor said as he tugged on my hand.

“We’re having Belgian waffles, your favorite.” Dawn supplied.

“Mmm, waffles. I hope someone remembered the whip cream and strawberries.” I said, getting out of bed. Will winked at me as I walked into the bathroom.

*********************************************************

After the waffles, which were complete with whip cream and strawberries, we went up into the attic for Dawn and Connor’s daily lessons. We spent most of the afternoon doing birthday related activities, with the twins making homemade cards and party hats. I assured them they didn’t need to do that, but Dawn insisted that it wasn’t a birthday party unless there were hats.

Will had been going downstairs off and on all day. I suspected he was getting things ready for my ‘party’, but I didn’t say anything. Right before six, Will arrived again to bring us all down to the bedroom. Dawn and Connor were extremely excited and it was sort of contagious, it was my birthday after all.

When we arrived downstairs, I smiled at the transformation of our room. Over the windows was a huge banner that read ‘Happy 16th Birthday Elizabeth!’ in brightly painted colors. There were streamers running from the ceiling fan out to every wall, and balloons were everywhere from the bed posts to the bureaus. Dawn got out the special paper crown she made with my name on it in sparkles and put it on my head, then gave Will and Connor their less elaborate hats before putting on her own.

Right at 6pm, the door opened to let in the most delicious aroma I had smelled in the last two and a half months. Pizza! Since we arrived at Rayne Manor, we hadn’t had delivered pizza, which was a Summers family Friday night tradition. Dinner was always home cooked meals which were good, but not greasy and mouth-watering the way pizza was.

“Oh god, that smells good!” I inhaled the smell of cheese and pepperoni. William moved over to grab the stack of pizzas and put them on the serving table, revealing our mother.

“Happy sixteenth birthday! My baby girl’s all grown up.” With teary eyes, mom rushed over to give me a big hug and kiss. My body taut with shock, I awkwardly hugged her back.

CHAPTER 13

“Mom, you came.” I said while still in the uneasy embrace.

“Of course I came. It’s my baby’s sixteenth birthday. This is a big day in your life.” Mom said pulling away, slightly hurt. “You didn’t think I would?”

“I just, I wasn’t sure. We haven’t seen you in a while and I didn’t know if you’d be able to get away.” I felt guilty for thinking she wouldn’t be here on my birthday so I pulled her more firmly back into the hug. Over mom’s shoulder, I saw William smirking a few feet away with an ‘I told you so’ look on his face.

“Well, believe me I wouldn’t miss this day for anything.” She kissed me again and turned to everyone else. “I brought pizza because I figured you all needed a touch of the outside world. Besides, there’s no better way to celebrate a birthday. I confess that I miss our Friday pizza nights together.” Mom went to hug the rest of her children and then dug into one of the boxes. “I got all kinds – pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and onion and Hawaiian just for you, William. I figured you wouldn’t mind leftovers so I got a lot.”

“No, we don’t mind at all. This is perfect. I didn’t realize how much I missed pizza until I smelled it when you came in the door.” I said grabbing a big slice of pepperoni and shoving it in my mouth.

“Mommy, I made you a hat too.” Dawn said as she went over to give mother her homemade party favor.

“Oh, thank you honey. It’s beautiful. Did you make everyone’s hats?” Mom asked while patting Dawn’s head.

“Well, not just me. Connor helped.” Dawn said as she grabbed a slice of pizza. Connor’s reply was indiscernible since his mouth was full.

“So, what else has been going on? Fill me in.” Mom said as she began on her own slice.

William answered, “Nothing much. Elizabeth and I have been teaching the twins daily lessons to keep up their schooling.”

“We’re learning about Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims and Indians since Thanksgiving is coming up.” Connor piped in between chewing.

“I’ve been working out – I can bench up to 75 pounds, my goal is to get to 100 pounds by Christmas.” William continued.

“That’s actually impressive since he could barely do 50 pounds when we first got here.” I told mom which earned me a smack on the arm from William. “Hey! It’s my birthday, you’re not supposed to hit me.”

“Well then, don’t make fun of my manliness.” William said lightheartedly.

“I see nothing has changed between you two, still teasing each other mercilessly.” Mom said with a laugh.

“We had waffles this morning, Elizabeth’s favorite, and Connor and I helped William write another story.” Dawn stopped talking suddenly and gave Will an alarmed look, before whispering loudly. “Did I just give away our surprise?”

Will laughed, “Don’t worry about it, nibblet. I’m pretty sure Beth already knows, sometimes she can be pretty smart.”

“Hey!” That jibe earned William a smack from me.

“The story from Halloween sounded very creative. I can’t wait to hear what you did this time first hand.” Mom said giving William a supportive smile.

“You’re staying then?” I asked, surprised that she was going to hang around.

“Of course, I told you I wasn’t going to miss your big day. I know it’s not the same as the big party you were probably hoping for this year, but being with your family is the most important thing. I just wish your father was here to share it.” Mom said as her eyes started to tear up.

Trying to dissolve the somber mood that hovered in the room at the mention of dad, William started in quickly, “You should see what we did with the Halloween story. Dawn and Connor gave me the idea to add pictures. We made it into a little comic book.” William got up and retrieved the story from the desk. He walked back and handed it to mother.

As she flipped through the pages, she smiled brightly. “Oh William, did you draw all these? The pictures are wonderful, you’ve really brought the story to life. I’m so proud of you.” She got up and hugged him tightly. “I’m so proud of all of you. I’m happy that you guys are managing so well with the way things are right now. I know it isn’t ideal, but you are really doing a great job at keeping this family together.” Usually, I would have had a few things to say at this point, but I did lose the bet with William since mom showed up today so I held my tongue. Besides, I didn’t feel like picking a fight on my birthday.

Before anyone could say another word, Adam entered the room with a cake full of candles. Mother started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and the twins quickly joined in. William gathered up the pizza boxes and cleared a place on the table for the cake. As Adam left the room, Will told me to blow out the candles and make a wish. I blew them all out on the first try and wished to get out of this room, before cutting into the cake.

“Ooh, ice cream cake. We haven’t had ice cream since we’ve come here either.” I said, handing a piece to Dawnie.

“Even better, it’s Carvel with the chocolate crunchies. I had Adam pick it up special.” Will said as he took over the cutting. “The birthday girl shouldn’t have to do any work.” He said and handed me the next piece. We ate the cake while chatting about inconsequential topics and we were all stuffed by the time we were done.

“I have a couple of presents for you honey. William, do you mind if I give them to her before you start your story?” Mom asked.

“Of course not, mom.” Will said as he came over to me while mom left the room to get the presents. “I told you she’d come.” Will said smugly.

“What can I say? You were right, and she almost seems like our old mother again.” I said turning to him.

“Give her a chance, I know she’s trying.” Will said as he grabbed my hand.

“I will, William, you won the bet after all. Didn’t you notice that I held back after her family diatribe?”

“I did. Thank you.” He said with a smile as he lifted my hand to kiss just as mom came back into the room.

“I hope you like them. I’m pretty sure you will.” Mom said handing me a large square box.

I tore off the pretty red and silver paper to reveal a wicker box. When I lifted the lid, there were all kinds of bath products inside – bubble bath, body lotion, exfoliating gel, bath crystals, soaps and massage oils. They came in all different sizes and scents. It included a few different loofahs, sponges, scrub brushes and bath gloves. I loved it.

“I figured if anyone was taking advantage of the big claw foot tubs in these rooms, it would be you.” Mom said with a smile, not knowing how right she was.

“She’ll get good use out of that. Sometimes she stays in the bath so long, she comes out looking like a prune.” William said earning snickers from Dawn and Connor.

“Thanks, mom. I really do use the bath a lot.” I said blushing.

“I’m glad you like it, but I have one more for you which is much more important.” Mom handed me a smaller black velvet box with a gold bow on it.

I opened the box to find a round silver locket on a thick ornate chain inside. In the center of the locket was a round diamond. Extending around the diamond were flower petals beautifully carved into the silver. Opening the locket, I saw two pictures on the inside. One side was of Mom, Will and the twins, while the other side had one of me and dad. Feeling the etching on the back, I turned it over to read the inscription ‘Happy 16th, With Love Always, Mom.’

“I had it specially made. The diamond is from your dad’s wedding ring. I wanted to give you something to remind you of your father. I know the last time I was here you were upset because you still missed him. This way, you’ll always have his memory close to your heart, even if you have to let him go.”

She wiped away a tear that I didn’t know had fallen from my cheeks. “It’s beautiful.” I whispered as I looked up at her. She hugged me tightly as I cried a little more on her shoulder. With all that had happened over the past few months, I had forgotten how much mom had loved us and how much I had loved her before we came to Rayne Manor.

Gently, she took the locket out of my hands and placed it around my neck before pulling me into a fierce hug. “I love you so much, honey.”

“I love you too.” I said and meant it with all my heart.

CHAPTER 14

Soon after my hug fest with mom, William went to get the story that he wrote for my birthday. Mom and I sat against the headboard of on one of the beds with Dawn snuggled up between us while Connor stretched out at the foot of it. “Ok, this is a new story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as written by myself in collaboration with Dawn and Connor. “ The twins smiled proudly at William and then at me and mom. William sat in the desk chair at the end of the bed and began the story.

“Late one night in a Sunnydale playground, a vampire did a somersault down the slide and onto the ground. Buffy ran down the slide after him, stopping next to him in a ready stance.

“Buffy grinned above him. ‘Wow, that was really funny-looking! Could you do it again?’

”The vampire sneered as he jumped up from the ground and took a swing at her, which she dodged, and came up behind him. He turned towards her just in time to take a roundhouse kick in the shoulder. He took another swing, but the slayer was too quick. She ducked; punching him in the gut then rose to give him two backhand punches in the head. Buffy shoved the vampire back a step so she could follow up with a half-spinning wheel kick, making the vampire stumble onto the merry-go-round. She strode toward him going in for the kill.

‘Okay, so here's the deal.’ Buffy said, while raising her wooden stake.

“Suddenly, she was overcome by dizziness. Buffy closed her eyes and stepped back unsteadily. The vampire seized the opening and rushed her, grabbing her by the jacket in order to throw her to the ground. The vampire jumped on top of her. She turned her head away in fright. He grabbed her right wrist with one hand, and with the other, grabbed her arm and twisted it around, making her cry out in pain. Her stake was now pointed at her own chest.

‘Lemme know if I'm not doing this right.’ the vampire taunted her.

“The slayer’s eyes went wide with terror as she struggled desperately with him. The vampire leaned hard on the stake, slowly pushing it closer to Buffy's chest. She continued to struggle to keep him at bay, but she was losing the battle. In a desperate attempt to get him off of her, she head butted the vampire, which stunned him enough to stop his assault. This bought her enough time to slap him in the face hard and shove him off. He rolled away as Buffy scrambled to get the stake, bracing it against her chest pointing upward minutes before the vampire lunged angrily, landing on top of her impaling himself. He exploded into a cloud of dust. Buffy brushed some of the dust from her jacket and took a few breaths before standing up to compose herself.

“The next morning in the library, Buffy stood by the table concentrating on a target she set up against the railing of the stack level. She raised a knife and threw it. It glanced off the target and clinked as it hit the floor. Merrick arrived with his briefcase and a cup of coffee.

‘Merrick, something's wrong.’ Buffy said worriedly.

‘Wrong?’ Her watcher saw the target with a few knives stuck awkwardly into it. None of them were anywhere near the center. ‘Ah. Perhaps you shouldn't...’ Merrick began when Buffy threw another knife and missed, ‘...do that anymore.’

“Buffy pointed at the target, ‘On top of that, I got a bad case of the dizzies last night and almost let a vamp stake me. With my own stake! Merrick, what's going on here?’

‘Well, perhaps you've got the flu or something.’

‘No. No, I can't get sick. Mom’s going to take me to the ballet. We do it every year for my birthday. If I have to cancel, it's gonna break her heart.’ Buffy whined, knowing she would be more upset than her mother.

‘Well, just take it easy for forty-eight hours. Forego patrolling until you feel yourself again.’

“Buffy picked up a couple more knives from the table. ‘No, I just need to spend a little more time training.’ She threw one. This time it went very wild and broke one of the reading lamps. Though Merrick didn't see it, she knew he heard it when he flinched. ‘I'm gone!’ Buffy said as she turned to leave.

“Elsewhere in Sunnydale, there was an abandoned boardinghouse. Although there were a few wall lamps lit and a fire going in the fireplace, it was obvious that no one had lived there for years. Among the torn furniture was a man bricking shut one of the windows. Quentin Travers, a member of the Watcher's Council, observed his progress as another man came down the stairs.

“The Watcher’s Council was the organization that was in charge of the Slayer line. For centuries, the council kept watcher journals of slayer activities, records of notorious vampires, as well as other demons and books about spells and demon facts. They were also responsible for assigning watchers to individual slayers, training potential slayers and monitoring slayer skills.

‘How much longer, Hobson?’ Travers asked.

‘Five, maybe six hours, sir.’ Hobson replied.

“They slowly walked into the next room. ‘Once you finish, you and Blair can get some rest. But sleep in shifts.’ Travers and Hobson stopped and looked across the room at the tall wooden crate with a heavy lock on it. ‘The Slayer's preparation is nearly complete.’

“The next day after school Merrick was in the library carefully laying out some meditative crystals on the table, while Buffy sat and watched him. ‘I think we should start with the grounding crystal again.’ Merrick set the largest blue crystal in front of Buffy. ‘Now, look very carefully for the tiny flaw at its core.’

“Buffy concentrated on the crystal. At its center was a small stake-shaped flaw in an otherwise nearly clear blue crystal. Faint wind chimes could be heard as Buffy slowly went into a trance. Merrick leaned over the table to look Buffy in the eye. ‘Buffy?’

“Satisfied that she was caught in the crystal's thrall, he retrieved a small leather pouch from his briefcase. Inside the pouch was a hypodermic needle, full of clear yellow liquid and an alcohol-soaked gauze pad. Keeping a careful eye on Buffy, he took her arm, pushed up her sleeve and wiped the gauze pad on a spot near the inside of her elbow. He checked to be sure Buffy was still under and then stuck the needle into her arm. Slowly, he depressed the plunger and pulled it back out. Buffy didn’t bleed from the stick of the needle and she never stirred.

“Quickly, Merrick put everything away. Trying to be casual, he sat on the table and waved his hand between Buffy and the crystal. She shook her head coming out of the trance. ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Did I zone out on you? It's just... I guess I’m still nursing the flu.’

‘It's best to take care of that. Perhaps we should…’

“Buffy finished his sentence on an exhale. ‘...call it a night. Yeah, that's a good idea.’ She got up weakly and groaned as she walked out of the library. Merrick smiled to himself.”

As I listened to William describe Buffy’s loss of strength, I started to see parallels in the story with my life. Buffy losing her slayer powers was much like me losing my freedom, where suddenly I was trapped in a room by a person I loved and no longer able to control my own fate. I continued to think about this as William read on.

“Inside the abandoned boardinghouse, Quentin and Merrick shared a cup of tea. ‘You're having doubts.’ Quentin said to Merrick. ‘Cruciamentum is not easy... for Slayer or Watcher. But it's been done this way for a dozen centuries, whenever a Slayer turns sixteen. It's a time-honored rite of passage.’

‘It's an archaic exercise in cruelty. To lock her in this... tomb... weakened, defenseless. And to unleash that on her.’ Merrick stared at the crate in the other room for a long moment before turning back to Quentin. ‘If any one of the Council still had actual contact with a Slayer, they would see, but I'm the one in the thick of it.’

‘Which is why you're not qualified to make this decision, you're too close.’ Quentin countered firmly. ‘A Slayer is not just physical prowess. She must have cunning, imagination, a confidence derived from self-reliance. And believe me, once this is all over, your Buffy will be stronger for it.’

‘Or she'll be dead for it.’ Merrick said wearily while cleaning his glasses.

‘If this girl is everything you say, then you've nothing to worry about.’ Quentin challenged.”

Again, I started to identify parts of the story to mom’s situation. Like Merrick, she was being told by an authority figure that something unseemly was the right thing to do. Maybe mom had as many doubts as I did about hiding her children away, but she was going along with grandmother because she was being pressured and had no other choice.

With these new thoughts going through my mind, I glanced over at mother and saw her with an arm clutched around Dawn, listening to Will intently as he described the insane pill-popping vampire named Kralik inside the crate. Mom tightened her hold on Dawn as she heard about the vampire fooling Blair enough to turn the council member into a vampire himself, which led him to kill Hobson and release Kralik from captivity. While she listened to the story, mom looked like she used to when listening to Will talk about Cecily or watching a cartoon with the twins. Maybe she was a pawn in this plan as much as we were. My thoughts snapped back to the story when the Spike character was mentioned.

“Buffy walked into Spike’s crypt. ‘What are you doing here? I thought I was patrolling for you while you went to the ballet with Joyce for your birthday. Can’t you forget about your calling for one night to enjoy yourself?’

‘Uh, it's just suddenly there's this chance that my calling's a wrong number, and... it's just freaking me out a little.’ Buffy explained her lack of strength to Spike, the one person who would probably understand her predicament because of his chip. ‘What if I’ve lost my power?’

‘You lived a long time without it. You can do it again.’ Spike shrugged.

‘I guess. But what if I can't? I've seen too much. I know what goes bump in the night. Not being able to fight it... What if I just hide under my bed, all scared and helpless? Or what if I just become pathetic? Talking people's ears off about my glory days, showing them Mr. Pointy, the stake I had bronzed.’ Buffy was in full on self pity mode when she sat down in his only comfy chair.

“Spike laughed heartily. ‘Buffy, you could never be helpless or boring, not even if you tried.’

“Buffy raised her eyebrows in question. ‘Don’t be so sure. Before I was the Slayer, I was... Well, I don't wanna say shallow, but... Let's say a certain person, who will remain nameless, we'll just call her Spordelia, looked like a classical philosopher next to me. Spike, if I'm not the Slayer, what do I do? What do I have to offer? Why would anyone like me?’

‘Buffy, you’re the strongest girl I know and it has nothing to do with your powers. It’s how you always try and never give up. It’s your kindness and your heart. I mean, I was your sworn enemy and you still helped me when I needed it, because you knew it wasn’t fair what those soldiers did to me. You’re challenging and stubborn and never stop surprising me. I’m honored to know you with or without your powers. Now stop worrying and go have fun with your mother, otherwise I’ll have to get you an actual birthday present.’ Spike was obviously done with his pep talk.

‘We wouldn’t want that, now would we?’ Buffy mumbled as Spike ushered her out the door. “

As he finished this exchange, William looked up at me and flashed one of his charming smiles. The sincerity in his eyes told me that those were his true feelings about me, that he really did think I was strong and kind. He made me feel so proud of myself and I was so sure now that, no matter what happened with our current predicament, he and I would get through this together because we had each other. I returned his smile and he went back to the story, describing the gruesome scene Merrick encountered when he returned to the boardinghouse to stop the ritual, Buffy’s encounter with Kralik on her walk home and her escape from the newly turned Blair.

“Merrick opened the car door as Blair was running toward them, ‘Hurry, get in!’

‘Merrick what’s wrong with me? When I hit that vampire, it felt like my arm was broken, it hurt so much. I can't be just a person. I can't be helpless like that. Please, we have to figure out what's happening.’ Buffy was completely distraught, shaking and crying.

“Seeing his charge in such an unraveled state broke Merrick. He let out a deep sigh and held the syringe that he used earlier out to her. In a shaky voice, he explained: ‘It's an organic compound... of muscle relaxants and adrenal suppressers. The effect is temporary. You'll be yourself again in a few days.’

“Buffy couldn't believe her ears or eyes. She reached out to touch the needle. ‘You? You did this to me?’

‘It's a test, Buffy. It's given to the Slayer once she reaches her sixteenth birthday.’ Merrick swallowed hard as he continued. ‘The Slayer is disabled and then entrapped with a vampire foe whom she must defeat in order to pass the test. The vampire you were to face... has escaped. His name is Zackary Kralik. As a mortal, he murdered and tortured more than a dozen women before he was committed to an asylum for the criminally insane. When a vamp...’

“Buffy interrupted him with an angry sob, ‘All this time, you saw what it was doing to me. All this time, and you didn't say a word!’

‘In matters of tradition and protocol, I must answer to the Council. My role in this... was very specific. I was to administer the injections and to direct you to the old boardinghouse on Prescott Lane.’ Merrick said, trying to defend his actions.

“Buffy ran her hands through her hair in disbelief of this betrayal. Shaking her head, Buffy cried, ‘I can’t hear this. How could you do this to me?’

‘Buffy, please. I am deeply sorry, and you have to understand...’ he pleaded while reaching out to her.

“She backed away and warned him off with her hand. ‘If you touch me, I'll kill you.’

“Merrick lowered his hand and implored his slayer, ‘You have to listen to me. Because I've told you this, the test is invalidated. You will be safe now, I promise you. Whatever I have to do to deal with Kralik... and to win back your trust...’

“Buffy interrupted, sobbing ‘You stuck a needle in me. You poisoned me! How can I ever trust you?’ As the car stopped at a red light, Buffy jumped out of the car and ran home away from her watcher.

“When Buffy arrived home, her mother was not waiting for her as she expected. Taped to the doorframe was a Polaroid photo, which she pulled down to look at. The photo was of her mother with Kralik behind her holding her by the neck, sprawled at the bottom was the word ‘come’.

“Despite her weakened condition, Buffy would not let anything happen to someone she loved. She grabbed a leather bag and began loading it with a crossbow, several stakes, a knife and bottles of holy water, slipping one bottle into the pocket of her overalls. Strapping the too heavy bag over her shoulder, she stalked out of her house determined to save her mother from the monster Merrick had brought upon them.”

At this point in the story, mom grabbed my hand and squeezed it. She looked over and smiled at me lovingly. I assumed she was happy that I would go rescue her from the monster, but little did she know that I had put her into the role of Merrick and was currently wrestling with some serious trust issues. Seeing the love on her face, I did not correct her assumption, but just smiled back. She continued to hold tight to my hand as Will described Joyce being held captive by the vampire, Buffy’s return to the boardinghouse to begin her rescue and Merrick and Quentin’s heated exchange about the continuation of the ritual.

“Back at the boardinghouse, Buffy slowly moved back into the foyer. As she tried to open a locked door, Blair came up behind her and growled. Buffy spun around and aimed the crossbow at him. She pulled the trigger, but the bolt sailed right past his face. Blair easily grabbed the bow, jerking it out of her hands and throwing it down. He grabbed her by the throat and began to choke her. Resorting to fighting like a girl, Buffy latched onto his arm and stomped on his foot until the vampire let go of her. She ran for her bag of weapons, but Blair reached for her before she could take anything out of it. Buffy jumped aside and ran to the bookcase. As Blair approached, Buffy put all of her weight into pushing over the bookcase which landed on top of her pursuer. Pinned beneath the bookcase, Buffy scrambled away while Blair struggled to lift the heavy piece of furniture.

“Buffy grabbed her bag and ran out of the room. She stopped in the hallway when she heard Kralik taunting her, ‘Hide and seeeek…’ She looked all around, but couldn’t see anyone. ‘Hide and seek!’

“The hall, the stairs and the adjacent room were empty. Then she saw the tall crate. The crate door was closed and looked locked. She approached it, and it suddenly swung open. Kralik jumped out and grabbed her by the throat. Buffy gasped in fright, but didn't struggle.

‘Why did you come to the dark of the woods?’ He yanked her bag out of her hands and dropped it, while he pulled her closer. Buffy surprised him by holding up a cross. He leapt back from her in fear. She held it out at arm's length, shaking nervously. Kralik stared at her for a while, smiling evilly, then suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled it and the cross into his chest, laughing as it burned his skin.

“Terrified, Buffy let go of the cross and ran into the kitchen as Kralik smiled, watching her go. Rifling through drawers to find a weapon, she came up empty. Her breath was shallow and panting with fear when she heard Kralik pounding on the kitchen door. As he punched through the door and got his arm in to unlock it, she noticed a garbage chute in one of the walls. Once Kralik entered the kitchen, Buffy leaped into the chute. Kralik heard her sliding down the chute, and staggered back the other way, knowing where she would end up.

“Buffy came sliding out of the chute and fell to the floor in a cloud of dust. The room was dark and she pulled the string attached to the light. She heard a whimper behind her and turned to see her mother tied to a chair and gagged. Buffy removed the gag, but could not get the ropes untied. ‘Buffy, we have to get out…that man…’

‘If you stray from the path, you will lose your way.’ Kralik reached out to grab Buffy from behind and brought her to him. She tried to push him away, but he was too strong. He bent down toward her neck, fangs at the ready, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t take it all.’

“She strained hard to keep him at bay. Suddenly Kralik grabbed his head and began to scream. Buffy tried to get past him, but he shoved her into the wall, stunning her. He pulled out his pill bottle and struggled to get it open. Buffy regained her head, grabbing the bottle out of his hands. She ran to another part of the basement.

‘No! No! No!’ He ran after her slowly due to the pain in his head. When Kralik reached her he demanded his pills. ’Where are they?’ Not responding, Buffy faked trying to get past him and up the stairs. He grabbed her before she could get past him and he saw the pill bottle in her hands. Snatching the bottle away, he struggled with the lid as he stumbled over to a glass of water near some wine racks. Popping a couple of pills, he gulped down the entire glass of water and gasped for air, taking several deep breaths as he began to calm down, knowing that the medicine would soon take effect. He smiled evilly over at Buffy and took some forced steps in her direction. Buffy just watched him come.

‘You don't seem to understand your place in all of this. Do you have any idea…’ Suddenly he realized something was very wrong and stopped in his tracks. ‘What have you…’ Kralik looked down at the glass in his hand and looked back up at Buffy.

“She pulled the now-empty bottle of Holy Water from her pocket and held it up for him to see. He dropped the glass and began to shake violently, grunting and groaning in pain. ‘No. No...’ Smoke began to puff out of his clothes.

“Buffy watched coolly as he began to disintegrate. ‘If I was at full Slayer power, I'd be punning right about now.’

“Kralik screamed loudly one final time, and then crumbled to ashes from the inside out. Buffy closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She rushed over to her mother and began to work on the ropes again.

‘Buffy, thank God you're okay.’ Joyce said breathing heavily.

“Buffy strained to get the ropes loose, ‘I can't get these. They're too tight.’ She stood up to look for something to cut them with, when Blair suddenly lunged at her. However, Merrick was right behind him. Blair punched Merrick in the face and gut, but Merrick recovered by plunging a stake into Blair’s heart. Slowly, Merrick straightened up and stared Buffy in the eye for a long time.

“Quentin came out from the shadows, ‘Congratulations, you passed. You exhibited extraordinary courage and clear headedness in battle. The Council is very pleased.’

“Buffy deadpanned, ‘Do I get a gold star?’

‘I understand that you're upset,’ Quentin replied calmly.

Buffy started with controlled fury ‘You understand nothing. You set that monster loose, and he came after my mother.’

‘You think the test was unfair? We're not in the business of fair, Miss Summers, we're fighting a war.’

“Merrick challenged the Council head, ‘You’re waging a war. She's fighting it. There is a difference. The test is done. We're finished.’

‘Yes, well, congratulations again.’ Quentin said as he bowed slightly to Buffy.

“Buffy looked at him with a glare of hatred. ‘Bite me.’

“Quentin chuckled ruefully as he turned to go, ‘Colorful girl.’

“Merrick looked over at Buffy as she lifted her hand to her bleeding forehead. She sniffled a little before putting a Kleenex to the cut. Merrick walked over to her and took the bloodied tissue from her hand. He dipped it in some water and knelt down in front of her, to gently pat the gash. Trust slowly being rebuilt.

“The End.” William said looking up to us waiting for our reaction.

“Oh William, that was wonderful!” My mother clapped excitedly. “I can’t believe you are so talented.” She got up to hug him and then turned to me on the bed. “And Elizabeth, your brother must really think the world of you to base such a strong character on you. That Buffy isn’t just a tough cookie; she’s got brains to match. Just like you sweetheart.”

“Thanks, mom.” I said getting up from the bed. “Will, I loved it. Thank you for writing it for me.”

As we hugged, he whispered in my ear “I meant every word of Spike’s speech,” before kissing me on the cheek. I smiled at him as I felt warmth fill my heart.

CHAPTER 15

“Come on,” Will said as he grabbed my hand leading me up to the attic after mother had left and the twins were in bed. “I have one more birthday surprise for you.”

“Will, you’ve already filled me with ice cream cake and wrote another wonderful story. You don’t need to give me anything more.”

“Stop it. It’s not everyday you turn sixteen. This is like a rite of passage. Besides, it’s not a big deal. Andrew made me do it on my sixteenth birthday because Tucker made him do it on his. I’m carrying on a tradition.”

“I don’t know if I want to be involved in any tradition brought about by the Wells brothers.” I replied suspiciously. Andrew was William’s best friend back in LA, and both he and his brother Tucker were notorious geeks. I imagined Will making me do some weird Klingon ritual.

As we got to the top of the stairs, he led me to the mattresses in the west end of the attic. “I know what you’re thinking. I promise you it has nothing to do with any movie with the word ‘Star’ in the title.” He sat me down on a mattress and then went to rummage through one of the trunks.

“Ah ha!” I heard him exclaim. He stood back up proudly, displaying two bottles of wine in his hand.

“Wine? When did you find that?” I asked as I looked at the bottles hesitantly. I had drunk a beer before at the big party Cordelia held after the homecoming game last year. After about five sips I stopped drinking it because I started to get dizzy. I decided me and alcohol weren’t very mixey and I didn’t want anything bad or embarrassing to happen to me.

“I found it when we were first exploring. I made a mental note about it for special occasions. I didn’t want the twins to know about it so I didn’t say anything and put another box on top of it. There’s actually a whole case, but I think for tonight two will be plenty.” Will took a wine opener out of his pocket and started to twist open the cork.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t know you were a closet drinker.” This side of my brother surprised me. He always played by the rules. I didn’t think he did things like underage drinking, especially with Andrew of all people. “It scares me to picture you and Andrew drinking wine together on your sixteenth birthday. It seems sort of gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

“First of all, it wasn’t wine on my birthday. It was a bottle of Jack Daniels, which is much more manly. And second of all, there may have been a porn movie involved as well, with women in it before you get smart, which is so not gay.” William handed me one of the uncorked bottles of wine and sat Indian style across from me. He tapped his bottle against mine in a toast and brought his bottle up to his lips. “Drink up,” he said before taking a large sip.

Figuring nothing bad or embarrassing was going to happen to me if I did get drunk since I was stuck in the attic one way or another; I took a large gulp from my wine bottle. “Blech.” I shuddered when I finished.

“You’ll get used to it once you drink more of it,” William said as he chuckled at my reaction. “You should be lucky it’s wine and not whiskey. The first sip of Jack I took, I spit it right back out. That stuff burns. But Andrew insisted I drink it – we had to finish the bottle.” He kept drinking as he told me about their sixteenth birthdays.

“I guess alcohol and porn were Tucker’s way of introducing Andrew to the ways of the adult world. The alcohol was just to loosen him up. Tucker said the porn was since Andrew was ‘sweet sixteen and never been kissed,’ though I suspect it was really Tucker’s trying to figure out whether or not Andrew was gay.”

“Is he?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. Everyone at school thought he was because he acted so effeminate.

“No, he’s not. In fact, he always had a crush on you. You never noticed how goofy he acted around you?” Will asked, since it was so obvious to him that Andrew liked me.

“No, I just thought that’s how he always acted. He was a goofy kid.” I said as I blushed. I was embarrassed that Will’s friend thought of me that way. I never thought of myself as crush-worthy.

“Well, don’t worry. I told him to get over it. You’re way too good for him.” Will smiled as he looked at me. “You look cute when you blush.” He laughed.

“Shut up!” I said looking down, as I took another swig from the bottle. “Blech.”

“Anyway, I figured since we had the alcohol I might as well bring you in on the tradition. No porn though since we don’t have a TV and I think that would be a little inappropriate considering. Besides, unlike Andrew, we all know you’re not sweet sixteen and never been kissed. Not with that joker Parker around.” Will took another drink from his bottle.

“Why don’t you like him?” I asked. One thing Tucker got right; the alcohol sure loosened you up. I had always wanted to ask Will that question, but never had the guts to before. The wine was definitely getting to me.

“He’s not good enough for you either.” Will said with a shrug. “He thinks he’s better than he is. He was always so sweet to you to your face, when he was at the house and stuff. But he talked a lot of trash in the locker room.”

Will saw the hurt look on my face and began quickly. “Not about you, Bethy. Just about other girls wanting him. Like if anything ever happened between you two, he’d be fine because he had other girls lining up for him. I hated him for that. For even thinking anyone could be better than you… could replace you.”

Will tilted his head as he looked at me. “I’m sorry. It’s your birthday. I didn’t mean to depress you. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, it’s ok. It’s not like I’m still with him. Besides, it’s actually kind of sweet what you said. If you ask me though, I don’t think you’ll ever think anyone is good enough for me.”

“That’s probably true. Most guys are just dicks anyway, especially in high school. Usually they’re all just looking for a piece of ass.”

“What about you? Were you looking for some ass? You watched the porn on your birthday. I guess that means you were sweet sixteen and never been kissed.” I laughed, taking another sip of my wine.

He took another mouthful of his drink as he looked away. He was about half way through his bottle by now. “I don’t think you want to know the answer to that one.” He groaned and I noticed he was blushing.

“Oh, come on. You look so cute when you blush.” I laughed while I pinched his cheek, throwing his words from earlier back in his face.

“Then I guess the answer would be no. I had been kissed before.”

“Really?” His answer took me completely by surprise. I had never seen William anywhere near a girl before, not at school or at home. He was always talking about Cecily and I knew she didn’t even know who he was until the play this year. “How come I didn’t know about this?” I was sort of hurt he had never told me.

“Beth, you really don’t want to know.” He looked mortified.

“Well, now you’ve got me completely curious. You’re still a virgin, aren’t you?” I asked in a low whisper.

“Elizabeth!” He cried, shocked at my question. He put down his bottle and flopped down on his back, flinging his arm over his eyes. “This is so not a conversation I want to be having with my sister.”

“Oh, no you don’t. We don’t have anyone else to talk about this stuff with, we should share.” I put down my bottle of wine and took hold of the arm that shielded Will’s eyes. Straddling his waist, I got both his arms pinned over his head. “I want to know details. I’ve never seen you with a girl before so who were you kissing that I don’t know about? And if I didn’t know about that, it’s a natural conclusion that you may have done more I don’t know about.”

“Come on, Beth. I am a teenage boy. If an opportunity presents itself, I’m not going to say no.” Will laughed at the look of shock on my face.

“Here I thought you were so innocent, saving yourself for the fair Cecily.” Releasing his wrists, I sat up and put one hand over my heart and one to my forehead in a melodramatic swoon.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” He said, getting up and lifting me off him. “And to satisfy your curiosity, I’m still a virgin. I’ve just done some other stuff.” He shrugged grabbing his wine bottle again and drinking from it.

“You’re killing me! Who?” I demanded to know, picking up my bottle again. This was good gossip. I didn’t realize how much I missed girl talk.

“My first kiss was Cordelia. My second was Amy. It happened to be on the same night.” He told me with a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Get out! Cordelia and Amy were my best friends. They would have told me. I would have known. You’re totally lying.” I took a big gulp of my drink. There’s no way Will could have kissed either one of them and me not know about it.

“Am I? It was your slumber party last year on your fifteenth birthday. I don’t think they told you because they didn’t want you to know. I think they planned it. In fact, I know they did. They seduced me in the kitchen.”

“Ok, buddy. I want the whole story.” I said while poking him in the chest.

“Sure you can handle it? It’s quite scandalous.” There was that smirk again on Will’s face.

“Oh, I can handle it. Spill.”

CHAPTER 16

William took another sip from his wine bottle to give him a little more liquid courage before beginning the tale of his first kiss. “As I said before, it was the night of your slumber party for your birthday last year. I stayed in my room most of the night, trying to avoid the hell of cheerleaders watching ‘Bring It On’ and talking about the boys of Hemery High. At around two in the morning, I stopped hearing the giggling so that’s when I made my move. I snuck downstairs into the kitchen to get a drink and a late night snack. I poked my head into the refrigerator looking for some leftover cake when not even a minute later in walked Cordelia and Amy arguing.”

”Amy, it’s no contest.” Cordelia explained. “I’m captain of the cheerleading squad and have dated nothing but salty goodness.”

“But I’ve kissed more boys than you, which means I’m more experienced, and therefore, better.” Amy countered.

“‘Boys’ is the operative word in that statement. It doesn’t matter how many you’ve kissed if they’re all novices. It’s about quality, not quantity. I’ve been with Devon and he’s a musician, for god’s sake.”

“Maybe we should ask William.” Amy suggested as they both turned to look at him.

“No, no, no. Don’t ask me anything, I’m not even here. I’m just going to grab my cake to cure my late night sweet tooth craving and I’m gone.” William said, lifting his head from behind the door.

Cordelia walked over to William slowly while sizing him up in his pajama bottoms. “Maybe we have a better cure for your sweet tooth.” She said in a seductive whisper.

Amy sidled up behind him and closed the refrigerator, leaving the room lit in pale moonlight. “Come on, cutie. Help us settle a little disagreement.” She placed her hand on William’s chest and pushed him lightly against the door. He looked down at the hand pinning him in place, while Cordelia reached his other side.

“We just need you to tell us who the better kisser is. No big deal. We promise you’ll like it either way.” Cordelia’s hand skimmed along the waistband of his pants, causing his breath to hitch.

William stared at them in shock for a moment, assessing the situation. Amy wore a matching pink mid-riff baring tank top and tiny shorts that barely covered her backside, while Cordelia was in a white baby doll nightgown that stopped mid-thigh. Their faces wore the most innocent of expressions, despite Amy’s hand having traveled from the middle of his chest to circle lightly around his nipple, while Cordelia’s hand continued to skate along his stomach, dipping beneath the elastic of his pants every other second or so. Amy leaned in close to William’s ear and breathed out in a whisper “All you have to do is say you’ll help us and we’ll have ourselves a real good time.” Rather than pulling away, she took his earlobe into her mouth and sucked lightly on it.

“Say yes, William.” Cordelia said in a breathy moan, her lips mere inches from his.

William couldn’t think straight, but his body knew what it wanted and instinctively he responded in kind, “Yes, god yes.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Cordelia’s lips were on his.

She parted her lips and let her tongue slip out to skim along his bottom lip. “Open up, William. Don’t you want to taste me?” She tempted. William’s mouth immediately opened and her lips were on his again, this time her tongue darting out to meet his. Amy’s lips had moved down to tease the spot just behind his ear, and he couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped unfettered.

“Ooh, I think I found a sensitive spot.” Amy said pulling away.

Cordelia dislodged herself from his lips, leaving Will wanting. “I bet I can find another one. Wanna switch?”

“Mmm hmm.” Amy replied while she turned William’s head towards her to capture his swollen lips. While Amy and he battled with their tongues, Cordelia’s lips traveled down his chest until she reached his nipple. She licked all around it until it pebbled into a hardened nub, then latched her mouth onto it and began to suckle. His arms had been frozen to his sides until then, but he couldn’t stay still at the new sensations rushing through his body. William’s hand came up to grab the back of Cordelia’s head, fingers fisting into her hair to hold her in place at his chest. The other hand snaked around Amy’s waist, drawing her closer to his body while he changed the angle of their kiss, deepening it as he became more confident and aroused.

Amy’s hand began to rub William’s hard dick through his cotton pants. “Oh god.” He whispered as his head fell back against the refrigerator, giving Amy an opening to attack his neck. Cordelia grabbed the hand that was holding her head and popped back up.

“Touch me, William.” She said as she slid one of the straps from her nightgown off her shoulder. “Here.” She guided his hand to her newly exposed breast. Willaim cautiously squeezed the mound, trying to get used to the feel of it as he experimented with the amount of pressure he applied. “Just like that, baby. Now kiss me.” Cordelia’s lips were on his again and the kiss was more fervent than their tentative first kiss.

Amy shifted her body so that Will’s leg nestled between her thighs. She began to rock against it, while his hand automatically moved lower from her waist to her ass, guiding her movements. “Oh yeah, that feels good,” she whispered.

Will stopped the kiss with Cordelia and moved his mouth to her distended nipple. He had to taste her. Cordelia’s hand snaked into his pants and wrapped around his erection. Will lightly bit her nipple as she began to stroke him in a steady rhythm. Amy’s moans broke through his haze and Will realized she was moving his hand, guiding it inside the front of her shorts. “See what you are doing to me? Feel how wet I am?” His fingers glided through the flood of juices from her pussy. God, she was wet. “You wanna make me cum, William?” His head nodded against Cordelia’s breast as his fingers continued to explore Amy’s folds. She guided his fingers lower to her opening and spread her legs a little to give him more room to work. Taking his index and middle fingers, she said: “Push them into me, William,” so he did. He had never felt anything like it; her passage was tight, hot and pulsated around his fingers.

Cordelia squeezed his dick a little harder, causing him to gasp, releasing her nipple. “Don’t cum, William. You can’t cum until you please both of us.” She challenged as she looked him in the eye. She began to kiss him again and his hand moved down to her ass. Her thong allowed him to knead her bare cheek in his hand to the rhythm of her strokes.

Amy continued to ride his leg with his fingers deep inside her, his thumb circling around her swollen clit. “Yes, yes, yes.” Amy cried as she breathed heavily. ”You’re not so naïve on how to please a girl after all.” Her words made Will want to prove something, so he applied more pressure to her clit and curled his fingers inside her like he had read about. “Oh god, oh god, William,” she gasped as a powerful orgasm hit her instantaneously and she bit down hard on his shoulder in order to stifle her scream. The walls of her pussy contracted against his fingers as she rode out her orgasm.

William stopped kissing Cordelia and looked her in the eye, making her stop her stroking when she saw the seriousness behind his stare. He removed his fingers from Amy and brought them up to his mouth, licking off the juices seductively. “Mmmm, delicious,” he moaned as he finished, never taking his eyes off of Cordelia, “Your turn.” Will’s hand moved from her ass to push her thong aside and began to tease her wet inner folds. Her head tilted back while her breath hitched and he plunged two fingers inside her before she expected it, causing her to whimper.

Recovering from her orgasm, Amy got down on her knees and pulled Will’s pants down below his hips, exposing his glistening cock. She licked the pre-cum off the tip before taking it in her mouth. William looked down to watch his cock disappear inside Amy’s mouth and reappear as her head bobbed back up. She met his eyes, smiled and then started humming. “Jesus,” Will’s head banged against the refrigerator as he doubled his efforts between Cordelia’s thighs. He knew he wasn’t going to last long under Amy’s ministrations; her mouth was so hot and moist, while her active tongue wiggled along his vein.

Using the same technique that he had on Amy since it seemed to do the trick, William circled his thumb around Cordelia’s clit, applying pressure, and curled his fingers up inside her. Her whimpers grew louder and he quickly took her in a kiss to muffle some of the noise. She started bucking erratically against his hand, trying to get herself off quicker. Will eased a third finger inside her, and after a few more thrusts she came. He could feel her inner muscles clench around him as she started to slow down her movements. He extracted his fingers from her pussy and brought them up again to his mouth, but before he could taste her flavor for himself, she captured his fingers and brought them to her own mouth.

It was so erotic; the sight of Cordelia sucking her own juices off Will’s fingers while Amy was sucking on his dick, that he couldn’t hold back any longer. “Amy, I’m gonna cum,” the words rushed out in warning as he buried his face in Cordelia’s neck. To his surprise, she didn’t move away, but instead fondled his sac while he exploded in her mouth. She swallowed every last drop and only removed her mouth when he began to go limp. William tried to get his breathing under control, but was finding it difficult since it was the first orgasm he had ever experienced that wasn’t brought on by his own hand, and it was a hundred times better.

Amy adjusted his pants back into their proper place, while Cordelia picked his head up off her shoulder. She gave him a long, deep kiss that took any breath that he recovered away again. When she was done, Amy stroked his cheek and brought her lips to his in another slow, sensual kiss. “Let’s just call it a tie, huh?” Cordelia said while squeezing his butt.

“Thanks for settling the argument though.” Amy chimed in, pinching his nipple.

“Oh and William, let’s not mention this to anyone, ok? It’ll be our little secret. We wouldn’t want to hurt Elizabeth, now would we?” Cordelia finished as they started for the kitchen door.

“Yeah, ok.” He was still dazed and would have agreed to anything at that point. “Our little secret.” He didn’t want to hurt Elizabeth either and wasn’t sure how she would take him making out with not one, but two of her best friends. “Hey, wait.” Will said before they could get out the door. “Was I any good?” He asked nervously. He felt stupid asking, but it was his first time doing anything remotely sexual with a girl.

They looked at each other and started to giggle. Amy turned with a huge smile on her face, “Don’t worry, William, you have a natural talent. Way better than Larry, that’s for sure.”

“Thanks.” He smiled as they went back to the living room. ‘Well, how about that?’ William thought, ‘I was better than Larry, star linebacker of the football team, hook-up king extraordinaire. He’s always talking about his prowess with the ladies in the locker room and I was better, even though it was my first time.’ He grabbed a can of Coke and a huge slice of cake and returned to his room extremely satisfied.

“And that was it. We never talked about it and nothing ever happened between us again.” Will said as he finished off his bottle of wine, laughing slightly at the shocked expression on my face.

“Oh my god, you are such a slut. You had sex with two girls at once!” I was astonished. This was William, sweet, innocent William, who just told me a story that was similar to the plot of a bad porno movie. Who knew he was capable of something so hot.

“Whoa, wait a minute. There was no sex and if there were any sluts in this story, it was your friends. They came on to me, they clearly planned to seduce me together and they took advantage of an innocent fifteen year old.”

“There was a blow job involved, which is oral sex, so sex was involved. And there were orgasms, three to be exact! And took advantage of you? Please, it sounded like you enjoyed every minute of it. I can’t believe you!”

“Well, see this is why I never told you or anyone else. And Cordelia and Amy were right; you aren’t taking this very well. You said you could handle it, I didn’t tell you so you could judge me.” William was getting angry. “We were sharing, remember? Your words.” He grabbed for my bottle of wine.

“Hey, my birthday, my wine.” I said, protecting my bottle. “I have to drink it all, remember? Your words.”

“Fine, I’ll just open another one.” Will started to get up, but quickly sat back down. “Ugh, my head is spinning.” He lay down on the mattress.

“Serves you right.” I replied taking another sip and stretching out on my side next to him.

“Don’t be mad, Bethy.” He said, turning his head to look at me. “It was nothing. Like I said, the opportunity presented itself; I would have been crazy to turn it down.”

“Yeah, I guess so. It was kind of ‘Penthouse Forum’ material. I suppose that doesn’t happen everyday, especially to you.” I began to giggle uncontrollably.

“Very funny, geeky William isn’t good with girls. Look Amy said I was a natural, so some girl will be very lucky if I ever get a chance to actually use my talent.” He turned on his side so that he was facing me up on his elbow with his head cradled in his hand. “What about you? How far have you gone with Parker? I know you’re still a virgin, but what else have you done?”

“Nothing, I’m completely innocent.” I said, sticking out my tongue.

“Yeah, right. Don’t give me that bullshit. Do you do anything else with that tongue of yours besides poke it at me when you’re being a brat?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ewww, no. Unlike my apparently slutty friends, I haven’t progressed that far. I mean I’ve kissed him and given him hand jobs, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. There was one time I thought about giving him a blow job, but I totally chickened out.”

“What about him? Did he ever go down on you?”

“This is so embarrassing. Aren’t you embarrassed asking this?” I blushed profusely. I didn’t know how he could be asking these questions with a straight face.

“Nope, the beauty of alcohol.” William smirked. “Drink some more.”

Following his advice, I took another sip of my wine. “No, he never went down on me. He did use his fingers on me though.”

“Did you have orgasms when he did that?”

“Yes, every time.” I smiled thinking about it. “Oooh, there was one time where we masturbated in front of each other while looking at a porn magazine. That was kind of cool.”

“Very kinky. What else?” Will asked in a husky whisper as his eyes took on a darker hue as they bore into mine.

“Nothing, really. Just your normal teenage make out sessions.”

“And normal teenage make out sessions include what? I’ve never had a girlfriend, remember?”

“You know, kissing, groping, dirty talk.”

“Ooh, now that’s interesting. Do you like dirty talk?”

“Yes.”

“Saying it or listening to it?”

“Listening to it, I get a little embarrassed saying it since I’m not very experienced.”

“So what does he usually say?” Will asked curiously.

“I don’t know. How I feel to him, he’ll ask if I like certain things he’s doing to me, what he feels like when I do things to him.” I shrugged.

“Hmm, so things like ‘the way you touch me makes my cock so hard’ or, ‘you like it when I suck your nipples, don’t you baby? It gets you so wet.’” He said in a low seductive tone.

“Yeah, things like that.” I adjusted myself onto my back in order to ease the tingles stirring between my legs. His soft voice saying those words shouldn’t be turning me on more than anything Parker ever said. I took a large gulp of my wine, finishing off the bottle.

Because of the awkward drinking position I was in, a small amount of wine escaped my lips and dripped down the side of my chin and onto my neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as William slowly leaned toward me while licking his lips. His tongue followed the path that the wine left on my skin, licking up my neck to my chin and ending at the side of my mouth. He hovered above me just staring at my lips as a shiver ran through my entire body.

“That was the last of my wine. Mission accomplished.” I held the bottle upside down to show it was empty, trying hard to ignore the sexual charge crackling around us.

Will smiled down at me. “I guess the night is complete then. Welcome to the ‘adult’ world.” He moved back to my side and stretched out on his back and let out a deep breath. “I told you the Wells tradition wouldn’t be so bad.”

I laughed. “No, it wasn’t at all what I expected. I like sharing with you.” I smiled at him.

“Yeah? Well, we’ll have to do it again some time. We can crack a couple more bottles of wine open at New Year’s.”

“I guess we should go to bed. We’re probably going to have wicked hangovers in the morning.”

“You’re probably right. Let’s get downstairs, we need to drink some water before bed to help with the headache.” He got up slowly and was definitely not steady on his feet, but still held out his hands to help me up. I grabbed his hands and rose, swaying. “This is going to be tough.”

“Is the room spinning or is it just me?” I asked as I held onto his forearms for dear life.

“No, it’s not you. The room is spinning. Come on, stand in front of me and we’ll walk together.” Will turned me around and snaked his arm around my waist, bringing me close against his body to better guide me. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and he started to walk forward. My legs automatically walked with his since it was like we were one body. We walked slowly like this all the way to the stairs, reaching out to grab onto furniture and walls to steady us along the way. “How are we going to make it down the stairs?” I never realized how many there were. “Maybe we should just sleep up here.”

“No, we can’t. We’ve been drinking, which means we’ll probably oversleep. If grandmother comes in for breakfast tomorrow morning and we’re not downstairs, there’ll be hell to pay.” He had a point. “Ok, let’s think about this. We can go down one at a time on our butts. Remember Connor used to do that at home when he was little?”

“Yeah, that should work.” I sat at the top of the stairs and then slowly descended one at a time with William a few steps behind me. It was slow-going, but better than falling on our faces. When I got to the bottom, I pouted. “Ow, my butt hurts. These stairs are extremely hard.”

“Poor baby,” William said, standing up behind me. “Her bum is sore.” He grabbed me again around the waist and turned me around to face him. Rubbing his hands along my denim clad ass, he asked, lips close to my ear, “Does this make it feel better?” His touch was light, but firm as his palms skimmed from the small of my back down the curve of my ass cheeks to where they met the back of my thighs. He squeezed softly before letting his hands travel back up and then down again.

Speechless from the feelings his touch provoked, I just nodded. “I guess that’s why Connor never did it after he got out of diapers. He lost the extra padding.” Will said with a smirk before he turned me around to get us into our previous walking position. “Come on, off to bed we go.”

We walked together to my bed and he helped me onto it. “Get ready for bed. I’ll go get you some water.” While he went over to the refrigerator, I peeled off my jeans with some difficulty, but stayed in my t-shirt deciding that was going to have to be appropriate sleepwear for the night. Bundled under the covers, I took the bottle of water William offered me when he returned. “Drink up.” He said as he tapped my bottle with his own.

After I gulped down about half the bottle, I turned my attention to William, grabbing his hand. “Thank you for tonight. I was really disappointed that I wasn’t going to have my big sweet sixteen party, but you made me forget about that. This birthday turned out better than anything I imagined.”

He smiled brilliantly at me and brought my hand up to his mouth, turning it to kiss the palm. “You know I’d do anything to take care of my girl.” He stroked my cheek with a light touch of his thumb and leaned down to give me a gentle peck on the lips. “Happy birthday, Elizabeth.”

He got up to go to his own bed and I watched as he took off his jeans and t-shirt, revealing his newly defined chest and abdomen. He jumped under the covers in his boxers and winked at me before closing his eyes. Turning over onto my back, I took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, trying to get my alcohol induced hormones under control. Closing my eyes, I realized this move was strangely reminiscent of William’s earlier action in the attic, and couldn’t help but wonder if he was having the same issues that I was.

CHAPTER 17

The next morning I awoke to Dawn shaking me and I could hear Connor doing the same thing to Will. “Elizabeth, wake up. It’s almost time for grandmother to come with breakfast. You overslept.” Dawn’s voice was laced with panic.

I tried to open my eyes but the room was way too bright with both the overhead light on and the sun shining in through the windows. “Oh, God.” I groaned as I brought my hand to my head, which felt like a jackhammer was pounding inside it.

“I’m up, I’m up.” I heard Will say as he tried to get Connor to stop shaking him. He sat up in bed revealing his naked chest.

“Will! Where is your shirt?” Dawn screeched. “If grandmother sees you like that we’ll all be punished. What’s going on with you guys? We’ve been trying to wake you for awhile.” She was absolutely frantic, petrified of grandmother’s wrath. “Hurry up, get dressed.”

Surely, we didn’t oversleep that much. I glanced at the clock, which read 8:45 am, only fifteen minutes until grandmother came with breakfast. Note to self – don’t ever drink a full bottle of wine again.

Will got up and put on the shirt and jeans that still lay on the floor next to his bed and stumbled into the bathroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth. I hurriedly put on my jeans from the day before, the sudden movement making my head spin and my stomach churn. Oh God, I was going to be sick.

I held my hand over my mouth and ran to the bathroom. Knocking violently on the door, I yelled, “Will, get out! I’m gonna puke.” Seconds later, he opened the door and I rushed past him to lean over the toilet, barely making it before I emptied the contents of my stomach.

As he stepped out of the room, Drusilla walked in with the breakfast cart. “What are you doing?” She looked suspiciously at the bathroom and then at Will, standing right outside the door. “Where is your sister?”

“I’m here,” I called from the bathroom.

“Why were you in there together?” She asked harshly to Will.

“I was brushing my teeth. She got sick, had to kick me out. I guess she had too much ice cream cake yesterday.” Will answered calmly, trying not to unleash grandmother’s fury.

I came out of the bathroom, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. She narrowed her eyes at us. “Why are you both wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday?” She didn’t miss anything.

I glanced nervously down at my wrinkled shirt, but Will was quick with an answer. “We were really tired from all the activity yesterday of seeing mom and the birthday celebration. We fell asleep before we could change.”

“Hmm, I don’t know if I should believe you.” Drusilla said as she continued to glare at us. Slowly, she started to walk over to the twins, who were standing by the windows. “Dawn, is your brother telling the truth?” Grandmother asked as she bent over so she was eye-level with Dawnie.

Dawn swallowed and nervously nodded her head.

“Speak, child! I asked you a question.” Drusilla yelled at her.

“Y-y-yess.” Dawn stuttered, glancing over at Will who smiled at her reassuringly. “He’s telling the truth.” She quickly looked back at grandmother.

Dru stared into her eyes, almost as if she was trying to reach into Dawn’s mind. Her concentration was broken when I ran back into the bathroom to get sick again. Coming to the bathroom door, she called to me smugly. “Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, Elizabeth. Maybe this will teach you to obey the word of the Lord.” The door to our room closed and I was thankful for the timing of my illness as it got grandmother to leave. I wasn’t sure if Dawn was going to hold up against her interrogation.

As I sat on the tiled floor of the bathroom, I heard Will talking to Dawn. “Dawn, you did good. It’s okay to tell a little white lie like that.”

“I don’t want to get punished.” She whimpered.

“And you won’t. We just need to stick together as a team, just like you did. See, we’re all fine.” She must have been placated since the next words I heard were Will’s again. “Connor, it looks like you get your wish a day late. Since Elizabeth is sick, we won’t have any lessons today. Once you finish your breakfast, why don’t you guys go upstairs and have a free day, ok?” Will asked in a chipper voice.

“Ok. Is she really sick?” Connor asked a bit concerned.

“She’ll be fine. It’s just an upset stomach from too much fun yesterday.” Will said. “Go on and eat while I check on her.”

Will entered the bathroom and walked over to the sink to turn on the water. He came over to me, gathering up my hair so it wouldn’t fall into the toilet and placed a cool wet cloth on the back of my neck. “It seems the ritual is complete. Did I mention it’s not officially over until the person celebrating their birthday gets sick? Probably not, huh?”

“I want to die.” I said as he laughed at me.

“Nonsense,” he said while picking up a brush to comb out my bed tangled hair. “You’ll be begging me to do it again before long. I seem to remember something about more fun with alcohol at New Year’s.”

“If I claim I don’t remember, does it mean it won’t happen?” I asked as I relaxed under the gentle stroking motion of Will’s hand.

“Nope, sorry.” He said as he gathered up my hair and ran it through his fingers before tying it back in a ponytail. “You have beautiful hair, like golden silk.”

“Uh, oh. The poetry is starting, I must be hallucinating.”

“Very funny.” He said standing up. “Get up off the floor, brush your teeth and wash your face, then come eat something. You’ll feel better. We’ll veg out all day down here while the twins occupy themselves upstairs. It’ll be fun.” He left me with my head cradled over the basin.

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True to his word, I did feel a bit better after eating, my stomach surprisingly holding the French toast down. We passed the rest of the morning lying on our respective beds, staring up at the ceiling while playing an insightful game of ‘would you rather.’

After learning that Will would rather be Batman than Superman since Bruce Wayne was just a regular guy doing super human deeds rather than Clark Kent who was born with his special powers, I started thinking about the story Will wrote for my birthday.

“Will, what were you thinking about when you wrote the new story?” I asked still staring at the ceiling.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seemed very metaphory to me, like it was supposed to get me thinking about certain things.”

He turned over on his side to look at me. “What did it make you think about?”

“I guess I never thought of mom as helpless in this, but I kind of put her in Merrick’s place when he tried to get Quentin to stop the ritual. He really didn’t have a choice, so he went along with it because he had to even though he didn’t like it. I guess it made me see that mom didn’t really have a choice either. She went to grandmother for financial support and didn’t get it, but she got this offer instead so she took it.” I finally turned my head to look at Will, who was grinning. “I guess I got your point.”

“Yeah, but there was more to it than that. I mean Buffy lost her powers, but in the end it didn’t matter, she still came out on top because she’s strong-willed, smart and she’d do anything for the people she loves. We’re stuck in here, but we’ll make it through because we have those same traits. All of us got that from mom and dad, not just you, but me and the twins too. Look at Dawnie this morning. She totally stood up to grandmother this morning not with her fists, but with her heart, because she loves us.” Will was completely impassioned.

“And in the end, Merrick came through because he loved Buffy. He saved her just in time to rebuild their relationship.” I interrupted toying with the locket hanging around my neck. “So I guess I just need to believe that mom will succeed at the plan or know when to call this quits without completely ruining the trust between us.”

“Exactly. When we started this whole thing, she said we’d be in here until Christmas, six months at the latest. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt because as far as we know the plan is still going as scheduled. She knows what’s best for us.”

“I guess you’re right. You did win the bet after all. So I’ll be the dutiful, trusting daughter again for the time being, but there is a time limit on my trust. Eventually, I’m going to start questioning her again if this goes on too long.” I wanted to make it clear to Will that I wasn’t going to just go along with this plan forever, even if he was willing to.


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Author's Note: I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I may have to go back to the once a week updates on Fridays. I'm an accountant and the year end busy season is quickly approaching, which means I will be working 10-12 hrs a day (if not more) for the next few months. I want to keep the updates as regular as possible so I think if I do this it will eliminate any long lulls that may occur if I don't. I will still post on Tuesdays if I'm writing fast enough.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I promise I'll be getting to the heavier Spuffy stuff soon, but remember they are blood relatives so they can't go too fast :)

I appreciate your patience in both matters!!

CHAPTER 18

A few days before Thanksgiving, mother showed up again.

“Kids, I have good news.” She said as she settled herself on one of the beds. “Wesley has asked me to go to Aspen to spend the holidays with him. Father is so pleased.” She was beaming with happiness.

“So you won’t be here for Thanksgiving?” I asked disappointed. I wasn’t attacking, just asking.

“No, sweetie. I’m sorry. That’s why I came today. I wanted to let you know before I went.” Mom said, reaching out to take my hand. “Even though I won’t get to see you, this is a good thing. Father is extremely happy with the way my relationship with Wesley is progressing, and he gave me his blessing to take the trip.”

“Where’s Aspen?” Dawn asked.

“It’s in Colorado, honey. It’s a very famous spot for skiing. Wesley has a vacation home up there on one of the mountains.” Mom explained.

“I didn’t know you skied.” I said nonchalantly.

“Well, I haven’t in years, but I used to. I’m sure it’s like riding a bike; I’ll get right back into it as soon as I’m on the slopes. Besides, there’s more than just skiing in the town, there’s shopping and dining and Wesley and I will be getting to know each other better.”

“Will you bring us back a present?” Connor asked excitedly.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to, darling. It may be hard to explain to Wes who I’m bringing them home for, but I promise I’ll try.” She hugged Connor in a tight embrace. I thought it was interesting that mom said she and Wes would be getting to know each other while at the same time admitting she was lying to him about having children. Despite this contradiction, I held my tongue.

“How long will you be gone?” William finally chimed in.

“Well, we’re going for at least two weeks. We need to be back before Christmas. Father is throwing his annual Christmas party for the law firm. Each year the Board members honor a valued partner, Wesley is this year’s honoree.” Mom was beside herself with pride for her new man. “I want to be back so I have plenty of time to prepare. Not only because of my father, but since I will be the guest of honor’s date. I want to make sure everything is perfect. I can’t do anything wrong, the success of this party is very important to all of our futures. If I do well and plan this accordingly, I’m one step closer to regaining my trust fund.” She got up and headed towards the door. “Now, I have to go pack since we are leaving tomorrow, but I want you all to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m sure Adam will make you a lovely dinner and I know you will come up with something creative to do for the day. Maybe another story, William? I’m sure you won’t even miss me. I love you all and I’ll see you soon.” She blew us a kiss before heading out the door.

I was stunned that she left us with just a wave of her hand. No hugs or kisses on the cheek, no coddling of the twins. This trip sounded more like another instance where mother was living the good life while her children suffered. I told William I wouldn’t stir up trouble with her, but he could bet all the money in the world that he would be hearing it from me.

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Later that night after the twins had gone to bed, I confronted William in the attic. “You set me up!” I yelled at him, smacking him on the chest.

“What? What are you talking about?” Will asked, surprised and confused at my outburst.

“She told you she was coming for my birthday and that she was taking this trip so you made that stupid bet so I couldn’t say anything!”

“Elizabeth, that’s ridiculous!” He defended. “How could I have known? I’ve only seen her at the same times that you have.”

“I don’t believe you! She could have come in sometime when I was in the bath or up in the attic. She got to you.” I accused him.

“Come on, you’re acting insane. I didn’t know anything about this. And even if I did, I wouldn’t purposely deceive you like that. I wouldn’t have made the bet if I had known.”

“Then why were you so sure she’d come for my birthday? Why didn’t you act surprised when she told us today? You barely said anything.” I questioned.

“I knew she’d come for your birthday because it was an important day that a mother wouldn’t miss. And since you didn’t notice, I didn’t say anything today because I was a bit shocked at the revelation too.” Will challenged. “Look, I’m not stupid. You think I didn’t understand what it meant when she said her and Wes would be getting to know each other better. I told you before I was going to try to accept her moving on, but what can you say when your mother admits she’s going to be having sex with a man that’s not your father.”

“What?” My face screwed up in disgust. “What?”

“Oh, come on. You didn’t catch that?” Will asked surprised. “The way she said her and Wesley’s relationship was progressing. They’re going to have sex, probably for the first time together.”

“Oh gross. I wasn’t even thinking that.” I said as I flopped down onto one of the chairs and buried my face in my hands, my anger at Will completely deflated.

“Yeah, well I was, and excuse me if I wasn’t chatty after that. And I can’t believe you would accuse me of lying to you like that.” Will said angrily. “God, Elizabeth! We just had this talk last week. I decided to trust her because this is all part of the damn plan and I thought you figured that out! Just because I trust her, doesn’t mean I’m against you.”

“I’m sorry.” I said miserably. “She just took me by surprise and I couldn’t lash out at her, so I was taking it out on you. I wasn’t paying attention to how her news was affecting you. I’m usually very observant about those things.” I stood up and took his hands. “Forgive me?” I asked looking into his eyes, adding the patented Summers pout.

“Put the lip away. You know I’m going to forgive you.” He kissed me on the forehead. “Just don’t do it again. We’re in this together; don’t you ever listen to my little speeches?” He sat down in a chair and brought me with him onto his lap. Reclining the chair back, he settled us comfortably with my head resting on his shoulder. “I’m glad you didn’t attack mom, but now that she’s not here, what did you think?” He added, “Without attacking me.”

“Well, I didn’t like it. She’s going away on this great vacation while once again we’re stuck here. It’s just like Halloween with the masquerade ball. She’s off having fun while her children are locked away. And what was up with the sudden departure?” I questioned.

“Yeah, that was weird. She usually always hugs us before she goes. Maybe she’s just excited about this Wesley guy. She was with the same man for a very long time, maybe it’s nice to have someone else interested in her. And if she really likes him that would just add to it.” Will tried to rationalize.

“So you think she’s just really digging this guy and is caught up in the beginning stages of a relationship.”

“Yeah, I remember when you first started dating Parker. All you did for the first month was talk about him non-stop. You had no clue what was going on with the rest of us because you had your head so far in the clouds.”

“I guess that makes sense. She did say how Ethan was pleased, so it would stand to reason she’s at least still thinking about the plan. I still don’t like it though. It’s Thanksgiving, she should be with us.” I snuggled a little deeper into William’s embrace. “It looks like it’s just going to be you and me again entertaining the twins. Maybe we can do a reenactment dinner with costumes, tie it into their lessons – Dawn and I can be the Pilgrims and you and Connor can dress as Indians.”

William laughed at my idea. “I think you just want to see me in a loincloth.”

I lifted my head to scoff in his face, “Yeah, right, not with your scrawny little ass.”

“Hey, I’ve been working out. I can easily haul you over my shoulder.” He started to get up from the chair, taking me with him.

“Wait, Will.” I said, placing my hand on top of his gripping the armrest. “Can we just stay here, sitting together for awhile?” I asked softly. “You make me feel better when mom upsets me. You make me feel safe.” I said shyly, hoping he didn’t reject my request.

“Yeah, we can sit here.” He smiled at me as his eyes softened. “I’ll prove my manliness to you later.” He pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear before gathering me back in his arms to get comfortable in the chair again.

CHAPTER 19

Will eventually consented to my idea of dressing up for Thanksgiving dinner. Incorporating the costume making into the twins’ lessons, we spent the next couple of days scouring through the trunks for clothing that could be creatively modified to pass as Pilgrim and Native American garb. We even made an elaborate headdress for Chief Will using multi-colored construction paper for feathers. While making the costumes, we carried on the lessons by talking about why the Pilgrims came to the new world, what life was like for both the newcomers and the natives, and the reasons behind the first Thanksgiving dinner.

Once the lessons were over, we continued working on the costumes without the educational conversation topics. As Dawn glued a yellow piece of paper in the shape of a buckle to a Pilgrim hat, she asked, “Is Wesley going to be our new daddy?”

I immediately stopped what I was doing, shell-shocked, and flashed a petrified glance at William. How were we going to get out of this one? The twins knew very little about Wes, certainly not about the kiss shared on Halloween, and all we had told them was that he was just a friend of mom’s.

“Why would you think that, Dawn?” Will deflected the question with another question.

“She was really happy when she was talking about him and she did go away with him. I just thought he might become our new daddy.” Dawn shrugged her shoulders.

“Plus she said she was going to be his date for the Christmas party. I thought mommies only dated daddies.” Connor added.

“Well, I think she likes him, maybe more than a friend, but I wouldn’t say he’s going to be our new daddy.” Will said.

“This girl Janice in our class back in LA had a step-father because her parents got divorced. That means they are no longer married to each other,” Dawn explained to Will and me, “so she got a new daddy. He lives with them and everything. I was just wondering if this was the same thing.” It amazed me at how much more knowledgeable Dawn and Connor were at this age than I was. I didn’t know anything about divorces, remarriages or new daddies when I was this young.

“Dawnie, no matter what happens, Hank Summers is still your father even if mom does end up marrying Wes. He might fill a parental role in your life, but he’ll never replace dad.” Will explained while I toyed with my locket, holding back tears.

“I think it would be okay if Wes became our new dad.” Connor piped in. “I mean daddy’s in Heaven, so he can’t throw the baseball around with me anymore. Maybe this guy will play with me until I go to Heaven with daddy, too.”

Will looked up at me sadly and saw the tears I had tried not to shed running down my cheeks. I couldn’t listen to the simple way Dawn and Connor talked about our dad’s death. Rather than sticking around for Will’s reply, I left the attic to head for the soothing comfort of a bubble bath.

*********************************************************

I awoke on Thanksgiving morning thinking about years past. The day would start out to a warm house and the smell of turkey cooking downstairs in the kitchen. We would all join mom downstairs early for a big breakfast, since we wouldn’t be eating again until dinner. When Will had entered high school a few years ago, we had started going to the big homecoming football game against the school rival together as a family. The next year as a freshman myself, I had joined the cheerleading squad and everyone was there to watch me perform at the half-time show along with the marching band and the color guard.

This year, rather than standing at the top of the cheerleading pyramid waving my pom-poms for the star quarterback, I was standing stiffly along with my siblings in a stark room watching grandmother serve us oatmeal.

“Since it is Thanksgiving, there will be no lunch today. Dinner will be served at 4 pm.” Dru looked back at us as she put the last of the bowls on the serving table. “Even though your mother isn’t here, she made sure that you would still have a proper turkey dinner. We have not celebrated Thanksgiving here at Rayne Manor since your mother humiliated your grandfather on this day all those years ago. Ethan forbade it. I think she’s quite lucky that Mr. Price asked her to go away for the holiday. Ethan may have enjoyed watching her get another thrashing from my whip instead.“ A cruel smirk formed at her lips.

I wasn’t quite sure what grandmother was talking about. I had no idea what mother had done to grandfather on Thanksgiving that would bring about the forsaking of a major holiday, unless that’s when he found out about her being pregnant with Will. I was also unnerved by what she said about the whip. Did grandfather know about the other punishment that mother received when we first arrived? And what kind of evil man watches as his daughter is abused? I took a sideways glance at William, but his expression gave nothing away.

“Wesley is a respectable man. He’s polite, intelligent and a fellow lawyer, a man after your grandfather’s own heart. Not like your miscreant of a father. It’s all his fault, you know? If it wasn’t for him, your mother wouldn’t be begging for her father’s attentions now and you wouldn’t be here. She’d be married and living happily with her family and her father’s love. But God saw it fit to punish her by taking Hank away from her.”

“Stop it!” I yelled confronting her, not being able to hold back any longer. “My father was a wonderful man, a better person than you’ll ever hope to be.”

Eyes burning with fury, Drusilla backhanded me hard across the cheek. “Foolish child! You know nothing about your father, nothing but lies.”

“Hey!” William immediately pulled me close to him, out of her reach. He glared at her as he placed a gentle hand on my cheek, soothing the sting of grandmother’s hate.

Drusilla shook her head in disgust at the display. “Someday the Lord will see fit to open your eyes to the truth.” She spun on her heels and left the room in a flourish.

************************************************************

Drusilla had left us all in a dampened mood. Her outburst only highlighted the fact that we were spending our first Thanksgiving without dad because of his death, and without mom because of her gallivanting. We tried to get into the spirit of the holiday by doing some crafts in the attic, making paper turkeys using outlines of our hands and playing some other board games, but everyone was unusually quiet. The easy banter between siblings was missing, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging in the room.

When it got closer to dinner time, we changed into our costumes and talked a little bit more about the lives of the Pilgrims and Native Americans up until dinner was served. Adam arrived promptly at four with all the fixings of a traditional Thanksgiving feast – a golden brown turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, corn, cranberry sauce and gravy. For dessert, there was both a pumpkin pie and an apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream

Before eating, William asked for each of us to say something that we were thankful for. This was something that our father made us do every year and we all hated it. Knowing that Will was trying to keep a family tradition going made this request bittersweet, especially since there wasn’t much to be thankful for this year.

As was the family tradition, Connor started since he was the youngest, having been born 15 minutes after Dawn. He thought about it for a minute and then said, “I am thankful that I got to be a pirate this year for Halloween because I didn’t think I was going to get to be anything.” He looked up at Will and smiled. “And I really wanted to be a pirate.” Will laughed and patted Connor on the shoulder.

Dawn was next, “I am thankful that we were allowed into the attic. There’s a lot of neat stuff up there and it makes living here better, especially since we don’t have a TV.”

Then it was my turn. I really didn’t know what to be thankful for. Everything this year had been so hard, so I thought of the last time I had been really happy and it came to me. “I am thankful that I got to spend my birthday with the entire family. It meant a lot to have everyone with me to celebrate my special day like old times.”

William was the last to go. “This year has been very tough for the Summers family and I would not have made it through without all of you sitting here at this table. I am so thankful for my sister Elizabeth, who has guided me through some of the toughest times with her strength and her kindness. I am thankful for my brother Connor and my other sister Dawn, who both give me focus and remind me everyday why life is still worth living despite its tragedies and its hardships. I am thankful that I get to wake up in a world with all of you in it. You are my greatest support and my number one priority. I love you all and I don’t know what I would do without you.” Will gave us all a brilliant smile before saying Grace.

As we sat and ate dinner, the gloom that Drusilla had left over us had been lifted.

CHAPTER 20

After we stuffed ourselves full of turkey and pie, Will sat us down for another one of his ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ tales. This one was quite humorous, revolving around Buffy trying to make Thanksgiving dinner for her Watcher and friends while her mother was away on a business trip. Her determination to have a normal dinner was interrupted by some Native American spirits from the Chumash tribe coming back to recreate the wrongs committed upon his people by the white man in the past.

Will finally introduced Dawn and Connor into this new universe. Dawn was a mystical key sent to Buffy in the form of a sister who needed protection from an evil Hellgod. Staying true to Dawn’s wish, Will had given the character all kinds of magical powers that came along with her being a ball of energy, mostly in that she could do all kinds of witch-like spells and open the walls between dimensions. Will had aged her a bit so that she was fourteen rather than eight, making it more convenient for her to hang around with Buffy and help her with the slayer problems.

Connor turned out to be a school friend of Dawn’s, who came to her after he was bitten by his cousin while babysitting and then started having weird blackouts. Knowing that Dawn’s sister was someone powerful since Buffy always seemed to be around when people were in trouble, he went to her for help. It was discovered that his cousin was a werewolf and had passed the gene along to Connor after he was bitten. Buffy and her gang had welcomed Connor into their group despite the monster inside him, finding his tracking skills useful for when they were trying to hunt down the enemy.

The twins and I laughed as Will described Buffy trying desperately to organize a traditional dinner, despite Dawn bringing frozen peas, Connor forgetting the dinner rolls, and Buffy’s basting of the turkey being interrupted by Cordelia arguing that the spirits weren’t actually at fault. Spike went into an impromptu speech about how killing the natives is what conquering nations do in retaliation to Cordelia’s political correctness, which made me smile even more since Will and I had a similar heated discussion in the attic during one of the lessons with the twins.

Survival instincts had taken over for Buffy and the group when they were attacked by a raiding party of Chumash warrior spirits. Quickly realizing it was kill or be killed, everyone entered the fray trying to dodge the arrows being lodged into Merrick’s home, but they could not kill the spirits. Discovering that their own weapons could kill them, Buffy attacked the leader with his own knife and the whole tribe disappeared. The story ended with everyone eating the Thanksgiving dinner Buffy prepared to jovial conversation about new traditions being formed.

When William finished, we all clapped exuberantly and Dawn and Connor started jumping excitedly on the bed. “So, I take it you liked it?” Will asked.

“Yeah, it was really funny. I liked how Spike kept getting shot with the wooden arrows real close to his heart.” Connor said as he bounced to the end of the bed and over to a standing Will. Will took him into his arms as Connor pulled him into a tight hug. “And it’s cool that I’m a werewolf. That’s better than being a slayer – that’s such a girl thing.”

Will laughed at that considering how much Connor wanted to be a slayer too at first. “Dawn, what did you think about your character?”

“I think it was neat that I was sent to Buffy by monks and that I can do cool magic. Are you going to write more where I can do a bunch of spells? I want to turn Connor into a frog. Ooh no, a rat!” She laughed, falling to her back on the bed and pointing a finger at her twin.

“Well, I guess that’s ok as long as you turn me back.” Connor said with a shrug of his shoulders. “And I want to be in one where I’m an actual werewolf. Can you do that?”

“Sure I can. I got plenty of ideas for more stories.” Will said before putting Connor back on his feet.

“I loved it Will. It was very funny. Who knew the poet had a sense of humor?” I piped in. “Though I guess your poetry was just as funny.” I mumbled quietly under my breath.

“Hey!” Will exclaimed in false anger. “I heard that!” He laughed as he tackled me on the bed, rolling me onto my back to attack my mid-section with his fingers. Dawn tried to save me by jumping on Will’s back while Connor joined in with the tickling. William let go of me and maneuvered Dawn over his shoulder and began to tickle her instead. We played like that for a while until Dawn finally called uncle.

***********************************************************************

Though our Thanksgiving had started out rather gloomy, it ended on a high note. Once dinner had lifted all of our moods, the story that Will read had all of us laughing again, and after the tickle fight we played cards until it was time for the kids to go to bed.

Will and I had gone up to the attic after putting the twins to bed. I didn’t really want to ruin the good mood that had settled over us, but Drusilla’s comments from earlier had me curious. As we sat together on the mattresses playing thumb wars, I got up enough courage to finally ask William his thoughts. “What did you make of Dru’s ranting earlier?”

“Besides her proving to be more of a nut every time she opens her mouth, I don’t know what to think.” Will replied as he pinned my thumb under his. “One, two, three. I win.”

“That’s not fair, I was distracted.” I pulled my hand away from his and lay back on the mattress with my arms stretched over my head, baring a bit of my stomach from my shirt tugging up. “What about the whole thing about us only knowing lies about dad? Do you think it’s true?” I turned my head to look into his eyes. ”With the way mom’s been acting since we moved in here, maybe there is a lot we don’t know.”

William stretched himself out beside me and cradled his head on his bent elbow. “Well, we know the story about mom and dad meeting and Ethan not liking it. They never really mentioned when it was. For all we know, it could have been around Thanksgiving that he found out. I don’t think they were necessarily hiding anything.”

“What about his family? We knew about grandmother Dru and grandfather Ethan and that mom’s an only child, but we never knew anything about dad’s family.” I questioned.

“His parents died when he was a teenager. I don’t think he liked to talk about it because it was traumatic like how we find it hard to talk about dad.” Will justified, while he placed a comforting hand on my bare stomach.

“Even so, we’ve never met any other family besides Dru. No third cousins, no aunts or uncles, nothing. Isn’t that kind of weird?” I closed my eyes as Will started to rub slow circles on my stomach.

“I don’t know, Elizabeth. If he was an only child too, the line would have stopped with him.” His eyes looked sad as he moved closer to my body and laid his head down on my chest, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Why are you listening to crazy Dru, rather than believing mom and dad who love us?”

I knew he was seeking comfort since it seemed my questions were bringing the whole world he thought he knew down around him. One of my arms automatically went to his head, running my fingers through his hair in a calming gesture. Though I knew he was getting upset, I continued the conversation, “Dru has nothing to lose, nothing happens to her if she tells the truth. Mom and dad obviously did, mom even more so now.” I could tell Will was trying to control his emotions from the rhythmic breaths I felt along my stomach and the tight kneading of his fingers on my skin. Before continuing, I shifted my position so that I was cradling him better with one hand gently rubbing up and down his back while the other continued to stroke his hair. “I’m not saying that mom and dad didn’t love us. It’s just, how much do we really know about their past? Maybe the fallout between mom and Ethan was more than just Ethan disapproving of dad because he wasn’t a lawyer.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do? We can’t really find anything out from in here.” Will slowly started rubbing circles again on my stomach, which I assumed meant he was starting to calm down.

“I don’t think Drusilla will be much help, she tends to talk in riddles anyway. Maybe we can ask mom about it next time she comes by?” I suggested.

“Yeah, ok. But we have to do it carefully. We don’t want her to get jumpy. If she really does have something to lose, then she might just shut down.” Will looked up at me from his position on my chest. “Promise me.”

“I promise. You won the bet fair and square, William. I’m not going to go back on it, at least until after Christmas.” I reminded him.

“Ok, good. Then I think that’s settled.” He picked himself off me and gave me a light peck on the lips, before straightening my shirt back into its proper position. “Come on then, let’s get to bed.” He stood up and held his hand out to me to help me out of my lying position. I took his hand and he held onto it until we reached downstairs. He placed another kiss on the back of my hand, before letting go and heading for the bathroom to put on his pajamas. I stood in the dark staring at the small beam of light coming from under the bathroom door as I lightly stroked my stomach, blushing as I remembered the feel of Will’s hands touching me.

CHAPTER 21

The first week of December we all scoured the attic for Christmas decorations. Will had found a box with one of those artificial trees that needed assembling, and Dawn found a couple full of ornaments, tinsel and other trimmings. Although the decorations were old, we made the best of them.

We put the tree together in the corner by the reading area and tried to fluff out the branches as best we could. The fuller branches were placed in the front to make the tree seem bigger. Once that was done, we placed the tinsel and the ornaments strategically around the tree to hide some of the bare spots. Dawn and Connor made some garland by linking together multi-colored construction paper to give it some more color. Adorning the top of the tree was a large angel from the ornament box. Many years ago, the angel was probably a beautiful tree topper, pristine white with lace and silver sparkled wings, but now it was a muted grey color with crushed wings; I tried to fix them as much as possible, but they still didn’t have their full luster. Overall, the tree wasn’t fabulous, but it was nice considering what we had to work with.

Around the attic, we hung the additional decorations. We made some snowflakes with white paper and found some mistletoe, which were all hung from the attic rafters. There were wreaths with pine cones and red berries that we hung on the support beams and some green garland that we framed around the more prominently located windows, placing extra ornaments on them for a more festive look. Dawn and Connor drew pictures of Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and other Christmas characters to hang on different sections of the attic walls, as well as our room. The only thing missing was lights, and Will decided to ask Adam about getting some of the battery operated strands so we could put them up on the tree and other places around the attic. With the new decorations in place, the attic took on a holiday feel that immediately lifted all of our spirits.

*************************************************************

The next week, we were down in our room waiting for our dinner to arrive when in walked mother with the serving cart. Her skin looked radiant with a healthy glow which I chose to believe she got while skiing, not by being intimate with Wesley. She had a bright smile on her face and looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Hi, everybody! I’m back from my trip.” She said as she positioned the serving cart near the table. She knelt down and held out her arms for Dawn and Connor. “Did you miss mommy?” She asked while she hugged and kissed the twins.

“Yes, mom. Did you bring us back a present?” Connor asked excitedly.

“No, honey. I’m sorry. I told you I’d try, but it just wasn’t possible.” She stood up and ruffled his hair. “Wesley and I had such a good time getting to know each other that we barely spent any time apart the entire trip.” Mom got a dreamy look on her face that made me think William was right in his assumption that this trip was about sex.

“So, it was good?” Will asked. I turned to him with wide-eyes and a look of shock on my face. He smirked at me and then added, “The plan’s going on as it should?”

He leaned over to whisper quietly in my ear, “Get your mind out of the gutter, little sister.” I elbowed him in the stomach, annoyed at how easily he could read my thoughts.

“Of course,” Mom was beaming. “My father is extremely pleased with me and Wesley absolutely adores me. Everything is falling into place. Eat your dinner while I tell you about Aspen.”

So the four of us ate dinner while mom sat on the bed relaying all the information she could about her trip. She talked about how beautiful the scenery was and described Wesley’s cabin in great detail, which sounded like it was a mansion rather than a small vacation home in the woods. They went skiing on the slopes, snowmobiling on the mountain trails, shopping in the town center, dining and dancing at exclusive restaurants and took a sleigh ride through the park. At night, they returned to the cabin to sit in front of the warm fire while drinking hot chocolate and learning about each other. It all sounded perfectly romantic. It made me want to be sick.

“Well, now tell me about your Thanksgiving. How was it?” Mom asked when she finished telling her tale.

“We dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians during dinner. The turkey was really good.” Dawn said.

“Will wrote another story too. I’m a werewolf.” Connor said proudly.

“Oh, William, I’d love to hear it.” Mom said turning to Will. “Dawn, Connor, why don’t you get ready for bed and then we can sit and listen to the story? You don’t mind listening to it again, do you?” Mom asked the twins.

“No, that would be ok.” Dawn answered. “Are you going to tuck us in tonight?”

“I sure am. Now go get into your pj’s.” Mom tapped Dawn on her bum and sent her on her way to the bathroom.

Once Will finished the story the twins were both yawning and ready to sleep. Mom snuggled them in, wrapping the blankets tight around them like she used to. She kissed them both on the forehead and told them she loved them. When she was done, she stood a little bit away and stared at them with a loving look. It seemed as if she missed them, like she was trying to memorize what they looked like.

“So,” she whispered, turning back to us, “was Thanksgiving really ok?”

“Yeah, it was good, though weird without you and dad.” William added.

“Oh, and grandmother almost ruined the whole day with her morning visit.” I grumbled.

“What happened in the morning?” Mom asked, concern lacing her voice.

“She was just spouting off about how dad was no good. Dru slapped Elizabeth when she tried to defend him.” Will said with anger.

“Elizabeth!” Mom shrieked, grabbing my wrist. “What did you say to her? You shouldn’t provoke her like that.”

Her grip on my wrist was so tight it hurt. I tried to wriggle out of it, but she held fast. “Nothing really. I just told her she would never be a better person than dad. She was being really mean.” I said as she tightened her grip even more. “Ow!”

“Mom! Let go of Elizabeth. You’re hurting her.” Will said as he came over to grab hold of mom’s arm.

She let go on an apology. “I’m sorry, honey. I just don’t want you to be punished. Mother can be irrational sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” I said rolling my eyes and rubbing my wrist. “What was she talking about anyway? She was going on about how Ethan banned Thanksgiving because of you and she made dad sound like a criminal.”

“It’s nothing. All in the past.” Mom shrugged off my question.

“My cheek didn’t think it was nothing when she hit me. I think we deserve some answers.” I wouldn’t relent.

“You already know the story. Father disowned me because he didn’t like Hank. He wasn’t one of the firm’s partners. Ethan always wanted me to marry one of his lawyer colleagues.” She said this with bitterness.

“That’s it? There’s not more to it? Grandmother seemed pretty adamant that we didn’t know anything about dad. That all we knew was lies.” William backed me up for which I was grateful.

“Well, I’m sorry if you don’t believe me, but that’s it. Ethan is finally pleased that I’m getting serious with one of the firm’s lawyers. That’s why this vacation and the upcoming party are so important.” Mom looked at us with doe-eyes and switched tactics. “Look, your father loved you very much. In all the years he was with us, did he ever treat you with anything but kindness? Did he seem like any of the things that Dru said he was?”

“No.” Will replied quietly looking down at the floor, unable to meet mother’s eyes.

“Of course not, because he wasn’t. He was a loving and kind husband and father, who was respected in the community. Ethan was just upset that I chose Hank over him. There’s nothing more to it.” Mom then changed the subject. “The holiday party for Wes and the firm is next week. So far, everything is going as planned, so stop worrying and be happy. It’s almost Christmas.”

“Are we going to see you for Christmas?” I asked.

“Absolutely. I probably won’t be back until then since I have a lot of preparations to do for the party, but I promise you everything is going to be fine.” She came over and hugged us both. “I love you very much. Please be good and don’t give mother any reason to hurt you, just hold your tongue. I’ll see you again as soon as I can.”

She left Will and me standing there in our little room. “Well, what did you think?” I asked.

“It sounds like everything’s on track. And she has a point; dad never did anything to prove that he was anything like what Dru said. I felt bad for even doubting him.”

“You don’t think she changed the subject a little too quickly?” I probed.

“It’s probably just something she doesn’t like talking about. She had to choose between her father and her husband, it couldn’t have been a pleasant time for her. I’m sure in a couple of weeks when we are out of here, all her weird behavior will blow over.” Will came over and embraced me in tight hug. “It will be fine.”

I held on to him tight and asked the question I really didn’t want to ask. “What are we going to do if we don’t get out of here in two weeks?”

He sighed and kissed my forehead. “We’ll figure it out when it happens, Elizabeth. No use talking about it yet.” He gently rubbed up and down my arms and gave me what was supposed to be a reassuring smile before going to get ready for bed.

Chapter 22

The day of the holiday party, we got the same spiel from grandmother about not going into the attic that we did on Halloween. Since we actually weren’t planning anything for this night, we respected her wishes up to a point. We kept the kids downstairs playing a board game, while Will and I went upstairs to watch from the window. Dawn protested because she did not want to disobey grandmother, but we assured her that we wouldn’t do anything that would get us caught and that it was for our benefit. If we could see what was going on, then we could tell if the plan was being successful.

The manor grounds had been decorated for the Christmas holiday and looked stunning. Around each gaslight lantern along the driveway were white lights and a large wreath with a big red ribbon. The main gate had two large topiary trees with silver and red bows, doves and lights adorning them. There were two more similar trees outside the main door. The gate itself was decorated with lighted green garland with alternating red and silver bows. Even the fountain was decorated with wreaths and large lighted dove statues, which made it look like the birds were flying in to sit in the water.

In the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights, Will and I sat on the ledge of the window, his back to the wall and my back to his chest. I laid my head on his shoulder while he curled his arms around my waist. Drawing circles on his thighs, I sat and watched as Sunnydale society once again came to celebrate at Rayne Manor. Though the cars were the same, the attire was definitely not. Instead of the casualness of the Halloween costumes, people were dressed in high society formal wear. All of the men wore tuxes, while the women went all out in the latest of ball gown fashions. Sequin, silk, fur and taffeta were all wrapped around the women in one way or another. They all looked beautiful and I was jealous thinking of the Winter Ball I should have been attending at the high school.

Will grabbed my hand when he saw the familiar blue Bentley pull into the driveway. He entwined his fingers with mine as we watched Wesley emerge in his black tuxedo and white silk scarf. Before the valet even had the car out of the driveway, mother came rushing out of the front door to greet him. Wearing a red silk gown with a sweetheart neckline, she brought her white-gloved arms around Wesley’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Returning the kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and skimmed his fingers along her bare back before lifting her from the ground and spinning her in a tight hug. She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder as he placed her back on the ground. Taking her hand, he led her back into the house to enjoy the celebration.

“They look like they’re in love.” I said quietly to Will.

“Yeah, I guess the plan is working.” He said distantly. “Come on, I don’t want to watch anymore.” He picked me up off of him and led me back downstairs to the twins.

*****************************************************************

The next week leading up to Christmas went by quickly. We spent most of the time making homemade presents or finding previously undiscovered items in the attic that we could pass off as something new. Will spent most of his time drawing and writing with us helping out when he wanted. We even made gifts for mom holding on to the promise that she would be there for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we sat around upstairs in front of the tree while Will read us another Slayer story. This one was centered on Spike being haunted by The First Evil, who kept disguising himself as people that he killed in the past. Spike was tormented to the point where he was going to watch the sun come up, but Buffy came to stop him, reminding him of all the good he had done since he’d been chipped. In the end, a miracle occurred when it started snowing in sunny California, the overcast skies saving Spike from a fiery death.

Once the story was over, we hurried the twins off to get ready for bed. “Is Santa going to find us since we moved?” Connor asked.

“Of course he is. He’s Santa, he knows everything.” Will replied.

“Have we been good enough to get presents?” Dawn questioned. “Grandmother is always saying how bad we are, maybe Santa believes her.”

“Don’t be silly. Santa has his own list and he doesn’t take into consideration the ramblings of crazy people.” I said. “But, if you don’t get to bed soon, he may think differently.”

“Ok, we’re going.” Connor grumbled.

Later that night, Will and I put presents underneath the tree that were addressed from Santa. For Dawn, there was a beautiful music box that I found way back in one of the wardrobes and a model tall ship in a glass bottle for Connor which was found on a high shelf. It wasn’t a lot, but it would have to do. My only hope was that mother would come through for the twins with actual presents from the outside world.

**************************************************************

“Will, Elizabeth! Look! Santa came!” Dawn cried happily.

I awoke to see breakfast already served on the table and the serving cart filled with presents. “Well, come on. Let’s see what Santa brought then.” Will said as he got out of bed. I saw him grab a note that was on the table and he sat down as he began to read it. The twins were happily digging into the presents and didn’t pay him any attention. He folded up the note and looked up at me, his eyes did not conceal the hurt he was feeling. I got up and took the note from him, reading it for myself.

William –

I really wish I could be there to celebrate Christmas with you all, but Ethan has planned something special for me, him, mother and Wes. If I don’t go along with it, he will become suspicious and all our careful planning will be for not. I left presents for all of you and some for Dawn and Connor from Santa. I know you will make this a special Christmas for them despite me not being there as you have done a wonderful job with them these past months. Please explain to everyone why I can’t be there and remember that I love you all. I will see you as soon as I can.

Merry Christmas.

Love, Mom.

I crumbled the letter up in my hand and threw it at William in anger. He caught it and quickly disposed of it in the trashcan so Dawn and Connor would never see it. We stared at each other for a moment, both our minds racing with a million things we wanted to say, but couldn’t.

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to open your presents?” Connor interrupted the moment.

Will plastered a fake smile on his lips and turned to the twins. “Of course we are. Pass me up one so I can open it.”

We spent the day opening the gifts first downstairs and then up in the attic. Will explained to Dawn and Connor why mom couldn’t be there in a much rosier light than her note did and they seemed ok with it since they had new toys to distract them from her absence. Will and I did our best to stay upbeat throughout the day for the twins, playing with their gifts and enjoying ours as well.

It was a different story once they went to bed though. I had gone into the bathroom to get ready for bed and when I returned, Will was gone. I went up to the attic to find him standing with his head down and fists clenched in front of the tree, which still had the unopened presents to mom underneath it. “What are we going to do, Will?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know, Beth. I can’t believe she would miss Christmas.” He turned to look at me and I could see tears running down his cheeks.

“Will, maybe we should start thinking of a way out of here.” I said as I approached him. “Without her.”

“How, Bethy?” He implored frantically. “There is no way out of here! There are bars on our windows and it’s a four floor drop from the attic. There’s one door that locks from the outside. How do you propose we get out?”

“I don’t know, but we have to start thinking of other alternatives. She didn’t show up today Will. You know that’s bad.”

“Even if we figured a way out, what would we do then? We have nowhere to go, no other family. You and I can’t raise Dawn and Connor on our own with no money, no family – we have nothing.” Will brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in deep concentration. “We just need to give her more time.”

“Will, she said Christmas. It’s Christmas and she couldn’t even bother to show up.”

“No. She said Christmas, six months at the latest. That’s two more months. Besides, in the note she said she’d come as soon as she could. Maybe she’ll be by tomorrow. We need to give her more time.” He turned his pleading eyes on me. “Please, Elizabeth.”

“Will.” I said defeated, not knowing what to do. I knew he was right in that we were trapped. Even if we did manage to leave the manor, we had nowhere to go afterwards. He looked up at me and approached me slowly. Putting his hands on my waist and drawing me toward his body, he gave me a slight smile. “What are you doing?” I asked in a soft whisper.

“You’re standing under the mistletoe. Holiday tradition dictates that I kiss you.” He leaned in close and gave me a gentle kiss. His lips were soft against mine and they lingered a little longer than they probably should have. He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered, “Give her some more time, please. I promise we’ll figure something else out when we know for sure the plan is lost.” He gave me another soft kiss on my forehead and drew me in for a hug, coaxing me into agreement under his gentle touch. What else could I do as he held me so desperately in his arms?

CHAPTER 23

Sufficiently distracted by their gifts, the twins didn’t comment on the absence of mother the week after Christmas. Since it was their school ‘break,’ they happily spent most of the days playing with their new toys in the attic. Or so we thought.

“What’s fell-a-te-o?” Dawn asked. She was sitting on the mattresses changing her new doll’s clothes. Connor and I were setting up a race track on the floor next to the mattresses.

Will looked up from the book he was reading. “I’ve never heard of it. Is it something you read?”

“Yes, but maybe I’m not saying it right. I sounded it out though like you taught us.” Dawn said.

“Well, let’s have a look at it.” Will said marking his page.

“Ok.” Dawn got up and went to another part of the attic. She came back a minute later with a book in her hand and gave it to Will.

“Where did you find this?” Will looked at her with wide-eyes. I glanced at the title and blushed – ‘Sex and the Perfect Lover: Tao, Tantra and the Kama Sutra.’

“Connor and I were playing hide and seek yesterday and I found this in my hiding place by the shelves near your barbells.” Dawn said as innocent as pie. “Once he found me, I showed it to him and we were reading it.” Will shot me a nervous glance.

Dawn grabbed the book back from William and flipped to a page. “See, here it is. Fell-a-te-o. Is that how you say it?”

Will was too busy gawking at the picture to actually answer Dawn. There was a man leaning back on his elbows on the bed while a blond woman sat between his legs with his cock in her hand and her tongue licking the head. Finding his voice, Will replied, “No, Dawn, the ‘t’ and the ‘i’ together make a ‘sh’ sound, like in ratio.” Ever the teacher. “But that’s beside the point; you shouldn’t be looking at this. There was a reason it wasn’t out here with the rest of the books.” He shut the book and put it behind his back, under his shirt and in the waistband of his jeans.

“There are naked people in there. They have hair in places I don’t have it. Dawn either. We checked.” Connor said matter of factly. “Do you have hair down there?” He looked at Will, waiting for an answer.

“Connor! I’m serious. You shouldn’t have been looking at this.” Will said.

“Well, we were just curious. I’ve never seen a naked person before.” Connor continued. “In some pictures, it looks like they were playing ‘Twister.’ Dawn and I tried to get into a couple of the poses.” He started laughing at the memory, “We kept falling over. It was funny.”

“I don’t know how any babies are made that way if you keep falling over. Do you have to do it differently if you are trying to make a baby?” Dawn asked in all seriousness. Neither of the twins was cutting Will any slack as he kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. I tried to stifle my smile by putting my hand up to my forehead to rub my temples.

“Ok, that’s it. We are not having this discussion right now based off a sex book. When we get back to our lessons, we will cover the human body and reproduction in science class in a structured biological manner, so please go back to playing.”

“But you never answered my original question.” Dawn whined. “What’s fellatio? I pronounced it right that time.” She beamed. “And if it’s like the picture, why would a girl want to lick a boy’s thingy? That’s where they go pee from.” She said the last part in a whisper as if she was letting Will in on a huge secret.

Will’s face was bright red, though I couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. He looked at me for help, but I quickly lowered my head so I wouldn’t make eye contact. There was no way I was getting into this conversation, and I was trying to make sure the twins forgot all about me being there. Realizing I wasn’t going to save him, he sighed, “Dawn, if I answer this one question will you promise not to ask anymore until our lessons?”

She nodded her head. “Yes, I promise.”

“Ok. Fellatio is when a woman takes a man’s penis into her mouth. There’s usually licking and some, er…sucking involved. It gives the man a lot of pleasure and the woman does it because she loves him. End of story.”

“Has anyone ever done that to you?” Connor asked.

“Connor! I said no more questions.” Will yelled as a look of horror passed over his bright red face. I wondered if he was thinking back to his encounter with Amy.

“What? You told Dawn she couldn’t ask any more questions, not me.”

“Well, it applied to both of you. Now, it’s New Year’s Eve. If you don’t stop asking questions right now, I’m not letting you stay up until midnight.” Will reprimanded.

“Alright, alright. I want to stay up for the New Year.” Connor said and the subject was dropped. For now.

************************************************************

The twins didn’t make it to midnight. With them falling asleep around ten, it left William and I with two hours before the New Year began. “I already pulled out four bottles of wine for tonight.” Will said as he tucked a sleeping Connor into bed. “I plan on getting completely wasted. I think this year deserves to end in a foggy haze.”

“Four bottles! Will we could barely handle two last time.” I exclaimed. With the way the night had gone on my birthday, there was no way four bottles could end in anything but badness.

“We don’t have to drink it all, but if we have bottles on hand it will require less walking around. And after that conversation with the twins today, I need many drinks.” I couldn’t argue with his logic. “Thanks for the help by the way. You completely bailed on me.”

I shook my head. “There was no way I was getting involved in that. You should have seen your face when Connor asked you if a girl’s ever sucked you off before. It was priceless.” I started laughing.

“Just for that, I’m making you do the biology lessons.”

“Oh, no mister. That’s all you.” I said as we got to the top of the attic stairs. “Where’s the wine?”

“Over here. I figured if we stay on the east side it will be less of a walk to the stairs tonight.” He sat down on the mattress and grabbed one of the bottles from beside the bookshelf. He opened the wine and handed it to me as I sat down next to him, then grabbed another bottle to open for himself.

Watching him take a gulp of the wine, I waited for him to finish his first taste before asking, “What do you think mom’s doing tonight?”

“I’m sure she’s out with Wesley.” William took another big sip of his wine. “Look, I don’t want to talk about her tonight. I want to have a good time, not dwell on the suckiness of our situation. It’s the last day of the year and New Year’s lore says that however you spend this night is an indication of how the next year is going to go. I’ll be damned if I’m going to jinx things by talking about mom, the plan or anything else of that nature.” He took another swig from the wine bottle. “Please, let’s just have a good time and talk about something else.”

“Ok, fine.” I said taking another sip before changing the subject. “How do you think Dawn found that book?”

“Ugh, I don’t even know. I had put them all on the highest shelf of the bookcase by the barbells. She must have knocked it off when she was getting into her hiding place. That was so embarrassing. Did you see that picture?”

“Yeah, I can only imagine the other ones they saw in there. I can’t believe they actually tried to get into them and kept falling. They must have been some crazy positions.” Will and I laughed imagining the twins maneuvering themselves into some of the poses from the book. “What did you do with the book?”

“It’s between the cushions of the chair for now. I was going to find another place for all of them later. Why?”

I put down my bottle and crawled over to the chair. “Because I want to see it.” I pulled up the cushion and found the book. I grabbed it and went back to my bottle, taking another sip before flipping to the table of contents. William watched me intently while still working on his wine. “Listen to these chapter titles. The Explosive Orgasm, How to Reach the Core of Ecstasy, Positions of the Kamasutra, Traveling the Love Maps, Fragrances and Massages to Enhance Pleasure, Body Zones and How to Stimulate their Energy with our Hands. Oh my god! Do you think this is grandmother’s book?”

William shuddered. “That is so disturbing. Please don’t ever mention grandmother in the context of a sexual being ever again.”

“Listen to this.” I said as I read an excerpt:

“‘Each partner must caress the other in a slow and soft manner, with yin sensitivity. In doing so, not only do the mouth and the fingers take part, but so does the whole body, including those parts that are not usually explored erotically.

‘While the partners caress each other, both should focus mentally on the image of a sun embracing the moon with its light beams -- two vital energies becoming integrated.

‘The man should excite the woman until they both reach maximum wetness in their erogenous zones. Upon achieving this yin sensation, it is time for the intervention of the yang, with the man's penetration of the woman until the couple achieves maximum pleasure.

“Do you think this stuff really works? The tantric stuff, visualizing and all that?”

“I really wouldn’t know, but I guess. Some people swear by it.” He took another sip of his wine, and I noticed that he was almost done with his bottle. I guess he really was trying to get drunk. “It sounds pretty stupid, visualizing sun beams, but kind of hot at the same time.” He got up and opened another bottle of wine.

“You’re already done with your first one? It’s not even eleven. If you keep going like that, you’re not going to make it until midnight.”

“Oh, I’m going to make it. I’ll go slower with this one. I’m already feeling it. Stop worrying about me and drink more of yours.”

“Why, William, are you trying to get me drunk?” I asked, fluttering my eyelashes.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I’m going to set the alarm on my watch to go off at midnight, so we won’t miss it. Now what else is in that book? Convince me that visualizing sunbeams isn’t stupid.”

“Ok, well here’s something about the Taoist philosophy.

‘According to Taoist thinking, the sexual feature of yin is slower excitation, but this also means that a woman is slower to quit at the moment when she needs more sexual stimulation. On the contrary, yang's sexual feature is easy excitability, which allows the man to achieve maximum pleasure instantly.

‘The man needs to learn to prolong the sexual act without reaching orgasm so that both energies can merge and fuse. By increasing the time his member remains inside the woman, he will absorb the yin essence that will in turn revitalize him.’

“Makes sense, right? The longer you go, the better it is for the woman and you. No sun beams there.” I said.

“Go to the positions. I want see what Connor was talking about.” Will moved next to me so we could both see the pictures in the book. Bringing my bottle to my lips, I tried to ignore his thigh brushing up against mine.

“Ok, Positions of the Kamasutra. Yawning position – that’s pretty much missionary.” I said.

“Keep flipping – get to the ones that require a little more flexibility.” Will said, trying to snatch the book out of my hands.

“Hey! I’ll find them.” I said smacking his hand away. I took another sip of my wine. “I’m almost done with my wine. Can I share yours after? I don’t want to crack another bottle unless we finish the third one.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Stop stalling though and get to the pictures.”

“Ok, here’s one that looks uncomfortable – The Slave Position.” I tilted my head a little at the picture.

“That doesn’t look difficult. We’re trying it.” Will took a last swig and got on his knees. “On your back.”

“Will! We’re not trying it!” I exclaimed.

“Come on, you’re a dancer which means you’re flexible. This should be no problem for you.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Live a little will you? Dawn and Connor did it.”

I gave him a look that clearly showed that I thought that was a dumb reason. “They’re eight, we’re not.”

“Just do it. It’ll give us something to do until midnight. Take another drink and get on your back.” Will said as he took the book from me. “Ooh, we’re trying this one next.” He showed me a picture of what looked like two people getting ready for a wheel-barrow race.

I shook my head and finished off the bottle of wine. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” I wiped the wine from my lips and got down on my back on the mattress. “Ok, what next?”

“Give me your ankles.” I lifted my legs so he could grab my ankles and then he pulled my lower half closer to his body. “Grab my hips.” He said while he brought my legs towards my chest, a move that lifted my ass off the ground. He lifted his knees a little so that all his weight was at my core. “Am I hurting you?”

“Well, it’s not exactly comfortable, but it’s not altogether unpleasant either.”

“Ok, flip over. The next one is called the Jardinier position. You have to get up on your hands though.” He explained as he stood up, swaying a little bit from the alcohol.

I flipped over and put my hands flat on the floor and lifted my leg for him to grab. “We used to do this in the summer down at the beach, remember? Who knew we were getting so kinky?”

“Yeah, well I don’t think we did it quite like this.” He said as he stepped between my legs, adjusting them on his hips and pressed right up against my core again. “How long do you think you could stay on your hands like that?”

“It’s like doing a push up. My arms would definitely get tired and with thrusting involved I could see myself falling on my face.” He put down my legs and picked up the book again. “On your back.”

“You’re very demanding, William.” I said as I flipped over onto my back again.

“Do what I say or I’ll put you back in the slave position.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “This is the Clou position – I have no idea if I’m saying that right. You got to lift your body up like this.” He showed me the picture.

“God, are these positions for real? I don’t know how you can maintain them for a long time.” I said as I lifted my body up off the floor and braced my back with my hands, my legs were straight up in the air. William turned sideways and positioned himself in a lunge between my legs, with his right foot up near my shoulder. He adjusted one of my legs so my foot rested on his ass and placed my other one on his shoulder, putting one hand on my knee and skimming the other one down my leg, over my ass to rest upon the small of my back. Will moved his back leg a little to bring himself closer to my center. I closed my eyes at the feel of his semi-erect cock hitting me in just the right spot. I tried to steady my breathing as he moved up and down a little as if he was moving inside me.

“I think my legs would get tired with this one. It’s hard to maintain the lunge position. I can always work squats and lunges into my exercise routine.” He shrugged and stood straight up again releasing me from the position. I laid flat on my back and watched as he grabbed the wine again. “I need another drink before the next one. You’re tiring me out.” He gave me a wink and a smile. “Here have a taste.” I got up on my elbows and took a sip of the almost empty bottle, while he flipped through a couple more pages.

“Next up, the Barre position. You need to get on your side for this one.” He took the bottle away from me and took the last drink before he knelt between my legs. I laid flat on my side with my dizzy head resting on my bent elbow as I felt William grab my leg and bring it up to his shoulder again. “Bend this leg.” He said as he grabbed my thigh of the leg that was still on the floor. “This is better. I like being on my knees instead of standing – easier control. It’s got to be more comfortable for you too.”

“Mmm,” I said dreamily as I felt his now hard cock hitting my clit as he took a couple of small experimental thrusts.

“Don’t fall asleep. It’s not midnight yet. Besides, I’m going to open some more wine.” He didn’t bother to move from his position between my legs as he leaned over to grab the last of the four bottles.

The movement put just the right amount of pressure on my clit and I couldn’t help the moan that escaped my lips. I tried to cover the fact that I was moaning in pleasure by asking, “Aren’t you drunk enough? I know I am. My head feels ten times too big and I don’t think I can move.”

“Oh, I’m drunk, but I said I wanted to get wasted. I’m not wasted yet.” He opened the bottle and took a few long pulls. “As for not moving, we still have a few more positions to try out, but I’ll let you rest for a bit while I drink.” His arm caressed up and down my leg which was still up on his shoulder while he continued to take sips of the wine, causing his hips to shift every once in a while. My head was swimming at the sensations. I had to stop this, it felt too good. My only hope was another position that would hopefully be more uncomfortable.

I removed my leg from his shoulder and sat up to help shake off some of the drunkenness. “Ok, I’m ready. What’s the next one?”

“You’re on top for this one, it’s called Winged Eros.” Will sat down with his palms flat on the mattress behind him and bent his legs. “Get on top of me so that your back is resting against my thighs.”

“Ok, let me look at the picture.” Seeing what I was supposed to do, I straddled his waist and sat down in his lap. “I might need your help bringing my legs up.” I said as I leaned back against his thighs. He sat up and adjusted my body so that I was in a more upright position in order for me to get my legs up on his shoulders easier. Once my legs were up in the air, he braced his weight against his arms extended behind him again and I went back a little against his thighs.

“Grab my shoulders.” I extended my arms to his neck and he thrust a little, but he didn’t get the desired effect. “Pull on my neck a little when I thrust up, that should move you forward.” He said. “Ready?” I nodded and he thrust as I pulled and my body did exactly as he thought, moving me forward into his rock hard erection. “Oh hell yeah, that feels good. I can only imagine what it would feel like if I was actually inside you. Do it one more time.” Ignoring his Freudian slip and being too drunk to care, I pulled as he thrust again and William let out a loud groan. God, that sound was so hot. I needed to hear it again, so I tugged against him and it earned me another groan, only longer this time. “Elizabeth, you have to stop that.” He looked at me and brought my legs down off his shoulders. “I need another drink.” He lifted me off his lap and grabbed the bottle, taking four large gulps.

“Give me another sip before we get into the next one.”

William raised an eyebrow at me, handing me over the bottle. “You sure you want to do another one.” He was giving me an out, knowing these last few positions were pushing us past the line of innocent. I didn’t care about lines. I was so wet and throbbing I wanted to continue, I wanted to feel his dick hit against my clit again and again. I wanted to get off and I knew he did too.

I gave him back the bottle and nodded my head, looking him right in the eye. “Yeah, I want to do another one.” He smirked at me and took another swig, then nodded in understanding.

“Ok.” He said as he flipped to another page. “Position of the Wife of Indra puts you on your back again.”

“I think you like being the one in control.” I teased as I lay down on the mattress.

His tongue curled up to touch his upper teeth as he kneeled before me, “I won’t deny that. Now spread your legs.” I opened my legs and he grabbed my hips, pulling me hard into his erection. I gasped as he brought my legs back up so my ankles rested on his shoulders and put his weight on me so my legs bent forward towards my chest. My pussy was completely open as he started to move his hips in a slow rocking motion, causing electric shocks to shoot throughout my whole body. I sighed in pleasure as his thrusts got a little harder and my hips started moving in conjunction with his. I could hear his breathing getting heavier, and I opened my eyes to see his blue orbs staring at me in unadulterated lust. He looked absolutely gorgeous, I had to touch him. I brought my hand up to his cheek and he closed his eyes as he leaned softly into it.

He brought my legs down from his shoulders and wrapped them around his waist, which allowed him to lower his body closer to mine. Holding onto one of my legs, he thrust deep as he brought one of my hands over my head and grabbed it as we rocked closer to completion. My other arm clung to his ass, guiding his movements. The only sounds in the attic was of our heavy breathing, soft sighs and unbidden moans of pleasure, until the beeping of William’s watch interrupted the night, signaling the New Year.

Will stopped moving and looked at me, all flushed and heady. “Happy New Year.” He whispered as he caressed my cheek with a feather light touch of his finger. “Holiday tradition dictates that I kiss you.” Will leaned down and touched his lips tentatively to mine. Our hips starting moving again and I felt his tongue slide along my bottom lip, begging entrance. My lips parted letting him in as my legs tightened around his waist. Our tongues battled furiously as our movements gained speed.

I broke away from the kiss as his cock hit my clit through my jeans in just the spot I needed to fly over the edge. “Oh, god yeah.” I groaned as my head flew to his shoulder and bit the flesh there in order to stifle a scream.

“Ugggggh.” William cried as soon as I bit him and I felt his whole body shudder as he came. “Oh yeah, that felt good.” The motion of our hips slowed as he began to kiss and nip at my neck.

After I came down from my orgasm, panic and shame hit me from all sides. Oh god, what had we just done? Despite how good it felt, this was bad, very bad. Will had stopped moving and I wondered if he was experiencing the same panic as I was. “Will?” I whispered, but I didn’t get a response. “Will?” I said again, a little louder, shaking him a little. Still nothing. When I heard a little snore escape from him, I realized he had passed out. “Great.” I said. Will was dead weight on top of me and the alcohol was starting to take its toll. Trying to block out all thoughts, I shut my eyes and let the foggy haze of the wine pull me under.


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For those of you who are interested, the book mentioned in this chapter is an actual book by Mabel Iam. It got great reviews on Amazon.com so much so that one reviewer went through and let everyone know her favorite chapters, which is how I got the chapter names. The excerpts are real as well - I found them on an ebook website. In addition, if you are interested in the positions that Elizabeth and William were practicing, I found them at the following websites:
www.artofloving.com/sex/kamasutraillust.htm# and www.kamasutrafree.com. Try them out and let me know how they go - a few looked pretty interesting :)

Lastly, I'm going on vacation for the holidays until after New Year's. I will have limited internet access (my parents live in the dark ages without a computer) so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post until I get back. I'll try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. I hope this chapter will hold you over and don't forget to review!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

CHAPTER 24

I awoke the next morning to a groan coming from beside me. William shifted into a sitting position and cradled his head in his hands. “Oh god, how much did I drink last night? My head is pounding.”

“A lot, you weren’t happy with just drunk, you had to be wasted.” I said as I got up into a sitting position as well. “You look like hell.”

“I feel like hell.” Will said as he looked at the half empty bottle of wine next to the mattresses. “We actually drank some of the fourth bottle? I don’t even remember opening that one, let alone drinking it.”

Oh, god, I thought. If he doesn’t remember opening the last bottle, that probably means he doesn’t remember all of the badness that came after it with the grinding and the kissing. “What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked, trying to figure out where his memory left off.

“I remember doing the wheelbarrow position and then it starts to get hazy. Am I supposed to add lunges to my exercise routine? I remember some other ones with your legs up in the air and I think I liked one where I was kneeling in front of you.” Will answered.

“Yeah, well that was pretty much all of them.” Ok, so he definitely didn’t remember the grinding.

“What time is it? We need to get downstairs.” Will said.

“I don’t know, you’re the one with the watch.” I snipped back. I couldn’t believe he didn’t remember anything. I had to carry this guilt myself when it was his stupid fault. ‘Oh live a little, Dawn and Connor did it,’ he had said, roping me into those stupid positions.

“Shit, it’s twenty past nine. Grandmother would have already served breakfast. We have to get downstairs now.” Will stood up quickly and swayed on his feet. “Hurry, Elizabeth!”

I stood up shakily as well and stopped him before he could go downstairs looking as disheveled as he did. “Will, your shirt. You have to tuck it in.”

“What? Why?” He said looking down, noticing the darker stain on his shirt from where he came last night. “Fuck. I had a wet dream; I haven’t had one of those in years. I drank way too much. Did I even make it until midnight?” He asked me while tucking in his shirt.

“Ya think?” I said sarcastically in agreement with him drinking too much, and he didn’t even know the half of it. “And yes, you made it to midnight, though just barely. You passed out right afterwards.” I said angrily. He thought he had a wet dream! He couldn’t even remember that I was the one that made him screw his eyes up in pleasure. Stupid boys. Wait. I shouldn’t be angry, this was better. This way I could just ignore it all. I’d push the guilt to the back of my mind, blame it on the alcohol and make sure it never happened again. Problem solved. “Let’s go.”

When we opened the door to our room from the attic, I immediately knew that the problem wasn’t solved, but was just about to get bigger. The twins were standing stiff straight over at the windows side by side, looking directly at grandmother who was silently fuming.

“Where have you been?” She said angrily.

“We were just up in the attic. We went up there this morning to straighten some stuff out.” Will said.

“Don’t lie to me!” Drusilla yelled. “I’ve been standing down here for thirty minutes. There was no one moving around up there. And look at you. Do you think I’m stupid? Your clothes are all disheveled and your hair is unruly as if you were just waking up. You slept up there. Together!” She shrieked, her fists clenched at her side.

“No, it wasn’t like that.” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh, please then tell me what it was like, sinner.” She crossed her arms and glared at me.

“We were just up there to bring in the New Year. We fell asleep, that’s it.”

“So you admit that you slept up there and that your brother was lying?” Dru smirked maliciously.

“Yes, but not in the way that you make it sound.” I pleaded.

“And how do I make it sound?” Dru asked.

“Like we were doing something wrong.” I replied without making eye contact, trying hard to forget the feel of Will’s hardness driving into me in the Wife of Indra position.

“Dawn?” Dru asked, suddenly calm.

“Y-y-yes.”

“Do you remember the rules I gave you that very first night you came here?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“What was rule number one?”

“Girls and boys were not to share the same bed.” Dawn replied quietly.

“Very good, Dawn. I’m glad to see you were listening.” Dru smiled cruelly over at Will and me. “I told you the Lord sees everything, even in the attic. That rule still stands up there and if you slept up there, that means you slept up there together. You will be punished for disobeying me!” She yelled.

She walked over to the breakfast cart and put the food on the table. “Enjoy this meal because this will be the last one that you have for a while. You will fast in atonement for your sins. You will be getting no food until I feel like you have learned your lesson.”

“What? You can’t do that!” Will yelled at her. “And the twins didn’t do anything. If you’re going to punish someone, punish me and Elizabeth. We broke the rules, not them.”

“You should have thought of that before you blatantly lied to me to cover up another one of your sins. You should have thought of that before you decided to lay all night with your sister!” Dru’s eyes were bulging in fury. “I should have expected this as the apple does not fall far from the tree. You are all the Devil’s spawn! Born from sin! An abomination in the eyes of God!” Grandmother’s whole body was shaking with the force of her words. “You will all be punished to atone for these sins! Obey my rules and the rules of the Lord or you will be forsaken!” She pointed at us all with an evil stare before leaving the room in a flurry, clutching at the cross around her neck.

We all stared at the door in silence for a moment before Will spoke. “Dawn, Connor. We’re sorry, we didn’t mean for this to happen.” He looked over at them and Dawn was close to tears. “Dawnie, don’t cry. It will be alright. We’ll stretch this breakfast out for the rest of the day and we have some food in the mini-fridge. We’ll be fine for at least a week.”

I took a mental inventory in my head of what we had over in the refrigerator and decided that Will may have been stretching it a bit. There was some fruit, six cups of yogurt, three pudding cups, baby carrots and vegetable dip, peanut butter, jelly, some cold cuts and cheese. We also had a box of crackers, a half a loaf of bread and two bags of chips on top of the refrigerator. For four of us to last a week, we were going to be eating in very small portions, but I guess it was doable. The only problem was we had no idea how long grandmother was going to stop feeding us for, and if it went longer than a week we were going to run out of food.

“Now, eat your breakfast and don’t worry about it. Elizabeth and I will take care of you.” He stood up and rubbed at his shoulder. “I’m going to take a long shower, my body is achy. I think I did something to my shoulder last night, it’s kind of sore.” He was rotating his arm as he walked into the bathroom.

I blushed as I remembered biting down on my brother’s flesh as I climaxed in his arms. Grandmother was right – the Lord did see everything, and now we were being punished for the unholy nature of our actions. I rubbed at my temples and walked over to eat breakfast with the twins. I tried to put on a happy face, but it was difficult under the weight of the guilt and shame I was feeling.

CHAPTER 25

January started out miserably in the attic. Each morning at nine, we would be up and ready per the rules, waiting for grandmother’s arrival with breakfast. Holding out hope for fifteen to twenty minutes, our hopes would be dashed when the door never opened. Will and I did our best to stretch what food we had in the refrigerator for as long as we could, but I had been right when I said that the portions had to be small. We had to split the yogurt and pudding cups so that each one would feed two people, and were reduced to peanut butter and jelly on a couple of crackers once the bread and cold cuts ran out. When we started to count chips on the tenth day, we knew we were getting desperate.

The wind howled ferociously, rattling the huge windows and letting in a draft that caused the attic to be very cold. The lack of food made the temperature even worse since our bodies had no energy to ward off the chill. Despite this, we spent most of our time in the attic because otherwise, we were always thinking about eating the crumbs we had left.

Towards the end of the second week of our punishment, William and I went down to one meal a day which consisted of nothing more than a few chips or a couple of carrots. We tried to keep the twins at a steady three meals a day, even if they were meager. Once we knew we couldn’t stretch the food for any longer, Will and I were forced to stop eating altogether and reduced the twins’ meal time to once a day.

We all tried to limit our movements in the attic. For the most part, we only did lessons, and even that was hard as concentrating on anything was difficult. A lot of times, we just ended up napping underneath some warm blankets on the mattresses upstairs or just laid listening to the wind howl.

It was one of these days that we sat huddled together under the blankets that we heard a noise. It sounded like something scratching and Dawn was immediately on alert. “What was that?” She asked, frightened.

“It’s probably just a branch brushing against the window.” Will replied weakly.

“There are no trees near the windows. Besides it sounded like it was coming from inside.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. You’re probably just hallucinating from hunger.”

She lay back down until the noise came again. “I definitely heard it this time.” She said, standing up. “I’m not hallucinating.” She was adamant.

Connor stood up at this point to defend his sister. “I heard it too. Let’s go find it.” They started off towards the noise while Will and I remained laying motionless on the mattresses.

“What are we going to do about food? I can only take bathroom tap water for so long and I don’t think the twins will last as long as we have without food.” I asked Will.

“Maybe we can ask Adam about it. He still comes for laundry day. He might be able to sneak us in some stuff for the refrigerator.” Will suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea except that laundry day was still two days away, and I doubted Adam would help us since he was grandmother’s lackey.

Our conversation was interrupted by a scream from Dawn, which immediately had both of us up and running. “What’s wrong?” Will asked when we reached the twins.

Dawn was standing on a trunk, while Connor was digging around in a wardrobe. “Monster!” Dawn screeched while pointing to where Connor was looking.

Connor giggled, “It’s not a monster, it’s a mouse.”

Upon hearing this, I immediately jumped onto the trunk with Dawn. William started rustling around with Connor in the wardrobe. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I saw it run in here while chicken was screaming.” Connor said between moving shoes around.

Dawn and I both screamed this time as we watched a furry white bullet shoot out of the wardrobe towards us, then past us across the attic. Connor took off after the creature with Will following not far behind.

“Where is it?” Will asked as he reached Connor.

“I think it’s behind this dresser.” Connor said, kneeling down to look under the heavy piece of furniture.

“Ok, I’ll scare it from this side and you grab it when it runs out the other side.” Will said as he readied himself to shake the dresser. “On three,” Connor nodded, “One, two, three!”

“There he goes!” Connor said as he scrambled to catch it. “Aha! I got him.” Connor had his hands cupped over the mouse. Adjusting his hold so he held it by the tail, he came over to Dawn and me to show us his catch.

Dawn and I wrinkled our noses at the rodent wriggling in front of us. “Get rid of it. It’s gross.” I said.

“No, I’m keeping him.” Connor said.

“For what? Dinner?” I said sarcastically. That remark earned me a glare from Will.

“Of course not! As a pet. I’m naming him Charlie.” Connor explained with a firm nod.

“Why Charlie?” Dawn asked.

Connor shrugged his shoulders. “Because I like the name and he looks like a Charlie.”

Dawn stared intently trying to figure out if the mouse did indeed look like a Charlie. After a few seconds, she just rolled her eyes and said, “If you say so.”

“Well, you can’t just let it run around. I don’t want that thing anywhere near me.” I complained.

“Come on, Connor. I think I remember seeing an old bird cage at the other end of the attic. Let’s go see if we can find it and we can make that Charlie’s new home.” Will led Connor off in the direction of the cage, while Dawn and I made our way back to the mattresses.

The boys returned about fifteen minutes later with Charlie in his new home. Connor placed the cage in the middle of the mattresses so we could all look at the mouse. He poked at the bars with his fingers in order to pet his new friend. “What do you think he was doing up here?”

“He’s probably a field mouse, came in the house looking to get out of the cold. Maybe he climbed up through a pipe or the wall. He was most likely hungry.” Will said.

“Aren’t we all?” I mumbled underneath my breath.

“Well, I need to feed him then.” Connor said, carrying the cage over to the table between the reading chairs.

“You’ve got nothing to give him, Connor. We have no food, remember?” Dawn snapped.

“We’ve got some crumbs at the bottom of the potato chip bag. It’s not enough for us, but that’s a lot for him.” Connor looked into the cage, beaming with happiness. “It’ll be a feast for you, won’t it, Charlie?” He left to go downstairs and get the bag of chips so his new pet would be well fed, which was more than we could say for us.

**********************************************************

Two days later I waited downstairs for Adam to come pick up the laundry, while Will kept the kids distracted upstairs. When the door opened, I immediately went over to Adam, imploring his help. “Adam, you seem like a reasonable man. Can’t you sneak us in something for the refrigerator? Anything, please. We’re desperate.”

He went into the bathroom ignoring my plea and started gathering the dirty clothes. “I work for Mrs. Rayne. I follow her orders and she has given me strict instruction to make sure you do not get any food. You’re lucky she let you keep what you already had in the refrigerator. She wanted me to take it away, but changed her mind at the last minute.”

“No doubt to torture us more with knowing when we were going to run out of food.” I said with disdain. “Well, do you know how long she’s going to keep this up? We can’t last much longer. We can barely move because we don’t have any energy, the twins are sick and keep getting the chills. You’ve got to do something. You know this isn’t right!”

“I’m sorry, miss. There’s nothing I can do to help you. I’m sure it won’t be much longer.” He looked at me with pity as he walked out the door with a basket full of dirty laundry, leaving me with no hope of relieving this hunger.

Twenty days into our punishment, the door finally opened to reveal grandmother and the breakfast cart. We could barely stand up straight, but our eyes widened at the site of the fruit, juice and toast that was presented to us.

Dru looked at all of us to examine the damage she had inflicted, smiling at our pale skin, sunken cheeks and black-rimmed eyes. “Well, looking at you, it seems as though your sins have been starved out of you.” We were all too weak to say anything to contradict her. “What’s this? No defiance out of the lot of you? Did I break a bit of your spirit as well?” She smiled triumphantly. “I hope you all remember that I’m in charge here. If I catch any of you breaking the rules again, your punishment will be even worse than this. Do you understand me?” No one moved. “I said do you understand me?” She yelled violently.

Her harsh scream caught our attention, the four of us all nodded in understanding. “Good. Now, your meals will resume as normal. I hope that you all learned your lesson.” She left us alone to dive in to the delicious flavors of strawberries, bananas, orange juice and buttered toast, which Connor happily shared with Charlie.

CHAPTER 26

The weeks after our punishment were spent regaining our strength. We ate sparingly at first as it seemed everything made us sick, but after a week or so our stomachs were able to handle all kinds of food and in larger quantities. Will and I began adding non-perishable items to the grocery list and stockpiled them underneath the bed so that we would be prepared if something like this happened again. We were determined to beat grandmother at her game.

Will and I went back to our normal exercise routines working at the dance bar and weight bench to stimulate our weak muscles. We tried to keep the twins active as well by introducing light calisthenics into their lessons. Will conveniently forgot about their sex education lessons and with the ordeal of near starvation, the twins hadn’t brought it up either. I was hoping everyone would forget about the sex talks as I could still feel the touch of Will’s lips on mine, and the images of his face as he came in my arms were still burned in the back of my brain.

Both Valentine’s Day and Will’s seventeenth birthday were coming up soon, and I was petrified that Will would want to crack open some more wine. I wondered if any memories of New Year’s Eve had come back to him, but he never mentioned anything so I had to assume that he still didn’t remember. If he did, I guess he was trying to pretend it never happened, much like me.

*********************************************************************

Valentine’s Day was spent exchanging homemade cards. Connor had given one to Dawn with a picture of a train blowing heart shaped steam with the caption ‘Choo choo choose me to be your Valentine,’ while Dawn gave one to him with a bumblebee on it that said ‘Bee Mine.’ The twins had even gone so far to make one for Charlie and attached it to the top of his cage.

After dinner, Will read another ‘Buffy’ story, which was a funny tale that turned deadly. The plot had to do with Connor trying to get an older and more popular Cordelia to fall in love with him by convincing Dawn to do a spell on a heart necklace that he was going to give her for Valentine’s Day. However, the plan backfired when rather than Cordelia wanting Connor’s attention, everyone but her was affected by the magic. Connor wasn’t too put out at first when very attractive girls began asking him to spend time with them, but it soon turned violent as the girls started to attack each other due to their jealousy. With Merrick’s help, Dawn was able to reverse the spell before Connor or Cordelia were seriously hurt, and Cordelia was so smitten with the idea that someone would go to so much trouble to be with her that she decided to let Connor take her out to the movies. It was cute to see Connor blush at the thought of him taking Cordelia out on a date.

It was when the twins went to bed that my anxiety grew. As soon as we reached the top of the attic stairs, Will grabbed me by the waist and brought me to him, “Will you be my Valentine tonight?” he asked.

“You know I will.” I said. “There’s no one else here to be it.”

“Ouch, that hurt. Implying that I win by default and not because you want to be.” Will jutted out his lower lip and I had to hold back the urge to grab it between my teeth and suck on it. I was saved from doing something stupid when he asked “Want to open a bottle of wine tonight?”

He moved me over to the mattresses holding my hand as I shook my head. “I don’t think we should. After New Year’s, maybe we should hold off. I don’t want to end up getting punished again.”

Will looked disappointed, but came around to my point of view. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Next time we do something like that we just have to be more careful. I won’t ever break out four bottles again, but I felt like we needed to do something over the top that night.” He plopped down Indian style on the mattresses. “So what do you want to do then?”

“Wanna play our favorite game of ‘what do you think mom’s doing’?” I asked, sitting across from him.

“Same old thing, I’m sure. She’s probably out with Wes – dinner, dancing, long-stemmed roses. All that crap.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Remember how she and dad used to get so sugary at Valentine’s? They always loved the holiday – dad would try to outdo himself every year.” He sighed wistfully. “Mom didn’t get to celebrate it last year.”

My hand immediately reached for the locket around my neck. Oh god, how could I have forgotten the anniversary of dad’s death? My eyes started to tear up as I looked at Will with wide startled eyes. I let out a huge desperate sob as I launched myself into his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Beth, what’s wrong?” He whispered into my ear as he stroked my back in a soothing gesture.

I could barely get my words out through my sobbing, “I forgot.” I said burying my face further into his neck, my whole body shaking. “How could I forget?”

“Shhh, shhh, baby. It’s ok.” Will comforted. “We were dealing with a cruel punishment and its aftermath. Your mind was thinking about surviving in the present, rather than dwelling on the past.”

“It’s not ok!” I cried. “Forgetting something so important. Dad died a year ago just last week and I didn’t even remember.” I looked up at him with watery eyes. “It makes me just like her.” I pleaded with him to see my point.

“Elizabeth, you listen to me.” Will said with authority in his voice. “You are trying so hard to keep this family together. You take care of the twins every day – teaching them, caring for them. You are the one that tucks in Dawn and Connor before bed.” He kissed at a tear that was running down my cheek. “You are here everyday, getting us all through this ordeal, not her.” He ran his palm down my cheek to wipe away the tear that he tried to kiss away. “You didn’t forget about dad, you missed a date on a calendar, that’s all.” Will peppered light kisses on my other tear stained cheek, trying to wash away the evidence of my pain.

I sniffled as I shifted in Will’s lap to wrap my legs more securely around his waist. He was looking at me with such concern in his eyes that when he leaned in close to kiss me, I didn’t try to stop him. The kiss was soft and tender, gentle as he captured my lower lip between his. He held me a little tighter, as he continued kissing me. Although these kisses did not include our tongues, they were much more passionate than any we had shared sober in the past and tingles flooded my body. Needing to stop these feelings I tightened my hold around his neck, breaking the kiss, and laid my head on his shoulder, trying to stifle my remaining tears.

“Please don’t cry, sweetheart. I hate it when you cry.” Will whispered lovingly in my hair as he continued to stroke my back. “You are the best thing about this family, Beth; I don’t want you to forget it. Don’t beat yourself up over something that isn’t your fault. You’re the one always pointing out that we aren’t in normal circumstances. If we were, you would have remembered.” His hands stroked my head gently. “I promise you that when we get out of here, we’ll do something special every year to remember dad on the day of his death. OK?”

I shook my head in agreement against his shoulder and stayed silently nestled within the comfort of Will’s arms until it was time to go to sleep.

CHAPTER 27

It had been a week since Valentine’s Day and William’s birthday was only a few days away. I was sitting in the bath tub trying to think of a way to make Will’s birthday unforgettable. Will always tried so hard to make every special occasion stand out for everyone, whether it was through writing a story or thinking of something different to do to celebrate the day. I wanted to return the favor for him, to make his birthday something to remember, especially since he didn’t really get to celebrate his own last year being so close to dad’s death. But William was selfless and probably thought drinking with Andrew was enough.

My confidence in mother was non-existent, so I didn’t think she would show up for his birthday. I couldn’t see her popping in with pizza and tears in her eyes after two months of not seeing her children. She had to know she couldn’t just make it all better with some kind words and a thoughtful gesture, not after all this time. I would make her explain her absence, and after what Will had said to me the other night when he was comforting me, I wondered if he was starting to question her a little too.

Still thinking of what I could do for William, I ran my hands over my legs with the mango smelling shower gel that mom had got me for my birthday, which gave me an idea. I looked over to the basket sitting on the counter and all the different bottles inside. I didn’t think it would be appropriate for me to do what I was thinking to my brother, but if mother didn’t show up it was going to be horrible. William was so sensitive about these types of things and I needed to go over the top if I wanted to make him forget about mother.

I stood up from the bath and wrapped one of the fluffy blue towels around my body, making my way over to the vanity. Searching through the bottles, I found what I was looking for. Nestled among the lotions and gels were four different scented bottles of massage oil – vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, and citrus. I thought back to New Year’s and the book the twins found. Wasn’t there a whole chapter about massage? Could I do that or would it just lead to more inappropriate behavior? Maybe I’d just play it by ear. I’d read up a little on massage techniques, but keep it in the back of my mind. If all went well, maybe I wouldn’t have to do something so drastic. A little voice in the back of my mind sounding irritatingly like grandmother nagged at me, telling me that I was going to do it for all the wrong reasons.

*****************************************************************

William’s birthday began much like mine. The twins were up early jumping on his bed while singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ I had arranged with Adam that William’s favorite foods be served that day, starting with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

During the day, we did our lessons while also making birthday cards, presents, and party favors. Dawn and Connor made Will a large crown with his name on it in glitter for dinner that night. My anxiety grew throughout the day. I just knew mother wasn’t going to show up and I didn’t know how Will was going to handle it.

Just before six we all went downstairs for dinner. I had done my best decorating the room with balloons and streamers, more for the twins than William, since at seventeen he probably didn’t care too much about that sort of thing. When the door opened, I saw the flicker of disappointment in Will’s eyes when Adam walked through the door with the serving tray rather than mom. Dinner consisted of Will’s favorites – Buffalo wings, a flowering onion, and nachos for appetizers, as well as steak for the main course. We sat down and ate while reminiscing about the time Will had tried to make his own flowering onion at home, which ended in a major kitchen disaster.

An hour later, Adam came in again with a strawberry shortcake topped with seventeen candles. Connor quickly turned out the lights and the twins began singing ‘Happy Birthday’ again. Adam set the cake down and cleared the dinner plates. Just before Will blew out the candles, he looked at me with a strange expression on his face. It looked desperate, but I couldn’t tell what he was longing for. Was it me, or mother? The moment was when the twins clapped as Will blew them out all on one try. Dawn flipped the lights back on and we dug into the delicious strawberry and whip cream concoction.

After we had our fill of cake, Dawn asked “Do you want to play a game, William?”

He gave a small smile, but shook his head. “No, Nibblet. I think I’m going to go up into the attic.” He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful time today, but I want to be alone for a little while. Contemplate life and all that.” He gave a sad smile and went off by himself. I wanted to stop and hug him, but I thought it would be better to give him some space.

“Did we do something wrong?” Dawn asked me with wide-eyes.

“No, sweetheart. He just wants some alone time to think. He’s a grown man now.” I smoothed down her hair. “You know how Will can get sometimes, maybe he’s writing a poem or something. Let’s just give him some space.” I stood up with a worried look on my face as I looked toward the attic entrance, but quickly masked it as I turned towards the twins. “I can still play a game with you though if you want.” I would give Will some alone time, but as soon as the kids went to bed, I’d go find him.

***************************************************************

Over an hour later, I took one last look at the sleeping twins before making my way up into the attic to look for William. Clutching at the present in my hand, I slowly walked towards the humming I could hear coming from the west mattresses.

I found him lying on his back clutching a bottle of wine. His humming was interspersed between quiet mumbling as he talked to himself. I didn’t recognize the song, nor could I understand his soft words. I watched as he brought the bottle of wine to his lips, then let out a maniacal little laugh as some of the wine spilled from his mouth. As he wiped his lips with the back of his hand, I made my presence known.

“Seventeen years old and he hasn’t figured out how to drink from a bottle. “

He sat up quickly and turned to face me. A smile lit up his face. “Elizabeth, my favorite girl. Come to celebrate with me, have you?” Listening to his slightly slurred speech, I doubted that the bottle in his hand was his first.

“Something like that. Are you drunk?” I tilted my head to look into his eyes. They looked red, like maybe he was crying earlier.

“Maybe.” Will said with a grin. “Did you come up here to get drunk with me? Forget all your troubles.”

“No, I thought I’d give you my present. It’s nothing really, but I think you’ll like it.” I said with my hands hidden behind my back.

“Hmmm, what could it be?” He asked slowly as he brought himself to a kneeling position. He crawled across the mattresses closer to me. “Show me, I know I’ll love it just because it’s from you.”

I brought my hand around to shake the massage oil in front of his eyes. “Ooh, you gonna rub me down with that?” He looked up with a smirk.

“Yeah, I thought it would be something to pamper you. Just to let you sit back and enjoy.”

“Can’t argue with that, can I?” Will deftly shed his shirt, but then paused. “Unless it’s some froo froo smell. It’s not something like strawberry, is it?”

I laughed a little as I tried to keep my eyes from staring at his bare skin. He had lost weight during our days without food, which only helped in defining his chest and stomach when he started working out again. “Well, I don’t have much of a selection, so I went with jasmine.” I didn’t tell him that I had read in that book that the fragrance was supposed to elevate one’s mood and stimulate one’s erection.

“I guess I won’t complain then.” He reached for the button of his pants and I panicked.

“What are you doing?” I asked a bit out of breath.

“What do you think I’m doing?” He looked at me in confusion and shook his head. “Taking off my pants, this is going to be a full body massage. It’s my birthday after all.” He brought down the zipper and dragged his pants down his legs and threw them at my face. Stretching himself out on the mattress, he lay in his boxers before me. “Well, come on then. I want my present.”

As I knelt down next to Will, I swallowed before taking a deep calming breath. Thinking about what I read, I knew I had to make this all about him. While I poured some of the oil into the palm of my hand, I explained to him “Now, I want you to relax. Don’t think of anything but the feel of my hands on your body. OK?”

“Yeah, I think I can handle that.” Will replied.

I rubbed my palms together to get both hands saturated with oil. I started down at his feet like the book said and worked my way in a slow circular motion up his calves and then to the back of his thighs. I concentrated on my breathing, keeping it steady and relaxed and I noticed that our breathing was soon synchronized. Reaching the edge of his boxers, I started back down his leg in the same fashion until Will spoke. “Don’t stop there. Go higher.”

I hesitated for a fraction of a second before I slid my hands underneath the cotton of his underwear to rub to the top of his legs. He parted his legs slightly giving me better access to his inner thighs, which I began to rub softly. His skin was hot and I realized that both of our breathing had picked up. I continued to work on the top of his legs, sweeping my hands up the outside, down the back and then up the inside of his thighs. I found my hands involuntarily getting bolder by grazing along the curve of his bottom and coming teasingly close to his sac.

Realizing I had to move from his legs, I stopped my ministrations. “You’re not done are you?” Will asked shyly.

“No, I’m just putting some more oil on my hands. I’m going to move up to your back.” After getting more oil, I straddled the top of his legs so that I could knead at his back and arms. Using the same soft circular motions to glide over him, I realized how much his body had changed. Before he was just a skinny kid, but now he was all firm skin and toned muscles. When he moved, you could see each movement of his muscle, almost like a dancer. His arms were no longer scrawny, but well defined, and his shoulders were broad and strong looking. I started massaging his neck and shoulders which caused him to groan.

“Mmmm, this feels so good, Elizabeth. Thank you for doing this. I was sad that mom couldn’t make it, though I’m sure she had her reasons.”

“It’s your birthday, William. She should have been here.” I said, not wanting to start an argument but letting him know that I was pissed at her. Wanting to drop the subject of mother quickly, I continued. “You deserve something special. I wanted to do something just for you. Just to make you feel good. I’m glad it’s working. Now, turn around, I’ll do the other side.”

I got off his body and put more oil in my hands as he flipped over. Starting at his feet again, I noticed the tent of his boxers, but tried to ignore it. He was spread eagle on his back, which gave me room to touch every part of his legs. Working my way up, I once again dove under his boxers and stretched my arms out so I could reach all the way up his legs to his hipbone. I watched in fascination as the fabric of his boxers moved when he reacted to the touch of my hands on his thighs. Will’s eyes were closed and his breath was coming in steady heavy pants as my thumbs skimmed along his inner thigh, brushing along his balls. He moaned softly and turned his head to the side, shutting his eyes a little tighter.

Itching to run my hands along his newly shaped stomach, I crawled up his body and straddled his upper legs again. Starting along the waistline of his boxers, I rubbed around the outside of his torso then slowly made the circle smaller until I was right at his belly button. His stomach muscles were rock hard and I could feel the juices flowing between my legs as I touched him.

Running my hands up his chest and to his shoulders, I began rubbing at his neck, shoulders and down his arms. When I was done there, I shifted my body up higher so I was straddling his hips as I moved on to his chest. Using the same circular motions as I did on his stomach, I started outside and slowly worked my way in towards his nipples. Will continued to whimper under me as I teased his body, my hands never quite getting to where he wanted them to go. “Please,” he begged me with a soft cry. Not being able to resist his plea, my thumbs finally brushed against both hard nubs at the same time and his hips shifted up into my heat as he gasped. I repeated the action, which resulted in another moan, only louder this time.

Loving the feeling I got when he made those noises of pleasure, I grew bold and pinched one of his nipples. His eyes flew open and his hands grabbed at my hips to bring my body down firmly against his hard cock. I was the one to let out a yelp this time as I threw my head back at the unexpected wave of pleasure that coursed through me. He started to move his hips, rubbing his cock against me. “Please, Elizabeth.” He cried in a desperate whisper. My body automatically responded to his and began to move with him, but I stopped cold at the next words out of his mouth. “I probably won’t even remember in the morning.”

Panic rushed through me. What the hell did that mean? Did he remember about New Year’s and he was just ignoring it? I was going insane with guilt and worry and he was pretending it didn’t happen. Looking into his eyes, I completely freaked out when I saw the look of lust written all over his face. His eyes were burning a hole through me and I had to get away. “We can’t do this.” I said as I shook my head. “This is so wrong.” I jumped up and ran away as fast as I could.

“Elizabeth!” I heard him call after me, but I ignored him. I knew he was drunk tonight, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that he remembered what happened on New Year’s. I needed to get downstairs and as far away from him as I could.

We needed to get out of this damn attic.

CHAPTER 28

The weeks following Will’s birthday were confusing. He ended up sleeping in the attic that night, coming downstairs the next morning hung over and badly needing a shower. Will was acting the same as always, as if nothing had ever happened between us. The subject of New Year’s or the birthday massage was never broached by either of us, leaving me still wondering if William really didn’t remember or if he was just in denial.

At first, I found myself trying to avoid him because of my paranoia, but I realized I missed my brother. I missed talking to him before bed and the little comforting gestures he would do throughout the day. The fact that I missed his brotherly attentions proved that I didn’t think of him in any other way but as my sibling. If I thought he was attractive, it was simply because he was the only guy I saw on a regular basis besides Adam. I convinced myself that everything was just in my head; that I was making a big deal out of nothing.

**************************************

I was in the tub one day when I heard a knock on the door. “Can I come in?” William asked as he poked his head inside the barely opened door.

I brought my knees up to my chest to cover my breasts and answered with a quiet ‘yes.’

“These last few weeks, I’ve been thinking about trying to get out of this room. Maybe do some exploring within the house; find out some more information about grandfather.”

“William, are you finally beginning to doubt your precious mother?” I said in a harsh sarcastic tone, taking my anger at mother out on Will.

“Don’t Elizabeth!” He snapped right back at me. “She’s our mother, she loves us. I don’t want to choose between the two of you. Can’t you see she’s trying?”

“She’s not trying, William! All she’s doing is living the debutante life she was supposed to live twenty years ago. She gave that life up for dad and us. Only now, she’s forgotten that – forgotten dad, forgotten us!” I shouted. I wished we had gotten into this argument at a better time. I wanted to wave my arms, shout and point an accusatory finger in Will’s face, but I was confined to my spot in the bathtub. I had hit him with my words instead, “She didn’t even bother to show up for your birthday.”

His jaw tensed and his eyes shut tightly. “I did not come in here to have this conversation, Elizabeth. She has not forgotten us! I’m sure she missed my birthday because she had to for Ethan’s sake. She is still trying to stick with the plan.”

“How can you say that?” I interrupted. “The plan was to be stuck in this room until Christmas. It’s March, William, and we’re still here! You think she’s concerned for us, for our well-being? While we’re starving because of grandmother, she’s off attending balls at the manor and social events at the country club with Wes, her new prince charming. She’s not concerned for us, William, and you’re only fooling yourself if you think so.” I thought Will was starting to doubt mother, but it was clear that he was the only one of her children who still had any faith in her. Dawn and Connor barely mentioned her anymore since Christmas and I always had my doubts ever since she told us that day so long ago that she was selling the house.

“Please, Bethy,” William began walking closer to the bathtub with a soft voice and pleading eyes…

“What’s going on here?” The door slammed as grandmother entered the room with venom in her eyes. William jumped at the sound, surprised as neither of us had heard the door unlock, both too engrossed in our heated conversation. “Adam, get the stays and the switch, now!” Adam left the room quickly, locking the door behind him. Will spun around and looked between Dru and the locked door. “How dare you break my rules again? Eyeing your sister’s flesh will earn you a good hard punishment.”

Quickly forgetting about mine and Will’s argument, I shook my head and yelled before I realized what I was doing. “No, get away from him! You will not touch him!” I reached for a towel and quickly stood up, but it was too late. Adam had returned and grabbed Will. Grandmother shut the door in my face before I had even reached it. The key was being turned in the lock of the bathroom door, while I stood helpless on the other side. I heard grandmother’s voice as she began her torment.

“Where are the children? Up in the attic?”

“Don’t you dare hurt them!” William yelled as he struggled in Adam’s arms.

“Oh, I’m not going to hurt them,” Dru said calmly, “I’m going to hurt you.”

Adam tied Will’s arms with the leather stays around the posts at the end of the bed, while grandmother moved the desk back in front of the panel, effectively trapping Dawn and Connor in the attic. I hoped to God that they would stay upstairs and remain completely oblivious to what was going on down here. I banged on the bathroom door screaming William’s name, as I watched grandmother tear off his shirt and unbutton his jeans through the keyhole. He struggled as best as he could against the leather straps at his wrists, but Adam had obviously done this before.

Once William was naked before her, Dru took a long leather bullwhip out of an ornate wooden box. “Elizabeth,” she called to me, “if I were you, I would be quiet. The more you scream, the more I will hurt your brother.” She finished her sentence and cracked the whip into the air. The way she expertly flicked her wrist told me that she too had done this many times before. As thoughts of my mother’s punishment when we first arrived came flooding back to me, I heeded her warning and slid helplessly to the floor, tears pouring down my face for what my brother was about to go through.

“Before I begin your punishment,” Dru continued, “I want you to be sure of your crime.” She cracked the whip in the air again. “I believe I forewarned you that pleasures of the flesh were the worst kind of sin.” The whip cracked again. “I find you with your eyes feasting upon your sister’s perky breasts, her firm thighs. Did she let you touch them?” This time the whip cracked not in the air, but against William’s back. His frame arched as the leather stung his naked flesh, but he did not respond. “Answer me, sinner! Did she let you touch her?” Grandmother screamed as she cracked the whip lower on his back this time. Again, Will did not respond.

“Do not try to defy me, William. I will break you, little boy.” The whip pelted his back between his shoulder blades. His head dropped and his eyes squeezed shut, trying to keep the tears at bay, but he still kept quiet.

“How often does she let you look at her? Once a week? Does she let you cup her breast in the palm of your hand?” Crack!

“Or maybe she’s just a tease. Maybe she stands naked before you and tempts
you like Eve tempted Adam. “ Crack!

“Does she run her hands over her stomach? Over her legs? Begging you to touch her, but never letting you get close. Do you long to touch what lays hidden between her thighs?” Crack!

“Look at you! You’re pathetic, William. Even as I beat you, you are aroused. I can see you twitching between your legs.” Crack!

“Just confess your sin, sinner, and your punishment will end.” Crack!

Will still said nothing. The tears were now falling freely down his face. His eyes were still held tight and his mouth was clenched shut. His wrists were bleeding from his struggle against the stays. His back was covered with whip marks, all of them cutting open his skin.

Grandmother continued to taunt him. “If this is how you want to play it, William, it’s no skin off my back. Only yours.” Crack!

“Where do you want to touch her, William? The curve of her buttocks? A hardened nipple? Do you wish to taste her skin with your tongue? Do you want to tangle your hands in her hair as she tastes you?” Crack!

“Answer me, William!” She screamed, becoming impatient with his silence. She cracked the whip twice in quick succession against his thighs and then his ass. William turned his head slightly and spit in her direction. He caught the tip of the whip above his left eye.

“Oh, you will pay for that.” Dru said menacingly. Her taunting was over. Now she just kept hitting William, one blow right after another, on his thighs, his calves, his buttocks and the already torn flesh of his back. Five cracks of the whip, then ten. William couldn’t hold back anymore and let out a loud half scream, half sob. “Please,” he said in a hoarse voice, “I can’t take anymore.”

“Beg me.”

His voice cracked, “I’m begging you. Please stop.”

“It’s not the confession that I wanted, but I do like it when you beg. Adam, untie him. Elizabeth,” she called to me through the door, “the Lord has seen fit to spare you this time around. Next time I catch something like this going on, you will not be so lucky.”

I heard a thud, presumably when William hit the floor and then the unlocking of the bathroom door. When I entered the bedroom, I only caught a glimpse of Dru’s skirt as she left out the main door. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I walked cautiously around to the end of the bed. Not knowing what to expect, I gasped when I saw Will’s battered and bloodied body in a heap on the floor. There was blood everywhere and I could tell he was still crying by the shaking of his body.

“William?” I reached out to touch him, but he jerked away.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t look at me!” His head buried deeper into his arms so I could not see his face.

I had to pull myself together for Will’s sake; I straightened up and went into caring sister mode. “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to get dressed and check on the twins – make sure they stay upstairs. Ok?” I said in a soft voice. “When I come back, I’m going to get you into the tub and take care of your cuts. Just stay there for a few minutes.”

He didn’t respond, but I took that as a good sign. I quickly ran into the bathroom to drain the tub that was still full from my bath earlier and threw my hair up into a ponytail. Once that was done, I discarded the towel and put on a tank top and a pair of running pants. I dashed back into the bedroom to see William in the same position. “I’ll be right back.” I reassured him as I opened the door to the attic.

****************************************************************

“Dawn! Connor!” I yelled at the top of the stairs as they weren’t playing at the sitting area.

“We’re here.” I barely heard Connor reply from the other side of the attic. Huddled together in the corner behind a bookshelf were Dawn and Connor. The fear written on their faces dashed my hopes of them not having heard the commotion downstairs. “Is William alright? Is his punishment over?” Dawn asked quietly.

“Is she going to hurt us? We heard the door slam and yelling. We went down the stairs and heard her ask where we were. We ran back up here to hide.” Connor continued.

“How much did you hear?” I asked, hoping they couldn’t understand the explicit things Dru was saying.

“Nothing. Only muffled yelling, but we knew it was grandmother punishing William for something.” Dawn replied.

“Ok, good. Everything will be fine. You guys are not going to be punished. But I need you to stay up here for a little bit. I need to take care of William, who is going to be fine too. You’re going to have to stay up here for dinner though. Do you guys think you can sleep up here tonight?”

“By ourselves?” Connor asked a little frightened.

“Yes, it’s ok if you don’t want to. I just think Will might need the bed to himself tonight. Think about it and decide by dinner. If you don’t want to, the three of us will share the other bed.” I tried to reason.

“We’re not supposed to. That’s one of the rules.” Dawn was clearly terrified of grandmother’s punishment now.

“I know, honey, but as long as we’re up and dressed by breakfast, she’ll never know.” I tried to be as soothing as possible. “Now, come out of this corner and go back to playing. I have to go take care of William. I’ll be up in a few hours.”

The twins nodded their head in synchronicity and I headed back to my brother.

Chapter 29

William was still lying defeated on the floor when I arrived back downstairs. Going into the bathroom, I started to run a lukewarm bath thinking hot water would be too much for the sensitive skin near his wounds. “Come on, William,” I said as I knelt down to grab his arm, “let’s get you into the bath.”

Angrily, he snapped his head up to look at me. “I said don’t touch me. What didn’t you understand?” His eyes were red from both crying and anger; blood was running down his face from the cut at his eyebrow. He looked like a madman and if I didn’t know him as my brother, I would have been terrified of his temperament. But this was still shy William – the boy who wrote poetry while locked in his bedroom. “Don’t get macho on me, William. There was nothing you could do. You rubbed your wrists raw trying to get out of the straps and Adam is a lot bigger than you. Let me take care of you for once.”

“Elizabeth,” he whispered in a pained voice, “I don’t want you to get hurt too. I’m naked and you bathing me is not going to sit well with grandmother, so let me be.” He looked me in the eye and my heart wrenched.

“Like hell I’m leaving you be, William!” I responded while placing my hands on my hips. “That bitch is not stepping foot in here again today. You know that’s not like her, she rarely serves dinner. Besides it’s too soon for her to come back – she likes to make us stew. For her, half the terror is the anticipation. Now come on and let me help you.”

“Fine,” Will huffed, “but if you’re skinned too I’m telling you I told you so.” He started to stand but swayed when he got so far up. I quickly grabbed his arm trying to both steady him and not hurt him at the same time. He hissed between his teeth when my hand caught one of his cuts.

“Why don’t you grab onto me instead. Put your arm around my waist or shoulders, whichever is easier for you.” He nodded and grabbed hold of my shoulders. We walked slowly into the bathroom leaving small droplets of blood behind us.

I tested the water one more time before I shut off the taps. “Get in. Maybe you can lean on one side so your back is to me.” I said as Will put one leg then the other over the side of the tub. He hissed again as his skin hit the water, but there was nothing I could do about his discomfort. He slowly turned his body to face away from me as I went to lock the door and grab a cloth.

Carefully, I began washing his back with just water in a nurse-like manner. The room was silent except for the hisses coming from William when I touched a particularly tender wound, and the lapping of the water against his skin and the porcelain tub. I worked as if in a daze, dipping and squeezing the cloth monotonously while applying the slightest of pressure to the whip marks that were still bleeding more heavily than the others. When I was done with his back, I drained the tub of the pink tinged water and refilled it with clean lukewarm water again.

I got another cloth from the linen closet and began the same process on William’s arms, legs, and backside. William lay with his eyes closed just allowing him to focus on my hands, while his body became more pliant under my tender touch. My mind wandered to the demon that our grandmother must possess in order to take such pleasure in inflicting this much pain. I wondered how many times our own mother had to endure something like this before she finally got away. A pang of guilt crossed my mind as I thought that mother wouldn’t come back to this awful house unless she really did think it was absolutely necessary. Surely, no one would willingly come back to this Hell.

“Beth,” William’s soft call broke through my thoughts. “I think we should change the water again.” I looked down to see that the water had turned to the sickly pink color again.

“Yeah, ok.” I reached down and pulled the plug to drain the water. Again, I went to grab another cloth as the water level lowered. “Here, let me clean your face.” I said as I returned to the bath.

William winced as he turned and sat up, pulling his legs up to afford him some privacy, as I did earlier. Carefully, I wiped the blood from his face and told him to hold the cloth at his eyebrow while I went to grab the first aid kit. “Cut’s pretty bad. You probably need stitches, but I guess a couple of band aids are going to have to do.” I told him as I looked at our limited supplies in the kit. “It’s probably going to scar.” A permanent reminder of grandmother’s torture.

“Yeah, well, it’ll give me rugged look. I can tell everyone I got it in a bar fight when I’m older.” William let out a little chuckle and I couldn’t help but smile. I could never picture William in a bar fight.

“There, good as new.” I told him when I finished putting on some anti-bacterial cream and the band-aids. He snorted and I started running the water again to fill the tub for a third time. “This will be the last time. The cuts are starting to slow down their bleeding.”

He nodded and rolled back over to his side. “What about the marks on my back? Do you think they’ll scar?”

“No, I don’t think so. A lot of them are shallow, but the ones that are deep are clean cuts. Drusilla is obviously an expert at this type of punishment.” Curiosity got the best of me. “How bad did it hurt?”

“Bad. The first time it hit me it stung like a bitch, but I thought I could handle it. Then when she kept going over other places she had already cut, it was excruciating.” Will said quietly. “I wonder how many of these types of beatings mom had to endure when she was our age. It makes me sad for mom and angry at Drusilla for being so heartless.”

“Yeah, well, we all know grandmother is insanely cruel. I don’t know why mom would want to come back here, let alone expose us to the possibility of this.” Thinking back to my earlier thoughts about mother and not wanting to start another argument, I finished up washing his wounds. “Let’s get you dried off and on the bed so I can cover the wounds. Do you think you can stand?”

Will nodded and began to stand up, which he accomplished with a little help from me. I drained the tub again and got a cup to rinse his body from the tap in the tub before letting him out. After grabbing one of the towels from the linen closet, I began drying his feet, slowly working up his legs mindful of any markings. As I reached higher up his thighs, his hand stopped my movement. I looked up in confusion. “I think it’s best if I took it from here.” He grabbed the towel and covered his manly bits, making me very aware of my brother’s naked body.

My cheeks reddened as I stood up without making eye contact. Scenes from Will’s birthday ran through my head. “I’ll go turn down the bed. If you need help getting into the bedroom, let me know.”

I hurried into the other room and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. We’d definitely been in this room too long.

Banishing those thoughts with a shake of my head, I pulled the comforter and sheets down to the end of the bed. With that done, I started to work on the floor. There were small pools of blood in various places, so I wiped what I could away with paper towels. Adam was going to have to do some cleaning in here as well.

Hearing William’s feet shuffling at the bathroom door, I straightened up from the floor and saw William standing with a towel swathed around his hips and his arm bracing his weight against the door. “Can you help me?” he asked sadly.

“Of course,” I walked over and he grabbed my shoulder. “I want you to lay on your stomach on the bed,” which he did as soon as we made it there. Grabbing the first aid kit again, I repeated my actions of applying the anti-bacterial cream gently to the wounds on Will’s body, before dressing them loosely with gauze. The only sounds in the room were William’s steady breathing and the ripping of the tape. It angered me to see his mangled back, since only a few weeks ago I was rubbing oil on perfectly unmarred skin.

I thought he was asleep, so his voice startled me when he spoke as much as his question did. “Does it bother you when I talk to you while you’re in the bath?”

“No, of course not. If it did, I’d tell you to leave.” I answered firmly not liking where his line of questioning was heading.

“She’s right though, isn’t she?” He asked somberly. “It’s not normal for a brother to watch his sister bathe. I’m depraved.”

“William, nothing about our situation is normal. There are only three rooms we can go to and you come in there to talk to me, not to ogle me. God, William, it’s like she wants to catch us doing something wrong, just so she can punish us. She’s the sick one, Will, not you.”

“But what if she’s right? What if some of the things she said were true? What if I do think of you in ways I’m not supposed to?” He asked so softly I could barely hear his shaken voice. “What if I do want to touch you? What if I do dream about what you would taste like; feel like?”

There it was. William had just come out of denial. It no longer mattered if I knew whether or not he remembered anything about New Year’s or his birthday – the two ton elephant that had been lurking in the shadows for months had just come and sat on the bed with us. Fearing that his admission just shattered any invisible barrier that was keeping us on the side of moral, I had to push Will back into the closet so I told him what I told myself to rationalize my less than pure thoughts. “Will, you’re seventeen years old. We’ve been stuck together in close quarters for over six months. If we were at school, you’d be having these thoughts about Cecily or Cordelia, but instead I’m the only girl that you see on a regular basis, so you transfer those thoughts onto me because your subconscious mind has no one else. Well, except Dawn and grandmother, and Dawn is only eight, which would make you depraved, and I’m way hotter than grandmother.” I tried to joke with him, but it fell flat.

“So you don’t think I’m disgusting?” Will asked looking for reassurance.

“No, Will. You’re just a victim of this situation, a teenager with hormones and no other outlet. I don’t think anything about you is disgusting.” I said gently running my hand through his hair. “You were so brave today with grandmother; you didn’t crack under her abuse. I’m so proud of you.”

“I don’t feel very proud. I begged her to stop in the end.” He cast his eyes down at the floor in humiliation.

“There was no shame in that, William, she was hurting you, but you didn’t give her the ‘confession’ she wanted most.” I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go spend some time with the twins and let you rest. Try to get some sleep before dinner.”

“Thanks for taking care of me, Elizabeth.” Will said before closing his eyes. “You’re a good sister.” I smiled at his heartfelt words and left him for the attic.

CHAPTER 30

William’s wounds from the whip healed slowly. I would redress them each day and monitor their progress. Connor slept with Dawn and me for the first week while the major cuts healed. After about two weeks, Will no longer needed the bandages. There wasn’t any scarring and his body was flawless again, with the exception of the mark over his eye, which left a slice in his eyebrow.

Dawn was officially petrified of grandmother, which caused her to wake up at six in the morning in order to be ready before Dru came for breakfast to avoid being punished for Connor sharing our bed. Whenever grandmother was in the room, Dawn would huddle behind either mine or Will’s legs and wouldn’t make eye contact with her at all. Grandmother smiled at the show of her fear. Will and I also made it a point to always stand the furthest away from each other with the twins in between us, though we always looked her unabashedly in the eye.

William was unusually quiet for those first few weeks after his punishment, but then he came to me in the attic one night after the twins had gone to bed. “Elizabeth. We never really finished our conversation before grandmother interrupted us. I think we need to start thinking of ways to get out of here, explore the house, even the grounds.”

“Is that why you’ve been so lost in thought lately? Trying to think of ways out of here?” I asked looking up from the book I was reading.

“Yeah.” Will sighed. “I think we need to seriously consider it, especially with what happened to me. I don’t want that happening to you or the twins.” Will looked me in the eye with determination. “I won’t let grandmother hurt you guys.”

I stood up and placed my hand gently on his cheek. “But it’s ok that she did it to you?” I asked softly.

Will leaned into my touch and whispered, “It doesn’t matter what she does to me, as long as she doesn’t touch you or the twins. I can’t accept that.”

“What she did to you is not right either, William.” I brought my hand down to grab his and leaned in so our foreheads were touching. “I can’t accept that and I don’t want you playing the martyr here.”

He shook his head in protest while squeezing my hand. “I’m not being a martyr. I can handle whatever that bitch throws my way. I just care more about protecting my family than myself. You’re my everything.” Tenderly, he kissed my lips before taking in a deep breath and suddenly stepped away from me.

Realizing that his abrupt movement had to be because he was thinking non-sibling thoughts, I didn’t seek his comfort, but turned the conversation to our possible escape. “So, tell me what you’ve come up with so far to get out.”

“Well, I have a couple of ideas. I haven’t actually worked out any of the logistics yet, which is why I need you. Maybe we could do some brainstorming.” He sat down Indian style on the mattress and looked up at me with a hopeful look on his face.

“You know I’ll help in any way I can. I want to get out of here, William.” I said while sitting down in front of him. “Tell me your ideas.”

“Ok, the first one I have is to somehow get the key so we can unlock the door. I know Adam has his attached to a chain that hooks onto his belt loop and then it sits in his pants pocket. Grandmother’s is on a chain around her wrist. I think Adam’s would be the easier one to grab, but I’m not sure how to get it without him realizing we’re taking it or that it’s not gone since he locks the door after he leaves.”

“What if instead of taking it we make a duplicate of it? All we would need is an impression of it. I saw on a television show someone doing that by pressing the key into soap and then making a copy by melting plastic into the mold. We’d have to improve our pick-pocketing skills though.”

William’s face lit up with a huge grin. “See, this is why I need you. You’re brilliant!” He laughed as he flopped onto his back.

“Well, hold on, don’t get too excited yet.” I said stretching out on my side beside him. “That was TV and I don’t know if that will actually work, so I think you should still tell me the other ones. It’s good to have contingency plans.”

“Alright.” William continued. “I was also thinking we could somehow climb down from the roof. The attic windows don’t have bars on them, so we could crawl out onto the roof and attach some rope onto something to climb down. I’m not sure if we have anything long enough to reach all the way to the ground, but I figured we might be able to find something that will work in the attic. Then we could scout the grounds, figure out which is the best way to get to the road.”

“That sounds easy. The swing from the rafters can be disassembled if we need the rope or we can use sheets, another Hollywood trick.” I said thinking about a movie I had seen where the main characters did that. “What else you got?”

We sat and talked about different scenarios and the best way to approach each of them for close to two hours. I was so glad that William was finally at least thinking of ways out that I didn’t even notice when our bodies had instinctively shifted closer to each other. My head lay on Will’s chest as we discussed the possibility of crawling through air ducts, while his hand languorously caressed my satin covered bottom.

**********************************************************

For the third night in a row, I woke up to find Connor alone in his bed. Each night I listened closely, but I never heard any sound coming from the bathroom. I thought Will must be up in the attic and I wondered what he was doing up there. Maybe writing more stories of the slayer, maybe trying one of our plans to get out.

Days later, my curiosity got the better of me. It had to be something big or William would have already shared it with me. I tried dropping hints all week in order to get him to slip up about what he was doing in the attic, but nothing. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Quietly, I got out of bed and made my way over to the attic door. I took one last look at the twins to make sure they were still asleep. When they didn’t stir, I unlatched the door and closed it behind me. As I walked up the stairs, I couldn’t hear anything. Maybe he wasn’t up here either. But if he wasn’t up here, where could he be? Did he already find a way out and hadn’t told me?

Once I reached the top of the stairs, my eyes adjusted to the faint moonlight, but I still couldn’t see or hear him. As I listened closer, I thought I heard some noise coming from the north section of the attic. It was barely audible, but it sounded like someone breathing hard and a light tapping. Thinking maybe he was doing nothing more than exercising, I started over towards the gym equipment. Still nothing. About to give up, I started to leave when I heard an unmistakable groan.

Captivated by the sound, I made my way towards the noise and stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me. There was William splayed on his back, his t-shirt discarded next to him, his boxers pushed down to his knees. My breath sucked in as my eyes took in more of the scene. His hand had a firm grip around his hard shaft as it moved up and down in an established rhythm. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open, the source of the panting and groaning.

I knew I shouldn’t be watching such an intimate moment, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my brother. I was mesmerized by the steady movement of his hand, the slight lift of his hips, the way his mouth opened and closed in silent bliss, the quick dart of his tongue escaping to lick his full bottom lip.

Mesmerized by the look of ecstasy on his face.

I stood silently watching, mouth agape, for what seemed like eternity, but in reality were only a few minutes. William’s steady hand sped up as he bit his lower lip. I could tell he was close. Seconds later, his teeth freed the lip from its confines and his mouth opened in a soundless scream. Will’s eyes screwed shut even tighter, while his body went taut as his hips arched off the mattress. Thick white liquid shot onto his stomach and hand as he came. The movement of his hand began to slow as he went limp and his breathing became more even.

The thought of Will catching me watching him snapped me out of my daze. I had to get out of there before he saw me. Quietly, I left him still recovering from his powerful orgasm to dash back into my bed, wet and completely aroused.

CHAPTER 31

Each night after that fateful one I saw William pleasuring himself, I found myself unable to sleep. I would lay in bed with my eyes closed listening for the sound of him getting out of bed. Inevitably, he would get up around two in the morning and make his way upstairs. Knowing what he was doing, I would roll over onto my back and stare at the ceiling, feeling the ache between my thighs grow more intense with every passing minute. Images of Will touching himself would run through my mind and I couldn’t get them to stop. After about a half hour, he would return to his bed and fall into a fitful sleep at which point I would toss and turn since I was left unfulfilled. The next morning I would use the showerhead on myself to help relieve some of the agonizing pressure, but it was never enough.

One night after Will took his journey up to the attic, I found my feet mechanically following him. I couldn’t help it; it was as if my body had a mind of its own and it was tired of being unsatisfied. Quietly, I walked to the mattresses on the far side of the attic, knowing that I would find him there. I crouched down low in between a chest of drawers and a bookshelf, hiding as I watched his hand move up and down on his cock. It was like a car wreck you stumble across on the highway, I knew I shouldn’t be watching but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scene. Guilt would settle in my head, but my blood raced with wanting to see every touch Will laid on his body.

The first few times I would just watch until he would shudder in completion and then I would sneak away in shame. Eventually, just watching wasn’t enough for me. Much like the involuntary movement of my feet that brought me up to the attic each night, my hand moved unconsciously down into the waistband of my pajama bottoms. My fingers would find their way into my wet pussy, teasing my sensitive nub as I watched Will masturbate. Keeping my rhythm in sync with Will, I would bite down on my arm as we climaxed together, stifling any sounds that might escape from my lips. Not allowing myself to savor the afterglow of my orgasm, I would hurriedly slink out of the attic before letting my presence be known.

I should have quit while I was ahead, but my traitorous hormone-driven body betrayed me. I had gotten sloppy in my stealth one night, but it was entirely his fault to begin with.

Earlier that day, Will and I had been working out together as usual. I was at the dance bar stretching out my legs when I heard a grunt coming from behind me. Looking into the mirror, I could see William, bare-chested and sweating, doing chest presses. I continued to stretch as I fantasized about licking the sweat off of the pale firm stomach flaunted before me in the mirror. I snapped out of my daydream when I heard the breathless voice of my brother.

“Elizabeth, a little help please.” I turned to see Will struggling to get the weight up on his last press. Quickly, I ran over to the weight bench helping him to lift the bar back into its holder. “Thanks.”

“You shouldn’t push yourself so hard. If I wasn’t here, you would have crushed your lungs.”

“Well, you were here, so don’t worry about it. Besides, I wanted to see how many presses I could do at 190 lbs. Check out this body, it looks good, doesn’t it?” Will slowly ran his hand across the six-pack of my earlier fantasies as he posed for me.

“Whatever.” I said feigning disinterest. “Maybe you should let your ego help you with the bar next time.”

“Ah, Elizabeth, I do love your wit.” He laughed at me while he toweled off his chest. “I’m going to shower.” I returned to my stretching now impatient for the night to come.

Usually I waited around fifteen minutes before I followed Will up into the attic, but the anticipation from our earlier interaction had sent me up closer to ten. I nestled into my hiding place, leaning back against the wall with my legs slightly parted. William was already naked on the mattresses, but I could tell he was just starting his long strokes along his shaft. My hand found its way into my panties and slowly caressed my inner walls, getting myself wet for what was to come. As Will’s movement sped up, so did mine. I plunged one finger into my opening and began to slide it slowly in and out. Soon, I was furiously pumping two fingers into my core imagining it was him thrusting into me. Will’s hips began to lift up off the mattress, a sure sign that he was close to cumming, but I needed more to get off. Seeking satisfaction, I brought my thumb up to rub against my clit focusing on Will’s hard cock.

As an explosive orgasm ripped through my body, my elbow banged against the chest of drawers. Will’s eyes shot open as his head swung in the direction of the noise, his hand never losing the rhythm of his stroke. His surprised eyes locked on mine. “Elizabeth,” he whispered almost reverently, seconds before his body shook in climax.

Stunned that I had been caught, I stared at Will for a moment before regaining my footing. I scrambled out from between the furniture and started to run towards the attic door needing to escape from the shame I was feeling.

******************************************************

All the next day, I couldn’t look Will in the eye having not talked about what had happened the night before. It was just another incident that we tried to pretend didn’t happen. I tried not to think about the fact that he came while saying my name, making me wonder if he was imagining that I was the one touching him. The awkwardness was replaced when half way through dinner mother showed up out of the blue.

Sweeping into the room with her pale pink pantsuit and cream colored silk shirt, mom looked like a vision of fresh air. Her skin was radiant and her smile should have lit up the room. “Kids, I’m here.” She said as if no time had passed since her last visit. Dawn looked up from her dinner, but went back to it without saying anything. Connor didn’t even bother to look up from feeding Charlie. Will and I stared at her in disbelief. “Hello? Aren’t you all happy to see me?” Mother gracefully came into the room and stood looking at us expectantly.

“Of course, mom.” Will said with a smile on his face. “You just surprised us, is all. We weren’t expecting you.” He got up from the table and went over to hug her. “How have you been?”

“Wonderful, William! I’m so excited. Look!” She said, extending her left arm out to Will. Sitting on her ring finger was a three-carat princess cut diamond ring set in platinum. “Wes asked me to marry him!” She actually squealed in pleasure while doing a little dance in her spot.

“Wow.” Will said taken aback. “I guess that’s good news.”

“Oh, William. It’s fantastic news! I’m so happy and father is so pleased.”

“Where have you been, mother?” I asked harshly after listening to her little display of excitement.

“Elizabeth, don’t take that tone with me.” Mom said defensively. “I’ve been busy with Wes. He took me sailing out to the Catalina Islands to ask me to marry him. We’ve been at his beach house for the last month. He’s been actively courting me since the holiday party so I’ve been spending a lot of time with him and making things right with Ethan.”

“So busy that you completely forget about us? You haven’t been around since before Christmas. That was over four months ago.” I fumed standing up to confront her.

“Of course not. I’m doing this all for you. To get us back on our feet again. Can’t you see that everything is going perfectly?”

“Going perfectly? You missed Christmas and Will’s birthday!” I yelled fisting my hands at my sides.

“I was busy with Wes and father!” Mother stomped her foot against the wooden floor. “I knew William wouldn’t mind because he understands the bigger picture. He understands the importance of me being with Ethan and pleasing him. Unlike you, he knows how to respect his elders!”

“Does he now?” I said in a calm voice. “I wonder then why grandmother chose to beat him with a bullwhip.” I got right up in her face. “Did you know about that mother? Aren’t you wondering where he got that scar above his eye or can you not remember what your own son looks like since you haven’t been around in so long?”

Her hand came up so fast that I was not prepared for the slap that stung my cheek. My eyes burned into hers as I slapped her back.

“Hey! Stop it!” Will came up between us leading me away from her.

“You ungrateful bitch!” Mother fumed touching her hand to her cheek. “I’ve been doing everything in my power to get myself back into father’s will for us. Reading to him, changing his bed pan, carting him around in that damn wheelchair. You have no idea how hard it is to keep up appearances.”

“It sounds terrible. Sailing in the Catalinas, skiing in Aspen! What did you do for the New Year, mother – sipped champagne and ate caviar in your new silk dress? Do you know what we did? We nearly starved to death because grandmother decided to stop feeding us!” I screamed at her. I wanted her to know all that we’d been through in this Hell.

Mother locked me in a bitter stare. “With the attitude I see coming from you right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if you deserved it.”

“Fuck you!” I lunged at her to get in another shot but was stopped by Will’s strong arms. “William, let go of me!”

“Not until you calm down.” He said holding me by the waist while my arms flailed.

“I will not calm down!” I kept trying to break Will’s hold as I continued ranting at mom. “What’s it going to take for you to figure out we need to get out of this place? Look at Dawn and Connor, how pale they are, how much weight they’ve lost!” I was pleading with her now. “Will one of us have to get sick for you to realize this isn’t healthy? What will it take, mother? Will and I to f-”

“Elizabeth! Stop it now!” Will cut me off mid-sentence and dragged me over to the desk. “Get upstairs.”

I looked at him incredulously. Was he taking her side? “Will?” Tears threatened to spill from my eyes at his betrayal.

“NOW, Elizabeth!” The tick in his jaw told me that he was serious in his command.

Mother stood with a smug smile on her face as she watched William scold me as if I were a child. “Elizabeth, you should know your brother will always pick me over you. I gave him life, I kissed his scraped knees when he fell off his bike, I never made fun of his poetry. You’ll always just be his annoying little sister.”

“I think you better shut up, mother.” Will said in an even tone before bringing his lips to whisper in my ear. “Please, Elizabeth. Just go.” I couldn’t hold in the sob that escaped from my throat as I opened the door to the attic.

“So, mother.” Will said turning towards her, clapping his hands together. “What else has been going on? Tell us about you and Wes.” I shut the door behind me and ran crying up the attic stairs.

*****************************************************************

I was lying on the mattresses still crying when William finally came up into the attic a little over an hour later.

“Beth.” He said kneeling down next to me. “Bethy.” He rubbed at my back.

“Don’t touch me.” I said through my sniffling as I shrugged away from him. “I’m so mad at you right now.”

“Bethy, come on.” Will tried to caress my back again.

“NO!” I shook my head adamantly while pushing his arm away. “I can’t believe you did that to me in front of her.” I let the hurt come through my eyes when I finally met his gaze.

Will sat down next to me. “I did it for our own good. You were saying too much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked angrily. “Are we supposed to shelter her from knowing that her children are being cruelly punished?”

Shaking his head, Will looked straight ahead. “No, it wasn’t that. However you were going to finish that last sentence was too much.” Will turned his head to face me. “Your emotions were too high. There were only two ways you were going to finish that sentence and neither one of them was going to help our situation.”

“So tell me how I was going to finish the sentence, genius.” My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“If you said for me and you to figure a way out, you were going to sabotage the whole plan to escape. Next thing you know, Adam’s up here putting bars on the attic windows or installing multiple locks on the bedroom door. We can’t afford to let anyone know we’re thinking of an escape route and that includes Dawn and Connor.” He said pointedly. “And I don’t think I need to spell out the other way that sentence could have ended.” He stood up and hung his head in embarrassment.

”No, please. Spell it out for me. I want to hear you say it.”

His lips pursed tightly together while he fixed his stare on mine. Not backing down from the staring contest, I won when Will tilted his head back and let out his breath. “Fine. If you were going to end it by saying for you and I to fuck then that would have royally screwed things up. That little bit of news could have led us into two separate rooms with you and Dawn in one room and me and Connor in another. Then we wouldn’t ever see each other and I can’t do this without you, Elizabeth.” His voice had gone soft and his eyes were pleading with me to understand his actions.

“You really weren’t taking her side?” I asked hugging my knees to my chest.

“No, sweetheart.” He said kneeling in front of me. “How many times do I have to tell you that all we’ve got is each other before you believe me?”

I shrugged my shoulders without answering.

William sighed before starting the conversation again. “Listen, we need to talk about last night.”

“What? Why?” I was panicked.

“Because if we just stay in denial, things are going to come to a head. If we talk about it, we can control whatever’s happening between us.” Will rationalized.

“There’s nothing happening.” I denied.

“Then why did I catch you watching me last night?”

“I woke up and noticed you were gone. I thought you might be trying to escape so I came up to find you.” It wasn’t technically a lie, since that was how the whole thing started. “When I did, I was frozen in shock.”

“Shock, huh?” Will questioned. “So that was the first time you saw me doing that?”

“Of course.” I answered quickly.

“Elizabeth, you’ve walked in on me doing that before when we lived in LA. It took you a second to figure out what I was doing, and then you laughed at me and left.” Will challenged. “I’m not stupid. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that wasn’t your first time since it looked like you were nestled in for the show.”

“Fine! I was watching ok. Are you happy now?”

“No, I’m not happy.” Will shook his head. “You told me I was transferring my feelings onto you because we’re stuck in this room together, so I tried to relieve a little bit of pent up tension by doing something in private and I find you watching me. How am I supposed to take that?”

“Look, I’m in the same boat as you, you know. Maybe I’m transferring too.”

“But it’s wrong.” William stressed.

“Of course, it’s wrong. You don’t think I feel guilty about this. It’s tearing me up inside.”

He let out a chuckle. “I’d bet you’d feel less guilty if you weren’t watching me get off with your hands between your legs.”

“Don’t sound so superior, William. I didn’t cum saying your name.”

“Touché.” He said tilting his head to the side. “So what do we do about it?”

“Nothing. We let our guilty consciences keep us in check.”

“So shame induced self-restraint and blissful ignorance are going to save us from ourselves?” Will didn’t sound convinced.

“Exactly.”

Will shook his head in defeat. “Ok, then I guess I’m going to bed.” He started towards the attic stairs. “I’ll see you later tonight.” At these words, he stopped and turned back to me. “Oh wait, no I won’t. You’ll be here, but I’ll just pretend otherwise. Brilliant plan.” He continued back to the stairs.

I sat glaring at his back vowing I wouldn’t show up to watch him tonight, and hoping I had the strength to fight my baser desires.

CHAPTER 32

The first week in May marked our ninth month anniversary of coming to Rayne Manor. It had been a couple of weeks since mother’s last visit and the season had changed to spring. With the warmer weather, Will decided we all needed to get some fresh air to put some color back in our flesh.

One day during the twins’ school ‘recess’, Will lifted one of the attic windows and brought over a blanket. “Guys, we’re getting some air.” He went out onto the roof and spread the blanket out over the black slate. “We need to put some color into our cheeks. We’re all too pale.” He said coming back in from outside.

Dawn was concerned as usual. “What if grandmother sees us?”

Will came over to her and ruffled her hair. “She won’t. There’s a chimney that comes up so it will hide us. Unless we’re standing straight up and someone is specifically looking up from the right side of the house, we’ll be hidden from anyone’s view.”

I agreed with Will. “We need to get out of here. We need to breath in something besides stale air.” I said rummaging through a trunk looking for some shorts or bathing suits. Finding some shorts for Connor and Will, a one-piece bathing suit for Dawn and a bikini for me, Dawn and I went downstairs to change in the bathroom while Connor and Will stayed in the attic.

When we came back up, Will and Connor were already outside lying in the warm May sun in just the shorts I had found. “Will, move over. I want to be next to Connor.” Dawn said as she crawled out onto the roof. Will moved over more into the middle of the blanket so Dawn could slide in between him and her twin. “Thank you.” She said as she settled in.

“You’re welcome.” Will replied as he eyed me coming up beside him in the red bathing suit I had on. The bikini was one of those little string ones that were so popular in the late seventies, with the triangle patches to cover the breasts and the ties at the side of the hips to hold together the cloth covering the lower half. I felt like Farrah Fawcett in ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and blushed at the look on Will’s face. He ogled my body openly, hungrily and then turned his head as Dawn asked him a question. “What?” He asked, not having heard her since he was watching me.

“I said do you want to play the cloud game with us?” She asked exasperated that she had to repeat herself.

“What’s that?” Will asked as I lay down next to him. The sun felt so good on my skin.

“It’s when you find shapes in the clouds.” Dawn replied. “Like see that one there?” She asked pointing up to the blue sky to a fluffy cloud passing overhead. “I think it looks like a bunny.”

“I don’t see it.” Will replied squinting at the sky.

“Sure you do. Those two lines at the top are its ears, the circle like puff at the back is its tail and it has little feet at the bottom. See?” Dawn insisted.

Connor saved her. “I see it. It’s very obvious. Will’s just being dumb.”

“Hey!” Will said. I laughed beside him and he turned back to me. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that you see it.”

“Of course I do. It’s clearly a rabbit.” I said with a twinkle in my eye. “Just like that one there,” I said pointing my finger to another cloud “looks like a clown.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a good one.” Connor said in agreement. “That one over there looks like a windmill.” Dawn giggled at his assessment.

“You’re all insane, you know that?” Will said not being able to identify any of the pictures in the clouds.

“You’re just not trying.” I said. “Look at that cloud over there.” I pointed one out in the distance. “What does it look like to you?”

“A cloud.” Will dead panned.

“Use your imagination, William. I know you have one or you wouldn’t be able to write all those stories about Buffy.” I leaned over closer to him. “Now, what do you see?”

Will’s breath tickled at my chest. “Um…,” he said trying to concentrate on the cloud and not my breasts dangling in front of him. Swallowing hard, he continued “Um, I guess it kind of looks like a flower. Maybe a rose?” He asked looking me in the eyes, while licking his lips.

“I can see that. See, you can do this, William. It’s easy once you try.” Dawn said.

Dawn and Connor continued pointing out different shapes in the clouds. Every once in a while I would interject a comment into their game or pick out a cloud to analyze, but Will hardly said a word and I thought he was just trying to forget about the tension in the air between us.

In the days following, we would all trek out onto a different part of the roof for some sun and air. Our skin had lost some of its sallow hue and our spirits were high from being outside after our long bout of being trapped indoors. We would occupy ourselves with the cloud game, but Will continued to stay quiet. Little did I know that his mind was preoccupied with other things.

******************************************************

Will shook me out of my sleep one spring night in mid-May. “Put these on.” He said while pushing some clothes into my arms.

“Will, what’s going on? Is everything all right?” I said still half asleep. I looked at the clock and saw that it was three-thirty in the morning.

“Don’t question me, Elizabeth. Just put them on and meet me in the attic by the mattresses on the west side.” Will left me confused in my bed. Since I wanted to know what this was all about, I got up and went into the bathroom to get dressed. Looking at the black turtleneck and stretch pants he must have found in the attic, I realized Will and I were going to try to get out tonight.

After hurriedly putting on the slightly too large clothes Will gave me, I anxiously went into the attic to where he would be waiting. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I couldn’t believe we were finally going to put one of our plans in motion. My stomach was churning with both hope and fear. I hoped we would find a way to be free of our prison, but at the same time I was afraid of being caught and the unknown that would lie ahead of us when we did escape.

Reaching the meeting spot in the attic, I watched as Will gathered up some rope and coiled it around his elbow and shoulder. “What’s the plan?” I asked.

Will looked up at me, startled from my voice as he didn’t hear me approach. “I’m going to tie this rope to the finial over in the right corner. We’ll climb down from there.”

“How do you know this is the best place? That tonight is the right time?” I questioned.

“Elizabeth, why do you think we’ve been switching our sunbathing spot? I’ve been doing surveillance on the roof, trying to figure out the best way to go down. This is it. The finial is the closet to the edge as well as one of the thickest around the base so it should hold us. Also, we’re at the back of the house between a couple of dormers so we’ll have good coverage.” He paused in his lecture as he stepped out the window onto the roof.

I followed right after him and watched as he knotted the rope around the finial with an impressive looking knot. He must have read up on that somewhere. “The moon is full tonight so it will give us enough light to see in the darkness. I don’t want to use a flashlight or lantern in case it draws attention to us.” Looking over the edge, he threw the rope over the roof and watched it uncoil. Once the rope was unfurled, he tested the sturdiness of the finial to make sure it would hold our weight. Then he looked up at me.

“I’ll go first and you follow once I get about half way down. Don’t follow too close, it will look less suspicious. I put knots in the rope every few feet for grip. Use them for both your hands and feet. I don’t want you falling or not being able to make it back up.” He stared at me in the moonlight. “Do you think you can do this?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, Will. I’m ready to get out of here. We need to start taking things into our own hands.”

“Ok, but remember this is just a run through. We’re not getting out tonight so don’t be careless.” He handed me a pair of black gloves and took a pair out for himself. “Also, there’s a row of jagged slate at the edge of the roof. Make sure you are careful when going over and back up onto the roof. Most of them have been worn down from the weather over the years, but there are still some that are pretty sharp and could cause some damage if you hit one the wrong way.” He took my hands in his and squeezed them. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I said letting out a deep breath.

He kissed my forehead softly. “Be careful. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

I watched as he walked over close to the edge and picked up the rope. “I will be, and that goes for you too.” He smiled at me nodding his head, right before he went over the ledge.

CHAPTER 33

As soon as William went over the edge of the roof, I took some time to take in my surroundings. It seemed like Will had thought of everything. He was right that we were between two dormers so it did provide coverage in that you could stand on the roof and not really be noticed. In addition, the moon was bright but it was just cloudy enough that the glowing orb would peek in and out allowing us light but also covering us in darkness when the clouds moved. There was a slight wind that whipped around my body due to the altitude, but for the most part the night was still.

The corner that Will had picked out was at the back of the house so no one could see us from the street or the main gates. On three sides was nothing but thick woods. The yard was a huge expanse of grass and flowered shrubbery with a wooden shed at the left corner.

After taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I crouched down low and moved over to the corner of the roof where the finial was located. I tested my grip on the rope and found that the gloves helped tremendously. Peering over the side, I realized that Will was just about half way down so I decided it was time to start my descent.

Maneuvering myself so that my legs were hanging off the roof while my stomach stayed on the slate, my sneaker soon located the first foothold tied into the rope. Gingerly moving my upper body over the ledge, I gripped the rope tightly as I found myself gently swaying in the air. Finding another knot with my hands this time, I let my feet slide down the rope until they also found the next knot. I continued on my way in this manner until I got about halfway down when the rope slackened a bit.

“Elizabeth.” I heard Will’s voice in a hushed tone below me. I looked down to see him standing on the ground at the bottom of the rope staring up at me. “Are you okay?” I nodded and saw Will looking around the area, taking in the surroundings and making sure no one had heard him.

I started my climb back down the rope until I heard a bark in the distance. Whipping my head around, I stilled my movement to see where it was coming from. Off to the left the shed door had opened and five dogs were rushing across the backyard in our direction.

“Up! Up! Elizabeth!” I heard Will say below me. Looking down again, I saw him grab onto the rope and start to scramble back up towards me. My arms reached up to the grip as I quickly switched directions on the rope. I could hear several barks now coming from the left of where we were. The dogs were fast and sleek, Dobermans ready to attack.

Will was still frantically climbing beneath me, trying to get his body high enough on the rope so he would be out of the reach of the dogs when they arrived. My muscles burned, but I kept climbing as fast as I could. I heard a growl right underneath us. “Get off me!” I heard Will say. One of the dogs had his pants leg between his teeth, its head shaking to try to make Will fall. For his part, Will was flailing his leg furiously trying to loosen the iron grip the dog had on his pants. Clutching the rope tightly with his arms, he brought his free leg out to kick the dog awkwardly in the face. A yelp escaped from the dog as his jaw opened allowing Will to carry on with his ascent. “Go!” He said snapping my body back into action.

“Hold them there for me, boys!” A deep, rough voice rang out in the night. Both Will and I snapped our heads around to see the groundskeeper cocking the barrel of a shotgun in front of the shed. The dogs continued to jump and bark on the ground under us as he moved closer to the disturbance. Not waiting another second, we began our way again to the roof.

Soon William was right behind me. “Come on, Beth. Faster! He’s half way across the yard. We can’t let him find us.” I knew we were hidden from his view due to the angle of the south section of the mansion, but that didn’t comfort me much.

As I wrapped my fingers around the eave, I felt Will’s hand on my behind helping to push me up and over the ledge. A sharp stinging pain shot through my right side near my ribcage as I rolled onto the roof, landing on my back panting hard. Will appeared a couple of seconds later and he tugged on the rope, bringing it up out of sight at a speed I didn’t think possible. As soon as the task was complete, he turned to me and I started to say something.

Before I could speak, his body was flush on top of mine. He clamped his palm down over my mouth and brought his finger up to his closed lips signaling me to be quiet. “What did ya find, boys? Where are they?” My eyes widened at the voice as Will stared at me, both of us breathing hard from the rush of adrenaline pulsing through our veins. “What’s this ya got? Must’ve fallen from the roof.” The dogs were still jumping around barking. “They up there? Probably more damn raccoons sniffing around like they did last summer. They’re startin’ early this year, huh boys? Come on, let’s go make the rounds.”

Will and I stayed frozen in our position for a few minutes, afraid that if we moved even an inch, we’d be caught. Finally, Will moved his hand away from my mouth and scurried on his stomach over to the ledge. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, he gathered up the rope and came back to me, helping me up. It wasn’t until we got through the window that someone spoke.

“Will, I think I’m hurt.” I clutched at my side as I stood shaky on my feet.

“What? Where?” He was immediately beside me feeling around for my injury. I lifted my hand revealing the bloody gash on my stomach. “Jesus Christ, Bethy. Come lay down.” He led me over to the mattresses and took off my gloves. “I’ll be right back.”

I kicked off my sneakers and moved higher up so my whole body was lying on top of the mattresses. I closed my eyes to ward off the pain while waiting for Will and in minutes I felt him return. Opening my eyes, I watched as Will knelt down above me. “Let me take off your shirt.” He said softly as his hands fluttered along my skin, lifting the fabric up my sides while I raised my arms so he could bring it over my head. Leaving me topless as he threw my shirt aside, Will opened the First Aid kit and swabbed some gauze with antiseptic. “This is probably going to sting, but I can’t see how deep the cut is until I clean the blood.” I drew in a breath as the cold liquid burned my skin, my nipples pebbled at the touch. “How did this happen?”

“When I went over the ledge, I think I caught a piece of the slate. It happened so fast.” I whispered out.

“Fuck, Bethy. It’s my fault; I shouldn’t have pushed you over like that. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Will voice quivered as he spoke. Keeping his eyes concentrated on the wound, his hands were shaking as he cleaned it. “I was scared. He was so close I didn’t think we were going to make it.”

“It’s ok. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” I gently rubbed at his arm reassuring him that I didn’t blame him. “I was scared too.”

He nodded accepting my forgiveness silently. “The cut isn’t that deep, but there are a couple of pieces of slate still in the skin, making it tender. I’ll take them out with the tweezers and then bandage you up. You should be fine though.”

I nodded bracing myself for the prodding that my body was about to go through. He took out the pieces with unsteady, but gentle hands. After cleaning the wound one more time, he put some anti-bacterial cream on the cut and covered it with gauze. Smoothing down the tape against my skin, his fingers traced the bandage before lightly traveling up along my ribcage, skimming the underside of my breast.

My breath hitched as his thumb brushed across my nipple. “I was so scared something terrible was going to happen. I couldn’t stand it if I lost you.” His watery eyes met mine as he continued to stroke the hardened nub.

“You’re not going to lose me, Will.” I said breathlessly, barely being able to concentrate from the feelings erupting within me from his feather light touch.

A lone tear escaped down his cheek. “Tell me to stop, Elizabeth.” He said barely above a whisper, his eyes were pleading with me to still his ministrations.

“Don’t call me that.” I whispered back to him, shaking my head. “I don’t want to be your sister right now.” I placed my hand over his, guiding it so it was cupping my breast.

My body raced with pleasure as he kneaded at my naked flesh. He leaned in towards me closing the gap between us. “Buffy…” escaped as a sigh from his lips right before they crashed into mine.

CHAPTER 34

Will’s lips were hungry against mine – demanding, bruising. His strong hands slid along my skin, burning me. His tongue begged for entrance against my lips, which opened willingly to satisfy the craving that I’d been longing for since New Year’s. His leg shifted to settle at the apex of my thighs, sending shockwaves throughout my body. I was on sensory overload.

Gasping for air, he broke the kiss and put his forehead to mine. “God, I want you so much.” His lips trailed soft kisses over my neck, down my throat. “Want to taste every inch of you,” he said right before he latched on to a nipple.

My body arched into his mouth, wanting him to take all of me in. I tangled my fingers in his hair holding him close to my breast with one of my hands, while the other tugged desperately at his shirt. “Feels so good. I want to feel you.”

He released my nipple from its captor and sat up. “Tell me what you want, Buffy.” He said ensnaring me in an intense gaze, which reached through me to the very fiber of my being.

I knew what he was doing with the name, the role-playing. If we got into character, then there was no guilt. We weren’t William and Elizabeth, brother and sister. We were Buffy and Spike, slayer and vampire. “Take off your shirt, Spike.” I said in a confident voice; the slayer knew exactly what she wanted. “I want to feel your skin against mine.”

Will smirked at the use of the name as if he was taken over by the persona of the cocky master vampire just before lifting his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side. Left bare-chested before me, I ran my hands slowly along his chest and stomach, exploring the contours of his body. When I got to his waist, his breath hitched and his eyes closed as my fingers fumbled with the button of his black jeans. As I worked on lowering his zipper, Will leaned down again to lock me into another bruising kiss. Our tongues battled furiously as if our lives depended on what the other was giving.

My hands wormed their way into his pants, working to slide them down over his hips. When I got them to his thighs, I started using my feet to push them further down his legs leaving my hands to squeeze his ass, driving his hard cock into my covered center.

My efforts to remove his pants were halted when I reached his sneaker covered feet. He broke our heated kiss, leaving us both gasping for air. Will quickly stood up and took off his shoes and pants. Standing before me in all his naked glory, I couldn’t help the snicker that escaped my lips. “What’s so funny?” he asked with a glint in his eye.

“It’s bent.” I said, stifling another giggle.

“Yeah?” He said tilting his head and bringing his tongue to his teeth. “Don’t make fun.” He knelt between my legs and brought his hands to the waistband of my pants. “It’s gonna make you scream later.” Will gave me a smoldering look, and then yanked my pants off me in one smooth movement. Licking his lips, he ran his hands slowly up my legs, over my stomach to my breasts, where he momentarily stopped to tweak my nipples. “You’re so beautiful, Buffy. Absolutely perfect.” He leaned down to draw me into a slow sensual kiss, as one of his hands trailed down my body to between my thighs. One finger traced along my inner walls causing me to moan in pleasure. “God, you’re so wet.” William said, his breath tickling the hollow of my neck.

“You make me this way.” I said in breathless anticipation, bucking my hips against his hand.

At my whispered words and eager movements, Will plunged two fingers into my soaking pussy while groaning in desire. My mouth opened to let out a gasp of pleasure, as my body moved instinctively with the rhythm of his hand, seeking release. His body began to grind against mine, creating the friction he needed to satisfy his own needs.

“Wait,” I said stopping our erratic movements.

“What’s wrong?” He looked at me in panic. “Do you want me to stop?” Desperation was written all over his face.

Trying to ease his mind, I removed his hand from my pussy and raised it to my mouth. “No, I don’t want you to stop, Spike.” Taking one finger into my mouth, I sucked my juices off of it and then offered it to him, encouraging him to taste me by licking his other finger. I felt his cock jump in excitement as he tasted my essence on his skin. I brought my legs up to wrap around his waist, guiding his hard shaft to my entrance. “I don’t want to cum like that. I want your cock inside me.”

He held his breath as the head slipped inside my opening. He stilled his hips, not allowing the forward progress I longed for, and leaned his forehead against mine. “I’ve never done this with a human before, Buffy.”

The implication of that statement hit me suddenly. We were about to lose our virginity to each other. I was surprised when that thought didn’t disturb me as much as it should, but the truth was, there was no one I trusted more than William. I knew that he would be tender and giving, everything that a first lover should be and oftentimes wasn’t. A smile crossed my face as I brought my hand up to caress his cheek. “It’s my first time with a vampire. We can learn together.”

He smiled back at me before capturing my lips in another passionate kiss. We both whimpered as he slowly pushed his cock deep inside my wet heat. Once he was settled all the way in, he let out a shaky breath. “Are you ok?” He asked me quietly. I nodded my head and began to move my hips in response, urging him to move inside me.

He began a measured rhythm, pulling his shaft almost all the way out before slowly pushing himself back in. “You’re so tight, Buffy.” He groaned in gratification. “So wet. You feel incredible.” One of his hands linked together with mine over my head as his other gripped strongly at my hip to help guide the pace he had set. Soon, my legs were squeezing tighter around his waist, encouraging him to go faster.

“Please, Spike.” I cried. “Faster, harder, please. I need to feel you.”

At my plea, Will seized my hips in a strong grasp. Keeping his dick firmly inside me and my legs wrapped around him, he moved up onto his knees and began plowing into me at an excruciating pace. Involuntary grunts escaped from my lips at the force in which he was moving inside me. My arms were flung above my head as I moved my head from side to side at the amount of pleasure coursing through my body. “Ugh! Oh, God! Ugh, ugh, yes, yes, yes…” was the litany echoing throughout the otherwise quiet attic.

Suddenly, Will changed the tempo as he pulled all the way out so just the tip was inside me and then slammed his hips forward at the same time that he smashed my hips into his. The subsequent collision caused me to squeal in delight. He did it again causing me to scream this time as he hit just the right spot.

“Come on, Buffy. Cum for me. I know you’re close, I can feel it. I’m so close too. Wanna cum with you, baby.” He started pumping into me again in quick succession. He moved his hand to my clit and started to rub it at a pace that matched his hips. I felt like I was going to explode as every nerve ending in my body tingled. “That’s it, baby, come on. Don’t hold back. I wanna hear you scream when you cum.”

His words, cock and fingers were driving me over the edge. My teeth unclenched as I erupted in an explosive orgasm. “Oh, God. YES! SPIKE!” I screamed as I came just as he wanted me to, just as he predicted.

My body shook as he continued to thrust into me. As my inner walls quivered around him, he clenched his jaw before letting out a groan as he could no longer stave off his own orgasm. “Oh, yeah. Buffy.” His body jerked erratically as he came, filling me with his hot seed. Another mini-orgasm raced through me at the feel of his cock pulsating inside me. “Mmm, feel so good.” He slowed his movements and languidly kissed me.

My legs fell exhausted from his hips and I enjoyed his soft kisses as I gently caressed his sweat covered back and ass. He pillowed his head on my chest and that’s how we remained while our breathing returned to normal. As he softened and slipped out of me, he rolled off me and onto his side. “Did I hurt you?” He asked while touching the bandage at my side.

“No, I kind of forgot about my cut once we started…” my words trailed off, not sure if I could actually voice our actions.

“Did I hurt you here?” Will said as he slid his hand from my stomach to cover my sensitive mound. “Is there blood?”

“Oh,” I said shaking my head, going on to explain how my hymen had already been broken. “No, there was an unfortunate accident in gym class involving a field hockey stick back when I was fourteen. There was blood then.”

“Ok, never heard about that one.” His fingers started to slide along my walls again, causing my body to shiver. “I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

“You didn’t.” I said, my breathing starting to pick up again. “You won’t”

Will stared at me for a moment as if he was trying to read my mind and then pulled away suddenly, breaking eye contact, at the sound of a bird outside the window. Turning our heads to the noise, we noticed that the sun was starting to lighten the sky. With the day beginning to break, the secrecy of the night lifted leaving us self-conscious in each other’s presence.

Running his hands through his tousled hair, Will got up to look for his clothes while rambling, a sure sign of his insecurity. “We should probably go. Dawn’s going to be up soon.” Awkwardly, he handed me my shirt after pulling on his pants. “You know how early she wakes these days. I wouldn’t want us not be there. She’d probably freak.” Putting on his shirt, he watched me as I drew on my pants. I flinched when I tried to get up, from both the soreness at my side and between my legs.

“Here, let me help you.” Will held out his hand for me. Silently taking his hand, he helped me to stand on unsteady legs. Pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, he flashed a shy smile before squeezing my hand in support, leading me away from the scene of our indiscretion and back downstairs to the cruel world of our reality.

CHAPTER 35

In the weeks following our encounter in the attic, to say things were strained between Will and I would be an understatement. It was extremely awkward. I could barely look at him, and whenever he said something to me my mind always found a way to make his words suggestive. This would leave me blushing like a school girl, looking anywhere but at him.

It wasn’t like the other times where I could push the sexual tension to the back of my mind and deny any bad sensations I was feeling. Nobody was drunk this time; we both knew exactly what we were doing. And for all the shame that was plaguing my conscious, my body wouldn’t let me forget. Every time he came near me, there was an electrical charge that coursed through my body. Every time I closed my eyes, I would see him above me thrusting his cock into me, whispering little nasties to make me cum. I tried to muster all the remorse that I could to keep me at bay, but it was excruciating because now that we had crossed the ethical line, I wanted him even more. I knew how good he could make me feel.

My only option was to avoid him as much as possible. We didn’t exercise together anymore as I always made an excuse to work out at another time than him so I wouldn’t have to see him sweaty and bare-chested. I didn’t think I could stand it.

Late one afternoon, I was stretching at the dance bar, trying to avoid Will as usual. Dawn and Connor had roped him into a game of ‘Life’, while I was looking for more summer clothes in the trunks for us to wear. Figuring it was safe to do my routine, I donned a leotard and a little wrap around skirt to start practicing.

“You can’t avoid me forever, Elizabeth.” Will’s voice behind me startled me twenty minutes into my workout, causing me to jump around to face him. That was a big mistake. He was looking at me with fire in his eyes.

“I’m not avoiding you.” I lied, turning back around, putting one of my legs on the bar to continue my stretching. “Just working out is all. I didn’t want to interrupt your game with the twins. What happened to that anyway?”

Ignoring my question, Will said, “I’m not just talking about today. You’ve been avoiding me for about two weeks now.” He stepped closer to me. “I think it’s time we talked about what happened.”

“It’s not going to happen again.” I said quickly in an adamant tone, staring him down in the mirror.

The muscle in his jaw ticked as he moved right behind me, as if he was accepting a challenge. His body was flush against mine as he grabbed me around the waist with one arm and placed his other hand on my outstretched thigh. “You think so, Buffy?” I whimpered at his touch. “This thing between us,” he said in a hushed whisper which tickled against my ear, “I know it’s wrong, but you can’t deny that you feel it. The heat, the desire.” His hand slowly caressed down my inner thigh towards my open cunt. “I know you feel it. You said it yourself, Buffy. I make you wet.” His finger slid beneath my leotard to bathe in my arousal. “See, I’ve barely touched you, Buffy, and you’re already sopping just from my words.”

I gripped the bar tighter as a shiver ran through my body, making my knees weak. I leaned against him a little as his finger slowly slid inside me. “It’s ok to admit it, Buffy. You have the same effect on me.” He held me tighter around the waist as he ground his erection against my ass letting me feel what I was doing to him, then he added another finger to stroke my pussy. With the quickening of the rhythm of his fingers, I let out a sigh and leaned my head back against his shoulder, allowing him to nuzzle my neck. Will began to kiss me softly before I began to hear his whispered words again, “You’re all I think about, Buffy. Dream about. I close my eyes and I see you writhing beneath me in pleasure.”

“Spike, please.” I murmured, begging him to take me higher.

His thumb tackled my clit at my plea. “I’m drowning in you, Buffy.” Will removed his arm from around my waist and fumbled to pull his shorts down. Once his cock was free from its confines, he placed his hand on my back and bent me over towards the mirror. Removing his fingers so he could move aside my leotard, Will placed the head of his cock at the entrance of my pussy. Making eye contact with me in the mirror, he declared again in a husky whisper, “I’m drowning in you,” just before pushing his shaft inside me.

I let out a groan as he settled himself deep inside my womb. Will’s hips began to move in slow, sure thrusts, driving me crazy with lust. “God, Buffy. You’re so soft and warm.” He moaned as he moved his finger to my clit again. “When I’m inside you like this, nothing else matters. Everything but you goes away.”

His words were arousing me as much as his body. I began to push back against him, wanting him to increase his speed. “That’s it, baby, show me what you want.” Will started to go faster, leaving me breathing hard and whimpering.

“Will?” Connor yelled from the other side of the attic. “Where are you?” Will stopped mid-thrust in panic and pulled out of me so fast I nearly fell over.

He pulled up his shorts and tried to hide the bulge in them by pulling his t-shirt out. “I’m with Elizabeth. What do you need?”

“We just wanted to tell you we’re going downstairs to get ready for dinner.” Connor said, not coming any closer. I let my head fall against the mirror as I brought my leg down off the bar, adjusting my leotard into its proper place.

“Okay. We’ll be down shortly.” Will replied, closing his eyes at the close call. Letting out a shaky breath, he brought his hands up to his face and then let them run through his hair.

Will walked back over to me and turned me around. Lifting my chin up so I was looking at him, he kissed me hungrily. “This isn’t over, Buffy. I know you’re as unsatisfied as I am.”

He started to walk away, but before he left my sight, he turned back to me. “Oh, and by the way, Elizabeth, I actually came over here to talk to you about the botched escape attempt. We can’t get out if you don’t work with me. You will meet me up here tonight after the kids go to bed.”

At his command, I weakly nodded my head, surrendering to his demands as he left me alone in the attic. I knew he was right. In all my avoidance, we hadn’t talked about what happened with our attempted escape either. If we were going to get out of here, I couldn’t ignore him.

Turning around, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was disheveled and my skin was glowing. My body was still on fire, and I couldn’t understand how Will could be so calm about this whole situation. Pulling myself together, I decided I was going to ask him about it tonight.

****************************************************************

After the kids went to bed, Will went upstairs while I went to take a quick bath. I didn’t want to go up to see him right away; I wanted to clear my head first. I knew I wanted to talk to him about us having sex, but I didn’t know the best way to approach it. Now, I had a new worry on my mind. Just before I got into the bath, I noticed the calendar I kept on the bathroom counter to track my period. I hadn’t had it in a long time. That was another subject I needed to broach and didn’t know how. We didn’t use any birth control. I couldn’t be pregnant from one time, could I?

Feeling as though I had stalled enough and was as ready as I’d ever be, I got out of the tub and changed into a pink tank top and some lightweight cotton running pants. Putting my hair up in a ponytail, I turned towards the attic door ready to face my brother.

I found him in the attic sitting in one of the chairs reading a book. He was still wearing the shorts and t-shirt that he had on earlier and his hair was everywhere. “I think you might need a haircut. It’s getting long and seems to be falling in your face.” I said to make my presence known.

He looked up from his book and looked at me. “Are you going to do it? I’m not sure I trust you, I remember what you used to do to your Barbie dolls. Malibu Barbie went from prom queen to military butch in a matter of seconds.”

I smiled back at him remembering the simpler days of our youth. “Well, it was always flying in her face. How can you drive the Malibu Convertible if your hair is always blocking the view of the road?”

Will let out a huge barrel-chested laugh, one I hadn’t heard in a long time. “That’s why I love you, Elizabeth, always so practical.” He stared at me for a few seconds with a far away look on his face. “See what we miss out on when you avoid me. How much fun you deny yourself.” He winked.

I rolled my eyes as I sat Indian style on the mattresses in front of him. “Well, you have my attention now, so talk.”

Leaning back in the chair, he marked the page in the book he was reading before turning his attention to me. “We need to come up with a Plan B. I thought the roof would be the easiest way out, but I hadn’t planned on the dogs. Unless we can figure out a way to distract them, I don’t think we’d make it. And quite frankly, I think any distraction we come up with will only hold them for so long. I was thinking about throwing them some meat, like a steak from dinner, but they’d rip through that in seconds.”

“OK, so we go with trying to make a key.”

“Yeah, but that’s going to be a lot harder. We need to figure out a way to get the key from Adam first off. Then we need to duplicate it.”

“We’ll watch Adam for the next few weeks; watch how he takes out the key, where he puts it. Then we’ll come up with the best way to distract him. Maybe while he’s putting down the food, one of us can bump into him while the other makes the imprint.”

“That’s a good idea. Now, what do we make the imprint with?”

“This is from the TV show I saw. The guy pressed the key into a bar of wet soap. When it dried, he had a perfect mold of the key. Then he melted the plastic from the handle of a toothbrush into the mold and voila, key.”

“Fine, we’ll try that. Add soap and four new toothbrushes to the grocery list this week. Anything else?” Will asked.

“We need a new lighter. The one we have is pretty much out of fluid.” I said as William nodded, thinking everything through in his head.

“Add that to the list next week. You have nail files just in case we have to trim the key, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve got plenty of those.” I replied.

“Ok, good. So for now, we just monitor Adam to try to figure out the best approach to get the imprint. We need to decide what meal to do it with too, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Observe his face and body movements too – maybe he’s more distracted at one time versus another. Once we determine the best time to do it, we’ll come up with a diversion.” He looked at me again as I nodded my head in agreement. “This is going to be a slow process, Beth. It’s going to take time.”

“I know, but it’s better than doing nothing.” I said in a whisper.

William sighed before leaning forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “I agree with you there. The twins’ birthday is coming up too. We need to do something for them. I doubt mom will show up.” I raised my eyebrow at his observation. “Don’t give me that look, Elizabeth. This doesn’t mean I’ve given up on her, I’m just being prepared. I already started thinking of a few plot lines for a couple of new Buffy stories focused around Dawn and Connor.”

At the mention of my alter-ego, I decided that was as good an opening as I was ever going to get. “We need to talk.” I looked up sharply into the eyes of William, bracing myself for the conversation we were about to have.

CHAPTER 36

“I thought that’s what we were doing.” Will said taken aback at the stern tone I was using to voice that it was time we had a serious conversation.

“No, Will. We need to talk about what happened between us – this afternoon, a couple of weeks ago.” I said. He was looking at me as if I had two heads. “About us having sex.” I said this in such a low whisper that I was surprised he actually heard me.

“We didn’t have sex, Elizabeth. Buffy and Spike did.” He said completely serious.

My eyes widened in surprise at his statement. “That’s really how you’re going to play this?”

“I’m not playing at anything, that’s what happened.” His answer was resolute.

I closed my eyes and took a deep, calming breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. “Is that how you keep your conscious clear? Because I’m on edge over here.” I asked, baiting him.

He let out a little chuckle before saying in the most innocent of tones, “We’re brother and sister, Beth. We would never do something like that.”

Then his whole demeanor changed, gone was the innocence as it was replaced with pure animal magnetism of the lustful kind. “Buffy and Spike, well that’s all together different, isn’t it?” He pierced me with his crystal blue eyes. “I mean it’s wrong, because she’s a Slayer. She should be killing Spike, not fucking him. But they can’t help their natural attraction; after all, they’re perfect for each other. In Buffy, Spike met his match and vice versa.” He moved down onto the mattress kneeling in front of me. “If they give in to their primal desires, well, there’s really no harm in that. Is there, Buffy?” He asked me while his hand came up to skim along the skin just under the straps of my tank top.

I could see how easy it was for him to think in split personalities. Will really did become another person when he acted as Spike. Gone was my shy, virginal brother. Instead, I was dealing with a century old master vampire who exuded confidence and sexuality. Just his touch on my bare skin left me speechless. Damn Spike and his sinister attraction!

His thumb skimmed down further to my nipple, which immediately hardened. My mouth opened on a sigh as he gently pushed me down onto my back and brought his lips to mine. Will’s tongue fused together with mine as his hand kneaded at my breast. “Mmm, Buffy. I want to finish what we started earlier. You left me so hard, so wanting.” He pressed his erection down to grind against my clit, while lifting my tank top up over my head before I could think to stop him.

I was getting lost in his touch, but I had to snap out of his thrall. I had more I needed to talk about. “Wait, wait.” I said breathlessly as he sucked on my nipple. “Stop, please.” I was begging.

Will stopped and looked at me. “What’s wrong?” He asked while his hands continued to roam over my body, making it sing with pleasure.

“Birth control.” I said swatting his hands away and sitting up on my elbows to put myself in a less vulnerable position. “We didn’t use any birth control.”

Will shrugged his shoulders before the most shocking words came out of his mouth. “I’m a vampire, I can’t reproduce.”

My eyes bugged out of my head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is serious, William.” How far was he going to take this role-playing thing?

Will closed his eyes and sighed. “I know, but this isn’t going to work if you don’t stay in character. This is how I keep my conscious clear. If I’m not me and you’re not you, then I can accept what we’re doing in my head. So please, stay in character.” He was pleading with me at this point.

I shook my head before trying to think of a way to get through to Will or, I guess, Spike. I let out another deep breath as I tried to stay rational, even though what I was about to say made me sound crazy. “Ok, Spike. There’s no record of a slayer and a vampire having sex before. We have no idea what the repercussions might be. Maybe I have a superhuman womb or something that’s able to reanimate vampire sperm.” God, I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation.

“Hmm, you may have a point.”

“I’m late.” I said bluntly, getting straight to it.

Will immediately got off me and looked at me with dread in his eyes. “How late?”

“Seven weeks.”

“Seven weeks?” Will squawked. “Buffy, we only had sex two weeks ago.”

“I know, but I haven’t been regular since January when we got punished by the she-bitch.” I flopped back down on my back and flung my arm over my eyes. “Seems that malnourishment can really screw with your body. And that’s the last time I had my period so I’m late.”

Will stretched out next to me and placed his hand on my flat stomach, rubbing it in light circles. “Have you had any symptoms? Nausea, sore nipples?” I shook my head in the negative. “Well, we can’t get a pregnancy test to make sure, but I don’t think you’re pregnant. You were already late; I think your body is just out of whack. We’ll just have to wait to make sure.”

I moved my arm over my head and turned my head to look at him. “And if I am?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but for now there’s nothing we can do about it.” His hand moved slowly down to rub between my thighs.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Finishing what we started earlier.” He gazed at me longingly.

“Even after what I just said?” I asked with a nervous tremor in my voice.

“Yes, I just said there’s nothing we can do about it but wait, Buffy. We’ll just be more careful from now on. We can’t get condoms or any kind of birth control without the she-bitch, as you so nicely put it, knowing, but I can pull out before I cum easily enough. People do that all the time.”

“That’s not 100%.” I argued.

“Nothing is 100% except for abstinence.” Will said sounding like one of our Health class teachers. “We’re past that point. I can’t stay stuck in this attic with you and not touch you.” His hand moved up and into my pajama bottoms, a couple of his fingers began to tease my folds. “I can’t go without this perfect pussy of yours for much longer.” Still stroking me, he leaned in to leave a trail of soft kisses along my neck, which left me trembling. “These last two weeks have been unbearable, now that I know what you feel like, now that I know how good you can make me feel. I need you so much.” He pleaded, shifting so that he was almost on top of me, kissing me on my neck, my cheek, my lips. “I didn’t know how much until I found myself buried between your gorgeous thighs.” He knelt up again so that he was over me and pulled impatiently at my pants. “Need to be there again.”

Although my mind was hesitant, my body betrayed me. Will removed my pants and my entire body hummed with anticipation. Goosebumps erupted all over my naked flesh as Will’s open palms explored my neck down over my chest and stomach, then my hips and thighs. “You’re perfect, Buffy.” He said looking at me. “Absolutely beautiful.”

I lay unmoving before him thinking as I watched him remove his t-shirt and shorts. I couldn’t separate myself so easily in the role-playing fantasy as Will obviously could so I wasn’t deluding myself that what we were about to do again wasn’t wrong, and I hadn’t forgotten that we had a potentially huge predicament on our hands if I was pregnant, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to stop this from happening. I was willing to bet that as time went on the guilt would lessen as I got more immersed in the character of Buffy. I was willing to admit that I agreed we were too far gone and that, like Will, I needed this closeness.

The slightest of his touches made my blood race through my veins. Being with him had made me feel really alive for the first time since we arrived at Rayne Manor, despite its wrongness. Our lives had been turned upside down by the death of our father and then our imprisonment between these walls. Our daily fight for survival and our struggle for some semblance of normalcy were difficult on everyone’s psyche. We’d been degraded by grandmother’s punishments as well as betrayed and pretty much abandoned by our mother. As long as we were trapped in this attic, Will was the only one who could make me forget all the pain.

And that’s why when he came back to linger above me, I didn’t push him away, but instead molded my body to his, losing myself in his kiss. The feel of his skin against mine sent thrilling shivers through me and my legs willingly fell open to let him in. “You are my goddess, Buffy. Sometimes, I want to just give up, but you keep me going, you give me hope.” He extolled between kisses, as he ran his hard length along my soaking cleft. “I want you so much, all the time. Do you want me?” Will asked as he guided his stiff member to my opening.

I nodded my head in acceptance to what he wanted to give me. “No, Buffy. Look at me and say it.”

I opened my eyes to gaze upon him. Despite the confidence in his voice, I saw the vulnerability in his eyes. I could tell that he was feeling all the same differing emotions that I was and I wanted us both to just forget about all the hardship and surrender to the pleasurable bliss we could offer each other. Without hesitation, I responded while lifting my hips to take him teasingly into my pussy. “I want you, Spike.”

His breath caught as the head of his cock entered my body. With the new found confidence he received from my reassuring affirmation, he smiled smugly as my hips came back down and then surprised me by grabbing my legs and lifting them to his shoulders. “You shouldn’t tease,” he said as he penetrated me so deeply I cried out. With his hands braced on either side of me, he began pumping his hips in an even rhythm. My hands grabbed at his waist, kneading his flesh with each thrust.

In this position, every time he would come back down, my legs would come together slightly to pinch at my clit and his balls would lightly slap against my ass causing the most stimulating sensation. A litany of sighs, moans, and gasps escaped from my lips as he took me on this ride to fulfillment.

Will began to nip and kiss at my ankles as he sped up his thrusts. He began to move his hips at different angles and I cried out again when he hit what I could only guess was my G-spot. “Oh God, right there, Spike.”

“Did I find that special spot, Buffy?” He asked his voice filled with cockiness. He redoubled his efforts and hit right where it drove me crazy again and again.

My head flailed from side to side and off the mattress as I no longer controlled my movements or my voice. “Yes, yes, yes, oh god, yes. Right there, please, Spike.”

“Tell me what you want, Buffy, and I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you anything, but you have to say it.” Will said in a seductive tone.

“Fuck!” I said squeezing my eyes shut and banging my head against the mattress. “I wanna cum. Please, Spike. I want you to make me cum.”

“That’s what I want to hear, baby. I’m gonna make you cum so hard that you won’t even be able to scream, you won’t be able to walk when I’m done with you.” He lifted his knees off the mattress and dug in his toes. All of his weight was at my center as he drove into me at a vigorous pace.

I grabbed at his forearms and my nails dug in and scratched along his arms. My lips parted and I tried to bring my mouth to his so I could kiss him, but I couldn’t because of the awkward position my legs were in. “You wanna kiss me, Buffy? Not until you cum sweetheart.” Will said. “I know you’re so close, baby, just let go.” Will brought his cock down hard to hit against my newly found button and I exploded.

My orgasm hit me hard and my whole body tensed as it ripped through me. My mouth opened to scream but only a strangled whimper escaped. Fireworks burst behind my eyes and my head was spinning, making me feel like I was floating out of my skin. “That’s it, baby. I love feeling your walls quiver around me. Makes me wanna cum the way you squeeze my cock.”

He brought his knees back down and slowed his thrusts while I tried to catch my breath. Moving his arms, he allowed my boneless legs to slide off his shoulders and he brought them down to a more comfortable position near his waist. Quickening his pace, he plunged into me for a short time until he pulled out and grabbed his shaft. Pumping it a few more times, he groaned as he came, spurting his hot, sticky fluid on my breasts and stomach. Once he stopped pulsing, he crashed his lips down onto mine and moaned into my mouth. I grabbed him into a tight embrace and hungrily kissed him back. I had never felt so content in my whole life.

Breaking the kiss, he leaned his forehead against mine. “That was amazing, Buffy. You make me feel so fucking good.” He lowered himself to my breast and began licking at my taut nipple, cleaning me of his spendings. His fingers ran over my stomach, gathering some of the juice left there before bringing it up to my lips. “Taste me.” He demanded and my mouth opened to suck on his coated digits. “Do you like the way I taste?” he asked.

I shook my head in the affirmative as he pulled his fingers out of my mouth. Then he laughed. “I really did leave you speechless, huh? You haven’t said a word since you so eloquently told me what you wanted.” He reached over and grabbed his t-shirt and started to clean the rest of me off. “Say something, you’re making me nervous.”

“Where did you learn to do that?” I asked in a hoarse whisper.

“Well, you see, I’ve been reading this book.” He said looking at me with a smirk on his face. “I plan on trying out every single one of the positions in there and you are the lucky one that gets to try them with me.” He said with a wink of his eye.

Of course, that damn sex book the twins found. How could I forget that he had me in the same position as he did on New Year’s that led to our first fateful kiss?

“Although, if you’re not up to it…” He challenged me with a raised eyebrow.

“No, no.” I said thinking back to my earlier thoughts. After the mind-blowing orgasm I had just had, I could definitely see myself getting more into this role-playing scenario Will had so brilliantly thought of. Guilt be damned, I thought as I got into Buffy’s head to reply back with my own challenge. “I’m up for anything you throw my way. The question is can you handle the slayer?”

“Ooh, is that a threat, missy?” He asked playfully as he brought his hands to either side of my head and got right in my face. “Go ahead and try to take me on, Buffy.”

“Oh, I will, Spike.” I said giggling. “As soon as my legs start working again, I will.” I burst into another fit of laughter.

He laughed along with me. “Told you so,” he murmured against my lips as he took me into another kiss. Our laughter soon turned to moans as we began to explore each other’s bodies again.

CHAPTER 37

After our second encounter in the attic, things between Will and I had gone back to normal. I was no longer jumpy around Will during the day or around the twins and I wasn’t trying my best to avoid him anymore. By using the characters of Will’s stories, we were able to separate our two different relationships. Most of the time he was Will, my caring and supportive brother who took care of me and the twins. Then sometimes he would become Spike, a sexual creature who made Buffy’s blood boil.

It was oftentimes too easy to slip into this game. It would simply begin when one of us would call the other by their character name. Will would look at me with desire in the attic at night and say something like “Buffy, you’re beautiful,” and it would start. The soft touches and the gentle kisses would eventually lead to our passionate coupling. The guilt was still there, but it was pushed aside to the back of my head as it was replaced by the comfort I found in Will’s embrace and the acceptance that Will had of me exactly the way I was.

With the twins, we always had to be the brave ones. With grandmother, we always had to be meek and play by her rules. But with each other, we could just be ourselves even if we were using different names some of the time. Will knew everything about me; we shared all of our thoughts, good or bad. This new relationship was bringing us closer on other levels, opening up discussions that we otherwise wouldn’t talk about. Bringing out fears in me that I didn’t even know I had.

****************************************************

One night after putting the twins to bed, I sat in the bathroom staring at the blood stained toilet paper in my hand. After ten weeks, I had finally gotten my period. This should have been a relief to me, but instead it filled me with a sadness I couldn’t begin to fathom. Quickly disposing of the tissue as if it burned me, I flushed the toilet and immediately jumped into the shower to wash myself. I needed to get my thoughts in order and figure out why I wasn’t as happy as I should be before talking to Will.

After showering, I put in a tampon and put on a pair of loose-fitting cotton underwear. Dressing in one of the long flowing nightgowns I had found in the attic so that I didn’t have to deal with any tight elastic around my aching stomach, I headed upstairs to find Will. He was hunched over at the reading table writing furiously in his notebook. It was the twins’ birthday in a few days and I knew he was working on a couple of new stories for them.

“Spike?” I said softly before coming to stand a few feet in front of him.

His head snapped up from his writing, surprised when he heard the use of his alternative name so early in the night. Usually, our game didn’t begin right away; we always talked about other things that had gone on during the day first. He closed his notebook and focused his attention on me, “Buffy, what’s wrong?” Concern was etched on his face.

“I got my period.” I said quietly, looking down at my bare feet.

“That’s great!” Will said with joy in his voice. “I told you your body was just out of whack.”

“Yeah,” I said unenthusiastically. I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes.

“Buffy, come here.” Will’s tone was low. “Let me touch you.”

“No!” I said a little louder than I meant to. “I don’t want Spike right now, I want Will.”

It was the first time I had not accepted the game, but if Will was shocked or upset by it, he didn’t show it. He stood up from the chair and came over to me slowly. “Ok, ok. I’m here, it’s me.” He said tenderly rubbing his hands along my arms. “But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” His voice was no longer seductive, but instead laced with worry. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began sobbing. He started rubbing my back and making shushing noises trying to calm my crying. “Bethy, tell me what’s wrong. Does this have something to do with you getting your period? Are you in pain? Is it cramps?” Will asked as he brought me over to sit on his lap on the chair.

Still crying, I nodded my head and nuzzled my face deeper into the nook between his neck and shoulder. Between whimpers, I finally voiced the concerns that had been plaguing me ever since I discovered I got my period. “What if I never get to have a baby because we never get out of here?” I felt Will’s body tense beneath me, but I carried on without thinking what affect my words might be having on him. “I still want a normal life, Will. I want a husband and kids, the house with the white picket fence.” I picked my head up off his shoulder and looked into his eyes through my own blurry vision. “What if I die in here and never get a chance to do all those things a normal woman should? Fall in love, get married, be a mother.”

I saw a flash of pain flicker in Will’s eyes, but I didn’t have time to analyze it as he closed them before letting out a breath. “I’m not letting you die in here, Elizabeth. We are getting out of this godforsaken place if I have to tunnel our way out with my bare fingers. Do you hear me?” Will shook me to emphasize his point. “We’re getting out no matter what I have to do.” I nodded my head believing his conviction as he brought his hand up to my tear stained cheek. “The other stuff, to get married, to have a family…” He removed his hand from my cheek and looked down to the floor. Softly, he continued, “I can’t guarantee that stuff, Bethy, but you’re pretty easy to love. I know from first hand experience.” When he looked up at me, his eyes were swirling with so many different emotions I didn’t know what to think. I felt better at his words, but was he talking as William or as Spike? Did it matter either way? “You’re an amazing woman, Beth; strong, passionate, loyal. Any guy would be crazy not to want those things with you.”

He looked down again quickly after his affirmation as an awkward silence began to settle between us. Wisely, he changed the subject and put some distance between us. Lifting me off his lap, he got up to stand, but placed me gently back in the chair. He began to pace in front of me. “Listen, after the twins’ birthday, we’ll work on the first part of the new plan. We’ve been watching Adam for a few weeks now so we have his habits pretty much down. We’ll need to work on your pick-pocketing skills because you’re going to have to be the one to grab the key and put it back. We’re getting out, Beth, I promise you.” He knelt down in front of me and looked me in the eye. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes, Will.” I nodded. He had reassured me and I wanted to return the gesture. “I believe you. I know you’ll get us out.” I smiled slightly at him trying to change the heavy mood around us. “Besides, with me helping you, we couldn’t possibly screw up, what with me being perfect and all.” I put on my best 3000-watt smile. “We make a pretty good team, right?”

“The best, baby, and you know it.” He smiled right back at me in the same charming manner sending a shiver through my body. “Come on. Want to help me with the twins’ stories?” He grabbed two notebooks off the table and stretched out on his stomach on the mattresses.

He patted the space next to him and I came willingly to lie down next to him. “What have you got so far?”

“I’m almost done, they’re pretty good. Connor’s is about the origin of how he became a werewolf and I have him turning all furry in it, like he wanted. It’s a little dark for a nine-year old so I made Dawn’s funny. One of her spells goes wonky and everyone forgets who they are. Spike doesn’t know he’s a vampire, Buffy doesn’t know she’s a slayer and Dawn doesn’t know she can do magic.”

“Is she going to turn Connor into a rat like she wanted?”

“Of course, that’s how she figures out she can do magic, but she’ll turn him back once the spell is broken. Don’t want to keep him that way forever.” He handed me one of the notebooks to read. “Here, this one is Connor’s. Read it and let me know if I should change anything, edits, stuff like that.”

“Ok.” I said turning to the first page of Connor’s story. Will was furiously scribbling next to me again as I stopped about a minute into reading to watch him. “Will?” I said.

“Yeah?” He turned to look at me at the question in my voice.

“Thanks.” I gave him a shy smile. “You always know how to make me feel better.”

“You’re welcome, but you don’t need to thank me. I’m your brother; it’s my job to make you feel better.” He leaned over to give me a chaste peck on the cheek. “Now get back to the story. It’s got to be done soon. The twins’ birthday is coming up fast.”

“You think we’ll see mom?” I asked. I knew the answer, but I wanted to see if he still thought she wouldn’t show up.

“No, I don’t think she’s coming. She’s probably busy with wedding plans and other stuff.”

“What other stuff? Trying to get us out of here?”

“Elizabeth, does it matter?” Will’s blue eyes pleaded with me. “I said I’d get us out no matter what mom is doing. Now get back to the story.”

It pissed me off that I still could not get him to say a bad word about her, which made me believe he had not given up on mother completely. He still had some weird sense of loyalty to her, still had faith in her. Although I was frustrated with him, I let it go and turned back to reading.

CHAPTER 38

Dawn and Connor’s birthday went off without a hitch. Since Will and I didn’t think mom would come to celebrate the birth of her youngest children, we didn’t make any promises to the twins about her. In fact, we made it a point not to bring her up at all in their presence the days before their birthday. They seemed to be fine with her not showing up. Unlike Will and me, Dawn and Connor never talked about her; it was as if they had altogether forgotten about her.

Without the anxiety of wondering whether or not mom would come to see us, the day was much more relaxed and enjoyable than mine or Will’s birthday. We decorated the room as always and played a bunch of different birthday games, like pin the tail on the donkey, and Adam even got us a couple of piñatas filled with candy, which we hung from the attic rafters and pummeled with an old baseball bat we found. Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and a picture of ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ on it was served with dinner, which consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob. It was like we had our own little summer time cookout right in our room.

After dinner, Will had read the stories that he wrote for Connor and Dawn. Both were huge hits. Connor loved the fact that Will wrote an elaborate scene describing him turning into a werewolf from his human form. He was also glad the slayer didn’t have to kill him since he agreed to be locked up in the cage at the library on the three days of the full moon to ensure he didn’t get into anymore trouble. Dawn howled with laughter at her spell that had gone awry and all of the wackiness that ensued from the characters’ memory loss. She loved that Will had made her wish come true when she unknowingly turned Connor into a rat. My skin heated up as Will recounted the part where Spike discovered he’s a vampire, complete with Buffy straddling him during a diatribe about how he must have a soul and was seeking redemption by working with Buffy. Of course, Will didn’t want his deliberate teasing within the story to slide so he flashed me one of his sexy smirks before his tongue darted out to lick his lips. I blushed in embarrassment and quickly looked away so the twins wouldn’t notice.

It took forever for the twins to get to bed as they were hyped up on sugar, but eventually they crashed from their sugar high. Will and I made our way up into the attic to clean up after the day. Sweeping up the mess from the piñatas, I confronted Will about his indecent scenario. “I can’t believe you had Buffy straddling Spike like that. What if the kids picked up on it?”

“Oh, please. It was for one little scene and it was showing that they had a trusting relationship even though they lost their memories. You’re the one with the dirty mind, not the kids.” Will sidled up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Besides, I’d love to get you in that position, bouncing above me. Mmmm, my little slayer in the driver’s seat, taking control.” He began nibbling on my neck and my head lolled back against his shoulder.

As his hand started to slide down towards my center, I stopped him. “Wait, I still have my period. We can’t do anything.”

“I don’t care.” He said, shaking off my hand and continuing his journey. “I haven’t had you in days, Buffy. Can’t you feel how much I want you?” He ground his erection into my bottom to show me the evidence of his arousal.

Reluctantly, but resolutely, I stepped out of his arms. “No, we can’t. I’m all icky. The last thing that I want is for you to touch me while I’m all bloated and gross.”

Will let out a sigh and pouted. I looked at him with his lower lip jutted out and he looked pathetically adorable. Damn pout. “Well,” I said stepping closer to him, “I suppose we could do something.” I said seductively as I rubbed his hard length through his khaki shorts.

“Something’s good.” He groaned out as he closed his eyes.

I kept an even rhythm while I unbuttoned his shorts. Once unbuttoned, I slid my hand inside to stroke him through the thin cotton of his boxers as my other hand worked on his zipper. This was the type of make out session I used to have with Parker and I realized I missed it. Once Will and I gave in to our bodies’ call for each other, we usually went straight to the sex. Now though, since I had taken that element out of the equation, I could let myself tease him, play with him all I wanted.

Once I got his zipper down, I took both my hands and worked his shorts down his legs, bending my knees as I descended. Kneeling in front of him, I glided my hands along his calves and up the back of his thighs. His cock jumped in front of my eyes as my hands traveled under his boxers to squeeze his ass. When I circled around to his front, Will’s head fell back in pleasure. Standing up, I grabbed at the hem of his shirt and lifted it up over his head, Will’s arms automatically rising at my silent command.

His knees buckled as my tongue swiped across his nipple and my hand cupped his balls. “Buffy, please.” Ignoring his plea, I continued to explore his body with my mouth, nipping, licking and kissing along his chest, shoulders and stomach. His hips began to thrust with the motion of my hand and when I squeezed his length a little harder, he grabbed my shoulders to steady himself. “Baby, I need to lay down or something. You’re making me dizzy. The way you touch me makes my knees weak.”

I giggled at his words and with a coquettish smile, grabbed his hand and led him over to the mattresses. Slowly, I shimmied his boxers down his legs and Will stepped out of them leaving him completely naked. Feeling and odd sense of power since I was still fully dressed, I pushed him down onto his back and stood over him. “You want the slayer in the driver’s seat?” I asked while getting to my knees in front of him. He slowly wriggled backwards, moving towards the middle of the mattress, while nodding his head. I ran my hands down his chest and grabbed his hard cock. “You think you can handle it?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and slammed his head down on the mattress when I started to stroke him again. “Oh god, yes. I’m yours, Buffy. Do with me what you will.”

“You’re an awfully brave master vampire, giving the slayer all this control.” I started kissing his chest, “I could do anything to you.” I emphasized my point by biting his nipple. His hands found their way to tangle in my hair, and I immediately stopped my attentions on his body. Grabbing his forearms, I brought his arms over his head. “Uh, uh. No touching.” I said mischievously. “Be a good vampire. Don’t make me tie you up.”

Will flinched at my words, but I wasn’t paying attention as I had moved on to blazing a trail of kisses down his chest to his chiseled abdomen and his body soon relaxed again. When I got to his navel, I swirled my tongue around it and then dipped it inside. Will’s cock twitched and hit me in the chin. Surprised by the tap, I looked up at his face and his breath hitched. Locked in a heated stare for what seemed like an eternity, he finally broke the silence with a smirking demand, “Lick it.”

I hesitated for a minute. I wasn’t sure of my abilities to do what his request would eventually lead to. Then I remembered that this was William, he knew I had never given a blow job before. He didn’t expect me to be perfect. Hell, neither one of us had ever had sex before either, but we figured that out pretty quick together. Pushing my sexual insecurities to the side, I took one last look in his passion filled eyes before I ran my tongue from the base to the tip of his cock, circling around the head.

A guttural moan emitted from deep in his throat and he grabbed at his hair as he spoke his next words. “Take me in your mouth.”

Mind made up, I didn’t hesitate this time when I engulfed his member between my lips. “Sweet Jesus, Buffy.” Encouraged by his exclamation, I slowly started bobbing my head up and down his length, sweeping my tongue along the veiny surface. “Feels almost as good as your pussy, baby.”

I mumbled a little “mmmm” at his praise. “Fuck!” he said as he bucked into my mouth at the vibration. I gagged a little at the unexpected movement and removed him from my mouth with a gasp. “Shit, I’m sorry, sweetheart. It felt too good. Please don’t stop, Buffy. Please.” Will begged. “I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“It’s ok, you just took me by surprise.” I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth to wipe away the saliva that had gathered. “Promise you’ll be careful?”

“I promise I can control myself.” His hand came up to caress my cheek. “Just don’t stop.”

I smiled at his plea and bent over to take him back into my mouth. Trying to remember all of the conversations that Cordelia and Amy had on this subject, I went with a new technique. I didn’t go as far down this time, but licked and sucked around the top half of his cock while stroking the base with my hand. When I found a rhythm that synchronized my hand and head, Will began to babble his pleasure, reassuring me in my efforts. “Oh god, Buffy. Just like that, feels so good. Ahh, you’re perfect. You make me so hot, mmm, so fucking good.”

At his encouraging words, I sped up the tempo and took him in deeper down my throat. Will’s hands fisted at his sides, grabbing tightly at the blankets on the mattresses to keep his hips from bucking again. Instinctively, my free hand began to fondle his balls and Will seemed to like that. “Buffy, gonna cum soon if you keep doing that.” Delighted at his words, I kept going exactly as I was. I wanted to make him cum, I felt powerful and in total control of Will’s pleasurable fate.

“Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.” Will kept repeating my name in litany as he got closer to his release. I wasn’t paying much attention to his chatter because in my mind I was trying to remember back to Will’s story if Amy had swallowed or not. I wanted his first blow job from me to be as good as the one from a more experienced Amy. While still thinking, the decision was taken out of my hands as a spurt of his hot fluid hit the back of my throat. Jolted out of my thoughts, I stifled another gag and concentrated on his orgasm. I realized that my mouth was filling up and I swallowed fast before any could escape. “Fuck, yeah.” Will exclaimed while he continued to spurt, though at a slower pace that I could handle.

When he was finally done cumming, I lifted my head up and swallowed again. Wiping any remaining juice from my mouth, I looked at him with vulnerable eyes. He gave me one of the sweetest smiles I had ever seen and held his arms out for me. “Come here.” He said, and I gladly wrapped myself up in his embrace. He kissed at my hair and whispered, “Do you know how amazing you are?”

“It was ok?” I asked shyly, my earlier insecurities making their way to the surface.

“Baby, it was more than ok. It was fucking incredible.” He lifted my head and kissed me long and hard on the lips. His tongue probed my mouth, as he tasted himself on me. “Best I’ve ever had.”

“Really?”

“Really.” His hand slid down to squeeze my ass. “Did you like it? Did you like doing that to me?”

I smiled and nodded my head. “Yeah, I think I did. I liked being in control.”

“Good, because I’m gonna want you to do that again sometime. It felt fucking fantastic. I can’t believe you swallowed.”

“Well, I was caught thinking about what I was going to do when you started to cum. I kind of had to.” I shrugged my shoulders.

He laughed at me and then gave me another kiss. “Well, I loved it. Promise me that next time we have sex, you’ll be on top. I want you in control again; I want to see you ride me at a gallop. I want to watch as your tits bounce, I want to feel your thighs guiding my hips to your rhythm.”

His words made me blush, and I was already excited at the thought of this new position. “I promise. I don’t think you’ll have to twist my arm.”

Will smiled and his hands started to roam my body. “Let me do something for you. I know you must be unsatisfied. I want to make you feel good to.”

I laid my head down on his chest. “No, I wanted to do that for you. I didn’t do it to get something in return; I just wanted you to feel good. I’m ok.”

“Are you sure?” He asked while caressing my back gently.

“Mmm hmm. I just want to lie here and have you hold me. That will make me feel good.”

“Yeah, I can do that for now. I’ll save making you feel good in other ways for another time.” He said as he tightened his embrace around my body. “I like holding you too.”

“That works out nicely then.” I said as I snuggled into the comfort of my brother’s arms, while he kissed the top of my head.

CHAPTER 39

“Stop giggling.” Will reprimanded.

“I can’t help it, it tickles.” I said between laughing.

“Well, I’m trying to show you what to do and it’s not going to work if you keep squirming like this.”

Will was frustrated. We had begun practicing the pick pocketing part of our plan, and it wasn’t going well. For little over a half hour, all I seemed to do was laugh, but it wasn’t my fault. It really did tickle.

He was using me to demonstrate what needed to be done in order to get the key out of Adam’s pocket without being detected. I had on a pair of slacks that were closest to what the butler usually wore with a stand in key in the form of a lighter in my pocket.

The lighter we almost didn’t get. Last week, Adam came back to us with the grocery list that had this requested item on it. “Madame Rayne wants to know what you need a lighter for.” Adam said in his deep monotone voice.

“Huh?” I said, confused by his random question.

“The lighter on the list. Drusilla does not understand why you would need this item. I’m not allowed to buy it until she is satisfied as to what you are planning to do with it.”

“We’re not planning to do anything with it.” Will said. “We have one now to light candles and some of the incense that Elizabeth got for her birthday from mom. It’s running out of fluid so we need another one. You can tell Madame Rayne that we aren’t trying to burn the house down if that’s what she thinks.” Will said Drusilla’s name with such venom I thought he would surely get punished, but Adam didn’t seem to mind his disrespect. “If we wanted to do that, we would have already done it with this one.” Will grabbed the other lighter from the drawer in the nightstand and held it up for Adam to see.

Adam walked over and grabbed the lighter from Will’s hand and left the room without saying another word. Nervous as to whether or not we would receive the important item we needed in order to make the key; we sweated it out for a couple of days. When Adam returned with the groceries, we sighed in relief when we saw the package of three lighters among the food.

And now, here we were practicing, getting aggravated with each other. “You know, you’re not exactly being stealthy either since I can obviously feel you reach into my pocket, which is why it tickles.” I argued.

“Aargh. This is serious, Elizabeth! We aren’t going to get out of here if we can’t get the key. And we can’t get the key unless we take it from Adam! Now, get it fucking together.”

“Fuck you!” I yelled, putting my hands on his chest to push him away from me. “I am serious about this. Why do you think I’ve been up here for almost an hour working on this? God, William, you can be such an asshole sometimes.” I said turning my back to him.

Before I could walk away, Will grabbed my arm and turned me back around. “Look, I’m sorry, ok? It’s just frustrating because this isn’t going as easily as I thought it would.” He ran his hand through his hair and looked down at the ground with a defeated look on his face.

“Come on, Will. You knew this wasn’t going to be easy.” I said in a gentle tone, trying to make it clear that he wasn’t failing me. “You said it yourself that it’s going to take time. We just need to be more patient with each other.” I brought my hand up to lift his head so he could look me in the eyes. “We both know how much is riding on this.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to set his mind at ease. “Let’s try it again, I promise I won’t laugh.”

“No, let’s just forget this.”

I spurted back at him in anger that he would even think about giving up getting out of here. “What? No! How can you possibly….”

Will interrupted me before I could finish. “Elizabeth, stop. That’s not what I mean. I’ve never pick-pocketed before, so why should I try to teach you something I have no idea how to do. We should just have you start practicing on me.” He held out his hand in front of me. “Give me the lighter, I’ll put it in my pocket and you practice taking it out.”

“Ok, fine.” I gave him the lighter and began the tedious task of learning the art of sleight of hand.

************************************************************

An hour later, we were still going at it and I must admit I was getting the hang of it. I had even tried to lift the lighter while Will was in different positions, such as bending over and squatting down, so we could figure out the best way to take it. I knew though that he could still detect me each time I reached inside the pocket of his loose fitting pants. “Maybe you can feel me because you know it’s coming. I mean how can I surprise you if you know what I’m doing?”

“That’s true. Though I think you’re doing better. Maybe if we can come up with a distraction as well, he won’t notice your hand as much.”

Getting tired of the monotony, I had been deliberately teasing Will for the last twenty minutes. Every time I reached in his pocket, I purposely rubbed against his cock. I knew I was having the desired effect on him because of the hard on he had been sporting for about ten minutes. Deciding to put an end to this session, I put my hand inside his pocket and wrapped my fingers around his erection. In a low seductive voice, I breathed in his ear, “And it will be Adam, not you, Spike. I don’t think he’ll be as…affected by my touch.” I began to stroke his length, arousing him further.

“You naughty little minx. You’ve been messing with me on purpose, haven’t you?” Will took my hand out of his pocket and turned around to face me, finally catching on to my game. “You want to play, Slayer?” He asked, picking me up by my ass. My legs automatically wrapped around his waist as he carried me over to the mattresses at the west side of the attic.

“I’m gonna fuck you into the ground, little girl.” He said before taking me in a passionate kiss. His tongue clashed with mine and I loved it when he kissed me like this. It was full of hunger, full of desire. I was so wrapped up in his kiss that I was surprised when my back hit the mattress. Will pounced on top of me, pinning my wrists on either side of my head and attacked my lips again with his fervent kisses.

As soon as he loosened his grip on my wrists, I braced my thighs against his hips and put my weight into rolling us over, mimicking his earlier actions by pinning his arms on each side of his head. “I don’t think so, Spikey. I’m gonna ride you at a gallop until your eyes roll to the back of your head. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I’m gonna squeeze you until you pop like warm champagne, and you'll beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. I’m going to be the one in control this time, just like I promised.” Getting completely into character after my emboldened little speech, I ripped Will’s shirt open, buttons flying everywhere. “I never break a promise.”

Will let out a surprised gasp at my aggressiveness, but quickly snapped out of his shocked state to fumble with the hem of my shirt, lifting it above my head and tossing it aside. From his new raised position, he was able to latch onto my puckered nipple and he began to suck on it as I removed his shirt from his shoulders. I held his head to my breast, enjoying the sensations his tongue was eliciting in me. “Feels so good, Spike.” I moaned, as his hands began to struggle with the button of my pants.

An overwhelming sense of want flooded my body. Taking his cue, I swatted at his hands and undid my pants myself, since it was quicker. “Take off your pants.” I demanded as I dragged the remaining clothes I was wearing down my legs. Will hurried to undo his pants and once I was naked, I clutched at his slacks, yanking at the cotton to get them off as soon as possible.

Will laughed at my anxiousness, “Can’t wait, can you, kitten?” He said in that sexy drawl of his that sent shivers down my spine. “You want my cock inside you so bad, you’re acting like a bitch in heat.”

“Shut up, Spike.” I said before I slammed my mouth against his to stop his chattering. His laughter soon turned to moaning as I began to rub my wet pussy against his aching member. Trapped between my slick walls, he began to move his hips in a rocking motion coating his cock with my juices. Not able to wait any longer, I grabbed the base of his hardened length and guided it to my entrance. Breaking our kiss, I gave Will a smoldering look before impaling myself on him.

“Oh, God!” I cried out when he was finally seated deep inside my womb.

Simultaneously, William hissed while his head lifted from the mattress. “Shit, Buffy! You’re so damn hot.”

After taking a few seconds to get adjusted to this new position, I looked down at Will unsure of what to do next. I knew I needed to start moving though so I began thrusting my hips forward in an erratic bouncing motion, self conscious of my movements. After a few minutes of this awkward rhythm, Will seized my hips and I immediately stopped, feeling very insecure. “Wait, slow down, love.”

I could feel my face heat up in an embarrassed flush. “I’m doing it wrong, aren’t I?” I started to get up, but his grip on my hips tightened so I couldn’t escape.

“No, you aren’t doing it wrong. You’re just over-thinking – I can see your brain going a mile a minute behind those beautiful eyes of yours. Don’t think. Let your body be in control, not your mind. Your body knows what to do, what it likes.” His hands guided my hips in a more controlled rhythm as he began to thrust upward.

The movement of our bodies was completely in sync a few minutes later and it felt wonderful. “How do you know how to do all this? I thought you were as inexperienced as I was.”

He chuckled at my breathless words. “I am, sweetheart. We’re learning together. But I know you; you think you need to be perfect at everything you do first time around.” His hand traveled slowly up my stomach to fondle at my breast. “I remember when you used to get frustrated if you couldn’t get a cheer right away. You’d practice for hours and get even more discouraged because you’d keep screwing it up. You were over-thinking then too.” One of his hands was kneading my ass, while the other tugged at my nipple and I couldn’t help the groan that escaped my throat. “I know I’m flawed, have been my whole life. I just know what feels good to me, and I figure it feels good to you too.” He winked at me between pants and flashed me one of his cocky smiles. “Besides, I’ve been told I’m a natural.”

Grabbing his hand away from my breast, I lowered my body down so I was flush with his chest, and sped up the tempo of our thrusts. “Are you referring to another girl while we’re together like this?” I asked before biting down hard into the flesh of his shoulder, marking my territory.

“Arrgh, you jealous?” he growled in my ear at the pleasurable pain I was drawing out with my bite.

“No, you just need to remember who you’re with.” I whispered, kissing him hard on the mouth. I loved the way it felt to be gliding along his chest, my nipples skimming along his tight flesh, but I wanted to be back in control. I wanted to let my body surrender to this dance between us, like Will said.

Lifting myself back up so I was straddling his waist with my hands on his chest, I tightened my thighs’ grip on his hips and started to ride him at a wild pace, letting my mind go blank and my body concentrating on the sensations running through my body.

“Fuck, yeah.” Will said squeezing my bottom even harder at this new tempo. “Ride me, baby. Just like that.”

I let out an ‘eep’ of surprise when his palm came down to slap my ass. When he did it again, I threw my head back in pleasure and squeezed my internal muscles, strangling his cock.

I did it again and he cried out. “Jesus, Buffy. I gotta cum. I’m so close.”

“Not yet.” I panted, working my hips so that Will’s cock would hit just the right spot on each thrust. “I’m not there yet. You gotta wait.”

He growled in frustration and closed his eyes, concentrating on holding off his orgasm. Bringing his hand around to rub at my clit, my own began to build at a rapid pace. “Oh, yeah. Right there, right there. Ohhh, I’m gonna….” I didn’t finish my thought as I exploded into a million little pieces, my walls quivering in release.

Will let out an anguished groan and grabbed my hips, lifting me quickly so his cock slipped out of my body. Positioning me so his member glided between my sodden pussy, we rocked together prolonging my orgasm and bringing on his. Our movements slowed as the pulsing of our sexes subsided. Finding the towel we left by the mattresses for clean up purposes, I wiped away the evidence of our lovemaking from Will’s stomach before laying my head on his chest.

We laid in silence trying to catch our breaths, as Will gently stroked my back. “Have I told you how amazing you are?” Will finally asked.

“I think you have. Last time we did something like this in fact.” I nipped at his chest and flashed him a relaxed and satisfied smile.

“Well, it’s true and I can’t tell you often enough.” He brought my head up to give me a slow lingering kiss, before lifting me off of him. “Come on, we should probably get back downstairs to bed. It’s getting late.” He started looking around for his clothes and handing me mine as he found them. “We’ll come back up tomorrow and practice some more. I think it’s about time we pull off the first part of this plan.”

I nodded my head in agreement.

CHAPTER 40

It was two days before the Fourth of July. Up in the attic, the four of us were finger painting fireworks onto sheets of construction paper in order to have our own little celebration since we were once again stuck in our own private Hell for another holiday. Once our pictures were dry, we planned on hanging them all over the attic so we could have a fireworks display for the holiday.

When dad was alive, this was the week he always took off from work every year. We would rent a vacation house in a different place each summer – San Diego, Monterey Bay, Palm Springs. We would take in the sites of the city or just lie around on the beach all day. On the fourth, we would gather around a small campfire to eat s’mores, listen to the local band play the usual patriotic songs and watch the fireworks explode in the sky. No matter where we were, it was always a fun time, a time for the whole family to get closer to each other.

Getting up to hang one of my pictures to dry against a clothesline we had set up, William followed me with his own artwork in hand. “We’re doing it tonight.”

“Huh?” I had no idea what Will was talking about.

“The plan. We’re grabbing the key from Adam tonight. I have a perfect diversion.” He said looking over at Dawn and Connor, who were making a complete mess of themselves with the finger paints.

“Keep talking.” I said as I continued to hang my painting, trying to act nonchalant as if we weren’t talking about a possible escape. Listening intently to Will’s idea, I nodded my head thinking it might just work.

***********************************************************************

Minutes before dinner, I was helping Dawn brush out her hair after forcing her to take a bath to rid her of the paint she had got all over her earlier in the day. Will was still in the bathroom cleaning up Connor, who was acting as if he would melt if his skin touched the bathwater.

When Adam walked in, I handed the brush to Dawn and started to put the plan in motion. Before he could get the dinner cart all the way into the room I began asking him questions. “Adam, does Sunnydale set off fireworks for the Fourth of July?”

“Of course, the town puts on a show every year at the park downtown.”

“Will we be able to see them? If we go to the attic, which window could we look out to see the display? I love fireworks and so do the twins. It would be really nice if we could catch them.”

Just as I finished my inquiry, Connor came streaking out of the bathroom, wet and naked. “Connor, get back in here! I’m not done cleaning you.” Will ran out after him, cloth and soap in hand. Not expecting the dinner cart to be in the middle of his path to the bed, Connor crashed into it, spilling one of the dinner plates and a basket of rolls onto the floor.

“Connor! Look what you’ve done.” Will yelled coming over to stand beside me as Adam and I bent over to pick up the mess. Knocking into the side of Adam, I grabbed the chain holding the key and yanked it out of his pocket just as Will bent closer to me as if he was inspecting the damage, while strategically holding out the bar of soap so he could take the key from me and press it into the wet bar. After wiping the soap residue off the key with the wash cloth, he placed it back in the palm of my hand and stood up straight. “Connor, get back in the bathroom now or I’ll have your hide!” Will yelled as Connor screamed and went running dramatically back into the bathroom, but not before knocking into Will.

Will pushed back into me before chasing Connor into the next room. I grabbed onto Adam’s hip to steady myself, conveniently allowing me to slide the key back into his pocket without him noticing. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, Adam.” I said straightening myself out to continue picking up rolls from the floor. “You’d think we were lighting Connor on fire, not bathing him the way he’s acting. You know how kids can be when it comes to bath time though.” I tried to excuse Connor’s conduct by chalking it up to normal nine year old behavior. Placing the basket of rolls back on the top of the dinner cart, I watched Adam finish cleaning up the fallen plate.

“Maybe you should put a leash on him.” Adam said turning up his nose. I could tell Adam never had any children; either that or he had been influenced by Drusilla for too long. He moved the dinner cart to its usual position in the room. “You’re going to have to make do with the meals that you have. If Drusilla sees me bringing up another plate, she’ll ask questions which might lead to a punishment. You can make the little demon eat the one that spilled on the floor. I think that’s punishment enough.” I nodded my head to him as he turned to leave, wiping at what looked to be a gravy stain on his pants.

“Adam, wait.” I said quickly before he could leave. “What about the fireworks?”

He let out a sigh before answering. “You should be able to see them from the windows facing the front of the house. They start at nine.”

“Thanks. Do you think you could get us one of those s’mores servers? You know the kind that has the little fire pot in the middle and places for all the fixings around it. It’s sort of a Summers family tradition.” I put on my best puppy dog look and then looked back at Dawn, who was sitting on the bed with her own pleading eyes staring back at the butler.

Looking between the both of us, Adam gave in to our persuasive charms. “Yeah, I think I know where they have them. I’ll bring everything by tomorrow with dinner.”

Dawn and I squealed in delight. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Dawn came over to hug her arms around my waist. “You don’t know how happy you just made us.”

We both smiled as he left the room, mumbling “yeah, yeah,” under his breath.

************************************************************

Ten minutes later, Dawn and I had already started eating dinner when Will came out of the bathroom with a clean Connor. “Did I do alright? Do I get my treat?” Connor asked looking up at William.

“Yep, you were perfect.” Will walked over to the bed and started rummaging in our stash underneath it. Pulling out some ‘Ho-Ho’s,’ he handed them to Connor who immediately tore open the package.

“Mmm, I love these.” Connor said, handing one over to Dawn to share his prize with his twin sister, who gladly opted for the chocolate treat over the meatloaf on her plate.

“What are you guys up to?” Dawn asked stuffing half the Ho-Ho in her mouth. “I saw you put the key back in Adam’s pocket.”

“You did?” I said surprised. Dawn had continued to quietly brush her hair on the bed during the whole commotion, making me think she really wasn’t paying much attention. “You’re definitely too smart for your age.”

“The real question is do you think he noticed, Dawn?” Will asked sitting down at the table. He was splitting up Dawn and his meals to give some to Connor.

“No, I don’t think so. He was pretty absorbed in the cleaning; he didn’t seem to flinch or anything when Beth put it back.”

“Excellent.” Will said flashing me a grin and stealing some of my mashed potatoes.

“So, what are you up to?” Connor probed.

“Well, I don’t think we should tell you.” Will explained. “The less you know the better off you are. If grandmother catches wind of something, I don’t want her to be able to get anything out of you through her usual scare tactics.”

“Will, we’re not little kids anymore.” Dawn argued. “We’re stuck here too, you know. If you’re doing something that might get us out, we deserve to know.”

Connor nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I helped tonight, didn’t I? You needed me for your plan to work. Maybe we can help later on too.”

Will sighed and looked at me for some assistance on how to handle this situation. Shrugging my shoulder, I answered his silent question. “You might as well tell them. Seems to me the little buggers will figure it out anyway.”

“Ok, fine, but you’re on a need to know basis. Got it?” Will said waving a finger between both of them. Nodding in agreement, the twins listened intently as Will described the idea of making a key.

“That’s so cool.” Connor awed. “I want to watch when you melt the toothbrush. That sounds awesome.” I shook my head at our little pyromaniac.

“Is this why you’ve been up in the attic so much lately?” Dawn asked. I whipped my head around to Will, who was wearing a look of panic on his face from Dawn’s question. I could only imagine that I wore a similar expression. “I woke up the other night and heard you up there. It was late and really dark. I was too scared to go find you.”

Pushing my panic aside when I realized Will wasn’t going to answer, l replied, “Yeah, Dawnie. We’ve been practicing the pick-pocketing thing for a while, trying to perfect it. I’m sure that’s what you heard us doing.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about us.” Will interjected, snapping out of his daze. “We’ll be plotting things out for a while. If you wake up again, just try to go back to sleep.” I turned my head to Will, shaking it and rolling my eyes at him in frustration. How obvious could he be? He shrugged his shoulders and mouthed ‘What?’ to me, while the kids seemed to be mulling over what we just told them.

“Ok.” Dawn said, nodding her head in her trusting way. She and Connor went back to eating their meatloaf while Connor boasted about his earlier performance. Will smirked at me, more confident since it seemed we dodged a bullet, and started to help Connor exaggerate the story. I went back to my dinner thinking we definitely needed to be more careful in our nightly activities.

CHAPTER 41

After lunch the next day, the four of us were sitting in the bathroom looking at the bar of soap with the impression of a key in it. When William and Connor had gone back into the bathroom last night, Will had placed the wet soap in a hand towel and put it on the top shelf of the linen closet to dry.

“I don’t think it’s completely dry yet.” Will said as he poked at the bar. “We should probably get it out of the bathroom. The air is moist in here from when we take showers.”

“Do you think it will work?” Connor asked leaning over the mold.

“I think so. It’s a pretty good imprint.” Will said.

“We’ve got four old toothbrushes and plenty of nail files to make sure it works.” I said determined to make this plan successful. I stood up and started to pace the bathroom floor. “I agree with you, Will. We need to get the soap out of the bathroom. Let’s put it and the toothbrushes up in the attic. We don’t want Adam to throw out the old ones while he’s cleaning. Wrap the soap back up and let’s go.” I grabbed the toothbrushes from the shelf and watched as Will concealed the soap within the towel. “We’ll be right back.” I said to the twins, who nodded as Will and I went up to the attic.

“Let’s put everything on the shelf over by the weights. It’s out of the kids reach over there too.”

“You mean the great place you hid the sex book? They didn’t find that easily enough, did they?” I replied.

“Hey, it took them a long time to find the book and I’ll put the soap in a more secure place. I’ll put it way in the back on one of the higher shelves. The sex books were actually on top of the bookcase so they weren’t surrounded by any shelf walls. Besides, things turned out ok with the book being found, don’t you think?” Will grabbed me around the waist and drew me in for a kiss.

“Not now.” I said, shoving him off me after a quick kiss. “We have more important things to do.” I placed the toothbrushes on the shelf and he handed me the soap as well. Securing them around a couple of other knick knacks that were also on the shelf, I felt pretty confident that they weren’t going to fall off if someone accidentally hit the bookcase. “There, that should do it.” I turned around to find Will staring at me lustfully. “No, Will. I mean it. It’s bad enough Dawn could hear us at night. We are not doing anything now.” I was adamant.

Will sighed. “Fine, but before we go,” Will walked over to a crate and moved some boxes around. Opening the wooden crate that held the wine, he reached in and took out the sex book from its new hiding place. “Pick a position for tomorrow night.”

“What? Why?” I asked, as he handed it over to me.

“It’s a holiday. We should do something a little different. After the kids go to bed, I’ll crack open another bottle of wine and we can celebrate the independence of our nation with some good old-fashioned debauchery.” He grabbed my waist again and brought me closer. Palming my breast, his tongue and teeth teased at my ear. He whispered, “Any position you want, any way you want me, any way you want to twist that luscious body of yours. Your choice. I promise it will feel fantastic.” He kissed me sound on the lips then winked at me as he walked away.

Flipping casually through the book thinking about what Will said, I paused as I came across one of the positions we had mockingly tried on New Year’s Eve. Smiling at the pleasure that coursed through me then without actually being naked, I thought that this time, it was definitely going to feel fantastic.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little after eight on the fourth, we all headed up to the attic to get ready for the fireworks. True to his word, Adam had arrived with all of the fixings for s’mores the night before. Handing the bag of marshmallows to Dawn and the package of chocolate bars to Connor, I grabbed the s’mores server and graham crackers, while Will got the lighter and radio.

Once upstairs, Will found the blankets we used for laying out in the sun and handed them to me. He and I spread them out against the tiles, and then the kids joined us so we could begin setting up the s’mores tray. Will went back in and set up the radio, propping it up against the window sill. Finding a station that was playing an orchestra performing the normal Fourth of July fanfare and adjusting the volume so only we could hear it, he came back to join us on the blankets.

I handed a skewer with a marshmallow on it over to Will as he settled next to Dawn. With the little fire going in the middle of the server, Dawn and Connor were already cooking their marshmallows.

“Connor, be careful. We don’t want to set the roof on fire.” I said as I watched Connor’s marshmallow become engulfed in flames, turning it from white to a bubbling black.

Dawn laughed as she watched Connor blow on his burning marshmallow to put out the flames. “Remember the time dad set the lawn on fire with that little hibachi grill. He was trying to save my burning hot dog when a piece of charcoal fell onto the ground. The grass was so dry it caught on fire and he made us all run to fill pails with water from the pool.”

Connor joined in with her memories, “Mom was so surprised she looked like a fish out of water, her mouth opening and closing in shock.” He giggled as he put the burnt marshmallow on the piece of chocolate bar already sitting on a graham cracker. “Remember the owner of the cottage was so mad at the big black patch on the lawn when he came back at the end of the week he almost hit dad.”

“You guys remember that? You could have only been five or six at the time.” Will asked.

“I remember.” Dawn shrugged her shoulders. “It was only a few years ago.”

“I miss them.” Connor said as he stuffed his face with the tasty treat he’d made himself.

“Me too.” Dawn said as she patted his knee with her little hand. “Daddy’s in Heaven and mom’s not like she was before we got here. She’s not our mom anymore.” Connor nodded his head in agreement.

Will and I looked at each other in stunned silence. We had no idea these thoughts were running through the kids’ minds. Since they hadn’t mentioned her in so long, I figured they just sort of forgot about her or, at least, were just going along with their lives as it came. Obviously, they had thought and talked about this as well. I wondered how many conversations these two children had had with each other about what was going on without Will and me even knowing it.

My internal thoughts were interrupted when a loud boom and a bright red glow lit up the sky. We all turned our attention to the heavens and watched as the first firework exploded, illuminating the night. “Ooh, that one’s pretty.” Dawn said, completely forgetting about the more depressing conversation she was leading a few seconds earlier.

Over the next forty minutes, the sky was filled with a beautiful light show of red, blue, green, purple and silver. We laughed at the heart shaped fireworks and ‘oohed’ at the radiant glow of the brilliant starbursts. In the background, songs like ‘America the Beautiful’ and ‘This Land is Your Land’ steadily emanated from the radio. While still munching on s’mores, Dawn and Connor continued to comment on the different fireworks through the whole display. “I love those, they’re my favorite.” Dawn said at one of the golden fireworks that burst taking up the entire sky and then fell slowly, looking like the branches of a weeping willow, as the ‘1812 Overture’ played signaling the finale of the Fourth of July spectacle.

The faint crackling of the shimmering streaks was followed by five loud booms. As his twin sister jumped startled from the unexpected noise, Connor declared with a mischievous laugh, “Those are my favorite.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the formal fireworks display put on by the town of Sunnydale, Dawn and Connor didn’t want to go to bed. We let them stay up on the roof to look at the stray fireworks that some residents must have been setting off in their backyards after a family cook out. Soon they were asleep though, but Will and I were lazily enjoying each others company out on the roof so we were in no hurry to move them.

Dawn and Connor had snuggled together on one side of the blanket, both with sticky faces from the gooey roasted marshmallows. Will took the opportunity to move closer to me and wrapped me up in his arms. We continued to watch the last smatterings of fireworks light up the sky and listened to the whistles of bottle rockets flying through the air.

“The sky is beautiful here.” I said in a hushed tone careful not to wake the twins. “There are so many stars, not like LA. I think it would have been really nice to live in Sunnydale if we weren’t in this situation. It seems like a nice town.”

“Mmm.” Will murmured against my neck as he lightly nibbled on the sensitive skin beneath my ear.

“What are you doing? The kids are right next to us.” My breathing was starting to pick up from Will’s ministrations.

“They’re asleep. I can hear Connor snoring. I can’t help it anyway. I’m addicted to you.” The radio station went back to its normal adult contemporary format after the fireworks and the beginning strains of an old Dave Matthews Band song streamed through the speakers.

You've got your ball,
You've got your chain
Tied to me tight, tie me up again.

Will’s hand slowly moved over my bare arms to sneak beneath the hem of my red tank top. “Did you decide on a position for tonight, Buffy?” He whispered as his hand snaked inside my shorts.

Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock,
And sweet you roll
Lost for you, I'm so lost for you

My breath hitched as his fingers slid between my moist folds. Tracing my pussy lips in a slow sensual rhythm that matched the song, I wasn’t able to find my voice so I just nodded in reply to his pointed question.

Oh, and you come crash into me
And I come into you
And I come into you
In a boy's dream

“Tell me which one.” He spoke softly against my ear. “How am I going to have you?” Two of his fingers slid inside me at his words and my body arched into his touch.

Touch your lips just so I know
In your eyes, love, it glows so
I'm bare-boned and crazy... for you.

“Oh god,” I gasped as he sped up the tempo of his fingers and curled them ever slightly up to find the fleshy button that would send me over the edge. “The one where I’m laying on my side, my leg is straight up in the air resting against your body, you kneel in front of me.”

Oh, and you come crash into me
Baby, and I come into you
In a boy's dream
In a boy's dream

I could feel him smile against my skin as he brought his thumb to brush against my clit. “Aah, a position from New Year’s. The first time I really got to experience the hotness between your thighs. You got me so hard with that position.”

My eyes widened as I turned to look at him in shock. “You remember.”

Oh and you come crash into me, yeah
Baby, and I come into you
Hike up your skirt a little more
And show the world to me

He smirked at me as he continued to work his hand between my legs, bringing me closer to release as he started to babble his sweet confession. “Of course I remember. I wanted to fuck you so bad that night, but I knew I couldn’t. Knew it was wrong. God, I wanted you. I wanted to know just how hot you’d be. And when you let me kiss you, I never wanted to stop. Of course I remember. How could I forget what heaven feels like?”

Hike up your skirt a little more
And show your world to me
In a boy's dream

“Cum for me, love, so we can visit heaven again.”

My body always obeyed the command of his husky voice, and I shattered into a million little pieces. “Ah, Wi…” Will crashed his lips into mine before I could scream out the emotion brought on from my orgasm to wake Dawn or Connor. He kissed me before I could say his name as I came.

You wear nothing, but you
Wear it so well
Tied up and twisted,
The way I'd like to be

As I came down from my high, Will licked his juice covered fingers. “Mmm. Come on, let’s get the rugrats to bed. I can’t wait to have you any longer.” I nodded my head in agreement. I was definitely ready to move on to the next part of the evening.

For you, for me, come crash into me, baby
Come crash into me, yeah

CHAPTER 42

After tucking the kids into bed and kissing them goodnight, Will and I went back to the attic. I headed over to the mattresses on the west side, while Will trailed off to bring in the blankets and radio from the roof and get the wine. This was really the first time that we actually planned on being together. Before when we had sex, it was always sort of spontaneous in that our coupling came naturally in the course of our conversation and actions. Now, I didn’t know what to do. I stood at the edge of the mattresses wondering how exactly one prepared to have sex.

Thinking back to movies and soap operas I had watched where the girl was planning on seducing some guy, I decided to strip down to my pink silk panties and position myself in what I hoped to be a sexy pose. I stretched out my body full length along the mattress, my head held in the palm of my hand, which was propped up by my bent elbow. I placed my hair so that it strategically covered the nipples of my breasts and slightly bent my knees, angling them so the top foot was prone about halfway up my calf. After deciding to let my other arm drape over my waist with my hand resting right below my belly button, I felt I was properly prepared for Will’s entrance.

However, now that I was ready, it seemed to take Will forever to return. Rather than drive myself crazy with anticipation, I thought back to our earlier encounter on the roof. I couldn’t believe that he actually remembered what happened on New Year’s all this time and never said anything. Though, it made sense really. He was probably in as much denial of our feelings as I was. It’s not like he didn’t know what we were doing, what we were feeling for each other, was wrong also. He did a good job of hiding his emotions, though there was that little slip up on his birthday. And I wondered if the reason for his increase in self-pleasuring after that was due to him remembering our time together. I smirked, thinking back to me watching him get off, my eyes automatically closing as my hand started lazily stroking my stomach.

“Mmm, what a sight. You starting without me?” I opened my eyes to see Will standing with the bottle of wine in his hand. “You look gorgeous.” He said as he knelt before me, running his free hand up my leg.

“Well, you were taking too long. You got me all worked up earlier. What’s a girl to do?” I continued to caress my body watching as his eyes followed my slow movements. “How long did you expect me to wait, Spike?” My hand moved aside my hair to expose my breast and Will groaned as I began to tease my nipple.

“I think I like it when you tease me.” Will took a sip of the wine. “Keep going. I want to watch you.” I continued to fondle myself with Will watching me as he sipped more wine, licking his lips every once in a while when I did something that turned him on like pinch my nipple. After a few minutes of being a voyeur, he handed me the bottle of wine. “Now let me touch you.” He reached around to his back and then brought something out to show me. It was a bottle of the massage oil I got for my birthday. “I thought I’d treat you to my magic fingers.” He waggled his eyebrows at me as he poured some lotion into his hand, while I took my first drink of wine.

His hands were soon all over my body. Because they were coated with oil, they glided over my skin with a smooth tender touch. He had pushed me over on my back and was gently massaging my breasts. Slowly, he worked his way down my torso to the waistband of my panties. Hooking his thumbs into the elastic, Will leaned over to kiss my stomach as he removed the only piece of clothing I was wearing. Dipping his tongue into my navel, I let out a moan at the tingles that raced over my skin. Raising his head to look at me, Will positioned his hand to cover my mound. Running a finger through my silken folds, he let out his own moan at the feel of my arousal. “God, Buffy, you’re always so wet for me.”

He brought his lips down to mine and we shared a passionate kiss. Not being able to take the teasing from his fingers any longer, I worked his shirt up as far as it would go without him leaving my flesh. Getting the picture, he broke the kiss to remove it and then he quickly took off his shorts. Naked on his knees before me, he turned me so I was on my side and then rubbed some more oil into his hands. Grabbing my leg and positioning me closer, he rubbed from my thigh up to my ankle stretching my leg up to lay on his shoulder. His hard cock protruded from his body, seeking the heat of my pussy. I relaxed and closed my eyes, concentrating on his hands massaging my calf and his lips kissing my ankle.

Swiftly, he entered my body and I cried out at the surprise of pleasure piercing through my womb. “Spike!”

“Buffy.” Will whispered in reply. “I love the way you feel, baby.”

This new position was wonderful for me. All I had to was lie on my side and be comfortable, while enjoying the feel of Will’s shaft entering and leaving my body. With Will on his knees before me, he had all the control over our movements. In complete contradiction, his hands continued his soft slow caresses on my legs, as his hips pumped to a quick rhythm in and out of my body.

Slowing down his thrusts, he asked, “Do you like this Buffy?”

“Yes, feels good.” I said lazily, taking my gratification from him. One of his hands moved down to rub tiny circles over my clit with the slightest of pressure.

“Do you trust me?” He asked, moving his other hand down to palm one of my ass cheeks.

“With everything I am.” I replied sincerely.

“Good, then just lie there and remember you said that.” Will said as his hand that was massaging my ass traveled to the juncture between my legs where our bodies connected. Once his fingers gathered some of the liquid that pooled from me, he moved his hand between my buttocks to hover his thumb upon my tight puckered hole.

My eyes flew open. “What…”

“Shhh.” Will cut off my question. “You said you trusted me.”

And I did, but surely he wasn’t thinking of going there. “But…”

“Trust me.” He cut me off again. “Please, Buffy.”

I could hear a sort of desperate plea in his voice so despite being unsure of where this was going, I nodded my head slightly to let him know I was going to comply with what he wanted to do. At my nod, Will said, “Thank you. Now, just relax.”

At his words, I took a few deep meditative breaths and just tried to concentrate on the sensations running through my body. I was surprised to realized that everything he was doing felt good. His one hand was still working at my clit, while the other was moving in the slightest of circular motions applying pressure at the back opening without actually going in. His hips were still pumping in an even rhythm and I could feel my orgasm building inside me. When he suddenly poked his oiled thumb inside my puckered hole, I yelped at the new feeling coursing through me.

“Oh, god.” His thumb was barely inside my body, but the pressure it was causing was incredible. As he started to move his thumb in the same rhythm as his cock, the intensity of it all overtook me. “Jesus, fuck.” I gasped as I could tell I was about to have the most powerful orgasm I had ever had. “Oh god, Spike. It’s coming. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.” The litany of curses stopped as my eyes screwed shut and my muscles clamped around both his thumb and cock. The force of my orgasm rendered me speechless and every once in a while my body would convulse in satisfaction.

“Jesus Christ, Buffy. I got to pull out.” Will’s voice cut through my bliss-induced haze.

“Not yet. Still cumming.” I breathlessly panted as my muscles continued to spasm all around his hard shaft.

“Can’t wait.” Will croaked out as I felt his cock leave my body. He plunged two fingers into my cunt as his hot seed spilled on the inside of my thigh. Another min-orgasm rushed through my body as his fingers found my hot button, his thumb never leaving my other hole. An incoherent grunt left my lips, signifying that I was completely spent.

Will removed his fingers from my body and stood up, lowering my leg gently off his shoulder. Once he moved, I flopped over boneless onto my back and he joined me, lying on his side next to me. I opened one eye to find him smirking at me.

“How was that?”

“Incredible.” I choked out.

“Are you glad you trusted me?” I nodded my head, unable to form words.

He started drawing patterns on my stomach, as he quietly asked, “Would you let me do it again?” I nodded in agreement as his palm began to rub circles around my belly button. “Maybe with something besides my finger?”

I turned my head to look at him fully. “With your dick?”

He smiled at my boldness and shook his head. “Yeah. I can tell how intense it was for you, Buffy. Just think how that would feel with something a lot bigger than a little finger. And the way your muscles tightened around my thumb, I want to feel that around my cock. I can only imagine what it would feel like for me.”

“I’ll think about it.” I said nonchalantly with a shrug of my shoulder, trying not to show how much the idea intrigued me.

“Minx.” Will leaned down to suckle on my nipple and then laid his head on my chest, wrapping his arm around my waist. “What did it feel like?”

“Different at first. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but then when you actually pushed inside, there was just so much pressure from everywhere. Like I was going to explode. And then when you actually get off, it’s like two separate orgasms at once. It’s all just very intense.”

“I could tell by the way you were rambling it was going to be big. And feeling you cum from both sides was sort of cool.” We had been sitting in silence for a little while coming down from our climaxes when I heard Will take a deep breath before asking, “Would you do that for me?”

“What?” I asked a bit confused. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do for him.

He shifted a little as if gaining some courage for his next words, before asking shyly. “Would you do that to me? With your finger?”

“You’d want me to?” I asked surprised, thinking that most guys would probably think that it was ‘gay’ to do something like that.

“Maybe.” He shrugged his shoulder indifferently. “From what I’ve read, it’s supposed to be just as powerful for guys. We’re learning together, right? Experimenting?” Then, he looked up at me with such sincerity in his eyes. “Besides, I trust you as much as you trust me.”

I could tell that this was something big for him to ask me because I could also see the uncertainty in his eyes. For all I knew, maybe he was thinking that it did sound unmanly and that I was the only one he would ask because he trusted me so much. Deciding that it took a lot of courage for him to ask me something so intimate, I smiled at him and nodded my head. “Yeah, if you want me to, I will. You know I’d do anything for you.”

I ran my hand through his tousled hair and watched as his smile grew wide. I drew him into a tender kiss, and then he put his head back on my chest and we laid together in comfortable silence.

CHAPTER 43

The hot July days melted into even hotter August ones. We spent the majority of them trying to get some much needed fresh air on the roof, but sometimes the tiles were scorching hot from the blazing sun. On those days, we just lazed around the stifling attic sweating, despite wearing minimal clothing. Dawn and Connor took to wearing bathing suits everyday to help with the heat and I was starting to think they had the right idea. Will went shirtless almost everyday, seemingly only wearing a shirt when I got a little too into our after dark activities, leaving scratch marks or a love bite somewhere visible on his body. With everyone else walking around half naked, I wondered why I was still wearing layers of clothing. Eventually, I decided to strip down to at least a bikini top with my shorts, which led to William licking his lips and leering at me discreetly most of the day.

At night, we worked on making a key. The four of us would sit in the attic staring at the hardened mold in the bar of soap as if it was the key to heaven, which in a way it was. If this worked, it was our ticket out of this god-forsaken place to freedom.

Picking up a blue toothbrush, Will held the lighter over the handle as we all watched the melting plastic drip into the molding. The stench was sickening and the smoke was thick, teaching us very quickly that we needed to perform this particular science experiment close to an open window. The hot plastic would droop and snap under the heat of the flame, sometimes causing painful flicks on our skin which felt similar to standing too close to a pan full of sizzling bacon. Being his usual predictable self, Connor was mesmerized by the whole process and was very happy when it turned out we had to do it more than once.

Our first attempt at a key failed miserably. After melting the plastic and letting it harden, Will carefully lifted the mold out of the soap. Since some of the plastic dripped not just in the molding, there was a lot of plastic that needed to be snapped off or filed down, in order to make it actually key-shaped. Using my nail files, William tried to whittle away the excess plastic, but he was getting impatient since it was taking so long. Rather than filing, he tried to score off larger sections so that he could just snap off certain pieces in one big chunk. Pushing too hard, he ended up snapping the whole bottom half of the key off.

Trying again with a red toothbrush, our second attempt was at least better than the first. Learning from the first time, Will tried to get the majority of the dripping plastic into only the mold itself, rather than all over the bar of soap. This proved to work better in that there was much less excess molding to be carved away. After carefully filing away at the mold for a few days, a fairly accurate key emerged from the ashes. Will then smoothed down the key to make it a little less thick so it would fit better into the key hole.

After dinner one night, we tried it against the key hole. Dawn, Connor and I hovered around Will while he maneuvered the key around inside. Under his breath, I could hear the mumbled curses coming from his mouth as he tried to unlatch the lock. Every once in a while he would remove the key and make a few adjustments with the nail file. Much to our chagrin, the key broke off inside the lock. “Crap,” Will grumbled as he showed us the head of the key, the shaft still lodged inside the hole. The twins groaned and returned to their beds defeated, while I went to find some tweezers to fish the broken half out of the lock.

Our hopes were dashed a little bit more, but we had two toothbrushes left. William was hesitant to try again, but the rest of us assured him that this would work. Each time was better than the last, and we all knew how the old saying went - third time’s a charm.

Moving on to the yellow toothbrush, we once again gathered around while Will carefully dripped the plastic into the mold, carving ever so gently around the plastic once it was hardened with the nail file. This time, he didn’t smooth it down as much as he did previously, leaving the end thicker than the last time in hopes that it would be sturdier when it was actually in the key hole.

So as not to disappoint the kids again, we waited until they were asleep to try our newest key. I stood next to Will with a candle, which was shedding light on the ominous hole, while he jimmied with the lock. A continuous string of encouragements escaped his lips, as if his gentle words would coax the inanimate object into successfully opening the door. Somewhere, a powerful force must have been listening to his pleas because suddenly, we both heard a click.

“I’ll be damned.” Will said as his eyes immediately shot up to mine in astonishment. “It worked.” He said, standing up as he twisted the knob with no resistance. “It fucking worked.” Grabbing me by the waist, Will tugged me in close to him and smashed his lips to mine. “You are a fucking genius.” He said placing his forehead against mine, staring wantonly at my kiss swollen lips. “A beautiful, beautiful genius.” He whispered as he took my lower lip in between his teeth, sliding his tongue along my puffy flesh.

“Let’s go explore.” I said breathlessly as he broke the kiss.

He shook his head. “No, you’re staying. I want to get the lay of the land first before anyone else goes out.”

“Bullshit!” I yelled pushing him away from me. At my outburst, Dawn turned over in her bed with a little whimper.

“Shhh, you’ll wake the twins.” Will gripped my arm and dragged me into the bathroom, shutting the door behind us. “You’re not going the first time. We have no idea what’s out there.”

Shaking his hand hard off my arm, I shoved him further, “You can’t tell me what to do.” I argued, moving over to the sink to turn on the water in an attempt to cover up our conversation in case the kids woke up. “I’m going with you.” I spun around to face him prepared to put up a fight on this. There was absolutely no way I wasn’t going. “The whole reason we can get out is because of me. How to make the key was my fucking idea. You don’t have any say in this.”

“Dammit, Elizabeth!” Will grabbed me by both arms and backed me into the bathroom counter, shaking me. “It’s too dangerous. Don’t you understand?”

“No, William.” I countered, trying to break his grip on my arms, but he was holding me fast. “No, I don’t understand. We’re in this together, remember? There’s nothing out there that could hurt us.”

“Like last time! You got hurt, Elizabeth.” Will shook me more violently, as our bodies moved closer. “I hurt you because I didn’t know what was outside. I didn’t know about the dogs.” Will’s voice was broken, filled with guilt, as his hold loosened on my arm. “I didn’t know…” His sentence trailed off as he lowered his head with a half sob.

“Is that what this is all about?” I asked, lifting his hands from my arms to take them gently in my own. “Hey, look at me.” When Will’s eyes met mine, they were filled with unshed tears. “That was nothing, Will. It was a little scratch that healed within a few days. You didn’t do anything to hurt me.”

“I did, I pushed you over too fast.” Will said shaking his head.

“No, Will.” I brought him in close to me and lifted my tank top to reveal the place where I was hurt the first time we tried to escape. Taking his hand, I ran it over my skin to show him that there was no permanent damage. There was hardly a scar, just a slight discoloring of the skin in a few places along where the cut had been. “See, there’s nothing there. I’m fine.”

His thumb was lovingly brushing along my flesh, as he looked at me again with such a mix of emotions behind his eyes. I could see his guilt and the worry, and I saw that he was scared. “I can’t lose you.” He whispered as he brought his lips to mine in the softest of kisses. “I need you so much.” He said as he lifted me up onto the bathroom counter. He maneuvered between my legs and I could feel his erection poking at me while he kissed me with the sweetest of kisses. They were slow, but hungry and there was the slightest bit of desperation in them, as if he would cease to exist if he stopped kissing me.

He grabbed at the elastic of my underwear and my ass automatically lifted off the counter so he could free me from the obstructive fabric. While he tossed my panties to the floor, I lowered his boxers and wrapped my legs around his hips, bringing him in tight to my body. Ever so slowly, he entered me, stopping when he reached the hilt. “I won’t let you get hurt again.” He said looking at me intently with a new found confidence, before taking me back into one of his passionate kisses.

His hips began an unhurried pace as he slid in and out of my slick pussy. Burying my head in the crook of his neck, I responded on a whimper, “I’m not going to get hurt. We’ll be inside the house the whole time.”

“Ahhh, God.” Will moaned, “I’m not thinking about that right now, you feel too good.” He pushed me back a little so I was no longer against his body, but leaning back against the counter. He lifted my shirt above my breasts and gently palmed one of them. At this new angle, we could both watch as Will’s cock would appear and then disappear inside my heat. We were both mesmerized by the erotic scene before us, and he groaned as I used my legs to drive him in a little bit deeper.

“We’re exploring the house together.” I said as I squeezed my internal muscles to clamp around his cock for a bit of extra persuasion.

“Fuck.”

“I won’t take no for an answer.” I squeezed again.

“Jesus Christ, woman. Fine, fine you win.” Will said, bringing his thumb to massage my clit. “But for the record, you are winning this argument in a grossly unfair manner.”

“You love it though.”

“You know I do.” He said staring me straight in the eyes with his patented smirk, right before he pinched my clit and slammed hard into my core.

My orgasm hit me quickly, as I was so intent on getting Will to agree with me that I hadn’t really noticed it building inside me. Surprised at the explosion, my arm slipped and I fell partially into the sink, soaking one whole side of my tank top. Will laughed at my predicament, but continued to pump inside me a few more times until he was about to cum. Pulling out, he stroked his shaft and grabbed a face cloth that was lying on the counter to catch the thick sticky fluid that was about to emit from his body.

As I was wringing out my shirt, Will had one arm leaning against the counter as he came inside the cloth. His eyes were closed and I could see certain muscles throughout his body quivering. He looked beautiful. “I love watching you cum.” The words slipped out of my mouth unconsciously and he opened his eyes to see me watching him. “I wish you didn’t have to pull out all the time.”

He smiled at my words. “Believe me when I say I agree with you. I hate having to pull out at the best part. It’s not the same without your hot little pussy surrounding me.” He kissed me softly before washing the cloth out in the sink. He took the wet cloth and ran it along his length before pulling up his boxers, and then he washed the juices away from between my legs. Bending over, he handed me my underwear and went to discard the cloth in the laundry hamper. “I know you’re period is still out of whack, but we could try the rhythm method. If it’s right after you have your period, I could stay in.”

“Oh, no.” I said shaking my head putting on my panties. “I’m not chancing it. My period is so screwy that I had it for a couple of days, then it left and three days later it came back again. Next thing I know, I’m going a couple of months without having it. I figure with my cycle being as irregular as it is, we’re ok with the pulling out, but I’m not pushing my luck. The last thing we need on our list of problems is an impromptu pregnancy.”

“Of course, you’re right. Wishful thinking on my part.” Will shrugged, and then grabbed at my hips. “Though, you know, I could stay inside you if we went about this another way.” His hands came around to slide inside my panties and grab at my ass. Waggling his eyebrows, he slightly parted my cheeks to let me know exactly what ‘other’ way he meant.

I kissed him before pushing him away. “I told you I’d think about it. Now, let’s go get dressed so we can explore.”

“Whoa, slow down. We aren’t going now. It’s too late.”

“What are you talking about?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, we wasted a bit of time in here doing other things. It’s too close to the morning. Adam and Dru may be getting up soon. We know the key works so we can wait until later, plan it out a little bit more.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not trying to go back on your agreement, are you?”

Will chuckled. “No, sweetheart, you won. You’re coming.” Will kissed my forehead. “But please do what I say and stay with me. I don’t want you wandering off on your own.”

“Yes, master.” I said sarcastically.

“Ooh, baby, I think I like you calling me that.” Will grabbed at my boob and gave it a little squeeze, “but we’ll save that for another night when we have more time.”

“Pig.” I shoved him away playfully and went to shut off the water.

“You love it though.” Will echoed my words from earlier.

I smiled back at him. “You know I do.”

CHAPTER 44

The next morning during breakfast, Will and I told the twins about how we got the key to work. Excitedly, Connor abandoned his cereal to jump up and down on the bed while Dawn started shooting off a million questions on when and how we were going to escape.

“Everybody calm down,” Will said as he tried to get Connor back to the breakfast table. “We have to make sure this works. This may be our only chance so we have to plan this perfectly.” Luckily, William was able to calm them down with his rational words. Will wanted to plan this escape attempt out thoroughly so that we would all get out unscathed, which meant we needed time.

Before we even tried to leave our room, Will thought we should make a duplicate key with the last remaining toothbrush so we would have another one just in case something happened with the first, whether that meant it was somehow broken or confiscated. Once the second key was perfected, Will practiced opening and re-locking the door over and over again so that there would be no fumbling getting in and out of the room. He even went out into the hall a few times to try and lock and unlock the door from the other side. The last thing we needed was to have to get back in fast and end up stuck in the hallway.

As the end of summer approached, Will decided to lay out part of the plan. As we ate dinner, we listened to his ideas. “Next weekend is Labor Day. I think our first exploration of the house should happen then.”

It would mark our one-year anniversary at Rayne Manor.

“I figured that since it’s a holiday, there’s probably less staff in the house. I was thinking that it might be the reason Drusilla picked that time for us to arrive here. If she wanted to keep our presence here low-key, it would have been better if there weren’t the usual amount of people in the house.” His reasoning made sense to me.

“I’m hoping the only people that will be here are Drusilla, Ethan and Adam.”

“What about Mom?” I asked.

“If what she’s told us in the past is any indication, I’m going to assume she and Wesley will be off vacationing somewhere.” I snorted at that, but with a bit of a smile as I considered it an actual dig at Mom coming from William’s mouth.

Will glared at me before continuing. “After midnight, Elizabeth and I will go out and explore the floor we are on. We’ll come back here and write everything down. Each time we go out, we’ll do a different floor so we’ll eventually have a map of the whole house. When it’s time to actually escape, I don’t want any surprises so we should have multiple routes leaving the house charted out beforehand.”

“What are we going to do while you’re out of the room?” Dawn asked.

“You will be asleep.” Will ruffled her hair. “It’ll be late, past your bedtime.”

“But what if grandmother or Adam comes by to do a room check or something?”

“Dawn, I don’t think they’ve ever done that before, but we can lock the door from the outside so if someone happens by and turns the knob, it’ll still be locked. We’ll throw some pillows under the covers to make it look like there are two people in the bed just in case they open the door. You guys will be fine.”

“Can we sleep in the same bed together while you guys are out there?” Connor finally piped in.

“Yeah, you guys can do that,” Will assured him. “Keep each other company while we’re gone.”

**************************************************************

On Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, we prepared for our first trip out into the house. We set up pillows in the bed closest to the door to make it look like there were two people sleeping, fluffing them until they were positioned to Dawn’s liking. After tucking Dawn and Connor into the far bed, Will and I found ourselves in the attic changing into the dark clothing we wore for our first escape attempt. Will was tying up his black shoe laces as he listed off orders to me.

“Stay with me at all times. Don’t wander off alone. Stay behind me so that if someone comes close I can warn you. Don’t go into any room without letting me know what you’re doing.”

I stopped him before he could continue. “I get it, Will. You’re in charge and I’m along for the ride. You don’t need to treat me like a child; I’m not seven, you know.” Listening to William made me feel like I was a little kid going to the mall for the first time.

“I’m sorry, Bethy. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. You know how I feel about what happened last time.”

And I did, which was the only reason I wasn’t chewing his head off now. I knew about the guilt that he still felt because of my getting hurt, so I knew he was only trying to protect me, not control me. “I know, but I’m not a paper doll. I can hold my own.”

“I’m well aware, sweetheart. You are a slayer after all.” He pulled me in close and kissed me, slow and deep. His hands moved down to grab my ass as he pushed me against his body, his kisses growing more fervent.

Breaking the kiss, I said, “Spike, we have to stop. We won’t leave if we start this now.”

“Ok, you’re right,” he agreed, kissing my neck one last time. “You know I can’t resist you though.” He smiled at me as he leaned in for another kiss.

“No,” I objected vehemently, pushing his lips back with my fingers. “Later for that. Explore now.”

“Fine, fine,” Will huffed as he looked at his watch. “It’s a quarter to midnight, might as well go now.”

We crept back downstairs to the bedroom, and while Will unlocked the door with the key, I checked on the twins one last time. Making sure they were deep in sleep, I found my way over to Will just as he was turning the doorknob. Sticking his head out slowly to make sure no one was in the hallway, he opened the door wide to let me out. I stood against the wall next to Will as he locked the door again from the outside.

After checking the knob to make sure it was locked, Will stood up and looked both ways down the hall. “Let’s go this way,” he whispered nodding to the right. “It should be the way to the main section since that’s how we came in originally.”

I nodded my head and grabbed his hand as we started our way throughout the house.

The hallway looked the same as when we first arrived - abandoned. In that dark wing of the manor, each door we tried was locked. As we got closer to the main section of the house, our surroundings changed dramatically. In addition to lights actually emitting a soft glow to illuminate the hallways, the area looked lived in. Gone were the storage cloths and cobwebs, and in their place was ornate furniture polished to the highest sheen.

The first couple of doors we tried here were also locked, but the third one softly clicked open. Inside was a huge library lined with dark mahogany wood. Carved into two walls were floor to ceiling bookshelves, most of them holding volumes of law books. I ran my fingers along their thick spines. Among the staid titles of California Anti-Trust Laws, Corporate Law and Intellectual Property Law were more menacing titles such as Winning Through Intimidation, How to Argue and Win Every Time and Social Control Through Law. This was definitely Ethan’s study and a small shudder ran through my body as I thought about how emotionally hard he must be, especially since he could so easily dismiss his only child and grandchildren.

“Damn it.” I turned my head at William’s hushed exclamation behind me. He was at the desk trying to jiggle open the drawers. As I came up next to him, he informed me, “All of these are locked. There might be something in one of them, like a copy of Ethan’s will. We’ll have to come back here another time, devote a night to it. Come on, let’s go to the next room.” As I listened to Will speak of future outings, I prayed that we didn’t get caught tonight so that there would be a next time.

Cautiously, we continued to work our way down the hall, discovering a bathroom, a sitting room and a guest room behind the doors. Entering the last door before the hall opened up at the dual marble staircase leading to the foyer downstairs, we stepped into another bedroom. Though it was empty, we could tell it wasn’t a guest room since it was clearly lived in. The four poster bed was unkempt, as if the satin covers were just pulled up haphazardly without actually being made, and there were clothes strewn about different areas of the room. A black lace nightgown lay over the Victorian chair in the corner and nylons hung from an open dresser drawer.

While Will went over to inspect the night table, I was drawn to the nylons peeking out from the dresser. Running my hands against the silken fabric, I realized that I missed wearing these hated pieces of clothing, mostly because I only wore them when I was going out dancing or if there was a formal happening at the country club or the school. These nylons suddenly became the symbol of my lost teenage social life. Feeling cheated by mother for taking away the carefree innocence of my youth, I was more determined to find something that would help us escape the miserable existence we were currently living.

Opening the drawer a bit more, I found all sorts of lingerie. A very tiny black teddy with garters, a silken pink thong, a pair of red thigh high fishnets and tucked away in the back corner, a box of condoms. A big box of condoms. I sneaked a look over to Will and found that he was now rummaging inside the walk in closet. Grabbing the box, I lifted it out and looked inside. It was a box of twenty-four and by my quick count about five were missing. Would anyone miss a few more? Quickly so I wouldn’t change my mind, I took three out of the box and shoved them into the side of my sock since I didn’t have any pockets.

As I returned the box back to the drawer the way I found it, I glanced at the top of the dresser and noticed the jewelry box on top of it. The emerald necklace that my dad gave mom for her thirty-fifth birthday lay atop the wood. This was Mom’s room. I didn’t know why that surprised me since I doubted Drusilla and Ethan made use of the types of things I was finding inside the drawer, but it suddenly hit me all at once. “This is Mom’s,” I said in a choked whisper. “Will, this is Mom’s room.”

“Yeah, I know.” He admitted while coming up behind me. “I’ve been looking in the closet and recognized some of her clothes. What did you find?”

I pointed to the familiar necklace and started to push in the drawer to its original position as Will gently ran his hand over the piece of jewelry. Something white caught my eye in the drawer and my hand was impulsively drawn to it. I reached in and grabbed it, bringing out the long white instrument. “Oh god,” I hissed in shock as I switched on the device. At the low buzzing sound, Will’s attention was fully averted over to me. “Please don’t tell me this is what I think it is.” I had never actually seen a vibrator before, though I knew what one was as some of the older girls on the cheerleading team compared notes about the different models they had, oftentimes joking that the mechanical device was more satisfying than any of the high school boys they slept with.

“Depends on what you think it is,” Will teased as he wrapped his arm around my waist and took the vibrator from me with his free hand. Our eyes met in the mirror as he brought the animated tool to touch the cotton covered area between my legs. I groaned at the feel of the vibrations buzzing over my clit as well as his hardening cock against my backside. My eyes screwed shut in pleasure as Will continued to work me over with the vibrator until we heard laughter in the hallway.

“Shit,” Will said in panic as he shut off the self-pleasuring device and placed it back into the partially opened drawer. As we heard voices getting closer to the door, my eyes were now wide open in horror, but my legs were frozen to their spot. “Come on,” Will whispered urgently as he was forced to drag me over to the closet, propping me up against the wall while he shut off the light inside. We listened to the door opening as he brought his body in flush against mine, trying his best to blend us into the woodwork.

CHAPTER 45

“Mmm, Wesley.” We heard mother moan as she crossed the threshold in a low husky voice, before she started giggling. “I had a wonderful time tonight.” As Will and I hid in the closet, we could hear the smacking noises associated with kissing as Mom and Wes moved deeper into the room. “I always have a fantastic time with you.” She giggled again and if I had to guess, I would say she was drunk.

“The feeling is mutual, darling,” Wesley replied in a stately tone, made stuffier-sounding by his British accent. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Ooh, Wes. I think that sounds like an excellent idea,” mother purred. I had never heard her sound so slutty before, and along with the items I found in the drawer, I was discovering an entirely different side to my mother.

Since the bed was parallel to the closet, Will shifted his body by pressing further into me against the wall in order to remain unseen. His subsiding erection ground into my still tingling sex and I let out a little grunt. Will brought his finger up to my lips to quiet me, but his touch only excited my overheated body even more. My tongue slithered out to lick at his finger, drawing it into my mouth to suck on it lightly. Will yanked his finger away and gave me a look that clearly told me to behave.

Out in the main room, Wes must have gotten mother settled on the bed because next thing we knew she was whining, “Please Wes, can’t you stay? I want you to spend the night.”

“Joycie, you know I can’t. I’m working on the Gustavan case. I have to finish up my opening arguments tomorrow since we are going to trial on Tuesday.”

“But tomorrow’s a holiday,” she pleaded, and I imagined her jutting out her lower lip in the trademark Summers’ pout. “And you got me all liquored up at dinner. You’re not going to leave me all hot and bothered, are you?” Her voice went back to the husky tone of earlier.

She must have done something seductive because suddenly, Wesley moaned. “Well, I guess I could stay for a little longer.”

Oh God, please no. I didn’t want to be stuck in this closet listening to my mother do sexual things with some stranger. Parents were supposed to be asexual, not nymphomaniacs. I closed my eyes, dipped my head a bit and took a deep calming breath. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that with the new angle of my head, I had a perfect view of the bed due to the reflection of the dresser mirror in a small shoe mirror in the closet. I tried to shift again, but Will stopped my movement by pinning my body with his leg between mine in order to get me to stay still so we wouldn’t get caught. Now since I couldn’t move, I had the video to match the audio. Great.

“What can I do for my princess to make her happy?” Wes teased, his accent changing from proper to sexually charged. “Let’s get you down here so we can find out.”

Mom laughed as Wesley grabbed her legs and dragged her down to the end of the bed.

“What kind of treat do you have hidden for me under this dress?” Wesley’s hands slid up mom’s thigh to lift up her dress, leaving her whimpering from his touch. “You’re like unwrapping a present, Joycie. I never know what surprises I’m going to find.” Wes paused for a moment to admire mom’s lingerie. “Ooh, look at this beautiful black lace.”

“Mmm, Wes,” Mom begged. “Undress me, please.”

Wes’ fingers slipped under the elastic of her lacy thong in order to slide it down her thigh-high covered legs. “Uh, uh. Only your knickers, Joyce. I’d rather like the rest to stay on.” Throwing her panties over his shoulder, Wes suddenly disappeared between her legs, hiding amidst the black chiffon of her dress.

“Oh God, YES!” Mom squealed in delight at the touch of his tongue. “Lick me, baby, just like that.”

I heard Wes’ muffled grunt in response to her plea.

Although it was our mother making these noises of pleasure, Will and I couldn’t help but get turned on as it was like listening to a porn movie. As her enthusiastic moans continued, mine and Will’s breath sped up. William’s eyes met mine in a lust filled stare. Licking his lips, he brought them down to hover over my mouth, breathing heavily, needing to quench his desire, but his lips never touched mine. His leg between mine pressed into me harder and began to move slowly against my center, allowing me to feel that his erection was completely hard once again.

As my hands gripped his biceps, body tense at the glorious friction being created between my legs, Will’s tongue poked out of his mouth to sweep against my lower lip. When I tried to kiss him, he pulled his head back so it was just out of my reach, shaking his head no. Bringing his head down again, he used his tongue to open my mouth, and this time, when he darted his tongue along my lower lip, I brought mine out to meet his. He smirked at the feel of my tongue on his as they entwined in a playful game of teasing.

When Mom’s shouts reached a crescendo as she shattered in orgasm, Will stopped his movements and dropped his head to rest upon my shoulder, leaving me panting and unfulfilled. Wesley continued to nuzzle his face between Mom’s legs while she came down from her high. After a minute, Wes popped back up from underneath her dress, licking his lips. “Mmmm, you taste like strawberries. Delicious.”

Mother hummed in her post-orgasmic bliss. “Oh, Wes. I love you so much.”

“Come on, pet. Walk me to my car.” Wes gathered Mother up in a hug and kissed her soundly on the lips. She giggled again as she wrapped herself around his body and went with him out the door.

Waiting a few minutes once the door closed, Will whispered, “We need to get back to the room quickly.” He took my hand and led me to the door of the bedroom. He poked his head out to assure the coast was clear, and then we sped silently back down the hallways the way we came.

**********************************************************************

When we got to the door of our room without incident, Will grabbed me and pressed my chest to his, “As soon as we get in there, you go immediately to the attic. Got it, Buffy?” His eyes were filled with desire and I knew exactly why he wanted me upstairs.

As turned on as he was from the earlier display in mom’s room, I nodded my head in agreement before smashing my lips to his, taking the kiss I desperately wanted in the closet. Hungrily, we plundered each other’s mouths until Will reluctantly pulled away. “Not now, upstairs.” He bent over so he could look at the lock and fiddled a few seconds with the key before the door opened.

Once inside, I glanced quickly at the twins to make sure they were still asleep and then practically ran up the narrow staircase leading to the attic. Going over to the north mattresses, I slipped off my shoes and was tugging off my shirt when Will grabbed me from behind, kneading at my breasts as the shirt went over my head. “That was quick.”

“Want you,” was all Will said as he turned me around and pushed me down to the mattresses. Shucking off his own shirt and shoes, he kneeled down before me, pawing at my pants and socks to get them off me quickly. The three condoms I had taken from mom’s room fell to the floor. “What’s this?” Will asked, picking up one of foil wrappers.

“Condoms.”

“Where’d you get these?”

“Found them in Mo…downstairs in the bedroom.” I couldn’t bring myself to say Mom’s room since it emphasized the fact we shared a parent. “There was a big box; figured they wouldn’t miss a few.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but are you sure they won’t notice them gone?”

“No, there was a lot. I didn’t take enough to make it noticeable.”

“You sneaky little girl,” Will smirked. “I can’t wait to come inside you again.” He crashed his lips back down onto mine, and we grappled with each other, giving in to an animalistic desire we didn’t know we possessed. The rest of our clothes were discarded carelessly, seams tearing and thrown about. Will’s mouth was all over my body – nipping, licking and sucking – causing my flesh to burn.

“Buffy?” he asked as he took my lower lip between his teeth and gently tugged on it.

“Hmm?”

“Would you want me to do to you what Wesley was doing?” he asked sheepishly.

My eyes widened at his question in both curiosity and trepidation. I knew Will had never gone there with anyone before and no one had ever done that to me either. Although mother sounded like she was really enjoying it, I was a little scared. Amy was always complaining about how guys never reciprocated blowjobs because they didn’t like going down there – ‘too much going on’ Larry had said, ‘it’s like a terrarium’. And those guys that did, Cordelia was quick to point out, were usually lacking in that area of expertise. What if Will ended up hating it because I didn’t taste good, or worse, what if he ended up disappointing me?

I decided to put the choice back in his hands, “Is that something you would want to do?”

“I think it is. It sounded as if they really liked it. And I want to do something for you. You give me oral all the time and I never get to pay you back.”

“I like doing that to you. And believe me, Spike, you don’t leave me unsatisfied.”

“That’s good to know, but I want to do it. If we don’t like it, we don’t have to do it again.” Will looked at me with pleading eyes, “Please?”

“Well, if you want to that bad, I’m not going to say no.” Any girl would be crazy to turn down this opportunity.

A smile broke out on Will’s face. “Good, now lie back and enjoy.” He started kissing his way down my body towards his destination, but then stopped and looked up at me a bit anxious. “Umm, I want you to tell me if I’m not doing it right. If something doesn’t feel good, I want to know.” His cheeks tinted with a pale blush. “I want to do right by you.”

I lifted my hand to caress his cheek, “You’ll do fine, baby. You haven’t done me wrong yet.” We shared a tender smile before he continued on his path.

Rather than diving right in, he started with soft kisses and nips on my inner thigh. Slowly, he worked his way closer to my center, using a couple of his fingers to part my pussy. My heart was beating so fast in anticipation of his tongue touching my most intimate of spots, that when it finally did, I stopped breathing. I held it as he licked up one side and then down the other of my nether lips. When his tongue poked inside my opening, I let it out on a surprised scream.

“Are you ok?” he asked concerned.

“Yes, keep going,” I panted out quickly.

Obeying my command, Will returned to his earlier ministrations, licking around my opening and along my lips. “Will that feels good, but try something different,” I couldn’t help pleading, desperate for something I wasn’t quite sure of. I felt him nod, and soon his tongue was circling around my clit and when he captured it between his lips to gently suck on it, I screamed again. “Oh God, yes.” It felt so damn good as he continued to circle his tongue around my swollen nub.

Completely getting into his actions, I was murmuring unintelligible words of pleasure when he moved back down to my opening and started slowly stroking his tongue in and out of my hole. At this new sensation of ecstasy, my thighs clamped down around his head as he started to speed up the pace of his tongue. My hips started bucking against his face as he continued licking me at a relentless pace, and I could feel my juices running down my backside.

Will’s hands came around to grab my thighs and I could hear muffled words coming from him. Shaking myself out of my pleasure-filled haze, I lifted my head and relaxed the muscles in my legs. “What?”

Will’s head popped out from between my thighs. “Can’t breathe,” he gasped and his mouth and chin were covered in my arousal.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” I was completely embarrassed.

“Don’t be.” He shook his head, still struggling for air. “You like it then?”

“Yes.” As soon as I replied in the affirmative, he dove back in for more. “Wait,” I said quickly, before he could start again. He looked at me waiting to see what I wanted, when I asked, “you like it too?”

He grinned, “Yeah, you taste like warm peaches.” He winked and then disappeared between my legs again. He continued his voracious lapping of my pussy until he asked out of the blue, “what do you like better, my tongue on your clit or inside you?”

“Both,” I mewled.

He laughed at my answer. “That’s not a choice. Would you rather come with my tongue on your clit and my fingers inside you like this?” he asked sliding two fingers inside me while curling his tongue around my nub for a few seconds. “Or would you rather have my tongue inside you while I stroke your clit, like this?” Next thing I knew he was demonstrating this second choice on my body.

“This one,” I moaned. Although they both felt good, my pussy was aching for release and since he was already doing things this way, I just wanted him to finish me off before my head exploded. My hips started to buck gently against his face as I felt my orgasm building up inside me. “Spike, I’m so close, keep going, baby.” His finger rubbed faster against my clit, which had me tipping over the edge. “Oh God, yes, I’m coming,” I gasped as my body shook in pleasure. Will grunted as he picked up my legs to bring me closer to his mouth, allowing him to persistently lap at the steady flow of juices that was gushing from my cunt, licking me clean. I cried out as another mini-orgasm ebbed through my body.

Will dropped my legs and wiped at his mouth as I caught my breath. Grabbing one of the foil packages, he ripped it open with his teeth and rolled the condom onto his throbbing cock. “I can’t wait to fuck you any longer. “ He brought his body down to mine and thrust up into me in one quick motion. “Uhh, yes. Love your fucking pussy, Buffy.”

My legs came up to wrap around his waist as he pounded me into the mattress. “Love the way you tasted, turned me on so much. The way you whimpered, the way your thighs possessed me.” One of his hands caressed up my side to massage my breast.

“Spike,” I bellowed as he plucked at my nipple. My hips thrust forward to match his bruising pace.

“Fuck, Buffy. I don’t think I’m going to last long.”

“No, no.” I was panicking. “We’re using one of the condoms, we need to make it last. It would be wasting one if you went too quick.” I was trying to be reasonable. We only had three; we had to use them wisely.

“Shit,” Will said, realizing the predicament we were in, “give me a minute.” He stilled his hips and placed his forehead on my shoulder. I brought my legs down from his waist and lay completely still while he took a couple of deep breaths in and out, trying to regain some of his composure.

Taking my hips in his hands, he slowly started moving again, and this time, we took our time. No longer frantic in our coupling, Will’s thrusts were long, slow and sure. Our lips tangled in tender kisses, and his mouth would leave mine every once in a while to meander down my neck and linger along my collarbone. Our hands skimmed along each other’s bodies, reveling in the feel of the smooth skin under our fingers. His soft voice murmured words of adoration in my ear, causing my emotions to get the best of me.

A tear ran down my cheek and Will brushed his finger along my face to wipe away the salty substance. “Why are you crying?” he whispered sweetly.

I shook my head unable to answer because of the lump in my throat choking back my words. He brought his lips down to kiss away my tears. “Is it because I’m hurting you?”

“No,” I objected softly, finding my voice. “It’s just…” I stopped trying to find the right words. “What you do to me makes me feel so good, it’s overwhelming sometimes.” I shook my head again, feeling stupid. “I’m just being silly, though.”

“You’re not being silly, I know what you mean.” He kissed me tenderly on the lips. “You can make me quiver with a look.” Will’s voice, combined with the steady rhythm of his hips, was bringing me closer and closer to my pinnacle. “You scorch my skin with your fingertips.” I whimpered as he thrust into me a little harder. “The way you make me feel when I’m with you, it’s like you make me whole.”

“Please.” I begged for deliverance.

“You’ve imprinted yourself on my soul, love.” We were both so close. “Oh baby, I want to come inside you. Come with me now, please. Oh fuck yeah,” Will groaned as his cock pulsated inside me, in time with my quivering walls.

“Ahhh, yes, yes, yes,” I whimpered as his hips continued to pump into me slowly as we both rode out our orgasms. Tears still fell from my eyes as the feelings swirling inside me seemed too much to contain.

Coming down from his high, he began to laugh giddily. “I love what you do to me, baby.” He kissed me passionately as he pulled himself slowly out of me to take care of the used condom. Once discarded, he laid back down beside me wiping at my wet cheeks. “Now you are being silly, stop crying.” He chuckled.

“Me? Listen to you. You can’t stop laughing,” I said as his laughter became infectious and started to overtake my tears.

“I’m laughing because you make me incredibly happy. You make me see stars.” His face positively glowed.

I brought him back in for a kiss, but then had to break our moment. “We need to go; the sky is starting to lighten.”

“I don’t want to; I want to bask in the afterglow.”

“It was that good, huh?”

“Mmm, I loved coming inside you, feeling your walls clamp down around me without having to pull out. Never felt better.” William nuzzled his mouth into the crook of my neck.

Although I would have loved to stay with him in his arms, we needed to get downstairs. “Come on, we have to get going. It’s almost morning,” I said, reluctantly pushing him away from me.

“Fine.” He got up to start putting his clothes back on. “But we’re sleeping in the same bed. The twins will be up soon anyway, so let’s just keep them together. I’m not ready to let you go yet.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me in for a tender kiss.

“Mmm, okay, but no funny business. Keep your hands to yourself, Mister. I don’t want the twins exposed to your dirty mind.” I teased with a grin as I poked his chest.

“I’ll behave, scout’s honor.” We kissed one last time before heading back hand in hand to the bedroom for some much needed rest after our eventful evening.

CHAPTER 46

I was dreaming.

The sun was warming my naked body as I lay on the white sands of a deserted beach. The sound of waves gently lapping at the earth filled me with an air of calm. I was alone and at peace with the world.

Suddenly, a man’s hand wrapped around my waist and started rubbing slow circles with his palm around my bellybutton. Although I couldn’t see his face, his touch was familiar. I closed my eyes listening to the ocean as his hand caressed up my body to massage my breast and then lazily made its way back down between my legs.

I moaned as his fingers explored my wet folds. My hips arched back, causing his erection to collide with my backside. The intimate contact caused an increase in the rhythm of his fingers, and we continued to move together both trying to find our release. Within minutes, we were both gasping for air as we quivered in completion. He nuzzled his face into my neck, smelling my hair as he whispered, “My sweet girl. Love you so much.”

He placed a gentle kiss on my shoulder and settled into a peaceful sleep while spooning my body. I was smiling in complete satisfaction, comfortable in the arms of my mysterious lover.

***************************************************************

The sound of a door slamming woke me from my slumber. Jumping into an upright position, any tiredness my body felt was replaced with fear. Grandmother was standing at the door with absolute fury in her eyes. Her lips were tightly pursed together and her cheeks began to redden in anger.

“What is going on here?” Dru yelled, looking pointedly between the two beds.

It was then that I realized Will was still in bed with me, sitting upright with a look of panic on his face. I glanced at the twins and noticed they were clutching each other on the second bed. They had obviously been awakened by the sound of the door as well.

“Why are the boys and girls in the same bed together? That was the first rule of this house! I thought I made that clear to you after your escapades on New Year’s Eve.” Dru was screaming in a voice so menacing that I knew we were going to be severely punished again. After all, this was our second offense of this particular rule. If the first one ended in starvation, I imagined it would be the whip for all of us this time around.

As if she was reading my thoughts, Dru screeched, “Why do you forsake me and my rules? Do you like being punished? Did you enjoy the whip that much, William?” Her face was hardened in an icy stare at Will.

“N-n-no,” Will stuttered as he went on with an explanation for our compromising positions, “Dawn had a nightmare. She wanted to be close to Connor because she was scared. She wouldn’t calm down until she was with him. They’re twins; they have that special bond, a sort of connection, since they were in the womb together.”

Dru’s eyes glared sharply over at the huddled forms of the twins, and then back to us. “And you William, do you have a special bond with your sister?” I tried to swallow the lump in my throat because she said this as if she knew what we did at night in the attic.

“Yes,” Will said defiantly. “Our father has died and our mother has left us alone to fend for ourselves against the likes of you. We are trying to keep our family together through all of it. So yes, I have a special bond with my sister.”

“What a touching speech, William. It’s clear you care greatly about Elizabeth and you make it seem so innocent, but do you want to know what I think.” Grandmother planted a sadistic smile on her face, “I think that the Devil has planted seeds of temptation in your loins. I think that you want her in a not-so-brotherly way. Why else would you be wrapped around her in bed, your face buried in her hair?”

Shit, I thought. Is that how she found us? No wonder she looked like steam was going to blow from her ears at any minute.

“I was asleep.” Will shrugged, getting out of the bed. Thank god he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. “I mean, what do you expect? You stick the four of us in this tiny room, but you don’t want us to go near each other. We have nowhere to go except for three rooms; we are stuck with only each other day in and day out. We’re not allowed outside, not allowed to have other friends. How are we supposed to be imprisoned within these walls and not be dependent upon each other for everything?”

Will was moving closer to Dru with each word that rolled off his tongue. “And do you want to know what I think. I think you want to catch us doing something because you are a sick and depraved woman who gets off on abusing people who you perceive as weaker than you.” Will was nose to nose with grandmother at this point, glaring at her with such hatred that I knew he was about to say something we may all regret. “What’s the matter, Grandmother? Is your husband too controlling? Does he not let you make any of the important decisions? You gotta get your kicks by stripping me down and beating me senseless with a whip to let out your inner-dominatrix?”

Then all hell broke loose.

Dru’s hand came up to sharply slap Will across the face. Will’s head snapped to the side, provoking Connor to jump off the bed to run to his brother’s aid. Crouching to the floor, Connor grabbed Dru’s ankle and bit down into her flesh. She screamed in agony, shaking her leg to remove the tiny teeth piercing her skin. With a quick kick, Connor was flung to the side and Dru raised her hand to strike him. Will grabbed her wrist to stop her and she spun to look at him in a rage, raising her other hand to hit William.

Needing to stop this turn of events, I reached for the small water glass sitting on the nightstand and threw it against the wall. When the glass shattered right behind Will and Dru’s heads, everyone stopped to look at me. “Stop it!” I yelled with an authority I didn’t feel as I was trembling inside. At the sound of my command, Connor scrambled over to cower behind my legs. Will let go of Dru and took a step away from her as she began to calmly fix her disheveled clothing.

“You are all ungrateful children. Understand that your mother had nowhere to go and I took her in; took you in. I could have easily left her and you to rot, but I didn’t. I have given you a roof over your heads, three meals a day and this is what I get in return. Disrespect from all of you!” She pointed an accusing finger at us and then turned to focus her ire on Will. “You consistently break my rules – lying to me, being in the bathroom while your sister is washing and now sleeping together, sniffing at her golden locks. You can call it dependency all you want, but I call it sin.” Her last word was dripping with malice. She straightened her shoulders and held her chin up high before turning around to walk out the door.

Breaking the silence that was left in the wake of Dru’s abrupt departure, Dawn asked in confusion, “That was it? She’s not going to do anything to punish us?”

“Maybe she knows now that we’ll all gang up on her at once if she tries anything.” Will shrugged. “Maybe we just needed to stand up to her to get her to stop.”

I did not share in Will’s confidence that we had seen the last of grandmother. She caught us in bed together, Will completely disrespected her, and Connor bit her, for God’s sake! This was huge; even I thought we deserved some kind of retribution. I stayed silent for the time being as I didn’t want to upset the twins more than they already had been this morning, but I planned on bringing the subject up again with Will later on.

“Why didn’t you guys move us when you came in last night?” Connor asked, moving over to the breakfast cart that Dru left untouched by the door.

“We got back in really late. We didn’t want to wake you, so we figured we’d let you keep sleeping and you’d wake us up in time for breakfast.” I noticed that Will was getting really good with his cover stories. It seemed he always had a logical answer for every question someone asked to hide what we were really doing. “How come you didn’t wake up this morning at your normal time?”

Dawn joined Connor and started helping him put breakfast out on the table. “I woke up sometime in the night. You were already gone, so I woke up Connor to keep me company. We stayed up for a while waiting for you to return, but we fell asleep.”

“Then I woke up because I heard a noise and thought you came back, but you still weren’t here. That time, I woke up Dawn so we could wait together. We must have fallen asleep again before you came back,” Connor finished.

I had a feeling that the noise Connor heard was actually us up in the attic. Something else I was going to have to discuss with Will later on.

“Well, that explains why you overslept. So did you guys get any sleep last night?” Will asked.

“Some, just not a whole lot. But who cares about that. What happened last night out there? Did you find anything?” Dawn questioned anxiously.

“Not much since it was our first time, but we definitely found some stuff we’ll need to take a closer look at next time.” Will continued to tell the twins about what we found, which rooms we explored and a more G-rated version of our encounter with Mom. He sketched out a brief map of the different places we went and made notes about what we needed to check out more closely - the desk in the study being one of the hot areas. Dawn and Connor continued to grill us about every little aspect of our trip for the rest of the day.

Since the twins were so tired from their lack of sleep the night before, they went to bed earlier than usual, giving me the chance to ask Will what he really thought about Grandmother and our seeming escape from punishment. “You honestly think Dru’s not going to come back to punish us for this morning’s drama? I mean it was bad, really bad.”

“I know, but don’t you think she would have done it by now? She usually likes to punish us while the crime is still fresh. She never even came back today.”

“Well, maybe it’s because we caught her by surprise. We wounded her pride, stomped on her dignity. Connor went after her as if she was the Wicked Witch of the West and he was Toto. That’s got to be humiliating.”

Will laughed. “Looking back, that was pretty funny. I don’t know what Connor was thinking when he decided to bite her.”

“Maybe it was the werewolf coming out in him.” Mimicking taking a bite, I chomped down on my teeth next to his ear.

“Cute,” Will gave me a sideways glance and rolled his eyes in response to my reference of Connor’s comic book alter-ego. “Maybe she’s embarrassed about the whole thing and just wants to forget it. We’ll be on guard for a while to see if she does anything. Otherwise, let’s just chalk it up to getting away with something.”

“My gut is telling me she’s going to hit back and hit back hard, sometime when we don’t expect it. We really need to stay alert.” I did not have a good feeling about this at all. “Oh, and we need to be more quiet in the attic. I think Connor woke up the second time because of us. We really don’t need one of them coming upstairs at an inopportune time.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a screamer.” Will leaned over to plant a kiss on my lips. “Maybe I need to start gagging you.” He whispered, arching his eyebrow to see if I was into his games of bondage.

“You are such a pervert.” I grabbed his shirt to bring him in for another kiss.

*************************************************************************

After the incident at breakfast, Adam served all three of our meals, never explaining grandmother’s absence. We were cautious every time the door opened at mealtime, expecting her to appear with some brutal punishment worked out for us. We waited on guard for her every day, but nothing changed. She just stopped coming by.

Three weeks into September, Dru resumed her morning visits. I wished she hadn’t. She would enter the room and set up breakfast on the table, all in complete silence. She never said a word. It was just weird and uncomfortable. Even stranger, she still didn’t do anything to punish us.

Dru was still giving us the silent treatment when the first of October rolled around. I was sitting Indian style on the bed brushing my hair when she finally spoke. Just before she left, Dru smiled at me, laughing. “No more sunshine for you, Goldilocks.”

My hand stopping mid-brush after the cryptic remark, I watched as she swept out of the room. “What do you think she meant by that?”

“I don’t know, but I think we should keep an eye on her again for awhile.” He looked at me with worry as I nodded my head in agreement.

For two days as she served breakfast, I took extra care to stay as far away from Dru as possible, standing behind the second bed with the twins blocking me.

I thought I was safe.

It was on the third morning that I found out that I wasn’t.

CHAPTER 47

A scream coming from Dawn woke me up. I tried to look at her to find out what was wrong, but my head seemed hot and heavy. It felt as if my head was stuck inside a metal cage that had been sitting in the sun too long. Fear spread throughout my body as I realized Dawn’s finger was pointed at me.

At this point, Will and Connor had also jumped out of bed and came over to see what was causing the commotion. Connor had a look of morbid fascination on his face, while Will had one of horror. I heard him mutter under his breath, “Oh, God.”

“What’s wrong with me?” I screamed, as my nose started to pick up a strange smell as well. My hand went to touch my head, but Will stopped me. “What did she do?” I knew it was Grandmother, I knew I had been on the receiving end of her punishment. A million images of what she could have done to me were flashing before my eyes. The most prominent image was one from the movie ‘Saw’ where a character in the film had a large metal torture device locked on her head. Although rationally I knew it wasn’t as bad as that, the look of terror on Dawn’s face along with her hysterical crying had me in a panicked frenzy.

“Calm down, Elizabeth. Connor, get me a knife off the table.” Will sat down next to me and held onto my shoulders, in order to stop my distressed squirming.

“What did she do, Will?” I whispered my earlier question as tears streamed down my face. The burning sensation on my scalp and the horrific odor started to overpower my senses.

As Connor handed a knife to Will, he answered my question. “She’s put something in your hair. I think it’s tar. I’ll get it out, but you need to stay still, Bethy.” He started to scrape the knife along the pillow, trying to free the strands that were stuck to the pillowcase. I tried hard to control my breathing in order to calm my shaking body so he could do what he needed to help me.

“What if she comes back?” Dawn shrieked in a trembling voice. “What if she comes back to do something to all of us?” Frightened at the thought, she shrunk back against Connor who brought an arm up around her shoulders in a comforting gesture though it was obvious by his wide eyes and quivering lower lip that he was terrified of the possibility as well.

Will shook his head at her question. “She’s not coming back. If she was going to do something else to the rest of us, she would have done it last night,” Will answered, confident that he knew the methods of Dru’s madness. “Bring breakfast upstairs and stay up there. I’ll come get you both later.”

Having believed Will’s words that she was safe from Grandmother, Dawn’s focus shifted to concern for me as she grabbed a hold of my hand for support. “I want to help. I want to make sure Elizabeth is ok.”

“You are helping by going upstairs. I’ll take good care of her, Dawn. I promise I’m going to fix this. Leave us be for a bit and I’ll let you know if you can do anything later. Please, Dawn.” He didn’t look at her while he pleaded with her to go, still working intently on my hair. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze letting her know it was okay to leave me. I saw her nod reluctantly, and then she grabbed the bowl of cereal Grandmother had left behind before heading to the attic with Connor.

“She must have come in very early. I didn’t even hear her,” Will said, remarking on the breakfast set up on the table despite it being well before 9:00AM.

“I knew she was going to do something. I knew it was too good to be true that she didn’t punish us,” I started crying uncontrollably again now that it was just me and Will. All of the overwhelming emotions that I was feeling tumbled from my mouth in rapid fire. “It hurts, Will. My scalp is burning.” The physical pain was agonizing. It reminded me of when I used to accidentally burn myself with my curling iron, only constant heat and ten times more powerful. “What if I have permanent scars? And my hair, what’s going to happen to it? It’s ruined!” I saw myself with mangled stringy hair, and then a picture of me completely bald popped into my head. “Will, I may not even have any hair after this! Oh God, why did she do this? I didn’t even do anything! I only tried to stop what was happening. How could she do this to me? Why does she hate me so much, Will?” Another huge sob escaped me as I stopped to catch my breath.

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth,” Will said so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear him above my blubbering. “You know she’s not punishing you, she’s punishing me.” He stared fixedly at his blackened hands laboring at the tar as tears began to form in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.” His hands stopped moving as he hung his head in remorse. I could see his shoulders start to shake, a sure sign that he was now all out crying.

As soon as Will started to bear the guilt for the events of the morning, my own pity party came to a crashing halt as I realized what was really important - sticking by each other in order for all of us to escape this house. Knowing that no one was to blame except for Grandmother, I needed to get myself together for him. Taking some deep breaths to control my crying, I tried to reassure him. “Stop it, Will. It’s not your fault that she’s a bitch.”

“It is my fault, Elizabeth. If she didn’t find me with my nose in your hair, she wouldn’t have done this to you.”

Putting my hand on his arm to get his attention, he looked up at me in anguish. “She would have just done something else, Will. To me, to you, to one of the twins. It’s not your fault. She’s the one to blame, Will, not you.” I gave him a small comforting smile to let him know I did not want him feeling guilty for any of this and then tried to lighten the mood. “This stuff really stinks. I can’t believe we didn’t smell it.”

He placed a shaky smile on his lips at my observation and wiped his tears away against his sleeve. “Yeah, it really does stink something awful. Maybe she slipped us something in last night’s meal to make us sleep heavier, especially since you didn’t feel it happening. I wouldn’t put it past her.” Will had finally dislodged my head from the pillowcase. “Let’s get you into the bath. We’ll have better luck getting it out that way.”

Will easily scooped me up and carried me into the bathroom. I tried to glance at my reflection in the mirror so I could see the full extent of Grandmother’s horror, but Will blocked me. “Please don’t look in the mirror, Bethy. It’s better if you can’t see it.” After gently depositing me in the bath tub, he locked the door and returned to remove the clothes from my body. Once I was naked, he turned on the bath taps as hot as they could go. “Let me know if it’s too hot, but I think the heat will work better in removing the tar.”

As Will rummaged through my basket of bath products for something that might help in getting rid of the sticky substance, I leaned back against the tub to concentrate on the hot water running over my skin. With the rest of my body submerged in the blistering water, my brain could focus on other areas besides my blazing scalp. My thoughts went back to wondering if there would be scarring or if I would be bald for the rest of my life. I supposed I should be grateful Drusilla didn’t do something that would permanently disfigure my face - assuming her point was to make me less attractive for Will to look at. At least if there was permanent damage with this punishment, I could still wear a wig or a scarf to hide my defects.

And I prayed that Will was right when he told Dawn that Dru wasn’t coming back. I didn’t want her to take anything out on the twins, and Will had already been brutally beaten once before. I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance for any of us with that particular brand of Dru’s torture, and I was willing to make this sacrifice if it meant no one else would get hurt.

“Dunk your head under, get it all wet.” Will broke into my thoughts as he shut off the taps. “I think I got some stuff that will work.” He knelt besides the tub and waited for me to resurface. “You have some Tea Tree oil, some Eucalyptus oil and the different massage oils. I remember when we had the driveway repaved a few years ago, the foreman asked me if we had any cooking oil when one of his men accidentally got some of the tar on his skin. Took it right off. I figure this oil should do the same thing.”

Removing his shirt so it wouldn’t get wet, he placed the vanity stool behind the tub and dumped some of the Tea Tree oil onto a section of my hair close to the skin. Slowly, he rubbed the oil into the strands with his fingers, making sure not to apply too much pressure to my sensitive scalp. “It’s working,” he said after a few minutes of massaging my blackened follicles. “The tar is loosening, but this is going to be a slow process, Elizabeth.”

I nodded my head in understanding, remembering back when I had to clean his cuts from Grandmother’s whip and how painstakingly slow it all went. “I don’t care how long it takes, just get it out.” I tilted my head up to look at him. “She’s not going to break us, Will. We’re going to get out of here no matter what she does to us.” If Grandmother thought her punishments were going to intimidate us into submission, she was grossly mistaken because I was more determined now than ever before to escape from her prison.

Over the next few hours, Will meticulously worked at getting the tar out of my hair with the oils, his fingers and a small comb. My skin was pruned because of how long I had been in the tub, and my ears were waterlogged from dunking under the water so often. Will had refilled the tub several times whenever the water got too cold for it to be useful in removing the tar. Each time the tub was drained, I would have to stand up in order for him to clean the tub of blackness and remove the larger chunks of tar that wouldn’t fit down the drain. He would also run an oil-soaked cloth over my body in order to remove any tar that ended up stuck on my skin. After working in mostly silence for some time, Will finally spoke. “I’m going to have to cut some of it.”

“Will, no! I like my hair long like this.” I was completely panicked. Since moving to Rayne Manor, I hadn’t cut my hair once and it was now long, flowing and luxurious. Not only did I like it, I knew how much Will loved my hair. He was always burrowing his nose and laying soft kisses into it. Which is exactly what started this whole mess to begin with, I thought.

“I’m sorry, Bethy, but I’ve already gone through the bottles of Tea Tree, the Eucalyptus and a bottle and a half of the massage oil. Even if I use the other two bottles of massage oil, I’m not sure if it’s enough to get it all out. Besides, I’d rather save those for other things.” His voice got soft when he mentioned saving the massage oil.

Although I couldn’t necessarily disagree with his reasoning for wanting to keep some of the massage oil since I knew he wanted it for our sexual exploits in the attic, I let him know of my insecurities anyway. “What if you cut it and you hate it? What if you think it makes me look hideous.”

“Don’t be stupid, I would never think that. You’re my sweet girl.” As the words spoken by my mysterious lover in my dream all those weeks ago echoed in my head, Will kissed me chastely on the forehead. “I’d love you no matter what you looked like. It’s not your physical appearance, Bethy, it’s your heart, and it’s your strength. It has nothing to do with how long your hair is.”

I decided to assume that his talk of love was meant in a sisterly way since he wasn’t allowed to love me otherwise. Despite what we did together alone in the attic, I knew we were still brother and sister. Our physical relationship was purely a hormonal product of the horrible situation we were in. There couldn’t be any emotions involved, period. Pushing all thoughts of our other relationship aside, I let out a frustrated groan, knowing that my formerly perfect hair was going to lose this battle.

“Tell you what,” he said upon hearing my dissatisfaction with this outcome. “If you let me cut your hair, I’ll let you cut mine. You said months ago that I needed a trim. Here’s your chance; you can do whatever you want with it.”

Now, this was interesting. “Whatever I want?”

“Yep, anything you want.”

“Grr, fine, but please be careful. Don’t make it lop-sided or anything.”

He laughed at my vanity. “I promise, baby. Don’t you trust me?”

He had to go and throw out that question. Will knew I did. I trusted him with my life. I guess that was his point. “Go ahead and cut it.” I said, giving in, albeit grudgingly.

*************************************************************

Once Will was done fixing my hair, I stood wrapped in a fluffy towel in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at my shorn hair while he cleaned the black remnants from the tub and his skin. My hair was shorter than I could ever remember it being. It fell right above my shoulders, and as he promised, it was all one length around. Because of all the oil he used and the constant brushing to get the tar out, the texture of my hair was much finer, softer and shinier. My scalp was still tender, so I reached for the First Aid kit to put some ointment on the exposed skin there.

“Here,” Will said, coming over to stand behind me and taking the ointment from my hands. “Let me do that. It will be easier.” He gently rubbed the balm on my scalp with a soothing massaging technique. I closed my eyes at his tender touch. “So what do you think? Is it okay?”

My eyes opened to meet his in the mirror. “It will take some getting used to, but it’s not completely terrible.”

He smiled at my response. “Well, I think you look beautiful, Buffy.” His hands left my head to reach for the top of the towel. As it fell away, he began to knead my breasts and tug at my nipples, quickly bringing them to hardened peaks. While staring at me in the mirror, he continued with a feral grin. “Now, I have easy access to this luscious neck of yours.” Bringing his head down, he nuzzled at my neck, kissing and licking the newly exposed area causing my head to stretch to the side in order to give him full access. When he bit down firmly at the crook, I moaned in pleasure, grabbing at the sink to steady my shaky legs.

One of his hands traveled from my breasts to between my legs, and he began to stroke between my silken folds. Whimpering from his touch, I widened my stance a bit as my head fell back against his shoulder and my eyes closed in ecstasy. “No,” he said roughly, as he quickly inserted two fingers into my hungry pussy. “Open your eyes. Look at yourself, look at what I do to you.”

My eyes opened to gaze at the picture we made in the mirror. My already heated skin was now flush with excitement and arousal as his lust-filled eyes raked over my naked form. His one hand palmed vigorously at my tit, while the other worked in a steady fluid motion between my thighs. “You’re gorgeous. Doesn’t matter what your hair looks like, could be bald for all I care.” His voice was forceful, which caused my breath to hitch in my throat. “I want you, always.”

He took his hand away from my breast and grabbed the back of my neck, shoving my upper body forward over the sink. He removed his hand from my pussy and pushed his shorts down his legs. His erection sprang free, hitting my bare bottom. Grabbing me around the waist to move me back a bit, he forced my legs apart with one of his knees. Lining up his hardened cock with my sodden entrance, he stared deeply into my eyes in the mirror just before he slammed his hips forward, entering me in one solid plunge. I cried out as his hardness began to thrust into me over and over again as I watched his face filled with desire. “Your pussy’s so wet and hot and fits around my cock so perfectly tight. It’s like you were made for me, Buffy. Don’t ever think I wouldn’t want you. It will never happen.”

At his words, he yanked my body up against his chest, his fingers finding my clit to stroke at it. His mouth returned to lavish its affections on my neck and I brought my arm up to hold his head in place to keep the glorious sensations running through my body. Grabbing me tighter around the waist, he lifted me up slightly, moving us away from the sink.

“Oh, God,” I grunted as my body crashed fully against the wall, his hand firmly pressed between the wall and my hardened nub, his fingers picking up the pace and applying more pressure. I clawed frantically at the walls, trying to grab onto something to brace myself, but Will was clearly in control. He was completely dominating my body with a command he had never used before. It was exhilarating.

“You’re mine, Buffy,” he asserted with authority. “You’ll always be mine.”

To prove his claim, he bit down hard at my neck, breaking the skin and sending electric shocks down my spine. “Yes, yes, yes,” I whimpered as an earth-shattering orgasm ripped through my body at his possessiveness.

He growled at my accepting words and pulled out, sliding his cock between my ass cheeks. Plunging two fingers to fill the vacancy that his cock left, he matched the rhythm of his fingers with the pumping of his hips at my backside. At the continuous stimulation of his fingers both on my clit and inside me, I cried out as another orgasm washed over me. “Spike!”

Unlatching his teeth from my flesh, he grunted as his hot seed spilled between our bodies onto my back and his stomach. Slowing his movements, he settled my feet back on the floor and we both slid bonelessly down to the tiled bathroom floor. Breathing hard, we laid besides each other staring at the ceiling.

“Fuck that was good.” Will broke the silence, turning his head to look at me smiling brilliantly.

I turned to meet his eyes, giggling as the bliss induced fog cleared my brain and I registered his simple statement. “Maybe I should get my hair cut more often.”




***************************************************************

A/N: For those of you who have read the book, I was going to try to think up something different for a punishment, but I ended up going with the tar since it sets up something that will happen in the next chapter nicely. I couldn't bring myself to use the same method of removing it as they did in the book so I researched some other way to remove tar. According to many internet sites, cooking oil, tea tree oil etc does in fact remove tar from skin and hair. Just a little helpful household tip for you.

CHAPTER 48

In the first weeks after my punishment, I took to wearing a cotton turban that I had made out of an old t-shirt around my head in order to help reduce the scarring on my scalp. I even made it so some material wrapped around my neck; it helped with the scars left there, but it was really to conveniently hide the large purple hickey Will had left on my neck from Dru and the twins. Will would apply some balm on the skin first thing in the morning after my shower, and then again before I went to bed. In a couple of weeks, the angry red welts were reduced to slight discolorations.

Dawn and Connor loved my new haircut, Dawn declaring it very cute. Upon seeing my shorter hair for the first time without the turban, Dru flashed one of her menacing grins in my direction and asked condescendingly, “Did you do something different with your hair, Elizabeth? It suits you, though I admit I was hoping for something a little shorter.” She let out a little maniacal laugh when she saw the look of contempt on Will’s face at her callousness. “Be careful, William, or you may end up with an appointment with your sister’s hairdresser.” I put my hand on Will’s arm in order to still him while she left the room, knowing she was just trying to goad him into reacting.

During that time, William and I had also taken another trip out into the main house, not bothering to stop at any of the rooms we previously went into. Going directly to the doors after mother’s bedroom, we explored the other half of the second floor. The second trip was highly uneventful. We didn’t run into anybody and the rooms were really of no importance. There were a couple more guest bedrooms, a sewing room and another bathroom, all of which looked like they hadn’t been used in some time.

The most interesting room we found looked like a mini doctor’s office with additional equipment for a person who needed physical therapy. There were parallel bars in the middle of the room, some mats on the floor, a wheelchair folded up against the wall, and one of those beds that you lay on while the doctor does your check up. We wondered if this was perhaps where Grandfather’s physician saw him when he did house calls. Because of the wheelchair, it seemed like a sign that Ethan’s condition had worsened, possibly becoming much weaker due to the spread of his cancer or maybe even suffering from some other affliction, like a stroke.

As the days got closer to Halloween, we began to focus on getting our costumes and the night’s events ready. Since it wasn’t a surprise this year for the twins, they took a much more active role in their costumes and begged for a haunted house. Deciding it would be a ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ themed occasion, each of us was going as our character from Will’s stories - Connor was dressing up as a werewolf, Dawn a witch, William as the vampire better known as Spike and myself as the slayer.

Scouring the attic for items to use for our costumes one afternoon, Connor became aggravated at the lack of any lupine paraphernalia. “Aargh, I’m never going to be able to be a werewolf. There’s nothing here that will work.” He sat down roughly in one of the chairs, crossing his arms in a huff while pouting.

“Don’t worry, Connor. We’ll find something,” Will said while coming to stand in front of him. “There’s a wardrobe way in the corner that we haven’t looked through yet. Maybe something will be in there.” Will held out his hand for Connor to take and then he led him over to the untouched wardrobe.

While the boys went on their search, Dawn and I finished up our costumes since they were not very elaborate. We found a long black flowing dress that we cinched at the waist with a black belt and shredded the sleeves for Dawn’s witch outfit. For accessories, we took a pair of black tights and painted them with white stripes, cut an old cardboard box in strips and tied them to a small wooden pole for a broom, and found a wide-brimmed black hat that we made conical at the top with some black construction paper. Add in some face paint and Dawn would be looking pretty good.

For me, I had to imagine what a slayer would wear to hunt vampires. Making things extremely easy, I decided it would be something practical so I went with a pair of jeans and a tank top. Will had complained that I wasn’t getting into the full essence of the slayer. In order to appease him, I took some odd shaped bottles, filled them with water and made ‘Holy Water’ labels with skull and crossbones on them. I found an ornate silver cross to wear and snapped the legs off a broken chair to represent some stakes. He shrugged at my additional items, still not completely satisfied - but he did acknowledge it was getting better.

“Look!” Connor came running over excitedly to where we sat. “Look what we found. Can you help me make my costume with this, Elizabeth?” He held a brown fur coat outstretched in his arms.

I couldn’t help but smile at his renewed enthusiasm. “Well, I guess your search was a success.” I took the coat from his arms and studied the item, glancing quickly at Will who had a smirk on his face. “I think we could do something with this. If we cut off some pieces, we could attach them so they come out of your sleeves and collar - put some coming out at the end of your jeans. We could make you some mutton chops and put some paint on your face. It would be like you’re not fully transformed yet.”

“Yeah, that would be cool.” Connor was nodding his head at everything I said. “I’ll go get a shirt and my pants.” He started running to collect said items, but then stopped abruptly and turned back. “Which shirt should I wear?”

Dawn rolled her eyes and sighed. I could almost hear the word ‘boys’ running through her head. “Come on, I’ll help you pick one out. We need to find a button-up so Beth can put some fur coming out of the chest too.” Leaving her costume behind, she scampered off with her twin to find the perfect shirt.

“Why do you have that shit-eating grin on your face?” I asked, realizing Will had been silently smirking through my whole exchange with the twins.

“Look what else we found.” Will took a pair of black leather pants out from behind his back.

“So.”

“So?” Will said flabbergasted by my response. “So? I have just found you the perfect addition to your Halloween costume. The slayer does not wear jeans on the hunt, she wears leather. She’s a bad ass. These scream bad ass!”

“I guess.” I shrugged, taking the pants from him and checking the size. Well, they would definitely fit, so I couldn’t use that as an excuse.

“You guess.” Will shook his head. “Well, I know. I created her…”

“Based on me,” I mumbled under my breath, interrupting him.

Will just continued as if I said nothing, although I knew he’d heard me from the slight tick in his jaw and the added emphasis on his previously said words, “I created her, and trust me, she wears leather. You can still wear the tank top though. Make it red and it will be perfect. Very sexy.”

“And who exactly is the slayer trying to be sexy for in the middle of a dark cemetery while fighting for her life?”

“The vampires, of course. The sight of her in leather draws them to her and then, BAM, stake through the heart while they are too busy checking out her ass in the tight pants.”

“You’ve suddenly turned this feminine role-model into a ‘Maxim’ pin-up girl,” I admonished, shaking my head.

“There’s nothing that says you can’t be sexy and powerful at the same time. Women have been known to use their feminine charms to get what they want for ages.”

I went to say something to refute this, but he stopped me by placing his finger on my lips. “Don’t try to deny it; I’ve been one of your victims plenty of times.” He removed his finger from my lips when he saw my chest deflate in defeat and brought his mouth close to mine. “Besides, I think Spike would like fighting with the slayer in those. Tight leather defining her strong legs, chest heaving, clutching a stake in her hand after a kill - definitely sexy.” He licked his lips and stared down at my mouth, lulling me into a slow passionate kiss.

When he pulled away, my resistance to the pants had dissolved quite easily. “Fine, I’ll wear them, but I’m going to do something to make your costume better too.” I sucked his lower lip gently into my mouth.

Moaning, he asked, “Mmm, what’s that?”

“You’ll see. Meet me in the bathroom after the twins go to bed.”

“You’re not even going to give me a little hint?” Will asked, drawing another kiss out of me.

“Nope,” I replied, pulling away from his lips while patting his head. “Not a clue.” I got up and walked away, giving him one last mischievous look over my shoulder before disappearing from his view.

*********************************************************************

Later that night, William met me in the bathroom as I’d requested. “What’s all this?” he asked upon seeing the desk chair sitting in front of the sink along with a towel, a shower cap, some rubber gloves and some bottles filled with unknown liquids.

I held up a box for him to see and he snorted. “Hair color? What the hell do you think you are going to do with that?”

“I’m bleaching your hair. You said I could do whatever I wanted to it when you had to cut my hair. Now, I’m taking you up on the offer.”

“Hell, no. I meant cut it, not color it. I’m not a sissy.” Will started to turn around, but I grabbed him by the elbow before he could get very far.

“Oh, please. Guys color their hair. What about Eminem? He bleaches his hair. “ Since he was still shaking his head no, I pulled out the pout. “Come on. I had to unwillingly cut mine and you promised then. Besides, I don’t think you’ve gotten the full essence of Spike,” I sarcastically echoed his words about me and the slayer. “Spike is a bad ass, a rebel. He would definitely have bleached hair. It just screams ‘all eyes on me.’ Plus, I think you’ll look very sexy. Think about how good it will look with the leather duster.” I ran my hands through his hair and down his chest seductively to emphasize my point.

As my hands reached behind him to squeeze his bottom, bringing his body to grind against mine, he relented. “Grr, fine. But if it doesn’t look good, we’re changing it back.”

I started jumping up and down, clapping. He rolled his eyes before giving me a quick kiss. “You better know what you’re doing.” Removing his shirt, he sat down in the chair ready for his makeover.

“This is going to be great!” I said excitedly.

Deciding that his hair needed to be shorter first, I began trimming away the longer hair curling at his neck. As I cut, I began a long commentary on the backstory for Spike. “Ooh, you can make it so that he once met Billy Idol before he became famous. Spike was going to kill him, but then heard some of his music and liked it, so he let him go. Then, years later, Spike happened to be watching MTV in a bar or something and he got mad because he realized the singer stole his look.” I started laughing at my new theory.

“So why would Spike still be dressing the same way twenty years later?” Will asked.

“That’s easy. Because vampires are in a state of arrested development. Once Spike found a genre that he liked, he stuck with it. No need to change anymore. Maybe he donned a flannel or two in the days of Grunge, but for the most part he likes 70’s punk.”

“You’re insane. Do you know that?”

“Me? Please, you’re the one who came up with this whole alternate universe. If anyone is insane, it’s you. I’m just along for the ride.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and then put his head under the water again. “Okay, the cut is done. Now, I just need to put the peroxide in your hair.” Putting on the rubber gloves and picking up the bottle of hair color, I started to mix the coloring solution into his hair. Once I had the solution properly covering all of his hair, I put the shower cap on to let it set.

“Shit, this stuff fucking burns.” Will brought his hand up to adjust the cap, but I slapped them away.

“Stop it. You’ll ruin it.” I began washing the sink area and my hands of the chemical.

“How long do I have to keep this on?” he asked while squirming in the chair.

“Fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on how blond I want your hair to be.” When he groaned at my answer, I went to straddle his lap. “I could do something to take your mind off of it.”

Lifting an eyebrow, his voice was seductively playful. “Yeah? What do you have in mind?”

I smiled at him before sliding down his body. On my knees before him, I shimmied into the vee between his thighs. “Lift up.”

He lifted his hips off the chair and I slid his sweats down around his calves. Slowly, I began stroking his partially stiff cock to hardness. Once it was fully erect, I took him into my mouth and began bobbing up and down along his length. “Mmm, feels so good.”

As I got into a rhythm, I thought back to our first time doing this. I was so nervous then - even though I shouldn’t have been. In my mind, I laughed thinking back to how I gagged when he jerked his hips unexpectedly. Since then, I had gotten much better at giving head. They say practice makes perfect and I practiced a lot. I felt so comfortable with Will that I would ask him all kinds of questions about what felt good and the way he liked certain actions. I knew exactly which spot to lick along his cock to make his body quiver; I knew precisely how much pressure he liked when I squeezed his balls.

And I learned to deep throat. Relaxing my throat muscles, I took him all the way in until I could feel the tip of his cock at the back of my throat and then went a little further, holding him there for a second before I swallowed.

“Fuck!” Will’s hands grabbed onto the sides of the chair at the suctioning action around his cock. “I love it when you do that, Buffy.”

I smiled at his words as I slowly came back up and then repeated the process over again a couple more times. As he babbled his incoherent thoughts of pleasure, something that always turned me on, I felt the juices start to flow between my legs. I knew some girls didn’t like giving blow jobs, but I always felt powerful when I did this to Will. I controlled his orgasm and he couldn’t do anything about it, which made me wet with satisfaction.

Glancing quickly at my watch, I saw that we still had another five or ten minutes before it was time to rinse out the hair color. That would be plenty of time for a quickie. I removed his member from my mouth, causing his head to jerk up in question.

“Don’t worry,” I said, standing before him as I removed my panties from beneath my nightgown. “You’ll still get to come.” I straddled his hips and maneuvered him to my aroused entrance. “I just want to come too.” I winked at him as I sank down onto his hard cock, making him hiss as he became surrounded by my warmth.

His hands landed on my knees and slowly worked their way firmly up my thighs to my waist. “Does sucking my cock get you hot?” He slammed my hips down against his body while thrusting up into me.

“Oh,” escaped my lips unbidden as my head tilted back.

“Say it, Buffy. Say you get hot sucking my cock.” His voice demanded my compliance and he knew I couldn’t deny his words.

“Ahh, I get hot sucking your cock.” I rose up slowly while clenching my inner muscles together, making a very tight fit around his shaft. “It makes me so fucking wet.”

“Uh, shit. Look at me, Buffy.”

Stilling my body with him still imbedded deep inside me, I lifted my head up and opened my eyes. As soon as I looked at Will’s head, I started laughing hysterically.

“What? What’s so funny?” I could see the wounded look in his eye at my laughter.

“It’s just that I forgot you were wearing the shower cap. You look funny.”

“Jesus, Buffy. Get off me.” Will stood up angrily, dumping me on the bathroom floor. “I’m taking this shit out of my hair.” He ripped off the cap and stomped over to the shower, starting it up before stepping inside.

Sitting alone on the bathroom floor, I realized it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to start laughing at someone while you’re having sex with them. I stared at the shadowy naked form behind the thin white shower curtain and knew I needed to fix this.

What I needed was a plan.

CHAPTER 49

Getting up from the bathroom floor, I took off my nightgown and grabbed the small bottle of conditioner that came with the coloring kit. “Spike,” I knocked gently on the door. “Come on, don’t be like this.” When I didn’t get a response, I opened the shower door and stepped inside in front of him.

He was standing with his eyes closed, head tilted under the water to rinse out the color. Water dripped down his chiseled chest as he stood proud and naked. He looked damn sexy all wet and I wondered why we hadn’t showered together sooner under better circumstances.

“Come on, Spike.” I ran my fingers down his chest to his abdomen following one of the droplets of water. “You need to put this in too.”

His eyes finally met mine and I could still see the hurt and anger in their blue depths. “Give it to me, I’ll do it.” He held out an open palm for the bottle.

“No, I’m doing it. I started this, I’m finishing it. Now, turn around.”

I saw his jaw tick as he shook his head, huffing. “Fine.”

Squirting some conditioner into my palm, I started to massage it into Will’s hair. Softly, I started to explain myself in hopes that he would excuse my earlier actions. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just taken by surprise.”

“Save your excuses. How would you like it if I just started laughing at you in the middle of having sex? I’ll tell you, you wouldn’t.” His hands were pumping into little fists. “God, you made me feel so stupid.”

“But, it wasn’t you,” I pleaded, trying to make him see it meant nothing. “It was me. I just forgot that you were wearing the shower cap. You didn’t do anything stupid, I did. It didn’t mean anything.” I rinsed his hair and then turned him around to face me. “Let me make it up to you. Let me finish what I started earlier.” My hand meandered down his body until it reached his now limp penis.

“Stop it.” He took a hold of my wrist to stop my stroking. “You can’t just blow me and make it better. It’s not that easy.”

My gaze was downcast to hide the shame I felt knowing that was what he thought of me, knowing that’s what I was sort of hoping. Although his words hurt me, I knew he said them because of his own self-consciousness, his own damaged ego. Spike was a confident master vampire, but William was just an insecure teenager with modest experience with the opposite sex. I wanted to call him William and reassure him that he was wonderful the way he was and that he didn’t need to hide behind this other persona, but I couldn’t. After all, I was his sister, and I wasn’t supposed to know whether or not he was a great lay.

“I don’t think that. I think you’re perfect.” Bringing my eyes up to meet his, I bared more of my feelings for him than I should have. “I love everything that you do to me, everything that we do with each other. You can make me hot with a look, or the sound of your voice.” I touched his cheek. “I didn’t laugh because of anything you did, but because I’m comfortable with you. What we do together shouldn’t be stuffy or intimidating, and it isn’t. With you it’s fun and relaxed and exciting because I trust you, completely.” I looked at him in earnest to make sure that he knew I meant what I was saying. “I don’t hold back any of myself when I’m with you.”

He stared at me in silence for a while, thinking about my words before asking, “You mean it?”

Giving him a gentle smile, I replied. “Of course, I do. I would never lie to you.”

“Okay, then.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me in close against his wet body for a tight hug, forgiving me as easily as that. I kissed him passionately in order to reinforce the words I had just spoken. He turned us around and then pulled away playfully. “Now, you can get back to what you started earlier.” Putting his hand on my head, he pushed me down so I was level with his hardened member as he settled himself in a comfortable position against the shower wall.

Looking up at his smirking face, I once again took him into my mouth. I worked the vein on the underside of his erection over with my tongue until he was babbling once again. I ran my hands over his thighs, stomach and ass loving the slippery feel of the water against his skin. Abandoning his cock, I moved down to his balls, taking one, then the other into my mouth to gently suck on them. Noticing the bath gel sitting on the lower shelf, I grabbed the bottle and squirted some into my hand without breaking my stride. Moving back up, I engulfed his manhood in my mouth again while I massaged his balls with my soapy hands. Feeling as though I needed to do something extra to make up for our earlier confrontation, one of my hands made a lazy journey to his back entrance. After teasing him for a little bit by going back and forth over the surface of the tight hole, I took him in deep to the back of my throat while applying a tiny bit of pressure into the forbidden area.

Body stiffening, his breath hitched at the slight invasion, but he didn’t tell me to stop. Looking at his face to make sure I wasn’t hurting him, I repeated the action of bringing him most of the way into my mouth while slowly working my soapy finger a little further into his body.

“Uh,” Will grunted as he grabbed my hair to steady his weakened legs. “Do it. I want you to.” His eyes met mine when he begged, “please.”

Hearing his plea, I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to. Driving my finger past the barrier, I brought his cock to the back of my throat as deep as it would go. Will exploded immediately, his cum lathing the inside of my mouth as I continued to pump my finger between his pulsating walls. “Fuck, fuck, shit.” Hitting his head lightly at the wall, he groaned as his hot semen kept spurting into my mouth from his prolonged climax - so much so that I had to continuously swallow to keep it from escaping my lips.

I felt his body go lax as his orgasm subsided. Freeing myself from him, I looked at him while I wiped my mouth. His eyes were closed and his chest was heaving as he slid down the bathroom wall. When I stood up to wash the soap off my body, he opened his eyes again to smile at me. “Come down here and bring the shower head with you.” His voice sounded as if all his energy had been drained from his body.

However exhausted he seemed, I wasn’t going to deny his request. “What setting should I put it on?” I asked mischievously as I unhooked the contraption from the wall.

“Whichever one you like best. Now, come here.” He reached up and grabbed my waist, bringing me down in front of him and spraying water everywhere. “Give me this and turn around. I want to taste you.”

Handing him the shower head, I positioned myself so that I was reclining on his outstretched legs. Pulling me up so his mouth could reach my pussy, he began devouring the feast between my thighs. Licking along my coated walls before stabbing my opening with his tongue, he positioned the shower head so that a steady stream of water attacked my clit as he lapped in and out of my entrance. I came almost immediately, but he didn’t stop. Intoxicated by the dual pleasure of his ministrations and the water, I came again quickly.

After my second orgasm, he shifted everything down. Putting the nozzle right over my sodden opening, his tongue began to stab into the puckered hole between my cheeks. This was something new, he had never done this before and the sensation of it drove ripples of pleasure through my whole body. Relenting for a second, he adjusted the setting on the shower head so that the water pulsed in a forceful rush into my center, and then he timed the rhythm of his tongue at my back entrance to that of the water.

Disjointed words tumbled from my lips in a continuous stream of gratification. “Ohhhhhhhhh, Spike…ohhh God, I’m gonna…fuck!” I gulped in air, trying to catch my breath. ”Fuck…ohhhh, coming again. What are you doing to me?” My head shook at the rhetorical question and my body began to quake again as a third orgasm washed over me. Will removed the shower head from its place between my thighs and began to lap at my expended juices. Spasming at the incessant attention that my pussy was receiving, I finally had to beg for him to stop. “Please, it’s too much.” Another spasm. “Can’t take anymore.”

Realizing that I really was spent, Will released my body from his grasp. He disentangled our limbs and stood up slowly to replace the showerhead into the proper place on the wall. Maneuvering himself around me, he came back down to sit at the bottom of the shower against the wall and dragged me up so my back lay against his chest. The water from the shower beat gently against our bodies as Will stroked my stomach.

“That felt so good, Buffy. What you did to me earlier, it felt incredible. I’ve never come so hard in my life.” He kissed a soft trail along my neck as I just relaxed in his arms, my body too satiated to do anything but stay comfortably against my lover. “And I want you to know how much I appreciate what you said before. I don’t want you to hold back; I don’t want to hold back. Before we came here, if you’d asked me if I wanted to do half the stuff we do together, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. But with you, everything feels so right, so perfect. I want to experience everything with you, Buffy. I want…” His words trailed off as he buried his head in the crook of my neck, tightening the grip he had around my waist.

I felt his body shake and I realized that he was crying. “Hey, what’s wrong? What do you want?” I didn’t know what had happened to make him start his quiet sobbing. One minute he was fine, and then he just wasn’t. I didn’t understand. “Are you okay?”

He took a deep breath and let it out against my skin. “Yeah, sorry, it’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?” I asked again, my voice clearly laced with concern for my brother.

“Yeah, I’m just being stupid.” He began extracting my body from his, “Can you stand up? Let me wash you off.”

“Oh, okay.” I still wasn’t sure if everything was alright with him, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to tell me what was wrong. He wasn’t crying anymore, and he was already reaching for the body wash.

Will poured the gel into his hands and slowly cleaned my whole body. His hands caressed over my wet, slippery skin. Massaging my breasts, before working his way down my stomach to my mound, he was extra gentle washing me, knowing it was still sensitive from earlier. Turning me around, he glided over my back until he came to my ass. Squeezing the firm globes of my buttocks before sliding between my cheeks, he thoroughly washed my puckered hole as he whispered in my ear, “I want to put my cock here. Will you let me?”

I moaned at the sound of his voice when he asked the seductive question, his fingers stroking along the sensitized hole. I wanted to give in to his request, but he didn’t know that I had my own plans for that particular act. “Yes, but not now.”

“But someday?” he asked, poking a little bit inside.

“Definitely, someday.” There was no way I wasn’t going to let him do that to me. If his finger felt as good as it did, I could only imagine how pleasurable his hard cock would feel.

Satisfied with my answer, he rinsed me off and then changed our positions so he was under the water stream. “You gonna wash me off?” he asked with a smirk.

“I think that could be arranged.” I smiled back at him, taking the body wash from the shelf. My hands repeated the actions that he’d used on me of slowly massaging his body. When I came to his cock and balls, I did a very thorough job of washing every bit of skin.

“Naughty girl, you got me hard again,” Will said, looking down at my hand stroking his fully erect cock.

“I guess I did. What are you going to do about it?” I shrugged defiantly.

He laughed as he grabbed my arms and hauled me against the wall. Lifting my leg so it nestled against his hip, he bent slightly at the knees to line up his protruding shaft with my entrance. “This!” he exclaimed as he slid home into my waiting cunt. Groaning when he reached the hilt, he began to move inside me. “As much as I love the other stuff we do, nothing compares to being inside this pussy. No place I’d rather be.”

“Oh God, yeah.” I gripped at his shoulders as he thrust up into me. “Love your cock filling me. Feels so good.”

After my declaration, his lips met mine in a fiery kiss as he slowed the tempo of our bodies to a gentler pace. Bringing my hand against the wall above my head to hold in his, he rested his forehead against mine and whispered words of wanting as the languid rolling of his hips brought us steadily to our peak. My grip tightened on his hand as I cried out when my fourth orgasm of the night raced through my body. Knowing he was close to coming, I voiced my desires, “I don’t want you to pull out.”

“Don’t say that. If you say it, I’ll get weak and listen to you. You know I have to.” He was breathing hard now, his orgasm imminent.

“I know, but I don’t want you to. I want to feel you pulsing inside me, want to feel your cum dripping down my thighs.”

“Shit, Buffy.” He pulled out so fast I could tell it was my words that caused him to come sooner than he expected. Will brought our bodies in close in order to rub his shaft along my skin as he came, his spending covering our stomachs. When his orgasm subsided, he brought our joined hands down to his mouth and kissed the back of mine while stepping under the shower spray. “Don’t do things like that. You know you make me lose all self-control.”

I giggled as I watched him clean the cum off his body.

“Rinse off. I’m getting out; the water’s cold and our skin started to prune a long time ago.” He gave me a quick kiss before stepping out into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, I got out of the shower and stopped short at the sight presented before me. Will was standing in front of the mirror, a towel swathed around his hips, checking out his new hair. I had sort of forgotten about the dye job I had given him earlier - what with the fighting and then all the sex - but now it was staring me in the face. And he looked sexy - damn sexy.

“Wow, you look fucking hot.” The words tumbled unabashed from my lips.

“Do I now?” He turned around with that infuriating smirk stuck on his face.

“Yeah, look at you. The haircut emphasizes your cheekbones and those gorgeous blue eyes of yours are barely ever hidden behind your glasses anymore. You’ve got sexy washboard abs that make me want to just lick you all over.” His eyebrow arched up at that sentiment, but I just continued on with my accolades. “And now with the bleach blond hair, it looks like you really could have gotten that scar above your eye from a bar fight. You look like the ultimate bad boy. I’m impressed with my handy work. What do you think?”

He turned back to the mirror and ran his hand through his hair. “I like it, makes me feel all manly.” His other hand rubbed along his abs as his tongue curled against his teeth. He fashioned his lips in a snarl a la Billy Idol in the mirror.

Jesus, did he look hot. A gush of liquid pooled between my legs. “You just made me wet all over again.”

With an evil glint in his eye, he turned back around to look at me. “I spent all that time cleaning you up, and you’re still a dirty little girl.” He stalked closer to me as if I were his prey. “Do I need to spank you to get those impure thoughts out of your head?”

I whimpered at the thought. “Will you wear the duster? Just the duster?” In my head, I could already see a picture of him wrapped in nothing but leather as I knelt on all fours in front of him awaiting my punishment.

Chuckling at my easy submission to his reprimand, Will grabbed my hips, bringing me flush against his body. “You really are a dirty girl.” He kissed me hungrily, his tongue wrapping around mine in a duel of passion before letting me go. “Not tonight, sweetheart. It’s late. We spent too much time in the shower, but I promise you that ass is mine some other time.” Will took the towel from around his waist, twisted it and whipped it against my bottom before swaggering out of the bathroom in all his naked glory.

Hmm, maybe William wasn’t hiding behind a fictitious persona after all. Maybe Spike had just been waiting to make his appearance from inside William.

CHAPTER 50

William’s new hair color was met with mixed reviews. Dawn and I loved it. I, of course, thought he looked incredibly sexy, and Dawn decided he looked very cool. It took a few days for Connor to warm up to it. At first, he declared it ‘weird’, but then came around to settle on ‘not so bad’.

Grandmother was the one who really hated it. When she first saw it, she snarled at him, “What in God’s name did you do to your hair?”

“Thought I needed a change.” He shrugged in reply. “You don’t like it?” He goaded her, acting as if her opinion mattered.

“No, I don’t. I think it is hideous,” she said in a haughty tone. “You look like a derelict, a street urchin, someone who’s good for nothing.”

“Suits me then, huh?” Will actually winked at her when he made that comment.

Drusilla’s response was an exasperated ‘hmmph’ before she left the room. Every time she saw him afterwards, she would glare menacingly at Will’s head. I wasn’t sure why she was so upset about it, but William reveled in her displeasure.

Will’s new hairstyle also did wonders for his Halloween costume. He wore the leather duster, while trying different ways to wear his hair – slicked back, spiked up, or naturally wavy with a bit of gel. Either way he wore it, Spike looked a whole lot more sinister with the bleached hair. Not to mention hot.

Once again, on Halloween morning, Drusilla forbade us to go into the attic because of the party they were having at the manor. Apparently, the Halloween ball was now an annual event. She told us that an important announcement was going to be made that night, and she didn’t want any sort of disturbance from us to ruin it.

We nodded in agreement, even though we knew we weren’t going to obey her command. Will and I had already planned for something like this, and had found the thick blankets we used last year to cover the windows. Since we were doing the haunted house, only minimal light was needed so candles and lanterns would be sufficient.

For the haunted house, Will and I had set up a maze for the kids to walk through using pieces of furniture. We rigged up different props to pop out at the twins as they walked between dressers, wardrobes, boxes, and other miscellaneous pieces of furniture. I was glad William was smart because there was no way I would have been able to pull this off by myself. Having taken physics as one of his classes in school, he was able to devise a series of pulleys and trip wires using rope, the furniture and the attic rafters. As soon as the twins turned a corner in one spot, their feet would walk into a piece of rope which would then loosen the knot on the leg of a dresser to release a plastic skeleton from the ceiling in front of them.

Dawn and Connor were going to love it.

****************************************************

Much like last year, the twins and I dressed downstairs while Will put the finishing touches on the attic.

Connor looked fantastic as a semi-turned werewolf. As we had discussed, I had sewn pieces of the coat onto his clothes so that fur came out at his wrists, feet, chest and neck. I made mutton chops for his cheeks, and we got him a pair of fangs for added effect. Dawn also looked adorable in her witch costume, and she decided to ditch the broom we had made for a book of spells since that was more in character from Will’s stories. I had poured myself into the leather pants and tucked one of the wooden stakes in the back pocket of my pants and another in my black leather boot. Since I knew Will had wanted me to, I paired the pants with my red tank top and the necklace I found; the cross perfectly nestled in my cleavage. My makeup was done up in excess, with heavy eyeliner around my eyes and bright red lipstick painted on my lips. I wanted to drive him wild.

Costumes complete, Adam once again planned a light dinner, serving us soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The kids were fidgeting half way through the meal and couldn’t wait to go up into the imaginary world that Will and I had created.

When we reached the top of the stairs after dinner, Will - or should I say Spike - was waiting to meet us. A smile graced my lips when I saw Will dressed in all of his glory once again. His body donned the same black shirt and jeans it did last year, only now he looked even sexier since the definition of his muscular body could be detected beneath the cotton. His newly platinum blond hair was slicked back, and this time, I knew he was definitely wearing eye-liner. He reached inside the pocket of the leather duster resting upon his shoulders and brought an unlit ‘cigarette’ up to his lips, which showed off his nails painted with black polish.

“Oi, what you want, Slayer?” Will asked in a fairly decent British accent rather than the terrible Hollywood Dracula voice he tried to do last year. He crossed his arms over his chest while his eyes heatedly looked me up and down, the cigarette precariously dangling from his mouth.

“Spike,” I said, the menacing tone slipping naturally from my lips as I stood up straighter against his gaze. “I need your help. There’s a new demon in town.”

“Should be a little nicer then, shouldn’t you, pet?” He raised his scarred eyebrow, tilting his head as he brought the cigarette down to his side. His eyes never left mine.

“Do I have to remind you who’s in charge here? I can kick your ass from here to next Sunday with that chip in your head. So are you going to help, or do I have to introduce you to my friend, Mr. Pointy?” I whipped the stake out from behind my back and held it up to his chest in front of his heart.

“No need to get testy, love.” He held his hands up in surrender. “You know I’m always at your service.” He winked and smiled the sweetest of smiles.

The twins watched this exchange between us in silent fascination. They had no idea that we had rehearsed this little conversation the night before. We wanted them to really get into the characters of the Slayerverse, so Will and I came up with the scenario of Buffy coming to Spike for help with a new demon in town. Of course, that would lead us to investigate the abandoned house up the road which is how they would get to our haunted house.

He swept his arm to the side in a ‘well, get on with it’ gesture, and I walked over towards the table where we had set up different activities. “So you brought the witch and the werewolf with you too, huh?” Will nodded at Dawn and Connor as they followed me over to the table. “Must be a pretty big nasty if you’re using all the troops.”

“Just show me the map of the town so we can start our research.” I pulled the chair out roughly from the table and sat down. “And the sooner I can get away from your annoying self,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Your endearments touch me so, love.” I looked up as if startled that he heard me. “Vampire hearing, pet. You should watch what comes out of that mouth of yours. Never know what I might hear,” Will teased as he unrolled an elaborate map we had made of our version of Sunnydale and laid it on the table before us. The twins let out small gasps of awe as they looked at the detailed town we had created. “Right then, let’s get started,” Will said and began pointing out different areas on the map.

Although the twins hadn’t spoken since we entered the attic, once Will and I started looking at the map they got into character, joining in on the conversation. We had made little puzzles that needed to be solved in order to figure out where on the map the demon was hiding, and the twins were excited to try to solve them. Will had made a book of demons with drawings and descriptions of each one. Dawn and Connor poured over it trying to figure out which was the correct demon that had been attacking the town from my description of the slayer’s one encounter with it on her nightly patrol. While Will worked on the demon book, I had created a book of spells and weapons with ways to defeat each of the demons described in his book. Once the twins figured out which demon we were dealing with, they had to go to the spell book to discover how to banish it. We created the ultimate role-playing game.

“Ha, we’ve got it!” Connor said excitedly as he put the spell book down next to the open demon book. “It’s a Fyarl demon, and we need to kill it using something silver.”

“Where’s it at?” Will asked.

“Here,” Dawn pointed to a section of the map. “It’s in the abandoned house at the back of Shady Hill Cemetery.”

“Good job, guys.” I gave them congratulatory pats on the back, leaving them glowing that they concluded correctly, before turning to Will. “Spike, do you have anything silver in your crypt?”

“Yeah, hold on a minute.” Will went over to another table, grabbed some objects, and came back to lay them out in front of us. There was a fork, a butter knife, a letter opener, and a ball point pen.

I picked up the letter opener. “This is it? What the heck am I supposed to do with any of this?”

Will shrugged his shoulders. “It’s all I got. Just shove them in the demon’s eye or something.”

“Fine. They will have to do. Let’s go.”

Everyone else grabbed one of the remaining objects, and we all followed Will through the attic towards our haunted house. Will and I had made gravestones out of boxes before the entrance to make it seem like it was in a cemetery. As we approached the entrance, Spike pointed it out.” There it is. I’m going to go around back and check it out.”

I nodded my head in agreement, knowing he was going to get into position for his part in the scare tactics. “Ok, you guys go in this way. I’m going to head over to the side of the house, see if I can find it.”

Dawn turned to me with wide-eyes. “You’re not going in with us?”

“Uh, uh. It will be easier if we split up. Do you remember what the demon looks like?” I asked the twins.

“Yes. Big, with horns,” Connor replied.

“Okay, good. Just remember, if you see it, you can call me or just shove your silver weapon into its body somewhere.” Connor and Dawn looked down at the fork and pen they were carrying with doubt that these household objects would do anything to protect them. “I’ll see you soon.” I ran off in the opposite direction from where Spike went, leaving the kids arguing about who was going to go in first.

I knew that Will was already where he needed to be, which was on top of one of the high wardrobes. He was to throw some netting over them when they turned the first corner, and when I heard the first scream, I knew he had just been undeniably successful. Hurrying now, I put on the white elbow gloves that we had drawn on to make my arms look veiny and bloody, stretched out on the floor and shimmied underneath a dresser. Once they escaped from the netting, they would encounter the falling skeleton. The second scream I heard would be my cue to get ready to grab their ankles when they passed by.

Upon hearing the second set of screams, I stretched out a little bit more in preparation to grab. Connor’s feet were the first ones I saw, and as he stepped right in front of the dresser, I wrapped my fingers around his ankle and gave a hard tug, stopping him in his tracks. He looked down to see the grotesque arm grabbing him and screamed again, which must have alerted Dawn because that’s when her scream started. I grabbed her ankle then too. After shaking them a bit, I let go and they hurried past me to the next section of the maze.

I ran down to the last wardrobe in the maze. This was where the big finale was to take place; where they would find the Fyarl demon. I got the stick out of the wardrobe and waited for Will. From the sound of Will’s evil laughter, I knew he just sprayed them with silly string over the top of one of the dressers. A few seconds later, Will came jogging from the other side.

“I got them good.” He winked before giving me a quick kiss. I smiled giddily, handing him the stick I was holding before I shoved him playfully into the wardrobe and shut the door.

The twins had a couple more twists and turns to go before they got here, so I positioned myself behind the wardrobe and waited. Another scream from Dawn meant they had just passed the hanging man, and I knew they encountered the swinging ghosts when a series of screams could be heard a minute later. That meant they should have been rounding the corner any minute.

We set up a mirror to the side so I could see when they reached a certain point, which was marked with tape on the floor. As soon as they hit it, I knocked on the back of the wardrobe for Will to hear. The wardrobe doors burst open, and Will lifted the stick, revealing a Fyarl demon made of papier-mâché attached to the end of it. Will growled.

Both twins screamed again, frozen in horror. I popped out from the side and with a yell, stabbed the letter opener into the demon’s heart. Will lowered the stick, making it look like the demon was slowly falling, while making ghastly dying noises.

When the replica was dead on the floor, Will stepped out of the wardrobe and looked between the demon and me. “Well, good on us.”

“Thanks for the help. Not,” I said about the vampire’s non-appearance in the take down.

“Hey, who do you think chased it in this direction?” Will rebutted.

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away.

“I helped, Slayer!” Will called after me, following me over to the story area.

Dawn and Connor stood staring between the demon and me and Will, speechless again.

**************************************************************

When the twins finally came out of their daze, they joined Will and me over by the mattresses where he told them the very first slayer story of Buffy and The Gentlemen. Now, many stories and much lore later, we sat to listen to another Halloween tale while munching on some candy. Will started the scary music tape that he played last time and began his story, titled “Fear, Itself.”

The twins and I sat in rapt attention while Will set up the story. Dawn, Connor and Buffy were spending Halloween at a party at Cordelia’s house. Earlier in the day, Cordelia, Devon and Amy were setting up the decorations for the party. Devon had just finished up drawing a pentagram from one of the books from the library onto her basement floor, when Cordelia cut herself while hanging some orange streamers. Nobody noticed the ripple run over the symbol as her blood hit the floor, turning the plastic spiders into real ones.

When everyone arrived at the house, weird things had already started happening, like the peeled grapes used to represent eyeballs had changed into real eyeballs. Will did a really good job of using some of the activities we did last year, as well as some of the props in this year’s haunted house as plot points in the story. He even described Buffy dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, just like my costume last year.

As the three of them walked through the house, doors and walls began to shift and change. It was like they were walking in a circle, never getting to where the party was taking place. Finally, they conceded that they were lost and Dawn wanted to do a guiding spell. Buffy wasn’t too keen on that since a lot of times the witch’s spells didn’t work out perfectly. Dawn went off in a huff with Connor following her.

Connor had caught up with Dawn, but he was having his own problems. Suddenly, he began to transform into his werewolf side despite there not being a full moon. Afraid of hurting Dawn since he wasn’t locked in the cage at the library, he ran away from her and found the bathroom. There, he huddled in the bathtub trying to will himself not to fully transform and let the beast take him over.

With the loss of Connor, Dawn decided to do the guiding spell anyway. This also led to disaster. Her one guiding light suddenly became hundreds and started to swarm around her, attacking her head.

Buffy could hear her screaming, but couldn’t do anything about it. She was trapped alone in a room unable to help. All of a sudden, she fell through the floor into the basement where a strange disembodied voice taunted her about being all alone. ‘But not anymore’, the voice said as dead bodies began coming up from the dirt floor. Even the dead taunted her as she fought for her life.

Little did they know that a bored Spike had tried to join the party, only to be deterred by not being able to find any open doors or windows. Knowing that something mystical was going on inside the house, he went to get Merrick. Returning with the watcher, they created a door which shattered some of the spell.

Dawn, Connor and Buffy found themselves back together in the room where the pentagram was drawn on the floor. Dawn saw the library book and began to translate the wording beneath the symbol, seeing that a demon was trying to release itself. It was gaining power by feeding on their fears.

The walls began shaking, and Merrick and Spike broke through the wall with a chainsaw. Merrick immediately took over, grabbing the book from Dawn and translating more. The demon was named Gachnar, which was one that Will had included in the demon book used earlier in our game.

Buffy wanted to know how to stop it before it manifested, and Merrick began to read, ‘destroying the mark.’ As soon as the words were spoken, Buffy punched a hole in the middle of the symbol. ‘Is not one of the ways to stop it and will, in fact, raise the demon immediately,’ Merrick finished the sentence, looking exasperated with Buffy.

Pulsating light began to stream out of the hole in the rumbling floor. An ugly demon rose from the middle of the chaos. ‘I am the dark lord of nightmares! The bringer of terror! Tremble before me! Fear me!’ A tiny voice emitted from the demon, who stood only half a foot tall.

‘That’s it?’ Spike asked, a little disappointed that there wouldn’t be a fight.

‘Tremble!’ the little demon repeated when he didn’t get the response he wanted the first time. ‘They will all abandon you,’ he spoke to Buffy, revealing her fear from earlier.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ she replied, squashing him under her foot like an annoying bug.

The three of us began clapping exuberantly as Will signified the end of the story.

“Thank you so much.” Dawn got up to go hug William and then came over to give me the same treatment. “I think this was even better than last year.” She was beaming in delight, and Connor was nodding his head in agreement.

CHAPTER 51

Once the kids went to bed, Will and I headed back up to the attic. We were sharing our second bottle of wine while sitting on the windowsill, watching the people come and go from the party. The crowd was much the same as last year – rich, high society, with no care in the world except for what made them happy.

We saw grandmother, dressed as a nurse, saying goodbye to some of the older guests. I thought it was funny how she always chose to dress as something characteristically good, despite the fact that she was one of the most evil women I had ever met. Suddenly, it seemed very important to get Will’s opinion.

“Did you ever notice that Dru keeps dressing as something that symbolizes goodness for Halloween, even though she’s clearly evil? Do you think it’s because she dresses as the opposite of what she really is for one night out of the year?”

A snorted laugh came from behind me, and Will’s movements made me sit up from against his chest. “Jesus, Elizabeth, don’t make me laugh while I’m drinking. I think I got wine up my nose,” Will said as he handed me the bottle so that he could wipe his spilled drink from his face.

“Well, I didn’t think it was that funny. I was just curious.” I leaned back against Will after he got himself together.

“I think she wants to portray herself as good to the community. She’s afraid that if people knew what was really going on in this house, they would condemn her as the abusive bitch that she is.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I could definitely see other people’s opinions mattering a lot to her. Perception is reality and all that junk.” What Will had said about grandmother being afraid reminded me of the story he read earlier in the evening. “Will, do you really think I’m afraid of being alone?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“In the story earlier, you made Buffy have abandonment issues. Do you really see me like that?” I grabbed the bottle from him, taking a large gulp. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear his answer.

“Not at all, Elizabeth,” he assured me, and then added softly, “They’re mine.”

He was so quiet I knew he didn’t want me to really hear it, but now I was curious. “What do you mean?”

“All of the fears in the story, they’re mine.” Now, it was his turn to take the wine from me and drink deeply before continuing. “Dawn’s fear was about not being a good enough witch, about being a fuck up basically. Before we came here, in school, I was always afraid of disappointing mom and dad.”

“Will, you got straight A’s and were the perfect son. How could you possibly think you were a disappointment?”

“Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? It didn’t mean I was one, I was just afraid of being one. Besides, I had to work for my grades, but more than that, I was never socially acceptable. You were so popular, and I had one friend. One geeky friend. Don’t think I never noticed you and Cordelia laughing at me during play rehearsals.” My face turned red in embarrassment, thinking back to how we used to tease him. “Now, we’re stuck in this place and I don’t know if I’m good enough to get us out of here. Sometimes I think I am, but we’ve been here over a year, and we’re not really any closer to leaving.”

I could feel his grip on my hip tighten, and I kept quiet as he revealed all of the thoughts running through his head.

“Connor’s fear was about controlling the beast inside him, the literal werewolf, but for me it’s about keeping my temper in check. Sometimes, in the morning when grandmother comes with breakfast, I have visions in my head of grabbing her around the neck and pounding her head into the wall until she’s as limp as a rag doll. I can see the blood on my hands, and I’m happy that she’s hurt because of what she’s done to all of us. It frightens me to think I might actually be capable of something that brutal.

“And you.” His trembling voice revealed his confusion. “All these emotions I feel running through my body and my head. It’s like you said that time when you started crying after we were together, they’re overwhelming. I know I shouldn’t be feeling these things for you because you’re my sister and they’re so wrong, but I can’t help it even with all the guilt I feel. I can’t just turn them off.”

William was treading in very dangerous waters, and he hadn’t even gotten to the abandonment issues yet. I never knew he was feeling any of these emotions before. He always played the role of Spike perfectly, without blurring the lines. It was his game after all.

His hand was still kneading my hip with firm fingers, and it didn’t seem like he was going to stop talking anytime soon. “But most of all, I’m scared to death that when we get out of here, you’re not going to need me anymore. You’re beautiful and smart and any guy would be crazy not to want you. Somebody is going to come along and sweep you off your feet. Make you a wife and give you a family. It’s what you deserve, and I can never give you that.”

“Will…” I started to interrupt him, but he stopped me.

“No, don’t Elizabeth. Don’t say something just to placate me, because that’s all it is. Nothing you can say is going to make me be able to give you that. And when you find the guy that can give it to you, you’ll leave me behind. Just like her.” His head nodded in the direction of the window, just before he took another angry drink from the bottle, then throwing it against a dresser.

Jumping at the sound of shattering glass, I turned my head to see what he was nodding towards. Standing outside in the driveway was mother.

Dressed as Marilyn Monroe in the famous white dress worn in ‘The Seven Year Itch,’ Mom was draped all over Wesley, kissing his neck and face. He was dressed as Joe DiMaggio, wearing an old fashioned pin-striped baseball uniform. It looked as though he was trying to control her drunken behavior.

“Don’t compare me to her,” I said harshly, upset that Will would even think that we were anything alike.

Ignoring my protest, he moved his hand inside my tank top to massage my breast before continuing. “Drusilla must not be very happy that she’s hanging all over Wesley like that in front of all the dignified guests, but she doesn’t care about anything except her own self gratification.” Will pinched my nipple as he ended his thought.

Even though his action elicited a moan from me, I kept defending myself. “I’m not like her.”

“Aren’t you?” His tone had turned bitter. “You wore the leather pants with the red tank top tonight because you knew I’d like it. You knew it would drive me crazy all night with wanting you. Wanting to touch you, wanting to please you.” His other hand made its way down to the button of my pants to undo it and the zipper, and then he shoved his hand forcefully between my legs. Will gave a sour laugh at what he discovered. “You didn’t even wear underwear because you know I’m your willing slave.” His fingers glided up and down my folds, getting me wetter by the second.

At his touch, my head lolled back against his chest. Shaking me slightly, he sternly whispered in my ear, “No, look at her.” His harsh demand forced my eyes to look back out the window.

Mom and Wesley were now in the middle of a heated make out session, their bodies pressed together tightly as they kissed each other hungrily. I guessed Wesley decided he didn’t care who saw them being this intimate; it was obvious that Mom’s lust-filled ministrations had changed his mind.

William had slipped two fingers inside me, pumping them at a fast steady pace while continuing to roughly massage my breast. “Look at how easily Wesley gave in to her. A shake of her tits, a little grind with her ass and he’s putty in her hands.”

Despite the lack of tenderness, I was completely aroused by Will’s actions and I hated my body for it. I didn’t want to be like her.

“She’s got what she wants now from him, so she doesn’t need us anymore. She’s forgotten all about us, just like you’re going to forget all about me when you find someone else to get you off.” He applied pressure to my clit with his thumb, and I was so close to coming, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“No,” I yelled. “Stop it!” I grabbed his hands and removed them from beneath my clothing. Getting up from my position on the windowsill, I turned and slapped him across the face. “I’m not like her!” I started to stomp off in anger, but Will caught my arm. Turning me to face him, I saw the red mark I left on his cheek from where I hit him.

“You think you can just leave me like this?” he growled, his voice both angry and hurt.

“Don’t touch me!” I wrestled my arm away from him and tried to leave again, but he grabbed me around the waist and hauled me over his shoulder.

“Let go of me, William! Now!” My hands beat against his backside, fighting for my freedom from his grasp.

“No, not until you tell me the truth.” Will flung me down so my back hit the mattress. His body straddled mine, keeping me down. He held onto my wrists above my head in a bruising grip. “Did you pick out a position for tonight?”

“It doesn’t matter whether I did or not. I’m not letting you touch me,” I replied back through gritted teeth. My hips bucked against his body trying to get him off me, and I could feel how hard he was.

“It does matter.” He drove his member into my body, making me moan, and then redoubled his grip on my wrists. “I want to know what you picked. I need to know.”

Hearing his voice so choked up with different emotions, I stilled my movements of protest, instinctively knowing that my answer was very important to him. “Fine,” I said with an air of annoyance. “It was me on top facing backwards.”

I could tell he didn’t like my answer because he closed his eyes briefly before snarling at me. “Typical. I believe that one’s called ‘The Subjected Man’.” He glared at me with such contempt in his eyes. “Did you pick that so you wouldn’t have to look at me while we were doing it? Did you think you could imagine yourself with someone else instead of with me?”

“What? No!” I was shocked that he would even think that, and I realized that his train of thought was stemming from his fears of inadequacy and abandonment that he just confessed to having. My voice took on a gentle tone as I tried to reassure him. “I’ve never thought that. When I’m with you, I’m with you, no one else.”

The anger behind his eyes was waning, and his grip on my wrists loosened. He hung his head so I couldn’t see his face as tears began to take form.

I freed one of my hands from his grip and brought it to his face, making him look at me. “I picked it because I thought we would both enjoy it.” I wiped a tear from his cheek. “The book said it allowed both the male and the female to explore the…” I paused, suddenly embarrassed to reveal my intentions out loud. I tried to find a more subtle way of saying them, “…the back area of the other person.”

Will’s forehead crinkled in confusion. “Why would I want to explore your back?”

I rolled my eyes, knowing I was going to have to spell it out. “Not the back, the backside... the anal region,” I said shyly, barely a whisper. “I thought you liked it when I did that thing to you in the shower, and you know I like it, so I figured we could sort of do it to each other at the same time while being together. Sort of a double penetration thing.” I looked away from him, completely mortified at my confession.

“Oh.” His voice was void of emotion, knowing he screwed up.

“Doesn’t matter anymore, though; you’ve ruined the mood.” I gave one final shove and this time, I succeeded in getting him off me. Standing up, I began making my way away from him.

“Hey,” he yelled, springing up after me. “I think I can get you back in the mood,” he said seductively, sweeping me up in his arms and lugging me, kicking and screaming back to where we came from.

“You’re really being a jerk tonight. Just leave me be.” Despite my protests, my back hit the mattresses once again.

Will’s lips came crashing down on mine in a bruising manner, but my lips refused to move against his. I struggled with him, my arms flailing against his chest. Realizing I wasn’t going to kiss him back, he grabbed my tank top and dragged it down my chest, exposing my breasts, latching his mouth around one of my nipples.

“Grrr,” I roared, focusing all of my strength on rolling him off me. My legs wrapped around his waist and I heaved us around, changing our positions. I straddled him with my chest heaving, exposed to his lustful gaze.

“Mmmm, Buffy. You’re only turning me on more with all this resistance.” It was the first time he hadn’t called me by my real name all night, and I guessed that even with his earlier confessions, they weren’t stopping him from playing this game. Distracted by my musings, Will’s arm snaked around my waist and flipped us again. His hand came up to my breast as he roughly rolled my nipple between his fingers and began grinding his stiff cock into my center. “You look so fucking hot tonight, all flushed with anger. Those leather pants giving me a luscious view of your tight little ass as you try to walk away from me.” His lips began nibbling behind my ear, as he continued, “I’ve wanted you since I first saw you tonight, wanted to taste you, to feel your pussy surrounding me.”

My unwillingness was slowly ebbing away as I became more aroused from his words and movements. I had to admit that fighting with him was hot, and my hips began to automatically move in a rhythm matching his.

“That’s it, baby. I know what you want to do tonight….what you want to do to me. I know I’m going to love it too, my dirty little girl. Love it when you touch me, everywhere.” His hand reached down into my pants, and he plunged two fingers inside me, making me cry out in pleasure. “Fuck, you’re so wet. Can’t wait to be inside you.”

He sat up and grabbed my leg, removing my boot and sock from my foot and then repeated his action on my other side. Grabbing the top of the leather pants, he yanked them down over my hips and off me. Before coming back to join me, he reached into the pocket of his black jeans, pulling out our remaining two condoms. Throwing them beside my head, he nodded towards them. “Gonna use those tonight. I want to be inside you when I come.”

Will lowered his body so that he was flush with mine. My legs twisted with his as I shed his leather coat from his shoulders. After discarding the coat, he ran his hands along my sides, bringing my tank top with them. I tugged at his shirt, lifting it up and over his head to expose his perfect chest. My fingers immediately went to the front of his pants, anxiously undoing the button and zipper, then pushing them down, using my feet to get them all the way off of his body.

When Will’s cock sprang free from its confinement, it instantly sought the heat of my pussy. As his hard length ran along my slit, it became slathered in my juices. Not being able to take his teasing, I shifted my hips so the head of his member poked just inside my opening. “Uh, uh,” Will said, slowly thrusting his hips in a teasing manner so that he didn’t go much further inside. “You’re on top tonight.” In contradiction with his teasing, he suddenly sunk himself all the way inside me as he brought his lips down for a kiss, but then rolled us so I was on top, with him still embedded inside me.

I began to ride him in a steady rhythm. Much like my blow jobs, I had gotten better at setting the pace while being in this position from the first time I had been on top. It was commonplace now for Will to roll us over in the middle of our sessions. He said he got hot watching my boobs bounce and the way I would throw back my head in pleasured abandonment. He said he liked me being in control.

That was one of the reasons I picked tonight’s position. The book said the woman was in complete control; the man was subjected to her mercy. But it also said that it was preferred by male lovers since submission can be very sexually stimulating for a man. I wanted to see if Will would agree with that thought.

When I heard Will moan, I realized I needed to hurry up and switch positions or we were going to get too carried away in the one we were currently in. Then I remembered I had brought something up here with me so we could use it for some added pleasure. Lifting myself off of him, I grabbed his coat and wrapped it around me.

“Hey, where are you going?” Will asked, not understanding why I would suddenly get up like that. “You’re coming back, right?”

“Of course, I’m coming back.” I could tell his insecurities were getting the best of him. “I just need to go get something. I forgot about it. Put the condom on while I’m gone.” With that, I sprang away over to the table where we laid out the map of Sunnydale. Seeing the two bottles of ‘Holy Water’ that I needed, I picked up my step to grab them in order to quickly return to Will. When I got back, I could see he’d done as I’d told him; his erection now covered in latex.

“You look very sexy in that coat.” He eyed my naked form beneath the leather, and I saw his cock jump in response.

“Really?” I asked, stepping over him so my two feet were planted beside his knees, giving him a nice view of my pussy. “We’ll see if you still think that after I do this.” I took the two bottles I was holding and showed them to him.

Confusion was written clearly all over his face. “Holy Water?”

I tipped the bottles over so that the contents would drip down onto his chest. His back arched when the liquid hit his skin, as if he really was a vampire getting burned by the blessed water.

“Cold,” he hissed out.

“Here, let me warm it up.” I took off the coat before sinking down to my knees, rubbing the massage oil all over his chest. Paying particular mind to his nipples, I swirled my fingers around the hard nubs, pinching at them which elicited several groans from Will. “I got a bottle for each of us. Here’s yours.” I placed one bottle near his hip and then turned around to face his feet. “You ready?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Been ready. Just get me inside you.”

I aligned his cock up with my opening and turned my head to watch him as I sunk down on top of him, looking forward only when his eyes rolled back at the feel of me surrounding him. I began to ride him again, but I learned quickly that I had to adjust my usual movements a little with this new position. Because I was facing the other way, his cock was at a different angle inside me. Though it was different, it definitely felt good, almost better than the other way because it seemed to hit that special spot inside me every time I came down.

As I got used to the new angle, I suddenly felt Will’s hands on my back. He had put some massage oil on his own hands and was now rubbing up and down my spine. It felt strangely erotic, and when he moved his hands over to my sides to just barely brush against the sides of my breast, my breath hitched at his subtle touch. Everything seemed heightened by the fact that I couldn’t see him; it was almost like being blindfolded and having your body explored by your unseen lover.

Following his cue, I took the bottle of massage oil and dripped some onto my hands. Since his legs were straight out in front of me, I began to massage his thighs and then moved down towards his calves. As I reached further down his legs, my body leaned forward, causing my clit to rub against his ball sac every time I moved.

Both of us moaned in pleasure.

“Buffy, baby, that feels so good.” Will’s hands caressed down to my bottom, kneading my cheeks firmly. I knew that at this angle my ass was completely exposed to William. We were both also afforded delicious views of his cock sliding in an out of my body. The penetration of his member was so deep inside me that I cried out in surprise when I felt his oil covered finger slide easily into my back entrance.

At this added stimulation, I knew I wasn’t going to last long. I stilled my hips and slowly rose back up into a sitting position. “Bend your knees,” I demanded of William, and he complied without hesitation. “Spread your legs apart further.” Again, he obeyed my request.

I started a slow pace again, enjoying the feel of Will invading both of my holes. He gently worked a second finger inside me, and I thought I was going to explode. Trying to stave off my orgasm by taking deep cleansing breaths, I concentrated on pleasuring Will in the same manner he was me. Gathering more oil on my finger, I lightly ran my finger over his forbidden entrance, trying to prepare him for his own invasion. I could hear his breathing become erratic as I slowly worked my finger all the way into his body.

Stilling my hips again, I told Will to straighten his legs a little, allowing me to move forward slightly. I began a steady pace where his hard cock hit against my G-spot with each downward thrust, the rhythm of our fingers matching each others. My hardened nub was back to rubbing against Will’s sensitive skin, coating him with my arousal.

“Shit, Buffy! I’ve never felt anything so good. You’re touching me in all the right places. I can’t take much more.”

“Spike, I’m so close to coming; I want you to come with me, please.” I begged for release even though I knew that I was the one that would have to give it to us. I buried my finger as deep as it would go, and wiggled it, tickling the inside of Will erogenous zone, knowing it would push him over the edge.

“Holy fuck! I’m coming now, baby, come with me.” He repeated my technique and within seconds I was falling, experiencing one of the most intense orgasms I had ever had.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I screamed with my release. The feel of his cock pulsing inside my pussy as he came and my anal walls clamping around his fingers, as well as his gripping mine, prolonged my orgasm. When I felt his other hand come around to rub at my clit, a spasm wracked my whole body as another powerful explosion erupted inside me.

Coming down, I removed my finger as I panted, trying to catch my breath. Will grabbed my waist and was hauling my listless body up his chest, settling my dripping pussy above his mouth. My body continued to tremble as he licked me clean of my spendings.

As my head lay still on his thigh, I realized that Will’s cock never softened, even after the potent orgasm he just had. It seemed to jump every time I moaned in delight from him pleasuring me. Gaining back some of my strength and becoming more and more aroused as Will’s tongue delved into my center, I carefully removed the used condom from his member and put it aside on the floor. Wrapping my mouth around him, my tongue tasted the salty semen he’d already expended. Will’s ministrations became even more voracious now that I was tending to him as well, and when his teeth nipped at my clit, I raced over the edge again.

My orgasm caused me to release him from my mouth, and Will took that opportunity to push me off him, onto my back. He got up on his knees and ripped open the other condom package. “Need to be inside you again,” he murmured urgently as he rolled it on his rigid flesh and came down to lay against my body. Kissing me deeply, he slid inside me with one quick thrust. Despite his eagerness to be joined with me again, he set a slow pace, pulling all the way out, before pushing in to the hilt on each thrust. He held my hips down against the mattress so I couldn’t move, continuing to kiss me with all the passion he felt inside.

Breaking the kiss, he started spilling his secrets to me again. “I meant what I said earlier. You make me crazy, leave me overwhelmed with emotions. It’s confusing to me because even though you stir me up, you calm me too. When I’m inside you, I feel like I’m home. Feels like it’s where I belong.” My legs came up to wrap around his waist so he could pierce me deeper as we climbed together to our peaks. “You make me feel like a man - someone who’s capable of getting us out of here. Your confidence in me gives me hope, especially when I doubt myself.” His tempo quickened and I arched my back, knowing we were both close. “I love everything that you do to me, for me…even as it tears me up inside.”

We both let out strangled sobs at the end of his speech. I knew exactly what he was feeling because I felt it too. With him, everything felt right, but afterwards the guilt ran rampant through my veins. We trampled it down, tried to pretend it wasn’t there, but it was always just under the surface. Our crying was cathartic, allowing us to share in our guilt for once.

But even as we cried because we knew what we were doing was wrong, his hips never faltered, continuing to drive into me until we finally reached our climax together. Our hands were tightly entwined, as if we would lose the other if we let go. And although my orgasm from earlier was powerful, this one made me see stars behind my eyes for entirely different reasons. Will collapsed on top of me, hugging me tightly as our tears continued to fall.

Once our emotions were more stable, we laid together in post coital bewilderment; Will propped up on his side looking at me, while I lay on my back staring at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry I was so rough earlier.” Will began lightly stroking my stomach, apology evident in the hesitant way he touched me.

“It’s okay,” I replied, shifting my head to meet his eyes. “Turns out Buffy likes it a little rough.”

Will laughed a little at my response. It was nice to see him smiling after the serious turn the night had taken. “Well, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t scare you. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

I grabbed his hand and brought it to my mouth for a tender kiss on his palm, then entwined our fingers together. “I wasn’t scared; I know you would never hurt me. I trust you with everything. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I should still be able to control my temper.”

At the mention of one of his fears, I felt like I needed to say something to quell his insecurities. “Will, your fears, they’re unfounded. You’re a wonderful man. You haven’t let me down and you aren’t going to. Please, don’t feel like you have to keep your emotions all bottled up inside, I’m here if you need to talk to me. And when we get out of here, you’re going to make some other girl very happy as a husband and a father.” Although it hurt me to say that, I knew it was true, and I wanted him to be sure he wasn’t going to be alone even if he wasn’t going to be with me. “But no matter what happens, I’m not going to abandon you, Will. I love you, you’re my brother.”

Will gazed at me with a sad smile on his lips, while stroking his thumb along the back of my hand. “I love you too, Bethy. Therein lays the problem.” He gave me a soft kiss before he got up and walked away, leaving me confused and alone in the attic.

CHAPTER 52

The next day, the four of us were upstairs rearranging the furniture back to its original state from when we moved it for the Haunted House. Connor and Dawn could not stop talking about the night before. They had been babbling on about how great the map and the books we had made were, as well as everything else we had done. It was clear that the night had been a complete success.

“Will, how come you changed Spike’s accent? Last year, you did Dracula,” Dawn asked curiously. She was way too observant for her age.

“Well, I heard someone talking like that and thought it was a better fit for Spike,” Will said, referring to our close encounter with Wesley in mother’s bedroom. “And besides, I believe you all made fun of my accent last year since it was horrible.”

“I didn’t make fun of you,” Connor reminded him. “But I liked the British accent better.”

“How do you know it was British?”

“Duh, Will.” Dawn gave Will a look that told him she thought he was completely stupid. “We did have all the Harry Potter DVDs before we came here.”

“Who do you know that’s British?” Connor piped up.

“Wesley,” Will replied nonchalantly.

“When did you hear him talk?” Dawn asked. “I didn’t know you even knew him.”

“We saw him when we went exploring.”

“You didn’t tell us that. You told us you found mom’s room and that you saw her come in and you snuck out when she went into the bathroom. Why didn’t you say anything about Wesley?”

Naturally, we hadn’t told the twins the whole truth about that night. There were becoming too many lies and cover ups to keep straight, and nine year olds weren’t supposed to be able to remember every conversation you had with them. I stayed quiet, knowing Will would be able to handle Dawn better without me.

“It wasn’t that important. He just walked her to the room and then left. We only saw him for a second.” Will was getting exasperated, hoping Dawn would just drop the subject.

“If it was long enough for you to pick up his accent, I think you should have told us,” Dawn pouted.

“Look, next time we go out, we’ll tell you if we see him, okay? It just really wasn’t a big deal.”

“But how do we know you haven’t told us something else that was important?”

“Dawnie, we wouldn’t do that.” Will bent down in front of her so that they were eye to eye. “We let you in on everything. We aren’t going to leave you in the dark about anything having to do with getting out of here. I promise you.”

Dawn looked Will in the eye for a moment longer as if she was trying to read his mind for any sign that he was lying. I guess she decided she could trust him because she nodded her head and gave him a hug. I saw Will’s eyes close in both relief and love as he hugged her back.

I turned away from the scene, feeling like I was intruding on their moment, and brought down the skeleton that was hanging from the rafters.

“It was so cool when that fell from the ceiling.” Connor came up behind me. “Who grabbed us from under the dresser? It had to be you, right Elizabeth?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was waiting at the end for the monster.” I feigned ignorance, trying not to ruin the spooky illusion.

“No, it was definitely you because Will was up ahead with the silly string,” Connor decided.

“You really got me with that stuff.” Dawn joined in seamlessly with Connor’s conversation as she pulled away from Will. “I was covered with it. I even found some under my witch costume when I got dressed for bed.”

“Silly string is the best. Do you have any more?” Connor asked Will.

Will stood up and went over to reach on top of one of the dressers we hadn’t moved yet, bringing down two bottles of silly string. “Here, I don’t know how much is left,” he said, passing one can to each of the twins. “But, go crazy.” As both twins started to point their cans towards him, he quickly added, “On each other, not me and Elizabeth.”

Both of the twins started giggling. “But that’s not as much fun.”

“Too bad,” Will replied with what I called his ‘stern father’ face.

The kids took the hint and we watched as they started chasing each other around the attic spraying silly string.

Will leaned up against the wardrobe near me and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Why do I feel like I need to start tape recording all conversations I have with them so I don’t put my foot in my mouth?”

“Probably because you do. Those two are smarter than we give them credit for. They’ve had to deal with major grownup issues a lot faster than we ever had to, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, the only care I had when I was that age was making sure I didn’t break my glasses.” Will looked down at the floor shyly before changing the subject. “Look, about last night. Just forget what I said. I think it will be easier that way, you know?” His eyes were pleading with me to pretend he never confessed any of his feelings.

If only it could be that easy.

After Will had left me, I sat up in the attic for I don’t know how long thinking about what he said, about what I said. Did he really imply that he loved me as more than just a sister? And, if he did, what about when I said I loved him? Were there hidden meanings behind my words?

I knew I never loved Parker, not even in the high school young love kind of way. I never had delusions of us being together forever after we graduated, becoming high school sweethearts who got married and had the perfect white picket fence life. I also couldn’t deny that what I felt for William was so much more than my feelings for Parker, but how did I differentiate between the love I felt for my brother and what feelings I had for my lover? Feeling a headache coming on, I had finally given up on figuring it out since that person was one and the same. And now he was asking me to just forget about it when he was the one that started all of these questions swimming around in my head in the first place. I didn’t think I could do it – it was out there, wrapping its way around my brain, making me crazy.

“Will, I …” I never got to finish my sentence because our conversation was interrupted by a voice coming from downstairs.

“Kids! Kids? Are you up here?”

“Mother,” I said in shock, staring up at Will. “Wonder what she wants.”

“Only one way to find out. Come on.” Will grabbed my hand and walked me over towards the staircase and our approaching parent.

“Sweethearts? Hello?”

“We’re here, Mom,” Will yelled down the stairs, getting her attention.

The twins, covered in silly string, had stopped in their tracks and were looking dumbfounded at the staircase. Suddenly, our smiling mother came into view. She looked fabulous as usual, wearing deep brown pinstripe pants with a burnt orange turtleneck sweater. She looked warm and inviting, like she should be on the pages of a magazine gallivanting in the brightly turned leaves to advertise the latest fall fashions. When she finally saw us, her smile beamed with happiness. “Kids, I have great news!”

“Grandfather’s dead,” I replied straight-faced, crossing my arms over my chest and standing tall ready to defy my mother.

“Elizabeth! Don’t be so rude.” She gave me a reprimanding look, but then beamed at me again. “Oh, your hair! It’s so cute. I love it.” She came over to run her hand over my shorn locks, and I flinched at her touch. “It’s about time you decided to cut it. I have to say that the last time I saw you, it was getting a little too long. Started to look stringy.” She leaned in to whisper the last part to me as if it was our little secret.

“Yeah, well I can’t run to the salon whenever I’m not looking my best,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her callousness even though she obviously knew nothing of Drusilla and the tar punishment. But she still was our mother; she should have known. She was nothing like the mother who raised us anymore.

“And William, what have you done to yours?” Mom kissed Will on the cheek. “You look just like your father.” My eyebrows arched with curiosity at her statement. “When I first met him, he was going through a rebellious phase. My parents hated it. I think mother called him a ‘good for nothing street urchin,’ but I thought he looked very cute. I like it on you too.” She winked at him playfully.

Interesting, seems like I just figured out why Dru was always glaring at Will since we dyed his hair. Even the insults she slung at Will were almost identical.

“Now, I came to see you all because I have great news.” She sat down gracefully in one of the chairs, not yet acknowledging the twins. We all stood still, not moving towards her as she delivered this so called good news. “Last night, at the Halloween Ball, there was a big announcement - Wes and I set a wedding date! It’s going to be the second Saturday in May. I’m so excited.” She started clapping happily, bouncing on her feet.

“What does that mean for us exactly?” Will asked, not sharing in her enthusiasm.

“Don’t you see? This is wonderful. I’m doing what my father always wanted – I’m finally marrying one of his partners. I’ll definitely get put back into the will. It’s a sure thing now.”

“So grandfather isn’t dead?” I asked again. It was really the only thing I cared about, since I thought that was the only way we would get out of here.

“Is that all you think about, Elizabeth! Ethan is still alive, and I need him to be to get back into the will,” she answered curtly.

Will asked her the next question. “And you don’t think you’re in it now, considering you’ve been engaged to Wes for quite some time?”

“No, I don’t. Father is a very cautious and shrewd man. He thinks that just because we’re engaged it doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll go through with it. With a date, it becomes more definite. Plans will be made; time and money will be invested. An engagement is harder to break after you’ve put some of yourself into it. Plus, I’m going to England next week with Wes to meet his parents and other family. Can you imagine? A whole month in London!” Mom got that dreamy look on her face again.

“I guess this means you won’t make my birthday this year. Or Thanksgiving again for that matter.” It’s not that I actually expected her to show up, but it still hurt somewhere deep inside me that she could so casually throw us away like this.

“Don’t be like that, Beth. You know how important this is. For the plan to work, I have to get back into the will.”

God, how could she be so naïve! She was still relying on the stupid plan. I lashed out at her. “Mother, the plan is dead! We’ve been stuck in this room for over a year. You haven’t come to see us in over six months, and even if you had, it would all be more of the same – you still sniffing at grandfather’s feet trying to get back into his precious will.”

“Elizabeth, you’re wrong. The plan is working. I’m closer than ever. William, sweetie, tell her that we need to stick to the plan.”

Mom and I both looked at Will with bated breath. With an evil look in my eye, I glared at him ready to kill him if he took her side. Will looked back and forth nervously between us both before settling his gaze on mom. “I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to agree with Elizabeth on this one. I thought you were going to reevaluate the plan after six months. It’s been a lot longer than that, and we’re still here.”

I sighed a little in relief at Will’s answer. This was the first time Will took my side over mom’s since we’d been here, and I couldn’t help the little satisfied smile that crept onto my face.

Mother glowered at me celebrating my triumph, and I tried to stifle my grin. Turning back to Will when I looked away, she defended her decisions. “I did reevaluate, and I decided to stick with the original plan. My relationship with Wes was blossoming nicely at Christmas, and I knew it would just be a matter of time before we moved in the direction we are in now. But, I can see that Elizabeth has brainwashed you into turning against me.”

Will shook his head, somewhat annoyed at her conclusions. “She hasn’t brainwashed me, mother. It’s just that we’re still stuck in this attic, you haven’t visited us in ages and we can’t really see an end to our predicament.”

“Yes, mother. When does it end?” I decided to get all my misgivings out in the open too, since it seemed like Will was going to have my back for once. “What happens if grandfather doesn’t die for another two years? Do we stay in here until William is a grown man? And never mind grandfather, what about Wes? I’m assuming you still haven’t told him anything about us. When grandfather does die, are you just going to let us out of our tiny prison-like room and expect him to welcome the four secret children you’ve been harboring away like mice with open arms? How can you possibly think any of this is going to end happily ever after?”

During our questioning, mom had just sat silently looking at us blankly, as if we were speaking a foreign language that she didn’t understand. Finally, she turned calmly to face Will. “Do you agree with her, William?”

Will’s eyes and tone softened when he answered. “Mom, I’m not against you, but from our point of view in the attic, no part of this plan looks good anymore.”

“So you do agree with her.” Mom stood up hastily. “Then I guess it doesn’t matter what I do anymore. Nothing will ever be good enough for you.” That’s when she started turning on the waterworks, and I wondered if she’d been practicing at it since the tears came so easily. “I’ve been trying so hard to win back my father’s love over the past year, and none of you can see it. You’re abandoning me now, when I’m so close to succeeding. I guess I’m the only one that understands the meaning of sacrifice and sticking together. You are being very ungrateful, and I know I didn’t raise you that way.” She brought her hand up to dab at the tears in the corner of her eye. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. I don’t know when I’ll be back since I’m going to England, but maybe during that time you should think about what I’m doing for you to make your lives better in the future.”

She started to walk away, but I wouldn’t let her go that easily. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. We are the ones suffering here, mother, not you! What do you know about the meaning of sacrifice? You are gallivanting all over the world with your new boy toy, while we sit caged in this house with no chance of making new friends, walking in the sunshine or even going to school. Don’t give us a lecture about how we don’t know the meaning of sacrifice.” I walked over to her and got right in her face. “And what about our lives now, mother? We’re in our formidable years here, and you are ruining them by keeping us locked away. We’re pale and thin, and you don’t even care that we are being cruelly punished by Drusilla.” I pushed an accusing finger into her chest. “You think my hair cut was my choice because it was getting stringy? It wasn’t, mother! She put hot tar in my hair! If it wasn’t for William’s care, I probably would have been scarred for life, but you wouldn’t know that because you weren’t here - just like you weren’t here when Will was getting whipped or when we were being starved to death. You are so fucking clueless! It’s like you aren’t even our mother anymore.”

Mother’s hand came up to strike me just like she did during our last encounter when things got heated, but Will grabbed her wrist before she made contact. “Don’t touch her,” he said menacingly. “I’m not going to let you slap her again.”

She wrestled her arm out of Will’s grip. “Well, Elizabeth, I guess congratulations are in order. You really have done a job on your brother, turning him against me.”

“Beth didn’t do anything to turn me against you. I just don’t know if you’re still thinking about what’s good for us anymore!” Will yelled in frustration. “You’re never here and when you do decide to show up, you just tell us about how great your life is while we are trapped here by you and Dru.” I was impressed that Will finally grew a pair to voice his less than flattering opinions of mother. “And Beth’s right, I’m not sure who you are anymore, but I know you’re not the same mother we had in Los Angeles. You’ve changed since we came here, not us! So don’t blame this on Elizabeth; prove her wrong.”

When Will finished his diatribe, mom’s eyes hardened, and she walked silently to the top of the staircase. Without turning around, she stopped and spoke authoritatively. “Despite both of your whining, let me assure you that I am still your mother and because of that, you will stick with my plan for as long as I tell you to. When I do ‘prove her wrong’ by successfully inheriting millions from my father, I will expect you to show me the respect I deserve as your parent. I don’t know when I’ll see you again; I think I need some time to forgive you for this betrayal.” Her heels clicked on the steps as she walked away, leaving us staring at the empty space she occupied, wondering how she could be so cold to her own children.

“She didn’t even hug us.” Dawn’s small voice trembled on the verge of tears. “Why does she hate us so much? She acted as if Connor and I weren’t even here.”

Will and I turned our heads to the twins, who both had tears running down their cheeks after being all but ignored by mother, but still having to witness the ugly scene, “Dawnie, come here,” Will said, holding out his arms to her.

She ran into them and grabbed onto him tightly, burying her head into his neck while she sobbed. While watching them, I felt Connor run into me, wrapping his arms around my legs. I put my arms around him, running my fingers through his hair to try to soothe him.

Will picked up Dawn and laid one of his hands on top of mine on Connor’s back. “No matter what mom says or does, we’re going to take care of you. Bethy and I love you and we’re going to make sure you are always safe. And when we all get out of here, I’m going to figure out a way to support you and keep us together. I don’t care what it takes; I’m not letting anything happen to split up this family. Do you understand me?”

The twins nodded their heads into our bodies, signaling that they heard.

“Good, neither of you have anything to worry about. Just let me and Elizabeth take care of everything and we’ll be out of here in no time. We love you so much.” Will started to move over towards the mattresses near the sitting area, so I picked up Connor and followed him.

We sat next to each other with the kids cradled in our arms on our laps for a long time, while Will assured them of our love and our escape. He painted a picture of our life once outside of the attic, with them going back to school and making new friends, maybe even getting a dog for a pet, rather than the mouse Connor now cared for. I knew that when we did make it out, it would be tough at first since we had nowhere to go, no other family, but I couldn’t help believing that Will would make this wonderful life a reality. I didn’t know what we were going to do, but I knew it had to be better than this place.

When the crying downgraded to sniffling and then stopped altogether, I realized that the twins had both fallen asleep, exhausted from their emotional state. Knowing that we were virtually alone in the attic, I grabbed Will’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for sticking up for me. It’s the first time you’ve done that when it comes to her.”

“I couldn’t just stand there and let her hit you again.”

“I’m not talking about that, though I do appreciate it. I’m talking about how you finally let her know you doubt her intentions and this stupid plan of hers.”

Will looked over at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes. “Yeah, well, I want to believe her; I want to believe her plan is still going to work and that makes this all even harder. I feel guilty for thinking she may actually be forgetting about us. Does that make me stupid?”

I shook my head and brought my hand up to his cheek. “No, it makes you a loving son. When you love someone, Will, you love them with everything that you have. I know that better than anyone.” At the mention of his love for me, he blushed and put his head down. “Don’t look away,” I said, bringing his face back up so I could see him. “You love mom, so you still have faith in her despite everything. You’re fiercely loyal – to mom, to me, to the twins. And to do what’s right for us and yourself, you might have to go against mom. I know that’s killing you, but it’s realistic and I think it’s going to end up being the right thing to do. We’ll get through this together – you and me, Will; we don’t need anyone else, but each other. And I promise you, I’m never going to dismiss you the way mom is doing to us all. I’ll stand by you until the very end.”

Tears were swimming in Will’s eyes, so I leaned over to kiss him. I had meant it to be chaste; a sisterly kiss to reassure him that he would always have me no matter what happened. It started out that way, with just a peck to his quivering lips, but it soon turned heated when he slipped his tongue out to taste me. My mouth automatically opened allowing him entrance, and his hand came up to tangle in my hair, deepening the kiss. I moaned at the feel of the emotions he was pouring into it, which caused Dawn to stir.

Breaking away quickly, so as not to get caught in a heated lip lock, Will whispered quietly, “Thank you.”

“For what?” I asked, breathily.

Will shrugged his shoulders. “Just for being you. Your support, I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem, believe me.” I leaned in again to kiss him, but he pulled away.

“Later, when we’re alone. If we start, I don’t want to have to stop.” He looked down between Dawn and Connor. “Besides, we should probably get these guys up since it’s almost dinner time. You know they’ll be impossible to get to bed tonight.”

“We better get them up then. I happen to enjoy my nights once they go to bed,” I flirted.

“Yeah, me too,” he replied with a wink, before gently shaking Dawn awake.

CHAPTER 53

“Oh God. Yes!”

I was seventeen today. William and I were celebrating my birthday up in the attic. The kids had gone to bed hours ago after our family party, and we’d already had our customary bottle of wine. Both of my legs were resting against one of Will’s biceps, and I cried out in pleasure as William’s cock pistoned in and out of me. He was up on his knees with one arm braced on the floor next to my shoulder, while my fingers grasped at the sheet on the mattress.

“We need to go into the house again.” He said through his labored breathing.

“Oh!” He had hit a particularly sweet spot inside me, and I did not want to be talking about anything right now. I just wanted to feel him. “Why are you thinking about this now? Aren’t we in the middle of something better?”

“Mmmm, yes. But that’s why I’m thinking about it.” He slowed his hips a bit into a deep, sure stride. “Want to come inside you; can’t without condoms.” His arm wrapped tighter around my legs, squeezing my thighs together. “She’s in London now; we can ransack her room and get some more of them for us. Dozens of them.” He grunted as he sped up his pace again, wanting to get me off because I could tell he was getting close.

In the current position we were in, I was limited in the movements that I could make. I rocked my hips as much as I could, while I brought my hands up a little to grab the back of his thighs, pushing him into me further. “Oh, right there.” I exalted, as I guided Will’s member to exactly where I needed it. “Yes, yes. There, Spike. Oh god, please.” I begged as he continued to grind into me.

He was barely moving now. His cock penetrated me so deeply that the barest shift of my hips would send a surge of tingles through my body. Will bent his elbow a little, trying to get close enough to my lips to kiss me, but he was stopped by my legs

“Fuck me!” I exclaimed, as he went impossibly deeper inside me.

“Thought that’s what I was doing, love.” He teased in a husky voice, as he brought his upper body closer to me again, making me whimper as he stabbed me again. “Come on, Buffy. I know you’re close. Come for me, love. Do it. I want to feel you come undone. Want you to scream my name so you know who’s making you feel so good.”

He kept his elbow bent so he could stay in me to the hilt and started to sway his hips, rocking me quickly to my release. My eyes rolled back, as my orgasm built inside my body. Incoherent sounds tumbled from my lips until I reached the pinnacle. “Spike!” I screamed as I tumbled over the cliff, always obeying his wishes by saying his name when I came.

Will grunted again, through deep breaths, trying to stave off his own orgasm. As my walls continued to clamp around him, he lifted himself up in order to bring my legs down off of his bicep and moving so his body was in between my legs. Draping my knees over his bent elbows, he leaned down to take hold of my lips in a desperate kiss. His lips were hungry against mine, as we hadn’t been able to kiss each other in our former position.

Wrenching his lips from mine, he brought his forehead to mine. “I’m gonna come. Where do you want it, Buffy?”

“My tits,” I replied in a confident tone, “and my mouth.” I added seductively.

His eyes turned black with lust at my response, thrusting a few more times before he pulled out. As my legs dropped to the side, he pumped his swollen shaft and threw his head back as his release overtook him. The first few spurts of his spunk landed on my breasts, catching on my hardened nipples. Bringing his head up to look at me, he moved his cock closer to my face.

I opened my mouth to catch the rest of his spendings, but the pulses from his member were erratic. Cum landed on my shoulder, my cheek and my forehead before I was finally able to wrap my lips around the bulbous head to swallow down the remaining thick sticky substance.

When his orgasm was complete, I let go of his cock and collapsed on my back. Will remained hovering above me, watching me breath heavily.

“You are so beautiful.” He said as he took two fingers to gather the spending he left on my forehead. “Especially when you are covered in my cum.” Will grinned down at me and offered me his coated fingers, which I took eagerly into my mouth.

Tasting him on his fingers, I let out a low “mmmm” as I sucked voraciously on his digits. Once clean, he scooped up what had landed on my shoulder and brought his hand to my mouth again.

“You like the way I taste.” He said as I suckled on his fingers again.

Although it wasn’t a question, I nodded emphatically anyway because it was true. I loved tasting him. He was salty, but sweet all at the same time, and I felt like a part of him was mine if I swallowed him down. He knew all this, of course, because I told him a time or two in the past, but he knew I loved it when he talked dirty like this even more. And he knew I loved where this line of questioning was bound to lead the most.

“I like the way you taste too.” His tongue darted out to lap up my cheek, removing the last of his cum from my face. “Mmm, your skin is salty from sweat.” His lips trailed kisses down my neck to my breasts. Will’s tongue swirled around my peaked nipples, licking and sucking until my skin was clean there too. Then he traveled further south, kissing my stomach and dipping his tongue into my belly button. “Sweet from your body wash.” My legs automatically opened for him as he continued his journey. “But here’s my favorite taste – delicious peaches just for me.” His face delved between my legs, his tongue licking at my walls and my center, his lips sucking at my clit.

I groaned in satisfaction as he continued to work my cunt over. Will loved doing this and I wasn’t going to complain. He was a giving lover, always going down on me either before or after our lovemaking. It seemed I always had two or three orgasms to his one. As I said, I wasn’t complaining, but I wondered if I would ever find a lover as generous as Will. I wondered if he was purposely spoiling me for other men.

My legs tightened around his head as I came quickly under his ministrations. Once he lapped up the juices flowing from my pussy, he came to lie next to me after taking me in for a kiss.

“Thanksgiving.” I panted out next to Will.

“What?” Will looked at me confused, his naked chest rising and falling from his earlier exertion. “What are you talking about?”

“We should go back out into the house on Thanksgiving.” I said, bringing up Will’s earlier thoughts about getting more condoms again. “It’s only a week away, and there won’t be any servants around except Adam. Last year, Dru said that they don’t really celebrate the holiday and with mom gone, the house will be pretty quiet. We could easily go to mom’s room and probably some other rooms in the house too. Maybe we can go down to the first floor this time – see where the exits are, find that narrow staircase Dru led us up the first night we came here.” I looked at Will with hopeful eyes.

Will nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, okay, that sounds like a good plan.”

“Thanksgiving it is then.” I nodded back, still trying to recover from Will’s touch.

*******************************************************************

Thanksgiving came quickly. We had spent the week decorating the attic with fall colored leaves and planning for our next trip out into the house. When Dru came by in the morning, she was unusually quite, not mentioning our mother or her contempt for our father as she did the year before. She served our breakfast in silence, and then told us dinner would be served at four. We didn’t see her again that day as Adam had come to our room at dinner.

Much like last year, we enjoyed a nice turkey dinner with all the fixings. After we stuffed ourselves full with food, the twins and I settled on the beds to listen to another story by William, and then entertained the twins with a board game until it was time for them to go to bed. They knew we were going out into the house again tonight, so they were jumpy and nervous. When they finally settled into a fitful sleep, Will and I changed into dark clothing and went over our plan once again, waiting for midnight to come.

At midnight, Will turned the key in the lock of our door, and we snuck out into the night. The first place we went was back to the office that we had found on our first visit. Removing a couple of bobby pins from his pocket, Will started to jimmy the lock on the desk drawer.

“Do you think that’s going to work.” I questioned, leaning against the side of the desk.

“Yeah, the lock is flimsy. I think I just need to maneuver them around until something clicks.”

“What are you looking for anyway? It’s not like there’s going to be a copy of the will sitting in a drawer. Don’t you think that’s something he would put in a safe or keep with his lawyer?” I didn’t want to waste too much time in here performing a fruitless act.

“No, I don’t expect a full copy, but maybe some correspondence with Ethan’s lawyer would give us a clue.” As he finished the sentence, the drawer slid open.

“Aha. Got it.” Will pulled open the drawer completely and started rummaging through its contents. He handed me a stack of envelopes to look through while he continued his exploration of the desk.

Most of the envelopes I looked through were medical bills for doctor house calls, private nurses and equipment for the house. One, however, gave some insight into the current state of his health.

“Will, he’s getting worse.” I supplied as I continued to read the letter from the doctor. “As Ethan’s health deteriorates, I would suggest that he remain bed-ridden in the comfort of his own home. Oxygen will need to be regularly supplied to his lungs, along with his current medication and regular injections of morphine to ease his increasing pain. I will continue to monitor his health on a weekly basis to determine if the prescribed medicine needs to be altered or if IV drips will be necessary. This was dated last week so mom wouldn’t know.”

“That’s interesting. I wonder if that’s going to have any impact on what I just found.” Will stood up with another letter in his hand. “She was right about the will; she’s not in it yet. Here’s a letter from Ethan’s lawyer dated just before she left. It says provisions and stipulations for Joyce’s inheritance to be determined after her return from London based upon the success of her meeting with Pryce’s family - calls to be made to ensure proper behavior. I wonder if she knows that how she acts around the future in-laws determines whether she gets a cut of the family fortune or not.”

“God, that’s harsh, he must have people watching her. Ethan’s heartless - it’s no wonder she chose dad over him; it doesn’t really seem like a contest.” I wrapped my arms around my body as a shiver ran up my spine. “Let’s get out of here, it’s wigging me out.”

“Yeah, okay.” He took the envelopes from me and returned everything to its proper place, closing the drawer and locking it up again. “There. Come on; let’s get to mom’s room.”

I nodded and followed behind him as he led us to the door of mom’s bedroom. Once inside, I noticed that everything was perfectly cleaned and straightened. The bed was made without a wrinkle in it, there were no clothes laying on the chair or hanging out of the dressers this time. It didn’t look lived in. I wandered around, looking in the bathroom and the closet while Will went to the dresser drawer where I had found the condoms.

“Elizabeth, come here.” I turned my head to look at Will, noticing that whatever he saw froze him in his spot.

“What? What’s wrong?” I said, hurrying over to his side. I peered into the drawer and was startled by the amount of new sex toys that were interspersed between the lingerie. Mom had added to the vibrator since the last time we were here as the drawer now included different oils and lubes, a bright pink dildo, handcuffs, beads and other items that I had no idea what their names or uses were. “I guess they’ve been experimenting.”

“No, not that. That.” Will said, pointing to a small black box in the back of the drawer that was overflowing with money.

“Oh. Do you think mom’s is hording cash just in case the inheritance doesn’t come through?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Will said as he grabbed the box, bringing it out to count how much she had. “It looks like a lot, maybe three or four thousand.” His eyes met mine, the wheels in his brain working. “I think we should take some. We can start saving too for when we leave; we’re not going to get very far without cash.”

“Will, what if she notices? I don’t think we can risk it.” I answered, terrified that she would find out.

“I don’t think she’s been counting. There are tens, twenties, hundreds all just wrinkled up in no particular order. It looks like she’s just been shoving the bills in when she gets them - I doubt she even knows how much is in here, and I bet she’s got more stashed away in other places.” He was looking at me with such hope in his eyes. “Think about it, Elizabeth. We can take a couple hundred right now and take a little bit each time we come back. By the time we are ready to get out of this place, we could have close to a thousand dollars. That can get us somewhere, Elizabeth. We could get on a bus to Oregon or Arizona – somewhere besides California, away from this place, away from mom and grandmother.”

Despite my reservations, I knew he was right. When we were free from Rayne Manor, we were going to need money, whether it was for food, clothes or a way out of Sunnydale. I nodded my head in agreement when the reality of the situation sunk in. “Take some, but just try not to make it obvious.”

Will smiled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “I won’t. You do the same with the condoms.” He winked at me and moved over to start extracting bills from the black box, while I looked through the drawer for the reason we made this trip.

Finding the box, I looked in to see about half still unused. I grabbed five and shoved them in my pocket. Replacing the box, I saw a small tube of unopened lube and grabbed that too, hoping mom wouldn’t remember having it with all the rest of the stuff in here. “Are you done?” I asked Will when I was finished with my task.

“Yeah, I grabbed a hundred and then a bunch of smaller bills. Move over, let me put this back in the drawer.” Will placed the box in the back corner of the drawer and tried to get it close to the position he found it in. “There,” he said, placing some lingerie over it to hide it. “Let’s go downstairs. We’ll try to find the staircase we took when we first came here and use it to come back upstairs.”

Standing at the top of the marble staircase, we made sure the downstairs was empty before making our way down to the first floor. With only a few small wall lamps lighting the foyer, we made it to the first door to the right of the hallway. It ended up being a game room, something I was surprised to see, but I could imagine Ethan spending time in here with other lawyers of his firm smoking cigars and giving each other accolades for recent cases they won. The centerpiece of the room was a large billiards table with perfect green felt, and over to the side was a fully stocked bar with leather bar stools. There was a big screen TV against one of the other walls with chairs and a small sofa around it. It was the only television we had seen so far in the house.

With nothing of particular interest in that room, we headed back out into the foyer. Straight ahead was a large open space with scattered seating areas around the edges of the walls and a marble table with a flower arrangement, which dominated the middle of the room. I assumed that this was where they held the Halloween and Christmas parties, or at least, where they started.

Branching off from the wall leading back into the mansion, there were two hallways. Choosing the first one we came upon, Will and I decided to split up, each taking one side of the hallway. As Will disappeared behind a door across the hall, I quietly opened the second door I came to on my side. Peering inside, my breath hitched as I saw the frail man lying motionless in the four poster bed.

Grandfather.

CHAPTER 54

Hesitating for only a moment upon noticing Grandfather in the room, I felt compelled to see the man who was responsible for our isolation and imprisonment. Looking back into the hallway to make sure no one was around, I quietly walked in and shut the door behind me, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

The room was dark and stuffy, almost hot - as if the heat was on full blast in order to stifle any chill that the old man might have. Beads of sweat started to form at my forehead though I wasn’t sure if it was due to the temperature or the anxiety running through my body. I stayed still, just taking in the surroundings for a while, my feet frozen in place.

There were a couple of nightlights that glowed from the light sockets to keep the room from total darkness. The room was sparsely furnished, with the ornate king-size bed being the centerpiece of attention. A few other pieces of furniture were scattered around the room – a nightstand with a book, some prescription bottles, and a glass of water resting atop it sat to the right of the bed, a dresser with an antique lamp was against another wall, and a wrought-iron round table with matching chairs was positioned in the corner near the other side of the bed. There was a basket of knitting needles and yarns on top of the table, and I could picture Dru sitting here during the day by her dying husband’s side, knitting a blanket or a pair of socks to keep him warm.

Walking further into the room, I saw an IV stand set up next to the bed, and I followed the tubes to the pale and bony arm lying above the sheets. Breathing tubes were stuck inside his nose, the medical equipment mingling against his ashen skin and sunken cheeks. How could this fragile, broken man be so powerful that he held the fate of four children and their mother in his skeletal hands? Ethan was so thin that he looked to weigh less than I did. Surely, we could defeat this man easily with a flick of our wrists.

I sat down gently on the edge of the bed, careful not to wake him, and stared hard at his body, trying to see the rise and fall of his chest that indicated he was still alive. As I stayed there watching his chest barely move from his breathing, I realized that his power had nothing to do with physical strength; it was all about money and manipulation. Even from his deathbed, he held the power to ruin people’s lives with one phone call to his lawyer.

Anger welled up inside me. How could this man treat his grandchildren as if we were nothing? He had never even bothered to meet any of us; his own flesh and blood discarded and cast away without a second thought. In my head, I could see myself taking one of the fluffy white pillows resting against the headboard and holding it against his face, strangling what little life he had left out of him and putting us all out of our misery; allowing us to move on from our prison and letting him take up his rightful place in Hell.

I was so engrossed in my morbid fantasy that I didn’t notice when his eyes opened with a start. A cold, clammy hand grabbed on to my forearm, and a startled scream escaped from my throat.

“Joycie?” The corpse-like figure rasped out in confusion. “I knew you’d come back to me, Joycie.” He was obviously hallucinating, thinking I was Mother.

My eyes widened in terror as I met his steely gaze. Despite the frailty of the sick man in bed, his grip was like a vice on my flesh. I grabbed at his fingers poking into my skin with my other hand, but I couldn’t loosen his hold on me. I knew I was making too much noise with my whimpering, but I was desperate to break free. I tried getting up off the bed and yanking my arm out of his grasp with my full weight, but as soon as my body started to move away, Ethan wrenched me forward towards his face.

“Don’t go, Joycie,” he begged in his scratchy voice. “Daddy loves you. You’ll always be my little girl.”

His other hand came up to pet my head, pushing me forward further, and I lay trapped against the bed underneath his arm. Completely panicked, my legs flailed trying to find some purchase on the floor to no avail. My frightened screams were being muffled by the sheets.

Suddenly, I felt an arm around my waist and I was tugged out of Grandfather’s traumatic confinement. A hand covered my mouth to stifle any noises escaping from my lips. I continued to thrash in my captor’s arms upon seeing the shocked look in Ethan’s terrified eyes.

“No, no, no, no, no.” Ethan mumbled over and over again, his voice gaining volume as he continued.

My body was pulled tighter against the person behind me, and I heard a hushed voice next to my ear. “Shhh, Elizabeth, it’s me. It’s Will.” The gentle whisper reached my brain and realizing who was holding me, I started to calm down.

But my compliance only seemed to agitate Grandfather more. “You can’t take her from me, Robert! You’re dead.” Ethan started to whip his head back and forth against the pillows, his feeble fists banging against the bed. “Dead, dead, dead, dead.”

A beeping sound started from a medical machine somewhere by the bed. Will and I both looked towards the noise, though we couldn’t see anything. “Shit.” Will dragged me further away from the bed. “They must have monitors in here to track his health. Jesus Christ, I hope they don’t have video cameras.” He let me down and grabbed my hand as he started towards the doorway, but I couldn’t move. “Come on, Elizabeth! We got to get out of here before someone comes to see what’s wrong with him.”

As my body trembled in shock, I stood there motionless, barely registering the words Will was saying.

“Let’s go!” He said again, trying to get me to start running. “Dammit, Elizabeth!” Realizing I wasn’t going anywhere, he swept me up into his arms and ran to the door.

Poking his head outside, he checked both ways of the corridor before he went towards the large open room we originally came through. As he got to the end, he looked out into the room, and we saw Drusilla in her dressing gown clutching a strand of rosary beads reach the top of the staircase.

“Adam, what’s happening?” She cried out to her trusty servant who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, diligently waiting for her.

I couldn’t hear his response since Will had turned around and was now running to the other end of the hallway. “Fuck,” he said under his breath as he tried one of the doors past Grandfather’s room, but it was locked. Moving to the next one, the door opened and he slipped us inside just as Adam and Drusilla rushed into the hall.

When the door to Ethan’s bedroom opened, we could still hear his incoherent cries. “Adam, get the morphine.” Drusilla’s distressed voice was heard just before the door closed again.

“We have to go, Elizabeth. The door’s closed so they won’t see us, but it has to be now.” Will had put me down and was grabbing at my shoulders, shaking me out of my stupor. “Do you understand me?”

I nodded my head in obedience, and Will dragged me out into the hallway again – my legs finally working. Going in the opposite direction of Ethan’s room, we went down the corridor and through the swinging door awaiting us at the end.

We emerged on the other side of the door standing in a huge kitchen. The room took up almost the entire length of the house. There were multiple ovens, refrigerators and countertops. You could tell that when the manor was holding one of their dinner parties all of the food preparation and cooking was done here.

Inset in the wall opposite the swinging door was large windows that overlooked the expansive backyard. “That’s where we came in from when we first got here.” Will nodded towards the car parked in the driveway. “The other staircase to upstairs has to be around here somewhere.”

We hurried over to the other side of the kitchen, running our hands along the walls looking for the tiny corridor that would lead us back upstairs to safety. “Here.” Will alerted me as he opened the tiny hidden door next to the pantry.

Going down the hall until I reached the stairs, I climbed as fast as I could up the narrow staircase with Will right on my heels. Finding the latch at the top, I opened the door that led to our abandoned section of the house. Running halfway down the corridor to our bedroom, I bounced back and forth on my feet as I waited for Will to unlock the door.

As Will fumbled with the key in the lock, I heard footsteps coming from the main staircase. “Hurry, Will. Someone’s coming.”

“Got it,” he stumbled into the room, and I scurried in behind him. “Get into bed, lay still and get your breathing under control so it looks like you’ve been asleep the whole time.” Will told me as he locked the door again.

Pulling off his shoes and pants, he looked at me snuggling into bed, tension clearly written on his face. “They’re going to check to make sure we’ve been in here the whole time.” He got into bed, trying to put himself into a natural sleeping position.

I rolled onto my stomach, facing away from the door and closed my eyes, concentrating on the rhythm of my breathing. A few minutes later, I could hear the door unlock and struggled to stay still as someone peered into the room. Whoever it was came to stand between the two beds. Dawn shifted next to me, unconsciously feeling the weight of the person’s stare. Seemingly satisfied, the person left after what seemed like an eternity, re-locking the door and leaving us alone again.

Letting out a breath, I moved onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. My body began shaking as I thought about the events that occurred tonight. I could still feel Grandfather’s clammy hand on my arm and his hot breath on my face as he pulled me near him.

“Elizabeth, are you awake?” Will whispered into the night about twenty minutes later.

“Yeah,” I answered hesitantly.

Coming to stand next to the bed, I could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. “What the fuck were you thinking going in there like that alone? You should have found me first or just not gone in at all. Do you know what could have happened if we got caught, or worse, if Dru had found you before I did?” He whispered harshly between clenched teeth as he gripped my shoulders tightly.

Tears began to run down my cheeks. “Will, please.” I begged. I wasn’t in the mood to be reprimanded right then. “I can’t stop shaking. I was so scared.” A sob escaped my throat, and Will changed his demeanor with me from frustrated to comforting, bringing me in for a hug. I clung to him as I continued to describe my ordeal. “I couldn’t get away from him, he held me so tight even though he looked so small. I couldn’t get away.”

“Shh, shh. It’s okay, Beth. You’re safe now.” He rubbed small circles on my back while he tried to soothe my shaken nerves.

“He smelled like death.” I cried into his shoulder. “It felt like he was going to take me to Hell with him.”

“Elizabeth, you’re not going die. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

Dawn started to stir next to us, waking from the sounds of my sobbing. “Will? Bethy? You’re back.” Lifting her head off the pillow, she looked at us curiously, “Why are you crying, Beth?”

“It’s okay, Dawn. We just had a rough night. We’ll tell you about it tomorrow, okay.” Will pushed some of the hair out of her face and rubbed her cheek. “Go sleep with Connor for a little bit until she calms down.”

“Are you sure that’s alright?” Dawn said apprehensively.

“It’ll be fine, sweetie. I’m not going to sleep right now. I’ll move you back before morning, I swear.”

Dawn nodded her head, but before she left she laid her hand on my back. “I love you, Elizabeth.”

I sniffled through my reply. “I know, Dawnie. I love you too.”

Once Dawn was settled into the other bed with her breathing evened out in sleep, Will adjusted our positions so he was sitting against the headboard with my head cradled against his chest. “I don’t want you going out into the house anymore. This is why I didn’t want you to come in the first place.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Elizabe…” He started to defend his decision. “Hold on, did I just hear that right?” Will couldn’t hide his shock. “You agreed with me without any kind of argument.”

“After tonight, I’d rather not go back out there. Besides, what else are we going to find?” I shrugged. “We found the office drawer with the medical and legal information, the staircase leading out to the backyard, Ethan’s room, and Mom’s room with the money we need for when we get out of here. I saw everything I need to see.”

“I suppose you’re right. So I’ll go out alone every once in a while to grab some more cash, maybe some jewelry so we can pawn it later, check out the office every once and a while for information and just come right back. No more exploring - I didn’t find anything interesting in any of the other rooms anyway.”

Will kissed the top of my head and gathered me a little bit closer. “I was so scared when I heard you scream. I had no idea what had happened to you.”

“I’m sorry. I know I could have gotten us into a lot of trouble. I just freaked when he grabbed me. He looked barely alive; I didn’t think he could hold onto me like that. Then when he started talking to me like I was Mom, it was creepy.”

“Wait, he thought you were Mom?” Will pulled me away so he could look me in the eyes.

“Yeah, he called me Joycie. Said I would always be his little girl.” I shuddered when I thought about it again.

“Beth, I thought he was just hallucinating, saying things that didn’t mean anything.” The wheels in his head were turning, trying to puzzle something together.

“I don’t understand? He obviously was. I’m not Joyce.”

“But you look enough like her when she was younger that he could have easily mistaken you for her. Ethan was thinking about something from the past. When I came in to take you away, he called me Robert.”

“Who the hell is Robert?” I asked, confused.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Will said coldly.

CHAPTER 55

The weeks leading up to Christmas went by uneventfully.

Although we were curious about finding information on whom Robert was, Will decided he wasn’t going to go back out into the house until after the holidays. The scare from our encounter with Ethan in his bedroom was enough to make William think we should take a break with the journeys out of our room. Especially since we weren’t sure if Dru suspected that we were the cause of his outburst that night. Although she didn’t act any different, we did notice that there were more footsteps outside in the hallway than usual, as if someone was patrolling the corridor to make sure we didn’t suddenly open the door.

With Christmas coming, the four of us decorated the attic and our room again, pulling out the boxes we found last year with the plastic tree and other decorations. Will and I scoured the attic for more gifts that we could give to the twins from Santa Claus, finding a few items that could pass as decent presents for Connor and Dawn. We encouraged the kids to make homemade presents for each other and us, and they spent most of their days drawing or doing craft projects while listening to the wind howl against the windows of the attic.

Mother had returned from her trip to London right before the holiday party held at Rayne Manor, which we only found out about because we saw her exiting the limo one afternoon with luggage from out the attic window. After her speech at Halloween, nobody was fooling themselves into thinking that she would come to visit us on Christmas morning or even leave us any presents like last year. We all knew we were spending the holiday with only each other again this year.

But on Christmas morning we were surprised to see gifts waiting for us by the dining cart along with breakfast. I looked at Will for an explanation, but he just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had no idea who was behind the presents either. Unlike last year, there wasn’t a note of forgiveness from Mom and all of the gifts were addressed from Santa.

As we spent the morning opening gifts, I realized that Mom didn’t buy them. Despite not being around us for several months, the presents were more personal last year – she still knew our tastes in music, clothes and games. This year, the gifts were different – nice, but impersonal, as if someone just went to the store and asked what the latest trends were for children our ages.

It couldn’t have been grandmother since she clearly didn’t give a crap whether we had a happy Christmas or not, seeing as though she was the one that thought it was a good idea to imprison us in this room. So when Adam came in to collect the breakfast plates and asked if we enjoyed the gifts from Santa, I knew it had to have been him.

Dawn and Connor went on and on about the gifts they got and how grateful they were that Santa didn’t forget them this year again. Adam had a shy, concealed smile on his face the whole time as he listened to them while clearing the dishes.

Before he could leave the room, I grabbed his arm, “Thank you.” I whispered to him with an appreciative look in my eye. “You made their day, maybe even their year.”

“Merry Christmas,” he nodded and walked quickly out the door before he could show any emotion.

*********************************************************************

The New Year approached as William and I sat up in the attic drinking another bottle of wine and talking about the year just passed. The kids had been in bed for a while, and we were comfortably discussing all that had happened this year and making some resolutions for the year to come.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that the main resolution of the New Year is to get out of here.” I said, while Will nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ll second that. The sooner the better, but we need to get more money first. I’d like to have at least a thousand dollars before we leave - maybe even more if we can pawn some of mom’s jewelry when we get out. We’re going to have to find a place to live, and we’ll need rent to start.” Will replied, thinking ahead to our escape. “I think we’ll be fine with food for a while since we can take what we have stashed under the bed.”

“Then we’ll just need to get jobs. How exactly are we going to do that?” I asked, flopping down on my back in defeat. We were two teenagers without a high school diploma, no parents and two children to support. I didn’t think people would be jumping to hire us.

Will looked down at me with a tender gaze. “Don’t get all pessimistic on me. There are people that let their employees work under the table or we can find someone to doctor up fake papers for us. That happens all the time. We’ll figure it out.” His fingers danced gently down my cheek. “The main thing is we get out.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I said on a sigh. Although I was anxious to leave Rayne Manor, I was nervous as to how we were going to survive once we got out, but I knew Will wouldn’t give up and he would do everything in his power to make it work. “What kind of job would you want to get?” I asked him, curious as to what kind of life he thought we could have.

Shrugging his shoulders, he replied “I don’t know, maybe something like McDonald’s or as a waiter at some restaurant. I think you can make more money waiting tables, plus they would have more flexible hours so I could work around yours and the twins’ schedule.”

I watched as Will took another sip from the wine bottle and realized how much he had sacrificed since we came here. He stepped in as father to the twins at age sixteen and was considering a job at a fast food restaurant to support us even though he was thinking about Ivy League colleges a little more than a year ago. God, he should be in his first year of college by now. “If things hadn’t turned out how they did, what would you have wanted to be?”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, confused as to where the question was coming from.

“I’m talking about your hopes and dreams before dad died.” I took the wine bottle from him, taking a sip before setting it aside. Although our family was close, Will and I never had deep conversations about life and the universe since we were also brother and sister in different social groups. Positioning myself in front of him now, I felt like I wanted to know more about the person he would have been had we never came to Rayne Manor. “Where would you have gone to college? What career path were you thinking of taking?”

“Jesus, Elizabeth. What brought this on?” Will started to pull away, but I reached out to grab his hand, keeping him seated in front of me.

I wasn’t sure if he was just uncomfortable with my sudden interest or regretful that he would never realize those dreams. “No, don’t leave. We never really had these discussions when we lived in LA. I want to know about you, Will. Please.”

He looked up into my eyes and must have seen the sincerity in them because he took a deep breath and started to answer my question with a shrug of his shoulder. “I was never really sure. I wanted to go to Harvard, but I didn’t think I would actually get in. I mean, I had close to perfect grades, but it’s really hard to get in to a school like that.” Will had turned his hand, so he was now holding mine, his thumb stroking random patterns on the backside of my hand. “Plus, I wasn’t too keen about being all the way across the country away from you guys. I was afraid I would be forgotten from the family – like once I was gone, I would miss out on all kinds of life events that no one would think to tell me about. You know, just little things, like Dawn’s ballet recitals or Connor making the game-winning out at a baseball game.”

“That wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t have forgotten about you.”

“Yeah, probably not, but I still would have been three thousand miles away. So I thought I would be better off going somewhere like UCLA. Somewhere close, plus it has a great medical school.”

“You wanted to be a doctor?” I was startled at this revelation as Will never gave any indication of this.

“Well, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do so I thought I’d follow in Dad’s footsteps and be a doctor, but not obstetrics, maybe some kind of surgeon. He was just always doing so much good for people and I thought that I wanted to do something noble like that.”

“Huh, I wouldn’t have guessed that’s what you wanted to do with your life.”

He shrugged again. “It wasn’t my first choice. I really wanted to be a writer, but as you were always so quick to point out, my poetry sucks.” He smiled at me, letting me know he was just teasing me.

I shook my head to correct him. “Your poetry might have sucked, but your writing is wonderful. I’ve never been anything but encouraging with the ‘Buffy’ stories. I think you just needed to switch genres.”

Will beamed at me when I told him this. “You really think so?”

I smiled back through my reply. “I know so. Your imagination has created this whole other vibrant world with characters that are emotionally complex and feel like real people.”

“Thanks, though you may be bias since the heroine is based on you. But I guess the stories are one good thing that came out of this whole ordeal then.” He grabbed at my leg and gave it a squeeze. “What about you? What did you want to do?”

“No clue. I definitely didn’t have the grades that you did and the only thing I put any effort into was cheerleading.”

“What about dancing?” Will asked as his hand unconsciously massaged my thigh.

“Oh, I loved that, but I never really thought I could make a career out of it. I mean there is only so much you can do with dancing.”

“I think you’re selling yourself short. I mean there’s the stage and theatre, traveling troupes, music videos, movies, the occasional ‘Fame’-like television show.”

“Yeah, but you have to be really, really good to do those types of things.”

“What makes you think you aren’t really, really good? We’ve been here for over a year and you’re still practicing almost everyday – you’re obviously dedicated to it. Maybe when we get out of here, you could become a dance instructor to little kids while trying to become a professional.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had any professional training in over a year and my body is way too skinny now. I’ve lost most of my muscle tone.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Will grabbed my legs and dragged me up to his body, my legs on either side of his hips. His hands were running up and down my legs slowly from my knees then up to my hips. “I think you’re body is beautiful.” Will grabbed the top of my baggy pants, dragging them off of me. Exposed before him, he grabbed one of my legs and brought it up to his shoulder. He placed soft kisses on my ankle and up my calf as he continued, “And I know you’re very flexible. I can bend you in all sorts of ways.” Proving his point, he left my leg on his shoulder as he leaned over to kiss my stomach, lifting my shirt up over my breasts in the process.

I closed my eyes in pleasure as he massaged my breasts and kissed his way back up along my inner thigh. “I picked our position for tonight,” I said huskily, deciding to continue in the direction of the more deviant festivities of the evening.

He shook his head in disagreement against my skin before pulling away. “Uh, uh, not tonight. No position.” He lifted his shirt over his head and then started on his pants. Noticing the confused look on my face at his denial of our holiday tradition, he continued with an explanation. “It’s our anniversary.” He took a couple of condoms out of his pants pocket before tossing them aside.

Stretching his naked body on top of mine, he lifted my shirt the rest of the way over my head before taking my lips in his for a sweet kiss. “It was a year ago tonight that we first kissed so it’s like our first year anniversary.” His lips worked their way down my neck to my collarbone with tiny kisses. “I want tonight to be special.” He whispered as he took an erect nipple into his mouth.

My breath hitched as his tongue slowly laved the hardened nub. When he began to gently suckle on it, electric tingles shot straight to my core.

Pulling away, his kisses traveled lower down my body over my torso. “I want to worship every inch of your body so I can show you how beautiful it is, how much I love pleasuring you.” His tongue darted along the wet walls of my pussy before thrusting inside my center. His fingers quickly found my clit and he expertly brought my body to orgasm within minutes.

Getting to his knees, he rolled one of the condoms over his protruding cock and slid into me before I could recover from the heights he had just taken me to. His hips pumped in an excruciatingly slow rhythm as he murmured against my ear, “I want to show you how much I love being inside you, how much I love being with you.”

My responsive skin pebbled as his hands wandered sensually over my entire body. My hips arched into his as he hit a particularly sensitive spot inside me.

The clock drew nearer to midnight as he played my body like a finely tuned instrument, knowing every note to the seductive song. Pushing me to the brink of ecstasy before pulling me back to prolong our pleasure, my eyes shut in a hazy bliss as I realized what he had been doing to me all night.

William was making love to me soundly.

He was showing me with his body what he couldn’t tell me with words. Everything he was doing tonight – the tender touch of his hands, the steady cadence of his thrusts, the sweet nothings spoken on a sigh – exuded love, adoration and devotion.

I had never felt so protected, emotionally moved and whole-heartedly beloved before. Staving off my joy-filled tears, I held his body tighter, digging my fingers into the muscles of his back to bring him as close to me as I felt to him. I shifted my thighs to grasp him firmly at his hips, driving him deeper inside me. Crying out together as we crested over the edge of an explosive orgasm, I could feel how much Will loved me as his body trembled in completion, his member pulsing inside me.

And although I could never admit it to him, I couldn’t lie to myself any longer. I knew without a doubt that I loved him too. Not as a brother, but as a man, a partner, and a soul mate.

CHAPTER 56

“Hmmm?”

I looked up at Will when I heard the barely audible inquisitive sound coming from his lips. Connor and I had been sitting on the mattress experimentally feeding Charlie different foods to discover what the mouse liked best. Charlie was set up in a new cage, complete with exercise wheel, the one personal gift that any of us had gotten for Christmas a few weeks ago. Every once in a while, the mouse would abandon the food and go run around in the wheel, which would put Connor into a state of hysterical laughter. Will had been ignoring our juvenile fun by sitting on the window ledge reading a thick book of poetry, but was now staring down to the circular driveway.

“What?” I asked, curious to know what captured his attention.

“Huh?” Will turned his head as I broke into his concentration.

“What’s going on out there that dragged you away from your book?”

“There’s just been a lot of trucks coming to the house lately. Florists and caterers.” He said turning to me.

“It’s probably Mom trying to decide who’s going to do the honors of serving her at her wedding.”

“Is that normal?” Will questioned. “For the vendors to come to you?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “If you have a lot of money it is. People will do anything to make a sale if they think there’s a big enough payoff for them in the end. I imagine that the Pryce-Rayne wedding will be the social event of the year if the Halloween and Christmas parties are any indication. You know as well as I that it’s going to be big and fancy and expensive.” I stood up to go look out the window as well, seeing for myself the blue florist van pulling up in front of the main door. A man got out of the driver’s seat, came around to the sliding door on the side and pulled out two large bouquets of assorted flowers. “I’m sure it will garner a lot of future work too since anyone who’s anyone will probably be there. They can drum up a lot of business just doing this one occasion. Plus, with Ethan sick, if they come to the house, he can still be involved in the wedding planning. He seems to me the type that would want to have his hands in things – to have some control over everything in his precious daughter’s life.”

Will let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. That’s probably it then.”

I was curious as to why he sounded so letdown by my explanation. “What did you think they were for?”

Will shook his head as a white catering truck drove up the long driveway, bypassing the circular part where the florist truck was parked and continuing around the back, presumably to the kitchen. “I don’t know. It’s just that we never see any cars or anything except for when there’s a party here. Thought maybe there was an event going on. Mom hasn’t been around for awhile, so it’s not like we’d know if something happened.”

At his last statement the wheels started spinning in my head, and I realized where his train of thought was coming from. He thought something happened to grandfather –like his death. The rotating florists were delivering sympathy bouquets from the community, the catering vans serving for small gatherings of colleagues, wakes and finally, the funeral. I always assumed that if Ethan died, Mother would immediately come to tell us the good news so we could finally be free of this place, but now I wasn’t so sure. We hadn’t seen mother for months and she certainly wasn’t the same person as when we first got here.

How would we know if grandfather died? If no one told us, it could be months before we figured it out.

Before I could wrap my mind around my thoughts, Will stood up, stretching his arms over his head to get the kinks out of his back. “You’re probably right, I’m sure the wedding is going to be a huge event. And it’s getting close now; less than five months away at this point. I haven’t seen anything else before this, so mom and Wes were probably waiting until after the holidays to really start planning. I’m sure this is the final push for the big day.”

I was unable to express my doubts of Will’s rationalizing of the whole situation, using my own argument at that, because I heard Connor calling my name from the mattresses.

“Elizabeth,” he interrupted. “Do you think he will like Ho-Ho’s? I bet he’ll like the cake part.”

“I don’t know, sweetie. Chocolate makes dogs sick, so you might not want to give any to Charlie. It might make him sick too.” I reasoned, though I had no idea about the eating habits of mice.

“Even if I just gave him a little?” Connor whined. “I know he’ll like it. And the sugar will make him go faster on the wheel.”

I shook my head in defeat. Connor was obviously feeling like the mischievous little boy that he was, and I knew I wasn’t going to win. “Go ahead, but just a little. You wouldn’t want him to get sick, right?”

“I promise not too much. I want him with me so I can play with him.” Connor looked up at me with his innocent face. “Can you stay with him while I go downstairs to get the Ho-Ho’s? I’ll be right back. You can watch so you know I don’t give him too much.”

“Sure, I’ll wait right here and keep an eye on him.” I watched Connor scamper away across the attic and turned back to Will, but he was gone too. I sighed in defeat, letting the questions forming in my head sink to the back of my mind.


*********************************************************

In the months following New Year’s Eve, things between Will and I were different when we were together sexually. I’m not sure if it was just something psychological in my head because I realized I loved him or if there really was a true physical difference.

For me, everything seemed to slow down. Being with William didn’t seem so frenzied or desperate anymore. The way his hands explored my body made me feel like he was trying to reach my soul, to flow his emotions into me through the palms of his hands. It was truly lovemaking every time despite the way the act itself was performed, and I tried to tell him how I felt through my body rather than with my words because I knew I could never actually say how I felt out loud.

Now more than ever, I felt that Will knew exactly what I needed when we were together. When the second anniversary of our father’s death crept up on us in February, Will held me cradled to his chest and rocked my body slowly in comfort. As my grief subsided, he laid me down outstretched on the mattress, softly kissing away the tears from my cheeks. He slipped inside me wordlessly, slowly moving his hips while he whispered sweet words in my ear. As his hands travelled lovingly over my body, my orgasm built in a languid, unassuming manner until I was finally pushed over the edge by his simple rhythmic movements.

On Valentine’s Day, we had the complete opposite experience, but with the same emotional pull. I had chosen one of the positions we had tried out the previous New Year – the Winged Eros. Will and I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time as we tried to get into the more complicated position. Getting into the position was a lot harder without clothes on. It took us a few times before we figured out that I needed to straddle him first, embedding him deep inside me, before I lifted my legs over his shoulders and leaned back against his bent knees. Once we found our rhythm, our giggles turned to moans as we enjoyed the new sensual pleasures our bodies were experiencing.

It was wonderful to be able to have fun in our sexual play, knowing that we felt completely comfortable with each other and trusted one another no matter what we were doing. So when William’s eighteenth birthday came around, I knew exactly what I was going to give him as a present. I was finally ready to grant him the one thing I had denied him for so long.

Similar to last year, we had a small party with the four of us downstairs. As soon as we finished with the special dinner and cake, Will made his way upstairs to contemplate what was going on in his life. It took all of my willpower not to follow him immediately to the attic, but I knew I had to wait. The twins needed to be well into sleep and I knew Will wanted some alone time since Mother didn’t show up for his birthday once again.

After a few hours, it was time. With a final glance at Dawn and Connor, I grabbed a few things that I needed and made my way up the stairs. I let out a deep breath to expel my nerves as I got to the top. Hearing Will humming, I had déjà-vu of last year and wondered how much wine he had already drunk. Coming around a large wardrobe, I spied a naked Will laying on the mattress with a wine bottle in one hand and his semi-erect cock in the other. He was barely stroking himself, just touching enough to get slightly aroused, not to get off.

“Couldn’t wait for me?” I teased as I came to stand in front of him.

His head lifted off of the mattress with a grin. “What took you so long? Seems like I’ve been waiting forever.” He stood up to come rub his hands up my bare arms. “Already jerked off once thinking about what you could possibly have in mind for my birthday present.” His head dipped down to trail kisses up my neck. “Your gift last year was very nice, but if I remember correctly, I didn’t get to come.” One of his hands squeezed my breast as he whispered in my ear, “I hope that will be rectified this year.”

“Don’t worry, Spikey.” I answered, pushing him away from me and onto the mattress with a thud. “Gonna make you a man today.” I started to throw items out of my pocket, starting with a couple of condoms, then the massage oil and lastly the small bottle of lube that he didn’t know I had taken from mom’s room.

When the lube hit his chest, he grabbed it, sitting up to look at me with surprised, lust-filled eyes. “Where and when did you get this?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Bringing my shirt over my head, I bent down to crawl topless along the mattress until my jean covered ass was right in front of his face. “Figured I would finally let you into that one place you’ve wanted to go for so long.” Wiggling my bottom, I boldly asked, “What do you say, Spike? Do you want to put that long, thick, rock hard cock of yours up my ass?”

“Jesus Christ, Buffy.” His head fell back against the mattress with his eyes closed, though I noticed that he was definitely fully hard now.

Maybe I came on too strong. “Well, if you don’t want it, then…”

“NO,” his quick denial interrupted my sentence. “No, I want it, I just never thought you’d come right out and say it like that. Shocked me is all.”

“What are you waiting for then? Take off my pants, NOW!”

At the authority in my voice, Will scrambled to unbutton my jeans as I knelt in front of him. “Fuck, Buffy. Where did this domineering side come from?”

“I told you, I’m going to make you a man tonight.” I harshly repeated. Truth was I hadn’t planned it out like this at all, but I felt all powerful knowing I was in control of giving Will something he had waited so long for. I felt like I was holding him by strings and knew that I could command him to do whatever I wanted beforehand and he would comply in anticipation of that final erotic boundary we were about to cross. Of course, I decided to test that theory. “Don’t call me that cheerleader name. You will refer to me as Mistress when addressing me tonight.”

As he slid my pants off my ankles, he readily complied. “Yes, Mistress.”

God, that was easy.

“What would you like me to do next, Mistress?”

Those eager words had my mind reeling as I realized I really was in complete control. Figuring I would make the most of it, I moved so that I could lay down with Will in between my legs. “I would like you to start with the massage oil. Please rub it all over my body from head to toe, slave.” Yeah, I was starting to get into this.

When Will went to pour the oil on my chest, I yelled, “Stop, you fool.” I slapped him firmly in the chest with my hand. “Warm the oil in your hand first, slave. I do not want cold oil on my sensitive skin.”

I thought maybe I had gone too far with the hitting. The slap wasn’t hard enough to hurt him, but there was a small red mark on his pale skin where my hand hit him. He was stock still, as I stared him down, trying not to break the assertive nature of my new character. To my relief, after a moment’s pause on his part, he complied with my wishes as he squeezed the oil into his hands. “I’m sorry, Mistress. It won’t happen again.”

Satisfied with his words, I nodded my head in approval as I lay back down. “Continue.”

Will started at my neck and rubbed down my shoulders and arms. When he got to my chest, I could tell he was hesitant about touching my breasts. I guess he wasn’t sure if I would punish him for touching him somewhere I didn’t give him permission to. Knowing of his predicament, I granted him some rules. “You may touch my tits, slave, but my pussy is off limits to you until I say so. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mistress.” Will replied as he began to massage both of my breasts. His hands took me in fully, sliding over my nipples as they hardened into little peaks. When he pinched them, I moaned as the juices started to gather between my thighs. Sliding down to my stomach, he rubbed slow circles until he was so close to my center that he had to skip over to my legs.

I was breathing heavy now, and I was starting to wonder if this was a good idea. The touch of his hands was driving me slowly insane, and I needed more. When he lifted my leg to start rubbing my feet, I demanded, “Suck my toes.”

Obeying quickly, my big toe was soon engulfed in Will’s hot mouth. His tongue swirled around the digit, while his fingers dug into the sole of my foot. When his teeth lightly scraped against my skin, I cried out in surprise at the tickle that rushed through my body. Moving his hands up to my calf, Will released my big toe and sucked in the other four all at once.

Moaning at this new feeling, my body squirmed at the tickling sensation. Instinctively knowing when I had too much, Will’s mouth left my feet to start kissing up my ankle while his rubbing moved higher up my leg to my thigh and inching closer and closer to my pussy. Almost forgetting that I was in charge, I took control again by hooking my ankle at the back of his neck and tugging his face down closer to my sodden cunt.

“Suck my clit, slave.” I ordered, when he glanced up at me.

“With pleasure,” he replied with a smirk on his face. “Mistress,” he added just before diving in between my thighs.

Burying my hands in his curls, I guided his mouth to exactly where I wanted it and held him there as he sucked the distended nub and licked at my inner folds. I groaned as I brought both my legs over his shoulders and grabbed onto his hands to bring them up to my breasts.

Will adjusted himself so he could massage my tits and still keep his tongue buried inside me. “Oh God. Yes, yes, yes,” I repeated the mantra over and over again as I thrust my pussy into Will’s face. When he pinched my nipples, I screamed in release, letting myself fly over the edge.

As my legs fell to the side, Will crawled up my body to hover above me. “Did that please you, mistress?”

Opening my eyes, I answered breathlessly, “Yes, very much. You are an excellent slave.” I brought my lips up to kiss him, and he answered with bruising force.

Pulling away, he whispered in my ear, “Does that mean I’ve earned my reward?”

“Hmm,” I teased, moving us up into a sitting position. “I think you have definitely earned your reward.” Kissing him one more time, I turned around so I was back on all fours in front of him. “For being such a good slave, I’m going to let you do something very naughty.”

“Shit, Buffy.” Will ran his hands through his hair, trying to get control of himself.

“I am still your mistress, don’t forget that.” I snapped back lightly, taking Will’s nod as my sign of obedience. “Now, why don’t you take that reward of yours?”

“How would you like me to do it, mistress?” Will softly asked as he massaged my back with his oily hands.

“Do with me what you want, you’ve earned it.” Although I was enjoying the dominatrix bit, I decided to give him the power back. After all, it was his birthday.

Taking some oil in his hand, Will moved up right against my bottom and leaned over my back. Massaging my breasts, he came in close against my ear to whisper, “thank you for doing this for me today. I’m gonna make it so good for you.” He trailed kisses along my spine followed by his hands as he went to kneel upright behind me.

He eased his fingers down to gently stroke my honeyed folds before replacing them with his hard cock. Slowly, he undulated his hips in and out while he reached for the bottle of lube. After a few seconds, I felt the cold lotion at my rear entrance as his finger rubbed it all around before sliding fully inside. The double penetration intensified as he slid a second, then a third finger inside my tight hole. Stretching me in order to make it easier when his cock entered me, Will noticed my arms shaking as he did these sinful things to me. “Grab me the pillows.”

“What?” I asked, coming out of my pleasure filled daze.

“The pillows. You’re arms are shaking; I want you to be comfortable.” Pulling out, he grabbed the pillows from me, placing them underneath my stomach. “Lean forward so the pillows are propping you up rather than your arms.”

Doing as I was told, I leaned over so the pillows held my ass high in the air while my body rested comfortably on the mattress. With my head to the side, I could see him slather his hard shaft with lube before I felt his hand grab at my hip.

“Ready?” Will’s voice was shaky with lust as I felt the tip of his member poke at my stretched hole.

“Yes, please, do it.” I whimpered, feeling the head of his thick member enter the forbidden zone.

Once he hit the barrier, Will’s hands began to massage at my back again. “I need you to relax so I can push past this point without hurting you too much. Can you do that for me, princess?”

Nodding my head, I willed myself to breath evenly, trying to relax my body while concentrating on Will’s hands moving softly up and down my back. Seconds later, I cried out in pleasurable pain as Will’s hard cock embedded all the way inside me.

“Jesus Christ.” Will’s voice trembled in reverent awe as he knelt motionless behind me, buried deep inside. “You’re so fucking tight, Buffy.” Will groaned as he fought to give me a minute to adjust to this new intrusion. “Are you alright?”

Breathlessly, I nodded my head, “God, yes. Please...” I begged as my eyes screwed shut in ecstasy while my fingers clutched at the bed sheets, “I need you to fuck me.”

Will grunted in pleasant surprise as I pushed back a little against his shaft, forcing him to move. His hips started a slow thrust in and out of my tight hole, and I could hear his low moaning as he got into a steady rhythm above my own string of blissful whimpers.

“I’m not going to last long. Feels too good.” Will apologized in a whispered voice.

“S’okay.” I gasped out between heated pants. “I’m close too. Ugh, just need something to push me over.”

“Mmm, I can do that. Come here.” Will wrapped his arm around my waist, lifting me slowly towards his chest. One of his hands went up to massage at my breast, while the other slid down to my unattended pussy. As he pushed his shaft deep inside my backside, Will plunged two fingers into my cunt while his thumb caressed across my swollen clit.

The multiple stimulation created by Will’s talented fingers proved to be just what I needed. “AAAHHHHH,” I cried out to the heavens as my muscles clamped down around Will’s fingers and strangled his cock. I brought my arm up around Will’s neck to keep my trembling body upright as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over me from the earth shattering orgasm I was experiencing.

Biting down on my shoulder to muffle his scream, Will’s arm tightened around me as my release triggered his own, and I could feel him pulsating inside me. Weak and sated, Will lost his battle with gravity and fell forward, pushing me down onto the mattress. Still connected, his dick sank impossibly deeper inside me, sending another stab of bliss shuddering through me.

Panting heavily, we both stayed perfectly still trying to catch our breaths. The weight of Will lying on top of me amplified the closeness that I was feeling for him at the moment. In my mind, we had just shared something so extremely intimate, something that I wouldn’t dream of doing with anyone else because I knew I would never trust anyone with my heart or my body as much as I trusted William.

“Promise me something,” Will murmured against my ear.

“Anything.”

“When we get out of here, I know you are going to want to be with other people.” The anguish in his voice brought tears to my eyes. “Even if it’s going to be hard for me to see you with someone else, I expect that from you because I want you to live your life and not let what happened in this horrible place hold you back from having whatever it is you want in the future.” As if he were reading my mind earlier, he continued softly. “Just, please, don’t do this with anyone else. I want what we did tonight to be something that I know is just between you and me; that there’s some part of you that I know no one else can touch but me.” He nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. “Can you promise me that?”

With a choked back sob, I nodded my head in agreement.

Finally disconnecting himself from my body, he turned me around to so that he was lying on top of me face to face. “I mean it, Buffy.” His ice blue eyes stared straight into my soul, trying to read whether I understood the magnitude of his request. “Only my cock will ever feel your precious ass surrounding it. No one but me will be allowed to touch you there.” He kissed at the tears falling along one of my cheeks, “not your live-in boyfriend,” then at the other one, “not even your husband.” His lips came to hover over mine. “Do you understand me?”

Still speechless, I nodded my head again.

“No, Buffy. I want you to say it, so I know for sure.” Although his voice held a dangerous edge, I knew he was feeling very insecure.

“I promise you.” My hand went up to skim along his face. “I will never do that with anyone but you.” Deciding to voice what I was thinking earlier, I added, “I could never trust anyone that much.”

His lips crashed down on mine and his kiss was filled with desperate love. I responded back eagerly, until he broke away suddenly. “Thank you for promising me.” He kissed me again softly, but just as passionately. “And thank you for the best birthday present I’ve ever received. That was fucking incredible.”

I laughed at his enthusiasm. “It was pretty amazing.”

“You are amazing. And I’m not done with you yet.” Will kissed me again as he reached up to grab one of the condoms off the mattress.

CHAPTER 57

“Elizabeth,” Connor came over to me, dragging his feet. “I don’t feel good.”

“Come here, sweetie.” I hauled him up next to me on the bed and put my hand to his forehead. He didn’t feel hot. “Where do you hurt?”

Laying his head on my shoulder, Connor pouted, “my tummy.”

Hugging him close, I rubbed his belly to make him feel a little bit better. “Oh, poor baby. Maybe you shouldn’t have had three beignets after dinner tonight.”

“What’s going on?” Will asked upon seeing us snuggled on the bed as he came through the attic door with Dawn in tow.

“Connor has a tummy ache.”

“Hmm, I wonder if that’s because you ate yours, mine, and Beth’s dessert tonight.” Will said facetiously.

“That’s what I said.” I laughed, jiggling Connor unappreciatively.

“Ow. Stop laughing. You’re shaking me up more.” Connor squirmed in my arms, trying to get loose from my grip. “It’s not funny, it really hurts.”

Realizing he was very serious, I tried to placate him. “I’m sorry sweetie. Lay down here next to me and William will get you some ginger ale.” I hoped Dawn didn’t drink it all.

“We have one left just for you.” Will said, popping open the can and pouring some into a paper cup from on top of the mini-fridge. “Drink some now and I’ll let the rest sit to get rid of the bubbles. That should help you feel better.”

Connor grabbed hold of the cup and started sipping the soda slowly. “Maybe you can tell me a story to make me feel better.”

“You want a new Buffy story?” Will asked while he grabbed a children’s aspirin from the First Aid kit.

Connor nodded his head, still sipping the soda.

“You want it, you got it.” Will responded. “Why don’t you get changed into your pajamas and I’ll tell you a story before bed.” Handing Connor the aspirin, he continued, “Take this and then we can all settle down to listen to the story.”

“Come on, Connor. I’ll get your jammies.” I got up from the bed, heading to the bureau as Connor took the aspirin. “I’ll put mine on too; it’ll be like a slumber party.”

With Connor, Dawn and I in our night clothes snuggled under the covers in the bed, Will sat at the bottom weaving his tale. It always amazed me at how quick Will could come up with a plot that was relevant to the situations we were currently experiencing.

Tonight, his story revolved around the slayer being sick with the flu. When Buffy collapsed after a patrol of the cemetery, she was whisked off to the hospital by her sister and friends. In her feverish state, she saw a tall, demonic figure following some of the other sick children in her ward. One of the children, Ryan (which happened to be the name of one of Connor’s friends on his old baseball team back in LA), told her ‘it’s Death coming for them all.’ The next morning, the slayer witnessed one of the doctors being attacked and killed by an invisible force. Knowing it had to be the same demon she saw the day before, she had Ryan draw a picture of the demon and then she gave it to Cordelia and her watcher to research. Meanwhile, she prolonged her stay in the hospital trying to protect the children and find the demon.

Listening to the story, I was afraid that if Will made the story too harrowing Connor might be scared that his sickness was more serious than it probably was considering that no one had caught any kind of flu since coming to Rayne Manor. Plus, Will made the story in his usual frightening fashion with the detailed gory descriptions of the demon and the deaths in the hospital, but the twins seemed engrossed in the story so I put aside my worry to enjoy it with them.

We learned that Cordelia discovered the name of the demon was Der Kindestod and he killed his victims by sitting on their chest and sucking the life out of them. With this new information, the slayer sprung into action to defeat the demon, but she realized that she could only see him while sick. Injecting herself with a flu virus, she sought him out, only to find that he had wrangled all of the sick children to the basement. She found them in time to see Der Kindestod sitting atop Ryan amidst other screaming children. Buffy flung the demon off of her new friend and started to fight the demon. Weak from the flu, Buffy was pinned by Der Kindestod, who immediately tried to suck out her life force, but she was too determined to kill him since he preyed on innocent children. She grabbed his head and snapped his neck, killing him instantly. Victorious, she found the children to let them know they would never be bothered by the demon again.

William ended the story on a somewhat lighter note. “A few weeks after leaving the hospital, the Slayer received a letter in the mail. When she opened it, it was a picture of her as a superhero killing Der Kindestod. It was signed by a healthy Ryan, finally out of the hospital, thanking her for saving his life. The end.”

“Yay! Buffy kicked that demon’s butt.” Connor said with more energy than he had showed all night.

“Are you feeling better then?” I asked.

“A little bit.” He replied with a shrug of his shoulder. “A Buffy story always makes me feel better though. They make me happy because she always beats the bad guys no matter what.”

“Well, I’m glad I could cheer you up.” Will said as he stood up from the end of the bed. “I think you should still get to bed though. A good night’s sleep will help you to feel good as new in the morning.”

“I guess so.” Connor reluctantly agreed even though it was still pretty early for their bedtime.

“Come on, Dawn. You too.” I gave Connor a kiss on the forehead before pushing Dawn out of his bed to put her into her own.

“Why do I have to go to bed? I don’t feel sick.” Dawn whined.

“Let’s call it a precautionary measure. If he’s sick, that means you’ll probably get it too, so maybe this will stop you from getting it. You can have a glass of orange juice before bed for Vitamin C.” It was a somewhat lame excuse, but I wanted to talk to Will about Connor’s sickness alone.

“Fine,” Dawn huffed, getting into her bed.

Once the twins were settled in bed, I felt Connor’s forehead one more time before going upstairs with William.

“Do you think Connor’s okay?” I asked worried about what we would do if he was seriously sick.

“Yeah, I think he just had too many sweets for dessert.” Will said as calm as day.

“Probably, but none of us have been sick since we’ve been here except during Drusilla’s foray into starvation. What if it’s really serious?”

“Elizabeth, he just ate too much. It’s a stomach ache; he’ll be fine tomorrow morning.” Will assured me before coming over to caress his hands up my bare arms. “Now, stop thinking about that and come take care of your slayer duties.”

“Oh, and what would those be?” I said in my most innocent of voice, knowing full well where Will was going with this. “Staking evil vampires?”

As Will slid his hand underneath my tank top to bring it up over my head, he laughed. “Actually, I was thinking of this vampire staking you.” His mouth came down to suck at the nape of my neck, while he guided my hand to his jean clad erection. “I have just the stake to pierce you with.” His hand sat atop mine, as we stroked his cock together. “It’s big and hard and will stab you until you scream.”

I groaned when his teeth lightly nipped at my breast. “God, yes. I want you to stake me fast and hard.”

Will growled when I said this, and his lips crashed against mine. I knew he loved it when I went along with some rough play, and I could tell by the intensity of his kiss that our time together was going to be just what I asked for – fast and hard. He grabbed me around the waist and brought me down quick to the mattress. My legs wrapped around his hips automatically, as we both fumbled to undo the button and zipper of his jeans.

Once his jeans were discarded, he flipped me over so I lay on my stomach. He quickly yanked my night shorts off of me and slapped at my naked ass cheek. “Get on your knees.”

I yelped as he spanked me again, but quickly got on all fours.
“You better be ready, because I’m not going to be nice to you this time. I’m going to give you exactly what you asked for.” Without checking to see if I was wet, he lined his dick up against my pussy and plunged inside.

Of course, he didn’t have to worry as I was already sopping from his words; despite this fact, I still cried out in pleasure when he first stabbed inside me. At the speed of a jackhammer, his cock pounded roughly in and out of me, resulting in a steady hum of satisfaction from deep inside my throat. Every once in a while he would spank me, causing me to yelp in surprise and blissful pain.

“I’m going to come all over you, Slayer. Mark you as mine so all the other vampires know who you belong to.” Will rumbled between clenched teeth.

I wasn’t close to coming, but I wasn’t able to tell Will that because he grabbed at my hair with one hand and roughly fingered my clit with the other. My mouth opened in a silent scream as he brought his lubricated thumb to my puckered hole and unceremoniously slid it inside. My inner walls clamped down on Will’s cock as the unexpected orgasm rocked through my body.

“Fuck,” Will cried out as he struggled to contain himself. Losing the battle, he pulled out of me fast in order for his cum to cover my back.

My arms started to shake at the intensity of my climax. Noticing this, Will removed himself from my body and gently brought us down to the comfort of the mattress as we both recovered.

Any worry that I might have had about Connor had effectively exited my brain.

CHAPTER 58

When Connor woke the next morning, he was feeling better enough to eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and powdered doughnuts.

“Connor, are you sure you should be eating that?” I asked as he reached for his second doughnut.

“Why not? I feel fine.” He said as he took a large bite.

“Just because you feel better, doesn’t mean your stomach can handle a huge bowl of oatmeal and two doughnuts. You were soooo sick last night.” I mocked him since he was acting like he had the plague less than twenty four hours ago.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Connor replied through bites of his breakfast, not slowing down one bit or appreciating my sarcasm. “But I like these, the powdered ones are my favorite.”

“We can all tell,” Dawn giggled, “You have a white mustache and beard.”

Connor stuck out his tongue at his twin before wiping the powder off his face.

“Ewwww, that’s so gross.” Dawn proclaimed at his food covered tongue.

Jumping up from his seat, Connor went after Dawn with outstretched dirty hands. She screamed as she tried to avoid his sticky fingers.

“I guess he’s fine.” Will said to me as he watched the twins chase each other around the room. “See, I told you it was nothing to worry about.”

And for about two weeks, that was true.

Connor never complained about aches of any sort until the headaches began. Suddenly, he was getting them every night. Although his appetite was fine and his stomach was not bothering him, the headaches became increasingly worse. At first, he just got them every so often; then they started regularly during the day. Because of the pain, he would withdraw himself from whatever activity we were doing and go sleep on one of the mattresses. Will and I would give Connor children’s aspirin, but as the headaches got stronger, the medicine did not help. He began napping more and more, and when we woke him out of his deep slumber for meals, he would often be disoriented, thinking he was in his old bed in LA asking for mom and dad until finally the confusion would go away.

One night as Adam served dinner, I finally told him about the situation. “Adam, he’s really sick. You have to tell mother or grandmother. You’re the only one that can do it. We haven’t seen either one of them in months.”

“I’ll try, Miss Elizabeth, but I can’t guarantee you anything. I’m just a servant.” Adam looked saddened as he answered my plea. “Listen, I’ll try and get you some different medicines. Maybe some penicillin or antibiotics will help Connor.”

Although I wanted to scream, I realized that Adam was trying to help and he really was our only hope. I let out a deep breath to calm myself down before answering. “Fine, thank you. Anything you can do would be appreciated.”

Adam showed up the next day with many different kinds of medicine, from over the counter stuff like children’s Motrin to the prescription drug amoxicillin, which I didn’t even want to ask how he got it.

“Thank you, Adam.” I said taking the medicines from him. “Were you able to tell mother and grandmother about Connor’s sickness?”

Adam’s lips pursed together with his reply. “Only your grandmother. She thinks it’s just the flu and that the medicines will help.”

“Fine.” I replied not at all pleased with Dru’s reaction, but realizing it was typical. “What about mother? Why couldn’t you tell her? I would think she would want to know if her child was sick.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Elizabeth. She hasn’t been around much lately with the wedding coming up and all. She and Mr. Wesley have been very busy planning for the upcoming event. She’s usually off very early in the morning after breakfast.”

I let out a frustrated growl. Mother and her fucking wedding. I didn’t know why I still thought that she might care even a little bit about any of us.

“I’ll keep trying. Just give him these and I’m sure he’ll get better.” The butler said in pity before leaving us behind the locked door of our tiny room.

Unfortunately, even with the new medicine, Connor didn’t get better. In fact, he got much worse. His skin was a pallid yellow color and he could barely keep any food down. Anything he ate had him running to the bathroom within twenty minutes.

One day as I held his emaciated body up against the toilet for him to vomit, I noticed the small drips of blood swirling in the water. Looking up in worry at William, the tears ran down my face as I pleaded with him. “Will, we need to do something. Connor’s obviously very sick. This stupid over the counter medicine isn’t going to help." I said throwing a bottle of aspirin across the bathroom floor out of helplessness. "He needs a doctor!”

Will ran his hand through his hair as he paced back and forth along the tiled floor. “Don’t you think I know that! I just don’t know what to do.” He let out a frustrated growl and walked out of the bathroom, his own tears falling from his pained blue eyes.

I heard the door leading to the attic slam, causing my body to jump at the startling noise. My jerking movement must have jostled Connor because he coughed and turned his wane face to look up at me. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I’m ruining everything.” His voice was strained and barely audible.

Smoothing back his shaggy hair, I kissed his forehead and flashed a crooked smile. “Don’t be silly. You aren’t ruining anything. What’s there to ruin?”

His body shook with the effort it took him to respond. “The escape plan. If I’m sick, we can’t leave.”

“Sweetie, we weren’t planning on leaving tomorrow. Besides, you’re going to get better.” I tried to reassure myself as much as him.

“I love you, Elizabeth.” Connor’s eyes watered up as he looked up into mine. His eyes held a maturity that no child under ten should have. “William, too. I don’t understand why mom doesn’t love us anymore, but you guys have taken care of Dawn and me like we were your own kids. Thank you for loving us.”

“Stop it, Connor. It’s very easy to love you; you’re a good kid. Mom doesn’t know what she’s missing watching you grow up into a little man.” William said from the doorway of the bathroom. “And you’re going to be fine.” He walked over to the medicine cabinet and fished around for something. “Go bring him to the bed.”

“Why? What’s going on?” I asked confused at his actions. William seemed completely different between now and when he left earlier. His whole demeanor had changed from hopeless to authoritative.

“Just go put him to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Following his orders, I picked Connor up and brought him to the bed. Dawn walked over from the desk and sat at her twin’s side. William followed shortly and sat beside us. He reached into the nightstand to grab a lighter and then his pocket, extracting a razor blade.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, alarmed at the sight of the blade.

“Sterilizing the blade,” he said calmly, holding the flame up to the edge of the metal.

“Yes, I can figure that out. But why?”

“I’m going to cut myself so he can get nourishment from my blood. I’ve been reading through all the medical books in the attic. I found this remedy in one of them, and I think it’s about time we tried it.” Will said as he tied one of Dawn’s ribbons around his arm with his teeth. “He needs protein, nutrients, iron; they can all be found in blood. He needs to get stronger.”

“It sounds extremely dangerous.” My voice was verging on hysterical. “And what year was this book published? 1875? Should we go find some leeches too?”

“Your sarcasm isn’t going to make me not do this. He can’t keep anything down. I’ve been looking for something all week; this will work.” Will sliced into his inner arm, right below the juncture of the elbow with hardly a wince. “It has to work.”

“Come on, Connor. Drink up.” Will held out his bleeding arm to Connor.

I saw Connor wrinkle his nose at the thought of drinking someone else’s blood, but he was too weak to resist. He grabbed Dawn’s hand as Will brought his head gently down to the cut on his arm, and Connor’s natural instincts of survival kicked in. His lips latched onto Will’s skin and began to suck the life force out of the veins.

Shaking my head, I stood up feeling as though I was invading something personal between my other siblings. “How long will he have to drink for?”

“I don’t know. I guess until I start to feel lightheaded or until he just stops.” Will closed his eyes and rested his head against the headboard. “I’m going to need orange juice when he’s done. It’ll help me get some energy back.”

I went over to the fridge to take my eyes off the sudden events of the evening, giving the twins and Will some privacy and myself some time to comprehend just what we were driven to in order to survive. Pouring the juice into a cup, I walked back over to the other bed after a few minutes and placed the cup on the nightstand before sitting down. “What if this makes you too weak?”

“It won’t. I’m healthy and I have more weight on me. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry unnecessarily for me, Elizabeth.” His head was still against the headboard so I couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. With Dawn sitting right next to him clinging to her sick brother, I doubted he would give much away anyway.

“You know I do. For all of us.” I said as I lay down on the bed, pulling my legs up to hug myself. I watched in silence as Connor drank Will’s blood for what seemed like eternity though in reality was only a few minutes.

Finally, Connor’s lips unleashed themselves from Will’s arm, seemingly having fallen asleep while receiving his sustenance. Will slowly moved Connor so that he was sleeping comfortably in the bed.

“Dawn, come here sweetheart.” I whispered, holding out my hand to her. I could see that her shoulders were shaking from her tears.

Dawn quickly padded over into my arms, crying into my chest as I pulled the covers up to protect us from the chill that wouldn’t escape my body.

I watched as Will bandaged his arm and then drank the orange juice I had left for him. Once he finished, he mirrored my actions of lying down and covering him and Connor with the blankets just before turning out the light.

“Now what?” I asked into the darkness.

“Now, we wait and we pray.”

_____________________________________

Our prayers were not answered.

Despite receiving blood from William, Connor’s body did not get stronger. About a week after the bloodletting incident, Connor was so weak he could not even get out of bed. We watched helplessly as his body was overtaken with shivers despite the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. When the door opened for our usual morning delivery of breakfast, none of us moved from our stations on the bed.

“What’s going on? How is he?” I heard Adam ask in a soft voice.

I looked up to see the genuine concern in his eyes and answered, “He’s too weak to even get up. He hasn’t really been cognizant in a day or two.”

Adam nodded his head and left the room silently. A few minutes later the door slammed, but we did not jump as we were oblivious to everything but our ill brother.

“What is going on here?” Grandmother’s high-shrilled voice screeched through the thick silence. “Why aren’t you dressed? Why are you breaking my rules?”

At that, Will’s jaw ticked before he stood to face her; his composure finally cracking. “Fuck your rules! Our brother is laying here dying and all you can ask us about is what we are wearing!”

Dawn and I both flinched at his words; the unspoken truth no one was willing to admit aloud finally being revealed.

“Connor’s been sick for weeks. We tried to get you to do something earlier, but you ignored us. Now look at him,” Will flung his head back to the bed, “he’s too weak to even move. This is all your fault. You and your sick rules and mind games.” Will walked back to the bed and sat down next to Connor, smoothing back the damp hair from his forehead.

Drusilla looked at our sickly brother on the bed and left without saying another word. She returned a few minutes later with mother. As usual, she looked healthy and vibrant, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Joyce, your son is sick.” Dru said in the same cold manner that she always spoke in.

“What do you want me to do about it?” Mother replied haphazardly. “I’m not a doctor. Plus, we are meeting with the caterer later this afternoon. Have Adam take care of it.”

My eyes saw red. If I wasn’t so emotionally drained from dealing with a sick child for so long, I would have clawed her eyes out right then and there. The way she was talking as if tending to Connor was nothing more than taking out the trash - just another chore for the servant to do - made me want to kill her. Any shred of love I had remaining in my heart for her left when I heard her callous attitude. I saw Will’s fists clench at her words as well, but he did not move from Connor’s side.

Dru’s voice grew stern. “Joyce, you will attend to your son. You will bring him to the hospital, and you will get him the best care possible. You are his mother, and it is your responsibility to take care of him.”

When my mother didn’t move, Dru yelled, “NOW!”

I had never thought I would have a reason to like grandmother, but hearing her put mother in her place was just what I needed right now.

Mother snapped to the task at hand, coming over to pick Connor up from the bed and carrying him to the door so he could finally see a doctor.

Before she could leave, Will stood up and snarled some parting words to her. “If he dies, I will never forgive you.” Their eyes locked in a heated stare for a few seconds before mother turned away from his gaze.

Dawn, William and I watched in agony as our brother left our tiny prison room shivering in the arms of our captor.