Chapter Twenty-Four
“So where would you like to have lunch pet?” Spike asked as they strolled along Main Street, browsing through the stores.
Buffy shrugged. “Hmmm, I feel like a big juicy hamburger.”
Grinning, William put his arm around her shoulders to hug her closer against him. “You got it ducks. Frank’s Diner makes the best hamburgers you’ve ever tasted. You’ll love it.”
“Yay,” she replied happily.
“Hey, isn’t that your Dad?”
Following William’s gaze, Buffy looked across the street, noting that they were indeed opposite her father’s workplace. On the sidewalk in front of the building, her father was talking amiably with a woman about his age. She was wearing a stylish business suit and Buffy figured she must have been someone he worked with. “Yeah, that’s him,” she answered. “Maybe we should go say hello.”
As they watched her father and the woman seemed to be saying their goodbyes. Hank leaned forward to give the woman a quick kiss on the cheek before getting into a cab and driving off into the distance. Suddenly, the world seemed to tilt sideways and Buffy reached for William’s hand as she felt herself starting to hyperventilate. It wasn’t a romantic kiss, she mused thoughtfully, even as she felt panic engulfing her body. It was the kind of kiss you give an acquaintance or an old friend. So why, she wondered as the blackness closed in, why am I crying?
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Pictures flickered behind her eyelids, like an old movie reel. She tried to open her eyes but they felt so heavy. Her head swirled with the images filling her brain and she rolled over, trying to escape them.
She saw her father in his office at home. He wasn’t alone.
She’d come home from school that day because she felt sick. Walking up to the door she turned the knob, intending to let her father know she was home before going up to bed. He was there. So was she; that strange woman Buffy had never seen before. Now she saw more than she ever wanted to see. He had her bent over the desk and he was…from behind.
Buffy had frozen in place, her eyes wide with shock as she watched them move together. Thrusting and groaning like a pair of animals. Finally, with a cry, she tore herself away, running back out the front door and into the street.
She’d seen her perfect life go up in smoke when she’d opened that door. Everything she’d believed she had was gone. The perfect family. Two parents that loved her and loved each other. All gone. Nothing she’d ever known was real. It had all been a lie.
Desperate to avoid her father, she’d run and run until she’d reached a nearby park. She’d played there, with her parents, as a child. They’d been happy times.
There had been a man that night. A tall man with a beard and funny clothes. He’d found her sitting on the park bench, crying, and had asked if she was okay. She had no idea what made her tell this man, this stranger, what she’d seen. But she did.
“This is terrible but…you’ll be okay,” he’d told her. “You’re stronger than you think, you know.”
She’d sniffed sadly. “I’m not strong. I’m just me.”
When he looked at her, she saw wisdom in his eyes and for a moment it made her feel safe again. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss yourself,” he’d told her. “Your potential is greater than you realise. You can slay demons if only you believe in yourself. You see, my dear, even you can be a hero if you choose to be.”
“A hero?” she whispered reverently.
“Oh yes,” he replied. “You need only to believe.”
Seeming satisfied with their conversation, the old man rose from the bench and began to walk away.
Seeing him go, Buffy asked suddenly, “What’s your name?”
He turned for a moment to smile at her, a bright twinkle in his eye. “Merrick,” he replied.
Buffy bolted upright in the bed, her eyes wide with shock. Gulping great lungfuls of air, she fought to calm her thundering pulse.
“Buffy? Are you okay?”
Turning her head, she found William kneeling by her side, concern etched on his face. Spots began to form once again in front of her eyes and she keened softly. Pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, she tried to make sense of the flood of memories that were swamping her. They were all disjointed, out of order, out of context. It made her want to vomit.
She saw William, a scruffy sixteen year old with long, curling, light brown hair. He’d smiled at her shyly as his parents introduced him to her. He’d had an honesty about him and she’d liked him right away.
She saw herself helping William bleach his hair after he’d been beaten up at school. Together they’d decided he needed a new image, something that screamed ‘nerd’ a little less.
She saw the nervous but excited look on his face as leaned in to kiss her for the first time. She’d been almost dizzy with anticipation. William’s lips. Lips of William. She heard herself groan as she returned his kiss.
She saw the look on his face as she told him about Merrick and the vampires. She’d been so relieved to finally tell someone. She trusted him completely and knew that he would keep her secret.
She saw herself crying as she was restrained by a large orderly. “Please Mommy, you have to let me come home. I’ll be good I promise; I won’t talk about the vampires anymore. I’ll-I’ll tell Merrick I quit.”
She saw her mother’s beautiful face, now ravaged by tears and suffering. “I’m sorry Buffy. But the doctors here can help you and then you’ll be well again. I’ll be here everyday to visit you and so will William.”
Her eyes had landed on William then. She’d felt the pain of his treachery deeper than anything else she’d ever experienced in her young life. “You,” she spat angrily. “This is all your fault. You and your big mouth.” Suddenly she was yelling at him, blaming him for everything that she couldn’t deal with in her life. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. I hate you. I hope you rot in hell, you traitor!”
With a lurch, Buffy dragged herself back to the present. Harsh barking sobs wracked her body as she was bombarded with a myriad of emotions. “Will,” she cried loudly when she realised she was alone in the room, knowing that he would be nearby.
He was in the room in an instant, dropping his cell phone on the floor in his rush to get to her. When his arms closed around her she all but fell into his embrace. “It’s alright, baby,” he said soothingly. “I’m here; and your Mum’s on her way.”
When she finally caught her breath, she looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “I remember, Will,” she whispered. “I remember everything.”
A light sparked in William’s eyes and he asked quietly, “You remember…”
“You?” she finished for him. “Yes. I remember you.” Her face dissolved again into tears and she clutched him tightly to her. “I’m so sorry, Will. The way I treated you. The things I said to you. How can you ever forgive me?”
“Hey,” he said soothingly as he stroked her back with gentle fingers. “You were an angry, scared sixteen year old girl, Buffy. You believed everything you’d told me was the truth and that I betrayed you.” He drew back to look into her tear-reddened eyes. “I won’t say it didn’t hurt – a lot. But I’m not angry about any of that. I never was.”
“Really?” she squeaked, sounding like a little girl to her own ears.
He hugged her close again. “Really, truly.”