As Drusilla rushed over to the window and peered outside, Warren took a hesitant step towards her. Buffy, on the other hand, remained frozen on the spot. Somehow, Billy had managed to climb out the window, probably hoping to escape from his mother that way. Although a part of her was relieved, another part was absolutely terrified.
However, at the moment, neither of the intruders were paying any attention to her, so she quickly snapped out of it and spun around, running out of the room and towards the stairs before they would be able to stop her. Remembering that Warren still had the phone, she thought of finding her cell phone and calling the police. But first, she needed to find Billy and make sure he was all right.
“Dru?” Warren put a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, a furious expression on her face, and he found himself taking a step back.
“The girl.” Drusilla’s eyes darted around the room before landing on Warren. She pointed towards the door. “Get her! Get both of them!”
Warren only hesitated for a moment before nodding. As he hurriedly left the room, his mind was still set on pleasing Drusilla, but at the same time, he was starting to realize the concept of their actions. Buffy’s words about kidnapping had struck him hard; he really didn’t want to go to jail.
Drusilla probably knew that she didn’t have anything to lose – they would just take her back to the hospital. But he on the other hand... Suddenly, he was starting to question whether or not this woman was really worth all of this. Deep down, Warren knew that she would never do anything for him. She had just been using him, right from the start.
Still, for some reason, she was like a drug to him. He was addicted to her, her mere presence making him high, and he wanted her, craved her. It both scared him and fascinated him at the same time, because he had no idea how far he was willing to go for her. But he had a feeling he was about to find out.
“Billy!” Casting a look over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed, Buffy ran outside, only to stop in the middle of the backyard. The boy was nowhere to be seen, and she swallowed hard, calling out for him again; “Billy! Where are you?!”
“Buffy! M’up here!” She looked up, her eyes widening in horror as she spotted Billy on top of the roof, slowly moving towards the other side. For a moment, her mind went completely blank, and she couldn’t think straight. If he would fall down from there...
Then she forced herself to take a deep breath and quickly looked around, praying that Spike would keep a ladder somewhere. When she failed to find one, she started running towards the other side of the house, where Billy was heading. As she spotted the large tree, right next to the gable of the house, she realized the boy was planning to climb down from there.
The question was, would he make it? She thought of climbing up herself, but she was shaking so hard right now, she was probably more likely to fall down than Billy. Never before had she felt so totally helpless. She was afraid to look; yet, she was unable to take her eyes away. “Please, be careful,” she whispered.
Suddenly she heard the sound of the back door slamming, and a moment later, she saw Warren coming towards her. She almost ran, then fury started welling up inside her, and she stayed put. He was panting when he finally reached her, his eyes hard. “Don’t even think about running again, you bitch!”
Only this time, he didn’t scare her. Partly because she was already sick with worry about Billy, but also, Buffy finally saw this man for the pathetic coward that he was. That was why, when he reached out to grab her, she didn’t back away. Instead, in one swift move, she raised her knee and kicked him in the balls, as hard as she could.
Warren never saw it coming. Crying out in pain, he dropped to his knees, curling up in a fetal position. Deciding that he was no longer any threat to her, Buffy turned her attention back to the roof. Then she paled at the sight that met her, unable to hold back a horrified gasp.
Drusilla was now up there as well. She was moving faster than Billy, clearly not bothering to be careful in her attempt to get to him. And she was getting closer and closer. She opened her mouth to cry out a warning to Billy, but stopped herself at the last moment, terrified of startling the boy in case he would lose his grip and fall down. That was when she heard the sound of approaching sirens.
Half way across the roof, Billy thought he heard something behind him. After a brief moment’s hesitation, he threw a glance over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw his mother, quickly making her way towards him. Desperate to get away from her, he started moving again. Still, he didn’t dare go any faster, afraid that he would slip and fall.
“Mummy’s coming, Billy.” Drusilla wavered dangerously, but refused to slow down. She let out a furious cry. “Wait! Don’t run away from me!”
Billy stopped, looking over his shoulder again. “Leave me alone!”
She went on, ignoring him; “We’ll be together again, darling. Like a family. Just wait, and you’ll see.”
He shook his head, his hands clasping at the roof tiles to keep his balance. “You can’t come back to us. Dad’s getting a divorce.” He paused. “Cause you’re sick.”
Drusilla’s face hardened. “Your father’s mind has been poisoned. So has yours.” A beat. “But it’s all right. I will make it all better.”
“Billy!” Buffy was calling out for him again. Billy cast a longing look at the ground. It was still raining, and his hands were starting to get cold. But he didn’t dare let go of the tiles. Somewhere in the distance, he thought he heard sirens. He turned his attention back to his mother, relieved to find that she seemed to have stopped, at least for the moment.
Although he feared that if he would keep moving, so would she. And then it would only be a matter of time before she managed to catch up on him. He wasn’t sure of what exactly she was planning to do when she got to him, but he decided that he didn’t want to find out.
He was also starting to get really tired. Tired, and afraid. Fighting back the tears, he tried to go through his options. Unfortunately, it didn’t take him long to come to the conclusion that it was either to keep moving, or remain where he was. He swallowed, his eyes never leaving his mother.
Drusilla’s eyes suddenly rose to the night sky. A strange smile appeared on her face. Then she let out a soft giggle and turned back to her son. “We won’t need your father, my sweet boy. My eyes are clear.”
Billy gave her a confused look, not understanding what she was talking about. Not that he really cared. His clothes were wet and he had started shivering. He just wanted to get down from the stupid roof. More than anything, he wished that his dad was back.
Watching him for a moment, Drusilla then took a step towards him. “Why are you crying, darling?”
He glared at her, angrily wiping at his eyes. “Cause I’m cold! I wanna get off this bloody roof! I want you to go away!”
“Yes...” She smiled again, a somewhat absent expression on her pale face. Then she took another step, and he found himself slowly backing away. However, she kept following. “We will go away together. Off this roof. Will that make you happy?”
Billy shook his head, stubbornly. “You go first.”
Although she was still smiling, her eyes were cold. Billy shuddered as she cocked her head to the side. “You are afraid.”
“Yeah.” He tried to hold back a sob. “I want my dad.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she clenched her fists in anger. “I told you; we will not need him!” Then she seemed to calm down a little, and that eerie smile was back. “Besides, by the time he gets here, we will be long gone.”
“Gone where?” Billy’s voice was trembling. He didn’t want his mother to see his fear, but it was hard not to let it show. “I’m not going anywhere with you! My dad’s gonna...”
Drusilla sounded annoyed when she interrupted him. “You’re not listening! He will not be here in time. I...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed the police car outside on the street, and saw Buffy running towards it. She let out a soft whimper. “No, no, no... It’s too early. The stars promised me...” She stopped, her eyes landing on Billy. “We must go, now. Hurry!”
When Billy just looked at her, she let out an impatient growl. “Get over here and take my hand! There is not much time left. We need to jump before they get up here.”
“Jump?” Forgetting to be on his guard, Billy stared at her in disbelief. “You want us to jump off the roof?!”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” She sounded almost pleading now. “It will be over quickly.”
As she took another step towards him, Billy panicked. “Buffy!” he shouted, not daring to take his eyes away from his mother. “Help me!” Of course, he knew there was no way – even with the police down there – that Buffy, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to get up there in time.
He was vaguely aware of someone – probably one of the policemen – calling out to him to stay put, to not make any sudden movements until help arrived. Easy for them to say, he thought, bitterly. They weren’t the ones up here. No, by the look of it, he only had one chance to get out of this situation in one piece. Billy took a deep breath, and turned to his mother. “Mum, wait! Just stop there. I’m coming.”
TBC