“Then go find something to entertain yourself with, Buffy,” he snapped. “I’ve got important work to do here, and I don’t have time to indulge your every whim.”
“You never indulge any of my whims, Angelus!” Buffy yelled in response, throwing her arms up in the air as she stepped fully into the room, they’d been going through this every night for weeks now, and she’d had enough. “Hell, ever since we came back to LA, all you’ve wanted to do is stay in. I’m going stir crazy. We’ve barely even been having sex!”
A couple of the men at the table with Angelus started to snicker, though they stopped abruptly at the look he gave them. “Buffy, I’ve already told you, I’ve got more important things to do right now than escort you around town.”
“Yeah, yeah. The Los Angeles master is dead, you’ve got to vie for the position so you can take over the West Coast and then the world or whatever, but baby, I don’t care about any of that,” Buffy said, a slight whine in her voice. “I liked things better the way they were before.”
“We’re not discussing this now,” Angelus said tersely.
“But…”
Angelus slammed his hands on the table, bringing Buffy to an immediate silence. “I told you we’re not discussing this right now. I’m your sire, and unless you want to end up a pile of dust, you better do what I say. Now go.”
“Fine,” replied, before turning on her heel and storming out. “Asshole,” she muttered as she made her way down the hallway of the large mansion Angelus had commandeered when they’d set up in Los Angeles several months earlier. Since then, he hadn’t taken her out at all, forcing her to feed by herself and then wait up most nights for him to come to bed exhausted after yet another night of whatever the hell it was he did in his bid to take over LA.
The whole thing seemed stupid to her. Why did he want to be the Master of Los Angeles? Or the whole West Coast for that matter? It seemed like way too much pressure to her, and way more responsibility than she’d want. She guessed she could see the lure of the power, but being a vampire alone made her powerful. She didn’t really feel the need to be more powerful than all the other vampires, too.
Besides, if the way things had been recently was any indication, it wasn’t any fun.
In the first twenty-four and a half years she’d been a vampire, Angelus had taken her everywhere, shown her things that she’d never imagined possible before her turning. She’d been a high school student when they’d met, a Valley brat who’d never paid much attention to what happened outside of her own zip code. Then, she’d been turned, and the whole world had been hers.
Or theirs, to be more accurate. She and Angelus had lived by their own rules, existing solely for their own pleasure.
That was, until six months ago. It was then that Angelus had heard of the power struggle in Los Angeles and had gotten the crazy notion in his head that he wanted to be a part of it. Buffy couldn’t understand why he’d want to tie himself down to that sort of life when things had been so wonderful before. So what if the role supposedly came with more power? What could give you more power than never having to answer to anyone but yourself? Than being free to do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted to do it?
And Master of Los Angeles? She got the whole near the Hellmouth, major center of mystical evil thing, but really…LA? She’d lived her entire human life in Los Angeles, and it had never stirred her so much she wanted to go back and settle down. And if Angelus did manage to take over the area, was that what they’d do? Would he have to sit calmly at his side while he ran the place as some demon crime lord?
The notion really, really didn’t appeal to her.
She’d played along in the beginning, thinking he’d eventually get bored with the whole thing and they could go back to the way things had been. But it had been six months now, and she was the bored one, not Angelus. If anything, he seemed to be getting more and more involved, as if he found having his little turf war so much more exciting than being with her.
He barely even let her outside anymore, claiming she would be a target for the vampires he was fighting against. She’d spend days locked inside the mansion, having to eat whatever the minions brought home – and very rarely was it anything that appealed to her. Especially given the fact it had usually already been snacked on. She hated leftovers
Well, tonight, she was going out. She didn’t care what Angelus had to say – she was his childe, not his property. And she didn’t need him to have a good time either. She could enjoy herself going solo.
Or maybe with someone else. A smirk crept on her face at the thought. That would show him if she came back smelling like someone else. Sure, there’d be hell to pay, but at least he’d be showing her some attention.
Buffy found a group of minions gathered around a television, laughing at some show she assumed only men could actually find amusing. She rolled her eyes, her well-manicured nails tapping against the doorframe as she scanned the crowd. Finally, she settled on the one she found least offensive. Tall, dark hair…yeah, he’d do. “Hey, you, come here.”
The vampire in question swallowed, his eyes wide. “Me?”
“Yeah, you. Get over here.”
The eyes turned from the television to him as he made his way towards their boss’s girl. “Yeah?”
“You’re escorting me out tonight,” Buffy informed him as she looped her arm with hers. “Come on.”
“But…but I shouldn’t do that,” he replied, his nervousness apparent in his voice. “An…Angelus wouldn’t like it.”
Buffy fought the urge to roll her eyes, reminding herself she was supposed to be seductive at the moment. But really, since when did vampires become such lightweights? She supposed a vampire who would willingly become someone’s minion was fairly pathetic to begin with, but she didn’t see the point of becoming undead and still worrying about what you should and shouldn’t do.
“Look, I want to go out, and I want some male company. You looked like a man, so I assumed you could provide me with it, but if you’re going to act like a total woman instead and not just take what you want, well…” She looked past him, flicking her eyes over the others. “I can always find someone else. Fuck him instead.”
The male vampire me? Really?”
Buffy looked him over, reconsidering her decision. Why was she doing this again? Oh, right. To piss off Angelus. So worth the sacrifice there. “If you keep me entertained tonight, then yes,” she replied with a kittenish smile.
“Dude, go for it,” one of the other vampires said. “She’s like, totally hot.”
Buffy fought the desire to roll her eyes yet again. Angelus had surfer minions? This was exactly why she didn’t want to be in LA… “Oh, just come on,” she said, grabbing her escort for the night by the arm and dragging him out of the mansion.
As she stepped out into the warm California night, all Buffy could do was hope this would be enough to get her sire to finally start paying attention to her again.
Only an hour into the evening, Buffy decided she needed to get this over with. Her “date” was not only spineless, he was boring and couldn’t dance. Or maybe he could, were in 1978, but seeing as it wasn’t, he was no more than an embarrassment.
If she ever did this again, she was asking the guy what decade he learned to dance in before she took him anywhere.
So she stole a bottle of tequila from behind the bar, drank half of it, and led the minion out to an alley behind the club. She could make this quick, do what she needed to do to make Angelus crazy with jealousy, and then be done with him. Odds were Angelus would just dust him anyway, making everything nice and easy for her.
“I…I don’t think we should do this.”
Or maybe not so easy… Buffy sighed as she looked up from her position on her knees in front of him, her hand stilling at his zipper. “You’re kidding.”
“I… It’s not that you aren’t pretty or anything like that, it’s just, well, you’re Angelus’s girl, and…and if he finds out, he’ll kill me.”
Buffy stroked him through his jeans. “He won’t find out, baby. I promise.” She winked. “It’ll be our little secret. okay?”
“I don’t know… Angelus…he has a way of just knowing things. And I’m sure your pussy is great and all, but I doubt it’s worth risking getting dusted.”
Buffy’s jaw dropped. “I’m on my knees, about to suck your cock, and you’re going to what…just walk away?”
“Yeah. Sorry.” He shrugged. “Sorta difficult to get in the mood when all I can do is think about getting staked. It’s been a good night, though. I’ll…I’ll see you around.”
Buffy stood up, watching in shock as the minion walked out of the alley. How pathetic had her life become? She spent all her time locked away while her boyfriend played wannabe mob boss and she couldn’t even get some meaningless, jealousy sex?
It was almost enough to make her want to just fall on a stake herself.
She was too busy wallowing in self pity to realize she wasn’t alone in the alley until a second before she was slammed into a hard brick wall. She grunted, struggling against the man who had her pinned, her arms twisted behind her back, keeping her in a position that prevented her from getting free despite the fact her senses told her her attacker was human.
“You’re with Angelus?” a male voice asked.
“Maybe,” Buffy replied, trying again to break out of his hold. “Who the hell wants to know?”
“An old friend of his,” the man replied, his voice dark and cold. “Tell me where he is and maybe I’ll let you live.”
“Get bent, asshole,” Buffy snapped, throwing all of her strength into getting away. This time, she was successful, and she sent he man stumbling backwards as she turned around and faced her attacker.
He had a slight build, most of it covered by a long, black coat, but something about the man told Buffy not to underestimate him – human or not.
The stake he clutched in his left hand only reinforced that for her.
“Tell me where he is, bitch,” he snarled, raising the stake.
“Oh yeah, that’ll get you what you want,” Buffy snapped in response. “Insults.” She let her demon face slide forward, figuring if he had his weapon, she better have hers as well. Besides, if he was offering a fight, she was more than willing to take him up on it, given her current mood at the moment – even if a human wouldn’t pose much of a challenge.
She lunged at him, fully expecting to knock him off his feet.
Instead, she was the one who ended up on the ground.
She shook her head and blinked. So he was a better fighter than she expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Hell, it was probably a good thing, given that a longer fight would allow her to work off some more steam. Either way, she’d come out on top and with a hot meal, too.
Buffy sprang to her feet and immediately struck again, this time managing to move fast enough to deliver a kick to his side. He staggered backwards, but managed to stay upright, the only sign she’d even hurt him being the shaky breath he took before coming towards her again.
She moved to block the attack, only to realize too late she’d made a miscalculation. “Crap…he’s a lefty,” she thought as the attack came from the side she hadn’t been expecting it on, and he grabbed her, hauling her up against the wall and pining her again.
“I’m going to give you one more chance to tell me,” he said, his voice low and his lips pressed against her ear. His breathing was ragged, and unless he carried a stake in the front of his jeans, it was from more than exertion. Given her repeated failed attempts to get any action that night, it was a little…distracting.
Still, it wasn’t enough to make her say to hell with Angelus, give away their current location, and then yell “take me now!” to whomever this guy was. She didn’t do humans. They were sweaty and gross and so very, very beneath her.
Instead, she responded with a headbutt, knocking him back from her again, his stake clattering to the ground. She turned, snarling at him as he regained his balance. He smirked, even as his own blood ran down his face.
“I wouldn’t be smiling if I were you,” Buffy said. “You dropped your weapon, and I’m not going to let you pick it up again.”
He shrugged. “Don’t need it,” he said before moving towards her again. Buffy grabbed his arm, planning to be the one to slam him against the wall this time.
However, instead of trying to break free of her grasp, he reached into his coat with his free hand. Buffy tried to send him towards the wall, but before she could, he struck, pressing something hard to her side. A searing pain flooded her entire body, and she shook uncontrollably before she finally slumped to the ground, unconscious.
I know a lot of people don’t much care for the idea of vampire Buffy, but personally, I’ve really been enjoying writing this fic. It’s really been flowing, and in the past week I’ve written drafts for nine chapters, which I think might be a record for me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps up.
Please review and let me know what you think of it so far.