The dog days of summer gave way to balmy autumn days and colder nights. Days became shorter and nights longer as the leaves began their change from the bright greens of summer to the myriad of autumn oranges, reds, and golds. Fall was here and despite the breath-taking sights of the pending slumber of Mother Nature, the realization that the carefree days that Buffy and Spike had shared were now gone with the trial upon the horizon.
“Excuse me….Attorney Eros, I’m sorry to interrupt…..” Martha hesitantly spoke as she hovered in William’s doorway. Broken from his thoughts, William glanced up from the mountains of paperwork that littered his desk. Since he had been fixated on the same paperwork for the last three hours, his eyes had become slightly bloodshot and unfocused. An hour ago, he replaced his contacts with glasses in attempts to gain some relief that never came. Same paperwork same result. Since the Masters’ trial was on the vista, William needed to focus completely on preparation.
“Not an interruption at all Martha, more like a welcomed reprieve.” William responded as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, as he closed his eyes tightly in hopes that some tension would be relieved.
“Yes well…..I have just received a phone call from Attorney Manners’ secretary. He requested that there would be a meeting in an hour that is essential for you to attend.” Martha informed William.
“Without a doubt this is in regards to the Masters’ trial.” William responded as he finally opened his reddened eyes and replaced his glasses.
“I believe that it is. Would you like me to prepare the files for you?” Martha offered shyly.
“No, but thank you. As you can see (as William waved his hand across his desk) everything is here….in one form or another. I just need to organize…..ummm…..somehow. Do you think…..?” William asked hopefully.
“Of course! I’m delighted to help.” Martha beamed as she hurried into his office.
For the next forty-five minutes, Martha and William tried to organize the wayward paperwork. Once they completed an outline and placed the papers in some order, William collected himself and headed to his meeting.
As William walked towards the conference room where the meeting was to commence, a brief wave of gratefulness filled him, since the designated room was located on the fifth floor and not on the gateway of hell….the twelfth. Unfortunately, soon the feeling of gratefulness dissipated with the realization that no matter where the meeting took place, the ominous feeling remained, he was on Dante’s Eighth circle of hell, bolgias 5, 7, and 8.(1) This was the permanent residence of the lawyers of Wolfram and Hart. Once he reached the conference room, Attorney Manners’ secretary was seated in front of the room awaiting his arrival. The same plastic, unnatural smile graced her meticulously painted crimson lips as she stood to greet him.
“Attorney Eros, as pleasure to see you again. Have a seat and I will alert the others of your arrival.” She gestured to a seemingly welcoming black leather chair. Quickly in his minds eye, William could see that once he sat, leather straps would magically appear from underneath the chair, wind around his wrists and ankles securing him to the now chair of torture. Despite his struggles, he would be unable to break free. Next, a ball gag would materialize in his gapped mouth, to muffle any and all screams that would come. After that, metal needle-like jacks emerge from the headrest, as they capture his eyelids, and held his eyes fixated open, in tribute to the Ludovico Technique from Clockwork Orange.(2) All the while flashes of depravity strobe in front of his now unyielding wide eyes. The only thing that broke him from this horrific and almost realistic imagination was the secretary’s practiced and monotone voice. With a slight jolt, William looked upon her as she spoke
“Attorney Eros….please follow me.” She stated as she walked towards the conference door. Upon opening the heavy wooden door, she stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. William confidently, which was just in show only, entered the door to observe three other attorneys seated at the other end of the lengthy conference table. It appeared by the scatter of papers, the half filled water glasses and the intense stares that greeted him that they have been meeting for some time before his arrival. At the head of the table sat Attorney Manners. To his right, which the implication didn’t go unnoticed was Attorney Morgan. Lilah. A devilish grin graced her flawless features. Even though the smile pervaded her face, it never reached her stone cold eyes. To his left was William’s Team Leader, Attorney McDonald. Of the triad of attorneys present, he was the least corrupted. This doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t sell his own mum’s soul to advance his career; it just meant that he hadn’t reached that level of debauchery yet.
“Attorney Eros, please take a seat so we can begin.” Attorney Manners voice rang out through the cavernous room. William made his way to the seat that was located next to Attorney McDonald. He couldn’t stomach being seated next to Lilah. William could see in his peripheral vision, her smile contorts into a sneer as she noticed the direction that he had chosen.
While William walked towards his seat his mind raced to the possibilities of the discussion that the devil’s trio wanted to have. Panic tore through him, as he feared that they wanted to discuss him ‘sleeping with the enemy.’ William hadn’t thought of their relationship in any other terms other than a man and woman who were deeply in love. Even in the earlier days of their courtship, where he was the defense attorney and she was the ADA on opposite side of a high profile case, he never thought of her as the enemy. William wondered how he would defend himself, if at all, against them. With an inward growl, his inner Spike declared ‘I’ll tell them all to get bent!’
Once William arrived to his seat, he quickly sat down to start the demon feeding.
“Attorney Eros, we have assembled this meeting today due to the impending trial in the Masters’ case. If I am correct, jury selection commences tomorrow. This area of Pre-trial, as you know, is a pivotal part to laying the groundwork to guarantee a win at trial. Even a seasoned attorney can carry all the evidence, witnesses and the judge with him, but if the jury has one faulty member, it will be all for naught. This is why we’re here today. Attorney Eros, Attorney Morgan is our utmost expert with the process of jury selection. In addition to her inequitable talent to select a juror, she has the edge of being a female. Which in a case, such of this nature, is the edge that this firm needs to solidify a win.” Attorney Manner explained to the other three attorneys.
“Attorney Eros, since my secretary assured me that your paralegal had cleared your schedule for the rest of the day, you will meet with Attorney Morgan to absorb her extensive knowledge before you enter into proceedings tomorrow. Now that this is settled, Attorney McDonald, a word please.” With that, the two attorney rose from the table and headed out of the room. With the definitive sound of metal meeting metal as the massive door closed behind the duo, William felt dread spread like wildfire throughout his mind.
Lilah glared at William like a lioness sizing up her prey. Another more sinister smile graced her wine-stained lips. This time mirth twinkled in her usually deadened eyes.
“Mmmmm……alone at last.” Lilah purred as her fingers suggestively stroked her pen. She rose up from her seat, which was across the table, as her gaze was transfixed upon William. Like a deer in the headlights he watched her stalk around the mammoth conference table as her fingers gingerly stroked the plush leather chairs along her way. Almost as if it would have been sacrilege, Lilah didn’t touch nor chose Attorney Manners’ chair to sit in. She finally chose, as in a demonic form of the game of duck, duck, goose, to sit in the chair that once housed Attorney McDonald.
William snapped out of his stupor as he tried to busy himself with the now interesting paperwork, which lay in front of him. Lilah focused her wicked gaze on his profile, while he continued to aimlessly shuffle papers. Lilah, not enjoying being ignored, decided to gain his attention she demanded, as she leaned marginally forward to expose the creamy skin of her bountiful cleavage. She reached over and placed her audacious hand upon William’s mid thigh. With a slight squeeze, she cooed just a hairs breath from his ear
“So…..where do we start?” Anger boiled William’s blood as his inner Spike yelled ‘It doesn’t bloody matter that they are my bosses! This pompous bitch needs to realize that I’m no ones keep. Especially hers!’
Despite his overwhelming anger, William continued to eye his paper as he spoke in a cold, calculating manner
“Attorney Morgan, if you would so kindly remove your hand from my thigh. If you chose to not heed my one-time warning, I will be forced to do so…..” Then his icy cobalt gaze met hers he continued to add, “And I won’t be so gentle.” The pair starred at each other in a battle of wills. Finally Lilah backed down with her gaze as she removed her hand from his thigh. William resumed to review his paperwork briefly than spoke
“Where shall we start?” He asked casually as nothing had just transpired. Lilah decided to follow suit after her deep intake of a cleansing breath and then she proceeded to explain the art of jury selection.
The next morning William headed towards Judge Snyder’s courtroom. The first part of jury selection commenced inside the courtroom. After each juror were asked, by both the defense and district attorney’s office, questions pertaining to generalize issues in a case, the remainder of the procedure concluded in the judge’s chambers.
William was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted, since he remained in the conference room with Lilah till almost midnight last night and with a 9am start of court, he didn’t have anytime to relax and no time to speak with Buffy. When he spied his golden beauty in the halls of the court, his heart fluttered against his ribs as in attempts to take flight. With only a cage of bone that held it in place. Spike longed to sprint towards her, fall upon his knees as in prayer, and bury his head into the safe haven of her body. Consequences be damned! All that mattered now was her. As William walked towards the only creature that was pure in this house of corruption, he was stopped by Satan’s mistress herself.
“Attorney Eros. Lovely to see you looking your best for me today.” Darla cooed at William who was dressed in a midnight black suit with a black dress shirt and blood red silk tie. Her dagger-like claws dug into his arm after she snaked her hand through the space between his arm and ribs and now that rested on his bicep. Despite the layers of clothes, her touch brought waves of shivers and disgust in its wake. William wanted to scream and pull his arm away from this horrid creature. As his heaven moved further down the hall, William felt his heart turn cold, as the only thing that could save him from this hell on earth, slowly disappeared.
Defeated, William turned to evil incarnate, choked back the vile that rose in his throat and spoke while they walked, still linked by her hand, towards the courtroom. Once they were approximately thirty feet away from the entrance, he stopped to address her.
“Ms. Masters….(William ignore her eyebrow raise at his formality and continued) this process will by trying. As I’ve explained before. We’ll review all the perspective jurors and I assure you only those that will be understanding and respectful in our plight will be chosen. Those that are not will not remain on the jury. I will do everything in my power to assure that.” William explained to Ms. Masters.
The malicious intent in her eyes appeared, as she seemed more interested in fondling his bicep and undressing him with her eyes than her fate. It was evident by her nonchalant nature that she believed that these proceedings were a waste of her time. It was almost appeared that she here to fight a parking ticket not dealing with a case that may result in possible jail sentence if convicted. Luckily for her, her father approached the pair. Almost with a magnetic affect, Darla let go of William’s arm and mirrored the same action on her father. She purposefully blocked out step-mom number five in the process. Her father gently patted her hand in condolence as the trio walked towards the courtroom door, with wife number five in tow. After several moments, their case was called forward.
When William arrived inside the courtroom, he regarded Buffy as she sat at the DA’s table as she prepared for the upcoming proceedings. Once William took his place at the defense table with Ms. Masters, the bailiff’s voice called out
“PLEASE RISE……HONORABLE JUDGE SNYDER PRESIDING…..”
In unity the courtroom stood for the judge as he entered. Once he was seated, the patrons of the court followed. The jurors entered into the court in a duckling straight line and sat in their designated seats. The jury selection proceeded as planned. Each attorney asked pertinent questions and collected notes on each prospected jurors to be discussed and reviewed at a later time. Throughout the proceedings, Buffy noticed that even though Spike appeared to be on his ‘game’ today, the fire that was a permanent residence in his cerulean eyes and that coated his words was gone. He appeared to be almost robotic when he delivered his questions to each juror. Since none of these people that filled this courtroom knew the true Spike, this beautiful articulate man transfixed them. Buffy on the other hand was disheartened, since this was not the man that she appreciated and deeply loved.
When the first stage of the proceedings concluded, court broke for lunch recess. Spike instantaneously gathered his belongings and headed out of the courtroom, despite the protests from Darla from where she sat and from her father when Spike whirled past him. With abrupt words to excuse himself, he headed towards the attorney’s conference room. Buffy exited the courtroom and noticed immediately where Spike had gone. She approached the conference room, knocked gently and asked for permission to enter. Buffy heard a muffled “This room is occupied’, then followed by complete silence. Buffy slowly opened the door and peeked her head in, and softly spoke
“Spike…..it’s me. Can I come in?” Without a response, a firm iron grip formed around her wrist and she was brought into the room, with only the firm closing of the door that confirmed she was inside. Lightening quickly, she was surrounded by a trembling wall of flesh. His forehead rested on her shoulder as his warm breath filled the cage of his arms that held her body to him. Buffy could smell the mint from his breath, his masculine aftershave, and all that was distinctly Spike. Soon another smell emanated and tickled her senses…..the salt-water smell of tears.
Buffy placed one hand at the base of his skull as she soothed the fine hairs that were housed there. Her other hand rubbed soothing circles upon his slightly quavering back. After several minutes, Buffy pulled away marginally so she was able to place her the palms of her hands on the sides of his damp face. Small streams of tears tracked down his etched cheeks. Buffy placed a soft chaste kiss upon his full lips before she spoke.
“Spike…..sweetheart, what happened?” Buffy asked with a soothing and concerned tone.
“Luv….I can’t do this anymore. I felt that I could change the world by being in the belly of the beast. I didn’t notice until it was too late, that I’ve been devoured and now digested.” Spike whispered.
“Spike…..what happened?” Buffy asked with slight distress. Spike couldn’t answer. He knew once he did, and then he could never go back into the mouth of hell. He knew that once she heard what he had been through in the last ten months since he’s been at Wolfram and Hart, she would convince him, which wouldn’t take much, to walk away and never look back. After several moments as he gazed into her breathtaking emerald eyes, Spike spoke
“Luv…..please….just can you hold me, for a little while. Once this trial ends, we’ll talk about everything. No holds barred. Right now is not the time. But I promise, we will discuss this. For now….” Spike explained as he brought Buffy over to the chair that was behind her, encouraged her to sit as he lowered himself to the floor. He buried his heavy head into her welcoming lap, as his muscular arms clutched her body. Once Buffy moved forward to encase him with her loving form, Spike moved his head to rest on her outer thigh, as her head rested on his heaving back. She drew small patterns of comfort upon his back with her hands as she whispered words of love and solace.
The lovers clung onto each other like a stranded man lost at sea. Their emotions swelled as the tide, as Buffy continued her comforting words to her distraught paramour. Too soon, their time alone was over, as the pair begrudgingly broke apart. Spike looked lovingly into Buffy’s eyes as he placed a tender kiss on her bee-stung lips. They held hands until the very moment the door was opened. They reluctantly broke apart, as they understood the job that needed to be done.
(1) Eighth Circle (Fraud)
The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve conscious fraud or treachery. The circles can be reached only by descending a vast cliff, which Dante and Virgil do on the back of Geryon, a winged monster represented by Dante as having the face of an honest man and a body that ends in a scorpion-like stinger (Canto XVII).
The fraudulent—those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil—are located in a circle named Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"), divided into ten bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches:
Bolgia: means pit
· Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals. They are guarded by devils called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"). Their leader, Malacoda ("Evil Tail"), assigns a troop to escort Virgil and Dante to the next bridge. The troop hook and torment one of the sinners (identified by early commentators as Ciampolo), who names some Italian grafters and then tricks the Malebranche in order to escape back into the pitch. (Cantos XXI through XXIII)
(barrators: Barratry is the name of two legal concepts, one in criminal and civil law, and one in admiralty law.
· Bolgia 7: Thieves, guarded by the centaur (as Dante describes him) Cacus, are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards. The snake bites make them undergo various transformations, with some resurrected after being turned to ashes, some mutating into new creatures, and still others exchanging natures with the reptiles, becoming lizards themselves that chase the other thieves in turn. Just as the thieves stole other people's substance in life, and because thievery is reptilian in its secrecy, the thieves' substance is eaten away by reptiles and their bodies are constantly stolen by other thieves. (Cantos XXIV and XXV)
· Bolgia 8: Fraudulent advisors are encased in individual flames. They, like their true thoughts in life, cannot be seen. Dante includes Ulysses and Diomedes together here for their role in the Trojan War. Ulysses tells the tale of his fatal final voyage (an invention of Dante's), where he left his home and family to sail to the end of the Earth. He equated life as a pursuit of knowledge that humanity can attain through effort, and in his search God sank his ship outside of Mount Purgatory. Guido da Montefeltro recounts how his advice to Pope Boniface VIII resulted in his damnation, despite Boniface's promise of absolution. (Cantos XXVI and XXVII)
(2) Ludovico Technique....see this sight http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/
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