Title:    One Fateful Night
Author:     angelspike69
Pairing:     Angelus/William
Rating:     NC17
Summary:     Angelus sees William at a party.  He plans at first to disarm him with poetry and flowers, but the vampire discovers that the young poet has become much more than prey.  He has become his obsession.
Spoilers:     None.  This takes place pre-series.
Disclaimers:     In no way do I own any of the characters in this story, Joss does.  I just like taking them out to place with each other.
Warnings:     This fic contains m/m slash.  If that bothers you, then I suggest you don't read.
Author Note #1:     This story was written for the Loving Angel Valentines' Day Ficathon for ZinnyDark.  Zinny, I hope I gave you what you wanted.  She requested the following:  Pairing Requested - Angelus/William; Personas Requested - Angelus a vamp, William a human... for the beginning, at least; Story Timeline - Past, and as within-cannon as possible, for what I want; Three things you would like in your fic - William being turned, Angelus as the seducer, roses; Two things you would prefer not to see - non-con, heavy BDSM; Tone - Darkly Romantic, if that makes any sense; Rating Preference - NC-17, but whatever works
Author Note #2:     This is the first time I've attempted to write Angelus.  I know he was an evil, sadistic killer, but I wanted to show a different side to him, while trying not to change the character.  There was more to him than that.  I tried to stay within canon as much as I could, but tweaked it to suit my purposes, in particular certain scenes from The Prodigal and Fool for Love.  For me, Angelus sired William, not Dru.
Author Note #3:     I have to send a huge shout out to my beta Lori, whose help was essential to me completing this fic.  Besides editing the sections I sent to her and filling in some parts that were lacking, her research was what a made all the difference.  I'd also thank Jenn, Foxhunt2blue, Pet, Belle, and JinxWatcher for their praise and encouragement.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 14

A few hours later, Angelus awoke.  His boy was now nestled against his side, his chest pillowing his head.  Gazing down at him, he felt something swell inside of him.  Pushing it away for the moment, he gently shook the sleeping boy away.

"Will, come on my boy.  You need to wake up."

The body nestled closer to him, "No...want to stay here...not leaving...again."

"No Will...not leaving...never leaving you.  We need to get up and be away from here."  He loosened his arms from around the boy and moved to stand, only to be pulled back down to waiting lips.  Catching himself before he was lost in the kisses, he unwrapped the boy's arms from around him and stood.  Gathering their clothes, he turned back around to the boy and the sight stopped him in his tracks.

William, his pale skin glowing in the darkness, was stretching his limbs like he was a cat soaking in the warmth of the sun.  Angelus hardened at the sight.  Shaking his head, he went to the boy.

The vampire could see the reluctance as William sat up and took his clothes from him.  He stood there, his own clothes clutched tightly to him as he watched the boy stand, embarrassment no longer turning the pale skin pink.  He watched as the boy, without a hint of shyness, stood before him getting dressed.

Still as a statue, he stared as William approached him and pressed his body against his, arms wrapping around his neck, drawing him down for a kiss.  He felt the boy's hardness press against his own.  Releasing the lips, William asked, "Now...are we going to your house?"

"What?  Yes, then in the morning we can gather your things."  He saw the boy smile.  "I have tickets secured for us to leave in two days."

"Tickets...two days..."  Confused, William stepped away from him.

Wanting the feel of that body next to him, he reached for William, but the boy stepped back, escaping his grasp.  "Will?"

"I don't understand...you're leaving?"

"No, not I...we are."

"Why...what about us...about what we just did?  Don't you want me?"

"Oh Will, I want you so badly, I ache with need.  I told you that once my business was concluded in London, I had to leave.  Are you not interested in going with me?"

"I want to Angelus...I told you that.  I also told you that I couldn't leave with my mother being so sick.  I thought you understood."

"I do, but there is nothing I can do.  I have to leave Will, and I want you to come with me – I must have you come with me."  Finished dressing, he moved toward the boy, who once again stepped out of his reach.

"Can't you wait...I mean..."

"No Will, I can't."

"But...but...I can't...not now...if only you would delay your business..."

"I wish I could, but I can't."  Walking to the entrance of the building, he looked back at the dejected man, standing there, tears forming in his blue eyes.  "I leave at sunset in two days.  If you change your mind, you know where to find me."  Turning his back to the boy, he walked away, into the darkness with a smirk on his lips and a spark of guilt in his heart, listening as William called out to him, begging him not to leave.

Once outside, he listened as William continued to call for him, begging him to come back.  Hearing movement coming from the building, he hid in the shadows and watched as the boy came out into the alley.  He could feel the sadness rolling off his body; he could taste his tears in the air.  With anticipation, he continued to peer from the darkness, not letting the boy know he was watching.  William stood in the alley, looking, searching.  With a cry, he sat on a bale of hale, and dropped his head into his hands and sobbed.

Stepping out of the shadows, he approached the distraught man.  Softly, he called out to him, "Will..."

William looked up, hope beaming from his tear-streaked face.  "You didn't leave...you came back..."

"No I didn't leave...yet."  He watched as the hope drained from William's flushed face.  Holding out his hand, "Come with me Will...take my hand and we can walk away together.  I know you want to.  Why are you fighting it?"

Reaching up for the offered hand, he pulled back.  "I do, Angelus.  You don't know how much I want to, but I can't.  I'd never be able to live with myself if I left mother alone."

Coming closer to William, the powerful vampire knelt in front of him, taking his hands into his own.  "What if I can make it so you can come with me...make it so you can live with the decision?"

Hope returning to his eyes, "Can you do that Angelus?  Can you really?"

"Yes, Will...I can, if you really want me to."

"I don't see how..."

Angelus dropped his head, looking down.  "Tell me you want to come with me...Tell me you want to be with me forever...for eternity."

"I...I...God, please forgive me, but I do Angelus...I want to be with you...for eternity."

Helping the boy stand, he felt his face shift and his fangs descend.  Looking up, he saw William's startled face, shock turning to fear.

"What...what...are you?  You...you...aren't human."

Angelus changed his face back into human form.  "What I am William...all that I am, I can give to you.  Do you want what I have to offer you?"

"I...I...God, help me...please."  William was shaking now.

"God has nothing to do with this.  Do you want it Will?  Do you want me?  Just say the word, and we can be together...Just say the words Will..."

William's face was a mask of emotions – grief, joy, fear, and love – fought each other for dominance.  The boy looked up at him.  "Change again." He demanded.

The vampire complied and the trembling young man reached to brush his soft hands across the ridges.  "Why don't you look like this all the time?"

"Would I be accepted in society like this William?  Human beings worship beauty.  Any flaw is reason for torment."

William whispered.  "I know.  I have often been called a prissy prig because of my small features and poetic nature.  You don't have to look like that all of the time?"

"No Will, usually only in the throes of compelling emotions."  Angelus replied gently.  "I have had to fight to control the change whenever I was with you.  You elicit powerful feelings that I thought long buried."  He shifted back into his handsome, human face.

William moved closer and reached up to stroke the side of his lover's face and Angelus closed his eyes as the tender touch.  The boy sighed and the vampire opened his eyes to see blue ones filled with longing and fear.  Finally William smiled shyly and the fear disappeared.  He straightened his shoulders and spoke determinedly.  "I cannot live without you Angelus.  I have never felt so desired, so loved.  I thought once that I would go through hell to be with you and now I shall.  Yes Angelus.  I have never wanted anything more than to be with you.  Yes, yes, make me yours forever."

Angelus leaned forward, pulled back the boy's shirt collar, and buried his fangs into his neck.  He heard William gasp at the sharp pain, but his cries quickly turned to moans of pleasure.  Angelus drank the sweet nectar, feeling all the love and want that permeated the boy's entire being.  He felt the fear recede as he drained him, ending his human existence, feeling the beat of his heart slow.

William fell lifelessly against the vampire.  Holding the boy with one arm, he brought the other up and with his nails made a deep cut into his neck.  He brought the boy up to his neck, placing his mouth over the self-inflicted wound.  Holding the lifeless head in place, he urged William to drink.  "Drink, William..."  He immediately felt the pull as his blood was taken from him, giving the boy his new life.  Angelus hardened as he shared his blood.  Pulling the boy away after a few moments, he carried the unconscious man back into the carriage barn, laying him gently in the spot where they had made love not too long ago.

Running out of the building to the street, he flagged down a Hansom cab.  Feigning distress, he told the driver that he and his friend were at a party.  They had been drinking and apparently someone slipped a drug into his wine and he passed out.  The driver agreed to provide them transport.  Angelus raced into the barn and carried William to the waiting cab, cradling his head against his chest.  When the driver asked where he was to take them, Angelus told him that he lived near Highgate Cemetery.

In the coach, he continued to tenderly support the dead man in his arms, brushing his hair from his eyes.  Oh the things I'm going to teach you...show you.  The passion we will share.  Your life is just beginning, and what a glorious life we will have...together.

As they neared the cemetery, Angelus shouted for the driver to stop.  He leaned out of the cab and reached up to pay the cabbie far more than the usual fare.  He went back inside and alighting from the coach, holding William in his arms, he turned to the driver, "I'll take him in through the back so his father doesn't see him in this state."

The man nodded and drove away.  Once the carriage was out of sight, the vampire quickly walked into the cemetery, to the out-of-way spot he had chosen earlier tonight.  With great care, he placed his new childe in the plain wood coffin that was already there.  Placing a kiss to his now cold lips, he closed the lid, and covered the box with dirt until it was completely buried.  Standing there for a while, he looked at the sky.  Smiling, he turned to leave before the sun could rise.  As he walked out of the cemetery, he was already planning all the things he and his childe would do together.

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

Angelus returned to his empty house determined to put the finishing touches on William's gift for tomorrow night.  It would be the feast of St. Valentine's, when lovers revealed their passion for each other and when his precious boy would rise.  Over the previous days, he had copied some of William's favorite poems onto paper and had illustrated them with special drawings.  He had bound the pages together but had left the first page blank.  Now he could write the inscription:

To my beloved Childe, William
You are forever mine
I am forever yours.

Angelus
(A)

He laid the gift on the table near the fire and went upstairs to rest. He slept fitfully anxious for the day to end and woke instinctively at sunset.  Tonight was the night!  Tonight his new childe would join him, by his side for eternity.  He could feel it in his blood; the pull to be there when his childe rose.  Dressing quickly, he left the house and raced through the streets into the cemetery, to the grave that held his boy.

Patiently, he waited in the dark.  Then he saw it, the dirt began to move.  He could feel his blood coursing in his childe's veins.  He could feel his blood coursing in his childe's veins.  The soil shifted further.  A hand appeared, reaching out. Angelus longed to help him, but the boy had to do this himself.  An arm thrust up, another, and finally his head.  With anticipation, Angelus watched as William freed himself, pulling himself to his new life.

Angelus knelt before him and brushed the dirt marring his the beautiful face.  At first William's face contorted with confusion and pain. He looked up at his Sire, frowning then smiling, "Angelus..."

Struggling a bit, William rose to his feet.  Opening his arms, Angelus finally spoke, his voice choked with emotion.  "Come to me Will."  The new vampire walked toward the man waiting for him.  When William stepped into his embrace, he tightened his arms about the new vampire and whispered, "You're home my boy.  Welcome home."

I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

** The End **

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

Additional Information

I have to thank my beta, Lori, for her help in researching the art and poetry I used in this story.  She found things I never could of.  Below is additional information on the poets and their work that I used.  I'm also including links to the artwork I referenced in this story in case you wanted to take a look.  The are listed in the order in which they appeared in this story.

Poets

William Wordsworth – (1770 – 1850) – the poems I used were titled, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and She Was a Phantom of Delight.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wordswor.htm

Percy Bysshe Shelley – (1792– 1822) – the poem I used was titled, Love's Philosophy.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/pshelley.htm

Lord Byron – (1788-1824) – the poem I used was titled, She Walks in Beauty Like the Night.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/byron.htm

Charles Baudelaire –  (1821-1867) – the poem I used was titled, Le Vampyre.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/baudelai.htm

Robert Browning – (1812 – 1889) – the poem I used was titled, Life in a Love.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/browning.htm

Dante Alighieri – (1265 – 1321) – the poem I used was titled, La Vita Nuova.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/dante.htm

Christopher Marlowe – (1564 – 1593) – the poem I used was titled, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/marlowe.htm

Christina Rossetti – (1830 – 1894) – the poem I used was titled, Remember.  For additional information – http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rossetti.htm

Paul Verlaine – (1844 – 1896) – the poem I used was titled, Serenade.  For additional information - http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/verlaine.htm

Elizabeth Barrett Browning – (1806 – 1861)  -- the poem I used was Sonnet XLII  from Sonnets from the Portuguese.  For additional information – http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ebrownin.htm


Artists

Titian – (1485 – 1576) – the painting I referred to was titled, Bacchus and Ariadne.  For additional information -- http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/titian/.  To view the painting -- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/bacchus_and_ariadne.jpg

Botticelli – (1445 – 1510) – the painting I referred to was titled, Venus and Mars.  For additional information -- http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/.  To view the painting -- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/ven_mars.jpg

Lord Frederic Leighton – (1830 – 1896) – I referred to several works of his.  For additional information – http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Lord_Leighton/bio1.asp.  To view the paintings – Venus Disrobing for the Bath -- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/venus.jpg.  The Bath of Psyche -- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/psyche.jpg.  Actea, the Nymph of the Sea - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/actea.jpg

Paul Cezanne – (1839 – 1906) – The painting I referred to was titled, The Abduction.  For additional information -- http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/bio.html.  To view the painting – http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/TheAbduction_Cezanne.jpg

Pierre Auguste Renoir – (1841 – 1919) – The painting I referred to was titled, Boy with a Cat.  For additional information -- http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/renoir/.  To view the painting – http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/marinersgal69/story_paintings/renoir_young_boy.jpg