Title: Acrylic Dreams (6/?)
Author: Foxhunt2blue
Summary: Written for the FG Anniversary
Edition Challenge #30. AU Universe where
Angel is a reclusive artist and William is a young writer
determined to write a book about an artist who should
be older than he appears.
Rating: NC-17 (all over rating)
Pairing: Angel/Spike, Angel/William
Disclaimer: Our wonderful Joss created them I had
nothing to do with it—wish I had. Frankly, the boys
would be a lot happier with me as their mama! *web
Feedback: Please feed the baby slash ho' cause she can
be quite pathetic. She cries all night if she doesn't get
her daily dose of feedback. *giggle
E-mail: foxhunter2blue@peoplepc.com
 
You can find previous chapters at the following link on
my LJ:
 
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=angelstart&keyword=Acrylic+Dreams+Series&filter=all
 

***
 
New York City
Ramada Inn
Room 312
 
Wes sat on the end of the bed, one leg tucked beneath
him as he read the file in his lap. With each word he
read his face paled just a bit more until he was pasty
pale beneath the dark four o'clock shadow that dusted
his cheeks. None of this made any sense---well it made
sense, but it didn't at the same time. He licked his dry
lips and swallowed hard.
 
Slayer.
 
Child.
 
"Drink?"
 
Wes jumped as Giles held out a glass of amber liquid to
him a concerned expression twitching his features.
 
Taking the glass Wes tossed it back in one great
swallow, then hissed at the burn as it slithered down his
parched throat. "I don't understand..." he whispered in
a rough voice.
 
"Yes...you do." Giles replied as he sat down on the bed
next to Wes.
 
Shaking his head Wes pulled his lean frame up from its
slouched position and stood, refusing to meet Giles'
concerned eyes. "This says that my father was...that he
was involved with his slayer. That he and she...that
they..."
 
"Had an affair that produced a child." Giles finished.
 
Wes spun around his face flushed with anger and
confusion. "He died in '76 before I was born...was I?"
 
Giles stood and stepped into Wes' space, his hands
gripping the younger man by his shoulders. "No. Your
mother was Margaret...your father had another son.
One who is the same age as you..." Giles' voice trailed
off as Wes lifted his gaze from the carpet, "...one who
you've known all your life."
 
Eyes widening Wes stumbled back. "William?"
 
"Yes." Giles nodded as he slipped his glasses from his
nose and began polishing them nervously.
 
"But...how?" Wes' voice trembled.
 
Giles turned walking to the window and parted the
drapes with one hand staring out at the darkness. "The
Council requested I help them cover the indiscretions of
your father. When he was killed by a group of vampires
despite Katina's best efforts she went mad."
 
He glanced back at Wes and felt his throat tighten at the
lost expression in his cobalt eyes---so much like
William's. "She went rogue and there was very little the
Council could do to stop her without hurting the child
she carried inside her."
 
"My brother..." Wes dropped to the bed, his shoulders
slumped, as tears began to well in his eyes.
 
"We...Jenny and I...agreed to raise the slayer's child as
our own, but we were never to reveal his true parent-
age." Giles turned back to the window unable to
witness the grief of a man he had thought of as his son
as well. "It seemed the perfect solution for all
involved."
 
"My mother?"
 
"She never knew about the child. It was best that way.
You were raised to believe your father died a hero's
death defending his slayer. Moreover, you joined the
Council just as I did upon my father's death. They
feared if the truth had been revealed that your mother
would have fled and they would have lost the Wyndam-
Pryce bloodline."
 
"Bastards!" Wes growled. "Bloody bastards!"
 
Giles didn't even flinch at the sound of shattering glass.
 
***
 
William stood at the kitchen window staring at the
storm outside wondering if he had bloody well lost his
mind finally. Just moments before he had come out of
what he could only describe as a blackout to find
himself beneath a naked man who claimed he was a
vampire and now...
 
Well, now said man was rummaging through the
cabinets searching for something to feed him.
 
He had no idea that at that same moment guilt was
swelling in Angel's gut because of that earlier incident.
Angel's brain told him it was just a coincidence that the
boy looked like, Will, but his heart told his brain to go
fuck itself.
 
Sighing Angel pulled out a jar of peanut butter and a
partial loaf of bread setting it on the table, then
retrieved a quart of milk from the fridge. Thank the
powers that be that Doyle was constantly over here and
bugging the shit out of him or the boy might just starve.
 
"Peanut butter?"
 
William turned from the window a look of utter
confusion in his eyes. "What?"
 
"I..." Angel looked down at his meager offering on the
table, "...all I have is peanut butter. Hope that's all
right? Vampire and all...don't do human food. Doyle is
always trying to get me to try it, but..." his voice trailed
off as he wandered back to cabinet to retrieve a glass.
 
"Peanut butter is fine, luv."
 
Angel turned with a weak smile and set the glass on the
table, filling it with milk, as William sat down at the
table. "Good...wasn't exactly expecting company..."
 
"'S okay..." William opened the jar with a nervous
grin, "...reminds me of my mum."
 
Blinking back the tears that threatened Angel sat down
stiffly across the table from William. "Your mum...was
she nice?" Angel trailed his fingers along the rough
wooden table trying not to look at the boy.
 
"Yes...very much so. Her name was Jenny and she
reminded me of a gypsy---dark eyes and dark hair.
When I was little I used to wonder how I turned out
with blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair. Mum and dad
told me when I was fifteen that I was adopted." William
took a bite of the sandwich he'd made, his eyes
studying Angel across the table. "Do you remember
your mum and dad?"
 
Angel glanced up with a jerky movement. "What?"
 
"Your mum and dad?" William frowned at the tortured
expression he saw in Angel's eyes.
 
"It's complicated..." Angel mumbled as his eyes
focused on a point beyond William's shoulder.
 
"You killed them---didn't you?"
 
Angel's dark gaze lifted, glistening with tears. "I...I
was different...then."
 
"Different how?" William continued eating his gaze
locked on Angel's tear filled eyes.
 
"Didn't have a soul..." Angel mumbled.
 
One of William's dark eyebrows rose. "You have a
soul?"
 
Angel nodded, unable to speak, as the memories of the
past rose-up in his mind.
 
***
 
Romania
1898
 
"So you are the great Angelus?"
 
Angelus stood at the edge of the gypsy camp, William
cradled in his arms. He'd almost had to drain his boy
before he calmed down and now he was here. Here to
beg like a mere human for help from the gypsy filth
who'd done this horrid thing to his beloved childe.
 
"Aye...Angelus is me name. Though I'm not sure if the
word great should be used before it now."
 
The gypsy elder raised one shaggy grey brow and
pursed his lips beneath his mustache. "And what would
a beast like you be wanting with the Kalderdash? We
do not do deals with the like of you."
 
"Yes...ye do." Angelus whispered. "A wee bit of a lass
came to ye not but a few nights ago. Perhaps she would
be tellin' ye a tale of pain and betrayal." He shifted
William in his arms, tears welling in his dark eyes.
 
"What is this?" The elder approached Angelus with a
look of shocked curiosity in his black eyes. "Are you
trying to fool me into believing that even a soulless
creature may possess a heart?"
 
Shaking his head Angelus snarled. "Ye be the elder of
the Clan Kalderash...and if yer power is as strong as ye
claim, then ye'd be knowing even a demon is capable
of love."
 
The elder snorted and spit to the ground. "Do you think
me a fool, Angelus?"
 
"Deltorio..."
 
Both men turned at the soft voice, their gaze focusing
on an elderly woman with snow-white hair. The dark
eyes that peered from beneath thick white lashes
softened her sun-roughed features.
 
"Yes...mama..." the elder dropped to one knee as the
woman shook her head in amusement.
 
"Demon..." the woman's dark eyes focused on
Angelus' face streaked with glistening blood tinged
tears, "...I know of the woman you speak of. She came
to my son a fortnight ago, spoke of a demon with eyes
of blue, and hair of spun gold that seduced her husband
to be away." She stepped to the edge of the camp, her
hand lifting to open the blanket.
 
"Mama!" Deltorio stepped forward fear gleaming in his
dark eyes.
 
"Hush!" The old woman snapped, her eyes never
leaving William's pale face. "This would be the demon
she spoke of..." she paused glancing up into Angelus'
tear streaked face, "...but she was not what she claimed
to be---was she?"
 
Angelus shook his head. "Nay...her name was Darla
and she was me sire. This one...his name would be
William and he would be me childe. Me third childe,
but me most beloved. Darla was never one to care for
the loss of attentions..." his voice cracked with anger
and pain. "She was wantin' to punish him...and me."
 
The old gypsy woman nodded her head in understand-
ing as she stroked William's pale face. "I can not lift
the curse from your childe, Angelus of the Aurelius. I
am truly sorry for that. You see what one witch con-
jures another can not break unless it runs its course
first. There is something I can do for you though." Her
dark eyes focused back on Angelus' face. "Do you
know what I speak of Childe of Aurelius?"
 
Nodding Angelus trembled in fear. "Aye...I do know."
 
"Then you have a choice to make. Return to this camp
within three nights. When the moon is full and ripe if
you have made your decision it shall come to pass."
 
***
 
"You came back?"
 
Angel nodded tears in his eyes. "I couldna' leave me
boy lost in the sufferin'." His voice thickened with the
brogue that had drifted in and out all night. "'Sides I
had committed the greatest atrocity a childe could be
doing to its master...its sire..."
 
"You killed Darla---didn't you?" William's eyes
softened at the pain he witnessed in Angel's face.
 
"Aye...I killed her for she'd taken me boy away.
Punished him because she was a jealous whore."
 
"What did she have the gypsies do?" William's heart
thudded in his chest as he leaned across the table.
 
"Cursed me beautiful boy...cursed him with a soul that
he should know the pain he'd caused in his immortal
existence."
 
A soul William thought to himself. He'd never thought
for a moment that anything could shock him, but now
here he was sitting and talking to a vampire---a bloody
real life vampire. He swallowed hard, his fingers
tracing the condensation from his glass.
 
"So what was it that the gypsy woman did for you?" He
questioned Angel though he was damned sure he knew
what it was.
 
***
 
Sheriff Alexander Harris stood staring down at the
latest victim with a scowl. He was just too damn tired to
deal with this right now, he thought. With the storm and
the power outages, not to mention the washed out
roads, he was at his wit's end.
 
"Same MO..."
 
He turned blinking the rain from his eyes to focus on
Francis Doyle, the town doctor, and coroner. "Well I
sorta saw that, Francis." He grumbled.
 
"No need to be testy, boyo. I'm doin' me best now."
 
Doyle stepped under the overhang above the alley door
to light a cigarette.
 
"That shit will kill you, Irish." Harris snorted.
 
Raising a brow Doyle snorted softly. "Seems there's a
lot of things that can be killin' you in this town."
 
"Not funny..." Harris snatched the cigarette from
Doyle's mouth, taking a drag.
 
"Thought you'd stopped that." Doyle took the cigarette
back with a grin.
 
"Me too." Exhaling into the wind swept alley Harris
shifted his shoulders beneath his rain slicker. "So
what's the diagnosis?"
 
"I'd be sayin' vampires, but I'd be guessin' that you'd
pound me ass." Doyle chuckled softly.
 
"You'd be guessing right dumb ass!"
 
Silence settled around the two young men as they
watched the deputies loading the body onto a gurney in
a slick black body bag. Doyle shifted his gaze to Harris
and let out a soft sigh. He'd not bothered telling Angel
that there was another vampire in town visiting.
 
Already there was three victims spaced out and Sheriff
Harris was getting an itchy trigger finger. Not that he
blamed the sheriff, he thought, as his fingers reached up
to play with the crucifix around his throat.
 
"Suddenly found religion, Irish?"
 
Doyle chuckled as he glanced up. "I'd suggest you find
some, too." Then he turned and headed back to the
coroner's wagon. It was going to be a long frigging
night, Doyle thought.
 
***
 
"I told you not to go hunting!"
 
Darla found herself pinned to the wall by one slender
hand, as Drusilla looked up at her with golden eyes.
 
"Now...now...grand-mummy..." Dru giggled softly,
"...didn't I tell you not to upset dolly?" She released
Darla and watched as the woman slid to the ground
coughing. "You really mustn't overstep your bounds."
 
Rubbing her throat Darla glared up at Dru with blood
shot eyes. "You can't keep doing this Drusilla. They'll
trace you back here somehow and then what you crazy
bitch?"
 
"Dolly is careful. She never spills a drop." Drusilla
made a tutting sound as she dismissed Darla. "Besides
someone already knows...oh, yes...perhaps dolly and I
should go play doctor?"
 
***
 
"I have to go." William stood mumbling to himself
more than to the man in front of him.
 
"You can't." Angel stood with a quickness that had
William's heart pounding wildly.
 
Taking a few steps back, William sucked in a deep
breath his eyes widening in fear. "You can't stop me."
 
"I could if I wanted, but I don't want too." Angel's
voice lowered. "I know you're scared of me...but the
storm is bad."
 
William continued backing out his eyes still wide, his
hands trembling as he reached for his jacket. "I've seen
worse..." he swallowed hard at the look of embarrassed
pain in Angel's eyes.
 
"The road it...it washes out in these storms." Angel
turned putting away the bread and peanut butter, then
dropping Will's glass in the sink. "You haven't warm
enough clothes...the storms are cold even in summer
here. Plus what kind of host would I be if I allowed you
to leave in this mess." He leaned against the counter his
shoulders slumping. "I won't hurt you, Will. I promise
you that."
 
A shiver traveled down William's spine as he watched
Angel's shoulder sag. "Hey...not you I'm afraid of, pet.
It's me that I'm bloody well terrified of."
 
Angel turned his eyes glistening in the dim light of the
kitchen. "Why would you be afraid of yourself?"
 
"I'm afraid of..." he paused licking his lips, "...I'm
afraid of the dreams."
 
"What dreams?" Angel frowned, yet he didn't move an
inch.
 
"The dreams I've been having since I saw you on the
beach the other night. The dreams I haven't had in
almost a decade." William's lower lip trembled. "I'm
scared I'll get lost in them and I won't ever come
back."
 
Nodding Angel studied William's terrified face, then
stepped closer. William was so lost in his troubled
thoughts he didn't notice Angel had moved until the
bigger man's arm was wrapped around his shivering
shoulders. He jerked away, but was almost immediately
drawn back into Angel's embrace.
 
"Who are you?" William whispered.
 
"Ye know me lad."
 
"I know who you say you are, but is it true?"
 
Angel pulled him closer as he began to sob softly.
"Aye...'tis true me sweet, Will. Ever word I spoke to
ye tonight."
 
"Then who am I?" Came Will's muffled reply.
 
"Ye know inside who ye are Will. Just open yer eyes
and the truth will come to ye my beautiful blue-eyed
boy."
 
A streak of lightening lit up the sky beyond the window
as Angel rocked William in his arms, one hand stroking
his back, and the other tangled in his tousled curls.
 
***
 
Norfolk, England
October 1982
 
Standing in the doorway of his son's bedroom Rupert
watched with contented eyes as Jenny tucked William
into bed. Almost six years since he'd come into their
lives and with each passing year Rupert found himself
loving the small boy more than he ever thought he
would.
 
"Mummy...will you finish the story? Please?"
 
Jenny's soft laughter echoed through the room as she
leaned over William brushing a gentle kiss along his
brow. Straightening she smiled down at the frowning
boy as she tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
 
"Tomorrow, William, I promise. It's late now and you
must have your sleep if you expect to be up in time to
visit granny."
 
Lower lip pushing out William sighed. "Granny won't
mind if we're late, mummy."
 
Rupert chuckled as he stepped into the room. "But I
most certainly will. Now it is bedtime, William."
 
"Yes...papa..." William lay back one tiny arm wrapped
tightly around the newest gift from his grandmother.
 
Settling on the edge of the mattress Rupert brushed an
errant curl from his son's wide blue eyes. "So...have
you named your pup?" He nodded at the shaggy stuffed
dog with wide chocolate brown glass eyes.
 
William seemed to consider the question, then smiled
wide at his father. "Yes, I have, papa."
 
"And whatever shall his name be?" Rupert raised one
amused brow.
 
Hugging his stuffed dog tightly, William smiled even
wider. "He's my guard dog...he's taking care of me
because he loves me. So he's a guardian angel I guess.
So his name is...Angelus."
 
Rupert's eyes widened for a moment. "Where did you
hear that name?"
 
Frowning William looked up at his father confused at
the tone in Rupert's voice. "I made it up, papa. Is it a
bad name?"
 
With a soft sigh, Rupert shook his head. "No...not at
all, William. Just an unusual one." He stood and joined
Jenny at the door. "Sleep tight, William."
 
***
 
Romania
1898
 
Three nights had passed and in that time Angelus had
fought the idea planted in his mind by the Kalderash
elder. He wanted to have his beautiful boy back, but she
had told him she could not do it, that he had only one
option.
 
Looking down at William's sleeping face, he could
even now see the pain in the lines around his eyes. His
boy hadn't deserved this punishment. Now he on the
other hand deserved punishment, not only for his
transgressions against humanity, but for his crimes
against his own clan.
 
In the history of the Aurelius, no childe had ever killed
their sire---until now.
 
Darla was ash, a forgotten memory, but he knew the
Master would be hunting him now. Searching for the
childe who had dared murder his favorite so that he
might make the impudent creature pay.
 
Therefore, he chose his own punishment.
 
***
 
Angelus appeared at the edge of the gypsy camp, head
bowed in a sign of supplication.
 
"Elder of the Kalderash I've come to ye for the
punishment I so richly deserve. Ye've promised me this
is the only way to salvation and the only way back to
me sweet childe, William."
 
From the shadows, the female elder appeared a glowing
orb cradled in her hands. "That I did promise you
demon...Angelus of the Aurelius. So what I have
promised you I shall give."
 
Her voice rose in a chant, a language that Angelus did
not know nor did he wish, too.
 
A sudden sharp pain rushed through his body and he
cried out falling to his knees. Panting he clenched his
gut and tried to fight what he knew was coming. His
pain grew in intensity as the gypsy woman's voice rose
on the night wind in a mystical song of both vengeance
and atonement.
 
Angelus threw back his head letting out and animal
scream as the power flooded him. As sudden as his
scream started it fell silent as his eyes glowed with the
powerful magic and something far more. His head fell
forward as the light faded, his long dark hair shadowing
his face.
 
"Angelus...do you hear my voice? What I have
wrought let no other woman tear asunder. From this
moment forward, you shall know all the pain and
suffering you have caused in this world. Your soul is
now bound to you, as is your childe's to he. Together
you are bound and may no creature of this earth take
this away."
 
Lifting his head Angelus' once dark filled eyes now
shimmered with a softer light. His face paled as he took
in the words spoke and his memories surfaced in a tidal
wave of blood and death. He shook his head a sob
catching in his throat.
 
"Dear God in Heaven...what have I done? I couldn't...I
wouldn't have..."
 
Stumbling to his feet, he ran for the trees, the sound of
vomiting echoing back towards the gypsy camp.
 
"What have you done mama?" The High Elder
whispered from the shadows as the last of the light
faded from the orb.
 
"What had to be done my son. What the Prophecy of
the Kalderash foretold generations ago." The woman
smiled as her gaze rose to the night sky.
 
"The Prophecy?"
 
Nodding the old woman turned to her son. "Two demon
lovers...one cursed by jealousy, the other by it's own
wish. Locked together they shall fight against the
darkness at the side of slayer until redemption is
found."
 
"But what curse did you lay upon him?"
 
"He like the other now possesses a human soul."
 
TBC
 
 
Once I had the rarest rose
That ever deigned to bloom.
Cruel winter chilled the bud
And stole my flower too soon.
 
Annie Lennox
Love Song For A Vampire     
(from "Bram Stoker's Dracula" Soundtrack)
 

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