Please note, I haven't actually seen the latest Buffy ep and this was
written before the whole Cecily and Halfrek issue cropped up.

TITLE: Body and Soul Trilogy - The Curse - Prologue
AUTHOR: Lysia
EMAIL: cricket818uk@wadnitt.fsnet.co.uk
FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Praise is encouraging, constructive
criticism is used to improve.
RATING: 12, for violence.
WARNING: Violence, angst. And possibly language. Light S/A comfort-
type romance.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of them, but I'll give them back
to Joss
when I've finished with them.
SPOILERS: Set sometime after 'Forever'.
ARCHIVING: Here. Anywhere else, just ask.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Guide to characters from FFL - Henry Carver is the
bloke who read the poem out at the party; Charles Hamilton is the
other man at the party; Katharine Millington-Parks is the woman with
the funny hair-do who was with them.

Prologue - London, 1880

Giggling and pointless chatter echoed off darkened buildings as four
young middle-class individuals made their way through the badly lit
London streets, heading home after yet another social function. Such
was the life of the fashionable socialite: a never-ending string of
parties, gatherings and other elegant festivities. Now they
reminisced over the highlights of the evening, cheerful and
confident, completely unaware that they were being watched.

William lurked in the alley and watched his intended prey make their
way down the cobbled street. Look at them - so blissful and
merry,
completely forgotten about the fact that, just over three weeks ago,
one of their frequent guests had been found dead in a stable. The
last words they had said to him had been harsh insults and snobbish
mockery. They didn't even miss him; didn't even care.

He shook away the familiar feeling of rejection and self-pity he had
learned to equate with weakness. He had a job to do here. This was
his first solo kill.

Over the past few weeks Angelus had taught him everything he needed
to know about stalking a victim, killing effectively, torturing,
disposing of bodies carefully, feeding, and every other lesson a
young vampire should know. Drusilla, meanwhile, had taught him a lot
of other things he had never had the opportunity to try as a mortal.
He liked her lessons more.

Tonight, however, was the big night. He was told to go out, choose
his victims and destroy them however he wished without Angelus to
supervise him. Upon being informed of the nature of this test he had
decided immediately who his victims would be. It seemed only
appropriate that these ignorant gits should be the first to suffer at
his hand, a symbol of his transition from mere mortality to a higher
state of existence, and no-one would ever look down on him again.

William watched the four disappear down South Hill. They would be
heading for Cecily's house. He recalled with shame the number of
times he had gone miles out his way just to walk past that house in
the hopes of catching a glimpse of her through a window, or bump into
her as she left. He glanced around the area. He knew it all so well.
If he cut across Hampstead Heath railway station he could get ahead
of them. He sure as hell didn't want to leg it up the road after
them, all conspicuous, and risk losing them.

As quickly as he could, he dashed across the street and scrambled
over the fence, landing on the train tracks. Watching carefully for
trains, he made his way across the tracks, hopping over each rail. As
he squinted into the darkness, he missed his footing and was sent
sprawling onto the rough stones. Cursing his own clumsiness, he got
to his feet with the help of a large pile of railway sleepers stacked
neatly beside the track. He rubbed absently at his sore knee,
glancing around. They must be doing repairs or building another track.

Suddenly his eyes fell on a heap of railway spikes sitting atop the
sleepers. He shuddered as a memory stirred: a memory of unwarranted
spite and mockery. Suppressing an angry snarl, William flipped open
the satchel he had slung over his shoulder and began to fill it with
the pointed iron rods.

~~~~~~~~~~

The mindless talk continued as the four soon-to-be victims
continued on their way, oblivious to their pursuer.

"... and the food was simply delightful."

"Yes, I must enquire who was in charge of the catering in time
for the wedding."

Suddenly the talk ceased as a figure emerged from the shadows and
stood in front of them, hidden in the darkness. The atmosphere tensed
as each member of the small group became uneasy, detecting a sense of
foreboding. The moved to the side, but the figure moved with them,
silent, blocking their path stubbornly.

"Um... do you mind moving?" Henry Carver requested politely
but firmly.

The figure began to inch backwards, allowing them to move a little
but continuing his wordless refusal to let them pass. Then he stepped
into the circle of orange light cast downward by the street lamp. The
group were astonished. Cecily almost fainted.

"My God! William!"

William relished the collective gasp of shock, loving every minute of
this but keeping his face blank of expression except perhaps a touch
of melancholy, as if he hadn't died, he had just retreated to deal
with the effects of his rejection.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked flatly, staring back at Cecily. The
old feelings of love resurfaced when he saw her, along with the
desperation for her company and the sadness at her treatment of him.
He quickly quashed the feelings, burying them under intense inhuman
rage and his new insatiable lust for blood.

"We thought you were dead," Charles Hamilton ventured
nervously. "Perhaps, I mean... obviously we were mistaken. But how...?"

"Mistaken?" William repeated thoughtfully, nodding as he considered
the idea. "I suppose it's possible. After all, you never thought of
coming to my funeral to make sure." He glared bitterly at them. He
had been furious when Angelus had informed him that none of his so-
called friends had turned up at his funeral. Apart from his few
family members and a few of their friends, the church had been
practically empty with hardly anyone attending the service.

"You had a funeral?" Katharine Millington-Park asked, utterly
puzzled. "But why? The police were clearly mistaken when they
reported your death. Did they not realise? Surely in order to have a
funeral..."

"Oh don't try and work it out," Carver announced; a look
of triumph on his face. "He's trying to trick us." He looked at
William, as if issuing a challenge. "What did you do?" he
demanded. "Get a friend in the police force to announce that you'd
been killed in yet another of these strange murders in the hopes that
we'd suddenly realise what a nice chap you really are, then apologise
to you and offer our friendship when you miraculously returned from
the grave?"

William shrugged casually. "Is that what you think?" he asked.

"It would be the only logical explanation," Carver replied matter-of-
factly, "and you're certainly desperate enough to try it. Surprised
you had the intelligence to work the scheme, but..."

"Oh yes," William mused. "The logical explanation. You were always a
man of science, weren't you Henry?"

"Who gave you permission to call me that?" Carver demanded sharply.

"I did," William snapped back, tired of Carver's conceited attitude.
Why on earth had he put up with this man for so long? "You arrogant
prat! You've always got an explanation for everything, haven't you?"

Carver stared back at him, shocked. "Just let us pass, damnit!" he
ordered, clearly shaken.

William paused in thought for a moment, then stepped aside, watching
closely as the group filed past. "You're going to have a hard
time explaining what's going to happen in the next few minutes
though," he hissed, lashing out and grabbing the arm of the last
person. He almost hesitated for a moment when he saw it was Cecily.
He had never touched her before, not even in a formal handshake.

But now was not the time to get sentimental. He quickly executed one
of his lessons: draw the victims to a quiet place away from crowds so
no-one can hear the screaming. He sprinted off down the dark alleyway
between the rows of buildings and into the empty railway station,
dragging Cecily with him. The others gave chase immediately. Cecily
stumbled and fell, crying out in pain, but he dragged her onwards
nevertheless.

He halted at the far end of the platform by the tall wooden fence.
Cecily was limping now.

"Are you all right?"

Shit, had he just said that? He had been trying so hard to get rid of
every ounce of consideration and now one look at Cecily and he was
turning into a stupid sap again.

"My ankle," Cecily whimpered, practically leaning on her captor. "I
think I've sprained it."

William felt a twinge of sympathy, but steeled himself and set his
mind on the task in hand. He was supposed to be killing her, not
taking pity on her and falling in love with her all over again.

"Yeah, well," he sneered, hauling her to her feet and glaring
at her. "That'll soon stop when you're dead."

She wailed in terror and despair, struggling feebly against him.
"If this is about what I said to you," she sobbed, not knowing she
was pleading for mercy from a demon incapable of such a feeling, "I
didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I... I just wanted to be honest. I'm
so sorry."

"Oh of course you're sorry now," William spat, shoving her back
against the fence. "My feelings don't matter until I'm the one with
the power of life and death over you."

Cecily was shivering violently in fear now, her pathetic attempts at
fighting her soon-to-be killer ceased. "Please," she choked. "If y-
you love me as much as you said... how could you?"

William tried desperately to fight off the emotions her plea inspired
in him. "Sorry pet," he murmured. "I don't." The most unconvincing
lie he had ever told in his life. His grip on her softened, his
threatening glare turning into a longing apologetic look. He watched
as tears began to make their way down Cecily's face and guilt
began to gnaw at him at the thought of being the cause of such
distress to the woman he loved.

Gently, he kissed each tear away, repeating to himself over and
over, "I don't. I don't." Cecily stayed perfectly still, even when he
kissed her on the lips.

He had never kissed a mortal before, never having any luck during his
own life and never wanting to since the start of his relationship
with Drusilla. Cecily was different to Dru, warmer, and the blissful
thought of finally kissing the woman he had adored for so long
brought his demon to the fore. He felt his human mask slip and, for
the umpteenth time in the past three weeks, wished he had learned to
control it.

As he moved away, Cecily found herself staring into amber eyes set
beneath a ridged brow. She did what anyone would do in such a
situation.

She screamed.

William tried desperately to calm her, even gag her, but her screams
quickly alerted her companions to her whereabouts and soon enough
Carver and Hamilton had arrived on the scene, with Katharine keeping
towards the back.

"They're over here!" Hamilton bellowed.

Carver raced over to him, staring in astonishment when he saw the
vampire. "My God. William, what happened to you?"

William shoved Cecily aside and strolled a little loser. "Interesting
thing, actually," he commented. "You know all these strange killings
we've been having around here lately? Well I happen to know exactly
what's been causing them. Of course, I got killed, but it appears to
have done me the world of good, don't you think? It's made me
stronger, practically immortal, and no longer restricted by your
petty rules of society. It's incredible!" He laughed out loud. "But,
um... I'm afraid it's not as wonderful for you and little miss High-and-
Mighty here." He gestured to Cecily, who was slumped on the floor,
unable to escape, a stationary train on the tracks to her right and
the locked waiting room to her left.

"I'm warning you," Carver fumed, "if you harm my fiancTe, I'll..."

"FiancTe?" William exclaimed in disbelief. "You're... engaged?!" The
pang of jealousy he felt at that was enough to make him lunge
mindlessly at Carver in blind rage.

But Carver was too quick for him, grabbing a broom propped against
the side of the waiting room and smacking William across the head
with it. William snarled. The force of the blow may not be enough to
damage him, but it still bloody hurt! He began lashing out at Carver,
fighting without a plan, something Angelus had warned him never to
do, but he didn't care now.

Both Carver and Hamilton fought back surprisingly well for men of
their class. William tried to defend himself against both of them but
this was proving more difficult than he had thought. When he heard
the broom snap against the wall he knew he was in trouble.

Carver aimed the sharpened point of the broken broom handle at
William's chest, by sheer luck threatening to do the one thing
that could end the vampire's otherwise eternal life, and stabbed at
him. William immediately raised a hand to protect himself and the
point jabbed into the palm of his left hand. He howled in agony and
whipped his hand back.

Furious now, he snatched the weapon away from Carver and cracked
Hamilton across the head with it. The man fell to the ground, nearly
unconscious.

Unarmed and unaided, Carver was suddenly less confident. This...
demon he was facing was clearly stronger than the average man, and
very angry. He looked over at Hamilton and saw Katharine rush to his
side. He was about to tell her to get out while she still could when
William grabbed him, clasping a hand over his mouth.

"Not laughing at me now, are you?" William smirked before sinking his
fangs into the man's neck. He drained him slowly, relishing the
taste of fear in the blood, still flowing fast from the fight. He was
careful not to kill his victim, just render him paralysed. He had
other plans for Carver's death.

After a moment or so, Carver slumped to the ground. "What...?" he
mumbled. "What did you do?"

"That was the less unpleasant part," William replied with a
grin, his eyes falling on Katharine. He lunged at her and she
immediately tried to run, reluctant to leave Hamilton but her first
priority still to save her own neck. William grinned at the pun as he
caught her easily, draining her too - a swift kill this time, tearing
the artery open so she would eventually bleed to death anyway. He did
the same to the semi-conscious Hamilton, who, much to William's
delight, screamed in terror.

Carver was watching with wide eyes as he lay on the platform.
"Good Lord, what kind of a devil have you become?" he spluttered,
staring in horror as his two best friends lay twitching helplessly on
the wooden boards.

"Vampire," William replied casually, watching as Carver
closed his eyes, drifting closer to death. Peeved, William grabbed
him by the collar and sat him against a pile of empty crates. "Don't
die yet, Henry!" he protested. "You're going to miss the really
fun part."

"I've seen enough," Carver muttered, praying for death so he didn't
have to watch any more of this carnage.

"No," William disagreed insistently. "That was the boring standard
bit. Katharine and Charlie there, they just tagged along with you
because you're so rich and charismatic and all of London society
looks up to you, you stuck-up arrogant git! So they were just snacks.
You and dear little Cecily here were the ones who really hurt me. So
this will be far more fun." He removed two railway spikes from
his satchel. "Now," he warned Carver, "don't go dying on me yet."

Carver couldn't move. He had no choice but to stare as William
approached Cecily, grabbing her roughly as she tried to crawl away,
her legs weak. Her screams of agony hurt his ears and the feeling of
utter helplessness brought tears to his eyes, even if morbid
fascination hadn't rendered him unable to look away as his
fiancTe was crucified on the fence.

William turned away from his handiwork, Cecily still alive but not
for long. He grinned at Carver and toyed with his one remaining
railway spike. "Now," he hissed, gleeful now all his mortal
feelings of love and compassion had been obliterated, washed away by
the blood of his victims, "would you like to hear some of my poetry?
Oh no, of course not. I think I'll be considerate and go along with
what you would rather do."

~~~~~~~~~~

Angelus didn't even need to look for William. He just followed
the
scent of blood. He had watched the majority of the scene from the
other side of the station, observing as William had gleefully set
about destroying his opponents. The boy had been eager to make his
first solo kill. Too eager, perhaps.

However, as he, Darla and Dru made their way onto Hampstead Heath
train station he couldn't help but feel a little glow of pride at
the sight that greeted him. Four victims: two bitten, one crucified,
the other with a serious head wound. They were still alive, just
about.

William was sitting on the steps of the empty train at the station,
playing with a bloodied railway spike. He looked up when he saw his
companions arrive, grinning proudly. "How did I do?"

"Look at the pretty colours!" Dru whispered, staring around in awe at
the rivers of blood on the platform. She ran over to William,
grinning. "Oh, aren't you naughty!"

Angelus surveyed the scene. "Very original," he
commented. "Malicious, inventive, clearly enjoying what you're doing.
Good place for a kill as well, out of the way, deserted. Who were
they? Friends of yours?"

William shrugged as he pulled Drusilla onto his lap, showing her the
railway spike, still smeared with Carver's blood. "No. Never cared
for them much."

Angelus nodded, glancing knowingly at Darla.

"So," Darla announced a little haughtily, "you're using your new
vampire strength to settle old scores with your mortal enemies."

William shifted uneasily. "What's wrong with that?"

Darla smiled. Angelus glared at his childe. "You're a demon now
William. You shouldn't care what people thought of your mortal self.
These peoples' comments should mean nothing to you. If they can still
hurt your feelings to the extent that you feel you have to kill them,
perhaps you haven't left your past behind you. Do you perhaps not
like this new life we gave you and would prefer to stay in your
mortal existence?"

William scowled at Angelus. "I have changed," he insisted. "I'm not
the man I was. He would never have done anything like this, even if
he had the strength. It doesn't matter what my reasoning is. I've
killed four people without your help."

"Hm, I suppose," Angelus agreed reluctantly. "Although I'm afraid the
fighting was sloppy, your motive is all to personal and you're just
damned lucky that train was left there, otherwise that girl would've
done a runner off the platform and across the tracks while you were
battling with the two blokes. Be more careful next time."

With that, Angelus turned and began to leave the station.

"You know," Darla added before following him, "Angelus killed his own
family the night after he was turned."

"And he killed mine!" Dru added with glee, wrapping her arms around
William's neck.

"Just make sure you dispose of these bodies!" Angelus shouted back to
them.

After Darla and Angelus disappeared, probably to fetch their own
meal, William voiced a concern to Dru, not exactly expecting a
coherent answer.

"Do you think I hang onto the past too much?"

Dru looked at him in thought, stroking his hair back. "He's still
there in your heart," she explained, pressing a hand to William's
chest. "You feel that he should leave and you want to forget, but
part of you doesn't want him to because it'll get lonely in there."

William nodded. "That's what I expected." She was so insightful, but
he had to think so hard about what she meant. She was like a puzzle
box: Confusing, but fun and always rewarding. "I do want him gone,
you know," he sighed, resting his head on Dru's shoulder. "He's weak,
emotional and vulnerable."

"Shush," Dru murmured soothingly, stroking his face. "Don't worry. We
should clear up this mess or Angelus will be cross."

"But I want to change!" William protested, ignoring her. He was on
his feet now, pacing up and down the platform in the blood. "This
humanity, this stupid weakness could get me killed one day!"

"Or it could save you," Dru replied conspiratorially.

"I don't want people to think of me like that anymore!" William
sighed, kicking Carver's almost-dead body. "I don't want them to
think of me as some quiet little poet who everyone looked down on.
I'm different now and I won't put up with it. I'm someone else
entirely. Someone who kills, who enjoys inflicting pain, who gets
revenge, who..." His eyes fell on Carver and Cecily. "... who drives
railway spikes through peoples' limbs." He held the blood-smeared
railway spike in his hand, admiring it almost affectionately. "This
is me now."

Dru smiled in amusement. "A spike?"

William frowned in thought. "Well I didn't mean... Hey, I like that
actually." He strutted about on the platform, grinning. "Rather
appropriate, don't you think? The new me - sharp, tough as iron,
smashing through anything in my path. Angelus and Darla changed their
names, so why not me?"

Grinning, he flipped the spike in his hand and tucked it into the
side of his belt.

Drusilla stared at him in fascination. "Spike," she murmured softly.

He nodded in agreement, enthusiastic about this change of
persona. "Yeah, and it's not just the name either. I've had it with
this upper class image. Angelus may like the posh clothes and all
that, but I don't. I'm rough, bad and dangerous. And the elocution
can go as well."

"That's my Spike," Drusilla cooed. "I can see him already." She
wrapped her arms around her beloved's neck.

"That's right, pet," Spike murmured, kissing her. "I'm a new man. And
I'm bad."

"I know!" Drusilla purred, grinning at him, thrilled. "You're bad!
You're my wicked, evil Spike. And you always will be. Evil..."

TBC