Under My Thumb Ch. 5

Willow rolled over in bed, she couldn't seem to sleep. Every time she was about to drift off she kept on seeing his face, hearing his voice. She was still wearing Angelus' shirt, he had put it on her when she grew too cold last night. It was too large and hung down way past her arms but it felt perfect. She put her wrist to her nose, smelling him on the shirt. It all didn't seem real.

Angelus had brought her home the night before shortly before dawn. They had spent the rest of the night just talking, looking up at the stars. She had wanted to make love again, but he insisted that they shouldn't. He knew that he had hurt her and didn't want her to be sore. Then Angelus had smiled wickedly and told her that she'd be even more anxious to see him the next night if they didn't.

Willow reluctantly climbed out of bed and slipped on a light purple robe with a silver moon on the back. In a daze, she went about her morning rituals. She started the coffee pot, brushed her teeth, took a hot shower, and got dressed. Willow kept drifting off in the middle of these activities. She'd hear his throaty laughter or feel his fingertips trace her spine. She kept replaying the night in her mind over and over again -- taking mini mental vacations.

Willow walked over and sat down in front of her computer. She flipped it on and while it booted up went and got herself a cup of coffee. When she returned and went online, she had twenty messages. One was from Ms. Calender. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she opened it. It was a two line message, requesting that she come to the school library this evening. She stared at the screen, speculating on what the technopagan had to tell her, knowing it must have to do with the soul restoration spell. As Giles would say, Oh, bloody hell!

********

"What are you so soddin' happy about?" Spike snarled. Angelus is smiling. . .smiling! Wanker doesn't do that unless he's maiming someone. . . or he's up to something. The disgruntled vampire was still wheelchair bound, but his strength was returning. Soon, he'd be able to wipe a smile off his smug sire's face. He took another mouthful from the mug of warmed blood that Dru had given him earlier. "Did you just get back from drawing the Slayer another family portrait or something?" That always seemed to put him in good mood. Maybe that was it. " Maybe you scared her and her friends by doing a scary watercolor of 'em." He hoped his sire didn't miss the sarcasm in his voice.

Angelus snatched the cup from him."Is that any of your business, meals on wheels?" He drained it and then threw it to the ground, his smile widened as Spike flinched at the noise. Then his grandchilde clenched his jaw and glared. He'd been doing a lot of that lately. Clenching. Glaring. It only fueled his good mood. "And I don't do watercolors. I sketch. " He said, defending his artistic sensibility.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Like I give a bloody damn." Angelus though he heard a mumbled 'poof' after the statement.

"Maybe I should draw some illustrations for your 'bloody awful' poems, William."

He wasn't going to rise to the bait. "Come on, tell me what you did last night." Spike decided to push him further. "Did Dru go with you?"

"She's my childe, she does as I say." He hadn't gone anywhere with his crazed childe, hadn't thought about her at all in quite a while. But it wasn't Spike's place to question him. "You could learn a lot from her."

"You think I'm blind, don't you?" Spike bit out. "You want her for yourself."

Angelus laughed, his childe had it bad alright. He was in love with Drusilla and so jealous he couldn't think straight. Angelus knew the feeling. "I could take her if I wanted her. Never forget that." He relaxed a little. "Just so happens, I have other things on my mind."

Spike tilted his head to the side, a crafty look in his eyes. "It's the redhead, isn't it?"

All of a sudden, Angelus was in his face. He had braced his powerful forearms on Spike's chair and he looked decidedly unhappy. "What do you know about her?"

"Hey! No need to get so close, mate. I was only making small talk."

"Never mention her again, Spike." The wounded vampire gulped and nodded. Angelus straightened. "You have yourself a nice day, roller derby." He sauntered off to his bedroom.

Spike clenched his jaw. . .and glared. "Wanker." ******

Willow lingered over her coffee. She didn't want the day to progress, didn't want night to fall. She racked her brain but was unable come up with any viable solutions. She couldn't tell Angelus, God only knows what kind of action he'd take against Miss. Calender. . Obviously, she couldn't tell the Scoobies. She could never forget that Angelus was a demon.

"Uh, Willow?"

She turned to see Oz standing in the middle of the kitchen. "I knocked but there was no answer."

"Oz, I'm sorry! I forgot you were going to pick me up for school."

He smiled at that and gestured to her clothing. "I can see that."

"Oh, uh." She pulled her robe tighter around her and pulled her red hair over her neck to hide the bite marks. "I don't feel up to going today."

"Are you sick?" He looked concerned.

"Yes. . .sick. I'm under the weather alright. " Willow gave him what she hoped was a convincing 'sick' face.

"I thought the only event that would make you miss school was being kidnapped."

"Well, the flu can be very convincing."

Oz nodded as if he were experienced in fighting the flu virus. "Should I do something?" His brow wrinkled. "Chicken soup or kleenex or something?'

"No, no that won't be necessary. Actually, you should probably leave." She smiled briefly then looked serious. "I don't want you to get sick too." She walked down the hall to the front door and opened it. He followed her very closely. "I'll see you later, Oz."

Before he knew what was happening he was on the stoop looking at the shut door. "Strange girl." It was said with affection. Oz sniffed again, there was another scent in the house, he could smell a faint trace of it outside. Another man? Maybe he had a rival for her affections. But. . .who was it?

Inside, Willow reached for the phone. "Giles? Hello, this is Willow. I don't feel good, could you call me off school?"

*********

"Daddy!" A voice shrieked, bringing Angelus out of a sound sleep. He bolted upright in bed to see his dark haired childe standing at the foot of it. She fell on the bed, placing a hand to her temple. "Trying to break up our happy home. No. Can't let her."

He scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to wake up. "What is it, Dru?"

"That bad teacher! Seeking help. An old enemy." She held her head. "Ooh! The pixies in my head are screaming."

"A teacher. . . Giles?" He asked drowsily. The Watcher wasn't a serious threat.

"No. Beady black eyes, hair like a raven's wing. A gypsy, she is. Miss Edith told me about her over tea and cakes." She pulled her legs up to her chin, trembling. "Wants to hurt my daddy and bring back the Angel beast."

"A gypsy? Black eyes. . .Jenny Calender."

"Buzzing machines." Dru mumbled. "Full of energy and curses." She nodded.

"She's using the computer to find the spell they cursed me with." Angelus had gotten used to decrypting 'Dru speak' for years. "When?"

"She'll have it tonight, daddy, by the light of the moon."

"Don't worry, Dru, I'll take care of it." She clung to him like the scared childe she was and he patted her back as he thought of a solution.

*********

That evening, Jenny Calender beamed in triumph as the Latin words translated themselves to English. The missing text also filled itself in. She did it! She took a deep breath. Maybe Giles could find it in his heart to forgive her if she could restore Angel's soul and cure him.

She saved the spell on a disk and slipped it into her desk drawer. Then, she printed out a copy for her own use. After that was done, Jenny busied herself by checking the spell's ingredients which were in her knapsack. She had just come from the magick shop in town. The reliable shopkeeper helped her acquire them. She would be ready when the time came to use them.

"What do we have here?" A silky voice drawled.

Jenny shuddered. "Angel?"

"Actually its Angelus, but I thought you knew that." He walked further into the room, he had used the outside door on her classroom to gain entrance.

"What do you want?" She gulped, hesitantly backing up against the blackboard.

"I think you know what I'm here for." With that, he leaned over to look at the monitor screen on her computer.

"I only wanted to–"

"Imprison me so my silly little soul could be free?" He smiled evilly. "I know all about your plans, Jenny."

She held out her hands. "Let's be reasonable, I can–"

"No, you can't. . .you won't do this spell." No one would keep him from being free or from Willow. He swept his hands out and the computer crashed to the ground in a heap. She screamed, he could hear the blood pumping in her veins. Smell her fear in the air. Being a vampire could be so much fun. There was an electrical smell in the air and a small fire started in the computer. His hands seized the paper she had printed out and she whimpered as if he had hurt her. He ripped in two and then in two again. Then, he started to shred it in thirds but was stopped by her running away and out the door.

Angelus sighed. A chase wasn't what he had in mind tonight. He merely wanted to frighten her, drink some of her blood. "Jenny?" He called, his tone bored. "Come back here." He put his head into the hallway but couldn't' see her. Hmmmm. . . didn't know she could run that fast. He could hear the clack of her high heels against the cold linoleum of the school's floor.

"No!" She screamed.

Angelus began to run after her. Some people could be so sensitive. If he had wanted to kill her she would be dead already. He couldn't kill Jenny without alienating Willow. Not that she didn't deserve death for trying to imprison him. Maybe after his redhead fell head over heels for him she wouldn't mind if he killed a friend or two of hers. Especially Xander. He'd enjoy making him into a 'dead boy'.

Laughing at the thought, he rounded another corner. She was on the top step of a stair case. When she heard the noise, Jenny shrieked. "Get away from me!" She began to run down the stairs.

"Calm down, I just want a drink." He smirked.

Hearing the scream, Willow hurriedly ran inside. She saw Miss Calender running from Angelus down the long stair case. She looked at the handsome demon, he wasn't in pursuit mode. He merely looked annoyed, not the deadly expression of a predator who was hunting someone. Just then, Miss Calender thrust her foot forward on to the next step but her shoe slipped on the slick surface.

Willow watched in horror as she fell down the remaining stairs to land with a sickening thud at the bottom of the stairs. She rushed forward and knelt at her side, her teacher's neck was bent at an odd angle. There was no pulse. Jenny Calender was dead. "No!"

She looked up at Angel in fury as he strolled down the stairs. She ran up to him as he reached the bottom and shoved at his chest. "Why did you chase her like that?"

Frankly, he was surprised. "You don't think I was trying to kill her?" "When you were trying to kill me you had a different look on your face." She bit out. "But you might as well have killed her. You scared her so much that she was reckless." She hit him on the chest again.

He caught her wrists in his cool grasp. "I wasn't trying to kill her. Is it my fault she doesn't look where she's going on?" Angelus shook his head ruefully. "Here I was being noble by not killing her and she goes an offs herself."

"Willow, are you alright?" A careful voice said with steely resolve. It was Giles.

Angelus whipped her around and pressed her back against his chest. "Well, if it isn't the Watcher." He tapped Miss Calender's body with his shoe. "Come to pay your respects?"

Giles face was a mask of unholy rage. He held a crossbow out. "Let her go." His eyes assessed Willow. She didn't appear to be hurt.

He ran a hand down Willow's hip. "Let's ask the lady if she wants me to let her go."

Willow flushed as her body began to respond to his caress. "Yes, I want you to let me go." She said threw clenched teeth.

"Maybe you need to be persuaded." Angelus said as he pressed her more fully into his body.

"Maybe you need an arrow through your head." Giles said calmly as he indicated the crossbow.

"That won't kill me."

"No, but I bet it would bloody well hurt. Let. Willow. Go. Now!"

"What's wrong, Rupert? Have a fight with your girlfriend?" Angelus taunted.

"Rest assured, Angel, I'll kill you for this." It wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

"Jumping to conclusions, aren't we, Sherlock? Do you see any blood on her neck?"

"You could have just–"

"What kind of a vampire goes around throwing women from staircases? That's not my style, Rupert. I have more class than that."

Giles had only one concern right now. Later, he could worry about the rest. "Get away from Willow." He aimed the bow at his head.

"Giles? G-man? What happened? I thought I heard a scream." Xander said as he came running down the hall.

Oz was right behind him. "Oh, God, Willow." He looked at her in the embrace of the vampire and shuddered. He had been warned by the rest of the Scoobies to stay away from Angel, that he was no longer a 'good vampire.' "Stay away from her!" He shouted.

Angelus snarled, not liking the look the young man was giving Willow. "I'll do what I like with her."

"I'm okay, Oz." She tried to reassure him, not missing the look of distress on his face.

Angelus was furious. How dare she have contact with another man! He was about to set the record straight when he was interrupted by Buffy's arrival. "It's me he wants." She declared.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you." Angelus sneered. He nuzzled Willow's neck. "I think I want someone else."

"What's going on here?" Principal Snyder shouted, coming on to the scene.

Angelus saw his out. While the everyone's attention was averted, he gave Willow a small push in the Watcher's direction and , using his vampiric strength, sprinted out of the nearest door swiftly. *******

Giles was a wreck. His eyes were blurry and unseeing. Normally very well dressed, his tie was askew and he had his coat off. Giles, Willow, and Buffy were all in the library. He numbly answered the questions of the Sunnydale Police Department as he drank a cup of coffee.

Buffy was at his side, squeezing his hand every so often. Willow stared mutely at the floor. Jenny was dead. Jenny was dead. . .it was starting to sink in. Angelus hadn't meant to kill her -- her death was an accident. But he had made the accident happen. He was partly responsible for her death. Angelus didn't even feel remorse for his actions or any concern for Jenny. And yet she still loved him. She put her head in her hands in mortification.

"Miss Rosenberg?" She looked up to see a young officer staring at her. " I need to ask you a few questions." ******

The police had been satisfied with their answers. Jenny's death was being ruled an accident. Snyder stood outside, talking with the officers. They could hear his voice, drifting in the window. "Are you sure it isn't gang related? PCP?"

"Wills, can you give us a few minutes?" Buffy asked, looking at Giles.

"Sure." Willow knew that the two of them were almost like family. They had a father/daughter relationship and needed some time to grieve together.

"Stay close to the library, okay?" They all doubted Angelus would be back, he had caused enough damage tonight, but they didn't want to take any chances. Willow nodded at her friend and walked down the hallway by herself.

Mindlessly, she ambled along until she was at Miss Calender's room. Unable to help herself, she walked in to see her computer lying on the floor. It was singed. There were bits of paper too. Apparently, Sunnydale's police were so inept they failed to search her room. She knelt on the floor and picked up the pieces. It was the Soul Restoration Ritual. With shaking hands, she deposited them into a folder. Then, she noticed a knapsack on the desk. She opened it to find a lot of spell casting materials, which were obviously for the ritual. She tucked the folder into the bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. She had no idea what she would do with items but they might prove useful.

"Wills?" Buffy called, it was edged with panic. "Are you there? Where did you go?"

"I'm coming, Buffy!" She shouted as she hurried to the library. Sh was anxious to go home, she needed to think about everything.

She was so tired and distraught that she failed to see a scrap of paper on the desk. It was easy to overlook but very important to the spell. It said "Do not, under any circumstances, perform this during a new moon."