Waiting for the Day
By
ColleenNote:This is a continuation of my other two stories, "Goodbye Doesn't Mean I'm Gone" and "Homecoming." You don't have to read them, but you do have to have some knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Quickly, I was resolved to the fact that my Billy was gone. A demon had taken over his body. He was a changed man. One who seeks vengeance over forgiveness. The stories that Billy told me that day when we were trapped inside did not prepare me for the actual killing of a human being. Angelus was his sire or the person who turned him into a vampire. While studying in Paris, Billy had befriended Angelus, who was also a student at the university. Together they had traveled the whole of Europe, massacring quaint villages and larger cities. Drusilla was a lust object of Angelus' and he had driven her mad by killing everyone she loved. Billy informed me of her ability to see things that were to happen. This was something she possessed
before her change to eternity life, which led me to fear her.No one had killed my family, because at supper, they were still gathered around the table. Billy was able to join us, but the taste of real food did not settle our stomachs. We needed warm blood to satisfy our deep
hungry. Billy was the center of attention. He humored my parents with stories and antidotes from his stay in Paris. At the end of supper, Billy excused himself and I was allowed to go with him. I will never forget my first night out hunting. Billy had killed the old innkeeper of the town, old Mr. MacGregor. He was such a dear old man. Always smiled and gave a wave to all. Angelus and Drusilla had joined us at the inn.For the first time, I noticed how Drusilla toyed with both Angelus and Billy. She was pitting them against each other. I was getting very weak, so I had to drink some of Mr. MacGregor's blood. My face changed and my fangs were exposed. The taste of the coppery goodness settled my stomach. Angelus and Drusilla were off killing some of others when Billy and I began talking. His face had changed back to his normal boyish grin by the time he began his speech.
"Callista, you know I turned you to a vampire so we could be together forever. Drusilla had taken a fancy to Angelus and I wanted someone of my own. You, my beauty, were my top choice. I loved you as a human, but I love you eternally as an everlasting being." He was being so sweet that I almost forgot about our vampire status.
It was the sound of a woman's cry that made Billy face turn to the one of a vampire once again. He grunted and went off running. I followed, but I had a feeling I was not going to like the next chosen victim. The moment I made it to the scene, I felt my stomach churn. It was one of Billy's own maids, Beatrice. The only wounds were the two on the side of her neck. Billy immediately turned to me and I knew the same thought was racing through our minds. Drusilla was kneeling, sucking her fill of blood. She handed the body to me.
As I was holding Beatrice I got to thinking how she was almost like a rag doll. The smell of blood had tickled my nose and the need for more was there. I was able to drink about a pint before I thought I would get ill. Billy wanted some, so Bea's body was given to him. When I stood up, Angelus was right there for me. He was able to enlighten me with the fact that the tang of blood was an acquired taste. His arm came around me as I dropped to the ground in faint. I did not know what was happening. I awoke in the inn,
which us vampires had taken over as home. It would be a long time before I would see my family.I had become part of a gang of the most ruthless vampires in the world. Angelus being the leader and the guardian of Drusilla, the mad woman. It was during these months and years that I spend with Drusilla that I learned how truly mad and insane she was. Her doll, Miss Edith, was her constant companion and confidant. After a while of speaking of what Miss Edith thought, I wanted to the doll to be found missing, permanently. She also had a habit of bolting up in the middle of her sleep and start talking nonsense. I was usually the one who was with her when she started these ranting sessions. Angelus was the only one who understood her mumbo-gumbo, so I had to find him quite often. Billy coddled her like a baby, which did not sit well with me on many occasions. I had developed a defense for the time I called him on it and he
lashed back. I knew his number since we had been inseparable since birth. I usually won those arguments.Before long, killing and feeding was obsolete. Angelus was becoming very powerful and he wanted his own minions. Soon, everyone we killed was automatically turned into a vampire. Billy was trying to be Angelus' right-hand man and I felt useless. It was one night that I knew things between Billy and I were over. Billy and Drusilla had gone out to prove themselves to Angelus. We were staying in this chateau in the French countryside. I was wandering the halls when Angelus appeared from behind me.
"Your man has taken a liking to my girl Drusilla. What are we going to do about that?" he said, like he was above me. I knew I could not defend myself the way I did with Billy, but I could think quick on my feet.
"Maybe if you did not make them prove themselves worthy to you, they would not be so close," I was able to fire this back at him.
"I think I have hit a big nerve with you, Callista. Why do you not go with them?"
"I have better things to do. Who keeps this place from looking like a pigsty?"
Angelus grabbed me from behind and spun me into his embrace. I was greeted with a very quick and powerful kiss. This was meant to send a lesson to me. He was the master and I was one of his servants. He held all the power and I would be wise to watch and learn from his teaching. The opposite happened to be the case. I began distancing myself from Angelus, Drusilla, and especially Billy.
I did not enjoy going on blood runs with Billy and the new gang of vampires. He had adopted a new trademark for killing his victims: the use of a railroad spike. He was known as Spike to everyone, but somewhere deep in my heart, I knew he would still be my Billy. I was losing my mind, but I kept it to myself unlike Drusilla. My family and friends had long ago been killed.
I was able to stand staying in the Chateau after Angelus and his minion had vacated. I had chosen to stay separate for a while. News of mass deaths flew quickly, so I would be able to find Angelus' and the others if I had to. It was during this time alone at the chateau that I came to an understanding as to why I did not enjoy being an outgoing vampire as Billy did. Because someone I loved had converted me, I was not in for the sheer enjoyment of the kill. For me it was a fact of life and a way to be with Billy eternally. Billy had not liked that I was not playing by the rules.
The night everyone left, I was not told. I awoke to no one in the chateau. I lived my life as normally as I could being a vampire and all. My delicacies turned from human blood to assorted animals' blood. It spent over two years without knowing where Billy and the others were. One day, word had gotten back to me that Billy had returned to Paris with Drusilla. An incident with a branding iron had been mentioned. My decision was to allow Billy and Angelus to fight for Drusilla if they wanted. I did not want to associate with demons like them.
I began traveling Europe as a nomad. Places of extreme beauty became my haunts, since I had seen darkness and destruction for so long. I was able to visit small taverns and pubs at night and learn the lay of the land. I befriend quite a number of people on my travels. They knew me as the young woman who came out at night. I was odd to them, but they enjoyed me because their lives had been monotonous before my coming.
It took a lot of traveling before I could return to my native land. London was growing faster and faster. I spend a good month in London proper before I could move out to the countryside where I had grown up. Odd jobs as barmaids gave me money to live off of. I hired a carriage one night, which took me home. I softly cried as we neared my estate. We had past the site where the Harrington Manor had stood. Angelus and Billy had destroyed the main house when they killed his family over twenty- five years ago. I had not been able to participate in the murdering of people I had grown to think of as my own family. After some arguing at the time, I had been able to save my own house from destruction. It stood lit up like a Christmas tree. The carriage driver took me to the door and I paid him for his services. He left and I wandered around the grounds.
"Miss, may I help you?" a middle-aged woman asked from the back porch. I had been looking at the stables and was walking toward the pond.
"I lived here once. Because of extenuating circumstances, I have not been able to visit." I was telling this woman the truth. I had wished of visiting sooner, but there was so much pain involved in going back to the scene of a crime.
"We have had this house for over ten years. Please come in and look around if you like." I went up the stairs and into the kitchen. It was the same and I could imagine Helen, our cook, making stew on the stove and baking bread in the oven. The woman had disappeared leaving me alone to my memories.
The front parlor still had some of my family's original furniture. A desk at which I enjoyed writing letters was still propped up against the wall. A chair and table by the fireplace had also been present in my day. My da sat there often, smoking his pipe. I took the stairs to the second level very carefully.
The night we had come to kill my family, we had taken this same route I was about to take. At the top, I stood and looked down the hall. On the right about halfway down was my room. The left door led to my parents' bedroom. My feet led me to my old room and I found a sleeping child in a bed that was positioned as my bed had stood. I did not want to bother the owners if they were sleeping in my parents' bedroom. I walked down the left hallway and into the guestroom. This room had not been changed. I had remembered playing in there often, as a child because I was in love with all the flowers that were everywhere. Without a realization, I laid my head on the pillow and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, I awoke and knew I would be stuck inside until sunset. I had drunk a lot of blood last night before I left and I was still full. A decision to remain quiet in this room all day had been made already. During my hours of solitude, visions of Billy and I at this house and his own penetrated my mind.
We had been happy until he had to grow up and left me. Wondering what would have happened if he had stayed with me here led me to thinking about our wedding and our children. We would have made the most wonderful parents. Billy would enjoy bouncing his son and daughter on his knee and I would watch as I did my needlepoint beside them.At sunset, I escaped out of the house I had grown to love and to the house of my former love. The walk took longer than I had remembered. Soon, I was looking out at the shell of Harrington Manor by the light of the full moon. I walked through the rubble and took a seat on a tall part of the existing wall. From my point, I imagined I was in the dining area where all formal dinners and banquets were held. Banquets and balls were always being held at Harrington Manor. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington loved celebrating any occasion. That was what she liked most about Billy's family. They could think of any excuse to have a party.
I began to say a silent prayer.
'Billy, wherever you are, you must know I am thinking about you. I do not agree with your choices and that is why you are there and I am here. Closure is what I need at this point in time. You have made me a vampire, which I will have to live with for the rest of my life. As I sit here in what was your home, I would expect you to be near me, but you have gone away from me. Maybe some day, we will see each other again.'
That was all I could take. It was not even midnight by the time I left the place I had lost everything at. Lands uncharted awaited me. That night, I vowed to never kill another human unless I was in grave danger. To this day, I have only killed two humans. Both were out of self-defense. Almost hundred years have pasted, I am still waiting for the day when I see my Billy as he was the way I knew him as a child. Sweet, charming, my best friend in the world. I wondered if that day would ever come.
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