Disclaimer: Joss Whedon (Mutant Enemy) owns the Buffyverse.
I make no monetary profit from my fanfic.
Summary: The Beginning ...
Warning: This is a somewhat dark story, which I don't usually write, though sometimes I feel I must express darkness, and best do it in a creative way, rather than on the streets. Flames will be torched :) ~~ Ye hath been warned ~~
Author's note: This story was written before I saw the episode "Lies, My Parents Told me"
Rating MA - Vampirism, blood (Duh!) ;)
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BABE IN THE WOODS
"The babe is evil..."
"No ...my baby ... He can't ..."
"I blame you not my wife. This is the work of the Devil himself."
Bedridden, the young woman closed her eyes tight, trying to shut out the truth.
"The evil must be destroyed."
"No, Jonathan ..."
The man looked sympathetically toward his wife. "Believe me, Eliza, if there were a way, I would find it."
The father sat the bawling baby down, picking up a dagger.
"It will feel no pain, my dearest one."
"No ... There must be something we can do ... The Vicar, maybe he can..."
"He can't ... He tried with the Peabody's child to no avail."
Bitter tears rolled down the woman's cheeks. "Why have we been cursed with this spawn of satan?!"
"I know not my darling, but we shall not give in to his demonic will." He readied the dagger in his hand.
Exasperated, a young woman, impeccably dressed, opened the door,
bearing a wooden crucifix, clutched in her gloved hand.
The husband whirled around. "What is the meaning of this?"
The woman steadied herself and winced. "I ... I heard screaming... I thought..."
The man bowed politely. "You are mistaken, M'Lady. There be no Vampyres here." He tried to quieten the screaming child. "Well come in, dear, you'll catch a death of a cold."
The woman entered the abode. "You ... you must forgive my intrusion."
"Not at all. Now, please enter the living area. You must excuse us ... This child is cursed. I foresee evil in its future."
"Evil is such an overused term," the stranger said, walking closer.
"Explain yourself," Jonathan demanded.
The young woman eyed the two. "You have no idea what true evil is." She placed the cross down.
"My betrothed and I understand your concern," the young mother said, "but there's nothing that can be done for our William."
"It is not our child!" Jonathan spat. "I disown the evil spawn, and so must you."
Eliza nodded, though not without tears.
"You know nothing," the strange woman said.
Jonathan's ire rose. "Madam, I thank you for your concern, but you have overstayed your welcome. I beg you leave my abode this instant."
The woman smiled. "You can beg."
Eliza became fearful.
"There is a way to save your child." The stranger's voice sounded haunting. "Oh ... and there are Vampyres here."
In an instant, she morphed, her demonic features protruding forth, amber eyes piercing the human's Souls. Jonatan's eyes widened.
"Begone, Foul demon!" he grabbed a cross.
The Vampyr growled, bashing it out of his hand.
Eliza screamed, hysterical, as the Vampyr fed on her husband. The instant her fangs pierced his flesh, the baby stopped crying.
The Vampyr let the man's lifeless body crumple to the floor, an instant later, leaping to the bed.
"No .. NO .... NO!!! ... Have mercy please ..."
The demonic Femme smiled. "I will show you as much mercy as you would me." And she fed, the woman's screams stopping in an abrupt instant, leaving a corpse, eyes wide in terror.
The Vampyr turned to the babe.
"Don't worry, little one. You're safe now."
Gently, she picked up the tiny child, ruffling his soft, thin layer of hair, carrying him out of the small abode.
She sniffed the air. "Smell that, young one. Death. Isn't it Divine?"
The baby giggled and played with the woman's curls, curling his tiny hand around her finger.
"I can't turn you, not yet. It's too dangerous, but there will come the day."
She rubbed her hand where the cross had burned through her white glove.
The cold, dark streets alight only with burning lamplight as she carried the babe to a nearby orphanage and knocked on the door.
A while later, it was answered.
"Please ... you must help me... this child ... his parents were..." She shivered visibly ... "K...killed ... I saved him from them ... Demons ... They were ... they were ... demons ..." She looked terrified.
"Good Lord above M'Lady ... Vampyres, were they?"
She nodded. "You must care for him. They'll come back for him. I took him and ran ... I..."
"Come in, dear child ... Safe and out of the cold. You look famished."
The woman smiled. "Thank you, kind sir, but I have already eaten. ... I must go. You must take care of the babe. His name is William."
He took the baby wrapped in coarse calico. "You have my word, Madam ... May I please have the pleasure of your name?"
The woman smiled. "Darla."
And she disappeared into the cold dark night.
Neither he nor the platinum blonde babe ever saw her again.
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