Author: Angel Kisses 70
Title: Who Wants to Live Forever
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this Fiction. They all belong to Joss Whedon and whoever else lays claim to them. This is a tribute to the incredible characters he’s created, and he should be flattered. I receive no money for any of this, so don’t sue. ‘Cause really. if I had any money, I wouldn’t be spending my time writing fan fiction...I’d be out spending it!
Summary: This is an answer to Love's Bitch's challenge to write the best thing that you can in five minutes. The other day this popped into my head while listening to a Queen album.
Comments: Music and Lyrics for WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER by Queen belong to Brian May, and I am just borrowing them (without permission.) It’s a song that inspired my inner creative muse, and personally, I think Brian would be pleased to see that his beautiful work does that for others.
Galway, Ireland
Before the turning....
There’s no time for us,
She was dead. Killed by her own father for loving a man beneath her station in society. And there would be no justice. After all, women were just the property of their fathers and after that, their husbands.
There’s no place for us,
He drank down another pint of beer and watched as her father and brothers amused themselves with the tavern wenches. It was quite all right for them to consort with
those “beneath them,” but not her.
It hadn’t been consorting. It was love.
Love that spans a lifetime and beyond. A love that could redeem a man’s soul and make him weep with gratitude to God above. A love that when dead, could make a man give up on life and drink himself into an early grave.
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us.
Sickened at the sight before him, he stood up and stumbled out of the tavern, away from their mocking actions and laughing faces. They had no shame and he wished he could damn them to Hell. Leaning against the tavern wall that faced an alleyway, a flash of her broken body lying at the bottom of the cliffs surfaced within his memory.
He’d scrambled down, praying that she was still alive. But when he got there, the
glassy stare in her beautiful, hazel eyes told him that her soul was gone. He held her, stroking her soft, honey blonde curls and rocking her in his arms until the tide started to come in, then he carried her back up to the top. As, he inspected her, he noticed something clutched in her right hand. Her family’s colors. His grief and his anger knew no bounds.
Who wants to live forever,
Suddenly, he heard a scream. Looking up, he noticed a young, blonde woman trying to resist the advances of a drunken sailor. She looked like his beloved. He had to help her. He’d not fail again.
He ran across the street to the other alleyway. Grabbing the drunk by the collar and the seat of his pants, he tossed the man onto the cobblestones.
“Stay away from her,” he growled, “Or next time, I’ll slit yer throat.”
The drunk, clear-headed enough to recognize a sincere promise when he heard one, got up and staggered off into the night.
“Thank you.”
He turned to look at the young woman next to him. It wasn’t his beloved. He nodded and attempted to walk away.
“What’s the rush?” the woman asked. “Can’t a lady thank a fine gentleman as yourself for helping her with an unsavory character?”
“Dinna. I thought ye were someone else,” he mumbled brokenly. He silently berated himself for thinking this overly, made-up strumpet was his beautiful and innocent love.
“What’s this? A broken heart? Did the woman you love spurn you?” the woman purred maliciously.
He rounded on her. “Don’t ever say that about her! She loved me! We were supposed to love forever.”
“Ah,” the woman replied, a knowing look on her face. “I understand.”
“What could ye possibly understand? What do ye know of love? Have ye ever had that which ye hold most dear, violently taken from ye?”
The woman’s dark brown eyes narrowed. “Oh yes...in a way. I can help you with the pain you know.”
“I’m not looking for a quick tumble,” he sneered, walking away.
“That’s good. Because I’m not offering one. What I’m offering is so much more.... How would you like to hurt those who murdered your beloved? What would you say if the gift I can give to you will take all of the hurt and anger away?”
He stopped walking and turned to look at her. “What could ye possibly have to offer?”
“Power,” the woman whispered, licking her lips seductively. “Total and complete power over those who have hurt you or would hurt you. Would you take it?”
Mesmerized, he began to walk back to her. “In a heartbeat.”
She smiled evilly. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Suddenly, her face transformed into the hideous visage of a demon, and she grabbed him.
He didn’t have time to feel fear. He supposed it was all of the alcohol he’d been
drinking. He felt her sharp teeth rip into his throat and heard the hungry swallowing as
the demon fed on him.
As he began to slip into unconsciousness, he felt his heart beat slowing. “I shall be joining ye soon, my love,” he thought, welcoming this death, “Then we’ll be together
forever....”
The vampiress pulled away from him, slit the skin above her breast with a sharp fingernail, and pushed his mouth to the bleeding wound. She gasped in pleasure as she felt him begin to drink. When she judged that he’d had enough, she pushed him away to stare at the handsome youth who lay crumpled in death at her feet.
“Soon, my dear boy,” she whispered, “Soon, you will have your revenge.”
Then in the whisper of a lover’s breath, she was gone.”
Who wants to live forever.....?