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.Angelus envied him his looks.Darla was clearly one of the Master’s favorites, and he took an instant liking to her bloodchild, Angel.Eager to impress him with her judgment, she recounted many of Angelus’s exploits to him.Soon Angeluswas numbered among the Master’s inner circle, and he was known to say Angelus was the most viciouscreature he’d ever met.He promised Angelus that come the day when his plans for domination of theworld came to fruition, Angelus would sit at his right hand.In return, Angelus vowed loyalty and devotion to all the Master’s causes.It was a promise notundertaken lightly, and one he fully intended to keep.At the time.The idyllic year passed, moving into summer.Angelus had agreed to meet Spike and Drusilla inSeptember, and it was now August.Perhaps Darla meant to keep him there, with her and the Master and the court.He never had a chanceto ask her.One warm night they had laughed and loved together, wearing exotic silk kimonos one of the Master’schildren had brought home from a rampage through Japan.Her cold skin beneath the silk stirred him; herkisses inflamed him.Then she led him through the woods for a midnight hunt.Some Romanies had arrived in the daytime andchosen to park their wagons on the vampires’ hunting ground.“What sport,” Angelus said quietly.“Look there, precious.”Darla pointed at the most beautiful human woman Angelus had ever laid eyes on.She wore a full, stripedskirt and a billowing white blouse, her splendid shape silhouetted by a tight waistcoat laced beneath herbosom.She was barefoot, and on each ankle, chains of gold coins jingled.Her black hair was loose andfree, and her face.ah, the moon herself.“For you,” Darla said generously.“Knowing as I do that you appreciate the finer things in life.”They smiled at each other.Then they parted, to dally with their prey.Darla would find a handsome young man, of that Angelus wascertain.Meantime.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html“Hello,” he said softly, coming upon the exquisite Gypsy as she strolled alone by the river.She started.The frightened look on her face did not diminish as he stepped from the shadows.Her eyesdarted left, right.He gestured to his mouth.“I’m thirsty.”She blinked.“Pai?” she asked in a soft, pleasing voice.“Pai,” he agreed.He smiled kindly.He could hear her heart; it was thundering.She was mortally afraid.“I’m staying with friends, and I wandered off,” he said in English.“I’ve been walking through the forestfor hours.”With that, she took off.Angelus watched her go, highly amused, terrifically enchanted.He decided thenand there to woo her.The look of horror and betrayal on her face when he took her life would make the kill all the sweeter.And it did; it was the most wonderful kill of his life up until that point.She had come to him and said, inthe halting English he had taught, “Angelus, I love you.”Then she had kissed him, quite sweetly.Contrary to common prejudice, Gypsy women, whilepassionate, were chaste until marriage.Since such a marriage never could, and never would, take place, Angelus decided that this was themoment he would celebrate his triumph over her.He was careful to allow her to see his transformation;more careful still to give her a head start before he threw her down and tore open her throat.What Angelus had not realized was that he had been seen murdering the girl, whose name still eludedhim.He had a rival, a brash Gypsy who had adored her, but considered himself unworthy of her.She was theclan’s favorite daughter, and he was only one of many cousins.That didn’t prevent him from loving her, and from wondering who it was who had claimed her heart.Ashamed of himself, he had decided that very night to follow her.And he had seen.At the Gypsy camp the girl was lovingly laid out.Her burial gown was the best the clan possessed.Thekeening of grief was a delightful ode to Angelus’s savagery.On the path back to the Master’sunderground lair, he stopped to listen.He had not expected them to find her so quickly.Now he wastorn between pretending to be drawn to the camp by the sound, to see what was amiss, or returning tothe Master’s court to boast about his accomplishment.* * *“Mulo,” the Gypsy woman murmured.It was Gypsy for a dead person associated with uncleanness.ItGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlmeant vampire.She wore a shawl and had painted the seal on her forehead.She waved her hand over the Orb ofThesulah and began the incantation:Nici mort nici al fiintei,Te invoc, spirit al treceriiReda trupului ce separa omul de animalCu ajurtorul acestui magic glod de cristal.Not dead, nor not of the living.Spirits of the interregnum, I call.Restore to the corporal vessel that which separatesus from beast.Use this orb as your guide.In the forest a horrible pain ripped through Angelus.He stumbled, looking over his shoulder, trying tosee what had attacked him.There was obviously nothing in front of him.He fell to his knees, gasping.Never had he felt such terrible agony.He was being ripped apart inside, by an unseen enemy.He ranthrough the woods, heedless of his direction.He fell again, and this time he lost awareness for a brief moment.As he got to his knees, groggy and bewildered, an old Gypsy approached and hovered over him.“It hurts, yes?” he said in English.“Good.It will hurt more.”Angelus was dazed.“Where am I?”The man was contemptuous, bitter, filled with rage.“You don’t remember.Everything you’ve done, fora hundred years, in a moment, you will.The face of everyone you killed — our daughter’s face — theywill haunt you and you will know what true suffering is.”“Killed?” Angelus repeated, confused.He thought to himself, Where’s Sandy Burns? Where’s thatcharming woman I followed into the alley —“I don’t —”In a flash the memories rushed over him — Darla; his change, his rampages, the tortures he had inflictedon his victims.Drusilla.Servants, ladies, men, children, babies.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlThe Gypsy girl, so sweet and trusting —He had done it all.“Oh, no, no.” His guilt was unbearable “No!”As the Gypsy man looked on with satisfaction, Angelus began to scream.BUFFY“She was my first love
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