cornerofmadness

Angelus - 1900 - Unwanted Things

Angelus had had many enemies but none more devious than the soul the gypsies had settled into him. He tried to hold on to the things that made him, him but slowly the soul whittled them away. Darla could barely stand the stink of his soul. Dru went into a flutter around him and Spike, oh, how that bastard could smell blood.

He had trained the little monster. Suddenly now he felt the power shifting. Spike had killed a Slayer and Angelus felt something foreign. Fear and he no longer knew if he had the power to destroy his and Dru’s creation.

Cordelia – S 1 - Hollow Beauty

Blemishes, split ends, pale skin, those were her enemies. Cordelia’s mother had trained her well. It didn’t matter that Cordy knew she had a good mind. Girls didn’t work. They looked pretty and snagged rich men, that’s what her mother would tell her whenever she’d come home from her country clubs, mellowed on the latest anti-depressants.

Cordelia took those lessons to heart. She knew she was the most gorgeous girl in school. She didn’t need to win all those pageants to prove it. She would be prom queen, head cheerleader, leader of the pack. Only, why did she feel so empty?

Xander – S 1 - Secret Shame

Math was his greatest enemy…or was it English? He endured the embarrassment of being tested to see if he was retarded. Maybe he needed to be on Ritalin or something? It was cool to be ADD now right?

Xander looked at the textbooks in front of him. He’d rather be out with Jesse but he was still sporting the shiner, a gift from his drunken dad when he failed that last science test. He told Willow he got in a locker room fight defending her honor. He didn’t know what was worse, lying to her or disappointing her by failing.

Buffy – Post Chosen - Betrayal of Self

A good hot meal and a rest, when had they become the enemies? Buffy looked at her image in the mirror. She could count her ribs, see the protrusion of her breastbone, like some fragile bird’s. Her eyes were sunken and her skin dry, her hair lifeless. In Rome, she was surrounded by so much wonderful food and yet she didn’t touch it. She stroked her brittle hair.

Were was the cute, svelte yet curvy girl she had been? When was the last time she ate? If she wasn’t the Slayer, would she have already died of anorexia?

Author’s Note – sorry, got a little political there. I’m a doctor and I abhor the current Hollywood trend toward ultra thin </lj -cut>

Connor – S 4 Treacherous Heart

It took a long time for Connor to realize who the enemies were. It wasn’t Angel and his friends. It wasn’t Holtz. It wasn’t even Jasmine who he knew to be a killer now which tore his heart.

No, it was that injured heart and his ravaged mind that were the betrayers. A heart that kept telling him that Angel loved him until his mind believed it. Everything he had ever known was shredded by that simple fact. He fought against it. And even as it frayed away from him, Connor knew the cost of that knowledge was his sanity.

Connor – Post NFA - Love of Fathers

His fathers, his enemies. Connor thought about it as he spun a tale for his creative writing class. His teacher loved his imagination, having no idea he was actually not writing fiction. This new short story would explore those two fathers.

They both loved him. They both pulled him apart, turning his soul into a lace curtain. If not for them and their centuries long feud he might have had a chance at happiness that didn’t come from a spell. He was over it now. He had learned to love both. Wonder if Angel would want to see my stories?

As always, X-posted to open_on_sunday