Dark and Light
Written by Gretchen
"That stupid...Buffy! Where the hell are you?!" the man yelled angrily, as he stalked through the dark night searching for his wayward daughter. Another man stepped out of an alley and confronted the first man.
"What seems to be the problem? Maybe I can help," the second man
asked. He oozed a predatorial, take-no-prisoners aura. He was the epitome of
the type of person you wouldn't want to meet in an alley. The first man, after
regaining his composure, eyed the dark stranger, measuring him and debating
whether or not to take the man up on his offer of help.
What kind of sleaze hung out in an alley anyway? The creepy lurker had to be up
to no good, which would suit his purposes just fine. Maybe he'd be willing to
help. Hank swayed, waving a hand and wishing he had another bottle of whiskey
somewhere.
"My daughter's gone missing. Stupid bitch. She never came home from
school, and we had plans for after dinner. Well, I did, anyway. I invited some
of my buddies from work over. They were gonna watch me as I fucked her for the
first time. Her cherry's more than ready to be ripped from the tree, if you
catch my drift. Man, I bet she's tighter than hell, and I can't wait to bust
her wide open!" the older man moaned, practically drooling at the thought
of raping his virginal daughter.
The younger man was beyond horrified! My God! The poor child was going to
be...well, she sure as shit wasn't ever going back home, that was certain!
"Well, what's she look like? If you tell me, I can look around, maybe find
her for you," the mysterious stranger managed to say, after a few moments
of shocked silence. He could smell the alcohol on the older man's breath and
was naturally disgusted with how the man could talk about his own daughter like
she was nothing more than a choice piece of ass.
"She's about 5' 3", long blonde hair, pert little tits, perfect for
sucking and biting on, a tiny little heart-shaped ass. Oooh, I can't wait to
take her anal cherry either! Her eyes are green or blue or something, I don't
remember. Besides, I ain't overly concerned about the color of her eyes, I'm
more into her body. Damn what a body! My buddies and I are gonna ride that
bitch 'til she can't take anymore and then we'll start all over again! Oh! Her
name is Buffy, but I call her "Cunt" and "Bitch" and after
tonight, I'm gonna start calling her "Whore" and
"Slut"."
"Right, blonde, 5' 3", blue, green, or brown eyes, name's Buffy, got
it. Where exactly do you live, so I'll know where to bring her if I find
her?" the young man requested.
"934 S.W. Telluride Ave, off of Yulipia Street. It's a green and white
house, big Cherry tree in the front yard. My name's Hank, Hank Summers."
"Okay then, Hank. I'll look around and see if I spot her."
"Sounds good, thanks. Say, what's *your* name?"
"My name is O'Connor."
Hank nodded, then the man known as O'Connor, watched, seething with pent up
rage, as Hank turned and walked off down the street, still searching for Buffy.
As soon as Hank was completely out of sight, O'Connor spun around and slowly
walked over to one of the dumpsters in the alley. He'd known she was there
almost as soon as he'd entered the alley. When he reached the dumpster,
O'Connor got down on his hands and knees and crawled over to the shaking and
terrified young girl. She saw him and her eyes got larger and more scared
looking the closer he got to her. He stopped about four or five inches from her
and just sat there.
"Hello there...are you Buffy?" he softly asked, awaiting her
reaction. It was swift, as she vehemently shook her head in a negative reply.
There was no way in hell she'd admit to being Hank's missing daughter. O'Connor
sensed she wasn't telling the truth, but wasn't about to push her in any way.
"Okay, we'll play it however you want to. I'm not going to hurt you, I
swear it...I would, however, like to take you someplace safe, if you'll let
me."
The girl looked up at the strange man, then in the direction her father had
gone. She couldn't go home. No way could she do that. But go
with this man? Hadn't he offered to find her for her father? Was he
just going to take her home? The gentle smile on his face told her he
wouldn't do that. There was something so...comforting about him.
Maybe he really could help, so she nodded her head in agreement. After
all, what could be worse than her father wanting to rape her and pass her
around to his friends?
Standing at Buffy's nod of acceptance, O'Connor offered her hand. She
hestitated, apparently still reluctant about taking his help, but finally
placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her out from her hiding place.
O'Connor bit back a gasp of horror when he got a good look at her. Her
face was still wet from tears. She had a bruise on the left side of her
face, and her hair and dress were a mess. It looked like she'd been in an
altercation of some kind and O'Connor had to fight back the urge to track Hank
down and tear him limb from limb. She stood up and moaned in pain as she put
her weight down on her left ankle. O'Connor heard the moan, and looked down to
Buffy's feet. Her left ankle looked swollen and painful, so before she could
protest, he swung her up into his strong arms and began walking towards home.
Buffy remained mute and clung helplessly to him as he carried her away from
life as she'd known it.
************************
Angel,
also known as O'Connor, entered the hotel still carrying Buffy and gently set
her down on the couch in the lobby. She whimpered as he let go of her and
reached out for him. He immediately sat down next to her smiled at her, a smile
of friendship, as she climbed into his lap. Sure, they were strangers, but
Buffy latched onto him because he was her rescuer. She gasped and buried her
face into his shoulder, as Angel's friends and co-workers, came into the hotel
to begin working. Angel glanced over and nodded his greeting to everyone, they,
in turn, nodded back, all wondering who the girl was.
"Good evening guys, this is Buffy. Buffy, this is Giles, Wesley, Doyle, Willow,
Cordy, and Fred. They're my friends and we all work in this hotel. It's
a...detective agency of sorts. I promise you that none of them will hurt you in
any way, okay?" Angel asked, after making the necessary introductions.
Buffy nodded slowly, and shyly waved at everyone. Fred and the others waved
back, and smiled gently at the girl. Angel knew his friends, Wes and Giles most
assuredly, wanted to know why Buffy was there.
"Buffy, is it okay if I leave you with Doyle, Cordy, Willow and Fred for a
couple of seconds? I'd like to tell Giles and Wes why I brought you here,"
Angel asked Buffy softly. Buffy looked unsure, but finally relented and let
Angel put her back down on the couch. She watched him closely as he followed
the two older men into an office.
"Hi there Buffy, I'm Willow. This is Fred, she and Cordy are my best
friends. And Doyle's a really great friend, too!" the bubbily red-head
said, as she walked over to sit down and try to be-friend Buffy. Buffy didn't
say anything in response, and Willow was saddened. Cordy, who'd noticed Buffy's
less than stellar appearance, wondered if Buffy would let them clean her up a
bit.
"Hi Buffy, I'm Cordy...what say the four of us gals go into the bathroom
and get you freshened up a little. Would that be okay with you?" the
brunette asked, plopping down on the other side of Buffy. Again, Buffy said
nothing, and turned her gaze to stare intently at the door that Angel had gone
into. She hoped he'd be back before too long. Doyle, who'd remained quiet, slowly
made his way to the couch. He could tell the blonde was still fairly scared of
being in a strange place, surrounded by strangers. Fred noticed it too, and
wondered how she could help ease Buffy's worries.
************************
"I do apologize, but I'm afraid I find that what you've just told me about that young girl out there is rather hard to believe, Angel. Her own father openly admitted that he was planning on raping and molesting his own daughter? Dear lord, what are we going to do?" Giles asked, afraid of what might've become of the girl had her father found her and carried out his immoral plans.
"Well that's rather simple, now isn't it? She's staying here as of this
moment. I, for one, would rather shoot myself in the foot, than to place Buffy
back into the iniquitous hands of her father. I mean, my God! How could anyone,
let alone someone who has children, allow themselves to cause their own flesh
and blood any harm?!" Wesley replied angrily. Angel was in full agreement
with both Englishmen. Buffy would stay in the hotel where she was safe.
"What do you think we should do about things for her? Clothes and
what-have-you? Also, have either of you noticed the state she's currently in? I
think it's shock and I really hope she'll be able to come out of it, so she can
tell us more about her," Angel said, worried about the girl he'd
rescued.
"Yes, and I wonder what the cause of her condition is. Her father,
perhaps?" Giles wondered.
"I don't know, but until she's more willing and/or able to talk, we'll
just have to wait for answers. In the meantime, I'm going to get back out there
so Buffy won't think I've abandoned her. Maybe I can convince her to let Cordy,
Fred, and Willow help her get freshened up a little. Then I'll figure out the
sleeping arrangements." And with that, Angel nodded at the two men, then
left the office to find Buffy.
************************
Buffy was still on the sofa, surrounded by Fred, Cordy, Doyle, and Willow. Buffy saw Angel approach her and inwardly smiled. She sat up a little straighter when he stopped and stood in front of her. He smiled at her, reassuringly, then sat down in the spot Willow vacated.
"How are you, Buffy?" he asked. Buffy shrugged in response. "Do
you feel like getting cleaned up a little? Maybe wash your face and put on some
clean clothes?" This time she nodded hesitantly, and Angel wanted to
cheer. "Would you like one of the girls to help you, then?" Buffy
shook her head "no". Angel sighed, he'd been afraid of this.
"Okay, then would it be okay if *I* helped you?" Buffy nodded eagerly,
then smiled shyly at him. "All right then. Willow, do you mind finding
Buffy some pajamas?"
"No prob, Angel! Which ones should I bring down? The bunnies? The cows?
The sheep? Or maybe the ones with the..." Willow trailed off, and smiled
sheepishly at Angel's look. "Heehee, okay, I'll just go grab a pair,"
she chuckled, then ran upstairs. Angel smiled after the redhead. She was quite
the character.
"Buffy, do you want to go wash your face and comb your hair?" Cordy
asked.
Buffy nodded, and sighed when Angel picked her up and carried her into
the bathroom. He'd have to wrap her ankle up before it got any worse. Willow
bounced into the bathroom a few seconds later, with the borrowed pajamas. They
were pink with white sheep dancing all across them. Buffy timidly smiled her
thanks, and Willow smiled back. Cordy and Willow left the now crowded room,
while Angel remained to help Buffy.
TBC…