Inell's Fanfiction Archive

Willow could feel eyes watching her as she walked home from Xander's house. It had been nearly a week since Jesse had disappeared. A week since she had met the Master. A week since he had accepted her into the family. A week of Xander looking at her with distrustful eyes. He knew she was lying. She didn't know how, but he knew. He had managed to ask her several times how Jesse was, trying to get her to slip up and admit to knowing where their friend was hiding. She hadn't. She just shrugged and said she had no idea. She felt guilty for lying to her best friend.

Xander had told her about that dark haired guy. The one that was following her now. He had been outside her house the other night. She had gone to shut her curtains and seen him by a tree in her front yard. The night before that, he'd been in a doorway opposite Darla's apartment building when she had left near dawn. At first, she had assumed he was trying to get to Darla through her. The problem was that Darla seemed to have no idea who was following her. Her mate had been upset, to say the least, when Willow had mentioned him. It hadn't helped that Willow hadn't been able to say much except that he was handsome and had dark hair. Darla had muttered something, her blue eyes flashing yellow, before smiling and telling Willow that she would take care of it. It appeared that Darla hadn't been able to take care of it yet. He was still following her.

After her first conversation with him, she'd been a little spooked. Some guy following her, claiming he was protecting her. It was a bit weird under any circumstances. But, he hadn't stopped with confronting her. He'd dragged Xander into it. Made her friend doubt her honesty, with good reason of course. That didn't matter. His meddling had made Xander suspicious and worried for her. He seemed to think this guy had an unhealthy obsession with her. She wasn't worried about that. Darla had already claimed her. No one, not even some good looking had to be a vampire, could remove that claim. Even the Master had accepted Darla's possession of her. Nope, she wasn't worried about that. She had plenty of people, vampires, whatever, looking out for her safety. But, his constant shadowing, his cryptic words of warning that he loved to give her, the strange look in his eyes as he looked at her, all of that was kinda scary. Something about him bothered her.

She knew she should be flattered that someone like him seemed to have taken such an interest in her. The old Willow would have been. The new Willow, the person she had realized that she was, thought it was just plain creepy. He was always back there, like some scolded puppy dog that needed to please its master. That wasn't comforting. That wasn't protective. It was flat out stalking. And Willow was getting annoyed with it all. Scared and angry. Not two good emotions to have. She pulled her sweater tighter around her as she turned onto her street. She was becoming paranoid, she decided. It was just, he had to know she ignoring his warnings. She told him everytime that he didn't know what he was talking about, that Darla wasn't what he was describing, then she'd turn her back on. She was beginning to worry about what might happen if he decided that the warnings weren't enough. He seemed adamant about keeping her away from Darla. She was scared that he would either try to kill her mate, in which case Darla would kick his ass, or that he might try to come after her, in which case Darla would hopefully find her and then kick his ass.

Willow sighed, wishing that he would just give up his crusade to save her from the clutches of the evil Darla. She loved Darla. Nothing he said would ever change that. Oh, Willow believed whole-heartedly that the Darla he spoke of had existed. Her mate had often told her stories of how cruel and sadistic she had been decades and centuries before. Willow didn't need Mr. tall, dark and broody telling her things that she already knew. Xander was getting to be more and more suspicious. He had started coming over at strange hours, asking questions. She knew that his dad was drinking again, had seen the random bruises, so she always let him stay. He was her best friend and she did love him. She knew that eventually she was going to have to introduce him to Darla. It was getting too tough to keep her lover a secret from him. She wasn't sure how he would react, but maybe he'd stop asking about Jesse.

Jesse was doing well. He was adjusting to life as a vampire, learning everything that Darla taught him. In a lot of ways, he was still the Jesse that she had known and loved. She could see the differences though. He was more confident, more alert and cautious. He still loved to joke around but knew now when to stop. He seemed sexier in a way that she couldn't explain, though she knew the confidence had to be the reason. His demon remembered their friendship and he doted on her everytime they were together. Darla thought it rather amusing so she allowed it, knowing that nothing had ever existed between Willow and Jesse except friendship. If anything, they were closer now than they had been before his death. Her bond with Darla extended to all of her lover's children, or so she was told. With Jesse, it was very strong. With others, it was there but Willow had to look for it.

Seeing her house, she let out a sigh of relief. She'd go inside and phone Darla. Let her know that the stranger had followed her again. She knew her lover was aware of her growing fear of the man, worried a bit that Darla would strike first before giving him a chance to just leave her alone. She'd told him to go away, though, so what else could she do? She wasn't about to forget Darla like he seemed to want. She walked up the steps of her porch, stopping when she heard his voice.

"Willow, she'll destroy you. Give her up now while you still have the chance."

She turned and faced him, "I love her. Just leave me alone. And stay away from my friends! I'll not have you scaring them with your twisted ideas on who Darla is. You don't know her anymore. And you certainly don't know me at all."

"I know that you deserve better. She'll take everything good about you and taint it. She's only playing with you."

Willow laughed, "Go back to the kennel, puppy. You don't know what you're talking about. Like I said, I *love* her."

"She's a monster."

Willow nodded, "I know," she said before turning and walking into her house, shutting the door on his handsome face and whispered warnings.