Creative Works   

Till Death Do We Part (Part 4)
By Jessi Knorr
slayer_2000_(at)hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Buffy, Angel, Oz, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Ms. Calendar and whoever else belong to the Devil himself, Joss! And also, the WB and Fox. What's not theirs -- Sage, Summer, Tia, Cora, Lance, the plot--is mine. Got it? Good. Now get going. The mythology is based off of Elisabeth Chandler's amazing novel-trilogy "Kissed By An Angel".

. . .

Part 4

"Hurry up Sage!" Summer pressed as the twins hurried down the street. Sage was lagging behind, his backpack the large bulk slowing him down. Behind him, yelling threats was a group of large boys. Sage looked back and gasped, they were nearly on his heels.

"I can't!"

"Drop the bag!" Tia screamed, rounding the corner as fast as she could. Sage picked up slightly but his bag bounced as he hurried.

"Yeah, drop the bag baby," one of his pursuers mimicked. Sage pulled his pack off and threw it at them. It flew back and hit three of the jerks, holding them back. But the remaining ones went on without as much as a glance back. He quickly caught up to the other two and they rushed another block. Down the street they could see the wall and gate that led to their house. Just another few blocks.

"What did you do to them?" Tia demanded.

"They wanted my shoes. I told them no and punched one, and they started chasing me," Sage huffed back. One more to go. The Neanderthals tailing them were laughing, mocking their attempt to get away. Summer could feel the largest one's disgusting breath on the back of her neck.

"Get lost Jeremy! He didn't do anything!" Summer yelled at him.

"And what are you going to do, Sweet Thing? Cry to daddy?" Jeremy reached out for Sage's collar, but the younger boy pulled ahead of the lard ball. They finally reached the mansion and Tia stabbed the button of the intercom installed beside the gate with her finger. They'd gotten ahead of Jeremy and his friends, but the bullies were coming up to the wall.

"Dad! C'mon, answer!!"

. . .

Angel and Buffy sat comfortably on the couch inside the den. Willow and Oz, and Xander and Cordelia were also there, along with Angel's friend Lance and his own wife Sasha. They'd all gone over for an afternoon of relaxation. The Rosenbergs were taking a vacation, so the office was closed, and had let Buffy have the week off while they were gone. This was their last day and the four couples were just lounging, chatting and playing board games.

"Twelve…" Xander announced after he threw the dice down. He picked up his metal Scotty Dog and moved it around the Monopoly board, landing on Boardwalk, which was occupied by four plastic hotels. Angel chuckled softly and drew the corresponding card from his large pile of real estate. "Oh, no."

"Oh yes," Angel grinned, holding up his ticket to making his former tormenter broke. Xander snatched it and read down the back. He threw it back to the former vampire and picked up all his fake cash, handing it off without counting. "You're short a thousand and fifty dollars, I hate to tell you."

Xander sneered at him and made his Scot yip and die, falling flat on the hotels behind it. Cordelia slapped him and handed the dice to Willow, who eagerly rolled and pushed her Top Hat to the vacated Water Works.

"Hey, it's my turn again!"

"Who cares, you already made us broke, so we're official out," Cordy ticked an icy glare in Buffy's direction, who merely cracked her most innocent looking smile.

"How'd you get so good at this game, Dan?" Lance asked, downing from one of the beers he'd brought.

"You're not getting any tips outta me, man. You've got to figure out your own strategy."

"And does yours involve getting revenge on someone who did absolutely nothing to you?" Xander snapped.

"Besides tease, annoy, pester…" Oz ticked off from his fingers.

"Well, that was a long time ago! That doesn't count!"

"Vengeance is a bitch Xander. You should have had that figured out by now," Willow replied as she handed her Water Works payment to Sasha for the estate card. Her friends looked at her, drawn back. "What? I've said the occasional bad word once and a while. Do I have to say I'm a rebel again?"

"We've got ya covered Will," Oz gave her a peck on the cheek and waited for Lance to feel the cold kiss of Bankruptcy when he landed on Oz's hotel-occupied Pennsylvania Avenue.

"Why do we even have to play this stupid game?" Lance sighed, paying off the werewolf after parking his thimble.

"Well you've asked poor Buffy's ear off about her past," Sasha countered. "This keeps your filthy mind out of the gutters and maybe you can get some pointers on how to actually make money from Daniel."

"I'm not the one who plays bingo three nights a week."

"Excuse me? Who blew his stock earnings on beer!?"

"Guys!" Angel broke the fighting couple up. "Can you not yell in my place? You do that enough at Joe's." The whole room was quiet as Buffy moved her car around, until the intercom buzzed in the hall.

"Dad, please open the gate! Come on, hurry!" Tia yelled over the wire. "Get away from him!" The transmission ended. The adults looked between each other. Angel crossed over to the door and pressed one of the buttons on the panel beside it. Buffy followed and opened the front. Tia and Summer were scrambling up the driveway. Jeremy and his posse were gathered in a ring on the lawn, taunting, yelling, laughing.

"Sage…" the Slayer whispered with only fright a mother could know. She breezed down the lawn instantly and literally threw the boys off her son. Sage was sprawled out in the grass, right eye black, lip split and nose bleeding. He was trying to fight back but wasn't successful, and his left foot was bare. One of the bulky attackers pocketed his new running shoe and the group ran off around the fence before Angel came out. Sage fought as Buffy pulled him up and had to be restrained from going after them.

"Sage, oh my-" Angel stopped right in front. His son stood watching after his attackers, then broke into tears and ran off for the house. He sprinted past the twins, shoved Xander out of his way in the foyer and took the stairs. He slammed his door seconds later; the sound rang out through the house, the chandelier above the stairs shuddered.

"What's with him?" Cordelia asked. Buffy and Angel came back in.

"He got beat up. I think one of them stole his shoe…" Buffy explained before she turned to the twins. "What happened? Why were those guys hitting him?"

"Jeremy wanted his shoes," Summer explained. "Sage told him no, and they just started chasing us."

"I'm going up to talk to him. You two get your homework done," Angel said. The girls went off for the library to finish their work in solitude. He gave a small smile to the others and scaled the staircase after Sage.

. . .

After knocking several times on the door that bore the sign proclaiming Sage's room was a restricted zone, Angel entered the unlocked berth to find the boy curled up on his bed, sobbing hard. Each time he did, his headboard crashed against the wall. His right sneaker hung off his foot, and when Sage moved closer to the other edge of the bed, Angel saw his pillow was streaked with large amounts of blood.

"Sage?"

"Leave me alone Dad," he sniffled, squeezing his eyes shut. Angel walked in and sat down on the bed, facing his son. Sage pulled the pillow out from under his head and put it over his face to hide the bleeding nose, scratches and black eye he'd gotten as result of the assault. He heard his father sigh heavily and felt his hand over his. Sage fought hard not to start crying again, and held his breath, which was a talent he had mastered as a baby; he could stay still for a long time without flinching or even breathing. His theory was that because his father used to be a vampire and therefore didn't need air, and because of that he'd only need enough to keep and look alive. Sage was like that for a few minutes when Angel started to worry. He knew of the trick but hated it when he used it. It always made his heart twist, thinking the inevitable. He nudged the boy in a soft spot and Sage winced loudly from under the pillow. Angel gently pulled it off Sage's face and the boy saw his father's face etched with pity.

. . .

Page 4 of 4
To be continued...?

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