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tamingthemuseTitle: scene from Giles as the Big Bad, which now has a name: Don't Ask Why You Must Hurt So Much
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 416 - Lighthouse
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: The first time Giles gives into Eyghon's demands
Eyghon had been feeding Rupert visions for weeks. Everyone around Rupert looked like a demon. He knew they weren’t but it was getting more difficult not to react as if they were. A man had lunged toward him in the pub the previous night and Rupert had knocked him to the floor without thinking. He stayed only long enough to get the idea that the man had been drunk and stumbling toward the loo before he’d run off. Rupert hadn’t slept for four days. He didn’t think he could take much more. Let me out.
“You know I can’t,” Rupert replied to the demon. “You use bodies too quickly. You’d leave a pile of corpses a mile wide. The Council would hunt you down and drive you off this plane. You know they would.”
Find a way.
After two more days of torment, Rupert found a way.
“I’ll need sleep,” Rupert had told Eyghon, “If I’m going to pull this off.” Still, he’d been almost shocked when the demon had relented and let him sleep. The following evening Rupert let Ripper out to play.
The light coming in through the windows was just enough to see by. The dark townhouse was permeated with a slightly sweet stench of take-out abandoned here and there, on kitchen counters, on the floor of the living room next to the big chair, in the bathroom even. Ripper threw the fuses, put his leather jacket off to one side, and settled in to wait. It was almost three AM before his prey stumbled through the door. The first thing he did was try to turn on the lights. “Shit.”
“Georgie, porgie. Pudding and pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry.”
“Who’s there?” Georgie was a big guy, not overly tall but wide with both muscle and fat. He’d always been heavy but had put on even more weight since Rupert had seen him. Rupert wasn’t sure he could handle the man sober but based on the stench that wasn’t about to be a problem.
Ripper lit a cigarette, allowing the flaring light to reveal his face, if only for a moment.
“Ripper?”
“What’s the matter, mate? Forget to pay the electric?”
“No, no.” Georgie didn’t sound certain.
“The problem with you, Georgie, is that you botch up too many burglaries. Do that too often and nobody wants you on their crew. Brag about it, even once, and people start to think you’re a loose cannon, not safe to be around.”
“How was I supposed to know there was a night guard at that post office?” Georgie was almost whining.
“You didn’t have to kill him.”
“You weren’t there. He came out of nowhere, and anyway, that’s the risk with that kind of job.”
“You didn’t have to brag about it.” Ripper kept his voice soft so Georgie would have to almost stretch his hearing to hear the words. “That’s the crux of it. You took a man’s life and then you bragged about it. That’s not only evil, Georgie, it’s pathetic. Even worse, it’s stupid.”
“What do you care?”
Ripper punched him, straight into the jaw, sending Georgie flailing back into the wall. His fists flew until Georgie fell to the ground. Ripper got in a few good kicks, making sure Georgie wouldn’t get up. He pulled a hypodermic out of his jacket pocket. “I need a body,” Ripper said. “Like the song says, I looked at my list of people who wouldn’t be missed and came up with you.”
“No, Ripper, please.”
The needle went in and Georgie said not another word.
Ripper got bored, after the terror was over, and gave the floor back to Rupert who kept Georgie drugged through the next day. He spent about an hour inscribing Eyghon’s mark into Georgie’s skin. About three in the afternoon Rupert set out, Georgie safely ensconced in a small motorized boat. His heading was a small island in the Bristol Channel. It was isolated. It should be empty. Rupert would invoke Eyghon into Georgie there, in a place where Eyghon could do no damage before he’d worn through the body. Rupert still wasn’t certain if he was going to stay and allow Eyghon to tear through him or not. It couldn’t be worse than what he’d been through. In fact he expected it’d be a blessed relief.
It was almost dark by the time Rupert pulled up to the island. By the time he’d anchored the boat, Georgie was coming around but still groggy enough that he willingly went where Rupert led him. When the time came to invoke the demon, Rupert felt himself choking on the words. “Better let me, mate,” Ripper said, almost affectionately. “You’ll just bollocks it up.”
He did stay, after all, to watch Eyghon rise in the light of the moon. What is this?
“I brought you back,” Rupert told him. “Just like I’d promised.”
There’s no one here.
“Didn’t say I’d make it easy for you.” Rupert thought the demon was going to finally kill him, but it looked past him and grinned. That grin, made wild by the shadows cast in the moonlight, sent a shiver down Rupert’s spine. He turned and saw a lighthouse, not near but not far enough away either. A human could swim it in an hour. “You can’t.”
A fist hit Rupert’s jaw. Now who’s pathetic? Now who’s stupid?
The next morning, after returning the boat, Rupert ran into a shop for a paper. The clerk appeared to have a knife jabbed into his eye. Blood ran from a slit across his throat. “Did you hear about the disaster at the lighthouse? Twenty six dead?”
Rupert jerked his gaze away as he bolted from the shop. “Damn you, demon.” Eyghon chuckled in Rupert’s mind. Give me what I want and I’ll let you die. Rupert fell onto a bench and stared across the water. It was Eyghon’s most convincing argument yet.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 416 - Lighthouse
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: The first time Giles gives into Eyghon's demands
Eyghon had been feeding Rupert visions for weeks. Everyone around Rupert looked like a demon. He knew they weren’t but it was getting more difficult not to react as if they were. A man had lunged toward him in the pub the previous night and Rupert had knocked him to the floor without thinking. He stayed only long enough to get the idea that the man had been drunk and stumbling toward the loo before he’d run off. Rupert hadn’t slept for four days. He didn’t think he could take much more. Let me out.
“You know I can’t,” Rupert replied to the demon. “You use bodies too quickly. You’d leave a pile of corpses a mile wide. The Council would hunt you down and drive you off this plane. You know they would.”
Find a way.
After two more days of torment, Rupert found a way.
“I’ll need sleep,” Rupert had told Eyghon, “If I’m going to pull this off.” Still, he’d been almost shocked when the demon had relented and let him sleep. The following evening Rupert let Ripper out to play.
The light coming in through the windows was just enough to see by. The dark townhouse was permeated with a slightly sweet stench of take-out abandoned here and there, on kitchen counters, on the floor of the living room next to the big chair, in the bathroom even. Ripper threw the fuses, put his leather jacket off to one side, and settled in to wait. It was almost three AM before his prey stumbled through the door. The first thing he did was try to turn on the lights. “Shit.”
“Georgie, porgie. Pudding and pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry.”
“Who’s there?” Georgie was a big guy, not overly tall but wide with both muscle and fat. He’d always been heavy but had put on even more weight since Rupert had seen him. Rupert wasn’t sure he could handle the man sober but based on the stench that wasn’t about to be a problem.
Ripper lit a cigarette, allowing the flaring light to reveal his face, if only for a moment.
“Ripper?”
“What’s the matter, mate? Forget to pay the electric?”
“No, no.” Georgie didn’t sound certain.
“The problem with you, Georgie, is that you botch up too many burglaries. Do that too often and nobody wants you on their crew. Brag about it, even once, and people start to think you’re a loose cannon, not safe to be around.”
“How was I supposed to know there was a night guard at that post office?” Georgie was almost whining.
“You didn’t have to kill him.”
“You weren’t there. He came out of nowhere, and anyway, that’s the risk with that kind of job.”
“You didn’t have to brag about it.” Ripper kept his voice soft so Georgie would have to almost stretch his hearing to hear the words. “That’s the crux of it. You took a man’s life and then you bragged about it. That’s not only evil, Georgie, it’s pathetic. Even worse, it’s stupid.”
“What do you care?”
Ripper punched him, straight into the jaw, sending Georgie flailing back into the wall. His fists flew until Georgie fell to the ground. Ripper got in a few good kicks, making sure Georgie wouldn’t get up. He pulled a hypodermic out of his jacket pocket. “I need a body,” Ripper said. “Like the song says, I looked at my list of people who wouldn’t be missed and came up with you.”
“No, Ripper, please.”
The needle went in and Georgie said not another word.
Ripper got bored, after the terror was over, and gave the floor back to Rupert who kept Georgie drugged through the next day. He spent about an hour inscribing Eyghon’s mark into Georgie’s skin. About three in the afternoon Rupert set out, Georgie safely ensconced in a small motorized boat. His heading was a small island in the Bristol Channel. It was isolated. It should be empty. Rupert would invoke Eyghon into Georgie there, in a place where Eyghon could do no damage before he’d worn through the body. Rupert still wasn’t certain if he was going to stay and allow Eyghon to tear through him or not. It couldn’t be worse than what he’d been through. In fact he expected it’d be a blessed relief.
It was almost dark by the time Rupert pulled up to the island. By the time he’d anchored the boat, Georgie was coming around but still groggy enough that he willingly went where Rupert led him. When the time came to invoke the demon, Rupert felt himself choking on the words. “Better let me, mate,” Ripper said, almost affectionately. “You’ll just bollocks it up.”
He did stay, after all, to watch Eyghon rise in the light of the moon. What is this?
“I brought you back,” Rupert told him. “Just like I’d promised.”
There’s no one here.
“Didn’t say I’d make it easy for you.” Rupert thought the demon was going to finally kill him, but it looked past him and grinned. That grin, made wild by the shadows cast in the moonlight, sent a shiver down Rupert’s spine. He turned and saw a lighthouse, not near but not far enough away either. A human could swim it in an hour. “You can’t.”
A fist hit Rupert’s jaw. Now who’s pathetic? Now who’s stupid?
The next morning, after returning the boat, Rupert ran into a shop for a paper. The clerk appeared to have a knife jabbed into his eye. Blood ran from a slit across his throat. “Did you hear about the disaster at the lighthouse? Twenty six dead?”
Rupert jerked his gaze away as he bolted from the shop. “Damn you, demon.” Eyghon chuckled in Rupert’s mind. Give me what I want and I’ll let you die. Rupert fell onto a bench and stared across the water. It was Eyghon’s most convincing argument yet.
