Prompt 109 - Anguish - This Music Has No Melody - spiceblueeyes - BtVS

[spiceblueeyes.livejournal.com]

Okay, so this week prompt was Anguish, and that just screamed angst to me. Anyone else think so? Raise your hands.
So here it is.

Title: This Music Has No Melody
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Prompt: 109-Anguish
Warnings: angst, character death
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Everyone heard it.
Word count: 664
Yeah, I know the summary is vague, just go with it.

An anguished wail was heard throughout the town. Everyone heard it.

The school bus driver heard it as he sat on the couch in front of his television, watching a *M*A*S*H* rerun. Hawkeye was taunting Hot Lips Hoolihan and suddenly he couldn’t hear the TV anymore. He set his beer down on the coffee table in front of him and listened.

The college professor heard it, she was grading papers. Her students were idiots; they never studied and expected her to overlook the poor spelling and punctuation. Well, she would show them. Red F’s appeared on page after page, the scratch of her pen on the paper the only sound in the small office, until she heard it. She put the pen down and cocked her head to the side, listening.

The janitor heard it, the mop he used swished across the floor.  He moved quickly, not really caring if he actually cleaned anything. He had plans for tonight; he was going to go home and romance his wife, treat her right. They didn’t get enough time for just them these days and he was gonna fix that. The kids were at their Grandparents house and they’d be by themselves. Humming a happy tune in anticipation, he paused as he heard it. Then he hummed louder, trying to drown it out.

The working girl heard it. She slinked toward the car that had slowed to a stop in front of her, showing off how her short skirt and tight top hugged her body. The slight electric hum as he rolled down his power window and looked at her, then she heard it. She saw that he heard it too. Shrugging her shoulders, it had nothing to do with her, she got in the car.

The Scoobies heard it.

Giles heard it as he was reading one of his books, the binding so ancient it looked like it might crumble to dust any second. The soft rasp of paper as he turned the page was interrupted by it. He went still for a moment, then began polishing his glasses, tears welling up in his eyes.

Willow heard it, she was typing on her computer. The tapping of the keys was frantic as she searched for something. Her eyes were tired and strained from looking at the screen. As she heard it, she stopped typing, stopped searching, it was too late.

Buffy heard it when she walked into the main part of the magic box from the training room. The door swung shut behind her with a quiet thud. She heard it and froze, her hands balling up into tight fists, knuckles turning white. Then they relaxed as her shoulders slumped, and she let out a small choked off sob.

Xander heard it. How could he not? He was right next to the source of the pained scream. Blood gurgled in the back of his throat as he tried to say goodbye. He wondered, as he heard it, if he’d gotten the words out, but he couldn’t hear anything but his lover so he wasn’t sure if he’d said them aloud.

Spike didn’t hear it. He didn’t even notice it; the wound in Xander’s body took up all of his attention. He kneeled beside him, putting pressure on it, but he knew. He was a vampire, he knew exactly what it took to kill a human, and this was more than enough. They’d said it was safe, that he wouldn’t get hurt, but they must have known, they must have lied.

It was only after the light in Xander’s eyes dimmed that he realized what he’d heard.

“Goodbye Spike.”

It occurred to him that Xander must have known too; known that the only way to defeat this demon was with a willing sacrifice. But why did it have to be Xander, why couldn’t it have been him?

The wail went on, a grief-stricken howl a lament for the unsung hero.

After a while, people stopped listening.

Comments

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

*shivers* Gods, that was painful. The structure, the form, that was very good - the gradual circling in, from the edges, to the central characters, like water draining away through a plughole. Very clever. Very sad. Well done.

[spiceblueeyes.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I wanted to try something new with the structure, so glad you liked it.