Outside the dorms, Monday evening

[demonbelthazor]

Bel wandered outside to have a smoke, ducking beneath the eaves of the building to prevent the rain from extinguishing his cigarette. He had a lot on his mind, primarily involving truth spells and the fact that he had told Piper his secret. She'd promised not to tell Phoebe, but how long would that promise hold if Phoebe started to push for information? Things were good between he and Phoebe, though strained at times. If Piper talked to Phoebe...no, he didn't want to think about that. Instead he pondered photography homework. That was safer.


[ooc: locked to Bel and...friend.]

Comments

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"I can't," she said, her tone vaguely apologetic. "Just like you couldn't leave me alone."

[demonbelthazor]

"What the hell do you want from me?" Bel snarled.

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"I want you to remember me."

[demonbelthazor]

He shook his head. "I don't want to remember."

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"You don't have a choice. Just like you didn't have a choice then."

She lifted her chin so he could see the faint line across her throat.

[demonbelthazor]

The cigarette fell from his fingers as Bel pressed back against the wall. "You're not real," he said. "You're dead. You can't be here."

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"I am here," Claire said. "And I'm just as real as I was the day you slit my throat and killed me. Do you still see the blood on your hands?"

[demonbelthazor]

Bel looked down at his hands. The blood wasn't there, but he could feel the memory of it, warm red liquid staining his fingers and the athame he'd held as the witch died at his feet. "I didn't have a choice!" he protested. "I didn't want to do it!"

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"We all have choices."

[demonbelthazor]

"They made me do it!" Bel said, shaking his head.

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

Claire simply shook her head. He just didn't get it.

[demonbelthazor]

"Go away," Bel growled. "Just...go away and leave me alone."

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"Still weak," Claire said sadly. "Still afraid."

[demonbelthazor]

"I am not weak!" Bel growled. "And I'm not afraid!"

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"You were weak then. You're weak now. And you'll always be weak if you don't remember."

[demonbelthazor]

Bel clamped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. "You're not real. You're not real. You're not real."

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

Claire shook her head and sighed before disappearing.

[demonbelthazor]

When Bel opened his eyes, the girl was gone. With shaking hands he pulled out another cigarette and lit it, trying to banish the images in his brain, Claire's hair in his hand, her head jerked back, her throat laid bare to his athame. He was imagining things, he told himself as he took a drag off his cigarette to steady himself. He was overtired. Stressed. She couldn't have really been there.