Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. They belong to their creators. And in addition to borrowing these people, I am also borrowing lines from certain episodes in Seasons 1 and 2 of BTVS.
Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing fan fiction. I would appreciate any and all reviews. I also have no idea where I'm going with this.
-Chapter 1-
He swept down the hallway, ignoring the stares that followed him, ignoring the impatient glares, and ignoring the fearful sidesteps that kept his pathway clear. He didn't really care. He just kept moving, his leather duster silently flowing behind him.
"Angel!"
He heard the shout but chose to ignore that too. He did not feel like talking. At all. To anyone. It's not like his friends could do anything. They didn't understand. How could they? It wasn't their responsibility. It wasn't their destiny. It was his. And he was not winning anymore. He couldn't even pretend he had a hope of ever winning. Reality was slowly sinking in. If it hadn't been for his pride, he'd have stayed at home curled up as the sun that kept him safe rose reminding him that one more day had passed and he was still stuck. But he was not one to hide. He would not give anyone the satisfaction of saying that he had given up.
And he had that stupid calculus test.
Entering homeroom, he gracefully dropped into his seat. Not as gracefully, he dropped his bag by his feet. There was thud, which echoed in the almost empty room. Not that he cared.
----
Ms. Calendar looked up from her desk to see one of her brightest- and most silent and sullen- students slump at his desk in back. A blink later and his two friends hurried in after him, with worried expressions, as usual. She sighed as she returned to the papers she was reading, it looked like today was going to be a normal day at Sunnydale High.
----
"Angel, man, couldn't you have waited up?' The hunched over form sitting at Angel's desk made no response. Charles Gunn considered poking his silent friend but quickly decided against it. It didn't take much thought to realize that the idea was dumb and even if Charles never claimed to be a genius he wasn't that stupid. Instead, he plopped down in the desk next to Angel and turned to the other guy who formed what the school knew as The Trio. "I don't think he wants to talk."
The platinum blonde ignored him too. He was busy digging through his leather jacket in search of his small notebook. He found it along with a carton of cigarettes, which he quickly shoved back into the coat. Without ever glancing at his friends, he started scribbling his latest creation.
Giving up Charles laid his head down on the desk to take a quick nap. He needed his sleep.
----
"Okay, everyone quiet down!" Unlike most teachers, Ms. Calendar's request was obeyed and the normal babble in the classroom faded away. "Thanks, if we keep this quick, we can get onto the lesson and I can..."
She and every student turned at the knock on the door. Principal Snyder escorted two girls into the classroom without waiting for a response. He glared at the students who were watching him before shoving a folder into Ms. Calendar's hands. "These are the two new students. Deal with them."
Ms. Calendar barely had a chance to secure her hold on the folder before the door slammed shut as he left. She turned to the two in front of her, noting that they could not appear more different if they tried. She smiled, remembering her earlier thought; today was going to be a very normal day. "Welcome to Sunnydale High."
The brunette barely glanced at her, instead focusing on her new classmates. Her dark eyes seemed to concentrate especially on the three of guys in the back corner. But the blonde smiled back, a shy smile appearing on her lips. "Thank you."
In the back corner, Angel heard the two words and glanced up.
"So, why don't you two tell us about yourselves." Ms. Calendar glanced at the folder briefly. "Which one is Elizabeth and which one is Faith?"
The two exchanged a glance, the blonde nervously, the brunette impatiently. Finally, the brunette rolled her eyes and answered. "I'm Faith, this is my twin Elizabeth, 'cept she goes by Buffy. We're from LA. We just moved here. Do you wanna complete biography or is that enough?"
Her voice was huskier than her twin's and contained much more of a challenge. She stared defiantly at Ms. Calendar, waiting for her response.
"That's enough, thank you, Faith. Why don't you two take a seat where there's a space and I can get started with today's lesson?" Ms Calendar replied easily. She was used to the attitude that some of these teens insisted on giving her and she was not one to give in to it.
Faith strolled down the rows of desks, casually sitting down next to Angel's blonde friend. He eyed her with a smirk before turning back to his notebook. She stretched her arms before taking off her leather jacket, displaying her tight fitting black tank top. She noticed that when he looked back again he didn't look away so quickly.
Following her sister, Buffy also moved towards an empty desk. She sat down near the side of the room, taking off her corduroy jacket without the display her sister had put on. She didn't notice a certain pair of dark brown eyes staring at her intensely. But someone else did.
----
"Did you see the new girls?" William "Spike" Windsor asked as he sat down with his lunch in the courtyard of Sunnydale High. "They were bloody gorgeous. And twins!"
"Yeah." Charles grinned at his friend. "Which one did you like best?"
"What's to decide? I want both." Spike pulled out a cigarette as he watched Charles poke at the brown glob on his tray. "What do you think that is?"
"It's supposed to be meat loaf, I think. Personally, I liked the little blonde. The brunette was a little too much." Charles grimaced as he started to eat his lunch. He looked over at Liam "Angel" O'Connor, his best friend for reasons he still did not understand. "But I'm guessing you've got dibs on the blonde, right?"
There was no response from his friend. Both Spike and Charles looked over at him. He was staring off at the distance, at the same spot Buffy and her twin was sitting at. The two exchanged a grin as they continued to eat there lunch.
----
"Well, what ya think?" Faith eyed her sister. "Me, I think there are some nice hotties here to be toyed with."
"That's nice." Buffy replied as she nibbled on her sandwich. She did not want to be here and the principal had made it clear that he didn't want her to be here either. No one understood why she'd done what she'd done. No one but her sister knew her reasons and Faith was not in a position to truly grasp the reason. "I don't like it that much."
"Wow!" Faith laughed, "That's a violent reaction to a place you haven't even been in a day. What's up with that?'
Her twin didn't answer right away. It was plenty of time for Faith to examine her sister. For all of their being twins, they looked nothing alike. People often had a hard time believing that the two were even related. Faith had wavy dark brown hair that she wore long while Buffy was a blonde and kept her hair shoulder length. Buffy had large green-gray eyes the shape of which was like Faith's dark brown eyes. But that was the only facial feature they had in common, for Faith had much harder features than Buffy's delicate facial features. Faith was also often perceived as the wild twin because of her rougher mannerisms and louder nature. Buffy was usually quieter and gentler. Still, Faith knew that this was a just defense of Buffy's and it was one that she was currently using to full force.
"It feels evil." Buffy's answer jolted Faith out of her contemplation of their differences. "I don't know why, but I know it does."
"Well, I guess that's why you're here then."
----
Two girls walked nervously over to where the twins were sitting. "Um, hi!"
Buffy and Faith both looked up at the soft drawl. They stared at the two girls in front of them.
"I'm Fred and this is Will," the stares from the twins became confused," Um...I'm Winifred but I go by Fred and this is Willow and I call her Will...sometimes...other times I just call her Willow. But...um...we just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Sunnydale."
She stood there nervously for a moment before glancing at Willow, who started to talk. "If you need any help or anything, we can help you. And we...I mean, because we know the school...we've been going here for a while, and I mean that doesn't mean we know everything about the school...but we know a lot."
"Thanks." Buffy interrupted with a smile. "We could probably use some help getting around."
"Yeah, yeah." Faith agreed loudly. "We could. I don't suppose ya'll could introduce us to those hunks sitting over at that table."
Fred and Willow glanced over in the direction she was pointing. Both turned around very quickly, Fred turning a bright red as she did so.
"Um, that's the Trio." Willow answered, as it was clear Fred was unable to. "The black guy is Charles, the blonde is William, and the dark-haired one is Liam. Only they go by Gunn, Spike, and Angel."
"Angel?" Faith drawled. "That doesn't quite fit in with Gunn and Spike."
The two girls shrugged. "He's always been called that."
"So what do you do around here for fun?' Buffy spoke up. She knew very well that it was a bad idea for her sister to start talking about guys. It tended to cause a negative first impression.
----
"So, this is the library." Willow pushed the brown door open, "It's where the books live. Lot's of them."
Buffy nodded as they entered the large room. It was a nice place with a lot of light. She liked light.
"Hello. May I help you?" The librarian exited his small office at the sound of the girls walking in. His British accent, as odd as it was in the southern Californian environment, fit quite well with the cool setting of the library.
"Actually, my sister and I need to get our books." Buffy spoke up, remembering that she and Faith still needed textbooks. "Um...I have my schedule around here somewhere."
The librarian made no response. Instead he bent down to pick up something under the desk, he glanced up again and then dropped what he was holding as he realized there were several girls staring at him. "Um, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that there were four of you present. Perhaps, Miss Summers, you could come by later."
The twins exchanged a glance. "First off, how do you know our name? And second, which Miss Summers do you wanna talk to?"
The librarian blinked again. "You have a twin sister? Well, no one informed me of that."
"What? I'll ask you again," Faith glared, "How do you know our name?"
"Well, frankly, I don't believe that is your business, unless you are Elizabeth Summers." The librarian took off his glasses and cleaned them. As he put them back down he looked back at what he had dropped. "Whichever one of you is Elizabeth Summers is the one I must speak to."
"Why do you wanna talk with my sister?" Faith continued to glare. "Trust me, anything you tell her, I'll find out about."
"Faith, it's okay." Buffy pulled her sister back gently, before glancing at the librarian. "So, you're the new one."
The librarian looked over at Willow and Fred, two of the handful of students who actually came into the library. "Yes, I am. My name is Rupert Giles."
"That's nice, Giles. But right now my sister and I need our books." It was the most forceful tone she'd used so far, causing both Fred and Willow to look at her oddly. "And later we'll come back and discuss whatever you want to talk about. And we'll both be there."
Buffy's eyes dared him to disagree with her. He didn't. Instead, he took the schedule she handed him and gathered the books for the twins.
----
The Trio walked down the hall side-by-side. Out of habit, students stepped away from, unaware that they did so anymore. Over the years, the students of Sunnydale had perfected their talent for not noticing what scared them. And the Trio was frightening.
Angel, always aware of what was around him, was surprisingly distracted today. Had it not been for the fact that the students stepped aside, he would have run into several of them. This was not unnoticed by Spike and Gunn. And they had a feeling they knew what was distracting him.
The deep brown eyes that half the female population of the school lusted after quickly darted towards a flash of gold. Like the hunter he was, Angel had spotted what he was searching for.
----
Buffy excused herself from the other three girls saying she needed to use the bathroom. It was a lie, one she knew her sister had seen through. What she needed wasn't going to be found anywhere. Instead she settled on getting a breath a fresh air. She pushed her way outside, apologizing as she bumped into someone.
There was a small courtyard with a broken fountain just outside. She wandered over to it and sat down. The setting was like a movie set with the sun shining down and students chatting as they strolled down but like she had told Faith there was a strong feeling of evil around her.
She hadn't wanted to move but her parents' divorce has coincided with her expulsion and her mother had always loved small towns. Both she and Faith would have preferred to stay in LA but their father had no desire to take care of two teenagers he hadn't ever really wanted. So, now they were stuck in Sunnydale. The only good thing about it was that it did seem to live up to its name and there was a lot of sun.
Angel stood in the shadows watching Buffy sit at the fountain. There was something about her, not just the fact she was beautiful, that made him curious about her. At the very least, it was enough that he knew he'd have to keep his eye on her, something that didn't bother him at all.
----
"I don't really like gym class, but I think it's a good class to have at the end of the day, don't you? And Ms. Wilcox is really very nice. I'm so glad you're in my gym class because normally I don't have anyone to talk to." Willow kept talking as she and Buffy headed towards the locker room. Buffy half listened trying her best to follow Willow's fast pace. As they turned the corner though, she stopped listening completely.
"Oh my God! Oh God! He just fell out of my locker. I don't know what to think. This is horrible!" A tall brunette who Willow had pointed out as Cordelia Chase, the queen of the school, was screeching hysterically outside of the locker room. "Why do horrible things always happen to me?"
A group of her followers had already circled her, offering her their support. Willow and Buffy stood at the edge of it wondering what was happening. Luckily for them, Cordelia didn't see any point in keeping it quiet. "Really, there should be a law that says dead people shouldn't be put in lockers. If people were smart enough to do that then I wouldn't be so upset today. Why me?"
Buffy tensed as she listened. This was not something she wanted to hear. Turning to Willow she asked, "Do you think we're going to have class?"
Stunned, Willow could only shake her head. How could her new friend be thinking about class at a time like this? Even she couldn't think of class.
"Oh, well...um...I'm just going to go in there quickly and put my gym clothes in my locker, okay?" Buffy watched as Willow nodded dumbly. "I guess I'll see you later."
"At the Bronze, right?" Willow ignored her slight stutter. "You said you and Faith might go."
"Yeah, I'll try to catch you at the Bronze. Where is it again?"
----
The locker room was quiet except for the soft dripping of water from one of the showers. Buffy ignored the sound. Instead she followed the sense of death filling the grey room. Towards the back of the room, she found the source of that feeling, a body lay on one of the benches between the lockers, a white sheet covering it. Buffy nervously pulled the sheet back so that the head and shoulders of the young male were revealed. Wincing, she turned the head slightly so she could see his neck. She pulled her hand away from the corpse quickly and yanked the sheet back over him but the image remained. Two red punctures in the side of his neck were exactly what she didn't want to see.
----
The library doors burst open as Buffy stormed in. "Hello? Hello? Is anyone here?"
At the sound of her shouts, the librarian stepped out of the stacks where he was shelving some books that had just been returned. "Yes."
Buffy stomped up the stairs to where he was standing; seething that he could be so calm. "You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy found in one of the lockers?"
"Yes. I did."
"Well, it's the weirdest thing. He's got two little holes in his neck and all his blood's been drained. Isn't that bizarre? Aren't you just going, 'Oooh..."
"I was afraid of this." Giles looked down at the blonde glaring at him. She didn't seem to be worried about what had happened, just frustrated.
"Well, I wasn't! It's my first day. I was afraid that I'd be behind in all the classes, that I won't make any friends, that I'd have last month's hair, that I'd have all my classes with my twin. I didn't think there would be vampires on campus. I didn't want there to be vampires on campus."
Frowning slightly as he tried to follow what she was saying, Giles interrupted her, "Then why are you here?"
"Because isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Tell you what happens?" She rolled her eyes at him. "Which I've done, so I'm going, so bye."
"Will he rise again?" Giles asked her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
'Who?" Buffy turned back annoyed that she hadn't been able to stomp out.
"The boy."
She rolled her eyes again, wondering if he knew anything. "No, he's just dead."
"Can you be sure?" He could tell she was still new at this.
"To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood and then you have to suck their blood, it's a whole big sucking thing. Mostly they'll just kill you."
"Oh." Well, at least she knew something. "And what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing!" She started to shout, but quickly lowered her voice. "I'm not going to do anything. Why should I?"
"Because you are the Slayer." He watched as her face went blank. There was no expression at all but he thought there was anger behind her eyes. "Into each generation, a Slayer is born. One person, in all the world, A Chosen One..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, okay? I'll look for the vampire that killed the dead guy." She turned around. "Sheesh, why can't you guys just leave me alone?"
She left the library before he could respond.
----
"Hey, B, can I borrow your blank tank top?" Faith pushed into her sister's room, where Buffy was currently glaring at the mirror holding up a pink flowery dress.
"Uh, sure." Buffy snorted in disgust as she shoved the dress back into her closet. "What's wrong with the one you've got on now?"
"I wanna different neckline. Your tank top has a lower cut, which is kinda what I'm looking for." She grinned as her sister rolled her eyes. "By the way, where'd you go this afternoon? Willow said you went to put some stuff away but when I went to find you, well first of all that rat of a principal we've got wouldn't let me in and then I couldn't find you?
"I went to the library." Buffy tossed the tank top to her sister before pulling out a light blue one for her self. "The librarian's my new Watcher."
"Oh." Faith sat up, eyeing her sister. "They're quick aren't they?"
"Yup."
----
Buffy and Faith pushed their way through the crowd in the small club. It seemed like the entire student body of Sunnydale High was trying to fit into the place. Faith nudged Buffy towards the counter, as she spoke, "I think I see Willow over there."
Willow was slowly stirring a cup of hot chocolate while she sat up at the bar. A headband held her long red hair back, but every few minutes she shoved it back into place. She glanced around dolefully; Fred hadn't been able to come so she was by herself.
The twins plopped themselves on either side of her, Buffy cheerfully greeting the girl. "Hi! Is someone sitting here?"
"No," Willow smiled softly at the two of them, glad for the company. "You can sit there."
"Thanks. So, what are you doing?" Buffy asked.
"Nothing much. I'm just sitting here. Fred's at home, she thinks she found a way to solve the problem Mr. Orlando gave us in calculus today, so she'd working on that. But I don't feel like working on it just yet, so I came here. And am I the most boring person you ever met?"
Laughing, Buffy shook here head. Faith on the other hand stood up and started to walk away, an action, which caused Willow's face to fall.
"Don't worry about her. It looks like she's on the prowl." Buffy watched her sister weave her way through the crowd to the blonde guy she'd sat next to that morning. "So how long have you and Fred know each other?"
----
Angel sat in the corner of the Bronze, waiting as usual for the familiar feel of evil to enter the building. While he waited he watched the one of the new girls sit at the bar talking with Willow Rosenberg.
----
Buffy laughed as she listened to Willow tell the stories about how she, Fred, Xander, and Jesse had all become friends. The four of them clearly had enjoyed each other's friendship for along time. The only person she had known for that long was Faith. At her last high school, she hadn't been worried about making close friends, just having as many as she could. That had meant they weren't the best of friends she could have had, just the ones who'd follow her around. It had felt good then, especially after her lonely experience in middle and elementary school, but it made her envious of the stories that Willow had to tell that showed the closeness of the group.
As Willow was telling the story of the time Xander had broken her yellow crayon, she felt something enter the Bronze. Clearly, vampires didn't care if she wanted to make friends or not. She turned to Willow apologetically, "I'm really sorry, but I just remembered something that I was supposed to do."
A hurt expression started to come over Willow's face, but Buffy quickly spoke up again, "But I'll see you tomorrow, right? 'Cuz I want to hear what you did to Xander after he broke your crayon and then I want permission to make fun of him for it."
"Really?' Willow couldn't help but smile at Buffy enthusiastic statement.
"Yeah. I just gotta tell Faith that I'm going. But I'll see you at school."
Quickly she moved to where she'd last seen her sister.
----
The source of that nasty feeling was moving towards the bar, where Buffy had just been sitting. Angel quietly stalked after it, noticing disappointedly that Buffy was no longer sitting next to Willow. Instead, the vampire sat where she had been a minute earlier, turning towards the red head eagerly.
Deciding to follow it rather than draw attention to himself in the club, Angel impatiently watched it talk Willow into going someplace with it.
----
Faith was calmly sitting on the lap of the blond guy, Pike or something; Buffy couldn't be bothered to remember his name. As soon as Faith saw her sister though, she stood up. "Hey what's up?"
"Nothing." Buffy quickly replied annoyed at the way the guy was looking at her. "I just remembered something I have to do."
"Do you need my help?" Faith asked softly knowing immediately what her sister was talking about. Buffy shook her head. "You sure?"
"Yeah, it's nothing I can't handle. Just, watch yourself when you go home okay? Don't invite him in." She glared at the guy, who smirked back.
"Don't worry, I know the drill. Be safe." Faith watched her sister turn around and move away. She could see the change that came over her sister as she went into what Faith referred to as Slayer mode.
----
Buffy knew as she turned from her sister that the vampire had left the Bronze. Now she just had to find where it had gone. As she exited the building she extended her senses, trying to pick up where the vampire had headed. Unfortunately, it seemed like a lot of vampires moved in and out of the club and it took her awhile to pick up the strongest and most recent trail. She followed it.
----
Angel scowl deepened as he watched the vampire put its arm around Willow and lead her into a cemetery. He could hear the thing mutter something about a "short cut" as it guided Willow through the tombstones. He was even more annoyed that Willow didn't seem to be doing anything to stop it. She was one of the smartest kids in their grade. He'd expected her to at least be aware that it was stupid to wander around at night.
Before him, the vampire stopped suddenly by an angel shaped monument. It looked around nervously as if reassuring its self that it and its prey were alone. Then it sneered down at the red headed girl, who had willingly come with it. As the vampire revealed its true face, Angel stepped forward. He was a moment too late' Willow had seen the demon behind the mask.
"Run," Angel snarled at the frozen girl. He didn't wait to see if she obeyed him as the vampire took advantage of his distraction and punched him hard. Angel flew several feet backwards at the vampire's strength. He quickly pushed himself up and quickly moved forward to kick the vampire.
At the sight of seeing Angel fighting that thing she had been with, Willow regained enough control of her body to run out of the cemetery.
----
Buffy shook her head as she read the sign on the gate she was about to pass through. "Sunnydale Cemetery," she muttered to herself, "I should have known it'd go someplace like this."
She started to move forward when someone came flying out of nowhere and ran straight into her. "Willow?"
"Buffy! Oh God! There...a thingy...with teeth...Angel...fighting...I...scary thing...yellow eyes...we have to call the police..." Willow stuttered as Buffy tried to figure out what she was saying. It didn't take long and she quickly stepped away from Willow to go into the cemetery.
"No, youcantgointhere." Willow blurted out. "Youcantleavemehere."
"Willow, I have. Okay, I know this is hard to understand, but I have to go in there now." Buffy ignored the further exclamations of the other girl and moved into the cemetery following the much stronger trail further.
----
Angel staggered backwards for a moment before quickly punching back towards the vampire. He smoothly jumped away from the demon's leg as it kicked towards his head. Pulling out a stake he feinted towards the right, before quickly moving to the left and jamming the stake into the undead creature. Dust fell from where the demon had been standing and Angel watched dazed, as soon there was nothing in front of him.
The kick from behind sent him flying forward.
----
Buffy followed the steps she sensed the vampire had taken. It didn't take long for her to find it. It stood next to a large angel shaped monument in the graveyard. She quietly crept behind it and kicked out.
Angel turned around to find the blonde twin girl glaring at him, clearly prepared to fight. He could see her tensing for another kick so he quickly came forward and punched her. There was a moment of guilt for punching a girl but her quick recovery doused it. No one could react that quickly unless they were a demon.
Darting out of reach of his punch, Buffy glared at the thing that had attacked her friend. She was slightly annoyed that she hadn't sensed he was a vampire earlier in the day. She paused a moment wondering how he got into the school during the day but a second punch from him which connected ended. Her frustration quickly returned. It would have made her life easier if she had sensed him earlier. She might have been able to kill him before he had killed the other boy, but no, he had to attend classes like any normal human.
It took a moment for Angel to remember that he'd seen her in the sunlight, a memory that caused him to pause for a moment. It was enough time for Buffy to knock him over with a strong side kick.
"Buffy, stop!" Willow screamed as Buffy pulled out something sharp looking and started to move towards Angel. "He helped save me."
Buffy shoved her knee into Angel's chest stopping him from moving, but didn't bring her stake any closer to his heart. His beating heart. Confused she stepped back, "What are you?"
Keeping an eye on her, Angel pushed himself up off the ground. The girl was a lot stronger than she looked.
"Well?" Buffy tapped crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for an answer.
Angel glared at her. "I'm the Slayer."
----
Once again, I would appreciate any comments on what I'm doing right or wrong. -Kastia
