By Quick-n-Popular
Author's Note: Side story to the BVS's storyline, yet linked, as time will show. All references to the BVM story, and BVS itself are properties of Joss Whedon and shareholders. I own NOTHING with the exception of this story and it's characters.
Enjoy!
Chapter One: A girl named Andrea
Walking along the sidewalk to catch the 4:30 Amex to the Rose Garden, Andrea McHowll, changed the track on her iPod as she looked on, absentmindedly, to the coming cracks in the cement as she made her way to the bus' stop.
She was late, again. She knew Henry was going to fire her one of these days, but as to when was just the sheer luck that she had with her. There were over twenty other people who took tickets for the Blazers games and only Andrea was given shit for coming in late, due to where she was coming from. Everyone else who worked the ticket booths lived around and Andrea was the only one who lived as far as St. John's, which in Henry Kellogg's mind wasn't an excuse.
Only a few feet away and already the bus was already there. Andrea quickened her footsteps and shouted at the top of her lungs for the driver to wait for her only to have her calls, yet again, be unheard and the bus soon vacated it's pick-up stop and went on it's route.
Andrea stopped and sighed, bitterly.
Goddammit. She thought.
Changing her MP3 to a different song, she turned around and headed in the opposite direction. This was the fourth time she missed her shift, and despite the fact her presence at the ticket booth had no influence on whether or not tickets were to be sold, she knew she was going to loose her job, regardless.
Rain was beginning to fall and it was falling hard. An Oregon curse by nature. Andrea put up her orange hoodie over her sandstone-colored hair and tightened the braided strings so it fitted more firmly. She trudged her way back making the occasional splashing sound as her red sneakers stepped onto the puddles that were gathering into the cracks in the sidewalk. Andrea hated the rain. She hated this town, really. Her fiancé wants the to move away to Las Vegas with him as he had planned and, as of right now, it seemed like a delightful idea.
Making her way through, the setting sun's glow suddenly becoming over-casted by the clouds that pummeled their numerous wet droplets, Andrea Cartwright felt more alone than she had ever had been, despite the amount of desolate people shuffling their way by her and past her. A hand soon tapped her shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss. Got the time?"
Andrea, not looking over her shoulder at the stranger, shook her head as she continued to listen to her music, which was on Trapt's "Headstrong". The stranger's fingers on her shoulder dug into a vice-like grip and used such force that he spun her around. This time, Andrea looked up at her caller and her eyes went wide with horror.
The stranger's face was contorted, like the menacing snarl that a predator makes when challenging another to a fight or to ward off from something that it has claimed it's own. His teeth were jagged, stained, and sharp; his breath filled with potent, rotting, smell. He seemed to smile at her.
"You look fresh…and ripe. Just the way I like it."
Andrea felt the blood in her veins became frozen, her knees quaked and her eyes bulged out in sheer terror. Instinct took in to immediately turn and run, but the man, or whatever he was, seem to refuse to let his manic grip loose to allow the opportunity. Then, without warning, Andrea found her left hand on the underarm of the man's arm and creating a grip similar to the one he was using on her shoulder. With some sort of force and motion, Andrea found herself hoisting the man up off the ground and five feet away from her.
What the hell? She found herself staring at what she had done, only to shake the marvel of it all as the man got himself up off the ground, shake off the surprise of it all, and then come running back towards her.
Andrea went the exact opposite direction and ran like crazy. Her heart raced as she jumped over garbage cans that aligned the sidewalk, slid between broken fences, pushing over everything and anything that could belay her pursuer from reaching her. But to no end as he seemed to be ducking, weaving, jumping, and taking every precaution to avoid the obstacles and projectiles that were sent his way.
Who or what is this guy? She thought, wildly, as she continued her way away from him and to the only known safe-haven she could think of that was both close and nearby: Hobbs' place.
The gap between her and the man-thing chasing her was closing and she knew that if she couldn't get to the next block over, she would have to fend this guy off again.
Luck would have it, a cop patrol car was crossing just as Andrea ran across the street and lighted it's sirens as the man chasing her ran passed it as well. It was now that Andrea came to a full stop. The man didn't seem to either care or notice that the police were right behind him as it lunged and tackled Andrea to the ground, it's mouth gaped wide open.
The hot saliva alone made Andrea cringe, then the sharp pains followed as she felt the skin of her neck being punctured. Andrea screamed, loud, and shrilly.
"Get off the girl and put your hands behind your head, now!" Yelled the man in uniform.
Andrea felt the force on her neck lifted and she could hear the man/creature on top of her screech in reply. Several shots were then fired and a hiss followed then footsteps.
Andrea couldn't see. She felt sick, dizzy, fatigued both mentally and physically. Her vision obscured by the dizziness and the downpour of the rain. Her ears could hear everything, though. A loud shriek and yelling came from the area where she heard the officer's voice, followed by several other gunfire and then silence.
Andrea found enough energy to roll onto her back and she raised her head while clutching at the bleeding wound on her neck. Her vision, still obscured, could faintly make out the man who had been attacking her now bent over on the sagging police officer on the hood of the cop car. The cop's arms seemed to flay and shake, as the man/creature seemed to be biting down, severely, against the poor man's neck.
The man raised his head up from the officer, whose neck and, the hood of his patrol car, were now drenched in blood. He turned to Andrea, licking some retreating droplets that cascaded down his chin before wiping the rest off with his leather sleeve.
"Now, where were we?" He said, giving off a devious smile.
As he began to walk slowly toward Andrea, Andrea looked to the officer and grimly realized that the man was dead. Panicking, and trying to gain some better sense of time and space; Andrea used the hand that wasn't holding to her neck to look for something to defend herself with. Leaves, twigs, Amex bus pamphlets, a G.I Joe toy, some kid left behind; all these would prove useless against this monster. The man was coming nearer and Andrea frantically continued searching until, at last, she found something of use. A broken wooden wedge from a bench now lay in her grasp. True, it wasn't as sharp as she'd like it to be, but maybe, just maybe, she would give him a scratch or splinter or two, that would allow her some time to get back on her feet and resume her retreat to Hobbs' place. Hobbs', she knew, would have a gun and could protect her.
The man was getting closer and jumped onto all fours, like a leopard, onto her and pinned her wrists down to the ground. Andrea struggled. She fought, turned, and kicked, anything she could physically muster despite her weariness. Raising her knees to her chest, Andrea kicked hard and got the man/creature off of her and she was able to, also, get back onto her feet. The man/creature lunged at her again, his eyes alive with fury and impatience.
"Do not try to best me, human! I'll tear you apart before you can even blink!" It growled. It then came charging at Andrea.
Andrea held the wooden piece out in front of her and closed her eyes, taking in one last breath, which she felt was going to be her last. She felt the impact of the man, which knocked her back a few ways, and was followed by his groaning.
Andrea opened one eye and saw that the wooden piece she had used was now lodged into the upper-left part of the man's chest, which he was looking down in both surprise and anguish. He then looked to her, his eyes wide.
"H-How?"
Then, to add more to Andrea's horror, the man turned completely into ash and then fell apart. The continuing rain washing away all that was left, the wooden piece clanked against the ground.
Still bleeding from the neck, feeling drowsier than ever, Andrea found the world spinning as she felt her body losing it's balance and everything around her turning black…
Florescent lights, white-garbed people, blue-garbed people; Andrea felt as if she was in a weird part of Heaven. Soon, however, as her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in St. Luke's Hospital, sitting in a gurney being pushed by a doctors and several nurses in scrubs.
"She's awake. Miss? Miss? Can you say your name for us?"
"An…Andrea. Andrea C-Cartwright." Andrea feebly responded.
"Response is weak, must have received some light trauma from the fall and blood loss. Miss Cartwright, do you know where you are?"
Andrea nodded.
"Good. Miss Cartwright, from your attack you've sustained some heavy blood-loss and have several fractured areas. Doctor Mesinger will be taking care of you from here on in, you understand?" Said the nurse.
Andrea tried to nod through the foam head-brace.
"Where is she! Is she okay?! Andrea!" A short-red haired man in torn Levi's and a slightly faded black shirt appeared. He clutched Andrea's hand as looked down at her concernedly.
"H-Hobbs…" Andrea whispered.
Hobbs Dawlson looked from Andrea to the nurses, still pushing her down the corridor.
"What happened? How is she? Where's the son of a bitch that did this to her!"
"Sir, please! Don't use language like that in here! Patients are trying to recuperate!" Said one of the RNs.
Soon, they had Andrea next to a bed and, after counting, they hoisted her onto the other bed and removed the foamed brace. After attaching all the IVs, pulse monitors, and other electronic doohickeys, one of the nurses pulled Hobbs away to ask him some medical questions, as he was her fiancé.
Andrea closed her eyes and breathed in, solemnly. She felt that finally the nightmare was over, or nightmares rather. Despite her requite, she felt it suddenly odd of what has happened. That man, or whomever he was, was exactly like what she had seen in her nightmares, lately.
Reopening her eyes, Andrea was suddenly aware that not only her fiancé and the nurses occupied the space around her, but another man. A man, who was somewhat squat-ish, had a Pug-Irish-like nose, spiky black hair, and a pin-stripped suit. He seemed to be quite interested in Andrea.
"W-Who are y-you?" Andrea asked out, weakly.
The man smiled and walked forwards a bit. When he spoke, he spoke with a thick Irish accent.
"Why, I'm you're Watcher, Slayer, darlin'. Reed's me name."
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry to do this to you guys, but it'll be awhile before the next chapter's come up since I kind of came out and did this on a whim. I'm not sure where in the Buffy-verse to set this in (Post-Seventh Season or During Season Eight). That and, well, depending on how many hits and reviews this one gets, all those will have to factor in to if I'll continue this or not. After all, if there's not a whole lot of interest, then why put the effort in, eh?
Anyways, read, review, enjoy, and I'll see about cooking up more of these bad boys, if ya please.
Q-n-P