Hooded figures loomed over a stone table, their incantations filling the darkness with a foul energy. A young girl, strapped to the cold stone, struggled against her bonds.
"Please..." her voice cracking, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes darted back and forth between the figures and their previous sacrifices. Countless others, their lifeless bodies piled as if now garbage.
"Please, don't do this!" The bloodied dagger now rose over her chest as the incantations grew louder. Slowly, the blade made its way to the girl's heart.
The figures grew silent, the dagger began to glow. She closed her eyes, knowing what was next. As the dagger pierced her heart, the energy in the room seemed to shoot into her.
One grim creature lowered his hood and smiled. "Yessss..."
The girl's body became contorted and em massed in shadow. The dark powers coursed through its victim, creating life anew.
The darkness faded away from the sacrifice, revealing a demon where the young girl once lay. Its long, talon-like fingers twitched with life. Its eyes opened, glowing red for a moment before fading to black. The demon stretched as if awaking from sleep. Its whip-like lashed out and then
recoiled. It stood on the table, surveying its new home.
The leader of the ceremony approached the table, running his hand slowly across it. In a deep, boisterous voice, he called out. "Who is your master?!"
Bowing down, it answered.
It was a simple enough case. Well, it had started simple. Angel ran a hand through his hair, looking over the charred wreckage. A cult had been reformed and was collecting nearby college kids. Whatever the cult was doing, the kids were never seen again. All the gang had to do was find the cult and tear it apart, hopefully save some of those captured. All the information they had led them here, to an abandoned home outside of town. But it was burned down, nothing and no one left but ashes.
"Think they got into more than they could handle?" Spike asked, smoking a cigarette while he bent down and sifted through some debris.
The older vampire furrowed his brow. It just didn't seem like this cult was that...stupid. From what they knew, this cult was ancient and for some reason, only recently abducting people. The Ah'tuli, as they called themselves, believed they were the descended from gods. They were few in number, but held great power, usually obtained through demonic group did not seek to destroy the world. They couldn't be gods of anything, if the world was destroyed. The cult obsessed over power, but luckily never had the tools to take over the world. Something changed. They needed those kids for a reason. But...why?
Angel and Spike both heard it at the same time. Something rustled through the wreckage. A hand peeked out through some of the cinders, the bruised and bloodied hand of a girl. The two jumped to the spot and began pulling debris away. Angel kneeled down and pulled the girl into his arms. She was breathing, alive despite all the blood she was covered in. She looked up to face her savior. Her eyes flashed red before fading to black. She reached out to touch Angel's face before passing out. Spike leaned in to see a deep scar on her chest.
"She's not human,"Angel surveyed the girl. "Not anymore atleast," fnished the blonde looking back at their surroundings. Angel picked up the girl and started walking to the black DeSoto.
"Hey!" Spike took one last puff before flicking the cigarette away. "Where are you taking her? What is this, mate, finders bloody keepers? She probably burned down the whole soddin' lot of 'em and now you want to take her home...?"
Angel turned to look at his childe. Spike added, " in MY car?"
The brunette rolled his eyes and continued to the car. "We don't know what or who she is, Spike. She may have some answers." Angel gently laid the girl in the backseat. Spike sighed and grumpily took the driver's seat.
The blonde shot a grim look at his master. "She all strapped in, then?" Angel nodded. Spike shook his head, sighing, "Great... just bloody great..."
"I...I don't remember anything." Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, she watched as she twirled some in her fingers. Nothing felt right. She didn't remember this body, this hair. Nothing was familiar. She sat in a hospital gown on a table in a room in what she knew was not a hospital.
Fred leaned in closer, Angel assured her this girl shouldn't be dangerous. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Not even your name?"
Cold, black eyes met her green. "No." The girl then went back to fiddling in her own body, her eyes on the floor.
Spike and Angel watched through the glass. "So much for answers, huh?" Spike leaned back in his chair, his feet on the table in front of him. Angel searched his thoughts. Something was very off. The burning building. This girl mysteriously alive and now with no memory. The Ah'tuli often sought demonic powers, she could have been a member.
"We're here to help you. Anything you can tell us..." Fred started again. "...anything will help us to understand how."
The girl grabbed the edges of the table, turning stiff. The wispy, brunette moved her hand to the girl in front of her. Suddenly, the table started to bend under the girl's strength.
"Angel..." Fred jerked her hand back and looked through the glass.
Angel rushed into the room. The girl convulsed, her body stiff, yet shaking. She looked up, her pained eyes glowing red. "Please...I can't..."
Her hands transformed into sharp edges, her skin began to grow scaly and green.
"Get out." Angel ushered Fred out of the room.
The girl fell to the ground, forming a ball as her body grew a tail. "Please..." her voice became deeper and echoed. "It... hurts..."
The vampire's hand slowly reached out to the girl huddled in pain. Suddenly, her tail whipped around her body, grabbing Angel's wrist. The vampire had no time to react before he was crashing through the glass.
The demon rose to her feet, eyes glowing a fierce red as she walked in for the kill. Angel got to his feet, ready to fight, but the demon fell, struck from behind.
Spike stood with what was left of a chair in his hands. He tossed the pieces aside and walked over the now unconscious demon. Fred looked between the two vampires, still shocked by everything that had happened. The blonde got a pack out of his coat and lit up a cigarette. "She's your problem now," he said as he walked past his sire and the still floored Fred. Spike opened the door to the hallway. "You're the one that wanted her!" he called as he walked away.
Angel and Fred had strapped the demon to her bed in the glaringly bright examination room. Fred frowned, she had hoped the girl wasn't so...violent. It felt wrong to tie up someone and basically hold them prisoner. Well, not even basically, they were. Oh wow, we are kidnappers! Her mind was racing, filled with worry and guilt.
"It's for her own good," Angel read her thoughts. "I don't think that was an act. She really can't control the change. If we just let her go, she'll hurt herself or someone else."
She nodded, but knowing he was right didn't make her feel any better. She needed to stop thining about the morality of their situation. "So...,"she started with a deep breath. "I've already used the binding spell on her. When she comes to, we'll know if it stuck." Fred looked up at the vampire, hoping he knew the next step.
"Then, provided the spell holds, we'll take her to Lorne." This new step worried Fred even more. She wasn't exactly magic-savy. Who knows how strong the hold was? Who's to say that during the reading, the spell wouldn't break and this new demon girl wouldn't rip Lorne to little pieces?
"Um...I think we should wait, then. Make sure that I did it...right."
"It worked and when she's awake, we'll take her to Lorne. She wasn't at all hostile before she changed. And the hotel is a lot more welcoming than this room." Angel rested an arm around her shoulders, leading her out to the room. "Now I have to find Spike and have him help me identify what kind of demon she is."
Angel sighed heavily and Fred smiled a bit. She definitely wouldn't like that job. Not that Spike minded helping the gang out. He was more of the fighting type of help, not the researching type. "You can't do it yourself? That might be faster."
He shook his head, a little bit of shame crept up his face. "I...couldn't see her that well." He shouldn't have been so careless. She looked like she was in pain, he wanted to help her. Then boom, a second later he's through the window and in another second she was on the ground.
Fred shrugged her shoulders. "Still...it might be faster." They both smiled.
Tons of books laid open, strewn about the long table in the lobby. Spike was throwing a tennis ball at the ceiling. Fred opened a new book, flipping pages and showing them to the blonde. She brought the book up to Spike's face. "Is this it?"
"Nope." He caught the ball, throwing it up again.
"You didn't even turn your head."
"It's called peripherals, love. I saw your little picture."
She glared a bit and then let her arms lay down, she turned the page over and then turned it back. Bringing it up again, "Is this it?"
"Nope."
"It's the same picture!"
Spike caught the ball, sitting back. "And it wasn't the right one the first time, was it?"
"Spike..." Angel, looked up from his book, warning his childe. The older vampire had even more books surrounding him. The three of them had been looking for hours. Spike gave up within the first hour and started with the tennis ball.
"What? I told you both a very detailed description. You don't need me here anymore." He shrugged his shoulders, glaring at his sire.
"We need all the help we can get. Get your nose back in the books."
"I still say that she could a bloody bomb. That whole building was burnt to rubble and she was fine. Not one burn on her." Spike settled into chair, taking an open book off the table.
"Cordelia's looking into that specific kind with your description in mind."
"Why is it all about my description? Why am I suddenly so important? Well, I am very important, but your broodingness never seems to keep that mind."
"Fred had her back turned and I got tail-whipped. You're the only one that got a good look at her," Angel growled.
Spike laughed," Oh right! That was brilliant! Went right through the bloody window." Spike had a huge smile on his face, remembering the encounter.
Angel glowered at his childe, shortly saying, "Right, so read."
The blonde was just about to begin the search again, when Cordy burst through the doors.
"Good news! No bomb." She let her books in her arms crash onto the chair nearby.
Spike grumbled, "That was fast." He was happy the new demon wasn't a bomb, but mad that his guess was wrong.
"Yea, well none of the, luckily for me, few bomby demons look..."She brought up her hands to begin airquotes. "...tall, serpenty, claw fingery, red eyed.." She brought her hands down, placing one on her hips. "Okay, I didn't one hundred percent remember what you said, but they're all fat or glowing and none of them ever look human."
"Thanks, Cordy," Fred smiled. The cheerleader gave off a ditzy air, but she was smart. It was a relief that they weren't housing a living demonic bomb. Fred's wrist starting beeping, the bracelet was glowing fainting as well. "She's awake."
Author's Note: So I wrote this story FOREVER ago and never shared it. I decided to change that.