This is the rewrite of the little blurb of a prologue I had at the beginning of chapter 1.

Chapter rating: T

"Madame will see you now."

Buffy looked up as she heard the rustle of the beaded curtain being moved aside. A small, olive-skinned, dark haired woman appeared in the doorway. She gestured for Buffy to stand and held back the beads so Buffy could get through.

"The amount of payment required will be discussed inside."

Buffy nodded to the assistant and stood up, ducking under the beads and into the back room. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust – candles created the only lighting in the room. Buffy inhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a few seconds, smiling as the smells of incense and candles spread around her. The room was pretty much what she expected. The location wasn't ideal – a cabin in the middle of a forest, but she supposed it made sense. The candles and incense were givens for a fortuneteller. The beads instead of a door seemed exactly right. The items in the room all looked exotic – almost Arabic, or Indian. A small, round table was in the center of the room, covered by brightly colored fabrics. An older woman sat on the side furthest from Buffy, her hands steepled against her chin.

"You must be Buffy." The woman nodded to the empty chair across from her, watching Buffy as she seated herself. After a long stretch of silence, the woman spoke. "Let me guess. You're here for some help with your love life."

A sarcastic laugh escaped Buffy before she could stop it, and she put her fingers over her lips, nodding. "Sorry. Yeah, I guess you could say that."

The woman's brows raised in slight surprise, and she leaned closer to Buffy. "From your reaction, I'll bet you aren't here for a simple love potion or a lust spell." Buffy shook her head no. "I thought not. Well, this session is going to cost you then. It's the real magic that costs. I should have known you weren't just a tourist. You don't look like one."

"No, I'm a bit familiar with this. I have a friend who's really into Wicca."

"Well, why aren't you asking your Wicca friend for help?" the woman asked, leaning back in her chair, running her fingers over her knuckles.

"She's not a gypsy."

Buffy saw the woman's eyes narrow, and she opened her mouth to explain herself when the woman grabbed Buffy's wrist. She held her wrist tight in one hand, and then raised her other hand above it.

"Hold still, this'll only take a moment."

The woman ran her fingers lightly over Buffy's hand, leaving it immobile and frozen in mid-air. She murmured a few words, and some blue tendrils of light pulled out of the woman's hand and slowly circled Buffy's. The woman closed her eyes, the blue light illuminating her face from below creating a creepy effect. Her eyes moved quickly beneath her eyelids, and her breathing grew labored. Buffy tried to pull her hand back, but she couldn't move it. Suddenly the blue lights disappeared, and the woman's eyes flew open with a gasp.

"Slayer!" she whispered, staring at Buffy with a new look of respect in her eyes. "You're a slayer…"

Buffy slipped her hand in her lap, flexing her fingers to make sure everything was okay. "Born and raised." Well… sort of.

The woman leaned back in her chair, sighing. "So he's back, is he? I am not able to bring back his soul, if that's what you came here for."

"I was hoping there was something more permanent than just putting his soul back. Something that could maybe… keep it there?"

The woman shook her head, and Buffy felt her heart sink. How could she and Angel truly be together if they had to worry about Angelus and his possible reappearance? It wasn't like she could ask Willow to stand guard outside the bedroom as a 'just in case' insurance. Buffy could do without the full physical aspect of the relationship, but she knew that Angel would be overly cautious with her. It would only get worse the more times Angelus was set free.

"The only way to gain a permanent soul for a vampire is to go through the trials. That has to be done of the vampire's free will."

Well, Angelus would never do that.

"There may be something that I can do… It isn't a permanent solution by any means, but it may help."

Buffy leaned forward in her chair, her hands sliding down her legs to grip her knees. "I'm listening."

"Naomi, come here for a moment."

Madame's assistant pushed back the beads and stepped through the doorway. "Do you need… something?" Naomi asked, pausing because she was a bit distracted by the drops of blood on the table and Madame wrapping up what seemed to be a slit on her hand. The blonde girl had gone.

"Yes. I need you to call someone for me - A Mr. Rupert Giles. There is something that he needs to know…"

Naomi nodded slowly, pulling her phone from her pocket. "That girl didn't hurt you, did she? Are you calling for help? Do you need me to get a doctor?" Naomi didn't do too well with blood.

Madame shook her head, a grave look on her face. "No. No, this is about something else entirely." Madame flexed her fingers slowly, gazing at her wrapped hand strangely. "I've been having a vision in my dreams, Naomi. Something's coming. I haven't been able to put the pieces together until I spoke with that girl. I saw into her mind – into her memories. She's connected."

Madame having visions was nothing new to Naomi, but she had never seen her like this. She looked scared. "What's coming, Madame? What is it?"

Before Madame could open her mouth to answer, a loud, piercing shriek penetrated the quiet air, resonating through the cabin, making the floors and walls tremble with its intensity. Naomi yelped in surprise, jumping backwards against the wall. It was like nothing she had heard before. "Wh-what was that?" she stammered quietly, looking over at Madame.

"It knows," Madame whispered, reaching out to grab the phone from Naomi. Naomi let go of her cell, frozen against the wall.

"It?" Naomi's blood ran cold as she heard rattling from the entrance to the cabin. "It's trying to get in…" she choked out, sliding over towards Madame, vaguely registering the little 'beeps' of numbers being dialed on her cell phone.

"What is it?" Naomi knelt down beside Madame. "What is it?" she asked louder.

"Is this Mr. Giles?" Madame spoke quietly into the phone.

"What is it, Madame?" Naomi shook her employer by the arm, trying to get her attention. A loud bang came from the front door, and Naomi shrank back behind Madame, her eyes widening with panic.

"Mr. Giles, my name is Vadoma. I'm a seer, and I've called to warn you."

Another bang, this time accompanied with splinters and the sound of breaking wood came from the front room. Madame jumped and Naomi screamed, grabbing Madame's arm, trying to get her to explain. "What is it, Madame? What does it want?"

Footsteps started towards them, and a low growling sound made Naomi whimper and shake with fright. "Madame?" she squeaked, tears leaking from her eyes.

"It's coming. It's here now and I don't know how long I have, but you need to know. It's coming, it wants something and it has to do with Buffy. You have to-"

Giles listened in horror as screams filled the phone, Vadoma no longer speaking. He heard the phone drop, and the sound of growling and ripping flesh rang in his ears. He had no doubt that Vadoma was dead. As soon as it came, the noise stopped – and then the phone went dead.

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