-Title:
Sins of the Father-Author:
Ludwig-Disclaimer:
Most of these characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox as well as anyone else involved in the production of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". If you want to post this story somewhere else,please e-mail me first.-Type: Angel/Buffy Crossover event.
-Timeline:
Shortly before 5x5/New Moon RisingNotes:
First, i'd like to point out that i've only become recently an avid follower of Joss Whedon's two series but i have always been interested in vampires and all the myths surounding them. And in this particular case, i've notice that Joss was always vague about the origins of both the vampire race and the Slayer and i decided to present a personal theory on the subject through this story…hope you enjoy.Prologue
Fuzhou bay area in the Fujian province,China,one week prior;
The day was promising to be everything Tak Sing had hoped it would be. The sun was shining brightly in the cloudless blue sky. A fresh breeze was coming from the open sea to counter the sun's warmth and, most importantly,he did not have to work today. His supervisor at the refinery had finally agreed to give him the day off so he could take his family out of the city for the afternoon. And it was about time too;Tak Sing had work so hard lately that his youngest daughter was starting to wonder who was the stranger that came home every night. Now she and her sister were running along the shore without a care in the world,laughing and teasing one another and he beheld them with a smile. A noise coming from behind startled him and he turned around to see his wife unpacking their picnic table. He promptly returned his attention to his children to make sure they did not run off to far.
"Miko!" he called. "Come back here with your sister. Lunch will be ready any moment now!"
"Ah,just let them have their fun,Tak Sing. Lord knows the last few weeks have been hard on all of us. And besides," interjected his wife as she grabbed him by the waist, "they're not the only ones who missed you. It cant hurt to have at least a little time to ourselves every now and again."
Tak Sing smiled while returning her embrace. He drew her closer to him and they kissed.
"Dont worry about it,my love. With most of the jobs of this season now behind us,i should be able to get away from work more often."
"I sure hope so,mister Wong," she added teasingly. "Maybe we could go in country to visit my parents. Its been so..." Her voice trailed off as they began hearing a low grumbling noise that seemed to be coming from beneath them. The ground started shaking all around,throwing down the frail picnic table and the basket sitting on it. Imediatly,their thoughts went to their kids,which were no longer visible. The Wongs ran towards the beach where they had last seen them,calling their names.
"Oni! Miko! Where are you?!"
They found the two young girls a little further on the beach sitting and crying in each other's arms. Tak Sing imediatly picked his daughters up and cradeled them in his arms.
"Now now,children. Its all over now. It was just a little quake and now its gone," he said in a soothing voice. Reassured,his children slowly stopped crying and wiped their tears .They all made their way back to the picnic site but upon returning,they noted that their meal was now spilled all over the ground next to the table.
"Aw!" said his wife looking at the mess. "It looks like our diner is ruined. Better go back into town."
"Indeed. I'll have to call the refinery and make sure that no one was hurt there. And i imagine that the store rooms will be a complete mess so they'll probably call me in as soon as we're back. I'm sorry."
"Dont be. Its not your fault,honey. Maybe the gods just have it in for us."
He smiled at his wife's sarcasm,wondering at how much truth it actually contained.
"I dont understand this though," he retorted. "That wasn't a small quake so how come there was absolutly no warning it would be coming?"
She just shot him a look af agreement and finished picking up the basket in silence.
Daimao mountain range,Fujian province,later the same day;
While the quake's aftershock had reached the Taiwan strait,its was still relatively mild as quakes go. Most of the tremor's effects had been concentrated in an area of the range that had been un-inhabited for over fifty generations. The quakes only lasted a few seconds themselves but is was enough to provoke massives land slides throughout most of the day. The dust finally settled shortly after the sun had disapeared in the western sky. The land slides had left a huge crevice in the east flank of the Daimao range which revealed a cavern hidden in the mountain.
Sundently,a bony white hand emerged from the crevice and grabbed the surounding outcroping,its sharp talons burying themselves in the rock. A second one emerged on the other side and they hoisted their owner,a woman,out of the crevice. While most of her feminine features seemed to have erroded away,enough were left to identify her gender. The parts of her skin that were not covered with filth were as white as ivory and stretched so thinly as to clearly reveal the underlying bone structure. She had long,curly blond hair caked with dirt with many wild strands falling across her face. The garment she was wearing might have been of exquisite design at some point but now,it was little more than yellowish rags barely covering her body. Her taloned hands parted her wild curly hair,thus exposing the face of nightmare. She had a long,pointy nose and no cheeks to speak of as her ivory skin was also stretched over her skull,revealing very large fangs that would have been visible twenty meters away. Her large,hazel eyes,seemingly burried deep within her head,were scanning the surounding area.
Then,she began to move,descending the east flank of the mountain range. Her stride was surprisingly fast and determined,despite the heavily rugged terrain,and she advanced with a grace that was almost surreal. All night long she moved ever eastward,reaching the shore of the chinese sea shortly before dawn. There,she stopped and for a while,gazed onto the vastness of the ocean spaning before her. But as if possesed by a strange force driving her ever onward,she entered the water,advancing still to the east until,just as the first rays of the rising sun were hitting the water,she finally disareared beneath the waves.
Time Square,New York City,the following day;
The Big Apple,as it was commonly refered to,was ever bustling with activity. And none of it was more true than during the hour of noon where most people rushed left and right to get a meal before returning to their tasks of the day.
Taxi drivers,corporate executives,construction workers. They all came together to form massive crowd movements that were enough to impress any new commer to the city.
Many of them stopped at a small but very popular restaurant whose tables were mostly located outside where three young waitresses struggled to keep the vast number of customers satisfied. Most of whom were calling to the young women at the same time and every one of them in more of hurry than the next. But amidst all this there sat a man who seemed to be un-touched by the surounding chaos. He was a tall and powerfully build individual wearing a sleeveless black shirt,a blue jean and a pair of white running shoes. A long grey duster coat was resting on the chair besides him. His face bore a short and well trimmed beard and pinch and his long black hair could be seen resting on his large shoulders despite the red bandana that covered most of them. His features made him look like a very handsome young man at first glance but his deep blue eyes told the story of one who had lived too long and seen too much.
Fondling with his half emptied bear mug,he was absent-mindedly staring at a couple of mimes performing their art on the other side of the street. Acting as though they were surounded with invisible objects,they were entertaining the passing crowd,no doubt in the hopes of getting a few dollars from them. The man smiled inwardly,wondering as to what the people who invented this craft might say if they saw that it was being used like this on a street corner.
But then again,that probably what they were doing themselves,all-be-it in different circomstances. Must be true what they say; Plus ca change,plus c'est pareil.
He was abruptly stired from his daydreams by one of the young waitresses standing before him. She was a petite red-headed heart breaker sporting a warm smile that would likely melt an ice block in the dead of winter.
"Will there be anything else,hon?" she asked him.
"No. Thank you very much my dear. Here you go and keep the change," answered the man while fishing a bill from his pocket and placing it in her hand. She looked down at the bill and her smile widened.
"Gee! Thank's a lot sir and please feel free to come back any…" She was interupted by another client loudly calling for her.
"Heu…excuse me sir. I'll be right back."
Then,she was off to attend the customer. Meanwhile the man stood up and pulled on his duster. He grabbed the beer mug to finish it in a single gulp but then he froze up. Looking in the mug,he saw his own reflection gradually fade away…to be replaced by that of a beautifull curly-haired woman. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He let go of the mug which shatered loudly as it hit the ground,drawing everyone's attention to him. The young red head came back in a hurry to see him staring blankly beyond her,a look of terror stamered across his face.
"Are you all right,honney? You look like you've just seen a…"
Suddently aware of his suroundings once again,he grabbed the waitress by the shoulders and pulled her to him.
"She's alive!" he hissed to her. "Heaven be mercifull,she's alive…and she's comming here!"
With that,he let go of her arms and ran past the frightened young woman,leaving her still wondering what could have off like. He promptly ran across the street in search of a cab. He found one that was about to be boarded by a man in a suit with a briefcase at his side. Unceremoniously,he shoved the suit aside and entered the cab in his place.
"Hey!" yelled the black cabbie as he wirled around. "Dont you barging in my wheel like…"
"To the closest airport! Now!" countered the man as he handed the cabbie a large stack of bills. The later looked eyes wide at the bills and imediatly pocketed them.
"Heu…whatever you say,pal" answered the cab driver as he obdiently drove off.
Chapter One
Los Angeles bay area,present day;
As the day was drawing to an end,a young couple was walking along the beach,enjoying yet another lovely sunset. Holding each other's hands,they were gazing into the open sea as the sun was slowly sinking over the horizon. All around the astral body there were colors and cloud effects that added to its magnificence,especialy this time of the year. And then it was gone,with only the purple sky left as proof of its passing. Tim and Jodie both loved this moment of the day almost as much as they did one another. The young man drew his girlfriend close to him as they resumed their walk.
"This feels sooo nice," Jodie said,cradling even closer to Tim,who stopped to put both his arms around her. "I wish we didn't have to return to the city every night. I could just stay here forever.
"Who knows?" answered the young man. "Maybe one day we will. We could buy one of those little beach houses,set up a couple of long chairs on the porch and just lie there,gazing at the sky all night long….or at least until the Lakers came on."
She imediatly pinched his tie at the comment and broke their embrace.
"Ah come on…Why do you always have to ruin a perfectly romantic moment with your sick craving for bouncing balls?"
"Hey! I hate to break this to you,luv,but i'm a guy; messing up romantic moments in a science to us,remember?" he retorted teasingly. Then he made his sorry puppy face which he knew she could never resist.
"Stop it! Thats not fair," she said, unsuccessfully trying to keep a strait face. He then grabbed her by the waist and drew her close again.
"Speaking of bouncing things," Tim added with a widening smile, "i notice that were alone around here. Maybe we could heum…you know…do something romantic."
"huh huh…" she answered unconvinced. "Well i can think of a few things somewhat more romantic than getting arrested for lewd public behaviour,stud. So what do you say we just go grab a pizza and head back to your….Hey! Whats that over there?"
Tim turned around to see what had caught his girlfriend's attention. A little further along the beach,they could see something moving in the waves. Upon more carefull examination,they realised that it was somebody slowly crawling onto the shore. As they got closer,they realised it was a woman…a very pale skinned,blond-haired woman whom,it seemed from her bony hands and arms,was on the brink of starvation. As she collapsed on the beach,Tim ran down to her.
"My God,miss. Are you all right? Where the hell did you swin from?"
He kneeled beside her to see if she needed imediate help and as he did,she raised her head to face him. His eyes widened in horror but before he could move another muscle,she grabbed him and sank her fangs in his throat. He made a muffled grugling noise and died almost instantly as the monstruous apparition drained him of his blood. Jodie was paralysed with fear and could only watch as her boyfriend's body went was reduced to a grey,shriveled husk in a mere few seconds.
The pale woman then let go of the body and stood up. Her attention imediatly went to the young woman quivering a few meters from her. Some color had returned to her face and she made a sort of rasping sound as her now red lips crooked into a wicked smile. Jodie had regained the motor use of her legs but as she turned to run,a powerfull hand clasped around her wrist and violently pulled back. She barely had time to make a scream before it abruptly ceased and the beach was silent again,save for the waves washing over the two dried up bodies lying in the sand.
"Hum! If you think for one moment that i can be intimidated into making an error by your little party face,you're dreadfully mistaken."
Wesley eyes were trained on his opponent and followed his every move from behind his glasses.
Seated right in front of him,Angel returned his gaze,shifting to his vampire face and back at random. Both men were waiting for the other to show a sign of weakness.
"Whatever you say Wesley."
"I'll have you know that i unwaveringly stared in the face of death quite a few times as a rogue demon hunter,my dear friend."
"Too bad i'm not a rogue demon. Your move."
Cordelia was standing just a few feet away,nervously biting her nails. She was about to say something but a quick glare from both men reminded her that she was supposed to remain absolutly quiet during their...duel. Wesley cracked a hint of a smile,convinced he had his opponent finally cornered. Swiftly,he reached down on the chess board,picked up his last fool and move it half way across the board.
"Ha ha! Check!" declared the former watcher triumphantly. "Now i have you exactly where i want you and there is no escape,my brooding fellow."
"Yeah!" added the young woman cheerfully. "Like finally. I was about to start making furniture from the tention in the room. You're really the greatest,Wesley."
"Ah. Its all in the wrist,my dear. I was champion of my class three years in a row in college. Our donuts are more than safe with me."
Suddently,Angel cleared his throat,recalling their attention to the game…and to the fact that he was now smiling. Casually,he picked one of his knights seemingly out of nowhere and placed it over Wesley's fool, thus removing it from play.
"Check mate in four moves."
Wesley look at the board in disbelief and finally saw the trap he had just strolled in on.
"Bloody hell!" he said. "How in God's name did you manage to…"
"Its called a scottish bait and switch." explained the vampire. "I learned this from an old sheapard who lived near Fallkirk back in the 1880'. Like you said…all in the wrist."
"Cute. Scottish bait and switch.eh? Funny i never heard of it."
The remark made Angel visibly unconfortable and Wesley understood that it probably meant the vampire had met the sheapard before his run-in with the gypsies where he regained his soul. The young man chose not to press the issue any further.Cordelia bent over the board to examine it more closely.
"So what does it mean,Wes?" she asked.
"I'm afraid it means that we can kiss our pasteries good bye."
"What!? You lost? How the hell did that happened? I thought you were all mister 'I was champion of my class three years in a row'."she went on,mimicking his heavy british accent.
"Well perhaps it would have been better advised of you to consider the variable of 'human failings' before you went and bet our only snack on my show of confidence."
"Pfffit!" was all the response she gave him. Wesley shook his head at her show of immaturity and looked at the clock on his desk. Eleven fifty.
"Well its almost noon." Wesley noted. "We should remember to re-validate your license today,Angel. I'll go right after lunch."
"Yeah,lunch time!" said Cordelia. We better move it if we wanna beat the diner rush."
She hurried towards the office door but Angel got up and barred her way.
"I'll take my winings now if you don't mind" said the vampire as he gestured to the pink box the young woman was trying to hide behind her back.
"Oh come on!" she retorted. "What are you gonna do with donuts anyway? This was just a silly bet."
"Which you lost. Maybe theres a lesson for you in there." Angel said as he took the box from her.
"I think the lesson is that you're a sadist."
"Everyone needs a hobby."
She glared at him,never entirely certain as to wether or not he was being serious when he said stuff like that.
"So! This the glamorous life of a p.i. in the city of angels. And to think i wasted my life doing a real job instead."
The voice startled the three of them and they turned around to see a blond,well dressed woman in her late twenties standing in the entrance. She was holding a folder to her side and Angel also noticed that coat was drawn back,revealing the butt of her police-issued handgun.
"Kate? Thats…hum…an unexpected pleasure. Come in,please. You remember Cordelia and Wesley,right?"
When he saw she was looking at his employes as though they were a couple of dogs in a bowling alley,Angel turned to them.
"Heu…guys." he said handing the box back to Cordelia. "Why dont you just go out for lunch and take care of the license. Kate and i need to talk."
The young woman was about to say something but Wesley just grabbed her by the arm and headed to the exit.
"Come along now,Cordelia. Lets go beat that diner rush you mentioned. Angel,we'll see you this afternoon."
The blond detective moved aside to let them by and looked after them until they were gone
"Your familiars are well trained Angel." she shot sarcasticaly. "What did you promess them by the way? Power? Perpetual youth? Their faces on the cover of vogue?"
The vampire frowned.
"Familiars?"
"I've read somewhere thats what vampire called the human servants they keep around to do things during the day,like protecting their sleep,shoping for coffins,ect."
"Dont believe everything you read,Kate. Cordelia and Wesley are my friends,not my pets."
"If you say so." she shrugged as she entered his office and closed the door behind her. She then tugged on a chain she was wearing around her neck and revealed a small silver cross which was now hanging over her shirt. When he saw it,Angel took a step back.
"Is that really necessary?" he asked. "You're not in any danger here."
"So you say. Nevertheless,i prefer to keep it handy."
"You should know that thing wont deter a vampire really out for blood. At most it'll buy you a few seconds."
"A few seconds is all i need to grab the stake a carry around with me and turn that would be vampire into a pile of dust." she countered,showing him the tool in question.
"All right then. Can i get you anything? Coffee?"
"Save the plesantries,Angel. I'm here on business."
The vampire sat down behind his desk and motioned her to the opposing chair. He also noticed again the folder she was holding.
"Is that for me?" he asked.
Kate opened the folder and fished out a couple of pictures which she dropped on the desk. Angel picked them and started siffting through them.
The photos were depicting what appeared to be the dessecated remains of a man and a woman lying on the beach by the water. They were photographed with different angles and levels of zoom. Whom they might have been before their demises was impossible to tell just by looking at them. Their skin had taken a dark grey,porous texture,and looked extremely brittle. As a result,most of their facial features appeared to have erroded away,along with their fingers and toes. He also noted that some of the images were zoomed on the victims neck where a large chunk of the throat was missing. At first,he thought it might have been another sign of the errosion but the wounds on both corpses were too similar. Another interesting detail was that they both seemed to have died instantly,as the rigor mortis had frozen them in defensive position.
"So…what do you think?" asked Kate curtly.
"Mmmm…i'm not sure. The bodies look like they've been lying out there for a few months. Most of their faces are gone too. Gonna be a bitch identifying the remains."
As if to answer his analysis,Kate opened the folder and started reading from it.
"Timothy Baxter,age twenty two and Jodie Sallinger,age twenty one. The bodies were found last night around nine and the identification came from their driver's licences which we found on them. According to our preliminary investigation,they both attended the Cleveland Chiropractic College where they were very well known. We've allready talked to a dozen of their peers who told us,among other things,that they had been dating for a few months and they were last seen alive yesterday,right before supper. We're still tracking down their families."
The detective leaned back on her chair and placed the folder on the desk.
"So much for the 'lying out there for a few months' theory."she added with a sarcastic smile.
Angel looked at her in disbelief then looked at the pictures again.
"Are you certain about this?"
"Yep. Thats them all right. Question is;who or what did this to them. And since i allready have a pretty good about the what, she said,pointing to the victim's necks ,i was hoping you might be able to suply the who…assuming thats not your handywork of course."
"I dont kill anymore,Kate. Well at least not humans anyway and if you're suggesting this might have been done by a vampire,think again. It would have taken at least a dozen to completely drain two grown adults in a single night. And look at the way their arms and legs are positioned; these people not only died but were drained almost instantly. Even a master vampire can't do it that quickly. Furthermore,i've never seen a body that looked like that before."
"Well,i guess you would know,right?"
Angel ignored the sarcasm and went on.
"Didn't anybody you talked to see anything?" he asked. "This happened in a public place for crying out loud."
"The only report we got so far is about what appeared to be a blond haired woman dressed in rags seen leaving the vicinity of the crime shortly before the people that found the bodies arrived on the beach. They said they saw her from afar and didn't pay her much mind at first but when they made their gruesome discovery,one of them ran back to where they had spotted her. Unfortunatly,by the time he arrived,she was nowhere to be found."
The vampire pondered silently for a while. A single woman that would have drained the life out of two people in a mere few seconds? That seems impossible…or maybe she saw what happened and could shed some light on the circomstances surrounding those two deaths. Either way,i have to find her.
"I'll look into it." he finally said. "Could you leave the pictures with me?"
"Sure. And if this doesn't lead anywhere you can always put them in your souvenir box…as a momentos of the good old days,huh Angel?" she spat him as she got up to leave.
"Kate,please wait." he called after her. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. The vampire knew things had been tense between them ever since she found out about his true nature and was almost killed by one of his children. However,the situation had really taken a turn for the worst when her dad was murdered by two vampires before his very eyes.Angel wanted to make one more try at smoothing things out,at least a little,for he greatly valued the detective's friendship.
"I realise that you're still hurting inside." he continued. "But i also want you to realise that i really did everything i could to save your father but…"
Sudently,the detective whirled around,holding her handgun, and fired it three times at the vampire. Angel's body jerked backward under the impact of the bullets and he fell back on his chair. Even though firearm could not really kill him,the pain they caused was very real. Clutching his chest where the rounds had entered his body,Angel looked up to Kate to demand an explaination. But when he saw that the woman clear blue eyes were on the verge of tears,the protest died on his lips.
"You…have no right to talk about my father you bastard!" she snarled at him,her body shaking with rage. "He was a good man…a loving man and did not deserve what happened to him. Maybe you didn't kill him,but one of your kind did. A monster that even God has rejected. A monster like you,Angel."
The vampire just returned her gaze and said nothing.
"So you decided to stop slaughtering innocents women and children." she went on. "So what? Are we supposed to just forget about the blood thats allready on your hands simply because you grew a concience? You dont get to expect gratitude or civility from us,Angel,and the only reason you're even tolerated is because,right now,you're making yourself usefull for a change.
"I'm sorry Kate." he finally said. "I wish there were some…"
"Well there are none so keep your apologies and just remember; you're on a very short leash here. You step out of line,even for a moment, and i promise you i will use every means at my disposal to bring you out to the light of day. And i do mean that literaly,Angel."
She pointed to the pictures lying on his desk.
"If you discover who did this to these poor kids,you know where to find me."
With that,she turned around and left his office. The vampire was still rubbing the bullet wounds on his chest,thinking that he would have to remove them…something he was not looking forward to.
Oh quit your complaining! Your wounds will be gone tomorrow but hers is still wide opened…and you go and pour some salt over it. Real nice! When will you learn to keep your damn mouth shut? Its the only thing that seems to be working for you.
Angel slowly got up again and grabbed the pictures,shooting one last look at them.
What on earth could have done this to them? Another vampire master perhaps? Sure as hell hope not. This town is allready getting a little too crowded,demon-wise. City of Angels? Yeah right!
He headed for the basement of his office,where his lair was located,to find a sharp knife…and a place where no one would hear his screams.
The crowd that had assembled on the boardwalk over the beach was growing to the point of making circulation nearly impossible. They were drawn there by the many police cars parked in the vicinity. On the beach,several officers were patroling the area to keep curious onlookers from entering the crime scene. There was a small area by the water that was condonned off where a group of men seemed to be collecting samples of the sand. They were wearing signs that identified them as belonging to the L.A.P.D. crime lab unit. Up on the boardwalk,stories varied wildly as to what had occured here. Some said it was a terrorist plan that had gone wrong. Others believed that the couple had died at sea long ago and that their bodies had just washed ashore. And then there were those that claimed they had simply set themselves on fire as part of a sort of ritualistic suicide pact. Only one man among them suspected what had really occured. The red bandana man was hunched over the wooden banister of the boardwalk and watched the scene below with a great deal of interest. He would have liked to see the corpses to confirm his suspicion but they had allready been taken away by the time he got there. He considered asking the cops about it but dismissed the idea right away. It is doubtfull they would have volontered the information to a perfect stranger and worse,they might have suspected him of being somehow involved in this…which,in a way,he was. He plunged his hand into a pocket of his grey duster and retrieved a small crystal disk. Using the sharp edge of the disk,he cut the tip of his right index finger and squeezed it until a drop of blood fell on the crystal. Looking around to insure that no one was paying any attention to him,he then lifted it in front of him and waited.
Please God. Let it be just my imagination playing tricks on me. Let it…
The crystal started giving off a slight redish glow and his shoulders sank with the understanding that his worst fear had been confirmed. He imediatly placed his other hand over the disk before anyone else saw it and drew a hankerchief from his ohter pocket to wiped the blood off it.
She is here. There's no doubt about it now. Dear God,how could i have been so foolish as to believe she would perish on her own? What happened here is my fault…as it always was.
He looked one more time at the people around him. Young,old,men,women,all innocents…and and completly unaware of the terrible danger that now roamed in their midst.
I have to find her. I have to find her fast and do it right this time…before anyone else has to pay for my mistakes.
With that last thought in mind,he made his way off the boardwalk and entered the city to begin his search.
TO BE CONTINUED…