THE RETURN OF FORREST GATES
by Soledad Cartwright
A ''Pathways in the Dark'' story.
Disclamer: Most of the characters in this story belong to their respective creators. The Nosferatu characters' names were borrowed from the Nosferatu Genealogy of White Wolf Online. I don't know a thing about them, but found the names interesting and gave the characters a background of my own.
Rating: PG - 13, for major angst
Author's notes:
1. This is basically an Angel story, but in strong connection to Kindred: The Embraced and Poltergeist - The Legacy. There are also slight hints to other series, vampiric or not.
2. Hawk is a character played by the wonderful Avery Brooks, in not only one but two detective series: 'Spenser - For Hire' and 'A Man called Hawk'. I always thought that he'd make a wonderful vampire, so I made him one.
3. In the Angel/Buffy timeline, the story starts after 'Primeval' in Buffy's season 4 and continues in my own alternate universe after the finale of Angel's season 2. Basically, in my universe, the whole Pylea storyline of Angel didn't happen; I found it very silly and replaced it with events of my own.
4. This story is part of my 'Pathways in the Dark' series, but it starts an independent arc. I only wrote it because I liked Forrest (a lot), and I was angry that Joss killed him out. Plus, he always thought of vampires and demons as wild animals, so I thought it would be fun if he wouldn't have any other chance than become one of them.
5. I've put the individual Forrest stories together, since I've finally figured out how the chaptering system works; besides, it was the more logical choice. This way I've lost some of my reviews, but everything has its price. sigh
CHAPTER ONE: BROKEN DOLL
Timeline: Summer break of 2000
It was almost sunset when Hawk arrived at the small town the humans called Sunnydale. He didn't like the idea of coming here, where the Slayer claimed territory. The girl herself was no more than any other hunter, the first one had been the real hunter, but her essence had been bound to something ancient, bound to this plain of existence. The organization which supported her preserved her knowledge from one incarnation to the next, increasing the danger which she represented. Killing her would not be sufficient to eliminate the threat of her existence.So the Camarilla simply avoided her.
The Slayer believed she knew of vampires. She ruthlessly hunted down and destroyed the Anarch and their Childer, believing that they were the sum and total of his race. The Camarilla was happy to leave her to her chosen amusement. She might even prove to be an involuntary ally against the Sabbat - not that she knew about it, of course, and without the necessary knowledge about the most vicious of the undead, she had little chance to survive, which is why most of her kind never got older than twenty.
Hawk parked his huge, elegant, snow white car outside the big, beautiful, abandoned mansion, behind one of Sunnydale's countless cemeteries. His mortal friend, a grumpy private investigator with the name of Spenser, used to call the car Hawk's 'business card'... wherever it appeared, Hawk couldn't be far. The big, black man sighed and shook his bald head. Spenser had no idea he worked together with a vampire for decades, but Hawk suspected, it wouldn't have bothered him. The human only cared for people's deeds - it didn't matter for him what colour their skin was... or what they preferred for dinner. He'd died in a shooting accident half a year ago, leaving Hawk desperately alone... and setting him free at the same time.
He'd vowed when he met this extraordinary human being, almost thirty years ago, that he wouldn't leave him as long as he needed help. Now, that Spenser was dead, Hawk didn't see any reason while he should stay in Boston. The city was much too cold for his taste... as a mortal, he used to live in New Orleans, although that was a completely different city then, in the 1820es, and he found that he wanted to live in a nice, warm place again.
He considered for a short while returning to New Orleans but decided against it. It wasn't his home anymore, and he wanted to keep the memories of his long-gone childhood intact. While he made a stop in New York, he learnt through the famous Nosferatu information web that his old friend, Angelus moved to Los Angeles and declared it his City, after having killed the unfaithful Brujah Prince who had been proven to be in secret alliance with the Sabbat. It was said that Cyrus' power struggles almost got the Camarilla Clans extinct, including his own, and the few Kindred who remained in the City were either recently Embraced or without a proper leader - or both.
Learning that Hawk had finally left the world of the Kine, the eldest and most powerful Nosferatu leaders asked him to go to the City of Angels, where his Clan was almost non-existent, after Cyrus' Lasombra priestress literally hunted them down. The few scattered neonates desperately needed a strong and capable leader, and since Hawk was able to travel among mortals - due to his considerable skills in alchemy, he could appear almost human for a rather long while -, the Elders wanted him to take things in L.A. into his hands.
Hawk didn't mind the mission. He had lived in L.A. earlier, in a beautiful hotel called the Hyperion (which was where he met Angelus the second time, after their extended studies in San Francisco by Daedalus himself), and found the city rather agreeable. Besides, he looked forward to meet Angelus again. There coursed the most incredible rumours about him in Kindred society, and Hawk would have loved to know what was true of them and what wasn't. So he said yes, and his Nosferatu brethren spread the news quickly, even before he'd have reached the outskirts of his new home city.
But before he'd have gone to Los Angeles, he needed to pay the Hellmouth a visit. There were many Nosferatu, living in the tunnels and caves under the town... and they were in grave danger. Not only because of the Slayer who wouldn't have been able to make a difference between peaceful Kindred and the Anarch - or even the Sabbat monsters -, but also because of the secret military activities that were reported in the area. The virtual information pathways of the Nosferatu were full of horrible news about experiences made on vampires and demons. The Kine obviously took an interest on the older races, and it wasn't safe for the Kindred any more to live at the Hellmouth. Hawk intended to take as many of his Clan with him to L.A. as he could.
He got out of his car and entered the once-wonderful, huge mansion, looking for the living-room where he was supposed to meet his contact. At first, he only saw huge piles of garbage in the empty, airy room, but then he detected the small, crumpled figure, melting completely into the rubbish. No one knew which generation of Clan Nosfratu Bat Child actually belonged - he was always there, as long as anyone of his brethren could remember: a short, wiry guy with bald head, large, almost bat-like ears and a face that reminded more of the snout of a bat than of a human face - which was while he got his name. But Hawk new that Bat Child was not only the most reliable source of information but also the ultimate survivor... one of the few who survived even the horrible earthquake that buried half of Sunnydale almost a century ago.
Bat Child seemed happy to see him... and eager to tell about the events of the last few years, starting with the death of the last High Master of the Order of Aurelius by the hand of the Slayer, the unexpected turning of Angelus to the Dark Side and him being sent to Hell (also by the hand of the Slayer), his even more unexpected return, the horrible Ascencion of Mayor Wilkins as the demon snake Olvikan, with the help of a rogue Slayer and his destruction that resulted the explosion of Sunnydale High.
But the more recent, more frightening stories were about the Initiative, the secret government lab with military elite units guarding it, disguised as college students; about Adam, the man-demon-machine monster that only could have been defeated by a dangerous ritual the Watcher of the Slayer celebrated with a young witch; about Adam's plan to slaughter Kine and demons and vampires equally and replace them with his own kind.
''He managed to make a few'', Bat Child explained. ''Most of them were little more than mindless machines... except of one. A young Initiative soldier whom he captured before the boy died. Surprisingly, Adam didn't replace his hearth with an uranium power core similar to his own. So he is... was... basically a human with a few demon parts and mechanical implants.''
''What happened to him?'' Hawk asked, his curiosity awaken. Bat Child shrugged.
''Well, the Slayer almost destroyed him. We found his body in the ruins of the secret Initiative lab. With Adam gone, he got his own will back... but he's dying. We removed the demon parts and the implants - now he's little more than a slab of half-dead meat. He has no real chance to survive... if not...''
''If he doesn't get Embraced'', Hawk finished for him. ''With the healing abilities of a Nosferatu and a long and painful therapy, not to mention lots and lots of alchemy, he actually could make it. The question is... would he want it?''
Bat Child shrugged again. ''We could ask... It's not that our Clan wouldn't need new neonates, you know. And he would make a beautiful Childe.''
'You want to Embrace him?'' Hawk asked.
Bat Child shook his bald little skull. ''No, I'm not strong enough to make a Childe right now. The last years were hard on all of us. The only thing I really want is to leave Sunnydale as soon as possible. But you could do it.''
''Why me?''
''You're strong and authoritive. You could earn his trust, his respect and his love. And it would be better for him to leave this place as well. L.A. is a place where people can easily disappear.''
''That's right'', Hawk agreed; then he asked.''Would you like to come with me as well? I've already found a huge underground apartment under a recently destroyed industry building. It used to be Angelus' lair but he doesn't need it anymore, since his kind prefers more... comfortable havens. There would be room for a dozen of us... and I'd like you with me.''
Bat Child looked at him in honest surprise. ''Why would you do that? I mean, even our own Clan considers me little more than a rat...''
''Because you're smart and brave and faithful... and you are a survivor.'' Hawk said. ''I need people like you if I'm to reconstruct our shattered Clan in L.A.''
If it had been possible for a vampire to blush, Bat Child would have been beet red. ''Well, if you put it that way... nothing keeps me here.''
''Good, then it's settled'', Hawk nodded. ''Now, sow me that kid: Let's see if he wants to become one of us.''
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Bat Child led him into what used to be the bedroom, in the back side of the mansion. In a corner, spread on a few more or less dirty blankets on a king-sized bed, lay a young, black guy, in his early twenties. His once beautifully shaped, well-muscled body was deformed by horrible scars, he lacked an arm under his elbow, his bald head looked like someone had had cut out his whole scalp, his skin almost gray.
Hawk examined him thoroughly, glad that he'd thought of bringing his alchemy kit from his car, then lifted a fluttering eyelid. The liquid dark eye was almost broken.
''Can you hear me, boy?'' He asked.
The lid fluttered in agreement.
''Do you know what we are?''
Another fluttering of the eyelid, then a whisper, only audible for his enhanced vampiric hearing. ''You're... vampires...''
''That's right. Can you remember what's happened to you?''
''Doesn't matter... I'm dying anyway...''
''Yes, you are.'' Hawk agreed with brutal honesty. ''Your only chance to survive is beco-ming one of us. It's a slim chance, granted, but we might be able to fix you... after your Change. A human body is too weak for such extended injuries.''
A barely audible sigh escaped the dry, torn lips of the boy.
''Then... let me die... Don't want... to become... a monster...'' Hawk shook his head, irritated. He'd already taken a liking on the boy; besides, the Clan desperately needed new Childer. He wasn't ready to give up on the boy just now.
''We're not like the Anarch vampires you know'', he said gently. ''Look at me!''
The lifeless eyes opened a bit. The boy seemed somewhat awed that he wasn't looking at a monstrous face.''
''I'm almost two centuries old'', Hawk said quietly, ''but I've never killed a human to feed. There are other ways. Most of us live in a closed society, with its own rules and laws and traditions. We're even able to walk in the sunlight for a short while. And we love and protect our own.''
''But you... drink blood...''
''Yes, we do. But nobody has to die for it. There are more... civilized ways to find nourishment. Besides, it's better to live on a liquid diet than rot under the earth, isn't it?''
The eyebrows fluttered again, in agreement. ''Why... havent you... just turned me...?'' the boy asked.
''We don't Embrace anyone without their permission'', Hawk answered grimly. ''We're no Sabbat monsters. We don't make minions, we make Childer. My friend here and I think, you'd make a wonderful Childe. But we wont take you without your agreement. Not even to save your life.''
The boy's eyes fell closed again. Bat Child became restless.
''You should make your decision quickly, kid'', he said. ''Your time's running out.''
The boy sighed, exhausted, hopeless, broken. Hawk's heart went out for him. He could be so much more than a deformed corpse, why won't he accept his only chance? What graphic tales was he told about vampires, how could he chose to just die?
A limp hand moved an inch on the blanket and touched Hawk's large, cool one. A whisper, almost inaudible, even for him, followed. ''Would you... destroy me... if I... can't... live... your ways...?''
''I promise.''
''Then... do it...''
Hawk felt the savage joy filling his slow-beating heart. After such a long time he'd finally found a perfect Childe, and he was willing! Now if he just could survive the changes the Embrace would force upon his already broken body, he could bring a new beginning to the los Angeles Nosferatu.
The former Enforcer carefully slid his big arms under the aching body of the dying boy and bent his bald head over the exposed neck. He started gently licking the sweaty, salty skin to prepare it for the Kindred Kiss... the ecstasy of blod-sharing - and the dying and rebirth.