A/N: Not much to say, 'cept I'm really kinda mad at the first Watcher's Guide, who said that Angel was born in 1757-and Zoey is three years younger, so she would have to be born in 1760. But because Angel was born in 1727-that screws up my whole time-line. So, I've decided to go on what I was first taught-Angel was born AS A HUMAN in 1757-not as a vampire-but, wait-he was born as a vamp in 1753. See how this has screwed me up so much? Well, I decided that this is a really good fic, so I'm keeping the dates I have in it and figuare the rest out later.
Disclaimer: Only own Zo-Raiden owns Evita, so don't sue.
~*~ I dropped the blood-drained corpse on the ground, and it hit the grassy bottom with a resounding: THUD. I looked up into the night air, that was filled with smoke and the smell of fried foods that we extremely costly. A music concert is a horrible place to be. Who was even playing tonight anyway? I walked away from my previous meal, and into the center of the nightlife. Angel told me to check up on Detective Kate or…something along those lines. I really didn't care what he said. It's always: Zoey do this, Zoey do that, Zoey-don't eat that, the same thing every single time. But tonight, like the many others, I couldn't care less about what my brother has to say. So, I forgot about the boring ass mission I had to do and decided to have a little fun of my own. Which led me here, some stupid concert, with many people-five less people actually. Sure, when I go back to Angel Investigations, I'll get an ear full of lecture-but, I deal with that all the time. Like this would be different. My foot stamped upon something squishy, ugh. Okay, never ever do this again. I looked around quickly for a large green exit sign, which I couldn't find. Oh, great, this is not fun anymore. I'd rather be stuck in the history of Rome section of the library with Evita yelling about how pompous Caesar was. It just shows you how bad this was…bad. The audience started cheering loudly, making the whole place erupt into a large roar. I clapped my hands over my vampiric ears, as I looked up at the stage to see what was going on. A man with long blonde hair walked up to the microphone. He looked extremely pale- like a vampire; but then again all Goth rock stars look pale. I watched the singer; the way he walked, you could just tell he loved every single shout from the audience. That sickened me, all this noise and smell, and this…human, is loving it. I am so going to beat the crap out of whoever it is. The singer walked up to the microphone, took in a deep breath and shouted out " I am the vampire Lestat!!!!!" He smiled broadly, taking in the cheering and shouting. No, way. My hands fell to my side and my mouth opened wide. Out of all of the concerts in America, I had to go to one with a man who believed he was a vampire. Ugh! I'll show him a real vampire. My face morphed and I felt my fangs hang slightly over my bottom lip. I began to march up towards the stage; throwing the punk rocking fans out of my way as I did so. I absolutely hate humans who try to pretend they're part of the supernatural; if he wants to be a vampire, fine with me, I've got the fangs to do it. " How many of you would be vampires?" The vamp wannabe asked, searching the crowd. I huffed in aggravation, as I passed the naïve humans dressed up like vampires. A hand suddenly planted itself on my shoulder, and I turned around quickly,wondering who would dare to get in my way. Standing calmly behind me was a man in his early twenties; tall, thin, black hair like mine. He wore simple black jeans and a black sweater. I squirmed a bit under his heavy hand. "Um, excuse me," I said in my politest form of 'get the hell off'. He laughed softly for a moment, looking down at me. That was about to send me off again when I noticed something about his eyes. Green, yeah, everybody had green eyes. But...they were waaaay too bright to be normal. Like emeralds, almost. I wondered if he wore contacts. I leaned in for a closer look. "What the hell are you?" I asked sharply, pulling back. This guy wastoo weird. His skin was pale, like mine, but kind of hard; practically like stone or something. And his face was too smooth. Fingernails like glass, eyes like fire...okay, he was cute but in a very wrong way. "I'm assuming something akin to you," he said. Smiling gently, I caught a glimpse of needle sharp fangs. "Wrong," I said. I was backing away and shaking my head. "I have no idea what you are, but you are not a vampire. Vampire groupie, maybe, but..." In a movement almost too fast to be seen (and this is me we're talking about, with supernatural vision), he lashed out and clobbered me over the head. The last thing I heard was the Vampire Lestat's annoying singing ringing in my ears as I fell into darkness. ~*~ "It was wonderful, don't you think? Oh, they love it. Every time, I tell you, they scream for more; it's like taking blood without killing them. Wonderful, marvelous, ah ha..." I groaned. The voice was too loud; Angel, be quiet, I'm trying to sleep. I rolled over...and fell off the red velvet couch flat on the floor covered with thick Oriental carpet. I was definitely not in Angel's apartment. Or mine. Or... "No, darling, you're not in Kansas anymore," a leering voice said. Thesinger from the concert was standing above me, inches from my face. "Get the hell away from me," I said hurriedly, scrambling up to my feet,ungracefully but quickly, and that's what mattered. If I had thought the black-haired guy at the concert was bad, this one was worse. I'm sure the curly blonde hair down to the shoulders might have worked back in the... "18th century, and I know, it's not terribly in style now," the guy said, grinning and gesturing gracefully for me to take a seat at the luxurious couch. I did. "How did you know...?" In long strides the well-dressed man walked across the room to a grand piano even Evita would have gaped at. He seated himself behind it and in a few seconds rippling chords of music were coming from his fingertips. Behind him, the open French doors let in a cool breeze from the ocean that rippled the gauzy silk curtains. "I can read your thoughts, little one," he said over the music as I stared at him. "They're all there, like a bubbling little stream. And it's quite interesting, you know. Definitely not mortal, you are." I shook my head, feeling almost like I was drunk. "No. I'm a vampire." The music stopped for an instant, then started up again. "That I would have to disagree with, cheri." "I am," I insisted angrily. I stood up and morphed my face, showing him my sharp teeth and yellow eyes. "Now, I don't know what you damn well think you are, or what the hell that other guy was, but I am a vampire." "Louis," the piano man called, seeming unperturbed by my outburst. "Come see what it is you dragged in." "I saw, Lestat," a voice said from across the room. I swirled around to see the black-haired man from the concert. "You again!" I said. "Okay, this is starting to kind of wig me out. I mean, who are you, what are you, why am I here, and what is the deal with the eyes and the teeth?" I stormed forward to look the Louis guy more or less in the white stone face. "And where is that accent from?" "New Orleans," he said, grinning slightly as if he were indulging me. Fine. I didn't care. I went over to Lestat at the piano. "And you? Where are you from?" "France," he said magnanimously. "And you, my dear, let's see about you. Ireland. 18th century. 1700...60, I believe. Why, we're all practically the same age, isn't that lovely." "How old are you?" Louis asked me, a slight frown on his face. This guy seemed to communicate more in expressions than anything else; just one more thing to add to the list of weirdness "When you died." "14," I said, daring him to make an issue out of it. He left the room. "Ah, Louie, Louie, Louie" Lestat grinned, showing off his teeth that were just like the other guy's. Louie, Louie, Louie…always whining-I had to listen to this for centuries! Huh, I know that was somewhere…huh. I looked up at Lestat who gave me a funny look, which he shook off quickly and went back to his point," He has interesting sentiments about children." The music became soft, darkly flowing as he turned his bright blue/violet eyes on me. "Now, Zoey Fiona O'Rouke. Tell me about yourself. I can tell already we're going to be such good friends." .
" Ugh!" I yelled in utter aggravation at Lestat. I stormed out of the room and past Louis, who, with the look in his eyes told that he didn't blame my frustration. I can tell already we're going to be such good friends- yeah right! Like I'd want to be friends with a pompous idiotic vampire like Lestat. He pretends to be a human pretending to be a vampire, my, his ego's large. I stopped dead in my tracks; back still towards the piano playing vampire. Friends- what in the hell did he mean by that? I turned around abruptly, and walked back to the piano. " What was that supposed to mean anyway? You kidnapped me, remember? I'm not going to be your friend!" Lestat looked up from the keys and gave a wicked smirk. The music followed his mood; light and sharp," Oh, come now. Why not? I assume that's what Louis had in mind when he brought you here. Isn't it?" He smiled at Louis behind me. I turned and looked at Louis menacingly," And what was with that? I mean not that I don't like the place with the…music…and all, but I do have a life. So you have better got a damned good reason." " You're not like us. I wanted to know why." He said with a patient look on his face. There was a silence between the three of us after Louis had spoken; Lestat had even stopped playing the piano. Then," Don't you love it, the way he elaborates so much?" Lestat broke the silence. " Well, at least you're not trying to kill me, like some racists I know." I sighed. Had to give them credit for that. "Racists? Pray explain." Lestat asked. " Detective Kate." I literally spat out, " My brother's…well, ex-crush. Just because her dear-old-daddy was killed by some demons on drugs- she has to blame us, so now she thinks that 'our kind' should die." Lestat raised an eyebrow," You mean humans know about you?" " Oh yeah, a bunch…well, maybe not a bunch." I said. Are humans supposed to know? Huh, well, I don't really care " More in-human than human, there's Buffy and the Scooby Gang; then there's the damned Watcher's Council. And this band of stupid street kids. I don't like them…but Angel seems to." " Who's Angel?" Lestat seemed to be doing most of the talking for Louis now. " Angel is my brother." I said sounding as if I was drunk. I wondered if they had intoxicated me while out..if that was even possible. " No, cheri." Lestat read my mind again," We didn't." " Angel." Louis spoke up, not even wanting to know what Lestat was talking about," Is he your maker, then?" " No," I looked at Louis again, eyes still gleaming. He was cute, I have to admit, very cute actually. " His…grandchilde-Spike, is. It's his form of a practical joke." " Ahh. So, we have something in common, now." The vampire singer said," I wasn't given the choice of immortality, like you. But Louis was, weren't you Louis?" " Yes, that is true. I was given the choice you were never given Lestat." Louis spat in a sicken tone, his eyes gleamed at Lestat with pure hate. Then, he turned and left the room. For good. " He does that a lot now, doesn't he?" Lestat asked me. He seemed lost in his own thought for a second, then blinked out of it. " You were saying?" He gestured with his hand, and it was plain to see that he was born during the 18th century. Lestat needed to brush up on now skills, badly." I can say the same for you, little girl." He muttered," Uh, your childhood, what was it like in Ireland, during the 1760's?" My childhood-ha! If I was asked the same question before I became a vampire, the answer would have included a Nile river of tears and ice cream. But now…" Angel was turned two weeks before my 14th birthday, and when he was, he had tried to kill me. I ran off to England to the Watcher's Council and became immortalized. When I came here, I was sired into a vampire." " Entrancing." Lestat responded," You never really had a childhood?" " According to me; I'm still having my childhood." I glared coldly at Lestat like I had at Louis when he asked my age. My stomach ached, now devoid of contents. " Hungry, are you?" Lestat said. " Yeah, I have something to eat in my purse…where's my purse?" I said angrily at the blonde vampire. " No need for panic, it's right here." He said. He held it in front of me in the blink of an eye. I opened up the black leather Gucci bag and pulled out a cup of blood. Not something I'd normally eat, but I'm really too hungry to worry about that. Lestat seemed stunned at what I was about to consume; I was too, but this is what I like to call an emergency. " You're drinking that?!" He said surprised. " Unfortunately. This is all Angel eats. Period. Sad, he used to be one of the most dangerous vampires around. Now he's all for the sake of humanity. And suddenly…I'm not hungry." I said losing my appetite. Lestat had a look of pity etched along his face. He stood up from the piano and with one simple movement, he was in front of me. Without saying a word; he led me to the French doors that stood ajar, light wind blew through the white silk curtains. I stood in front, leaning out onto the small balcony as Lestat stood behind," Dear girl, you haven't even lived out your life as a vampire. Which is why you must come with us, Louis and I. We can teach you things you never could have comprehended…we can show you the world." He spread his arm out; insinuating the vast city below. Hadn't Penn said something like this when he was in LA? That he could show me the world, away from Angel? But Louis and Lestat seemed different, like maybe they could actually keep a promise like that. I turned around and looked into Lestat's blue/grey eyes. He's a vampire pretending to be a human pretending to be a vampire, what kind of idiot is that? And plus, I'm fine where I am anyway; I don't need to go around the world. And to go around the world with vampires like Lestat and Louis? I don't think so, I'm definitely not going. ***The plane trip was nice. Of course I've ridden first class many times, but not in a plane with carpet. Lestat said that we should all pay a trip to see Armand and Daniel; friends of his, so, plane trip to Miami. When we finally arrived in Miami; we rented a boat to go out to Night Island, where Armand and Daniel were currently living. Lestat was rowing the boat as Louis and I watched the approaching island. It had a swampy air to it. Weeping Willows were the only giants, lining the coast with their swaying branches. The rest of the physical features were boggy like; but every aspect of the island was beautiful. " Beautiful, isn't it?" Louis asked me. " Yeah," I agreed. As Lestat neared the shoreline, he ran into it. Causing the whole boat to rock violently. I glared at him. He ignored me; and jumped out of the boat, Louis and I did the same. All of us stood, silent, waiting for something to happen. Then, from the distantness, a man…about 20 years old walked towards us. " Danny Boy!" Lestat greeted the guy," Where's Armand, I've got a girl I think he'd like to meet!" The guy stared at me," You're not mortal, what are you?" I wanted to rip the guy's throat out. I wanted to rip it out and tear it into little pieces. Then I thought better of it," I'm a vampire . Creature of the night. Part of the Undead. Bloodthirsty killer. Need I go on?" I snapped back. " Temper, temper." Lestat said, smiling. " Uh, okay, whatever. Um, I'm Daniel." The guy said. He sounded really out of it, like as if he had just woken up. " Armand?" Louis said, trying to get us back on track again. Poor Louis, he's the only sane one here. I can't see how his mind survived all those treacherous years with Lestat. " He's in the house." Daniel said, leading us through the brush. *** Angel sat at his desk; feet propped up and stared at the telephone. He'd called his sister's apartment three times, and left a message twice. He smiled for a moment, remembering the machine's message only Zoey would say, ' Hi, you've reached me, only five people have this number, so if you're not one of them…I want an explanation.' Angel's smile faded quickly, leaving him at the broody glare he probably had patented. Where are you Zoey? He thought. Just before Angel's mind dove into a flashback, a stack of folders slammed down on Angel's desk, causing him to whip his feet off his desk and sit up straight, alert. " Whoa, jitter boy." Cordelia said," You're way into this whole Zoey's-not-at-home-or-the-office-so-let's-break-out-the-search-birgade." Angel looked down for a second, then back at her." But she would have at least called me. I mean, I'm her brother, she's supposed to tell me everything, right? Or maybe, she just skipped town because I was being the controlling brother that she hates, and she went to search for independence-" " Stop." Cordy slammed her hands down on the desk. She then stood up, and stared Angel down," Now, take in deep, cleansing breaths…okay?" Angel just looked at her. Then he looked at the door with the backwards letters " Angel Investigations" written on it. The door swung open and revealed a Roman girl. " Hey Evita!" Cordelia waved. The immortal walked into Angel's office with a piece of paper in her hands which she handed to Angel," Here boss, I ran that license plate through the computer, and got the owner's name and address…and e-mail address." Evita paused after she finished her sentence as if waiting for something to happen. Angel looked up from the paper," What's wrong?" " It's…quiet. Shouldn't there be an Irish voice saying something like,' That way, we can e-mail the person that they've bought a car from a demonic salesman, bent on the destruction of humanity.'?" She asked. " You mean Zoey?" Cordy asked," Oh, she's been missing since this morning." Evita looked like she was going to jump up and down with excitement… then she looked at Angel," Oh…that's so…awful…to…hear." she said, choosing her words carefully. Angel's brows scrunched even further (if that's at all possible)," But, I don't get it. She would have told me if she was going to Sunnydale or something." " Maybe she was vamp-napped!" Cordy snapped her fingers with the idea. " No," Angel shook his head," If she was kidnapped by humans, she'd kill 'em, if she was kidnapped by demons…she'd… kill 'em." " That's good 'ole Zo." Evita muttered. Angel suddenly stood up from his chair," Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of waiting. Evita, check the local pubs." " Okay boss." She said as she turned and walked out of the office. " Cordelia, get on the phone with Giles. See if she's in Sunnydale. And Wesley…" He waited for a British voice to answer. " Yes Angel?" Wesley responded, coming in from the other room. " You and I are going to check the sewers."