-Title:
The Dark Root-Author:
Ludwig-Disclaimer:
Most of the characters aren't mine,yadi yadi yada…see the first part.-Type:
Angel/Buffy Crossover Event-TimeLine:
Shortly before 5x5/New Moon RisingChapter Four
After a long and fruitless patrol,Angel was returning to his office. He arrived in view of it less than half an hour before dawn but stopped at the door,still lost in his thoughts. His trek through the city had been relatively uneventfull,which,in itself,was most unusual. Rarely a night went by in L.A. when he wouldn't come across a group of vamps or a couple of demons causing mischief. But,aside from the alley incident,he hadn't seen a single creature of the night. It was as if the entire underworld population had gone silent,like animals in a forest hiding quietly at the approch of a deadly predator. And that was what worried him the most; the proverbial calm before the storm.
Suddently,he was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of a car door banging across the street. Angel turned around to see inspector Lockley walking toward him.
"All right Angel," she told him bluntly. "You got some explaning to do!"
He frowned.
"Heu…whats the problem now?"
"The problem is i come to see you and drop a case on your lap so you'll help me stop the killing…not to add to the bodycount!"
"Kate,i've been out all night stroling around town,looking for your killer. And i've seen zilch! So now i'm tired,hungry,and i'd really like to know what the hell you're talking about here?"
"Hungry eh? Well maybe you were hungry and decided to stop for a quick bite before resuming your search." she said as she took out and unfolded a piece of paper which he handed to Angel. It was a police issued sketch sheet on which was drawn a picture of his face. The vampire looked up at Kate inquisitively.
"Earlier tonight,Cindy Warner,a local working girl,was attacked by a couple of thugs and was chased all the way to an alley where she was saved by a man who seemingly came out of nowhere." She fished out a notebook and read from it. "A Johnatan Doeherty from New York City. The woman gave us a description of her attackers; yellow eyes,sharp fangs,the works. But your face is the only one she seemed to remember well. Now isen't that strange,given the fact that you dont kill humans anymore."
"Wo! Hold your horses there! I was patroling and i heard a woman's screams. So i came around to see what was going on when i was almost trampled by two vamps that were running scared from an alley. I finally found the woman in there and the guy she was with started giving me grief and told her to run from me. Before i could fully acertain the situation,your boys came along and broke up the party. I decided it'd be best not to stick around and waste any time answering questions during which the killer might have struck again."
Detective Lockley eyed him for a while,considering his explanation.
"Ok." She finaly said. "So maybe you're telling the truth. But if you were just there to help out,as you said,why did Mr. Doeherty give you any grief over it?"
Angel hesitated a moment before answering.
"I think he knew about my true nature. I was in human guise but he saw right through it and he probably thought i was after the girl too."
"And does this happen often,people you dont know who make you out to be a vamp? I mean…i've been a detective for a while now and i've known you for months but i didn't even suspect it until you accidently revealed your,shall we say,darker side to me."
"Well…there are humans who are a little more acute to that sort of thing but generaly speaking? No,its a common occurrence. And even more uncommon is two hungry vampires being terrified into retreat by a single mortal."
"What are you talking about?" she asked. "He told us that the policemen's arrival scared them away."
The vampire shook his head.
"No. It was Cindy Warner herself that fetched the police when she left us in the alley but she was still with him when i got there. And i dont think it was your's truly either because they completely ignored me when they ran by. And since miss Warner was the one initially running from them,well…that pretty much leaves us with but one possibility here."
Kate reflected on this for a moment then picked up her cell phone and dialed a number.
"Yeah,Cooper? This is Lockley here. Could you give me that address where Johnatan Doeherty said he was staying at?"
Angel couldn't quite hear the muffled answer she got but it didn't seem to be good news.
"What?" she almost yelled to her phone. "Are you certain about this?"
Another muffled response.
"Ok then. Thanks anyway and see you back at the station."
She put her phone back in her pocket.
"What is it?" Angel asked.
"Turns out our little hero of the evening is a ghost. Cooper was making a background check on his id to fill in the report but it came back a dud. And the hotel he gave us as place of residence have no guest by his name nor do they remember admiting anyone matching his description. Dammit!"
Angel shrugged and took out his keys to unlock the office door
"Well…thats that. And i'd better turn in," he said,pointing toward the eastern sky which was showing signs of the impending sunrise.
Suddenty,the young woman looked up at him.
"Hey! What if he's our killer?"
"I'm pretty certain he's not,Kate. The more i look into this,the more i'm convinced you were right from the start. That the killings on the beach where the doing of a vampire and a very old one at that."
"Old one? You mean older than you?"
"I mean thousands of years older than me!"
"And…heu…is that good or…bad?" she asked nervously."
"Usualy…?" Angel said,hesitating a moment before answering. Then he looked her right in the eyes. "Usualy thats unbelievably bad!"
Meanwhile,sitting on a bench on the other side of town,the bandana man was watching the scarlet eastern sky with a great deal of satisfaction.
Finally! I thought this blasted night would never end.
He glanced over at the pretty dark haired female vampire he had been following around discreatly for a while now. It had taken him most of the night to come across another vampire.
That's not really surprising,considering the fledglings usually make themselves scarce when she's around.
Unaware of the special attention she was getting,the woman had gone from nightclub to nightclub over the last hour. She had eventually set her sights on a young studly man which she was now luring back to her lair. The poor fellow reeked alchool and could barely walk on his own.
Obviously,the vamp had also noticed the coming dawn and was now picking up the pace. When he thought they were far enough,the man got up and walked after them. She led him to what appeared to be an old construction shed that hadn't been used in years. Still holding the drunk young man,the vamp fumbled with a set of keys and unlock the shed's door. She then got in with her meal and closed the door behind her,just moments before the sun appeared over the city.
The man walked right up to the door and waited for a short while. When he heard the muffled screams of the man inside,he smashed his foot in the door,breaking it open. The vampire whirled around with her quarry in her arms. She had allready bitten him but the kid was still very much alive and struggling to get free. When she saw the man intruding on her breakfast,she snarled and hissed at him. But after getting a better look at him,her widened and she dropped her would-be victim,backing away against the opposite wall. The young fellow,apparantly sobered up by the bite wound on his neck,crawled away from his attacker on his hands and knees and towards the man standing in the doorway. The later looked down at him and shook his head.
"You're lucky to be alive,lad." he said in a patronising voice. "Next time,lay off the sauce so you have better idea of who's taking you home after the party. Now scoot! The lady and i need to talk."
The young fellow got up and stumbled out of the shed as best he could. When he was gone,the bandana man locked his sight on the vamp cowaring in the corner. She looked franticaly around the shed,looking for another way out but the only one was behind him…and led outside,straight into the sun. The man was now advancing toward her.
" Tsk tsk tsk!" he made softly,shaking his finger at her. " That was a nasty thing you were about to do there,young one."
"Heu…this…this isen't what you think…i swear," she pleaded with him.
"Oh? So you weren't about to kill the poor lad to drain him of his blood then,eh?"
"No!" she protested. "I was just gonna…you know…give him a few love bites and then send him on his way. I swear i was."
"Well…if you swear it then i must be true." the man said in a mockingly solemn voice,still walking slowly to her. The vamp flattened herself against the wall as if to try and get away by melding in the brick and mortar.
"Tell you what,child." he offered her. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here…but in return,i want you to do something for me."
"I'll do it! I'll do anything you want! Just name it!"
"Good. Now,i noticed that you seemed to know your way around town. Been here for a while,haven't you?"
"Heum…a couple of years maybe. Why?"
"Marvelous!" he declared as he clasped his hands behind his back,still walking. "I,myself haven't crossed this part of the world for…oh…what seems like ages, and i need someone who knows all the inside stories about this city's nightlife. You know,the kind of stories that they don't include in the official tour book.
"What…kind of stories?"
"Well,i would be particularely interested to hear any stories you might know about a certain vampire i've come across since my arrival. A vampire with a soul."
The vampire blinked in disbelief
"Angel? You wanna know about the Cursed One?"
"Angel…" repeated the man as if thinking out loud. "Yes…Angel."
He stopped right in front of her.
"Now you will tell me everything you know about Angel. Where he can be found. Who his friends are." He lowered his head until their eyes where but centimeters apart. "Everything!"
As Angel crossed his office,headed towards the stairs leading to his basement,he saw that both Wesley and Cordelia were sound asleep. The former seemed to have dosed off on his chair,his head hunched backward and his mouth wide open while the later was lying on the couch in front of him. On Wesleys desk there were dozens of pieces of paper scattered around a few old books. Most of the papers bore large,yellow marker lines where they were mentioning the name of Lilith. Angel picked a few of them up to examin their content but found nothing he thought he could use at first glance. He then turned to the former watcher and gently shook his shoulder
"Wesley. Wake up,i need to talk to you."
The young man regained consiousness and looked about to get his bearings until he saw his boss.
"Oh,Angel…" he said,rubbing his eyes. "Good Lord,what time is it?"
"The sun is rising. I just want to ask you a few things and then you two can go home. I'm giving you the day off."
"Well…thats very generous of you but all i really need is a couple hour more sleep. And besides," he added in a lower voice "i wouldn't want to sleep today and wake up tomorrow in Cordelia's nightmarish vision. Unless of course you allready took care of it?"
"No such luck," the vampire answered. "Last night was quiet. Too quiet,in fact. The usual demons and vampires hangouts were all deserted. It was earie."
"Huh! Maybe they sense something different and are afraid to come out?"
"I'll give you something to be afraid of if you dont pipe down over there!" came Cordelia's voice from the couch. The two men looked at eachother and winced.
"Not a morning person,is she?!" Wesley said under his breath. Then he turned to the young woman. "Cordelia,why dont you go home and sleep in your own bed. Angel has given us the day off."
"Humph!" she threw back at him. "I supose thats the only way i'll ever get some shut-eye in this lifetime."
She got up,grabbed her coat hanging on the sofa and left the office without another word,slamming the door behind her. Angel winced again at the banging noise.
"Dont be mad at her,Angel. That vision she had last night really shook her up."
"I'll say. Did you get her to talk about?"
"Yes. Last night she described it to me in gruesome detail. I dont know if there was any meaning to it,other than the obvious 'run for your lives' message ."
"What about these?" Angel asked,pointing the the papers on the desk.
"I'm afraid it won't do us much good either. Lots of obscure tales. Lots of conflicting religious conjectures. No real hard data.The watchers council probably have more usefull documents about Lilith but i didn't even have access to them when i was in their employ so i doubt they'll just send them to us now."
Angel made a loud grunt and started pacing around the room for a while. Then,he thought of something and turned to Wesley again.
"Tell me one thing. The man,from Cordelia's vision. Did she describe him?
"As a matter of fact she did," answered the former watcher as he cleaned his glasses.
"What did he looked like?"
"Hum. From what i understand,he was a very tall,muscular chap with long black hair and wore a beard. As for clothings,well i seem to remember her saying he was naked in her vision. That was how he looked when he was young mind you because she also did said he was getting older with every step he took. But why the interest in the visual details? I cant believe that all this is anything more than symbolic in nature. The corpses in the street are obviously meant to represent imminent danger. The man was probably there only to speak Lilith's name and the fact that was aging rapidly may suggest that we have very little time to stop whatever it is she plans to do. As for him being tall,dark,handsome and,dont forget,naked,well," he added with a quirky smile "i think that says more about Cordelia than it does about the situation."
"Hmmm. There's just one tiny flaw in your analysis,Dr Freud." contered Angel. "I think i met the man of her vision last night."
Wesley looked at him in shock.
"Are you positive it was him?" he asked.
"Well he wasn't naked and nor was he growing older by the second but he did resemble the man she described. Also,i saw two vamps running scared from him so there's got to be something special about him."
The two men remained silent for a long while,both reflecting on what the other had said. It was Angel that finaly broke the silence.
"Did she say anything else about him?"
Wesley thought about it some more and then answered.
"Yes. There was something else but i dont know how relevent that is. After all it was a blurry vision and the man was walking through a carnage of sort but…she did say he had some kind of a stain on him."
"A stain?" Angel repeted.
"Yes. A noticable dark stain…stamped on his forehead."
"Huh." made the vampire as he noded to himself. He remembered that the man he had met was wearing a red bandana that covered most of his head…including his forehead.
"You know Wesley,i'm starting to think that this is all connected somehow. The strange murders on the beach,the vision,the mistery man and the sudden shyness of the demonic population around here. I getting the feeling that its all tied in to something big thats about to go down."
Wesley got up from his chair and stretched his arms. He was visibly fighting to stay awake,something Angel noticed.
"But i dont think its gonna go down in the next few hours." he added. "So why dont you follow Cordelia's exemple and get some sleep. You're no good to me if you nod off during a fight and besides,where i'm going now you can't follow."
"All right,you'll get no argument from me." Wesley said,yawning. "But where are you going exactly?"
"I'm going to see some old friends."
Chapter Five
Jordan was hurrying down the stairs leading to the lower parts of the warehouse where he had established his lair. He was again feeling the call of his new mistress. One thing was certain; this lady required attention. But then again,didn't they all. When he got to the door,he cracked it open slightly to make sure she was ready to receive him. Not that he thought for a moment she was shy or modest in any way but the young vamp didn't want to surprise her and accidently end up like poor Razor. He saw her,lying on the makeshift bed he had set up in the far end of the large room. She lifted her head at the creaking sound the door made and Jordan entered imediatly.
"You called,madam," he said respectfully.
She pointed to the three shriveled bodies piled up at the foot of her bed and rasped.
"Of course. I'll have them removed right away. But…" he hesitated a moment "…we can't get you any more right now. The sun has risen outside."
He lowered his head,suddently feeling on very shaky ground but she only rasped softly and laid back down on the bed. He breathed a short sigh of relief.
"I promise you that as soon as the sun is gone,we'll take you to a place where you can have as many of 'em as you want."
Then bowed his head and went back to the entrance.
"Hey you guys up there!" he called. "Come down. She wants to meet you."
He waited for a moment and then,a half a dozen vamps,four males and two females,loudly descended the stairs and joined him in the room. Jordan then turned back to the vampire crone.
"Gentlemen. Ladies. Allow me to introduce your new mistress; Queen Lilith. My queen," he added,waiving to the vamps "these are your loyal subjects. There are few of them right now but i assure you,that will change rapidly."
Lilith raised her head a little and rasped again. Jordan nodded and turned to the others.
"Our queen wishes me to inform you all of her great satisfaction at your being here," he said in a solemn voice "and hopes that you will serve her well. Now,bow down and salute your queen!"
All the vamps complied to the command save for one,a black male called Ricco,who defiantly stepped forward.
"So thats it?" he sneered,pointing at Lilith. "Thats your powerfull master,Jordi? Look at her. She's just an old bag of bones. What are we supposed to do with her? Put her up as a scarecrow?"
Jordan shook his head
"Ah Ricco Ricco Ricco! You're as big a fool as Razor was. He too,defied her,you know. And look what it got him."
"Bah! You probably staked good old Razor in the back yourself," spat the black vampire "and now you want us to believe that this crone killed him and that she's some ancient vampire bad ass? Well i'm not buying!"
He turned to Lilith and started walking toward her.
"Come on,oh queen BonyFace! Show me what you got!"
Lilith made a low rasp and pointed a talon at the advancing vamp. As she did,Ricco stopped and looked at his right hand,which had begun to shake. Mild at first,the convulsions quickly spread across his entire being while gaining in intensity until he was screaming in agony under the shocked gazes of the other vampires. All of a sudden,his body ripped itself apart,sending chunks of him left and right. As the chunks hit the ground,they imediatly turned to ashes and scattered across the floor. When the dust finally settled,nothing was left of Ricco. While the other vamps were all too stunned to even move,Jordan simply smiled and turned to them.
"Well,that takes care of that. Does anyone else wishes to share his concerns with the group?"
When he saw that none of the vampires even looked up to him,he clapped his hands.
"Exellent! Now listen up,boys and girls cuz we got work to do!"
Standing a the small circular room made of large stone bricks and build around a similarely shaped altar,Angel was preparing himself for a meeting with the Oracles. He not entirely convinced about the wisdom of this course of action but the vampire saw little choice. The Oracles often acted as the voice of the Powers That Be and so their knowledge was vast. He had seen Doyle perform the ritual before and had even done it himself once upon his former companion's death. Unfortunatly,the Oracles were capricious and highly unpredictable and the decision to seek their council was never to be taken lightly. But every fiber of his being was telling him that time was running out and so,clearing his mind of any further doubts,he completed the ritual and watched the shimering white doorway appear in the opposite wall.
Angel hesitated a moment then resolutly crossed the doorway and entered the Oracle's domain. On the other side,the sight that appeared before his eyes always took his breath away,in a manner of speaking. Every parcel of the place was made of pure white marble that all seemed to shine as though reflecting a powerfull light that came from within the walls themselves. In front of him the was a massive stair that climbed in the infinite sky beyond and on the stairs were the golden figures of the Oracles. With skin,hair and eyes that appeared to be made of gold,the male and female were clad in scant gloden clothing that barely covered them. The male step forth.
"We know why you have come,lower being,but this time,it may be to no avail."
Angel frowned
"What do you mean?"
"Your city,and the people in your care,are indeed in grave danger," the male continued on an even voice "but it is a danger of your own making."
"A danger of our own making? Explain yourselves!"
"Humanity has created the terrible scourge which now plagues your protectorate,warrior," the female interceded. "Through their own short sightedness,mortals gave birth to something that never should have been and it has been decreed that only they could stamp it out of existance."
"But how can you say that?" protested the vampire. "How can you blame the humans for the appearance of my kind within their midst? It was demons that spawned the vampires and unleashed them on mortals."
The Oracles shook their head
"Foolish child!" countered the male. "If that were the case,do you really believe the Powers That Be would have allowed the birth of your cursed race?"
Angel was stunned. Throughout the whole of his dark existance,he had always been convinced that the lords of hell were to be blame for the rise of his kind. The most common story was that demons,angered at being driven from the land,attacked humans at some point in the past and that this somehow resulted in the creation of vampires. But he had never considered,even for a moment,that mortals could be at fault here. Taking note of his obvious confusion,the female Oracle explained.
"You see,when this world was given to the humans for them to prosper on,it was decided that they and they alone,would be masters of their own fate. That the choices made by mortals themselves would ultimately decide their future and this decree was made into the most sacred law of the land. But many mortals chose to serve evil,as you well know. It was mortals who allowed evil to re-enter the world after it had been banished,hence,the presence of demons among them now. And while demons played a pivotal role in the coming about of your unholy kind,the final seal was placed by humanity itself."
"But i'm not asking you to fight in my place," said Angel desperately. "I only want to know who or what it is that i'm fighting."
"You allready know who your enemy is,warrior." answered the female.
"Lilith!" said the vampire.
"Aye," declared the male Oracle. "Queen Lilith has risen from her deep slumber and now hungers for the world. The other lesser evils of your city have sensed this. That is why they all lay quietly in the dark,waiting for the storm to pass…save perhaps for those the storm has allready embraced."
"Can she be stopped?" Angel asked hesitantly.
"Everything that moves can be stopped," said the female. "Every thing that is can be undone. And whats more,you allready have the tools you need at your disposal,warrior. All that is left now is for you to choose how best to use them."
"Then you have told me everything i wanted to know," said the vampire as he turned to leave. "Tonight,i will find the mother of my race…and choose to send her back to the nether pit that spawned her!"
Just as the sun was setting over Los Angeles,Cordelia was walking back to her apartement. Having been given the day off,she had slept until noon and spent the rest of the day going from one store to the next in a mad shoping frenzy. Her reasoning was that since they were all going to die anyway,she might as well leave this world in a nice new dress. And with nice new jewelry. And with a nice new hair styling. And so on and so forth. And if it turned out that they could avert the coming apocaplypse well,then she would simply charge the whole thing to Angel as payment for emotional distress. Besides,carrying four bags of beauty products also gave her a good exercise so,in her mind,there were no drawbacks to the situation. As she was coming up on her apartment building,she noticed something peculiar. The windows of her apartement were opening and closing wildly. She realised at once what was causing it.
Denis!
The ghost with she shared the apartment,formerly a child by the name of Denis,was probably behind this. He was constantly moving things around to draw her attention to him.
"All right,all right,Denis! I'm home so stop making a fuss. I promise i'll play Wija with you later tonight!" she shouted,irritated. As she did,Cordelia noticed that an old couple coming in her direction,were now staring at her. Her face went red.
"Heu…thats…my cat,Denis. He's…heu…oh, and nevermind!" she blew them off. "You folks probably talk to your brooms anyway."
As they pased her by,she fished out her keys and let herself in the building. She walked quickly to her door,eager to punish the unruly ghost with a few loud tapes of Madonna. When she was about to put the key in the hole,however,she noticed that she wasn't alone in the hallway. Someone was standing in the shadow of a broken light a little further back. Not curious in the least,the young woman opened the door as fast as she could and literaly plunged in her apartment,leaving all her precious shoping bags behind,and shut the door. When she heard footsteps approching her door,she locked it right away. Looking through the peep hole,Cordelia saw a man wearing a red bandana stop in front of her door. He was looking left and right,as if to make sure they were alone. She couldn't say for sure because of how the peep hole stretched her view of the man's face,but he seemed oddly familiar to her.
"Listen you creep," she yelled to him. "I like my blood fine the way it is; in my veins. So you better make yourself scarce on the double cuz i got a stake in here and i'm not afraid to use it."
Without warning,the door slammed open,sending Cordelia sprawling to the floor.
"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone or rather…for something else,miss Chase." noted the man as he entered.
The young woman got up and broke for the bath room,the only other door of the place with a lock on it. But the man quickly drew a large bowie knife and send it flying in her direction. The blade caught the trailing end of her long dress and embeded itself in the adjacent wall up to the hilt,stoping her dead in her tracks. The man then closed the door behind him and walked to her.
"We really dont have time for this,miss Chase," said the man with autority. "I'm looking for your vampire friend,Angel,and i was told you knew where to find him!"
Cordelia was franticaly trying to remove the knife holding her in place to no avail. The man stopped beside her and reached for the blade handle. But then,the grey duster he wore,seemingly posessed with a life of its own,flew over his back and wrapped itself around its owner's head and upper body. Cordelia recognized Denis's handywork there and silently thanked the spirit. As the man struggled,she gave a violent tug on her dress,ripping it free. She imediatly grabbed a nearby chair,lifted it above her head and smashed it on her assailent's back. The man made a loud grunt and fell down on his stomach. Seeing there her chance to flee,Cordelia made a run for it but suddently felt his iron grip around her ankle,sending her once again to the apartement floor.
The bandana man finally freed himself from his garment and painfully tightened his hold on her leg,making her wince. She decided to make one more desperate attempt to get away. Swiftly twisting her body so that her back would be on floor,she drew her free leg back and kicked him in the face as hard as she could. His head reeled backward and the bandana fell at his side but he didn't let go of her ankle. Cordelia was about to kick again when she saw on his uncovered forehead the same mark that had been worn by the naked man of her vision.
Suddently,her mind was assaulted with a serie of furiously flashing images. The images depicted the bandana man along with another,younger man in some sort of a field,their only piece of clothing concisting of an animal skin loincloth. The younger man was kneeling in the field while the bandana man was savagely beating him over the head with a large rock,sending streaks of blood in the dirt with every bone-crushing blow. Then,the images shifted to a scene where the murderer was burrying his victim in the field,covering up the body in dirt using his blood soaked hands. The scene changed again. Now,the man was standing in a plain under a gathering storm. A bolt of lightning fell down from the sky and struck him on the forehead,leaving a mark resembling a dark blood stain. The man touched his forehead and fled the plain,screaming his anguish.
Finally,the images left her mind and Cordelia was back in her apartement. She saw the man standing over her,his head once again covered with the red bandana. As he looked at her,she could read the concern in his eyes. But the whole experience had been too much for the young woman and she quickly lost conciousness. The last thing she saw,before her sight was drowned in darkness,was the man reaching down to her.
TO BE CONTINUED…