Chapter 2

Angel woke up , the noise was especially loud this morning . Bloody dustcarts clearing the streets trash, and the men that worked it were shouting abuse at a woman . He pulled his pillow over his head and turned from the noise. If it hadn't been daylight outside , he would have opened the window and told the lot of them where to go.

Twenty minutes later , the only sounds were coming from the busy deli above him and from everyday people going about the city. " I seriously need a sanity check up for moving here "

Angel got up and pulled his usual from the fridge and filled his mug with it. He put it in the microwave and heated it up. He ran a tap and wet his face , drying it on a towel before retrieving his pigs blood from the microwave.Post had been delivered and Angel picked it up and threw it on his bedside table. He sat on the bed and drank down the crimson fluid. Glancing at the post he picked it back up.Two letters for Mrs Rankin , the old lady that lived above the deli , one for the previous occupant , and a newspaper. He would take the post up to the rightful owner tonight before he headed out. For now he read the paper looking for unusual cases and the obituary , looking for young people that may have died suddenly or of unnatural causes. "Who knows tonight might actually keep me busy" . He finished his drink and had come up with three potential cases.

He flopped back down on the bed and picked up the poetry book he had started to read the night , or rather , the morning before. He flipped through to the last page he had read.

Because I could not stop for Death

He kindly stopped for me

The Carriage held but just Ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove , He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor , and my leisure too,

For His Civility.

We passed the School where Children strove

At Recess , in the Ring ,

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain

We passed the Setting Sun

Or rather , He passed Us

The Dews drew quivering and chill

For only Gossamer, my Gown

My Tippet ,only Tulle ,

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground

The roof was scarcely visible

The Cornice , in the Ground

Since then 'tis Centuries and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity .

Angel threw the book down and huffed. " Maybe I should invest in a t.v or something" he muttered to himself. there was a knock at the door.

"Great" he said tensely

He crossed the room and stood with his shoulder to the door.

"Who's there?"

"You don't know me , Angel , Sir, I've come to ask you a few questions"

" Are you with the police?"

"No" The guy coughed " I'm a reporter"

" Go away"

Angel backed away from the door , but could tell the man on the other side remained.

" Sir, I heard that you help people , a good samaritan if you like, I just wanna get your story , ask why you do it"

Angel laughed " You think I'm like some kind of samaritan ? "

"Yes"

" You couldn't even begin to comprehend my story . Now go away" There was a slight growl in his voice. Angel didn't mean for it to be there , but if it served to remove this annoying man from his door , so be it.

"I'll slip my card under your door, should you change your mind" the man slipped a card under the door and left.

Angel retrieved the card , looked at it and frowned. Mr Allen Fox, Reporter for Pheonix papers , New York. Angel raised his eyebrows and then popped the card in his bedside table drawer. "That broke through the boredom for five minutes " . Looking at the clock , he noticed it was still only two p.m. Only another five hours til sundown . Angel laid on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

His dream started .He would smell flowers, hear laughter and then a foggy haze that surrounded a blonde. She would be smiling ,laid in a bed . The haze would lift and she would be wrapped in a mans arms, his arms . They would start kissing , slowly the passion would overtake them and they would be making love. As they reached climax she would whisper in his ear " Forever ... thats the whole point".Angel sat up , his breathing was fast and sweat ran over his body. He got up and ran the tap, splashing the icy water over his face and torso.He turned his back to the sink and leant against it . Why did he dream that?.That was one of the things he had told her.Frustration was building inside him and that was something he had to live with and the dreams weren't helping. He glanced at the window and it was dark. Time for his nightly routine. First a trip to the morgues, then the cemetaries, then the route back through the alleys and then to Harry's bar. Then back to the apartment to be imprisoned for the daylight hours.

He took the card out of the drawer and flipped it round in his fingers. The office was on his route. No , he thought , no point going over there, it would just open up a whole big bag of no good. He shrugged on his duster and opened the door. One last look back into the apartment and he was gone.

The morgues had nothing to slay so he moved onto his first cemetary. The first fresh grave turned out to be a bust. But a vampire had crawled out of the fresh grave at the back. Luckily , Angel had been there in time for it's undead ass to crawl from the earth.

Angel still remembered the night he had crawled from his grave. He shook off the memory and continued his hunt. He had gone through all of the cemetaries and had slayed six vamps and one demon. He made his way through the city and found himself outside pheonix papers. Looking up, he noticed a light still on in one of the offices. He pulled his coat further round his chest and went in.

Allen was behind his desk , typing something on his laptop, a pen between his teeth , and then shuffling through a file on his desk. He was completely oblivious to the tall man watching him through the glass wall. Angel couldn't believe he was actually stood here. What was he going to do? Just as Angel changed his mind and was about to turn and leave , Allen looked up .

" Didn't see you there, you startled me"

" I get that alot" Angel said, no emotion in his voice. " Sorry"

" It's okay . Please join me"

" If your busy , I won't ... I can always come back"

" You would actually be saving me, this story I'm doing has kinda snowballed and is giving me a headache"

Angel walked into the office and sat down. Allen poured a coffee.

" Would you like one"

" No , thanks, but coffee makes me jittery"

Allen sat back behind his desk and cleared the file from his desk.

" What changed your mind , if you dont mind me asking?"

" I'm not sure, I was passing by here and spur of the moment , came in"

" Like I said before , I just want to ask you a few questions and run a story on the good guy that helps those in need and disappears into the night"

" I'm not sure my stories quite that cut and dry "

"So tell me , all of it."

Angel looked at the guy sat across from him. He could see the mans thirst for the truth and the curiosity that Angel had sparked in him.Allen took his voice recorder out of the drawer and put a new tape into it .

" You don't mind ?"

Angel shook his head

"What do you want to know?" Angel said , slumping into the seat. He thought it would be a long night, he may as well get comfy.