Chapter Three: Chasing Ghosts
A.N. So...here's the update. Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think. The next chapter'll be out either the end of this week or the beginning of next week. :)
Nearly 500 years later . . . 2010
Angel sat on a box in the alley just north of the ruins of the Hyperion Hotel. It was six years today that he'd stood in the rain in this alleyway with Spike, Gunn, and Illyria as they fought Wolfram & Hart's army of demons and other creatures.
Gunn and Illyria were dead – neither had lasted very long in the fight. Of course, Wesley was dead even before the alley fight had begun. Angel and Spike toughed it out – barely. Wolfram & Hart was gone for good.
Of course afterward Spike had gone in search of Buffy. Angel hadn't even fought him on it. Or followed him. What he'd had with Buffy was long over. Last he'd heard, Buffy and Spike – along with the other Scoobies – were running Watcher/Slayer schools all over the U.S. and Europe.
Angel mostly kept to himself these days. He'd lost everyone he'd ever cared about and he didn't want to go through that again. So . . . he traveled the country, helping the helpless, stopping apocalypses when he came to them. Every year on this day though, he'd come back to the alley north of the Hyperion and reflect.
Tonight was no exception.
As the moon shone overhead, Angel found himself thinking about someone he had not thought of in centuries.
His Katerina.
She was long dead and he'd only spent a night with her when he was nineteen. . . but she haunted his thoughts more and more.
If he had arrived sooner to Bulgaria could he have saved her? No, he should have never left her at all. He should have waited until she woke up, proposed, and brought her back to Ireland with him.
He ran his hands though his spiked hair and decided it was time to pay a visit to the falls in Bulgaria where they'd spent the night together. He figured a boat would be easier to hide from the sun than a plane.
He got into his old GTX convertible and started traveling toward the East Coast. He travelled at night, slept during the day. He made relatively good time, arriving in Virginia three nights later. He looked at the moon which was starting to descend in the sky. He stopped in a small town called Mystic Falls to sleep for the day.
He paid for a motel room for two nights. With a few hours left until sunrise, he decided to hit the local bar for a couple of drinks. He pulled his car up to the Mystic Grill right around one in the morning.
Going in, he sat at the bar and ordered a strong drink. It was relatively quiet with just few patrons left. Nothing out of the ordinary. The bartender set a glass in front of Angel and Angel nodded in thanks. The bartender walked away and Angel was about to take a drink – He heard two people walk into the bar. Instantly, his senses went on alert:
One of the two people was a vampire.
Angel downed his drink in one gulp. He didn't turn around. The human with the vampire wasn't giving off any fear. He tuned his ear to listen to their conversation:
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to the Boarding House?"
"No . . .Damon'll be there. Right now I just want it to be you and me. No Damon, no John. Just us."
The second voice – the female, the non-vampire. It was so familiar.
"Okay."
Angel nonchalantly turned around to sneak a peak at the duo . . . and nearly dropped in his seat. The girl looked identical to Katerina and for a moment Angel thought he was back in Bulgaria in the 1400s. How could this human girl look exactly like somone who died 500 years ago? It both intrigued and confused him. And it didn't appear as if the vampire wanted to attack his human companion at all.
Actually, they appeared to be a normal human couple – sitting in a booth, the girl leaning her back against the boy's chest. The boy's arms were wrapped around her shoulders and he kissed the top of her chestnut hair.
Seeing the two of them put images of the night he'd spent with Katerina in his mind. He'd held her just like that all night.
Shaking his head, he put the images away. No sense thinking about something five hundred years in the past. Katerina was long dead. The bartender walked by and Angel ordered another drink. It had to just be a coicidence that this human girl looked so much alike to his long-lost love.
The bartender put Angel's second drink down in front of him. Angel's sensitive ears picked up more conversation between the human girl and her vampire companion.
"Can you promise me something, Stefan?" the girl said.
"What's that?"The vampire, Stefan, said.
"Promise me that no matter what happens, we won't let it get between us again."The girl said. Angel frowned when he heard her sniffle.
"Hey,"Stefan said. "Look at me." The girl shifted. "I promise you, Elena, that no matter what happens I will never stop loving you and I will never let anyone hurt you."
"Even my birth parents?" The girl – Elena – said.
"Especially them," Stefan said.
Angel was confused by this vampire's actions. He only knew of a few vampires who opposed their nature – himself included. And that was usually because of some extreme circumstance – a soul, for example. Or a government-issue electonic microchip. Actually, he'd never met any normal vampire who displayed behavior like the one in this restaurant tonight.
Unless they did it as an act to get their 'companion' to relax so they were easier to attack.
Angel decided he'd stick around these two to make sure the girl was safe. She looked like Katerina and he couldn't just let a vampire kill or. Or worse – turn her. He didn't think he could stomach to see this girl, Elena, dead.
His mind would go to too many questions . . .was that how Katerina had died? Or . . . did she suffer? Or . . . did she think of him as she died?
A few hours later he heard Stefan ask the waiter for a check. Figuring that was his cue, Angel threw a couple of dollars on the bar and finished his drink. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Stefan picked up a sleeping Elena and carry her out the door.
A few seconds after they left, Angel followed them out the door. He pretended to be a stumbling drunk in case Stefan noticed him. Stefan opened the door to the classic red porsche and set Elena in the passenger seat. He even put her seatbelt on. Then Stefan got in on the otherside and drove off.
Angel jumped into his own car and followed the red car. He hung back as the car pulled up in the driveway of a normal looking house.
Stefan got out of the car and went to the other side. Elena was partially awake and Stefan guided the girl – one of his hands loose around her waist – up to the house. She handed her keys over to Stefan who unlocked and opened the door and . . . the two of them went in.
Angel raised an eyebrow. The vampire had been invited in. He tuned his ear and heard four other heartbeats besides Elena's. The girl was knowingly letting a vampire enter her house that was full of people Angel assumed to be her family – while she was half-asleep no less.
Angel didn't know what to believe. His ears heard Stefan and Elena whisper to each other.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Stefan whispered. "Or the offer still stands to come back to the Boarding House."
Elena sighed."Yeah . . . John might do something he'll regret. And Jenna usually doesn't care if you spend the night but its going to be a rough morning the way it is with John."
"Point taken," Stefan said.
"Ugh . . . but I wish you could. I could really use some boyfriend-snuggle time," Elena said. "And we still have lots of time to make up for . . ."
"Yes, we do ," Stefan said, sighing.
"See you tomorrow?" Elena said.
"Definitely," Stefan said. "Love you."
"Love you too," Elena said.
Back outside, Angel drove off. He was confused by Stefan's restraint but also convinced there would be no vampire attacks that night. He went back to the hotel, making it inside the room just minutes before the sun rose.
While he slept he dreamt of his Katerina – of their last night together. He held Katerina in his arms, watching her sleep. The sun would be up soon and he needed to leave. His father would be expecting him as soon as possible. He wanted to say goodbye to her . . . but she was so peaceful when she slept.
But . . . when he looked down Katerina was wearing different clothes. Strange clothes . . . a worn black dress – which was very short and very modern looking. She was covered in dirt and her skin was decayed. Around her neck was a necklace with a blue stone and a silver-shaped cameo head. Then it was as if he were watching her from a distance. She was lying on the ground, her head resting awkwardly against the stone of the tomb around her.
Angel awoke with a start, sitting up on the uncomfortable hotel bed. He panted though his heart did not beat. He glanced over at the clock on the bedside table – 6:39 pm. The sun was long gone for the day. He needed to investigate this town, make sure ther weren't any other vampire in town.
He shrugged on his duster, grabbing his car keys. He opened the door and jumped in his car, starting the engine.
His first step was city hall. He needed a little bit of information on this town. Maybe it would lead him to the girl who looked like Katerina. Maybe it would help him figure out why there were vampire in town.
He parked his car in the city hall parking lot and jumped out. He walked up to the door and went in. As soon as he was inside the lobby one of his questions was answered.
Around the waiting area were large portraits of five different families. He scanned the names – Lockwood, Fell, Salvatore, Forbes, Gilbert . . .
And there she was in the Gilbert portrait with Grayson, John, Miranda, and Jeremy. So that was her name . . . Elena Gilbert. He wondered who the families were pictures of them in City Hall. Angel walked up to the desk.
"Can I help you?" The secretary behind the desk said to him, eyeing him up and down.
"Yes . . ." Angel said. "I'm new in town and I was just wondering . . ." He turned and pointed to the portraits. "Who are these families on the wall?"
"Oh," The secretary chuckled a little. "Those are the Founding Families. Their ancestors came over on the Mayflower and founded Mystic Falls back in 1860. To this day those families run this town and preserve the history."
"Really," Angel said.
"Very much so," The secretary nodded. "Mr. Lockwood was the mayor before he died and now his wife is the active mayor. Mrs. Forbes is the sherriff and her daughter helps with all the committees in town. The Fells have always run the news station. Now the Salvatores have disappeared in and out over the last hundred yers . . . but now Zach's nephews are in town. The older one helps Mayor Lockwood and Sherriff Forbes on occasion with town businesss. The younger one's still in school."
"What about the Gilbert's?" Angel said.
The secretary's face turned grim. "Such a tragic family. A few months back Dr. Gilbert and his wife Miranda and their daughter Elena were in a terrible car accident. The daughter was okay but her parents didn't make it. Miranda's sister takes care of Elena and her brother now."
"Who's the other guy in the picture?" Angel said.
"That's Dr. Gilbert's younger brother, John. He just returned to town a couple of days ago. He's always been in and out over the years. You know, I think the younger Salvatore is dating the Gilbert girl."
"Thank you for the information," Angel said.
"You're very welcome. I hope you like it in Mystic Falls," the secretary smiled.
"I'm sure I will," Angel turned to walk out. He got all the information he needed. He got into his car and drove off.
The girl that looked like Katerina was a Gilbert. It just didn't seem possible. Katerina's entire family had been murdered, including Katerina herself. Although . . . they'd never found her body. Had she escaped and lived on? It angered Angel to think of her marrying another man and bearing his children and grandchildren and so on.
But . . . as much as he was angry at the thought, it overjoyed him to think of her happy and living a full life. He just wondered how her descendants came to be in Virginia.
As he pulled out of the city hall parking lot, he saw a blue classic car tear out of the Mystic Grill parking lot and drive off. Intrigued, Angel followed the car out of town and into the woods. The blue car stopped in a clearing and a man got out.
Correction . . . vampire.
Angel could smell it from where he was. The vampire was tall with dark hair. He wore blue jeans and a dark denim jacket. From what Angel could tell he was about 150 or more years old.
The vampire stalked through the woods. Angel hung back far enough so the other vampire wouldn't know he was there.
Angel raised his eyebrow as the vampire walked up to the other people – one vampire and many other werewolves.
". . . Tyler's free to make his own decisions . . . as soon as you release Caroline." Angel recognized the voice of Elena's boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore.
"My brother, the peacemaker." The dark haired vampire Angel had followed walked up to the group. "Since Stefan got here first I'm going to let him try it his way before I resort to my my way. Which . . . is a little bloodier. So . . . give us Caroline."
Not wanting to intervene, Angel took off. He now knew that both Stefan and his brother were vampires, there were werewolves in town, and neither got along with the other.
He left the woods, hopped in his car, and headed to the cemetery to do a bit of patrolling before the sun came up. While in the cemetery he found the graves of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert.
On his way back to the hotel, he saw someone familiar: it was John Gilbert – Elena's uncle from the Gilbert portrait in City Hall. John was walking throught the forest with a flashlight in his hand. He walked down a set of stone steps near the ruins of what looked like an old stone church.
Curious, Angel waited a moment before following him down the steps. He stopped just out of sight.
". . . I know you're expecting someone else." John was saying. Who was he talking to though?
"I sent Stefan to find Isobel," It sounded like Elena. Why was Elena meeting her uncle in an old underground tomb? And who was Isobel?
"She got your message," John said. "She's busy so she sent me instead."
"Does Stefan know that you're here right now?" Elena said.
"No," John said. "No one does. This is between you, me, and Isobel."
"I want out of this tomb, John."
"I'm already on it."
Angel hid behind a rock as John left back up the stairs and back to his car. Expecting Elena to walk out too, Angel wanted to leave until she did.
No one did, though. In fact, there was something off about Elena's scent.
"Whoever is there . . . I can smell you . . ." Elena shouted.
Had Angel missed somethinig when he'd seen her earlier? Was Elena Gilbert a vampire too?
"I'm talking, here. And not just to myself," Elena shouted.
Figuring the game was up, Angel stepped into view . . . Elena was dressed in the same outfit – black dress, blue necklace, bare feet – that he'd dreamt about. Even the dirt. What was that about? She stood at the entrance to the tomb, holding on to the wall.
When they locked eyes, she held her breath. "Liam . . ." She whispered.
It was then that Angel knew she couldn't be Elena.
To Be Continued . . .
