This takes place at the beginning of the first season of Angel, which is
the fourth season of Buffy, and is between the second and third episodes of
each show.
DISCLAIMER: This story is put on this site with the consent of the writer. DO NOT use this material unless you have her consent. The "Buffy" and "Angel" characters and settings are property of Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy. This story is FAN FICTION; I am not profiting from their use. All new characters and settings have been born from my imagination.
Light in her eyes woke Bridge from a daze only to find herself being chained up by Buffy at the mansion.
"Wh…what's going on? Buffy?"
"How about I ask you the questions here Miss I-don't-hurt-anyone. Like for starters, you want to tell us all why I found you snacking on the populous?"
Bridge looked past Buffy to see that everyone but Angel, Doyle and Ghost, and they were all staring right at her.
"I was biting people? I don't…" But things started to come to her, things that weren't just from these past few nights, but from the last two hundred years of her existence.
"Oh God…"
"Ya, I'm not sure he's going to want to help you." Xander sneered from the corner.
"Xander…" Willow stepped in.
"Hold it!" Buffy demanded. "Let's not start a squabble. Bridge has some explaining to do."
"Yes, she certainly does." Giles added.
"I know I do…" Bridge said in a whimper.
"So explain." Oz said soothingly. He sensed they had very similar life stories.
Bridge nodded trying to wipe a tear from her eye and began. "I was attacked by…a vampire, about two hundred years ago, and ended up like this, that much you know. But what I didn't explain was that a friend of my family's found me at the brink of death. He turned out to be a sorcerer. He used some kind of spell to turn me into…this. I remember now, it has something to do with a magickal touch…but apparently there are…side effects to it-----"
"Ya, I'll say." Buffy interrupted.
"Wait. What do you mean side effects?" Willow asked, "You mean you didn't want to kill those people?"
"Of course not!" Bridge shouted. Her face changed for a split second before relaxing. "No…it…it has to be something to do with the full moon."
"Been there." Oz commented.
"Wait…no…not every full moon, just some of them…it would have been easier for me to remember the attacks if they happened that often…"
"Once in a blue moon." Giles mumbled from his chair.
"What?" Buffy asked frowning and turning to him.
"Hmm? Oh! It's terms to a spell I once discovered in my studies as Watcher. Those who the spell is cast on will have the advantages of the race or races within their blood, but must also offer sacrifices, when there is a second full moon in a single month----that would be the 'Once in a Blue Moon' bit----to Losatal, the demon that wrote the spell. If the subject refuses, then Losatal has his ways…mind control is most likely one of them."
"So Bridge has been used by Losatal to satisfy himself without her knowing?" Buffy summed up for the studio audience.
"Uh…yes."
"Oh God…" Bridge shuddered. "All those people…I can remember every single face…"
*Remembering every single person she killed.* Xander thought. *Sounds familiar.*
"Giles…" Bridge went on, "the spell…it's called The Touch of Losatal, right?"
Giles nodded.
"Gregory…the family friend…I remember, he told me about some if it and began teaching me magick…but then he was killed by a-a-another vampire…and he never told me…" she choked back a scream, but tears started to flow down her face. "Giles…what happens if I stay chained up and I don't satisfy Losatal's hunger?"
Giles was very hesitant to answer.
"Giles?" Willow prodded.
"If she doesn't satisfy Losatal tonight, the last night of the full moon, Losatal will take her life at sunrise."
Xander, who had regretted his harsh words the moment he had said them before, now went to Bridge. But she jerked away from his embrace.
"STAY AWAY!" she screamed between sobs. "I don't want to hurt anyone." She broke down completely, "I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't wanna hurt anybody…"
* * * * *
Xander stood near Bridge and listened to the others talk.
"Isn't there something we can do to help her Giles? Can't we use some kind of spell to free her from her debt to Losatal?" Willow didn't want to lose anyone else she cared about.
"There may be one that could work." Giles replied in thought.
"Like what?" Buffy asked. "Speak up Giles, we may not have much time."
"Simply removing the Touch would take back the life given to her. Meaning she would die. But I believe there is a spell in which another person or persons can take her burden for their own."
"You mean we'd have to sacrifice to Losatal?" Willow asked.
"But that just leaves us back at square one." Buffy pointed out.
"Oh!" Willow jumped with an idea, "What if we gave the burden to a vampire and then just, poof!"
"I'm afraid those who carry the burden are invulnerable. And those taking the burden through this spell, must also care for her for it to work." Giles explained solemnly. "However, modifications could be made to the spell, so that the result of taking the burden would not end with us having to kill people to feed Losatal."
"So what would the result be?" Oz asked, holding Willow's hand tightly in comfort.
"I believe if we were to send our love and caring for Bridgette through her to Losatal, that its manifestation would…" Giles realized his technical explanation would never be understood by this group of youth, so he went in another direction before it was too late. "Feeding Losatal our feelings for Bridgette would fair similar to giving one who was allergic to nuts a peanut butter sandwich, therefore should, in theory…put him off it."
"So he'd release Bridge…willingly…and that won't get her killed?" Willow asked.
"Precisely." Giles smiled at himself for dodging that bullet.
Just then Doyle rushed in, out of breath. It took him a moment to notice the chained and whimpering Bridge.
"What's going on here?" he rasped between breaths, "We leave you lot alone overnight and ya lock up Angel's…new employee?"
"She has issues." Oz told him sadly.
"Come again?"
"Giles could you and Xander please stay here with her and explain things to the Irishman? As bad as the timing is, we three students have to make an appearance in Walsh's class." Buffy pleaded.
"If she misses another class this week, she's done for." Willow added.
"It'll only be an hour and we'll stop at the Magick Shop right after."
"Whoa, hold on there, Blondie." Doyle interrupted. "I've gotta tell ya somthin' before ya take off."
"Didn't things go well with the shrine?" Giles asked.
"No, that went down fine. No, the problem is somewhere else."
"And that would be?" Buffy prodded, annoyed.
"The vampire department." Doyle replied quickly. "They're coming out of the waterworks----well, they will be when the sun goes down----"
"Doyle! Get to the point. Where's Angel?"
"He's underground fightin' em' as we speak."
"Which explains why you're HERE." Xander snapped.
"Hey, he asked me to warn you guys. He thinks they're being attracted to something. I think it must be on this side of town, cuz it wasn't till I got to the end of the sewers that they stopped chasing me."
"They're looking for me." Bridge's voice came from her corner. "They want to serve Losatal, to benefit from his evil."
"Losatal?" Doyle inquired.
"Giles, fill him in, please." Buffy said getting up.
"We have to book." Oz and Willow slowly followed her lead. "I'll go hunting after class."
"Giles do you have a list of items needed for your spell?" Willow asked. "I can go to the shop."
"I'm afraid I don't know everything by heart, and altering the spells requires the books----"
"I could get them from your place right now." Oz offered.
Willow silently protested but Oz insisted. "I'll be right behind you ladies."
"Hurry." Came Xander's voice. He had been able to calm Bridge enough to hold her.
"We're gone." Buffy said. And they were.
Giles watched Bridge with concern for a moment before Doyle broke his train of thought.
"So would ya mind telling me what's going on with my new friend there?"
DISCLAIMER: This story is put on this site with the consent of the writer. DO NOT use this material unless you have her consent. The "Buffy" and "Angel" characters and settings are property of Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy. This story is FAN FICTION; I am not profiting from their use. All new characters and settings have been born from my imagination.
Light in her eyes woke Bridge from a daze only to find herself being chained up by Buffy at the mansion.
"Wh…what's going on? Buffy?"
"How about I ask you the questions here Miss I-don't-hurt-anyone. Like for starters, you want to tell us all why I found you snacking on the populous?"
Bridge looked past Buffy to see that everyone but Angel, Doyle and Ghost, and they were all staring right at her.
"I was biting people? I don't…" But things started to come to her, things that weren't just from these past few nights, but from the last two hundred years of her existence.
"Oh God…"
"Ya, I'm not sure he's going to want to help you." Xander sneered from the corner.
"Xander…" Willow stepped in.
"Hold it!" Buffy demanded. "Let's not start a squabble. Bridge has some explaining to do."
"Yes, she certainly does." Giles added.
"I know I do…" Bridge said in a whimper.
"So explain." Oz said soothingly. He sensed they had very similar life stories.
Bridge nodded trying to wipe a tear from her eye and began. "I was attacked by…a vampire, about two hundred years ago, and ended up like this, that much you know. But what I didn't explain was that a friend of my family's found me at the brink of death. He turned out to be a sorcerer. He used some kind of spell to turn me into…this. I remember now, it has something to do with a magickal touch…but apparently there are…side effects to it-----"
"Ya, I'll say." Buffy interrupted.
"Wait. What do you mean side effects?" Willow asked, "You mean you didn't want to kill those people?"
"Of course not!" Bridge shouted. Her face changed for a split second before relaxing. "No…it…it has to be something to do with the full moon."
"Been there." Oz commented.
"Wait…no…not every full moon, just some of them…it would have been easier for me to remember the attacks if they happened that often…"
"Once in a blue moon." Giles mumbled from his chair.
"What?" Buffy asked frowning and turning to him.
"Hmm? Oh! It's terms to a spell I once discovered in my studies as Watcher. Those who the spell is cast on will have the advantages of the race or races within their blood, but must also offer sacrifices, when there is a second full moon in a single month----that would be the 'Once in a Blue Moon' bit----to Losatal, the demon that wrote the spell. If the subject refuses, then Losatal has his ways…mind control is most likely one of them."
"So Bridge has been used by Losatal to satisfy himself without her knowing?" Buffy summed up for the studio audience.
"Uh…yes."
"Oh God…" Bridge shuddered. "All those people…I can remember every single face…"
*Remembering every single person she killed.* Xander thought. *Sounds familiar.*
"Giles…" Bridge went on, "the spell…it's called The Touch of Losatal, right?"
Giles nodded.
"Gregory…the family friend…I remember, he told me about some if it and began teaching me magick…but then he was killed by a-a-another vampire…and he never told me…" she choked back a scream, but tears started to flow down her face. "Giles…what happens if I stay chained up and I don't satisfy Losatal's hunger?"
Giles was very hesitant to answer.
"Giles?" Willow prodded.
"If she doesn't satisfy Losatal tonight, the last night of the full moon, Losatal will take her life at sunrise."
Xander, who had regretted his harsh words the moment he had said them before, now went to Bridge. But she jerked away from his embrace.
"STAY AWAY!" she screamed between sobs. "I don't want to hurt anyone." She broke down completely, "I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't wanna hurt anybody…"
* * * * *
Xander stood near Bridge and listened to the others talk.
"Isn't there something we can do to help her Giles? Can't we use some kind of spell to free her from her debt to Losatal?" Willow didn't want to lose anyone else she cared about.
"There may be one that could work." Giles replied in thought.
"Like what?" Buffy asked. "Speak up Giles, we may not have much time."
"Simply removing the Touch would take back the life given to her. Meaning she would die. But I believe there is a spell in which another person or persons can take her burden for their own."
"You mean we'd have to sacrifice to Losatal?" Willow asked.
"But that just leaves us back at square one." Buffy pointed out.
"Oh!" Willow jumped with an idea, "What if we gave the burden to a vampire and then just, poof!"
"I'm afraid those who carry the burden are invulnerable. And those taking the burden through this spell, must also care for her for it to work." Giles explained solemnly. "However, modifications could be made to the spell, so that the result of taking the burden would not end with us having to kill people to feed Losatal."
"So what would the result be?" Oz asked, holding Willow's hand tightly in comfort.
"I believe if we were to send our love and caring for Bridgette through her to Losatal, that its manifestation would…" Giles realized his technical explanation would never be understood by this group of youth, so he went in another direction before it was too late. "Feeding Losatal our feelings for Bridgette would fair similar to giving one who was allergic to nuts a peanut butter sandwich, therefore should, in theory…put him off it."
"So he'd release Bridge…willingly…and that won't get her killed?" Willow asked.
"Precisely." Giles smiled at himself for dodging that bullet.
Just then Doyle rushed in, out of breath. It took him a moment to notice the chained and whimpering Bridge.
"What's going on here?" he rasped between breaths, "We leave you lot alone overnight and ya lock up Angel's…new employee?"
"She has issues." Oz told him sadly.
"Come again?"
"Giles could you and Xander please stay here with her and explain things to the Irishman? As bad as the timing is, we three students have to make an appearance in Walsh's class." Buffy pleaded.
"If she misses another class this week, she's done for." Willow added.
"It'll only be an hour and we'll stop at the Magick Shop right after."
"Whoa, hold on there, Blondie." Doyle interrupted. "I've gotta tell ya somthin' before ya take off."
"Didn't things go well with the shrine?" Giles asked.
"No, that went down fine. No, the problem is somewhere else."
"And that would be?" Buffy prodded, annoyed.
"The vampire department." Doyle replied quickly. "They're coming out of the waterworks----well, they will be when the sun goes down----"
"Doyle! Get to the point. Where's Angel?"
"He's underground fightin' em' as we speak."
"Which explains why you're HERE." Xander snapped.
"Hey, he asked me to warn you guys. He thinks they're being attracted to something. I think it must be on this side of town, cuz it wasn't till I got to the end of the sewers that they stopped chasing me."
"They're looking for me." Bridge's voice came from her corner. "They want to serve Losatal, to benefit from his evil."
"Losatal?" Doyle inquired.
"Giles, fill him in, please." Buffy said getting up.
"We have to book." Oz and Willow slowly followed her lead. "I'll go hunting after class."
"Giles do you have a list of items needed for your spell?" Willow asked. "I can go to the shop."
"I'm afraid I don't know everything by heart, and altering the spells requires the books----"
"I could get them from your place right now." Oz offered.
Willow silently protested but Oz insisted. "I'll be right behind you ladies."
"Hurry." Came Xander's voice. He had been able to calm Bridge enough to hold her.
"We're gone." Buffy said. And they were.
Giles watched Bridge with concern for a moment before Doyle broke his train of thought.
"So would ya mind telling me what's going on with my new friend there?"