Chapter Six

A scream erupted from Kendra's lips as she awoke with a start from her dream. Shutting her mouth, she came to her senses and realized that she wasn't in any apparent danger. Quickly sitting up, the back of Kendra's head pulsated with pain. Bringing her hand to her head, Kendra felt the bandages that were wrapped around her head. She lay back down, easing the pain from her head, enabling her to think.
Kendra soon realized that she no longer wore the jacket and boots that Ms. Calendar had given her. Her shirt was also torn. Actually, the shirt had been ripped all the way around starting from under her chest. Reaching down, Kendra felt the bandages on her stomach, which covered the cut she had acquired during the fight. Funny, I didn't even realize that the vampire had scratched me. As she applied a little pressure to the wound, she realized that it wasn't a small scratch. Thankfully, the wound had already started to heal itself.
Licking her lips, Kendra noticed how her lower lip was rough and coarse, as if someone had bitten it. She then understood the warm liquid that she had tasted when she lost consciousness; it was her own blood. She must have bitten her lip while the vampire had been trying to choke her to death.
Her mind then tried to recall what had happened right before she had lost consciousness. Someone staked the vampire and I fell. My head hurt so much... then I saw someone. But who... who saved me? Could it have been Buffy? Could she be here? And what about my dream... it was so real...
Surveying the area, Kendra came faced with the fact that the place that she found herself in now wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Looking down at the bed she was resting in, her mind seemed to click with the realization that she had seen this bed before. But where?
Her acute hearing then picked up the sound of hurrying footsteps. Kendra wanted to sit up, but again found her head wracked with pain once she tried. She lay back down once more and silently waited.
There was a shadow and then, she saw him. For a second, she tensed. He looked exactly the same as she remembered him. As soon as he had entered the room, she had felt the darkness that surrounded him like an invisible cloak. She could literally sense the restrained evil that his soul tried to keep at bay. As if to mimic his obscurity, he wore black slacks and a black shirt, the top was unbuttoned, exposing some of his chest.
She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself lacking words. She quickly shut her mouth.
He spoke first; "I thought I heard you scream." Silence was his only response. "Are you okay?" Kendra gave a slight nod of her head, but remained mute.
Looking around, as if uncomfortable, he appeared to sigh before walking towards the bed. Again, Kendra tensed, as he came closer to her. As he sat on the bed, Kendra tried to sit up once more, but this time more slowly. The pain wasn't as bad, as she sat up, leaning her back and head against the wall.
He reached out to inspect the bandage around her head. The instant his hand moved towards her, she recoiled. She pulled her legs closer to her. It appeared to him as if her motions were that of discomfort. It was like she didn't want to be near him. He withdrew his hand, but still remained seated on the bed while staring at her face; there was no hint of fear or panic. Her face was merely expressionless.
"I guess you're wondering where you are and what you're doing here?" he asked slowly. Again, silence. He paused before continuing, "Well, I was walking through the cemetery and happened to see you being choked by some vampire... so... I decided to help you out." While he was giving his explanation, he hadn't been looking at her, but when he finished, he cautiously peered at her face. Her expression was blank, again. He wondered what was going through her head before hesitantly carrying on, "The reason that I brought you here... instead of bringing you to a hospital... is because before you lost consciousness, I heard... or I thought I heard... you call out my-"
"-name?" finished Kendra softly. Angel merely gave her a calculating look, however a tiny smile began to manifest upon his face. She speaks, he thought amusingly. She had not meant to say anything, but the word had just slipped out of her mouth. Kendra looked down at her hands in slight embarrassment before stating tentatively, "Thank you... for saving my life..." she paused, lifted her head and looked into his eyes, "Angel."
Kendra then wondered what in the world she was doing. Did I just thank Angelus for saving my life? He's a vampire. More than that, he's one of the most dangerous and ingenious vampires ever, her mind screamed. You don't thank them for anything. You kill them. Kendra was torn between her prejudice view on vampires and what she knew about this particular vampire whose bed she happened to be lying in at that very moment.
Angel, on the other hand, was so stunned by her gaze and sudden gratitude that he was left speechless. So she does know who I am... or at least my name, he thought. Her gaze seemed to bore into him; it was like she could see into the recesses of his soul. But, who is she? I have never laid eyes upon her before.
The silence between the two of them was almost palpable. It became intolerable for Angel so he decided to break it. He asked her the most logical question that came to mind: "Have we ever met?"
Her eyes seemed to glaze over in recognition as she recalled the first time that she had seen him. She had just arrived in Sunnydale and had felt drawn to the skating rink because she had felt a strong presence there. But what she found was Angel and Buffy kissing. She, of course, did not know that Buffy was the Slayer at that time and that he was the infamous Angelus. Buffy appeared to be so much in love with him, thought Kendra. But here, now... she probably doesn't even know him. Then, there was the whole misunderstanding when she fought him after finding him trying to hurt Willy, the Snitch, (who, in her opinion, probably deserved whatever was coming to him). I'm surprised that he wasn't much of a challenge, thought Kendra.
After a moment's hesitation, Kendra replied softly, "No. No... we have never met."
"Then how did you know my name?" asked Angel suspiciously, uncertain of how one so young could know about him. She was definitely not the Slayer, for he had recently checked upon Buffy, who happened to be fighting demons in Cleveland.
Kendra thought about this question and tried to come up with a suitable response other than the truth. "Ms. Calendar; she told me."
"Ms. Calendar?" said Angel. "She told you? For what purpose?" Angel now became highly suspicious. He thought back to when he saved her life: Angel had seen most of Kendra's fight with the large vampire that had nearly killed her. Usually, during this time, he wouldn't have interfered with a vampire killing less he be hunted down by the Master and his assassins. However, she had fought valiantly against the brute and had been able to take blows that would have probably killed a normal human being. Also, there's just something about this girl...
Before Kendra could respond to his question, Angel blurted out something that he had been lulling over in his mind since the moment that he had laid eyes upon her, "Who are you?"

* * *

Willow opened her eyes and came face to face with her alarm clock. The time was 7:00 in the morning. Rising from her bed, she groggily proceeded to the washroom to get ready for school. As she looked at herself in the mirror, Willow noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes; she had not been sleeping well in the past week.
Disrobing, Willow turned on the hot water and stepped into the shower. As the water caressed her body, she remained oblivious to the small scratch upon the base of her neck, which had not been there the previous night.
Soaping up her body, Willow's thoughts wandered to the dream that she had had the night before. Her memory was a bit hazy about the dream, but she definitely remembered how Xander had been in it. It's funny, thought Willow. Ever since that girl... what was her name again? Oh yeah, Kendra. Ever since she came by, every dream I have now involves either her or Xander. But these dreams were not like the ones that she used to have after she had learned about Xander's death. These were much more intense. But last night was the first time ever that they were both in my dream. I remember being in some sort of room and there was Xander standing next to this tall guy with brown hair. Then, Kendra was there all of a sudden. All three of them were looking at me and I wanted to run away. I was so scared. Then, Xander was holding me and telling me that everything was going to be okay... but there was something wrong... while Xander was holding me... Kendra was screaming at me to get away from him... that he was going to hurt me...
Willow shook her head and came to her senses as she realized that she couldn't remember any more. Turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, Willow wrapped a towel around her body. The last thought she had pertaining to her latest dream was dismissed as she spoke out loud, "Weird dream." She then wondered about what clothes she was going to wear to school.