/

/

/

London, August 1995…

/

Drusilla walked along the tracks of the London Underground, in her tattered clothes. She had been to the surface to raid the medicine cabinet of the nearby doctor's office; the voices had been bothering her again.

/

Out of the corner of her eye, Drusilla spied a rat. She leapt down on the tracks, grabbed it, and bit into it.

"Okay, that's just plain disgusting," someone said, in an Irish accent

Drusilla looked up at the source of the voice. It was a twenty-something man, in a modest leather jacket and cargo pants.

"Get away from me!" Drusilla warned

"I heard rumors about a monster that lived down in the London Underground," the man continued, "At first I thought it was just a discussion of last week's Doctor Who marathon, but then they mentioned the monster's yellow eyes and fangs, I knew it had to be a vampire."

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Drusilla demanded

"My name's Doyle," the man said, "I've come to help."

Drusilla tilted her head slightly.

"Are you a demon?" she asked

"What? No!" Doyle insisted

Then a loose wire sparked behind Doyle; he was caught off-guard, and his spike-covered dark-skinned demon face appeared. He sighed, focused, and returned to being human.

"Okay, half-demon," Doyle admitted, "I'm an agent of the powers-that-be."

"What do they want with me?" Drusilla asked, "I've been good! I haven't fed from a human in years!"

"And you can keep doing that," Doyle said, "You can keep hanging around in the sewers feeding off of rats. But I'm here to offer you the chance to make something of yourself."

/

Blackwood Secondary School…

/

Doyle drove his blacked-out car near to the front of the school, where William Summers (who would later be known as Spike) sat on the stone steps, reading a book of poems. Drusilla rolled down her window and watched him, fascinated.

"Will," William's friend Ford approached him, "We're going round to Tony's later, gonna watch the football and drink beer. Are you in?"

Spike looked up, adjusting his glasses.

"Well, I'm always up for football," William replied

"Smashing," Ford said

/

William closed his book, threw on his blazer, and began to walk home, when a man in a black suit stepped in his way. He was Merrick, Spike's first Watcher.

"Spike Summers?" Merrick asked

"William Summers," William insisted

"I need to speak with you," Merrick replied

William was nervous.

"Y-you're not from Waterstone's, are you?" William stammered, "Because I meant to pay for that bookmark."

"There isn't much time," Merrick explained, "You must come with me. Your destiny awaits."

William was skeptical, but then Merrick recounted a dream that William had been having, down to the last detail, about demons and vampires, and spoke of the newfound strength and health William had been experiencing. William decided to go with him.

/

Later…
/

William was in a cemetery, fighting a vampire. Merrick had shown him some basic fight moves, which William had picked up very quickly. He was doing well, struggling a bit but finding it quite exhilarating. As soon he killed the vampire, William asked Merrick if he could do it again. Doyle and Drusilla watched this from afar.

"Blimey, he's not too bad," Doyle noted

Drusilla saw more in William than Doyle could.

"Soon he'll be in over his head," Drusilla said, "He'll get too involved with the wrong vampire."

"If that's true, he'll need all the support he can get," Doyle added

/

Doyle and Drusilla went back to the sewers, to the alcove where Drusilla lived. It was bare except for a dirty mattress, an old dirty suitcase, and some cheap drugs.

"I can feel that boy's importance, what he'll do," Drusilla said, "I want to help him."

Drusilla turned to Doyle.

"I think I'm ready to leave the sewers," Drusilla said

"Great," Doyle said, "I can help you re-enter society."

"I would very much like that," Drusilla said

"First, you need to get rid of those clothes," Doyle said, "You got anything decent to wear?"

Drusilla's eyes darted to her suitcase, which contained two Victorian-era dresses and Ms. Edith. They were the only remnants of her past that she had held onto, that she could stand to hold on to. Maybe it was time to use them for good...

/

Present day…

/

Spike was sitting in a classroom, taking one of his final exams. It was English, something that came naturally to Spike. He had a loads of famous quotes stored in his head, which were good for using in essays. Spike was enjoying it slightly, until a vampire walked into the room. Spike's senses picked up on her immediately.

"Tonight, sundown, at the graveyard, you will come to Drusilla," the vampiress said

She took off her shawl, and began to burn in the sunlight.

"You will come to Drusilla or…!"

By that time, Spike was out of his seat, and stabbed her in the heart with his stake. Vampires DID NOT belong in classrooms.

/

Later…

/

Spike was in the teacher's lounge, suiting up. Kendra was there too. She reclined on the sofa, telling him about what she had been up to in LA. In the library, Willow was going to try the Ritual of Restoration.

"...I was afraid he was going to try and take advantage of me," Kendra continued, "But I asked around, and...that wasn't the case."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about Lorne," Spike said, "It's good to know you like LA."

"I do, very much," Kendra agreed, "My work, my apartment, and…"

Spike threw on his leather coat.

"I gotta go now, but I want to hear more when I get back," Spike said, "Keep an eye on Willow, okay? If she goes too far with that spell, don't worry about me, just stop her."

"I will do that," Kendra agreed

She reached into her jacket, and took out a stake. It was twisted, yet sturdy.

"I want you to take my favorite weapon," Kendra said, "It has brought me much luck. I call it Mr. Pointy."

Spike took the stake from Kendra.

"You named your stake?" Spike asked, "You should really get yourself a stuffed animal."

/

Drusilla was in the graveyard, waiting for Spike. He advanced towards her angrily, with only one clear thought on his mind.

"Hello, Spike," Drusilla grinned

She read his mind, and knew what he was thinking.

"That's a clever trick," Drusilla said, "Thinking of a brick to avoid psychic powers. But it reveals that you're trying to hide something."

"I'm not hiding anything," Spike said

He produced a brick from his coat pocket, and threw it at Drusilla's face, breaking her nose and covering her face in blood, even breaking a few of her teeth. The pain caught Drusilla off-guard; before she could focus, Spike kicked her in the stomach, and thrust her against the wall, hitting her hard and fast. He was going to stake her, but first he had to vent some frustrations. Drusilla hadn't expected this, she thought that she and Spike would just circle each other and banter, make a few accidental innuendos, but Spike really was trying to kill her! By the time Spike had vented his frustrations, Drusilla was badly beaten. She had only one chance of getting out of this.

"I-I wonder how your f-friends are coping?" Drusilla stammered

Then Spike realized, the meeting was just a distraction, an excuse to lure Spike away from the gang.

"Oh bugger!" Spike groaned

He ran back to the Desoto.

/

Spike drove furiously back to Sunnydale high. He might just get there in time, he hadn't been gone very long.

/

The slayer skidded the car to a halt in front of the school, and ran out to the school doors. He kicked them down, and ran through the school hallway. He was close to the library, when suddenly, Snyder stepped out in front of him. Spike tried to dodge the man, but in his haste, slammed into the trophy cabinet. The cabinet fell over, trapping Spike's arm underneath it. The slayer struggled to get it free.

"Summers, you aren't supposed to be here after school hours," Snyder growled

"Snyder, please, you've got to help me!" Spike yelled, desperately trying to life the cabinet up

"Why should I? You've been nothing but trouble since you came here," Snyder sneered, "I'm going to go call the police, tell them that I found you here with intentions of vandalism!"

Snyder left to go to his office. After much pulling, Spike freed his arm and resumed running to the library. He got there, finding Oz and Willow unconscious, the latter trapped under a bookcase, and Kendra lying dead on the floor.

/

Spike walked over to Kendra's body, looking down at her. She had so much potential, and her life had barely started, but all that had gone to waste at the whim of a faceless council. Spike knew that he would have to go to LA, and tell Kendra's friends that she had been killed, all because he had failed to recognize a simple trap. The thought of breaking the news to them killed Spike a little inside.

/

Spike knelt down next to Kendra. He took out Mr. Pointy, and placed it back in Kendra's jacket. He hoped that where Kendra was going, she wouldn't need it.

"I'm so sorry," Spike sighed

'CLICK'

Spike looked up, seeing a gun being pointed at him.

"Freeze!"

/

/

/

To be continued…