An American Vampire in London, Chapter 1
Spike grabbed the nearby tramp; his vamp face showing his hunger, not caring the old man hadn't had a bath since the last century. Savagely, he buried his fangs into the tramp's neck before the other man could even clear his head from the whisky he'd been drinking and scream for help. The vein broke and the blood, the 'food' he'd been craving for ages, began to spurt down his throat. He lapped it all up, not wanting to lose a single drop. The blood was vile though, the victim was obviously dying of somedisease, but Spike didn't mind. All he cared about was to soothe the mad, pounding craving he'd had since those divs in Sunnydale had changed it so he couldn't drink blood and if he tried, his head would self-combust with the pain of trying.
Well, he thought, Now I've had that spell done I can feed all I want, when I want and who I want.
A noise in the darkness around him startled him and he dropped the now dead tramp in the alley he was in He spun around, still with his vamp face, to see who had dared disturb him during his feed, this one being special. His childe, Cameron, was staring back grinning inanely and Spike's anger rose.
'Man! It's obviously been some time since you've had some of the good stuff. Whatever did they to you, they did it good and proper. I mean, you not waiting for something a little more cleaner goes to show how desperate you were. Either that, or you couldn't get any good neck. What's wrong Spike, old age catching up on yah? If you need any help…'
Spike snarled and began to move towards the younger man, his intent clear. Cameron stepped backwards, beginning to get uneasy. He'd never seen his sire like this before. Ever. Not that he'd seen much of him but… He laughed faintly.
'Come on Spike! My old man! It was just a joke! Don't mean any harm! You know what I mean? What's a joke between friends, eh? Truce, yes?'
But the other vampire kept on closing the distance between the two. Cameron abruptly stopped, his back firmly pressed up against a wall. A big wall. He threw his arms over his face have to save the face and closed his eyes, waiting for the early death he'd brought upon himself.
A few seconds passed and nothing happened. He willed himself to open his eyes and saw that Spike was now perched on the opposite wall calmly smoking a Cuban cigar. Spike exhaled the smoke and remarked, 'These thing'll be the death of me. Oh, whoopsy! I'm already dead!' He flicked the cigar and jumped down, strolling up to Cameron. He faced him and said, 'Be glad I didn't do something or you'd've got first hand experience on why I was nicknamed Spike. You'd've pissed yourself silly. You're over that stage aren't yah?' He looked closely. 'Barely.' He began to laugh, the exhilaration that he was truly back and the blood, disgusting as it had been, passing through him pushing him on. But soon the laughter died and in its place a choking sound appeared. He slid form the wall and Spike started to claw at his throat, coughing and spluttering. The cigar fell from his fingers. Cameron moved to his sire's side, his concern clearly showing.
'Spike? What's wrong? Spike?'
'I...can't...breathe...Help...me...' He passed out.
Angel was in a bar, trying to fins someone who looked like they were in trouble. No problem there, they all look like they are. As he watched what looked to be a 14 year old being slipped a little plastic bag full of white powder. Sighing, he began to weave his way out of the joint, bumping into a group of manic, drugged up youths who glared at him. He sighed again. London was so depressing. He broke through the crowd and walked out of the bar. 1 down, 12 million to go.
He turned down a nearby alley surrounding him in darkness. The one light there had been vandalised. And anyway, he liked the dark. Suddenly, his vampiric senses told him someone or something in his case was following him. He upped his speed and the footsteps did the same. He stopped abruptly and spun round using a tai-chi move he'd learnt and kicked the assailant in the midriff. The other person doubled over in pain and Angel used this to his advantage. He grabbed the other man, now realising it was a vampire, and staked him using the branch he'd carefully broken off at the bar. Any wood worked. Pointy was best. The other vampire soon turned to dust, which scattered on the floor around Angel.
He stood for a second and walked back the way he'd come. His steps started to falter as he began to choke although he thought it wasn't possible since he didn't breathe technically. He tried to cry for help but knew he'd get none in the area he was in. As he sank to the floor in a heap, his last thought was, This job has absolutely no health benefits whatsoever, before he blacked out.