Disclaimer: See previous
Spoilers: This was written about half way through season one ATS, so anything prior to that.
Rating: Okay, here's where I get a little graphic. So I'll give it NC 17 for violent content

Chapter 8

Buffy and Angel stood in front of the apartment building, staring up at the 13th floor. They'd almost burst their stomachs laughing when they found out that he lived in room 666, floor 13 on Devil's Road. The originality was disturbing. So there they were, the two of them, preparing to slay this blood-mage and his three friends. Buffy had been a little apprehensive about killing humans, but her mind had been put to rest when Angel told her his 'friends' were actually minor demons.
"In that case, you can have Timothy, and I can have his friends." She'd said, grinning.
"Sounds like a deal to me. But if they get too fun, dust them." He'd warned her. "I don't want you uselessly hurt." Buffy had nodded her agreement.
"Shall we?" She asked now, shifting from foot to foot.
"After you, my lady." Angel said, sweeping her forward. She walked forward, and opened the door into the apartment building. They reached the lift, and Angel swore softly.
"Well, at least it isn't the 666th floor." Buffy said philosophically. Angel just grunted and turned away from the broken elevator towards the stairs. Five minutes later, they reached the 13th floor, breathing a little harder than normal.
"13th room. There's number six-oh-one." Buffy pointed down one corridor.
"six-fifty-eight this way." Angel looked the other way.
"Corridor number two it is." The both started forward quietly. For mid afternoon, the building seemed to be unusually quiet.
"It's more than likely his influence." Angel muttered.
"What?" Buffy asked softly, leaning close to him.
"This place is very quiet. I just figured that his presence on this floor could be affecting that."
"Makes sense. I wouldn't want to live next door to a blood-mage, I know that much."
"So, do we knock?" She asked when they reached door 666.
"I don't think so. Just go on in." He shoved against the door with his shoulder, and felt the wood give against the force. He stood back and kicked, and the door swung open. Bursting into the room, the two took up aggressive stands, ready to fight. What greeted them was something they'd never thought about. Timothy was not there. None of his 'friends' were there. They were alone. That is, of course, except for the body lying on the kitchen floor, on top of some white laminex. The red blood shone dully on the white background, mute testimony to how long it had been there. Hours, if not days.
"Oh, God!" Buffy whispered, putting a hand to her mouth. Angel agreed with her. Even during his long life-time, this body was amongst the worst he'd seen. Buffy, even being the Slayer, didn't usually come across brutally tortured and murdered people.

The body lay on its' back. Angel walked over to take a closer look and finally identified that the body was male. Or rather, what was left of the body was male. It looked as though the skin had been flayed off the body, bit by bit. There was no face left, just raw red meat, and here and there a hair on his scalp. Angel heard a step behind him and looked around to see Buffy there, hand still over her mouth, but looking none the less.
"Buffy...." He objected, but she shook her head.
"I need to see this just as much as you do." She glanced at the body, then squatted down on the clear area of laminex. She stared at the body for a long time before taking a breath.
"I think I'm going to go throw up now." She said, rising and turning for the other rooms. Angel watched her go, then crouched down where she had. He looked at the body closely, trying to see the history of the torture. He saw removed fingers and toes. No ears to speak of, or nose. The tongue was still intact, he could see the pink flesh between the gaps in the teeth. His eyes had been burnt out, and there was nothing left between his legs. Nothing. Angel shuddered, and turned away for a second, horrified at what had been done to this man.
"Angel!" He heard Buffy call from one of the other rooms. He stood up and went to her quickly, relieved to be getting away from the body. He found her in the bathroom, looking at some clothes. She held out a wallet to him when he reached her, and he looked inside to see the drivers license of a 38 year old male. His name had been George Binazweski. Angel quickly flipped through the wallet and found a train stub. He checked the date and it was for four weeks ago. He'd been here for under four weeks. That was more than long enough.
"The ritual is for tonight." He said, shutting the wallet.
"How'd you know that?" Buffy asked, folding the pants neatly. She seemed to be doing this without being aware of it.
"The power from .....what happened to George would be immense. He would be at the peek of his ability. It would be the best time to perform the ritual." He dropped the walled on top of the pile of clothing and walked back into the living room. He tried to ignore the body in the kitchen.
"We need to see if the Scoobies have found a good place for where this ritual would occur."
"What about him?" Buffy asked, not looking.
"We'll give the cops an anonymous tip. Best we can do for him." Buffy walked outside and Angel followed, closing the ruined door behind him. They walked back down the corridor quickly, Angel pulling a cell phone from his pocket. He spoke briefly, notifying the police about the body, then hung up. By this time, they were half way down the stairs. The trip was much easier going down, than coming up. He dialed another number and spoke as he descended.
"So?" He paused, listening to the other end. Buffy listed to him.
"And where would they be?" He waited a minute. "Where would the closest be to here, that was also near a hospital, or a hospice?....Get back to me as soon as you can." He hung up and pocketed the phone, then opened the door for Buffy.
"So?" She echoed him.
"So. They figured that the best place for this dominion ritual to occur would be at a place of power. They reckon a sub station, or even main power plant would be best. They're looking into the local electricity maps of LA to find the nearest sub station to here."
"Until then, what do we do?"
"Dinner?" Angel suggested hopefully.
"Angel it's just gone five o'clock. No where near dinner."
"But food?" Buffy looked at him, then gave in.
"Okay, fine. But nothing big or fatty."
"Well, you can have a salad. I'm going for a hot dog. Or maybe some French Fries. Or a Taco? Mexican?? Italian? Thai??" He grinned. "All these foods I haven't eaten in months!"
"Oh, God." He grabbed her hand and pulled her a long behind him, heading towards the nearest food district, which was just around the corner.