For Disclaimer and Readers notes see chapter one.

Feedback suicidal_snowman@hotmail.com.

Chapter 8: The Scourge of Europe

The girl had killed his two brethren, word had spread through the underworld that she was the slayer. They had only just got rid of the other one fifteen years ago, why did they always have to come to his town. That's four slayers that have come to Sunnydale now, two dead and one very much alive, and very much an annoyance to his kind. As he trudged through the sewers towards his nest he felt the hunger pangs in his stomach, he had been so deep in thought that he had lost his way. But all was not lost as he could sense the prescence of others of his kind, lots of them. As he moved further towards them he could hear rythmic chanting, he wasn't one of those apocalypse cultists but they usually had blood. He turned a corner and his yellow eyes opened wide as he saw a great canyon carved out under the city streets. The huge space was filled with hundreds of vampires in blood red and black robes chanting in their ancient tongue, he saw the flames of torches and hundreds of small flickerng candles. Then he saw her, or at least an image of her. On the wall was a painting as tall as a house, hand painted, and it was the slayer. Not the new one but the blonde one. In the painting she was wearing robes like the vampire acolytes and he began to think this was a slayer worshipping cult. Suddenly a robed and hooded vampire was behind him. He had been found.

"Enter," he said, "all who walk the night are welcome in our holy ground."

The next day at school Tara and Connor arrived together, so did Marcus and Amelia. Both girls nodded to each other, it explained everything that needed to be. Amelia and Marcus walked hand-in hand into the library, and Giles gave her a knowing look.

"How did last night go?" he asked her.

"I got something for you on Connor," Giles perked up and gave her his undivded attention, "and Marcus and I killed two vamps."

"Marcus?" Giles asked surprised.

"Yeah," she put her arms around him, "I killed one, then two ganged up on me and Marcus staked the one who was suffocating me," she gave him a peck on the cheek, "I'd be dead for sure if it wasn't for him," Giles looked up at that and walked over to Marcus, he offered his hand.

"The world," Marcus took his hand and shook it, "and I thank you."

Marcus pulled back after a moment and Giles returned to his normal distracted nature. There was an uncomfortable silence as they thought over what Giles had said.

"Well after that unscheduled interruption," Amelia broke the silence, "Connor, he talks like his dad was a hero, he says he and his mom started a detective agency to help people," she turned to Marcus, "what was he said?"

"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," he replied in a chipper bimbo receptionist voice. Amelia giggled and Marcus smiled too. She turned back to Giles.

"I was going to look it up on the internet last night but I kinda forgot."

"No matter," he walked over to the librarian's station and ordered it to life, "Station on, search Watcher's council archives for Angel investigations."

The larger screen on the wall flickered to life and an old style web page came up, there was a picture of a tall man with spiked dark hair and underneath that was a label. It read 'Our founder Angel, passed away one year ago next friday. Our dearest condolances to his wife and son.'

"Ah, computer search the archives for information relating to this man, Angel. Cross referance the results with any information on Angelus the scourge of Europe, show all entries from Rupert Giles' diaries that contain either of these names." A large list of entries flashed up on the screen, and Giles opened the first one and began to read.

"We're gonna go to class now," Amelia said after five minutes of silent reading, "we'll come back at lunch to hellp you sort through the files."

Giles was pulled momentarily out of his reverie and he spoke distractedly, "I have more than enough to keep me busy, I look forward to seeing you at lunch. I have some more orders for tonight, but those can wait till we've had a proper look at these."

Marcus and Amelia walked out hand in hand towards home room as the bell went.

The bleached blonde vampire scurried into the mansion under a dark blanket, smoke rising in the morning sun. He threw down the blanket and slammed the door, walking round the corner he tapped the burning flesh on his hands. He jumped out of his skin when he saw the black-eyed man sat in the armchair in the centre of the room.

"Bloody hell old man do you have to be bloody everywhere?" he asked, the man did not speak, but he slowly closed and opened his eyes revealing his shiny black eyes.

"You know that they say a man's eyes are the windows into hs soul, if that's true of whatever you are then your soul is as black as they come."

The man turned to him and spoke laboriously slow, "Spike, my soul is the same as yours. My eyes are not windows into my soul, but portals into the future," one moment he was sat down, then the next he was stood leaning on the mantle, "precognition is such a handy talent."

"Yeah well," Spike said and turned to go out of the room and up to his bed, "you precognitate your way back to Hell for all I care you stupid sod," he flopped down on the bed, when he heard a crash coming from downstairs, "oh bloody hell, him and his visions."