Chapter 4

"No," Alex whispered as she saw who came in the house. Buffy got in front of Alex and made sure that Dawn was also behind her.

"You plan on paying for that door?" Buffy asked and he just laughed.

"Well, you must be the Slayer. I've heard a lot about you. This doesn't concern you, so why don't you just give me what I want and I'll be on my way." Buffy glared at him.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked.

"I go by many names, but you may call me, Damien." He told her.

"Great, now that we're introduced you can get your ass out." Damien gave a sinister smirk.

"Not until I get what I came for." With that he raised his hand and electricity shot out of it and went right into Buffy. It hit her and she went flying into the wall.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled. Spike grabbed Dawn and Alex and hid them under a table.

"Stay down." He told them and they listened. Then he glared at Damien. "You'll pay for that, mate." Spike attacked Damien and he managed to get some punches in, but the other guy was stronger and with one punch sent him flying across the room. He landed right by Buffy who was just getting up.

"You are no match for me. Come out girl or I'll kill everyone in this room." That's when Alex stood up.

"Don't hurt them; they have nothing to do with this." Damien walked towards her.

"Don't worry, it's you I want. If they interfere again though I won't hesitate to kill them." He grabbed her by the neck. "You have been a trouble maker haven't you? Thinking you could run away from me." Buffy had enough and kicked him hard so he let Alex go. He then turned on her. "You bitch, I told you not to get involved. Now you'll pay for that." He aimed his arm again and Buffy thought he was about to blast her again, but instead of aiming for her, he aimed for Dawn. "Maybe this will teach you." Buffy was about to stop him when Alex's voice got her attention.

"Dad!" She exclaimed. "Please, don't do it." That got his attention along with the others in the room. He put his arm down and walked towards her and slapped her hard across the face.

"You know better than that." He said as he aimed for Dawn again. Alex had tears streaming down her face as she saw that he was about to blast Dawn and Alex wasn't sure if she would be able to survive it.

"No!" She yelled. This time she raised her hand and in one swift movement, Damien went flying out of the house. She whispered a few words and a force field went up around the house preventing him from coming back in. She knew that it was strong though and she wouldn't be able to hold it for very long.

"This isn't over." He said as he vanished into thin air. Alex put the force field down and it took a lot out of her that she passed out. When she woke up she noticed that she was in a bed which she guessed was Buffy's room. She sat up and noticed that she wasn't alone.

"Hey, you finally woke up." Buffy said. Alex noticed that Dawn and Spike were also in the room.

"How long was I out for?" She asked.

"Only about an hour." Buffy replied and Alex just nodded. "So, care to explain about what happened down there? Like how you did what you did and who or what that guy was that tried to kill you." Alex took a deep breath.

"I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt." Buffy sat down next to her.

"No one is blaming you for anything, I'm just concerned. Besides, you did manage to save us at the end with that mojo of your's. So, are you a Witch or something?" Alex nodded.

"I was afraid to tell you because I didn't want you to think I was a freak. Then I found out that you're not exactly normal either which made me feel a little better. I guess I was still scared though." Buffy nodded.

"It's okay; I do know what it's like to be different. I happen to know two very cool Witches, so you're not alone." That got Alex's attention.

"Really? You have friends that are Witches?" Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, I'll introduce you sometime. Now about that guy, he had some powers too I noticed. Is he a Warlock?" Alex nodded not sure what else to say. "You called him dad; I'm guessing that's not a nickname." Alex looked down then back up at her new friends.

"It's not, he's my...dad. It's a long story." She told them.

"We've got time." Spike said after standing there in silence. Dawn was still at a loss for words and Buffy nodded. Alex took a deep breath and decided to tell them everything.

"My mom was a Witch; it tends to run in the family, but only with females. The witches in my family don't come into their powers until they're sixteen, which means that I've only had my powers for about a few months now. My mom told me what I was before then though, so I would know that it was coming. I never wanted to believe it, my whole life I've always been kind of a loner, always keeping to myself. I never had any real friends because I guess I was afraid. What's funny is that I used to always get treated like a freak in school without anyone knowing the truth about me. Who knew that I would really become a freak." Her voice broke off as tears strolled down her face. Buffy put her arm around her trying to comfort her.

"You're not a freak, you're just different and there's nothing wrong with that." Buffy told her.

"I hate it though; I'd give anything to just be normal like a regular kid." Buffy agreed.

"When I was your age I always wanted that too, but now I've accepted who I am and learned to deal with it. Things may be hard now, but I promise it will get easier when you get older." Alex looked at her.

"Have things gotten easier for you?" Buffy thought about it.

"Not so much, but I've still managed to defeat everything I've come across and so will you. It just takes time." Alex looked down.

"I don't think I have much time. My dad isn't gonna stop coming after me until I'm dead." Buffy brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"I don't get how a parent could try and kill their own kid. Why would he do that?" Buffy asked.

"He wants my powers. I'm the last in my family and he needs my powers to be complete. It'll make him even more powerful than he already is. He killed...he killed my mom." She said as more tears came down her face.

"Oh god! I'm sorry, Alex. What you must be going through, it's too much for any kid." Alex nodded.

"He's crazy, he didn't even care that he killed her and he won't care if he kills me. When my mom first met him she didn't know what he really was. Warlocks and Witches are enemies and it's always been that way. Warlocks always go after Witches for their powers. It's been like that for god knows how long. My mom fell in love with my dad without knowing what he was. He planned all of it. He knew she was a Witch when he met her and he pretended to love her, but he was always planning on killing her. She was the last in line then and he figured that once he had her powers it would be enough. Of course he didn't plan on me coming into the picture. I guess in a way I was a mistake. I was never supposed to be here and he made sure that there was no way she would get pregnant. He knew that he couldn't kill her while she was pregnant with me, so he had to wait till I was born. I know that he wanted to get rid of me before I got older and got into my powers, so that's how my mom found out the truth. He tried to kill me as a baby to get rid of me. She stopped him and took me away. For as long as I can remember we have been running from him. We moved around so much and I've been to so many different schools, but no matter where we went he would always find us. About a few years ago we moved to L.A. to stay with a friend of my mom's. She was the only one that ever knew about my mom and the only one we could ever trust. He found us over a week ago. My mom's friend was out one day and he showed up at her house. I was hiding and I heard them yelling and I saw him hit her. After that I came out from hiding and I tried to hit him back, but that just made him mad and then he turned on me. My mom tried to help and that's when he pulled out his knife and stabbed her. I'll never forget the look on his face when he did it, pure evil. Her powers went into him then. I think I was too shocked to do anything when he decided that it was my turn to die. After that I just took off and that's when I came here. I couldn't go very far on my own." With that she stopped and looked at the stunned faces around her. "Wow, I can probably write a book with that." She said trying to make a serious situation funny, but failed miserably.

"Well, that is some story. I'm sorry about what you had to deal with." Alex nodded.

"It's okay, I guess. Look, I want to thank you for letting me stay here, but I think I should go. This just proves that I can't get anyone involved in this because they could get hurt or worse." Buffy shook her head.

"I've dealt with worse, I can handle it. You don't have anywhere else to go so you're gonna stay here until this is over. I'll help you in any way I can, I promise." Alex smiled.

"Thanks, that means a lot." Buffy nodded.

"Well, it's getting late. You should get some rest and you too." She said pointing at Dawn. "I know it's passed your bedtime." Dawn rolled her eyes and without saying anything headed to her room. Buffy turned to look back at Alex. "Get some sleep, we'll talk later." With that Buffy grabbed Spike's arm and they both left the room.