Chapter Two:

Raksha licked her lips, that young human had been good.  His blood was sweet and fresh, and he was healthy.  Still, it left her craving something.  A thought dawned on her, perfect.  She looked around the street, and then changed.  It always felt so good.  It was so fast you could hardly see it.  One second she was a beautiful but normal looking young girl, the next she was a very, very large black jaguar, with sleek black bat-like wings.  Intelligent eyes gleamed with malicious intent. With a graceful leap she dug her claws into the side of the building and was climbing up.  She sat on top of the building and looked over LA, her new domain. She gave an earth-splitting roar, and jumped from the roof, spreading her wings.

"So what do we do about her?" Angel asked puzzled.

"I have no idea.  We can't kill her; we can just hope she decides not to stay." Chyana said, looking around. "She probably won't stay."  Almost as soon as she said it, she heard an all too familiar roar. "Or maybe not."

"Great.  If we find her, we may be able to convince her not to kill." Angel replied somewhat doubtfully. "Maybe we can kill her."

                "No, she may stop killing humans, but it's not likely." Then with a strange sad-sounding vehemence, "You can't kill her, you're responsible for her."

                "Exactly.  If I kill her, it will be justice for all she has done."

                "I won't let you kill her.  I'm going to try and find her." Softly, she continued. " I haven't talked to her in many years." Chyana sighed, an expulsion of air that held pain and sorrow, she remembered the last time so strongly.

                "Do you think you'll find her?"

                "I think so."

                "What will you do if she won't stop killing?"

                "I don't know."

                "I don't need to remind you that as a slayer it's your job to destroy her."

                "I know!"

                From the air Raksha spotted her prey.  A young vampire, how tempting.  She dove down from nowhere, taking the vampire by surprise.  He growled at her as his features changed to the gory vampire look.  He fought and struggled, but to no avail.  A thousand-pound jaguar/gargoyle with faster reflexes then his own was too much.  Raksha, decided to play a little cat and mouse.  She slashed his face and let him go, watching him bleed.  After about five minutes, she figured it was time and she came after him.  He was pathetic and slow.  After a very brief chase she cornered him, and toyed with him a bit before she tore into his stomach and began to slowly eat him alive.

                Chyana came upon the bloody sight.  Raksha was crouched over the body of a still moving figure; she was pulling his liver out.  Sensing Chyana she turned. Then she changed, back to human.  She looked exactly as she had the last time they met.

                "Hello, Chyana."  Raksha said in a low cold voice, with a slight Irish accent.

                "Raksha.  How could you?"  Chyana was horrified. The body twitched and whimpered.

                Raksha looked puzzled, "You mean that?"

                "Yes 'that'.  I honestly don't know why I don't kill you.  This is..." she stopped dead when she saw what Raksha had been eating, "A vampire?"

                "Yeah.  Dessert.  And it's not very good."  She looked at the still moving body in disgust, and then promptly put him out of her mind. "So what brings you to LA?"

                "I was going to ask you the same thing." Chyana felt a brief moment of pity for the vampire, and walked over and put it out of it's misery. The dust settled.

                "Hmm... Well I'm bored.  So I came here." Raksha grinned.

                "Do you plan on staying?"

                "Hell ya.  This city kicks ass."

                "I don't suppose you'd consider not hunting any humans."

                Raksha rolled her eyes, "Not this again."

                "Raksha please. . . They were your own kind once.  Don't you feel anything?"

                "Sorry Chyana, but we've been over this, far too many times.  No, I don't give a damn about humans, or vampires, or werewolves, or other demons, or witches, or with the possible exception of you, slayers."

                "How can you live in this world?" Chyana asked sadly. She's not a monster, she was .  . .

                "I don't like or hate anything.  I am simply apathetic to them.  All things are fun to toy with. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy playing with them.  They're amusing little creatures." She stopped and shrugged, her ever color shifting eyes showed slight exasperation. "And if, if, by some odd chance there was another of my kind I still wouldn't care about them."

                Chyana looked hurt, "You are truly heartless."

                "That's what I am. It's not a matter of heart.  It's instinct."  Raksha walked around Chyana, watching her, "Don't you feel it?" She whispered seductively, "The urge, the need.  To feel blood flowing down your throat, to tear out the heart and feel it pumping and chew the tender flesh, to hunt.  Watching your prey, killing them in new and different ways.  Then feeling the blood feeding your body.  The energy.  The power.  It's beautiful, the risk, and the adrenaline.  The freedom of the night. You know it's what you want.  To-"

                Chyana pushed her away, "Stop!  I don't want to know what your sick mind feels, I don't need."

                "But you do."  Raksha said.

                "Get out of here."  Chyana said, wanting to cry, almost sobbing at the change in her friend. "If you stay, and I find you, I'll kill you."

                Raksha laughed, and backed slowly into the shadows blending slowly into the night.

                Chyana spent the night at home crying.  Her anger at Angel, which had left her when he was cursed, had returned.  Raksha had always been a bit wild, now she was out of control.  It was all because of their curse. Angel got off lucky.

Flash Back

                Chyana looked at the ripe full moon. Once it had been a perfect orb, a symbol of the splendor within the night.  Now its beauty seemed tainted.  Chyana glanced to either side of the door.  Angelus was nowhere in sight, and neither, thankfully was the twisted witch doctor.  She slipped out of the cellar and ran into the night.  But soon she learned why escape had been so easy.  It wasn't long until an urge took her over.  She needed something, but what?  Chyana saw a village, perfect.  She ran towards it.  Suddenly a child jumped in front of her.  Without thinking, Chyana sprang on him.

                She blanked out for a while.  When she came back to herself, she was covered with blood and one of Angelus' vampire gang was standing above her, laughing.

                "Your better nature has won out." He smiled, "Now you are a creature of the night, as are we.  Will you hunt under the moon with dreams of blood in your heart?"

                "No." Chyana whispered, "I can't be a vampire."

                "Course not, you're something else.  The doc created you, just for fun."

                "Then what am I?"

                He laughed and walked away.

                End Flash Back

                That memory was painful.  For a slayer to kill, like an animal.  It was too much for her.  She was cursed.  To become a white wolf at will.  Never could she sleep, the only things she can eat are the heart, liver, and brains of animals, to drink, she must have blood.  At first, animal nature had overwhelmed her and she hunted and killed.  That didn't last long, maybe twenty-five years at most. Animals don't have a very good sense of time.

From then on she vowed never to change, she would stay in a human body till the day she died, eating only animals, never humans.  Raksha hadn't followed her.  She liked killing, she loved it.  Her new nature had made her colder, crueler.  She had never exactly been Ms. Friendly, but she was not this.  She had helped save people.  Death will be her only release.  Chyana thought to herself.  I will release her.