Angelus Investigations: Vol. 1
Kendra was sure the two vampires spotted her. Her Watcher had told her LA had become a "pure cesspool of demons" and a "vampire playground", but she believed he was exaggerating.
After all, she'd been trained to be a Slayer since she was a small child. How hard could just one master vampire be to defeat? It would be hard, given, but nothing a Slayer couldn't handle.
It was that thinking that got her into this predicament now.
Now she was lost in the night of Compton. Sitting in the reclinder of a dark, abandoned house, clutching her old stake she nicknamed "Mr. Pointy".
From what she knew it was the one part of California a pretty black girl wouldn't stick out, and vampires generally didn't come to the mostly deserted Compton most of the time.
Her Watcher hadn't contacted her since she left home.
Kendra was sweating bullets as she sat in the chair, trying not to make a sound. She didn't want the people who had followed her to hear her, and she was sure she had been followed.
Two vampires, apparently very experienced in stalking and moving separately.
She only saw glimpses of them, but they were always close by. After being jumped by a group of five vampires in the streets and killing them, she sensed them nearby again. She was weakend by the fight.
If I could only face them, Kendra thought as she sat in the dark house. I'm a Slayer! I can't sit here, afraid of...
Kendra couldn't stand it a single second longer. She jumped to her feet, marched to the boarded up door, and kicked it out with a hard front-kick. There was no more hiding. She marched out onto the porch.
She defiantly raised her stake in the air and clenched her other fist.
"Enough with your stalking," Kendra shouted in a light Jamaican accent. "I'm through with playing!"
Kendra marched back and forth on the porch, still clutching her stake. "I said come out, you damn cowards!"
She marched around the porch one more time, ready for anything, but nothing happened. Kendra hopped over the porch's banister, into the small bushes. She marched onto the lawn, still ready for anything.
"Noone going to take me up on the challenge?!"
Kendra looked around, but the streets of deserted Compton were still silent and clear. After another few moments, Kendra simply scoffed contempteously.
I can't believe I let a couple of stalker vampires chase me around California follow me around Compton like a damn...game.
"Just as I thought," Kendra shouted again. "Even though vampires have no souls, you have the hearts of cowards."
Kendra, satisfied, turned around to leave...and was instantly jarred by a hard right jab to her face. As she quickly regained her bearings after the surprise attack, she saw standing before her a tall white man with bleach-blonde hair and a long, black leather trench coat. He had a cocky grin on his face.
"Hey love," the vampire started, "the hair may be yellow, but I'm not a bloody coward."
Kendra quickly recognized the vampire as number five of the ten most wanted vampires in the world. The british bloodsucker known as "Spike".
She lowered into her fighting stance, and threw three fast punches at Spike's face, but he blocked all of them.
They engaged in a short though fierce hand-to-hand combat exchange of punches and kicks, but it wasn't until Kendra caught him in the chest with a fast side kick followed by a roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him down that she finally got the advantage.
She positioned her stake and prepared for the killing thrust, but as she pulled back her arm, she heard someone above her shout "MY TURN!"
As she turned her face to direction she heard the shout, her head was knocked sideways by a jump-kick from that same direction. She staggered sideways and regained her bearings quickly again. This time, standing before her was a tall vampire with hair brown hair that stuck upwards a little.
She instantly recognized him as number three of the ten most wanted vampires in the world.
The legendary Irish-born terror known as "Angelus".
Angelus smiled widely and clapped his hands together. "Alright, sweetness, sorry we stalked you for so long, but me and my blonde buddy Spike here had a little bet going on about how long it would take you to break and well...get tired of us following you."
Angelus shrugged casually. "I hope you're happy. You made me lose, bitch. I've got a second chance to win, though. Congratulations, you're our tiebreaker! Me and him got fifteen Slayers dead between us. He got the last one, and now there's you. Can you help me out here and...die?"
Angelus aimed his elbow at Kendra's face, but she blocked it. They engaged in their own hand-to-hand exchange, but Kendra couldn't keep up. Angelus seemed to know every move she made before she made it. Kendra couldn't remotely understand why.
Then it hit her. She knew that Angelus, bored with random killings and endless hours of torturing Watchers and Slayers started Angelus Investigations, an agency devoted to tracking down Watchers and Slayers along with stopping those who would interfere in the vampire's role in controlling the world.
Angelus had most likely been watching her from afar for quite some time now.
It was then she knew this was a battle she couldn't win. Not like this.
She went low and landed a hard right jab into Angelus's left kneecap, stunning him. As Angelus grabbed at his knee, Kendra raised her right leg to deliver a high-kick to Angelus's chin, but Spike swiftly tripped her to the ground by grabbing her left leg.
"Hey!" Angelus called out to Spike.
Spike, ignoring Angelus, lashed towards Kendra and grabbed her by her long black hair. He yanked her to her feet and without letting go of her hair, he forcefully tossed her across the yard, sending the overwhelmed Slayer crashing into a pair of trashcans.
Spike turned to face Angelus. "You had your chance, mate. She was about three soddin' seconds from stakin' you."
Suddenly, Kendra handspringed to her feet athletically, stake still in hand. She threw it like a dart, aimed at Spike's chest. At the same time Angelus moved to dodge, he quickly shoved Spike to the ground and out of the way. Spike, from the ground, looked at Angelus strangely.
Angelus had his eyes kept straight on the determined Slayer.
"You never take your eyes off a Slayer, dumbass," Angelus chided. "We've killed enough of these bitches you should know that."
Kendra stood fast, waiting for Angelus's next attack. She knew it was impossible to get away like this. Angelus and Kendra stood only a yard from each other, one waiting for the other to attack. It was here Angelus finally found the opening he'd been searching for.
"Hey, Slayer," Angelus started. "You know what we did to the last one of your kind?" Angelus snickered. "You know what I do to all of your kind?"
"My girlfriend's got a closet full of Slayer skulls, actually," Spike added. "Collector's items."
Kendra felt the walls closing in around here. This was truly a triumph or die situation.
"I'll make you a deal on this one, Spike," Angelus said. "We both rush her, and you get her blood. I get her head."
Spike rushed forward, ignoring Angelus again. He and Kendra got into a fierce exchange of punches and kicks, but Spike stunned her with a chop to her throat, then wrapped his hands around her neck, ready to snap it. Spike glanced back to Angelus.
"Better deal, Angelus. I get the kill, and the head."
As Spike taunted Angelus, he couldn't see that Kendra had in fact set him up. She sneakily pulled out another stake.
As Spike tried to snap Kendra's neck, she suddenly jammed the stake into his stomach. As Spike grunted and staggered back in pain, Kendra yanked the stake out of his stomach so she could thrust it into his heart, but Angelus delivered a debilitating kick to her back as she prepared to kill Spike.
Kendra, her spine jolted by the kick, was stunned to the point she feel on one knee.
Before she could stand, Angelus pulled her up by her hair, and without a second thought his face turned into that of a monster, representing the beast within. He sank his teeth deep into Kendra's neck.
As she stood helpless, Angelus felt the power of the Slayer's blood coursing through him. The blood of a Slayer was a taste a vampire would never forget.
He fed upon the defeated Slayer until he felt her heart slow, then he shoved the mortally wounded girl to the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Whew! That hit the spot."
Spike, injured clutched his stomach as he limped back towards Angelus. Spike sighed.
"Looks like you broke the tie, mate."
Angelus smirked, and poked Spike in the exact spot where he'd just been stabbed. "Look on the bright side, peroxide. You would've got the kill if you'd kept your mind on the task at hand."
Angelus looked down at Kendra's body. "I mean, this one wasn't so hard." Angelus, smiling, pointed at Spike's hair. "Maybe the peroxide's cutting off your ability to think."
Spike scoffed. "Bugger off, Angelus." Spike pointed at Angelus's hair. "Look at your head, mate. It looks like you had your ass kicked by a Flowbee."
Angelus laughed. "Had my ass kicked? I'm not the one bleedin' all over myself like some damn hemophiliac."
Spike shook his head in disdain.
"I guess you can have the head," Angelus said. "I mean, none of the fifteen I got look any different."
"The girls love 'em, though. Dru swears she can feel their pain as she touches 'em."
"Dru has also sweared that Satan lives in our mailbox, that crows can breathe fire, and that snakes can play the violin."
Spike rose an eyebrow. "Are you callin' my girl crazy, Angelus?"
"Hell yeah I am." Angelus grinned. "That's the way I made her."
*******
The governor threw the best parties, and he threw them often.
That's the Xander Harris, a vampire and member of the Order of Aurelis saw it. The party he was at now was better than the ones he'd been invited to before. The blood at the governor's mansion was always fresh.
The beautiful ballroom of the governor's Beverly Hills mansion was full of some of the most powerful and best known vampires and demons in the US.
He and his lover Willow never had a problem for money as long as they could rent their services out to one of of the Master's guests.
A waiter walked by with a tray of wine glasses filled with blood. Xander quickly grabbed one, and took a sip.
He looked across the crowd for any vampire or demon that looked rich so he could make friends with him and find a job, but someone tapped him on the back.
He turned around and saw his pale-skinned redheaded girlfriend, Willow standing next to his best friend, Joey. She had a worried, pouty look on her face. Xander showed his own look of concern.
"What's wrong, baby?"
Willow folded her arms, and continued to pout. Joey looked at Xander woefully. "The governor wants to see you."
Xander shook his head in confusion. "About what?"
Joey shrugged. "Hell, I don't know. It might have somethin' to do about that job you went on with Luke...and how Luke didn't come back."
"...The boss should know that wasn't my fault!" Xander said worriedly. "I kept tellin' that big stupid bastard that Wes Pryce was a tricky son-of-a-bitch, but no.
He runs in headfirst, Pryce blows a hole in his chest with a twelve-gauge, then that bastard half-demon staked him. I told the boss that's what happened."
"The Master." corrected Willow. "You told The Master that's what happened."
Joey sighed. "Man...he may toss you out into daylight. Luke was our heavy-hitter
and someone has to take the blame for it and all..." Joey shrugged, then patted Xander on his right shoulder.
"Been nice knowin' you, dude."
Willow softly wrapped her arms around Xander, embracing him. Xander looked confused. "I'll miss you, dear. I won't mourn you for long, but tonight I will."
Xander sighed. "Where is he?"
"On the patio," Joey said. "You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Xander growled silently and brushed gruffly past Joey as he walked through the crowd towards the patio.
When Xander got outside, the Master, now the governor of California, was standing on the patio. The Master was dressed in his usual leather outfit. His back was to Xander and he had his hands behind his back patiently.
"Master?" Xander asked nervously.
The Master turned his grotesque face slowly, and Xander noticed there was a little bit of a blood stain on the side of the Master's mouth. As usual.
"Xander," the Master said, looking over his shoulder. "Come here."
Xander hid his nervousness well. He walked to the Master briskly, and stood beside him.
"You were there when Luke was killed, were you?" the Master asked. The Master hadn't bothered to look Xander in the eye yet.
Xander nodded. "I tried to warn him, Master. I told him-"
"Shut the hell up already. I can't stand to see grown men cry."
The Master finally looked down at Xander, acknowledging him a little.
"Then I forget, you aren't a man. You're a boy." The Master turned away from Xander again, looking out over his vast yard. It really was a great sight under a moonlit night.
"Luke had been with me a very long time. Do you even know how many people he's killed in the name of the Order of Aurelis? In my name? He knew at least thirty ways to kill someone with his thumb." The Master shrugged a little.
"Then we got all of this."
Xander shook his head, confused. "All of what?"
The Master waved his arm, like he was revealing the land in front of him to Xander.
"Back in the old school, boy, we didn't have anything like this going on. I have a mansion and I'm the governor of California. There was once a time where our people had to hide underground. In sewers, like rats.
It was then people like Luke were at their strongest. Now people like him are weak. Even I'm suffering from it a little bit. Stupid-ass vampires from off the streets feel like this is some kind of brave new world."
"Isn't it, Master? Isn't that the world you've strived to create?"
The Master nodded slowly. "It is, and I won't stop now. It's just that..." The Master shook his head in disbelief again as he reminisced. "They once said that the 'well laid plans of mice and men will often go astray.' My plan didn't involve every Tom, Dick and Harry becoming children of the night. It's a privellege for the select few. The elite.
Now it's a new breed. MTV-inspired little bastards. Every new childe thinks he's Count-Damn-Dracula or something. Dracula, that arrogant piece of..." The Master stopped himself.
"I'm not going to kill you, Xander. Not this time, anyway. Like I told you, Luke had gone soft. You said you warned him...back in his day, Luke would've killed you for so much as questioning him, and I would've rewarded him for it. There's a new generation of vampire on the rise, boy. As the world changes so has our elite race. I'm not going to kill you, Xander..."
The Master placed his hand on Xander's shoulder.
"I'm promoting you. You will take Luke's place. As vampires take their rightful place at the top of the world's food chain and the new generation rises, I need someone who knows how this new generation thinks."
The Master's tone lowered. "How this new generation can be...utilized."
Xander smiled broadly, and began laughing. "Whoa...sir...you really put a load off my mind. This is great! A promotion!"
The Master let out a short chuckle. "Load off your mind? Oh, hell no. You're in worse position than you've even been in, now. If anything goes wrong you're the first person I blame." The Master poked at Xander's chest.
"If you lie to me, cheat me or worst of all fail me...believe me, you'll die a traitor's death."
Xander nodded understandingly. "Master, you've done so much for me, Willow, and Joey. We were losers when you rose in Sunnydale. You've saved us."
The Master nodded. "That's what I do, boy. They talk about the Slayers and the Watchers and the champions. I'm the only true champion. After the final remnants of the Resistance has been eliminated...then the game will really get started."
"Speaking of which, Xander, I need you to get in touch with some old friends of mine in LA."
"Who?"
The Master smirked. "Get in touch with an agency called...Angelus Investigations. Ask for a woman named Darla and tell her...Papa's come a' callin'."
******
At the Hyperion Hotel, Harmony, receptionist for Angelus Investigations, leaned back in her desk's chair with her feet propped upon as she read the morning paper even though it was night. On the front page there was a picture
of several strange werewolves terrorizing a city street. The newspaper headline read:
Werewolves Ravage Sunnydale
Harmony scoffed as she read the paper. "Blech. Werewolves. Ugly, stupid, drooling..."
"Oh, so that's who you're screwing this week," a female voice said seriously. Suddenly, someone forcefully smacked Harmony's legs off of the desk. Harmony instantly dropped the paper.
When Harmony looked up, there stood Darla, co-owner of Angelus Investigations, carrying files under her left arm. She didn't look happy at all.
"We're swamped with calls and undermanned right now, Harmony. Angelus and Spike went to go kill another Slayer. You don't have the kind of time to be taking breaks when we have files that need to be...filed."
Darla slammed the files on Harmony's desk. Harmony pulled back a little, frightend by Darla.
Darla pointed her finger at Harmony threatningly. "I sware, little girl, if you don't start pullin' you weight around here, you're gonna get fired. Not in the unemployment line sense, either."
"Aw, leave the poor girl alone, Darla," came a slow, soft voice from the second floor of the lobby. As Drusilla slowly walked down the stairs, Darla glanced at Harmony and shook her head in disappointment.
"You're the one who hired this Sunnydale ditz to work here. Do the job you didn't want to do. Get her in line or I sware I'll kill her." Darla ran her right hand through her beautiful blonde hair.
"This stupid bitch is a walking blonde joke."
Harmony whimpered, hurt by Darla's comments.
Drusilla sighed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked towards her grandsire. "Taking your anger out on the help, Darla? What's wrong?"
Darla shook her head. "Just that we're swamped with jobs right now, this little ditz won't work, and the boys left to kill another damn Slayer. It's like some kind of male bonding bull.
Always the same thing with Angelus and Spike. Kill the Slayer, go to Caritas and get wasted, then come back three seconds from dawn too tired to work."
"You don't like them killing Slayers?"
Darla sighed. "I love it when a Slayer dies. It's just...getting old, Dru. Like I said, we've got a lot of work tonight. There's a Carinth demon in Fresno that wants us to find out if his wife's cheating on him...there's Resistance activity in San-Fran..."
Harmony's face twisted into a frown and she whimpered a little more. Darla's head turned towards her fast.
"What the hell's your problem," Darla snapped.
"Um...I guess this isn't a good time to tell you..."
"Tell me what?"
"Our informant on the Resistance near Cherry Hill. The Resistance found out he was supplying us information and they...well...kinda decapitated him."
Darla quickly became flustered and marched to her office at the back of the lobby. When she came out of her office with a large antique crossbow and aimed it at Harmony.
"No! Don't shoot the messenger!!" Harmony shrieked. Harmony shrieked again and dived for cover as Darla fired the first arrow, which hit the back of Harmony's chair.
Drusilla held out her arms, trying to stop Darla.
"Darla! You can't kill her! Who else shall answer the phones and run our errands?"
As Harmony scrambled across the lobby screaming, Darla fired two more arrows at Harmony, both of them barely missing.
As Darla finally had Harmony in her sights, the phone at Harmony's desk rang. Darla hesitated, but then lowered the crossbow.
"Get the phone," she ordered Harmony. "If it's Angelus, tell him I said hurry back already."
Harmony was still scared, but she ran to her desk and answered the phone.
"Angelus Investigations, we kill the helpless."
The front doors to the Hyperion suddenly flung open. Through them strode Angelus and Spike triumphantly.
"Angelus is back...already." Angelus shouted.
Spike was carrying a gold silver platter with a gold cover on it. Drusilla ran to him quickly and embraced with a long kiss.
"Spike, dear. Have you brought me what I have desired since I heard you had found the newest Slayer?"
Before Spike could respond, Drusilla placed her finger on his lips, silencing him.
"Wait...don't tell me." Drusilla's voice grew softer.
"I can hear her." Drusilla moaned gently and ran her right hand through her hair slowly.
"The Slayer...she speaks to me. I can feel her pain...she tells me of not wanting to die. How she didn't want to die a...victim.
Like a dog. Killed like so many of the vampires she'd killed within her short time on this world. I feel her departed soul..crying out."
Drusilla ran her fingers across the top of the golden platter's cover.
"Short time it was, dearie. I now she will be mounted along the finest of my collection of souls." Drusilla looked into Spike's eyes seductively. "Won't she, love?"
Spike held the golden platter over her head, then kissed her passionately. Angelus, onlooking, shook his head. He walked towards Darla, a wide grin on his face.
"Does Slayer-killing still make you that...hot?" Angelus asked Darla.
Darla stood seductively as Angelus walked toward her. She grinned coyly.
"No, dear boy."
Angelus and Darla kissed passionately, holding each other.
"I don't need a dead Slayer to make me hot for you."
"Um, Darla?" Harmony called out.
Darla, slightly irritated, turned towards Harmony. "Yeah?"
"There's a guy named Xander on the phone."
As Darla was talking to Harmony, Angelus slowly kissed on her neck, distracting her.
"Tell him we're not taking any new cases until next week."
"He says something about some guy called the Master saying..."
Everyone quickly turned her full attention towards Harmony.
"The Master?!" Darla asked. Darla walked behind the desk, shoved Harmony to the side, and snatched the phone from her.
"Darla, Angelus Investigations."
As Xander asked questions on the other end of the line, Darla answered them.
"Yeah. Yeah. We'll be there."
Darla hung up the phone. Angelus walked over to her with a serious expression on his face.
"The Master." Angelus folded his arms.
"What does that fruit-punch mouthed asswipe want?"
Darla smirked. "Don't be so harsh on him, Angelus. I think he actually likes you."
Angelus thought back to his first meeting with the Master. The Master beat him down, but it was Angelus who Darla chose to leave with.
"Could've fooled me."
Spike put the golden platter down on the stairs and wrapped his right arm around Drusilla's waist. They walked onto the lobby floor.
"Ah! The governor. Brilliant man, really. He's all for vampires running this world and he's got the balls to go about it, so he's got my vote."
"Brilliant?" Angelus asked, surprised. "Yeah, he's so damn smart using a napkin to wipe his damn mouth sounds like a dumb idea."
Darla poked Angelus's chest. "He saved me like he's saved many others, Angelus. He is, after all, your grandsire."
Angelus scoffed. "Like I care. Is he gonna be a paying customer?"
Darla plopped into Harmony's chair. "He wants to meet tomorrow evening. He's sending a limo, and he's quite possibly gonna have a lawyer from Wolfram and Hart try to negotiate a price for us to work for him."
Angelus addressed the entire gang. "A man with the resources and manpower like the Master doesn't call for help from us unless he really needs it. Sounds like a big case."
Spike grinned devilishly. "About sodding time."
*********
Will there be a chapter 2? Let me know through some reviews and all that please...even you if hated Chapter 1, you can say that too.
Kendra was sure the two vampires spotted her. Her Watcher had told her LA had become a "pure cesspool of demons" and a "vampire playground", but she believed he was exaggerating.
After all, she'd been trained to be a Slayer since she was a small child. How hard could just one master vampire be to defeat? It would be hard, given, but nothing a Slayer couldn't handle.
It was that thinking that got her into this predicament now.
Now she was lost in the night of Compton. Sitting in the reclinder of a dark, abandoned house, clutching her old stake she nicknamed "Mr. Pointy".
From what she knew it was the one part of California a pretty black girl wouldn't stick out, and vampires generally didn't come to the mostly deserted Compton most of the time.
Her Watcher hadn't contacted her since she left home.
Kendra was sweating bullets as she sat in the chair, trying not to make a sound. She didn't want the people who had followed her to hear her, and she was sure she had been followed.
Two vampires, apparently very experienced in stalking and moving separately.
She only saw glimpses of them, but they were always close by. After being jumped by a group of five vampires in the streets and killing them, she sensed them nearby again. She was weakend by the fight.
If I could only face them, Kendra thought as she sat in the dark house. I'm a Slayer! I can't sit here, afraid of...
Kendra couldn't stand it a single second longer. She jumped to her feet, marched to the boarded up door, and kicked it out with a hard front-kick. There was no more hiding. She marched out onto the porch.
She defiantly raised her stake in the air and clenched her other fist.
"Enough with your stalking," Kendra shouted in a light Jamaican accent. "I'm through with playing!"
Kendra marched back and forth on the porch, still clutching her stake. "I said come out, you damn cowards!"
She marched around the porch one more time, ready for anything, but nothing happened. Kendra hopped over the porch's banister, into the small bushes. She marched onto the lawn, still ready for anything.
"Noone going to take me up on the challenge?!"
Kendra looked around, but the streets of deserted Compton were still silent and clear. After another few moments, Kendra simply scoffed contempteously.
I can't believe I let a couple of stalker vampires chase me around California follow me around Compton like a damn...game.
"Just as I thought," Kendra shouted again. "Even though vampires have no souls, you have the hearts of cowards."
Kendra, satisfied, turned around to leave...and was instantly jarred by a hard right jab to her face. As she quickly regained her bearings after the surprise attack, she saw standing before her a tall white man with bleach-blonde hair and a long, black leather trench coat. He had a cocky grin on his face.
"Hey love," the vampire started, "the hair may be yellow, but I'm not a bloody coward."
Kendra quickly recognized the vampire as number five of the ten most wanted vampires in the world. The british bloodsucker known as "Spike".
She lowered into her fighting stance, and threw three fast punches at Spike's face, but he blocked all of them.
They engaged in a short though fierce hand-to-hand combat exchange of punches and kicks, but it wasn't until Kendra caught him in the chest with a fast side kick followed by a roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him down that she finally got the advantage.
She positioned her stake and prepared for the killing thrust, but as she pulled back her arm, she heard someone above her shout "MY TURN!"
As she turned her face to direction she heard the shout, her head was knocked sideways by a jump-kick from that same direction. She staggered sideways and regained her bearings quickly again. This time, standing before her was a tall vampire with hair brown hair that stuck upwards a little.
She instantly recognized him as number three of the ten most wanted vampires in the world.
The legendary Irish-born terror known as "Angelus".
Angelus smiled widely and clapped his hands together. "Alright, sweetness, sorry we stalked you for so long, but me and my blonde buddy Spike here had a little bet going on about how long it would take you to break and well...get tired of us following you."
Angelus shrugged casually. "I hope you're happy. You made me lose, bitch. I've got a second chance to win, though. Congratulations, you're our tiebreaker! Me and him got fifteen Slayers dead between us. He got the last one, and now there's you. Can you help me out here and...die?"
Angelus aimed his elbow at Kendra's face, but she blocked it. They engaged in their own hand-to-hand exchange, but Kendra couldn't keep up. Angelus seemed to know every move she made before she made it. Kendra couldn't remotely understand why.
Then it hit her. She knew that Angelus, bored with random killings and endless hours of torturing Watchers and Slayers started Angelus Investigations, an agency devoted to tracking down Watchers and Slayers along with stopping those who would interfere in the vampire's role in controlling the world.
Angelus had most likely been watching her from afar for quite some time now.
It was then she knew this was a battle she couldn't win. Not like this.
She went low and landed a hard right jab into Angelus's left kneecap, stunning him. As Angelus grabbed at his knee, Kendra raised her right leg to deliver a high-kick to Angelus's chin, but Spike swiftly tripped her to the ground by grabbing her left leg.
"Hey!" Angelus called out to Spike.
Spike, ignoring Angelus, lashed towards Kendra and grabbed her by her long black hair. He yanked her to her feet and without letting go of her hair, he forcefully tossed her across the yard, sending the overwhelmed Slayer crashing into a pair of trashcans.
Spike turned to face Angelus. "You had your chance, mate. She was about three soddin' seconds from stakin' you."
Suddenly, Kendra handspringed to her feet athletically, stake still in hand. She threw it like a dart, aimed at Spike's chest. At the same time Angelus moved to dodge, he quickly shoved Spike to the ground and out of the way. Spike, from the ground, looked at Angelus strangely.
Angelus had his eyes kept straight on the determined Slayer.
"You never take your eyes off a Slayer, dumbass," Angelus chided. "We've killed enough of these bitches you should know that."
Kendra stood fast, waiting for Angelus's next attack. She knew it was impossible to get away like this. Angelus and Kendra stood only a yard from each other, one waiting for the other to attack. It was here Angelus finally found the opening he'd been searching for.
"Hey, Slayer," Angelus started. "You know what we did to the last one of your kind?" Angelus snickered. "You know what I do to all of your kind?"
"My girlfriend's got a closet full of Slayer skulls, actually," Spike added. "Collector's items."
Kendra felt the walls closing in around here. This was truly a triumph or die situation.
"I'll make you a deal on this one, Spike," Angelus said. "We both rush her, and you get her blood. I get her head."
Spike rushed forward, ignoring Angelus again. He and Kendra got into a fierce exchange of punches and kicks, but Spike stunned her with a chop to her throat, then wrapped his hands around her neck, ready to snap it. Spike glanced back to Angelus.
"Better deal, Angelus. I get the kill, and the head."
As Spike taunted Angelus, he couldn't see that Kendra had in fact set him up. She sneakily pulled out another stake.
As Spike tried to snap Kendra's neck, she suddenly jammed the stake into his stomach. As Spike grunted and staggered back in pain, Kendra yanked the stake out of his stomach so she could thrust it into his heart, but Angelus delivered a debilitating kick to her back as she prepared to kill Spike.
Kendra, her spine jolted by the kick, was stunned to the point she feel on one knee.
Before she could stand, Angelus pulled her up by her hair, and without a second thought his face turned into that of a monster, representing the beast within. He sank his teeth deep into Kendra's neck.
As she stood helpless, Angelus felt the power of the Slayer's blood coursing through him. The blood of a Slayer was a taste a vampire would never forget.
He fed upon the defeated Slayer until he felt her heart slow, then he shoved the mortally wounded girl to the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Whew! That hit the spot."
Spike, injured clutched his stomach as he limped back towards Angelus. Spike sighed.
"Looks like you broke the tie, mate."
Angelus smirked, and poked Spike in the exact spot where he'd just been stabbed. "Look on the bright side, peroxide. You would've got the kill if you'd kept your mind on the task at hand."
Angelus looked down at Kendra's body. "I mean, this one wasn't so hard." Angelus, smiling, pointed at Spike's hair. "Maybe the peroxide's cutting off your ability to think."
Spike scoffed. "Bugger off, Angelus." Spike pointed at Angelus's hair. "Look at your head, mate. It looks like you had your ass kicked by a Flowbee."
Angelus laughed. "Had my ass kicked? I'm not the one bleedin' all over myself like some damn hemophiliac."
Spike shook his head in disdain.
"I guess you can have the head," Angelus said. "I mean, none of the fifteen I got look any different."
"The girls love 'em, though. Dru swears she can feel their pain as she touches 'em."
"Dru has also sweared that Satan lives in our mailbox, that crows can breathe fire, and that snakes can play the violin."
Spike rose an eyebrow. "Are you callin' my girl crazy, Angelus?"
"Hell yeah I am." Angelus grinned. "That's the way I made her."
*******
The governor threw the best parties, and he threw them often.
That's the Xander Harris, a vampire and member of the Order of Aurelis saw it. The party he was at now was better than the ones he'd been invited to before. The blood at the governor's mansion was always fresh.
The beautiful ballroom of the governor's Beverly Hills mansion was full of some of the most powerful and best known vampires and demons in the US.
He and his lover Willow never had a problem for money as long as they could rent their services out to one of of the Master's guests.
A waiter walked by with a tray of wine glasses filled with blood. Xander quickly grabbed one, and took a sip.
He looked across the crowd for any vampire or demon that looked rich so he could make friends with him and find a job, but someone tapped him on the back.
He turned around and saw his pale-skinned redheaded girlfriend, Willow standing next to his best friend, Joey. She had a worried, pouty look on her face. Xander showed his own look of concern.
"What's wrong, baby?"
Willow folded her arms, and continued to pout. Joey looked at Xander woefully. "The governor wants to see you."
Xander shook his head in confusion. "About what?"
Joey shrugged. "Hell, I don't know. It might have somethin' to do about that job you went on with Luke...and how Luke didn't come back."
"...The boss should know that wasn't my fault!" Xander said worriedly. "I kept tellin' that big stupid bastard that Wes Pryce was a tricky son-of-a-bitch, but no.
He runs in headfirst, Pryce blows a hole in his chest with a twelve-gauge, then that bastard half-demon staked him. I told the boss that's what happened."
"The Master." corrected Willow. "You told The Master that's what happened."
Joey sighed. "Man...he may toss you out into daylight. Luke was our heavy-hitter
and someone has to take the blame for it and all..." Joey shrugged, then patted Xander on his right shoulder.
"Been nice knowin' you, dude."
Willow softly wrapped her arms around Xander, embracing him. Xander looked confused. "I'll miss you, dear. I won't mourn you for long, but tonight I will."
Xander sighed. "Where is he?"
"On the patio," Joey said. "You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Xander growled silently and brushed gruffly past Joey as he walked through the crowd towards the patio.
When Xander got outside, the Master, now the governor of California, was standing on the patio. The Master was dressed in his usual leather outfit. His back was to Xander and he had his hands behind his back patiently.
"Master?" Xander asked nervously.
The Master turned his grotesque face slowly, and Xander noticed there was a little bit of a blood stain on the side of the Master's mouth. As usual.
"Xander," the Master said, looking over his shoulder. "Come here."
Xander hid his nervousness well. He walked to the Master briskly, and stood beside him.
"You were there when Luke was killed, were you?" the Master asked. The Master hadn't bothered to look Xander in the eye yet.
Xander nodded. "I tried to warn him, Master. I told him-"
"Shut the hell up already. I can't stand to see grown men cry."
The Master finally looked down at Xander, acknowledging him a little.
"Then I forget, you aren't a man. You're a boy." The Master turned away from Xander again, looking out over his vast yard. It really was a great sight under a moonlit night.
"Luke had been with me a very long time. Do you even know how many people he's killed in the name of the Order of Aurelis? In my name? He knew at least thirty ways to kill someone with his thumb." The Master shrugged a little.
"Then we got all of this."
Xander shook his head, confused. "All of what?"
The Master waved his arm, like he was revealing the land in front of him to Xander.
"Back in the old school, boy, we didn't have anything like this going on. I have a mansion and I'm the governor of California. There was once a time where our people had to hide underground. In sewers, like rats.
It was then people like Luke were at their strongest. Now people like him are weak. Even I'm suffering from it a little bit. Stupid-ass vampires from off the streets feel like this is some kind of brave new world."
"Isn't it, Master? Isn't that the world you've strived to create?"
The Master nodded slowly. "It is, and I won't stop now. It's just that..." The Master shook his head in disbelief again as he reminisced. "They once said that the 'well laid plans of mice and men will often go astray.' My plan didn't involve every Tom, Dick and Harry becoming children of the night. It's a privellege for the select few. The elite.
Now it's a new breed. MTV-inspired little bastards. Every new childe thinks he's Count-Damn-Dracula or something. Dracula, that arrogant piece of..." The Master stopped himself.
"I'm not going to kill you, Xander. Not this time, anyway. Like I told you, Luke had gone soft. You said you warned him...back in his day, Luke would've killed you for so much as questioning him, and I would've rewarded him for it. There's a new generation of vampire on the rise, boy. As the world changes so has our elite race. I'm not going to kill you, Xander..."
The Master placed his hand on Xander's shoulder.
"I'm promoting you. You will take Luke's place. As vampires take their rightful place at the top of the world's food chain and the new generation rises, I need someone who knows how this new generation thinks."
The Master's tone lowered. "How this new generation can be...utilized."
Xander smiled broadly, and began laughing. "Whoa...sir...you really put a load off my mind. This is great! A promotion!"
The Master let out a short chuckle. "Load off your mind? Oh, hell no. You're in worse position than you've even been in, now. If anything goes wrong you're the first person I blame." The Master poked at Xander's chest.
"If you lie to me, cheat me or worst of all fail me...believe me, you'll die a traitor's death."
Xander nodded understandingly. "Master, you've done so much for me, Willow, and Joey. We were losers when you rose in Sunnydale. You've saved us."
The Master nodded. "That's what I do, boy. They talk about the Slayers and the Watchers and the champions. I'm the only true champion. After the final remnants of the Resistance has been eliminated...then the game will really get started."
"Speaking of which, Xander, I need you to get in touch with some old friends of mine in LA."
"Who?"
The Master smirked. "Get in touch with an agency called...Angelus Investigations. Ask for a woman named Darla and tell her...Papa's come a' callin'."
******
At the Hyperion Hotel, Harmony, receptionist for Angelus Investigations, leaned back in her desk's chair with her feet propped upon as she read the morning paper even though it was night. On the front page there was a picture
of several strange werewolves terrorizing a city street. The newspaper headline read:
Werewolves Ravage Sunnydale
Harmony scoffed as she read the paper. "Blech. Werewolves. Ugly, stupid, drooling..."
"Oh, so that's who you're screwing this week," a female voice said seriously. Suddenly, someone forcefully smacked Harmony's legs off of the desk. Harmony instantly dropped the paper.
When Harmony looked up, there stood Darla, co-owner of Angelus Investigations, carrying files under her left arm. She didn't look happy at all.
"We're swamped with calls and undermanned right now, Harmony. Angelus and Spike went to go kill another Slayer. You don't have the kind of time to be taking breaks when we have files that need to be...filed."
Darla slammed the files on Harmony's desk. Harmony pulled back a little, frightend by Darla.
Darla pointed her finger at Harmony threatningly. "I sware, little girl, if you don't start pullin' you weight around here, you're gonna get fired. Not in the unemployment line sense, either."
"Aw, leave the poor girl alone, Darla," came a slow, soft voice from the second floor of the lobby. As Drusilla slowly walked down the stairs, Darla glanced at Harmony and shook her head in disappointment.
"You're the one who hired this Sunnydale ditz to work here. Do the job you didn't want to do. Get her in line or I sware I'll kill her." Darla ran her right hand through her beautiful blonde hair.
"This stupid bitch is a walking blonde joke."
Harmony whimpered, hurt by Darla's comments.
Drusilla sighed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked towards her grandsire. "Taking your anger out on the help, Darla? What's wrong?"
Darla shook her head. "Just that we're swamped with jobs right now, this little ditz won't work, and the boys left to kill another damn Slayer. It's like some kind of male bonding bull.
Always the same thing with Angelus and Spike. Kill the Slayer, go to Caritas and get wasted, then come back three seconds from dawn too tired to work."
"You don't like them killing Slayers?"
Darla sighed. "I love it when a Slayer dies. It's just...getting old, Dru. Like I said, we've got a lot of work tonight. There's a Carinth demon in Fresno that wants us to find out if his wife's cheating on him...there's Resistance activity in San-Fran..."
Harmony's face twisted into a frown and she whimpered a little more. Darla's head turned towards her fast.
"What the hell's your problem," Darla snapped.
"Um...I guess this isn't a good time to tell you..."
"Tell me what?"
"Our informant on the Resistance near Cherry Hill. The Resistance found out he was supplying us information and they...well...kinda decapitated him."
Darla quickly became flustered and marched to her office at the back of the lobby. When she came out of her office with a large antique crossbow and aimed it at Harmony.
"No! Don't shoot the messenger!!" Harmony shrieked. Harmony shrieked again and dived for cover as Darla fired the first arrow, which hit the back of Harmony's chair.
Drusilla held out her arms, trying to stop Darla.
"Darla! You can't kill her! Who else shall answer the phones and run our errands?"
As Harmony scrambled across the lobby screaming, Darla fired two more arrows at Harmony, both of them barely missing.
As Darla finally had Harmony in her sights, the phone at Harmony's desk rang. Darla hesitated, but then lowered the crossbow.
"Get the phone," she ordered Harmony. "If it's Angelus, tell him I said hurry back already."
Harmony was still scared, but she ran to her desk and answered the phone.
"Angelus Investigations, we kill the helpless."
The front doors to the Hyperion suddenly flung open. Through them strode Angelus and Spike triumphantly.
"Angelus is back...already." Angelus shouted.
Spike was carrying a gold silver platter with a gold cover on it. Drusilla ran to him quickly and embraced with a long kiss.
"Spike, dear. Have you brought me what I have desired since I heard you had found the newest Slayer?"
Before Spike could respond, Drusilla placed her finger on his lips, silencing him.
"Wait...don't tell me." Drusilla's voice grew softer.
"I can hear her." Drusilla moaned gently and ran her right hand through her hair slowly.
"The Slayer...she speaks to me. I can feel her pain...she tells me of not wanting to die. How she didn't want to die a...victim.
Like a dog. Killed like so many of the vampires she'd killed within her short time on this world. I feel her departed soul..crying out."
Drusilla ran her fingers across the top of the golden platter's cover.
"Short time it was, dearie. I now she will be mounted along the finest of my collection of souls." Drusilla looked into Spike's eyes seductively. "Won't she, love?"
Spike held the golden platter over her head, then kissed her passionately. Angelus, onlooking, shook his head. He walked towards Darla, a wide grin on his face.
"Does Slayer-killing still make you that...hot?" Angelus asked Darla.
Darla stood seductively as Angelus walked toward her. She grinned coyly.
"No, dear boy."
Angelus and Darla kissed passionately, holding each other.
"I don't need a dead Slayer to make me hot for you."
"Um, Darla?" Harmony called out.
Darla, slightly irritated, turned towards Harmony. "Yeah?"
"There's a guy named Xander on the phone."
As Darla was talking to Harmony, Angelus slowly kissed on her neck, distracting her.
"Tell him we're not taking any new cases until next week."
"He says something about some guy called the Master saying..."
Everyone quickly turned her full attention towards Harmony.
"The Master?!" Darla asked. Darla walked behind the desk, shoved Harmony to the side, and snatched the phone from her.
"Darla, Angelus Investigations."
As Xander asked questions on the other end of the line, Darla answered them.
"Yeah. Yeah. We'll be there."
Darla hung up the phone. Angelus walked over to her with a serious expression on his face.
"The Master." Angelus folded his arms.
"What does that fruit-punch mouthed asswipe want?"
Darla smirked. "Don't be so harsh on him, Angelus. I think he actually likes you."
Angelus thought back to his first meeting with the Master. The Master beat him down, but it was Angelus who Darla chose to leave with.
"Could've fooled me."
Spike put the golden platter down on the stairs and wrapped his right arm around Drusilla's waist. They walked onto the lobby floor.
"Ah! The governor. Brilliant man, really. He's all for vampires running this world and he's got the balls to go about it, so he's got my vote."
"Brilliant?" Angelus asked, surprised. "Yeah, he's so damn smart using a napkin to wipe his damn mouth sounds like a dumb idea."
Darla poked Angelus's chest. "He saved me like he's saved many others, Angelus. He is, after all, your grandsire."
Angelus scoffed. "Like I care. Is he gonna be a paying customer?"
Darla plopped into Harmony's chair. "He wants to meet tomorrow evening. He's sending a limo, and he's quite possibly gonna have a lawyer from Wolfram and Hart try to negotiate a price for us to work for him."
Angelus addressed the entire gang. "A man with the resources and manpower like the Master doesn't call for help from us unless he really needs it. Sounds like a big case."
Spike grinned devilishly. "About sodding time."
*********
Will there be a chapter 2? Let me know through some reviews and all that please...even you if hated Chapter 1, you can say that too.