Kravnik ran up the stairs lugging his bag with him as best he could. The weight strained on his shoulders but he pressed on. Finally he reached the top of the stairwell and shoved open the door that read ROOF ACCESS, throwing himself out onto the roof of the skyrise. The sounds of the city assaulted his ears, carried upward through the wind. When the door slammed behind him, he turned to look back at it in surprise. He placed his bag on the pavement and returned to the door, barricading it with every moveable object he could find on the roof. Then he began to set up.

The first item he removed from his bag was an ornate clay urn. It had gold trim around the bottom and the top with gold leaf markings all over it. The markings resembled hieroglyphics. Seven precious stones—ruby, sapphire, emerald, diamond, opal, topaz, jade—circled the urn at the middle. Kravnik placed the urn carefully and then pulled the rest of his supplies.

He surrounded the urn with seven candles, each candle matching the color of one of the stones. He lit each candle with matches he had taken from a hotel bar. Then he pulled a handful of runes from his bag. He tossed them into the circle and then began chanting in another language, an ancient and dead language.

As he chanted, the candle flames flared up and an energy field started to form directly above the urn. Crackles of electricity sparked and flashed as the field expanded. It started to move downward toward the urn.

He stopped chanting briefly when a loud banging broke his concentration. Someone was trying to get out the door. He knew he didn't have much time and he continued, ignoring whoever—or whatever—was trying to get through that door. He watched the energy move down around the urn and then completely surround it, taking on the shape of the urn, like an electrical coat of paint. Finally the urn disappeared completely and the candle flames returned to their typical state.

He stood and looked around. His barricade was starting to fall apart. There was no escape. The obstacles fell aside and the door flew open suddenly, Kravnik's attacker standing tall in the doorway. He backed up until his legs hit the ledge of the roof. He looked down to see cars driving by 50 floors below. Desperate, he climbed up on the ledge as his assailant approached. He made eye contact with the dark figure approaching him and then he jumped, falling quickly down until he struck the pavement.

---

Wesley and Tara were in the office poring over research. Angel and Gunn were out on a routine patrol. Fred and Cordelia were meeting with a new client, a young woman named Cindy who was being stalked by someone who was less than human. At the moment the only thing any of them knew was that the stalker was not human but was not vampire either. They were attempting to get more information from the woman before proceeding.

The two in the office both looked up when they heard a sound similar to a lightning strike. Then they heard Cordelia's voice.

"Wesley," she called. When they joined Cordelia, Fred and Cindy in the lobby they saw the three of them staring at the floor. Following their gaze, Wesley and Tara saw a large, ornate urn, adorned with gold markings and jewels.

"What's that?" Tara asked, just as curious as any of them.

"We don't know," Fred said. "There was a flash and then it was just there."

"What's going on?" Cindy asked. She knew there was something strange about her stalker. That's why she had come to Angel Investigations rather than the police. But things just kept getting weirder as time passed.

"We're not sure, Cindy," Wesley said, trying to be soothing. "But I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of."

He received a look of disbelief from Cordelia. "Do you think there's something inside of it?" she asked, trying not to display her doubt in front of Cindy.

"Possibly," Wesley replied. "But we shouldn't open it until we know where it came from."

"No argument about that," Cordelia responded.

"Do you think it's even safe to touch it?" Fred asked. She stepped forward and crouched down, peering at the urn with curiosity. "It doesn't look dangerous."

"Looks can be deceiving," Tara said, glancing at Wesley who had been about to say something similar.

Suddenly the doors to the hotel burst open as Angel came stumbling through, struggling with someone. It was a vampire. He spun and threw the vampire into the lobby. Gunn soon followed, his own vampire pursuing him. The vampire lunged at him, but Gunn ducked and flipped the vampire over onto his back.

Fred and Cordelia quickly guided Cindy back behind the main desk. Wesley rushed over and grabbed the crossbow from the weapons cabinet. Tara hurried into action when she saw Gunn's vampire had him pinned to the floor. She grabbed the vampire by the arms and tossed him aside. As the vampire started to gain his footing he cried out in surprise. The arrow in his chest began to fall to the floor as he turned to dust. Tara turned to help Angel, but she was caught off guard as Angel came crashing into her. The two of them fell backward, striking the urn and knocking it over. Wesley quickly fired and dusted the second vampire. But soon they were all knocked off their feet.

When the urn fell over, the lid clattered off of it and various colored mists emanated from the urn. Each different mist travelled through the air and struck one of the seven people. When the mists disappeared they were all left on the floor, stunned.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Gunn asked sharply. Vampires he could handle. Funky colored mists weren't his forte. Everyone started to stand.

"I'm not sure," Wesley said. "But it came from this urn."

"And where did the urn come from?" Angel asked.

"It poofed out of thin air," Cordelia said as she, Cindy and Fred rejoined the others. Wesley was gathering the urn and its lid.

"So we have no idea what it is?" Angel asked.

"Not at the moment," Fred replied.

"Wesley…" Angel began.

"Already on it," he said as he returned to the office.

"Cordy and Gunn, why don't you escort Cindy home?" Angel suggested. The two of them nodded their heads. Angel turned to Cindy apologetically. "Sorry about all this. I promise we will help you."

"Okay," Cindy said. She looked confused and frightened, and it appeared that she felt agreeing with Angel would be the best course of action. She followed Gunn and Cordelia out the door, hoping that things wouldn't get any weirder.