A/N well thanks for those of u who send in reviews, I'm glad u like it!
Well, something happens here, but its just the start.........hopefully I'll be
able to fit the better part in the next chapter.........sorry for those who want
to know, but the wait makes it even better.........besides, I don't have that
much time to write, so enjoy this part for now!
Phoenix walked slowly walked down a dark alley, looking around carefully. Her figure was casting a shadow on the ground, silhouetted against the bright lights of Los Angeles.
"Come out a play, Brenden," she called out softly. "I know you're here."
Catching movement to her right, Phoenix spun around fast enough to see a glimpse of a shadow moving towards her. Suddenly, a man tall, handsome man materialized from the shadows.
"Well, well, well. Belinda. I thought you were no longer with us," he said in a deep, chilling voice.
"Likewise, Brenden," Phoenix replied, coolly.
"Well, what brings you here after so many years?" he asked in the same cold voice, taking a step into the light, revealing a neat black coat over a red shirt along with black pants.
"Revenge," Phoenix replied with a snarl.
"Oh, really?" Brenden asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Really," Phoenix said. In a flash, she retrieved a small dagger from her coat pocket and threw it sharply at Brenden, hitting him in the left shoulder.
Instantly, Brenden started changing. His teeth grew and sharpened, his shoulder widened as muscle pilled on, and his hands grew into monstrous claws. An angry frown came upon his face. Growling, he sharply removed the dagger from his shoulder and threw it on the ground with a loud clang. Then he lunged.
Phoenix had seen it coming though and she spun around, making Brenden crash into the alley wall behind her. He quickly recovered a came at her again. This time, she did not duck, but blocked, ready to return the attack. It quickly turned into a full-scale battle, Brenden fighting like a rabid animal, claws and teeth snatching at whatever he could get.. After a few minutes, Phoenix managed to get behind Brenden. She flipped him onto the ground, got a stake from her pocket, and stuck it clear through his heart.
Brenden screamed, then growled at her, "I am no vampire. This will not kill me."
"Maybe not, but it will hurt. Enough for you to leave me alone until I find a way to finish the job," Phoenix said, a look of pure hatred on her face. She turned, picked up her dagger, and walked away, leaving Brenden on the ground.
That morning, Phoenix walked into Wolfram & Hart, her hair in a mess, her shirt ripped in several places, revealing bloody wounds. Small scratches covered her face and hands. She rushed into her office and slouched onto the couch. Slowly, she started looking at the cuts on her arms and hands, making sure nothing was too bad. Minutes later, Angel walked in.
"Glad you're here, Fred wants to see.........you.........what happened to you?" he started, then stopped, eyeing her face and torn up shirt, a look of worry coming across his face.
"I, uh.........fell.........out of a tree," she said awkwardly, as Angel looked down at her disbelievingly.
"A very tall tree," she said, trying to sound more convincing. She stood up and walked to the small mirror hanging on her wall. "It doesn't look so bad," she said, eying her face. "I'll live." She turned to Angel and smiled reassuringly.
"You should get someone to check those out," Angel said, worriedly, pointing at her left arm, which was slowly soaking her shirt sleeve in blood.
"Really, I'm fine. Maybe I'll get Fred to check it out if she's not too busy, but right after I go home and change. If you'll excuse me." She grabbed her keys from her desk and walked past Angel out the door, leaving him standing there, still looking worried.
A couple of hours later, Phoenix walked into the lab (freshly dressed) and found Fred arguing loudly with Spike. When she walked in, they both quieted, looking at her as if they had done something embarrassing.
"Um, am I interrupting anything?" she asked awkwardly.
"No," Spike snapped. "And what happened to your face, had another bad encounter with a vampire in a br-"
"No," Phoenix snapped back, her tone icy enough to freeze up the whole room. "I had a little accident," she said briskly before turning to Fred. "Sorry it took so long, Angel said you wanted to see me," she finished, her voice regaining its normal warmth.
"Yeah, I found some more evidence that could help," Fred said, glad to be able to get away from Spike. She grabbed a stack of paper from a nearby table and handed it to Phoenix. She looked up and frowned slightly. "What did happen to you? Are you okay?" she asked, worry starting to spread across her face.
"I'm fine, okay, will everyone please stop asking. Like I said, I just had a little accident, that's all.........an encounter. It's nothing to worry about," she said, annoyed. "Anyway," she said, regaining her calm. "Thanks for that . I better go if I want to finish the redraft, get my list done, fix my arguments, buy proper clothes for the trial, and do all this by 9 this evening because I have an.........an appointment," Phoenix finished nervously.
"Alright, then. I'll see you later. Good luck," Fred said, waving, while Spike rolled his eyes behind her with a slight snort.
Phoenix walked into the employee's room, and started pouring herself a cup of coffee, not really paying attention to what she was doing, lost in thoughts about the pile of paperwork that awaited her in her office. Suddenly, Gunn walked in, calling out Phoenix's name. Caught by surprise, Phoenix jumped, spilling her full-to-the-rim cup all down her shirt. She looked up at a guilty Gunn who had immediately started muttering apologies and handing her napkins.
"I am so sorry," Gunn said, helping Phoenix clean up the mess on the floor.
"It's all right," Phoenix responded, dabbing napkins on her wet, now red shirt. "I'll live. So, what did you want?" she asked, looking up.
"Well, there was this barely alive body discovered in the alley next to the hotel down the street. Police brought him to the hospital, but after being left alone in a room for 2 minutes, he vanished, leaving behind the wooden stake he'd been stabbed with. D'you know anything that could help us with that?" Gunn finished.
"Let me think: almost dead guy found in a dark creepy alley vanishes without a trace from the hospital.........nope, no idea. But unless we figure out what kind of creature he was, we don't know why or how he ended up there. Because that guy was definitely not human," Phoenix said.
"Good point. We got a sample of the guy's blood from the scene. Fred's analyzing it right now. With any luck, this guy might be an old client of Wolfram & Hart and we'd have his record on file," Gunn responded.
"Oh.........yeah, ok.........cool. Hopefully Fred will figure it out. I'll go check out the alley again, maybe I can find something that will help," Phoenix said, half nervously.
"Alright. I'll see you later then, let me know if you find anything. By the way Phoenix, sorry I was so tough on you for the first few days you were here. I guess I was wrong about you," Gunn said softly.
"Thanks, Gunn," Phoenix said with a sad smile. "Means a lot coming from you."
"It better, took a piece of my ego to admit I was wrong. Just don't tell Angel I said that," he said with a grin.
Phoenix laughed softly. "Don't worry. I won't say a word," Phoenix promised. Gunn started walking away, but Phoenix called him back.
"Hey, do you know where we can get a decent cup of coffee around here? Because this is most definitely not coffee," she said, pointing down at her red-soaked shirt.
Gunn laughed. "Yeah, well, we do have a handful of vampire in the building. Coffee machine's in the other corner, but I gotta admit they should at least label them," Gunn said, pointing at the other side of the room, then left.
Phoenix walked slowly walked down a dark alley, looking around carefully. Her figure was casting a shadow on the ground, silhouetted against the bright lights of Los Angeles.
"Come out a play, Brenden," she called out softly. "I know you're here."
Catching movement to her right, Phoenix spun around fast enough to see a glimpse of a shadow moving towards her. Suddenly, a man tall, handsome man materialized from the shadows.
"Well, well, well. Belinda. I thought you were no longer with us," he said in a deep, chilling voice.
"Likewise, Brenden," Phoenix replied, coolly.
"Well, what brings you here after so many years?" he asked in the same cold voice, taking a step into the light, revealing a neat black coat over a red shirt along with black pants.
"Revenge," Phoenix replied with a snarl.
"Oh, really?" Brenden asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Really," Phoenix said. In a flash, she retrieved a small dagger from her coat pocket and threw it sharply at Brenden, hitting him in the left shoulder.
Instantly, Brenden started changing. His teeth grew and sharpened, his shoulder widened as muscle pilled on, and his hands grew into monstrous claws. An angry frown came upon his face. Growling, he sharply removed the dagger from his shoulder and threw it on the ground with a loud clang. Then he lunged.
Phoenix had seen it coming though and she spun around, making Brenden crash into the alley wall behind her. He quickly recovered a came at her again. This time, she did not duck, but blocked, ready to return the attack. It quickly turned into a full-scale battle, Brenden fighting like a rabid animal, claws and teeth snatching at whatever he could get.. After a few minutes, Phoenix managed to get behind Brenden. She flipped him onto the ground, got a stake from her pocket, and stuck it clear through his heart.
Brenden screamed, then growled at her, "I am no vampire. This will not kill me."
"Maybe not, but it will hurt. Enough for you to leave me alone until I find a way to finish the job," Phoenix said, a look of pure hatred on her face. She turned, picked up her dagger, and walked away, leaving Brenden on the ground.
That morning, Phoenix walked into Wolfram & Hart, her hair in a mess, her shirt ripped in several places, revealing bloody wounds. Small scratches covered her face and hands. She rushed into her office and slouched onto the couch. Slowly, she started looking at the cuts on her arms and hands, making sure nothing was too bad. Minutes later, Angel walked in.
"Glad you're here, Fred wants to see.........you.........what happened to you?" he started, then stopped, eyeing her face and torn up shirt, a look of worry coming across his face.
"I, uh.........fell.........out of a tree," she said awkwardly, as Angel looked down at her disbelievingly.
"A very tall tree," she said, trying to sound more convincing. She stood up and walked to the small mirror hanging on her wall. "It doesn't look so bad," she said, eying her face. "I'll live." She turned to Angel and smiled reassuringly.
"You should get someone to check those out," Angel said, worriedly, pointing at her left arm, which was slowly soaking her shirt sleeve in blood.
"Really, I'm fine. Maybe I'll get Fred to check it out if she's not too busy, but right after I go home and change. If you'll excuse me." She grabbed her keys from her desk and walked past Angel out the door, leaving him standing there, still looking worried.
A couple of hours later, Phoenix walked into the lab (freshly dressed) and found Fred arguing loudly with Spike. When she walked in, they both quieted, looking at her as if they had done something embarrassing.
"Um, am I interrupting anything?" she asked awkwardly.
"No," Spike snapped. "And what happened to your face, had another bad encounter with a vampire in a br-"
"No," Phoenix snapped back, her tone icy enough to freeze up the whole room. "I had a little accident," she said briskly before turning to Fred. "Sorry it took so long, Angel said you wanted to see me," she finished, her voice regaining its normal warmth.
"Yeah, I found some more evidence that could help," Fred said, glad to be able to get away from Spike. She grabbed a stack of paper from a nearby table and handed it to Phoenix. She looked up and frowned slightly. "What did happen to you? Are you okay?" she asked, worry starting to spread across her face.
"I'm fine, okay, will everyone please stop asking. Like I said, I just had a little accident, that's all.........an encounter. It's nothing to worry about," she said, annoyed. "Anyway," she said, regaining her calm. "Thanks for that . I better go if I want to finish the redraft, get my list done, fix my arguments, buy proper clothes for the trial, and do all this by 9 this evening because I have an.........an appointment," Phoenix finished nervously.
"Alright, then. I'll see you later. Good luck," Fred said, waving, while Spike rolled his eyes behind her with a slight snort.
Phoenix walked into the employee's room, and started pouring herself a cup of coffee, not really paying attention to what she was doing, lost in thoughts about the pile of paperwork that awaited her in her office. Suddenly, Gunn walked in, calling out Phoenix's name. Caught by surprise, Phoenix jumped, spilling her full-to-the-rim cup all down her shirt. She looked up at a guilty Gunn who had immediately started muttering apologies and handing her napkins.
"I am so sorry," Gunn said, helping Phoenix clean up the mess on the floor.
"It's all right," Phoenix responded, dabbing napkins on her wet, now red shirt. "I'll live. So, what did you want?" she asked, looking up.
"Well, there was this barely alive body discovered in the alley next to the hotel down the street. Police brought him to the hospital, but after being left alone in a room for 2 minutes, he vanished, leaving behind the wooden stake he'd been stabbed with. D'you know anything that could help us with that?" Gunn finished.
"Let me think: almost dead guy found in a dark creepy alley vanishes without a trace from the hospital.........nope, no idea. But unless we figure out what kind of creature he was, we don't know why or how he ended up there. Because that guy was definitely not human," Phoenix said.
"Good point. We got a sample of the guy's blood from the scene. Fred's analyzing it right now. With any luck, this guy might be an old client of Wolfram & Hart and we'd have his record on file," Gunn responded.
"Oh.........yeah, ok.........cool. Hopefully Fred will figure it out. I'll go check out the alley again, maybe I can find something that will help," Phoenix said, half nervously.
"Alright. I'll see you later then, let me know if you find anything. By the way Phoenix, sorry I was so tough on you for the first few days you were here. I guess I was wrong about you," Gunn said softly.
"Thanks, Gunn," Phoenix said with a sad smile. "Means a lot coming from you."
"It better, took a piece of my ego to admit I was wrong. Just don't tell Angel I said that," he said with a grin.
Phoenix laughed softly. "Don't worry. I won't say a word," Phoenix promised. Gunn started walking away, but Phoenix called him back.
"Hey, do you know where we can get a decent cup of coffee around here? Because this is most definitely not coffee," she said, pointing down at her red-soaked shirt.
Gunn laughed. "Yeah, well, we do have a handful of vampire in the building. Coffee machine's in the other corner, but I gotta admit they should at least label them," Gunn said, pointing at the other side of the room, then left.