AN: Oops, it was in the next chapter that it get's Damon vs Angel, I'm sorry! *ducks from eventual flying objects* This is more… erm… what should we call it? dead? *LMFAO*

Calito: welcome to my little story, and I'm happy that you like it ^_^ Everything for the audience :)
Silverdracowolf: Don't faint! It is going to get more obvious as it all comes, you'll get all the explanations soon.

Chapter 8

Angel heard the voice as if from a great distance, and when he turned around, his mother fell down on the ground, eyes unseeing, only a few yards away from him. His mind was still pulsating from the great power he felt behind him, tearing on his sences, but the sight of his mother made it all unimportant and he let it slip away.

'You swore to protect her, and now you've killed her,' a voice came from inside him, blaming him for everything. Because it was his fault, he should have seen it all coming, he should have…

Kneeling by her side, he searched for any signs of life, but already knew there wasn't any. In a desperate attempt he canalized the powers he had taken from her back into her, only touching her fore-head with his right index-finger.

It felt like hours went by as he felt some of the power he so recently had got disappear. Waiting patiently for her body to react, he heard a low heart-beat from deep inside her chest.

Relief filled him, and he smiled weakly, feeling how life slowly returned to her.

"Yes?" he asked, when he felt a presence a few yards away.

"Who are you?" a female asked with fear and anger in her voice, "and what the heck did you just do to my friend?"

Angel carefully lifted his mother up, getting ready to carry her home, and then looked at the blonde. She couldn't see his face because of the hood, but could feel how a pair of eyes studied her carefully.

"You are Elena Salvatore," Angel just said, beginning to walk down the hill and towards the road. "You should know of me already, as you live with two vampires."

There was nothing sarcastic in his voice, just a calm self-control.

He walked past her, focusing on taking the shortest way home, and wrinkled his eye-brows as he scanned the area for a short-cut. She followed him, there was no doubt about it, he heard her panting breath as she ran to catch up with her.

"You are the one she ran for, she feared that your life was in trouble, now answer me!" She demanded.

Angel kept on walking, he didn't want to answer any questions until he knew she was safe. "No."

"Angel…"

Bonnie's voice was weak, and her eyes still shut. Angel looked down at her, lowering his speed a little.

"Don't worry, nothing happened," he mumbled to her.

"Never deny what's in you," she whispered, and then fainted again.

"Elena, go. I will talk to you later, but right now, Bonnie needs my help, and I am the only one who knows exactly what she needs."

"If you lie to me, then God can't stop me from haunting you down," Elena said before turning back towards Mrs. Flowers' house.

Angel didn't hear that, he had heard something that made him forget Elena. A large crow, that landed in a tree nearby, to be correct. Studying it for a few seconds, he knew what it was wrong with it and then begun walking faster again.

"The same comes to you, Damon, I'm busy," he muttered in a low tone, though he knew the other had heard it.

The flapping of wings disappeared and Angel did the same.

* * *

Angel had waisted a lot of energy a few hours later, when he finally sat down on his bed. From the moment he had placed her down on the bed, he had in slow portions given her strength, a gift he hadn't known he possessed until when he had found her dead.

He felt drained on his powers, and when he rose from the bed a few minutes later, he lost balance for a second before regaining it.

Walking downstairs, he saw that the rest of the family wondered how she was doing, and he said that she was exhausted after her journey there and then the chock of her sister's death. Some of them nodded understanding exactly what he meant, almost everyone of them looked pale and exhausted.

He excused himself after the dinner, and went for a hunt. He needed food, and that needed it badly.

Searching in the woods around for something, he soon found a prair worthy him, and called for it. He never used hypnosis, even though he could if he wished, but this was simpler and more effective. Sending out a craving for the animal to get to him worked almost the same, except that the animal was fully aware of what it was doing, yet it couldn't control its actions. It was the moth helplessly driven to the light that without doubts would kill it.

After he had fed he carefully cleaned his teeth free from blood, and threw a last look at the deer.

It hadn't satisfied his hunger completely, but he could make it quite well with what he had eaten. Walking thoughtfully towards Wickery Bridge, he thought about what had happened on the cemetary earlier. For a short while he had felt the pulse of every human on the earth, felt the demon inside of him take full control, and it concerned him what he could have done if he hadn't been stopped.

He walked to a high spot where he could look out over the town, and sat down by an oak, leaning against it, just relaxing, not doing a thing.

The hood went off, he didn't think he needed it at the moment, it was a warm night, just weeks before autumn would come and let the world soak in with rain. Closing his eyes he heard the wind blowing through the trees and grass, a few birds singing and a squirrel that ran up a tree. Clearing his mind of all weary thoughts, he sat, just as if sleeping, though he was fully awake and aware of all changes in the surroundings, but still in a meditative trance.

* * *

AN: In the next chapter: Angel vs Damon, this time for real. How will their meeting develop? Will Angel get the father he has always wanted, or will he reject him? You'll see, in the next episode of Nemesis.