Title: The Colony of Lost Souls
Author: crystalix
Rating: 14A
Summary: AU! Buffy lives in a human colony, taught to hate demons. Angel, a centuries-old vampire comes to the colony (by order of the council) and is immediately rejected by the locals. They treat him poorly, acting on what they've been taught all their lives. Except for one warrior girl, whose undeniable attraction to the handsome stranger, curiosity, and loving heart leads her to question her way of life, society, and possibly to love.
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Disclaimer: All characters (throughout the entire story) belong to Joss Whedon and co. This is with the exception of "Richard Garrison" who is a creation of my own.
Distribution: Please ask first!
A/N: I'm planning this to be a full-length fic (instead of my usual ficlets). When I say "AU", yes: there is vampires and demons, yes: there is a council (their roll is somewhat different) but no watchers, and as for the slayers you'll have to wait and see. But no, Buffy isn't a slayer at this point. And as another side note, Angel does have a soul but his past has changed and there is NO happiness clause.
Slowly, Angel took a deep breath and looked up to the towering structures before him. There stood two great walls; higher than he had ever seen and impenetrable from the outside. Around him were half a dozen guards; glaring at him in hatred. It was not his choice to be here, in fact for the past few centuries he had purposely avoided coming near places like these. But now, the decision was out of his hands. He had been ordered to come here; allowed to bring only a small suitcase of belongings, which he held tightly in his hand.
You see, Angel witnessed something that very few people had; the transformation of an entire civilization. The small cities he had grown up in were lost; the way of life he had known was long forgotten. Now the world was in almost constant battle; the forces of good and evil always trying to gain the upper hand. Most humans were secured in small colonies that were scattered across the globe. They worked under a single group of superiors and never knew of the millions of other people inhabiting the earth. The numbers of their population had decreased severely, and the right to live where you pleased had been stripped from them. Almost everyone was forced to live in a colony somewhere in the world; most people were now born within the small cities, where they would spend the rest of their lives.
As for the demons, most of them had free reign. Those who fought for evil were rewarded; they did as they pleased and had no one to report to. However the demons that were peaceful lived an even more dangerous life. They were shunned by their kind if not killed as soon as they were exposed, but their fate if they turned to the humans was less than an improvement. They were never accepted and treated like animals. Some humans didn't even care if you were peaceful; they simply saw all demons as a threat and would attack you at the first chance they got. Angel fit somewhere in this category.
He is a three hundred year old vampire, cursed with his soul by gypsies two centuries ago and he'd fought for the good ever since. He had lived in solitude, helping whenever he could, but never letting anyone close to him. He had only ever known a few tolerant humans that were willing to bargain for information, or the odd group of demons that had somehow managed to remain undiscovered. But even those were brief meetings; most of his days had been spent fighting off demons or alone in whatever apartment he was been staying at. Every few years he would have to move, usually across the country to avoid people getting suspicious. However, even with his private lifestyle, he had almost been killed several times after being discovered.
A few weeks ago, he had been living in what was left of New York; a city that was overrun by demons a few decades ago and now was mostly deserted, only a few bars and hotels left open. It wasn't his favourite place to live, but he had been there for a few months and had found it a nice change from London where he had been before. London was practically a war-zone, everyone was suspicious of everything you did, and someone was always watching you. Because of the few people living in New York (and since most of them were "rebels" or people trying to escape the war) everyone mostly kept to themselves; and no one had ever really given Angel a second glance. Then one day, just before sunset, there was a knock on Angel's door. Before he even had time to decide whether to answer it or not, they had already broken down the door and he'd found himself surrounded by dozens of fully armed warriors sent by the council.
The council is now one of the most powerful groups out there; divided throughout the world, they controlled all of the human cities and one of the major players in the war. They had demanded that he come with them to a colony in California (which ironically, was where their main base was located), allowing him to pack a single bag, before forcing him into the back of a black truck headed to his "new home".
And that's how he ended up here. Standing in front of the great walls that he knew surrounded the colony. It was nearly impossible for any uninvited demons to get in, the front gates were too massive to knock down and there were dozens of warriors posted there. After feeling one of his "escorts" kick the back of his foot, he reluctantly walked through the entrance. And as he heard the giant doors slam behind him he knew that was it. That he would never be able to walk through those doors again.
End of Chapter One.