Fury of the Beast 3/?
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Disclaimer: I have no cash, so I don't own anything from Buffy or White Wolf. If I did, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfic. Then again......
Christof looked around his cell. It was quite different from the prisons he'd been kept in before, as it was clean and white, while the others had always been dank and dark, along with thick bars to prevent even vampires from escaping.
He walked up to the glass barrier, and touched it. A powerful shock drove him back, and Christof gripped his smoking hand. In the next cell, Spike laughed.
"All the new ones try that. It's quite funny to see, you know!"
Christof growled at the demonic vampire.
"Yeah, like that's all scary. I roamed the world along with some of the most vicious vampires around, you old geezer." Spike said.
"Then when I leave this cell, demon, I will twist your head off with my bare hands!" Christof looked up. No air vents.
Makes sense. If the creature you've captured could change form, you don't want it to get out that way.
He growled in frustration.
He looked at a passing soldier, a tall black man.
The soldier frowned at all the creatures in the cells. "Ugly brutes."
Christof waited until the soldier neared his cell.
Then he ran at full speed at the barrier.
Alarms went off all over the Initiative.
In the hostile containment cells, they found Forrest lying on the ground, suffering from blood loss, with no wound.
He was still alive.
The strange vampire's cell was empty, the security glass broken, still fizzling with the power going through it.
Soldiers from all over the compound were told to attack and destroy the hostile.
They scrambled throughout the compound, looking for the powerful vampire.
Christof watched them run around, like ants whose anthill had just been stepped on.
He slipped past them, keeping himself invisible to their eyes, exploring the base, looking for a way out. His hair was singed, his trenchcoat scorched, his mood angry.
The Beast within him wanted to tear every soldier in this place limb from limb, drinking from their bloodsoaked corpses.
He repressed it with practiced ease. He followed an officer into an office.
There was the officer, and a woman in a lab coat. Keeping his cloak of invisibility up, he listened.
"We've haven't found the hostile, he's most elusive ma'am." The officer said.
"Not good enough, Colonel. We need him caught and destroyed. If he escapes, he can warn the Sub-T community. We can't let that happen."
"I know, but we can't help that." The Colonel said. She shook her head. "Have you found what was different about this one from the lab results?" The Colonel said.
She nodded. "Because of the tests on the previous hostiles labeled as vampires, we found that they all had a certain genetic factor in them. This factor was the same for each and every vampire we caught, which means there was one ancestor for all of them, and then they change the blood of their victims to create new ones."
The Colonel nodded.
"Now, this one. He lacked that factor, but many of the traits were still there. The skin burned in solar radiation. The blood cells consumed other blood cells, like the ones we caught before. But the energy conversion from the consumption was higher, as if removing the genetic factor caused him to grow stronger. It's not possible, though, cause when we removed that factor, the test subjects dissolved into dust."
"Meaning?" The Colonel asked.
"This one has a different ancestor. He's not related to the typical Sub-T vampire."
"Weird. So there is a new species of hostile. Have you found any other weaknesses?"
"None. It's a very odd creature. I'd love to study it, but it must not get away. It's obvious we can't hold it here."
"We'll find it and destroy it, Professor Walsh."
"Do that."
The Colonel walked out the door, barely missing Christof.
Walsh shook her head. "Soldiers. You'd think they only hire the dumbest ones."
Quickly, he walked out of the office.
Christof walked into a the main compound of the Initiative.
He saw the elevator that soldiers were running into, probably thinking he'd already gotten away from them.
The soldiers scrambled into the city after determining that the hostile had escaped the base. Fools. He was standing in plain sight.
He'd raided a locker for clothes, and had replaced his trenchcoat and singed clothing. He was using his powers of suggestion instead of the powers of hiding, and they thought he was a member of their group. It was easier than keeping hidden all the time.
The Nosferatu were the best at that, he'd learned how to do it, but not as well.
He looked around, and saw the staircase. He walked towards it, prepared to activate his full power at a moment's notice.
"You! Hold it!" He stopped, and turned around.
Another soldier was coming his way.
"Why aren't you wearing camouflage, soldier?" Riley asked him.
"I'm assigned to patrol the civilian areas. The missing hostile may decide to hide among the civilian population, instead of heading for the hills. My unit's headed out. I don't have time." He replied.
He turned, and prepared to walk out, when Riley grabbed his arm and twisted Christof back to look at him.
"What's your name and unit?" Riley said.
Christof replied, using some of his power to reinforce belief. "Christopher Jacobs, 24th unit." He said. Riley nodded.
"Stay here, soldier. This hostile is too strong, and we don't want another rookie killed." Christof frowned, then nodded.
He'd need more blood to go invisible, and getting it would be too dangerous.
He'd have to slip away when he got a chance.
Christof paced, waiting for that chance to show itself, worried it had already slipped away. He heard commotion, and more soldiers started to run for the elevator.
He grabbed one, and asked. "What's going on?"
"A hostile's attacking the Lowell house. It's gotta know about us, and we've gotta take it out. You're coming along, rookie!" The soldier said.
Christof nodded.
"You armed?" The soldier asked.
Christof smiled, then pulled out a taser gun he'd stolen. "Let's go." Christof said.
As soon as he had a chance, he'd ditch them.
Anezka had found the Lowell house, and was now injuring the soldiers within using her powers. All the soldiers saw was a shadow attacking the people inside, with no apparent cause or purpose.
When soldiers piled out of the elevator, Christof with them, she howled a demonic cry, and attacked them, giving them non-fatal, but very painful blows.
They both shifted into wolves, and ran into the night.
Giles was talking on the phone to a friend of his in England, a fellow Watcher.
"James, how are you?" Giles asked.
"Rupert? Are you bloody nuts for calling me? If I'm caught talking to you, I'll be fired from the Watchers!" James Grant, fellow Watcher, said.
"James, I'm sorry, but I've been researching a vampire that's shown up here, and I've reached a dead end."
Giles said.
Silence. Giles could almost hear James thinking.
"James, you know that if Buffy dies here, chances are a new Slayer won't be able to get here before a demon ends the world. I need this information." Giles said.
"All right Rupert, you've made your point. What vampire are you looking for?" James said, sighing.
"He calls himself Christof Romuald."
Silence.
"James?"
"Yes, I'm here Rupert. You've met Christof Romuald?"
James asked. "Not personally, but Buffy did." Giles said.
"Hmmm. Rupert, have you heard of The Society Of Leopold?"
"The Council's hunters? Of course." Giles replied.
"About two weeks before New Year's Eve, one of the prominent leaders and his guards were killed. Some by sword wounds, some were shot, some were drained of blood. We couldn't find Father Leo anywhere. There was a pile of dust, so I assume that at least one vampire was involved in the attack." James said.
"Was Christof a part of the attack? There would need to be several vampires at least to kill hunters like them." Giles asked.
James sighed. "I'll send you the security tape, you draw your own conclusions." James said. "Wait! James!" Giles yelled into the phone.
"Sorry Rupert, I have to go. Expect the tape in about a week."
There was a click, and the phone went dead.
Giles cursed, then hung up. "Damn."
Sighing, he went back to researching the vampire clans.
Xander was walking towards Giles' place, along main street, hoping to catch Buffy before she went on patrol.
"Hey kid, you shouldn't be out here this late." A male voice said from behind him.
He turned around, and saw a handsome man and a beautiful woman walking his way.
"Thanks, but I can take care of myself." Xander said.
"No doubt. But I've heard of gangs around here. We're just saying be careful." The woman said.
Xander nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Watch yourselves, too." He replied.
The woman smiled. "We will." The pair walked away, arm in arm.
He continued walking for Giles' place. He passed an alley when he heard something.
He saw a young girl, about ten years old, surrounded by four vampires, in the back of the alley.
The leader of the group was a woman, she looked about twenty-five, and resembled Darla, which got Xander quite pissed.
"Please....Leave me alone....." The kid said.
"Hmmmm. Young blood. I always enjoyed little children. So sweet, and clean. So tender. It's like eating veal." The she-vamp grinned.
Stepping quietly behind her, Xander drew his stake, and plunged it into her back. She burst into dust, with a look of shock on her face.
The other three glared at him. "You.......Alicia was our sire! You're gonna die, human!" One vamp said.
"You know, she was pretty weak, and stupid. She had to be, to sire morons like you." Xander said, then grinned, and ran away, hoping for the vamps to follow him, and not snack on the kid.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw his stupid little plan worked. The three vamps were chasing him, snarling as they began to catch up.
Only about two hundred feet to Giles' place. If he can make it......
A stone flew over his head, thrown by a vamp.
He kept running, his lungs beginning to burn.
One hundred feet......
A vamp snarled from behind him.
Fifty feet.
He was running through the park now.
His lungs ached, his feet were sore, his head light.
One of the vamps caught up to him, and tackled him.
He was punched on the back of his head, causing him to black out a moment.
All he was aware of, was the throbbing pain in his head, and the crushing weight on his back.
He felt himself lifted off the ground.
"What shall we do with him, hmm?" The vamp holding him said.
"Let's see. He staked Alicia, so let's stake him!" Another vamp laughed.
"I want him to suffer!" The third said.
"I didn't say in the heart!" The second said.
"Sounds good to me!" The first vamp said, still holding him up.
Xander gripped his cross, and shoved it into the vamp's chest.
The vamp screamed, and dusted. He tried to run again, but he was tripped, and the cross was kicked away.
One vamp growled at him, picked him up, and threw him against a tree.
The two just looked at him, then began laughing.
"Well, that works. I think we can just leave him there." The first vamp said.
Xander didn't know what was going on. He was weak-kneed, but he couldn't fall to the ground.
He looked down. Poking through his chest, on his right side......
A branch.
He looked up at the vamps that had just killed him.
A strange shadow flickered by the vampires, who were busy laughing at him.
The sound of something slicing through the air reached his ears.
One vamp burst into dust. The other one looked around, frightened.
Standing there, were the man and woman he met earlier. In the man's hand, was a long black sword, that looked dangerous and deadly.
The woman's hands were extended into long claws. The woman struck at the vamp who threw him into the tree, clawing off his left arm and then his head.
The woman looked over at Xander.
"Oh....."
"I am sorry, young sir. We could not save you in time." The man said.
"Christof......" The woman said, looking at him with some hope. Xander's eyes widened at the name.
"No. I will not damn his soul, Anezka." Christof said.
"He went and saved that young girl, Christof! He deserves to live!" Anezka said.
"I will not damn him! He does not deserve this fate!"
"None of us do! But if we do this, he can make the choice! As it is now, he will die, and I'm certain his soul will wander as a wraith." Anezka said.
Christof hesitated. "We either damn him with our fate, or make him wander in the shadowlands! We must decide now!" Anezka said.
Christof looked at Xander, pity in his eyes. "Anezka. You do it. I might kill him, as I haven't fed for some time." Christof said.
"Young sir. Please forgive me, for what I am about to do....." She said.
In his mind, Xander was screaming, as Anezka leaned in to bite his neck.
A few hours later Xander woke up, about to howl a scream, then he looked around, seeing he wasn't in danger.
He was so thirsty.......
Anezka was sitting on a couch, looking at him carefully.
"Water...." Xander managed to say.
She wiped away a blood tear. "I'm sorry. There was no other way." She said.
Xander's eyes fixed on the blood tear, and it seemed to be the most important thing in the world to him.
"You must feed, my childe. Or you will go mad with the hunger." Anezka said, getting up, and walking to the bed Xander lay on.
She slit her own wrist, and bright blood welled forth.
Xander was drawn to the blood, as if he was a moth and it was a flame.
He gripped he wrist, and drank greedily. After a moment, she pulled away, and Xander's mind cleared a bit.
"Oh, god......" He said.
Christof shook his head, looking at the new vampire.
"I know how you feel, young one. It was not so long ago for me when I was in your place." He said.
Xander shook his head, feeling as if he was dirty, as if the body he was in was not his own.
He was a vampire.
Just like Jesse was.
Just like Darla.
Just like Angelus.
"No....."
Anezka came up to him, and gently touched his arm.
"Young one. You must be feeling awful, but do not despair. We are here to help you get through this, and we won't let the Beast take you." She said, in a kind voice.
"Young sir, what be your name?" Christof asked.
For some reason, the thought of lying didn't cross Xander's mind.
"Alexander Harris. My friends call me Xander."
"Alexander, I am Christof Romuald. I am a man of God, and soldier in Heaven's cause, despite the fact I am a vampire. I've fought creatures of evil, and have reclaimed my soul from the clutches of the devil. It can be the same with you, or you can give in to the Beast inside of you."
Xander was confused. "Were you cursed with a soul?" He said, feeling his new fangs.
Christof shook his head. "I am cursed to prey on the living, but with that curse, comes the power to make a difference. I protect the mortals as best I can." He said.
"But, vampires lose their souls when turned....." Xander said.
Anezka rose her head. "You mean the ones that hurt you?" She said.
Xander nodded. "They have a stronger Beast within them, Alexander. In them, there is little room for kindness and humanity." She said.
"What is this Beast you keep talking about?" Xander asked.
"A creature that thrives upon bloodlust and terror resides within our hearts, Alexander. Soon you will feel it's call, and you must learn to subjugate it, or become a monster, like the vampires that harmed you." Christof replied.
"Acts of evil and cruelty will unleash the Beast, until there is no humanity left in you. Acts of kindness and compassion will save you from it's jaws, Alexander." Anezka said.
He curled himself into a little ball. "Please, go." He sobbed.
"Anezka, we should go. I think he needs time to think." Christof said.
Anezka nodded. "Alexander, I'll be right outside if you need to talk to me." She said.
The pair walked to the door of their hotel room, hanging their heads slightly. As they were about to walk out, Christof turned back to Xander.
"Welcome, to the Brujah clan, Alexander." He said.
He walked out, leaving Xander to sob and cry, thinking about the world he was suddenly in.
How could he face Buffy again?
I'll get the next part out as soon as I can. I'd like feedback, please.
Nick