Chapter Three
"Where I am?" Angel asked. All he remembered was talking to Fran about the creature trying to get him to heal it then- "Son of a bitch." Angel snarled when everything came back to him.
Angel was in a white room. Or at least a place that had very bright white lights that made everything seem like someone got paint happy and painted everything white. Now that he thought about it he guessed that it was a combination of both because there was a thin cloud of mist in the room too. It affected the lighting and in the same time didn't.
All of the sudden a black chair appeared in the middle of the room. A shiver ran through Angel. It wasn't because of the chair appearing but what sat on the chair. It was a little girl that looked no older than nine. She had black hair, ivory skin and black eyes. She smiled up at Angel.
"You." Was all that Angel could say. He knew this "girl". Or at least had run into her many times before. It was what was kept in the White Room in the Organization's building. But it was no girl. No one in the Angel Investigations could find out what exactly she was. They didn't know if she was a demon or something else. Something far powerful.
"Hello Angelus." The girl greeted Angel. "Surprised to see me?"
"I thought you were in the White Room." Angel narrowed his eyes at her. He was awarded a laugh. "In fact that's where you were condemned to stay. You can't leave that room. Or at least that's what you told me on a previous encounter."
"'Previous encounter'. You make it sound like I am a ghost." The girl smirked up at Angel. "But perhaps I am. Perhaps I am not. But what I can tell you is that you are in the White Room. Or at least Draven's version of the White Room."
"Then if this is that thing's idea of the White Room, you're not really the one that occupies it." Angel narrowed his eyes at the girl. Suddenly there appeared another black chair.
"I invite you to sit Angelus." The girl motioned with her left hand.
"I prefer to stand." Angel snapped.
"I said Sit down!!" The girl's voice became a loud growl of annoyance. Angel quickly did as she said, not wanting to make her madder than what he accomplished already.
"Ah that's a good Angelus." She sneered at him. "Now first off I would like for you to not think of Draven as a thing. She is no thing. Things are inanimate and I think you know she is not." There was a slight pause as the girl smiled slightly at this. "Second off my Angelus, we two are… connected. So if she decides to take your mind anywhere then I could step in or she could call me up. Either way, you are talking to the actual 'thing that occupies the White Room.' "
"And for all this information you are giving me what do I have to do in return?" Angel shrewdly guessed. For all the times in his life he was handed information there was something the giver wanted in return.
"I am offended Angelus. You honestly think that I would want something in return?" The girl looked shocked. Angel had to give her credit on her acting skills. Then the look turned colder. "Maybe you have already given me something. Maybe it is me who owes you something. Have you ever thought of that? Paid in blood, I shall give you the answers that you seek."
Angel was shocked to silence. He knew with what, whom, the girl was talking about. It took no genius to figure it out.
"That's right my pet vampire. Your precious Buffy is the one that already paid the price." The girl mocked. "What you are dealing with Angelus is no human. No human blood runs through that girl's veins. But instead it is a mixture of a vampire and a demon."
"What? That's unheard of." Angel whispered. "It can't be done."
"But my dear, it is done. Usually the… offspring… of the mating is too weak to survive. But this one, this one actually survived." The girl explained. "And the organization that has me trapped in the White Room also had her trapped. She is their hunter. She hunts what they don't like. You though, you saved her. And so you see I will ask for something in return."
"I knew it." Angel sneered. "It wasn't Buffy's death that made you pay up. It's knowing that I would be doing you a favor." The White Room suddenly got brighter as the girl got madder.
"No Angelus, it is not something bad. For years I watched them beat her and try to subdue her. For years Angelus I heard her cries and wanted to do something. But what can I do? If I meddle with the affairs of the others they will simply turn on me." She paused to let her words get the desired affects on Angel.
"But now she's free." Angel whispered. The girl laughed.
"Until they find her. That's what I want you to do. Keep her safe from them. If they find her they will put chains on her and torment her again. It will not stop."
"If you answer something for me." Angel saw the opportunity to get some answers that he wanted.
"Oh?" The girl lifted her left eyebrow. "With what do you want to know Angelus?"
"Is she the Bound Huntress that I have been forewarned about?"
"Oh my Angelus." The girl laughed. It was a high pitched laugh, like a girl. Not the same tone of voice that she used. "No. I do not think so anyways. The Bound Huntress? Go look up that in a book and find out who that creature is. What you got there maybe it but…." She stopped and cocked her head as if listening to something only she could hear. "It's time to go Angelus."
All the sudden everything changed. It was like a water running down the sink. But Angel wasn't apart of it. Although he did catch a glimpse of something beneath the surface. And he almost got why she cared so much. But as quickly as the answer came it disappeared as he was thrust back into the physical realm.