Chapter 3 – Vampire Reconnaissance

Note:

Thanks to my two faithful reviewers, SMGbest and Angellufy, and the third new one, leona. Without you, the story would have probably taken a back seat to other stories.

This is set to be a longer story (at least something between 10 and 20 chapters). There will be lots of Buffy / Angel interaction to come. And at least four more "old acquaintances" are set to appear as well.

Buffy arrived at the barn just as the sun was vanishing behind the horizon. It didn't take long until the vampire made an appearance. He opened the barn door carefully and had a quick look around. Buffy was hiding in a small grove not too far away from the barn. When he didn't see anybody, he walked towards a small hill, where he simply lay down and stared at the sky. And he kept doing that for the rest of the night.

Buffy didn't know what she had expected would happen, but this was certainly not it. When she started to get cold from just standing around and doing nothing, she decided to go back to the inn. The night was only half over, but she doubted that if he wanted to move on he would do so now, without knowing when he would find the next shelter from the sun.

When Buffy snuck back into the inn as not to wake anybody, she almost ran into the landlady.

"You've been out rather late," she remarked.

"Oh... um…" Buffy stuttered.

"I want to make one thing clear, I don't allow any male visitors in my inn, or any other shenanigans of that sort," she said disapprovingly.

It took Buffy a moment to realize what the landlady was implying. "Oh, no," she said quickly, "it's not what you think."

"It's not?" the landlady asked, hoping very much that her suspicions were inaccurate.

"No, you see, I sometimes just have trouble sleeping. And the only thing that helps me fall asleep again is some fresh air and a nice walk."

The landlady smiled relieved. "Oh, you poor thing. How about I'll make you some warm milk? That always helps me fall asleep again."

When Buffy went out to the barn the next night, the exact same thing happened as the night before, and then again the next night and the night after that. Buffy was getting more and more bored each day. The vampire never did anything. He just lay there looking at the sky. He never even went hunting. Wouldn't he need blood to survive? On some nights, Willow came along to keep her company, but she usually didn't stay long.

Then one night, he suddenly jumped up and pounced on something. Buffy left the protection of the grove and went closer, hiding behind the barn. The vampire had caught a small animal and was ravenously feeding on it. At first Buffy was shocked when she saw his hideously contorted face in the moonlight. He had blood all over his face. Buffy's first instinct was to run. But she reminded herself that he must have been really hungry by now and that it was just instinct that had made him maul the animal like that. For a spilt second, she saw the mauled neck of her poor dead sister before her inner eye. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the image away. By now she was almost certain that that had been another person, not the person looking at the stars each night and never harming a human being.

When the vampire had finished his meal, it looked like he was coming out of a daze. His face changed back to its human form and he looked dismayed at the dead animal in his hands. He quickly threw it away. Then he looked at his bloody hands and wiped them off in the grass frantically.

Since the vampire had stayed in town and had not moved on as Buffy and Willow had anticipated, they had needed a plausible excuse why they were staying in such a little town for so long. They had bought some cloth and started sewing new clothes, especially a cloak for each of them for the quickly approaching winter. They had told the landlady that they wanted to stay until they had finished the clothes and would not be recognizable as gypsies right away in the next town. The landlady had readily accepted this excuse.

"So, what do you think he is doing out there, looking at the sky all night?" Willow asked one day.

"I don't know."

"Maybe Xander was right and he really is mad. Maybe he doesn't remember a thing, maybe not even where he is or who he is."

"I don't think so. He definitely remembers that he is a vampire." Then Buffy remembered how he had thrown away the small animal after he had fed on it. "Maybe he is disgusted by what he is," Buffy said. "Maybe he simply doesn't know what to do now, how to deal with it."

One day, Buffy went to the barn during the day. She wanted to see him in better light. She had only seen him from afar, mostly just his outline, except for nights when the moon was very bright. Very quietly and very carefully she opened the door and looked inside. She didn't see him. But she heard something. It was the same noise she had heard the day Xander had first taken them out here. This time she thought it sounded more like whimpering. She followed the noise. It came from behind a wall of hay bales. He had probably arranged them like that to have additional shelter from the sun or intruders. Even more quietly and cautiously, Buffy peeked around the hay bales.

The vampire was lying on the ground on a layer of hay, in the darkest corner of the barn. But there was still enough light that Buffy could see him clearly. He was dirty and unkempt. And he was tossing and turning in his sleep. He made sounds that were something between whimpers and agonizing moans. Buffy could even make out some tears that were running down his face. She couldn't help but feel pity for him. His dreams must be pure nightmares judging from what she was witnessing before her. Buffy bent down to better be able to see his face. She caught herself reaching out to touch him and quickly withdrew her hand. The vampire had grown quieter. Buffy stood up and took a step back, never letting him out of her sight. Maybe he had smelled her. But taking into account how bad he smelled, she doubted he could make out anything else beside his own stench. Nevertheless, she decided it was safer to retreat before he woke up, for whatever reason.

The next few nights got colder and colder. But the vampire just kept lying in the grass as usual. Buffy's nightly visits to the barn got shorter and shorter. She really wished he would move on soon. She didn't want to imagine what this would be like when the snow would start to fall. Buffy wondered if maybe she should just walk up to him and talk to him. Something needed to happen. Why shouldn't she be the one to change something in their routine? Willow certainly wouldn't approve. But Buffy honestly didn't believe that he would harm anyone.

A few nights later, Buffy's problem of boredom was solved by someone else. When she got to the barn shortly before sunset, she saw a young man and woman heading towards the barn. They were obviously looking for a private place to be alone. Buffy was instantly concerned that if they startled the vampire, he might react rashly and hurt somebody by accident. But she didn't know what to do but to wait and see what would happen.

For quite a while nothing happened at all. But when the sun had set completely, a dark figure jumped from the top barn window. He must have made it to the upper part of the barn before the young couple could see him. But instead of heading for his favorite spot on the hill, the vampire headed straight for the road. Buffy followed him.

She was soon convinced that he was heading for the next town. Buffy had wanted a change in the routine, but following him without any advance warning was not how she had imagined it. But without even having to pack a bag, he could just up and leave at any moment. Luckily, he didn't seem to be in a hurry. He walked at a rather leisurely pace. Buffy knew she'd have to backtrack later to get Willow. She was glad when, after several hours of walking, he stopped in a small town and sought shelter in an old shed. Buffy was confident that he would probably stay there for the rest of the night and walked back to the inn.

It was early in the morning when she snuck into their room. Willow was wide awake.

"Where were you? Are you alright?" Willow asked concerned. "You've been coming back earlier and earlier the last few days and then you stay away almost the whole night? What happened? I was so worried."

"I'm sorry. Our vampire is on the move. I followed him to the next town. We are leaving first thing in the morning. But I really need some sleep now," Buffy said tiredly.

In the morning, they packed their things, bid farewell to their landlady and walked to the next town. As soon as they had arrived and gotten a room, Buffy headed straight for bed. After having walked three times the distance Willow and the vampire had, she was exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next night, Buffy and Willow were prepared. They had paid their room in advance and taken their things with them. Buffy had a feeling that the vampire might move on right away. And that feeling proved to be correct. This went on for several nights in a row. Each time after they had reached a new town and the vampire had found an adequate shelter for the day, Buffy and Willow checked into a guest house, slept as much as they could during the day and moved on during the night.

"I am just glad he never skips a town," Willow remarked.

"He probably just doesn't want to risk being caught outside when the sun rises."

"That would make sense," Willow admitted. "I just hope he finds a town he likes soon. I wouldn't mind staying somewhere for longer than a few hours."

Buffy chuckled. "I don't think he didn't like the towns we came through, he hardly ever takes a look at them. My guess is that he will continue to move on until we come across a bigger city. He can hide more easily there and blend in. Even we are drawing attention in the small towns and have trouble making up excuses for our strange daily routines."

Two days later, they finally arrived at a far bigger city than all the other ones before. The vampire even took the time to explore the city some more before finally seeking shelter shortly before sunrise. He settled for some stables on the outskirts.

Buffy was curious to see if his routine would change now that they were in a big city. And indeed, he became a lot more active. He roamed through the city, but seemingly never with a particular destination in mind. His walk was crouched and listless and he shied away from people. The city offered more places for Buffy to hide as well, making it easier to follow him without being conspicuous or drawing attention. But he was also a lot easier to loose. Buffy had to use the location spell a few times already. But it was easy enough and took only a few seconds to perform. It worked like a mix between a pendulum and a compass. Only a few murmured words and a pendant attached to a piece of string and containing his hair would point her in the right direction.

At first, Buffy followed him all night long, curious to see what he would do, and slept during the day. Willow usually went out to explore the city during the day as to not disturb Buffy sleeping in their room. She was thrilled by everything she saw. Willow was fascinated by the architecture. She loved the market. She found some interesting books shops. The city even had a library. She also found a pharmacy selling hydrogen peroxide as well as some useful herbs she would add to her own collection.

Buffy rarely saw the vampire feed. Once she witnessed him feeding on one of the goats in the stable. But he didn't take much. And the goat didn't seem affected by the loss of blood at all. He only fed on animals and seemed to be putting it off for as long as possible. This wasn't the killer everybody said he was. He looked like someone who was highly uncomfortable with what he was. At times it looked like he despised himself. But if he wasn't the cold-blooded murderer of her sister anymore, then who was he?

A couple of times Buffy was close to striking up a conversation with him. But each time either her courage left her or she heard Constantin's voice booming in her head, telling her that she would be betraying her sister. Buffy tried to silence the voice, telling it that she was doing nothing wrong, but the voice wouldn't shut up.

After a while, the vampire got even more lethargic and reclusive. Some nights he didn't leave the stables at all. Some nights he roamed the city until the sun was already up, not seeming to care if he made it back to his shelter before the first rays of the day would appear.

One night, it was an especially cold and windy night, Buffy lost him again and had to use the location spell. She found him a short while later in a dark and deserted alley. The vampire was standing next to a tree and was bending over something. She carefully went closer. A huge tree branch had been broken off by the wind and was lying on the ground. The vampire was snapping off smaller branches from it, several pieces were lying all around him. Finally, one seemed to be to his taste. He weighed it carefully in his hand. One end was rather pointy. He opened his coat, faced the tree, put the piece of wood between himself and the trunk, one end touching the bark and the other - the more pointy end - touching his chest, so that it was kept in place. Then he held on to the trunk, as if he wanted to embrace it.

"No! Stop!" Buffy yelled without even thinking about what she was doing.

The vampire was startled by her screaming and turned to see who had disturbed him. The wood fell to the ground.

Buffy ran up to him. "Sir, please, don't do such a thing."

He feigned innocence. "What thing?"

"Taking your own life. I bet you have a long life in front of you."

He bowed his head. "A life full of agony and pain. For me and others."

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked. She didn't know what else to say. Her heart was hammering in her chest like crazy. She had trouble forming a clear thought. She had prevented him from killing himself and now she was actually talking to him. She had thought about talking to him for days, but really doing it was a whole different thing. She was talking to a vampire, to the murderer of her sister. She had never been so close to him before. If she had reached out her hand, she could have touched him.

"Believe me, I know." He leaned back against the tree trunk, staring at the pieces of wood on the ground. "Go home, Miss. You shouldn't be in this part of town at night."

"Oh… um… I know, but I... got lost," Buffy said as innocently as possible, trying to put on a pitiful face. "Seems you are lost, too, just in another way." Again, she didn't know where that had come from.

"Where do you live?"

"I am staying at Radu's Pub and Guest House in Market Street."

He pointed towards where she had come from. "Just go back that way, go left, turn the next right, then left at the Crazy Horse pub, walk until you see a white church, turn right after that, from there go on until you get to the market place. Do you know your way from there?"

"Yes, I know the market place. It's not far from there," Buffy said cheerily.

"Good." He turned to go in the opposite direction.

"So to get there I go right and then the first left?" Buffy asked innocently and deep in thought, pretending she had a hard time remembering his directions.

He groaned. She would get herself killed tonight or end up in even seedier districts than this one, maybe even the brothel part of the city. "How about I bring you?" he finally offered. He didn't want another soul on his conscience.

"Really? Would you be so kind?" Buffy said, feigning relief. Well, she was relieved, relieved that he had fallen for her scheme.

"Sure." He could still kill himself later. Why not go out with a bang and help a beautiful young lady home first? Maybe he would get some credit for that in his afterlife, like maybe 10 minutes less in hell, out of several thousand years. "Come on."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. …?"

"Just call me… Angel." He couldn't even say his real name. He wasn't Angelus anymore. Just the name was making him sick. It reminded him of all the things he had done while being known under that dreadful name.

"That is so good of you," Buffy said sweetly. "Thank you very much for putting off taking your own life. That is so selfless."

"Are you making fun of me?" Angel asked suspiciously, not that he really cared.

"No, not at all. But you see, I would think that somebody who takes his own life would have to be a very selfish person."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you must have somebody who cares about you and you will cause them terrible pain if you kill yourself. Somebody who can do that must be selfish."

"There is nobody, Miss."

"Oh, I am sorry."

"That's okay. I don't take offense easily."

After walking for a while without anybody saying anything, the silence was getting awkward.

"Are you sure there is nobody?" Buffy asked, trying to make conversation.

"I am quite sure."

"That is indeed very sad." After a short pause she added, "Is that why you wanted to kill yourself?"

He looked at her strangely.

"Sorry, it's not my place to ask you that. Very sorry. Just ignore me. I tend to babble when I am nervous."

"You are nervous? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No… well… maybe a little."

"I assure you that I will do you no harm," he said sincerely.

"Oh, that's not it. I am not afraid of you. I trust that you will get me home unharmed. I feel rather safe with you around." Buffy really meant what she had said and smiled her sweetest smile.

"Then what is making you uneasy?"

"Well, you will get me home and afterwards you will kill yourself. That thought is making me rather sad. I am not sure if I will be able to sleep tonight, when I think that you are out there alone, trying to take your life after you have been so nice to me," Buffy said miserably with downcast eyes.

"Believe me, I am not a nice person."

"You said you wouldn't harm me. Anybody else would have taken advantage of such a situation you found me in."

"I would never do something like that," Angel said aghast.

"See," Buffy said triumphantly, "I knew you were a good person."

After a while of walking in silence again, Buffy asked, "Do you want me to tell anybody?"

"Tell what?"

"That you have died."

"Oh… No, there really is nobody."

"Do you have anybody arranging your funeral?" Buffy asked. Of course she knew the answer that question, but she was trying to keep the conversation alive.

"There will be no funeral."

"How sad."

Again, there was silence. Buffy was wondering if he had been this taciturn before he got his soul back.

"Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" Buffy batted her eyes innocently.

"Believe me, Miss, the world will be a better place without me."

"I can't believe something like that. If you had taken your life just a minute earlier, I might be dead by now too. Who knows how many people's lives you might save just by sticking around."

"I can never make up for my sins."

"You could try," Buffy suggested carefully. "That's all anybody can do."

"There really is no hope for me, Miss."

"I believe in you." Why was she saying this? She had only wanted to keep him from killing himself, and now she was going on and on about forgiveness and redemption. What was wrong with her? She wasn't his priest. She of all people had reason enough to never forgive him for anything. And he didn't even seem to want forgiveness or redemption.

They both kept silent. When they reached her guest house, Angel said, "I am sorry if I have caused you any pain. It was not my intention. It was unlucky that you had to witness that."

"I think it was rather a lucky incident, don't you?"

He didn't reply.

"Will you do me a favor?" Buffy asked sweetly.

"What would that be?"

"Well, I would sleep much better, if you would promise me to think everything over once more, before you kill yourself, I mean. Just another day."

Again, he didn't say anything. He simply looked at her, slightly puzzled. Why would a stranger like her - a beautiful young girl, she didn't look much older than eighteen or nineteen - care about such a dirty scoundrel like him?

"Just one tiny, single day," Buffy emphasized with big, innocent eyes.

"Fine," Angel said finally. What difference would one more day make? Probably none at all.

Buffy's face lit up. "Good. Thank you." And without another word she went quickly inside and closed the door behind her.

Angel looked baffled at the closed door.

Inside, Buffy was leaning against the door with her back. She had needed to get away from him. She was out of breath for no particular reason. She felt hot and cold at the same time. She felt good for having been able to save his life, at least for now. But she felt sick to her stomach for having sweet-talked the murderer of her sister, as if her sister had never died, as if she had forgotten about her murder already.

Angel made his way back to the stables. He had promised her to wait and he would keep that promise. Once in his life he wanted to do something right. It was just one day after all. It wouldn't make any difference anyway.

He slept and dreamed of the girl. It was the first peaceful dream he had had since he had gotten his soul back. It was nothing indecent. It was just warm, bright and peaceful. No victims were haunting him, no murderous scene was replaying before his inner eye, no children were screaming and begging for their lives. When he woke he actually felt better than he had in a long time. And he felt something, something that felt almost like… hope.

He wanted to see her again. He had never met anybody like her. She was sweet and innocent, compassionate and naïve, but at the same time courageous and fearless, and extremely beautiful. He needed to see her again, at least once more before he left this world for good. He knew where she stayed. But he had no idea how long she was in town for or anything else about her. He didn't even know her name. What if she had already left? A new urgency overcame him.

As soon as the sun set, he roamed the city in search for some clean clothes. His were terribly dirty and stank abominably. When he found some, he used his old clothes as a washrag and cleaned himself up as best as he could. Then he made his way towards the guest house. On the way there he came across a thrown out and dried bouquet of flowers. They looked rather nice in their dried state. Angel picked one flower out. He would give it to her and thank her for saving his life. He would tell her that she had changed his mind about wanting to die. He didn't want her to be sad because of him. He would tell her that he would simply go home and live on. It would be a lie, but in his opinion it was a justified lie. And it would be a good excuse to see her one more time.

Angel entered the pub part of the guest house.

TBC