Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used.
Buffy looked out the window of her small cabin. She could see the demons moving about the street getting their daily errands done. With a small sigh she turned away from the window to see if her father needed any help.
Buffy wanted nothing more than to feel like she belonged in the world. Buffy was the only human; she felt ugly and alone. Girls her own age who she had once played with, as a child, no longer wanted to be seen with her, while the boys never paid her any attention outside their mutterings of "freak." Buffy soon began to stay in the small home, never venturing outside without her father. She would read books and help Giles with his latest inventions. She loved her father because like her the small green goblin was an outsider. Much of the town thought he was crazy. He never cared what anyone thought and told Buffy every day that she shouldn't either.
Buffy only once confessed her feeling of ugliness to her father. The way he had looked at her had surprised her. His mouth dropped open slightly and his eyes squinted as he raised his eyebrow. Quickly his expression changed to one of determination, but only fleetingly so before his expression became loving.
"Sit," her father said, pointing to the plush chair that Buffy sat in while she watched her father work.
When Buffy took her seat, Giles moved to stand beside her, being much shorter than she was, this forced Buffy to his eye level. When her vibrant green eyes met his black yet caring eyes he began speaking.
"Dear child, you are not ugly. You are far from it. You may look different than everyone here, but there is no doubt in my mind that you are beautiful," Giles paused for a moment moving over to the bookshelf. He pulled out a brown leather book, the spine was cracked revealing its age. The musty smell invaded Buffy's nose as her father opened the book and placed it on her lap.
Buffy looked down at the book; there was a picture of a handsome man. Behind him stood a woman and a man they were posed with their hands on the man's shoulders. The couple appeared only slightly older than the man in front of them, clearly from the portrait this was a family.
"Who are they?" Asked Buffy.
"They are the vampires who once ruled this world. The man in the front is Prince Angelus. Behind him are his sires. They ruled over our world for many centuries, but about fifty years ago they disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to them and no one dares to go near what was their castle." Giles' voice drifted off for a moment before he decided to continue, "Many believe a curse was placed on the castle because a stranger wandered into the town looking for it just a day before the family vanished. She was never seen again."
"Why are you telling me this?" Buffy asked.
"Look at them Buffy. They look like you because they were once human before they were turned. The vampire demon cannot live without hosting a human body. The prince never took a mate because he said he could find no one of great beauty in this world. So you see dear child, while your beauty is different than ours, it is a great beauty." Giles smiled and patted Buffy's hand before leaving the room to give Buffy time with the book.
Buffy was jolted from her thoughts as she heard an explosion and a bang. Buffy quickly went into her father's workshop to find it filled with smoke. She could hear her father coughing and moved to help him up.
"Buffy, it works! And with just a few more calibrations, I should be ready for the fair" Giles said excitedly before wrapping his arms around Buffy.
Buffy couldn't help, but laugh. Here was her father covered in soot from the explosion in a smoke filled room, yet he was so sure that the invention he had just created was ready. Her father always competed in the inventors fair. Every year he came in last place, but this year he was determined he would win. Buffy wasn't quite sure what the invention this year did; all she knew was that this was the fifth explosion the invention had created. She trusted that Giles would make it safe and hoped for once he would win.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first real chapter of this story. Please review.
