Buffy rolled over in frustration, another irritated sigh breaking the early morning silence. She could feel the exhaustion, the need to go sleep, overwhelming her body and mind; however Angel's voice spoke clearly in her mind, repeating every word he had spoken to her about the Order of the Darkness.

"Stupid … crappy … vampire assassination group … thing," Buffy muttered, propping herself up on her elbows.

She ran her fingers through her hair, glancing over at the clock.

Five in the morning.

"Great."

She climbed out of bed, moaning and groaning as she made her way over to the kitchen. Having no energy to make herself a cup of coffee, she merely filled up a mug with water and gulped down that instead. She leant against the counter, clutching the mug lazily to her chest, and stared ahead.

The words "why me?" echoed in her mind as they had done countless times. She longed for normality and love and protection. From a tender age she had been thrust into this whole other world that was unknown to her and held nothing but danger and death. Waking up and wondering whether today could be your last day wasn't a typical thought on a seventeen year olds mind. There was so much that she had sacrificed for her responsibilities in the supernatural world, whether the loss had affected her or not, and it seemed unfair that she hadn't been rewarded for her effort. Slipping off the supernatural radar would be a dream come true, although she wouldn't rest until she felt she had avenged her Mother's death.

Preventing her usual emotional breakdown that occurred at the thought of her Mother, she placed her mug into the sink and headed back towards her bed. Before she could even reach the warmth of her bed, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Great, the vampires probably want me to do a home delivery service," muttered Buffy as she retrieved the stake from under her bed.

She crept towards the door, keeping her footsteps as quiet as she could muster, and gripped the door knob. Deciding that the element of surprise would probably be a more suitable approach to dusting this vampire in record time, she quickly threw open the door and raised the stake.

She was just about to put a stake through his chest when Angel grabbed her arm and angled it away from his lifeless heart. He didn't seem at all surprised at Buffy's greeting, though she assumed this wasn't the first time he'd almost got staked.

"Angel! What the hell –"

"I came to talk," he interrupted broodingly.

"What a surprise," Buffy mumbled.

She turned on her heel and headed towards her bed, motioning for him to follow her. Buffy heard him close the door behind him, even going to the extent of locking the door, and followed behind. She sat on her bed and looked up to find him hovering awkwardly near the window. She rolled her eyes, smirking slightly, and gave a little cough.

"You can sit down, I won't bite," Buffy smirked.

"You won't, but I might."

Buffy could hear the dry humor in his tone.

Angel hovered slightly towards the bed, looking torn between sitting and standing, before finally perching on the edge, putting enough distance between himself and Buffy. A smirk played on Buffy's lips, though she didn't comment for once. She wondered whether he feared her and the stake she was twirling between her fingers, though she doubted it.

"So what's up?" she asked, cutting straight to the point.

"The Order of Darkness," Angel replied instantly.

Buffy sighed. She was well aware that the subject wouldn't have been dropped like she had requested. Nonetheless, she decided to allow Angel to explain fully this time without her interrupting to vent her frustrated emotions and thoughts.

"The Master-"

"The who?" Buffy questioned, momentarily forgetting her decision to not interrupt.

"The Master, who is the leader of the Order, is one of the oldest vampires to walk this Earth," answered Angel.

Buffy nodded, readjusting herself into a more comfortable position.

"The Master wanted me as one of his top soldiers. I declined... Obviously … and regrettably told him that I'd rather die than join his army…"

Angel suddenly rose from his seat and returned to his hovering spot beside the window.

"My family paid the price for that foolish mistakes," he said, directing his gaze down to his feet. "He had them all killed, every single one of them, even though they were vampires."

He paused, wincing slightly. He faced fully away from Buffy, his head still slanting towards the floor.

"I didn't even know whose dust it was that blew out of the door when I came home," Angel whispered brokenly.

Buffy, who had been surprisingly fighting back tears, slowly realized how much she and Angel had in common, even though she would have detested the thought of comparing herself to a vampire a few weeks previously. They had both lost their families and they were both trapped in a world where they didn't want to belong. For the first time in her life, Buffy actually pitied a vampire.

"I knew I had to leave, to run, and I've been running ever since. A few months after the murders, I was visited by two very beautiful witches. They had power I had never witnessed before, it was amazing," Angel recalled in awe.

"What did they want?"

Angel's story had entranced Buffy, who was now sat on the edge of her bed with a fascinated shine burning in her emerald eyes.

"I had been a slave to the shadows until that night. It was then that they gave me my ring. They told me how a higher power had asked them to create the ring as I'd find it extremely useful in the future. They were also ordered to bless the ring to prevent The Master from tracking me."

Buffy nodded, allowing all her brain to absorb all this information like a sponge. She began to piece together the story in her head, retelling it over again to clarify a few loose ends.

"Who was this 'higher power' that asked them to create the ring?" Buffy inquired.

"I'm not entirely sure," Angel said, returning to his position on the edge of the bed. "Though I do have an idea."

The two fell into a comfortable silence. It was odd how content Buffy felt around Angel now. She felt as if she could relate to him and think of him as a human instead of just a blood-sucking vampire. She smiled slightly when the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" ran through her mind in a voice that sounded quite like her Mother's.

"The whole human race depends on you," Angel suddenly said, shattering the peaceful silence.

Buffy raised her eyebrow. "Yeah? How so?"

"Because if you don't complete your destiny and kill The Master, he will start ordering his army to bite instead of drain."

"Which is bad because…"

"Because then his victim won't die, they'll be turned into one of me. Each human life lost is a vampire soldier born," replied Angel in a horrified tone.

Another silence grew between them.

"So no pressure then?" muttered Buffy.

Angel bounced up off the bed, facing her with a serious expression. "This isn't a joke, Buffy," he snapped.

Feeling as though she needed to defend herself, Buffy also threw herself off the bed and faced Angel angrily, her hands slowly curling into fists.

"You're right! And you know why? Because it's my life! I don't have to do this, I can just ignore everything you just told me and go back to my usual routine!" Buffy snarled back, her voice steadily increasing in volume.

Impatience flashed in Angel's dark eyes. "You can't. You won't be able to run from this."

"Well, watch me!" Buffy retorted, throwing her arms up wildly in the air.

Angel took a few steps backwards, putting distance between Buffy and himself, whilst trying to calm down before his temper got completely out of control.

"You can't run from The Master," he stated simply.

"I can try!" Buffy folded her arms stubbornly.

"Trust me, you can't… everyone you have ever loved… every friend, every family member, anyone who has ever touched your heart … will end up dead."

"Well it's too late for that! They're all dead anyway," Buffy hissed bitterly.

"Then you'll die instead."

I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A YEAR! I was so shocked.

But I've updated and, even though it's small-ish, I hope you enjoy it! I will be putting all my effort into this story now and developing it as it is probably one of my most creative pieces so far.

Please review!

Lots of love and happy reading! xxxx