Disclaimer: The characters of AtS aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.

The memory Angel has of visiting a hospital before is taken from Season 1's "To Shanshu in LA", written by David Greenwalt.

The opening of this chapter is taken from my story "Kathy", which was in turn based on dialogue which occurred in Season's "The Prodigal", written by Tim Minear.

Spoilers: For "The Prodigal" and "To Shanshu in LA".

Author's Note: I had planned on updating yesterday, but it was the end of the school term and craziness ensued as it always does, with report cards to write and school carol services to attend.

This is quite a dark chapter and I don't really like it, but it's necessary to get us where we're going. Merry Christmas Eve's Eve!

Chapter Fourteen

"Liam?" Her voice was small and childlike, yet it was unmistakably Kathy who spoke. "Is that you?"

"Yes sweet Kathy, it's me."

"You've come back to me, then?" Her innocent eyes opened wide with wonder. "You're an angel."

He smiled. "Will you not ask me in Kathy?"

"Of course. This is your home. You will always be welcome here."

Thus invited, the new-born Angelus entered his family home. Kathy threw her arms around his neck.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she said through her tears.

"Sure, didn't I tell you that we'd be together again," he said as his face changed.

With more force than necessary, he bared her neck and sunk his teeth in, enjoying the squeal of pain and surprise that came from her. Her sweet blood coated his tongue, making him crave more and more, as he tore even more savagely at her throat.

Cordelia could taste her blood. She could feel her pain, her fear, as though it were her own. More than anything, she could feel the quality of the betrayal. The child had trusted her brother beyond anyone else in her world. And he had torn her throat out.

The pain filled her, making her body thrash, unable to escape it. She experienced every last moment of the girl's death, in seemingly slow motion, prolonging each delirious second of agony, as her heart slowed and eventually stopped.

And then she moved on to the next victim.

All but a few had now departed the house. Adrianna, her grandfather and Enyos where the only ones who still remained.

Cordelia had been untied after the ceremony and Adrianna watched as the woman thrashed on the ground again, clearly in terrible, terrible pain. Her mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Her fingers tore at her skin, her throat, her clothes. Her eyes stared, unblinking, unseeing. She was completely lost to the darkness.

The young gypsy girl's skin crawled at the thoughts of what Cordelia must be experiencing. Despite what Enyos and her grandfather claimed, she could not imagine anything that the woman, or even the vampire, could have done to deserve such torture.

"Come child." Her grandfather beckoned to her. "It is time we left."

"What about her?" Adrianna indicated the still thrashing Cordelia.

"She will remain here. Come quickly."

She watched as he and Enyos left the house. Then Adrianna picked up the phone in the kitchen and called for an ambulance.

Kathy and Gunn dashed up the stairs and to Angel's room at the sound of his yells. Whatever they had expected to find it was not Angel, curled in a ball, screaming with pain.

"What the hell is happening?" Kathy asked Wesley.

"I don't know. He collapsed to the ground in great pain. The only thing he's managed to say so far is 'Cordy'."

"Oh god," Kathy said, her eyes widening with fear as she realised what was happening. "They've already performed the ritual."

"The ritual that will unleash Angelus?" Gunn asked, gripping his weapon tighter. "That ritual?"

Kathy dropped to her knees at her brother's side. "Angel! Angel, can you hear me?"

At the sound of her voice, he looked at her, his eyes filled with torment. "Oh god – too much... So much pain... I'm so sorry."

Wesley looked on concerned. "He seems to be experiencing the full force of the ritual. Everything that Cordelia is going through."

Kathy shook her head. "Trust me, whatever Cordy's going through is much worse." She shook Angel. "Angel, you need to focus. Come on! You experience the guilt for your past deeds every day. You live with it. Every day. You can handle this!"

Angel shook his head, mouthing nonsensical words. To Wesley and Gunn's surprise, Kathy drew back her hand and slapped her brother hard across the face.

"Snap out of it now! Cordelia needs you!"

Angel blinked. Shaking his head as though to clear it, his eyes focused on the woman in front of him. "Cordy. We need to find her!"

Wesley was glad they didn't encounter any patrol cars on their drive to the address near Seoul Park. They didn't so much as pause at a single stop-sign or red light the entire way.

They followed as Angel dashed from the car under a blanket, the sun now fairly high in the sky. But the trip had been wasted. It took only seconds to establish that the house was empty.

"Damn! Wrong place. Do we have another address for these gypsy guys?" Gunn asked.

"No, this is the right place," Angel said. "She was here. Just a few minutes ago."

He was calmer now. When Wesley looked at him, he could still see the pain flashing through his eyes, but Angel wasn't letting it control him. He was entirely focused now on finding Cordelia. He walked around the room, smelling things their human noses could never detect.

"I can smell her fear," he said. "And blood. Probably what they used in the ritual. And something else..." He took another sniff. "Antiseptic. Some kind of sanitiser?"

"Well, she's not in any fit state to be wandering around under her own steam," Wesley said. "So where would they have taken her?"

Gunn was the first with a reasonable suggestion. The antiseptic smell Angel had picked up had given him an idea. "Where's the nearest hospital?"

It had taken two nurses and an orderly in addition to the paramedics to get their Jane Doe into a bed and strap her down. Her flailing had not let up for a moment and, more than once, they were convinced that she would break a bone – whether it would be one of her own or theirs was anyone's guess.

News of the case must have travelled quickly through the hospital, because a doctor appeared to administer a powerful sedative, having only been paged once.

It was pointless, however. The drugs didn't make the slightest impact on her or the sustained seizure she seemed to be having. If anything, she was worse. Now she was screaming.

It didn't take Angel's vampire senses to hear Cordelia's screams as they entered St. Vincent's. Immediately, his mind went back to the night, not long ago, when he had been summoned to a different hospital. Cordelia's screams had greeted him then too.

Angel ran down the hospital corridor and stopped at the nurse's station.

"I'm looking for Cordelia Chase," he said.

The nurse looked nervous as soon as he said the name. "She is... ah, the doctor is with her. If you'll just have a seat over there –"

Before she could utter another word, Angel heard Cordelia scream. The sound was beyond pain, beyond fear, and it cut right through him. He didn't wait for another excuse the nurse would try to fob him off with. Instead, he ran towards the sound of Cordy's voice.

This time, Angel didn't stop to talk to anyone. He just ran, following the sound of her screams.

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