The air was soft and warm, the gentle, sickening breezes of the back alleys of LA spreading their corruptive power over the entire neighborhood. The street lights kept the are from going to sleep, and the night seemed more alive that it could have any other place. It was what was alive that made it truly deadly and a fearful place to walk throughout the quiet night.
The quiet. It was too quiet. The streets were empty, the random sound of the cars going by on their merry way, and only the occasional shadows of the people who belonged in them.
In those shadows, the singular frame of a man stood resting in the shadows. All that signified his presence was the rise and fall of his chest and the way that the occasional light hit his features. Handsome with well-defined cheekbones, dark brown hair, and brown green eyes. Sometimes, his chest would miss a beat, for minutes on end, and then with a small rearrangement, he would breathe again.
His eyes appeared to be watching and the cold silence that enveloped him was that of a hunter. A feral wolf constantly fighting for scent and sight of his enemy, one that only he knew.
And at that moment, the silent watcher had found his prey. A tall man, youthful, more like a movie star than any real man, who had a young woman on his arm. She appeared to be intoxicated and was saying several things that made no sense.
When they had first been spotted, the levels of alcohol that they had both consumed had seemed to be mutual. Now the man moved with assertion and determination. His eyes were watchful and occasionally, he raised his head as though sniffing the air in some kind of primal ritual.
The watcher's eyes narrowed and he glanced at the ground. He was at least forty-five feet off the ground, the jump would have killed any other man. But he wasn't a man. Not at least in the normal sense of the word.
As he prepared to leap, he heard the familiar crunching of bones and knew it was time.
Just as he jumped, the girl screamed and there was a sickening slurping sound.
" You know, where I come from, it's not nice to eat a girl out without consent."
The man who had been digging what looked like fangs into the girl's face quickly swerved away from her and gazed at the man who stood before him. His face was a hideous mixture of his natural beauty combined with the ravages of ridges and brutal yellow eyes that sang a sadist symphony.
" Get lost and I won't drain you dry. I might actually turn you."
The watcher laughed and then slightly turned his face into the quivering lamplight. " Funny that," he gave a humorless chuckle, " I was just thinking that I'd do the same. You know, not make it hell and just stake you right away." And as he laughed, his face twisted too so that the furrows between his brows and the overhanging forehead masked the deeply sunk yellow eyes. " But that was before."
The girl screamed in terror as the two monsters collided. The younger man seemed to have the advantage of height and speed. He moved quickly, blocking the first blow, twisting around so that he was behind the interrupter. He fumbled though as the man twisted up and behind him, latching his flailing legs around his neck. With a quick twist and roll, he snapped the vampire's neck, and before he could react, he stacked him, turning him to ashy dust.
The woman glanced at her savior and was torn between desperately desiring to thank him and the animalistic instinct to run from a predator.
She was saved the trouble. The man who had ended the vampire's unlife looked up from the pile of impotence and gave her a strange glance. " Did you love him?"
She sighed, her features betraying her turmoil. " No, he was just some bastard that I hooked up with. What was he?"
He growled slightly, " I'm sure that as drunk as you are, you're smart enough to figure it out. And dammit, next time, don't go out with guys at night in a bad part of town. Didn't your parents teach you anything?"
And with that he was gone, uncaring and unconnected. The woman later wondered why he even helped her. He was one of them and seemed to have little consideration for the human race. Little to none. But-she was deeply grateful that he helped her and even more grateful that he hadn't finished what the other started. He was even stronger and more lethal than the other.
And as she finished her ruminating, she looked up at the sky and then swore under her breath. " Great, it's dawn."
The dawn spread its resplendent light over the glittering city, lighting up the silvery sides of the buildings and warming the older buildings whose sides still bore the familial brick. Though the city had grown up from its old roots, somehow the sight of the old brick foundations, their warmth and strength, caused a little spark of hope and courage and vision to go throughout LA and keep it growing and fighting to be better.
If better included demons.
That was what vampires were; they were demons who inhabited humans's bodies. The demon only showed when the human summoned it. Or the demon wanted it. Really, it was the two of them congruently. But that was what the watcher was. A demon. A vampire. An ensouled vampire. A vampire in love. A vampire very much alone.
His name was Angel. He had often thought in the decadent centuries that his demon had controlled him that it was so strange that he should have been named Angelus. And then he'd chosen to stay with Angel. It was so ironic, he thought. Didn't a soul mean redemption? Didn't it mean hope and a new life; a new name? But no, all that had changed was the Latin of it. He was still Angelus, just saddled with a prettier name and a load of guilt that would never be ameliorated.
Angel shook off the repugnant mood that had spilled over him. The loneliness was easier; it caused him to think about the warmth that Buffy had brought to him, and the hope that finally she would be given what she needed. He felt his soul call him hypocrite, while his demon rejoiced in the pain that he knew it was causing her. Causing them. But he didn't stop, didn't return to her, because both soul and demon were in accord. They just couldn't be, exist together, live for each other. Not because she was his perfect happiness, but because he'd stolen that from both of them. Maybe if Angelus had never risen or he'd never been sent to hell, but now it just impossible. They'd never be happy together; content was really the word. And he had learned the hard way that contentment was forty-five percent of love. Twenty-five was sex, and thirty percent was adoration.
He knew that he needed to get out of the building, connect with the world, and try to feel that he could actually bring something to the world. But he refused. He preferred to read Dickens, enjoying the sordid reality of the world he wove, and occasionally falling to the page that held Buffy's picture. Really it didn't do anything more than feed the misery while enjoying it.
Finally, he'd had enough. It was two o'clock in the morning and he'd read for half of the day and most of the night. He needed to get out, at least smell the darkness, and probably save someone from a demon. Not that he really cared, he was just living right now. Helping because he couldn't let any more die right now with the state of his soul, but his heart, well, his heart had disappeared long ago. It'd gone and sold itself completely to Buffy.
" Dammit, stop thinking like Spike," he groaned and then grabbed his slicker and almost ran out into the sewers, he was the desperate to get away from himself and his life.
Once he rose from the sewers, he ascended to the roofs. He breathed in, though he didn't need the air. He relished the cold freshness of the darkest hours of the night, and the liveliness that they embodied. There wasn't the smell of death any more, the demons of the night had yet to taint it with their dark ways.
He felt a wry grin escape him and realized that the smell of death would soon surround him. It was his own scent and the flavor of the city at night. It was inevitable and in some way almost welcome. His demon relished it, for at least there was some death even if he didn't inflict it.
The purr of a car broke into his reflectionsand he glanced down from the rooftops and then sighed. It was the same car that came every day right around four-thirty. It was a young woman with the slight scent of the undead hanging about her and the haggard look of a waitress who's worked a double shift He never paid attention to her. And it seemed that others didn't either. No vampire, even though they were prevalent ever harmed her.
Angel withdrew from his position and turned towards the deeper south. He was eager for a fight and looked forward to the thrill and press of the battle. The razor sharp focus-
He smelt blood and anticipated the scream before it occurred.
His coat flew out from behind him and he leapt onto the ground. He knew the car was but a block away, a ten second run for one of his capabilities.
The run was soon done and he glanced at the screamer. The girl, about twenty-five, was leaning against her car. Her neck was bare and the vampire's teeth were running against her. She was petrified and couldn't move. Angel could smell her fear, and it was something so palpable and terrible that he could almost taste it.
His demon revolted at his hushing of his enjoyment of the fear.
The girl glanced his way almost as though she sensed him. Her trembling ceased and she gave a slight moan. " Zeus, preserve me," she muttered and then pushed.
The vampire had almost embedded his teeth in her throat and the shove raked his teeth against her throat, drawing blood. Delicious, seductive, and completely entrancing. " You little-" he was cut off as Angel loped into him. A swift kick to the groin caused him to fall and Angel positioned himself above his head. Before he could break his neck, the little thing kicked at the both of them and raced to her car. Almost immediately, she took off.
Angel growled at himself, angry about frightening her more. He finished grappling with the demon and finally dusted him. He wished that he could make it easier for those he saved. But either way, he was either a monster or he was a new menace. And with the scent of her blood, it was unlikely that he could have kept from vamping out.
Suddenly the squeal of tires, the sickening thud of a car stopped by brute force, and a scream that wasn't demon induced all caused Angel to run into action.
What saw him shocked him. The woman had obviously, from loss of blood and fright, lost control of her car and it had rammed into the front of a thick brick walled building. The car smoked terribly and the woman's neck was tilted at an unusual angle.
Angel felt his throat catch and then ran to her. He pulled her heavy weight from the car and then laid her gently upon the ground. She was cold, too cold, with her heart not beating and her spine obviously broken. Her head was tilted over so that he could see the rake of the vamp's teeth in her flesh. She was still bleeding, but death had already congealed the pulse in her veins.
" I'm so sorry." His voice broke, " I didn't want to cause this. I just wanted to save you." He brushed her cheek and then dipped his hand to the puncture wound. " I'm sorry that I couldn't help you."
The blood stuck to his fingers and his chest rose and fell unnecessarily as the feel and the scent of the blood started to make him heady. He needed to dispose of the body and in the meantime, keep himself from drinking the rest of her blood.
Suddenly, her neck snapped aright, gold billowed out of her. Angel fell back away from her and watched her body assimilate itself into something completely foreign to him. Her hair was a billowy cloud of gold, which still kept itself from the romantic perfection of novels. Her eyes were a soft blue with something of the clouds playing about them. And then all the magic faded about her and she was the plain, pretty little woman she had been when he found her.
She sat up, rolled her head and then groaned in pain. She glanced towards her car and then rolled her eyes. " Bollocks. Grand, just grand."
Suddenly, she stiffened and then swiveled around so that she was face to face with Angel. He had the stricken fearful look that spoke of his worry of harming her. He looked at her, his chest rising with perturbation, and then he reached out towards her slightly. " I didn't mean-I mean-"
She screamed as his hand reached out towards her and she fell backwards, bracing herself against her car. " No, no, please stay away from me. Don't touch me!" Her fear had spiked into otherworldly levels and it ran out in sweet waves towards Angel.
Angel pushed the demon away and then spoke haltingly, " I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I know what you saw, but they can't hurt you again."
" It's not him I'm worried about. It's you, vampire." She moaned in fear and then leaned back into the car, her hand ravaging the seat as she fought for something.
Angel's eyes opened in surprise and he gave her an ashamed look. " If you know that then, please, please let me explain. I'm not going to eat you. I'm not going to hurt you."
She gave a wry laugh before pulling out a large silver cross. Angel felt his own heart rate spike, or lack thereof, and he became fixated on the cross. " Where did you get Giles's cross?"
Her eyes dropped and she said quivering, " Shut up, and get away from me."
Angel's eyes narrowed and he felt anger and fear rising within. " I don't know what the hell you are, but I can smell that you're not all human. The fact that you have Giles's cross and you know that I'm a vampire tells me that you know more than you need to. So, I'm gonna ask you again, where did you get it from?"
He had started coming closer to her, and her fear level rose. " Stay away from me, you beast. Stay away!" She practically screamed in terror, her body starting to stop working. She was going to faint and Angel knew it.
For some reason, Angel suddenly felt a wash of pity and he withdrew slightly. " I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to figure out what and who you are. Why you have Giles's cross? How you know I'm a vampire?"
She quivered, and he could tell that she was wondering if he could possibly be trusted. " I-I-" And then she did collapse.
Angel leapt forward to catch her in his arms before she hit the ground. Hard.
She screamed in pain as he held her and flailed as though he was launching an assault on every inch of her body. As though he was already draining her dry.
Angel felt her fear turn to paroxysms of pain as his touch burned her and he laid her gently down upon the ground. He realized that every touch of his hand caused agony to her body and it ravaged her.
Angel drew back from her and then spoke haltingly, " Someone- someone hurt you, didn't they? They violated you?"
She glanced up at him with bitten lips and a quivering that wracked her entire body. " How did you know?"
" I can smell the fear, the pain. I've felt it before. On people I've hurt." He looked down at his hands and gave her a wry look. " Sorry. I guess that doesn't help."
" Actually it does." She gasped, pushing herself up. She was still trembling, and her fear was still prevalent.
He reached down to help her up. She screamed as his hand came forward. " Don't!"
Angel flinched and then withdrew from her. He started walking backwards and stayed where he was at least ten feet away from her. " Sorry. I swear, I won't hurt you."
" You're Angel, aren't you?" She pushed herself up from the ground and then leaned against the car. " Dad talked about you. He pretty much hates you, thinks you're a right bastard."
Angel gave a slight scoff and then glanced at the cross. " Where did you get it?"
" Dad gave it to me. Said if I was gonna move to LA, I might as well have a cross, holy water, and a stake." She gave him a slight smile. " I'm Giles's bastard by the way. My mom was a Venus demon."
Angel's eyes opened and then he glanced at her. " That explains a hell of a lot." He looked at her and gave her a wry smile. And then inquired. " What's your name?"
" Trixie Giles. Nice to meet you, Angel." But she quickly turned severe. " And don't ever touch me again, or I'll stake you."