Post by Maintenance Administrator on Nov 10, 2009 9:45:24 GMT -6
Where Destiny Begins
Angel sat at the darkened corner of the smoke filled bar sipping slowly on his drink. He was not the type to drink but his previous ally in crime, Spike, might have enjoyed being at this downtown L.A bar. This was a bar where demons came for pleasure, fun and possibly an odd job. Besides the demons, this place was very popular for its human crowd. The humans came here to forget the worries of their daily life and to mingle with the danger and the thrill of the night life. There were people of all races, ethnicities and specimens in the City of Angeles. There were many sins that happen here contradicting the City of Angeles. Angle knew of this fact very well considering he helped prevent many crimes. There was so much commotion surrounding Angel in the bar. The hoarse laughter of a drunken guy at the table near the Karaoke stand fills the bar. Two demons near his table looked at him for a while but they lost interest soon. Angle felt so out of place because he was not at this bar for pleasure or fun. He was at work like the restless creature he was. He had been sent here by a repetitive vision Cordelia had seen and by a fading memory deep inside his dead heart. The memory had been tugging at his dead heart ever since his son’s birth. The birth itself was miraculous. He shook his thoughts and concentrated on what Cordelia had told him about her vision. All Cordelia saw in her vision was a glimpse of this bar and a girl working here. She did not see anything else. Unlike her other visions this was different because it is not painful or disturbing like others but this vision had left her restless. She didn’t know what was wrong with the girl or how she could help her. So far Angel had been here spying on the girl, trying to gather information about her where bout’s and her dilemma. It was a helpless chase because he could never catch up with her. He tried to follow her every night but he only saw her leave the bar. When he would get outside, she would be gone. He circled the area every night but there was no trace or a scent of her.
He was thinking this when his gaze fell on her. She was a lean built girl, with well built muscles that were clearly visible through her light leather jacket. She had jet black hair that flowed well past her waist. She had deep, almost bottomless black eyes. Angel thought of them as twin pools of a black hole, as if one would look in her eyes and be pulled in and fall deep. For some reason Angel liked that about her. She was not afraid of being in the demon bar at this time of the night. She worked quietly and swiftly. She did not hold a conversation with anyone. The one thing Angel could not get his mind around was that she showed no emotion. There might be a flicker of emotion on her face but it did not last long enough to be realized what it was. Angel knew of this because the first time she saw him in the bar she was startled and yet amused somehow. Angel was still thinking of their first encounter when their eyes met. She was always the one how broke her gaze away from Angel but this time it was Angel who looked away because her stare ran a chill down his spine. It was so cold and emotionless. For the first time in Angel’s long life he was afraid, afraid of the coldness in her eyes and rage in her heart. For the first since his presence in the bar he was very aware of her heart beat. It intrigued him because since he got here in the bar he had never heard her heart beat. It made him suspicious about her humanity but he could not do anything but wait for her to leave. Tonight he would not go back without some knowledge and answers. With the determination in his dead heart he waited and watched her work.
She felt his eyes following her every move. He sat in the darkest corner of the bar to hide his presence. What he didn’t know was that no matter where he hid, she saw him. She knew all the regulars of the bar by name and face. She knew his name and his past and present. He had once been Angelus, the vampire who killed for pleasure and fun. He was hated and feared by many. History spoke of him every now and then. Every scholar had something thing to write about him. Every gypsy, witch or demon had known him and his gang of four and they all had something to contribute about him. He was feared by humans and hated by demons and demon hunters alike. He was the source of terror in all of Europe, some of Asia and Africa. No one escaped his wonderful manners and his torturous and merciless death. He had so many unsettled disputes. He had ruled for over 100 years without competition. He took what he wanted, went where he pleased and killed who he wanted. He was the champion of his deed. He was feared and hated by every vampire of his time. No one dared to stand up to Angelus. Angelus killed without remorse. It all changed when he killed a gypsy girl. Enraged by his actions, her family cursed him, a curse no one should be cursed with. They gave him his soul back. With his soul came redemption and guilt. His human soul became attached to his dead vampire heart. He was dead yet his conscious was very much alive. It tore him apart. He went from being Angelus to Angel. He forgot the taste of a good kill but he never forgot the pain and anguished death cries of his old victims. He could never forget what he had done and what he was once. He seeked redemption for what he had done.
She was startled to see him in the bar. He was not the type to drink but the hands of time had changed her so maybe they had changed him too. Still, seeing him at the bar looking for her had made her suspicious. It also brought back old memories. She knew he did not remember her but she knew him well. He was Liam, the man she had loved but lost to the hands of an ill fate and a twisted destiny. He was Angelus, the vampire who had taken Liam from her. He was Angle the vampire with a soul, the one who was trying to right all the right less wrongs. Their past was intertwined together so strangely that even she could not explain it. Over the years they had encountered each other but never on the same side. It was because of her Liam became Angelus and it was her doing that Angelus was cursed. Angle only remembered his life as Angelus. He had a few faded memories of Liam but she remembered him well. She blamed herself for what happened to Liam, Angelus and Angel. Considering she had done all this to one person, she didn’t feel so bad. Now that Angel was the one looking for her made her suspicious. It was because of him she was running form place to place. He had hurt her and turned her world upside down once, she would not let him interfere with her life again. She was going to end this hide and seek today. She left the bar early that day. As she headed out the door, she saw Angel get up too.
Angel saw her staring at the blank air, thinking something. She stood so still as if she was a statue. She stood still as if she were not breathing. “Breathing”, Angel said out loud. He had not seen her inhale or exhale. He had not seen her chest heave nor had he heard the beating of a normal human heart. This puzzled him. When he concentrated hard he heard the faint but irregular heart beat. She was either a very well trained worrier to have mastered the beat of her heat or she was not as human as she looked. Angel shook the thought out of his head when he saw her leave the bar stand and head for the door. She was leaving early today. As she headed out the door, Angel got up and pursued after her. He stepped out in the night air and inhaled deep to catch her scent. He was just tracing her scent when he saw her long black hair flowing and disappearing in the street west of the bar. Now that he had seen her, he started following her. She took small steps yet walked incredibly fast. He was starting to gain on her when she turned sharply towards the dark lit street on her right and disappeared from his sight.
As she left the bar she sensed him a few steps behind her. She paused for a good second before she got out the bar door because she had no intention of losing him tonight. She stopped near the west street to make sure he saw her. She walked slowly towards the end of the street. When she knew he was behind her heels, she turned sharply to the street on her right and disappeared in the shadows. She jumped up and leaped twice on the nearby balconies and was on the roof to her right. She saw Angel come in the street and try to sense her. When he couldn’t, he started walking deeper in the street. She followed him from the rooftop of the two story building. The farther Angel got in the street the more she sensed his frustration.
Angel was still trying to catch her scent when he heard a low grunt. He turned around fast to look behind him. Before he knew what was happening he was pinned to the wall with his hands behind his back and a stake at his heart. He tried to move away but even with his vampireic ability, Angel could not move. He struggled once more but stopped when the stake dug deeper towards his skin. She looked deep in his eyes and said, “Move one inch and you’re dust.”
Angel was astonished by the strength in her muscles and the firmness in her voice. She had a melodious voice, a voice Lorne would have loved had it belonged in his bar. “Look, I would like to help you with…”
His sentence was cut short when, with amusement in her voice, she said, “You are the one at the end of the stake and you want to help me. I am not the helpless here.”
“Look, I know it was wrong of me to follow you but this is what I do. If you haven’t heard of me well I am a private investigator. I run the agency, he said imitating Cordelia: “Angel Investigations, We Help the Help Less.” I just want to help you with whatever it is you need. I am not here to cause any harm. Just hear me out.”
She loosened her grip on his throat and loosened the grip on her stake. Angel had not realized that she had been holding him in place by the throat. Since he did not need to breathe so it had not bothered him. Realizing that her grip had been intended to rip his head off, his hands automatically shot to his throat. Upon that she said, “Don’t worry your head is still there. You throat is a bit bruised but you can’t see it. Look, I don’t know why you would think I might need help but whatever you want to know ask fast and leave me alone.”
Angel noted the hint of anguish and restlessness in her voice. He was about to ask her about her anguish and hurry when she said, “Look. It’s just that I don’t do good with people ok. I am not interested in your company and I am most definitely not interested in your help. My problems are my concerns and I can handle myself.”
Angel was watching her carefully while she paced in front of him. She moved her hands while she talked but never once did she leave her rigid poster. She kept her senses sharp. Angel was sure if he made a sudden movement she would attack him. He really hoped his phone wouldn’t ring. Angel was just thinking this when she loosened her poster into a more friendly one. He watched curiously as she put her stake back in her right sleeve and started moving back up the ally. Angle followed her quietly. He had a good hunch that she would tell him about herself in her own time. Angel looked at her closely for the first time. She had very strong muscles. She was very flexible and rigid yet graceful. She smiled the most magnificent smile Angle had ever seen. She had twin dimples on her face and when she smiled her dark eyes smiled along and became a lighter color altogether. It was the first full emotion he had seen on her face and Angel had a doubt that he was the reason behind it. Knowing that, he didn’t say anything and kept walking behind her. He noted that in a short time they had moved away from the bar and were headed towards an abandoned cemetery. She walked ahead of him taking small but fast graceful strides. Angel was thinking about her liquidated movement when she turned around to face him and said, “So you think I am graceful huh. Why thank you.”
Angel stopped in his tracks and looked at her with wide surprised eyes. She laughed out loud and said, “Oh I wish you could see yourself for a second. Any ways I am not what I seem. So don’t make any wrong assumptions. And no I would not kill you if your phone rang.”
She said all of this with laughter in her voice but then she became serious and said, “Ask what you came here to ask, Angel. No wait I will tell you my self. I will tell you all about me and about the confused thoughts and memories you have been recalling. But you have to promise to leave me alone after that and promise to not interfere in my matters and problems. I don’t need you to respond but if you agree with these terms than I will show you where I live and answer any question you have if u ask politely.”
As Angel followed her deeper in to the cemetery he saw the horizon changer colors form black to dark blue. He know that the sun would be up anytime and he hoped there was a sewer nearby he could get in when it did come up. He was thinking of this when she started talking again. “Angel I know you very well. I have known you and known of you for 271 years. You knew me once but you don’t anymore. Your suspicions were right. I am not human. My birth mother was a vampire and my father was the Demon of Chaos. Not the slimy Chaos Demon. He was the last of his clan to live in this dimension.”
She paused and realized she had walked up to and Old Church in the far end of the L.A. Regional Cemetery. She stepped over the thresh hold and saw Angel pause at the front door. “Angel I am not going to invite you in. You have to come in yourself. This is where I live. No one comes this far up in the cemetery anymore. People have forgotten this church exists. That is why I chose to live here. No one asks for insurance money, no legal paperwork and no one to say, Do I know you dear? I thought I saw you in the 80’s.”
Angel stood there thinking of what to do. Finally he said, “This is a sacred church. I don’t know your name and I have no invitation and I don’t know what will happen if I come in or if I can come in. Normally if I enter a church it becomes uncomfortable and a sacred church puts me on fire and this is a sacred church.”
She looked at Angel and said, “Angel a church or any place of worship is for Angels and demons alike. Sinners usually come for worship to ask for forgiveness. I don’t know why you get on fire or what will happen if you come in here but if you don’t that you will for sure get on fire because this is the first place the sunlight hits. It is ironic really. Even with all the trees around this place gets bathed in sunlight. And Angel you only have about 3 minutes to decide. So you choose. Either come in and face the consequence or fry to a crisp in the sunlight but I am not going to invite you in.”
With that she left and went inside leaving Angel to decide. Angel looked at his watch and then at the door. He only had 30 seconds to decide. He looked up and saw the top of the trees simmer with sunlight. Right when the light got close to hit his head he closed his eyes and stepped over the threshold. Angel opened his eyes expecting to be outside the church and on fire but he was inside the church and not on fire. The first thing he encountered upon entering was a large, white, fierce wolf. The wolf stared at him and snarled. For the third time in one day, Angel thought he was dead. Angel could not risk stepping outside and frying to a crisp, and if he moved inside who knew what the wolf would do to him. He looked down and saw the sunlight seep in toward his heels. Right when he moved his left foot towards the nearby wall the Wolf leapt at him. Three things happened at once. The stopped in mid air, Angel’s right leg caught on fire making him morph in to his vampiric form and he flew across the room away from the door.
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Maintenance Administrator -
I converted your Doc file in to board format using the "[Codes][/Codes]" Every time you want to use the codes in you post you start with [] <---- this and end with [/] <------ this. So [*B] = bold; [*I] = Italic; [*U] = Underline; if you want to do a color [*color=BLUE] Replace the color with a code or a name of a color [*color=BLUE] Then size - [*Size=#1 to 10] = [*Size=#]. For reasons for you to see the code i needed to put a * when coding use the buttons above the message field or type it in but don't put the * i did. etc......... i hope this helps you 'Spark'A passage in your story - (In code format; and again ignore the *'s)
His sentence was cut short when, with amusement in her voice, she said, “[*color=maroon]You are the one at the end of the stake and you want to help me. I am not the helpless here.[*/color]”
“[*color=teal]Look, I know it was wrong of me to follow you but this is what I do. If you haven’t heard of me well I am a private investigator. I run the agency, he said imitating Cordelia: “[*b][*i]Angel Investigations, We Help the Help Less.[*/i][*/b]” I just want to help you with whatever it is you need. I am not here to cause any harm. Just hear me out.[*/color]”
