THE COLONY OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Four

"A short while later, when the sun had fallen and the brief light was safe enough to travel in, Angel headed downtown hoping to find some of the supplies he’d been looking for. As he obliviously walked down the stairs and out the front door, Doyle stared after him."- Chapter Four

Later the next day, Rupert Giles found himself sitting in his dining room enjoying some tea and lunch and reading the latest council reports. Other than the curious arrival of the vampire, not much was going on. However, the details on the demon’s presence were sketchy, leaving a lot of questions unanswered and the trainer somewhat worried. In this day and age, a lack of knowledge can be dangerous, but filling in the blanks can be almost more hazardous to your health. Sighing, he put down the papers and took a sip of his tea.
“ Giles?”

The trainer looked up and almost choked on his drink. There, standing in the doorway, was Buffy, and given the look on her face he was unsure of whether to run and hide or gather her in a fatherly embrace. Her eyes were slightly red and she looked as though she hadn’t slept at all, her expression a mix of both helplessness and frustration. Deciding to play it safe, Giles rose from his seat and looked at her with a slight concern.
“ Buffy. Are you all right? Here… sit down.”

Buffy smiled at Giles’ offer,
“ No thanks, although I’d love to have a nice soothing glass of british-y goodness, I’m really here to see Tara.”

“Oh, of course. She’s upstairs, in the parlour I believe.”

“Thanks.”

Buffy turned and started up the stairs in search of her life-long friend. Tara was the same age as Buffy, her parents had died when she was young in an attack and Giles, not long after getting Buffy, had taken her in to raise her as his own. She and Buffy had become inseparable for much of their lives, but as Buffy began to start her rigorous training she and Tara had grown somewhat apart. Although in the past few years she didn’t see her as much as she’d like, Buffy knew that she could always to her for anything. Now Tara worked for a childcare center in town, remaining at home to save money and the remaining roots of their small family.

Reaching the parlour, Buffy found a light-brown haired woman sitting at a table; a book in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
“ Hey.” Buffy said timidly.

The brunette looked up and quickly put aside her book, a smile immediately gracing her face.
“ Buffy, hi! What are you doing here? Giles said you were training with Faith and Gunn.”

“I will be, I was just hoping to talk to you first-- but if you’re busy I can come back later, I don’t want to bug or anything.”

“No, it’s fine, really, I was just catching up on some reading. What’s up... everything okay?”

Taking a deep breath, Buffy shook her head and sat down.

“What happened?”

Buffy looked down at her hands.
“ It’s stupid. I mean I only saw him for a couple seconds and I don’t even know who he is! And it’s not like I knew what he was when I saw him, I just thought he was a regular guy but he’s not and then he walked away and now I can’t get him out of my freaking head and-”

“Wow, Buffy just slow down okay? What are you talking about, who’s this guy?”

Buffy sighed,
“ Yesterday, on my way back here from patrol I ran into Gunn and his guys, Gunn knew I was patrolling and he, being the sucker he is, let me off the hook. Then they started walking again and I saw this… guy. He was just staring at me and I finally caught his eye and Tara it was just… crazy! I was a few feet away from him but it felt like he was right THERE you know? It was the weirdest thing ever, I didn’t even get say anything before he left.”

Tara was quiet for a moment, trying to process what her friend had just told her.
“ Okay… well that’s good though right? I mean you know better than I do that people aren’t allowed to leave the colony, so that means he’ll be around, maybe you’ll see him again. Find out who he is.”

“That’s the problem Tara. Did you hear about that vampire that was sent here?” Tara nodded, “Well…”

A look of recognition crossed Tara’s features, soon to be replaced with shock.
“ Oh.”

“And I can’t get him out of my head! I could barely sleep last night because I thinking about who the hell he was, what happened, why he was staring at me like that. I mean, I don’t even know this guy AND he’s a vampire! He was probably just yodeling up my pulse but just the look he had… there’s something different about him! And god you must think I’m crazy....”

“No, not at all. I mean, like you said you didn’t know what he was, and there’s obviously something different about him otherwise he wouldn’t be here, right? Given you’re taking the curious thing a bit more extreme than usual… but then again he IS still a guy so I suppose that’s pretty normal.” she added with a small wink.

Buffy gave her a soft laugh,
“ Thanks a lot.”

“Oh come on, you know it’s true. But look at it this way, if the Council is letting him in he must be good right? And if he is then maybe this all isn’t as big a deal as you’re making it. You’re probably just reacting to being around him. Usually when you see a vamp they’re toast before you really have any “glare-y” moments with them.”

“Well sure if you’re going to go all logic on me.”

“I’m just trying to make you see another side to this. It’ll work out Buffy, just try not to worry about it so much. It was probably just pure curiosity, I mean he was a good looking stranger, it’s natural to lose your head a bit.”

Buffy smiled.
“ Alright I’ll try. Thanks for listening to my blab-fest, I’d better get home, get bit of sleep before sunset. I promised Faith and Gunn I’d meet them downtown for a bit of training.”

“Not a problem, I’ll see you later.” Buffy nodded and turned to leave. “Oh and Buffy?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s nice to see you too.”

Meanwhile, across town, Angel was facing some dilemmas of his own. The warriors, as ordered, had shown him to his new apartment and left him to his own devices. He had let out a sigh of relief when he’d laid eyes on the place; the council had brought what belongings he had from New York. He’d slowly walked through the apartment, and although a lot of his more unimportant items were missing, most of it was here. Almost all of his furniture was made from wood, real wood; he had never been a huge fan of steel furnishings to begin with. He knew it was all a way to get on his good side, he regardless he was thankful to have what he would call a normal place to live. And as an added bonus, they had also brought a large chest that, to the naked eye, looked like it was filled with clothes and bedding. Technically it was, but underneath that was a big part of his weaponry. Crossbows, axes, stakes, knives, even a few of his favourite broadswords were buried inside.

However home furnishings weren’t exactly the height his problems. He needed things for the apartment; first aid, toiletries, and then there was the issue of figuring out how to get blood. He, luckily, had managed to stash away more than enough money over the years, but the challenge of figuring out where to shop and how to get there was proving to be more difficult than he thought. There was some form of a phonebook in the kitchen, a list of a few stores in town with their addresses and hours, but Angel had trouble finding ones that were open into the night. He was also finding it almost impossible to concentrate. His mind kept wandering to the petite blonde who he had seen the night before.

Because of what he was, he had made a habit of sleeping through most of the day. Now, it being close to noon, he’d had less than an hour’s sleep and was trying concentrate on the lists of tiny print in front of him. Sighing, he threw them across the table and started pacing; no matter how often he told himself to cool down he found the task almost impossible. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was her. By now everyone in the colony probably knew he was there, and he doubted she would react well when she found out what he was. Unfortunately it wasn’t an enormous colony, and given that no one would be leaving it anytime soon, chances were they would be forced to meet again. Angel could argue for hours over whether that was a good thing or not.

Growling in frustration, Angel picked up a nearby knife and threw it to the other side of the room. Running his hand through his hair, he resumed his pacing.

“Alright, remind me not to make you all too angry.” Said an unfamiliar, Irish voice.

Angel whipped around to see a short man with sandy brown hair; dressed in a bright red shirt and brown jacket, immediately Angel knew something was off about him.
“ Who are you?” Angel asks warily.

“Name’s Doyle.” The man says simply, letting himself further into the apartment.

“You don’t smell human.”

“I’m going to try not to take offence to that. Half human, actually. Nice place, a bit out of the ordinary… but I suppose that would apply to you as well.”

“Because I haven’t thrown you out or because you’re still standing?” Angel asked, hoping some subtle threats would convince the man to leave.

“Well, ordinarily after stepping into a strong and fairly grouchy demon’s apartment I’d have to say both, but I was thinkin’ more because of you having a soul. Not an ordinary thing among vampires.”

“What do you want?” Angel asked in a lethal tone.

“Just to talk. You see Angel; I’ve been here for in this lovely colony for a few years now. Me and a few pals snuck in a while back, and when you’ve been here for as long as I have you learn things.”

“What things?”

“Well for one, you know who to talk to if you wanna get info. But you also learn a lot about what it’s like to be different than them—to be a demon. Now for me, it’s not too bad, I can fit in when I’m walking down the street, but I’ve seen what happens to demons who are discovered and really, it’s not pretty. You thought the mobs you used to get were bad man, these people can be worse. I came to warn ya. Everyone knows what you are Angel, they’re going to come after you. Just remember, don’t fight back, if you kill any of ‘em you’re a dead man.” He paused slightly, before adding as an afterthought; “Oh, and watch out for that pipe it’ll give ya a nasty bruise you won’t soon forget.”

“Why should I trust a word you say?”

Doyle shrugged,
“ I’ve seen enough peaceful demons get killed, I don’t wanna see another one added to the list. You could do some real good here man, something’s tellin’ me we’re gonna see some great things from you.”

Angel was silent, staring at the stranger for a moment.
“ Sorry, I’m not exactly the champion type. And if you don’t leave I’m going to have to start with the throwing out thing.”

“Gotcha man, I’ll see you around, and good luck to ya.” He laughed, heading out the door, “Powers that be, with that little spitfire around you’re to need it.”

Angel stared at the spot the half-demon had just occupied; to say the least he was confused. It wasn’t even as though his warnings were all that cryptic, they were just… unfinished. Who were the powers that be? Who was this spitfire? And why the hell did he have to watch out for a pipe?

Spotting something on the ground, Angel moved across the room to pick it up. It was a simple playing card, the queen of hearts; only instead of the typical portrait there was a picture of a demon turned to it’s right, and behind it, facing left, was a female. In her hand was a dagger of some kind; jewelled with green and white gemstones. Although the two figures were obviously separate, they seemed somehow intertwined. Sighing at what could either be a cryptic clue or just a random card, he walked to his room and tossed it into one of his drawers, deciding on the latter for now.

After going over the strange messages in his mind (and over and over) trying to decipher their meanings Angel turned to see that over an hour had passed since he last paid attention. He went into his room and decided to read for a while until sunset arrived.

A short while later, when the sun had fallen and the brief light was safe enough to travel in, Angel headed downtown hoping to find some of the supplies he’d been looking for. As he obliviously walked down the stairs and out the front door, Doyle stared after him.
“ And so it’s begun.”

End of Chapter Four.

se

 

home. fiction. author. awards. affiliates. feedback. resources. contact.
©2008 crystalix