*****

The Harvest. The fucking Harvest. It's here. And we're in the middle of it.

The new girl, the one who was hanging with Cordy but now is with Willow, Jesse and me, is the Slayer. Fuck. The Slayer. In here, in my town. Now, how the Hell I'm going to keep myself alive with her being around? She is like all the other Slayers. Dumb and stake-happy.

And then there's the Harvest. And they have Jesse. Jesse.

One of my two greatest friends. I can't tell which one is my best one, Wills or him. I just can't. And thy have him.

Damn. One of the two people who know my secret. If he is turned, he will reveal my secret to the Master. And then I'm in deep. Very deep. I mean, I already am, with me being a demon and all, but to have the fucking Master on my back� Way too bad.

I never thought I would be thinking this, but I wish that Jesse would be dead. I don't wish the tortured existence of a vampire to him. I don't wish it to anyone.

I stop walking, and stuff my hands to my coat pockets. My fingers curl around a stake, as I can feel the presence of a vampire near me.

It's an old one. Two hundred and fifty, I'd guess. I feel a strong aura of darkness and evil around this one. One of the Master's favorites, I'd say. I turn to an alley and disappear into the shadows. The vampire turns around the corner and steps into view. I gasp at the sight in front of me. The most beautiful man I've ever seen. He has dark mahogany hair, with vampiric pale skin and deep brown eyes. His features are angelic, and he radiates an aura of sadness.

I swear as I recognize him from my studies. Angelus. The one with the angelic features. I can feel my body responding at his presence. He is magnificent. But he has been gone for almost hundred years. Where has he been? There were sightings of him during the Boxer rebellion in China, but those details were sketchy at best.

But he's back. And he is stalking me. I can feel something odd in him, something good� But that's not right. He's a vampire. He's evil. Then I recognize what I feel from him. A soul. My mind reels as I try to fathom what this means. A souled vampire. Could the prophecies of Aberjian be about him, about Angelus? He's a cruel bastard, a truly evil creature, pure darkness and mayhem. "I can sense you, demon," he says. There's a stake in his hand. "I won't allow you to hurt her."

Damn. He's sensing me. I step forward and look at those beautiful eyes that reflect immense guilt. "What do you care of her, Angelus?" I ask, and my voice cracks like a whip in the silence of the night. He winces at the use of his name. "You've killed your share of them. What one more means to you? Or are you savoring herself to your own uses? Or for the Master?" He cringes at the mention of the Master. I smirk evilly as I let my true features slide forward. He doesn't react visibly, but I can thee he's shocked. No wonder. My kind are rare among the mankind.

"A Voima demon." He says softly.

"Yes," I answer, my smirk not faltering. "Alexander LaVelle Harris is my name. I go by Xander, though."

"Your core name," he identifies.

"No, actually," I correct. "my core name is LaVelle. Xander is just a nickname." Why the Hell did I just tell him that? Even if he's the one the prophecies are about, I'm in trouble. He'll try to kill me.

"What are you doing in Sunnydale, LaVelle?" he asks, his posture loosening. No, not loosening, but still changing. Something has risen into his eyes� I can't identify it.

"I live here. I was given to humans to be raised, but I am knowledgeable of the things that go bump in the night. " I say, as I gaze into his eyes and try to see what he is doing. All the while my body is screaming for him. Damn it. Damn the hormones that course through my body. It's as bad as it is with humans for us Voimas, even worse, actually. And I'm in the middle of it. The damn teenage thing.

Oh God, he's beautiful. Lust courses thorough my body as I watch him debating what I've said. The thing is still shining in his eyes� I realize what I see. Lust. So he's lusting me. Who would've thought. My smirk grows as I realize we're both getting affected by each other.

"Why are you here, Angelus?" I ask him, and again he cringes with the name.

"I go by Angel now," he says sadly. "I was sent here to help the Slayer, to protect her. But�" he grimaced slightly, "She seems to be a bit more different than I thought."

"Dumb as a post and stake-happy," I say.

He nods slightly. "One could say that. She's even worse than the other Slayers I've faced." He flinches a bit when he realizes what he said.

"So why were you sent ?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Got cursed. You've probably already sensed I have a soul got it from gypsies in the turn of the century. I spent a long time brooding, and now I have a Slayer to help."

I laugh. "The PTB have a sick sense of humor," I say sarcastically. "To have a vampire helping a Slayer�"

"PTB?" he asks, slightly confused.

"Powers That Be," I reply, "The ones we're both working for."

"Why are you working to them?" he asks, confused.

"Conscious decision. I found out that evil things killed my whole family, so I'm on a revenge mission of sorts. "

Why did I tell him? Am I trying to win his trust? And why would I do that? I must admit that the prospect of a souled vampire is intriguing.

"I'm sorry." He says. I know his family died by his hand, so I say nothing to him. "Does the Slayer know who you are?" I ask.

"No," he replies, a slight smile on his lips, "And I'm planning keeping it that way. She'll stake me if she finds out what I am."

"Nor she know of me. It's the same thing with me." I say. I glance at my watch.. "Damn, I should get going. The Harris will be pissed if I'm not home soon, and will probably beat me up. And I can't even defend myself. Too bad."

He grimaces slightly. "I'm sorry to hear that. See you around, LaVelle," he says and turns around. I watch him disappear before I head for my home. His appearance has made things a lot more interesting than they were�

*end*