| In the Blood By Kuzibah |
| Disclaimer: All characters and Situations relating to �Buffy the Vampire Slayer� and �Angel� are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Greenwolf Productions, the WB, and (apparently) evil Fox. The author has received no monetary or material recompense for her efforts. Follows �The Last Days of Illyria� Archive- Sure, but email me and let me know where it�s going. Feedback- Absolutely. ******************* Manhattan, July 1978 Angel paced the subway platform. He was waiting for the train to come, for the waiting passengers to clear so he could drop to the tracks and climb underneath, where rats could be cornered and easily caught and he could eat in peace. It was a dangerous game, he knew. If the transit police saw him, he would be just as trapped, so he kept his eyes open. But he was desperately hungry, and this was a more sure bet than trying the alleys. �Ay, bloodsucker,� came a whisper to his ear, so gentle it could only be another vampire. Angel tensed and looked around, finally spotting him in the shadows beneath the stairs. Angel turned his eyes away, and edged closer. �What do you want?� he hissed. �Smell it in them,� the other vampire said. �It�s killing them and they don�t even know.� Angel looked sideways at the other vampire who made a quick motion with his head to indicate two young men groping in a secluded corner. Angel turned slightly towards them, and then he did smell it. Disease, undoubtedly, but more like low levels of several diseases, creating an acrid, fetid scent. He could tell it was tenacious and devastatingly slow. �What is it?� he whispered. �I don�t know,� the other vampire answered. �It�s new. It�s another kind of vampire. A microscopic one.� �What?� The other vampire shrugged. �That�s what they�re saying. The ones with the vision, that�s what they see. It�ll be bad.� �Why tell me?� Angel asked suspiciously. �Thought you might be interested. It�s in the blood, thought you might like to know.� At that moment the train arrived and the two lovers passed close to Angel as they boarded. He sniffed deeply, trying to learn what he could. Yes, it was in the blood, but it didn�t seem very virulent. Not like the flu, which he had seen kill tens of thousands in 1918. �It�s coming,� the other vampire said as he stepped onto the train, �pass it on.� Angel shook his head as the train pulled out and the platform cleared. These fledglings, always hopefully overreacting to every little threat, he thought. This new disease was nothing, too difficult to pass along. It would die out quickly. He slipped beneath the platform, surprising a group of rats eating through a box of chicken bones someone had thrown down. He crushed three of their skulls, and crouched down among the trash to feed. Lost Angel 11: This Thing Vengeance Main Menu ~ Lost Angel |