Cassandra: Part One
by Kelli Brown
Cassandra’s Journal: September 30, 1997

I’m on a plane to Sunnydale now. It is incredibly hard it is to find a nighttime flight to this little town. I cannot believe that I am coming back. The only reason I am is because I had to take care of some of the legal and managerial business that came up because of that club that I own. I thought about selling the place, but it is making a lot of money right now. I am not just going to give that up. Hopefully, it will be just a short trip, I don’t want to stay in this town any more than I have to. Although, as we approach Sunnydale, I hate to admit that I am starting to feel the energy of the Hellmouth just like any other demon or vampire would. Well, I am a vampire, that point is indisputable. However, the demon hasn’t been in control of me in almost a hundred years. It is still there, though, I should be used to it.

I haven’t been back in Sunnydale in about seven years. I doubt the place has changed very much. However, I heard from the grapevine that demonic activity in Sunnydale was increased since the last time I was there. I even heard that there was a Slayer in town. Part of me wants this trip over with as soon as possible, but another part of me is interested in seeing what is going on in Sunnydale. Maybe I might be able to check out the Slayer. Not up close, of course. Most Slayers don’t care if you have a soul. They see you as a vampire and whether you have a soul is just a matter of semantics. It is not like I can blame them. A vampire with a soul is a very rare thing. In fact, I think I am the only one.

I heard that the Master was taken out. I am glad of that. Even when I was soulless I couldn’t stand him. I only met him once. He told me that I had a problem with authority and tried to kill me. Me? A problem with authority. I have no idea why he would say that. I Guess he didn't appreciate it too much when I told him to, "Fuck off." ; ) Luckily, I got out of town before him or his minions got hold of me. I barely made it out alive. He never could stand me because I wasn’t like his other faithful minions that did everything he said to do and never questioned anything he ever said. I was my own vampire; I was not going to be told what to do, no matter how old he was.

Well, the plane is about to land. I admit that I am a little excited to be back. I am curious to see what was going on. However, I am nervous. I do not want to be recognized by anyone. I don’t believe I will see someone from the old days. Most of them are still in Europe or was dusted long ago.


* * *
The plane landed in Sunnydale about four hours before sunrise. Cassandra quickly got herself a hotel room and settled in for the day. Once sunset came, Cassandra started walking toward the Bronze. It wasn’t that far away and she had no car since she had taken a cab from the airport. The walk was peaceful, [ I guess it is still too early for them to be out yet. ] Sunnydale, on the surface, looked like the stereotypical small town. [ Little do they know. ]

Soon enough, Cassandra made it to the Bronze. It was about 6:30pm so the place wasn’t crowded at all. “Hey, Cassandra!” said a voice on the other side of the room. She turned her head and saw Michael, the manager, coming toward her.

Cassandra smiled, “Hey Mike. Long time no see.”

Mike embraced Cassandra in a hug, “Yeah, too long. How are you?”

“Good I guess. How about you? I heard about you and Marie. Congratulations.”

“Yeah, she finally said she would marry me.” Mike beamed.

“You look so happy,” observed Cassandra.

“I am, so I guess we had better get down to business.”

“Oh yeah, that stuff. I swear, owning a business sure causes a lot of paperwork.”

“If you ever get tired of it, I’ll be happy to buy the place from you.”

“Well Mike, someday I might take you up on that offer, but not yet,” said Cassandra with a wink.

After about three hours of work, Cassandra and Mike emerged from the manager’s office. The Bronze was packed now. Cassandra noticed that all of the tables were taken, [ It must be because of the live band. ] Cassandra started to leave when she was stopped by Mike. “How long are you going to be in town?”

“I’m not sure, I have more things here I want to get done. At least three days.”

Mike smiled, “Good, while you are here in town you need to have dinner with me and Marie one night.”

“I’ll try. See you tomorrow night,” said Cassandra as she left the Bronze. As Cassandra walked home she thought about her conversation with Mike. [ Why did I say that I would be here for three days? I don’t really want to stay that long. I really shouldn’t be in this town, I have no business being on the Hellmouth. ]

Cassandra passed a cemetery on the way back to her hotel. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a young couple talking to each other. Even with her enhanced eyesight, she could barely make out their forms because she was so far away. [ They shouldn’t be out here at night, especially in the cemetary. ] Cassandra decided that she had to somehow get them to go indoors. [ What am I going to tell them? ‘Hey, you don’t need to be out here at night! A vampire could rise from his grave and make you his first meal.’ I’ll tell them something, it doesn’t have to be the truth. ]

As Cassandra walked closer to the couple she noticed something very familiar about the man. Then she got a good look at him, [ Angelus! What is he doing here? I heard he was destroyed years ago. He’s going to kill that girl! I have to do something! ]

Cassandra had no desire to confront Angelus, but she couldn’t let that girl be killed. [ How am I going to do this? I guess the direct approach works best. ] Cassandra then made her presence known, “Angelus! Funny seeing you here,” she said sarcastically.

The couple just stared at her, then a look of recognition appeared on the man’s face. “Cassandra,” he said in a low voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.” Cassandra then looked at the girl and addressed her. “Listen to me carefully, come over towards me quickly.”

“Who is this woman, Angel?” asked the girl suspiciously.

“Listen to me, girl! Get away from him!” Cassandra was rapidly getting frustrated. [ Does this girl trust Angelus? ]

“Buffy, she’s a vampire,” said Angel in a deadly serious tone. As soon as Buffy heard this, she pulled out a stake and moved in to attack.

[ What the hell is going on! ] Before Cassandra could process what was going on, a hard kick landed on her midsection. Cassandra got in a defensive stance and blocked most of the attacks Buffy launched at her. [ This must be the Slayer. I don’t want to hurt this girl, what am I going to do? ] Cassandra looked for an opening and when she could, she grabbed the girl by her arm and flung her as hard as she could without actually causing damage.

“Listen to me, I’m not going to hurt you!” she shouted. However, the next thing she knew Angelus was attacking her. The only choice Cassandra could see was to get out of this situation fast. She ran, hoping that she would be able to later talk to this girl and see what was going on. She finally made it to her hotel room. It did not look like she was followed. That made Cassandra relax a little. As soon as she got inside, she took out her journal to write.

Cassandra’s Journal, October 1, 1997:

I cannot believe it. Angelus is in Sunnydale! Why do these things happen to me? It is probably karma. He is the last vampire that I wanted to run into, but here he is. What else is strange is that he was with the Slayer when I saw him. He was helping her, he told her that I was a vampire and the next thing I know she it attacking me. What is strange is that he got involved in the fighting also. What is going on, there is no way that he would help the slayer. Maybe this is some game he is playing. Surely she knows he is a vampire. I need to talk to her to explain to her that I am not her enemy. I don’t know how I am going to do it, she’s a slayer, slayers don’t trust vampires. So, why was she with Angelus? I need to get to the bottom of this before I leave, I will not be able to live with not knowing what all this is about.

It has been so long since I have seen him, over a hundred years actually. We didn’t part on the best of circumstances. He couldn’t believe that I would leave him, he was so angry. I left hoping that I would never see him again. About fifty years ago, I heard that he was dusted in the early nineteen hundreds. They were just rumors but I believed them and I stopped worrying about what would happen if I saw him again. This should teach me not to believe rumors.


This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1095